Sheltered by Her Top-Notch Boss

He looked at the golden-topped scones and smiled. ‘A sample of your home baking? I thought there was a wonderful smell in the kitchen.’ He sent her a quick, appreciative glance. ‘How could I resist? Thanks. I haven’t eaten yet this evening, so these will fill a hole.’

She raised her brows. ‘You’ve not eaten? How did that come about?’

He shrugged. ‘I was busy. I had a difficult case to deal with—a perforated appendix—and there were a couple of meetings I had to attend—one of them straight after my shift finished. It happens like that sometimes.’ He cut a scone in half, spreading butter on each portion, and then added a spoonful of jam.

‘Hmm. Perhaps you could introduce a snacks trolley so staff can grab a bite to eat if they can’t make time to go to the restaurant. It shouldn’t cost much and we could all chip in to fund it.’ She poured coffee and slid a cup towards him. She wasn’t going to sit down. That would be too much like supping with the enemy.

‘That’s a good idea … a very good idea.’ He bit into the scone and for a moment, as he chewed, a look of absorbed bliss came over his face. Ellie’s breath caught in her throat. There was a boyish look about him that tugged at her heart and for a moment or two she floundered. ‘These are delicious,’ he said, smiling his satisfaction.

‘Hmm.’ She pulled herself together and studied him. ‘Does that mean I get to keep my job?’

His brows met in puzzlement and she added, ‘There was something you needed to tell me?’

‘Ah.’ He finished off the scone and swallowed some of the coffee. ‘I wish I didn’t have to tell you this, but …’ He paused. ‘Amelia Holt came into the hospital today and made a formal complaint. She believes her aunt didn’t receive the proper care and attention she needed, resulting in her death.’

‘Oh, no.’ Ellie went pale, and felt for a seat opposite him, sitting down as her legs seemed to give way. ‘I know she was upset, but what does she think I should have done?’

‘She says you should have done a pericardiectomy. She’s obviously been looking things up or talking to someone who knows a bit about medicine.’

‘But that kind of surgery is usually a last resort.’ Her mouth was dry and her heart had suddenly begun to thump heavily against her rib cage. She swallowed hard. ‘Removing the pericardium is a risky procedure, and her aunt’s heart was already weak.’

‘I agree. It wouldn’t have been the first course of action I’d have taken, but we have to acknowledge the complaint, I’m afraid.’

‘So what happens now?’ Ellie’s palms were clammy, and she rubbed them against her jeans. Inside she was shaking.

‘We have to set up a meeting with her to discuss the issue. If she accepts your viewpoint, there won’t be anything more to be said, but if not, we have to take it through an independent review procedure.’

‘All right. I understand. I … I just have to wait and see how … how things …’

He reached for her hand and captured it between his. ‘Ellie, it’s going to be all right. You’ve done nothing wrong.’

‘I know, but …’ The warmth of his caress comforted her, and for a while she lost herself in that gentle, yet firm, grasp. ‘I still …’

‘I’ll go with you to the meeting, if that will help. You don’t need to worry about this. I’m on your side.’

She nodded. ‘Yes. I’d appreciate that. Thank you.’

He held her hand for a while longer, until she seemed to have calmed down. She let out a soft, shuddery sigh.

‘Okay, then,’ he said, gently releasing her. ‘I’ll arrange everything. Don’t think about it again until the meeting.’ His gaze meshed with hers. ‘Promise me you’ll cast it from your mind?’

‘I’ll try.’ In spite of herself, she was already missing that warm embrace. Of course, she should never have let him comfort her—she didn’t want to get close to the man whose father had destroyed her family. And yet …

‘Good. I’m sorry I had to bring bad news.’

She nodded. ‘I suppose we all have troubles to bear.’ She glanced at him. ‘I hear that things aren’t so good for you back home. I know you said your father was unwell, but it’s quite serious, isn’t it?’

‘His heart is failing, so life is difficult for him.’ He braced his shoulders. ‘It’s not as bad as it sounds—as you know, people can live for years with heart failure. It’s more a matter of quality of life that needs to be addressed.’

‘Yes.’ When someone’s heart began to fail, it meant that the heart couldn’t cope with pumping blood around the body, resulting in breathlessness, discomfort and fatigue.

‘Still,’ she said, ‘he must be glad to have you back home. Are you living at the manor house?’

‘I am.’

‘And is that working out all right? You get on well with him, don’t you?’

