‘It’s delicious,’ Katie said, sipping the hot liquid and savouring the aroma. ‘I could almost be tempted to work here just for the coffee alone.’

Alex laughed. ‘So I’m making some headway at last. Wonderful. Do you want a refill?’

‘Let’s not get too excited.’ She lifted her gaze. ‘I don’t often give in that easily to temptation.’

‘You don’t?’ He started towards her as she put the cup down onto the worktop, and came to a halt just beside her. His gaze shimmered over her, pausing to linger momentarily on her soft, feminine curves. His smoky grey glance spoke volumes, his eyes glimmering with darting lights that tantalised and teased all at the same time. ‘That’s a real shame. I would so like to have been able to tempt you.’

Katie was suddenly flustered by his nearness. His body was so close to hers that they were almost touching…almost, but not quite. ‘I didn’t…I meant…’

TOP-NOTCH DOCS

He’s not just the boss, he’s the best there is!

These heroes aren’t just doctors,

they’re life-savers.

These heroes aren’t just surgeons,

they’re skilled masters. Their talent and

reputation are admired by all.

These heroes are devoted to their patients.

They’ll hold the littlest babies in their arms,

and melt the hearts of all who see.

These heroes aren’t just

medical professionals. They’re the

men of your dreams.

He’s not just the boss, he’s the best there is

A Consultant Beyond Compare
Joanna Neil

www.millsandboon.co.uk

When JOANNA NEIL discovered Mills & Boon®, her life-long addiction to reading crystallised into an exciting new career writing Medical™ Romance. Her characters are probably the outcome of her varied lifestyle, which includes working as a clerk, typist, nurse and infant teacher. She enjoys dressmaking and cooking at her Leicestershire home. Her family includes a husband, son and daughter, an exuberant yellow Labrador and two slightly crazed cockatiels. She currently works with a team of tutors at her local education centre to provide creative writing workshops for people interested in exploring their own writing ambitions.

CONTENTS

COVER

TITLE PAGE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

EXTRACT

COPYRIGHT

CHAPTER ONE

THE ring tone from Katie’s mobile phone sounded, growing louder and more insistent with each passing second. She frowned, flipping open the phone and peering down at the screen in front of her.

What now? Was it totally impossible for her to have five minutes of peace and quiet to enable her to think things through, without someone desperately seeking her attention or needing her to do something for them right away?

Then again, the whole day had been a disaster from start to finish, hadn’t it, so why should anything change now? From the moment she had arrived for work at the rehab centre that morning, things had been going steadily downhill.

First there had been the discovery that one of the workmen on site had drilled through a water pipe, and as if that wasn’t enough to put the seal on the day, shortly afterwards one of the builders doing the renovations had taken a nasty tumble from the main roof.

It was bad enough that the poor man had broken his fall on a lower sloping timber roof and then crashed through it into the patients’ sun lounge, but it could have been far worse. It was only just short of a miracle that no one had been sitting in there at the time.

‘Well, at least we’ve managed to find alternative places for all of our stroke patients,’ Mandy, Katie’s boss, said, coming out into the garden in search of her.

Katie had found herself a calm nook by the arbour, where she could sit on a bench and take in the fresh, clean air. The warmth of the summer sun filtered through the branches of the trees, caressing her arms, making her feel a little less stressed.

‘They don’t seem to have been too badly affected by all the upheaval and I’ve made sure that they’ll be able to go on with their rehabilitation in their new situations.’ Mandy heaved a sigh. ‘None of this bodes well for us, though. With the patients’ sun lounge in a shambles and a hole drilled through the water pipe, it looks as though we’ll have to close down until the renovations are complete. Of course, they’re going to take much longer now.’

‘Yes, I thought that might be the result.’ Feeling a little more in control of herself now, Katie straightened up and brushed back the long sweep of her chestnut hair with her fingers. ‘Has there been any news on the builder?’

‘Apparently he’s in Theatre now, having his leg reset. The doctor confirmed your diagnosis—he had suffered a heart attack, but they think it was a mild one and with proper care he should be all right, given time.’

Mandy gave Katie a long look. ‘I was amazed at how you leapt into action. I’m sure you saved his life. I can’t think what you’re doing working in rehab when you have those skills at your fingertips. You should be in a hospital emergency department, where your talents would be recognised.’

The thought of that sent a minor chill along Katie’s spine. She had made up her mind that she would never again work in A and E, and it had been some months since she had properly used her medical skills. From the moment she had come across the injured man, though, her actions had been triggered as if by remote control. She hadn’t given it a second thought. It was as though she had been an automaton, going through a series of well-rehearsed actions without giving them any conscious attention.

In a way, the man was fortunate, because after he’d fallen through the broken timbers, he had somehow managed to land on a wicker sofa. Any other kind of landing might have resulted in him not being around any longer to tell the tale.

Katie had rushed over to him, picking her way through the debris of wood and broken glass, and had immediately started to attend to his injuries, while Mandy had phoned for the ambulance. All Katie’s A and E skills had come back to her in that moment as she’d applied pressure to his wounds to stem the bleeding. It had only been afterwards that she had broken out into a cold sweat.

Mandy frowned as the phone continued to ring. ‘Aren’t you going to get that?’

‘Yes, I suppose I must.’ Katie pressed a button and the noise stopped instantly. For a moment or two she sat and simply absorbed the silence, a sense of relief washing over her.

‘I’m glad he’s not in too bad a way.’ It had been fairly obvious to her from the outset that the builder must have had some kind of heart attack, and she had concentrated all her efforts on doing what she could to stabilise his condition until the ambulance had arrived. It had only been after she had seen him safely handed over to the care of the paramedics that she had been able to take full stock of what had happened, and shortly after that shock had begun to set in.

Her whole body had been racked by tremors and she had made her way outside to this bench where she felt that at least for a while she would be safe from prying eyes.

Mandy nodded. ‘Me, too. I just wanted to let you know that all the arrangements are in place. We’re officially closed down for the foreseeable future.’

‘I’m sorry. I know how much effort you’ve put into the centre.’

Mandy nodded. ‘I’ll go and make a pot of tea.’ A faint smile crossed her mouth. ‘When in doubt, go and put the kettle on. At least there was some water left in it when the supply was cut off. I’ll leave you to take your call in peace,’ she added when Katie’s mobile started ringing yet again.

‘Thanks.’ Katie lifted the phone to her ear as she watched her go.

A man was saying urgently, ‘Hello? Hello…?’ A note of impatience threaded his words. ‘Are you there? Is that Miss Sorenson…Katie Sorenson?’

Katie frowned at the unfamiliar male voice. She didn’t recognise the number that showed up on her display screen, and if this was someone who was about to try to sell her something, he would very soon find himself listening to a disconnection tone.

‘Yes, I’m Katie Sorenson.’

‘Ah, at last…that’s good.’ The man paused, giving her time to contemplate the deep, beautifully modulated quality of his voice. He sounded as though he was youngish, in his thirties maybe, but she still didn’t have any idea who he might be.

‘Is it?’ she murmured, at a loss. ‘Perhaps you could enlighten me? Do I know you?’

