Читать книгу Brides of Penhally Bay - Vol 1 - Sarah Morgan, Caroline Anderson - Страница 14

EDITH had split her kneecap cleanly in two. It wasn’t a starburst fracture, just a vertical break that needed to be held together so the strain put on it by bending her knee didn’t pull the two sides apart. So it could have been worse, but nevertheless it was a very painful injury, and she’d be immobilised for some time.

And, as Lucy had thought, there was a possibility that she’d had a minor stroke.

Ben watched as Edith was wheeled away for her CT scan. The orthopaedic team would sort her knee out, and it was over to them now to play their part in her recovery. His job was done, and he phoned Lucy and told her what had happened.

‘Oh, dear,’ she said sadly. ‘I hope it doesn’t mean she can’t cope on her own. I do so want her to be able to get back to her bungalow. She’s lived there all her married life, since she and her husband bought it in 1967 when it was first built. He died earlier in the year, and she’s lost without him. She’ll be devastated if she has to move.’

‘Poor woman, she’s got enough on her plate. She was worried about her cat, by the way.’

‘Dealt with. Her neighbour’s looking after it for now. I expect she’ll be in to see her soon. Ben, I’m glad you’ve phoned, Kate’s had another word with me about this meeting. She said the trust architect can make Thursday at four. Any chance you could do that?’

And no doubt Nick would be there this time. ‘Yes, that’ll be fine,’ he agreed. He’d worry about Nick as and when he had to. ‘What do you want for supper?’

‘On Thursday?’

‘Tonight,’ he said, smiling. ‘How about chicken?’

‘Just had a chicken sandwich and an apple turnover. I ought to have something light and less full of fat. I’m going to be a barrel otherwise.’

‘I’ve got news for you,’ he said with a chuckle. ‘Leave it to me, I’ll sort it. I’ll see you later. Are you staying the night at mine?’

‘No,’ she said, a little trace of regret in her voice. ‘I should be at home.’

It didn’t matter. She needed her rest, and there’d be plenty of time for them to be together in the future. ‘OK. I’ll see you later. Take care.’

He put the phone down and went back to work, whistling softly under his breath. Jo, his registrar, gave him an oldfashioned look. ‘You look happy,’ she said, almost accusingly, and he gave a slightly embarrassed laugh.

‘There’s no law against it, is there? And life’s good.’

Or it would be if Nick Tremayne could only move on. One thing was for sure—Thursday was going to be interesting.

‘So who’s going to be here for this meeting this afternoon?’ Nick asked.

‘The trust architect, someone from the finance department, you, Marco, Lucy, Dragan and Ben Carter,’ Kate said.

‘Him again!’

Oh, here we go, Lucy thought, closing her eyes and letting her father and Kate Althorp argue it out.

‘Why is it that everything that’s mine, everything I hold dear, that man has to interfere with?’

If you only knew the half of it, Lucy thought, and opened her eyes to find Marco and Dragan both watching her thoughtfully. Oh, damn. Double damn, in fact. And then Kate looked at her, concern in her eyes, and she thought, Make that triple damn. With a cherry on top.

‘I’ve got to get back to work,’ she said, hoisting herself out of her chair and heading for the staffroom door, losing her mug on the draining-board on the way.

She shut herself in her consulting room for a moment, gathering her composure around her like a cloak. This afternoon’s meeting was going to be a doozy, she thought, and she was dreading it.

She got through her morning surgery, went out on her visits, grabbed a sandwich, courtesy of Doris Trefussis, and declined the apple turnover in favour of a Cornish fairing brought in by Hazel Furse, the dumpy little head receptionist, who, as well as baking the best biscuits in the county, knew nearly as many people as Doris and ruled the appointments book with a will of iron.

Luckily she was also blessed with a great deal of common sense and, unlike a lot of receptionists Lucy had heard about, she didn’t see her role as protecting the doctors from nagging patients who ought to wait their turn. So when Hazel popped in and said that a farmer, old Charlie Tew, was in Reception and urgently needed an appointment and could Lucy fit him in, she didn’t hesitate.

