The patient’s colour had drained from her face.
‘Do you think it might be cancer?’
‘There is a possibility, yes. But there’s also the chance that it could be just a non-malignant cyst. They’ll soon find out and let you know one way or the other. In the meantime, try not to worry too much.’
When she’d gone Andrina thought that too many women ignored the signs of trouble, like this one had done, and when eventually they did something about it, it was too late. Hopefully it wouldn’t be so on this occasion.
When she went out into Reception at the end of the morning James was chatting to Suzanne, the girl with ME, who he was now dating steadily. It was plain to see that they were madly in love and she wondered what was going to happen to his plans for working abroad once he was qualified. Was the course of true love ever smooth?
When Drew appeared he nodded briefly in her direction. Then, shrugging into his topcoat, he went out immediately to do his calls, with James following close behind.
When he came back he said briefly, ‘I’m going to visit Tim Brewster after afternoon surgery. I don’t know what time I’ll be home. I’ll eat while I’m out.’
The thought that he couldn’t bear to sit at the same table as her hurt more than his cold brevity, and she just nodded and turned away.
* * *
It was half past six and Drew wasn’t back. As Andrina went into the kitchen to tidy up before getting Jonathan ready for bed, there was a tap on the window. When she looked up she saw Eamon smiling at her and went to let him in.
As he perched himself on a kitchen stool, the garage owner asked, ‘Where’s Drew?’
She didn’t really feel like chatting to Eamon. It had been a busy day and she was tense because of what was happening between Drew and herself, but he was Jonathan’s godfather and someone who wasn’t involved in the everlasting Tania saga.
‘He’s fulfilling his obligations to the Brewsters at the moment. I suppose you’ve heard that Tim has had a major heart attack?’
‘Which once more brings him into the voluptuous Tania’s orbit. She won’t be complaining about that,’ he remarked drily.
‘They were already becoming close again before her father was taken ill,’ Andrina told him flatly. ‘Drew and that family have past history that isn’t going to go away.’
‘Maybe,’ Eamon said. ‘But Drew isn’t going to fall for Tania’s humbug again. She hurt him too much. He’s a generous soul when it comes to forgiveness, but not on that scale. Drew wants to get his priorities right and they are here.’ His voice had thickened and when she turned he was close behind her. ‘He’s a lucky guy. You wouldn’t catch me neglecting you,’ he breathed. Putting his arms around her, he began to lower his head towards her.
Andrina became still. He wasn’t Drew. Never would be in a thousand years. Although it was comforting to be held by someone who understood her loneliness, she pushed him away before the moment became too intense.
‘I’m sorry,’ he groaned.
‘Why?’
‘Because he’s the one, isn’t he? Must be blind as a bat if he can’t see that you’re in love with him.’
‘I don’t show my feelings,’ she told him, ‘so he has no idea. And I turned on him yesterday and accused him of some pretty dreadful things. So at the moment we’re not communicating at all and that’s how it is likely to stay. Especially as the flame still appears to be burning between Tania and himself.’
‘I might think him crazy for neglecting the baby and you,’ Eamon said, his composure restored, ‘but I’m sure that is not the case. He’s just being there for the Brewsters at a time when they need him.
‘Why don’t you tackle him when he comes in? Get a straight answer and go on from there.’ With a grin he added, ‘If he doesn’t feel the same way you do, tell him that there’s always room for you and the little guy at my place, as long as you don’t mind a few oily rags.’
* * *
When Drew got to the hospital he found Tania and Angela at Tim’s bedside. Tim was still looking frail and ill, but the consultant was reassuring.
‘Mr Brewster’s heart has stabilised,’ he said, ‘and if he continues to make good progress he may not be on the unit for too long—that is, if there are no further complications.’
‘Good,’ Drew told him. ‘I thought that perhaps some private nursing could be organised for him when he’s discharged. His wife is elderly and not very mobile.’
‘By all means, if they can afford it,’ the other man said. ‘Very often in cases like this, the stress of caring for the sick person brings their partner to us with a similar problem.’
The two women had come to the hospital by taxi as Angela hadn’t been happy for Tania to drive them in her present unreliable state. So Drew drove them home and stayed for a coffee so that he could talk to Angela about employing a nurse.
She was totally in favour of the idea and told him gratefully, ‘I don’t know what we would do without you, Drew.’
He patted her hand and got to his feet. Tania had said nothing, but when she came to the door with him as he was leaving she said pettishly, ‘When am I going to have some of your attention?’
‘You have had all you’re going to get,’ he said levelly. ‘Just make sure that you are there all the time for your mother.’
As he drove back to the farm he was preparing to do what he’d been thinking about all day. He was going to make Andrina understand that he had no feelings left for Tania whatsoever and that he wanted her, Andrina, to be Jonathan’s legal parent, too. When he’d convinced her of that, he would ask her to marry him and he prayed that she would say yes.
Whistler’s Farm was lit up like a beacon when he got there and, knowing Andrina would most likely be in the kitchen at this time, he went round the back instead of using the front entrance.
