Now a cuff was wound round Bertie’s upper arm and Christa pressed a stethoscope to the skin below it, and after a few seconds the erratic beat of Bertie’s heart began to steady.
She took a long breath and murmured, ‘I think we’re getting there...he’s in sinus rhythm now.’ She held Bertie’s hand and smiled down at him. ‘You’re doing well, Bertie—just relax until the paramedics get here.’
Pat watched them from the corner of the room and wiped her eyes. ‘I...I’ll just go and make some tea for us all,’ she said in a trembling voice. She came over to Bertie and bent over him, squeezing his hand and saying softly, ‘Don’t you ever give me a fright like that again, Bertie Smith, or I’ll not talk to you again!’
And Bertie, with his oxygen mask over his face, managed to mouth to her, ‘I love you, darling...’
Pat bent down and kissed his cheek, her own cheeks wet with tears. ‘I love you too, my sweet. Please...please get better for me.’
Over their heads, Christa and Lachlan’s eyes met and held each other’s gaze as they smiled at each other.
* * *
It wasn’t long before the ambulance arrived and Bertie was taken to hospital, with Pat insisting that she go with him.
‘I’m not staying here, and I’m not letting Bertie go alone in that ambulance,’ she said firmly.
‘We’ll follow behind,’ said Christa.
‘No way!’ declared Pat, with such a look of Christa’s when she was in a bossy mood that Lachlan hid a grin behind his hand. ‘I’ll get a taxi back—you two need a meal. You’ve done everything you could—now the hospital can take over.’
‘Promise me you’ll ring me when he’s settled, then...’
Pat held her hand up as if to stop Christa in full flow and said with dignity, ‘I want to stay next to Bertie all night if need be—it’s kind of you, but I shall come home by taxi and that’s an end to it!’
Christa laughed. ‘You win!’ She looked from her mother to Lachlan and made a quick decision. ‘And, Mum, I haven’t had time to introduce you to Lachlan Maguire. As I told you, he’s working with me now.’
She watched her mother’s face as she made the introduction. Pat hesitated for just a fraction of a second then put her hand out to shake Lachlan’s with a smile of genuine warmth. ‘I can’t tell you how grateful I am—and pleased to meet you. Thank you so much for saving Bertie’s life. I shall always be in yours and Christa’s debt!’
The ambulance took them off and Christa and Lachlan were left standing together in the dark, watching the taillights disappear down the road.
‘Well, well, what a wonderful thing love is,’ murmured Lachlan. ‘It looks as if your mother’s found someone she loves very much.’’
Christa took a deep breath and said softly, ‘I’m sure Mum didn’t realise that she loved Bertie so much until this happened. Seeing him at the brink of death made her suddenly appreciate what she might be losing.’
She shivered for a moment, and in the darkness Lachlan took her hand. ‘You OK?’
‘It was a bit stressful...’ She squeezed his hand. ‘But I’m so grateful you were here—it was wonderful to have your support. It’s hard to be dispassionate when your own family’s involved and I could see how upset Mum was.’
‘When you think something’s going to end, it makes you look at things differently. When we had our little tiff I think I realised just how much I cared for you, Christa. I hated arguing with you, especially over nothing at all! And now,’ he said teasingly, ‘we were rudely interrupted an hour or two ago. Can we resume what we were doing—start over again?’
‘If you like,’ she said, a little breathlessly, and a flicker of elation rippled through her—almost triumph that perhaps she’d cracked that aversion of his to long-term involvement. She smiled, her cheeks dimpling. ‘If you really want to...’
So much for good intentions, she thought wryly.
* * *
‘Hello, there! Come on, Sleeping Beauty—time to rise and shine!’
From the depths of the cosy duvet pulled up over her ears Christa heard a familiar deep voice. She pulled the duvet up further and pretended she hadn’t heard, then there was a dirty chuckle and the duvet was rudely whipped from her.
‘Don’t do that!’ she shrieked. ‘It’s freezing!’