‘No, I don’t believe so, but I think perhaps we should meet. I’m at a café near the railway station in Windermere and I have your sister here with me—she tells me her name is Jessica, and that she’s thirteen years old. Is that right?’

‘My sister?’ Katie’s blue eyes widened in shock. ‘You can’t be serious? What is she doing in Windermere?’ She checked his phone number on her mobile’s screen once more, and a shiver ran through her as she tried to work out what exactly was happening. Something was definitely wrong. What was Jessica doing some ten miles away, sitting in a café with a strange man?

Then she pulled herself together. Surely she was letting her imagination run away with her? Anyone who was trying to abduct Jessica would hardly take the trouble to phone her, would he? Even so, she said with a hint of suspicion in her tone, ‘How is it that you’re with my sister?’

She caught the wry inflection in his voice as he answered that. ‘I’ve just come across her, trying to hitch a lift at the roadside, and I have a strong feeling that she isn’t going to be safe, left to her own devices. She said that she was trying to get home to you, but she was lost. If that’s the case, and you are who you say you are, I would very much prefer to hand her over to you in person.’

Katie pulled in a deep breath. ‘I don’t believe this is happening. Is this a joke?’

‘Far from it, I’m afraid.’ There was a note of censure in his voice as he added, ‘I can’t imagine why you would allow a 13-year-old to wander about on her own so far from home, but she assures me that you are the one who is supposed to be looking after her.’ He was silent for a moment, as though he was leaving time for his comments to sink in.

Katie frowned. Why would Jessica have told him that? Her sister lived with their parents, a hundred or so miles away from the Lake District, in a town near the mouth of the Humber. What on earth was going on?

The man was speaking once more, his tone a little brisk now. ‘I’d come over to you, but I really don’t think that would be appropriate. I’m a stranger to your sister and I don’t want my actions to be misconstrued, so I’d appreciate it if you would come and fetch her.’

Katie’s mouth firmed. ‘Let me speak to her, please.’ She still had to be convinced that this wasn’t some kind of elaborate prank.

There was a momentary pause, and then Jessica’s voice sounded in her ear. ‘Katie, please, don’t be cross with me. I didn’t mean to cause any trouble. I got a bit lost, that’s all.’

Katie pulled in a sharp breath. ‘More than a bit, I’d say. What are you doing this far from home, and what are you doing with a strange man?’

Jessica made a faint gulping sound. ‘He asked me for your number and said he would get in touch with you. I didn’t have any credit left on my phone, you see, and then the battery went flat and I’d used up all my money, and anyway I’d already tried to reach you on your home phone and you weren’t there.’

‘No, that’s because I’m at work. That still doesn’t tell me what you’re doing out at Windermere.’

‘No, I…I know it doesn’t…but I promise I’ll explain everything when I see you.’ Jessica’s voice trailed off awkwardly, and Katie guessed she hadn’t told this man the full truth of the situation. ‘Will you come and fetch me?’

‘Yes, of course I will. Let me speak to this man.’

Jessica handed the phone back to her rescuer, and Katie forced herself to take a slow, calming breath. ‘Perhaps you could tell me exactly where you are and I’ll come over to you,’ she said briskly.

He gave her directions, and added on a cool note, ‘I hope you’ll drop everything and come straight away. I was on my way to a meeting and I’d still like to be able to get there some time before it ends if it’s at all possible.’

He didn’t sound as though he had very much faith in her, and Katie stifled a sharp response. ‘I’m sorry about your meeting,’ she told him in a strained tone. ‘I have a twenty-minute or so drive ahead of me, but I’ll be there as soon as possible.’

Clearly the man had a busy schedule. So had she, up until now, but from what Mandy had been saying that had all come to an abrupt end. There was little doubt that she was going to be out of work from today.

In the staff kitchen, Mandy had already poured the tea, but Katie hurriedly swallowed it down and went to find her bag. ‘I have to go,’ she said. ‘An emergency just cropped up and I need to go and pick up my young sister.’

‘Your sister?’ Mandy raised a brow. ‘I didn’t know you had any family around here.’

Katie’s expression was rueful. ‘Neither did I.’ She glanced across the table at her friend. ‘Will you be all right here?’

Mandy nodded. ‘We’ve done about as much as we can with the clearing-up operations, so I’ll probably just send the rest of the staff home.’ She made a wry face. ‘I don’t think there’ll be much point in any of us coming in for the next few months. I’m sorry.’

‘I know.’ Katie touched her shoulder in a gesture of sympathy. ‘I’ll give you a call later on,’ she murmured.

Mandy nodded, and Katie hurried out to her car.

Her mind was racing as she drove towards Windermere. What on earth was Jessica doing out here? The shock of this news, coming on top of everything else that had happened today had left her feeling thoroughly churned up inside. She had hoped to put all this kind of stress behind her, but now she was going through the same kind of anxiety she had experienced back in Humberside in those last months when her contract at the hospital had come to an end. Her emotions were all over the place.

Caught up in traffic a few minutes later, Katie had time to reflect on all that had gone wrong at her former hospital post. Everyone had expected that her position as Senior House Officer in A and E would be made permanent, but after what had happened in the operating theatre there were some who believed she had made a mistake, putting her patient’s life at risk, and from then onwards her career progress had been in question.

It hadn’t helped that her consultant had been unapproachable and stiff-lipped. ‘The patient might have bled to death,’ he said.

‘But he didn’t. At least I managed to stem the bleeding.’ She frowned as the nightmare situation came back to haunt her. ‘The man was in a bad way when I first saw him, and I tried to get in touch with you before he went to Theatre. I needed back-up, but your answering service said you weren’t available.’ As a junior doctor, she ought to have been able to call on her consultant for guidance.

He had turned on her. ‘I hope you’re not going to use that as an excuse,’ he’d said tersely. ‘I should be able to rely on the competence of the members of my team. If you’re not up to the job, I think you should start to look for another post.’

It was a devastating blow to her hopes and dreams but, worse than that, what had happened in Theatre had thoroughly shaken her up. The patient had been critically ill to begin with, and the massive bleed into his lungs could have killed him.

The nurse who had been assisting took her to one side. ‘These things happen,’ Helen told her. ‘It wasn’t your fault. It’s well known that there are sometimes complications with the type of catheter you were using, and when the worst happened you did everything you could to pull the man through. You saved him.’

‘But his recovery is going to take much longer than it should,’ Katie whispered, still shaken in the aftermath of events.

Her boss hadn’t been in Theatre with her when the patient’s pulmonary artery had been punctured, and when the patient’s family had asked about the man’s condition he had brushed their concerns to one side, telling them that he had suffered an unexpected bleed. Of course, questions had followed after that.

‘You should pray that they don’t sue,’ he had told her.

Whatever the eventual outcome, it was clear to Katie that he wouldn’t be supportive of her. He would watch his own back and by making sure that her contract wasn’t renewed he could rest easy.

And now she was out of work once again. It was distressing, to say the least, because she had come to the Lake District in the hope of putting all that upset behind her once and for all.

It had taken her a while to get over the upheaval of having to change her job, she had tried her hand at various kinds of work back home before settling on this post further afield.

