The Surgeon's Family Wish (11 page)

Almost before he could take in the vision before him, she was reaching frantically for the skirt and blouse she'd been wearing previously and throwing them on as if he'd caught her naked.

He turned away, saying flatly, ‘I have to get back. Are you free to stay with Lucy for a little while longer?'

She was calming down.

‘Yes, if you're prepared to trust me.'

‘
You
said that,' he reminded her in the same downbeat tone of voice, and departed.

* * *

Driving back to the hospital, Aaron was furious with himself. He'd just made a big song and dance about finding Annabel wearing the old evening dress that had belonged to Eloise.

She'd not been wearing it out of nosiness or insensitivity, but to please his child, and he'd read her the Riot Act. Anyone would have thought he'd caught her stealing the family heirlooms, such as they were, when instead she'd merely allowed Lucy to cajole her into something she hadn't wanted to do.

She'd given up her afternoon to do him a favour and he'd behaved as if she'd desecrated the memory of his dead wife, when instead she'd been looking after the living in the form of his daughter.

His annoyance had come from a source that Annabel was not aware of. He wanted his relationship with her to be separate in every way from the life he'd had with Eloise. If he'd wanted a clone of her he might have looked in the direction of Lucy's teacher, but he didn't.

He wanted the cool loner, with the hazel eyes, dark brown hair and slender coltish body, who once again was doing him a favour. All he'd done for her had been to act like a man who was still bound by the chains of the past.

His mouth twisted as he thought that after his outburst Annabel probably thought that he had no intention of ever replacing Eloise. And he'd put himself in a position where she wasn't likely to believe him if he told her the truth.

W
HEN
he'd gone Annabel didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Yet knew she could do neither. Lucy was standing on one leg, waving her fairy wand limply and asking, ‘Why was Daddy angry, Annabel? I play with the dress all the time.'

That may be true, Annabel thought wryly, but I don't. I overstepped the mark and now am back to where I was before Aaron entrusted me with his daughter. And if nothing else has come out of those embarrassing moments up in the bedroom, one thing is clear. Aaron hasn't let go of Eloise. I must have been insane to ever think he might turn in my direction.

But Lucy was waiting for an answer.

‘He wasn't angry with
you
, Lucy,' she said with gentle reassurance. ‘I think he was just a bit surprised when he saw me in your mother's dress.'

It was putting it mildly, but she didn't want Lucy to be upset by the incident, especially as it had been her idea.

For the rest of the afternoon they reverted to the original plan of doctors and patients, and when Annabel heard Aaron's car pull up outside some time later she was, as he'd prophesied, covered in bandages. She left Lucy playing in her room and went downstairs to meet Aaron.

‘How's it gone, then?' he asked, as if their earlier confrontation had never been.

‘Fine,' she said coolly, relieving herself of the bandages
almost as quickly as she'd discarded the dress. She wanted to be off, back at the flat where she could think.

‘I was unreasonable earlier,' he said flatly when she was ready to go. ‘You took me by surprise.'

‘Yes, I'm sure I did, and I'm sorry. You did me a favour, though, in spite of flying off the handle.'

He knew what was coming.

‘You've made it very clear that, no matter what your mother or anyone else thinks, you're not ready to remarry. I doubt that you ever will be.'

And as she made to leave she thought that if she stayed away from the child, which might be the sensible thing to do, there would be no doing the same with the father.

There was no way she could avoid Aaron. Not at Barnaby's anyway. But she could tell him that she'd had second thoughts about Christmas. He would get the message and who was to say he wouldn't be glad of a get-out after today's fiasco?

Every time she thought about him finding her in his wife's dress she cringed. Maybe she
had
been too eager to placate Lucy. Aaron had been quick to point out that she wasn't allowed all her own way.

But she was such a sweet child...and she didn't have a mother. No matter how kind and loving her grandmother was, the child must feel it when she saw her friends with their mothers. The only person who could do something about that was her father, and after today the prospects didn't look good.

