Читать книгу Nurse, Nanny...Bride! - Алисон Робертс - Страница 7

NOT being able to afford a decent car had its advantages.

You could throw anything into the back of this ancient four-wheel drive. Dogs, saddles, dirty covers—it made no difference. You could also have your foot flat to the floor and not break the speed limit. Even if you were very angry and upset and weren’t even thinking about how fast to take the corners, you were safe.

Living this far out of town had its advantages, too. You left the city well behind and could see only the green of paddocks and hills and the deep blue of a late afternoon sky. Autumn colours gilded tall poplar trees and animals grazed peacefully beneath them. Sheep and cattle and fat pet ponies. A goat on a chain was eating the long grass of someone’s roadside verge.

Work was left behind along with the city and the further away Alice got, the more she could feel all the upsets of her day receding. Some time out was exactly what she desperately needed. Escape to the place she loved more than any patch of the earth she had ever discovered. Turning off the main road, she drove into a valley. Towards the end of this road was a property bordered by a river and enclosed by hills like a geographical hug. Hidden from the world and, for the moment at least, entirely hers.

The long driveway was lined by oak trees that were well over a hundred years old. Leaves drifted lazily from great heights and Alice rolled down her window to smell the season. A hint of damp moss and rich soil. A faint whiff of smoke from a bonfire on some neighbouring farm. The chimneys of the enormous old house weren’t giving off any smoke, of course. Why would they, when the house had been empty for so long?

Finding new owners seemed unlikely in the short term. Who could afford a rather rundown old mansion these days when it was a good twenty minutes drive from the city? The cost of petrol alone would put people off, never mind the extensive renovations needed and the effort of keeping up a hilly property of at least fifty acres. The longer it took, the better as far as Alice was concerned. She was more than happy to be here as the only human tenant.

Alice took the fork in the driveway before she got more than a glimpse of the big house through the trees. She drove towards the river now. Towards the cottage that had once housed shearers and had been rented out a year ago to her friend, Mandy. Seeing the small weatherboard dwelling ahead of her, with her dog, Jake, guarding the front step, Alice could finally let go of everything bad the day had thrown at her.

The shock of being pulled back to a past she had thought long gone. Having the ashes of a distant one-sided romance stirred and finding it still showed a dismaying warmth. Enough of a glow to make the embarrassment of being deliberately put in her place as a less important staff member far more intense. Last, but by no means least, was the knowledge that if she wanted to keep the life she’d worked so hard to create for herself, she really would have to fight for it.

Alice climbed out of the truck and crouched to hug her dog, burying her face against his shaggy neck for a moment, feeling his whole body wag pleasure in her return. Alice let out her breath in a long sigh and she was smiling as she stood up.

‘I’m home,’ she said aloud. ‘How good is that?’

Even better, she had a good two hours of daylight left. Time to saddle up Ben and take a gentle trek up the hills, through the forest and back to the river. Her huge black horse was getting on in years now and was probably a bit stiff after the long stint of being shut in the float yesterday. Besides, Alice couldn’t think of anything she would rather do to centre herself again. The other things she needed like a good home-cooked meal and a long sleep could wait.

Climbing into soft old jodhpurs and pulling on her short leather boots dispelled any thoughts of uniforms. The smell of well cared for leather as she collected her tack from the stable put anything shiny and clinical on another planet. Best of all was the soft whinny of welcome from Ben when she went out to the paddock behind the cottage with Jake walking close enough to brush her leg.

She was wanted here. Trusted. Loved by her boys. Yeah…life was full of hard bits but it could also be very, very good and this was as good as it got.

A short time later, Alice swung herself up into the saddle and clicked her tongue. Ben wasn’t showing any sign of being stiff. He took the bit and pulled eagerly. Maybe he was thinking of that long empty paddock where the forest track ended. The gentle uphill slope that was the perfect place to stretch out into a good gallop.

Alice grinned.

Yes!

Television was so boring!

Emmeline Barrett was fed up with the squeaky cartoon voices. With a heartfelt sigh, she wriggled around to kneel on the couch backwards, her chin resting on her hands as she gazed out of the window at the green hills and blue skies that were so different from anything she’d ever known it was like being in a fairy tale.

Haylee, her new nanny, was lying on the other couch, flat on her back with cushions under her head and her cellphone against her ear as she continued yet another phone call.

‘No! Oh, my God! She didn’t…Oh?’ A contemptuous snort followed. ‘Whatever! As if he’d be interested in her!’

Haylee had promised to take her for a walk this afternoon. Down to see the river or up to where the trees were thick enough to make that dark and scary patch on the hillside that never failed to give Emmy a lovely tickle inside when she looked at it.

