Forbidden Night with the Duke

by Annie Claydon

  ‘Megan, this isn’t a game of twenty questions. What’s the matter?’ Perhaps he didn’t have the right to ask. At this particular moment Jaye didn’t care.

  ‘Harry’s... He wants me to...’

  ‘What?’ Jaye waited, not moving. They could work it out. They were good together, and they could do this.

  ‘His wife’s left him, and he says that he’s not well. I don’t know if any of that’s true but... He wants me to be his daughter.’ A single tear rolled down her cheek. Tears would have been almost a relief at this moment, but her face was still inexpressive, as if she didn’t dare feel anything.

  ‘Let me help you with this.’ Jaye could feel her slipping away from him.

  She shook her head. ‘I... You don’t want to be mixed up with it. It’s my problem.’

  ‘We’re friends, aren’t we?’ He’d dared to hope the future might bring something more, but right now a friend was what Megan most needed.

  She looked up at him, her eyes wide and warm. ‘Yes.’

  ‘Then it’s my problem too.’

  Chapter Fifteen

  SHE JUST WANTED Jaye to hold her. To tell her what to do. Harry had turned everything upside down, and she didn’t know whether to hate him for it or run to his aid.

  ‘Come here...’ Jaye gently drew her close, and hugged her. She clung to his shirt, not sure how to respond, but his actions said everything. He was as steady as a rock and she could trust him.

  ‘I don’t know what to do, Jaye. I can’t turn him away, he’s in trouble. But he’s up to something, he always is.’

  ‘We can’t turn him away at all now.’ Jaye puffed out a breath. ‘I saw the car turning in the compound and went out to speak to the driver. His instructions were to go as soon as Harry waved to him.’

  Megan caught her breath. Harry had turned and waved to the driver as soon as she’d started to walk towards Jaye’s office. ‘He’s gone?’

  ‘Yes. It seems that Harry’s intending to stay the night. Look, he’s obviously got his own agenda here, and we don’t know what that is. So I suggest you decide what you want to do and stick to it...’

  ‘I don’t know, Jaye. If this is just one of Harry’s schemes to get what he wants, I won’t give in to him. But suppose he really is in trouble. Suppose he’s ill and needs my help. I can’t turn him away.’

  ‘Okay...okay. Let’s think about this and take it one step at a time.’ He drew back a little, motioning towards the two chairs that sat beside Ranjini’s desk. Megan sat in one and Jaye in the other, leaning forward towards her.

  ‘Harry says that he’s not well. What’s the matter with him?’

  ‘He had a pacemaker fitted eight months ago. He says he’s having palpitations. His pulse is normal, but that’s no real indication....’ Megan shrugged.

  ‘All right. Think like a nurse. What’s our guiding principle?’

  Suddenly she knew. ‘We treat everyone who comes to us, no fear and no favour.’

  ‘And...?’ He grinned suddenly.

  ‘If someone says they have something wrong with them, we take that seriously and investigate. Even if we’re not sure.’ Megan couldn’t help but smile back and Jaye nodded, brushing his fingers against her cheek.

  ‘That’s much better. So I’m going to insist on giving Harry the once-over. And before you tell me to back off and let you handle it, you’re his daughter.’

  ‘Biological daughter...’ Megan wasn’t sure she even knew how to be a daughter to Harry.

  ‘Hey. It’s okay to feel something, you know. And whatever you do feel is okay as well.’

  It felt as if an enormous weight had been lifted from her chest. ‘Thanks, Jaye.’

  He got to his feet. ‘It’s what friends are for.’

  * * *

  It felt almost dizzying. Harry had always seemed so big, an irresistible force that she’d fought for so many years but had never quite got the better of. But with Jaye in the room he seemed smaller and much more compliant.

  Jaye’s charm persuaded Harry that a tour of the clinic was what he most wanted to do next, and Megan plucked up the courage to mention that Harry should ask Jaye about the symptoms he’d been having. Harry brushed them off as nothing, and Jaye insisted. And then somehow Harry was walking towards Jaye’s consulting room without any apparent protest.

