His Summer Bride

‘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.’

A shadow crossed his eyes. ‘And that’s why you never came over here until now.’ He looked at her with new understanding. ‘You were waiting for him to come back to you.’

She lowered her head. ‘It wasn’t going to happen, was it? So eventually I decided that if I was to make peace with myself, I had to come and find him and sort out my demons once and for all.’

He slid an arm around her shoulders. ‘I’m sorry that you had to go through all that,’ he said quietly. ‘It must have been a terrible time for you.’ He drew her close and pressed a light kiss on her forehead. ‘It seems almost unforgivable that he should treat you that way, and yet I know Jack is a good man at heart.’

Katie didn’t answer. She couldn’t. She was too conscious of his nearness, and it brought up all kinds of conflicting emotions within her. Everything in her told her that this man was some kind of adversary. He was a threat to her father, and a danger to her peace of mind, and yet when he touched her like this, she was instantly lost in a cotton-wool world of warmth and comfort.

His arms were around her, his body shielding hers from all that might hurt her, and the searing impact of that tender kiss had ricocheted throughout her whole body. She didn’t want to move, or speak. Why couldn’t she stay here, locked in his embrace, where the world stood still and she might forget her worries?

‘Do you think you can find it in you to forgive him?’ Nick murmured. ‘He’s very ill, and there may not be too much time left.’

‘I don’t know.’ She gave a faint sigh. The spell was broken and she straightened, gazing down into the water of the pond. Fish darted among the green fronds, oblivious to the troubles of the world around them. If only she could find such inner peace.

She took a step backwards. ‘I should go,’ she said. Nick was the last person she should look to for comfort. He could well turn out to be even more of a heartbreaker than her father.

CHAPTER FOUR

‘IS YOUR father really considering selling his vineyard to the Bellini family? That seems very strange to me.’ Eve Logan sounded doubtful at the other end of the line. ‘I haven’t had a lot of contact with him over these last few years, but I did gain the impression that the business meant an awful lot to him. I wouldn’t have thought it was something he would give it up lightly.’

‘No, probably not,’ Katie agreed. ‘When I spoke to him the other day he said he hadn’t thought it through yet, or words to that effect. I’m wondering if the Bellinis are putting undue pressure on him. He isn’t well, and I have the strong feeling that he isn’t up to it.’

‘Then perhaps it’s as well that you’re over there and able to look out for him.’

‘Yes, maybe.’

Katie cut the call to her mother a few minutes later and gazed around the apartment. She was feeling oddly restless. Ever since her visit to Nick’s home several days ago, she had been suffering from what she could only think of as withdrawal symptoms, and it was all Nick’s fault.

That kiss had been the lightest, gentlest touch, and it surely had been nothing more than a gesture of comfort and understanding, but the memory of it had stayed with her ever since. Nick had a compelling, magnetic charm that could surely melt the stoniest heart, and she was proving to be no exception.

It wouldn’t do at all. She was off men… they could string you along and lead you into thinking that everything was perfect, and then throw it all in your face with the biggest deception of all. No. Every instinct warned her that it would be far better to steer clear of Nick before he could work his magic on her. He spelled trouble and that was something she could definitely do without.

It didn’t help that she managed to catch a glimpse of his house every time she headed along the main highway on her way to or from the hospital. Today had been no exception. Nick’s home was beautiful, a jewel set in the golden, sand-fringed crown of the California coast.

Annoyingly, against all her better judgement, her thoughts kept straying to him. What was he doing. was he there, sitting outside on the upper deck, watching the seagulls perch on the distant bluffs?

But she wasn’t going to waste any more time thinking about him. Enough was enough, and she had work to do. The dishwasher needed emptying and there was a stack of ironing waiting for her… though with any luck she could finish her chores and still have time to wander down to the beach and take in one of the glorious sunsets that were the norm around there.

She set to work, but she was only halfway through her ironing pile when the phone rang.

‘There’s been a surfing accident just a mile from where you are,’ her boss told her. ‘Darren Mayfield, a fourteen-year-old, was knocked unconscious and had to be pulled out of the water. The ambulance has been called, but you’ll probably reach him before it arrives. A nasty head injury, by all accounts.’

