Buch lesen: «The Woman He's Been Waiting For»

CHAPTER ONE

‘WHAT do you mean Harry Shaw has offered to work here?’

Dr Grace Kennedy couldn’t conceal her astonishment as she rounded on her partner, Miles Farrington. It was the end of a particularly stressful week at Ferndale Surgery and she and Miles had been trying to come up with a solution to their latest crisis when he had dropped his bombshell. Not only had their locum upped and left on New Year’s Eve without giving them notice but yesterday their practice nurse had tripped and broken her ankle.

It would be some while before Alison was fit to return to work. In the meantime, they would have to manage without a nurse because they would never be able to find a replacement at this time of the year. There were a lot of reasons, in fact, why Grace was in no mood to play silly games.

‘The same Harry Shaw who once said that only people without ambition went into general practice? Oh, this has to be a joke, Miles, please.’

‘I don’t recall Harry saying that about general practice…’ Miles broke off when Grace glared at him. ‘Harry was probably winding you up. You know what he’s like. Anyway, he phoned me last night to say that he was in the area so I invited him round for a drink and just happened to mention the problems we were having during the course of the conversation. I was as surprised as you are when he offered his services, but you have to admit it would be the ideal solution. Oh, I know that you and Harry didn’t exactly hit it off at med school—’

‘And whose fault was that?’ Grace paced across the room then swung round and scowled at her partner. ‘Harry Shaw was a complete waste of space, in my opinion. The only thing he was interested in was seeing how many women he could sweet-talk into his bed.’

‘Mmm, he did have rather an effect on the ladies,’ Miles observed admiringly. He cleared his throat when he saw Grace’s expression darken. ‘But, all that aside, you have to admit that Harry was one of the brightest students in our year. It was the same during our pre-reg training when we were at Leeds together. It was Harry who was tipped for great things and he’s achieved them, too. You must have followed his progress over the years, surely?’

Grace ignored the question. She had no intention of admitting that she’d been keeping tabs on Harry. To be frank, she wasn’t sure why she’d bothered when she disliked the wretched man so much. Maybe it had been a way to prove to herself that she didn’t care about professional glory and only wanted to do her job to the very best of her ability, but she could have recited Harry’s CV from memory: the youngest consultant ever appointed to a post; Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians; member of the new government health service advisory committee…

‘Then why does he want to work here?’ Grace blanked out the rest of Harry’s glittering résumé because it really wasn’t relevant. She fixed Miles with a look that made him squirm but she refused to feel guilty. Once Miles got an idea into his head, it was difficult to make him see sense, but there was no way that she was going to agree to his latest proposal.

‘Just look at the facts, Miles. We run a very busy rural practice here. We don’t take private patients and we certainly don’t have any VIPs on our list. We’re just your average, run-of-the-mill GPs’ surgery and I find it hard to understand why Harry would offer to work here. So you tell me, what’s in it for Harry?’

‘The pleasure of your company?’

Grace spun round when a familiar voice cut into the conversation. Her mouth thinned when she spotted Harry lounging in the doorway. It had been some time since she’d seen him but he’d changed very little from what she could tell. As her eyes skimmed over the coal-black hair, the marine-blue eyes, the clean-cut jaw, she couldn’t stop the appreciative flutter her nerves gave, a warning that she was as susceptible as any woman to Harry Shaw’s undoubted charms. The difference was that she knew what he was really like and she wasn’t about to be taken in by good looks and a nice line in chat.

‘I’m flattered, Harry. Or I would be if I was fool enough to believe you.’ She treated him to a chilly smile which wavered when she saw the expression that crossed his face. Good heavens, surely Harry’s feelings hadn’t been hurt by that remark.

‘Harry, good to see you again. I was beginning to wonder if you’d got lost. I’m hopeless at giving people directions, I’m afraid.’ Miles leapt to his feet and rushed across the room to greet him.

Grace dismissed that fanciful notion when she realised what her partner had said. She looked accusingly at him as he led Harry over to the desk. ‘You never mentioned that you’d invited Harry here tonight.’

‘Didn’t I? Purely an oversight, I assure you.’ Miles fussed around, fetching a chair and taking Harry’s overcoat. He hung it on the peg behind the door then looked pleadingly at Grace. ‘I know we haven’t had time to discuss this, but you know as well as I do that we desperately need help. I’ve been onto the agency every single day this week about hiring another locum but they simply haven’t got anyone on their books willing to relocate at this time of the year. Nobody wants to spend the winter months in such a remote part of the country, apparently.’