The change of scene would do her good, she had hoped, and it would give her the boost she needed to help her to get back into the swing of things. Now that dream, too, had come to an end, and she was left with yet another problem to contend with.

The miles swept by as she drove towards Windermere, and soon she could see the vast stretch of the lake spread out before her. There were boats dotted about on the water that sparkled in the sunlight, and all around were hills and valleys swathed in green, with pretty villages of stone and slate houses nestled against the backdrop of trees.

It was a beautiful, tranquil setting, and she ought to be glad that she was here and able to appreciate its peacefulness, but as she headed towards the railway station and parked her car, she was hardly aware of that.

She walked over to the café the man had mentioned. Tables and chairs had been set up outside on a terraced area in front of the building so that customers could enjoy the summer sunshine. A few people were relaxing there, sipping coffee or cold drinks, and as she scanned their faces, she discovered that her sister was amongst them.

Jessica was sitting tensely upright next to a man who was wearing a crisp blue shirt and immaculate dark-coloured trousers. His discarded jacket was placed casually over the back of his seat.

Although he was partially turned away from her, Katie could see that his hair was black and close cut in an attractive fashion, so that it framed his features and outlined the angular lines of his face.

Just then Jessica looked up and saw Katie approaching the café. She stood up and started towards her, moving awkwardly as though she wasn’t quite sure what her reception would be.

‘Katie…Katie, oh, I’m so glad you came.’ She hesitated. ‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to fetch you out of work, but everything went wrong and I was lost and I didn’t know what to do.’

‘It’s all right.’ Katie put her arms around her sister and ran a soothing hand over the girl’s silky brown curls. ‘I’ve found you now. We’ll sort everything out.’

Jessica’s body slumped with relief as some of the tension left her. She clung to Katie for a few moments longer, and then eased back, her expression taking on a strained appearance.

She said softly, ‘I knew your address, and I was trying to come over to your house, but this man stopped me and made me wait with him here. I’d have been all right, honest, but he wouldn’t let me carry on.’ She lowered her voice and whispered confidentially, ‘He thinks you and I had an argument and that I was running away. I daren’t tell him what really happened. I thought he might put me on a train and send me back home.’

Katie nodded. ‘Yes, I can see why you kept quiet, but he was right to stop you, you know. You might have ended up in a terrible state. You’re lucky that he turned out to be one of the good guys.’ She frowned. ‘We must go and let him know that you’re safe now.’

Jessica chewed at her lower lip. Reluctantly, she allowed Katie to lead her back to the table where she had been sitting, and for the first time Katie managed to take a proper look at her sister’s saviour.

He stood up, unfurling his long body with a supple grace that added to the immediate impression of lithe vitality. He took her breath away. He was tall and fit-looking, flat-stomached, with broad shoulders and a lean physique that she guessed was honed to perfection.

He was staring at her in return, a look of startled surprise coming into his grey-blue eyes. ‘Do I know you?’ he asked. ‘You look somehow familiar.’ And once again that deeply satisfying voice shimmered over her consciousness. It made her feel warm all over, and quickened her pulse so that she had to quell a sudden surge of nervous tension.

‘No, I don’t think so,’ she murmured. But then again, there was something about him that struck a chord with her too, and she looked at him again, more closely this time. Did she know him from somewhere?

She dismissed the thought. ‘I must thank you for taking care of my sister,’ she said softly. ‘I’m really very grateful to you. I can’t imagine what she was thinking.’

‘It appeared to me that she was desperate to get away,’ he said, his gaze drifting over her. ‘I can’t begin to understand what must have gone on in order for her to feel that way, and yet from the way you greeted one another it seems that she’s either changed her mind or learned a lesson. I hope you’ll be able to resolve things between you.’

‘Yes, well, let’s hope so. She’s very young, and life can be confusing for teenagers at the best of times, can’t it? I don’t know about you, but my childhood was no bed of roses, and I expect we’ve all gone through difficult phases at some time or other in our lives.’

He nodded, and gave her a thoughtful look. ‘I suppose that’s true enough.’ He studied her features for a moment or two, and then added, ‘Do you think you’ll have any difficulty sorting out whatever it was that went wrong between you? Perhaps I could act as an intermediary and help you to find a way to work things out?’

Katie wavered for a moment or two. ‘That really won’t be necessary. I’m sure we’ll manage to find a solution to whatever has gone wrong.’ It wasn’t a lie, and why should she burden this stranger with the intricacies of her home life? He had stepped in and helped out, and she was grateful to him for that, but it didn’t mean that he was entitled to hear her life story. ‘Anyway, didn’t you say that you had a meeting to go to?’

He glanced at his watch. ‘I doubt there would be any point in attempting to get there now.’ His gaze settled on her. ‘Perhaps you were delayed in setting out?’

A guilty flush ran over her cheeks. ‘I hit some traffic on the way. I’m not quite sure what happened, but there was a tailback and I had to find another route, otherwise I would have been here quicker.’

He nodded. ‘I dare say it couldn’t be helped.’ He glanced at Jessica. ‘How do you feel about going home with your sister? Are you going to be all right or do you want me to stay around for a while to help you out?’

Jessica had the grace to look shamefaced. ‘I’ll be fine,’ she mumbled. ‘I’m sorry to have caused you so much trouble.’

He was reaching for his jacket as she spoke, and now he started to shrug into it. ‘It’s no problem,’ he said. Then he added on an afterthought, ‘If you feel that you need to talk to anyone any time, you could always ring me. I’ll give you my number.’ Taking a notecase from his inside jacket pocket, he handed Jessica a card. ‘Keep it safe. You can ring me any time. If I’m not on hand right away, I’ll always get back to you.’

Jessica glanced at the card and then slipped it into her pocket. ‘Thank you.’

Katie wasn’t sure whether to feel grateful to him for his concern or affronted by it. This man had taken the trouble to keep her young sister out of danger, but at the same time he seemed to be implying that Katie might be the source of all the trouble in the first place. She sent him a spiky glance, her blue eyes glittering.

‘She’ll be fine with me,’ she murmured, keeping an even tone.

‘Good. I’m glad to hear it.’ He sent her an appraising look. ‘I can’t help thinking, though, that something must have gone very wrong for her to have felt the need to run away in the first place, and she was certainly very reticent in talking about it. Perhaps you’ll be able to talk things through and make a better go of things.’

‘We will,’ Katie answered him stiffly. ‘Thank you again for everything you’ve done. I do appreciate the way you’ve looked after her for me.’

He nodded briefly. ‘I have her number and your address, so I’ll keep in touch,’ he said in a low voice. ‘I’d like to satisfy myself that she’s doing all right.’

Katie’s chin lifted a notch. Was that a warning to her that he was prepared to keep an eye on things? Just how far did he mean to take his good Samaritan responsibilities?

She gave him a humourless smile. ‘Thanks again,’ she said. ‘We won’t impose on your time any longer. I should be starting on my way home before the traffic gets any worse. I’m just hoping that whatever caused the hold-up has been cleared by now.’

‘Me, too. Now that attending my meeting is out of the question, I’ll be heading back in your direction. If what Jessica tells me is correct, it looks as though we both live in the same area, around Ambleside.’