  When they reappeared they seemed to be sharing a joke together, and as Megan walked with them to the canteen, Harry asked questions about the clinic, which Jaye answered readily. Harry made no apology for dismissing his driver and effectively stranding himself here, and none was asked for. As darkness fell, she gave in to the inevitable and offered Harry her bungalow for the night.

  As soon as the two men had shaken hands and Jaye had disappeared, Harry started to loom larger again. As she put freshly laundered sheets onto the bed, clearing her own things away into a drawer, he looked around the bungalow, shaking his head.

  ‘You can do better than this, Megan.’

  She felt fourteen years old again. ‘It’s good enough for me.’

  ‘You don’t need to settle for good enough. You don’t have to give up your good works, it’s something I respect you for. My company has a charity arm, for tax purposes. It would be a great deal more comfortable if you came with me and ran that.’

  Megan sighed. Harry wasn’t going to give up without a fight, and she just didn’t have it in her tonight. ‘We’ll talk about it tomorrow, Harry. I’ve got some work to do.’

  ‘At this time of night?’

  ‘Yes. You’ll be all right here?’

  ‘I suppose I can make do.’ Harry seemed to be able to shatter her world with just a few words. The little things that made her bungalow her own, the scent of fresh coffee and her candles, and the fabrics she’d used to brighten the place up, were nothing in his eyes.

  ‘Goodnight, then. Don’t forget the mosquito net when you go to bed.’

  * * *

  Jaye found her sitting in the corner of one of the wards, pretending to study a pile of patient notes. In reality, Megan was far too tired to read the words on the page in front of her, but she couldn’t think of where else to go.

  He sat down opposite her, and when Megan looked up at him, his face was expressionless in the shadows. Maybe he didn’t see Harry quite the way she did.

  ‘Have you gone over to the dark side, then?’ She whispered the words so as not to disturb anyone.

  Jaye smiled. ‘Meeting Harry gave me a new perspective on why you don’t mince your words. And, no, I haven’t gone over to the dark side.’

  ‘You seemed to be getting on pretty well with him.’

  ‘And that’s a problem for you? You don’t have to justify the way you feel, Megan. If I thought it would solve anything, I’d be driving him back to Colombo right now.’ His words were no more than a whisper, but they carried a hard edge of determination with them.

  ‘You don’t think that getting him away from here would solve everything for me?’

  Jaye shook his head. ‘No, I don’t. Where are you sleeping tonight?’

  Wherever she did sleep, it wasn’t going to be under the same roof as Harry. ‘I’ll find somewhere. A bed in one of the side wards, where I won’t disturb anyone...’

  ‘They’re all occupied. Dr Stone admitted a couple of new patients this afternoon.’ Jaye got to his feet. ‘Come on.’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘My bungalow.’ He leaned down towards her, and Megan shuddered, a tingle of excitement threading down her spine. ‘You need some sleep.’

  Jaye was the only person she could really trust. And Megan couldn’t bring herself to care who saw them or what they might think. She rose quietly, stacking the patient notes back on the desk in the corner of the ward, and followed him.

  * * *

  Jaye had always wondered about Megan’s
father, and whether he was really as bad as she seemed to think. Now he knew that he was a great deal worse. Harry’s observations during dinner, about Megan’s childhood, and how proud he was of her, had seemed innocuous, but in the context of the truth he could see why they caused Megan so much pain.

  ‘He said that you couldn’t find anything wrong with him.’ They dodged through the rain onto the back porch of his bungalow, and Jaye stopped to unlock the sliding doors. His bed still lay in disarray from where he’d left it in a hurry this morning, and he bundled her through to the sitting room, trying not to think about sleepless nights.

  ‘That’s a slight exaggeration.’ Jaye flipped on the light and walked to the kitchenette. ‘Everyone has something wrong with them, particularly as they grow older.’

  She was smiling again. That was how he wanted to keep her. ‘Okay, so you searched. What did you find?’

