by Joanna Neil
Sam shook his head in wonder. ‘You’re a truly amazing woman, Ruby.’
His mouth curved, lightening his features in a way that made her heart begin to thump in an erratic rhythm. ‘You have a unique way of motivating everyone at work. They all miss you.’
She gave a soft sigh. ‘I’m sorry about that.’ He was stirring up emotions in her that she would rather lay dormant: restlessness, guilt, and a faint sorrow for what she had abandoned. She was torn by all the demands being made on her.
He wouldn’t let her turn away, though. Instead he drew her closer to him, so that she had no choice but to listen to what he had to say. She was all too aware of the warmth emanating from him, of the sheer male energy and drive that gave him an inherent authority over everyone who happened to come within his orbit. ‘That’s just it, Ruby,’ he murmured. ‘I’m discovering every day exactly how much the department needs you at its helm. I can only do so much, but with you on my team we can work wonders.’
She was finding it hard to think straight while he was holding her this way. His hands were slowly smoothing over the silk of her skin, as though he would mesmerise her and coax her into accepting what he had to say.
His gaze meshed with hers. ‘If I were to offer you a solution to all your troubles, would you consider coming back to the hospital?’
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.
Recent titles by the same author:
POSH DOC, SOCIETY WEDDING
HOT-SHOT DOC, CHRISTMAS BRIDE
THE REBEL AND THE BABY DOCTOR
THE SURGEON SHE’S BEEN WAITING FOR
New Surgeon At Ashvale A&E
by
Joanna Neil
www.millsandboon.co.uk
Chapter One
‘WELL, poppet, here we are at last. A little later than I’d planned, but at least we’ve arrived.’ Ruby made a neat turn into the parking slot in the hospital grounds and turned off the ignition. From the rear of the car, a response came in the form of a soft gurgle, and she swivelled around to gaze for a moment at the baby. Becky was lying contentedly in her car seat, blowing bubbles while doing her best to grasp her toes with her fingers.
Smiling, Ruby slid out of the driver’s seat and went around to the rear of the vehicle to retrieve the infant.
‘It’s a good thing you’re such a happy soul,’ she murmured. ‘It makes life so much easier. After all, much as I love you, I hadn’t planned on bringing you with me today.’
Becky wriggled, her arms, legs and whole body moving in excited anticipation, a beaming smile lighting her chubby face at the prospect of her aunt coming close.
Ruby began to unclip the seat restraint. ‘I’ve no idea where your mother could have disappeared to,’ she said softly, ‘and yet she promised me faithfully that she would come and fetch you so that I could go along to my meeting.’ She lifted her palms in a questioning gesture. ‘But where is she? I haven’t a clue. Your guess is as good as mine.’
Becky chuckled, her blue eyes bright, as Ruby lifted the child seat out of the car. ‘As for you, you don’t have a care in the world, do you, little one?’ Ruby smiled indulgently. ‘What does it matter to you that I have to go and listen to my new boss challenge us to cut costs to the bone and find all sorts of impossible ways of doing it? And what’s he doing there anyway taking my place? I had my name pinned on that job, and I’m pretty sure I would have made things work for us without any of this argy-bargy and bad feeling.’
Becky studied her, a small frown appearing on the soft skin of her brow, as though she was trying very hard to make sense of the flow of words. Ruby laughed softly. ‘Yes, I know. Your auntie’s as mad as a hatter. Why else would she be going to a conference with a baby in tow?’ She leaned over and tickled the child, her chestnut-coloured hair falling in a silky swathe about her shoulders. Becky giggled and grasped a handful of hair.
‘Ow…ow…ow,’ Ruby exclaimed, pretending to be caught.
‘Mum…mm…mum.’ Six-month-old Becky blew raspberries from her pink lips and cooed, finally letting go of Ruby’s hair and beginning to suck on a small fist.
‘Yes, you’re absolutely right,’ Ruby murmured, straightening up. ‘Your mum’s not herself these days, and we just have to try to make the best of things, don’t we? When all’s said and done, we can probably slip in quietly somewhere near the back of the room. With any luck, no one will even notice that I’ve brought an uninvited guest along with me.’
By now she was approaching the main entrance of the hospital. People were coming and going, hurrying through the doors that continually swished open and closed. Some were dressed casually, visiting their relatives who were unfortunate enough to be hospitalised, perhaps, while one or two were more formally attired—doctors, maybe, or people who had appointments with consultants within the hospital.
Others, presumably taking a break in the warm afternoon sunshine, were sitting or standing to one side by a well tended shrub garden, breathing in the fresh air.
Suddenly, the doors opened up once more, and a man lumbered towards her, head down, a disgruntled expression on his face. Perhaps the collision that followed was inevitable. Either way, he slammed into Ruby with some force, so that she swung to one side and momentarily lost her balance. She kept a firm grip on the baby chair as it carved a wild arc through the air, and all the while her one thought was to protect the infant. Becky began to cry, frightened by the sudden jolt, and for a second or two, Ruby was afraid that she might have been hurt.