Katie groaned inwardly and tried not to let her emotions show in her face. She might have known that would be the case. With the way her luck was going today, perhaps it was only to be expected. Clearly she was not going to be free of this man for some time to come. Perhaps all she could do would be to forget that he had ever been around. The last thing she needed was more condemnation from men who thought they had the upper hand. She turned away from him.

‘Goodbye, Jessica,’ he said.

Jessica nodded to him and made a muted response before turning to follow Katie to her car.

‘Let’s go,’ Katie said, sliding in behind the wheel of her ancient car and waiting while Jessica strapped herself in. She was anxious to put this whole incident behind her, but as she pulled away from the kerb she was all too aware of the man following behind in a sleek, midnight-blue convertible.

CHAPTER TWO

KATIE turned the car on to the north road, heading towards Ambleside. She barely noticed the bracken-covered hills and heather-clad knolls, or the wide, U-shaped valleys that had been carved out by ice all those aeons ago. Her thoughts were taken up with the events of the day.

She still carried with her the brooding, dark image of Jessica’s rescuer, and it was troubling that he seemed to have misgivings about her ability to care for her sister. She had always thought of herself as a capable, independent individual, but lately her confidence had taken a battering. How could any of this be happening to her?

‘You will let me stay with you, won’t you, Katie?’ Her younger sister turned earnest, pleading eyes on her and Katie felt her heart give a painful twist. ‘I promise I won’t be any trouble, but I can’t go back home, I can’t. You won’t send me back there, will you?’

‘But you’re only thirteen, Jess,’ Katie answered, in what she hoped was a soothing voice, ‘and you’re a long way from home. Mum and Dad will be worried about you.’

‘No, they won’t. They don’t care about me as long as I’m out of their hair. They’ll just go on arguing, and shouting at one another like they always do. It’s horrible. I won’t go back.’

‘Of course they care about you.’ Katie frowned as she glanced at the road ahead. Perhaps she shouldn’t have taken this route. She had hoped to avoid problems, but traffic was building up, and it was beginning to occur to her that whatever had delayed her earlier on the journey to Windermere had merely been the overspill from what was happening up ahead. There must have been an accident of some sort, because in the distance she could see the flashing lights from ambulances that were parked by the roadside. A couple of police vehicles were stationed nearby.

Jessica made a face. ‘No, they don’t. They’re not going to miss me at all. They hardly ever notice I’m around, unless it’s because they think I’m getting in their way. Dad’s never had any time for me. He’s always at work or off out somewhere and as for Mum…well, she’s too busy worrying about her own problems, so she’ll be glad there’s one less person to bother about.’ She sighed. ‘You know how they are. They’re always arguing about something or other. Isn’t that why you left home and went off to medical school? You were glad to get away, weren’t you?’

Katie’s mouth made a wry shape. ‘It was a bit different for me. After all, Mum divorced my father when I was just a bit younger than you are now, and when she married again—well, it felt a bit odd. Things were never quite the same.’ She smiled at Jessica. ‘But then you came along, and it was lovely for me to have a baby sister.’

Jessica’s expression relaxed a little. ‘You’ve always been my very best friend,’ she said. ‘That’s why I came here to the Lake District to find you. I didn’t know what else to do, but I felt sure you would find a way to help me somehow.’

‘I wish it were that simple.’ Katie quickly ran her mind over all her options. ‘Whatever happens, I’ll have to ring them and let them know that you’re safe. They weren’t answering their mobiles when I tried earlier, but I’ve left a message for them on the answering machine at home.’

‘No, they’ve gone into town for the day. I said I was going to be at my friend’s house.’

Katie shook her head, shooting Jessica a quick glance. ‘I’m amazed that you managed to find your way here at all without getting into trouble of some sort.’

‘It was easy,’ Jessica said, with an air of unconcern. ‘I emptied my money box and went to the train station and asked for a ticket to Windermere. The man in the booth gave me a funny look, and I guessed he was a bit suspicious, so I told him I was going to visit my sister in the Lake District for the summer holidays and he said, “Oh, I see.”’

Katie frowned. ‘What did you plan on doing when you arrived at my house? I was out at work and the place is locked up.’

Jessica appeared crestfallen, but only for a moment. ‘I would have hung around until you came home.’ She gave Katie a contrite look and said quickly, ‘I won’t get in the way, I promise, and it’ll be cool if you let me live here with you, because I’d do everything to make things easier for you. I could tidy up and help you with meals and stuff. I know how hard you have to work and how tired you used to be after being in A and E all day, but with me around, things will be much better for you, honest.’

Katie couldn’t help but smile at her sister’s sincere expression. ‘I’m sure you would do everything you possibly could to help out, but that isn’t really what’s important right now, is it? We have to think about you, and what we can do to sort out your problems. It isn’t just a question of you coming to live here. There would be all sorts of arrangements to be made. How could I make sure that you would be properly looked after while I’m out at work?’

Jessica pulled in a quick breath. ‘I’m old enough to look after myself.’

Katie shook her head. ‘But you’re not, that’s the whole point. And then there’s school to think about. The holidays aren’t going to last for ever.’

Jessica’s mouth wavered as she struggled to keep her emotions in check. ‘I could go to school here, couldn’t I? You have to let me stay, Katie. Please, say you will, please, please? Things will work out all right, I know they will.’

‘Maybe. I left a message to say that I’d take care of you for a few days, whatever happens. We’ll talk it through properly when we get home.’ Katie slowed the car to a halt as the traffic came to a standstill. ‘If we ever get home…I thought we would avoid this hold-up by coming this way,’ she murmured distractedly. ‘It looks as though we’re going to be stuck here for a while, though.’

Jessica nodded and peered out of the window at the trouble up ahead. ‘It looks as though everything’s more or less sorted now. They’re closing the ambulance doors and getting ready to move away.’ She gave Katie a sideways glance. ‘You know, the man who helped me—Alex, he said his name was—took this road as well. I bet he’s wishing he’d gone another way. He’s still following us, just a few cars behind.’

‘Yes, I’d noticed.’ Katie glanced in her rear-view mirror and caught sight of the gleaming blue car slowing to a halt at a bend in the road. ‘Perhaps he’ll turn off before we get anywhere near Ambleside.’

It was wishful thinking, a vaguely consoling thought that she had clung on to as the journey had progressed. There was something about him that made her flustered and set her pulses racing, and it was all very disturbing. His calm, quietly perceptive manner ought to have encouraged her to feel that everything was under control, but instead he had stirred up all kinds of doubt and confusion within her.

She was left feeling unnerved and edgy, but of course that might have been as a result of all that had happened. All day long she had been active, rushing about, trying to resolve one problem after another, but now that she was stuck in traffic she was forced to be still, and it was an odd feeling. She tapped her fingers on the steering-wheel, beating out a restless rhythm.

Jessica dug her in the ribs. ‘Katie, look—there are skid marks on the road, right back here. Can you see them?’

Katie followed her sister’s pointing finger. ‘Yes, you’re right. It looks as though someone took the bend too fast, hit the barrier at the side of the road and then tried to stop further on.’

