He tore out of the room and Owen heard him thundering down the stairs. He followed more slowly, praying that Daniel was right and that Rose had left a message for him. Maybe she’d got held up or, worse still, wasn’t feeling well. His heart thumped painfully at the thought as he hurried down to the hall, but all it took was one glance at Daniel’s crestfallen expression to know that neither explanation was true.
‘She hasn’t phoned. There’s no messages and I dialled 1471 to check who’d called and her number didn’t come up.’ Daniel dashed his hand across his eyes. ‘She must have decided that she didn’t want to see me any more.’
Owen tried to think of something encouraging to say but he honestly couldn’t think of anything. And what point was there in making excuses for her? If Rose didn’t want to see Daniel any more, it would be better if his son accepted it instead of building up false hopes for the future.
‘I’m sorry, Daniel. I know you like Rose—’
‘Forget it, Dad. You were never happy about me getting in touch with her, and now you’ve been proved right. I should have left her alone!’
Daniel brushed past him and ran back up the stairs to his room. Owen didn’t follow him this time. The boy needed time on his own to adjust to what had happened.
Hell, he needed time to adjust to what had happened!
He swore under his breath, but harsh words couldn’t ease the pain in his heart. Rose had let Daniel down and she’d let him down, too. She’d let him down so much that he hadn’t even hit rock bottom yet, but he would do so at some point. At some point it would hit home to him what he had lost, and then it was going to hurt even more.
Rose was on her way to catch the bus when the phone rang. She snatched up the receiver, not wanting anything to delay her. She’d been so worn out after the stressful week that she’d overslept. It had been a mad dash to get ready in time to go and meet Daniel, and she didn’t want anything to hold her up.
‘Rose Tremayne.’
Tucking the phone into the crook of her neck, Rose opened her purse and took out some money for her bus fare, then froze when the caller explained that she was phoning from the nursing-home where her father lived. Apparently he’d suffered a heart attack that morning and they thought she should know that the prognosis wasn’t good.
Rose told the woman that she would get there as soon as she could and hung up, surprised by how upset she felt at the news. Her father had turned his back on her many years ago, but she still cared about him. She checked her watch and realised that if she hurried she might be able to catch the next train to Cornwall. She glanced at the phone but there was no time to phone Daniel and tell him what had happened. If she missed this train there wasn’t another one until the evening. She would call him once she was on the train.
She made it to the station with just two minutes to spare. As soon as the train pulled out from the platform she took her mobile phone out of her bag, and groaned when she discovered that the battery was flat. She would have to wait until she got to the nursing-home now before she could phone Daniel, and he would wonder what had happened to her when she didn’t show up. She could only hope he would understand, although she wasn’t sure what Owen would think. Surely he would realise that she would never have willingly let Daniel down?
Daniel stayed in his room for the rest of the day, refusing any offers of food or other sustenance. Owen tried not to fuss, but it was worrying to see him on such a downward spiral after past experiences. When Daniel announced that he was going round to his friend’s house that evening, it was all Owen could do not to ban him from going out. He knew it would be a mistake to let Daniel think he didn’t trust him, but the memory of what had happened after Laura had died still haunted him. The last thing he wanted was Daniel ruining his life because of Rose!
Anger at the way Rose had behaved had been eating away at him all day long, so as soon as Daniel left he tried phoning her flat. There was no reply so he hung up and tried again later, but there was still no answer. Rose had seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth, and he couldn’t help feeling concerned about her. The combination of worry and anger played havoc with his nerves, until in the end he decided that he would go round to her flat. For all he knew she could be lying there, desperately ill.
The thought was too much to bear. Owen got into his car and drove straight to her home. He tried ringing her doorbell, then tried several others when he got no response and finally struck lucky. One of Rose’s neighbours had seen her getting into a taxi that morning and thought she’d heard Rose telling the driver to take her to the station.
Owen thanked the woman and got back into his car. So Rose wasn’t ill—she’d gone off somewhere. She’d probably had a better offer—more exciting than a meeting with the son she’d had adopted. His anger soared, and it didn’t help when he arrived home to find a message from her on the answering-machine, apologizing and explaining that she had been called away and that she would get in touch again at a later date.
Did she really think that she could just drop Daniel whenever it wasn’t convenient for her to see him? he thought bitterly as he deleted the message. Obviously she must, but there was no way she was going to treat his son like that. She’d fulfilled all his prophecies—turned out exactly as he had feared she would—now all he could do was to make sure that she didn’t try to worm her way back into Daniel’s life. The only positive thing he could think of to come out of this was that he hadn’t made the mistake of getting too involved with her. At least his heart wasn’t broken…
Was it?
Rose felt completely drained by the time she got back to London the following evening. Her father had died in the early hours of Sunday morning without regaining consciousness, but at least she’d been with him at the end and that was some consolation. Now there were a lot of things she needed to do, but her first priority was to speak to Daniel.