Suddenly, she knelt bolt upright, not even noticing that the interminable phone call was ending on the other couch. Her jaw dropped as she watched a big black horse come out of the forest and start galloping up the hill. A dog was running behind and it had to be a lady riding the horse because Emmy could see long hair streaming out behind the hat she was wearing.

Was it a real fairy tale now? An enchanted forest? Could the lady be a princess? She watched until the magic horse disappeared over the top of the hill and then she climbed off the couch.

‘Haylee?’

‘Hmm?’ The nanny’s response sounded remarkably like a yawn.

‘Can we go for our walk now? Please?’ she added hurriedly as she remembered her manners.

‘In a minute, okay?’ Haylee’s eyes were closed. ‘I just need to rest for a bit.’

Emmy scowled. She looked back at her couch that faced the blaring television. She looked at the door which led into the big hallway with the tiny stones that made patterns on the floor. If she went all the way down, there was a really big wooden door that was probably too heavy for her to open, but, if she went the other way, she knew she would find the kitchen and that funny room full of tubs and taps that had a much smaller door. If she went past the clothes line outside that door, she might be able to find the hill.

She might be able to see that magic horse and the princess again.

Emmy looked at Haylee, whose eyes were still firmly shut.

‘I’m going to the bathroom,’ she announced. ‘I need to go to the toilet.’

‘Can you manage by yourself?’

‘Of course I can.’ The indignation was automatic. ‘I’m five!’

‘Cool. Come straight back.’

Emmy got to the door but then turned to watch for a moment longer. She saw the way Haylee’s fingers relaxed their grip on the cellphone. Her new nanny didn’t even notice when it slipped out of her grasp and bounced onto the floor.

Emmy stopped chewing her bottom lip. With her lips set in a rather determined smile, she went out of the door in search of magic.

Forty-year-old Roger was about to walk out of the door of the emergency department.

‘Wait!’ Andrew took another glance at the slip of paper in his hand and stepped in front of his patient.

‘What for?’

But Roger took a step back towards the bed he’d recently vacated, having rested for a couple of hours after the successful management of his cardiac arrhythmia.

‘I’ve just received the results of the last blood tests we took.’

‘You said there was nothing wrong with my blood.’

‘There wasn’t. The first results came back with completely normal cardiac enzymes.’ Andrew tweaked the curtain shut behind him and showed Roger the paper he held. ‘This one, however, shows a raised TNT.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘It means that there’s been some damage to heart tissue.’

Roger sat down on the bed. ‘You mean, like a heart attack?’

‘Yes. The level is low enough to suggest it’s minor but we’re going to need to admit you and run some more tests.’

‘But…I want to go home.’

‘I know,’ he said sympathetically. ‘I’m sorry.’

Roger wasn’t the only one who wanted to go home. Andrew’s shift had officially finished, but he took the time to explain things to Roger again and then he paged Cardiology and waited for the registrar to arrive so he could transfer care of this patient. Finally, he unhooked his stethoscope from around his neck, put on the pinstriped jacket of his suit and headed for the car park.

Minutes later and he could put his foot down. Just a little, because that was all it needed for a surge of power from his gorgeous new car. The powerful engine purred softly and the miles between work and home evaporated. Andrew sped past the rolling paddocks without seeing the autumn colours of the trees. He barely noticed the goat on the side of the road.

It seemed a very long time since he’d kissed Emmy goodbye this morning and he needed to get back to her. To their new home. To remind himself why they’d journeyed here from the far side of the world. To convince himself it was worth the disturbing prospect of having to work with someone who was such a tangible link to his old life.

He’d won the first round, though, hadn’t he? Made it very clear that if they were to work together it would be on his terms. So why wasn’t it making him feel any better about the future? Why had he been left with this kind of unpleasant aftertaste as though he was being forced not only to recognise, but to bring out a side of himself that he didn’t particularly like?

Andrew slowed just a little as the car bounced over the undulations in the driveway formed by ancient tree roots. He glanced to his left at the fork and caught a metallic glimmer that begged a second look. A horse float was parked under the shelter of some trees. Good. The tenant had returned. Amanda someone, the solicitor had informed him.

Andrew needed to talk to this Amanda. To let her know that, unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to let her renew the lease on the cottage that was due to expire at the end of this month. He needed the cottage as accommodation. The agency had assured him they would be able to find a married couple who would jump at the opportunity of living here and working for him. A housekeeper-nanny and a farm manager. Free accommodation should ensure he got the best available and nothing but the best would do. If the couple had children, it would be a bonus. While he was making arrangements for Emmy to start school in the city, it was too far away to make out-of-school play dates easy. How much better would it be if she had company closer to home?