At the same time she was aware of pain slicing through her wrist, and as she fought to regain her balance, she realised that the man had rushed away, leaving her only with the impression of a scowling, grim countenance.
‘Are you all right?’ A man’s voice cut into her thoughts, the deep, warm tones edged with a drizzle of honey that smoothed over her shattered nerves. ‘Is the baby okay?’ He reached out and lightly grasped her arm, steadying her, at the same time laying a hand on the baby seat to ensure that it was safe.
‘I think so.’ Disorientated, she set the carrier down on the ground, checking swiftly that all was well with Becky. ‘Everything’s fine, baby,’ she murmured, reassuring the infant and distracting her with a brightly coloured teething ring that jangled and provided endless possibilities for exploration. ‘She seems to be none the worse for it.’ Then, once she was satisfied that the baby was safe, she looked up into the eyes of the man who had come to her aid.
They were beautiful eyes, a curious mixture of blue and grey, reminding her strangely of sea mist and sun-dappled water, and at the same time invoking a disturbing reaction within her, a strange restlessness that she hadn’t encountered in a long, long time.
She pulled herself together and straightened up, leaving the carrier where it was for the time being so that Becky would have an opportunity to examine her new toy and forget all about the incident. That left her free to rub gently at her wrist where it had been wrenched.
‘I have a feeling I might have seen that man somewhere before,’ she told him, frowning a little. ‘I can’t quite place him, and I only caught a glimpse, but there was something about him that was familiar.’
‘Really? He didn�
��t look too happy, did he? Maybe things hadn’t gone quite the way he expected in there.’ He looked towards the building, then glanced back at her, noting the way she was surreptitiously soothing her jarred wrist. ‘Do you think someone should take a look at that?’
‘No, it’ll be fine, thanks.’ She gave a short laugh. ‘Anyway, I’m in the right place if I change my mind, aren’t I? A&E is just around the corner.’
‘That’s true.’ A serious expression settled on his face as he appeared to ponder the wisdom of leaving things be, and she took a moment or two to study him more thoroughly.
He was way too smartly dressed to be a casual visitor to the hospital, or even a patient, she guessed. He wasn’t wearing a doctor’s name badge, so it was possible he was someone from a pharmaceutical company here to meet up with their chief pharmacist and his team. Ruby knew the hospital chiefs were worried about the drugs bill, and meetings were planned to discuss the issue.
He was wearing a suit, the immaculate, dark grey jacket sitting easily on broad shoulders, while the trousers fitted him to perfection, outlining a washboard-flat stomach and long, strong legs. Altogether, he made an immediate, disturbing impact on her.
‘Do you need any help to get to where you need to be? Perhaps I could carry the child for you?’ He was watching her closely, his gaze skimming over her, taking in her casual summer clothes, a button-through cotton top and gently flowing skirt, before coming to rest once more on her face.
She blinked, trying to pull her thoughts back on track. She shook her head. ‘No, thanks all the same. I’ll manage.’ She smiled. ‘Besides, I expect you have places you need to be…unless you’d finished your business here?’ Why else would he have been standing outside the hospital? He looked like a man who would be continually on the move, energetic, a force to be reckoned with. Perhaps it was the suit that gave her that impression. It somehow denoted a businesslike demeanour, a man at the height of his profession.
‘You’re right. I was just taking a break for a while, enjoying the sunshine and the cooling breeze. Hospitals can seem like soulless places at times, can’t they, even here in beautiful Buckinghamshire?’
‘That’s true.’ She nodded. ‘I wasn’t much looking forward to coming here today, but unfortunately I have a meeting to go to.’
He frowned. ‘Is that so? Nothing badly wrong, I hope—with you or the baby?’
She made a wry face. ‘Nothing at all. I’m fighting fit, and so is Becky, which is just as well, since I have to go and do battle, so to speak. It won’t do to let the chiefs have everything their own way.’
A puzzled look crossed his features, and it seemed as though he expected her to say more, but she didn’t try to explain any further. ‘I must go,’ she said. ‘I’m late already. Thanks very much for coming to help me. I do appreciate it.’
She had delayed long enough, and the meeting must be well under way by now. If she hurried, there was still time to make her presence felt. She picked up the baby carrier and, with a nod in his direction, she walked swiftly into the building.
James and Olivia, two senior house officers from her team, met her at the door to the room where the meeting was taking place.
‘Thank heaven you made it at last,’ Olivia said. ‘We were beginning to think you would never get here.’ She turned to greet Becky with a smile, picking up the baby’s rattle and gently waving it in front of the child, so that the infant tried to grab it and pull it to her mouth. Olivia laughed softly. ‘Okay, okay, you can have it. I was just teasing.’ She turned back to Ruby. ‘Everyone’s taking a break for coffee just now. We had to stop for a while…emotions were threatening to boil over.’
‘So I gathered.’ Ruby’s expression was sombre. ‘Is the new man making his presence felt?’