There had been no one at home when she’d phoned the house the previous night, so she’d left a brief message, explaining that she would get in touch with him again later. Finding out that his grandfather was dying might have upset him, so she’d decided to break the news to him herself rather than tell him in a message.
She dialled the number, feeling herself well up with emotion when Owen answered. Just hearing his voice made her realise how much she longed to have him there with her. She’d been estranged from her father for a long time, but losing him had still hurt, and she desperately needed someone to comfort her.
‘Yes? Who is this?’
Rose was jolted back to the present by the abrupt question. ‘It’s me—Rose. Is Daniel there? I’d like to speak to him, please.’
‘I don’t think so.’
His tone was harsh and she sighed. Obviously Owen was unhappy about her not showing up on Saturday, so maybe she should explain what had happened to him first. Once he knew the facts he would understand why she had decided not to tell Daniel what had happened in her message. ‘Look, I’m sorry about Saturday but—’
‘I’m not interested in your excuses. If you didn’t want to see Daniel you should have told him that.’
‘But I did want to see him! That’s why I phoned and left that message—’
‘To say that something had cropped up? I think he managed to work that out for himself.’
Once again he cut her off before she could finish explaining and she felt a cold chill envelop her. Owen wasn’t interested in what she had to say because he’d already decided that she was at fault. She bit her lip when he continued in the same unforgiving tone. She wasn’t going to try and justify her actions when he wasn’t prepared to listen!
‘Have you any idea how upset Daniel was when you didn’t turn up?’
‘Of course I have. That’s why I want to speak to him now.’
‘Well, I’m afraid that Daniel isn’t interested in speaking to you any more than I am. You had your chance, Rose, and you blew it. Daniel doesn’t want to hear from you again. And neither do I.’
/> He hung up before she could reply. Rose stared at the receiver in shock. It couldn’t be true! Daniel would never have cut her out of his life like that…unless Owen had turned him against her?
Her heart started to ache at the thought. She didn’t want to believe that Owen could be so cruel, but she couldn’t ignore the fact that he had never been happy about her seeing Daniel. He’d always had reservations, and he seemed to have had even more after what had gone on after the party. He’d definitely been behaving very oddly since then, so maybe he’d seen this as the ideal solution. If she was removed from Daniel’s life then she would be removed from his, too!
The thought that Owen might have resorted to such methods to get rid of her was incredibly painful, but her main concern was Daniel. She couldn’t bear to imagine how hurt he must be feeling so she would write to him and explain what had happened. It might not be easy to convince him that she hadn’t meant to let him down if Owen had put doubts into his mind, but she had to try, although she would be careful what she said.
She didn’t want to create a rift between him and Owen, and certainly didn’t want to put Daniel in the position of having to choose sides. Despite what Owen thought of her, she would never do anything to harm his relationship with his son. She cared too much about both of them to do that. And, because she cared, she would let Daniel decide what he wanted to do. Maybe he would want to see her again and maybe he wouldn’t. But it would be his decision, not hers, and certainly not Owen’s!
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
‘I’VE received notification of a city-wide major incident training session. The powers that be have decided to make it as realistic as possible so that’s why they have kept quiet about it. All I know is that it will be held some time this week.’
Owen glanced around the room, wondering if he looked as bad as he felt. It was almost two weeks since he’d last seen Rose and every second of every day was imprinted on his mind. It was as though her absence had taken all the colour out of his life and he couldn’t bear to imagine how dark the future was going to be.
‘So they’re just going to land it on us, you mean?’ Suzanne queried.
‘That’s right.’ He forced himself to focus on the briefing, knowing how pointless it was to keep going over what had happened. He’d examined that last conversation they’d had in minute detail, and tortured himself with the thought that he should have listened to what she’d wanted to tell him. Maybe she’d had a valid reason for not turning up—extenuating circumstances he knew nothing about—and he’d not allowed her to explain. The thought made him feel more depressed than ever as he continued.
‘We’ve had practice sessions in the past but they’ve always been planned months in advance. However, the one thing nobody can plan for is a major disaster. This will be the nearest we can get to the real thing.’
He turned to Rob, who was standing next to Suzanne. They had been inseparable since the night of the party and spent all their time in and out of work together. Now Owen had to batten down the pang of envy that assailed him. There was no likelihood of him and Rose being in that same situation so there was no point even thinking about it.
‘I want you to act as our assessor and evaluate our response, Rob. We need to know that we are working to our maximum potential.’
‘So I get to stand around holding a clipboard?’ Rob pulled a face. ‘Doesn’t sound as though it’s going to be a whole lot of fun.’
‘We aren’t doing it to have fun,’ Owen reminded him shortly. ‘This is an important exercise specifically to hone our skills. If you don’t feel up to it, you’d better say so now.’
‘No, it’s fine,’ Rob said hurriedly, looking suitably abashed.
‘Good.’ Owen didn’t say anything else. There was no justification for taking out his ill-temper on the younger man. He thanked everyone and went to his office to phone the control centre. The St Anne’s team was ready for action and now it was just a case of waiting for something to happen.
