Joanna Neil – His Summer Bride: Becoming Dr Bellini's Bride / Summer Seaside Wedding / Wedding in Darling Downs (страница 11)

‘Yes, definitely… I’m glad she said it would be all right for you to discuss them with me. Is it what we thought—a TIA?’

She nodded. ‘It looks that way. The doctors monitored her heart and discovered that she has atrial fibrillation—as you know, that kind of abnormal heart rhythm can sometimes cause clots to form in the blood vessels. They did a CT scan, along with blood tests, and found a narrowing of the arteries. The general feeling is that she probably developed a blood clot that temporarily disturbed the flow of blood to the brain. This most likely dissolved of its own accord, but it’s possible that more will form as time progresses if she doesn’t have treatment.’

‘So presumably they have her on anti-thrombotic therapy? And they’ll give her medication to counteract the abnormal heart rhythm?’

‘That’s right.’ She took a sip of iced tea. ‘It looks as though you’re in the clear—or, should I say, the hotel’s in the clear?’ She smiled at him. ‘That must be a huge relief to you.’

‘Yes, it is. I can’t tell you how badly I needed to hear that. It’s great news. Lucky, too, for Mrs Wyatt, because now she gets to have the treatment she needs to put her back on the road to health.’ He rested back in his seat, taking a swallow of iced tea and looking the picture of contentment. ‘Thanks for telling me that, Katie. I’m really obliged to you for finding out all this information.’

He set down his glass and looked her over, leaning towards her. ‘In fact, if I didn’t think you’d take it amiss, I could kiss you for it.’ He came closer, as though, having hit on the idea, he was ready to carry it through into immediate action, regardless of the consequences.

Katie flattened herself against the back of her chair, deftly foiling his attempt. ‘I think you’d better give that one a miss,’ she said, her green gaze meshing with his. ‘It wouldn’t do if every male doctor tried to kiss me whenever I presented them with good results, would it?’

His eyes narrowed. ‘Have any tried?’

‘Oh, yes. From time to time.’

‘And succeeded?’ He was frowning now, his blue eyes darkening.

‘Maybe. Once or twice.’ His expression crystallised into one of seething frustration, and she laughed softly. ‘Sorry about that. I couldn’t resist. You looked so put out.’

He gazed at her, totally nonplussed. ‘You certainly got me going there,’ he said, his mouth twisting. ‘My fault. I should have known any number of men would want to try their luck with you. That goes for me, too. Somehow, ever since we first met, I’ve been hung up on getting to know you better… much better.’

She pulled a face. ‘Well, I’m not sure that’s such a good idea—not in the way you mean, at least.’

He studied her thoughtfully for a moment or two, his expression serious. ‘He hurt you badly, didn’t he—this man from back home? You must have been very much in love with him.’

‘I thought I was,’ she said awkwardly. ‘I thought I knew him, but perhaps I was blind to his faults. He had a lot of charisma, and I believed he was saving it all for me. It turned out I was wrong.’

And wasn’t Nick so very much like James? He had that scintillating charm that could sweep a woman off her feet, and Katie was no exception. She had to be on her guard. No matter how hard he tried, she wasn’t going to succumb to Nick’s winning ways. Hadn’t her father warned her about him?

‘But let’s not dwell on any of that,’ she murmured. ‘I’m here with you now, and we do have two things in common… our work and my father. Maybe it would be safer all round if we simply kept things between us on that level.’

‘Hmm…maybe.’ He sounded doubtful. His eyes were still dark, and there was a brooding quality to his expression.

Katie decided to plough on with her new diversionary tactic. She helped herself to some food and said quietly, ‘Perhaps we should talk about what happened this morning—about your efforts to persuade my father to sell his land, and the effect it’s having on him. Maybe we need to clear the air on that score. You know I’d sooner you put an end to any attempt at making a deal. Anyway, I have the feeling he’s not at all sure about going ahead with it.’

Nick frowned. ‘He hasn’t said as much to me. and while there’s a chance he’ll concede to us, we’re bound to keep trying. It would mean a lot to my father to bring the vineyard back into our keeping. My great-great-grandfather bought the land at the turn of the century, but a parcel of it was sold off some years back when the family fell on hard times. It’s a matter of pride to my father to restore the vineyards into family ownership once more. He sees it as our inheritance. It’s very important to him.’

