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He nodded. ‘You are.’
‘Ah.’ She faltered momentarily, feeling like an unwitting intruder. ‘Ben told me he and his friends have been working here. It’s such a lovely house—what I’ve seen of it so far, anyway. Which isn’t a great deal,’ she added hastily. ‘Just the living room and kitchen and the terrace.’ She didn’t want him to think she’d been inspecting every nook and cranny in his absence.
‘I’ll be more than glad to show you the rest,’ he said. His gaze was intense, heat flaring in the depths of his eyes, and her heart gave a small, involuntary leap.
‘Thank you, Dr Benitez, I’d like that.’
His expression softened briefly as he looked at her. ‘José … you must call me José, chica.’
‘José.’ She lowered her gaze for a second or two, a little overwhelmed by his full-on manner towards her.
‘Good.’
He turned to look at Ben, and she was dismayed to see that his demeanour changed. He was entirely different in his dealings with Ben. He seemed almost hostile towards him and straight away her system went on red alert. She had to get to the root of what was wrong. ‘Do you and Ben have a problem with one another?’ she asked.
‘I’m afraid it would seem so.’ He ran his hand lightly over her elbow, sending tremors of tingling sensation to run along the length of her arm. ‘Perhaps you would like to go back to the party for a few minutes?’ he suggested softly. ‘I need to talk to Ben in private for a moment.’
Jessie shook her head. ‘I don’t think so. You can say what needs to be said in front of me. I want to know what’s going on.’ She looked at Ben for confirmation and her brother nodded slowly, awkwardly.
‘I am sorry for that,’ José said. He stiffened, and turned an icy stare on Ben. ‘I want to know why he thought it would be all right to hold a party in my house while I was away.’ He sent her an oblique, smoky glance. ‘The only point in his favour is that he brought along with him the most beautiful girl in all of Saint Helene.’
‘Oh …’ She was too bewildered by his condemnation of Ben to take any notice of his smooth flattery. ‘You must be mistaken. I’m sure Ben wasn’t the one who—’
‘It’s all right, Jessie. I can speak for myself.’ Ben drew himself up to his full height, ready to stand up to José. ‘It’s not what you think, Dr Benitez. I didn’t set this up.’
Jessie was floundering. Her brother couldn’t have been so reckless as to arrange this party, could he? Hadn’t he told her his friends, Zach and Eric, had done all the organising?
‘Is that so? Really?’ José raised a dark, sceptical brow. ‘You’re the one who has the house keys. I trusted you. Obviously I was wrong to do that.’
‘But I gave the keys to Zach so we could work on the house,’ Ben protested. ‘He had to bring back some light fittings and cable and so on from the wholesaler when I wasn’t here.’
‘And you weren’t here because …?’
Ben’s cheeks flushed with warm colour and he averted his eyes briefly. ‘I … um … Zach’s an early riser but I’m never too good first thing in the morning … It just seemed better to let him do the wholesaler run. And you had given him the keys one time before you went away, so I didn’t think it would matter.’
José’s jaw flexed. ‘What you mean to say is that you drink too much and can’t get up for work on time.’ His eyes were like flint. ‘So Zach has the keys now?’
‘Well, no … he gave them back to me tonight, just a short time ago. We’ve finished the work here, so he didn’t need to hold on to them any more.’
Jessie’s spirits sank with every word he uttered. Her brother wouldn’t have organised this party, she was sure of it, but he had believed his friend when he’d said it was all right with their boss to use the house. Ben was so naive, so gullible … and now, from the look of sheer disbelief on his employer’s face, she knew he was in trouble because José clearly didn’t know him the way she did.
‘I’ll have the keys back,’ José said, holding out his hand, palm upwards. ‘I shall be changing the locks, of course, and installing a security system.’
Ben handed over the keys. His face was pale. ‘I’m sorry, Dr Benitez,’ he said. ‘Really, I am. Please believe me, I didn’t do this. Honestly, I thought you’d agreed to let us use the house just for tonight.’
‘You seriously think I would do that?’ José’s stare was frosty. ‘You need to start looking around for some other kind of work, Ben. I won’t be needing you any more.’
Ben gave a short gasp, as though he’d been landed a blow in his midriff. ‘But I didn’t—honestly, I didn’t do this … I wouldn’t. I was wrong to let Zach have the keys, I know, but it won’t happen again, I promise. I’ll sort myself out. I’ll be on time—I will, if you’ll just give me another chance …’
José shook his head. ‘You let me down and I’ve no wish to have my trust abused once more.’
Jessie couldn’t bear to see this happening. She had to do what she could to plead her brother’s case.
