by Joanna Neil
‘Weren’t you?’ He lifted a dark brow. ‘Mrs Carter said something needed to be done quickly—that’s why I’m here.’
Pulling in a deep breath, she took a step back, and said, ‘You had better come in.’
A hint of amusement flared in his grey eyes. ‘Thank you, I will.’
He was enjoying her confusion and that sent a spark of irritation racing along her spine. Why was she forever on the wrong foot with him?
Megan showed him the way into the living room, and then stood and stared at Sam. ‘I had no idea that you were the owner of this place,’ she said awkwardly. Then, regaining a little confidence, she added with a flash of her blue eyes, ‘When you mentioned this accomodation, you didn’t say that it was your flat that I would be renting. I would have thought you’d let me know.’
Sam shrugged. ‘Would it have made a difference? It didn’t seem to me to be all that important at the time. You told me that you were looking for somewhere to stay and I simply pointed you in this direction. I wanted to make sure that things went smoothly at work, and that nothing could interfere with the day-to-day running of the unit.’ He grimaced. ‘It doesn’t do to have colleagues overloaded with problems in their everyday lives. There’s enough for them to concentrate on at the hospital, without their home life intruding.’
‘I think you should trust me to do my job properly,’ she said stiffly. ‘I’m perfectly able to decide for myself what needs to be done to make my private life run smoothly. Perhaps you should concentrate on your responsibilities as a landlord?’
Something flared in his grey eyes as her barb struck home. ‘You could be right about that.’ He went on briskly, ‘Let’s sort the problem out, shall we? You rang Mrs Carter to complain about the work that has been going on here, and she said that there had been some kind of accident. Would you like to tell me about it?’
‘I wasn’t objecting to the work,’ she pointed out in a cool tone. ‘After all, I took this place on knowing full well that it was still being refurbished.’
He nodded. ‘Yes. That was how I understood the situation. That’s why I was rather surprised that you needed to get in touch with me so soon. So, tell me, what went wrong?’
‘One of my neighbour’s little boys fell over a ladder that had been left out.’ The fact that the child had been hurt made her angry, just thinking about it. Even if Sam was her boss as well as her landlord, it was only right that he should have the truth spelt out to him. ‘It should never have been there in the first place. I really think you should tell your workmen that they need to make sure that they put their equipment away at the end of each day.’
He frowned. ‘They’re supposed to do that. There’s a brick-built store to one side of the balcony where they can put away their ladders and tools at the end of the day.’ His expression became serious. ‘So, tell me—what happened to the boy? How badly was he hurt? Mrs Carter wasn’t specific about what has been going on.’
‘Jamie, the little boy from the flat next door, hurt his ankle. He was in a lot of pain.’
‘And is he all right now?’ His eyes narrowed. ‘Does he need to go to the hospital for an X-ray?’
Megan threw him a sharp glance. ‘No—if that had been called for, I would have seen to it, wouldn’t I? As it was, I had a look at him and I’m sure nothing was broken. I bound the ankle up for him so that he would feel more comfortable. I’ve also advised his mother what she should do for him to make him feel better.’
‘Lucky for Jamie, then, that you were around.’
‘That’s as maybe,’ she remarked tautly. ‘The point is, it could have turned out to be a far more serious incident, with an altogether more devastating outcome. It isn’t right that the children were allowed to get themselves into that kind of situation. I think you should deal with it and make sure it doesn’t happen again.’
He sent her a sharp glance. ‘And you should know that it goes without saying that I will look into this. That’s why I’m here.’
She frowned at him in return. ‘Well, I’m glad to hear it. Although I must say that I hadn’t really expected you to come along today—after all, it’s out of working hours now and you can hardly get in touch with the workmen until Monday. Still, I suppose the fact that you’ve been able to decide that something needs doing is a start.’
His mouth twisted. ‘You have a very sharp tongue, Dr Llewellyn,’ he said with a bite. ‘Perhaps you should be careful that it doesn’t get you into trouble one of these days.’