‘Oh, yes.’ James nodded. Lean and fit-looking, with dark brown hair that was cut in a short, neat style, he was an energetic, efficient colleague. ‘He’s definitely on the side of the board. Cuts, cuts and more cuts. That seems to be his mantra. That’s why I called you. I couldn’t believe you weren’t going to be here to argue our corner.’ He led the way towards the back of the room. ‘Some of the senior managers look as though they’ve been up half the night working out what they can chop next. The trust is in so much debt that they say drastic measures are called for.’
‘I wanted to be here right from the beginning,’ Ruby said. ‘You know I did…only I agreed to look after Becky while my sister went to see the doctor at the local surgery. There would have been plenty of time for me to come to the meeting afterwards, except that Sophie didn’t come home to take over from me. I waited and waited, and then I got to wondering whether there was any point in my coming along and saying anything at all at the meeting. After all, the new man is the one who’ll be making all the decisions from now on.’
‘And that was where the management made their big mistake.’ Olivia frowned. ‘You should have been the one to take charge, we all know that. You’ve been the mainstay of the A&E department for years, keeping things running smoothly while the boss readied himself for retirement. This job should have been the reward for all your hard work.’
Ruby made a wry smile. ‘Well, in the end it hasn’t happened, and there’s no use crying over spilt milk. Management have chosen the man they feel best to put all their changes into place.’ She gave a soft chuckle. ‘Perhaps they thought things would become a bit too contentious if they put me in charge. I wouldn’t have accepted that their way was the only way.’
‘More than likely. So what happened with Sophie?’ Olivia asked. ‘She must have known this was important to you.’
Ruby frowned. ‘I’m not sure. I was looking forward to hearing how things had gone at the surgery, but when she didn’t come back, I started to worry. Something must have gone wrong…but maybe I should have expected that. She’s definitely not herself these days. She’s not been well for quite some time, and I’ve been trying to persuade her for ages to go for some tests so that we can find out exactly what’s wrong. I suspect it’s a hormonal problem, with her body chemistry being out of synch ever since Becky was born, but she wouldn’t let me do anything to help. I was so pleased when I finally managed to get her to agree to go and talk to our GP.’
The SHOs nodded. ‘But something obviously didn’t go to plan?’ Olivia pointed out some available seats and they went to take their places.
Ruby shook her head. ‘I rang the surgery to see if she’d turned up there, and apparently she did, but then she didn’t wait for her appointment. I’ve absolutely no idea where she might be. I’ve tried ringing her, but she’s not answering her phone. Anything could have happened. She’s just not thinking clearly these days. I dare say I’ll find out later what went wrong.’
‘I’m glad you made it in the end, anyway,’ James murmured. ‘You of all people should be able to make the bosses see sense here. The way things are going, they’ll walk roughshod over all of us. How on earth do they expect us to give a viable service to the local area if they plan to get rid of staff and close units?’
‘I think that’s the least of their worries.’ Ruby set the baby down on the floor and glanced around as people began to troop back into the room. ‘What about the new boss, anyway? What’s he like? Has he not managed to come up with any reasonable suggestions?’
‘You have to be kidding.’ Olivia gave a short, humourless laugh. ‘He may well be an A&E doctor, but he’s management through and through, and reasonable isn’t in their vocabulary. No one seems to be paying any attention to what the people at the sharp end, those who actually have to do all the work, have to say.’
‘We’ll just have to do what we can to make them see sense.’ Ruby moved restlessly in her seat, then ran a hand through the length of her burnished hair, lifting it away from her nape to let a cool waft of air fan her heated skin. ‘It’s so warm in here,’ she commented, ‘with all that sunshine pouring in through the windows.’
She reached into the large linen bag she had brought wi
th her and fished out the printed programme for the meeting. ‘Maybe this will do the trick.’ She leaned back in her seat and began to fan herself lightly with the paper.
‘Oh, that’s so much better.’ She murmured her appreciation of the cool drift of air just as she became aware of a stillness settling in the room. Glancing around, she saw that most of the board members had taken their places on the dais, while one seat remained empty.
A man came through a side door just then and strode purposefully across the back of the room. He turned into the corridor between the mass of seats, passing her just at the moment when she tilted her head back and lightly blew the tendrils of hair away from her brow. Becky gurgled contentedly, and he glanced briefly in their direction.
Ruby’s eyes widened, her senses responding to his presence with a faint frisson of dismay. His tall, lean figure was instantly familiar to her. He had that coolly confident air of a man who was in command of all he surveyed, the measured look of a man who was in control at all times. It was that suit that said it all, along with his authoritative demeanour, the assured way that he moved without faltering towards his goal.
His dark brows made an infinitesimal upward lift as he looked her over, and his expression showed…what was it…? Disbelief…recognition…along with a soupcon of amusement. There was definitely an element of wry humour in that glance, cleverly disguised so as not to be obvious, but it was there, all the same, in the faint twist at the corner of his mouth and in the dancing gleam in his blue-grey eyes.
Ruby stared at him, following his progress as he walked along the aisle and sprang up the steps to the dais with lithe ease. He took his seat at the table alongside the board members.