‘José, please, won’t you reconsider?’ she said quietly. ‘He said he didn’t do this … and I believe him. Won’t you give him a chance to show you that he can be trusted?’
José’s features remained etched as though in stone. ‘He’s your novio, yes? You care so much for him that you would plead for him? I’m afraid your feelings for him are misplaced, mi chica bella.’
‘No, no … you have it all wrong,’ she said anxiously. ‘He isn’t my boyfriend—he’s my brother. I know him. I understand him and I’m certain he’s telling you the truth.’
José pulled in a quick breath, his eyes glittering, and for a second or two as he studied her, she dared to think that he might relent. But instead he shook his head. ‘It’s good that you care for your brother, Jessie, but he let me down and I believe you’re letting your emotions colour your judgement. He can’t be trusted to turn up for work on time and he gave my keys to a third party. He doesn’t deserve your sympathy.’
‘I think that’s for me to decide.’ Her chin jerked upwards. ‘So let me get this straight … if the situation were reversed you would turn your back on a brother or a sister who needed your help?’
‘I didn’t say that.’
She sent him a scathing look. He had been charm itself just a short time ago, yet now he was ready to dismiss her brother without a second glance. How could she have any regard for a man who would treat her brother that way? His swift condemnation had brought all her protective instincts to the fore, and inside she was seething with resentment.
She’d been right to be wary of him. So much for any expectation of good old-fashioned chivalry or plain and simple justice.
‘You haven’t even bothered to check his story,’ she said tartly. ‘How do you know Zach and his friend didn’t organise this?’
‘Perhaps they were all in on it together. I shall have to find out.’
His answer did nothing to appease her. She’d had enough of this. She picked up her clutch bag from the table and turned towards her brother. ‘Come on, Ben. We should go. We’re through here. There’s nothing more to say.’
José’s gaze moved over her. ‘I have no argument with you, Jessie. I would very much like you to stay.’
‘And I would prefer to leave.’
Ben looked anxious, sending her a worried glance. He bent his head towards her and said in a whisper, ‘Don’t you think I should stay and help with the clearing up? I mean, we can’t leave the place like this, can we?’
‘I wouldn’t fret yourself about that,’ she said tersely, fully aware that José was watching them, a host of conflicting emotions written across his face. She was still upset by his perfunctory treatment of her brother. ‘Zach and Eric can see to all that.’
‘But they left half an hour ago,’ Ben muttered under his breath.
‘Did they?’ She gave a short laugh. ‘That was convenient, wasn’t it? I expect they found out that Dr Benitez had turned up. They knew they’d done wrong and they didn’t want to stay and face the consequences.’
She started to walk towards the side of the house and after a moment’s hesitation and a hasty glance in José’s direction Ben hurried after her.
‘Are you sure we’re doing the right thing?’ he persisted anxiously.
‘Of course,’ she said. She wouldn’t be seeing Dr José Benitez again, so what did it matter? The fact that his brooding stare was burning a hole in her back only served to stiffen her resolve all the more.
CHAPTER TWO (#u89261f58-3574-544a-81be-345925a87952)
‘ARE YOU READY for your first day in the new job?’ Ben refilled his coffee cup and then did the same for Jessie, sliding a mug across the breakfast table towards her.
‘I think so.’ Jessie gave a wry smile. ‘At least, I would be if it weren’t for this throbbing hangover. I knew I shouldn’t have had that last drink at the party. I don’t know what got into me.’ Maybe it had been a nervous reaction after coming face-to-face with a man who had somehow managed to fire up all her defences.
She didn’t want to dwell on the other events of the evening, but the image of the tall, dark stranger insisted on forcing its way into her mind. She’d been upset on Ben’s behalf last night, but perhaps she shouldn’t have reacted the way she had? After all, things might have turned out better for her brother if she’d gone on trying to appease José, instead of challenging him. She’d probably made things much worse, and now it wasn’t very likely he would ever consider taking Ben on again. The pounding at her temples worsened at the thought, and she winced.
Ben helped himself to toast and spread it generously with apricot preserve. ‘It was a touch of the Caribbean getting into you, I guess,’ he said in a soothing tone. ‘It happens to the best of us.’ He watched her drizzle maple syrup on her pancake. ‘Anyway, after the way things have been for you back home lately, breaking up with Lewis and all that, you probably needed to let your hair down a bit.’
‘I suppose so.’ She gritted her teeth, thinking about her cheating ex-boyfriend. How could she have been so blind, so trusting, not to have suspected that while she had been busy working in Accident and Emergency, Lewis had been happily making out with another woman? It had hurt badly when she’d found out the truth, and even now just thinking about it made her whole body tremble.
