The Consultant's Special Rescue

‘I’m here because my father owns this block of flats. He doesn’t live locally and he asked me to come and check on things and report back to him. I expect he’ll be along first thing in the morning to see what needs to be done.’

‘Oh, I see. This must all be a dreadful shock to him.’

‘It’s more of a shock for the people involved, I imagine. We’ll have to find alternative accommodation for them until the damage has been repaired.’ He studied her for a moment. ‘You’re not one of the tenants, are you?’

Amber shook her head. ‘It was late when the party finished, and I didn’t want to drive home because I’d had a drink.’ Her car keys were back in the flat. ‘The girl giving the party said I could stay in her friend’s flat. The friend is away just now, but she gave permission.’

He frowned, and she sent him an anxious look. ‘It was all right to do that, wasn’t it? I’m not getting her into trouble, am I?’

‘No, that’s all right. It’s not your problem. I was just concerned because we didn’t know that you were there until one of the other tenants remembered that you were in the room.’

Amber shuddered. ‘So I could have still been in there now?’

‘No. I made sure to check all the rooms, and the firemen were doing their own sweep of the building.’

She was humbled. ‘Thank you for getting me out of there. I’m sorry I gave you so much trouble.’ She gave him sideways glance. ‘I owe you a lot, and I don’t even know your name.’

‘I’m Nick.’ He looked at her thoughtfully. ‘And you?’

‘Amber.’ She removed the mask and put it to one side. ‘I’m fine now. I really must think about getting home. Why don’t you go and look after the nurse and her little girl? I imagine they need you more than I do and I can manage perfectly well.’ From the gentle, considerate way he had approached them earlier, she guessed that he knew them fairly well. Perhaps, as they were tenants of his father, he had become friendly with them.

His brows drew together. ‘I doubt that. You seem to be in a worse condition than either of them. You were in the building for the longest time.’

He glanced over to where Chloe and her child were being treated by the paramedics. ‘Chloe and Lucy will be all right. You don’t need to worry. I’ve arranged for them to go and stay with Chloe’s cousin until we can fix them up with something else. She’s coming to fetch them.’ He paused. ‘In fact, I think I can see her arriving now.’

‘That’s good.’ She tried a smile. ‘Well, I’m sure there are other people who need help more than I do. Perhaps you should go and enquire after them…that poor doctor, for instance. I really need to start finding my way home.’

He gave her an odd look. ‘The doctor’s on his way to hospital, which is where you should be, too.’

She shook her head. ‘I’m not going there.’

He studied her. ‘All of the other tenants seem to be managing perfectly well. Most of them are fully dressed and aware of what’s going on, and they seem to have managed to grab what belongings they needed before they made their escape. As for you, I really don’t think you’ll get very far in the state you’re in.’

He made it sound as though she was hopelessly inadequate. ‘You didn’t give me a chance to get anything that I needed,’ she said. ‘I do seem to remember looking around for my shoes, and I’m sure if you had given me a moment I would have thought of other things I needed.’

‘Best not to go there, I think,’ he said. ‘We both know that you were well out of it. I expect the fresh air has helped to revive you a little, but that’s not saying that I would trust you to manage on your own.’

Clearly, he still thought that she was a party animal, but she didn’t have the energy to argue the point with him. She glanced over at the building. ‘They seem to have put the fire out,’ she murmured. ‘Do you think they would let me back in there?’

‘Definitely not. It’s probably not safe, and no one will be allowed in until the fire chief gives the say-so. That will probably not be for a day or two, given the damage.’

She made a face. ‘All I actually need is a phone. Then I could arrange for a taxi to come and pick me up.’

‘I’ll take you where you need to go,’ he said, and when she would have demurred, he added, ‘That way I can be sure that you will get there safely, and that you won’t be wandering the streets in your bare feet. Are you staying at your aunt’s house?’

‘No, I have a place of my own.’

He looked surprised at that, and she wondered what he was thinking. Did he imagine that she was just a slip of a girl who was incapable of looking after herself?