The sound of the television made Andrew frown as he let himself in through the front door of the magnificent old house. Why on earth was Emmy watching rubbish when she could be outside in the fresh air and enjoying the kind of exercise and surroundings that had been impossible in central London?

Finding the temporary nanny sound asleep on a couch in the small sitting room that had once been a library was a shock. Andrew snatched up the remote and killed the noise, staring at the young woman in disbelief and then automatically scouring the room for evidence of something worse than being simply asleep. Empty bottles? Syringes? Not that it made any difference. History was still repeating itself. He had apparently left his daughter in the care of someone who wasn’t competent enough to keep her safe, let alone care for her the way she deserved.

The sudden silence had been enough to wake Haylee.

‘Where’s Emmy?’ Andrew demanded.

‘She went to the loo.’

‘Oh?’ Andrew strode to the door, trying to calm down. ‘Emmy?’

He called again but he could feel the emptiness of the house as he stood in the vast hallway. His pace increased as he checked the cloakroom under the sweeping stairway. He took the stairs two at a time to reach the gallery that overlooked the foyer. He checked Emmy’s bedroom. His own room. He threw open door after door of rooms that didn’t even contain any furniture yet.

‘Emmy!’

Downstairs, he found Haylee standing near the kitchen, looking frightened.

‘How long were you asleep for?’

‘I…I’m not sure. Not long.’

Andrew brushed past her into the kitchen. Empty. Not even any sign of the pantry being raided for snacks. The old laundry was also empty. The back door was open.

‘She’s gone outside?’ Andrew tried to quell a spark of panic. ‘By herself?’

‘She won’t have gone far.’

‘How on earth would you know that? You don’t even have any idea how long you were asleep.’ Anger surfaced with a vengeance. ‘And how far do you think she would need to go to get into trouble? There’s a river out there, for God’s sake!’

‘I—I’ll help you look.’ Haylee looked ready to burst into tears.

‘No.’ Andrew didn’t spare the time to look back at the girl. She wasn’t to know that he was as angry with himself as he was with her but fear overrode any habit of kindness. ‘Get your things and go home, Haylee. I don’t want you looking after my daughter. You’re fired!’

He scanned the kitchen yard, with its clothes line and pattern of herb gardens surrounded by tall thick hedges that hadn’t been trimmed in years. The gateway set under an arch of greenery was overgrown. Almost invisible and only just ajar. Quite enough of a gap for a small girl to have squeezed through, however.

Andrew wrenched the gate open further.

‘Emmy!’

Good grief!

There was a small girl standing in Ben’s paddock. A very pretty little girl with a mop of blonde curly hair and big blue eyes that were gazing up at her in open admiration. Awe, even.

‘Jake!’

The warning was unnecessary. Her large dog had dropped to his haunches well away from the child. He put his nose on his front paws and prepared to wait patiently. Ben also seemed to realise that caution was advisable. He stopped, not even looking at the water trough beside the girl.

‘Hello,’ Alice said. ‘Who are you?’

‘Emmy.’

‘Hello, Emmy. I’mAlice.’

She swung her leg over Ben’s back and slid to the ground, pulling off her helmet and then grabbing the reins before Ben could think of stepping forward. This child was tiny. So fragile-looking close to Ben’s fluffy dinner-plate-sized hooves. Especially in that pretty pink dress with her long white socks.

‘I saw you,’ Emmy said. ‘From the window.’

‘Oh?’ Alice looked around, despite knowing perfectly well there were no windows nearby. This was getting weird.

‘Are you all by yourself?’

Emmy nodded. ‘Haylee’s asleep. She’s tired.’

Maybe Alice was too. Suffering from exhaustion. Or low blood sugar or something. Having some kind of delusional experience.

‘Are you a princess?’

Definitely delusional. ‘No.’

‘Is he magic?’

A tiny finger was pointing at Ben. Big blue eyes were looking up. Way up at the head of her horse. Something in the child’s expression was very familiar. The kind of longing she remembered from when she was that small. A longing that had become a dream of one day having her own pony.

Alice smiled. ‘He’s kind of magic,’ she said softly. ‘Because he makes good things happen. Would you like to pat him?’

Already big eyes widened dramatically and Alice could see the sudden tension in the small body. A flash of fear. She heard the deep breath Emmy sucked in and then saw a determined nod.

‘Yes, please.’

Brave kid. Alice held out her hand. ‘He wouldn’t hurt you. He loves children.’