She didn’t have a surgery at the time, and was just about to see Chloe MacKinnon, the midwife, for an antenatal check, but something in Hazel’s voice alerted her.

She went out into Reception and found him sitting there looking uncomfortable but not so bad that he would ring alarm bells. Not unless you took a really close look. She took him through to her consulting room and sat him down, her eyes making a quick inventory. Pale skin, clammy, sweating. ‘What’s the problem, Mr Tew?’ she asked. ‘You don’t look very comfortable.’

‘I pulled something,’ he said bluntly. ‘Heifer got stuck in the ditch and I couldn’t get the tractor close enough, so we pulled ‘er out with ropes. And I got this pain, Doc—right ‘ere.’ He pointed to the centre of his abdomen. ‘It’s like backache, only…’

He might have got a hernia. That was the most likely thing, or a ruptured psoas muscle, although that would tend to be at the side. The rectus abdominus muscle? Or…?

‘Could you just slip your trousers down for me and pop onto the couch?’ she asked, and he shuffled out of them and lay down cautiously, exposing a large, hairy abdomen encased in the biggest underpants she’d ever seen. She eased them down and pressed gently, then went very still.

Damn. She was right. The skin of his lower abdomen and legs was pale and mottled, and in the centre of his abdomen was a large, pulsating mass, beating in time with his heart. An abdominal aortic aneurism, she was sure, and if it was, there was no time to mess around. Left for very long, it would rupture. If it hadn’t already, the blood enclosed in the space behind the peritoneum.

‘I’m afraid you’re going to have to go to hospital and have an operation, Mr Tew,’ she said gently. ‘Stay there. I don’t want you to get up, you just relax and keep still while I call an ambulance to take you to St Piran.’

‘What, now? Only I’ve got a lot to do today. This heifer’s put me right back. I could go in drekly, Doc.’

She smiled, knowing that the Cornish version of ‘directly’ was nothing of the sort.

‘No, I think you need it a little sooner than directly,’ she told him with a reassuring pat to his shoulder.

‘Hernia, is it?’

‘I don’t think so. I think you might have a bulge in the wall of one of your blood vessels. And if you have, you’ll need an operation now.’ If you even get there, she added mentally. ‘I’ll call them straight away. Is there anyone with you?’

‘No, I drove myself.’

She winced inwardly, knowing that if he’d had a collision and hit the steering-wheel or seat belt it would have been enough to finish him off.

‘Stay there,’ she warned again. Covering him with a blanket, she went out to Reception. ‘Can you call an ambulance, Hazel, please? Mr Tew’s got an aortic aneurism, I think. Urgent transfer—blue lights and all that. Cheers. I’ll call the hospital and warn them. Oh, and could you ask Marco or Dragan if they’re free to pop in? I know my father’s got an antenatal class going.’

‘Sure. Oh, there’s your father now.’

‘Thanks. Dad, old Mr Tew’s here.’ She filled him in quickly, then added, ‘He’s your patient. Do you want to examine him?’

He shook his head. ‘No. I trust your judgement, Lucy, and if you’re right he doesn’t need any more poking about. I’ll call the ambulance—fill them in. Hello, Mr Tew,’ he said, sticking his head round the door. ‘Gather you’ve been overdoing it. I’ll see you in a minute, just going to call you some transport. Lucy, you might want to get a line in,’ he added softly. ‘Large-bore cannula. Two, if you can. And give him oxygen.’

‘I was just about to. Thanks. Right, Mr Tew, I’m going to give you a little oxygen for now, and I’m just going to put a little needle in your arm, all ready for the hospital. It’ll save time later.’ She slipped it in easily, grateful for her time in A and E, then repeated the procedure in the other hand. ‘There—one to let things in, one to let things out,’ she said with a grin. ‘Now, how about your wife? I think I’d better give her a call—can she get to the hospital?’

He frowned and studied her closely, as if the seriousness of it was suddenly dawning on him. ‘How bad is it, Doc?’ he asked. ‘Is it going to finish me off?’

‘I hope not,’ she said honestly, not wanting to worry him but owing him the truth. ‘But it is a major operation, and I think if I was your wife I’d finish you off anyway if you didn’t let me know.’