  ‘His cholesterol’s slightly high, which is a concern. I gave him some diet recommendations. And he admitted to rather more units of alcohol per week than I’d like to see.’

  ‘That’s not going to change.’ Megan snorted with laughter. ‘Harry likes a drink. What about his heart?’

  ‘As far as I can gauge, his pacemaker’s working as it should and his heart is healthy. But I’ve recommended that he gets a pacing check, sooner rather than later, and that will pick up any atrial fibrillation that’s been going on.’

  ‘We don’t have that equipment here.’ Megan shot him a querying look.

  ‘Which is why I’ve been in touch with a contact of mine in Colombo and got him an appointment for tomorrow.’

  Megan grinned suddenly. ‘So you are sending him back.’

  ‘No, I’m doing what needs to be done. I’d recommend exactly the same thing for anyone with a pacemaker who complained of irregularities in their heart rhythm.’ He gave a shrug. ‘I might not normally insist on a check the next day. But in this case...’

  ‘Thank you.’

  Jaye reached up into the cupboard, his hand hovering over the bottle at the back. Then he grabbed the herbal tea. They both needed clear heads for this conversation. ‘Well, before you thank me, I was going to suggest that you make your peace with him before he leaves.’

  ‘You don’t know what you’re asking.’ Megan watched him drop the teabags into two mugs. ‘Haven’t you got any brandy?’

  ‘Things are that bad?’ Jaye reached for the bottle, and poured the smallest splash into a glass.

  ‘He says that his wife has left him and that his two sons have cut him off. He’s ill and he wants me to go with him to Australia when he leaves here, and then back to London to work with him. After all this time he’s decided he wants me to be his daughter. He doesn’t have anyone else.’

  That did call for something stronger than tea. Jaye downed the contents of the glass, pouring another mouthful for Megan into a second glass.

  ‘I don’t know what to do, Jaye...’ Tears formed in her eyes. ‘I know that Harry’s manipulative, and I take most of what he says with a pinch of salt. But suppose he really is ill and alone. Suppose he really does want to change.’

  Jaye handed her the glass and sat down next to her on the sofa. ‘You want to hear what I think?’

  ‘Always. I have a feeling I might not like it, but at least it’ll be the truth.’

  The truth was the least he could give her. Even if his heart was banging in his chest and he wanted to be so much more than a friend in need.

  ‘Harry treats you like a child. You say something he doesn’t much like and he brushes it off or laughs, as if he knows better.’

  Megan caught her breath. She’d always thought that, but hadn’t dared say it. ‘That’s Harry...’

  ‘No, it’s not. He wasn’t like that with me. It’s how he tries to control you and put you down. You deserve a great deal more respect than that.’

  ‘Is that supposed to be the part I’m not going to like?’ Megan managed a smile, and Jaye longed to kiss the corner of her mouth. He made do with putting his arm around her shoulders.

  ‘No, the part you’re not going to like is that you need to stop accepting it from him. I think you need to decide what relationship you want with him and just tell him.’

  ‘Easier said than done.’

  ‘Of course it is. He is your father, and you want all the things that a father should give. But you may have to just accept that he’s never going to be a proper father to you, and work with what you’ve got.’

  She moved on the sofa, laying her head on his shoulder and hugging him. It was an exquisite form of torture, which Jaye wouldn’t have missed for the world, because Megan needed someone. And being that someone was worth more to him than a dozen sleepless nights spent yearning for a more intimate touch.

  ‘Thank you. I... I needed someone to say that to me.’

  ‘Any time.’ His throat felt suddenly hoarse and rasping. ‘Sleep here tonight.’

  ‘I don’t think I’m going to sleep tonight. I might just as well stay on the ward...’

  ‘You want to try something?’

  Trust me. Say yes. Even though you don’t know what I’ve got in mind.

  ‘Okay...’

  * * *

  Jaye had instructed her to imagine a bubble around herself. Protecting her from everything. When Megan had wondered whether she might not float away, he’d grinned and added the image of a tree, its roots reaching deep into the earth.

  ‘I’m that tree?’ She opened one eye.

