Читать книгу Chistmas In Manhattan Collection - Алисон Робертс - Страница 11
Оглавление‘WHO ARE YOU?’
‘I’m Grace. I’m one of the doctors here.’
It wasn’t as hard as she’d expected to find a smile. Who wouldn’t smile at this pair? ‘Who are you?’
‘I’m Cameron,’ one of the boys told her. ‘And he’s Max.’
‘Hello, Max,’ Grace said. ‘Hello, Cameron. Can I come into your room?’
‘Why?’ Cameron seemed to be the spokesman for the pair. ‘Where’s Jackie gone?’
‘Just to the bathroom. She’ll be back in a minute. She asked me to look after you.’
‘Oh... ’Kay...’
Grace stepped into the room as the children turned. There was a couch and two armchairs in here, some magazines on a low table and a box of toys that had been emptied.
‘Are you waiting for somebody?’ Grace asked, perching on the arm of the couch.
‘Yes. Daddy.’ Cameron dropped to his knees and picked up a toy. His brother sat on the floor beside him. ‘Here...you can have the fire truck, Max. I’m going to have the p’lice car, ’kay?’
Max nodded. But as he took hold of the plastic fire truck that had been generously gifted with both hands, the back wheels came off.
‘Oh...no...’ Cameron sounded horrified. ‘You broke it.’
Max’s bottom lip quivered. Grace slid off the arm of the couch and crouched down beside him.
‘Let me have a look. I don’t think it’s very broken. See...?’ She clipped the axle of the wheels back into place. ‘All fixed.’
She handed the truck back with a smile and, unexpectedly, received a smile back. A delicious curve of a wide little mouth that curled itself instantly right around her heart.
Wow...
‘Fank you,’ Max said gravely.
‘You’re so welcome.’ Grace’s response came out in no more than a whisper.
Love at first sight could catch you unawares in all sorts of different ways, couldn’t it? It could be a potential partner for life, or a gorgeous place like a peaceful forest, or a special house or cute puppy. Or it could be a small boy with a heartbreaking smile.
Cameron was pushing his police car across the top of the coffee table and making muted siren noises but Max stayed where he was, with the mended fire truck in his arms. Or not quite where he was. He leaned, so that his head and shoulder were pressed against Grace’s arm. It was impossible not to return this gesture of acceptance and it was purely instinctive to shift her arm so that it slid around the small body and let him snuggle more comfortably.
It would only be for a moment because Nurse Jackie would be back any second. Grace could hear people in the corridor outside. She could feel the draught of air as the door was pushed open behind her so she closed her eyes for a heartbeat to help her lock this exquisite fraction of time into her memory banks. This feeling of connection with a precious small person...
‘Daddy...’ Cameron’s face split into a huge grin.
Max wriggled out from under Grace’s arm, dropping the fire truck in his haste to get to his feet, but Grace was still sitting on the floor as she turned her head. And then astonishment stopped her moving at all.
‘Charles?’
‘Grace...’ He sounded as surprised as she had. ‘What on earth are you doing in here?’
She felt as guilty as a child caught with her hand in a forbidden cookie jar. ‘It was only for a minute. To help out...’
‘Jackie had to go to the bathroom.’ Cameron had hold of one of his father’s hands and he was bouncing up and down.
‘She fixed the truck,’ Max added, clearly impressed with the skills Grace had demonstrated. ‘The wheels came off.’
‘Oh...’ Charles scooped Cameron up with one arm. Max was next and the ease with which two small boys were positioned on each hip with their arms wrapped around their father’s neck suggested that this was a very well-practised manoeuvre. ‘That’s all right, then...’
Charles was smiling, first at one twin and then the other, and Grace felt her heart melt a little more.
She could feel the intense bond between this man and his children. The power of an infinite amount of love.
She’d been wrong about that moment of doubt earlier, hadn’t she? Charles did have the perfect life.
‘Can we go home now? Is Maria all better?’
