From Single Mum to Lady

by Judy Campbell

  ‘Les will be seen as soon as possible…you, please go!’

  Jandy stood her ground resolutely, inwardly praying that someone from Security would come before the whole place erupted, and wondering what it was about this job that she enjoyed. A baby started wailing in Paediatrics and Phil kicked away a chair near his foot and grabbed Jandy’s arm.

  ‘You listen here, my dahlin’, unless someone sees us in a minute, I’m going to give you something you won’t like.’

  ‘Get your hands off me!’ shouted Jandy, beating at him ineffectually with her free hand and kicking his shin as hard as she could. ‘Your friend won’t be seen at all if—’

  He twisted her arm viciously. Jandy lost her balance and landed with a thump on the floor, a chair he’d kicked to one side just missing her forehead. Then several things happened. A large figure interposed itself between Jandy and the youth and Patrick’s voice roared out, ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’

  The youth was grabbed by the feet as he tried to run away and landed on his stomach with a loud yell. Two security guards appeared and handcuffed the squirming boy, now emitting colourful expletives, while Jandy still sat on the floor, slightly dazed and watching the evolving scene with amazement. Patrick towered above the boy, staring down at him, gimlet-eyed.

  ‘You got a complaint, son? Put it in writing, then. Meantime, these gentlemen have a few questions to ask you, I’m sure!’

  The youth looked up at him sullenly. ‘It’s a disgrace. I’ve bust my nose…’ he started to say.

  ‘Is that all you’ve bust? A pity!’ Patrick’s face was grim and flinty-eyed. ‘Can’t you read?’ He pointed to a sign on the wall. ‘It says there that any aggression towards members of staff will lead to prosecution—and this little episode’s all on video too. It won’t make pretty viewing.’

  Les snarled, although he took a step backwards from Patrick’s menacing figure.

  Patrick folded his arms and glared at them. ‘Your friend may be seen if he remembers his manners. You—get moving! Oh, and Security will answer any questions you might have.’

  Les turned round sulkily. ‘They’re a bunch of losers here,’ he shouted vaguely to the stunned onlookers, trying not to lose face by having the last word.

  He shuffled out, leaving his mate sitting hunched on a chair, staring at the floor. An old man peered out of one of the cubicles and shouted in a quavery voice, ‘Well done, sir! That sort need birching, the lot of them!’

  ‘What’s going on?’ asked Tim, appearing out of Karen’s office. ‘There’s been a lot of a noise…’

  ‘Under control now, I think, Dr Vernon,’ said Patrick. ‘Staff Nurse has just taken the brunt of some unwanted visitors.’

  ‘You all right, Staff?’ Tim asked with concern. ‘We really need to up the security in this place if people are getting through here so easily from the waiting room. Go and take her for a coffee, Patrick—I’ll beep you if you’re needed.’

  Patrick squatted down by Jandy. His voice had lost the steely tones he’d used on the youths and now he said drily, ‘This is the second time I’ve found you lying on the floor in about twenty minutes. You landed with an almighty thump—are you OK?’

  ‘Fortunately I landed on my bottom—it was just a bit of a shock,’ remarked Jandy. She grinned rather shakily up at him. ‘Just a normal day in Casualty. I should be used to it by now, but I was a bit slow off the mark and didn’t see it coming.’

  ‘Promise me one thing,’ Patrick said sternly. ‘Don’t try and take on those thugs again.’

  He looked at her fiercely and she laughed. ‘I’m a big girl now, Patrick, big enough to look after myself!’

  Without a word he stooped down and slipped his arms under hers, lifting her effortlessly to her feet. In the second that he pulled her up they were facing each other, her body brushing against his broad frame, her face inches away from his. She could see the dark flecks in his blue eyes, a red mark on his cheek where he’d cut himself shaving. A giggle threatened to burst out of her mouth—if they hadn’t been in the hospital she might have thrown caution to the wind and pulled him down towards her!

  He placed her gently on a chair and then put a hand on each arm of the chair, preventing her from getting up, and looked down at her with amusement in those beguiling blue eyes. ‘Leave the strong-arm tactics to Security next time, all right?’

  ‘OK, OK. And, Patrick…thank you very much.’

