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‘I like it here.’ He pushed his fingers into the pebbles and laughed when the smaller ones fell through his fingers to the ground. ‘These are good. If I had my truck, I could fill it up wiv these.’
Matt nodded, kneeling down beside the boy. ‘I expect you could. That would be fun, wouldn’t it? But perhaps we should find out if your mother knows where you are. She might be worried.’
Jacob shook his head. ‘She won’t be worried. She’s bathing the baby.’ He frowned. ‘She has to,’ he added knowledgeably, ‘because she fills her nappy and gets stinky. Babies are like that, aren’t they? They’re smelly and they cry a lot.’
Matt laughed. ‘I suppose so, but they’re not like that all the time.’
Jacob screwed up his nose and pursed his pink mouth. Obviously he wasn’t too sure about that.
From somewhere in the distance Lucy heard the doorbell ring. ‘That’ll be the man about the cooker,’ she said, glancing worriedly at Matt. ‘I ought to go and let him in.’
‘Okay. I’ll see to it that Jacob gets home all right.’
‘Thanks.’
She smiled at the little boy. ‘Bye for now, Jacob. I’ll probably see you again sometime.’
He nodded cautiously. ‘Prob’ly,’ he said.
The repairman was nonchalantly looking around when she opened the front door to him, but as soon as he saw her, his eyes widened. He looked her up and down, taking in the clinging, cotton top she was wearing, and the skirt that hugged the line of her shapely hips.
‘Um … Domestic oven service. You called our company out because your grill’s not working?’
‘That’s right. I’m so glad you’ve come.’
He was a good-looking young man, in his mid-twenties or thereabouts, with dark, silky hair that had a natural wave. His glance moved over her once more, and he took a moment to bring his mind back on track before he said with a grin, ‘Consider me at your service.’
‘Come on in.’ She was well used to men looking at her that way, so she ignored his stares and showed him into the kitchen. ‘It’s not lighting up or getting hot or anything,’ she told him.
‘I’ll take a look.’
‘Thanks.’
He opened up his kit box and began testing various parts of the cooker. ‘Your element’s had it,’ he said after a while. ‘I can fit a new one for you. There’s one in my van.’
‘Oh, good.’ She smiled. ‘That’s a relief. I wondered if you might have to send away for the part.’ She shrugged. ‘I suppose I couldn’t expect it to go on working forever. It gets a lot of use, one way and another.’
He nodded. ‘They generally do.’ He gave her a thoughtful look and said cheerfully, ‘The only way round that is to go out for meals. I’d be happy to take you out and free you up from all that cooking … if you’re not otherwise engaged, that is?’ His glance went to the fingers of her left hand, and when he saw that she wasn’t wearing a ring, his confidence seemed to grow. ‘There’s a new place opened up in the city. I don’t know what kind of food you like, but I’ve heard good things about the restaurant. We could go there this evening, if you like.’
Lucy smiled again, but shook her head. ‘Thanks for the invitation, but I’m afraid I’ve given up on dating. I have other things to concentrate on right now … like my studies and exams.’
His mouth made a wry twist. ‘That’s a shame,’ he said. ‘An awful shame. Seems to me we should all take a break every now and again.’
He eyed her up once more before reluctantly leaving her while he went outside to his van. When he came back a short time later, he set to and fixed the new element in place, and then asked if he could wash his hands at the sink.
‘Of course, go ahead.’ She took a clean towel from a cupboard and handed it to him.
‘You know,’ he murmured, drying his hands and putting the towel to one side, ‘it would be such a pity to give up on the dating game. You’re gorgeous, absolutely stunning, in fact, and I can’t believe you’re content to stay at home and swot every night. Give me half a chance, and I could show you what you’re missing.’
She shook her head once more and said lightly, ‘Thanks for the offer, but no, thanks … I meant what I said. I’m not going to change my mind. Do you want to give me the bill, and I’ll settle up with you?’
He pulled a face and wrote out the invoice, and Lucy handed him a cheque. ‘I appreciate you fixing the grill for me,’ she said. ‘Thanks.’
‘You don’t need to thank me … just change your mind and come out with me this evening.’ He moved a little closer and Lucy took a step backwards.
‘I already gave you my answer,’ she said firmly. ‘I’m sorry, but I can’t.’
‘Sure you can,’ he murmured. ‘We’d be great together, you and I. A night on the town would do you a world of good.’ He moved towards her once more, but this time Lucy stood her ground.
‘I don’t think you’re listening to me,’ she said, her tone brisk, but she was wondering what she ought to do about him. He was certainly persistent. In fact, if he came any closer, she might have to resort to drastic action, something a little more forceful than mere words perhaps since he didn’t seem to be taking any notice of what she said.