‘Yes, I do.’ He gave a wry smile. ‘I’m his only son and he’s relying on me to take care of things and secure the family’s heritage.’

She thought about that. ‘I suppose you’ve had your career to keep you busy up till now. Becoming a consultant is a huge step.’

‘It is.’ He might have said something more, except that a small sound alerted them to the fact that they were no longer alone in the kitchen. They turned round.

Jayden stood in the doorway, clutching his teddy bear in the crook of his arm and rubbing his eye sleepily with his free hand. ‘You putted the light out,’ he said accusingly, looking at Ellie. ‘I has to have the light on.’

Ellie hurried over to him and crouched down, bringing herself to his level. ‘Oh, Jayden, sweetheart, I’m sorry.’

She’d turned the lamp out in case the light disturbed him. ‘Let me take you back to bed. I’ll leave your bedroom door open a little and put the hall light on. Will that be all right?’

The little boy nodded, and Ellie took hold of his hand to gently lead him back upstairs. She glanced back at James. ‘I won’t be long.’

‘That’s okay.’ He said it slowly and she saw that he was staring at Jayden in some kind of shock, his eyes wide, and a small frown creased his brow. Then he seemed to get himself together. ‘Actually, uh … no need to rush. I should go. I have to go on to a dinner party.’

‘Oh, I see. Of course … if you must.’

Jayden looked up at him. ‘Who that?’ he asked, holding onto Ellie’s leg for protection as she stood up.

‘I work with him at the hospital,’ she told him quietly.

James made an effort to relax and said with a smile, ‘Hello, Jayden.’

Jayden didn’t answer, but gave him a cautious look from under his lashes.

‘Come on,’ Ellie murmured. ‘Let’s take you back to bed. You have to get up for school in the morning.’ She glanced at James once more. ‘Give me a minute and I’ll see you out.’

‘That’s all right. I can see myself out. You go ahead.’ He walked towards the door. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’

‘All right, then. Bye.’ She couldn’t quite understand the expression on his face, a mixture of disbelief and conjecture, and it was only after James had gone that it finally dawned on her … he thought Jayden was her child. But he’d gone, without giving her a chance to explain.

CHAPTER THREE

‘IS THERE SOMETHING on your mind?’ Lewis studied Ellie thoughtfully as they walked together towards A and E. ‘What’s wrong? Is it something to do with your TV programme? You look worried.’

‘Do I?’ Ellie covered her feelings with an attempt at a smile. ‘No, I’m not worried. Everything’s fine.’ And that was true, at least as far as her TV career was concerned. She was to record the next programme in the series in a few days’ time.

As to the rest, things were unravelling fast, and she couldn’t begin to tell him about that—where would she start? With the fact that in the last few days she’d discovered that her hospital career was under a cloud, or that her boss was the very last person she’d want to work with? Or maybe she could blame her troubles on the cryptic text message she’d received from Noah that morning—one that had left her wondering what on earth was about to explode in her face and cause all manner of fallout. He must have sent it yesterday, but she’d been busy looking after Jayden and hadn’t checked her messages.

Things are on the up and up. Just had a huge scoop—the Sunday Supplement printed my article and photo exposé about the Birchenalls. Will get a copy to you.

Despite her bad feelings towards Lord Birchenall, she would never have condoned putting forward any piece of writing that drew a negative picture of his family. It wasn’t in her to take that kind of revenge.

Unfortunately, though, it looked as though she was too late to put the brakes on Noah. Today was Monday, which meant the paper had already gone out. Whatever the article contained, it didn’t sound good, and she could only hope James hadn’t seen it.

‘Is it to do with your meeting with Amelia Holt tomorrow?’ Lewis persisted. ‘It must be on your mind.’

‘I suppose it is, but I’m trying not to think about it.’

‘I can understand that.’ He glanced at her. ‘Perhaps we could have lunch together tomorrow, and you can tell me all about it?

She nodded. She certainly didn’t want to talk about any of her problems to Lewis, though, so she did her best to change the subject as they walked into the emergency unit.

‘How is Lily getting on?’ she asked. ‘I went to see her over the weekend, and although she hid it from Jayden, it seemed to me she was a bit down.’

Jayden had been overjoyed to see his mother. He’d given her a picture he’d made, showing her sitting up in bed, with a teddy bear of her own to cheer her up. He’d beamed brightly when she’d given him a hug and a kiss in exchange.

