A Surgeon for the Single Mom

by Charlotte Hawkes

  No one else made her body...prickle quite the way that he did. Right then she determined that she wouldn’t turn around.

  ‘Ah, there you are, Havers. Is it all going well?’

  ‘Mr Basu!’

  The genuine warmth in the older man’s smile caught Effie by surprise.

  ‘I wasn’t expecting you back so soon. I thought this was your evening with your brother?’

  ‘I’m sure Rafi can manage without me for one week. Besides, I thought I could finish the tour myself—no doubt you have plenty of other work you’d rather be getting on with.’

  ‘As you wish.’ The older man nodded sagely and began to take a step away.

  Was it panic or something else that made Effie spin around in an instant? Either way, it was calamitous the way her heart clashed with her head in that moment. She was grateful that her head won out. Just.

  ‘We’re fine with Mr...with Havers,’ she retorted primly.

  But at exactly the same time her daughter boldly accepted Tak’s offer.

  ‘Then let us continue.’ Tak grinned at Nell as though Effie herself hadn’t even spoken.

  And then her thirteen-year-old daughter straightened her shoulders and looked her host in the eye, as though she wasn’t remotely intimidated by him or the situation. As though her momentary lapse into awe had never happened.

  ‘We’re fine,’ Effie echoed, a little hollowly. ‘We’ve seen enough already. We don’t need to intrude on the rest of your home.’

  ‘We do if we don’t want to get lost,’ Nell objected.

  ‘We won’t get lost.’

  Her daughter’s snort wasn’t the most ego-boosting of responses.

  ‘Let’s be fair, Mum, you’re geographically backward. Don’t you remember that estate we lived on a few years ago? It took you almost ten months to work out which way led to the supermarket and which way led to the motorway.’

  ‘The roads all looked the same,’ Effie muttered.

  Tak chuckled loudly. There was no reason at all for that smooth sound to ripple over her as it did.

  Nell continued, oblivious. ‘And here the corridors all look the same.’ She blew out a faintly triumphant breath. ‘So all the more reason to learn the layout. You don’t want to go wandering into Tak’s bedroom thinking it’s your own, do you?’

  Fire rushed through her and Effie yanked her head up sharply, but her daughter’s expression was wholly innocent. Either Nell had a better poker face at thirteen than Effie herself had ever possessed, or she genuinely hadn’t intended to sound so inappropriate.

  Effie chose to believe the latter. Still, she couldn’t stop her gaze sliding to Tak. Wondering if he’d caught on. Hoping that somehow he hadn’t.

  ‘We certainly can’t have that, can we?’

  His amusement was palpable, as though he was reading her mind. And that voice, as rich and indulgent as ever, meant the undercurrents inside her only sloshed around her all the more turbulently.

  She straightened her spine. ‘No, we cannot.’

  Too prim. Too uptight. But too late now.

  ‘So you live here all alone? Just you?’

  ‘My other sister Sasha and my brother Rafi used to live here before they each got married, which was nice...’ Tak shrugged, but his voice held that soft note she’d heard once before at the ball. ‘But now it’s mainly just me and Hetti.’

  And then the moment was gone and Tak was smiling down at Nell.

  ‘Anyway, what do you want to see next?’ Tak grinned down at Nell. ‘The cinema room, the pool, or the games den?’

  There was no mistaking Nell’s expression of awe, even if it was smothered in as neutral an expression as a thirteen-year-old girl could muster.

  ‘What’s in the games den?’ Nell demanded with a grin of her own.

  ‘Pool table, football table, two-lane bowling alley, some arcade machines.’

  Nell’s attempt at teenage blasé acceptance crumbled in an instant.

  ‘Of course there is! You could fit our flat into this place ten times over. At least. You’re so lucky, having a games room that you don’t have to share with anyone else. You must be, like, a gazillionaire!’

  ‘Nell!’

  Instantly her daughter mumbled an apology, but Tak merely laughed.