‘You look good,’ Ben said approvingly, skimming a glance over her. She was wearing a cream blouse teamed with a flower-printed skirt that fell in soft folds over her hips and a short-sleeved, matching jacket completed the ensemble. The colours were soft pastels, easy on the eye.
‘I’m glad you think so.’ She made an effort to pull herself together. Taking her time, she finished off the pancake and drank her coffee, then asked, ‘What are you planning on doing today?’
His expression sobered. ‘I’ll look around for work. I have to find something as soon as possible—I can’t keep sponging off you. You’ve helped me out more than enough already.’
‘Don’t worry about that. Half of the rental income from the house back home is yours by right, so that should keep you going for a bit.’
He smiled. ‘Yeah, I guess. Thanks, Jessie. You’re a lifesaver.’
She left the apartment a short time later and drove her hire car from the village towards the coast on the west side of the island where the hospital was situated. She was a little apprehensive about what lay ahead, starting work in an unfamiliar hospital in a foreign land, but at least for the moment she had the wonderful island scenery to help take her mind off things.
She glanced in the rear-view mirror. Behind her, the dramatic slopes of a dormant volcano dominated the island, with dense green forest carpeting the land as far as the sea’s edge. In the distance a magnificent waterfall cascaded to a deep, wide rock pool and for a dreamy instant she wished she could be there, simply taking in the view.
The sheer beauty of her surroundings helped to calm her and she purposely tried to breathe in deeply. It was all so different from what she had known before … It was awe-inspiring and invigorating, and by the time she’d parked her car outside Mount Saint Helene Hospital, she felt much better able to face up to this new test.
The hospital was a neat, white-painted, two-storey building with a veranda running along one side where patients and their relatives could sit awhile in the warm air. Palm trees provided a modicum of shelter, and the grounds had been planted with yucca and brightly flowering hibiscus.
Jessie pushed open the wide main door and went inside the air-conditioned building, going over to the reception desk.
‘Hello, I’m Dr Heywood,’ she told the clerk. ‘I’m starting work in the paediatric accident and emergency unit this morning.’
‘Oh, hello, there,’ the woman said, with a welcoming smile. ‘It’s good to see you. I’m sure you’ll enjoy your time here with us. You’ll find everyone very friendly and helpful.’ She called over a young medic who happened to be walking by the desk. ‘Hi, Dr Lombard, do you think you could show Dr Heywood the way to children’s A and E? It’s her first day here with us.’
‘I’d be glad to. I’m headed over there now.’ Dr Lombard was a good-looking young man, olive-skinned, with black hair and grey eyes. He wore tailored trousers topped by a palely striped shirt and a subtly patterned tie.
He smiled and put out a hand to Jessie, grasping her fingers warmly in his. ‘I’m Robert,’ he said. ‘If you have any problems or queries, just ask. I expect it will all feel a bit strange to you for the first few days, but we’ll look after you.’
‘Thanks.’ She introduced herself. ‘I’m Jessie.’
She was hoping there would be time for her to get used to her surroundings and maybe meet up with some of the people she was to work with, but as soon as they arrived in the department, a nurse beckoned Dr Lombard over to one of the treatment bays.
‘There’s a little boy in here, a five-year-old, who’s eaten a death apple, we think.’ She frowned. ‘He’s in a bad way. Will you come and take a look at him? His name’s Tyrell Dacosta.’
‘Of course I will, Amanda. Poor little chap.’ He turned to Jessie. ‘Perhaps it’ll help you get settled in if you shadow me for the next hour or so. The boss is busy with another patient or he would have greeted you himself. He asked me to look out for you.’
‘Okay. That sounds like a good idea.’ Jessie couldn’t help feeling anxious about their small patient. She could only hope the fruit didn’t live up to its awful name. It sounded ominous.
Hastily, she followed Robert and the nurse into the treatment room where a small boy lay wrapped in his mother’s arms. He was whimpering and looked wretched, shaking and tearful, with a film of sweat on his brow and cheeks.
Dr Lombard introduced himself and Jessie, and then, as he carefully examined the child, he asked the mother, ‘So you think he’s eaten a fruit of some sort that’s upset him? Did he eat all of it, or just a little?’
‘Most of it.’ The young woman’s face was pale and etched with worry. ‘The tree was growing near the beach where we were walking. I spoke to my doctor on the phone and she said it sounded like manchineel. She told me to get him to drink a couple of glasses of milk and then to bring him straight here.’
She sniffed unhappily, close to tears, and Jessie could understand why she was so upset. There was some blistering in the boy’s mouth and probably in his throat and stomach, too. ‘Tyrell saw one of the apples lying on the ground,’ the woman went on. ‘It smelled good and he said it tasted sweet. I didn’t know what it was so I told him to spit it out but I was too late, he’d already swallowed some of it.’