‘I believe she’s already given you her answer,’ Matt remarked coolly from the doorway. ‘Or perhaps you don’t understand that “no” means no?’
Lucy was startled. She hadn’t heard the kitchen door open, but Matt stood there, broad-shouldered, straight-backed, formidable, his eyes glittering like steel, lancing into the man who was holding on to her.
The young man stared at him in confusion. ‘Who are you? Where did you come from?’
‘I’m the man who’s looking out for her, and I live here. Do you have a problem with that?’ He dared him to answer. Matt’s jaw was rigid, his mouth set in a hard line that brooked no nonsense. Lucy had never seen him like this before, and she was astonished that the easy-going, laid-back man that she knew had suddenly turned into this granite-edged guardian.
He walked towards them, his long stride steady and determined. ‘It looks as though you’ve finished your job,’ he said, looking at the closed toolbox and the old element on the kitchen worktop. ‘Now it’s time for you to leave.’
‘I … Yes, well, I …’ the young man floundered, pulling his hands away from Lucy as though he’d been stung. ‘I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just asking her out.’
‘And you had your answer. Now you should go.’
‘Okay, I’m out of here.’ He put up his hands in a gesture of submission and then hurriedly grabbed his toolbox. Matt followed him to the door and watched him get into his van and drive away.
Coming back along the corridor to where she was waiting, he glanced at Lucy and said calmly, ‘I can’t leave you alone for five minutes, can I? Men take one look at you and their brains fly out the window.’
She stared at him, dumbfounded. ‘Is that my fault?’ she said, feeling affronted. ‘Do you think I like it that way? I hate that it always happens. I hate it that other women resent me for the way I look, but I can’t do anything about it. I wish I could, but I can’t … unless …’ Her mind whirled. ‘Perhaps I should scrape my hair back into a ponytail and start wearing baggy clothes.’
‘I can’t see that working,’ he said with a wry smile. ‘Anyway, I was just teasing you—you make it so easy for me because you always rise to the bait. You really shouldn’t take things so seriously, you know.’
She frowned. ‘No, maybe not. But just lately I can’t help it. I feel as though I’m under pressure all the while, and you have a knack of turning the key and winding me up even more. I don’t want to feel that way.’ Her gaze flicked to him. ‘About what happened with the repairman just now … There was no need for you to intervene, you know. I was handling things. I was perfectly able to deal with him.’
‘Sure you were.’ He draped an arm around her and led her back towards the kitchen. ‘Anyway, forget about it. You have more important things to think about right now, don’t you?’
She looked at him in consternation. ‘Oh—the lecture, yes. I must get my head clear.’ She dithered for a second or two, undecided what she should do first. ‘I have to get my bag … And I need to sort out some paperwork for my father before I go—he’ll be ringing to ask me about it later today and I need to have it to hand.’ She frowned, trying to bring her thoughts into order. ‘What happened about the little boy … Jacob? Is he all right? He didn’t look as though he wanted to leave, did he?’
She realised that it might seem as though she was babbling, and she stopped talking, her mind in a whirl. Then she put a hand to her head and said raggedly, ‘Why can’t I think straight? What’s wrong with me? I’m not usually like this, and I don’t understand it. I don’t know what’s happening to me.’
‘Hmm.’ He was thoughtful for a moment or two. ‘I think you should sit down for a few minutes before you do anything at all. I’ll make you a milky coffee. That will help you to focus. Just try to stay calm for a while—you’re always so busy, busy, busy, but I’m sure you don’t have to fill every single minute of the day.’
He laid a hand on her shoulder and lightly pressed her down into a chair by the table. And that would have been good, she might have taken comfort in his gentle urging and given herself a few moments to gather her thoughts, except that her mobile phone rang and from the display she saw that it was her father who was calling.
She pulled in a deep breath before answering. ‘Hello, Dad, what is it? I thought you were going to ring later. Is everything all right back home?’
‘Of course everything’s fine. But the work’s piling up, and I need you to go and take a look at the house you mentioned to me at the weekend … the one that’s coming up for auction. I want to know if the structure is sound. How much work needs to be done? How much is it going to cost me to bring it up to scratch and what price do I bid to make a decent profit? The auction’s on Thursday, so you’ll need to do it in the next couple of days.’
Her mind reeled at the influx of new instructions. ‘I can’t, Dad. I can’t do anything more than the basics right now. I’m snowed under. Do you remember, I told you I’ve started my new placement? That means a lot of extra work, and I have exams coming up. I don’t have any spare time. I can manage the internet research, but that’s about it.’
‘You have the evenings, don’t you? You can’t be studying the whole time.’ He sounded affronted. ‘Anyway, how long will it take for you to get over there? It’s only a hop and a skip away from you.’