Grace was on her feet now. She should excuse herself and get back to where she was supposed to be but something made her hesitate. To stand there and stare at Charles as she remembered hearing the concern in his voice when he’d recognised the new patient in ER.
He was shaking his head now. ‘Maria’s got a sore back after falling down the stairs. She’s going to be fine but she needs to have a rest for a few days.’
He looked up, as if he could feel the questions buzzing in Grace’s head.
‘Maria is the boys’ nanny,’ he said. ‘I’ll be taking a few days’ leave to look after them until she’s back on her feet. Fortunately, it was only a sprain and not a fracture.’
That didn’t stop the questions but Grace couldn’t ask why the head of her new department would automatically take time away to care for his children. Where was their mother? Maybe she was another high-achieving medic who was away—presenting at some international conference or something?
Whatever. It was none of her business. And anyway, Jackie the nurse had come back and there was no reason for her to take any more time away from the job she was employed to be doing.
‘I’d better get back,’ she said. ‘Do you still want me to cover Trauma One?’
‘Thanks.’ Charles nodded. ‘I’ll come with you. Jackie, I just came to give you some money. The cafeteria should be up and running again now and I thought you could take the boys up for some lunch.’
Planting a kiss on each small, dark head, he deposited the twins back on the floor.
‘Be good,’ he instructed. ‘And if it’s not still raining when we go home, we’ll stop in the park for a swing.’
He led Grace back towards the main area of the ER.
‘It’s still crazy in here,’ he said. ‘But we’ve got extra staff and it’s under control now that we’ve got power back on.’
‘I’m sorry I took so long. I probably shouldn’t have stopped to help Jackie out.’
‘It’s not a problem.’
‘They’re gorgeous children,’ Grace added. ‘You’re a very lucky man, Charles.’
The look he gave her was almost astonished. Then a wash of something poignant crossed his face and he smiled.
A slow kind of smile that took her back through time instantly. To when the brilliant young man who’d been like royalty in their year at med school had suddenly been interested in her as more than the only barrier he had to be a star academically and not just socially. He had cared about what she had to say. About who she was...
‘Yes,’ he said slowly. ‘I am.’
He held open one of the double doors in front of them. ‘How ’bout you, Grace? You got kids?’
She shook her head.
‘Too busy with that exciting career I was reading about in your CV? Working with the flying doctors in the remotest parts of the outback?’
Her throat felt tight. ‘Something like that.’
She could feel his gaze on her back. A beat of silence—curiosity, even, as if he knew there was a lot being left unspoken.
And then he caught up with her in a single, long stride. Turned his head and, yes...she could see the flicker of curiosity.
‘It’s been a long time, Grace.’
‘It has.’
‘Be nice to catch up sometime...’
People were coming towards them. There were obviously matters that required the attention of the chief and Grace had her own work to do. She could see paramedics and junior staff clustered around a new gurney in Trauma One but she took a moment before she broke that eye contact.
A moment when she remembered that smile from a few moments ago. And so much more, from a very long time ago.
‘Yes,’ she said quietly. ‘It would...’
* * *
The rest of that first shift in Manhattan Mercy’s emergency department passed in something of a blur for Grace. Trauma related to the storm and power outage continued to roll in. A kitchen worker had been badly burned when a huge pot of soup had been tipped over in the confusion of a crowded restaurant kitchen plunged into darkness. A man had suffered a heart attack while trapped in an elevator and had been close to the end of the time window for curtailing the damage to his cardiac muscle by the time he’d been rescued. A pedestrian had been badly injured when they’d made a dash to get across a busy road in the pouring rain and a woman who relied on her home oxygen supply had been brought to the ER in severe respiratory distress after it had been cut off.
Grace was completely focused on each patient that spent time in Trauma One but Charles seemed to be everywhere, suddenly appearing where and when he was most needed. How did he do that?