His rebuke made her think twice about what she had said. Had she gone too far? She winced inwardly. Probably. This kind of thing was always happening to her. She often said what she thought when sometimes it would have been better to hold back and dial her brain first.
‘It’s been a long day,’ she murmured, backpedalling. ‘I’ve only just moved in here, and I’ve had a lot to do to get things straight. I expect we should both take time to calm down. Besides,’ she added on a defensive note, ‘you have me at a disadvantage. I’m not used to talking to people when I’m half-dressed. It doesn’t do much for my powers of concentration.’
Unexpectedly, he laughed at that, his eyes crinkling attractively. ‘I can’t say that it does an awful lot for mine either.’ He tossed her a flame-filled glance. ‘Perhaps I should leave you for a while so that you can get yourself together.’
He turned towards the door. ‘I think I’ll go and look in on young Jamie and see for myself how he’s doing.’
Megan watched him go, annoyed with herself for getting into this situation. And it wasn’t over yet, was it? He had said he was leaving her for a while—didn’t that mean that he would be back?
Knowing him, he wouldn’t leave things as they were. He would deal with everything, down to the smallest detail, just as he did at work. And that being the case, she would have to get a move on and get herself organised.
Hurrying into her bedroom, Megan riffled through the clothes in her wardrobe and grabbed the first item that came to hand, a pale blue shift dress. She quickly slid it over her head and then smoothed it carefully down over her hips. Viewing the result in the mirror, she decided it didn’t look too bad. The material was a soft wool and the colour brought out the highlights in her hair.
Belatedly, she wondered whether it was wise to draw attention to those vibrant, wayward curls. Dragging a comb through them seemed to make little difference. Still, it was too late to change things now. She had the feeling that he would be back at any moment, and she was determined that this time she would be properly dressed.
Sam’s knock on the door came as she was brewing up a fresh pot of coffee. Hurrying to answer the summons, she remembered to pull the door wide open and invite him in this time.
‘I thought you might come back,’ she said, leading the way into the small kitchen. ‘I’ve just made coffee. Would you like some?’
‘Thanks, yes, I would.’ His glance travelled over her, making her suddenly conscious of the way the dress clung to her curves.
‘You didn’t need to get changed on my account,’ he murmured, and she wondered whether she detected a note of amusement in his tone.
Her head went up, and she said evenly, ‘I thought it was for the best.’
‘As you please.’
Megan cleared her throat. ‘Is Jamie OK?’
‘He appears to be.’ He pulled up a barstool and leaned negligently by the breakfast bar, one foot hooked around the leg of the stool. His legs were disturbingly long, Megan thought, distracted. He seemed to fill the small kitchen.
She took a couple of mugs down from the shelf, and tried to concentrate on what he was saying.
‘When I arrived there, he was making the most of the attention, sitting on the settee with his leg up on a cushion and watching his favourite video.’
‘That’s good.’ She pushed a mug of coffee towards him. ‘Help yourself to cream and sugar.’
He looked at her thoughtfully as he stirred his coffee. ‘I am sure he deserves some symp
athy,’ he murmured, ‘but how much he should receive depends on your viewpoint, of course.’
Megan frowned. ‘I’m not sure that I know what you mean.’
He added cream to the cup. ‘Since he probably brought the injury upon himself, maybe he doesn’t deserve all the fuss he’s getting.’
Her eyes widened. ‘How can you say such a thing?’ she demanded crossly. ‘That poor child is a victim of your workmen’s carelessness. How can you possibly suggest that he shouldn’t get all the sympathy due to him?’
‘You’re right, in part,’ he said with cool deliberation. ‘To some extent the men were careless. After all, they forgot to lock up the storage shed after they cleared away.’
Puzzled, she stared at him. ‘I’m afraid you’re not making any sense to me,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘The ladder was propped up against the wall, for all to see, and yet you’re telling me that the men put it away. It simply doesn’t add up.’
‘It won’t, put like that.’ He made a faint smile. ‘You forget that we’re dealing with children, here…with young boys, in fact. They do tend to get themselves into trouble from time to time, doing things that they’re not supposed to.’
