Becoming Dr Bellini's Bride

He gave Nick a compelling stare, and Nick’s eyes widened a fraction. An odd look of comprehension passed between the two men, as though somehow in that brief moment they had cemented some kind of masculine bond of understanding with one another.

Katie drew in a shocked breath. She felt as though she’d had the wind knocked out of her. Why was her father tittle-tattling her private business, especially to a man she’d only just met? Could things possibly get any worse? She was beginning to feel slightly nauseous.

‘Well, that would certainly explain things.’ Nick rested his fork on his plate. He studied her curiously, a faintly puzzled but sympathetic expression creasing his brow. ‘I’m sorry. I imagine it must have come as a great shock to you,’ he murmured. ‘These things are very upsetting, of course, especially if it came out of the blue. He obviously meant a great deal to you, this man, if his fall from grace caused you to do something as drastic as to leave home and come out here. That must have been really difficult for you.’

He paused, looking at her, taking in the taut line of her jaw, and when Katie didn’t respond, he added gently, ‘But he was obviously very fond of you, too, and clearly he tried to explain his actions. I find it incredible that any man would do anything to cause you distress…but, in his defence, people do make mistakes, and I suppose all we can do is talk things through and try to understand how the situation came about.’

He hesitated once more, as though waiting for her to say something, but Katie stayed mute. She couldn’t speak. Inside, she was a cauldron of seething emotions.

Perhaps her continuing silence had thrown him off balance because he added cautiously, ‘It’s not necessarily such a bad thing, fathering a child out of the confines of marriage… these things do happen sometimes. It’s how people deal with the aftermath that probably matters most—they have to accept responsibility for their actions, and then perhaps we all need to take on board what’s happened and move on.’

Katie took a deep breath and finally found her voice. ‘So you’ve studied psychology along with wine production, have you, Mr Bellini?’ Her gaze was frosty. ‘I do appreciate you trying to help—I’m sure your theory has a good deal of merit, but, you know, I think I handled the situation the very best way I could.’

She stabbed at a slice of green pepper on her plate. ‘Since I’d been with my fiancé for some three and a half years and, bearing in mind that his child was just two years old, I wasn’t about to deal with his fall from grace lightly. I’m pretty sure we talked it through to the nth degree, and I have a very good idea of how the situation came about. I’m also in no doubt that James accepted full responsibility for his actions. For my part, I acknowledged totally what had happened… and I decided to move on.’ Her green glance locked with his. ‘That’s one of the reasons why I’m here now.’

Nick looked as though he’d been knocked for six. ‘It never occurred to me that any man would cheat on you,’ he said in a preoccupied tone. ‘I’d assumed the child was born before you met.’ He held up his hands in a gesture of capitulation. ‘Okay… I admit defeat. I was totally out of order. Clearly, it’s none of my business and I was wrong to try to intervene.’ He frowned. ‘And you must call me Nick. I insist.’

Katie gave a crooked semblance of a smile. ‘Perhaps it would be for the best if we change the subject?’ She glanced at her father. He had started all this, but he seemed altogether indifferent to the havoc he had caused. He simply picked up the wine bottle and began to refill her glass.

‘This is an excellent vintage,’ he said. ‘I’ll order another bottle.’

Katie took a sip of wine. ‘Tell me more about the vineyards,’ she said, shooting a glance towards Nick. ‘How much involvement do you have, if you’re in partnership with your father and brother? Do you each have separate roles?’

‘We do. I deal with the wine-making process rather than the growing side of things, whereas your father is more interested in aspects of cultivation. It’s intensely important to get it right, if we’re to produce a select variety of wines. You must let me show you the winery—I’m sure you would enjoy a visit. Maybe you could come along for a wine-tasting session?’

‘Maybe.’ She wasn’t about to agree to anything.

‘I’ll give you a call some time and see if we can arrange a date.’ Clearly, he wasn’t about to give up, but by now Katie was well and truly on her guard.

From then on, they kept the conversation light. The meal progressed, and Katie tried to damp down her feelings of antagonism towards this man who had cut in on her time with her father. What did her father care about her sensibilities, anyway? Perhaps she was wasting her time trying to find out why he had left all those long years ago.

