Читать книгу Brides of Penhally Bay - Vol 2 - Kate Hardy - Страница 19

‘I’M SORRY, Melinda, he’s with a patient,’ Hazel informed her. ‘Oh, and congratulations, by the way.’

Oh, no.

Oh, no, no, no.

If Hazel knew, that meant everyone in the surgery knew.

Including Dragan.

She was way, way too late.

And he was going to be so hurt and angry because he was the last one to know. After she’d promised him no more secrets, too—just to rub salt into his wounds.

But how on earth had the paparazzi found out?

‘Thank you,’ she muttered. ‘Um, could you tell him I called?’

‘Of course, love. And I’ve got this lovely pattern for a little matinee jacket—I’ll knit you some in lemon and white. Because we don’t know if you’re having a girl or a boy yet, do we?’

‘Thank you, Hazel. That’s very kind.’ It was a real effort to chat and be nice when all she wanted to do right now was get off the phone.

Her mobile phone beeped, telling her that someone had sent her a text.

‘Um, Hazel, I won’t hold you up because I know how busy the surgery is on a Monday morning,’ she said quickly.

‘Well, I’m sure I’ll see you soon, dear,’ Hazel said.

With relief, Melinda said goodbye, hung up and switched to the message.

New message from Dragan flashed onto the screen.

She flicked into the message. It was very short and to the point. No more secrets?

Even though a text message was just words and it was impossible to tell the sender’s tone, she knew from his choice of words that he was absolutely livid. And she couldn’t blame him: this was news he should have heard from her and nobody else.

He’d be hurt, too. Because she’d let him down. She’d promised him no more secrets—and then this had happened.

But she’d tried to get hold of him. Hadn’t he heard her message?

Maybe his voicemail was having problems. She’d text him instead. And Hazel was bound to tell him that she’d phoned, so he would at least know she’d tried to get hold of him.

Sorry, not meant to be like this. We need to talk. Please call me.

She had no idea when he’d pick up the message. Maybe during his break or at the end of surgery—and despite the fact that consultations were only supposed to take ten minutes, Dragan never rushed his patients. Sometimes his surgery overran slightly, cutting into his lunch-break, and he’d been known to fit in extra patients, too, not wanting them to have to wait until the next surgery.

Wait.

Ha.

All she could do right now was wait.

She didn’t dare venture outside. Given that the press had the news of her pregnancy, the place was probably crawling with paparazzi, and she really didn’t feel up to answering questions. But there was another call she had to make.

She rang the surgery. ‘Hi, Rachel, it’s Melinda. Is George around?’

‘He’s just finishing with a patient. Want me to grab him before his next appointment and get him to ring you?’ the receptionist asked.

‘Yes, please. Is, um, is everything OK down there?’

‘We had a few people in but George got rid of them,’ Rachel said. ‘Are you all right, Melinda?’

No. Far from it. ‘Yes,’ she lied.

Five minutes later, George called her back. ‘This is getting to be a bit of a habit,’ she said wryly. ‘And I apologise. I take it you’ve seen the papers today?’

‘Yes.’

‘Things are a bit messy,’ she said.

He laughed. ‘We’ve got siege conditions outside. I hope you’ve got your blackout curtains up.’

‘George, I would’ve told you. But I only found out myself two days ago. I don’t even know when the baby’s due. I’m waiting for my ultrasound appointment.’

‘It’s all right,’ he reassured her. ‘Legally, you don’t have to tell me yet anyway. But I’m glad I do know, because I need to make sure your job conditions are suitable.’

‘I’m a vet, George. And the surgery’s just had a refit.’

‘Not those sorts of conditions. In our profession, you know as well as I do there are cases you need to avoid during pregnancy on health and safety grounds. So there are some rules, and they’re not breakable under any circumstances. Number one, you don’t go anywhere near lambs; number two, you’re meticulous about hygiene; and, number three, you wear gloves if you go anywhere near a cat. Understood?’

‘I know. Because of the risks of chlamydophilia, listeria and toxicarosis.’ Organisms that could all be harmful to unborn babies—and to their mothers.

‘Exactly. You don’t take any risks. You don’t take any of my calls to large animals. And if there’s a heavy animal in the surgery that needs to be up on the table, you get help—

you don’t do the lifting yourself. Got it?’

‘Got it,’ she said.

‘Good. Now, try and get some rest today. Everyone in the practice is under instructions to say “No comment” to just about anything. But if you need anything, you just tell us. Rachel can nip out to the shops for you if you need something and she can bring it in to you through the back.’

