A Consultant Beyond Compare

He had turned on her. ‘I hope you’re not going to use that as an excuse,’ he’d said tersely. ‘I should be able to rely on the competence of the members of my team. If you’re not up to the job, I think you should start to look for another post.’

It was a devastating blow to her hopes and dreams but, worse than that, what had happened in Theatre had thoroughly shaken her up. The patient had been critically ill to begin with, and the massive bleed into his lungs could have killed him.

The nurse who had been assisting took her to one side. ‘These things happen,’ Helen told her. ‘It wasn’t your fault. It’s well known that there are sometimes complications with the type of catheter you were using, and when the worst happened you did everything you could to pull the man through. You saved him.’

‘But his recovery is going to take much longer than it should,’ Katie whispered, still shaken in the aftermath of events.

Her boss hadn’t been in Theatre with her when the patient’s pulmonary artery had been punctured, and when the patient’s family had asked about the man’s condition he had brushed their concerns to one side, telling them that he had suffered an unexpected bleed. Of course, questions had followed after that.

‘You should pray that they don’t sue,’ he had told her.

Whatever the eventual outcome, it was clear to Katie that he wouldn’t be supportive of her. He would watch his own back and by making sure that her contract wasn’t renewed he could rest easy.

And now she was out of work once again. It was distressing, to say the least, because she had come to the Lake District in the hope of putting all that upset behind her once and for all.

It had taken her a while to get over the upheaval of having to change her job, she had tried her hand at various kinds of work back home before settling on this post further afield.

The change of scene would do her good, she had hoped, and it would give her the boost she needed to help her to get back into the swing of things. Now that dream, too, had come to an end, and she was left with yet another problem to contend with.

The miles swept by as she drove towards Windermere, and soon she could see the vast stretch of the lake spread out before her. There were boats dotted about on the water that sparkled in the sunlight, and all around were hills and valleys swathed in green, with pretty villages of stone and slate houses nestled against the backdrop of trees.

It was a beautiful, tranquil setting, and she ought to be glad that she was here and able to appreciate its peacefulness, but as she headed towards the railway station and parked her car, she was hardly aware of that.

She walked over to the café the man had mentioned. Tables and chairs had been set up outside on a terraced area in front of the building so that customers could enjoy the summer sunshine. A few people were relaxing there, sipping coffee or cold drinks, and as she scanned their faces, she discovered that her sister was amongst them.

Jessica was sitting tensely upright next to a man who was wearing a crisp blue shirt and immaculate dark-coloured trousers. His discarded jacket was placed casually over the back of his seat.

Although he was partially turned away from her, Katie could see that his hair was black and close cut in an attractive fashion, so that it framed his features and outlined the angular lines of his face.

Just then Jessica looked up and saw Katie approaching the café. She stood up and started towards her, moving awkwardly as though she wasn’t quite sure what her reception would be.

‘Katie…Katie, oh, I’m so glad you came.’ She hesitated. ‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to fetch you out of work, but everything went wrong and I was lost and I didn’t know what to do.’

‘It’s all right.’ Katie put her arms around her sister and ran a soothing hand over the girl’s silky brown curls. ‘I’ve found you now. We’ll sort everything out.’

Jessica’s body slumped with relief as some of the tension left her. She clung to Katie for a few moments longer, and then eased back, her expression taking on a strained appearance.

She said softly, ‘I knew your address, and I was trying to come over to your house, but this man stopped me and made me wait with him here. I’d have been all right, honest, but he wouldn’t let me carry on.’ She lowered her voice and whispered confidentially, ‘He thinks you and I had an argument and that I was running away. I daren’t tell him what really happened. I thought he might put me on a train and send me back home.’

Katie nodded. ‘Yes, I can see why you kept quiet, but he was right to stop you, you know. You might have ended up in a terrible state. You’re lucky that he turned out to be one of the good guys.’ She frowned. ‘We must go and let him know that you’re safe now.’

Jessica chewed at her lower lip. Reluctantly, she allowed Katie to lead her back to the table where she had been sitting, and for the first time Katie managed to take a proper look at her sister’s saviour.

He stood up, unfurling his long body with a supple grace that added to the immediate impression of lithe vitality. He took her breath away. He was tall and fit-looking, flat-stomached, with broad shoulders and a lean physique that she guessed was honed to perfection.

He was staring at her in return, a look of startled surprise coming into his grey-blue eyes. ‘Do I know you?’ he asked. ‘You look somehow familiar.’ And once again that deeply satisfying voice shimmered over her consciousness. It made her feel warm all over, and quickened her pulse so that she had to quell a sudden surge of nervous tension.

‘No, I don’t think so,’ she murmured. But then again, there was something about him that struck a chord with her too, and she looked at him again, more closely this time. Did she know him from somewhere?

She dismissed the thought. ‘I must thank you for taking care of my sister,’ she said softly. ‘I’m really very grateful to you. I can’t imagine what she was thinking.’

