Читать книгу Rescued By Dr Rafe - Annie Claydon - Страница 13

CHAPTER THREE

RAFE WAITED WHILE Mimi argued with the ambulance control supervisor. They’d both turned around at the same time, to look at him for a moment, and then Mimi had turned away again, her eyes dead, as if he mattered rather less to her than the chair he was sitting on. The supervisor beckoned her into his office and she followed him, protest leaking from every movement she made.

He’d loved her fire. That unquenchable, unstoppable thirst for life that made the best out of everything had enchanted Rafe. It had challenged all the assumptions that his family had taught him. Boys don’t cry. A man should take care of the women in his life. He must handle his problems alone, not needing to talk about them.

And Rafe had come so close to quenching that fire. When his mother had been diagnosed with cancer, and his family had descended into a state of restrained crisis, Mimi had wanted to help, had fought him to let her in. But Rafe couldn’t. He’d already perfected the art of hiding whatever pain life threw at him and he didn’t know how to do anything else.

He didn’t blame her for giving up on him, but it had hurt all the more because Mimi never gave up on anything. Lying with her in their bed, unable to either sleep or to share his anguish, had taught Rafe the nature of true loneliness. Leaving had been his way of keeping her safe from the silence that had descended on their home.

That was all history now. He’d thought it could never change but, as the door of the supervisor’s office opened and he saw Mimi walk towards him, he began to wonder. He’d measured his failure in their relationship by the lack of emotion she’d shown when he left, but now anger was stamped all over her face and he had little doubt that most of it was directed at him.

‘Everything okay?’

She shook her head. ‘There are no spare vehicles and no one for me to partner with. They’re sending me home...’

‘Unless?’ Rafe had seen enough of the situation here to be able to guess what Mimi’s options were.

Her face was set in an expression of almost believable remorse. ‘I apologise for what I said. I should have thanked you for getting me out of the way of that rope when it broke.’

Mimi was still thinking about that? Then Rafe realised that this was the precursor to something else.

‘You’re welcome. I apologise for what I said too. I had no real intention of tying you to a tree.’ However appealing the thought had been at the time.

‘No. It didn’t really occur to me that you did. I think we were both letting off a bit of steam.’ She screwed her face into a frown. ‘My controller... He says that if you need any help I could always tag along with you.’

Deep down inside a primitive sense of triumph pulled at him. However much she disliked the idea, Mimi needed him. Rafe tried to think dispassionately. Two would be more effective than one, and he’d be able take more calls. Unless, of course, they spent the rest of the evening bickering over old grudges.

‘Do you think that’s going to work?’

Mimi took a deep breath, as if she was suppressing the urge to solve the problem by killing him and taking his car keys. ‘I’ll make it work, Rafe. I can’t sit this out; I’ll go crazy at home.’

There wasn’t even a decision to make. Turning down any assistance, let alone that of a trained paramedic, would be reckless at a time like this. ‘Happy to have you along. I’d appreciate the help.’

That was that, then. There was a lot of unresolved anger between them, but if they could put that aside this could work.

They stood for a moment staring at each other and then Mimi broke the silence.

‘Look, this is difficult, but we could make it a lot easier.’

‘Yeah, I guess we could. I’d like that...’ Rafe remembered not to call her Mimi this time. That was just the kind of thing that might shatter this unstable truce.

‘We’ll make a new start, shall we?’

Pretend that none of it had ever happened? That he hadn’t loved her and then left her, and that resentment wasn’t colouring everything they did now. It was a tough prospect, but if that was what it took... It was, in fact, an opportunity. If there was unfinished business between them, then maybe now was the time to finish it for good.

‘Yes. Okay, I’d like that. New start.’

* * *

Mimi felt better now that she’d had a chance to wash her face and comb her hair. She folded Rafe’s sweater, making a conscious effort not to bury her face into its softness, trying to catch one last trace of his scent. This was hard.