Lachlan looked down at her, grinning impishly, holding a mug of tea in his hand. He was wearing boxer shorts and nothing else, slight stubble on his chin, thick hair ruffled. He looked dangerously sexy and incredibly hard to resist. Christa changed her mind about being cross that the duvet had been removed and stretched out provocatively on the bed, deliberately and mischievously tempting him.
‘Why don’t you get back in and warm me up again?’ she suggested wickedly.
He groaned. ‘God, don’t tempt me. Like a flash I would! Only that might mean we’ll be even later than we are already...’
Despite saying that, he sat down on the side of the bed and leant over her, running his hands lightly over her soft breasts and flat stomach. ‘So beautiful,’ he murmured.
‘What did you say about the time?’ said Christa, drowsy with contentment, winding her arms round Lachlan’s neck, pulling him towards her.
‘Only that we’ve got about ten minutes to get to the surgery...’
‘What? You can’t be serious!’ Christa pushed her tousled hair out of her eyes, squinted at his watch on the bedside table and gave a little shriek, trying to sit up with Lachlan still on top of her. ‘Oh, my God—it’s after eight-thirty. How are we going to explain that to everyone?’
‘I haven’t a notion—possibly that it was a very busy evening, attending an emergency?’
‘But the whole evening?’
‘True... Perhaps we were discussing the patient’s case afterwards?’
Lachlan’s eyes twinkled into hers and Christa threw a pillow at him. ‘Funny sort of patient conference,’ she said, giggling, then put her hand to her mouth. ‘Oh, God! Bertie and Mum—I should have rung first thing to find out how things are.’
‘I rang about an hour ago while you were snuggled abed, snoring your head off. Bertie’s in CCU and stable and your mother came home soon after he was admitted—he was asleep anyway. So you see, babe, no need to worry about anything.’
‘Thank God for that,’ she said.
Lachlan smiled, tracing his finger down her neck and into her cleavage, loving the tousled look of her, the soft, creamy texture of her skin against the sheets.
‘Hell, if only it wasn’t a workday. What wouldn’t I be doing now?’ he said longingly. ‘It’s only my magnificent willpower that’s stopping me having my wicked way with you...’ He got up from the bed. ‘Anyway, there’s steaming-hot coffee on the hob and plenty of toast downstairs. You need something to keep you going after last night.’ He grinned cheekily.
Last night! Christa’s heart did a loop the loop as she thought about what had happened in the space of a few hours. It had been so horrible when they’d quarrelled but after a wonderful night together it seemed they had moved to something more than light-hearted fun.
He looked down at her very lovingly and traced a finger down her neck. ‘We could be doing this every night if you moved in with me...’ he said softly. ‘What about it? I don’t like rattling around here by myself!’
A surge of joy rippled through her. At last he’d admitted that he felt much more for her than a casual dalliance! She laughed up at him. ‘I thought we weren’t into long-term pledges,’ she teased.
‘Surely we’ve gone beyond that now, sweetheart?’ He brushed her lips with his. ‘I know I have...’
And her heart nearly exploded with happiness. For the first time in many years the future looked wonderful. Her old friend Suzy Collins had been wrong about Lachlan!
She smiled at him. ‘Perhaps that little disagreement was a good thing—it’s made us realise how much we mean to each other. But I’m sorry I went over the top about it all.’
He stroked her cheek g
ently. ‘Nothing wrong with being concerned about your parents,’ he said rather sadly. ‘I should have considered my own mother much more than I did.’
Christa smiled at him. ‘She must have forgiven you. The fact that she left you Ardenleigh is proof of that,’ she commented, sipping the refreshing tea Lachlan had brought her. She looked at him from under her eyelashes, her voice teasing. ‘Supposing this scheme of yours doesn’t materialise and you’ve not enough money to restore it?’
He went to the huge windows and pulled back the curtains so that the light flooded in, and gazed out at the wonderful view of the garden and woods and the bright sea beyond.
He turned round to face her and said simply, ‘Then it may take longer than I thought, but if you’re here to help me we can do it together.’