‘Okay …’ Robert acknowledged her sympathetically and then spoke to the little boy. ‘Did the milk help take some of the pain away?’
Tyrell nodded warily, tears streaking his cheeks.
‘That’s good … Well, the first thing we’ll do is get you a big white tablet to chew on. It will taste a bit chalky but it should help ease the pain even more. Can you do that for me?’
Again the boy nodded.
Jessie said quietly, ‘This chewable tablet—is it a combination of antacid and proton pump inhibitor?’
Robert nodded. ‘Yes, it’s an anti-ulcer treatment. It should coat the damaged tissues and it’ll help reduce the acid in his stomach.’ He frowned and added under his breath, ‘With this type of caustic ingestion there’s always a danger that his throat might swell up, so we need to be aware of that in case he needs to be intubated. In the meantime, I’ll give him an antihistamine injection.’
‘Are you going to admit him?’
‘Yes, I think we should keep an eye on him in case there are any complications.’ He glanced at the nurse, adding, ‘I don’t want him to drink any water for a few hours—we need to let the medication do its work. Maybe a mild sedative will help. I’ll write a prescription.’
A few minutes later, after making sure he had done everything he could to make Tyrell feel more comfortable, Robert glanced at Jessie and said, ‘I have to go and put my notes on computer and deal with some paperwork in the office for a while. You might want to stay behind and talk to Mrs Dacosta and answer any questions she has. Do you think you’ll be all right with that?’
Jessie nodded. ‘Yes, that’s okay. I can explain things to her if there’s anything she doesn’t understand.’
‘Good. I’ll come and find you as soon as I’m done.’
‘Okay.’
Jessie talked to Tyrell and his mother, and after a while the nurse went away to take lab forms over to Pathology, leaving Jessie to try to put the woman’s mind at rest.
Gradually, the little boy became drowsy. ‘I think the medication’s doing the trick,’ Jessie commented quietly, keying in the settings for the intravenous fluid pump. The woman nodded, looking relieved.
A moment later, the door of the treatment room swished open and a man said quietly, ‘Is everything all right in here?’
Jessie froze. Surely not … It couldn’t be … could it? The softly accented voice came from behind her. It sounded horribly familiar, and she turned around in shock, only to have her worst fears confirmed.
Her breath caught in her chest. José Benitez was framed in the doorway, looking impressively tall and strong, clad in dark trousers and a crisp shirt with sleeves folded back to the elbows to reveal well-muscled, tanned forearms.
‘Dr Benitez …’ Her heart sank. How could this be happening? Why did he have to turn up here, of all places? In fact, what was he doing here?
He inclined his head briefly in acknowledgement. His eyes were dark and impenetrable. ‘Dr Heywood— Amanda told me I would find you here.’ His gaze moved over her, taking in her glossy chestnut hair, pinned back with filigree clips, before flicking down over her slender figure. ‘How’s our patient doing?’
Our patient. She scrambled her thoughts together. That sounded as though he belonged here. ‘He’s a bit better, I think.’ She hoped the little boy was going to be all right, but she was still worried about the possibility of complications and the matter of whether the fruit would live up to its name of the death apple. She’d never heard of it and she’d no idea of the devastation it could cause. ‘His pain level’s gone right down and he seems to be comfortable for the moment.’
‘I’m glad.’ He picked up the boy’s chart and scanned it for a few seconds before hooking it over the bed rail once more. ‘It looks as though we’ve caught this in time,’ he murmured. He spoke to the boy’s mother for a few minutes, reassuring her about her son’s condition, and then said softly, ‘Perhaps you’ll excuse us, Mrs Dacosta. I must speak to Dr Heywood for a while, but I promise you the nurse will be back with you shortly.’
Jessie’s heart made a heavy, staccato beat as she stood up to leave the room with him. Her throat closed in a spasm of disbelief. She’d had no idea he was a medical doctor—all this time she’d understood him to be a marine biologist, concerned only with the conservation of the coral reefs in the area. How wrong that assumption had turned out to be.
He led the way to his office, which turned out to be a large, comfortably furnished room with a wide window that overlooked a pleasant landscaped area. Outside, palm trees stood out amongst giant ferns and flowering shrubs planted around a cobbled courtyard.
‘Please, sit down,’ he said, waving her over to an upholstered chair by the pale beech wood desk. ‘May I get you a coffee?’ It was merely a polite, formal offer, a way of observing the conventions of civility, but he was already standing by the sleek-looking machine, adding fresh grounds to the filter.