‘Such as?’
‘Such as going through the store to see what they could find. They thought it would be a good game to get the ladder out and see if they could reach the roof. Fortunately, as it turned out, they weren’t able to do that.’
‘Oh, my!’ She looked at him, her blue eyes stunned. ‘I had no idea.’
‘So I gather. Actually, it isn’t the first time they’ve raided the store. Despite your experience of working with young children, perhaps you have little idea of what they’re like in their home environment.’
His tone was clipped, and she remembered the accusations she had made. Had she really lectured him on his responsibilities as a landlord? She swallowed hard. ‘I seem to have… I, er… I didn’t know that the boys had brought this on themselves.’
‘No.’
She hunted around for a way to apologise. ‘I was wrong. I thought that they had suffered because of someone else’s negligence.’ She thought about that for a moment, then said slowly, ‘Of course, you do realise that they shouldn’t have been able to get into the store in the first place.’
He nodded. ‘I certainly do, and that’s why I shall be having a word with the men on Monday. In the meantime, I’ve called in a locksmith to come and fit a padlock. The lock has been changed once before, but one or both of the boys seems to have learned how to get into places by using a hairpin.’ He grimaced. ‘They’ve come unstuck this time. I’m going to have an alarm fitted to make sure nothing like this can happen again.’
Megan winced. ‘I’m really sorry that I dragged you down here for nothing. If I’d known that the boys had been messing about, I wouldn’t have said anything.’
He looked at her sternly. ‘I expect you to keep me informed of anything that’s not right. If someone is hurt on my property, I want to know about it. You live here now, and that’s part of your responsibility as a tenant.’
He glanced down at his watch. ‘I should go. I had to leave a dinner appointment to come here and sort this out, but there may still be time for me to go back and salvage what’s left of the evening.’
Now she felt even worse than before.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said again.
‘Don’t be. You did what you thought was right.’ He walked to the door. ‘Thank you for the coffee.’ His grey glance drifted over her, appraising her thoughtfully. ‘I’ll say goodnight, Dr Llewellyn, and I’ll see you on Monday morning, bright and early. I shall want see the results of those tests you ordered for Matthew.’
He didn’t add, And they had better have been worth it, but he may as well have.
Megan saw him to the door and watched as he strode to his car. It had been neatly parked on the wide stretch of ground that led along the side of the building. It was a sleek, silver model, the top of its range, and she couldn’t help thinking that it suited its owner to perfection. He had a way about him, a way of being in control, of expecting everything to run smoothly and to his satisfaction. Woe betide anyone who threw a spanner in the works. They would the one to suffer from the almighty explosion that followed.
Sam’s visit had disturbed her, and she went back to her living room and tried to turn her thoughts away from anything to do with Sam Benedict and work at the hospital. Going to the window, she looked out over rolling hills and distant mountains. This place was home to her, and she was glad to be here despite the troubles she was having right now.
Then, remembering Jenny and her problems, she made up her mind to ring Tom, Jenny’s husband. He wasn’t at home so she left a message, asking him to get in touch and suggesting that they might meet one lunch-time.
* * *
On Monday morning, Megan found herself working in the clinic with Sam. He asked her to sit alongside him during his meetings with patients, and from time to time he would ask questions, checking whether she was keeping up to date with current medical thinking, or perhaps he simply wanted to know whether she had been paying attention. It was a nerve-racking experience, partly because she had the feeling that he was waiting for her to come unstuck.
He checked the last case-note file on his list for the morning. ‘Glance through this and update me on Sarah Danvers’s condition, will you?’
Megan glanced through the file. ‘You saw Sarah on her own a couple of months ago. She feels that she’s overweight, although from her chart it appears that she’s definitely not eating enough.’ She frowned. ‘Good heavens, the girl only weighs six and a half stones. She must be just skin and bone.’