‘I’ll leave right away,’ she told him, unplugging the iron and heading for the door. Her medical bag was in the hall, ready for such emergencies, and the rest of her supplies were in the car.

The boy’s level of consciousness was waxing and waning by the time she arrived on the beach. ‘Do you know anything about what happened to him?’ she asked his mother, who was waiting anxiously by his side.

‘He came off his board when one of the big waves hit,’ the woman said, her voice shaky. ‘The board sort of rose up in the air and then crashed down on him. We had to drag him out of the water. There’s a gash on the back of his head and he’s bleeding... He hasn’t come round properly since we brought him to shore.’ Her lips trembled. ‘He keeps being sick, and I thought it was just concussion, but it’s more than that, isn’t it? He should have recovered by now.’

‘I’ll take a look,’ Katie murmured, kneeling down beside the boy. ‘How are you doing, Darren?’ she asked quietly. ‘Can you hear me?’ She waited, and when there was no response she added, ‘Do you know what happened to you?’

He still didn’t answer, and Katie began to make a swift but thorough examination. ‘He’s unconscious,’ she told his mother, after a while. ‘I’m going to put a tube down his throat, and give him oxygen, to help with his breathing, and then I need to stabilise his spine to prevent any more damage being done.’ She carefully put a cervical collar in place, before checking the boy’s heart rate once more. It was worryingly low, and his blood pressure was high, both signs that the pressure within his brain was rising. That didn’t bode well.

Suddenly, Darren’s whole body began to shake, and Katie reached in her medical bag for a syringe.

‘Why’s he doing that?’ his mother asked in a panicked voice. ‘What’s happening to him?’

‘He’s having a seizure,’ Katie answered. It was yet another indication that this boy was in trouble. ‘I’m going to inject him with medication that will help to stop the fit.’

By the time the paramedics arrived, she had put in place an intravenous line so that fluids and any further drugs could be administered swiftly and easily. ‘We need spinal support here,’ she told the men, keeping her voice low so as not to worry the boy’s mother any further. ‘He has a depressed skull fracture, so we need to phone ahead and tell the trauma team what to expect. They’ll most likely need to prepare him for Theatre.’

She spoke to the lead paramedic as they wheeled Darren into the ambulance a few minutes later. ‘I’ll ride along with him in case there are any more complications along the way.’

The paramedic nodded. ‘You go ahead with Mrs Mayfield and sit by him. I’ll call the emergency department and keep them up to date.’

‘Thanks.’

Katie looked at her patient. He was deathly pale and she was deeply concerned for this boy as she sat beside him in the ambulance. She had placed a temporary dressing on the wound at the back of his head, but it was bleeding still, and she was worried about the extent of the damage.

The journey to the hospital seemed to take for ever, though in reality it was probably only about fifteen minutes, and as soon as they pulled into the ambulance bay, Katie was ready to move. The paramedics wheeled Darren towards the main doors.

‘He had another seizure in the ambulance,’ she told the doctor who came out to greet them, ‘so I’ve boosted the anti-convulsive therapy. I’m afraid his blood pressure is high and it looks as though the intracranial pressure is rising.’ Again, she spoke quietly so that the boy’s mother wouldn’t be unduly alarmed, but to her relief a nurse stepped forward and gently took the woman to one side.

‘We’ll get an x-ray just as soon as we’ve managed to stabilise his blood pressure,’ a familiar voice said, and Katie was startled to see Nick appear at the side of the trolley. He was wearing green scrubs that only seemed to emphasise the muscular strength of his long, lean body. Her heart gave a strange little lurch.

He listened attentively to the paramedic’s report and was already checking the patient’s vital signs, scanning the readings on the portable heart monitor that Katie had set up. Then he looked at Katie and gave her a quick smile. ‘Hi,’ he said.

‘Oh… I… somehow I hadn’t expected to see you here.’ Katie’s response was muted, but she recovered herself enough to acknowledge him, and also the paramedics, who were ready to leave on another callout. She was troubled about her patient’s progress, but Nick’s sudden appearance had thrown her way off balance. In the heat of the moment it had completely slipped her mind that he might be on duty.