He was smiling, buoyed up with the expectancy that soon all would be well between them again, but as he passed the window his step faltered. He drew back into the shadows, feeling as if he’d just been struck in the chest. The woman he’d been desperate to get home to was in his friend’s arms.
Drew turned away and walked slowly back to the car. So much for his hopes and dreams, he thought bitterly. He’d only been there for a matter of seconds but it had been enough. He’d blown it, left it too late, he thought as he drove off mindlessly.
He’d known that Eamon was attracted to Andrina, but on the day of the christening she’d made it clear that it was one-sided and he’d even dared hope that it was because she cared for him, Drew. But what he’d just seen had put an end to those sorts of thoughts.
He needed to get a grip on himself before going back home and as the Grouse loomed up in the dark winter night he turned onto the forecourt.
* * *
It was very late when Andrina heard Drew pull up on the drive, and at that moment relief was the strongest emotion inside her. Drew was home safely from wherever he’d been. Without him she was lost. Maybe now they could talk, clear the air between them and go on from there. If he did have an explanation for the things that were worrying her, she would be only too anxious to hear it.
Eamon had said that Drew was a forgiving sort of person, and so could she be, if only he would take away the ache in her heart. But his expression when he came striding in was as cold as the air coming through the open door.
‘How is Tim?’ she asked with gloom descending.
‘Improving.’
‘That’s good news, then.’
‘Yes. Jonathan all right?’
‘Yes. You haven’t seen much of him today, have you?’
‘If that was meant as a reprimand, I haven’t exactly been twiddling my thumbs all day.’
‘I know that,’ Andrina told him with increasing dismay.
‘I’m off to bed after I’ve looked in on him.’ Without further comment he began to climb the stairs.
‘We need to talk,’ she said pleadingly. ‘If I’ve offended you by what I said t
his morning, I really am sorry. All I ask is that you tell me what’s going on. Remember, I am the stranger here. You’re in your own environment, safe and secure in your own home, while I’m not. You persuaded me to come here and up to the last week or so I’ve felt safe, too, but if you are going to change all that with whatever is going on in the background of your life, I think I’m entitled to know.’
He’d turned and looked down at her. His eyes were still cold.
‘I am weary of you doubting me, Andrina, and even if the things you accused me of were true, what about your hidden agenda that you haven’t thought fit to tell me about?’
As she eyed him blankly he began to mount the stairs again, and when he reached the top he looked down at her once more and said, ‘Think about it. From now on I suggest that we look after Jonathan and for the rest of it keep out of each other’s way until such time as you’re ready to tell me what your plans are.’
There was silence for a few moments after he’d disappeared from sight and she knew he would be with the child he loved so much. Then she heard his bedroom door click to and knew that the miserable day was ending in the way it had begun.
What had Drew meant about her having plans of her own? she wondered as she lay sleepless. The only thing occupying her mind of late had been the discovery that she’d fallen in love with the golden-haired doctor who had brought her to the Derbyshire village that was so dear to him.
There was nothing else on her agenda, except maybe an aching void because they were no longer in harmony. If she were to tell him now that she loved him he would see it as some sort of ploy, and she couldn’t face having the tender shoots of her feelings trampled on.
* * *
During the days that followed Andrina felt as if there was a perpetual chill at Whistler’s Farm. At the surgery she and Drew were the polite colleagues, but at home the rift was far greater, except for the times when they were seeing to Jonathan’s needs.
Jonathan was the bond that bound them, Drew thought. Without him they would have nothing. There had been no further discussion about their differences and each night after Jonathan was settled he either took himself off to the Grouse or did some of the renovating work at the farm.
Breakfasts and the evening meals were strained affairs and he was beginning to wonder how much longer he could put up with what was going on between them.
He sensed that Andrina was thinner and paler of late and was puzzled. A woman in love usually bloomed, so why hadn’t she? There’d been no mention or sightings of Eamon in recent days, so obviously she wasn’t intending to tell him that she and his friend were having an affair.
While Eamon was a good godfather to their precious child, Drew didn’t fancy him as a father, and if there were any further developments along that front he would inform Andrina of that fact.
* * *
It would be Christmas soon, Andrina kept thinking during the lonely evenings. Five weeks to the festive season and if ever a house needed a festive uplift, it was Whistler’s Farm, because the man that she loved had withdrawn into a sombre world of his own.
As the days dragged by she wasn’t the only one having jaundiced thoughts about the coming season. Drew loved Jonathan too much not to want his first Christmas to be memorable. He knew that soon he would have to put his hurt to one side and show the woman who had come so unexpectedly into his life that he still cared, no matter what.
Jonathan was changing with each day. They’d just introduced baby rice into his feeding, along with rusks and puréed meat and vegetables. The golden down on his head was thickening and he could sit up with some support. They had a contented child and in her most miserable moments Andrina was thankful that he was there, joining them together like a bridge over troubled water.
They’d noticed at the surgery that Drew wasn’t his usual self. He was grim-faced and sparse of speech and very cool with Andrina, a situation between the two doctors that the staff didn’t feel free to comment on.
However, Ellen Battersby was a different matter. The time when Andrina had sent her to hospital had proved to be just a cautionary measure as no damage to the retinas had been found, but the elderly villager had been impressed with the new doctor’s efficiency and now always asked to see her if she had a problem.