He sighed, because it felt as though he spent his whole life waiting for something to happen nowadays. Even his fears about Daniel going off the rails hadn’t amounted to anything, although that was something he was happy about. The disappointment his son had suffered over Rose seemed to have had a galvanising effect, because Daniel had knuckled down to work and was making an effort to catch up so he could get the grades he needed for a place at university. In fact, Owen’s main concern at the moment was that Daniel might be working too hard. He needed to take a break from studying, and Owen realised that he knew the perfect way he could do it, too.
Volunteers were needed to play the role of casualties during the forthcoming exercise, so he would ask Daniel if he was interested and put his name down. It would be nice to have him along, give them a chance to spend some time together as a family—only they weren’t really a family, were they? Two people didn’t make a family, although three would…
Owen’s mouth compressed. He wasn’t going down that route! Rose had gone out of their lives, and she’d gone for good.
Rose was undecided what she should do when she received notification of the training exercise. She’d been working at a hospital in the north of the city and she wasn’t sure how they would feel if she was summoned away.
The past couple of weeks had been extremely hectic. She had made the arrangements for her father’s funeral and travelled down to Cornwall for the service. There had been very few mourners at the church because most of her father’s friends had died or moved away. However, the service had been a dignified ending to his life.
She’d decided to leave it to his solicitor to sort out his affairs. There would be some money coming from his estate once everything was settled but she didn’t want it. It would be sent to a charity that helped homeless teenage mothers. She’d been in that situation herself and knew how it felt. If it meant that some other young girl wouldn’t have to part with her baby, it would be money well spent.
She had written to Daniel, although she hadn’t received a reply yet. She kept hoping that he would contact her but she knew how hurt he must have been. It was hard to deal with the thought that she might never see him again, and several times she’d picked up the phone to call him, but each time she had stopped herself. She didn’t want to put him under any pressure when he was so vulnerable.
She hadn’t spoken to Owen again. If he wanted her out of his life she had to respect his wishes, even though she knew in her heart that they could have had something very special if he’d only trusted her. But without trust love couldn’t survive, so even if they had declared their feelings it wouldn’t have made any difference in the end.
After a lot of thought, she decided to take part in the exercise. It would stop her brooding about what had happened, if nothing else. She’d been told the call could come at any hour of the day or night, but even so she was caught off guard when the phone went at midnight on Saturday, telling her to report to her designated command centre.
Rose got ready and made her way to the local hospital, where she was briefed along with everyone else who was taking part in the exercise. The scenario was a terrorist attack in the Docklands area of the city. Several bombs had exploded and a light aircraft had been flown into one of the tower blocks. Casualty figures were high and were expected to rise during the night.
Rose was assigned to a team and issued with protective clothing, then sent out to the ambulances. As she climbed on board she was reminded of the day she and Owen had travelled to the incident in the tube extension. Would he be there tonight? she wondered, and her heart leapt at the thought before she forced it to behave. Even if he was there there would be no touching reconciliation. That period of her life was over.
Owen had just switched off the bedside lamp when his pager beeped and he groaned as he got out of bed. He had been hoping to get an early night to make up for all the sleep he’d lost recently, thinking about Rose, but obviously he was out of luck.
He checked the display and frown
ed when he saw it was the prearranged signal for the major incident alert. He hadn’t thought they would hold it at night, but if the authorities were aiming for realism it was probably the best time to do it. He woke Daniel, then got dressed and went downstairs.
Daniel came thundering down after him, obviously excited by the prospect of taking part. Owen had arranged to drop him off at the meeting point for would-be casualties so he drove there first.
‘I’ll see you back at home when we’re finished,’ he said as his son got out of the car. ‘Just do what they tell you and be careful. No messing about and getting into trouble.’
‘Chill out, Dad. This is going to be really cool so stop stressing.’
Daniel slammed the door and went bounding into the building. Owen shook his head as he put the car into gear. Chill out indeed!
Most of the St Anne’s team had arrived by the time he got there, and once everyone had their protective clothing on they were driven to the scene of the purported incident. A large section of the Docklands area had been cordoned off and there were police and emergency services vehicles surrounding the training ground.
Owen led his team to the control centre where he was given a printed sheet of instructions. They were to deal with the injured who had been rescued from one of the tower blocks. Casualties were to be moved away from the building in case other explosive devices had been primed to go off at a later time. It was to be as realistic as possible and they were warned that there would be more explosions during the night.
‘Right, you all know what to do. Work in pairs and listen out for any further instructions in case we have to evacuate the area. St Leonard’s is receiving the walking wounded and St Anne’s will take the more seriously injured. Anything specific—spinal injuries, those needing neurosurgery, etc.—refer to me. Is that clear?’
Nobody had any questions, so they made their way over to the scene. It was very realistic, with lots of casualties lying about. Owen knelt beside a young woman who had an open wound in her thigh, all beautifully staged with fake blood.
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