E for England (15 page)

Hugh focused on the grinning face. ‘What?'

‘They're on their way. Yvonne said they'd bring dessert.'

‘Fine. What's the friend's name?'

‘Liz. She's in IT, too.'

‘Oh great.' He pulled a face. ‘Three computer nerds.'

James laughed. ‘Better than a bunch of doctors talking about lung disease.'

‘I find lung disease fascinating.'

He'd much rather nip upstairs and see Annie. What would she do if he sneaked a kiss? A friendly kiss. What was he thinking? He couldn't. Should he ask her out? If she had enough advance notice surely someone could come and sit for her —

‘Are you doing garlic prawns or dreaming?'

‘I'm waiting for you to get out of my way.'

‘I thought I'd have a go at making shortbread,' Hugh said. ‘Do you have a recipe I can borrow? And some tips.' His voice on the phone was tense, strained.

‘Sure. Come up.'

Annie unlatched the door and went to find the recipe. Hugh cooking shortbread? Why not? It was easy enough and he certainly liked eating it, but was that the real reason for coming up? Why else?

‘Who was that?' asked Mattie.

‘Hugh. Have you brushed your teeth? You two should be in bed.'

‘Floss is doing hers. What did Hugh want?'

‘A recipe.' Annie went to the bathroom where Floss was fussing about with toothpaste and her brush, singing to herself.

‘Did he say anything about football?'

‘No. He'll be here in a minute, ask him yourself. Floss, hurry up, Mattie has to brush his teeth.'

‘Who'll be here in a minute?' Floss turned, toothbrush raised. The dollop of paste fell onto the floor.

‘Careful. I've told you not to put too much toothpaste on.' Annie bent and scraped the mess up with her finger.

Mattie elbowed his way to the basin and reached for his brush.

‘Noooooo. I haven't finished,' screeched Floss.

‘You're too slow.' He grabbed the toothpaste from her hand and squirted a massive strip onto his brush.

‘That's too much!' yelled Floss. ‘Mummy, he's got more than me.'

‘Mattie, let Floss finish, please. Stand over there and use the tap in the bath. Floss, get a move on.'

Hands on hips, she surveyed her pyjama clad crew. Infuriating sometimes, stubborn, often noisy, but underneath it all, lovable, loving, spontaneous, funny and absolutely perfect. Her most precious treasures.

Tap, tap on the door. She stuck her head into the hallway and called, ‘It's open. Come in.'

‘Finished.' Floss jammed her toothbrush into the holder and darted out of the bathroom. ‘Hello, Hugh, I've got my pyjamas on.'

‘So I see,' he said. ‘Pretty pink ones. Are you going to bed now?'

‘Yes. Will you read me my story?'

‘Hello, Hugh.' Annie followed her daughter with a towel and wiped her mouth free of minty foam.

‘Hi Annie. Is this a bad time?'

‘No, they'll be in bed in a minute. Should already be there.' She glared at Floss who giggled.

‘Hugh's going to read me my story.'

‘Is he?' Annie grinned at Hugh.

‘I suppose so.' He grimaced but not in an angry way, more a ‘what have I got myself into?' way.

Mattie hastily finished his brushing and stood in the bathroom doorway, suddenly overcome with shyness.

Hugh said, ‘Hello, Mattie. Up for more football sometime?'

He nodded, eyes lighting up.

‘Into bed.' Annie clapped her hands.

‘I have to choose my book,' said Floss.

‘Just one story,' Annie said. ‘It's late.'

Hugh hovered while Annie watched Mattie climb the steps to the top bunk. Bunks weren't ideal. It worried her; he was really too young to be up there but they couldn't fit two single beds in the room. Floss grabbed her book of the moment and dived into bed.

‘Sit on my bed, Hugh.'

Hugh folded his tall frame and perched on the edge of her bed. Mattie peered down from above.

‘What book is it?'

‘
The Bears Go Shopping
.'

‘Can I have one of my books, too?'

‘Mummy said just one story.'

‘But that's not fair!'

‘Okay, I'll read one story each. But the other one has to listen quietly and not complain,' Hugh said.

‘All right.' Smiles all round.