* * *

As she'd already decided, avoiding Aaron wasn't going to be easy while on duty, but she was going to give it a good try. Her face burned every time she thought about what a figure she must have cut in the dress with its too
short skirt and too big bodice. And what he'd thought when she'd stripped to her underslip in her desperation to get it off, she didn't want to contemplate.

For any woman, undressing for the first time in front of the love of her life would be a special moment, but not for her...the queen of catastrophe. They'd had the bedroom scene all right, but it had been far from how she'd imagined it would be.

So it was a brief nod when they met on the wards or on the hospital corridors and if conversation was necessary regarding one of their small patients it was kept to the minimum.

To keep her mind occupied in her free time Annabel continued with her house-hunting, but it was with little enthusiasm and she knew why. She'd allowed herself to think that one day she would live with Aaron in the big, red-brick house that she so admired. Having come in from the cold at last, she'd thought that maybe, somehow, one day she would be part of a loving family for the first time in her life.

Now she was having to adjust and it was a painful process that was diminishing her desire to find a place of her own. She didn't want to be alone any more, she wanted to be with him. But it seemed that Aaron was content to live with his memories. It was as she'd thought all along. He just felt sorry for her.

* * *

As the shops, theatres, and restaurants were caught up in pre-Christmas fever Annabel wandered aimlessly around, hoping that it might wash off on her. But painfully clear in her mind was the moment when she'd told Aaron that she'd changed her plans and wouldn't be spending Christmas with him and his family. And
after that there was little chance of her feeling in festive mood.

They'd spied each other in the hospital car park on a crisp winter morning and as he'd observed her doubtfully she'd taken a deep breath and gone to him.

‘I won't be joining you for Christmas, Aaron,' she'd told him without preamble. ‘I've made other plans.'

He'd sighed. ‘What took you so long? I've been expecting to hear that ever since I found you in the dress. You say you have other plans. What are they? Christmas dinner for one in that dreadful flat?'

‘That's my business.'

His face looked bleached in the light of a pale sun, but she told herself she wasn't going to weaken. She was a past mistress at bringing misery upon herself, and falling in love with Aaron was just another example of her poor judgement. Better this way than any more heartache. A clean break always healed more quickly than a compound fracture.

‘I told you I was sorry,' he said, tight-lipped, ‘but you're using what happened as a way out. It's given you an excuse not to join us. You're happy in your misery, aren't you, Annabel? That way you're safe.'

‘That is good, coming from you!' she flung back at him. ‘I thought we might have something, you and I, but
you're
the one who can't, or won't, let go of the past. Sometimes it takes an outsider like me to point out the obvious.'

His face darkened and she thought bleakly that between them they were only making things worse, so on a lighter note she said, ‘We shouldn't let our differences affect Lucy. I'd like to buy her something for Christmas, if that's all right with you.'

‘Yes, of course it's all right with me,' he said, still tight-faced. ‘On one condition, though.'

‘And what is that?'

‘That you bring it round personally on Christmas morning...if it won't interfere with the other plans you've made. She'll be disappointed that you're not coming to stay, and it will make up for it a little if she sees you on the day.'

‘You are trying to make me feel guilty, aren't you?' she said tonelessly. ‘But, yes, I'll do that if you want me to.'

‘It would appear that what
I
want doesn't come into it,' he replied with a similar lack of emotion, ‘and as we've just about exhausted the topic, I'll be on my way.'

Reaching into the car for his briefcase, he pointed himself towards the hospital buildings, leaving her to make what she would of that.

* * *

So Annabel still thought he wasn't ready to move on, Aaron thought sombrely as he prepared to meet the day. He'd sent Eloise's clothes to various charities long ago, except for the dress which Lucy had begged him to keep so that she could use it for dressing up. And now Annabel was of the opinion that he had a morbid obsession with it.