And as to Nick Bellini, she had made up her mind that she would steer clear of him…no matter how hard he tried to persuade her into another meeting. He had touched a nerve with his comments, leaving her unusually rattled, and, besides, she knew it was a matter of self-preservation to avoid him. He could turn on the charm as easily as igniting a flame. She had been burned once. She wasn’t going to risk body and soul all over again.

CHAPTER TWO

‘NO, MUM, I really don’t want to go and live with my father.’ Katie frowned at the idea. ‘He suggested it but, to be honest, it would be like living with a stranger. After all, we barely know one another even after three weeks I still haven’t really managed to fathom him out.’

She glanced around the medical office that she had begun to call her own and leaned back in her seat, beginning to relax. There were still some ten minutes of her coffee break left, more than enough time to sit and chat with her mother.

‘These things take time, I suppose…’ her mother said, ‘but I think it was a wise decision to go over to California to see him. You would never have been comfortable with yourself if you hadn’t gone to seek him out. I suppose we all need to discover our roots, if only to find out if there are some genetic characteristics that have been passed on.’ Her tone was pensive. ‘I know you’re like your father in some ways—you know what you want, and once you’ve made up your mind, you go after it. That’s why you’ve done so well with your medical training.’

Eve Logan was thoughtful for a moment or two, and Katie could imagine her at the other end of the line, mulling things over. ‘It’s a shame you couldn’t find a place to stay that was nearer to the hospital, though,’ Eve added. ‘A half-hour drive to work every day doesn’t sound too good, though I expect it could have been worse.’ She hesitated. ‘Anyway, how is your father? From what you said last week, it sounds as though he’s more ill than we suspected.’

‘He has breathing problems—he’s suffering from what they call chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.’ Katie had spoken to her father about his difficulties, and though he’d been reluctant to dwell on his problems, he’d at least opened up enough to give her a brief outline. ‘He’s taking a variety of medicines to keep it under control, but I don’t think they’re having the desired effect. I suspect his condition’s deteriorating. He puts on a show of being able to cope, but I can see that it’s a struggle for him sometimes.’

She paused. ‘Anyway, you’re right, it makes me even more glad that I decided to come out here when I did. No matter what I think about him, he’s my father, and I feel as though I have to get to know him. Trouble is, every time we meet, he manages to sidestep my questions one way or another, or we’re interrupted somehow.’

It still rankled that Nick Bellini had come along to disrupt her lunch with her father, though in truth she couldn’t really blame him for that. He was an innocent bystander in all this, wasn’t he, and how could he know what kind of relationship they had?

Still, he’d reached her in more ways than she could have imagined. Her father’s business associate wasn’t someone she would easily forget.

‘That must be annoying,’ her mother acknowledged. ‘Still, you have plenty of time to build up some kind of relationship with him. You’ve signed a contract for a year, haven’t you, so you don’t have to rush things…and if, in the end, it doesn’t work out, you can always come home. There’ll always be a place here for you.’

‘Thanks, Mum. That’s good to know.’ Katie’s mouth made a rueful curve. She made it sound so easy, but the truth was, her mother was making a new life for herself back in Shropshire. She was going to marry Simon, a director of the pharmaceutical company where she worked, and they were very much wrapped up in one another right now. Katie wasn’t going to do anything to intrude on that.

‘Anyway,’ she said, ‘in the meantime, the scenery around here is fantastic, and with any luck I’ll get to see the vineyard before too long. It’s not as big as the Bellini vineyard next to it, but by all accounts it’s quite impressive.’

‘Bellini—I’ve heard that name,’ her mother commented, an inflection of interest in her voice. ‘There was an article about them in the Sunday supplement some time ago…all about the different varieties of wine they produce, as I recall. Apparently their land included your father’s vineyard at one time—there was something about an Italian migrant seeing the potential for development at the turn of the last century and buying up as much acreage as he could afford. But as the generations went by there were financial problems and part of the land was sold off around 1980. As far as I know, your father didn’t get into the business until some twenty or so years ago.’

‘Well, he’s made a success of it, by all accounts,’ Katie murmured. Her mother’s comments about the Sunday supplements had triggered a thought process in her mind, but she still couldn’t remember what it was that she’d read about Nick Bellini. Some kind of high-society gossip that kept the Sunday papers occupied for a week or two, but annoyingly the gist of it had slipped her mind.

