Learning to Love

by Sheryl Browne

  ‘I’m nothing like Jonathan, Andrea,’ David said quietly. ‘I care about you.’

  Andrea turned back. ‘And Jonathan doesn’t?’ She knew in her heart that her relationship had been floundering long before the fire that had blown her world apart, before David … She didn’t believe Jonathan’s tale about why he hadn’t been able to contact her any more than his claim to have found Dougal in the park. He’d been piling lie on top of lie since that dreadful night, and she would tackle him. Right now, though, she was more interested in what lies this man might concoct to extract himself from his mess.

  ‘Did he tell you the assessors had been?’

  ‘I haven’t had a chance to speak to him yet.’ Andrea walked on.

  ‘He’s hiding something, Andrea,’ David called after her. ‘I’m not sure what, but the fire, his preoccupation with Dee’s mental state, his story … It just doesn’t add up.’

  Disbelieving, Andrea whirled around. ‘You’ll stop at nothing, will you? You paint yourself as a poor wounded hero, torn apart by grief and guilt and the havoc you created, and then you have the nerve to point out other people’s failings? Why?’

  ‘Andrea, I … I don’t know.’ David shrugged hopelessly. ‘I just want you to be careful, that’s—’

  ‘I mean, I’m no great catch, am I?’ Andrea went on, her fury growing. ‘Was what just happened between us another one of your mistakes, is that it?’

  ‘No!’ David fixed angry eyes on hers. ‘Dammit, Andrea I do care about you. I—’

  ‘I’m going.’ Andrea turned away.

  ‘Andrea, don’t.’ David caught her arm. ‘Please. The kids …’

  ‘Don’t you dare, David,’ Andrea warned him angrily. ‘Don’t you dare try to manipulate me through my children!’

  ‘They’re getting ready for bed, Andrea. There’s no point in upsetting them tonight.’

  ‘Me upsetting them?’ Andrea was flabbergasted.

  ‘Jake …’ David swallowed. ‘Give me a chance to speak to him, Andrea. Please, I’m begging you.’

  Andrea felt her heart break inside her afresh, for Jake, for David, too, who was going to have to live with the devastating consequences of his actions; for Sally, who would surely need her friendship now, but which this man had made impossible. For herself.

  ‘Stay,’ David implored. ‘Please? For tonight, at least.’

  Andrea studied his face, saw the desperation in his eyes; eyes where so many conflicting emotions played out. How little did she really know him? She could have loved him. Did, still. Yet hated him.

  ‘For Jake’s sake,’ she said, dropping her gaze to his hand still on her arm.

  Relief flooding his face, David released his hold. ‘Thank you,’ he said, closing his eyes.

  ‘One more thing,’ Andrea said. ‘Do you care about Sally?’

  David looked confused. ‘I … Yes, I care about her,’ he answered guardedly.

  ‘I do, too. I’m not sure why she didn’t tell me, but you should know she wants this baby, David. So, mistake or no, you have to decide what part you’re going to play in your child’s life, don’t you?’

  Walking back to the house, Andrea finally allowed the tears to fall. She did care about her friend, no matter what. She couldn’t help that. Sally was desperate for this child. David had lost a child, along with his wife. Strange things happen. But perhaps this baby was meant to be.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  ‘Oh, dear, are you sure it’s me who should be seeing the doctor? You look dreadful.’ Eva looked David over with concern as she came into his office.

  Gesturing her to a chair, David managed a half-hearted smile. ‘That bad, huh?’

  ‘Definitely,’ Eva assured him, peering at him from under her gardening hat as she seated herself. ‘You look as if you haven’t slept for a week.’

  ‘I’m fine, Eva,’ David lied, rolling his aching shoulders in an attempt to ease the crick in his neck. He hadn’t slept, not a wink. It was no more than he deserved, but after trying to get Jake off to school without alerting him to the fact that he’d messed up again, monumentally, followed by a hectic morning of patients presenting flu symptoms, two urinary tract infections and, more seriously, a toddler with pneumonia who needed hospitalising, he really did feel all out. Good thing Eva was his last patient.

  Eva didn’t look convinced. ‘Doctor Adams,’ she said, lacing her fingers on his desk and eyeing him steadily, ‘you haven’t shaved, you have dark circles under your eyes, your tie’s askew and, quite frankly, you don’t look at all the ticket. Have you been drinking?’