‘I'll copy the recipe.' Annie withdrew to the kitchen. Hugh had them well in hand. What was all that guff about not liking kids? They liked him, that was for sure and he couldn't hide his enjoyment of their company. Why else would he agree to read bedtime stories and offer to play football again?

A burst of laughter came from the bedroom. ‘That's not the right story,' said Floss in amongst her giggles.

‘I'm making it better,' said Hugh.

‘Make it better again,' said Mattie.

Hugh emerged fifteen minutes later pretending to stagger down the hallway and fall onto the couch. Annie snickered.

‘Well done.'

‘They're great kids. Very entertaining.'

She nodded. ‘Here's your recipe. ‘ She handed him the instructions. ‘Do you have a baking tray?'

‘Yes, I checked.' He looked at the list of ingredients. ‘Not much in it.'

‘No. It's easy. Even you'll be able to do it. Like a drink? Tea? Wine? Coffee?'

He smiled. ‘I'll have you know I'm a very good cook. Coffee, thanks.'

Annie got up, smiling. So easy and natural having him here. He fitted in, he liked her children. He was unbearably perfect. He regarded her as a friend, and if she wanted to keep him a friend he'd have to remain totally unaware of her rapidly growing and ridiculous secret passion for him.

Hugh perused the shelf of music CDs. They had a surprisingly varied collection. He already knew Leonie liked jazz. Did Annie? He had no idea what her musical taste was. At least there was no current pop stuff on the shelf. ‘Are these yours or Leonie's?'

‘Both. We both like jazz but the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Dylan, Van Morrison, Queen, Abba and Steely Dan albums are mine.'

‘Mind if I put something on?'

‘Go ahead.'

He selected a Scandinavian piano trio. ‘I used to go across to Norway and Denmark to concerts sometimes. I heard these guys play.'

‘Wow. Really? I only bought that album recently. I heard a track on the radio. It's my one indulgence at the moment, buying a CD occasionally.'

‘You don't download?'

She shook her head. ‘I don't like headphones and anyway I like having albums that the musicians have constructed as a whole concept. You know? The way the Beatles did and those great bands from the sixties and seventies. My dad was a great music buff. I have all his vinyls in storage.'

‘Fantastic and I totally agree. It's all snippets and bits and pieces nowadays. Imagine those fantastic albums Miles Davis put out being downloaded as separate tracks, with no idea what the whole was? Incredible. There's too much out there now.'

Annie brought the coffee, mugs and a plate of cake to the table. Hugh sat on the couch. It had become his spot. ‘We sound like a couple of old fogeys.'

‘We're right though.' She handed him a mug and he wrapped his hands around it, staring at the rich brown liquid.

‘A patient died.' He hadn't meant to tell her. It wasn't her business at all and would only upset her. He never talked about work issues with James.

‘Oh dear! I'm sorry.'

He glanced up. ‘No, I'm sorry. I don't know why I told you that.' He sipped coffee and licked his lips.

‘It must be awful when patients die but surely sometimes it's inevitable. You can't save everybody.'

‘That's true but it's never easy. This man was young and he had a rare disease which we had trouble diagnosing. Took too long, as it turns out.'

‘What will happen?'

‘His sister is on the warpath. Rightly so. He wasn't technically my patient because she insisted on a second opinion and asked for another doctor to take over when I couldn't say definitively what was wrong when he was admitted.'

‘So it's not your fault. It's this other doctor's.'

Hugh sighed. ‘I don't apportion blame. In my mind we let the man and his family down. All of us.'

‘What will happen?'

‘There's an inquiry into the death to see if there was negligence on our part. The sister thinks there was. I have to give a statement.'

‘Do you think there was negligence?'

‘It's a difficult disease to identify. It's rare. His doctor was sure it was something else with very similar symptoms. She'd been under some strain in her personal life but she's good at her job.'

Annie sagged back into her chair. ‘What an awful situation. Have you had to do this sort of thing before?'

Hugh nodded. ‘A couple of times. Yes. Bereaved relatives can understandably be very upset and demand a full investigation into a death. They want someone to blame.'

He put the coffee down and rested his head back, eyes closed, letting the music wash over him. Annie didn't say a word. She radiated a reassuring calmness, sympathy without gushing everywhere. Relaxing.