His weather-beaten old face twisted into what could have been a smile, and he gave a dry chuckle. ‘Well, we don’t want that, do we, my bird? Best give her a call, then.’

Hazel came bustling in with a little tap on the door. ‘Now, Charlie, I’ve phoned Grace and she’s going straight to the hospital,’ she told him, getting there ahead of them. ‘The boy’s going to take her, and she’ll have some pyjamas for you and your wash things.’

‘Good idea,’ he said, and Lucy wondered if he really had the slightest clue how much danger he was in, and hoped, most sincerely, that he didn’t. There was a difference between knowing that something was serious and realising it could kill you at any second.

She saw the flashing lights coming down Harbour Road, and for the second time that week Maggie Pascoe came to the rescue.

‘Taxi!’ she said with a bright smile, leaving her partner Mike to wheel the trolley in and going over to Mr Tew to pat his hand. ‘Hello, Charlie, my love. What’s this I hear about you pulling heifers out of ditches, you silly old goat? You should be leaving that to the young ‘uns and issuing instructions on the sidelines. Should have thought that was right up your street.’

Charlie chuckled, and Lucy realised they must know each other well. Not that that surprised her. Nearly everyone knew everyone, and if they didn’t, they knew someone who did.

‘I s’pose you’re old enough to have your driver’s licence,’ Charlie said drily, and Maggie rolled her eyes.

‘Oh, no, I just stole the ambulance for a bit of fun—felt like a joy-ride. Anyway, I don’t have to drive it, I get to sit in the back and tell you off all the way to the hospital. Right, you stay there, my love, we’ll slide you across. Lucy, let go of that, you aren’t pulling anything!’ she said, and Lucy let go of the sheet and watched as Maggie and Mike pulled him easily, sheet and all, across the Pat-slide and onto the trolley.

In moments he was tucked up in a blanket, strapped down and away, and again Lucy rang Ben and warned him. ‘I’m sending you a patient with a query abdominal aortic aneurism. No known history, but he’s not the complaining sort so he may have had a bit of a bulge for ages. Whatever, it’s a large midline pulsatile mass, and I don’t like the look of him at all. I don’t know if you’ll still be there or if you’ll be on your way here, but he needs to go straight to Theatre.’

‘Are you certain?’

‘As I can be.’

‘That’s good enough for me,’ he said. ‘I’ll tell them to expect him and get a theatre slot primed. And I’ll see you in an hour for this wretched meeting. Should I wear my stab vest?’

She laughed a little uneasily. ‘I’m sure that won’t be necessary. It’ll be highly civilised. I’ll make sure we’ve got plenty of Hazel’s Cornish fairings to keep us going. We can always throw them at each other if it hots up.’

‘Oh, no, that would be such a waste. I’ve heard about those biscuits of hers, even from this distance. She feeds them to the paramedics, apparently.’

‘Well, don’t get too excited. If Dad’s found them, there may not be any left.’

He chuckled, said goodbye and hung up, and she buzzed through to Chloe. ‘I’m sorry, I got held up with a patient. Do you want me today or not?’

‘Yes, when you’re ready. I’ve just seen my last patient, so come on up. Don’t forget your urine sample.’

‘As if,’ she mocked, and went via the loo. ‘Here—hot off the press,’ she said, handing it over.

Chloe tested it and nodded. ‘It’s fine. Good. And your blood pressure’s nice and low. I haven’t seen you for days, though. I get the feeling you’re doing too much. How are you feeling generally?’

Tired? Stressed? Worried sick that her father and her lover were about to kill each other in less than an hour? ‘I’m fine, too,’ she said, but her smile couldn’t have been convincing, because Chloe gave a sceptical grunt.

‘You look exhausted. You must be overdoing it. Maybe you should stop work sooner.’

‘I can’t—’ she began, but Chloe just tutted and pointed at the scales.

‘You haven’t gained anything. That’s the second week in a row. I think you should have another scan. They were a bit worried about your placenta with the last one, weren’t they? Thought it was a bit low down?’

