Читать книгу Doctor On Her Doorstep - Annie Claydon, Annie Claydon - Страница 8

SUNDAY morning. Ten-thirty. Jenna should have been drinking tea and reading the paper, but instead she was studying the street outside. A car drew up and she twitched the muslin curtains back into place, stepping away from the big bay windows.

The bell sounded when she was halfway down the stairs. As soon as she opened the door, a four-year-old bundle of energy launched itself at her.

‘Hello, Ellie. Did you have a nice holiday?’ She nodded at Rob and crooked her finger at him. ‘Come in. You’ve got some explaining to do.’

Nothing was going to dent Rob’s good humour this morning or dim the violent hue of his Cornwall Surfers T-shirt. He followed Jenna up the stairs, replying indulgently to Ellie’s chatter, and flung himself into an armchair while Jenna fetched some juice, a pad of paper and a box of assorted pencils and crayons for Ellie.

‘Don’t give her that pad, Jen. She’ll only make a mess of it.’ Rob was looking at the thick, white cartridge paper that Jenna had put in front of Ellie.

Jenna nodded at Ellie, who was smoothing her hand across the pad. ‘You’re never too young to be able to appreciate the texture of nice paper.’ She bent and tore one of the thick sheets from the pad, clipping it on to a board for Ellie, and selected a soft pencil from the box. ‘Here you are, sweetie, try using this.’

Rob rolled his eyes. ‘Well, if she turns out to be the next Picasso, then I suppose we’ll have you to thank. Look, sorry about the mix-up last week.’

‘We managed.’ Jenna walked through to the kitchen to make some tea and Rob followed her. ‘You might have told me, though.’

‘Well, it’s a bit tricksy, you know how these things are.’

‘No, not really, not until you tell me.’

‘Okay, well, Adam’s a decent bloke. One of the best people I’ve ever known, in fact, but he’s not had it easy these last eighteen months. I’ve been trying to find him somewhere to stay where he can have some peace and quiet, get back on his feet.’ Rob shrugged. ‘Tactfully, you know?’

Rob was no good at tact, he usually left that kind of thing to Cassie. ‘Which explains all that cloak-and-dagger stuff in your email.’

‘Yeah.’ Rob brightened. ‘Yeah, that’s it.’ It wasn’t it at all. There was a whole list of other questions that sprang to mind.

‘So he’s not staying with you and Cass?’

‘No. We offered, of course, but he says that we’ve no room. And what with Cass being pregnant and everything …’ They both jumped as the doorbell went. If that was Adam, he was early.

‘Can you get the intercom?’ Jenna reached up into the kitchen cabinet for another cup. ‘And don’t worry. He’ll be fine here, and I’ll keep an eye on him.’

‘Thanks, Jen.’

Rob disappeared out of the kitchen and Jenna gave the teapot a swirl, even though she’d already done so once, and dumped it down on the tray. It would have helped if she knew what on earth she was meant to be keeping an eye out for, but Cassie would be a much better bet than Rob when it came to straight answers.

The commotion in the hallway indicated that the object of her speculation had arrived and that he was being greeted by both Ellie and her father at the same time, the child squealing with laughter and demanding a hug.

Jenna popped her head around the kitchen doorway. He was a picture of health and good humour, tanned, taller and broader than Rob and grinning as he lifted Ellie up so she could fling her arms around his neck. No trace of whatever it was that Rob was so concerned about.

‘Hello, there.’ His head jerked upwards as Jenna spoke.

‘Hi.’ He came forward, still carrying Ellie, who looked as if she was going to have to be prised away from him with a crowbar. ‘I hope we’re not crashing in on your morning.’

‘Not at all. Welcome back.’ She held her hand out to him, and he took it, his touch cool, measured. He seemed to be less careful about keeping his distance now that he was not alone with her, and held on to her hand for one moment too long before Jenna pulled hers back again.

‘Where is my present?’ Ellie was demanding now, beating her hands against his shoulders.

‘In a minute, honey. We’ll just collect the keys from Jenna and get out of her hair first.’ He was smooth, she’d give him that. Perfect poise. Nothing but easy charm.