He flicked a glance over her, and she realised that she must be in a totally dishevelled state. Her long chestnut hair was unruly at the best of times, and since she had unpinned it when she’d gone to bed last night it must be in full riotous disarray by now. No wonder he was looking at her as though she had lost her senses.

‘I would appreciate a lift. Do you think we could go now?’

He nodded. ‘Let me help you to my car. It’s just around the corner from the building.’

He helped her to her feet, and said, ‘Keep the blanket around you. I’ll take it back to the paramedics tomorrow.’

His car was a top-of-the-range saloon, gleaming even in the darkness, and she guessed that even if he wasn’t in partnership with his father, he must be doing well for himself. He helped her into the passenger seat and she sank back against the upholstery, her weary limbs thankful for the luxury and comfort that the interior offered.

He started the engine. ‘Where do you live?’

She gave him the address with some hesitation. He was probably used to the best of everything, but her modest cottage was all she could afford, and at least it gave her the opportunity to be independent. She had come to Devon at her mother’s request, but there was simply no room for her to lodge with her aunt.

‘Are you going to be able to get in without your keys?’ he asked as they drove out of the town and headed for the country lanes.

‘I keep a spare, just in case. I’ve hidden it away.’

‘You’re not going to tell me that it’s under a plant pot, are you?’ He sent her an oblique glance.

She lowered her head and hoped that he couldn’t see the flush of heat that ran along her cheeks. ‘Not exactly. It’s under a stone and there are several others around.’

‘I might have guessed.’ He raised his eyes heavenward and then concentrated on the road ahead.

He was a good driver, confident at the wheel, and he took the bends with ease. It didn’t take long before they arrived at the house, and he parked the car by the pavement, coming around to help her out of her seat.

‘This is it,’ she said. ‘It isn’t much to look at, but it’s just right for me.’

He was staring at the plain, stone-walled front, and she hoped that in the darkness he couldn’t see the peeling paintwork at the windows. ‘I’ll just go around to the back and find the key,’ she muttered.

He went with her, stooping to get the key when she located the rock in question. ‘I’ll come in with you and see that you get settled in all right,’ he said, and she recognised a sinking feeling in her stomach. What was he going to make of her minuscule, dilapidated home?

At least the kitchen light was working. She flicked it on and invited him inside. ‘I’ll see if I have any coffee in the cupboard,’ she said. ‘Would you like a drink?’ It was the least she could offer after all he had done for her.

‘Thank you. That would be good.’ He was looking around, and she could see that he was finding the place hard to take in.

‘I know that a lot needs to be done to make it right,’ she said, as she stopped for a moment to wash her hands under the tap, ‘but I bought it for a song, and I thought that in time I would be able to do it up. It needs some building work here and there, and I think there’s going to have to be a lot of replastering, but it has great possibilities.’

He didn’t appear to agree with her. He was frowning, and she thought it was perhaps a good job that he couldn’t see the rest of the house. ‘At least the cooker’s working,’ she said. She was rummaging in the cupboards, a struggle while she was holding onto the blanket in order to retain her dignity, but she had to turn around and say, ‘Sorry, no coffee. Will tea do instead?’

‘Tea will be fine.’ He stared around him. ‘You know you have damp in here, don’t you?’

She nodded. ‘It was one of the things that was pointed out in the survey, but I was assured that it could be put right. It’s just going to take me a while, that’s all.’

She made the tea and pushed the cup towards him. ‘I’d offer you biscuits, but I’m afraid I haven’t been able to get to the shops yet.’

‘That’s all right. I’d say biscuits were the least of your worries.’ He looked at her as though he thought she must have been completely mad to take on a project like this. ‘How on earth are you going to manage?’

‘I’ll get by,’ she murmured. She took a sip of her tea to calm her nerves. What did he know of how the other half lived? From the looks of the expensively tailored suit he was wearing, and the car outside, he had never had to struggle for anything.