  She spoke lightly but a sudden chill of caution laid its fingers on her heart—she wasn’t a fool. She was being drawn inexorably to Patrick Sinclair. Every time she saw him she longed to touch him, lean against his athletic body. If she wasn’t careful she’d be imagining a happy-ever-after scenario. She knew without a doubt that the attraction she felt towards him was more than a just a mild and diverting flirtation—it was real and powerful. She shivered slightly. She’d allowed one man to rule her heart and dominate her and it had ended in bitter tears because she’d trusted him. She couldn’t allow herself to fall into that trap again.

  She stood up resolutely. ‘Back to work,’ she said breathlessly. ‘I’m fine now.’

  He shook his head. ‘Not before you’ve had a strong cup of coffee—Tim Vernon suggested it, and you need a breather.’ He shot a look at his watch. ‘Perhaps we’ve time to talk about that property I know about for rent and organise something for our daughters to do together.’

  She opened her mouth to say she was quite OK and didn’t need a coffee, but she made the mistake of looking into those blue amused eyes of his. She needed somewhere to live, didn’t she? For Lydia and Abigail’s sake she’d have a coffee with him…

  ‘That would be lovely,’ she said meekly.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  THE canteen had the familiar smell of chips mingled with roast meat, and was teeming with people shuffling along in the queue. The staff sat in a section behind a screen covered with plastic flowers and there were two huge tubs of dusty-looking plastic palms at the entrance.

  ‘Don’t say I don’t ask you to the most exotic places,’ said Patrick drily to Jandy. ‘Bag two seats in the corner, and I’ll get something wonderfully delicious from the machine to save us queuing up.’

  Jandy watched him weaving his way back to her through the tables a couple of minutes later, concentrating on balancing two plastic cups and chocolate bars in his hands. He looked impressively tall and imposing in that sea of people and she could see Tilly pointing him out to the little group of student nurses she was sitting with. No doubt she was telling them that Patrick Sinclair was the greatest thing since sliced bread! Funny, thought Jandy, how she felt like she’d known him for ages, though in reality it had only beena week or so.

  ‘Right,’ he said, easing himself into his seat. ‘Have a reviver.’ He took a sip of his own coffee and grimaced. ‘Ah—nectar,’ he remarked dourly. ‘Although I’d put more emphasis on the “tar” myself…’

  She giggled, feeling a sudden light-heartedness in his company, and he grinned back at her. ‘Now, tell me honestly if you feel OK after that oaf knocked you down,’ he said.

  Jandy smiled ruefully. ‘Only slightly shaky. I promise you it was only my pride that was hurt. I’m just annoyed that I let him get to me. I ought to have learned by now.’

  ‘I take it there’s an assault book to record this sort of thing?’

  Jandy nodded. ‘It’s usually full after two weeks. Anyway, I’m glad that you turned up when you did.’

  ‘So am I. It’s a familiar story, though, isn’t it? Aggression fuelled by drink and drugs.’ Then he shrugged. ‘There’s not much we can do about it apparently. Anyway, to change the subject…’ He reached into his jacket pocket and drew out a piece of paper, unfolding it in front of Jandy. ‘Perhaps you’d like to see the place I was telling you about that’s available for rent.’

  She looked with interest at the photo of a small house, unusual in aspect with an octagonal shape and two dormer windows in the roof.

  ‘It lo
oks really quaint—rather like a little gingerbread house!’ she exclaimed. ‘I’d love to look around it. Although,’ she added cautiously, ‘it all depends on the rent, to be truthful…’

  ‘It’s not been lived in for a while—it needs a clean and a bit of decoration, so the rent isn’t all that high. Frankly, you’d be doing the owner a favour if you decide to take it.’

  It sounded almost too good to be true. So many things had been a battle for her in recent years, from finding childcare for Abigail to getting a job she loved, that suddenly being offered what looked like a lovely little house was almost unbelievable. She felt a sudden lump of gratitude in her throat and said in a muffled voice, ‘It would be such a load off my mind to get somewhere soon—I have to admit I’m really getting desperate. My priority, of course, is Abigail and I just can’t sleep thinking we won’t have a roof over our heads…’

  Patrick looked at her perceptively, her lovely eyes bright with tears, aware of the emotion in her voice and the fact that Jandy had been hiding a lot of stress behind her bright manner.

