‘In his own room, of course.’ Lara was beginning to feel exasperated with Katie. ‘Where do you think?’
‘I don’t quite know what to think.’
‘Honestly, Katie, what do you take me for?’ protested Lara.
‘To be perfectly honest with you,’ said Katie candidly, ‘I really wouldn’t have blamed you if you had slept with him.’
‘Katie!’ Lara stared at her in mock outrage.
‘Well, I wouldn’t. Let’s face it, he’s drop-dead gorgeous—just give me half a chance, that’s what I say.’
‘Oh, no, not you as well,’ said Lara, rolling her eyes. ‘I thought it was bad enough with Sue.’
‘Yeah, well, you can’t blame us, and you have to admit he really is a cut above the average locum we get here, now, isn’t he?’
‘Yes, now you put it like that, I suppose he is,’ Lara admitted. ‘Listen,’ she added urgently, ‘we really should be getting onto the ward.’
‘Yes, all right, but what I want to know is what happens now?’ asked Katie curiously.
Lara had moved to the door but she paused with one hand on the handle and turned back to Katie again. ‘What do you mean, what happens now?’
‘Does he want to see you again? Has he asked you out?’
‘I told you, it was an arrangement, a one-off.’
‘OK, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he can’t ask you out again, does it?’
‘No,’ Lara agreed, ‘I suppose not.’
‘So has he, then?’ Katie persisted.
‘Not…exactly.’ Lara hedged.
‘What then?’
‘He’s going to suss out a stables so that we can go riding together, but—’
‘Hah!’ said Katie with obvious satisfaction. ‘Now we’re getting somewhere.’
‘For goodness’ sake,’ Lara protested as they moved out into the corridor. ‘Don’t go reading more into that than there is. It only came up because someone said something about Andres playing polo, and later when we were talking I happened to mention that I used to enjoy horse riding…What?’ she demanded, throwing Katie a sidelong glance and catching sight of her expression. ‘Why are you laughing?’
‘I’m sorry.’ Katie chuckled. ‘I can’t help it. All this talk of houses in Chelsea and Knightsbridge, private clinics, fast cars, polo…’
‘I know,’ said Lara soberly. ‘It really isn’t me at all, is it?’
‘Oh, it could be,’ said Katie. ‘Quite easily, in fact.’
Even Lara was laughing by the time they reached the ward, but she was soon obliged to put all thoughts of Andres to the back of her mind as the demands of the busy unit claimed her once more. She and Katie prepared Mary Taylor for the first of her skin grafts.
As she worked she was aware of a heightened sense of anticipation, of excitement almost, and deep in her heart she knew it was at the thought of seeing Andres again in what would be their first encounter since he had brought her home on Saturday morning. It happened just before Mary was ready to go down to Theatre, when Andres came onto the ward to see her and the other patients who were scheduled for surgery that day. As he entered the unit his dark gaze searched for Lara, found her immediately, met her own gaze and held it, both of them oblivious to those around them, momentarily in a world of their own.
When at last he was forced to look away, Lara also turned away, only to find herself meeting Katie’s questioning gaze—Katie, who quite obviously had witnessed the interchange between herself and Andres and was even now applying her own interpretation. And as Lara moved away towards the nurses’ station Katie, in a passing murmur, said, ‘Don’t ever try to pretend to me again that there’s nothing going on between you two because I’ll never believe you—not in a million years would I believe you.’
‘But there isn’t,’ whispered Lara, as Sue hurried out of her office to greet Andres.
‘Maybe not yet,’ muttered Katie, ‘but it sure as hell is going to happen, and when it does…’ she chuckled ‘…our Reverend Sister is going to have her nose put well and truly out of joint.’
CHAPTER TEN
‘CASSIE.’ It was a few days later and Lara had picked a moment to talk to her sister when the children were in bed and the house was quiet.
‘Yes?’ Cassie looked up from the television where one of her favourite programmes had just finished and the credits were beginning to roll.
‘We need to talk,’ said Lara, coming right into the room and sitting down beside Cassie, who pressed the button of the remote control, switching off the television.