‘George, you’re a wonderful man and I don’t deserve you as a boss. I owe you your body weight in chocolate,’ she said feelingly.

‘I might just take you up on that,’ he teased. ‘Still, at least your other half’s a doctor. He’ll keep a good eye on you.’

‘Mmm.’ Though right now she wasn’t too sure Dragan was still her other half. Far from the baby drawing them closer together, overcoming the last hurdles between them, the news could be the thing to shatter their relationship for good.

She waited all morning. And finally, at lunchtime, Dragan called her. His voice was like ice when he said, ‘It isn’t very nice discovering through the newspapers that you’re going to be a father.’

‘I’m sorry. It wasn’t supposed to happen that way.’ She hadn’t even begun to think how she’d tell him, but she’d never intended him to find out like this. She sighed. ‘Look, I really don’t want to talk about this over the phone. Can I see you?’

‘With all the paparazzi swarming round? The surgery’s besieged.’

‘It’s bad here, too.’

‘I doubt if we can both give them the slip. So it’s the phone or risking more speculation. Your choice.’

‘Believe me, you won’t be the one in the news tomorrow,’ she said dryly. ‘That will be me. And then, as an ex-princess, I’ll cease to be news and they’ll go away.’

‘Ex-princess? What do you mean, ex-princess?’

‘I’ll explain when I see you.’ She swallowed hard. ‘So do I come over to you or are you coming here?’

‘I’ll come over.’

The few minutes it took to walk from the surgery to the vet’s felt like hours. Cars were parked everywhere—including on the double yellow lines—and people were shouting at him.

‘Congratulations, Dr Love-ak!’

Lord, how he hated the way they’d mangled his name for the headlines.

‘How does it feel to be a soon-to-be dad?’

How the hell should he know? He hadn’t really had time to take it in.

‘Are you going to be king of Contarini?’

Absolutely not.

‘Give us a smile!’

Yeah, right.

He resolutely ignored them. And he wasn’t leading them to Melinda’s back door either; he walked through the front door into the vet’s.

‘Dr Lovak!’ Rachel looked up from the reception desk at him, surprised. ‘I didn’t think Bramb—Oh.’ Her voice tailed off as she realised that, for once, the dog wasn’t with him.

At least there were no paparazzi here; he knew everyone in the waiting room. Though the sympathetic smiles mixed with speculative looks made him uncomfortable. He lowered his voice. ‘Can I nip through the back way to Melinda’s? I want to avoid the posse outside.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘How did you manage to keep them out?’

‘George told them the next person to step inside was the one who’d help him sort out the next gelding, with no an-aesthetic—and he’d be standing between the stallion’s back legs, holding the relevant bits.’

Despite his anger, Dragan couldn’t help smiling back at her. ‘George has quite a way with words.’ Not to mention that he was the same height as Dragan and much broader in the shoulders—if he drew himself up to his full height he could look very intimidating. ‘Maybe I should take a leaf out of his book. I could borrow an epidural kit from Kate and threaten them with the syringe.’

‘Ah, but then they’d have your picture all over the front page, captioned “Doctor Doom” or something like that,’ Rachel said.

‘Which might be marginally better than Dr Love-ak.’ He grimaced. ‘Thanks, Rachel.’

He went through the back of the surgery to the lobby, which also contained the door to Melinda’s flat, and knocked on the door.

When she answered, he could see how pale and unhappy she looked—and although his first instinct was to wrap her in his arms and hold her close and tell her everything would be all right, he held back.

Because he was extremely angry with her. For keeping this from him. For letting him find out something important through the press yet again. What else had she kept from him? All the secrets and lies…He didn’t want a life based on that, and he was beginning to realise that that was exactly what he’d get with Melinda. A life of subterfuge. Of keeping the stiff upper lip she’d once teased him of developing. And he really, really didn’t want that. He didn’t want their love for each other chipped away until he began to resent her and she started to despise him.

Without comment, Melinda stood aside and beckoned him in. She closed the door and followed him up the stairs.

Ah, hell.

Last time he’d been in this flat with her, he’d made love with her. Had that been the night they’d made the baby?

He clenched his fists. Why had it all had to go so wrong? Why did life have to be so bloody complicated?

‘So when were you going to tell me?’ he asked.

‘I only found out myself on Saturday afternoon.’

‘You saw me last night. Why didn’t you tell me then?’

