written in an unsteady hand, explaining that he hoped she didn’t mind him writing to her but that he would like to see her if it was possible. He’d included his address at the top and his phone number, then repeated them again at the bottom.
Rose’s eyes filled with tears. Despite its brevity, she knew the effort it must have cost him to write it. Daniel had no idea if she would reply, and the thought of him sitting at home, wondering and waiting as she’d been doing, was more than she could bear. Reaching for the phone, she dialled the number, her heart pounding as she listened to it ringing, once, twice, three times…
‘Owen Gallagher.’
She dropped the receiver back onto its rest. How could she have forgotten about Daniel’s father and his animosity towards her? There was no way that he would allow her to speak to Daniel, so she would have to write to him instead…
The phone rang, startling her so much that she jumped. She was trembling as she picked up the receiver. ‘Hello?’
‘Ms Tremayne? It’s Owen Gallagher. I believe you just tried to phone me.’
‘H-how did you get my number?’ she whispered.
‘I dialled 1471.’
His tone was brisk and she winced when she realised how foolish she’d been to make such a basic error. Now that he knew Daniel’s letter had reached her he would do everything in his power to keep them apart, maybe even go so far as to make sure that Daniel never received her reply
‘…and that’s why I’ve decided you two should meet.’
Rose blinked as she caught the tail end of what Gallagher was saying. ‘I’m sorry, but what did you say?’
‘I said that I’ve changed my mind and I think that you should meet Daniel. Now all we need to do is to work out a time that will be convenient—’
‘Just a moment.’ She took a deep breath, trying to clear the fog of panic from her head so she could think. She couldn’t understand why he’d changed his mind after what he’d said to her that day. ‘Why have you had a change of heart all of a sudden? You made it perfectly clear that you didn’t want me to see Daniel, yet now you’re offering to arrange a meeting with him. It doesn’t make sense.’
‘After considering all the facts, I’ve decided this might be the best way forward for all of us.’
‘I find it very hard to believe that you’re doing this for my benefit, Dr Gallagher,’ she said scathingly, ‘so what is really going on?’
‘Nothing. I’m entitled to change my views the same as anyone else is, surely?’
Rose shivered when she felt the rich deep tones strumming across her nerves. Up till then she’d been more concerned with the content of what he’d been saying and it was only now she realised what a beautiful voice he had—and that it matched his appearance.
The thought made her gasp, and she clamped her lips together to stop any sound escaping. She couldn’t afford to show any sign of weakness in front of this man. Even though he appeared to be offering her an olive branch, she wasn’t convinced it was what he actually intended. Until she knew what he was up to, she had to be on her guard.
‘I think it would be best if you two met somewhere Daniel feels at ease. Here, at home, might be best.’
‘It would be far too stressful for him to meet me there,’ Rose said quickly, setting aside her own concerns for the moment. ‘It needs to be somewhere neutral—a place where he won’t feel guilty.’
‘Guilty?’
His tone had sharpened and she sighed. She wasn’t deliberately trying to annoy him, but she’d read all the research that had been done about adopted children and how they felt when meeting their birth parents, and the biggest factor of all was the guilt they often experienced.
‘Adopted children who have been brought up in a happy and loving home often feel guilty about making contact with their birth parents. They feel that they are letting their adoptive parents down and I don’t want Daniel to be put in that position, do you?’
‘No, I don’t. So what do you suggest, Ms Tremayne?’
There was far less assurance in his voice this time and Rose felt her heart suddenly ache when she realised what he must be going through. The situation was just as difficult for him as it was for her. Her voice softened, unconsciously taking on the soothing cadence she used so often with patients who were deeply traumatised.
‘I think we should ask Daniel where he would like to meet me. He is the most important person in all of this, and we need to ensure that he feels completely comfortable with the arrangements.’
‘Do you want to speak to him now and ask him yourself?’
Rose couldn’t think of anything she would like more than to do just that, but now that she was thinking clearly she could see how stressful it would be for the boy to have to speak to her without prior warning.
‘No. It would be better if you told him that I’d phoned and gave him my telephone number. That way he can get in touch with me when he’s ready.’
‘Yes, you’re right.’ Owen paused, and it sounded as though the words were being forced out of him when he continued. ‘Thank you. You’ve been very understanding and I appreciate it.’
Rose didn’t have time to reply because he hung up. She put the receiver back in its rest, then picked up the letter and read it again. Half a dozen lines, which had bridged a gap of years and brought her precious son back into her life. All she could do now was pray that everything would work out the way she hoped it would. She didn’t want to replace Daniel’s mother—she couldn’t even if she tried. She just wanted to be there for him if he needed her. Yet so much depended on Owen, didn’t it?
He might have seemed much more reasonable tonight but she wasn’t convinced he would continue to behave that way. It all depended on whether he still believed she was a threat and, quite frankly, she didn’t know how to convince him that she wasn’t. The only thing she could do was to be herself and hope it would be enough to reassure him.
Owen had spent another restless night, so he felt tired and out of sorts when he arrived at work the following morning. Daniel had veered between euphoria and terror when he’d found out that Rose had phoned. It had been sheer torture to watch him getting so stressed and not be able to do anything about it. It was a father’s responsibility to protect his child and Owen hated feeling so powerless. The fact that he’d found his attitude towards Rose softening had troubled him, too. He couldn’t afford to lower his guard.
The thought that he might have allowed himself to be taken in by her apparent concern was very hard to swallow. He was in no mood to compromise when he strode into the A and E unit so it was unfortunate that Rob was making the most of the lull between patients to chat up their new receptionist, Polly. Owen’s face was like thunder as he strode over to the reception desk and tapped his registrar on the shoulder.
‘If you spent less time on your love life, you might actually make something of yourself, Dr Lomax. Have you no work to do? I can soon find you something if you haven’t.’
‘I…um…Yes. Sorry, sir.’
Rob leapt