‘Not very low. They were talking about another scan at thirty-four weeks to check it, but they were pretty sure I wouldn’t need a C-section.’

‘And what are you? Thirty-two weeks on Saturday? I think you should have it now.’

She sighed, then thought of Ben and how much he’d like to be there. ‘OK,’ she agreed. ‘I’ll give them a call.’

‘No, I’ll give them a call—make sure it happens. You take care of that little one, Lucy.’

‘I will.’

‘I’ll book you in for the scan tomorrow morning.’

‘Tomorrow!’

‘Yes. Tomorrow—morning. Get Hazel to reschedule your patients. And get Ben to feed you over the weekend.’

She looked up, startled, into Chloe’s wide and seemingly innocent green eyes. ‘Why should Ben feed me?’

‘Oh, Lucy, come on. You’ve been seen together. People talk. All my patients are commenting this morning—Dr Lucy’s boyfriend is gorgeous, isn’t he? Have you seen him? Beautiful car. Do you think Dr Lucy and her lovely Mr Carter will get married before the baby’s born?’

‘What? That’s crazy!’

‘They saw you at the barbeque, Lucy. Nobody’s seen you with anyone since, and they certainly didn’t before. You don’t date any more than I do. And you’ve been seen with him again recently. And they all know that he’s bought Tregorran House. It’s gone through the village like wildfire, and it’s obvious to everyone but your father why he’s done it.’

She stared into Chloe’s gentle, caring eyes another second, then looked away hastily, her eyes prickling with tears. ‘I hadn’t realised gossip was that rife.’

‘Oh, Lucy, this is Penhally. And it’s only because everybody loves you and wants a happy ending for you.’

She swallowed hard. ‘I wish.’

Chloe squeezed her arm. ‘Come on. You’ll get there. Fancy coming round to mine this evening and letting me feed you?’

She opened her mouth, shut it, then said, ‘I ought to talk to Ben. My father doesn’t know yet but, judging by the sound of it, it won’t be long.’

‘OK. But make him feed you properly, and get an early night. And go straight to the hospital tomorrow—in fact, sit there, I’ll book you in now.’

She rang the hospital while Lucy sat obediently, and thought about her friend’s revelations. Did the whole world really know about Ben? Or did it just seem like it?

‘Right. Eight-thirty. So you can stay at Ben’s, and you won’t have such a long drive in the morning.’

‘I can organise my own life,’ she grumbled gently, but Chloe just laughed and opened the door for her.

‘Of course you can. I’ll get them to call me with the results. Don’t forget to eat.’

‘Stop nagging,’ Lucy said, and went into the staffroom. It was empty, but the coffee-tables had been moved to the centre, the chairs were grouped around them and there were clean mugs set out on the side next to a tin of Hazel’s fairings.

Eat, Chloe had said, so she ate. She had one, then another, and then there was a tap on the door and Ben came in.

‘Hi!’ she said, overjoyed to see him, and he shut the door and pulled her into his arms.

‘How’s my favourite girl today?’ he murmured, smiling down at her and nuzzling her nose with his.

She sighed and rested her head on his chest. ‘In trouble. I’ve just had a lecture from my midwife. Apparently I need to eat more.’

‘Well, I keep telling you that. Are there any of Hazel’s biscuits around?’

‘Yes, in that tin—and I’ve had two, before you start. And I’ve got to have a scan tomorrow morning—eight-thirty. Can I stay with you tonight?’

He paused, his hands on the tin, and turned back to her. ‘Of course you can.’

‘Do you want—?’

‘Can I—?’

They spoke together, and Ben laughed and said, ‘You first.’

‘I was going to ask if you want to come.’

‘And I was going to ask if I could.’

‘That’s a yes, then.’

‘If you don’t mind.’

‘I’d love you to be there.’

He tipped his head on one side and studied her thoughtfully. ‘Funny time for a scan.’

‘My placenta was a little low at the eighteen-week scan, so they wanted to check at thirty-four.’

His brows clamped together. ‘Low? How low?’

‘Nothing to worry about. It’s just a routine check.’

