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It was Jessie’s role that bothered Katie. She must have gone there in the first instance knowing full well her parents had forbidden it. It was a dangerous place and there were signs all around warning people to keep away, but perhaps she had simply decided to throw caution to the wind.
‘You were very badly injured. It was lucky for you that Jessie was there. She must have saved your life by ringing for the emergency services.’ Even now Katie tensed, thinking about what might have happened if the paramedics and fire service hadn’t arrived within a few minutes of her call.
‘Yes, she did.’
‘You were so ill. A fractured skull—I was so worried about you. We all were.’
He reached across the table and covered her hand with his. ‘I remember you came to visit me in hospital. That was like a ray of light shining down on me. It meant a lot to me, you being there, but I felt wretched knowing that you thought badly of me.’
She was startled. ‘You knew I was there? But I thought…I didn’t realise. I know I talked to you, but you didn’t answer. You’d been in a coma. It was awful, I felt so wretched, seeing you like that, not being able to do anything.’ Her voice trailed away. ‘There was a time when we didn’t think you would recover.’
‘Well, all I can say is I must have the luck of the devil. Thanks to the surgeons I was up and about after some extensive physio and ready to do battle.’ His mouth flattened. ‘I knew I had to make some changes in my life after that.’
She nodded, finishing her drink. ‘So did I. That’s when I decided I had to study medicine. I was so impressed by the way everyone handled things, from the paramedics, the nurses, through to the doctors. It had a huge impact on me.’
He grinned. ‘I’m glad I had some influence on your life in a good way. But as for myself, I knew I had to get away, to start afresh where no one had any preconceived ideas about me.’
She raised her brows. ‘It was a bit drastic, though, going off and joining the army, don’t you think?’
He laughed. ‘Maybe.’ He picked up her glass. ‘Will you have another?’
‘Yes, thanks. It’s certainly done the trick.’ While he was at the bar, she undid her jacket and slipped it off, placing it over the back of her chair. She was wearing a crocheted top over a cotton shirt blouse, and when Ross came back he gave her an admiring glance.
‘You’re a sight for sore eyes.’
Her mouth twitched. ‘I bet you say that to all the girls.’
‘Yeah. Especially those who give me the run-around. A bit of flattery goes a long way, I find.’
She laughed. ‘I expect it does. You’ll go far.’
‘I’ll drink to that.’ He raised his glass and she answered the toast with hers, clinking their glasses together.
‘So, here’s to the future,’ she murmured. ‘May it bring us both what we want.’
‘Mmm…I’d be more than happy to settle for you,’ he returned, as quick as a flash, a light dancing in his blue eyes.
She shook her head. ‘Poor, deluded man,’ she said softly, swirling the amber liquid in her glass. ‘Such passion…such persistence…such a waste.’
‘We’ll see.’ He looked so confident and quietly sure of himself that she felt a momentary qualm. He wouldn’t succeed, though. He was chivvying her along, playing her on a long line, but it wouldn’t get him anywhere. She was immune, wasn’t she? How could she fall for someone who had such a reckless nature?
She tasted the brandy once more and felt a giddying surge of heat rush to her head. She frowned. Could it be that the strong spirit was getting to her? She’d had breakfast, but that had been a while ago, and she hadn’t eaten all that much then, just a bowl of cereal and a round of toast.
She started to talk, to cover her confusion. ‘How was it that you turned to medicine? I meant to ask you when we met up at med school a few years ago, but we had so little time together it went out of my head.’
‘Yes, I remember thinking it was almost a pity I’d secured a place on the accident and emergency rotation. I’d hoped we could work together for a while, but you were doing paediatrics then, as I recall, and our shifts always seemed to clash.’
She nodded. ‘You said the army had organised the training for you—but what was it that made you want to go in for medicine? I thought you were all set in your career with the army?’
He frowned. ‘It was the general nature of the work I was doing, I think. I was in a lot of areas where there was fighting, and there were injured men being evacuated on a regular basis. The medics would come in and do what they could for the men, and then they were whisked off to hospital. I began to feel that I would like to have some part in that.
‘I wanted to become a surgeon so that I could make a difference to the men who were severely wounded—I wanted to give them the chance of life. So in the end I decided to specialise in accident and emergency and neurosurgery.’
‘But you left the army after all that. When did it happen?’ She sipped more brandy and felt warm all over, and began to worry that she was becoming a little light-headed.