‘No, but that’s not the point, Dad. You’re not listening to me. I have exams, and I have to study every chance I get. With the best will in the world I can’t go checking out houses right now. This is my career we’re talking about—I have to take the time to work at it.’
‘You had a career all laid out for you back here in the family business.’ His tone was blunt. ‘I’m not asking for the world, Lucy, just a few minutes of your time. It’s not beyond you to give me that, is it?’ His tone was scathing. ‘You know I can’t get over there right now, with the accountants coming to see me.’
She sighed heavily. It was always the same. He never listened to her. No matter what she said, he would never understand her point of view. It wasn’t important to him. All that mattered to him was the family business, the company that his grandfather had started and had passed on to his son, and which from there had come to him. She felt as though she was being pulled in all directions. She knew he wouldn’t back down.
‘All right,’ she said with a sigh, giving in. ‘I’ll see what I can do … but I’m making no promises.’
He cut the call, after asking about the paperwork she had prepared for him, and she pushed the phone into her bag, staring into space, her thoughts bleak.
‘Well, now we know why your mind is all over the place, don’t we?’ Matt said, sliding a coffee mug towards her across the table. ‘It’s the same thing he does with my father. He pushes and pushes and doesn’t consider the effect his demands have on other people.’
Lucy winced. ‘He’s not a bad person. He just has so much drive and energy, and he can’t understand why other people don’t have the same priorities. I know your father works hard.’
‘Too hard.’ Matt was grim-faced. ‘His team does all the building work for your father, and they’re stretched to the limit to keep up with all the projects he’s taken on. My father’s recruited more men, but even so they can’t pull in all the extra work. My mother’s worried sick about him. She says he’s not sleeping well and she thinks he has the beginnings of a stomach ulcer.’
Her blue eyes were troubled. ‘It must be a huge anxiety for her.’
‘Yes, it is. For me, too.’
Lucy’s shoulders slumped. Was this problem with her father going to drive a wedge between them? She had to share this house with Matt, and she didn’t want any bad feelings to blow up between them.
Things had been different a few months ago when the two families had rubbed along well together—after all, it was the sole reason that Matt was living here in the house with Jade, Ben and herself. Her father was very particular about who shared the living accommodation with his daughter, but he had been only too pleased to help out by giving his partner’s son a place to live when Matt had been offered a job at the local hospital. But now it looked as though being in business together was going to have all sorts of repercussions, especially if it was no longer an amicable arrangement.
‘Drink up.’ Matt inclined his head towards her coffee mug. ‘Once you get that down you, you should be able to make it to the hospital in time to sort yourself out for this afternoon.’ As an afterthought, he added, ‘And make sure you eat lunch.’
‘I will.’ She sipped her coffee and glanced at him over the rim of her cup. ‘I almost forgot—what happened with the little boy in the garden? Tell me, did his mother realise he had gone missing?’
He smiled. ‘Yes, she came looking for him. She thought he must have gone through the fence after the cat. He’s a bit of a tearaway apparently—the boy, I mean, not the cat—and there’s probably a smidgin of jealousy going on with the baby. I get the impression he keeps his mother on her toes.’
Lucy nodded. ‘It sounds that way. I’d wondered about the white cat that keeps appearing in the garden. I don’t think they’ve lived next door for long. The couple in the house before them went off to live in a detached property.’
She finished off her coffee. ‘Thanks for that,’ she murmured, getting to her feet. ‘I must go.’
She fetched her bag from the worktop and then looked at him once more before she headed for the door. ‘I should say thanks for stepping in to help me out earlier. I know you meant well but, as I said, I’m perfectly capable of handling things myself. If he’d come on too strong, I was thinking about kneeing him in the groin, but I’m not altogether sure how that would have gone down.’
‘Ouch!’
‘Yeah!’ She gave him a light wave of the hand and left the house, stepping out into the morning sunshine. The trees were in blossom all the way along the crescent, and a good many of the houses were decorated with brightly blooming hanging baskets. It was a glorious summer’s day, but something was bothering her and, try as she may, she couldn’t quite place what it was.
She walked along the street, ignoring the interested glance of the man who lived across the way. She was used to being avidly watched by the opposite sex wherever she went, and she did her best not to pay any attention. She frowned. Perhaps that was the source of what was playing on her mind.
Living together as closely as they did, Matt had never made a pass at her, and before today he’d hardly ever commented on the way she looked. Of course, she was pleased about that because it made life so much easier … but a perverse little imp was prodding and poking her, and prompting her to wonder about it.
Could it be that Matt saw beyond the superficial appearance and found that what was left was ultimately flawed? In his eyes she was her father’s daughter, programmed to do his bidding, sometimes a little resentful of that but happy all the same to live on the proceeds of his wealth.
It was a disturbing thought.