Sometimes it had to be obvious, of course. Like when the young kitchen worker arrived and his screams from the pain of his severe burns would have been heard all over the department and the general level of tension rocketed skywards. He was so distressed he was in danger of injuring himself further by fighting off staff as they attempted to restrain him enough to gain IV access and administer adequate pain relief and Grace was almost knocked off her feet by a flying fist that caught her hip.
It was Charles who was suddenly there to steady her before she fell. Charles who positioned security personnel to restrain their patient safely. And it was Charles who spoke calmly enough to capture a terrified youth’s attention and stop the agonised cries for long enough for him to hear what was being said.
‘We’re going to help you,’ he said. ‘Try and hold still for just a minute. It will stop hurting very soon...’
He stayed where he was and took over the task of sedating and intubating the young man. Like everyone else in the department, Grace breathed a sigh of relief as the terrible sounds of agony were silenced. She could assess this patient properly now, start dressing the burns that covered the lower half of his body and arrange his transfer to the specialist unit that could take over his care.
She heard Charles on the phone as she passed the unit desk later, clearly making arrangements for a patient who’d been under someone else’s initial care.
‘It’s a full thickness inferior infarct. He’s been trapped in an elevator for at least four hours. I’m sending him up to the catheter laboratory, stat.’
The hours passed swiftly and it was Charles who reminded Grace that it was time she went home.
‘We’re under control and the new shift is taking over. Go home and have a well-deserved rest, Grace. And thanks,’ he added, as he turned away. ‘I knew you would be an asset to this department.’
The smile was a reward for an extraordinarily testing first day and the words of praise stayed with Grace as she made her way to the locker room to find her coat to throw on over her scrubs.
There were new arrivals in the space, locking away their personal belongings before they started their shift. And one of them was a familiar face.
Helena Tate was scraping auburn curls back from her face to restrain with a scrunchie but she abandoned the task as she caught sight of Grace.
‘I hear you’ve had quite a day.’
Grace simply nodded.
‘Do you hate me—for persuading you to come back?’
She shook her head now. ‘It’s been full on,’ she said, ‘but you know what?’
‘What?’
Grace felt her mouth curving into a grin. ‘I loved it.’
It was true, she realised. The pace of the work had left no time for first day nerves. She had done her job well enough to earn praise from the chief and, best of all, the moment she’d been dreading—seeing Charles again—had somehow morphed into something that had nothing to do with heartbreak or embarrassment or even resentment. It almost felt like a reconnection with an old friend. With a part of her life that had been so full of promise because she’d had no idea of just how tough life could become.
‘Really?’ Helena let out a huff of relief. ‘Oh, I’m so happy to hear that.’ She was smiling now. ‘So it wasn’t weird, finding that someone you went to med school with is your boss now?’
Grace had never confessed the real reason it was going to be awkward seeing Charles Davenport again. She had never told anybody about that night, not even her best friend. And certainly not the man she had married. It had been a secret—a shameful one when it had become apparent that Charles had no desire to remember it.
But today it seemed that she had finally been able to move past something that had been a mere blip of time in a now distant past life.
‘Not really,’ she told Helena. ‘Not that we had time to chat. I did meet his little boys, though.’
‘The twins? Aren’t they cute? Such a tragic story.’ Helena lowered her voice. ‘Nina was the absolute love of Charles’s life and she died minutes after they were born. Amniotic embolism. He’ll never get over it...’
Shock made Grace speechless but Helena didn’t seem to notice. The hum of voices around them was increasing as more people came in and out of the locker room. Helena glanced up, clearly refocusing on what was around her. She pulled her hair back again and wound the elastic band around her short ponytail. ‘I’d better get in there. You can tell me all about it in the morning.’
The door of her locker shut with a metallic clang to reveal the figure arriving beside her to open another locker. Charles Davenport glanced sideways as Helena kept talking.
‘Have my bed tonight,’ she told Grace. ‘I’ll be home so late, a couple of hours on that awful couch won’t make any difference.’