His gaze trailed over her, and she was conscious of the hot tide of colour that must be flooding her cheeks. His glance was interested and speculative at the same time. ‘Only quite recently, actually. I had to stay with the army for a few years after they supported my training. I can’t say I decided it was time to put down roots, exactly, but I think I’d had enough of being in conflict zones.
‘It’s easy to become hardened to it after a while, and I didn’t like that. I didn’t like what it was doing to me. I began to wonder if I could do just as much good by working in Accident and Emergency here at home.’
‘I expect your father’s pleased you made that decision.’
He shrugged. ‘I wouldn’t know. I don’t see all that much of him. He’s away on business a lot—he always was.’ He appeared to be unperturbed by that, but there was a faint edge of regret in his voice.
After a while they finished their drinks and he said quietly, ‘Shall we make our way down to the car deck? We’ll be docking soon, and we might as well get ready to go.’
She gave him a quick look. ‘You bought a car?’
‘I hired one.’ His mouth indented. ‘So I’ll be able to drive you to Cragail. That will make things easier for you, won’t it?’
‘Yes, it will. Thanks.’
She started to get to her feet and swayed slightly, so he put out a hand and helped her find her balance. ‘Are you all right?’
‘I’m fine, thanks.’ Her brows drew together. ‘I think perhaps I should have eaten more at breakfast or avoided the brandy. It seems to have gone to my head.’ They walked out of the bar and along the corridor leading to the stairwell.
‘I’ll get you something to soak it up—a bun, a sandwich, a pack of biscuits or something,’ he said. ‘What would you like?’
‘A bun would be great—but I can get it for myself.’ She turned to walk towards the cafeteria, but he retained his hold on her, and she realised he didn’t think she was steady enough to go on her own.
‘Honestly, I’m all right,’ she said. The dizziness would pass soon enough, she was sure, though she was ashamed of herself for getting into this state.
‘Of course you are.’ A couple of passengers approached, wanting to get past them, and he tugged her gently towards him so that her soft curves were lightly crushed against his hard, masculine frame. A wave of heat raced through her body.
He pulled in a deep breath. ‘You’re more than all right, Katie.’ He looked into her eyes and let his glance shift over the pink flush of her cheeks and down to the ripe swell of her lips. ‘More tempting than you could possibly imagine. In fact, you’re perfect. Delectable, and as sweet as luscious strawberries.’
And he was a charmer, a devil in disguise, who would play havoc with her feelings if she gave him half a chance. His hand smoothed over her spine, coming to rest on her hip, and despite herself she arched against him sinuously, like a cat, revelling in the gentle caress.
His smile was inviting, a small glow of satisfaction flickering in the depths of his eyes. ‘I’m really glad we’re going to be together at Castle Cragail,’ he murmured. ‘I’ve been longing to have you all to myself ever since we met up again at the station.’
‘Hmm.’ Katie wasn’t so sure about that. All at once she could see all manner of pitfalls opening up in front of her. ‘I’m not thinking too clearly,’ she said, pushing the palms of her hands lightly against his chest, ‘and I think I should take your advice and go and get something to eat. I have the feeling I need to keep a clear head.’
‘What a shame,’ he said softly. ‘I was getting to like being with this new, befuddled Katie.’
She nodded. ‘That’s what I’m afraid of.’
CHAPTER THREE
THE SUN APPEARED from behind the clouds as Katie and Ross approached Cragail Castle, and Katie gave a small gasp. ‘Oh, look at that, Ross—it’s so beautiful. I never imagined it would be like this.’
The stonework had taken on a mellow, golden glow in the morning light, and she gazed, enraptured for a moment or two, at the circular towers and high ramparts, set against a backdrop of pine forest and green meadowland.
‘We’ll have to go up to the ramparts and look out over the countryside later on,’ Ross murmured. ‘It will have been well worth coming here just to see that.’
She smiled. ‘Are you not all that interested in the conference itself?’
‘I am, actually.’ They walked to the main gate, passing along a stone-walled bridge that went over a bubbling stream. ‘I like to keep up with all kinds of new technology—it’s just that we don’t always have the advantage of being in beautiful surroundings when we take part in these events.’
There was more than one conference being held at the castle, they discovered, and notice-boards had been set up in the main hall to show people where the various meetings were being held.
One of the girls from Reception showed them to their rooms, where they would be staying overnight, and Katie discovered that she and Ross had been allocated rooms on the same floor, just a few doors away from each other.
‘I’ll come and call for you in a few minutes,’ Ross said, checking his watch. ‘It looks as though we’ve just time to freshen up before the first meeting.’