‘But you’re not even quite thirty-two weeks,’ he said, holding her at arm’s length and searching her eyes. ‘So why now? Two weeks early? Is this because you’re not gaining enough? It’s that bad?’

She sighed and confessed. ‘I haven’t put any weight on for two weeks.’

‘Then I’m definitely going to be there,’ he said firmly. ‘Now, about these fairings,’ he said, opening the tin and holding one out to her.

‘Ben, I’ve had two.’

‘That’s not enough. Come on, open wide.’

She was laughing up at him, pushing him away and fighting over the biscuit when the door opened and her father walked in and stopped dead in the doorway.

Oh, rats. Of all the timing…

Ben dropped his hands, stepped away from her and met his ice-cold eyes. ‘Dr Tremayne.’

‘Carter,’ he said, but she could tell the word nearly choked him. Even the sound of Ben’s name had been like a curse for years. He hated him. Blamed him for her mother’s death, and hated him, and no amount of reasoning would get him to see sense.

This afternoon, clearly, wasn’t going to be the time. His taut, still firm jaw was clenched, the dark eyes unyielding as he stared at Ben for an endless, breathless moment.

Please, don’t let him be rude, Lucy prayed. Don’t let him start anything. Not here, not with everyone due here in moments.

God was obviously otherwise engaged.

‘Bit early, aren’t you?’ Nick said softly, but there was a deadly edge to his voice that made Lucy’s heart beat faster.

Ben shrugged. ‘Not really. I didn’t want to be late. I consider this expansion to be very important for the local community, and since I’m part of it I take my contribution very seriously—’

Her father’s snort cut him off and his mouth tightened. ‘Really? I can see just how seriously you were taking it.’

‘Dad!’ she cut in, trying to avert a scene. ‘Come on. This isn’t the time or the place.’

His eyes flicked back to her. ‘No—and I would have thought you could have found yourself something more useful to do than fighting over the biscuits,’ he growled, and she felt her temper start to fray.

‘Actually, he was trying to get me to look after myself,’ she pointed out, but her father just snorted again.

‘It’ll be a cold day in hell when a member of the Tremayne family needs advice on their health from Ben Carter,’ he said, his voice harsh. ‘And I would have thought you’d have greater loyalty to your mother than to be playing the fool with the man who—’

‘Leave my mother out of this,’ she snapped. ‘You know perfectly well that Ben wasn’t at fault.’

‘Do I?’ He looked Ben up and down with eyes that blazed with anger and pain, and a lesser man would have flinched.

Ben just calmly returned his stare. ‘Dr Tremayne, this was settled two years ago—’

‘You expect me to believe that report? You know damn well the inquiry was rigged.’

Lucy gasped, and there was a muted sound of reproach from Kate. Behind him, she could see the practice manager with the trust architect and finance executive in tow, the other GPs clustered on the landing behind them.

How much had they all heard? She didn’t know. Anything would be too much. A muscle twitched in Ben’s jaw, but apart from that and the dull run of colour on his cheekbones there was no other reaction from him.

‘I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,’ he said, and made to turn away, but Nick’s voice stopped him in his tracks.

‘What—the truth?’ her father went on doggedly, but Ben had had enough.

He turned back, eyes blazing with anger, and said, his voice deathly quiet, ‘Dr Tremayne, I’m not here because I want to be, but because I believe in this project. I was asked to contribute, and if you don’t want me here, all you have to do is say the word and I’ll leave. Believe me, I have plenty to do.’

They glared at each other, then Nick took a deep breath and let it out. ‘We’re in the same boat, then. I’m only here because I want what’s best for my practice and my community. You, I keep being told, are the best. So stay, and we’ll get this damned meeting over, and then we can all go and get on with our lives. But stay away from my daughter, Carter. There are some nasty rumours flying around, and I hope they’re just that. If I ever hear you’ve laid so much as a finger on her—’

‘You’ll what?’ Lucy cut in, furious with him and on the verge of tears. ‘He’s a friend of mine. I can’t help it if you don’t like that, but I’m twenty-nine, for heaven’s sake! You don’t get to dictate my friendships, so just get over it and let’s move on. Everybody’s waiting.’

