Читать книгу Christmas Kisses Collection - Джанис Мейнард, Louise Allen - Страница 51

IT WAS FIVE o’clock in the afternoon when they returned. Bea was napping on the sofa, with the heater warming the house, and dinner for two was cooking in the oven. Juliet had bought half a dozen small pork chops and decided to roast them with root vegetables. She thought they could have leftovers the next night. The house was quiet and the delicious aroma of the cooking made her think of home. She looked at her watch and did the mental arithmetic and quickly realised it was one in the morning back home. While she knew her parents loved her, one a.m. was not the time to test the depth of those feelings. She would wait until morning. She had called from the airport to tell them she was safe and since then they had each sent texts. There was nothing else to report. Nothing had happened. They hadn’t really met anyone. As she put her feet up on the ottoman and leant back into the softness of the cushions, she realised that technically wasn’t correct. Bea had met her new best friend, Emma.

And Juliet had met Charlie. Complicated, handsome, argumentative Charlie. She closed her eyes for a moment.

Who was he really?

And why was he making her think about him when he wasn’t around? For almost five years, she had not given a man another romantic thought, until now.

Dinner was lovely and they both ate well, then Juliet washed the dishes before she gave Bea a nice warm bath, paying particular care to keep her cast dry. As she wrapped her daughter in a fluffy bath sheet before slipping her into her pyjamas, Juliet smiled at the little girl and thought how strong she had been. She couldn’t have been more proud of her daughter. She didn’t fuss or complain about it at all. Bea just worked around the cast and made the best of it. She was indeed a very special little girl. Despite having her own room, and thinking it was very pretty, that night she decided to sleep with her mother in the big bed. And after her favourite story, they both fell asleep around eight o’clock.

Bea dreamt about a princess who fought dragons and won…and Juliet’s sleep began with a dream of Charlie.

It was close to ten when Charlie stood staring into the darkness from his kitchen window. The tap was running and steaming water was filling the sink where he had placed his dinner dishes but it was as if he were somewhere else. Somewhere other than in his home alone, the way it was every night that he didn’t work late at the hospital. The silence made him feel even more solitary but that night he chose not to have the noise of the television. He didn’t want white noise providing pretend company. He suddenly felt as if he wanted something more. The lightness of heart that he felt when he was near Juliet and Bea was something he had not expected. And something he could not fully understand nor thought he deserved. He lifted his gaze to see the haze of the full moon trying to break through the heavy clouds just as he was trying to step out from behind the guilt that was burying him. But he knew he had as much chance as the moon had.

The next morning was an early start. Along with meeting with Georgina and Leo, Juliet wanted to brief the surgical team to ensure there were no questions around the procedure. Bea needed help to dress in a stretch knit track suit and then after a hearty breakfast of porridge and honey the two set off for Teddy’s.

‘Ith the hothpital really called Teddy’th, Mummy?’

Juliet smiled as she drove. ‘Yes, it is.’

‘Like a teddy bear?’

‘Yes, just like a teddy bear.’

‘That’th silly. It’th a hospital for babies, not for teddy bears.’

Juliet laughed along with her daughter as she turned into the hospital car park. She loved that Bea could see the funny side of life at an early age. She had taken after her grandfather with that trait and clearly the ability to make friends quickly. After the uncomfortable situation with Charlie the day before, Juliet knew she was most definitely missing that skill.

But worrying about being friends with Dr Charlie Warren was not about to take precedence over what mattered and the reason she had travelled to the teddy bear hospital.

The day would be busy and she had a lot to accomplish. From a risk-management viewpoint, she needed to have contingency plans in place should the babies react poorly to the procedure. While she saw no reason for it not to proceed smoothly, guaranteed success was never a given and Juliet was always prepared for both the best and worst scenarios and everything in between. Should the laser surgery initiate early labour, she wanted Charlie on the team. She just had to ask him and then wait for the lecture about unnecessary risk she knew would follow. Despite this, she would not exclude him from the theatre as she valued his skills as an OBGYN. She just hoped and prayed she didn’t need to call on it.