‘Okay.’ Katie went into her room and laid her holdall on the softly quilted bed. There was no time to unpack so she quickly ran a brush through her hair, applied fresh lipstick to her mouth and added a touch of perfume to her throat and wrists. Then she went over to the casement window and looked out through the leaded panes over the landscaped gardens that stretched for acres in all directions. Amongst the shrubbery there was a statue half-hidden by a rose-covered archway, and a fountain where water trickled over a series of stone urns.
Ross knocked lightly on her door a moment later, and she went to meet him, ready for the day ahead.
‘What’s your room like?’ he asked. ‘Are you pleased with it?’
‘It’s lovely—all sunshine-yellow walls and soft furnishings,’ she murmured. ‘How about yours?’
‘Perfect. Tartan covers and a writing table by the window. I brought my laptop with me, so that’ll come in handy.’
They stayed together throughout the day, listening to various speakers talk of the advantages of video links for centres in remote rural areas, enabling doctors to link up with consultants in other parts of the region.
‘I liked the idea of a new mother being able to see her baby over a video link when she had been taken to a different hospital for surgery,’ Katie said, when they went to the banqueting hall to get some food a few hours later. ‘It must be awful to be separated from your infant when you most want to be with him.’ She surveyed the variety of dishes on offer and wondered what to choose.
Ross nodded. ‘There are lots of advantages to video conferencing—it’s very useful to be able to exchange ideas with other professionals, without having to travel miles to meet up with them.’ He loaded his tray with steak pie and vegetables and added an apple pie for dessert. ‘I’ll get a pot of tea for both of us, if you like?’
She nodded, and he waved a hand towards the far side of the room. ‘There’s a table over there by the window. Will that be okay with you?’
‘It’ll be fine.’ Katie chose the soup of the day, a tempting mix of appetising vegetables, and picked out a crusty bread roll to go with it. Finally, she opted for a cool fruit salad to finish things off.
She glanced around the hall as she tasted her soup a few minutes later. The oak-panelled walls were adorned with oil paintings, a mixture of local landscapes and portraits of the ancestors of the people who owned the castle.
Glittering chandeliers hung down from the ornate ceiling and high up along one side of the room she noticed a minstrels’ gallery. There was no music being played at the moment, but she’d heard that in the evenings a group of musicians would gather there to provide entertainment for people who were dining.
Ross finished pouring tea and then followed her gaze. ‘It looks as though a lot of care and attention has been put into this place. All the rooms have their own particular features—even the conference room was warm and welcoming. I’m not sure whether it was because of the décor or the plush seating…’
‘I think it was both of those, and the flowers and greenery added the finishing touch.’ She smiled. ‘I suppose it would be very sexist of me to say that I think a woman has had a strong part in overseeing the interior design here.’
He grinned. ‘It would but I think you’re right.’ He tucked into the steak pie for a while and then said on a thoughtful note, ‘Did you have any particular reason for wanting to come to this conference? It’s not as though you’ll have much use for this technology in paediatric A and E, is it? Unless you’ve come across problems, of course?’
She laid down her spoon for a moment while she answered him. ‘You’re right—so far there hasn’t been any situation where I’ve needed to have the equipment on hand. But I’m thinking of the wider issues. A job has come up that I’m really interested in. I felt coming here might be useful to me, because the work will involve administration—seeing to the needs of the region, not just the local hospital.’
He was silent for a moment, seemingly preoccupied with his thoughts, but then he frowned and asked, ‘Are you thinking of moving away from paediatrics?’
She shook her head, making the chestnut curls gleam in the golden light of the chandelier. ‘Not at all. It just means I’ll have extra responsibility on top of what I’m doing now. My boss has been encouraging me to go for it. It’s really important to me to get this job—I’ve worked hard these last few years, because I always wanted to become a consultant. This is the ideal opportunity for me to achieve that.’
‘As a registrar, you’re only one step away from that, though some people might think you’re still rather young, and maybe you could do with a bit more experience under your belt.’ His dark brows drew together. ‘Is your career that important to you? What about marriage and children? Don’t they figure in your plans?’
‘Of course they do…at some point,’ she said in a faintly troubled voice. ‘But right now my job is everything to me. I love what I do.’
The truth was, there’d been boyfriends along the way, and one in particular who she’d cared about quite deeply, until she’d discovered that he’d cheated on her. That had hurt her badly, and had shaken her confidence, so that she decided to put all her energies into her work. She’d made up her mind she wasn’t ever going to allow herself to be hurt that way again.
