Читать книгу The Doctor's Longed-for Bride - Judy Campbell, Judy Campbell - Страница 6

IT WAS HOT in the park—people lay basking on the grass under the shade of the trees and children splashed in the paddling pool, their happy squeals carrying over to Francesca holding Abby by the hand.

‘Can I go in there?’ asked the little girl imploringly, tugging Francesca towards the pool. ‘Please!’

Francesca laughed. ‘You can if Daddy says so—but you’re due at a party soon and he may not want you to get wet.’

‘He doesn’t mind me getting wet—really!’ the child assured her, then she started bouncing excitedly up and down. ‘Look—he’s coming now. Let’s ask him, shall we?’

A tall man with thick russet-coloured hair and rimless glasses that gave him a rather studious look ran up to them. ‘Sorry to keep you, Francesca—the clinic was running late as usual and I couldn’t get away. Thanks a ton for minding Abby.’

‘No trouble, Jack. I love looking after her, as you know.’ Francesca grinned at him. ‘And I’m not surprised you’re late—I’ve never known a Saturday clinic end early.’

Abby pushed in between them and wound her arms round her father’s legs. ‘Please, Daddy, let me paddle in the little pool. I won’t get very wet you know…’

Both adults laughed and the man lifted Abby up in his arms and kissed her cheek. ‘Difficult not to get very wet in water,’ he teased. ‘Go on, then—just for a minute, sweetheart. Better take off that dress, though. You’ll soon dry out in this heat before we go to Sam’s party.’

Francesca helped Abby take off her dress and the little girl scampered joyfully towards the pool, her russet curly hair springing up and down.

‘She’s such a dear little girl,’ said Francesca, her eyes following Abby. ‘So bright and bubbly. You must be very proud of her Jack.’

Jack sighed. ‘Of course I am. I just wish Sue was here to see her, that’s all. It seems so hard that she’ll never watch Abby growing up.’

Francesca looked at him sympathetically. He and his late wife had made such a great couple, devoted to each other and absolutely besotted with their little daughter when she had been born. When Sue had died he had been devastated, and Francesca felt he had never recovered from her loss.

She and Jack started to stroll towards the paddling pool after Abby, and Francesca squeezed his arm.

‘You must be lost without Sue,’ she said gently. ‘But you’ve done so well on your own with Abby.’

‘Thanks in large part to you.’ Jack smiled at her. ‘I’ve really appreciated you helping out when I’ve been stuck, you know—like you did today, picking her up from the childminder and looking after her when you’d already done a long stint in A and E.’

‘If I can’t help look after my fiancé’s niece from time to time, it’s a poor lookout. It works both ways anyway. You’re Damian’s brother-in-law and it’s been good to be able to unload some of my worries on you while he’s in South America.’

‘No regrets about me introducing you to someone who’s away more than he’s here?’ asked Jack.

‘Don’t be silly. Love doesn’t dilute with distance, you know! I’ll always be grateful to you.’ She sighed. ‘I wish I could go out and see him, but he’s adamant that I shouldn’t because of the unrest in the area at the moment.’

A vivid picture of her first meeting with Damian sprang into Frankie’s mind—a lovely summer’s evening by the river in the garden of a country pub. Jack had persuaded her to come and have a drink after a gruelling day’s work and meet his brother-in-law who had been back in England for a short time. A charismatic man with thick fair hair had been holding forth in the middle of a group of people in a witty and exuberant way about life on the island off South America where he’d worked. He’d had the confident and easy manner of someone who had not been embarrassed to be the centre of attention—very different from Jack’s diffident and modest demeanour.

Frankie could recall the exact moment when Damian had turned round and seen her by Jack’s side. Damian’s eyes had held hers for a full minute, it seemed, then his gaze had shifted slowly up and down her body in a frank look of admiration and lust. If any other man had behaved like that, Frankie thought wryly, she’d have told them where to get off, but something about him had made her melt like snow in the desert. Damian had abandoned the group he’d been with, including a wistful-looking blonde girl, and had spent the rest of the evening with Frankie. And after that she’d fallen for him.