Her mind’s focus was on ensuring that it went like clockwork. There were four babies, two parents and four grandparents who were stakeholders with a heartfelt interest in the surgery being successful. Not to mention Oliver Darrington and the board who had covered the cost of her temporary relocation. The surgery would not be lengthy but it would be intricate. She intended on spending time letting the theatre staff know exactly how she operated and what she needed. She knew this would not be the first laser surgery procedure at Teddy’s, but she would not take any chances with miscommunication around the operation on these babies. The staff needed to be fully aware of her expectations. She wanted Lily and Rose to grow up with their brothers, Graham and Rupert. And she would do everything in her power to make sure that happened.

It was not until she saw the black motorbike parked outside the hospital that her thoughts returned to Charlie. At least that was what she told herself, when the butterflies returned to her stomach at the sight of the shiny black road machine. She knew it wasn’t the truth because she had fallen asleep thinking of him, dreamt of him and then woken with his handsome face firmly etched in her mind. She hoped he had cancelled the flowers for her office after the words they had shared the previous day. She wanted him to be spiteful and give her reason to dislike him. She didn’t want to believe that underneath the gruff exterior lay a good heart. She had told herself for too many years that a man like that didn’t exist and she didn’t want to doubt herself.

After dropping Bea at the crèche and watching her daughter and her new best friend, Emma, hug each other excitedly, Juliet made her way to her office. She knew it was adjacent to Charlie’s office. She walked past with her laptop computer under her arm ready to settle into her new workplace. As his door was ajar, against her better instincts she felt compelled to look inside. She crossed her fingers that he was not there and she did not have to address her poor behaviour first thing in the morning. This time her wish came true. Charlie was nowhere in sight. But she knew that she would have to face him. Soon. Avoiding him would only last for an hour or so as they needed to consult further on Georgina and the quads, but it would give her time to find the right words to say. An apology on her behalf was deserved. She just wasn’t sure how to deliver it.

Her second wish was that the flowers were not in her office. Bracing herself, she opened the door. There was no floral arrangement in sight. Unexpectedly her heart fell. She had no idea why. It was her wish that he’d cancelled the order so she could hold that against him. But part of her had apparently, and unconsciously, hoped he wouldn’t. She’d hoped he would be gallant and still have a beautiful bouquet waiting for her as a welcoming gesture. She hadn’t expected it, until she’d heard about it. And at that moment she’d realised that deep inside Dr Charlie Warren was a gentleman. Despite her knowing they came from opposite sides of opinion, the fact that he had arranged an office for her and even thought of flowers made her believe in chivalry.

If only for a second.

But the lack of flowers, she knew, was fed by her own actions. She tried to remind herself it was only flowers, but the fact there were none still stung. For a few wonderful moments when she’d realised he had gone to the effort and trouble for her, she had felt special.

And she could not remember the last time a man had made her feel that way.

But it wasn’t to be, Juliet decided as she dropped her oversized shoulder bag on the chair and her computer bag on the desk. Charlie had chosen to cancel the flowers, or perhaps give them to someone else. There would no doubt be a number of young women in the hospital who would be flattered to receive them. Perhaps he was even dating one of them. With his looks and position he would be quite the catch, she thought. But she wasn’t fishing. She was very happy to live her life without a man who might disappoint her. She and Bea would be happy together.

And she didn’t need any flowers.

She was glad she hadn’t dressed in something as figure hugging as the previous day. There was no point. She was at the hospital to concentrate on the quads and nothing else. Juliet hung up her heavy overcoat on the coat stand near her desk, then smoothed down her black woollen skirt and checked her black-and-white-checked blouse was still properly tucked in. She did have very pretty black patent pumps with a kitten heel, so she hadn’t entirely tried to hide her femininity. And she was also wearing her signature French fragrance. It was light and floral.

She remembered reading in one of her self-help books that she’d purchased when her trust in men had been broken four long years before that, ‘When there isn’t a man in your life to make you feel special, expensive perfume can.’

She wasn’t sure it would fill the void for ever, but it had worked up to that point.

Checking her emails, she noticed that Oliver had scheduled a meeting with the surgical team. She had sent a list of required staff for the procedure the day before. She’d wondered if she should consult with Charlie as the OBGYN about it, then decided it might become another debacle so decided to consult with Oliver. She was looking forward to getting to know the team and going over the procedure so that the babies had the optimum chance at leading normal, healthy lives. She couldn’t see Charlie’s name on the list and wondered if he had chosen to withdraw or if Oliver had made that decision for him.