‘It appeared to me that she was desperate to get away,’ he said, his gaze drifting over her. ‘I can’t begin to understand what must have gone on in order for her to feel that way, and yet from the way you greeted one another it seems that she’s either changed her mind or learned a lesson. I hope you’ll be able to resolve things between you.’

‘Yes, well, let’s hope so. She’s very young, and life can be confusing for teenagers at the best of times, can’t it? I don’t know about you, but my childhood was no bed of roses, and I expect we’ve all gone through difficult phases at some time or other in our lives.’

He nodded, and gave her a thoughtful look. ‘I suppose that’s true enough.’ He studied her features for a moment or two, and then added, ‘Do you think you’ll have any difficulty sorting out whatever it was that went wrong between you? Perhaps I could act as an intermediary and help you to find a way to work things out?’

Katie wavered for a moment or two. ‘That really won’t be necessary. I’m sure we’ll manage to find a solution to whatever has gone wrong.’ It wasn’t a lie, and why should she burden this stranger with the intricacies of her home life? He had stepped in and helped out, and she was grateful to him for that, but it didn’t mean that he was entitled to hear her life story. ‘Anyway, didn’t you say that you had a meeting to go to?’

He glanced at his watch. ‘I doubt there would be any point in attempting to get there now.’ His gaze settled on her. ‘Perhaps you were delayed in setting out?’

A guilty flush ran over her cheeks. ‘I hit some traffic on the way. I’m not quite sure what happened, but there was a tailback and I had to find another route, otherwise I would have been here quicker.’

He nodded. ‘I dare say it couldn’t be helped.’ He glanced at Jessica. ‘How do you feel about going home with your sister? Are you going to be all right or do you want me to stay around for a while to help you out?’

Jessica had the grace to look shamefaced. ‘I’ll be fine,’ she mumbled. ‘I’m sorry to have caused you so much trouble.’

He was reaching for his jacket as she spoke, and now he started to shrug into it. ‘It’s no problem,’ he said. Then he added on an afterthought, ‘If you feel that you need to talk to anyone any time, you could always ring me. I’ll give you my number.’ Taking a notecase from his inside jacket pocket, he handed Jessica a card. ‘Keep it safe. You can ring me any time. If I’m not on hand right away, I’ll always get back to you.’

Jessica glanced at the card and then slipped it into her pocket. ‘Thank you.’

Katie wasn’t sure whether to feel grateful to him for his concern or affronted by it. This man had taken the trouble to keep her young sister out of danger, but at the same time he seemed to be implying that Katie might be the source of all the trouble in the first place. She sent him a spiky glance, her blue eyes glittering.

‘She’ll be fine with me,’ she murmured, keeping an even tone.

‘Good. I’m glad to hear it.’ He sent her an appraising look. ‘I can’t help thinking, though, that something must have gone very wrong for her to have felt the need to run away in the first place, and she was certainly very reticent in talking about it. Perhaps you’ll be able to talk things through and make a better go of things.’

‘We will,’ Katie answered him stiffly. ‘Thank you again for everything you’ve done. I do appreciate the way you’ve looked after her for me.’

He nodded briefly. ‘I have her number and your address, so I’ll keep in touch,’ he said in a low voice. ‘I’d like to satisfy myself that she’s doing all right.’

Katie’s chin lifted a notch. Was that a warning to her that he was prepared to keep an eye on things? Just how far did he mean to take his good Samaritan responsibilities?

She gave him a humourless smile. ‘Thanks again,’ she said. ‘We won’t impose on your time any longer. I should be starting on my way home before the traffic gets any worse. I’m just hoping that whatever caused the hold-up has been cleared by now.’

‘Me, too. Now that attending my meeting is out of the question, I’ll be heading back in your direction. If what Jessica tells me is correct, it looks as though we both live in the same area, around Ambleside.’

Katie groaned inwardly and tried not to let her emotions show in her face. She might have known that would be the case. With the way her luck was going today, perhaps it was only to be expected. Clearly she was not going to be free of this man for some time to come. Perhaps all she could do would be to forget that he had ever been around. The last thing she needed was more condemnation from men who thought they had the upper hand. She turned away from him.

‘Goodbye, Jessica,’ he said.

Jessica nodded to him and made a muted response before turning to follow Katie to her car.

‘Let’s go,’ Katie said, sliding in behind the wheel of her ancient car and waiting while Jessica strapped herself in. She was anxious to put this whole incident behind her, but as she pulled away from the kerb she was all too aware of the man following behind in a sleek, midnight-blue convertible.

CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_582015c2-4bf1-5521-a458-ec26a9159bdb)

KATIE turned the car on to the north road, heading towards Ambleside. She barely noticed the bracken-covered hills and heather-clad knolls, or the wide, U-shaped valleys that had been carved out by ice all those aeons ago. Her thoughts were taken up with the events of the day.