He said with eyes still closed, ‘I can't imagine a world without music. James and I went out with a couple of girls last night and one of them is oblivious to music. Can you believe it?'

Annie, watching the tension drain from his face as he relaxed, felt her heart plummet. ‘No.'

Girlfriends? Get real, of course those two would have girlfriends. Hugh may not know many people yet, but with James to help he'd be inundated in no time. And the death of that patient hadn't upset him so much he couldn't go out dating.

The track finished. He sat up. ‘What's this?' He picked up a piece of cake and took a big bite.

‘Spice cake.'

‘I'd much rather have been eating spice cake here with you than seeing a movie about pirates.'

The surge of delight was ridiculous. He went to a movie with a woman who didn't like music and preferred being here with her. ‘The Johnny Depp one? I'd give up spice cake to see him. I'd give up
all
cake.'

He laughed. ‘What is it about that guy and women? The girls we were with said the same thing. I just don't get it.'

Those girls again. She swallowed the jealousy which rushed in as the delight rushed out. ‘That's because you're a man.'

‘They said that, too.'

‘Did you enjoy it? Those movies are fun.'

‘It was okay. Have you seen this new one?'

‘No, I wait till they're on TV.'

‘We should go to the movies one night.' Hugh took another slice of cake to cover his anxiety about her response. ‘James would babysit.' He swallowed a mouthful, focusing on collecting the crumbs and placing them on the plate.

Annie didn't reply. He looked across to where she sat. She was staring at him with her mouth partly open.

‘You and me?'

‘Yes. Why not?'

‘I…um.'

‘Don't want to,' he finished for her as disappointment landed on his hope like a brick. Fair enough. Why would she? The thought probably never occurred to her they could do something together minus children.

‘I do. I'd love to but I don't like to leave the kids with someone they don't really know.'

‘James? You don't trust him?' His eyes narrowed slightly. Was she serious?

‘It's not that I don't trust him, I'd worry about them. Floss can get very upset when she's with people she doesn't know and I'm not there. I told you that, remember?'

‘She knows James.'

‘Yes but it's different if I'm not there. They still feel insecure. I think they're frightened I'll disappear like their Dad.'

‘Shouldn't they be learning not to be? That you can't always be there, that you have a life?' He picked up his coffee and drank, glanced across at her.

Annie's expression changed as though she'd flicked a switch. Like a lioness circling her cubs. ‘They're babies, Hugh. They need to be protected and I'm all they've got.'

‘Mattie's not a baby and he doesn't like to be treated as one.' Even as he spoke he knew he shouldn't be interfering, saying things he knew would upset her. But it was true and she wasn't doing the children any favours by hovering over them like a mother hen. He leaned forward before she could interrupt. ‘I'm sorry, Annie. I know it's none of my business but they're not as fragile as you think. At the beach they were having a ball with Leonie and you saw Mattie. He wasn't at all fazed by going off on his own.'

Her mouth had set in a stubborn line. ‘You don't understand.'

‘I know. I don't.' He sat back, defeated, hands wrapped around the coffee mug. How involved did he want to be? He seemed to be teetering on the edge of something far bigger than he'd expected.

The Scandinavians moved onto the next track on their album.
Secret Love
. How appropriate. Not that he was in love with Annie. Or she with him. But she had an indefinable something about her he couldn't ignore and which drew him to invent reasons to visit and spend time with her. Especially after that scene with poor Eleanor on Monday and the subsequent drama over Lester Fuller. His sister morphed from a bulldog into a wild woman, rampaging about throwing accusations of malpractice in all directions, refusing the counselling on offer. On top of that, having spent two evenings with James's girlfriends he needed a dose of Annie. He mustn't upset her.

When she spoke next he barely heard her. ‘I'm sorry.'

‘No.' His eyes flashed to hers. ‘You don't need to be. I'm the one out of line.'

‘You might be right. I don't know. I'm just trying to do the best I can.' Her voice wobbled and she pressed her fingers to her lips.

His heart melted. She was so beautiful and vulnerable and he wanted to kiss her more than anything in the world. He put the coffee mug down and stood up. She rose too, uncertainly. Maybe she thought he was leaving, that she'd offended him.