‘But he must have smashed into the car up front.’ Jessica’s eyes widened. ‘That must be one of the cars that they’re loading on to the retrieval truck right now.’

‘I hope the people who were hurt manage to come through this safely in the end,’ Katie murmured. She tried to gauge what was happening in the distance, but Jessica was jabbing her in the ribs again.

‘Something’s not right—look over there, in the bushes. I can see something. Come on, we have to go and find out what’s going on.’ Already, Jessica had released herself from her seat belt and was pushing at the passenger door.

‘Jess, come back here,’ Katie called out, but her sister wasn’t listening. She had jumped down onto the verge at the side of the road and now she was headed for the trees.

‘I don’t believe this,’ Katie muttered under her breath. ‘Will this nightmare never end?’ She manoeuvred the car onto the grass verge so that others could pass her, and then she switched off the ignition, sliding out of the driver’s seat to go in search of Jessica.

‘Over here,’ Jessica shouted. ‘There’s a man—Katie, I don’t think he’s breathing.’

Katie made her way through the thicket of brushwood that lined the hedgerow and saw that her sister was kneeling beside a man who was lying crumpled on his side on the meadow grass.

‘I saw his shoe through a break in the hedge,’ Jessica said, ‘so I guessed there might be someone here. Do you think he might have been thrown out of the car?’

Katie nodded. ‘It looks that way. I suppose the car door might have been flung open if it hit a post, and perhaps he wasn’t strapped in.’ She crouched down and was busy checking the young man for signs of life. He was in his early twenties, she guessed, and from the looks of things his jaw was broken. That would make it virtually impossible for anyone to insert an airway, and that could be disastrous, because he was already struggling for air, making strange gurgling sounds.

He wasn’t responding to Katie’s urgent attempts to talk to him and find out if he was aware of what was going on, and she knew that he was in a bad way. ‘His pulse is rapid and faint,’ Katie murmured, glancing up at Jessica, who was looking shocked and pale. ‘I need to help him to breathe. Do you think you could look in the glove compartment of my car for a pen or maybe a plastic drink straw, while I do what I can to clear the obstruction in his throat? And bring me the first-aid kit from the boot?’ She handed over the keys.

Jessica nodded, and hurried away. Katie was relieved. At least if the child had something to do, it would stop her from dwelling on the awfulness of the situation.

She rummaged in her bag, spilling some of the contents out onto the grass as she hastily searched for her phone. Finding it, she called for an ambulance. If only the paramedics who had attended the accident up ahead had stayed around for a few moments longer…but they hadn’t, and she had to deal with this calamity all by herself.

That thought barely had time to sink in before Jessica came back, and Katie’s eyes widened when she saw that her sister wasn’t alone. The man from the café was with her, his face taut with concern, a line indenting his brow. He came to kneel down beside her, so close that they were almost touching one another. Katie felt her senses swim.

‘Have you managed to clear his airway?’ he asked.

She gave herself a mental shake. ‘Not really. I’ve brought his tongue forward and done what I can, but he’s bleeding heavily and I can’t manoeuvre him properly to resuscitate him because his jaw is broken.’

‘Let me see what I can do.’

He made as though he would move her to one side but she resisted, saying quietly, ‘No, thank you. I believe I’ll manage.’ She gave him a determined blue stare. She couldn’t imagine why he thought he would know any better than she did about what needed to be done. ‘I’m going to improvise an airway. There’s no way he can be intubated in the usual way, even if there was any time to wait.’

He frowned, his eyes narrowing, as Jessica leaned over to hand her a plastic straw and then placed the first-aid kit down on the ground beside her.

Jessica’s jaw dropped as Katie opened up the box and took out a small sharp knife. ‘What are you going to do?’ she asked breathlessly.

‘I’m going to make a small incision in his throat and put the straw in place so that he can get air into his lungs.’ She looked up at her sister. ‘Perhaps you should turn away for a while. You might not want to see this.’

Jessica swallowed hard but steadfastly continued to watch what was going on. Beside her, Katie felt the man stiffen.

She sent him a quick glance. ‘Maybe you should look away, too,’ she said. The last thing she needed was for him to pass out through squeamishness. Anyway, it was unsettling, having him watch her every movement.

He shook his head. ‘Do you know what you’re doing?’ His whole body was poised as though he was ready to intervene at any second. Katie could feel the warmth emanating from him, almost as though he was touching her, and her skin began to tingle in response.

‘Yes, it’s all right.’ Her voice was husky and she cleared her throat. ‘I’m a doctor.’ As she spoke, she was already feeling for the thyroid cartilage, and within seconds she began to make the incision. Once she had established that she had managed to puncture the cricothyroid membrane she opened up the fissure with a finger and inserted the drinking straw a little way into the trachea. Breathing into the tube, she was relieved to see that the man’s chest began to rise.

‘Is he going to be all right?’ Jessica’s eyes were wide.

‘I hope so. I think he has some broken ribs, and there may be a skull fracture, but at least he’s breathing now, and we’ve managed to buy some time for him. We can’t do much more until the paramedics get here with proper equipment.’

She eased back a fraction and saw that Alex was checking the man’s pulse. ‘There’s a strong possibility he’ll go into shock,’ he said. ‘We don’t know for sure how long he might have been lying here. His heart rate is rapid, but the pulse is weak, and I suspect his blood pressure is way down. He must be bleeding internally.’ He was already getting to his feet. ‘I’ll go and get my medical bag from the car. We can at least put in an IV line and try to get some initial fluids into him.’

Katie stared up at him. ‘You’re a doctor?’

He nodded briefly, but he was already moving away from her, and after a moment Katie released a long breath. She hadn’t realised how keyed up she had been, having him so close beside her that his shoulder had almost brushed against hers. It had been like being surrounded by an electric force field strong enough to make the air crackle.

She blinked. So he was a doctor, too? No wonder he had tried to intervene. She tried to absorb this new revelation and at the same time keep a check on her patient. Alex seemed to think they had met before, but surely she would have remembered him if they had been at medical school together? After all, he wasn’t the kind of man you would easily forget. He was incredibly good-looking, with strong features and grey-blue eyes that seemed to penetrate deep into her soul. Just being around him had the power to stop her in her tracks.

He came back as she was taping the makeshift breathing tube securely in place. He sank down next to her on the grass and opened up his black leather case, but this time she was prepared, and with an effort she managed to keep her pulse rate under control.

‘I don’t carry a lot with me,’ he said in an undertone, ‘but I have some lactated Ringer’s solution, which will help until we can get him to hospital. They talk about the golden hour, but we’re fast losing ground there.’

Jessica was puzzled. ‘What’s the golden hour?’

Alex was attempting to find a vein, and Katie realised that it was going to be difficult if the man’s circulation was shutting down.

‘It’s the maximum time lapse from when the trauma happened to arrival at hospital, if the patient is to stand a good chance of survival.’ He slid the needle into place. ‘I’m in.’ Quickly he set up the IV line and hooked up the Ringer’s solution, using an overhead branch to keep the bag above the level of the patient.

‘At least…’ Jessica’s voice broke, becoming thready. ‘At least he has you and Katie to look after him.’

Alex gave her a brief smile, and perhaps he realised that she was very young and vulnerable because he said softly, ‘We’re doing everything we can for him.’