  ‘Yes, you’re the tree. You’re strong and nothing can uproot you. And the bubble’s there to stop you from being hurt. Close your eyes.’

  ‘Okay. I don’t think I need the bubble. The tree’s good.’

  ‘That’s fine. Whatever works for you.’

  ‘You do this a lot?’

  ‘Every evening, I try to find some time to just...relax. Get a bit of balance.’

  The Ayurveda. Jaye didn’t practise Ayurvedic medicine, but it was everywhere here. And its principles had filtered into his life almost by osmosis.

  ‘I don’t think I’m very good at this. I’m still thinking...’

  ‘Try this, then.’ She felt his arm curl around her shoulders, and she melted into his warmth.

  ‘Is this cheating?’

  ‘No. I’m not teaching you to meditate, just trying to get you to relax. I think anything goes in these circumstances.’

  She snuggled against him. ‘Okay. In that case, I think it’s working.’

  Chapter Sixteen

  IT WAS STILL dark when she woke, but the sound of birdsong told Megan that dawn wasn’t very far away. For a moment she thought she was in her own bed, but then she heard Jaye moving quietly around in the next room.

  Last night...

  He’d held her and finally she’d gone to sleep in his arms. Megan had woken when he’d carried her into the bedroom, slipping off her shoes and laying her down. Then she’d felt him curl his body around hers, holding her. Nothing could touch her, not even Harry.

  She was still wearing the loose shirt she’d had on last night, along with her underwear, but her chinos were folded neatly beside the bed. She sat up, listening for the sounds of Jaye’s movements.

  There was something odd about this. It took Megan a moment to gather her thoughts and realise what it was. She was always the first out of bed. Showering or making breakfast before a partner got the chance to get up. Being left behind was something that happened to her mother, not her.

  She hadn’t slept with Jaye. Or strictly speaking she had slept with him, but that was all they’d done. But the principle still held, didn’t it?

  Not this time, apparently. Megan didn’t feel the usual panic at finding herself alone in bed when the morning after dawned. She didn’t need that element of control with Jaye because she trusted him.

  The do
or opened quietly and then he appeared, showered and dressed in a loose white shirt and pair of well-worn jeans. Bearing coffee.

  ‘You’re awake?’

  ‘Yes. And you’re a marvel.’ Megan pulled the mosquito net aside, reaching for the coffee.

  * * *

  Jaye watched the flickering light of the small torch he’d given Megan weave its way past the puddles on the gravel path that led to her bungalow. He missed her already. The feel of her body against his. The soft sound of her breathing in the darkness. He’d hardly slept at all, just lain awake, not questioning the feeling of complete happiness that had enveloped him.

  He saw her briefly at breakfast, and then again as she and Harry walked through the trees at the far end of the compound, deep in conversation. He shouldn’t interrupt. Megan needed to do this alone.

  All the same, time dragged heavily on his hands. The clinic was operating smoothly now, and Ranjini and Dr Stone had built an easy working relationship based on mutual respect. No one needed him, as either a doctor or a peacemaker, and he retreated to his bungalow to sprawl on the sofa and watch the clock ticking.

  A tap on the door roused him from the uneasy doze he’d fallen into. When he opened the door, Megan was standing outside, her cheeks flushed. Jaye stepped back from the doorway.

  ‘Sit. Tell me how it all went.’

  She plumped herself down on the sofa and Jaye sat next to her. For a moment she was silent, as if she was still working out how things had gone, and then she flashed him a smile.

  ‘I told him that I wanted to help him but that I wasn’t going to just drop everything and follow him. We talked about getting regular medical advice, and I suggested that he at least try and build some bridges with his wife and sons.’

  ‘And how did he take that?’

  ‘He said I didn’t understand the complexities of the situation.’ She shrugged. ‘I seldom do, according to Harry.’

  There was something different about Megan this morning. She seemed to be stepping back a bit from what Harry said about her and making up her own mind. It warmed Jaye’s heart.

  ‘So you told him you’re not taking his job?’