The Secret Doctor

‘I’ll go and order an echocardiograph,’ she told Emma. ‘I’ve a feeling we might need to implant a device to regulate his heartbeat, so I’ll ask the consultant to come and take a look at him.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘It’s probably too late to bring him here now, but first thing in the morning would be good.’

Emma nodded. ‘I’ll take care of him in the meantime. Any changes and I’ll let you know.’

‘Thanks, Emma.’

Lacey wrote up a form for the technician and made arrangements for Rob to undergo the testing of his heart activity. Only when all those wheels were in motion did she stop and give some thought to what she had learned about her new neighbour.

No wonder Rob had his reservations about Jake. Rob had no time for the ‘idle rich’, as he called them, but Lacey’s curiosity had been piqued.

Was Jake just out for a good time, taking life as he found it, and living it to the hilt?

And why did it bother her so much to think that a man with such charisma might be just an empty shell?

Chapter Three

LACEY stretched, trying to ease away the stiffness in her shoulders. Now that her first shift at the hospital had come to an end and she parked her car in the garage, she was left with mixed feelings about the experience. It had been an eventful day, overall, and perhaps not quite what she had expected.

Meeting so many new colleagues had been a good thing. She had even managed to overcome the difficulties of working for a medical service that was different from anything she had known back home…But coming across one of her dearest friends lying ill in a hospital bed had been a huge shock.

That was the worst part of the day, the one that left her troubled and out of sorts, so that by now the muscles in her neck were knotted with tension.

She slid out of the car and went towards the front of the house. Darkness had fallen some time ago, and in the distance she could see that Jake’s house was ablaze with light—it was coming from the windows, the open doors, and even the patio areas were bathed in gold. Soft music floated on the air, a lilting Caribbean rhythm, and it sounded as though the music was live, coming from an authentic steel band. She heard the occasional burst of laughter—obviously his party was in full swing.

She didn’t stop to listen for long, though. More than anything, she needed to unwind, and perhaps the best way to do that would be to soak in a scented bath for a while, and let the warm water soothe her aching body.

She went upstairs, ran the water into the tub and added a silky essence that produced a satisfying blanket of foam.

When she came out of the bathroom some half an hour later, she felt much more refreshed. She had put on soft cotton shorts and teamed them with a loose, button-through shirt that skimmed her hips and floated somewhere around mid-thigh. It wasn’t exactly nightwear, but the material was soft and comfortable and it felt good next to her skin.

The music was still drifting on the night air, and she wandered restlessly about the kitchen. What was going on at Jake’s house—what were his friends like? Was there some woman there who was particularly close to him? She cut that thought off at the root. She didn’t care what Jake was up to…not really…It was just that her restless mind was busy mulling things over.

The night was still warm, and even though she was tired, she knew she wouldn’t sleep. Instead, she poured herself a long glass of iced juice and wandered out to the dock area at the front of the house. It always calmed her to lean on the rail and look down at the water.

A few minutes later, she was disturbed by a soft footfall, the faintest rasp of leather on paving, and a shadow loomed beside her. ‘You look sad,’ Jake murmured, coming to join her at the rail.

‘Oh!’ Lacey jumped. Where had he come from? He had appeared like a phantom out of nowhere. The iced clinked in her glass and she spilled some of the contents over the deck rail. She stared at him open-mouthed. ‘That’s the second time you’ve done that to me,’ she said crossly. ‘You have to stop sneaking up on me that way. One of these days you could give me a heart attack.’

‘Nah—you’re way too young for that,’ he said, giving her an apologetic but altogether insincere smile. ‘I didn’t mean to startle you, though. As to sneaking…I’m pleading not guilty. I saw you out on the dock and decided to pay you a visit. I walked along the path in full view of anyone who cared to look, but you were so deep in thought you obviously didn’t notice me.’ He studied her reaction. ‘Perhaps next time I’ll hum a few lines of, “Hey-ho, here I come again”.’

