The thought of being left behind in England without him or her sister had been more than she could bear so she had decided that she would go to Cyprus to be with him. After all, he loved her and she loved him, so what was the point of them being apart when they could build a future together?
That had been her plan right up until the time her plane had landed. It was still what she wanted, in fact, so was she really going to give up her dream of finding happiness on the strength of what some stranger had told her?
She started to key in the phone number of the hospital again then hesitated. Maybe she had believed Petros when he’d told her that he’d loved her, but what if it hadn’t been true? What if it had been merely a ploy to get her into his bed? It wouldn’t be the first time a woman had been taken in by claims of undying devotion so how could she be sure that it hadn’t happened to her?
All of a sudden doubts started crowding into her head and she was no longer certain of anything any more. She cancelled the call and put her phone in her bag. It might be better if she waited to hear what Dr Christos Constantine had to say before she did anything.
Christos swore softly as he hurried out of his office. This was the last thing he needed! It was difficult enough to pretend that he was genuinely delighted that his cousin was marrying Eleni without having to deal with this kind of complication as well. Just for a second he wondered if he should phone Petros and tell him to sort out his own mess, but then he thought about Eleni, and how much it would upset her if she found out about this woman, and realised he couldn’t do it. He cared too much about Eleni to risk her getting hurt.
‘I have to go out for a while so I’ll need you to take charge of the department, Yanni.’
Christos stopped by the desk to speak to his senior registrar, Yanni Papadopoulous. The emergency department had been unusually quiet that day and he had been intending to use the time for some in-house training. The team had been together for only six months and it was important that their skills were constantly assessed. There were a couple of new nurses who had started that week and he was particularly keen to put them through their paces, although there was no sign of them, he realised.
‘Where are the new nurses?’ he demanded.
‘Tina had to go home because her little boy was sick, and Rachel didn’t turn up this morning,’ Yanni explained. ‘We phoned her apartment and someone there told us that she’d gone back to England.’
Christos sighed. It wasn’t the first time they’d had problems with staff from abroad. The idea of working in another country might be appealing, but the reality often proved to be vastly different. Although the weather in Cyprus was a huge improvement on that in the UK, it didn’t make much difference when you were working gruelling twelve-hour shifts.
‘I’ll get onto the agency when I come back and see if they can find a replacement. I shouldn’t be long—an hour at the most. If anything urgent crops up, page me.’
He left the hospital and got into his car. It was just gone noon and the roads were fairly quiet for once. Although Cyprus attracted large numbers of tourists all the year round, the real rush wouldn’t start for another couple of weeks. That was when his department would really come under pressure.
As head of trauma care at Poseidonos International Hospital, Christos had seen at first hand the effects too much sunshine and wine could have on people and there was very little that surprised him nowadays. He dealt with every case with the same degree of professionalism. He had worked hard to reach his present position, adhering strictly to the path he had laid out for himself after his parents had died. They had both been doctors, too, and it had seemed only right that he should honour their memory by following them into the profession.
It had been a long and arduous journey because he had been determined to reach the very top, but he could confidently say that he had achieved everything he had set out to do—in his professional life, at least. It was his private life which was such a mess, and there was little he could do about that.
The thought sent a pang coursing through him as he drew up in front of the airport, but he couldn’t afford to worry about his problems right now. He had no idea what he was going to do about Katie Carlyon, but he wouldn’t allow her to ruin Eleni’s wedding day. Even though at one point he had hoped that Eleni would marry him, he had accepted a long time ago that it would never happen. Eleni deserved a husband who would be there for her, someone who would put her needs before everything else.
He had been far too focussed on his career since his parents had died. Even when they had been teenagers, and Eleni had used to beg him to go swimming with her, more often than not he had refused. It had been Petros who had accompanied her to the beach; he’d been too engrossed in his studies.
The situation had continued throughout his time at university. It hadn’t been until he had been in his first job that he had admitted to himself how he felt about her. Maybe he could have dealt with his feelings if Eleni hadn’t made it clear that she was attracted to him, too.
They had started going out together and it had been wonderful at first, but gradually it had become apparent that the relationship wasn’t working. He’d been working excruciatingly long hours at the hospital and they’d hardly seen one another. Whole weeks would pass when he had been too busy even to phone her. When Eleni had told him that she’d decided they should split up it had been unbearably painful, but he had known in his heart it was the right thing to do. Eleni had deserved more than he could give her.
It had been ten years now since they had gone their separate ways and time had helped to heal the pain. However, it had still come as a shock when he had found out that Eleni was dating his cousin. And it had been an even bigger one when she and Petros had announced their engagement shortly after his cousin had returned from working on the exchange programme.
Was Petros really the right man for her? Christos wondered not for the first time. His cousin had always enjoyed playing the field and it was hard to believe that he would remain faithful to her for the rest of his life. Christos had had serious misgivings from the beginning but he had kept them to himself for Eleni’s sake. After all, Petros claimed that he was madly in love with her so who was he to disagree? Although after what Katie Carlyon had told him earlier, he had his doubts. If Miss Carlyon had been telling the truth, then his cousin’s idea of love was vastly different to his own!
Christos sighed as he got out of the car. There was no point worrying about it right now. Maybe he did have his doubts but he would do everything in his power to ensure this wedding went ahead as planned. And if that meant sending Katie Carlyon back to England, that’s what he was going to do.
Katie scanned the faces of the people coming into the terminal, although she had no idea how she was going to recognise Dr Constantine when he arrived. Would he look like Petros? she wondered. He’d said that Petros was his cousin so there might be a family resemblance.
Her eyes skimmed over a tall, dark-haired man who had just entered the building and she felt a frisson run through her. Although he didn’t really look like Petros, there was something familiar about those chiselled features. She followed his progress as he made his way across the concourse. In contrast to the tourists in their colourful holiday clothes, he was soberly dressed in a lightweight grey suit with a white shirt and a discreet blue tie. He looked big and commanding as he stopped and stared around, and Katie suddenly felt afraid.
Did she really want to suffer the embarrassment of having him harangue her again? Maybe he’d felt those comments he’d made had been justified, but he hadn’t even asked to hear her side of the story. He had no idea what had really gone on, how Petros had pursued her with single-minded determination. He had judged her and obviously