He'd been hoping she wouldn't change her mind about Christmas, but her attitude ever since that day had made him think there was little chance of it, and she had proved him right.

Insisting that she bring Lucy's present personally on Christmas Day had been an attempt to coax her back into his family circle. Whether he would be able to persuade her to stay when she came was something he would have to wait to find out.

His mother had heard part of the story of the dress from Lucy and she'd said gently, ‘It really
is
time to move on, Aaron.'

He'd made no reply, just nodded and thought sombrely that chance would be a fine thing. If ever there was a woman who wasn't falling over herself to get him to the altar, it was the hazel-eyed doctor who thought he was still mourning his wife.

He wished he knew more about her. She'd told him of her loveless childhood and that was all. When he was with her he was always conscious of melancholy within and sensed that it came from a much more recent source. But what that source was he had yet to find out.

* * *

It was a Saturday morning and Annabel was looking for inspiration in the town's biggest toy store when a voice said from behind, ‘So we meet again.'

When she swivelled round Richard Clements was there, smiling his confident smile and observing her appreciatively. She smiled back, unimpressed. Annabel had no illusions about this man. He wasn't bowled over by her charms. Aaron's friend was the kind of man who would make the plainest of women feel attractive without too much effort on his part. But it was still nice to see a face she recognised amongst those of the jostling crowds.

‘Shopping for the family?' he questioned.

‘Not exactly,' she told him, with the realisation that if he had discussed her with Aaron, the man she loved had told him little about her. ‘This is new to me. I'm looking for something for Lucy.'

He laughed.

‘Me, too. So it's a case of well met. We can compare
notes and make sure that we don't both get her the same thing. Then maybe you'd care to join me for a coffee.'

Annabel nodded. He wasn't her type but he was company of sorts and was putting himself out to be pleasant, and by the time they'd made their choices, queued up and paid for them, a quiet coffee somewhere would be most acceptable.

‘And so what have
you
got planned for Christmas,' Richard asked as they seated themselves in a nearby bistro with their packages. Annabel had bought Lucy a doll dressed as a fairy, hoping that Aaron wouldn't see anything significant in it, and the five-year-old would be receiving ice skates from Richard.

‘Not a lot,' she told him evasively. ‘I'm looking forward to a rest. Paediatric surgery takes its toll.'

‘Hmm, I can imagine,' he agreed, sizing her up at the same time. ‘Did you know that Aaron has been offered a job in Canada?'

‘And is he going to take it?' she asked weakly.

‘I don't know.
I
think he should go. Make a fresh start. Blow away the cobwebs.'

‘But what about Lucy and his mother?'

‘Well, obviously they would go, too.'

‘Yes, of course.'

‘Would you miss him?'

Was he kidding? She would miss all three of them, but Aaron most of all.

‘Yes. I would. We work well together.'

‘I wasn't meaning workwise.'

‘I see. Yes, I would miss his friendship.'

‘So you're not in line for the next Mrs Lewis?'

‘That is for me to know and you to find out,' she said coolly, irritated by his questions.

‘Sure,' he said smoothly, ‘but Aaron is a great guy. I wouldn't want him to be given the run-around.'

Run-around! she thought angrily. That was good!

‘I'm afraid that you've lost me,' she said, the chill in her voice increasing. ‘Aaron is quite capable of fighting his own battles, I would imagine.' She got to her feet. ‘If you'll excuse me, I must be off. I have a busy day ahead.' And before he could reply she was threading her way amongst the tables and chairs of the bistro and out into the crowds once more.

Busy day ahead! Annabel thought grimly as she drove back to the flat. Who was she trying to fool? And who had given Richard the right to question her about her private life? Certainly not her, or Aaron if the present state of affairs was anything to go by. He'd given up on her. She was sure of it.

But whatever dismal thoughts her meeting with Richard had conjured up, the news that Aaron might be going to live abroad stood out like the dark shadow of doom.