His smile was grim. ‘Am I to take it that I’m being told off in a roundabout sort of way?’
His mother’s face was solemn. ‘Just talk to her, Aaron. That’s all I ask.’
* * *
When Lucy had gone to bed he waited until she was asleep and then reached for his coat and car keys.
‘I won’t be long,’ he said, and his mother nodded, hoping that her words had sunk in.
When he got to the flats there was a red Porsche parked outside and his eyes widened as he saw the number plate. It was Richard’s car. His jaw tightened. What was he doing here?
At that moment they came out. Annabel and Richard. He saw that her sparkle wasn’t missing now. He was holding her arm and she was laughing up at him. Jealousy rose in him, raw and painful.
So much for that, then, he thought grimly as they got into Richard’s car and drove off. Maybe he hadn’t been wrong after all if Annabel could get over her broken heart as quickly as that.
The car was outside the coach house when he got back, and when he looked through the study window he could see their shadows on the blind, close together, intimate.
He had his answer. Annabel was attracted to men like Richard. The philandering type. He might not be married but he was always on the lookout for female company. When she compared the two of them he must seem like a judgmental bore.
‘You’re soon back!’ his mother exclaimed disappointedly.
‘Annabel is next door with Richard,’ he told her. ‘They were just leaving the flats when I got there.’
She sighed. ‘I see.’
* * *
The next morning they met once again in the hospital staff car park and when Annabel would have walked past Aaron called, ‘Have you got a minute?’
‘Yes. What do you want?’ she asked, knowing that by now his mother would have told him they’d met in town.
‘It would seem that you are very resilient. That you soon bounce from one relationship to the next.’
‘What?’ she exclaimed, her wide hazel gaze fixed on him. ‘You’ve lost me, I’m afraid.’
‘Richard Clements.’
‘What about him?’
‘I saw him at the flats and then he took you to his place.’
‘So?’
‘I thought he wasn’t your type.’
‘He isn’t. Richard rang me in the late afternoon, trying to persuade me to give his house a second viewing. I told him that I didn’t think you would want me to live next door to you and that it would be too big for me in any case, but he coaxed me into having just one more look. I still wasn’t interested and he brought me back before going to some club in town. Sorry to disappoint you.’
She was turning away, shoulders drooping in her big winter coat, and he wanted to tell her he was sorry, that he loved her, and could they start afresh? But she was off, eager to put as much distance as possible between them. Having no wish to make a further nuisance of himself, he followed at a much slower pace.
When she’d calmed down it occurred to Annabel that she hadn’t asked Aaron what he’d been doing outside her flat. Had he been coming to see her by any chance and walked into the Richard scenario?
And what if he had? They were finished. He’d made that crystal clear and if Aaron thought she was going to beg he was very much mistaken.
The mother of the small boy that she’d operated on after the car crash on Boxing Day was waiting for her when she arrived at the wards. He was due to be discharged soon after making a good recovery from the skull fracture, and his father was now out of Intensive Care at the Infirmary.
She was holding a bouquet of flowers and said, ‘Our family will soon be reunited back home, but before we are I just wanted to say thank you, Dr Swain. You gave up part of your Christmas to save our boy and we are truly grateful.’
Aaron appeared at a leisurely pace just as the boy’s mother was making for his bedside and caught Annabel fighting back tears.
‘What’s wrong?’ he asked, as the tenderness she always aroused in him blotted out every other emotion.
‘It’s just the kind thought that’s getting to me, that’s all,’ she choked. ‘Finding that not everyone thinks I’m rubbish.’
His face paled. ‘I don’t think that.’
‘Yes, you do. You’ve made it very clear.’
‘Tell me something,’ he said levelly, ‘do you think you treated me fairly? Only telling me half the story of what happened with this other man.’
She shook her head. ‘No. I don’t. But there was a reason. I knew how you would react and I certainly wasn’t wrong about that.’
‘I adored you, thought you were the most wonderful thing to happen to me since losing Eloise.’
‘And you found me to be a sham?’
‘Not a sham. A disappointment.’
The tears were still hovering on her lashes as she told him. ‘I admired you from the moment we met. Your integrity, your love for your family, your strength of character. And yet it’s those things that turned you against me. So from now on I’m staying how I was before, on my own. It’s easier that way.’
Taking the flowers into the staffroom, she put them in water and then prepared to meet the day, not caring whether Aaron was still standing where she’d left him or turning cartwheels down the ward.
* * *
It was New Year’s Eve, the time each year when the hospital held its staff Christmas party. And when Aaron heard Annabel tell Mark that she was thinking of giving it a miss, he said quickly, ‘The trust expects the doctors to support the event, either alone or with our wives, husbands or partners.’
‘So are you saying that I have to go?’ she asked coolly.
‘No, of course not. What you do outside working hours is your own business, but most of us do make the effort.’
It was only partly true. Most of the staff did attend, mainly because it was a prestigious affair, but the hospital trust didn’t take particular note of who was there. It was he who wanted her to be present. He didn’t want her to be on her own on the night that took out the old year and brought in the new.