‘I’ve just made tea.’ Jenna waved him into the sitting room. ‘And Ellie’s been doing some drawing, I expect you’ll be wanting to see that. Let her open her present here if she’d like to.’

When she brought the tea in, Ellie was already working on the package that Adam had given her. Pink paper on the outside, a pretty bow and layer upon layer of paper underneath, firmly bound with sticky tape.

‘Hope it lives up to all this anticipation.’ Rob was making no move to help his daughter as she whooped with delighted frustration, trying to rip the parcel open.

‘Me, too.’ Adam too was letting Ellie get on with the task of unwrapping her present unaided. ‘So how was the holiday? Catch any waves?’

‘Fabulous. We were on the north coast, and the hotel was close to this great little surf beach, so I could go out first thing in the morning and make it back in time for breakfast.’

‘Nice one. You’ll have to come back to Florida soon.’ Adam accepted a mug of tea from Jenna, taking a grateful sip.

‘We will. You can sit on the beach with Cassie and the kids and I’ll show you how it’s done.’

‘Yeah, right, in your dreams.’ He shot a bright grin at Jenna. ‘Takes more than a hideous T-shirt to make a surfer. What was Cassie thinking, letting you go out in that?’

Rob laughed. ‘She reckons that if I go out in it then she won’t have to put up with it around the house.’ He ran his hand over the garishly coloured fabric. ‘What, don’t you like it?’

Ellie’s delighted squeal meant that Adam never did get to deliver his verdict. She’d reached the inside of the package and was holding up a string of beads.

‘Aren’t they pretty?’ Ellie brought the beads to Jenna to show her and when she examined them carefully she could see they were hand painted, each one different.

‘I got them in Mexico.’ Adam watched as Jenna carefully wound the beads around Ellie’s neck for her, nodding with approval. ‘You look beautiful, honey.’

Ellie was climbing up on the sofa, between Adam and Rob, to catch a glimpse of herself in the mirror over the fireplace, and Rob tugged at her sleeve. ‘What else have you got, then, El?’ He gestured to the folded fabric that still lay amongst the ruins of the wrapping paper.

Ellie pulled the fabric out, turned it around a couple of times then held it up against herself, and Jenna caught a glimpse of colourful embroidery on a white cotton background.

‘It’s a bit big, isn’t it, mate?’ Rob was surveying his daughter. ‘She’ll be sixteen before she grows into that.’

‘No, idiot. It’s a dress.’ Jenna smoothed the fabric and held it against Ellie. It was roomy, but the drawstring at the waist meant that it could be adjusted to fit her perfectly.

‘Can I wear it?’ Ellie was jumping up and down with excitement.

‘Not until you’ve said the magic word.’ Rob smiled at her.

Ellie launched herself at Adam, nearly knocking his tea over and flung her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek. ‘Oh, that’s nice … Can I have another one? Right here?’ His finger was on his other cheek and Ellie obliged eagerly. ‘Thank you.’

‘I drew you a picture.’ Ellie’s hands were on Adam’s shoulder, pulling as hard as she could, and Jenna saw alarm flare in Rob’s face.

‘Gently, El. Adam’s shoulder isn’t properly mended yet.’

Adam waved him away. ‘I’d love to see your picture, Ellie, will you show me?’

Ellie fetched her drawing and climbed up onto Adam’s knee. ‘That’s Mum … and Dad … me and Daisy … and that’s you.’ Her finger was moving across the paper.

‘That’s very good. And who’s this, up there?’

Ellie shook her head, as if the stupidity of adults never ceased to amaze her. ‘That’s your friend. Mum says she’s in heaven.’

Rob’s face tightened, but Adam’s smile never faltered. ‘That’s lovely, honey. I’m so pleased you drew her too, along with the rest of us.’

‘Will you tell her?’

‘Ellie …’ There was a note of anxiety in Rob’s voice but Adam’s glance quieted him.

‘Of course I’ll tell her. She’ll be so happy, I expect she’ll tell all her friends up there.’

Ellie glared up at the ceiling and nodded, as if satisfied. ‘Can I wear my dress?’