CHAPTER THREE
‘YOU look worried, Matt. Is anything wrong?’ Lucy had come from the neonatal unit and was on her way back to the children’s ward when she saw Matt waiting by the main entrance of the hospital. He was frowning, glancing occasionally at his watch and looking out through the glass doors towards the car park.
He shook his head. ‘Not really. I’m waiting for my father. He has an appointment with the cardiologist this afternoon, and I want to make sure he’s okay. I said I would meet him here and take him over to the department.’
Shocked, she looked at him in dismay. ‘I’m so sorry.’ She moved closer to him, laying a hand on his forearm in sympathy. ‘I didn’t realise things had come to that state. Has his condition become much worse?’
‘Yes, it seems like it. He’s had chest pains for some time, but now they’re getting quite bad, and his blood pressure is too high, despite the GP giving him ACE inhibitors to bring it down. I’ve been working on him whenever I’ve had the chance to get him to go and see a specialist. His GP was happy to go along with that, but my father wasn’t keen at all.’ He pulled a face. ‘He’s always been a proud, strong man, never one to make a fuss. I’m pretty sure the only reason he’s coming here at all today is to put my mother’s mind at rest.’
A twinge of guilt tightened her chest. Had all this come about because of her father putting pressure on him? She said quietly, ‘It’s good that you’re here to take care of him, anyway. Is your mother coming with him today? It’s a bit far out of their way, isn’t it?’ It was odd that they hadn’t opted to go to a hospital in Berkshire, where they had lived for the last forty or so years, but perhaps this hospital’s reputation had been the deciding factor.
He nodded. ‘That’s true. It’ll take them about an hour to get here, but they think it’s worth it. We have a first-class reputation for Cardiology at this hospital, which helped sway his mind and, I think, when my father finally agreed, he wanted to be seen here because he knew I’d be near at hand to advise him.’
‘Who is the consultant he’ll be seeing?’
‘Mr Sheldon.’ He gave her a thoughtful look. ‘You were on placement with him a few weeks ago, weren’t you?’
She smiled. ‘Yes. He kept me on my toes, but he’s a brilliant doctor. I’m sure your father will be in safe hands.’
‘Let’s hope so. I’ve had a lot of input, persuading my father to do this, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that everything will turn out all right.’
Lucy felt for him in his anxiety and she wished there was something she could say that would give him some comfort, but only an all-clear from the specialist would achieve that. The way things were, it didn’t look as though that would be forthcoming.
Looking down, she realised that she was still holding on to his arm, and now she self-consciously let her hand fall to her side. His body was tense, the muscles of his arms rigid, and she wished she could do more than just sympathise.
‘Will you let me know how he gets on?’ she said. ‘I have to go and look at a patient for Professor Farnham so I’ll be on the children’s ward for the rest of the morning. Good luck with your father.’
He acknowledged that with a nod and she left him, walking over to the lift bay, heading for Paediatrics. It bothered her, somehow, that Matt was looking so serious. It wasn’t like him—he was usually so laid-back and calm—but it just went to show how concerned he was for his father’s well-being.
Back on the children’s ward, she went to check up on the baby who had been suffering from pneumonia, along with a pleural infection.
‘Well, isn’t he looking better?’ she said, her mouth curving in delight as she came across the young mother, who was holding her son tenderly on her lap. The infant gurgled and gave Lucy a toothy smile. She let him grasp her fingers with his tiny fist, and asked, ‘Do you think I could have a listen to your chest, young man?’
The baby seemed happy enough to oblige, allowing his mother to lift his vest so that Lucy could run the stethoscope carefully over his chest. After a minute or so she pushed the stethoscope back down into her pocket and said in a cheerful tone, ‘That sounds good. It shouldn’t be too long before he’s able to go home.’
His mother beamed with relief, and Lucy left them a short time later and went to check up on the ten-year-old boy who had been admitted a few days ago after a traffic accident. His parents had also been injured in the accident, but they had been discharged after a couple of days, and now their child was their sole concern. He had been admitted with a spleen injury, and the professor was giving him supportive treatment, keeping an eye on the situation because he preferred not to operate if it was at all possible.
‘How are you feeling today, William?’ she asked. He was very pale and unusually subdued, and immediately she was on the alert.
He tried to sit up, but collapsed back against the pillows. ‘I feel sick,’ he muttered, and Lucy hurriedly reached for a kidney bowl and handed it to him.
‘Breathe deeply, if you can, and try to stay still,’ she told him. ‘I’ll just check your blood pressure, and see if we can find out what’s happening.’ She glanced at him as she wrapped the blood-pressure cuff around his arm.
‘Did this come on suddenly?’
He nodded, and said briefly, ‘After I got out of bed to go to the toilet.’