It must have worked as minutes later she said stiffly, ‘Then I suppose I’d better attend. Never let it be said that I’ve offended someone.’
He ignored that and went on his way, satisfied that she would be visible to him that night, even if she wasn’t in his arms. Though they might dance together if Annabel wouldn’t think she was being patronised. And as for the rest of it, when it came to midnight, what then?
She still made his heart leap and his pulses quicken every time he saw her. If she came in the gold dress that she’d worn on Christmas Eve, the ache in him would be unbearable.
When they’d exchanged presents on Christmas morning and Lucy had found her doll, his mother the cashmere shawl that Annabel had bought her and himself the amethyst, he’d given her a gift-wrapped box of his own, holding a necklace of emeralds and diamonds.
‘It’s beautiful, Aaron,’ she’d said huskily, ‘and will be perfect with the dress I intend to wear for the party tonight.’
It had been perfect with the gold dress and now he wondered if he would ever again see her wear his first gift to her.
* * *
The snow had gone and it was a clear cold night as those staff not on duty filed into the conference room which had been changed into a party venue for the occasion.
The men were in evening dress and the women attired accordingly. Needless to say, Aaron stood out among his companions and there were some present who thought that he had it all—except for a woman in his life.
There had been rumours on the hospital grapevine that he and the new surgeon had something going, but there were no obvious signs of it so far. Looking just as impressive as he, she’d turned up in a long black dress that showed off her smooth shoulders and the rise of her breasts beneath a plunging neckline, but Annabel was keeping a low profile.
She was glad that she’d come. This was better than letting in the Ne
w Year on her own, but she wished that it could have been without the constraint between Aaron and herself. The moment midnight struck she would be off. Away from all the frustrated hopes and dreams that lay in fragments around her.
During the meal Annabel had Mark on one side of her and a young physiotherapist on the other, and as she watched him exchange languishing glances with one of the nurses she thought wryly that their love affair, at least, seemed to be on track.
Aaron was seated directly opposite her, which made it difficult to avoid his direct, dark gaze. Every time she looked up it was on her, but it wasn’t giving any clue to his thoughts.
Maybe he was expecting her to make a play for someone before the night was out and was surmising who it was going to be, she thought. It would be in keeping with his opinion of her. He would have a surprise if it turned out to be him.
If she used her new-found attractions to light the fire between them again and then disappeared at midnight like the pantomime heroine, would he come the next day to seek her out? She doubted it.
There was a small dance floor at the other end of the room and when the meal was over those present seated themselves around it or disappeared into the bar.
After allowing Mark to lumber round the floor with her in an ungainly waltz, and following it with a much more skilful rock and roll with a young porter, she was beginning to enjoy herself.
Aaron was deep in conversation with the head of the hospital trust and she was free to watch him unobserved. Until he turned suddenly and with a farewell shake of his superior’s hand moved to her side.
When he spoke it was the last thing she was expecting him to say. ‘I thought you might have been wearing the gold dress—and the necklace.’
‘And what is that supposed to mean?’ she asked coolly. ‘That you don’t approve of what I am wearing?’
‘No. Of course not. It’s just that you looked so lovely in it.’
‘Really. But aren’t you forgetting that was before I was cast aside? Maybe I don’t want to be reminded of that time. And as for the necklace, you will be receiving it back shortly in the post. It’s already packed and waiting to be sent off.’
‘I don’t want it back. It was a gift.’
‘So was my love. But you didn’t think twice about throwing it back at me, did you?’
He took her hand and raised her to her feet. ‘Let’s dance, before we have an audience. We’re not here to entertain other people with our affairs.’
She eyed him mutinously, making no move towards the dance floor, and he said in a low voice, ‘Either you dance with me, or I pick you up and carry you out.’
Both prospects were appealing but she wasn’t going to let Aaron see that. Instead, she conceded regally, ‘I’ll dance with you, if you insist.’
When his arms went round her Annabel closed her eyes. This was the medicine she needed, but without the bitter aftertaste. Because there would be one, of that she had no doubt.
Their steps matched perfectly, she thought. Their bodies were moulded together as if they were one, but it was in their minds that the fault lay. She had paid the price of a bad error of judgement, twice over. So why was Aaron so determined she should pay a third time?
It was heaven to have Annabel in his arms again, Aaron thought, even though it was only for a matter of minutes.
He was a fool to have hurt her like he had. But his angry incredulity hadn’t diminished. Had she thought so little of him that she couldn’t tell him the truth? he’d asked himself countless times.
His mother had suggested that she probably hadn’t known the man had been married. But how careless could one be? To give one’s affections and loyalty to someone whose background was unknown.
He knew she loved children, wanted babies of her own, and was desolate that she’d lost a child. He would have given her babies. He loved them as much as she did. But now the chances of that were nil as long as they stayed in the limbo of disapproval.
The music was dying away and the dancers returning to their seats, but he didn’t loosen his hold.
‘I want to talk to you somewhere private,’ he said quietly.
She wasn’t encouraging. ‘What about?’
‘Us.’
‘There’s nothing to say.’