Christa lay back on the bed for a precious minute, smiling in tender reminiscence of the wonderful loving night she’d spent with Lachlan. How sweet it had been to nestle close to him on the sheepskin rug in front of the fire he’d lit in the beautiful drawing room. His strong face had looked down at her in the half-light as he’d gently undressed her in front of the flickering flames.
‘This is what we were meant to do, sweetheart—forget the past and live our own lives!’
And later they had gone up to the bedroom with the old sagging bed and fallen asleep in each other’s arms—and now he’d told her that he wanted to be with her all the time. Life was perfect!
* * *
‘You’ve a huge backlog of patients,’ grumbled Ginny to them both as they stood like recalcitrant schoolchildren in front of the two receptionists. ‘The natives are getting restless.’
‘Apologies,’ said Lachlan with a charming smile at them both. ‘If you knew what a night we’ve had!’
Christa stifled a giggle and the girls nodded sympathetically. ‘Oh, yes—poor old Bertie Smith taken to hospital with a heart attack, wasn’t it? You’ve had an e-mail from Coronary Care at St Luke’s about him. You poor things, you must be exhausted!’
‘Just a little,’ remarked Lachlan lightly. ‘So who’s doing the clinic today?’
‘Sarah’s doing the BP clinic for the oldies, but the rep’s cancelled his appointment.’
‘Thank goodness for that,’ remarked Christa, giving them all a sparkling smile. ‘Now, let’s get started, shall we?’
Ginny stared at Christa’s retreating back. ‘Well! She looks as if she’s lost sixpence and found a pound,’ she remarked to the room. ‘I haven’t seen her looking so cheery for ages!’
Alice glanced at Lachlan astutely. ‘Are you taking anyone to the dance?’ she asked cheekily.
‘That would be telling.’ Lachlan smiled, one finger tapping his nose, as he went out of the room.
‘I’d love to know who he’s taking!’ said Alice in a stage whisper to Ginny when they were alone.
Ginny didn’t believe in gossip. ‘I’ve no idea who it is, Alice—that’s his business,’ she said loftily.
Alice took no notice. ‘I bet you anything Christa and Lachlan are up to something! I mean, they came in together this morning and I’d swear to it that Christa came across the courtyard from the house. I didn’t see her come down the road. And did you see the way Lachlan looked at her?’
‘Nonsense, Alice! Anyway, they bought separate tickets for the dance—if they were going as a couple, surely he’d have just bought two. And if she did come from the house this morning, it was probably because she’d been discussing Bertie Smith’s heart attack last night.’
Alice giggled. ‘I’m sure he wasn’t thinking of Bertie Smith’s heart—just what his own heart was doing when he was near Christa!’
‘Rubbish! What are you like?’ said Ginny dismissively, but all the same there was a thoughtful look in her eyes as she went to the desk to deal with a patient.
CHAPTER TEN
CHRISTA RIFFLED THROUGH her wardrobe and threw the limited selection of evening wear she had onto the bed. Everything looked tired and dated. It was so long since she’d been anywhere glamorous that she’d forgotten what she had to wear!
She was beginning to panic about what she should wear to the dance in two weeks. She definitely didn’t want to appear in the smart little black sheath dress she’d worn two years ago to the same event. It was the very one she’d worn the night Colin had so gallantly ditched her for someone else!
She threw it onto a pile of other clothes she had marked out for the charity shop and decided the only thing to do was to trust to luck and go shopping at the weekend in the little boutique in the village, and hope it would have something inspiring to wear. She wanted to look knock-out good for Lachlan!
* * *
Selina’s was a busy little shop—the only dress shop for miles around—and was owned by Ginny’s sister, a glamorous girl who had been a model in her younger days. She was a friend of Christa’s, although Christa hadn’t been in her shop for ages, because there’d been no occasion to dress up for.
‘Hello, stranger!’ Selina grinned. ‘Can I guess you’ve come for something for the village dance?’
‘I certainly have—the only possible thing I’ve got is two years old and I don’t like it any more.’
‘Well, long or short? I’ve some lovely maxi dresses in...’ Selina gave Christa an assessing look. ‘I think with your lovely creamy complexion and auburn hair, a soft apricot colour would suit you, and I’ve got the very thing.’