‘I’m on the late shift today,’ he told her, as if in answer to her unspoken thoughts, as they moved towards the trauma room. His glance ran quickly over her. ‘It’s great to see you again.’

‘Likewise,’ she said, and then tacked on hurriedly, ‘I’d like to stay with Darren to see how he goes, if that’s all right with you?’

‘That’ll be fine.’ By now they had arrived in the resuscitation room and from then on he concentrated his attention on his patient, examining the boy quickly and telling the nurse who was assisting, ‘We’ll monitor blood glucose, renal function, electrolytes. I’ll take blood for testing now and we need to consult urgently with the neurosurgeon. Given the boy’s condition, it’s quite likely he’ll want to put him on mannitol to reduce the intracranial pressure. Ask him to come down to look at him, will you?’

Katie watched him work. He was remarkably efficient, cool, calm, and obviously concerned for this teenager. He didn’t hesitate for an instant, but carried out the necessary procedures with effortless skill, delegating other tasks to members of the team. Then, when the neurosurgeon came to the side of the bed, he spent several minutes talking to him about the boy’s condition.

‘I’ll be ready for him in Theatre in about half an hour,’ the surgeon remarked as he prepared to leave the room. ‘Let me have the CT images as soon as they’re available.’

‘Of course.’ Nick checked Darren’s vital signs once more, and only when he was satisfied that he had done everything possible for the boy did he turn back to Katie.

‘Okay, we’ll take him along to the CT unit. Let’s find out exactly what’s going on here.’

As soon as Darren had been placed on the CT trolley, they went into the annexe to watch the images on the computer screen as the technician began the X-ray. ‘You’re right,’ Nick said, after a few minutes. ‘It’s a depressed fracture, with the bone fragments pushing down on the lining of the brain. There’s a large blood clot causing a build-up of pressure. If we don’t act soon, there’s a risk that the brain will herniate.’

He spoke to the technician. ‘Download the films to the computer in Theatre, will you? Dr Kelso will want to see them.’

The technician nodded, but Nick was already striding out of the annexe towards his patient. ‘We’ll have to get him to Theatre just as soon as we’ve cleaned the wound,’ he told Katie. ‘By that time Mr Kelso should be ready for him.’

They went back to the trauma room and Nick began the process of irrigating the wound while Katie looked on.

‘Okay, that should be clean enough now,’ he said after a while. ‘We’ll start him on antibiotics to prevent any infection,’ he told the nurse, ‘and keep on with the anticonvulsant therapy. In the meantime, give Mr Kelso a call and find out if he’s ready for him up in Theatre, will you?’

The nurse nodded. ‘Right away.’

A few minutes later when they had the go-ahead, Nick took his patient to the lift. ‘Will you be here when I come back?’ he asked Katie. ‘I’m going to stay with Darren until the operation’s over, but it would be good to talk to you some more.’

She nodded. ‘I want to see how he does in surgery. Perhaps I should go and talk to Mrs Mayfield? I know Mr Kelso has spoken to her already, but she might appreciate having someone with her to answer any questions.’

‘That would be brilliant, if you don’t mind. I’m sure you and she have already managed to build up rapport and it’ll be good for her to have someone familiar to be with her.’

The lift doors closed behind him, and Katie walked away, heading for the waiting room where Mrs Mayfield was sitting anxiously, hoping for news of her son.

‘Can I get you anything?’ Katie asked, going to sit beside her. ‘A cup of coffee, perhaps?’

Mrs Mayfield shook her head. ‘A nurse brought me one already, thank you.’ She looked near to tears. ‘I’ve been trying to contact my husband. He was at a conference, but he’s coming straight back here now.’ She looked at Katie. ‘Darren’s in a bad way, isn’t he? He was unconscious for so long. What’s going to happen to him?’

‘Darren was unconscious because the impact of the surfboard pushed the bones of his skull inward, causing them to break and press down on the lining of his brain. This damaged some of the blood vessels, so that a blood clot built up quickly between the skull and the lining.’

Mrs Mayfield nodded to show that she understood. ‘And this operation that he’s having—Mr Kelso said they needed to bring down the pressure. How will they do that?’

‘The surgeon will lift up the bone fragments that are pressing down, and at the same time he’ll suck out the blood clot.’

