Emergency at the Royal

‘Luke was anxious about him,’ her mother said, following her in there. ‘He was getting quite agitated even though you were just a few minutes late. I think he’s finding it a strain, managing the business on his own.’

Katie helped to set the cups out on a tray. ‘Luke never expected to be running the business and concentrating on administration, did he? He had other things in mind when he left university—he always preferred the design engineering side of things—but he couldn’t just stand by and see Dad struggle. You have to give him his due...he made sure that he did the right thing.’

Her mother made a face. ‘Well, let’s face it, nothing has gone the way it should ever since Jacob Bradley took over Sherbourn Medical Equipment. It doesn’t even have your father’s name any more, and the last I heard, Bradley wasn’t with the company. He just took what he wanted and moved on.’ She was silent for a moment, musing on things. ‘I wonder what happened to him and his family?’

Katie hesitated, wondering if she should say anything about her meeting with Jacob’s son. Perhaps it would be better coming from her than from another source, though. Someone might have seen them together. She poured milk into a jug, and then said cautiously, ‘I saw Drew Bradley this afternoon.’

Amy Sherbourn stopped what she was doing and looked at Katie. She appeared shocked, her face pale against the dark auburn of her hair. ‘How did that come about? I hope that doesn’t mean the family are going to be close by.’

‘I don’t think so, though they still live in the area. I don’t suppose we’ll run into them.’ She couldn’t be sure, though, and it was probably better that it was out in the open. At least this way her mother would be able to prepare her dad for anything unforeseen. ‘We both stopped to help out at the scene of an accident.’ Katie told her mother what had happened that afternoon.

As she was speaking, Luke appeared at the kitchen door. ‘You’re saying that he’s back?’ he said, sounding incredulous. ‘I heard something of what you were saying to Mum. I can hardly believe it.’

Katie swung around to look at him properly. ‘He’s only here for a short time, as far as I know,’ she said, ‘and it doesn’t necessarily mean that his family are going to be moving closer.’ She studied his face briefly. ‘Is Dad all right?’

‘He’s OK. I think the painkiller must have begun to kick in. He asked me to find out what’s happening with the tea.’

‘That sounds as though he’s feeling better.’ She poured the tea and set some biscuits out on a plate on the tray. ‘It’s ready. You can take it in to him.’

Luke’s mouth set in a taut line. ‘Drew was every bit as bad as his father. He wouldn’t hear anything wrong about him. None of them cared that we lost everything, including the house.’

‘I don’t think they realised that happened,’ she said, ‘and you can’t hold Drew responsible for what his father did.’

‘No, but he’s like him in a lot of ways. Not that you could ever see it. You’ve always been ready to stand up for him. He could never do anything wrong in your eyes, could he? You were sweet on him.’

‘That was a long time ago. What happened affected me badly, too, you know. I didn’t like what happened either, and it hurt me as well when we had to sell the house.’

Luke winced. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to go on at you. It was just hearing that he’s back that set me off. In my head he’s tarred with the same brush as his father. Anyway, I expect he’ll go away again, like he did before. He didn’t bother to make any contact then, did he? You’d have thought he would if he had cared about you.’

Katie flinched. ‘I’m sure he had his reasons. Anyway, we parted on bad terms after what hap pened. I don’t imagine he would have wanted to meet up with any of us after that.’ Luke’s bitterness stemmed from having to stand in for their father and take over the family business, and it was understandable that he felt the way he did.

As for herself, it had hurt that Drew had gone away, and when she had recovered from the initial sting of bad feeling she had inwardly hoped that he would get in touch. He hadn’t, though, and she had got on with her life and tried to put him out of her mind.

Now, in the space of a few short hours, all those emotions had been stirred up once again, and she felt the heartache every bit as much she had before. The repercussions of the dispute between their families went on and on.

CHAPTER TWO

AT LEAST her father was feeling better by the time Katie left her parents’ house. She was still worrying about him, though, as she made her way to her own cottage.

It was getting late by now, and there were chores she had to finish before her time was her own, but that wasn’t such a bad thing. If she kept busy it would help her to work through her frustrations. So far it had been a peculiar day, one way and another, and she was feeling edgy and distracted.

The house was small and cosy, just right for her, and it wouldn’t take her long to tidy up all the things she hadn’t had time to sort out that morning. As soon as she had done that, she would turn her thoughts to her evening meal. Her mother had offered to cook for her, but she had been too uptight to eat just then. Luke’s bitter recriminations had upset her.

The doorbell suddenly rang, startling her as she was folding away the last few items of clothing in the airing cupboard. Who could that be?

She went downstairs to investigate, and when she opened the door and saw Drew standing in the porch she let out a little gasp of astonishment.

She said awkwardly, ‘I hadn’t expected to see you again...at least, not quite so soon.’

He lifted a dark brow and his mouth made an odd quirk. ‘I hope that doesn’t mean you’re going to turn me away?’

She recovered herself and stood back from the door. ‘No, of course not. I don’t know what I was thinking.’ She couldn’t leave him standing on the doorstep, and so she waved a hand towards the end of the short hallway. ‘Come in. Do you want to come through to the kitchen? I was just about to make a pot of coffee.’