  ‘It isn’t about that. My life is being a doctor—a surgeon. I don’t always get enough time off and when I do it might not be the most sociable hours. Sometimes it’s nice to have a place to come and wind down, even if it’s four in the morning.’

  ‘Chillax.’ Nell nodded sagely. ‘Mum could do with more of that.’

  ‘Mum doesn’t always have time for that,’ Effie interjected pointedly, wishing they would stop talking about her as though she wasn’t even there.

  Not that it made much difference as she traipsed politely down a sweeping metal staircase and into a basement area. Tak swung open the door and both Nell and Effie were helpless to contain their shock.

  It was like something out of those ‘millionaires’ cribs’ shows her daughter was addicted to watching. All coloured LED strip-lighting, white stone floors and lots and lots of man-toys.

  Table games dominated one zone: a pool table and table football, air hockey and table tennis. Arcade machines dominated another, with racing motorbikes and basketball hoops. A two-lane bowling alley ran the length of one side, and a full-size snooker table stood proudly in a section of its own.

  Nell turned abruptly to eye Effie. ‘I guess this is what you could have had if you’d just concentrated on your career and hadn’t had to raise a baby all by yourself.’

  ‘Not at all,’ Effie choked, emotions rushing at her so violently that it was all she could do not to take a step back, as though that might somehow ward them off.

  ‘The way she talks about you I can’t imagine that your mother would trade you for any of...this.’ Tak waved his hand around dismissively. ‘You’re the most important thing in her life—anyone can see that. And you must know that the only reason she’s come here is because she’s thinking about what’s best for you. She would have suffered that igloo you call home indefinitely if it had just been her!’

  There was a beat, then Nell scuffed her canvas shoe against the pristine stone floor. But all Effie could do was stare at the back of the head of this man—this relative stranger—who she was pretty sure she’d just heard defending her.

  She told herself it meant nothing.

  Inside her chest a heavy drum tattoo suggested otherwise.

  ‘I know,’ Nell muttered eventually. ‘She’s always put me first.’

  Tak’s smile was surprisingly soft. ‘She’s also your fiercest advocate.’

  ‘Yeah, I know that too. Even if she can be a bit of a walk-over in other areas.’

  ‘I am not a walk-over,’ Effie spluttered.

  The pair ignored her, as though they were banding together to disprove her point without either of them saying a word.

  It was the oddest sensation in the word. Nell and Tak, clicking together as if they’d known each other for years, not merely met on two brief occasions. Something swept through Effie and it took her a moment to realise it was regret tinged with perhaps a hint of guilt.

  In trying to protect the two of them all these years—trying to do her best for her daughter—was it possible she had been wrong to deprive Nell of any male presence in her life? A role model if not a father figure?

  Not Tak, of course, that would be bonkers—true bats in the belfry, as Eleanor would have said. But someone. There had been enough date offers over the years, even from men who had known she had a child.

  Had she been selfish in not even trying? Claiming to be protecting her daughter from people dropping in and out of her life when actually she’d been protecting herself?

  Effie shook her head almost imperceptibly and pulled her s
houlders back. No, she hadn’t been selfish. The simple truth was that no man had ever appealed to her enough for her to want to risk opening her life up for them. They hadn’t been enough.

  ‘Right.’

  Tak’s voice broke into her reverie.

  ‘You’ve seen your wing and the main areas of the house. I’ll leave you to settle in at your own pace. Havers is around if you need anything.’

  And then he was gone, and Effie was staring at the doorway as though it might bring him back. It seemed all she had to do now was ignore the needling voice in her head pointing out to her that none of those men had been Tak Basu.

  * * *

  ‘You aren’t going.’ Effie was determined to remain steadfast, however torn she felt internally. ‘It’s a school night.’

  It had been two days since Tak had left them to settle in. True to his word, their paths hadn’t crossed since then, although between Havers and the rest of the staff she and Nell hadn’t ever felt alone in the vast house.