‘Any news from him?’ asked Jack.

Frankie turned a glowing face to Jack, her dark brown eyes sparkling. ‘I was going to tell you—I had an e-mail this morning, saying he’s coming back next week—isn’t that great? It’s been six months since I’ve seen him.’

Jack looked startled, almost shocked. ‘He’ll be here as soon as that?’ He stared ahead for a moment, watching his daughter splashing energetically in the pool, then he said slowly, ‘So I suppose you’ll be fixing a date for the wedding, then?’

He watched her eager and excited expression, and she laughed. ‘Oh, I expect so, as soon as possible. And, of course, you’ll be best man, won’t you? I know Damian would want you to be.’

A look of slight embarrassment crossed his face. ‘He may have other plans. I don’t want to assume that he wants me…’

‘Nonsense!’ declared Francesca. ‘He was Susan’s brother and I know that he would want to include you in the ceremony. If Susan had been alive she would have been my bridesmaid—now it would be wonderful if Abby could do that for me instead. I’d love that and I’m sure she would, too. She’d look adorable in a special dress…’

Jack’s expression cleared and he smiled down at her, his blue eyes twinkling. ‘If you’re sure you want a four-year-old hanging onto your train. It could be dangerous!’ He shot a look at his watch, then called out to his daughter, ‘Come on, Abby—time to go to Sam’s party now. Let’s put your dress back on!’

Abby ran obediently out of the pool, giggling as some other children splashed her with water. ‘I’m coming!’ she yelled. ‘I’m going to get you all wet in a minute!’

Jack caught his daughter in his arms and hugged her. ‘You wouldn’t do that to Daddy, would you?’

‘Yes, I would,’ she shouted. She looked up at Francesca impishly. ‘Are you going to take me to the party, too?’ she asked.

Francesca was about to say that she’d be happy to stroll along with them when Jack interjected quickly. ‘Francesca’s given up a lot of her day already, Abby. She’s got a life of her own, you know, things she’s got to do without us! And when she’s married to Damian, we won’t see her as much as we do now.’

Abby’s underlip jutted out crossly. ‘I want her to come,’ she muttered. ‘Everyone else has mummies with them as well as daddies. They’d think she was my mummy…’

A shadow crossed Jack’s strong face. ‘You’ll have to make do with me, sweetheart,’ he said gently.

‘I really don’t mind coming with you, Jack,’ said Francesca, her heart going out in sympathy to the little girl.

Jack’s eyes flicked momentarily across to Francesca, meeting hers for a fleeting moment, an unreadable expression crossing his face. Then he shook his head. ‘No, no,’ he said briskly. ‘No need for that. I’ll see you at St Mary’s on Monday. Thanks again for your help today. Come on, Abby, love, I’ll carry you across the park.’

He strode off with the child in his arms, and Francesca watched them go with a funny feeling of regret—she loved being with them and, she had to confess, being a mother-figure to little Abby. She’d half hoped that she and Jack could have gone and had a cup of tea while Abby was at the party—it would have been good to have had a chat, discuss the branch of the family business Damian was hoping to set up when he returned home, and also talk about Abby and her new school. She was surprised that Jack hadn’t suggested it—they often spent Saturday afternoon together.

She turned and walked slowly back to the little terraced house she rented at the edge of the common, somehow feeling rather flat and deflated. Then she shook herself mentally. Jack was right—she had a life of her own, and Damian would be back soon. She wouldn’t have to rely on Jack to help her when anything in the house needed doing, and equally she wouldn’t be able to act as his escort when he needed someone to go to the theatre with or to a supper party with close friends. She’d got used to a certain way of life when Damian had gone to South America—and now, after six months, things would have to change!

Francesca paused at the doorstep and looked back across the park, where Jack’s diminishing figure could just be seen disappearing amongst the trees. She’d got to know him well these last few months and they’d become really good friends—he was so trustworthy and such fun. She wondered whether it was too soon after Sue’s death to find a girlfriend for him. Nevertheless, she would keep a lookout for a suitable girl and perhaps they could go out as a foursome. Feeling cheered by that thought, she went into the house.