He followed her into the room and glanced around. She said defensively, ‘It’s only tiny, but it does for me. I haven’t been here long, just a few months, and there are still things I need to put right. I’ve done a bit of decorating and changed the floor tiles, but it isn’t quite as I want it yet.’ She was babbling, nervousness getting the better of her, and she clamped her mouth shut. Why was she defending her home to him?

‘I think it’s lovely,’ he murmured. ‘You chose well with the pale yellow for the walls, and everything looks bright and cheerful in here. I like the way you’ve found room for a breakfast bar in the corner.’ He sent her a quick, easy smile. ‘That is one of your touches, isn’t it? I recognise the style.’

She had done something similar in the old family house, renovating the kitchen in an attempt to make it light and cheery. ‘That’s right,’ she said. ‘I’m surprised that you remember.’

She turned away to set up the coffee-percolator. She felt awkward, talking to him as though the years that had gone by had dissolved into nothingness, and she still had no idea what he was doing there.

Perhaps he sensed her discomfort, because he said, ‘I brought your shopping bag. Someone handed it to me when I walked back towards my car this afternoon. You left it in the café apparently, and the woman who gave it to me had seen us talking together and guessed that we knew each other. She asked me if I would pass it on to you.’

‘Oh, heavens...’ She stared at the bag in dismay. ‘I’d forgotten all about it.’ She glanced up at him. ‘Thank you for taking the time to bring it to me.’

‘It was no trouble. With everything that went on, I’m not surprised that you forgot it. I’m just glad that you told me where you were living so that I was able to bring it to you.’ He set the bag down on a clear space on the worktop. ‘I couldn’t get it to you any earlier. My meeting went on for much longer than I expected.’

She glanced at the contents of the bag. ‘Thanks again,’ she said, relieved. ‘I’m so glad to have it back. I was just so worried about those poor people that I wasn’t thinking properly when I rushed out of the café.’ She paused, remembering what had happened. ‘I hope they’re all right.’

‘I rang the A and E department to check up, and the consensus was that they seem to be doing as well as can be expected. The man and the boy both had surgery and came through it all right, and the van driver has been transferred to the stroke unit. He’s lost the movement in an arm and leg, but they’re hoping he’ll regain that in time, after intensive therapy.’

‘That’s good to hear.’ She studied him briefly, her gaze running over his strong features, taking in the straight line of his jaw and his firmly moulded mouth. He was far too good-looking for her peace of mind, and she had to get a grip on herself before she spoke again. ‘It was thoughtful of you to follow it up. I didn’t expect to find out what had happened to them until I got in to work in the morning.’

She might have known he would check up. He wasn’t one to leave loose ends. Even after the row that had erupted between her family and his, he had made his position clear. He had stood by his father, and he believed her father had been well compensated for his loss. She had never been able to come to terms with that, and it had coloured everything between them after that. Now that he had turned up again she was at war with herself, and her emotions were all over the place.

What was she to make of him? Her brother thought he was tough and ambitious, unyielding in his attitude, and yet Drew had shown her a caring side, a concern for the well-being of others. Wasn’t that why he had become a doctor?

She couldn’t make any sense of her feelings towards him. She was confused, drawn to him on the one hand but wary on the other, and all the time she was conscious of the way her brother and her parents felt about him and his family.

She glanced at him once more. He looked weary, a faint shadow of tiredness around his eyes, and she guessed it had been a long day for him. ‘Do you want to sit down?’ she asked. ‘I’ll just finish making the coffee. Have you eaten?’

He shook his head. ‘I didn’t get the chance.’ He pulled out a bar stool and angled himself on it by the breakfast corner. ‘I was hoping to grab some lunch before my meeting, but that all changed, as you know.’

‘I’ll heat some pasties,’ she offered, ‘and I’ve a bowl of salad to go with them. Not the most adventurous of meals, but it might fill a gap.’ He had taken the trouble to bring her shopping bag to her, and it was the least she could do to return the favour.

She watched him guardedly. She still couldn’t get used to the idea that he was here at all, and there was no point in wondering about what was to come of it. He would soon be moving on and out of her life once more.

As they ate, he said lightly, ‘I couldn’t help noticing that your shopping was mainly toys. A wooden train set and some baby things.’ He gave her a quizzical look. ‘Is there something I don’t know about? Are you married now? What have you done with the children? I don’t see them around, or maybe they’re in bed?’

She gave him a brief, taut smile. He didn’t seem at all concerned by the idea that she might be a mother, and for some reason that bothered her.

‘No, I haven’t married...yet. The train set is for my brother’s little boy, Reece, and the baby clothes are for the baby he and his wife are expecting. I thought I would get things in neutral colours since they don’t know whether they’re going to have a boy or a girl. They were in a sale, so I took the opportunity to buy now.’ She gave a small frown. ‘Perhaps I shouldn’t have—I’m way ahead of myself.’

‘Is there a problem with being prepared?’ His blue-grey eyes watched her curiously.

‘No...not really, but Becky hasn’t been feeling too well through this pregnancy. I hope I’m not jumping the gun.’

‘Is there any particular reason why she’s unwell?’