  ‘What? No!’ David sat up and straightened his tie. Rumours flying around that he was an alcoholic, as well as a womaniser and a complete bastard, was the last thing he needed. ‘One,’ he admitted, when Eva’s dubious gaze didn’t waver. ‘A nightcap, that’s all.’

  ‘Hmm? Well, it obviously didn’t help.’ Eva dutifully pulled up her sleeve as he reached for his blood pressure meter.

  ‘Eva, I don’t have a drinking problem,’ David assured her as he rolled the cuff around her arm. ‘Scout’s honour.’

  ‘Yes, well, you obviously have a problem of some sort.’ Eva waited while he placed his stethoscope over her brachial artery and measured her systolic and diastolic blood pressures, then asked, ‘Would you like to share?’

  ‘Slightly elevated,’ David informed her, and noted the readings. ‘I’d like to measure the other arm, if you don’t mind?’

  ‘Ho, ho.’ Eva rolled up her other sleeve. ‘I meant share your problem, Doctor Adams, as you very well know.’

  David took the second reading.

  ‘You obviously have one,’ Eva continued to badger him.

  ‘And some.’ He exhaled heavily and jotted the latest measurements down.

  ‘Well?’ Eva, it seemed, wasn’t going to give up.

  ‘I’d like to take a measurement with you standing, Eva, if that’s okay. Nothing to worry about. I just want to rule out orthostatic hypotension, since you’ve experienced light-headedness.’

  ‘I’m more worried about you, young man,’ Eva assured him, studying him intently as she got to her feet.

  ‘You’ll need to make another appointment,’ David steered the conversation back to the business at hand, rather than his own. ‘Can you make an appointment at reception for a follow up in, say, a—’

  ‘However, if you feel you can’t trust me …’ Eva went on, looking wounded.

  David smiled, despite her insistence on giving him the third degree. ‘I trust you, Eva,’ he said, finishing up the blood pressure measurements.

  ‘So?’ Eva asked, finding her chair.

  ‘So …’ David sat wearily in his. ‘As I say, I’m not sure you have anything to worry about, but I’d like to keep an eye on you, just the same. Meanwhile, make sure you drink plenty of fluids, Eva, and—’

  ‘A problem shared, Doctor Adams, is a problem halved,’ Eva interrupted, again. ‘Obviously, you don’t feel you can confide, though, so I’ll get back to my garden and leave you to your surgery. For the record, however, I can’t abide gossip, either, so if ever you do need an ear, you know where to find me.’

  So saying, she reached to collect her bag from the floor, now looking a bit crestfallen, David noted. And most definitely a bit giddy as she stood up.

  ‘Eva,’ David was on his feet supporting her in a flash, ‘come on, sit.’ Making sure she was comfortable, he fetched her some water, keeping an eye on her over his shoulder as he did.

  He did trust her, he realised. The way she’d covered for Eden, David had no doubt that was for Andrea’s sake, because she also suspected Eden of some wrongdoing. She obviously didn’t revel in spreading unsubstantiated rumour, though. As far as David knew she hadn’t mentioned her suspicions to Andrea or anyone else. Should he confide in her? he wondered. He wasn’t sure he was ready to share his not-so-good news about Sally, but it might help solve the mystery of the floating policy document if he could get Eva to give him the go ahead to
make some enquiries. And he needed to, more so now he had established that Eden’s story about being hospitalised the night of the fire was absolute bullshit. The guy was piling lie on top of lie and, for Andrea’s sake, David needed to know why.

  ‘Eva, can I ask you something,’ he said, turning to hand her the water, ‘about your fall?’

  ‘Oh, I’m as strong as an ox, Doctor Adams,’ Eva insisted, taking the glass. ‘There’s no need for undue worry about me.’

  ‘Yes, well, we’ll see about that.’ As stubborn as a mule, more like. David shook his head and waited until she’d taken a sip of water, then, ‘Actually, I was talking about the events around the fall, Eva,’ he clarified, ‘about why Jonathan was poking about in your house uninvited?’

  Eva studied the contents of her glass for a second, and then looked curiously up at him. ‘You gathered he was there, then?’

  ‘I did,’ David nodded, ‘searching for the missing policy document.’