This time Adam allowed Rob to step in. ‘Not yet, El. We’ve got some things to move around downstairs and I don’t want you getting it all dirty. Later on, when we’ve finished.’

The circular face that Ellie had drawn, giving no hint of who Adam’s friend might really be, released its grip on Jenna’s attention and she bumped back down to earth. ‘Oh, no, that’s okay, I already did that.’

Adam’s gaze was on her now, so palpable that it almost tickled her skin. ‘You did what?’

‘I moved the boxes and the bed. And put a few things in the fridge, just essentials, to keep you going until tomorrow.’

His eyes slid down her thin bare arms, and her fingers jerked in her lap. ‘On your own? I thought I said I’d do that.’

Rob came to her rescue. Kind of. ‘What I love about this woman is that you can say anything you like to her, and she’ll hear you, but she won’t listen. Eh, Jen?’

Adam pursed his lips thoughtfully. ‘In that case, perhaps I can just put my bag downstairs and take you all to lunch before my lecture.’ He glanced at Ellie, his face breaking into a smile. ‘Go and ask your dad if you can wear your new dress.’

The dress fitted perfectly. Adam and Rob had disappeared downstairs with the keys, while Jenna stripped off Ellie’s jeans and T-shirt and drew the dress over her head, running her fingers over the hand embroidery and arranging it just so.

‘Can I have some perfume?’ Ellie was obviously keen on playing the lady.

‘No, you know what your mum says about perfume.’ Ellie’s idea of a dab behind her ears was to tip half a bottle of Cassie’s anniversary gift over her head. ‘Tell you what, this is much better.’

She trimmed a couple of stalks of lavender from the bunch in the fireplace and tied them firmly with a ribbon from the drawer. ‘Here, I’ll fix it onto your dress … like this … and you’ll smell nice and look nice as well.’ She leaned back and admired her handiwork. Ellie looked beautiful.

‘Are you going to dress up, too?’ Ellie had unpinned Jenna’s hair and was arranging it around her shoulders.

‘No, I’m fine as I am.’ Jenna looked down at her jeans and cotton, sleeveless top. This was about as good as it got, and however much she wanted to make an effort to look nice today she wasn’t going to do anything that might betray that to either Rob or Adam.

‘Perfect.’ Adam’s voice boomed behind her and she jumped. He obviously meant Ellie.

‘Doesn’t she look pretty?’ She flashed a smile at him.

‘Yes, she looks perfect, too.’ His mouth twisted in a smile as Jenna flushed. ‘Thank you for the flowers.’

She’d arranged lavender and sweet-smelling greenery in a vase, putting it downstairs in the hearth to break up the stark, white walls and bring a little of the garden into the flat. And he’d noticed them. ‘They’re not really flowers.’

He shrugged. ‘Thanks anyway. You have a good eye, they look stunning.’ He ignored the redness, which was now spreading across her cheeks, and turned his attention to Ellie. ‘And you look like a proper young lady.’

Ellie seemed to take as much delight as Jenna did in Adam’s approval, but she was more straightforward about showing it. ‘I did Jenna’s hair, too. Look.’ She tugged at one of Jenna’s curls.

‘Maybe I’ll just fix it back up again.’ Jenna gathered her hair behind her head, looking for the elastic tie that Ellie had discarded somewhere on the floor. She’d never quite got around to liking her hair much. Too many memories of her mother tugging mercilessly at the tangles and bemoaning the fact that it wasn’t smooth like her sister’s. And that, horror of horrors, it was red.

‘Don’t.’ Something about Adam’s tone made her freeze, stock still. ‘It really suits you like that.’ There was no indication in his face that this was anything other than a polite compliment.

Rob came to her rescue again. Friendly, open and perfectly unmoved by the intensity of Adam’s voice. ‘Yeah. Fiery, eh, Jen? Doesn’t take any nonsense from anyone.’ He gave Adam a pointed look and held his hand out to Ellie. ‘Come on, then. If we’re going, let’s go.’

‘Flame-haired.’ Rob missed Adam’s quiet comment in the kerfuffle of getting Ellie out of the door and down the stairs, but Jenna caught it, as she guessed she had been meant to. She shot him a glare and he grinned innocently, as if he’d meant nothing by it. Maybe he hadn’t.