She tried to glower at him, but his resolute cheerfulness had the better of her, and she grudgingly gave in, her face relaxing a fraction. ‘A warning would be great,’ she agreed, ‘but you really don’t have to sing. I’m not sure I’m ready for that.’

He chuckled. ‘It sounds as though you’re not in the best of moods.’ Sobering, he asked, ‘So how did your day go? Was it tough? We all know the emergency room can be hell on earth at times…and that’s not only as far as the patients are concerned.’

‘That’s true,’ she acknowledged, ‘but it wasn’t like that for me today. Everyone was doing their best to make me feel at home, and that helped to make it a really good experience. It’s just that I discovered what had happened to Rob—the reason why he didn’t come home. He was admitted to hospital earlier today.’

Jake frowned, leaning against the rail beside her. ‘I’m sorry to hear that. What happened?’

She told him the story, adding, ‘I spoke to the consultant briefly, and he said that he’ll come and have a look at him tomorrow and review all the tests. Because Rob has had several instances of collapse, he’s thinking of implanting a monitoring device in his chest. It’s very new technology—wireless, so that the consultant knows what’s going on with his heart at any time and can use the information downloaded to his computer system to diagnose what exactly is causing the problem. If the patient starts to show dangerous symptoms the monitoring device will alert him and allow him to start or change treatment accordingly.’

Jake gave her a thoughtful look. ‘It seems that everything possible is being done for him. Doesn’t that make you feel any better?’

‘I suppose it should.’ Her mouth turned down at the corners. ‘It’s just that I’m not used to seeing Rob helpless like that. He’s always been an outdoors kind of man, for ever on the move, wanting to keep busy and get the most out of life.’

Jake draped an arm lightly around her shoulders in a gesture of sympathy. ‘I’m sure he’s in good hands. They have an excellent treatment record at Bay View, and the consultant will do everything that’s necessary to turn his condition around.’

‘I know.’ The words came out in a muffled tone. She was conscious of the heat from his arm gently seeping into her, and as he moved closer, she felt the brush of his long body next to hers. It was a good feeling, that warmth of human contact, and it occurred to her that it had been a long time since she had known such tenderness. She had a strange yearning to lean against him, to have him hold her and comfort her, but that would never do, would it?

This was Jake, a man she had known for barely two weeks, and instinct told her that she ought to be keeping him at arm’s length. It was a pity her heart wasn’t listening. Instead, it was beating out its own erratic rhythm, and seemed to be recklessly bent on overriding common sense.

A soft breeze stirred the air, and she looked out over the water. Moonlight glittered on its surface, beautiful in its serenity.

‘Are you cold?’ Jake asked, and she was suddenly reminded that they were standing out here on the dock, with her wearing little more than a cotton shift.

She shook her head. ‘No, but I should go and put something on—a robe, or something.’

His mouth curved. ‘You don’t need to do that on my account. I’m perfectly happy for you to stay as you are…You feel very soft and cuddlesome to me, and you look like an angel, a dazzling, white angel who makes the moonbeams dance on the water.’ His eyes gleamed in the darkness. ‘Which reminds me…I came here to ask if you would come and join the party…There’s dancing, friendly people, and lots of good food and drink to warm your soul.’ He looked at her intently. ‘What do you say? Will you come?’

She shook her head. ‘I can’t. It’s late…I’m not dressed.’

‘Late doesn’t matter, does it? After all, you don’t have to be at work till lunchtime tomorrow, do you? You said you were on the late shift all week. And as to being dressed, much as it goes against the grain to suggest altering what’s perfect already, we could soon rectify that, couldn’t we?’

He started to turn her around, and began to walk her towards the house. ‘It really doesn’t matter what you wear. You’ll look gorgeous in anything, so choose whatever takes your fancy—maybe something cool and partyish.’

‘I haven’t said I’ll come to your party,’ she objected huskily as he urged her into the house, his arm still draped around her shoulders.