Cassie searched Lara’s features, as if trying to read her sister’s concerns. ‘You’re worried about Dave coming back,’ she said at last, then, not giving Lara a chance to deny it, she carried straight on, ‘Well, you needn’t be. Dave and I have talked at length about this, and if and when he moves back here we are totally agreed that there is still a home here for you. We both feel that what you have done for this family is way above the call of duty…’ She trailed off as Lara held up her hands.
‘Whoa, Cassie, please, stop right there,’ she said. ‘There’s something we need to get straight—there is something I want to discuss with you, but it isn’t that.’
‘No?’ Cassie looked bewildered. ‘It isn’t?’
‘No.’ Lara shook her head. ‘But now that you’ve mentioned it I may as well tell you—if you and Dave get back together, I have already made up my mind that I’ll be moving out.’
‘Lara—no!’ Cassie protested.
‘Yes, Cassie,’ she replied firmly. ‘If all of you are living together again as a family, there’s no room here for a permanent house guest.’
‘But we couldn’t let you just go,’ protested Cassie. ‘Not after all your kindness. Besides, where would you go?’
‘I would find myself a flat.’ Lara shrugged. ‘Just the same as I had before I came here. Honestly, Cassie, it wouldn’t be a problem, and if it does happen I will be delighted for you and for the children. Now, to get on to what I wanted to talk about—and, actually, this also concerns you and your future.’
‘Me?’ Cassie looked startled and unconsciously her hand flew to her face, her fingers gently tracing the lines of scarring.
‘Yes.’ Lara nodded. ‘You and Andres Ricardo.’
‘Me and…?’ Cassie’s eyes widened. ‘What on earth do you mean?’
‘Andres has made an incredible offer,’ said Lara.
‘What sort of offer?’ Cassie frowned.
‘He has offered to perform further surgery on your face,’ said Lara gently, her voice softening as she recalled Andres’s exact words.
‘Further surgery?’ Cassie repeated. ‘I don’t understand.’ She shook her head in bewilderment. ‘I thought…I was told at the time that was all they could do.’
‘Yes,’ Lara agreed, ‘and at the time that was probably the case, but after seeing you Andres feels that he could improve on what was done. What do you think? Would you be willing to give it a try?’ There was silence in the room, broken only by the faint whirring of the dishwasher in the kitchen.
‘I don’t know, Lara…I really don’t know.’ Cassie looked troubled. ‘The thought of more surgery fills me with dread and…then afterwards…well, there’s no guarantee it will be any better, is there?’
‘I don’t think Andres would have suggested it if he didn’t think there was a good chance he could improve things for you.’ Lara paused. ‘He’s good, Cassie, very good. I’ve seen the results of his work.’
‘So where would he do this?’ Cassie still sounded far from convinced, but Lara noticed that a new note had entered her voice, a note of anticipation. ‘At St Joseph’s?’
‘No, not at St Joseph’s,’ Lara replied quietly. ‘At the Roseberry Clinic.’
‘But don’t they charge the earth?’ Cassie stared at her. ‘We could never afford anything like that, Lara. Even if Dave comes back, I don’t think there’s any way we could raise that sort of money.’
‘I know,
’ Lara replied, ‘and I told Andres so, but he explained that wasn’t what he intended. He said there would be no fee.’
‘No fee?’ Cassie’s eyes widened again.
‘That’s what he said—that he had offered to do this, that we hadn’t asked and that he was offering it as a friend.’
‘Oh, Lara.’ There were tears in Cassie’s eyes now. ‘I don’t know what to say.’
‘Think about it. Sleep on it before you make any decision,’ said Lara.
‘But how kind of him…’
‘He’s that sort of man,’ said Lara, and suddenly her own voice was husky. She realised her sister was staring at her intently.
‘Lara,’ Cassie began hesitantly, ‘is there any chance that you and he…?’
‘I don’t know, Cassie—really, I don’t.’
‘But you do like him?’ Cassie persisted.