  But still, it was hard not to feel that their every move was being witnessed by someone. Especially when they were arguing.

  As if to prove Effie’s point, Nell glowered at her in disbelief. ‘But it’s her birthday.’

  ‘So you already said. Several times.’

  ‘I thought you wanted me to make friends,’ Nell threw out, making no attempt to hide her frustration. ‘You’re the one who upended our lives by dragging us here.’

  She shouldn’t bite back—she knew that—but whether her daughter realised it or not it was a low blow. Guilt scraped at her. She had uprooted her daughter, she was always telling Nell she had to make new friends, and yet she did stop her from going anywhere on school nights.

  Despite herself, Effie vacillated—and that lent her voice a sarcastic note she would have preferred it not to have. ‘Yes, I’m sorry that getting a new job that earns more money and gives us a few luxuries has interfered with your social life.’

  Nell tipped her nose into the air with all the authority of a teenager who knows everything. ‘It’s not just about money, Mum.’

  ‘Says the thirteen-year-old who has never understood the fear of receiving an eviction notice.’

  ‘My God, you’re being unreasonable.’

  ‘Who’s being unreasonable?’ Tak asked, sauntering into the kitchen as though Effie and Nell’s rather public argument didn’t perturb him in the slightest.

  ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t realise you were back from the hospital. We’ll leave you in peace.’

  ‘Mum’s being unreasonable,’ Nell announced, ignoring her.

  ‘I’m sorry, this really doesn’t have anything to do with you—’ Effie began, but she was drowned out by an indignant Nell.

  ‘There’s a girl at school and it’s her birthday party tonight. A group of girls are going bowling at that big place just outside of town? You know—looks like your games suite downstairs, only bigger, and with a lot more people? Anyway, she’s invited me, even though I’m new. It’s a really big deal.’

  Effie opened her mouth to respond, but Tak nudged her discreetly. She turned to him with a frown and then, although she couldn’t explain why, decided to trust him.

  ‘Are these the same girls you went shoplifting with?’

  ‘You told him?’ Nell swung around to her mother, her face on fire.

  But once again Tak answered before Effie could say a word.

  ‘Of course she did. She had to.’ He shrugged calmly, as though it was obvious. ‘Surely you know there are always consequences to your actions, Nell? I’ve opened up my home to you—it would have been wrong of her not to mention it.’

  For several long seconds Nell continued to scowl at her. Then, to Effie’s surprise and pride, she smoothed her face into an expression of acceptance and nodded. ‘Yes, I know. And I am truly sorry for stealing. For what it’s worth, I’ll never make that mistake again.’

  ‘That’s good to hear,’ Tak replied graciously. ‘Nell, would you excuse your mother and I for a moment?’

  Effie watched in shock as Nell nodded again, then obediently left the room. If it had been just herself and her daughter she knew Nell would have been like a dog with the proverbial bone.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  ‘YOU’RE REALLY AGAINST her going?’ Tak’s low voice broke across Effie’s thoughts as soon as the door clicked shut.

  ‘I can guarantee I’m not the only mum who would be worried if she didn’t know her daughter’s new friends. In fact, I happen to know that a couple of the other mums are actually going. But I’m working. And I can’t just change shifts at the air ambulance.’

  Still, her conscience pricked her, as it seemed to be doing more and more these days. If this was what the next few years were going to be like with her daughter then she didn’t think she could stand it.

  ‘I’m just lucky that Havers is here and has generously promised to look after Nell the way Mrs Appleby does when she gets home from school.’

  ‘So you aren’t averse to Nell attending the party in general?’ Tak asked suddenly.

  ‘Of course not. Contrary to what you might have overheard before you walked in, I do actually want my daughter to make friends.’

  ‘I know that,’ he replied evenly.

  Effie swallowed. She couldn’t put her finger on what it was about the way he was looking at her, but in an instant the room seemed to fade away.

  ‘This...this isn’t about me,’ she managed.

  ‘I’ll take that as confirmation.’