‘Then I’ll stay here with you and abandon my guests for even longer than I have done already. It will be all your fault when they say I’m a bad host.’

She gave him a look from under her lashes. ‘Am I supposed to worry about that? Your problem is, you haven’t learned to take no for an answer.’

He nodded. ‘You’re absolutely right.’ He halted at the foot of the stairs, leaning negligently against the newel post. ‘So what’s it to be? Am I staying the night?’ He paused, reflecting on that for a while. ‘Actually, come to think of it, it seems to me that’s much the better option.’ Flame darted wickedly in his eyes.

‘Oh, you’re impossible.’ She turned away from him and started up the stairs, but then she swivelled around and held out a forbidding hand as he made to follow her. ‘You stay there,’ she told him.

‘Are you sure?’ He gave her an innocent, wide-eyed look. ‘I thought you might need some help deciding what to wear.’

‘I’m quite sure.’ Her blue eyes sparked a warning, and this time he paid heed, holding up his hands in mock submission.

‘Okay, okay. I get the message.’

‘That’s good.’

Lacey started to climb the stairs once more, but in the background she heard his plaintive voice muttering, ‘She doesn’t like me a bit…She doesn’t trust me…yet here I am, innocent as the day…’

‘Innocent as an alligator on the prowl,’ she retorted without looking back, and was rewarded with a soft splutter of laughter.

She dressed quickly in a simple, pencil-line dress made of a soft jersey fabric that clung to her figure like a second skin. She felt good in this dress. In delicate shades of blue, it enhanced the colour of her eyes, and lent her confidence. It had a V neckline and was waist cinching, and the bodice was embellished with a smattering of sparkling diamanté.

When she went back downstairs just a few minutes later, she found Jake was waiting for her in the hall. As she approached, he simply stared at her, an arrested look in his eyes, as though he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He gave a soft gasp of appreciation.

‘You look fantastic,’ he said, his gaze drifting over her. ‘Like the girl of my dreams…I want to scoop you up and keep you all to myself.’

‘Sorry. That’s not an option.’ She smiled. ‘Besides, you said yourself that your guests will be wondering what’s happened to you.’

‘Maybe…but I left the caterers in charge. They’ll see to it that no one goes hungry or without a drink.’ He was still gazing at her in an enthralled fashion. ‘Perhaps the party was a bad idea. It would be so much easier to get to know you better if we were to stay here.’

‘On your way, neighbour,’ she told him in a firm voice. ‘You railroaded me into this, and you promised me food and drink…Besides, I have to confess I’m dying to see what your house is like inside. What I’ve seen from a distance looks magnificent, like a millionaire’s retreat…all those different elevations and those landscaped acres. Even the pale sunshine colouring looks good, with the white deck rails and tiled roofs and awnings. I’m intrigued to know what the rest of it looks like.’

‘Then it will be my pleasure to show it to you,’ he said. ‘Though I don’t think you need to feel envious in any way. The place you have here is just lovely—a lot smaller than mine, I grant you, but perfect for a couple, maybe, with a small family.’

He sent her a glance as they left the house and started out along the dock. ‘Have you thought about selling up and finding yourself another place nearer to the hospital, or closer to your sister? I mean, you have no real reason to stay on here, do you? And Rob said you were hoping to meet up with your sister again soon.’

Her brow knotted. ‘No, I hadn’t thought about it at all. I’m still coming to terms with the move out here, and this was the natural choice of where to stay.’

He nodded. ‘I can see how you would need time to acclimatise yourself. But if you ever do decide you want to sell up, I would give you a good price for the property.’

She looked at him in astonishment. ‘Why on earth would you want to buy the place? Don’t you have enough room to rattle about in already?’

He smiled. ‘It’s more about the land…I’d like to extend the dock, and build a marine basin…And then there’s the orange grove at the back of the property. I already grow oranges, limes and grapefruit, but with your land added to mine I could do it on a commercial basis. There’s always a market for fresh fruit or fruit juices.’

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