Second Chance with Lord Branscombe

by Joanna Neil

  Villagers Protest about Homes up for Sale!

  Peninsula Holdings are ready to make an offer for the Branscombe estate. Lord Branscombe, once involved in piloting a plane that crashed causing devastating injuries to his former Estate Manager, lost several millions of pounds in an ill-fated business venture overseas and now hopes to recoup his losses.

  It’s thought that he borrowed money to finance the investment. He suffered a heart attack recently and is now recovering in a convalescent home.

  The villagers are seeking urgent talks with his son and heir, Nate Branscombe. Nate was unavailable for comment last night.

  She sent him an anxious look. ‘Is it true? Are the houses up for sale? Have you made a deal with Peninsula?’

  ‘That’s just it... I haven’t spoken to the company yet. They finished their surveys last week and prepared a report for their head office. They’re supposed to be getting in touch with me some time this week with a preliminary offer, but I’ve no idea what it will be.’ His jaw tightened. ‘They’d no right to leak this to the press and stir up trouble all over again.’

  ‘What will you do?’

  He pulled a face. ‘The parish council has asked me to address an emergency meeting in the village hall later today. They’ve obviously been spooked by this article. I said I would do it providing there was no press intrusion, but I would have preferred to wait until I’d sorted things out. It all takes time—I have to meet with the accountants, try to set things up. They don’t seem to realise that.’

  She swallowed hard. ‘I think people do understand...but everyone’s nervous about the future. My own family’s worried. I’ve just told Rob he can stay with me until we sort out better arrangements for him—he puts on an outward show of being okay but he needs stability. My dad said he can go and live with him once we clear out the spare room—but, even if he goes there, we don’t know how long that set-up will be safe. They could both be uprooted before he has a chance to settle.’

  ‘I told you, you don’t have any reason to be concerned.’ His mouth made a firm line and his green eyes were fiercely determined. ‘I’ll make sure the changes don’t make things bad for you.’

  She shook her head. ‘I know you mean well, Nate, but once you sell out to Peninsula things could change. I’m sure their lawyers are clever enough to find ways to tear up any agreement. According to one of the men from the company, my dad’s house will most likely be scheduled for demolition so they can build on the land. He’s been worried about it ever since. Everyone’s upset. No one knows how long they will be able to stay in their homes. Some people have lived in their houses since they were children. It’s more than bricks and mortar that are at stake—it’s the foundation of their lives.’

  Nate cupped her shoulders with his hands. ‘I do understand that, Sophie, and I’m doing my best to work things out...but there’s a lot involved and it’s not something I can do overnight.’

  ‘I know.’ She frowned. ‘Perhaps it will help if you keep people updated with what you’re trying to do. As things are, everyone’s in the dark and coming up with worst-case scenarios.’

  ‘I suppose you’re right. I’ll talk to them at this meeting.’ His thumbs made soothing warm circles on her shoulders. It felt good and she wanted him to go on holding her, but he let his hands drop to his sides as Tracey appeared at the far end of the room.

  She came over to the workstation and handed him a lab report. ‘I thought you’d want to see this as soon as it came in,’ the nurse said. ‘It’s the report on Lucy’s angiography.’

  ‘Ah, thanks, Tracey. That was quick.’ Tracey smiled and walked away, leaving Nate to quickly read the lab’s analysis. ‘Apparently the treatment went well this morning,’ he told Sophie. ‘The blood flow to her kidneys has improved dramatically. There was a fibrous thickening causing an obstruction in both arteries, but that’s been resolved now.’

  Her mouth curved. ‘It’s all good, isn’t it? When I looked in on her a little while ago, her blood pressure readings were getting back to normal. Do we know what caused the thickening in the first place?’

  He shook his head. ‘These cases are always difficult—there might be a genetic cause, but we can’t know for certain. All we can do at the moment is try to put things right.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘It’s getting late—there was an emergency with one of the patients and I missed out on lunch. Do you want to go and grab a coffee with me and maybe a snack?’

