Heatherdale's Shy Nurse

‘Yes, I can see that,’ she said.

‘We’d better go and say hello to our hosts, don’t you think?’ he suggested.

* * *

It looked as if they had come together, and as they followed the two girls to the garden, where there was a good smattering of hospital folk amongst the guests, he said to Ryan, ‘Why didn’t you tell me that my ward sister was coming so that I could have given her a lift?’

‘Sorry about that, Leonie,’ Ryan told her, and turning back to Callum said in laughing retaliation, ‘Why didn’t you warn us that we were going to have to provide loud music all the time for our two cheerleaders?’

As they wandered around the gathering together Leonie was conscious of eyes upon her. She hoped their colleagues weren’t speculating too much about them.

The more she saw of Callum the more she was beginning to like him, but past experiences had made her cautious, aware of the hurts that others could dish out to the unwary, and no way was she travelling down that road again.

She knew Callum was divorced. For what reasons she didn’t know and didn’t want to, but it was pleasant to spend this sort of time with him in an easy atmosphere, away from the hospital, with no strings attached.

To his surprise, Callum found that he was enjoying himself amongst the mixed gathering which was the only kind of socialising he’d involved himself in since Shelley’s departure.

Whether the same applied to his companion was another matter.

Leonie had seemed happy enough when they’d first arrived and later when she’d chatted to her friend Melissa, but as time passed he sensed an atmosphere of withdrawal about her that hadn’t been there before, and wondered where it was coming from.

The party was due to finish around seven o’clock and he offered to drive her home.

‘It’s kind of you to offer,’ she told him, ‘but I don’t want to break into your evening. A taxi will be fine, thanks just the same.’

She left the party soon after saying her goodbyes to Melissa and Ryan, and when she looked across at Callum he was on a small putting green with Rhianna and Martha.

He was good with children, both inside and outside the hospital, but hadn’t any of his own, as far as she knew, which brought to mind one of the nursing staff saying that his wife had not been motherly-minded.

So they had one thing in common—they’d both been deprived of one of the great joys of life, but under different circumstances. On that bleak thought she left the party and decided to walk home as the sun was still high in the sky.

As she unlocked the door of the yurt Leonie glanced across to the other side of the river to where the luxury apartment complex where Callum lived was bathed in the last rays of the sun. A part of her wished that she’d let him bring her home instead of being so unsociable.

But deep down inside she knew that to refuse had been the right thing to do. Gone were the days when she’d been like putty in the hands of a man, and she was being drawn towards Callum Warrender like he was a magnet as the days went by. It hadn’t been that long since she’d been drawn to another man with disastrous results and she was wasn’t going to fall into that pit of misery ever again.

Her mouth softened at the memory of Callum’s rapport with Rhianna and Martha. He would make some child a loving father one day if he ever married again.

As she slid beneath the bed covers at a time when most of the adult population were setting out to enjoy themselves on a Saturday night, Leonie’s last mind picture of the day before sleep claimed her was of Callum playing with Rhianna and Martha at the garden party.

* * *

When the party was over Callum drove around the small market town that held so much attraction for so many and faced up to the fact that Leonie was not yearning for his company, as other women were.

She’d refused his invitation to dinner, taken a dim view of the praise he’d bestowed upon her in the hospital car park, and lastly had turned down his offer to drive her home. There would be no more gestures of friendship on his part. He had no intention of changing what he had vowed to stick with in life after Shelley. He was content in his solitary state and wouldn’t have given Leonie a second glance if it hadn’t been for the traumatic circumstances of their first meeting.

CHAPTER THREE

AS THE DAYS passed Leonie felt that her refusal of a lift home from the garden party had set the pattern for her relationship with Callum away from the hospital. But inside it could not be faulted with each of them extremely aware of the other’s dedication to their calling.

Leonie was so incredible with their young patients, Callum thought, both in her efficient nursing of them and insistence that her staff show them the same degree of care. For her own part she was so gentle with the children that he thought if Shelley hadn’t had any inclination towards motherhood Leonie Mitchell certainly did. It seemed incredible that she wasn’t already married with a family.

If it had been fear that was behind his ex-wife’s determination never to have children he could have understood it, but it was the thought of losing her fantastic figure, and what she saw as the ghastly performance of breastfeeding, which he’d pointed out was optional, plus the loss of sleep when it was teething time.

* * *

When Easter came and Heatherdale was full of sightseers over the holiday weekend, the magic of the moors and the dales would be pulling him outdoors and Callum had put himself down as on call for emergencies and was hoping he wouldn’t be needed.

He’d noted that Leonie’s name was top of the staff list for Good Friday. Her social life didn’t seem very hectic. He wondered what she did in her spare time.

Reminding himself that he had been shown quite clearly that she was a very private person away from the hospital, he put the concern out of his mind and switched his thoughts to something just as basic but more pleasant—remembering to get Rhianna and Martha the Easter eggs that he always bought at this time.

* * *

There was a brass band playing in one of the parks as Leonie cycled home after work at the end of Good Friday, and propping the bike against a nearby hedge she stopped to listen. There were lots of folk about. The café not far away was doing a brisk trade and she realised she was tired and hungry.

Eating there would save having to cook when she got home. She almost walked straight out again, though, when the first thing that registered was Callum and the Ferguson family seated at a table nearby.

Before she could depart they’d seen her. Melissa called for her to join them and there was no way she could refuse. There was an empty seat next to Callum, which she had no choice but to take.

He started the conversation.

‘What sort of a day have you had?’

‘Busy as usual,’ she replied.

‘But no emergencies or I would have heard from you,’ he commented. ‘I had my phone with me all the time.’

Leonie smiled. What was he expecting her to say to that? He didn’t have to explain himself. No one worked harder than he did.

A waitress was hovering and when she’d ordered her meal Melissa asked, ‘So what have you planned for tonight, Leonie?’

‘They’re having a disco at the community centre and I said I’d go along to help,’ she explained, aware of Callum’s nearness.

She wasn’t expecting any comment from him. He’d got the message that her life away from the hospital was a private thing, if life was the right description of lonely evenings, brightened only by an occasional visit from Julie either going or returning from the centre.

She wondered sometimes why she’d opted to continue her nursing career with children after what had happened to her own baby, but there was comfort in being able to do something for the children of others, as there had been no opportunity to help her baby. It had been too late from the start.

When they’d all finished eating they went outside to listen to the band again. Callum hadn’t left her side.

‘I know you don’t like me behaving as if we have any relationship apart from the hospital, but you need have no concerns about that. My life is mapped out how I want it to be and I presume that yours is the same, so do we have an understanding?’ he said in a low voice.

She nodded bleakly, thinking that his lifestyle might be from choice, but hers had been thrust upon her, and for evermore she would be wary of giving herself to another man, whoever they might be.

‘So how about I come along to that disco too tonight? I can give you a lift there and back to save your legs,’ he suggested. ‘I’ve nothing planned for tonight and I’d like to help.’

‘Yes, all right,’ she agreed weakly, with the thought that he might have cleared the air, as he described it, but she hadn’t, and wasn’t likely to in the near future because it would hurt too much to talk about her past.

Still, Callum had made a kind gesture and she didn’t want to make a fuss and draw even more attention to her unhappiness. She bid her farewells to the group and headed back to get ready for the evening ahead.

* * *

When Callum pulled up outside the yurt at seven o’clock Leonie was ready and waiting, dressed in jeans and a smart sweater and looking revitalised after a shower.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.