She stuffed the sweater into a bag, dragged her jacket on and marched out into the rain. He was sitting in the car, waiting for her. Her colleague. The one she’d slept with once upon a time, but that had been a mistake and it was all finished now.

‘Ready?’ She settled herself into the front seat of the car.

He nodded, turning the radio down until it was just a gentle beat, swallowed up by the drumming of the rain on the windscreen. ‘Yep. First one’s near Shillingford. We’ll have to go through Eardwell.’

Her home village. ‘Yes, that’s the best way.’

‘You want to call in on Charlie?’

‘He’s... I spoke to him a few minutes ago. He says everything’s okay.’ Mimi wished that Charlie would accept her help a little more readily, but she knew better than to fuss.

‘How’s he doing?’

‘A lot better. He plays in a wheelchair basketball team now.’

‘Sounds as if he’s a great deal more independent.’

‘Yeah. As time went by we all learned how to make that happen.’ The cottage that she and Rafe had rented, just across the road from Charlie’s place, had been a factor in that. Close enough to help, without crowding her brother. When Rafe had said he was moving, to take up a new job and be closer to his mother, he’d known full well that Mimi couldn’t abandon Charlie and follow him.

‘I don’t suppose he’s got a spare flask he can lend us. If he could fill it up with coffee it would be even better.’

She couldn’t help but smile. Rafe and Charlie had always got on well, and it seemed that Rafe still cared about her brother enough to find an excuse to pop in and see whether he was all right. ‘You want a sandwich as well?’

‘Sounds good. Call him and tell him we’re coming.’ Rafe swung the car out of the hospital car park and on to the road.

* * *

Rafe drove the familiar route, which he’d used to call the road home. He hadn’t reckoned on it being quite so hard. When he stopped outside their cottage, it looked just the same as it always had, the white render gleaming pale in the pouring rain like a ghost from his past.

‘You’re still here?’ He tried to make the question sound as casual as possible, as if there hadn’t been a time when he had dreamed about walking back to that door every night.

There was a slight pause, as if she was weighing up whether it was all right to answer. ‘Yes. I bought the place.’

‘Mrs Bates died?’ The elderly woman who had owned the cottage had gone into a nursing home and her family had rented the property out.

‘Yes. Four years ago. The family didn’t want the cottage and decided to sell, so I put in an offer.’

‘Smart move...’ Rafe bit his tongue. He wasn’t in a position to give Mimi advice on what to do with her life any more. All the same, he’d thought more than once that if the roomy cottage they’d rented ever came on to the market they should put in an offer for it.

She nodded as if she didn’t want to discuss it any more, and rather unnecessarily pointed to the driveway of Charlie’s one-storey house, right across the road. It had only been five years, not a century. And Rafe hadn’t forgotten.

He got as close to the front door as he could and switched the engine off, leaning back in his seat in an unequivocal signal that he’d wait. Turning up here with Mimi wasn’t the most tactful of things to do.

‘Come and say hello to Charlie.’ She shot him a pretty fair counterfeit of a welcoming smile.

‘I thought... Wouldn’t you prefer me to stay here?’

‘I told him you were here when I spoke to him. He’s not going to eat you, Rafe.’

Maybe he would and maybe he wouldn’t. But Rafe had often wondered how Charlie was doing and he wanted to see him. Mimi had already got out of the car and was running up the ramp which led to the front door, her jacket over her head. It opened as she approached and Rafe saw Charlie inside.

Rafe swung out of his seat, following Mimi to the front door. Charlie looked great. Strong and smiling as he pulled Mimi down for a kiss. ‘You just couldn’t resist, could you...’

‘What?’ Mimi broke free, giving a look which was far too innocent to be believed, and Charlie grinned at her.

‘Couldn’t resist checking up on me.’

‘All I want is coffee. Then we’ll go. If you want you can go lie on the floor and I’ll step over you on the way out.’ Mimi turned her back on her brother and walked towards the kitchen area at the far end of the open-plan space.