  Her mouth turned down at the corners. ‘I can’t, I’m afraid. I said I would go and see Jake for a few minutes in my afternoon break. He’s been so busy we haven’t had time to get together for a while, but he sent me a text message this afternoon to see how things were going with Rob and Jessica. I think I need to let him know what’s happening.’

  A muscle flicked in his jaw and she guessed he wasn’t happy about her seeing Jake.

  She said cautiously, ‘He and I are just friends, you know.’

  ‘Hmm. Maybe.’ Nate straightened. ‘I’ll see you later, then. Is there any chance you might come to the meeting at the village hall this evening? I’d like to have you there with me.’

  She nodded. ‘Yes, of course I’ll go with you.’

  She turned away to go and meet up with Jake, conscious all the time of Nate’s narrowed gaze on her. Then Tracey came back and she heard her telling him about a problem that had cropped up with one of his patients, and he went off to deal with the situation. She guessed he wouldn’t be getting the break he wanted.

  Sophie took the lift up to the next floor. Jake would still be in his office. He’d told her earlier that he’d been busy all day, talking to suppliers and arranging new contracts.

  ‘Sophie, it’s good to see you.’ His smile widened as she entered the room and he moved some of his paperwork to one side.

  She gave him an answering smile. ‘How are things going?’

  ‘Oh, I’ve been deluged with work. The bosses want a lot of changes from the old system—more ways to save money and so on.’

  ‘I suppose that’s always going to be how things are. They’re always trying to get a quart out of a pint pot. I don’t envy you trying to make things work. You’ve put in a lot of overtime on this latest project, haven’t you?’

  ‘Yes, I have—it’s taken a good deal of effort to put all this together.’ He waved a hand over the files that were stacked up on his desk.

  ‘Have you had time to eat? I could go to the cafeteria and bring you back some lunch if you can’t get away?’

  ‘Oh, that’s okay—I went out to lunch with a couple of colleagues. We tried out the new restaurant by the river.’ He glanced at her and said quietly, ‘I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you these last few days. You’ve a lot going on just now.’

  ‘It’s okay. You have, too.’ She gave him a thoughtful look. ‘You’ve been very busy.’

  He frowned. ‘Yes...yes... I was over in Cornwall again yesterday, talking to Cheryl and Matt about their systems and practices, or I’d have been in touch sooner.’

  ‘Ah, yes, Cheryl...’ Her brow creased as she tried to remember. ‘I think I met her at one of the hospital’s social functions. Nice girl. I seem to remember you liked her quite a lot.’

  He looked at her oddly, seemingly nonplussed. Perhaps he’d thought she hadn’t noticed. ‘I... Well, she...’

  She smiled. ‘You’ll have to let me know how things go with her.’

  He shook his head. ‘It’s a non-starter. She only has eyes for someone else—a bit like you with Nate, I think... I can tell you both care for one another, but you must see that Nate never shows any sign of wanting to settle down. He’s a heartbreaker, Sophie, and if he had his mind set on it, I dare say he would make a determined play for you. I suppose he’s too involved with this estate business right now, though, and with his father being ill he’s preoccupied.’ />
  ‘That’s probably true.’ She started to walk towards the door. She didn’t know what she thought about Nate, so she didn’t want to talk to Jake about it just yet. ‘I’ll see you later, Jake.’

  ‘I don’t want to see you fall any further under his spell, Sophie. He already has you confused—I can tell. We should talk some more.’

  ‘Yes, okay, we can do that. But I have to go now. I need to get back to work.’

  ‘Shall I see you after work?’

  ‘No, not today—I can’t manage it. I have to go to a meeting at the village hall—about the estate being taken over. Tomorrow, perhaps.’

  ‘Okay.’

  She stopped to pick up a couple of coffees in disposable cups from the cafeteria, along with a pack of sandwiches for Nate. He’d said he hadn’t eaten and he might appreciate some food.

  Nate’s expression was taut when she went back to the Children’s Unit, and she wondered if he was still annoyed about the article in the paper and on edge about the meeting that was to take place later today. She approached him cautiously, not wanting to break into his introspection, but he acknowledged her with a brief nod.