  Scanning his face, Eva seemed to debate, then, nodding decisively, she planted her glass on the table. ‘I had no idea he was there, Doctor Adams. I certainly have no idea why he would be searching my house for a document he was already in possession of, which I’d also repeatedly asked him to return, and which he then purported was missing.’

  David nodded slowly and sat back down in his chair. ‘It isn’t missing,’ he said, after a moment. He really didn’t want to say or do anything that might upset her, but his nagging doubt about Eden just wouldn’t go away. Something serious was going on, David knew it; something that might possibly put people in danger – and very probably already had. David tightened his jaw and steeled his resolve.

  ‘Dee had it,’ he said, retrieving his copy of the document from his desk drawer and sliding it across the desk.

  Eva knitted her brow, puzzled. ‘Dee?’

  ‘She heard you “repeatedly” asking Eden for it, apparently,’ David supplied, watching Eva over steepled hands as she studied the document. ‘She was concerned for you, it seems.’

  Eva blinked at him and then raised her eyebrows so high they almost disappeared under her hat. ‘Deirdre?’ she asked, flabbergasted. ‘Concerned for me?’

  A long phone call later, Eva having given him authority to discuss her investments, David had all he needed to know. The police wouldn’t be called in until the investment company’s investigations were complete and then, dependent on their findings, it might only go as far as the ombudsman. David hoped it would go further. It was as clear as daylight to him what Eden had been up to.

  Gutted for the old lady, he looked over to Eva, who, though she’d obviously suspected something was amiss, was still shocked to the core. She managed a smile for the medical secretary, who’d brought her some tea, but was badly shaken and as white as a sheet.

  Prison was too good for scum like Eden, David decided, fighting an urge to go and drag the little shit from wherever he was hiding and part him from his assets. Preying on a vulnerable old woman? The guy ought to have his legs broken, as far as David was concerned. As for what else Eden might have done to try to save his snivelling backside, he ought to have his neck broken, and, doctor or not, David just might be the man to do it.

  The question was what, and when, to tell Andrea, who he’d left this morning on the phone to the bastard. She’d been calm, bar the look of disdain in her eyes aimed at him, rightly so. Given her contempt for him on a scale of one to ten was probably about eleven, David doubted she’d believe anything he had to say, not without absolute evidence. Why would she? He was the one she wanted out of her life. This thing with Eva aside, however badly Eden had treated Andrea, he was still Chloe’s father, ergo would probably always play a part in her life.

  Quashing his anger, for now, David turned his attention back to Eva. ‘What will you do?’ he asked her gently.

  ‘I thought I’d fertilise my garden,’ Eva said, clearly stoically trying to pull herself together. ‘Bone meal’s quite good, you know?’

  David’s mouth twitched into a smile. ‘We’d make a great team, Eva. I was just contemplating breaking a few bones myself.’

  ‘Oh?’ Eva met his gaze, the look in her eye telling David she’d very probably help hold Eden down while he did. ‘Painfully, I hope.’

  ‘Very,’ David assured her.

  ‘Poor Andrea,’ Eva said, shaking her head sadly. ‘As if she hasn’t got enough on her plate. This will break her heart.’

  David heaved out a sigh. He looked Eva over, then, on the basis she’d find out anyway, decided to put his pride in his pocket. Right now, Andrea’s feelings were his priority. Eva obviously cared about her, and thanks to him adding spectacularly to her problems, Andrea might well need a shoulder.

  ‘Unfortunately, I think I’ve already managed that, Eva,’ he said quietly.

  Eva looked back at him over her cup, a wary look now in her eyes.

  ‘Sally and I, we, er …’

  ‘You’re seeing Sally?’ Astonished, Eva clanged her cup noisily into her saucer.

  ‘Saw. It was just … one night,’ David clarified despondently.

  Eva fixed him with a look which definitely wasn’t too impressed. ‘A one-night stand, you mean?’ she said cuttingly.

  David nodded, now feeling acutely embarrassed. ‘I, er … The thing is, she’s … Sally, she’s—’ he fumbled for a way to announce it outright.

  ‘Pregnant?’ Eva’s jaw dropped. ‘Oh, David, David … What tangled webs we weave.’

  David laughed wryly. ‘Don’t I just.’

  ‘You know I’d hoped Andrea and you might—’ Eva stopped, dropping her gaze as if she’d divulged too much.