Kate gave Nick a none-too-gentle shove in the ribs, and he took a step forward. Ben moved back out of his way and the cameo broke up, everyone busily settling themselves down and not knowing quite where to look.

Except Ben. He sat opposite her while Kate made the tea and handed it round, his eyes fixed on her, and every time she looked up he was there, the look in his eyes reassuring.

‘Right, shall I introduce everybody?’ Kate said, and gradually the awkward silence eased. She and Ben both put in their contributions on the proposed plans, she talked the architect through it on paper, Dragan and Marco chipped in with their take on it—only Nick was silent, speaking when he was spoken to but otherwise just watching, his eyes never leaving Ben’s face.

He knows, she thought with sudden certainty. Or thinks he does. He certainly suspects.

‘What do you think, Lucy?’

Think? Think about what? She dragged her mind back to the discussion, apologised and asked Marco to repeat what he’d said.

‘We were talking about the advisability of delaying the implementation of the new MIU until after you return from maternity leave,’ Kate said.

‘Um—no,’ she said, wondering if she would be returning from maternity leave or if she’d even have a job to come back to once her father knew the truth. ‘I think you should go ahead, at least with the planning stage. That’ll take some time, won’t it?’

‘Indeed,’ the architect said. ‘I need to examine the outside of the building before it’s dark, and see where you’re proposing to put this extension.’

‘Right behind you, down there,’ Kate said, getting up and pointing through the window. ‘Dragan, would you like to show him? To save Lucy going down?’

‘I can do it,’ she said, and got to her feet at the same time as Ben and her father. ‘No, really, I can do it. Ben—your comments might be useful,’ she said, and they trooped out, leaving Kate and the other members of the practice to discuss financing it with the bean counter, while her father glowered after them in brooding silence.

‘You OK?’ Ben asked softly, and she nodded.

‘This would be the link through if we went two-storey,’ she pointed out to the architect as they stood on the landing. ‘At the moment it’s staff cloakroom and showering facilities, but there’s a big lobby area that could be taken to make a way through.’

She showed him around, then they went downstairs and out into the garden.

‘Hmm.’ The architect was studying the land behind, the steep granite escarpment behind the practice which ended in an outcrop of rock right where they wanted to build. ‘You want to put it here?’

‘It’s dead space, and it links in well,’ she explained.

The architect frowned. ‘I don’t know. I think it could be very expensive. The rock would have to be cut away and there isn’t room round the side to bring in heavy gear to do it. Is there anywhere else? At the front, for instance?’

She struggled to pay attention. ‘Not really. We need all the car parking space we can get our hands on, so we can’t take that, and there isn’t enough room at the side.’

‘Pity.’ The architect looked up at the building to the side of them. ‘What’s this?’

‘A boatyard—repairs, engineering works and sail loft, and a chandlery. Don’t worry, we’ve already considered it. The practice manager is co-owner, but there isn’t any possibility of taking part of the land, even if we could afford to buy it from them. They’re already overcrowded.’

‘Hmm. How about going out over the top of the car parking area?’ he suggested as they walked back round to the front. ‘It would be expensive, but not as expensive as buying the land next door or shifting the rock. Planning might be a bit of an issue. I’ll have to think about that one and come back to you on it.’

He glanced at his watch. ‘Right, I need to get a move on. Let’s go and break the news to the others, and we’ll have to reconvene after I’ve had a think. Can I borrow your plans? I’ll get them copied and have them sent back to you tomorrow.’

‘Of course,’ she agreed, and they went back upstairs.

‘Ah, you’re back. More tea?’ Kate offered, but the two men from the trust shook their heads.

‘We need to get away. If we could just take these?’

They were folding the plans, shuffling paper into briefcases, putting on their coats, and Lucy sneaked a quick glance at her father. He was talking to Kate and the finance man, ignoring Ben, and as she looked away she caught Dragan’s eye.

He raised an enquiring brow, and she smiled reassuringly. He nodded, apparently satisfied, and, glancing at his watch, he stood up. ‘If you’ll all excuse me, I have a visit to make.’