The diminutive hand went trustingly into hers. ‘I’ll lift you up,’ Alice said, ‘so you can reach his neck. That’s the best place to pat him.’

Emmy’s fingers looked tiny and very pale against Ben’s black coat.

‘He’s big, isn’t he? That’s why he’s called Ben. After Big Ben. That’s a clock. In London.’

‘I know that.’ The child sounded indignant. ‘I’m five!’

Alice was too startled to smile at the tone. She’d been chatting quietly simply to put Emmy at ease. It was only now that she registered the accent.

‘Did you live in London, Emmy?’

‘Yes.’ Emmy was stretching up to reach Ben’s mane.

‘Where do you live now?’

‘Here.’

She couldn’t have walked from a neighbouring farm to get here by herself, surely. That left only one potential home. The big house. It was still quite a walk for a five-year-old to have made by herself. Who was Haylee? A sister? And where were the parents? Did they have no idea of the kind of hazards a property like this could present? What if she hadn’t been home or Ben wasn’t as gentle as he was? What about the river, for heaven’s sake?

Alice would have something to say to Emmy’s parents when she saw them.

‘What’s your last name?’ she queried.

Emmy didn’t answer. She was busy threading her fingers through a handful of mane.

Alice tried again. ‘What’s Daddy’s name?’

‘Daddy.’

Alice smiled. She gave up. Surely someone would come looking for the child soon enough. They were probably busy moving in right now and hadn’t noticed her wandering off.

‘Would you like to sit on top of Ben?’

‘Yes, please.’

‘You’ll need to wear my hat. It’s a special helmet just for people who sit on horses.’

A moment later and there she was. A little princess with blonde curls poking from beneath the helmet, sitting on the huge black horse which made her look like a pea on a pumpkin. A very happy princess. It was the first time Alice had seen the child smile and it was the best smile, simply radiating joy, quite contagious enough to have Alice standing there, smiling back.

They could have stayed like that for a very long time. Both totally content, but then Jake raised his head from his paws. The shaggy hair on his neck came up and he emitted a low growling sound.

And then, from some distance behind Alice, came the sound of a man’s voice. A very angry man.

‘What the hell do you think you’re doing with my daughter?’

Emmy burst into tears.

Jake’s growl reached an ominous level and was reinforced with a loud bark.

But Alice didn’t turn around. She couldn’t. Not yet. Not when she’d recognised that furious voice.

By some twist of a malevolent fate, ‘Daddy’ was Andrew Barrett and he was closer by the moment.

Oh…God!

‘Don’t cry,’ she said to Emmy. Or was she talking aloud to herself? ‘It’s all right.’

‘Nooo!’ Fat tears rolled down pink cheeks. ‘Daddy’s cross with me.’

‘Actually…’ Alice found a smile ‘…I think he’s cross with me.’

Emmy’s tears stopped. She stared at Alice. ‘Why?’

Why, indeed? If anyone was to be blamed for anything right now, it most certainly shouldn’t be Alice. She turned and had the satisfaction of seeing Andrew stopped in his tracks. Not only by the menacing form of Jake, who’d positioned himself between his mistress and the threatening man, but by the shock of recognition.

‘What are you doing here?’

There was dawning horror on the face of her old boss and, for just an instant, Alice had the peculiar notion that he was afraid of her. Totally ridiculous, of course, but it was enough for her to dredge up some confidence.

‘I live here. What are you doing here?’

‘I own this property,’ Andrew snapped. ‘And you most certainly do not live here.’

‘Yes, she does, Daddy.’ Emmy gave a huge sniff. ‘So does Ben.’

‘Be quiet, please, Emmeline. I’m talking.’

Good grief! What kind of father was Andrew Barrett? Talking to a five-year-old this sternly made any fantasy of his parental skills evaporate into an unpleasant mist. Alice didn’t like what she was seeing. Neither did Emmy, apparently. The small girl stuck out her bottom lip and scowled at her father. Andrew tried to take a step forward and Jake growled again.

‘Call it off,’ Andrew commanded.

Alice waited for a heartbeat. And then another. ‘Jake,’ she said softly. Her wonderful dog moved to sit beside her, pressed against her leg.

‘And now get my daughter down from that monster.’

That was too much for Emmy. ‘He’s not a monster!’ she declared. She leaned forward in the saddle and tried to wrap her arms around Ben’s neck. They barely made it to the halfway mark. ‘He’s lovely,’ Emmy said passionately. ‘He’s my new friend and he’s a magic horse. Alice said so.’