‘So what you’re saying is that it’s Harry or nothing,’ Grace said sweetly.

‘Well, I wouldn’t put it quite like that,’ Miles blustered in embarrassment, although Harry didn’t seem the least perturbed by her bluntness.

‘Why not, if it’s true?’ He clapped Miles on the shoulder then smiled at Grace. ‘A bit of a dilemma for you, isn’t it? It’s a choice between letting me loose on your patients or going under. I’d find it very difficult to choose in your shoes, too, Gracie.’

‘Don’t call me that.’ She sat down behind her desk and glared at him. ‘You know how I hate stupid nicknames.’

‘Sorry.’

He didn’t sound sorry but short of making a fuss and thereby letting him think he’d scored a point, there was nothing she could do about it. She smiled up at him, her grey eyes colder than the January sky outside the consulting-room window. ‘Apology accepted. So shall we start from the beginning? Why have you offered to work here when you made it abundantly clear in the past what you thought about general practice?’

‘Because you and Miles need a helping hand.’

Harry sat down and crossed one long leg over the other as he waited for her next sally. Grace wasn’t fool enough to go rushing in unprepared, however. She took the time to study him instead.

He was as impeccably dressed as ever, she noted sourly, the black suit he was wearing obviously not something he’d picked up off the peg. He’d teamed it with a pale blue shirt and a jaunty red and blue silk tie that must have cost a small fortune, but, then, money had never been a problem for Harry because his family was loaded. Harry was used to having the best of everything and it showed.

By contrast, poor Miles looked even more dishevelled than usual. Miles had been struggling to cope since his wife, Penny, had found out last month that she was pregnant. Penny had lost a baby only the previous year and they were both desperate that she didn’t lose this one, so Miles had insisted that Penny must do as little as possible during the first trimester. However, it had put him under even more pressure and it was starting to show.

Grace knew that Miles had been doing far too much, but there was little she could do to help when her own workload seemed to be increasing on an almost daily basis. The truth was that the practice was getting far too big for the two of them to manage. Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad, having Harry here, if it gave them a respite, she conceded grudgingly.

‘How about a cup of coffee?’ Miles suggested, jumping up. He rubbed his chest and grimaced. ‘That’ll teach me to bolt my lunch. I’ve had indigestion all afternoon. I’d better take some antacids while I’m at it.’

‘Don’t go to any trouble on my account,’ Harry said easily. ‘I’ll be having dinner when I get back to the hotel.’

‘Oh, it’s no trouble. Anyway, it will give you and Grace a chance to talk and see if you can reach a compromise.’ Miles turned to her and Grace could see the beseeching look in his eyes. ‘Just don’t say no before you’ve had time to think about the idea.’

Grace didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to upset Miles but neither was she prepared to be pushed into a decision she might come to regret. She waited until the door had closed before she turned to Harry again.

‘All right, I’m willing to admit that having you here would be a big help at the moment, but how come you happen to have so much free time on your hands? The last I heard you’d been appointed to some new government health committee. I’d have thought you would have had enough to do with that on top of your job at St Theresa’s.’

‘St Theresa’s has been undergoing a major refurbishment programme for the past two years. Obviously, we couldn’t close the whole hospital while the work was being done so we’ve had to shut each department in turn.’ He shrugged. ‘It’s our turn at the moment, so it seemed like the ideal opportunity to take some of the time I had owing to me.’

‘It won’t be much of a holiday if you end up working here,’ she pointed out.

‘Oh, I don’t know. They say that a change is as good as a rest, don’t they?’ he quipped, tipping back his chair and grinning at her.

It was the sort of smile that Grace had seen him bestow dozens of times before on some poor unsuspecting woman or other, but if Harry thought he could turn on the charm and get her to agree to his proposal, he was mistaken. Harry never did anything unless it furthered his own interests and she wasn’t about to let him fob her off with any nonsense.

‘I can’t see any point in trying to have a sensible discussion if that’s your attitude.’ She went to stand up then stopped when Harry leant across the desk. Her heart jolted when she saw how serious he looked. Normally, Harry treated life as a huge joke just there for his enjoyment and it was unsettling to see this other side of him for once.

‘I’m sorry. I know how you feel about me, Grace. I should do because you’ve always made it perfectly clear that you doubted my motives. So to answer your question properly, I happened to be in the area on business rather than on holiday. Working here for a couple of weeks won’t spoil my plans one little bit.’