And then she was gone. Grace immediately turned to look for her own locker because she didn’t want to catch Charles’s gaze and possibly reveal that she had just learned something very personal about his life. She turned back just as swiftly, however, as she heard him speak.
‘You’re sleeping on a couch?’
‘Only until I find my own place.’ Grace could see those new lines on his face in a different light now and it made something tighten in her chest. He’d suffered, hadn’t he?
She knew what that was like...
‘It’s a bit of a squash,’ she added hurriedly. ‘But Helena’s an old friend. Do you remember her from Harvard?’
Charles shook his head and Grace nodded a beat later. Why would he remember someone who was not only several years younger but, like her, had not been anywhere near the kind of elite social circles the Davenports belonged to? Her own close friendship with Helena had only come about because they’d lived in the same student accommodation block.
‘She was a few years behind us. We’ve kept in touch, though. It was Helena who persuaded me to apply for the job here.’
Charles took a warm coat from its hanger and draped it over his arm. ‘I’ll have to remember to thank her for that.’ He pulled a worn-looking leather satchel from his locker before pushing the door shut. He looked like a man in a hurry. ‘I’d better go and rescue my boys. Good luck with the apartment hunting.’
‘Thanks. I might need it. From what I’ve heard, it’s a bit of a mission to find something affordable within easy commuting of Central Manhattan.’
‘Hmm.’ Charles turned away, the sound no more than a sympathetic grunt. But then his head turned swiftly, his eyes narrowed, as if he’d just thought of something important. ‘Do you like dogs?’
The random question took Grace by surprise. She blinked at Charles.
‘Sorry?’
He shook his head. ‘It’s just a thought. Might come to nothing but...’ He was pulling a mobile phone from the pocket of his scrubs and then tapping on the screen. ‘Give me your phone number,’ he said. ‘Just in case...’
* * *
What had he been thinking?
Was he really intending to follow through with that crazy idea that had occurred to him when he’d heard that the newest member of his department was camping in another colleague’s apartment and sleeping on an apparently uncomfortable couch?
Why would he do that when his life had suddenly become even more complicated than it already was?
‘It’s not raining, Daddy.’ Zipped up inside his bright red puffer jacket, with a matching woolly hat covering his curls, Cameron tugged on his father’s hand. ‘Swing?’
Max’s tired little face lit up at the reminder and he nodded with enthusiasm. ‘I want a swing, too.’
‘But it’s pouring, guys.’ Charles had to smile down at his sons. ‘See? You’re just dry because you’re under my umbrella.’
A huge, black umbrella. Big enough for all of them to be sheltered as they walked beneath dripping branches of the massive trees lining this edge of Central Park, the pavement plastered with the evidence of the autumnal leaf fall. Past one of the more than twenty playgrounds for children that this amazing space boasted, currently empty of any nannies or parents trying to entertain their young people.
‘Aww...’
The weight of two tired small boys suddenly increased as their steps dragged.
‘And it’s too dark now, anyway,’ Charles pointed out. ‘We’ll go tomorrow. In the daytime. We can do that because it’s Sunday and there’s no nursery school. And I’m going to be at home to look after you.’
‘Why?’
‘Because Maria’s got a sore back.’
‘Because she fell down the stairs?’
‘That’s right, buddy.’
‘It went dark,’ Cameron said.
‘I was scared,’ Max added. ‘Maria was crying...’
‘Horse was barking and barking.’
‘Was he?’
‘I told Max to sit on the stair,’ Cameron said proudly. ‘And Mr Jack came to help.’
Jack was the elderly concierge for their apartment block and he’d been there for many years before Charles had bought the penthouse floor. He was almost part of the family now.
And probably more willing to help than his real family would be if he told them about the latest complication in his home life.