‘You can finish making the sandwiches...’ Charlie called after her and then turned his attention to Rafe, his face suddenly impassive. ‘You’re back then.’

‘I’m here to help out, that’s all.’ Mimi seemed to be busy in the kitchen and Charlie was showing no inclination towards following her. Rafe sat down. If Charlie wanted to give him the third degree, he could do it face to face.

‘I hear that Jack’s marooned, and the ambulance was towed?’ Charlie seemed to be fishing for information, and Rafe guessed that Mimi hadn’t told him the whole story.

‘Yeah, that’s right. The river broke its banks near Holme and the bridge has been washed away. Jack got pretty wet, but we hear he’s okay. Mimi had walked back up the hill to make a phone call.’

‘Yeah. That’s what I heard too. Did she try to get across the river?’

‘She... Perhaps you should ask her.’

Charlie leaned forward. ‘I’m asking you, Rafe.’

‘I thought she might. I didn’t give her the choice.’ Rafe decided that telling Charlie he’d had to lift Mimi off her feet before she ran headlong towards a wall of water wasn’t a particularly good idea. And if she hadn’t mentioned anything about her plans for getting across the river he’d keep quiet about them as well.

‘Yeah. I reckoned that’s what happened.’ Charlie seemed to relax a bit. ‘Thanks.’

‘My pleasure. Although I’m not sure it was Mi...Miriam’s.’ Mimi’s full name sounded strange and very cold on his lips, but Rafe had made up his mind to play it safe and use it, since she seemed to object so much to his using her nickname.

‘Miriam...?’ Charlie’s face broke into a grin. ‘She is giving you a hard time, isn’t she?’

‘Do you blame her?’ Somehow Rafe couldn’t quite leave it at that. ‘There were reasons, Charlie. For my leaving...’

‘I dare say there were. That’s between you and Mimi. She told me to mind my own business enough times.’

A quiver of unexpected warmth jabbed at Rafe’s heart. Mimi could have said whatever she liked about him, and it was only to be expected that she’d bad-mouthed him to Charlie. He hadn’t realised until this moment how much he’d wanted her not to.

‘Do me a favour, though...’ Charlie interrupted his reverie.

‘Of course.’ Rafe had absolutely no intention of trying to rekindle anything between him and Mimi, and sex for old times’ sake definitely wasn’t on his agenda. He could reassure Charlie on that score, at least.

‘I know Mimi’s job has risks attached to it, and I also know she doesn’t tell me about half the scrapes she gets herself into...’

‘They’re not scrapes, Charlie, and she doesn’t get herself into them. She’s a trained professional.’ Rafe surprised himself by springing to Mimi’s defence.

‘Yeah, I know.’ Charlie ran his hand through his hair. ‘Look after her, will you? You know Mimi. She thinks she’s superwoman sometimes.’

‘You have my word on that.’ Rafe held out his hand, wondering if Charlie would take it. He did so without hesitation. He was so like Mimi, in both looks and mannerism, and it felt doubly warming that Charlie seemed ready to forgive.

‘It’s good to see you.’ Charlie’s irrepressible grin broke through his reserve. ‘I’ve missed our little talks.’

Rafe chuckled. Their little talks usually lasted until closing time in the local pub, when Mimi was working a late shift. ‘Me too. We should do it again some time.’

‘Yeah. That would be good.’

* * *

Things were going okay. Not good, but okay. They were adults and there was no reason in the world why she and Rafe couldn’t play nicely until the situation eased. There was just one thing that needed clearing up.

‘I heard what you said to Charlie.’

‘Yeah?’ He didn’t turn his gaze from the road ahead but Mimi supposed she shouldn’t expect that. She wouldn’t have done if she’d been driving either.

‘It’s quite unnecessary.’

‘Which bit of it in particular?’

‘About looking after me. There’s no need.’

Rafe’s shoulders moved in a tight shrug. ‘You want me to go back on my word?’