‘Really?’ she said as he walked past her. ‘I didn’t think you were on call this evening.’

He smiled a little awkwardly. ‘I’m not, but there’s a certain dog who seems to be expecting me to go and play games with her. And I may well be offered supper, so I don’t have to cook. As I have no food, that would be good.’

‘Ah.’ She smiled. ‘Well, give Melinda my love,’ she said, and watched in fascination as his neck darkened slightly. Poor Dragan, it was mean to tease him. He was such a serious, thoughtful man so much of the time, and on the few occasions she’d seen him with Melinda he’d looked genuinely happy.

‘I will,’ he said, then paused and looked at Ben, standing beside her. ‘Look after her, OK? She’s looking tired. She’s doing too much.’

No! Don’t tell Ben to look after me in front of my father, she thought frantically, but Nick was busy talking and Ben just smiled.

‘Leave her to me,’ he said softly. ‘I’ll take care of her.’

‘Good. Someone needs to.’ And he nodded to the others and left. The men from the trust followed, then Marco and, rather than have to talk any more to her father, she propelled Ben towards the door, grabbing his coat on the way.

‘In a hurry to get rid of me?’ he murmured as they went downstairs.

‘Not at all. I’m in a hurry to get you away from my father before you kill each other. Ben, I think he knows.’

He stopped dead on the bottom stair. ‘Really?’

‘Really. Come on. We’ll talk about it this evening. I’ve got a surgery starting in a minute.’

‘I’ve rescheduled you,’ Hazel said, overhearing. ‘Chloe told me to, so I’ve put your patients in with your father and Marco, and you’ve got tomorrow off.’

She opened her mouth to argue, then changed her mind. She felt sorry for Marco, but her father deserved it. She smiled at Hazel. ‘Thank you.’

‘Pleasure. Oh, and Charlie’s wife called. He’s out of Theatre and he’s in ITU. Apparently they got him there just in time, so well done.’

‘Good,’ she said, then added more softly, ‘At least that’s one thing I’ve done right today.’

‘You’ve done nothing wrong today,’ Ben said gruffly.

‘My father wouldn’t agree. I’m so angry with him.’

‘Don’t be. He’s just hurting.’

‘Ben, it’s slander!’

He just smiled wryly and gave her a slow, lazy wink. ‘Relax. I’ll see you soon at my place. I’ll go via the supermarket and get you something jumping with vitamins and calories.’

She let her smile out at last. ‘You’re a star,’ she said softly. ‘I’ll see you later.’

He went out, crossing the car park briskly and getting into his car just as her father came up beside her. ‘I want to talk to you,’ he said firmly, and taking her elbow he propelled her into her consulting room and shut the door.

‘About Carter,’ he began, but she was watching Ben through the window, turning the car and lifting his hand in farewell, and she thought of the dignity with which he’d handled the whole awful, embarrassing situation and she wanted to kill her father.

She turned back to him, her whole body trembling with reaction, and shook her head. ‘You had no right to say those things to him. No right at all! It’s just lies, and you’re flinging them around willy-nilly in front of everybody. It would serve you right if he took you to court, and it’s just rubbish, Dad! You know why she died.’

‘And so do you—and if you’re blinded by his lies, then you’re not the daughter your mother and I thought you were. There are some ugly rumours flying around, Lucy. I don’t want to believe what I’m hearing, and I don’t. Just don’t give me any reason to doubt you, because the last thing I want to hear is that that bastard has fathered my grandchild.’

She stared at him, her eyes filling with tears, and then looked across the car park. Ben had pulled out into Harbour Road, but she could follow him—

‘Lucy! Lucy, come back here.’

‘No,’ she said, turning back to look her father in the eye. ‘No, this time you’ve gone too far. The only bastard in all of this is you—oh, and your grandchild, and I’m just about to do something about that.’

She scooped up her bag, ran upstairs for her coat and then ran down, fighting back the tears. Her father was still standing in the door of her consulting room, his jaw set, and without sparing him a second glance she went out to her car, got in it and drove off after Ben.