Lewis pulled a face. ‘It’s only to be expected, I suppose. She has an intravenous drip to contend with, she’s not enjoying the enforced rest, and she wants to be with her child. And, of course, her husband’s still away. That can’t be good for her peace of mind, and it has a bad effect on her blood pressure.’

Ellie frowned. ‘He offered to come straight home from Switzerland to be with her, but she was worried about the effect on the business. He owns the company, so it’s their livelihood. Unfortunately he’s had to deal with a lot of difficult situations in the Swiss branch lately.’

‘That’s bound to cause a conflict of loyalties, I suppose.’

She nodded. ‘I told her I’m okay looking after Jayden, and she hasn’t gone into labour, so she told him to finish what he went there for. He says he’s going to come over here to be with her and then go back to work next day. Of course, they talk all the time on the phone, so that helps.’

‘Well, we seem to have stabilised her condition for now, but I’m keeping her on bed rest—her blood pressure does vary and we need to keep it down. As soon as I feel the time is right, we’ll deliver her baby by Caesarean section.’

‘At least I know she’s in safe hands.’

He smiled and said teasingly, ‘You know I’m taking extra-special care of her just because she’s your friend.’

Ellie laughed and they parted company as she set out to work her way down her list of patients and Lewis went off to answer his pager call.

James watched her approach the desk. He was there looking through a sheaf of papers, and as she came closer she saw they were lab reports.

‘Hi, there,’ she greeted him, but he only nodded in return, his eyes half-closed as he watched Lewis head towards one of the treatment bays. She looked at him in confusion. That wasn’t the reaction she’d expected. Again she had the feeling that there was some reason he didn’t want her being friendly with Lewis. Or was there something more to it?

‘I have to go out,’ he said, ‘so perhaps you could deal with the angina patient in room three?’ His tone was curt and she sent him a quick glance. His whole body was taut, she noticed, and a muscle was flexing in his jaw.

‘Okay.’ She frowned. ‘Will you be coming back at all today?’

‘I don’t know. My father was taken ill yesterday, and just now I had a call to say he’s taken a turn for the worse. I have to go and be with him.’

‘Oh, I’m so sorry,’ she said, a flood of sympathy washing over her. ‘That must be worrying for you.’ A horrible thought struck her. Had he seen the Sunday papers?

He didn’t answer her, but his smoke-dark gaze met hers like the lash of a whip, and she felt her throat go dry.

‘James …’

‘I’ve examined the patient briefly and he has unstable angina. He’ll probably need to be scheduled for cardiac catheterisation as soon as possible. I’ve given him blood-thinning medication, but he’ll need a beta-blocker and—’

‘I’ll see to it,’ she cut in. ‘Really, you don’t need to be concerned. I’ll do everything necessary.’ Didn’t he trust her? Was he having second thoughts about her competency now that Mel had made an official complaint?

‘I’m not concerned. Not about that, at any rate.’

‘Then what is it that’s troubling you?’

‘Perhaps you should talk to your brother about that. His article in the Sunday paper wasn’t even based on truth—my father’s business dealings are all above board. He would never harass anyone. And as for myself, what gives him the right to lay out my private life in the tabloids for all to see? What he did was irresponsible—unforgivable—especially given my father’s precarious state of health.’

He dropped the papers back in the tray and strode away before she could answer him. All at once her stomach felt like lead. So he had seen the newspaper. Now, more than ever, she wanted to know what Noah had written.

‘He’s well and truly put out, isn’t he?’ Olivia said, frowning, as she came to look at a patient’s file. She pushed a stray lock of fair hair behind her ear. ‘I’ve not seen him like that before—mind you, if you’ve seen the paper … I guess you must have—there’s a copy in the staff lounge.’

‘I haven’t seen it,’ Ellie answered quietly. ‘What’s it all about?’

‘Well, it’s to do with both him and his father. James has this upper-crust girlfriend, Sophie Granger—’

‘He does?’ Unexpectedly, Ellie’s heart plummeted. It hadn’t occurred to her that James was spoken for. But why would he not be involved? After all, he was an extremely eligible man.

Olivia nodded. ‘She’s from a well-to-do family—you know the sort of thing, born to money. They’re close friends of the Birchenalls, apparently. Anyway, there were several photos of him with her, but then there are also pictures of him leaving a private dinner party with another beautiful young woman. The article sort of makes him sound like a philanderer.’

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