‘Far be it from me to get in the way of any male bonding that you’ve been engaging in, but I’d rather you didn’t involve me in it.’ Mimi shut her mouth tight. That sounded sharper than it should, but when she’d heard Rafe and Charlie’s quiet words she’d felt a little more hurt than she should too.

‘I didn’t say it to impress Charlie. It’s what I intend to do.’ The side of his jaw hardened in an obstinate line. She knew that look, and it had frustrated her when she’d been living with him. She didn’t need to put up with it any more.

‘I’ve been looking after myself for the last five years, Rafe, and I’ve met all the challenges that life can throw at me. I’m sorry if that tears a hole in your masculinity, but that’s the way things are. I don’t need you to look after me, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t go around pretending that I did.’

She felt a little breathless. Almost free, as if that was something that she’d been waiting for a long time to say. Mimi dismissed the idea. There was nothing...nothing that she’d been waiting to say to Rafe.

The car suddenly pulled off the road, jerking to a halt. ‘You think this is all about my ego?’

‘Well, it’s not about mine...’ The atmosphere was zinging with hurt antagonism.

‘Not about you?’ He turned around to face her and she saw her own anger reflected in his face. ‘We all need each other at the moment. If you can’t deal with that then that’s all about you.’

‘Stop trying to twist things around, Rafe...’

‘I am not twisting anything. And I didn’t promise Charlie that I’d look after you because you’re a woman, or because we used to sleep together.’

Mimi caught her breath. He’d said the words they’d both been trying not to say. The words that could lead to all kinds of trouble...we used to sleep together. After all the efforts she’d been making not to think about it.

‘That’s all ancient history.’

His lip curled in disbelief, and suddenly he was very close. That scent of his, a little soap, a little sweat. She’d always loved the way that Rafe smelled, and it was just as intoxicating as it had always been.

‘We need to get one thing straight. It’s fine with me if you just want to come along for the ride. I happen to think that would be a shame, because I was hoping that I could rely on you.’

‘What for?’ The words almost stuck in her throat. Suddenly she couldn’t think of one thing that Rafe would want to rely on her for.

‘You know these roads better than I do. You know the best way to get to where we need to go. And you have a lot of experience of working with people outside the hospital, which I don’t have. I could really do with your help.’

‘I...I want to help.’ Although they’d worked at the same hospital for over a year, Mimi had never worked with Rafe. She knew he was a fine doctor and had often wished she could have that opportunity.

‘Right then. So we’re a team?’

‘Yes... That would be good.’

‘In that case, I get to look out for you. The same way that I hope you’ll look out for me.’

Mimi swallowed hard. ‘You want me to look out for you?’

‘Why not?’ His sudden grin burned into her soul like a red-hot brand. ‘It’s expensive to train new doctors. You’d be doing the economy a favour.’

Right now, the economy was the last thing on her mind. She tried to drag her attention away from the curve of his lips.

‘Okay then—partners. I’ll look after you and you can look after me.’

He held out his hand and she took it, almost in a dream. One of those bright, happy dreams that had so often been shattered when she woke and found that Rafe wasn’t sleeping next to her.

‘Partners it is, then.’

Suddenly the dream cracked. Mimi had promised herself not to risk falling for another man and fantasising about Rafe, of all people, was plain crazy.

She let go of his hand, settling back into her seat. Five years ago she’d been foolish enough to believe that she meant something to him, and now... He’d be gone soon and he wouldn’t look back.

Perhaps that was the advantage of having a heart that had once been broken. It was stronger now, and well defended. Rafe couldn’t just walk back into her life and steal it.

* * *

The shining look on her face, the way her lips were parted slightly, had obliterated everything else. Mimi might be as tough as they came, but when she made love she was the softest, sweetest thing.

Don’t do this. Don’t even think about it.

He’d made one promise to Charlie, and another to himself. He wasn’t going to break either of them. Rafe switched on the engine, jamming the car into first gear with more force than was strictly necessary, and started to drive.