From the back room she brought out a dress and held it up to Christa. ‘Wow!’ she said. ‘Put that on immediately before someone else nabs it! It’s made for you.’
And even Christa had to admit that she looked good in it—a lovely column of the softest apricot satin that clung to her in all the right places and plunged at the back down to her waist, more modestly at the front.
‘You don’t think it looks a little...well, daring?’ suggested Christa rather nervously. ‘I mean, I’m hardly wearing anything at all at the back!’
‘Rubbish! You’re young and beautiful—wear it while you can. You’ll have every male in the place salivating!’
There was only one male that Christa wanted to impress. She gave a little giggle at the thought of Lachlan’s reaction. ‘OK, Selina—you’re a great saleswoman. I’ll have it!’
She swung out of the shop happily. Next week she’d be in Lachlan’s arms on the dance floor, and she could almost feel their bodies moving in harmony together to some impossibly romantic tune. Then she laughed to herself—it would more likely be a heavy metal number from the local group who thought they were in with a shout on The X Factor!
She hung the dress on the wardrobe door and flicked a duster round the living room with the radio belting out something cheery on the Saturday morning show. She hummed to the music. Lachlan was going to call for her on his way back from a run along the beach, and then they were going on a bracing walk through the woods to a local waterfall. She couldn’t have been happier.
The front doorbell rang, and as usual Titan bounded to the door, growling ferociously.
‘Don’t you know me yet, Titan?’ asked Lachlan, bending down to stroke the little dog. ‘You’re going to be seeing a lot more of me in the future!’
He had on old shorts and a battered sweatshirt round his shoulders, and as usual Christa felt that flip of excitement when she saw him.
‘I won’t kiss you.’ He grinned. ‘I need a shower first—you make some coffee at Ardenleigh while I’m making myself presentable.’
They walked back to the big house and Christa filled the kettle with water while he went upstairs. She wandered over to the table where a pile of old photographs was scattered—Lachlan had evidently been sorting things out. Christa leafed through them. Many were of Isobel and her husband with Lachlan as a little boy, and then when he was older, his arm around his mother. They looked a devoted little group, young Lachlan laughing up at them, his parents’ hands on his shoulders. It revealed a window of happiness in his life, and emphasised the poignancy of how it had all
been smashed so irrevocably.
From those old snapshots it was obvious that he had adored his parents, and how doubly sad it was that he’d gone abroad, cut off all ties from those he’d loved. No wonder now that he needed to assuage his guilt by meeting Isobel’s requests—only then could he feel a sense of release from his guilt.
Then the kettle boiled and she made the coffee and poured out two mugs.
‘God, that smells good,’ said Lachlan, coming into the kitchen. His dark thick hair was slicked down across his head, and he smelled clean and fresh. ‘First things first,’ he murmured, and his mouth found hers, pressing her body to his hungrily.
Christa leant against him for a moment, loving the feel of his hard body against hers, then said gently, ‘Those are lovely photos of your family, Lachlan—I couldn’t help seeing them.’
He smiled wryly. ‘I’m glad I found them. Shows that once upon a time I had a happy family.’
‘We’re going to look forward, remember?’ she remarked. ‘Lots of good times to come!’
He leaned against the cupboards and took a sip from his mug, looking at her over the rim. ‘I can’t think of anything better,’ he murmured.
He poured himself some more coffee and said casually, ‘What makes things even more wonderful, sweetheart, is that you are just the girl my mother wanted me to marry!’
She laughed. ‘You don’t know that!’
‘I certainly do...’
‘But the last time you spoke to her I was nowhere around!’ she protested. ‘For all you know, I might be the last person she would want. I doubt very much that she—’
Lachlan put a hand up as if to stop her talking. ‘Will you listen for a second? I absolutely know that that is what she wanted—for you and I to be together...’
‘How do you know for certain?’
‘Because I have it from the horse’s mouth!’
Return of Dr Maguire (Mills & Boon Medical) Page 14
