Читать книгу Cinderella of Harley Street - Anne Fraser, Anne Fraser - Страница 8

Eighteen months later

LEITH FLICKED THROUGH the CV of the applicant he and Rose were going to interview in a few minutes’ time. He should have looked over it sooner, but his colleague had been particularly excited about this candidate, listing her credentials and experience, almost gloating about the number of heartfelt letters of commendation, and he hadn’t felt the need to study the application until now. But he should have. Damn it, he should have. It had to be her. How many Cassie Rosses could there be who were paediatricians and who had worked on the Mercy Ship?

Only one.

Resisting the temptation to screw her CV into a ball and drop it in the wastepaper basket, he flung the application on his desk.

Why had she applied for the temporary position? She must know it was where he worked. He clearly remembered telling her he was a partner in a Harley Street practice.

But there were hundreds of practices on Harley Street and he couldn’t remember if he’d actually told her which one he was a partner of. On the other hand, if she’d done her homework, she’d have seen his name listed as one of the partners.

What was she up to?

Eighteen months since he’d last seen her and she still haunted him.

She’d left without coming to find him, leaving only a note. That was all their relationship had meant to her.

That last night, the ship had sailed by the time he’d returned to his cabin. What had seemed to be a straightforward obstetric emergency had gone badly wrong when they hadn’t been able to stop the woman bleeding. It had taken hours before he’d been happy to leave the labour ward. He’d known he wouldn’t find Cassie, but to discover that she hadn’t left her number in his phone—only a short note—had floored him. They hadn’t made firm plans for the future, apart from agreeing to keep in touch, but he’d been so certain that she’d felt the same as he had that he’d imagined that one day they’d be together.

So much for his usually reliable radar when it came to women—although he would have bet his life back then that she had fallen for him as hard as he’d fallen for her.

So you got her wrong. Move on. You have enough on your plate with Peter. Let it go. Tell Rose and the others that you worked with her and you don’t think she’s up to it.

But he couldn’t bring himself to lie. Whatever else she was, she had been a fine doctor.

And he was over her. Way over her.

He picked up the application form again. She’d spent six months in Sudan before taking a posting in Afghanistan. That had ended three months ago. What had she been doing since then?

An extended holiday? Marriage? Time off to have a child?

His stomach knotted.

What did it matter? He and Cassie Ross were history.

And the practice needed an experienced locum to stand in for Fabio. It was only for a couple of months. Eight weeks. Possibly less.

So what harm could it do to interview her? At the very least he could finally prove to himself she meant nothing to him now.