‘Oh, yes, I like him well enough,’ Lara admitted. ‘I also find him very attractive, but I’m not certain anything will come of it. You see, it’s like I told you before. I’m really not sure he is sufficiently over the death of his wife yet, certainly not enough for him to be thinking about starting a new relationship.’
‘Five years is a long time,’ said Cassie slowly.
‘Yes, I know,’ Lara agreed, ‘but I guess it takes some people longer than others to get over something like that. Andres told me that he didn’t want any sort of involvement and that was why he asked me to accompany him to the party. I’ve no reason to believe that since then anything has changed.’
‘Well, you never know,’ said Cassie hopefully. ‘He may just have realised what he’s been missing.’
‘Like Dave, you mean?’ Lara raised a questioning eyebrow.
‘Yes, in a way, I suppose,’ Cassie agreed.
‘Do you think it’s going to work out with Dave, or is it too soon to tell?’
‘I think it might,’ said Cassie slowly. ‘He’s beside himself with remorse and is begging my forgiveness…’
‘And how do you feel about that?’ asked Lara.
‘I’m not sure yet. Most of the time I’m still as angry as hell with him…’
‘And the rest of the time?’
‘I guess I still love the brute,’ Cassie admitted with a wry smile.
‘What about the children? How do they feel about him coming home?’
‘Sophie and Callum can’t wait to have him back,’ said Cassie slowly, ‘but that’s what you’d expect.’
‘And Luke?’
‘Oh, I think Luke more than anyone,’ she replied softly.
Two days later, during a break in a shift at the Roseberry, Lara found the opportunity to speak to Andres. She met him in the corridor where the surgeons had their consulting rooms, and as he walked towards her she felt her heart leap.
‘Andres,’ she said, and knew she sounded breathless. ‘May I have a word about Cassie?’
‘Of course,’ he said. ‘Come in here.’ He opened the door of his consulting room then stood back for her to precede him into the room. As she passed close to him she was briefly reminded of that other occasion when they had been as close, when he had held her in his arms on the dance floor. Then she tried desperately to dismiss that memory for that was surely all it was—a memory of something special that would never be repeated.
‘Take a seat, Lara, please,’ he said, closing the door. As she sat down he seated himself at his desk. If she hadn’t known better, she would have sworn that he seemed nervous. But that was ridiculous. Why should a man like Andres Ricardo, a highly successful consultant, be nervous in the presence of a member of his own staff?
‘You’ve spoken to Cassie about my offer?’ he asked at last.
‘Yes,’ she replied, ‘I have.’
‘And what was her reaction?’
‘Well, she was pretty stunned at first.’ She glanced up. ‘Oh, don’t get me wrong. She was overwhelmed by your generosity, but…’
‘She was also apprehensive at the thought of more surgery with no guarantee of improvement—that is perfectly understandable.’
‘Yes, I know,’ said Lara quickly, ‘so I urged her to sleep on it, to think about it, which she did…’
‘And?’ he said softly.
‘And she has said she would be delighted to accept your offer.’
‘Good,’ he said briskly. ‘I’ll fit her into my schedule at the very first opportunity. I can’t make too many promises but I feel sure that what I am able to do will give Cassie more confidence to face the world.’
‘Speaking of that,’ said Lara, ‘something else has happened that could make a big difference. Her husband Dave is on the scene again—he wants her to take him back.’
‘And how does Cassie feel about that?’ asked Andres.
‘Oh, she’ll forgive him—there’s little doubt about that.’
‘And where would that leave you?’ His gaze met hers across the desk.
‘I would find a flat and move out,’ she said with a little shrug.
‘So you would have your life back?’ he said softly.
She smiled. ‘Yes, I suppose you could say that.’
There was silence for a moment, a silence that somehow, poignantly, seemed to signify the end of one era and at the same time herald the start of another.
‘I’ve been doing a little homework,’ he said at last, breaking the silence.
‘What sort of homework?’ She was aware that her pulse had started to race.
‘I’ve found some riding stables,’ he said. ‘They’re near Godalming and I think they are exactly what we want—I looked them over and the horses are in excellent shape. Are you still keen to go?’