‘Because I don’t know how pregnant I am. I wanted to wait until I knew the due date.’

He shook his head. ‘I don’t understand. No more secrets, you said. So how come the press knew?’

‘I have no ide—’ Her voice faded, and he could see the worry on her face.

‘What?’ he asked suspiciously.

‘Chloe wouldn’t have said a word. So they must have gone through my bin and found the test kit or the packaging. Dio. I can’t believe I was so stupid. What was I thinking?’

It took a moment for her comment to penetrate his brain. ‘Hang on. Chloe knows? You told Chloe before you told me?’

‘I needed professional advice,’ Melinda defended herself. ‘And apart from being a midwife, she’s one of my best friends.’

‘Don’t you think that the baby’s father should have been the first to know?’

‘What was I supposed to tell you? I’m pregnant but I have no idea how pregnant?’

‘I’m a GP, for pity’s sake.’ He stared at her. ‘Don’t you think I could’ve helped you?’

‘I’m not your patient—and it’s not ethical for you to treat me.’

‘You’re pulling me up on ethics?’

‘I didn’t mean it like that! I’m sorry.’ She raked a hand through her hair. ‘Look, I needed time to get used to the idea before I told you.’

Being pregnant was a huge life change, and of course she needed time to get used to the idea. And if she hadn’t been Princess Melinda, it wouldn’t have mattered. She would have had that time, and it wouldn’t have been spread all over the press before she was ready to talk to him.

Though he was still hurt that she’d told Chloe first. And there was the issue with the scan: she was pregnant with their baby, and she hadn’t asked him to go to the dating scan with her, as any normal man would want to do. It felt as if she’d pushed him out—that they were making a new family between them and she’d cut him off before he had a chance to be part of it.

‘So what are you planning to do? About the baby, I mean?’ When she didn’t answer immediately, he continued, ‘That is, I assume there really is a baby? It’s not just a way of forcing your parents’ hand?’

He regretted the question the second he’d asked it, because her face lost all colour.

‘I can’t believe you just said that.’ Her voice was a cracked whisper.

‘There have been so many secrets and lies flying about, I don’t know what’s true and what’s not any more.’

She swallowed hard. ‘I’m pregnant, Dragan. I did the test twice. Just to be sure. But I don’t know when the baby’s due—Chloe thinks I might be as much as three months already.’ A muscle twitched in the side of her cheek. ‘She’s got me an ultrasound appointment for next week. She’s coming with me.’

‘It didn’t occur to you that I might want to go with you?’

‘For pity’s sake, Dragan. You’ve kept me practically at arm’s length since I came back from Contarini. I didn’t know what to think, how you’d react. We never talked about having kids—I don’t know whether being a dad is going to bring back all the memories of your family and make you unhappy, or whether you’re pleased, or what.’

‘So you’re blaming me?’

‘No, of course I’m not! I’m trying to work out what’s in your head, and failing miserably.’ She groaned. ‘This is all going hideously, hideously wrong.’

‘It’s not very nice from this side of the fence either.’

‘No? Well, you try being pregnant and completely on your own.’ She glared at him. ‘Not only does my baby’s father doubt every single word I say, my family have disowned me.’

He remembered what she’d said about being an exprincess. ‘What do you mean, they’ve disowned you?’

‘My mother saw the papers this morning. So that’s how I found out the press knew. She rang me when I was in the shower. And as from this morning I’m no longer part of the Contarini royal family,’ she said dryly.

‘I suppose that solves one of your problems, then. If you’re no longer Princess Melinda, they can’t make you rule Contarini.’

She stared at him. ‘Are you suggesting I did this deliberately?’

Had she? Right now, he really didn’t know. He didn’t have a clue what was going on in her head. ‘I remember a certain night when you talked me out of using a condom.’

Melinda flinched. ‘Apart from the fact I’m almost certainly more than a couple of weeks pregnant…If you can believe that of me, then I suggest you leave. Right now. Because I’d rather bring up our child on my own than be with someone who has such a low opinion of me.’

Memories of his family flashed before his eyes. How his older brother had planned to marry his childhood sweetheart. The way his parents had talked about having grandchildren, reliving their memories of their own children with such happiness. The nursery furniture his brother and father were going to build together. His own role in the family as best man and godfather and uncle.

All gone, because his brother had died before the wedding could take place.

And now Melinda was putting a barrier between him and their child. He’d lost his new family before it had even begun.

‘I can’t deal with this,’ Dragan said, and walked out. Before the bitterness in his throat choked him.