This time it was her rheumatism that was causing her some pain and she hobbled along to the surgery to see Andrina. But her first comment after seating herself was, ‘And so what’s wrong with Dr Curtis these days? He looks as if he’s lost a pound and found sixpence.’
‘He’s just very busy, that’s all, Mrs Battersby,’ Andrina told her, and hoped that it would satisfy her curiosity. But, of course, it didn’t.
‘That’s what you’d like me to believe, no doubt. Not fallen out, have you?’
‘No. Of course not.’
It seemed that the questions were over as she delved into the shopping bag by her side and produced a pot of home-made jam. Passing it across the desk, she said, ‘Give him this from me and tell him to get on with his life.’
‘Er…yes, I will,’ Andrina told her, ‘and thank you, Mrs Battersby.’
At the end of surgery she went into Drew’s room and placed the pot of jam in front of him. For a moment the old Drew was back as he asked with a smile, ‘What’s that for? Are we having jam butties for lunch?’
She shook her head, pleased to see him relaxed for once.
‘It’s from Ellen Battersby with her best regards and the advice to get on with your life.’
‘Fat chance,’ he said drily, as the cold mask fell into place again.
Sudden anger gripped her.
‘You might be able to if you were prepared to talk to me,’ she snapped.
‘Yes, sure,’ he said dismissively, and began writing up the notes of his last patient.
Tim Brewster was to be discharged from hospital that same day and Drew had arranged for some private nursing for him. He’d rung an agency that he’d used before and had been told that the only nurse they had available at that time was male. He’d said that was good as the patient was of the same sex and it had been arranged that Simon Standish, the male nurse, would take over Tim’s care from the day he was discharged.
When Drew pulled up in front of the house that afternoon with the Brewsters, a car was parked outside their house, and as he watched a slim man of moderate height, with a mop of curly brown hair above a quirky sort of face, got out to greet them.
‘I’m Simon Standish, the nurse you hired,’ he said, and as a pair of twinkling brown eyes that matched the hair observed Tania huddled in the back seat of the car he added, ‘Pleased to meet you all.’
* * *
As Drew drove home some time later he felt happier than he’d been in weeks. Tim was home and someone who looked as if he knew what he was doing was in charge of him. Simon seemed a pleasant fellow, but he looked as if he would stand no nonsense.
Maybe now he and Andrina could rescue their relationship. Try again, he thought.
* * *
The following day was Saturday, and when Andrina came down to breakfast Drew was giving Jonathan his cereal at the kitchen table.
He looked up quickly on hearing her soft footfalls, and she saw from his expression that he was still in a sombre mood, but it seemed that it was the surgery that he had on his mind. The short Saturday opening.
‘I’ll do the necessary this morning,’ he said, ‘to make up in part for yesterday. I am going to be around more in future, Andrina. Tim Brewster is home and I’ve installed a full-time nurse to take the strain off Angela.’
‘Right,’ she said flatly.
As Jonathan opened his mouth, waiting for the next spoonful, Drew asked, ‘So, what are your future plans?’
She was pouring a glass of fruit juice and almost dropped the bottle.
‘Why do you ask that? Is it because you sense that I’m somewhat disenchanted with you of late? Because if it is, it doesn’t mean that anything has changed regarding the deal we made. W
hen I make a commitment I keep to it and I know that you do, too. So what’s the problem?’
Drew was frowning. ‘I wouldn’t have thought you’d need to ask. We’ve already discussed what we would do if one of us fell in love with another person, haven’t we?’
‘Yes. And? Are you saying that you want me to move out because you have plans of your own?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous. Jonathan needs you. It’s him I’m thinking about.’
‘It’s nice to know that I’m useful for something.’
‘Meaning?’
‘I’ve felt pretty useless of late.’
He didn’t take her up on that. His glance was on the clock.
‘I must go. I don’t want the patients waiting outside. What have you got planned for today?’
Her heart twisted. In happier times he would have said ‘we’, not ‘you’.
He was treading on eggshells, Drew thought. If she’d arranged to be with Eamon, he would have to take a back seat.
‘It may have escaped your notice,’ she told him coolly, ‘that it is Christmas soon and we have done no Christmas shopping for Jonathan. Shall we make a start?’
His spirits lifted. For a few hours he might be able to forget that taunting picture of Andrina in Eamon’s arms. Pretend that they were a family celebrating their baby’s first Christmas.
‘Yes. Why not?’ he agreed, his eyes brightening. ‘As soon as I get back from surgery we’ll go shopping.’
* * *
As they strolled amongst the crowds, with Drew pushing the pram and Andrina close by his side, she was happy. It was a bright moment in a grey existence. They were the ones who mattered, she was telling herself. The three of them. And no matter how Drew had changed, he was still the man she’d fallen in love with.
The strength and integrity that were so much a part of him hadn’t disappeared, and if he thought there was happiness to be found elsewhere, who could blame him? He was the kind of man who was every woman’s dream, and even if he hadn’t been, he was still the answer to hers.
The Doctors’ Baby Bond Page 11