‘I don’t agree. If you won’t come outside, I’ll say it in front of everyone.’
‘You’re making a lot of threats,’ she said laughingly, ‘but as you are being so demanding, I’ll do as you ask.’
‘We’ll go into my office,’ he said. ‘We shouldn’t be disturbed there.’
‘Tell me something,’ Annabel said when they’d closed the door behind them a little later, ‘what is it that’s so urgent tonight, when we’ve been around each other workwise ever since Christmas?’
‘I have something to tell you that I only found out today. My mother wants to get married again, to Thomas.’
Her face lit up. ‘That’s wonderful.’
‘Yes, it is,’ he agreed with a quirky smile. ‘I’m really happy for her. Tom Parbold is a good man who will make her happy. The only fly in the ointment is that she’s refusing to commit herself because of Lucy. She’s concerned about who will look after her while I’m working and won’t name a date. Then there’s the Canada job, but I’ve told her that I’m not going. All that I care about is here.’
Her heart had warmed to hear that, but Annabel was listening to him in perplexity.
‘Is this leading somewhere, Aaron?’
‘Yes. Can I tell her that our romance is back on and we’re going to get married, so that she’ll start making her own plans with an easy mind?’
There was silence in the room as what he was asking of her sank in.
‘That’s rich, coming from someone who can’t stand people who don’t tell the truth,’ she said in a voice that she barely recognised as her own.
‘Yes, but it’s in a good cause.’
‘For whom?’
‘My mother, of course. She deserves some happiness before it’s too late.’
‘And how is she going to feel when she finds out it isn’t true?’
‘She’ll be married to Tom by then, and I will sort something at my end that is safe and secure for Lucy.’
‘Why not ask Nicola to be your stand-in wife? She would jump at the chance, especially if there was a view to permanency.’
‘Because I prefer to ask you.’
Her heart was racing but she shrugged her shoulders and said casually, ‘It’s nice to know I’m useful for something. I’ll do it. But it will be for your mother’s sake, not yours.’
‘Thanks, Annabel,’ he said sombrely. ‘I don’t expect any favours from you. Maybe I don’t deserve them. I don’t know. But I appreciate you agreeing to fall in with the idea.’
‘And what is going to happen once your mother and Tom are married? Do we stage a quarrel? It shouldn’t be difficult.’
She watched him flinch.
‘We’ll worry about that when the time comes,’ he said levelly. ‘Is it all right if I tell her tomorrow?’
‘Of course. What better way to start the New Year than with a falsehood?’
‘Look, Annabel, if you don’t want to do it, say so now.’
She’d already decided that it was better to be a pretend wife than none at all.
‘I’ve said I’ll do it and I will. But remember that it’s just a charade.’
His eyes had been on her mouth and the swift rise and fall of her breasts in the low-cut dress, but he let his hands fall away at that and said, ‘All right. You can make the rules as long as I call the shots.’
‘And the first of those is to be?’
‘That you come to the house tomorrow and we tell her then. Mum won’t believe it if you aren’t there.’
‘And after that?’
‘It should be easy enough to convince her that we’re still madly in love.’
‘And how will we do that?’
‘Like this,’ he said, taking hold
of her again. His mouth came down on to hers, caressingly, bone-meltingly.
For the first few moments Annabel gave herself up to pleasure of it, but then she drew away from him. It would be so easy to accept this play-acting and the perks that went with it, but if Aaron thought she was going to be succumbing in his arms at frequent intervals and then discarded like an old shoe once the wedding was over, he had another think coming.
‘I’ve just reminded you that it’s a charade you’re planning. No need to start practising beforehand. That sort of thing doesn’t come into the curriculum when your mother isn’t around.’
‘Then we’d better get back to the party,’ he said, unperturbed, and went to open the door.
For the remainder of the evening they mixed with the rest of the staff and gave no inclination that on the following day an engagement would be announced. When ‘Auld Lang Syne’ was sung they were on opposite sides of the room, and the first person to wish her a happy new year with a lingering kiss was the porter that Annabel had danced with.
When it was Aaron’s turn he smiled. ‘So I’m allowed this, am I? You don’t see it as part of the charade?’ He kissed her gently this time and when he released her said in a low voice, ‘You won’t have to suffer me for long. Once Mum is happy about us, her wedding will only be a matter of weeks.’
* * *
So he really was just using her, Annabel thought as she undressed in the cramped bedroom of the flat. She was involved in a farce that sprang from Aaron’s love for his mother. The fact that he was involving her seemed to bother him little, as he intended that she would be dispensed with for a second time once Mary was married.
He’d made it quite clear so she had no excuse to feel used. Yet that was what he was doing, using her, and like a fool she was going to allow it, because she was fond of Aaron’s mother. She also adored his daughter and, much as she understood him not wanting to interfere in his mother’s happiness, she wanted to make certain that Lucy wasn’t going to suffer if her grandmother got married.
The obvious way to make sure of that was to carry the plot through to its conclusion. For herself to be there always for the little girl. If it was as a wife in name only, it would be as a mother in every sense of the word.
The Surgeon's Family Wish Page 12