  ‘You weren’t with Jake for very long,’ he said, glancing up from the computer monitor where he was studying a series of CT images.

  ‘No. We’re both busy people,’ she said. ‘He just took a five-minute break.’

  Nate seemed relieved. She pushed a coffee cup towards him and handed him the carton of sandwiches. ‘I thought you might be hungry as you said you missed lunch.’

  His eyes widened and he gave her a beaming smile. ‘Bless you, Sophie. You’re an angel.’ He broke open the flip pack and bit into a chicken-and-mayo sandwich like a starving man. ‘Mmm...this is great. Thank you—it was really thoughtful of you to do this.’

  ‘You’re welcome.’ She turned the conversation back to work. ‘You told me earlier that you wanted to look in on Josh before we finish here. Do you want to do that as soon as you’ve finished eating?’

  He nodded. ‘It’s always a bit fraught, taking children off sedation after a head injury. I remember how it felt for me when I was a child, coming round a few days after my accident. I was intensely irritable and I didn’t really understand anything that was going on. The nurses were great, though, incredibly patient.’ He swallowed his coffee. ‘My mother calmed me just by being there, talking to me and holding my hand. I don’t remember what she said but it made me feel a lot better.’ His features darkened momentarily as he recalled that time and for an instant his expression was bleak.

  She wanted to reach out and hold him, to try to soothe his troubles away and make up for all the bad things that had happened in his life, but the fact that they were in a public place stopped her. ‘It must bring back painful memories for you,’ she said. He’d loved his mother and she’d been torn from him not too long after that.

  ‘Yes, it does, even now.’ He finished off his coffee and shrugged off his pensive manner. ‘Let’s go and see how Josh is getting along, shall we?’

  ‘Okay.’ She went with him to the side ward where they found Josh being looked after by Hannah. The five-year-old was agitated and restless, pulling at tubes and monitor cables, while his parents were looking on anxiously.

  ‘What’s happening to him?’ his father asked, looking at Nate. ‘Is this a sign that something’s wrong?’

  ‘Not at all.’ Nate shook his head and drew up a chair so that he could sit down beside the parents. ‘It’s quite normal for a child to be agitated when he’s coming off sedation. Hannah will make sure that he’s comfortable and that he can’t harm himself in any way. You don’t need to worry—it looks alarming but, believe me, it’s quite normal.’

  He went on gently trying to reassure them. ‘We need to check that he’s not in any pain or suffering discomfort of any kind. Hannah will stay with him to see to that. We find it’s best to keep everything reasonably quiet and dim the lights...but if you talk to Josh and try to encourage him, that might help to calm him down. He’ll take a while to process information as his brain recovers, so don’t expect a clear response from him just yet. You need to take things slowly.’

  The man nodded. ‘We will.’ He reached out to hold his son’s hand and spoke to him softly, and the little boy seemed to quieten at the sound of his father’s voice. The child was very pale, his fair hair damp against his forehead.

  After checking him over and conferring with Sophie as to his medication, Nate took his leave of the parents and thanked Hannah for doing a good job of looking after the child.

  They started to walk back towards the desk but Nate’s phone rang before they reached it. He listened carefully to the person at the other end of the line and then said curtly, ‘Okay, I’ll come over. Give me half an hour.’

  He was silent and a bit grim-faced as he cut the call and Sophie said cautiously, ‘Are you all right? Is something bothering you?’

  He gave an awkward shrug. ‘I just heard from the convalescent home that my father has taken a turn for the worse. He has a chest infection, so they have him on oxygen and high-strength antibiotics. I need to go and see him before I go to the meeting—it’ll be a bit of a rush but I’ll pick you up from your house at around a quarter to seven, if that’s all right with you?’

  ‘Yes, that’s fine.’ She laid a comforting hand on his arm. ‘I’m sorry he’s not doing so well.’