‘So what’s the story with Julie, then?’ Adam had waited until Rob had taken Ellie home and he and Jenna were sitting alone in the open-air enclosure on the pavement outside the restaurant.

‘Julie? You mean Julie Taylor?’

‘Yes. Her consultant, Iain Simms, emailed me on Friday evening, copying you in.’

‘Oh. I haven’t had time to look at my email for the last couple of days.’ He was making her feel self-conscious again. His eyes had wandered towards her far too many times already, cool, assessing, as if he was sizing her up, and Jenna couldn’t help wondering what he saw. Wishing that it wasn’t what she saw in the mirror. Pale limbs, untouched by the sun. A slim waist, but precious few curves. Red hair.

If he noticed her agitation, he paid no heed to it, leaning forward across the table towards her. ‘Too busy dragging furniture and boxes around, eh?’

Actually, yes. Those golden eyes were far too perceptive for Jenna’s liking. And she didn’t want him to see the effect they had on her when she met his gaze. ‘Shall we walk?’ Walking seemed a better option than sitting here, staring straight at him.

‘If you like.’ He stretched his arms, flexing his shoulder as if it was stiff, and signalled for the bill. ‘Along the river? Somehow the river always makes me feel as if I’m home again.’

Jenna nodded. The pavement to one side of them dipped and meandered its way down to the south bank of the Thames. Tower Bridge was in the distance to the right. The footbridge to their left, with a stream of Sunday afternoon day-trippers dawdling their way across the river. ‘I’ve never been away long enough to have that feeling of coming home. I’d like to travel. Learn a little about life.’

‘You don’t need a plane ticket to learn about life.’ His eyes focussed somewhere else for a moment, as if he was straining to catch a last glimpse of the place he had left behind. ‘Let’s walk. I’ll tell you what Iain’s email said.’

They strolled together down the broad steps that led to the river path. He was all sun-drenched charm, relaxed grace, and Jenna allowed herself to wonder what it would be like to walk arm in arm with him. She gave herself twenty seconds to feel the warmth of his body next to hers and then consigned the fantasy to the breeze that blew in from the river.

‘So I guess we’ll be working together on this one.’

‘Uh?’ If she’d been listening then she would know what they were working together on. ‘You mean you’re going to be working at the hospital? As well as lecturing?’

The slight twitch of his eyebrow told her that he’d already said that. ‘Yeah. Iain’s asked me to work with him on a few specific cases. I’m also working down in A and E for one or two days a week, while Dr Bryant’s on paternity leave. I’m hoping to get the chance to observe some of the techniques and practices you employ.’

‘And teach us a thing or two as well?’ The idea of being observed for any length of time by those amber eyes was … well, it would be interesting, if nothing else.

‘Yes. That too. I do have something to offer in return.’

‘I’m sure you do.’ Jenna wasn’t even going to think about what Adam had to offer. ‘So why your particular interest in Julie? We’re hoping that she won’t need much reconstructive surgery.’

‘It’s not all about surgery.’ He grinned down at Jenna. ‘Iain suggested that since you’ve been visiting her every day, I should speak to you about her.’

‘Well, I only really know about her case in a general sense. I saw Julie when she came into A and E after she was the victim of an acid attack. She saw it coming and shielded her face, but she has burns on her arm and shoulder. Iain and his team are dealing with that, though I’m really more concerned about her emotional state.’

‘Which is where I come in.’

Jenna turned to him in surprise. There was nothing in his face, no clue of what he was thinking. As she stared, a small muscle at the side of his jaw broke free of his control and began to flicker. ‘You know something about trauma?’

He knew something all right. That muscle was going crazy. ‘I do. Many of my patients are in the same position as Julie, and I try to deal with that as well as their physical needs.’

Jenna narrowed her eyes. ‘And there’s no counselling help? In Florida?’

He seemed to relax a little. ‘I work for a charity. We work all over South America, bringing medical aid and surgery to poor communities. Florida’s our home base. We have a facility there where patients who need specialised care are brought.’

