Читать книгу The Boss Who Stole Her Heart - Jennifer Taylor, Jennifer Taylor - Страница 14

CHAPTER FOUR

DANIEL COULD HAVE bitten off his tongue when he saw Eleanor’s face tighten. That she hadn’t appreciated the comment was obvious and he couldn’t blame her. No one liked to be made to feel that they weren’t up to doing the job they had been hired for. He desperately wanted to explain but how could he when it would mean admitting that he had been worried about her, that he cared?

‘Right. Better get back to work or the patients will think we’ve gone on strike. Any problems, buzz me.’

He swung round, not giving her a chance to say anything as he headed back to his room. Maybe he was taking the coward’s way out but the thought of confessing how much she had been in his thoughts lately was out of the question. Maybe she did have issues that still affected her but he doubted if she would appreciate his concern. From what he had learned, Eleanor preferred to keep her own counsel and he would be well advised to remember that whenever he was tempted to interfere.

The morning flew past as it always did. They held open surgery each morning and they were always very busy. Although patients could make an appointment to be seen during the afternoon, Daniel had found that they preferred this system. Being a mainly rural community, it allowed more leeway for the farmers and their families. Livestock came first and people appreciated being able to visit the surgery when work allowed, rather than be tied to a set time and date. It was almost one by the time his last patient left so he tidied up and made his way to Reception. Marie had been joined by Lucy Burrows, who was doing her pre-registration training in their on-site pharmacy. It was obvious that Marie had brought her up to speed about the morning’s events.

‘I can’t believe that Beth has had her baby here!’ Lucy declared when she saw Daniel.

‘I know. It came as a bit of a shock, not least of all to Beth,’ Daniel replied, laughing. Lucy had been born and raised in Beesdale and had returned to the town after she had completed her degree. With a Master of Pharmacy degree to her credit, she could have moved anywhere in the country, but she loved the Dales and wanted to remain here.

‘I wonder what she’s going to call her,’ Lucy continued, happily. ‘Beth was convinced she was having a boy so she’ll have to think of some girls’ names, I imagine.’

‘She will,’ Daniel agreed, although he was only half listening. His ears had caught the sound of footsteps and he knew without needing to check that they belonged to Eleanor. How or why he was able to recognise them with such certainty, he had no idea, but he knew he was right and his heart seemed to beat a shade faster all of a sudden. It was an effort not to show how alarmed he felt as he turned to her. ‘All done?’

He’d been aiming for lightness, for nonchalance, for...for heaven knew what, but he hadn’t achieved it. No way! He inwardly winced when he realised how stilted he sounded. What made it worse was that out of the corner of his eye he saw Lucy and Marie exchange a look, confirmation, if he’d needed it, that he had messed up. All he could do was hope that Eleanor didn’t know him well enough to realise how strangely he was behaving.

‘Yes. Thank you.’

Daniel felt a jolt of shock hit him when he realised that Eleanor sounded the same as he did. Uptight. Stilted. Aware. His blood heated, gathering several degrees as it rushed through his veins. Eleanor was aware of him? Not just the normal sort of recognition of one human being for another but completely and totally aware of him? As a person? As a man? If his mind hadn’t been already boggled it would have been so then. Daniel could barely get his head round the idea and definitely couldn’t chase it away. It was a relief when Lucy unwittingly stepped into the breach.

‘Hi, Eleanor, I’m Lucy Burrows. I’m doing my pre-reg training in the pharmacy. I also do a turn on the desk if we’re pushed.’

‘Nice to meet you, Lucy.’ Daniel heard Eleanor take a quick breath and didn’t know whether he felt relieved or sorry when he heard how normal she sounded. ‘Actually, most people call me Ellie. I always think it sounds less, well, formal.’

Ellie. Daniel tried it out for size, oh, not out loud—he wasn’t that far gone! It rolled around his tongue pleasantly enough yet for some reason it didn’t feel quite right. He shot a glance at the woman standing beside him and felt his nerve endings start to fire out signals. Ellie was a pretty name, slightly more modern, a little more accessible, but it wasn’t right for her: it didn’t fit. He preferred Eleanor, preferred the sound of it, the feel of it, the sense of completeness. With Eleanor one got the whole woman. Whereas Ellie was just a fraction of the whole, the bits she wanted folk to see, not the bits she kept hidden. The bits, he realised, that he desperately wanted to get to know.