  ‘Thanks.’ He smiled at her and squeezed her hand in response. For a second or two he moved closer and bent his head towards her as though he might drop a kiss on her forehead, but at the last moment he straightened and gently disengaged his arm.

  Sophie had to suppress an odd sensation of regret for what might have been. More and more lately, she found herself wanting closer contact with him. Instinct told her she could end up hurt and ultimately abandoned if she let herself get involved with him—his track record with women wasn’t good but she couldn’t help the way she felt.

  She walked with him back to the computer station and prepared to go home. ‘I’ll see you later,’ she said. ‘I hope there’s some good news about your father.’

  ‘You too,’ he answered. ‘Good luck with Rob and Jessica. I imagine they’re settling in all right?’

  ‘I’m sure they’ll be fine.’

  She went home and phoned her father to make sure he was all right before hurrying to get changed for the meeting.

  ‘Do you think Dad’s still annoyed with you? How did he sound on the phone?’ Rob asked. ‘He’s been on edge all day. Even Jessica had to try to calm him down. She took him a shepherd’s pie a little while ago—it used to be his favourite.’

  ‘It still is.’ Sophie nodded. ‘He told me to tell her how much he enjoyed it. Yes, he’s still disappointed in me. I think he’s also a bit apprehensive about this meeting tonight. He said he’s going along to have his say. A friend’s taking him.’ She sighed. ‘I wish the press hadn’t stirred everything up. Nate says he’s working on sorting things out but he needs time and no one’s giving him that.’

  ‘Well, good luck, anyway,’ Jessica said. ‘I’m glad I’m not going to be there to see sparks fly.’ She had made dinner for the three of them and they sat round the table and talked for a while, enjoying being together.

  Nate called for Sophie as he had promised. Jessica thanked him profusely for the cot and the chair, and Rob thanked him for giving him a lift to Sophie’s house.

  ‘I’m glad I was some help.’ Nate gave them both a quick smile and then flicked a glance over Sophie, who was wearing a navy pencil-line dress teamed with navy stiletto heeled shoes. His dark brows shot up and he gave a silent whistle. ‘Wow!’ he said under his breath as they went out to his car. ‘You look stunning.’

  ‘Thank you.’ She’d aimed to dress simply but stylishly for the occasion and she hadn’t expected such a reaction from him. It felt g
ood, though, to know that he thought she looked good. ‘How is your father?’ she asked.

  He grimaced. ‘He seems to be comfortable at the moment.’

  They drove to the village green, where he parked his car near to the hall where the meeting was due to take place at seven-thirty. People were already going inside, but there were a lot more cars parked than Sophie had expected. The parish council had obviously been busy letting everyone know about the event. They stepped out of the car and Nate looked around, straightening his shoulders as though he was preparing himself for what was to come.

  ‘There you are, Sophie! Your father said you would be here. I’ve been waiting for ages.’ The familiar female voice startled Sophie and she looked around, her mouth opening in shock as she saw her mother standing by a bench seat that was set into the pavement.

  ‘Mum, what are you doing here?’

  Her mother looked animated, her eyes bright, her cheeks showing spots of bright colour, and her tawny, naturally curly hair was tousled as though she’d been running her fingers through it. Sophie’s heart sank. Those weren’t good signs. They were all indicators that her mother had been leaving off her medication.

  ‘I wasn’t expecting to see you until next weekend.’

  ‘Well, I came to see you, of course.’ She saw Nate standing beside Sophie and glared at him in recognition. ‘Please go away. I want to talk to my daughter.’

  Sophie looked at him in alarm, but Nate held up his hands, palms flat, and took a couple of steps backwards. He knew about her mother’s condition and wasn’t going to argue with her.

  Her mother seemed satisfied with that for the moment. She clearly had other things on her mind. She quickly turned her attention back to Sophie and said, ‘No one was at the cottage when I got here this afternoon, so I phoned your father.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘He wasn’t any help at all. He told me to go back home. As if I would! I want to see Rob and Jessica—I thought we could all go for a picnic on the green to celebrate us being together.’ She was talking fast, full of excitement about her plans.