‘So …’ Embarrassment trickled down the back of her neck and made her shiver. She’d misjudged Adam.

‘So what?’ It appeared he wasn’t going to let her off the hook.

‘I thought …’ She heaved a sigh. She might as well spit it out. ‘When you said plastic surgery and Florida, I thought you meant nip and tuck.’

‘Ah.’ Amusement sounded in his voice. ‘No, I mostly deal with cleft lips, cleft palates, facial tumours, injuries. Mostly children and teenagers, some adults. I imagine the rich and famous expect their surgeons to turn up to work in something other than ripped jeans and a T-shirt.’

Jenna swallowed hard. He would be eye-catching enough in pretty much anything, and she didn’t want to even think about ripped jeans. His neat chinos and plain, casual shirt were quite enough for the time being. ‘Then I owe you an apology. Your work sounds amazing.’

‘It has its rewards.’ The warmth in his face told Jenna that those rewards weren’t measured in pounds and pence. ‘Many of my patients are traumatised, either from their injuries or from having been mocked or shunned because of their appearance. I told Iain that I was especially interested in seeing how that was dealt with here.’

Jenna shrugged. ‘That’s just the trouble. Julie won’t see a counsellor.’

‘So I hear. I also hear that she trusts you and that you’ve been doing your best to fulfil that role for her.’ He fixed her with an enquiring look. ‘Not a particularly easy path to tread. Difficult not to become over-involved, I imagine.’

Jenna pressed her lips together and he shrugged as if he had already proved his point. ‘My lecture starts in an hour. Would you like to come?’

‘I might just do that. Were you thinking of covering trauma?’

‘I was considering touching on the fact that a small team with limited resources needs to take a more holistic approach.’

‘In other words you need to treat the person, not just the injury.’ It was a private dream of Jenna’s. Not just to be a doctor but to be a healer. ‘Difficult not to become over-involved, then.’

A smile spread slowly across his face. ‘I’m going to have to take the Fifth on that.’

‘If you do that, the jury’s going to assume that the answer’s yes.’

‘Nothing I can do about that. They can assume whatever they like.’ For a moment Jenna thought that she had broken through his reserve. Then the fire died in his eyes. ‘I’ll drop in and see Julie tomorrow.’

Jenna nodded. He wasn’t making a request and she supposed that she was going to be stuck with his input, whatever that might be. She may as well accept it gracefully. ‘I’d be interested to hear what you think. You know where to find me.’

‘I do.’ He looked at his watch. ‘It’s time I headed over to the lecture theatre. Will you fill me in on some more of Julie’s details on the way?’

It was the dream that had haunted him for the last eighteen months, sometimes once every week or two, sometimes every night. He woke up with a stifled cry, icy sweat against his cheek. For a moment, he couldn’t work out where he was, and then the dim glow of the nightlight brought him to his senses. The muslin drapes, drawn across the half-open French doors, fluttered in the night breeze and he slowly got out of bed, shaking his head, trying to reclaim his place in the waking world.

Slipping outside onto the moss-lined stones of the patio, he took a deep draught of air, inhaling the smell of the city, mingling with the softer scents of the garden. He started, instinctively drawing back into the shadows, as a sharp click sounded above his head.

Jenna had opened the door, which led on to an iron railed balcony above his head, and was standing beside the steps that snaked down to the patio, just a few feet away from where he stood. In the darkness Adam could see only that she wore something loose, swirling around her bare feet, and that her hair was a wild shadow around her head.

He held his breath. She was leaning over the balcony, craning round towards him, and he guessed that she could see the open French doors and the light inside. Adam flattened himself against the wall and watched as she seemed to sniff the air, like some shy, nocturnal creature of the forest.

A fox trotted across the lawn. Her head jerked upwards and she followed its progress, waiting until it had disappeared into the shrubbery before she turned and slowly walked back into the house. Adam heard the catch on the door being fastened and then there was silence.

He swiped his hand across his face. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day, and he should try to sleep again. The thought that she was there, perhaps even watching over him, calmed him. Tomorrow would be time enough to probe the intriguing contradictions of his flame-haired, disturbingly gorgeous landlady.