‘But will he be able to stop the bleeding? Won’t the clot build up again?’

‘He’ll use special materials to repair the blood vessels so that shouldn’t happen. You can be sure that he’ll do the very best he can for your son, Mrs. Mayfield.’ Katie used a reassuring tone, her heart going out to this woman who was petrified for her boy’s safety. She couldn’t bear to think how she would feel if she had children of her own. It must be the worst thing in the world to know that they were in danger.

She stayed with her for some twenty minutes, until the door opened and Mr Mayfield walked into the room. He went over to his wife and held her tight, both of them fearful and anxious about their son.

Katie left them alone. A nurse would come by and see how they were doing in a while, and now Katie went along to the emergency room to find out if there was any news.

She knew quite a few of the doctors and nurses who worked there by now, from her work as a paediatrician and first responder. Sometimes she had to liaise with them over the phone, and occasionally, as today, she would ride along with the patient and make the handover in person.

‘No news yet,’ the nurse said, ‘but Nick’s on his way down from Theatre. He wants us to make preparations to send the boy over to the intensive care unit.’

Katie nodded. ‘Thanks for letting me know, Abby. I’ll wait by the nurses’ station, if that’s all right. I really want to know how he does.’

‘Of course it is.’ She smiled. ‘The one consolation is that having you there from the outset must have given the boy at least a sporting chance. Too often, time drags on before people with head injuries have expert treatment. Nick reckons you did a great job.’

Katie gave a bleak smile. ‘Let’s hope we’ve all done enough to make a difference. It’s such a devastating experience all round. One minute the boy’s out there, enjoying the sunshine and the exhilaration of surfing the waves, and the next, in a freak accident, he’s out cold and fighting for his life.’ She shook her head. ‘I’ve trained for this, but I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.’

‘Neither will I,’ Abby said.

‘You get through it by doing the best you can for your patients,’ Nick commented, coming to join them. ‘That way you get to sleep easier at night.’

Katie turned to face him, while the nurse left them to go and fetch linen from the supply room. ‘Maybe you manage to drop off well enough,’ she murmured. ‘I can’t say that it comes that easily to me.’

‘That’s a shame.’ He draped an arm around her. ‘Maybe I could help to remedy that?’ he ventured on a husky note. ‘Perhaps I could find some way to soothe you to sleep.’ He lifted a quizzical brow, looking deep into her eyes.

Katie felt her colour rise. ‘In your dreams,’ she murmured.

He laughed. ‘Well, it was worth a try, I thought.’

‘Not really…and I have to say, your timing sucks.’ She frowned. ‘How is Darren? Did he come through the operation all right?’

His expression sobered. ‘Mr Kelso managed to finish the procedure without there being any added complications,’ he said. ‘The boy’s intracranial pressure is at a safer level now, but his blood pressure’s still alarmingly high. ICU will monitor him closely, of course. All we can do now is wait and see if he can pull through. He’s young and previously in good health, so that’s in his favour.’ He sent her an encouraging smile. ‘The young are quite resilient, as you know. It never ceases to amaze me how they bounce back from even the most traumatic of situations.’

‘I’ll keep my hopes up for him.’ She gazed around the emergency department. ‘Everything seems very well coordinated around here,’ she said. ‘The staff all seem to work very well together—I expect that has something to do with the way you run things. You’re in charge here, aren’t you? Everyone speaks very highly of you.’

‘I’m glad of that.’ He looked at her from under dark lashes. ‘A lot of people, the press especially, seem to think that because I come from a wealthy family I don’t need to work and I’m not career orientated, but they couldn’t be more wrong. I love my job.’

‘I think I’ve seen that for myself. Though you’re right…you do tend to get negative publicity from time to time, don’t you?’

He sighed, leaning back against the nurses’ station, crossing one long leg over the other at the ankles. ‘It seems to be an occupational hazard. If you belong to a family with international holdings, I suppose you’re bound to find yourself in the news from time to time.’

She nodded. ‘There was a short piece about Mrs Wyatt’s accident in the local press, but it was quite favourable. The journalist pointed out that you’d acted swiftly in sending for medical treatment, and that you’d helped make her stay in hospital more comfortable.’