He didn’t explain what sort of business had brought him all the way to Cumbria and Grace didn’t ask. What Harry did was of little interest to her, except where it impinged on her own life, of course.

‘I see. Now that your business has been concluded, you have some free time on your hands.’ Her brows rose steeply when he nodded. ‘That’s very altruistic of you, Harry. Not many people would offer to give up their time off like this.’

‘I just want to help. Miles told me about your locum leaving and what had happened to your practice nurse. You might feel that you can cope, Grace, but Miles obviously doesn’t share your confidence. Quite frankly, he sounded as though he’d reached the end of his tether last night. It’s obvious the two of you are under a tremendous amount of pressure and I think you need to take that into account before you turn me down.’

‘I don’t need you to remind me about the pressure we’re under,’ she snapped, because Harry had touched a nerve. Although she and Miles shared the responsibility of running the practice, she couldn’t ignore the fact that Miles had the added worry of Penny to contend with. Not for the first time Grace found herself thinking how fortunate she was not to have to worry about anyone else. She was single out of choice and happy with her life.

Or she was most of the time.

She wasn’t sure where that qualification had sprung from and quickly dismissed it. Thoughts like that would only clutter up her mind and that could prove disastrous when dealing with Harry. She sat down again and treated him to a look that was meant to prove she was in control of the situation. The problem was that Harry looked so worried that she couldn’t help feeling alarmed, too.

‘I’m not trying to start an argument with you, Grace. It might surprise you to learn that I didn’t come here tonight for a fight. I came because I was worried about Miles. Have you looked at him recently?’

‘Of course I have. I see him nearly every day of the week. What kind of a stupid question is that?’

‘I mean really looked at him.’ Harry sat back in his chair and regarded her thoughtfully. His blue eyes were so intent that Grace found it impossible to look away.

‘I didn’t realise there were different ways of looking at people,’ she snapped, because he was making her feel really uncomfortable now.

She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear then realised what she was doing. She wasn’t going to start worrying about how she looked because of Harry. No way, not in a million years. So what if she was wearing her oldest sweater—the one with the worn patches on the elbows—and a skirt that should have been sent to the charity shop months ago? And what did it matter if her nose was shiny and her hair needed brushing? She’d worked non-stop from the moment she’d arrived that morning and she’d been far too busy to worry about her appearance. Maybe Harry had the time to choose the perfect tie to go with his perfect shirt and perfect suit, but lesser mortals didn’t.

She opened her mouth to tell Harry that only he’d carried on speaking. Grace felt a tremor work its way from the tips of her toes to her knees when she heard what he was saying. She wanted to stop him but some perverse little imp inside her refused to coperate.

‘There’s dozens of ways of looking at people. It just depends who they are and what they mean to you. It also makes a difference how long it’s been since you saw them, too.’ Harry made a steeple with his fingers and studied her over the top of the spire. ‘Take you, for instance, Grace. It must be almost a year since we last saw each other and you look very different now from what you did then. Your hair is shorter for starters and although it suits you, I have to say that I think it’s a shame you’ve had it cut because that caramel-brown colour is so unusual. You’ve also lost weight. Not a lot, granted, but you’re definitely slimmer.’

‘Thank you, Harry. I think you’ve made your point now.’

Grace brusquely cut him off. She couldn’t explain it, but the fact that Harry had noticed the changes in her appearance made her feel very odd indeed. It was as though he was seeing her as a woman for the first time and she couldn’t pretend that it didn’t make her feel extremely conscious of her own femininity all of a sudden.

‘Then you understand what I’m getting at, don’t you?’ Mercifully, Harry seemed unaware of her dilemma as he continued. ‘You see Miles every day so you probably haven’t noticed the change in him, but I was shocked when I saw him last night. To be honest, I almost didn’t recognise him at first. He looks like he’s aged five years in the past twelve months.’

‘It’s been tough for Miles this past year,’ Grace conceded. She sighed when Harry’s brows rose. She could hardly refuse to explain that comment. Anyway, it might divert his interest away from her and that would be a blessing.

‘I don’t suppose I’m betraying any confidences because Miles has never made any secret of the fact that he and Penny have been having problems,’ she said quickly, not sure why she was so sensitive all of a sudden. She and Harry had traded enough insults to sink a fleet of battleships over the years and she couldn’t imagine why she should have been so alarmed by his comments.

‘Problems. You don’t mean with their marriage, do you?’