Her pager began to bleep, and she glanced at the small screen, quickly scanning the text message from her boss. ‘I’m sorry, Mum,’ she said, ‘but I’ll have to ring you back later. I have to go out on an emergency call. Someone’s had a fall at a hotel nearby, and I need to go and see what the damage is.’

‘All right, Katie, love. Take care of yourself. Remember I’m always here for you.’

‘I will. Bye, Mum.’

Katie grabbed her medical bag and stopped by the reception desk on her way out. ‘Divert any patients to Mike O’Brien, will you, Carla? I’m going out on a call to the Pine Vale Hotel.’

‘I’ll do that. No problem. You’ll find the hotel just off the main road out of here.’ The clerk gave her a wave as Katie disappeared through the wide front doors of the building.

Pine Vale Hotel was up in the hills, only a short drive from the hospital, and Katie reached it in good time. As she slid out of her car and took a look around, she was stunned by the magnificence of the building. White painted, it was a long, symmetrical edifice with two front extending wings at either end. It stood three storeys high, and there were large, Georgian-styled windows in abundance, with green painted shutters folded back. On the ground floor several sets of French doors were set back in archways, and Katie guessed the hotel must be flooded with light.

She wasn’t wrong. Inside, the foyer reflected a quiet elegance, with traditional, comfy sofas that invited people to sit and take their ease. There were low, marble-topped tables and flower arrangements everywhere, adding glorious splashes of colour to delight the eye.

‘Hello.’ Katie introduced herself to the woman behind the desk. ‘I’m Dr Logan. I understand you have a patient for me.’

‘Oh, thank goodness you’re here.’ The woman, around thirty years old, with fair hair cut into a neat, gently curving bob, looked relieved. ‘Yes, please come with me and I’ll take you to her. The ambulance is on its way… the emergency services said they were sending a doctor out as well, as there might be a head injury, so I’m really glad to see you. I’m Jenny, by the way… Jenny Goldblum. I’m the hotel manager.’

Katie nodded acknowledgement. ‘I was told that the lady fell in her room and appears to be semiconscious—did anyone see the fall? It always helps to know the circumstances.’

Jenny shook her head. She pressed the button for the lift, and frowned as the door swished open. ‘It isn’t clear what happened. The maid found her when she went to clean the room. We think perhaps it had only just happened because a lady in the room next door had been speaking to Mrs Wyatt just a minute or so before.’

They stepped out of the lift on to the first floor, and Katie was ushered into a large, airy room, furnished in elegant style. There was a double bed with bedside units and an oak dresser to one side of the room, but at the far end, by the window, furniture had been arranged in a seating area. There was an oval oak coffee table and a couple of brocade-covered straight-backed chairs, along with armchairs upholstered in a matching fabric.

The patient, a woman in her fifties, was lying on the floor by the dresser. ‘What’s her first name?’ Katie asked. ‘Do you know?’

‘It’s Laura,’ Jenny answered. ‘She’s staying here with her husband, but he went out earlier for a walk. We haven’t been able to contact him yet.’

‘Okay, thanks.’

The woman was being tended by one of the hotel staff members, but the girl moved aside as Katie approached. A rug covered the area close by, and it looked as though this had been crumpled when Mrs Wyatt fell.

Katie went to kneel down beside the injured woman. ‘Mrs Wyatt… Laura… I’m Dr Logan. Can you hear me? Are you able to answer me?’

Laura Wyatt mumbled something indistinct and Katie tried again. ‘Do you feel pain anywhere, Laura?’ she asked gently. ‘Can you tell me where it hurts?’

Again there was a muffled reply, and Katie came to the conclusion that Mrs Wyatt was too dazed to answer properly. She began a swift initial examination, checking for any obvious injuries and finishing with a neurological check.

‘Laura,’ she said at last, ‘I think you’ve broken your shoulder—I know that it must be very painful, so I’m going to give you an injection to help with that. Do you understand what I’m saying?’