  ‘If you want to look around it this weekend, I could arrange to get the key—if it suits you, it’s yours!’

  Jandy heaved a huge sigh. ‘I’m so grateful to you.’ She gave a shaky laugh. ‘I really thought I’d never get anywhere suitable so quickly—I imagined us camping out on the street!’

  Patrick smiled, lowering his glance to give her time to compose herself. ‘Let’s hope it fits the bill, then,’ he said.

  ‘Does it belong to a friend of yours?’ Jandy asked.

  Patrick hesitated briefly then said, ‘It’s owned by a relative and I know he’s very keen to have it occupied. I’ll give you the directions and meet you there at about ten-thirty on Saturday morning.’

  Jandy’s heart gave a leap of pleasure and relief that her worries about getting some accommodation might be solved, and also that in a few days she would be seeing Patrick outside the confines of the hospital…

  ‘That would be great, although I’ll probably have to bring Abigail with me, if that’s OK.’

  ‘Then I’ll bring Livy.’ He smiled. ‘They can give us their opinion of the place and they can meet each other!’ He pushed a large chocolate biscuit towards her. ‘Here—it’s not much, but it might keep you going till lunchtime.’

  ‘Thanks. I can’t resist it, I’m afraid, although I am trying to cut out chocolate,’ she remarked, unwrapping it and biting into it hungrily.

  Blue eyes flicked over her. ‘I don’t know why,’ he murmured. ‘I wouldn’t have thought you had any weight issues.’

  Jandy laughed. ‘You should see me with nothing on—I’m awfully…’ She stopped, suddenly realising what she’d said, and blushed, the thought of him seeing her stark naked a little too intimate to contemplate.

  Patrick raised his brows and his eyes twinkled. ‘I’m sure there’s nothing awful about you, but if you like I’ll give you a medical assessment…’

  ‘I don’t think so!’

  ‘Well, the offer’s there—only too pleased to give you my professional opinion!’ He grinned, leaning back in his chair looking at her with amusement, and their eyes locked, an unmistakeable spark of attraction and intimacy flickering between them: Jandy dropped her eyes and inspected a split nail rather thoroughly and tried to smother a giggle.

  There was a second’s silence, Patrick’s gaze roving over her, then he said hesitantly, ‘Perhaps I shouldn’t ask this, but you mentioned that you were a single parent but not a widow…does that mean you and your husband are divorced?’

  Jandy’s expression changed and he put up his hand in apology. ‘I’m sorry—please don’t answer that. It’s nothing to do with me.’

  She stared at the table and folded the biscuit wrapper into a precise square. Was she ready to reveal her sad little story to someone she’d only known for a short time? It made her seem so gullible, so easily deceived—and incredibly stupid to have become pregnant, believing that Terry would have been as thrilled as she was to have their baby. But it was a long time ago now and quite a few people knew her background anyway, so why shouldn’t Patrick be told?

  She gave a little shrug and said at last, ‘It’s not a secret, Patrick. I was a naïve fool and fell for someone who was already married with a family—although I didn’t realise that at the time.’

  Patrick looked at her in horror. ‘How did you find out?’

  ‘When I discovered I was pregnant and told him, thinking he’d be delighted as he’d often told me how fond of children he was, he took fright and blurted out the truth.’ Jandy’s eyes narrowed, and she unconsciously twisted her hands together. ‘I can remember his precise words actually. He said, “You idiot! I can’t possibly have a child. I realised you were getting too sweet on me recently.’”

  Patrick shook his head. ‘He sounds unbelievable!’

  ‘Ah—but listen to the punchline he gave,’ Jandy added succinctly. “‘I’ve already got a wife and two daughters, which is quite enough to cope with!” Shortly after that he disappeared into the blue yonder, leaving me to cope alone.’

  ‘What an idiot!’ Patrick’s voice was rough with disgust.

  Jandy shrugged and said firmly, ‘Actually, it taught me a lesson—never fall in love with someone who’s carrying a lot of baggage. There won’t be room in his life for him to concentrate on anyone else. I suspected Terry had other things in his life but I didn’t realise that it was a ready-grown family!’