Harry sounded so shocked by the suggestion that she looked at him in surprise. ‘Of course not. Their marriage is rock solid and they’re really happy together. Everything would be perfect, in fact, if they could just have the family they’re both longing for, but Penny’s had problems conceiving. She had a miscarriage last year so now that she’s pregnant again, Miles is taking no chances. He’s insisted that she must rest as much as possible, but that means he’s been trying to do everything himself.’

‘Not easy when you’re so busy here,’ Harry agreed soberly. He sighed, his handsome face looking unaccustomedly sad. ‘It’s such a shame. Miles and Penny are the kind of people who make you want to believe in all that happily-ever-after nonsense. So many marriages fail that it’s nice to see a couple actually making a go of it.’

‘I never thought you’d be an advocate for marriage,’ Grace observed tartly, to hide her surprise. She’d never expected to hear Harry expounding on the joys of matrimony. It simply didn’t go with the image she had of him and it was unsettling to think that she might have to adjust her ideas.

‘Oh, I’m a great believer in the institution of marriage,’ he declared. ‘So long as I don’t have to get personally involved in promoting it as a lifestyle choice then I’m more than happy to give it my vote.’

‘Typical,’ Grace snorted. ‘Why would you want to spoil your fun by making a commitment to one woman when you can have your pick from dozens? I’m just surprised you found the time to come here tonight, Harry, when you could be using it so much more productively.’

‘Oh, the night is young yet and there’s plenty of time left for…pleasure.’

His deep voice lingered on the last word and the tiny hairs on the back of Grace’s neck sprang to attention. She had a sudden and far too vivid mental picture of how Harry might pleasure the latest woman in his life, so she quickly stood up. Harry might be prepared to sit here and play these silly games but she wasn’t going to play them with him.

‘How very nice for you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to have a word with Miles before I make my decision.’

‘Of course. But take your time, Grace, and really think about what you’re doing. I’d hate you to turn down my offer and then regret it.’

Harry stood up as she came round the desk and she was forced to stop. He was several inches taller than she was so that she had to tip back her head to look at him. Maybe it was that which made her feel so vulnerable all of a sudden.

‘I want you to be sure in your own heart, Grace, that you really don’t want me here.’

Harry knew he shouldn’t tease Grace like that but it was hard to resist when she always rose so sweetly to his baiting. He hid his smile as he watched a dozen different expressions cross her face. She was trying to decide whether she should ignore him or tear a strip off him, and he realised with a sudden flash of insight that he didn’t mind which it was. Fighting with Grace was a whole lot more fun than making love had been with many of the women he’d dated over the past few years.

The thought caught him unawares so it was a relief when Grace swept past him without uttering a word. Harry went to the window after she’d left, wondering where the idea had sprung from. Grace Kennedy had been a pain in the butt ever since he’d met her on their first day at Oxford together. She’d taken an instant dislike to him and had never once missed the opportunity to goad him since then.

Harry had found himself responding in kind even though he’d known he should try to rise above such childish behaviour. It was just that Grace’s remarks had seemed to prick harder and more painfully than anyone else’s had done. She’d been one of the top students in their year so he’d told himself that it was competitiveness that had caused the problem: Grace had resented the fact that he was every bit as talented as she was and that was why she’d given him hell, and it had become a point of honour that he should retaliate. Now he found himself wondering if there was another reason why they’d kept up the sparring for all these years. Was it possible that he and Grace were attracted to each other?

He groaned. It was obviously a night for stupid thoughts. He didn’t seriously imagine that Grace found him attractive. They argued because she neither liked nor trusted him, and because he refused to do anything to improve her opinion of him. It made him see how difficult it would be for them to work together in such circumstances. It wouldn’t help poor Miles if he and Grace were constantly at odds.

He sighed as he stared across the empty car park. It was a blow to face that fact, when he’d thought that he’d found the ideal solution to his problems as well as Miles’s. He’d never got around to telling Miles last night the reason why he was in Cumbria. Miles had been so stressed that he hadn’t found the right moment to broach the subject, which was ironic, really, because this new health service committee he’d been appointed to had been set up specifically to find ways to relieve the pressure on rural GPs.

Harry had spoken to dozens of general practitioners over the past few weeks, but he still hadn’t been able to get a true picture of all the problems they faced. Few people liked to admit they couldn’t cope and GPs were no different to anyone else in that respect. He’d been hoping to get some truthful answers out of Miles, but once he’d learned about the difficulties his friend was experiencing, Harry had realised it was the opportunity he needed. If he offered to work at the surgery then not only would he be helping Miles but he’d be able to experience the pressures at first hand.