Jessica nodded, and watched as Alex drew up a syringe. ‘What’s that you’re giving him?’

‘It’s an antibiotic. We haven’t been able to use sterile equipment out here, so this should help to ward off any infection.’ He sent her a thoughtful glance. ‘You seem very keen to know what’s going on. Are you thinking of going into medicine like your sister? I suppose she must be a great influence in your life, working as a doctor?’

Jessica gave an awkward shrug. ‘I’m not sure what I want to do. I used to go and see Katie sometimes when she worked in A and E and she explained some of it to me, but she doesn’t work there now, and I’m not sure I’d be able to do that kind of job. I know Katie gave it up. She doesn’t work as a doctor any more, and I don’t know if I’m cut out for it either.’

Alex turned his gaze on Katie, his brows meeting in a dark line. ‘Is that true? You’re not working in medicine now?’

Katie nodded. ‘It isn’t easy to find placements these days, as you probably know. Anyway I wanted a change, so I found myself a job in a rehabilitation centre. It was good. I enjoyed working there.’ She grimaced wryly. ‘Unfortunately, the place closed down this afternoon, so it looks as though I’ll be looking through the situations vacant columns for something else first thing tomorrow.’

He opened his mouth as though to say something, but in the distance a siren sounded, growing nearer. They both checked their patient, relieved to find that his condition was reasonably stable for the moment. Alex began to gather up the equipment they had used, closing his medical bag and handing the first-aid kit to Jessica as the ambulance arrived.

The paramedics oversaw the patient’s transfer to the waiting ambulance, and Alex gave the team a rundown of the man’s injuries. ‘We’ll need to get a CT scan and move him to Theatre as soon as possible,’ he said. ‘I’ll follow you to the hospital and help with the handover to A and E. Martin’s on duty today, isn’t he?’

The paramedic nodded. ‘We’ll get in touch with him and tell him to stand by.’

‘Good.’ He stood back and waited while the men made sure their patient was securely strapped in place in the vehicle. Turning to Katie, he said, ‘There’s a place for you on my team if you want it. I’m in charge of the A and E department at South Lake Hospital. I’ve been advertising for a senior house officer for a few weeks now, and so far I haven’t managed to fill the position. None of the candidates have been right for the job. If you drop by the department some time tomorrow, we could go through the application forms together.’

Was he actually offering her a job? Katie’s mouth dropped open, but she quickly attempted to recover herself. ‘I don’t think so,’ she murmured. ‘I mean…thanks all the same, but I think I’ll take some time and look around.’

He was frowning again. ‘I don’t understand why you’re hesitating. Didn’t you say that you were out of work and posts were hard to find?’ His grey-blue eyes homed in on her with laser-like precision. ‘I’ve seen you in action and I’ve no doubt that you know what you’re doing. You acted promptly in an emergency and you probably brought this man back from the brink. Is there a problem of some sort, a reason why you won’t consider the offer?’

She shook her head. ‘There’s no problem. I just prefer to give it some thought, that’s all.’ Her chin tilted. She didn’t see why she had to lay her life bare for this man. He had dropped into her life from out of nowhere, and he could just as easily disappear into nothingness once more. Out of sight, out of mind—wasn’t that what people said? And that being the case, the spectre of working in A and E once more would disappear along with him, wouldn’t it?

‘I can’t stay and debate the matter with you,’ he said on a brisk note, ‘but I think you’re making a mistake.’ He pressed his lips together in a straight line. ‘I have to go.’

He glanced at Jessica, who had gone to stand a short distance away from the ambulance, watching the paramedics make their preparations to leave. Then he turned his attention back to Katie.

‘How are you going to manage? Don’t you owe it to that young girl to keep a roof over her head?’ His grey eyes darkened. ‘Or maybe she comes a long way down on your list of priorities? I suppose that could explain a lot.’

Katie straightened her back. ‘You don’t know anything about me, or my sister,’ she said. ‘How can you presume to judge me when we’ve only just met?’

He inclined his head a fraction. ‘That’s true,’ he murmured, and his mouth indented in a vestige of a smile. ‘You’re definitely something of an enigma, Katie Sorenson…but I dare say I’ll fathom the puzzle somehow.’

He moved swiftly away from her and headed towards his car, stopping only to say a quick goodbye to Jessica. Then he slid behind the wheel and sped away in the wake of the ambulance.

Jessica came over to where Katie was standing. ‘Did I hear him offer you a job?’

Katie nodded. ‘Yes. He seems to think I could find a place in his A and E department, but I told him I wanted to look around for something else. That’s why I moved here, so that I could put all that behind me and make a fresh start.’

Jessica nodded. ‘Yes, I know, but you’ll be going to work in another A and E department at some point, won’t you? You have to, surely? You’re a good doctor, and you’re needed out there. Anyway, you weren’t ever going to stay at the rehab centre for very long, were you?’

Katie started to walk towards her car. ‘Actually I found that it was far more rewarding than I expected. It was certainly less frantic than what I was doing at the hospital, and I wasn’t planning on making a change yet.’

‘But you told Alex that you were out of work now.’ Jessica shook her head, so that her glossy brown curls danced in the afternoon sunlight. ‘You can’t give up on being a doctor. It isn’t right. Just because things went wrong for you back home. I don’t care what anybody says, I know you, and I know you couldn’t have done anything wrong. You’re always so careful, so good in everything that you do. Everyone knows that…Mum says that’s why they haven’t put anything bad in your work record.’ She looked at Katie. ‘They haven’t, have they?’

Katie bent her head a fraction, so that her chestnut curls momentarily fell across her cheek, covering her features. ‘That may be so, but I still don’t feel that I can work in A and E.’ She frowned, her blue eyes clouding. ‘I was getting on all right at the rehab centre. I liked working with the staff there, and it was good to know that I was helping people to get back on their feet after they were incapacitated.’

Jessica put her arms around her in a fleeting hug. ‘I’m sorry it came to an end. You’ll have to tell me what happened. But even so, it seems all wrong to me that you were working there in the first place. You used to love being in Emergency. You went through all that training, and it was all you ever wanted to do, remember? Now that I’m here, you can go back to it, can’t you? And things will be easier for you because I’ll be here to tidy up and make the meals, and just as soon as I find a job I’ll be able to help out with the finances.’

Katie smiled. Oh, for youthful innocence. Her sister made it all sound so simple. All she had to do was go after what she wanted and things would turn out fine. It was a lovely thought, and if only that was the way things worked she would be more than happy…but there was more to it than that, wasn’t there?

Her confidence had been badly shaken, and all her hopes and dreams had crumbled about her. Life would never be quite the same ever again.

‘We should head back to my cottage,’ Katie said, pulling open her car door. ‘You can tell me what went wrong at home and why you decided to come all the way out here.’

Jessica pulled a face as she settled herself in the passenger seat. ‘Do I have to? I’d much rather talk about you and Alex and the job at his hospital.’ She rolled her eyes in a dramatic gesture. ‘When he’s not trying to take charge of me he’s really something, isn’t he? I bet the girls back home would think he was gorgeous.’