Laura tried to speak, but whatever she was trying to say didn’t come out right, and Katie went ahead and set up an intravenous line. ‘We’re going to get you to hospital just as soon as possible,’ she told the woman. ‘In the meantime, I’m going to try to make you more comfortable with a sling that will stop you moving your arm.’

It wasn’t clear whether Laura understood or simply couldn’t answer, but Katie went on with her examination, checking her patient’s blood pressure and listening to her heart.

‘What’s happened here?’ A familiar male voice disturbed Katie’s quiet concentration, and she looked up to see with a shock that Nick Bellini had entered the room. ‘Katie?’ He frowned, studying her for a moment, then turned his attention to her patient. Mrs Wyatt was groaning faintly.

His expression became grim, his eyes an intense, troubled blue.

‘Nick?’ Katie queried, removing the stethoscope from her ears. What was he doing here? And why had he thought it would be all right to come barging in that way? ‘You really shouldn’t be in here,’ she told him. ‘I’m examining a patient.’

‘Yes… I see that. I’m sorry for intruding, but you have to understand, I own this hotel... I came as soon as I heard... I’m very concerned that someone has been injured on the premises.’ His glance went to the woman once more. ‘How is she?’

Katie’s eyes widened. He owned this beautiful place? Was there no end to the extent of his empire? She blinked, and then hurriedly dragged her mind back to the business in hand. ‘She has a fractured shoulder. I’m sure you must be very worried,’ she murmured. ‘That’s understandable…s but this lady has a right to privacy. I think you should leave.’

His head went back, a lock of midnight hair falling across his brow. He seemed stunned by her words, as though it hadn’t for an instant occurred to him that anyone would ever try to evict him from where he wanted to be. She waited, bracing herself and expecting an argument, but then he said briefly, ‘You’ll keep me informed?’

Katie nodded, and without another word he turned and strode out of the room.

She went back to treating her patient. Nick’s intrusion had set her emotions in turmoil once more. She had thought she had seen the last of him, and yet here he had turned up when she’d least expected him. His presence had thrown her completely off balance, and now, perhaps because she’d just learned of his association with the hotel, there was a snippet of a newspaper headline running through her head… Something about an heiress… the daughter of a hotel magnate… and Nick Bellini.

She made an effort to push all thoughts of him to one side, and concentrated her attention on her patient, helping the woman to sit up. Then she put the immobiliser sling in place.

‘That should keep you fairly pain free until they can take care of you at the hospital,’ she said.

The paramedics arrived a few minutes later, and Katie went with them to oversee her patient’s transfer to the ambulance. By this time Laura’s husband had arrived, and he went along with her, sitting beside his wife and holding her hand.

Katie turned to go back into the hotel, only to find that Nick was right there by her side. She gave a startled jump. He seemed to tower over her, his body firm as a rock. She took a moment to gather herself together and then she gave him a fleeting once-over. He was turned out as faultlessly as ever, dressed in a perfectly tailored dark suit that made him every inch the businessman, a force to be reckoned with.

He looked at her. ‘A fractured shoulder, you said. Was she able to tell you what caused her to fall? Was it possible that it could have been the rug in her room—might she have tripped?’

She frowned, walking back with him into the foyer of the hotel. ‘Are you worried about liability?’ she asked. ‘Is that why you rushed over here?’

‘First and foremost, I came to see how the lady was doing… but, yes, I have to think about the hotel’s liability in this. We take every precaution, but if someone were to be hurt on the premises, it could lead to some very worrying consequences.’

‘Well, unfortunately I can’t really say what caused the accident. Mrs Wyatt was too dazed to give me any answers, I’m afraid. All I know is that she’ll probably need to have shoulder replacement surgery—she fell heavily and it was a nasty injury.’

His mouth flattened as he absorbed that information. Then he said in an even tone, ‘Do you have to rush on to another call, or would you have time to stay and have a drink with me?’

She hesitated. Part of her wanted to walk away and avoid getting involved with him any further than need be, but another bit of her recognised his concern. He was anxious for the woman’s well-being, and as a hotel proprietor he must be all too conscious of the threat of litigation. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to stay for a while and talk things through with him.

‘I don’t have to be back at work—my surgery hours are finished for the day, but I’m still on call, so perhaps we should make it coffee rather than anything alcoholic?’