She’d learned a valuable lesson, and at the same time she’d realised that none of the men she’d dated had measured up to her ideal. Perhaps, subconsciously, she’d been setting them all against her first love…or should that be infatuation? Somehow, Ross had always been there in the back of her mind, right from the beginning. He was so wrong for her, and yet the dream had persisted. There was always that ‘what if’ hovering in the background.
‘Katie, Ross! Who’d have thought we would meet up here?’ The male voice cut into her thoughts, and Katie looked up from her seat by the window to see a tall man, immaculately dressed in a dark suit and subtly patterned silk tie, standing by their table. His dark hair had a natural wave, and his blue-grey eyes glinted with recognition.
‘Josh? Josh Kilburn?’ Katie smiled as she recalled the earnest young man she’d been at school with several years before. She turned to Ross, wondering if he remembered him, too.
‘Hi, there,’ Ross said, nodding acknowledgement. ‘Are you here for the other conference—something to do with the legal profession, isn’t it?’
‘That’s right. I’m a solicitor—we’re finding out about using video links to liaise between the courts and people in prison. One way for convicts to give testimony without having to travel to and from court.’
Katie patted the chair beside her. ‘Why don’t you come and join us?’ she suggested with a smile. ‘I’d really like to hear what you’ve been up to these last few years.’
‘I’d love to,’ he said, a look of regret coming over his face, ‘but I won’t, thanks, because I’m with my colleagues. I just wanted to come over and say hello. I’ll be staying here overnight, so if you’re doing the same, perhaps we could get together at some point? I’m in room twenty-eight.’
‘That must be on the floor above mine. I’m in number twelve,’ Katie murmured, ‘and Ross is along the corridor from me.’
‘Room nine,’ Ross said. ‘Come and knock on the door if you want to meet up later on. Otherwise we’ll be round and about the place.’
‘It’s great to see you again,’ Katie told him. ‘Are you working on the mainland? I never ventured that far—not for any length of time.’
‘I was, but actually I just moved back to the village, so I guess you’ll be seeing see me around from time to time. I’m a partner of a law firm setting up there.’
‘That’s good to know. We’ll be able to catch up, and talk over old times.’ She ran her gaze over him briefly. Judging by the expensively tailored suit and the crisp linen shirt he was wearing, he’d done well for himself. She could see the merest hint of gold cufflinks beneath the sleeves of his jacket. ‘Will you be bringing family over with you?’
‘No, just myself. I’m planning on buying a house not too far from where my parents live. It’ll be good to be close to them and my brother again.’ He turned as his friends tried to catch his attention. ‘It looks as though they’re going into the annexe to eat,’ he said. ‘It seems to be filling up fast in here.’ He smiled. ‘I’d better go. It was good meeting up with both of you—maybe we’ll be able to talk again later? Perhaps we could all get together for dinner this evening?’
Katie and Ross nodded, and then, as Josh walked away, they turned their attention back to their meals.
‘He used to be a regular visitor to your family estate at one time, as I recall,’ Ross murmured. ‘Weren’t you and he dating at one time?’
‘Off and on, yes, but it was nothing serious. He was always more interested in Jessie. Anyway, I left for medical school soon after.’
‘How’s Jessie doing? Has she left the nest or is she still working on the family estate?’
‘Oh, she won’t leave. She loves that job.’ She sent him a wide-eyed glance. ‘What’s not to love—all that beautiful countryside, people wanting to be shown around the place? She’s in her element there. The house is only open at certain times, though—my parents value their privacy—but there are the gardens to see, and the woodland paths, and the horse riding. I expect you know it all fairly well.’
He shook his head and looked at her from under his dark lashes. ‘I was never very welcome on the estate, remember?’
She frowned, disturbed by the mixed emotions she read in his eyes. What was it she saw there? Regret? Disillusion? ‘But you must have visited—Jessie brought you back to the house a few times, didn’t she? I don’t think I was at home then, but…’
His mouth made a wry twist. ‘Your parents usually found a way to see me to the door before too long. They didn’t want me around. Apparently I was a bad influence on their younger daughter.’
She sent him a concerned glance. ‘I’m sorry about that. Jessie was a bit wild and headstrong in those days.’ And, of course, their worst fears had come to fruition when they’d discovered Jessie had been with him that night at the Old Brewery. Perhaps that was why Jessie didn’t want to talk about that incident. She knew she shouldn’t have been with him, and she’d let her parents down.