Suddenly, there was a knock on her open door. She lifted her eyes to see the freshly shaven, impeccably groomed subject of her thoughts. His crisp white shirt highlighted his slightly olive complexion, and once again his blue eyes caught her attention. They appeared even more vivid from across the room.

‘May I come in?’

‘Of course,’ she said, trying to keep the rhythm of her heart from racing and bringing a blush to her cheeks. She doubted she would be successful so she launched into the much-needed apology. ‘I’m very sorry about yesterday. I behaved so poorly and I’m not sure how to make it up to you. It was professionally reprehensible, not to mention just plain awful, on my part to speak to you that way after you had made the effort to deliver the Abbiatis’ decision in person.’

Charlie stood in silence for a moment and she was unsure how he would react.

‘Apology accepted, Juliet,’ he said, taking long purposeful steps across the room and very quickly closing the gap between them. His cologne filled those senses that his very being hadn’t already claimed. ‘You travelled a long way, it can’t have been easy without much notice and I’m sure you have a lot on your mind. Let’s just agree to disagree. I will not change my mind about the surgery and you, I can very clearly see, do not agree with the benefits of waiting.’

‘You’re right,’ she returned. ‘And it’s very generous of you to accept my apology. I’m honestly not normally so rude—in fact I don’t think I’m ever really rude at all. Normally.’ Normally covered many different things for Juliet that day. Quite apart from not normally hopping on a plane with less than a day’s notice, normally she didn’t find herself fighting her attraction to a colleague.

‘Let’s call a truce,’ he replied.

‘Done,’ she agreed, hoping that the heat she was feeling hadn’t made her cheeks glow.

‘I have something for you in my office. I’ll be back, then we can discuss the Abbiatis.’

‘Sure,’ Juliet responded, not entirely sure at all what Charlie had for her but suspecting it was the update on the quads’ condition. Juliet prayed it had not worsened during the night. She had intended on heading to Georgina’s room as soon as she had read her emails. She wanted to speak in more depth with both Georgina and Leo about the surgery that was scheduled in two days. The risks needed to be explained again and the permission signed for surgery. Both parents had to accept that, while this was the best way forward, there would still be risks.

Juliet was deep in thought when she heard Charlie return. With a large arrangement of the most beautiful flowers.

‘Oh, my goodness,’ she said, getting to her feet as she watched Charlie place them on a small table by the window. ‘They’re gorgeous. You shouldn’t have.’ It was a lovely round arrangement, as if it had been picked from an English garden. Although she knew it wouldn’t be from a garden in the snow-covered Cotswolds. She could see foxglove, hollyhock, snapdragon, sweet peas, roses and a few sprigs of lavender. It was the prettiest arrangement she had ever seen. And as she moved closer she could smell the delicate scent of the flowers’ perfume.

‘Glad you like them,’ he returned. ‘But I can’t take the credit, since they’re not from me. The board asked me to order them as a thank you for coming all this way on short notice.’

‘Oh,’ she mumbled, feeling silly and trying to mask the disappointment she was feeling.

‘I thought I’d test the water before I brought them in case you were still upset and planned on throwing them at me. I know I didn’t make it easy on you and we really did not get off to a good start.’

Juliet knew she had been crazy to think a man like Charlie Warren would buy flowers for her. She felt very foolish for thinking that he would.

‘I agree we got off on the wrong foot,’ she managed to reply. ‘But…it’s all sorted now.’

Little was truly sorted in Juliet’s head. She had been entertaining romantic thoughts and even having dreams about a man who had just followed the instructions of a board and ordered flowers. At least she knew exactly where Charlie was coming from.

‘Actually I haven’t bought flowers since…’ He paused, then stopped the conversation completely and walked to the door in silence.

Juliet thought Charlie was about to let her into something about him. The man who had an office devoid of photos or personal belongings. There was no visible history or connection to another person or persons. And no hint of a life outside the hospital. She didn’t want the opportunity to know more about him to pass. ‘Since?’ she prompted before Charlie could leave.

Charlie drew a deep breath and turned to face her. ‘Not since my wife died. There were so many flowers at the funeral that I couldn’t face another flower again. Besides, there was no one to buy them for after that.’

Juliet’s disappointment was quickly pushed aside by the shock of what he had said and the instinctive reaction to comfort him. She was momentarily speechless.

Her emotions were once again swinging like a pendulum.

And he was gone.