  ‘Take it however you want,’ she shot back, but even she could hear there was no heat in her tone. ‘This is about Nell and whether I’m deliberately stopping her from going to a party.’

  ‘And you’re adamantly trying to show that you aren’t?’

  ‘Of course I’m not,’ Effie bristled. ‘If I knew she was going to be safe that would be different. But I don’t know any of these girls and I can’t be there because of work.’

  ‘In that case, what if I took Nell to the party?’

  It was surreal. Effie stared at Tak, unsure what to say. Was he really offering to parent her child, reasoning with her as though it was the most natural thing in the world?

  ‘I don’t think it’s a good idea,’ she said slowly. ‘I mean, people might get the wrong impression.’

  ‘You mean, people might actually think there’s something going on between you and I?’ Tak rolled her eyes. ‘As if the fact you’re staying here doesn’t already do that?’

  There was no reason her heart should be slamming into the wall of her chest like this.

  Effie sucked in a deep breath, not that it helped. ‘We’re only staying here until our central heating is fixed and the asbestos is removed.’ But she floundered. Temptation was vying with common sense. ‘It’s... Well... Are you sure?’

  ‘I offered,’ he pointed out. ‘I only have one condition.’

  ‘Condition?’

  He smiled, and that delicious curl of his mouth, which made her chest leap and burst like popcorn in a microwave, made Effie narrow her eyes.

  She told herself it was nerves that she felt and not anticipation that coursed through her.

  His mouth curled up even more sinfully. ‘I need you to come on another date with me.’

  Pins and needles scattered through her body. Heat and cold. Dark and light. Exhilaration and fear.

  It didn’t matter how long she might stay there, scanning his face and trying to analyse what was going on in his mind, he was too closed-off, too controlled.

  ‘A date?’

  ‘Yes. You know—two people getting together for a social activity where romance is a distinct possibility.’

  She frowned. ‘Or, in our case, the pretence of romance?’

  He paused, and for one glorious moment she thought he was going to deny it.

 
‘Of course,’ he confirmed, and something darted over his features, too fast for Effie to work out what it was.

  Probably relief. Which, she told himself, was just fine.

  ‘I thought we might go to a restaurant frequented by some contacts of my parents. News of our date—and no doubt the odd phone photo—will have made its way across two continents before Chef Michel’s world-renowned soufflé can even be served.’

  ‘I thought that was what our gala date was supposed to have been about?’

  ‘It was.’

  He shrugged, as though he wasn’t remotely affected by this conversation. And, of course, she reminded herself hastily, neither was she.

  ‘But that was a work thing. This is a private date. It will consolidate the image of us as a proper couple.’

  A proper couple. The notion affected her exactly the way it shouldn’t have done. Yet somehow she managed a curt nod. As one might acknowledge a point of fact in the operating theatre. Or the boardroom.

  And it wasn’t disillusionment which rumbled through her. Of course it wasn’t.

  * * *

  The restaurant was excruciatingly romantic.

  Intimate tables for two were dotted under a starry sky in one of the most booked-out restaurants in the city. Exactly as he’d planned. A place to see and be seen, just as he wanted. A set-up guaranteeing that word would get back to anyone in his family who hoped they could use him in a marriage arranged only to further their own agendas.

  And yet all Tak wanted to do was lift Effie out of her chair and get out of there. To somewhere far more discreetly intimate. Where it would be just the two of them.

  He fought to tune out the loved-up diners around them and concentrate instead as Effie chatted to him conversationally. He hadn’t brought her here tonight to seduce her, or to further any romantic entanglement, so why was it that all he could think was that he wanted to taste her lips again, the way he had the night of the hospital gala?

  ‘So that’s what brought Nell and I halfway across the country,’ Effie concluded.

  He let his eyes linger a little too long on her mouth, fighting the impulse to lean right across the table and scoop her up, settle her on his knee and lick every inch of that smooth, elegant neck with his tongue. To hell with all the people, all the camera phones around them.