Recovering, she went on more evenly, ‘You arranged for her to see a nutritionist who would get her started on a healthy eating programme.’ She flicked through the pages until she came to more recent charts. ‘Well, she isn’t making any progress. In fact, it looks as though she’s losing even more weight.’ She looked up at him. ‘I imagine that you want to see the family to find out whether they can throw light on what’s behind her problem.’
There was a knock on the door and a woman—Mrs Danvers, presumably—came into the surgery, followed by her daughter. Sarah was a thin-faced young girl of around fifteen, who looked resentful, as though she would rather be anywhere but here. She wore blue denim jeans that hung loosely on her, and an oversized sweater. Megan guessed the sweater was meant to disguise her extreme thinness.
‘Hello, Sarah and Mrs Danvers,’ Sam greeted them. ‘Come in and take a seat.’ He waved them to the two chairs at the side of his desk, then introduced Megan, saying, ‘This is Dr Llewellyn, a colleague of mine. I hope you don’t mind if she sits in on this session. She will be working with me for the next six months, learning about the unit.’
Neither of them made any objection to her being there, and Megan watched how Sam gently questioned Sarah and her mother and carefully elicited a response.
‘Your mother thinks you’re tired and says that you’ve been feeling quite weak lately,’ he said. ‘How do you think you are?’ he asked Sarah.
Sarah shrugged. ‘I am a bit tired, I suppose. But it’s because I’ve been exercising. It’s good for you to do that, isn’t it?’
He nodded. ‘Usually, under normal circumstances, I would say yes. But if you’re going to demand energy from your body, you really need to take in the right amount of fuel to begin with. I don’t think you’re doing that, are you Sarah?’
‘I eat enough,’ Sarah responded truculently. ‘I have to keep in shape.’
‘Of course you do. You want to be fit and healthy and feel that you’re in control of things, don’t you?’
‘She wants to be a gymnast,’ her mother explained. ‘That’s what all the exercising is about. She’s at it morning, noon and night. But she’s the same with everything—she wants to get it right, she wants everything to be perfect. Perhaps that’s our fault, her father and me—we’ve always encouraged her to do h
er best.’
Sam nodded. ‘I’m sure you did that with the best of intentions,’ he murmured, ‘but each of us has to work within our own limits. Perhaps Sarah is trying too hard.’
He turned to the girl. ‘Wanting to be a gymnast is a good ambition, Sarah, but you can’t make demands of your body if you’re not strong enough to cope in the first place.’ He turned to Megan. ‘What do you think, Dr Llewellyn?’
‘I agree, being a gymnast is worth working at, but let’s get you fit and healthy to begin with, and then we can look at what you want to do with your life.’
Sarah didn’t like Sam’s next suggestion, which was to place her in a unit alongside girls who had to a similar problem to hers. ‘Your weight loss is worrying, Sarah,’ he said, ‘and it has gone on for far too long without any improvement. In fact, it’s getting worse, and if we don’t do something to help you to eat properly, you’ll become very ill, and you could possibly die.’
‘I’m OK,’ Sarah said.
Sam shook his head. ‘You’re not. You’re suffering from anorexia nervosa, and you need help. The people who run the unit will look after you, and they will want to see you become strong again. Let them try to help you,’ he said persuasively. ‘You will be with girls of your age, and I’m sure you’ll make friends while you’re there.’
Sarah’s mother went along with the suggestion, and between them they helped her to see that the move would be in her best interests. Sam made the arrangements, and when the mother and daughter had left the room, he cleared his desk and turned to Megan.
‘It’s always difficult, dealing with young girls who are anorexic. It’s important to explain to the parents how they can help, and I think Mrs Danvers will do what she can. By getting Sarah to agree to go to the unit, she’s made the first step.’
‘It must have been hard for her, knowing that Sarah doesn’t want to go,’ Megan commented.
‘That’s the most difficult part for the mother, persuading the child against her will but realising that it’s for the girl’s own good.’
Sam glanced at his watch and sent Megan a quick look. ‘It’s almost lunchtime. If you hang on while I finish dictating my notes on the session, we can go and grab something to eat in the cafeteria—unless you have other plans?’