He smiled, his face relaxing for the first time, reminding her all too potently of that sizzling allure that had made her go weak at the knees the first time she’d met him. She had to keep a firm hold on herself. This man could annihilate her sense of security with just one look, and that wouldn’t do at all. She’d been down that road, and from her experience it led to heartache… big time. Emotionally, James, her ex, had scarred her for life. She’d been blissfully unaware that he’d been cheating on her, and once his indiscretions had come to light it had torn the heart out of her.

‘We’ll go out on to the sun terrace,’ he said. ‘I’ll have Jenny send us out a tray of coffee. Just give me a moment to catch up with her.’ He lightly cupped Katie’s elbow, as though to keep her close, and she stood still for a moment while he beckoned to Jenny. That light touch was like a searing brand on her soft flesh.

The hotel manager was waiting by the desk, talking to the receptionist, but she turned and came over immediately.

‘Ask chef to make up a lunch tray, will you, Jenny? Dr Logan will be staying for a while. We’ll be out on the terrace by the shrubbery.’

Jenny nodded. ‘I’ll do that.’ She glanced at Katie. ‘Is Mrs Wyatt going to be all right?’

‘I hope so,’ Katie answered. ‘The shoulder will give her some problems for quite a while, but those can be dealt with. I’m more concerned about her lack of response. They’ll have to do tests at the hospital.’

Jenny nodded and hurried away to find the chef. Nick ushered Katie across the foyer and lounge then out through wide glass doors onto a paved area that was set out with white-painted wrought-iron tables and chairs. The scent of roses filled the air, and Katie was struck by the mass of colour all around, shades of crimson, yellow and pink shrub roses, all vying for attention in the landscaped garden.

‘It’s really beautiful out here,’ Katie murmured as they sat down at one of the tables. ‘Everything I’ve seen so far is overwhelmingly luxurious. I had no idea that you had other interests aside from the vineyard.’

He smiled. ‘This place has been in my family’s possession for many years—as far back as I can remember. I took it over when my father decided it was time to cut back on his commitments. I bought him out, rather than see it fall to outsiders.’

She gave him a considering look. ‘The family name means a lot to you, doesn’t it? You’re very conscious of your heritage.’

He nodded. ‘That’s true. Generations of my family have lived in the valley since the end of the nineteenth century, and my great-great-grandfather worked immensely hard to make a go of his enterprise. I feel that we have a duty to secure the results of his labour for generations to come.’

Two waitresses came out on to the terrace just then and placed laden trays down on the table. On one there was a porcelain coffee pot, along with cups and saucers, cream and sugar. The other held an appetising selection of food, as well as plates and cutlery.

Nick began to pour coffee for both of them. ‘It isn’t just about my own heritage. At the same time I believe we have to give of our best to the local community. That’s why what happened this morning concerns me so much. We hold a certain position of trust out here. People look to us to set standards.’

He offered her a plate and napkin. ‘Please, help yourself to food.’

‘Thank you. It looks delicious.’ She gazed at the tempting choices before her. There was prosciutto, a dry-cured Italian ham, cut in paper-thin slices, along with sun-dried tomatoes, gnocchi and a crisp salad.

She added a little of each to her plate. ‘I wish I could be of more help,’ she said quietly, ‘but until Mrs Wyatt recovers enough to tell us what happened, we can only wait for the test results to come back from the hospital and hope that they will give us some clue.’

‘Was there any head injury?’

‘Not that I could see. Of course, that doesn’t always mean there’s nothing to be concerned about. Any kind of extreme jolting movement within the skull can cause problems that might develop later.’

He tasted a portion of the ham. ‘I’ll go and see her just as soon as the doctors have had time to treat her shoulder. In the interim I’ve sent the under-manager along to the hospital to see if we can do anything to make her stay more comfortable.’ He frowned. ‘It’s a dilemma. We generally make sure that the rugs in the rooms are in good condition, not easily rucked. If it was the case that she tripped, I’ll have to think about having them removed.’

Katie glanced at him across the table. His concern seemed genuine, and she wondered if there was any comfort she could offer.

‘It’s always possible that she might have a health problem that caused her to fall—something quite unrelated to the hotel. She might have suffered a dizzy spell, for instance.’