laughed back. ‘It can be, if it’s a MERIT team job, but don’t tell Haze because she worries.’
‘Got you.’
Hayley Price was waiting for them at the entrance to the canteen. Sam greeted her with a kiss. ‘Beatrice, this is Hayley; Hayley, Beatrice.’ He smiled. ‘And this gorgeous little bundle is Darcie.’ He scooped the baby out of the lightweight pram, and the baby cooed at him and pulled his hair.
‘Lovely to meet you, Beatrice, and welcome to Muswell Hill Memorial Hospital,’ Hayley said. ‘So how has your first day in the department been?’
‘Great. Everyone’s been lovely.’ Almost everyone. She wasn’t going to make a fuss.
‘They’re a good bunch,’ Hayley said.
‘She’s a good one, too,’ Sam said. ‘Our kitchen’s full of the best brownies I’ve ever tasted. Did you spend all last night baking them, Beatrice?’
She smiled. ‘No, and I had a bit of help. Make sure you grab one for Hayley.’
By the time they’d bought their lunch and settled at a table, still chatting, Beatrice was feeling very much part of the team.
‘So you’re coming back part time next month?’ she asked Hayley.
Hayley nodded. ‘Much as I love my daughter, I miss work. Part time seemed like a good compromise.’
‘I agree,’ Beatrice said.
‘If you’d like a cuddle with Darcie, better get it in now because the whole department will swoop on her when we walk in,’ Sam said.
A cuddle with the baby.
Beatrice thought of her own baby, the stillborn daughter she’d held for a few brief minutes. What if that car hadn’t crashed into her? What if she hadn’t had the abruption, and Taylor had been born around her due date, alive?
But now wasn’t the time or place to think about it. None of that was Sam’s or Hayley’s fault. She forced herself to smile brightly and scooped the baby from Sam’s arms. ‘She’s gorgeous.’
‘You’re good with babies,’ Hayley said when Darcie promptly yawned and fell asleep.
Again, Beatrice shut the door in her head. ‘It comes from having three nephews and a niece. The youngest one’s four now.’ And how hard it had been to hold him. ‘But I’m an old hand at getting them to go to sleep.’
‘I’ll remember that and get you to teach me some tricks when Madam here starts teething,’ Hayley said. ‘Right. So, tell us all about you. Where did you train, where were you before here, do you have a partner and children...?’
‘Haze, give the poor woman a chance to breathe!’ Sam admonished, though he was smiling and looked as if he wanted to know the answers, too.
‘It’s fine. I trained at the Hampstead Free and I worked there until I came here,’ Beatrice said with a smile. The next bit was more tricky. Telling the whole truth would mean that her new colleagues would pity her as much as they had at the Hampstead Free, and she really didn’t want that. Better to keep it simple and stick to the bare bones. The facts, and no explanations. ‘No partner, no children.’ To make sure nobody would try any well-meaning matchmaking, she added, ‘And I’m concentrating very happily on my career.’ And now it was time to change the subject. ‘Can I ask you something confidential? I know I probably could’ve asked Josh, but I didn’t want to put him in an awkward position.’
‘Sure. Ask away,’ Hayley said.
‘It’s about Daniel Capaldi,’ Beatrice said.
Sam and Hayley exchanged a glance, looking slightly uneasy.
‘I knew there was something. What am I missing?’ Beatrice asked.
‘Daniel’s a nice guy,’ Sam said carefully.
What he wasn’t saying was obvious. Beatrice wasn’t afraid to put it into words. ‘But?’
Hayley blew out a breath. ‘There isn’t a tactful way to say it, but I get the impression you’re a straight-talker so I know you won’t take this the wrong way. Everyone thought his name was on the consultant’s job.’
‘So I’ve got his job and he resents me for it.’
‘Not necessarily,’ Sam said.
‘But probably. Anyone would feel that way, in his shoes.’ Beatrice bit her lip. ‘OK. Thanks for the warning. I’ll be careful what I say to him. I don’t want to rub it in and make him feel bad.’
‘At the end of the day, the management team chose you,’ Hayley said. ‘He’ll get over it.’
At least now Beatrice understood why Daniel had been a little snippy with her and less welcoming than other members of the team. She’d be careful with him—not patronising, but not throwing her weight around, either.
After Hayley scooped the sleeping baby out of Beatrice’s arms and transferred her to the pram, Beatrice enjoyed having lunch with them. Muswell Hill was a good place. She had the strongest feeling that she was going to be happy here.
‘It’s not just about work, though,’ Hayley said. ‘There’s the regular pub quiz between us, Maternity and Paediatrics. How’s your general knowledge?’
Beatrice thought of her brothers. ‘A bit obscure.’
‘Good. You’re on the team,’ Sam said. ‘There’s a team ten-pin bowling night in a couple of weeks—everything’s on the noticeboard in the staff kitchen, if you want to sign up. Oh, and we’re having a football morning in the park on Saturday. It’s not a serious thing, really just the chance for everyone to kick a ball around, but we do a pot-luck picnic thing afterwards. And, after trying your brownies this morning...’
Beatrice smiled. ‘Hint taken. OK. I don’t mind kicking a ball about. And I’ll make some more brownies.’
‘Excellent. I think you’re going to fit right in,’ Sam said with a smile.
‘Josh said the Red Lion’s the place to go, so I’m buying drinks after my shift today,’ Beatrice said. ‘If you can both make it, it’d be lovely to see you.’
‘That’s nice of you,’ Hayley said. ‘Thanks. We’ll be there.’
* * *
Back in the staff kitchen, as Sam had predicted, everyone wanted to cuddle baby Darcie. And people Beatrice hadn’t yet met patted her on the shoulder, welcomed her to the department, and thanked her for the brownies.
Daniel Capaldi was conspicuously absent; and Beatrice noticed that he didn’t come to the Red Lion with the rest of the team after their shift. She could understand that. If you were really disappointed at not getting a promotion everyone thought you’d earned, it would be hard to celebrate someone else getting the post instead.
But there was a strong chance she and Daniel would have to work together in the future, and she needed to be sure