He’d decided to talk to Miles and Grace about it that evening, but now he could see how pointless it would be. Although he was confident that Miles would agree to his proposal, Grace certainly wouldn’t. She’d probably see it as a slight on the way they ran the practice and the last thing Harry wanted was to create a rift between the two partners. All things considered, it might be better if he told Miles that he’d changed his mind.

‘Can you phone for an ambulance?’

Grace came rushing back into the room. Harry felt his heart sink when he saw the expression on her face. ‘What’s wrong?’ he demanded as he watched her wrench open a cupboard door.

‘It’s Miles. I th-think h-he’s having a heart attack.’

Her voice caught and she bit her lip. Harry could see that her hands were shaking as she tried to take a syringe out of the box. He hurried across the room and took it from her then looked around.

‘Drugs?’

‘In that steel cabinet in the corner. Here’s the keys.’

She handed him a bunch of keys. Harry took them and quickly unlocked the cupboard. ‘You phone for an ambulance while I sort this out,’ he instructed, checking through the vials until he found what he needed.

‘Oh, but—’

‘For heavens sake, Grace, don’t waste time arguing. Just do it.’

He didn’t wait to see how she took that: there wasn’t time. He left her in the office and ran along the corridor, cursing under his breath because he’d forgotten to ask her where he would find Miles. Fortunately, there were only three other doors leading off the corridor and he found Miles propped up against the sink unit in the staffroom.

‘How’s it going, old man?’ Harry asked, dropping to his knees beside him.

‘I’ve had better days,’ Miles muttered, clutching his chest.

‘I’ll bet you have.’ Harry quickly rolled up his friend’s shirtsleeve and swabbed his arm then slid the needle into his vein. ‘There. That should ease the pain in a moment or two so let’s take a look at you.’

He took hold of Miles’s wrist and checked his pulse. It was a little fast but strong enough, and he smiled encouragingly at him. ‘Well, the old ticker’s still working away, you’ll be pleased to hear.’

‘Nice to know I’m not dead yet,’ Miles replied with a brave stab at humour.

‘Oh, there’s plenty of life in the old dog yet,’ Harry said airily, hoping he wasn’t tempting fate.

He carried on with his examination, looking for all the usual signs he would expect to find in a case of myocardial infarction, things like shortness of breath, sweating and an absence of colour in the skin. Miles was exhibiting all of those symptoms, worryingly enough, so Harry was relieved when Grace appeared to tell him the ambulance was on its way.

‘Good. Hospital’s the best place for you,’ he declared as Grace knelt down beside them. She lent forward to loosen the collar of Miles’s shirt and Harry sucked in his breath when he felt a stab of awareness hit him squarely in the gut as her shoulder brushed against his chest.

He hastily stood up. The last thing he needed was for his mind to start playing those tricks again. He didn’t fancy Grace any more than she fancied him. The pattern of their relationship had been set years ago and this definitely wasn’t the time to start altering it. He adopted a deliberately neutral expression when she glanced up because he didn’t intend to make the mistake of handing her any ammunition to use against him in the future.

‘The ambulance should be here soon but I’m worried they might not be able to find us,’ she explained anxiously. ‘It’s really dark at this end of the village and I’d hate them to miss the turning and drive straight past.’

‘I’ll go and wait by the gates so I can flag them down,’ Harry offered, relieved to have something to do. ‘You stay here and look after Miles.’

‘Thanks, Harry. That would be a real help. I appreciate it.’

It was the first time Harry could remember her ever speaking to him with any warmth in her voice. As he left the kitchen, he found himself marvelling at the effect it’d had. He wanted to leap up and punch the air as though he’d scored a major victory, although he had no idea why. Grace had merely treated him on a par with everyone else. She’d spoken to him as a normal human being instead of as her worst enemy. Why that should be a cause for celebration, he couldn’t imagine.

He left the surgery and headed down the drive. It was a bitterly cold night and his overcoat was still hanging on the back of the consulting-room door, but he never noticed the discomfort. His head seemed to be whirling, thoughts spinning around inside it like the bits of coloured glass whizzing about inside that kaleidoscope he’d had as a kid. One thought suddenly caught and took shape.

Sparring with Grace had been a lot of fun, but what would it be like if they could talk to each other and discover all the things they had in common?

The idea dissolved before he could attempt to deal with it and another took its place.