‘That may be so, but I can’t say it any clearer—I think you should hold off on those negotiations.’

Nick’s steady gaze met hers. ‘Jack doesn’t need you to hold his hand where business is concerned.’

A glint of steel came into Katie’s eyes. ‘I have to disagree with you on that one,’ she said. ‘And this is definitely not the right time to be pursuing it with him.’

Nick frowned. ‘That’s another matter, of course. We both saw how ill he was today.’ He poured more iced tea into her glass. ‘You think your father needs to be cosseted but he takes it on himself to take care of business matters, and then it becomes a matter of pride for him to see things through.’

So, no matter what she said, he wasn’t giving up on his plan to secure her father’s land. She drank her iced tea and studied him over the rim of her glass. Clearly, his family was not going to be satisfied with the empire they had built up. They would go after whatever they wanted. Forewarned was forearmed.

Nick’s phone bleeped, and he glanced down at the screen briefly. ‘It looks as though the workmen have finished installing the hot tub,’ he said. ‘Shall we go down and take a look?’

‘Yes, of course.’

She followed him down the stairs and out to the courtyard, where the workmen waited, standing by their handiwork.

‘We’re all done here,’ the spokesman said. ‘I think you’ll find everything’s in order. Just turn these controls here to adjust the jets.’ He began to point out the various buttons and fittings. ‘This is your filter… and here’s where you change the heat settings. We’ve left it set to around midway. Neither too hot nor too cold, but of course it’s all a matter of personal preference.’

‘That’s great,’ Nick murmured. ‘It looks perfect. Thanks for all your hard work.’ He turned to Katie. ‘Stay and enjoy the courtyard for a minute or two, will you, while I go and see the men off? There’s an ornamental fishpond that you might like to look at, over there in the corner. I’ll be back in a few minutes.’

‘Okay.’ She watched him go, then turned and walked towards the far side of the courtyard, an attractive area, laid out with a trellised arbour and rockery. A gentle waterfall splashed into the pond where koi carp swam amongst the plants and hid beneath white waterlilies.

She gazed down at the green fronds of water plants drifting with the ripple of water from a small fountain and lost herself for a while in a reverie of a past life.

‘Sorry to have left you,’ Nick said, coming back to her a short time later. ‘I think the men did a good job. They sited the tub perfectly and left the place looking neat and tidy. Didn’t take them too long either.’

She nodded. ‘I expect you’ll appreciate your new tub for a good many years to come.’ Turning back to the pond, she added, ‘This is beautifully set out.

The water’s so clear, and the plants are perfect.’ Her voice became wistful. ‘I remember having one in our garden when I was a child… but it was never as good as this. I suppose you have to keep on top of things—make sure the filter is kept clear, and so on.’

‘That’s true. I tend to check it every so often. The pond is a hobby of mine. I find it totally relaxing, something you need so that you can wind down after a day in Emergency.’ He sent her an oblique glance. ‘Did your father set up your pond… or was it something that came with the house, so to speak?’

‘It came with the house. My father was interested in it, but he wasn’t around for long enough to take care of it, and the work fell to my mother.’

‘And she wasn’t that keen?’

‘She was keen enough when my father was with us, but after he left to go and live here in California she fell apart. She lost interest in everything.’

He frowned. ‘I’m sorry. That must have been hard.’ He scanned her face thoughtfully. ‘I’ve known Jack for some eighteen years, ever since he pipped us to the post and bought the vineyard from its previous owner. In all that time I had no idea he had a daughter back in the UK.’

‘No. It seems he kept it quiet.’

‘I suppose you had to take a lot of the burden on your shoulders—how old were you when he left?’

‘I was eight. As to any burden, I must say I didn’t really understand what was going on at the time. It was all very confusing. When I realised he wasn’t coming back, I was hurt, heartbroken, and then as the years went by I became angry and resentful. There was just my mother and me, no cosy family unit with brothers and sisters to share happy times. I missed that.’