‘Oh, yes,’ she said. ‘There’s nothing I’d like better.’
‘Are you off duty next Saturday?’
‘Yes,’ she replied, and her pulse was racing faster than ever. ‘Yes, I am.’
‘Good,’ he said with a little sigh of satisfaction. ‘So am I, so shall I book us in?’
‘Oh, yes,’ she said, ‘yes, please.’
There was a severe frost on Friday night and on Saturday morning the ground was hard and a mist lingered across the Surrey countryside. Andres picked Lara up very early and his breath caught in his throat when she came out of the house dressed in riding trousers and boots, a yellow polo-necked sweater and a hacking jacket, and with her mass of hair tied back from her face with a velvet ribbon.
‘You look great,’ he said as she slipped into the passenger seat beside him.
‘The jacket is Cassie’s,’ she said. ‘The trousers are mine and luckily I still had my riding boots. I don’t have a helmet, though,’ she added.
‘We can hire helmets,’ he said. For some reason he was feeling nervous. He still couldn’t quite believe she had agreed to come out with him, and even though this was a far from conventional date, he knew he desperately wanted it to be a success because for the first time since Consuela’s death he had found a woman whom he really wanted to be with. They drove through the grey of the early morning and out into the Surrey countryside, where the bare branches of the trees were etched sharply against the pearly light of the sky. The stables were already a hive of activity in spite of the earliness of the hour as stalls were mucked out, horses groomed and the yard hosed down.
Andres was given a huge, dappled grey stallion to ride and Lara a smaller chestnut mare. ‘She has the sweetest temperament,’ said the groom as he led the horse out of her stall and held her head while Lara mounted.
Within half an hour they were heading out of the stableyard at a brisk trot, settling down to a canter as they reached the bridleway. The ground was hard with frost and the ice-covered puddles crackled beneath the horses’ hooves while the animals’ breath hung heavy in the cold morning air. It felt good to Andres to be back in the saddle again and although both the countryside and the climate were as far removed from his beloved Argentina as it was possible to be, he felt content. With the horse he was riding, the crisp English February mornin
g and more than all of that, with the woman who rode a little ahead of him, a woman whom he was increasingly beginning to realise had the power to change his life for ever if only he would let her.
When they reached a large stretch of open common, they gave the horses their heads and settled down to an exhilarating gallop. As they rode, the pale morning sunlight finally broke through the cloud, banishing the last of the mist. They rode for miles until at last Andres, who was slightly ahead of Lara, reined in his horse and dismounted, indicating for her to do the same. Leading both horses forward to the edge of a small thicket, where catkins cascaded from the trees and drifts of snowdrops covered the ground, he tethered them securely to a branch of a tree.
He removed his helmet, seeing that Lara was doing likewise, then he walked back to her and on a sudden, uncontrollable impulse he gathered her into his arms, the gesture natural and spontaneous. For a long moment he just held her close, aware as he did so of her heart beating against his own. Then, moving slightly, he looked down into her eyes, those trusting green eyes that had fascinated him from the very moment he had first gazed into them and, he realised now, had captivated him, utterly and completely.
‘Lara,’ he murmured, then, unable to hold back for a second more, he took her face between his hands, his fingers becoming entangled in the tendrils of hair that had escaped from the band. He brought his mouth down onto hers, a thrill shooting through his body as her lips parted to receive him. Gently with his tongue he explored the warm, sweet softness of her mouth, eager now and encouraged by the unexpected warmth of her response as she allowed her hands to caress the back of his neck, shuddering with delight as her fingers stroked his short hair. He closed his eyes and as the scent of her filled his senses he was no longer in the crisp, chill air of a February morning but in that sun-drenched, flower-filled summer meadow that always reminded him of her. ‘Lara. Oh, Lara,’ he moaned softly, as at last he drew away slightly. ‘If only you knew how much I’ve longed to do that.’
‘When?’ she asked teasingly. ‘When did you long to do that?’
‘So many times,’ he replied ruefully, ‘but never more than that night when I held you in my arms and we danced…’
The Latin Surgeon Page 15