Katie threw her a look from under her lashes. ‘That may be so, but we aren’t going to see him again, so perhaps we should try to forget about him. We’ll concentrate on you from now on.’

It was a brave attempt at self-protection on Katie’s part—easier to forget about it and move on. Those all-seeing, grey-blue eyes were imprinted on her mind, though, and the promise that glimmered within them would haunt her for some time to come.

‘Oh, phooey.’ Jessica rolled her eyes. ‘He’s a dream-boat, and you’re such a spoilsport. How can you not want to talk about him?’

CHAPTER THREE

‘SO, THIS is your place?’ Jessica’s grey eyes widened as she gazed at the L-shaped, stone-built cottage in front of her. ‘I never imagined that you would buy anything like this. It’s lovely, really quaint, and so different from our place back home.’

Katie nodded, looking up at the gabled roofs that were at angles to one another. ‘I think that’s because it’s so open here—everything around is green and peaceful, and there aren’t that many houses dotted about. You only have to look out of the bedroom window and you can see crags and fells for miles around. Mind you, once we get inside you might feel differently about it. It’s quite poky, and there’s still a lot that I have to do to make the place feel comfortable.’

Katie started to unlock the front door, but Jessica hung back, lightly touching the silky, pale mauve petals of the wisteria that covered the front wall. ‘This is beautiful,’ she murmured, breathing in the sweet fragrance.

‘Yes, you’re right, it is.’ Katie paused to share the moment with her sister. ‘I ought to stop more often and take time to appreciate what I have.’ The truth was, lately all she had thought about was how much work there was to do, and how wild and overgrown the garden had become. She gave a half-smile. Having her sister here with her was already making a difference to her outlook on things.

‘Come through to the kitchen and I’ll make us some tea.’ She glanced at Jessica. ‘You’d better put your hold-all down. It looks heavy. You must have brought everything with you bar the kitchen sink.’

Jessica gave an awkward laugh. ‘I packed as much as I could manage.’ She looked up at Katie, biting down on her lower lip.

‘I know it must be awkward for you, with me turning up here like this, out of the blue, but I didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t stay at home, not after the way Dad’s temper took off. He locked me out of the house, and it was all because I was a few minutes late getting in. I went and spent the night round at my friend’s house, but I knew I had to get away. I couldn’t stand it any more, and all I could think of was that you might take me in.’

Jessica was silent for a moment, deep in thought. ‘You know how he is, and I’m sure that’s why you left home as soon as you could manage it. It was bad enough when you went off to medical school, but at least that was close by and you were able to come home for a few days every week. Then when you started on your house officer jobs at different hospitals, I thought I was going to lose you.’

Katie gave her sister a hug. ‘Has it been so bad? I’m sorry if you felt that I was leaving you behind. You know I was always there for you, just a short car ride away. I kept in touch and came to see you as often as I could.’

‘Yes, and that was good, but now you’ve moved up here to the Lake District, and it isn’t as though you could just drop by every weekend, is it? I just didn’t think I could go on this way any longer. Dad’s always going on at me about something or other. He says I’m scatterbrained and I’ll always be troublesome.’

‘Have you tried talking to Mum about how you feel?’

‘What would be the point in doing that?’ Jessica made a hopeless gesture with her hands. ‘Mum never listens, and she certainly never takes my side. She just says, “Oh, I can’t cope with the two of you arguing all the time. You’re making my head hurt.” She always seems as though everything’s too much for her and I think she’ll be better off with me out of the way.’

‘You know that’s not true. She loves you.’ Even so, Katie had to acknowledge that her mother had never coped well with any form of stress, and it wasn’t hard for her to imagine what Jessica was going through.

She washed her hands at the sink and started to prepare a light meal for the two of them, but all the time she was busy turning over all the options in her mind. It was a difficult situation, but she couldn’t help feeling that her sister needed a breathing space, time to gather up her defences and allow her to face up to the world once more.

‘You can stay here for a few days at least,’ she told her, ‘maybe even a couple of weeks, while we work out what we’re going to do. I’ll do what I can to square things with Mum and Dad.’

She knew it wasn’t quite what Jessica had been hoping for, but the girl nodded and gave her a relieved smile. ‘Thanks, Katie. I’ll show you how good I can be, and then perhaps you’ll let me stay for longer.’ Her gaze was pleading and Katie hugged her once more.

‘We’ll see,’ she said. ‘I’ll show you where the second bedroom is and, if you like, you can put your things away in there while I finish making supper.’

An hour or so later, they were sitting down to eat at the kitchen table when the doorbell rang. Katie frowned. ‘I can’t think who that would be,’ she murmured, getting to her feet. ‘You go on with your meal,’ she told Jessica, who stood up as though to go with her.

‘It wouldn’t be Mum or Dad, would it?’ Jessica’s expression was apprehensive. ‘You said they agreed to let me stay when they rang back earlier. Do you think they might have changed their minds?’

‘I don’t know, but if it is them, I’ll sort it out, don’t worry.’

When she opened the front door, though, she was startled to see the man who was standing in her porch. He was gazing around at the old stonework and casting a glance over the rough stone wall that edged the property.

‘Alex?’ She stared at him. ‘What are you doing here? How did you find me?’ He had changed out of the business suit and now he was wearing casual clothes, dark trousers and a jacket that was open to reveal a cool cotton shirt in a shade of blue-grey that matched his eyes. She dragged her gaze away from his rangy body and looked up at him once more, trying to cover her discomfiture.

‘I asked Jessica for your address when we were at the café. I wanted to make sure that I was making a safe handover.’

Katie frowned. ‘Is that why you’re here? Do you think I might be mistreating her in some way?’ Even the thought that he might doubt her in some way was enough to bring an affronted glare to her blue eyes.

His mouth twisted in the semblance of a smile. ‘Are you always this touchy?’ He looked her over as though she might give him a resounding agreement to that statement, and her eyes narrowed on him.

‘Not usually.’ She sighed and stood back, waving him into the cramped hallway. ‘I’m having a bad day.’ Running a hand through the tangle of her long, chestnut curls, she indicated the far door, which led into the kitchen. ‘Come in, won’t you? I apologise for my bad manners. I’m really not myself today.’

‘Thanks.’ He stepped inside the house and looked around, taking in the low ceiling and the narrow passageway. Katie hoped he hadn’t noticed the spot in the far corner where the paint was peeling from the wall. Through a doorway to one side of the hall the living room was visible, and it was possible to glimpse from there the overgrown garden through the French doors. ‘This is cosy,’ he murmured. ‘Have you lived here for long?’

‘Um…a couple of months. I’m still decorating and trying to make the place my own, but I’ve been busy and I’ve had to make choices about where to start.’

He nodded. ‘I guess it isn’t easy when you’re working.’ He gave her a sideways glance. ‘Though by all accounts that won’t be much of a problem from now on, will it?’

Katie gave a shrug. ‘I’ve already had a quick skim through the job vacancy columns in the newspaper. Apparently they need someone in the rehab unit at the local hospital. That would be a start, I suppose.’

‘But it would also be a complete waste of your talents. You’re a doctor. You should be using the medical skills you acquired after all those years of training.’