Alice was gripping Emmy’s leg, unsure of the child’s balance. At the same time, she was watching the muscles in Andrew’s face move. As though he was trying to digest the mutiny he was faced with and decide how he would deal with it. Or maybe he was trying to understand how this could possibly be happening.

Alice was with him on that one. This was a nightmare! Part of her brain, however, was registering the fact that Andrew wasn’t punishing his daughter in any way for the contradiction. Maybe he wasn’t as strict and controlling as first impressions had suggested. Or maybe he was just distracted by dealing with her for the moment. He didn’t look indecisive any longer. He looked furious. His gaze was chilly enough to send a shiver up her spine.

‘Where—precisely—do you live?’

‘In the cottage.’

Andrew shook his head. ‘No. The tenant in the cottage is someone called Amanda.’

Alice nodded. ‘Mandy Jones. She signed a twelvemonth lease but she decided to go to Italy with her boyfriend. I was already living with her so I took over the lease last October, when it still had six months to run.’

‘I wasn’t informed of any sub-lease.’

‘We saw the solicitor. I signed a contract.’

‘We’ll have to see about that. Won’t we?’

A horrible thought occurred to Alice. What if the contract was somehow illegal? Could Andrew simply kick her out? Where on earth would she go, with a horse and dog? She touched Jake’s head with her free hand, seeking reassurance. Trying to stem the awful sinking feeling that, once again, her life was falling apart.

‘Alice?’

She turned her face up to Emmy.

‘I’d like to get down now, please.’

‘Sure. Bring your leg over to this side and I’ll help you.’ Alice raised her arms and caught Emmy as she slid off the horse. Ben stood like a rock, bless him, but she held the little girl closer for just a moment when her feet touched the ground. Letting her know that she was safe. It was a long time since she’d hugged a child and her arms felt curiously empty when she let go.

Emmy patted Jake on his head and then walked towards her father. ‘Come on, Daddy,’ she said. ‘I’m hungry and I want to go home.’ She looked over her shoulder at Alice. ‘Can I have another ride, please? Tomorrow?’

‘Um…you’ll need to talk to your daddy about that.’

A discussion that was unlikely to give Emmy what she wanted, judging by the look Alice was receiving from Andrew right now. If she’d felt unwanted in Resus this afternoon when he’d chosen Jo over her, she felt far less desirable right now. More like something he needed to scrape off his shiny black shoe.

Except his shoes weren’t very shiny any more, after storming over the paddock. The ends of his pinstriped trousers looked a little worse for wear, too. No doubt he would blame Alice when he noticed and then she would have to face him again at work in the morning. Not that she had to do anything to gain this man’s displeasure. Existing was more than enough.

Alice had to fight the urge to burst into tears the way Emmy had on hearing her father shouting. Just as well she was good at fighting. She’d learned to tap into stronger feelings. Like anger. She raised her chin.

‘You might like to let Emmy’s mother know it’s not a good idea to let her wander around by herself,’ she said crisply. ‘The river’s quite deep in places and it’s not fenced off.’

Emmy turned again. She was shaking her head. ‘I haven’t got a mother,’ she told Alice. ‘She’s dead, isn’t she, Daddy?’

‘Yes.’ The monosyllabic response was giving nothing away.

It certainly wasn’t inviting even one of the questions Alice had tumbling in her head. What had happened to Melissa? How long ago? Did Emmy miss her dreadfully? Did Andrew? Was that why he had decided to come to the other side of the world to be a solo parent?

‘I’ve got a nanny instead,’ Emmy continued.

‘Not any more.’ Andrew sounded weary now. ‘Haylee’s not going to be staying with us any longer.’

‘Because she was so tired?’

That got a smile. One that Alice was completely excluded from. The bond between this father and daughter was clearly strong enough for her to have been forgotten as the two of them talked to each other. That impression was deepened as Andrew bent down and Emmy raised her arms to be picked up. And when she was, she wrapped her arms around her father’s neck and her legs around his waist and tucked her head against his neck. A fluid series of movements that spoke of a well-rehearsed routine.

‘Yes, sweetheart. Because she was too tired to look after you properly. Now say goodbye to Alice. We’re going home.’

Emmy peeped over the solid wall of her father’s shoulder. Big blue eyes and golden curls, just like her mother had had. The same kind of fragile prettiness that most men had found irresistible, but it had been Andrew that Mel had chosen.

‘Goodbye, Alice,’ the little girl said.

‘Bye, hon.’

She was used to living here alone. It was more than five months since Mandy had gone. She had Ben. And Jake.

So why on earth did watching the retreating figure of Andrew, holding his child in his arms, make her feel not only alone but lonely?

Afraid, even.