‘That’s something, at least.’ He made a wry smile. ‘My father employs a spokesman to deal with the press. It helps to dispel any of the more outlandish stories, and gives the public our take on events.’

‘Perhaps your spokesman wasn’t around when the Shannon Draycott story broke?’ she said softly. ‘That must have caused you a few uneasy moments.’

His mouth turned down at the corners. ‘I see you’ve been discovering my lurid past. No wonder you keep fending me off. I expect you’re one of these people who believe everything you read in the papers?’

She shrugged lightly. ‘Not necessarily. Though I do go along with the principle that there’s no smoke without fire.’ He hadn’t exactly denied the story, had he? According to the papers, they had been engaged to be married—what kind of man was he that could make light of such a thing?

He winced. ‘Then I’m obviously doomed.’ A glint of amusement came into his eyes. ‘Is there anything I can do to restore your confidence in me? I’m really one of the good guys, you know. And when I spoke to Shannon last week she seemed reasonably content with the way her life was going.’

So he was still in touch with her. The thought sounded a death knell in Katie’s mind to any hopes that the stories might be a figment of someone’s imagination. ‘I’m glad to hear it. Perhaps she counts herself lucky to have escaped.’

‘Ouch!’ He clamped a hand to his chest and pretended to stagger. ‘That was a well-aimed blow. I didn’t realise Dr Katie Logan had such a cutting edge… though I suppose you’ve sharpened up your defences this last year or so.’

She nodded. ‘You can count on it.’ After her experience with James, she was well prepared, and on her guard, for men who had hidden secrets and a good deal of charm.

‘Hmm.’ He studied her thoughtfully. ‘So what am I to do to persuade you that things are not as they seem? Do you think spending more time with me would help you to get to know me better?’

It was her turn to laugh. ‘I have to give you eleven out of ten for trying, anyway. You’re irrepressible, aren’t you?’

‘Where you’re concerned, yes, I am.’ His gaze meshed with hers. ‘So how about coming along to a wine tasting at the vineyard? We’re celebrating a new Pinot Noir this year, one of our finest…and you did say you’d like to see around the vineyard, didn’t you? Your father’s maybe, but ours is right alongside?’

‘I… Um...’ She thought things through. Ever since she had seen her father’s land, she had been caught up in the wonder of vine culture, and now she was fascinated by everything to do with wine and wine making. She was intrigued to take a look over the Bellini land and see if it was anything like her father’s. Where was the harm? It wouldn’t be like going on a date, would it? After all, there would be other people around.

‘A little wine tasting can be good for the soul,’ Nick murmured in a coaxing tone. ‘It helps you to look on life with a much more mellow attitude.’

‘I’m sure that’s true.’ She smiled, and against all her best intentions heard herself say, ‘Thanks, I think I’d enjoy that.’

. ‘That’s great news. I’ll come and pick you up. Will you be free after work on Wednesday? I have a half-day then.’

‘I will,’ she murmured. ‘I’ll look forward to it.’

Later, though, as she waved goodbye to the paramedic who gave her a lift back to her car where she had left it on the coast road, she couldn’t help wondering if she was making a mistake. Why, when every part of her knew that she should avoid getting involved with Nick, did she keep digging herself in deeper?

CHAPTER FIVE

‘KATIE, Dr Bellini wants to know if you will consult with him on a young patient in the emergency department.’ Carla popped her head round the door of Katie’s office and waited for an answer. ‘I could ask Mike to cover for you here, if you like.’

‘Okay. Tell him I’ll be along in five minutes.’ Katie put the last suture into the cut on a small child’s lip. ‘There you are, young man, all finished. You’ve been very brave.’ She smiled at the six-year-old and reached into her desk drawer for a colouring sheet and a teddy-bear badge. ‘I think you deserve these, don’t you?’

The boy gave a tentative nod and studied the piece of paper she’d handed him. ‘A racing car!’ he exclaimed in delight. ‘I’m going to colour it red, and put stripes on the wings.’ He looked up at her. ‘Thank you.’

‘My pleasure.’

She saw the boy and his mother out into the corridor, and then readied herself to go along to the emergency unit, smoothing down her pencil-line skirt and making sure that her blouse neatly skimmed the curve of her hips.