  An unreadable expression suddenly crossed Patrick’s face and he nodded slowly. ‘You’re right. You couldn’t risk going through that again—you must have been through hell.’

  ‘I’m over it now. Terry’s history as far as I’m concerned, and although I wish he was around for Abigail sometimes, I think we’re really better off without him.’

  ‘So he’s never contributed anything towards Abigail’s upbringing?’ asked Patrick softly.

  Jandy looked at him levelly. ‘I don’t want anything from that man. He lied to me for the six months we went out with each other, convincing me that he loved me and wanted a future with me.’ She added semijokingly but with a touch of sadness, ‘I was totally naïve, but I could never go through the roller-coaster of emotions again that I went through with Terry—it took too long to recover!’

  And I wonder if she’s really recovered now, thought Patrick, sipping the remains of his coffee and watching her face over the rim of his cup. There was a wistful expression in her eyes. The wound might have healed, but it had left a scar that would probably affect her for many years. And couldn’t that scar be reopened if she was hurt again by someone who was wary of committing wholeheartedly to a relationship, someone who already had plenty of responsibilities…someone like him, for instance? Didn’t he fit into that category?

  ‘I guess this happened in Manchester, then. And when you had Abigail, you came back here?’ he said quietly.

  Jandy nodded. ‘I met Terry in Manchester, but he disappeared after I turned down his suggestion to have an abortion. I’ve never seen or heard from him since.’

  ‘He sounds charming,’ remarked Patrick with heavy irony.

  ‘I went to stay with my mother who lives in Scotland, and had the baby there.’ She laughed. ‘Mum was wonderful, but she has her own life—namely living with a garage mechanic who’s half her age! I realised after a few weeks that having a daughter and a grandchild living with you in a tiny house doesn’t fit into the love-nest scenario!’

  ‘So you moved back here?’ Patrick murmured.

  ‘Yes, I came back here with Abigail and set up home with my sister. She’s a tower of strength and we get on very well. And then I went back to nursing. It’s a busy life, but Abigail is secure and happy—and, of course, she’s my priority. It’s important that she has stability in her life—a proper home, not a stopgap until I can get something permanent.’

  Patrick nodded. ‘You must have been having a few sleepless nights,’ he murmured.

  He leant back in his
chair and looked at Jandy perceptively—the determined tilt of her chin, the steady look of purpose in her eyes. He admired the way that she had managed to get her life on an even keel again despite all her difficulties—his offer of the house would be a godsend to her. But he hadn’t realised the ghastly story behind the fact that she was a single parent. How cruel would it be to risk upsetting her little boat and drawing her into his complicated life? If she took the house they would be bound more closely together—and would that be wise?

  ‘And what made you take up nursing?’ he enquired lightly, changing the subject.

  Jandy smiled. ‘Someone gave me a nurse’s outfit when I was little, and somehow the idea of becoming a real nurse got a hold of me. I must have been mad—it’s hard to bring up a child on my salary!’

  ‘But you enjoy your work and your sister helps you with your little girl?’

  ‘Yes—I’m very lucky, and Abby adores Lydia. And you?’ she asked. ‘Was your father a doctor? That often seems to inspire people to take up medicine.’

  ‘No. My father is…well, he’s a farmer really and loves the land. I think he’d have liked me to have taken it up too, but my brother and I were impatient to do our own thing.’

  ‘I heard you say you were living with your father?’

  ‘For the time being,’ Patrick replied lightly. ‘My little girl loves living in the house.’

  ‘And whereabouts…?’

  ‘Oh, not too far away—reasonably convenient.’

  There was something about his voice—a studied vagueness—as if he had suddenly pulled the shutters down about any more information on his personal life, and Jandy flicked a look of slight surprise at him. She was perceptive enough to realise that there’d been a slight shift in his attitude towards her—as if he’d stepped back a bit. She felt slightly hurt, as he’d asked her about her past and she’d been frank with him. It seemed he was less eager to confide in her and she’d obviously taken too much for granted. She took the hint and stood up quickly.

  ‘I’ll look forward to seeing the house on Saturday, then,’ she said briskly. ‘And thanks for the coffee and rescuing me from those yobs. I’d better get back or Karen won’t be too pleased.’