  ‘Not half as much as I did, Eva.’ David drew in a breath. ‘She’s moving out,’ he said, and then glanced quickly down feeling faintly ridiculous that he, a grown man, felt suddenly very close to tears. ‘For obvious reasons.’

  ‘But where will she go? The only property available to rent in the vicinity isn’t fit to house little Dougal,’ Eva pondered out loud, her brow crinkling worriedly. ‘She could have rented the accommodation above the shop, of course, but Jonathan has probably put a stop to that, too, the horrible little worm.’

  ‘How so?’ David eyed her concerned, realising she was talking about the shop Andrea had set her heart on for her designer clothing idea.

  Eva’s shoulders sagged. ‘I shall have to sell the property I think. I’d hoped to keep it for rental for income purposes, but now … I think capital from the sale might be best, though invested rather more wisely, of course.’

  Shit! Which meant Andrea really will have lost everything. Abruptly, David stood, dragged his hand through his hair, and paced to the door and back – then back again to the door, the small office not leaving him much space to work off his agitation.

  ‘Maintenance costs on older buildings are so high, you see?’ Eva went on as David tried to think on his feet. ‘The living accommodation and the shop are almost up to spec, now the rewiring and plumbing works are completed, but the roof will soon need work and some of the brickwork will need repointing.’

  ‘I’ll buy it,’ David said.

  ‘Rental for income is fine if you have some money in the pot,’ Eva sighed pensively. ‘I do have other investments, so I shall hardly starve, but as the coffers are depleted somewhat, I … Pardon?’

  ‘I’ll buy it. A cash transaction, all legal and above board. I have funds, Eva, and it will save you putting it on the market.’

  ‘Yes, but what would you want with a three storey Victorian building on the High Street, Doctor Adams? It’s hardly an investment in the current property climate, is it?’

  ‘Rental for income,’ David said, heading back to the door, to pluck his jacket from the coat-stand.

  ‘Ye-es.’ Eva gave him a wily look as he yanked the door open, unhooked his stethoscope, came back again, deposited the stethoscope on his desk then headed, once again, for the door. ‘But you won’t get much income if you’re not charging rental, will you?�
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  ‘Nope.’ David turned to give her a wink. ‘And I’m relying on you to secure me a reliable tenant I won’t be charging rental from – and to keep it under your gardening hat.’

  Eva notched her chin up and her hat down. ‘As I said, I can’t abide tittle-tattle either, Doctor …’ Eva trailed off as he headed off down the corridor. ‘Um, Doctor Adams …?’

  ‘Heck.’ David about-turned back to his office. ‘Sorry,’ he said, offering his arm to assist his abandoned patient from her chair.

  David was barely through his front door before Chloe had him in a leg-lock. ‘Davie!’ she cried delightedly, her arms wrapped around his shins. Narrowly avoiding falling over her, David hoisted her up into his arms.

  ‘Hey, little one.’ He smiled. ‘How’s Igglepiggle?’

  ‘Gone,’ Chloe said, splaying her hands and shrugging her little shoulders.

  ‘Uh, oh.’ David arranged his face into a frown. ‘We’d better call the missing Igglepiggle squad. We’ll put Detective Dougal on the case and crawl around and assist. What d’y’think?’

  ‘Yeth!’ Chloe clapped her hands gleefully, then transferred her leg-lock to a neck-hold and planted a kiss on his cheek.

  Andrea watched the interchange from the lounge doorway, her heart wrenching inside her as she fast-forwarded to where this scenario would be played over, another delighted child in his arms, a child that might not have been planned, but would most definitely be loved. Andrea had no doubt of that. She should hate him. Yet, she couldn’t. Anger and grief seemed to be vying for attention inside her but not hate.

  ‘I take it madam approves?’ Chuckling at Chloe, David turned to the lounge, and then straightened his face fast as he met Andrea’s eyes. In his eyes similar conflicting emotion to that she’d seen yesterday: sorrow, confusion, regret, all of those things – and also a quiet longing. The same longing that was burning inside her? she wondered. That somehow, in another world, another time, things could have been different?

  ‘Hi,’ he said uncertainly, a question in his eyes now as he noticed the packed holdall at her feet. ‘You’re going, then?’ He looked back to her face, his expression one of tired resignation.