No, that wasn’t fair. His siblings would do whatever they could but they were all so busy with their own lives and careers. Elijah would have to step up to take his place as Chief of Emergency in the next few days. His sister Penelope was on a much-needed break, although she was probably on some adrenaline-filled adventure that involved climbing a mountain or extreme skiing. The youngest Davenport, Zachary, was back from his latest tour of duty and working at the Navy Academy in Annapolis and his half-sister, Miranda, would try too hard, even if it was too much. Protecting his siblings had become second nature to Charles ever since the Davenports’ sheltered world had imploded all those years ago.
And his parents? Hugo Davenport had retired as Chief of Emergency to allow Charles to take the position but he’d barely had time for his own children as they were growing up and he would be at a complete loss if he was left with the sole responsibility of boisterous twin almost three-year-olds. It would be sole responsibility, too, because Vanessa had led an almost completely separate life ever since the scandal, and playing happy grandparents together would never be added to her agenda.
His mother would rush to help, of course, and put out the word that she urgently needed the services of the best nanny available in New York but Charles didn’t want that. He didn’t want a stranger suddenly appearing in his home. His boys had to feel loved and totally secure at all times. He’d promised them that much when they were only an hour old—in those terrible first minutes after their mother’s death.
His grip tightened on the hand of each twin.
‘You were both very brave in the dark,’ he told them. ‘And you’ve both been a big help by being so good when you had to stay at Daddy’s work all day. I’m very, very proud of you both.’
‘So we can go to the park?’
‘Tomorrow,’ he promised. ‘We’ll go to the park even if it’s still raining. You can put your rubber boots on and jump in all the puddles.’
They could take some time out and make the outside world unimportant for an hour or two. Maybe he would be able to put aside the guilt that he was taking emergency leave from his work and stop fretting that he was creating extra pressure for Elijah or that his other siblings would worry about him when they heard that he was struggling as a single parent—yet again. Maybe he could even forget about the background tension of being part of a family that was a far cry from the united presence they could still display for the sake of a gala fundraising event or any other glittering, high-society occasion. A family whose motto of ‘What happens in the family stays in the family’ had been sorely tested but had, in recent years, regained its former strength.
A yellow taxi swooped into the kerb, sending a spray of water onto the pavement. Charles hurried the twins past a taco restaurant, souvenir shop, a hot dog stand and the twenty-four-seven deli to turn into the tree-lined avenue that was the prestigious address for the brownstone apartment block they called home.
And it was then that Charles recognised why he’d felt the urge to reach out and try to help Grace Forbes.
Like taking the boys to the park, it felt like he had the opportunity to shut the rest of the world out to some extent.
Grace was part of a world that had ceased to exist when the trauma of the family trouble had threatened everything the Davenport family held dear. It had been the happiest time of Charles’s life. He had been achieving his dream of following in his father’s footsteps and becoming a doctor who could one day be in charge of the most challenging and exciting place he had ever known—Manhattan Mercy’s ER. The biggest problem he’d had was how to balance a demanding social life with the drive to achieve the honour of topping his class, and the only real barrier to that position had been Grace.
He’d managed to succeed, despite the appalling pressure that had exploded around him in the run-up to final exams, by focusing only on the things that mattered the most—supporting his mother and protecting his siblings from the fallout of scandal and passing those exams with the best possible results. He had been forced to dismiss Grace, along with every other social aspect of his life. And he’d learned to dismiss any emotion that could threaten his goals.
But he had never forgotten how simple and happy his life at medical school had been up until that point.
And, if he was honest, he’d never forgotten that night with Grace...
He could never go back, of course, but the pull of even connecting with it from a distance was surprisingly compelling. And what harm could it do? His life wasn’t about to change. He had his boys and he had his job and that was all he needed. All he could ever hope for.
But Grace had been special. And there was something about her that made him think that, perhaps—like him—life hadn’t quite turned out the way she’d planned. Or deserved?
‘Shall we stop and say hello to Horse before we go upstairs?’
‘Yes...’ The tug on his hands was in a forward direction now, instead of a reluctant weight he was encouraging to follow him. ‘Let’s go, Daddy...’