Ellie forced herself to respond as Lucy asked her how she had enjoyed her first morning at The Larches but it was an effort to concentrate. She had no idea what was going on in Daniel’s mind but she could almost see the thought bubbles forming above his head. That he was thinking about her was a given and it was unsettling to say the least. It was a relief when the phone rang.

‘I expect you’re keen to see the flat. I’ve got the keys here so I’ll take you up there now.’ Daniel offered her a small bunch of keys that he’d taken from his pocket as they moved away from the desk.

‘Thank you.’ Ellie took them off him, trying to ignore how warm they felt from being tucked against his body. ‘There’s no need for you to come, though,’ she said hurriedly, not sure she appreciated that idea. ‘I’m sure you must have more important things to do. I can sort myself out.’

‘It isn’t a problem. Anyway, there are a couple of things I need to show you—how to work the boiler and where to find the stopcock, things like that.’ He didn’t give her time to protest any more as he led the way from the surgery, taking the path round to the rear of the building. ‘The flat is completely self-contained,’ he continued over his shoulder. ‘Camille and I lived there when I took over the practice. We only moved out because of Nathan.’ He laughed. ‘We needed more space to fit in all his paraphernalia!’

‘Oh. I see.’ Ellie felt her heart sink. Although she knew it was silly, learning that Daniel was married and had a family was disappointing. She pushed that ridiculous thought to the back of her mind, determined that it wasn’t going to set down roots. ‘It must have been handy living on site, so to speak.’

‘Yes and no.’ Daniel paused so she could catch up with him. ‘It was great not having to drive miles each day to get to work but the downside was that I was always on call. Folk knew exactly where to find me, day and night.’

‘Mmm. I can see how that could be a problem,’ Ellie agreed, frowning.

‘You don’t need to worry about that,’ he said quickly. He put his hand on her arm and laughed. ‘We’ve managed to train our patients now. They phone the out-of-hours number rather than hammer on the front door these days.’

He patted her arm then moved away but it was a moment before Ellie followed him. She could feel her arm tingling from where his hand had rested on it and had to resist the urge to rub it. Daniel had reached a flight of steps leading to the upper floor of the building and he paused again to wait for her.

Ellie forced her feet to move in his direction but inside she could hear alarm bells ringing. She was already far too aware of Daniel, more aware of him, in fact, than she had been of anyone before, including Michael. Her attraction to her ex had developed over time; it definitely hadn’t been instantaneous as this had been. Was it the fact that she had suffered such a huge blow? she wondered. That being betrayed had left her vulnerable so that she had latched onto the first attractive man who had shown her any kindness?

Ellie wanted to believe it with a fervour that bordered on frenzy. Quite frankly, any explanation was better than thinking that this attraction she felt could develop into something more!

* * *

‘And this is the main bedroom. The bed’s new and so is the carpet. I decided to change them when I had the flat redecorated. The old ones were well past their use-by date.’

Daniel stepped back so that Eleanor could go ahead of him but she merely glanced into the room. Her eyes swept over the soft café-au-lait-coloured carpet and matching curtains and he found it impossible to decide if she liked what she saw or not. It had been the same with every room—a swift glance, a brief nod, and that had been it. Even though he knew it was ridiculous to feel even the tiniest bit miffed, he couldn’t help it.

‘So what do you think?’ he said, trying to mask his disappointment. She wasn’t to know how much effort he had expended getting the place ready for her. She had no idea that he had devoted a whole weekend just to choosing the colour for the walls or that buying new curtains had been such a nightmare—widths and lengths, patterned or plain—it had been like tiptoeing through a minefield! However, all the effort he’d expended wouldn’t be worth a brass farthing if she didn’t like it.

‘I don’t know what to say.’

She sank down onto the sofa and stared around the bright and airy living room. He’d chosen sheer curtains for in here—well, he hadn’t actually chosen them but had gone with what the sales assistant had advised—and he had been particularly pleased with the result. The view from the window was spectacular, the greens and mauves of the surrounding hills shown to advantage without heavy curtains to detract from it. But had he made an error of judgement? Would Eleanor have preferred something more substantial, more private?

‘Look, I understand if you want to change things,’ he said quickly. ‘Don’t think you have to live with what I’ve chosen...’

‘I love it. The walls, the curtains. Everything.’ She looked up and he could see tears shimmering in her eyes. ‘I never expected this, Daniel. Thank you so much. It’s perfect.’

‘I’m glad you like it.’ Daniel felt a lump come to his throat and had to swallow hard. He dredged up a rather rusty laugh. ‘I had a horrible feeling that you loathed the place when you didn’t say anything.’