Perhaps he had a point there, but Katie wasn’t in the mood to be judged and found wanting. She stiffened. ‘I don’t see why that should concern you.’ She pushed open the kitchen door and ushered him through.

Jessica was sitting at the table at the far end of the room, her fork poised in her hand, but she laid it down on her plate and blinked as Alex walked into the room.

‘Alex?’ Her face lit up in a shy smile. ‘You found me? I didn’t think we would see you again so soon.’

‘No, it is sooner than expected, I must agree with you there. I’m glad that you seem to have settled back in here without too much upset.’ He sent a quick glance around the room. ‘It’s homely in here, very clean and cheerful.’

Katie had placed a bowl of roses on the worktop, and she had set out groups of fine glassware and ceramics at intervals on shelves around the room. It wasn’t much, but it made the difference between what might have been purely a functional kitchen and what she considered to be the heart of the home. What had he been expecting, something austere and unwelcoming?

She sent him a dark, cynical glance. ‘See? She’s perfectly well. I haven’t locked her in a cupboard or banished her to bed without so much as a bowl of gruel, if that’s what you were thinking.’ Her mouth made a derisive slant. ‘Are you satisfied now that you’ve seen for yourself that she’s all right?’

He turned, his grey-blue gaze homing in on her. ‘Actually, that isn’t the reason I’m here.’

‘Oh.’ Katie swallowed hard. Perhaps riling him wasn’t such a good idea after all. He had done nothing but help out today, and she was beginning to sound like an ungrateful harridan. That wasn’t at all like her, and she couldn’t for an instant fathom why he should be having this effect on her. Perhaps this awful day was beginning to get to her. She said slowly, ‘It wasn’t?’

He shook his head and reached inside his jacket pocket. ‘When I cleared up the equipment after we had helped the man by the roadside, I must have accidentally scooped up your notebooks. I found this when I restocked my medical bag. There are some addresses and phone numbers in there, and I thought perhaps you might need it.’ He handed over the small leather case.

‘Oh, I…uh…Thank you.’ Katie tried to accept it with good grace. ‘It must have dropped out of my bag when I was looking for my phone. I thought I had put everything back.’ He was wrong-footing her at every turn, and she found herself wishing for all the world that she could rewind the day and start over again. Maybe she would do things differently, given the chance.

She flicked through the pages of the small notebook. ‘I’m so glad that you brought this back to me. I would have been lost without it.’

‘You’re welcome.’ He nodded to Jessica and then turned, as though he was getting ready to leave, causing Jessica to raise her brows behind his back and gesticulate wildly to Katie as though she was wrong to let him escape. When Katie didn’t react, Jessica shook her head, and obviously thought she was a hopeless case.

Katie frowned. Then, just in time, she recovered herself and said quickly, ‘Do you have to go right now? I think Jess would be glad of the chance to talk to you for a while, and there’s some tea in the pot. You could help yourself to some supper, too, if you like. There’s plenty left.’ She drifted a hand over the tabletop. ‘I made too much pizza, and there’s plenty of salad, if you would like some. Please, sit down and help yourself. I expect you’ve been too busy these last few hours to think about food.’

He seemed to hesitate, but only for a moment. ‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘I must say it’s been a while since I’ve eaten, and this does look good.’ He pulled out a chair and sat down, then frowned at the triangular segments of the pizza. ‘Did you really make this yourself?’

Did he have to doubt everything about her? Katie bit back a withering retort and managed to send him a sweet smile instead. ‘Yes, I did. It isn’t all that difficult, you know.’

He bit off a corner section, savouring the combined flavours of melted cheese, tomato and herbs, and gave her a quizzical look in return. Perhaps he had decided to ignore the underlying thread of sarcasm in her voice, because he concentrated instead on finishing off his food while parrying questions from Jessica.

He circumvented the more personal queries, but answered others. She wanted to know what exactly he did at the hospital, and what his meeting would have been about if he had managed to get to it in time.

‘I’m in charge of the A and E department at South Lake,’ he told her. ‘I started off there as a registrar, but now I’ve moved up the ladder and I’m a consultant. I’d like to progress even further, and perhaps take charge of a bigger unit, but that all depends on how I get on in this post. I have to go to lots of meetings so that I can keep in touch with what’s going on in other hospitals in the area.’

Jessica was enthralled and, considering that she had been his reluctant detainee earlier, that said something about the man’s charisma.

Katie poured tea and handed him a cup. ‘How is the man we found at the side of the road doing? Have they managed to stabilise his condition?’ She chose her words carefully, because she didn’t want to upset Jessica in any way, and perhaps he realised that, as he answered in a fairly guarded manner.

‘When I left, they were taking him along to Intensive Care. They found the source of his internal injuries and he went to Theatre to have that put right. It’s going to be a question of time now more than anything. Time for him to heal, and for the swelling around his brain to ease.’

Katie’s gaze was troubled. It didn’t sound too good, but at least she felt that they had done all they could for the man. ‘I dread to think what would have happened if we had just driven past him. It’s all because of Jessica that we stopped to investigate in the first place.’

He nodded. ‘You did really well,’ he said, giving the young girl an encouraging smile. It was a smile that lit up his face and gave Katie a glimpse of features that she had not noticed before now. His mouth was perfectly formed, she saw, his teeth were straight and gleaming like pearls, and his eyes were pure heaven, filled with dancing lights that would have sparked any woman’s dreams to flame.

She brought herself back to reality with a jerk. What was she thinking? How could she allow herself to even contemplate falling for any man, let alone this one? He was nothing if not sceptical of her, and here she was, slipping into a well of elusive imaginings about him. What was wrong with her? Emotions, especially those between men and women, from her experience, were fragile things, as light and insubstantial as mist. Trust in them and you could be hurt. She had to get a grip.

‘I have to go,’ he said, wiping his fingers on a paper serviette and unfolding himself from his chair. ‘It’s getting late and there’s still a lot I have to do before morning.’ He said goodbye to Jessica, who beamed him a smile in return.

‘I’ll see you out,’ Katie murmured. Her pulses were pounding and she had a fight on her hands to bring them under control. This was madness. She didn’t even like the man. She didn’t know him, for heaven’s sake, so why on earth was she getting herself into a fever over him?

‘Thanks for the supper. It was delicious, and exactly what I needed.’

‘It was the least I could do. Thank you for returning my notebook.’

They walked out into the hallway and he stopped at the door and looked directly into her eyes. ‘Will you reconsider coming to work with me?’

She shook her head. ‘No…I’m sorry, but I can’t. I need a break from medicine. It’s too frantic, too harrowing. I don’t want to go there.’

He looked at her oddly. ‘I think you’re making a big mistake. Whatever it was that made you doubt yourself, you need to get back in there. Face up to your demons and stop them from getting the upper hand.’

‘I don’t have any demons. I just need a change.’ What did he know about it? Facing up to the traumas of the past was much easier said than done, wasn’t it? She saw him to the door. ‘Goodbye, Alex,’ she murmured.

‘Goodbye?’ He gave her a slight smile. ‘We’ll see.’ He inclined his head to her and then went out of the door, walking briskly along the path to where he had parked his car at the roadside.