up the struggle and saw the faint smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth.
Then he swivelled around, and she watched him stride over to the counter to place the order. He was still shaking his head as though he was trying to fathom how they had come to be in this situation. She hated the fact that she’d had to be rescued by him. It would have been so much simpler if they could have gone on passing each other like ships in the night. That way, neither one of them would have needed to try to understand the other.
When he came back to the table a few minutes later he was carrying a tray that was filled with goodies, along with two steaming cups of coffee. ‘That should do the trick,’ he murmured, laying the dishes in front of her. ‘Tuck in.’
She didn’t need a second bidding. Only when she’d finished with the pancakes and was ready to start on the waffles did she look up at him and notice that he was working his way through a burger and chips.
‘First rule of medicine,’ he said. ‘Make sure that you’re fuelled up and ready to go.’
‘I’ll remember that,’ she murmured. She smiled, relaxing for the first time that morning, and he stopped eating, looking at her oddly, as though he’d never really seen her before.
‘I wasn’t expecting to be working with you,’ he said, after a while. ‘That might take some getting used to for both of us.’
‘Yes, I expect so.’ She gave him a fleeting glance before turning her attention to the waffles, still warm from the grill, with ice cream slowly melting into the syrupy hollows. ‘You said you were given this placement at the last minute. What happened to the one you’d already chosen?’
‘I had to talk to the consultants about it. I really wanted to do Paediatrics, and the opportunity seemed too good to miss. I didn’t think they’d go for it, but in the end they seemed happy to change things around, and so here I am.’
She nodded, finishing off her dessert and leaning back in her chair, a satisfied expression on her face.
‘The colour’s come back into your cheeks,’ he said. ‘That’s good.’ He looked as though he was about to say something more, but then his phone started to play its familiar tune, a lilting guitar melody, and he sent her an apologetic look. ‘I’d better get this.’
He studied the caller ID, and then said, ‘Hello, Mum. What’s up? It’s not like you to call this early in the day.’
He frowned as the conversation developed. ‘Chest pains? How long has he been getting them?’ There was a moment or two of silence while he listened, and then he said, ‘Make sure he goes along to his GP. I’ll come over to see you, if you like … No? Well, yes, you’re probably right—but let me know how he goes on, won’t you?’ Another period of quiet followed, before he added, ‘Yes, I know, but they’re partners, and he was bound to take on the bulk of the work when the business started to expand.’
He cut the call a while later, and Lucy gave him a sympathetic glance. She wasn’t sure whether she ought to intrude, but she was sitting here with him, and she hadn’t been able to help hearing what had been said.
‘Was that about your father?’ she asked quietly. ‘Is he ill?’ There had also been something about ‘the business’ and that worried her, because Matt’s father was in partnership with her father, and it sounded as though there was a problem of some sort.
Matt pressed his lips together, making them into a flat line. ‘My mother’s worried about him. He’s been working too hard lately, and now he’s getting twinges in his chest.’ His gaze met hers. ‘The trouble is, he always puts in a hundred and ten per cent. We’ve tried telling him to slow down, but he doesn’t listen. He says he doesn’t have a choice.’
‘Because of my father? That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it?’
His shoulders lifted, but he didn’t reply, and his expression was unreadable, leaving her at a loss. Of course he blamed her father. Martyn Clements was a powerhouse of energy, and the business meant everything to him. He drove himself and everyone else to give their utmost to make it succeed. He’d never come to terms with the fact that his daughter chose to study medicine rather than carry on in his footsteps.
‘We should get back to the children’s unit,’ he said, his features grim and impenetrable.
‘Yes.’ She hesitated. ‘What will you do?’
‘Nothing, for the moment,’ he answered. ‘I’ll go and see him at the weekend.’
She followed him out of the cafeteria and neither of them spoke. A wall had come down between them, and the relaxed atmosphere of just a few minutes ago had passed. The loss left her with a hollow feeling inside.
CHAPTER TWO
‘IT LOOKS as though you’ve bought enough food to last us for a month,’ Jade observed with a laugh, watching Lucy stocking up the fridge and freezer. ‘I can’t see how the groceries kitty would have covered us for that lot.’
‘No … well, I was worried about leaving the cupboards empty, so I decided to get a few extras in. Nothing major, but a few things to tide us over in an emergency—dried milk, bread for the freezer, pasta shells and sauces, rice and curry spices and chicken pieces. That way we’ll always have something to fall back on.’
Jade smiled. ‘Ah … now I see the reason for the shopping spree. So Matt’s been giving you a hard time, has he?’
‘No, no … not at all.’ Lucy paused, thinking about that. ‘Actually, he’s been remarkably quiet, lately. He hardly said a word when we ran out of everything at the weekend.’
‘You’re joking!’ Jade’s eyes widened. ‘What’s wrong with him? Is he not feeling well?’ She chuckled as she helped to put away the packages. She was glowing with health, her long, chestnut-coloured hair gleaming like the copper pans that decorated the far wall, touched by the morning sunlight. Her green eyes reflected the happiness that came from being a woman in love and for a second or two Lucy envied her that feeling.
She sighed and brushed those thoughts away. Romance wasn’t for her. Not now, not perhaps for some time to come. It was a disappointment, finding out how shallow men could be. Though that wasn’t true of all men, of course. Jade’s fiancé was a wonderful man. He thought the world of Jade, and they were truly blessed, but it wasn’t likely that such a liaison would happen for her any time soon.
Why was it that every time she was halfway interested in a man, he was all over her and trying to hustle her into bed? She didn’t want a brief fling based purely on sex, she wanted something more than that—something deeper and more meaningful, a man to love her, perhaps, and care for her, and not just be obsessed by her body. But it wasn’t happening. So far, every man she’d met hadn’t been able to get past the way she looked. Even Alex, whom she’d known for some years and whom she’d thought at one time might be the one for her, had let her down and left her disappointed.
She tried to shake off those negative feelings. ‘I think Matt’s on top form lately. I get the feeling he’s really happy to be working in Paediatrics, and he doesn’t seem to be fazed by anything. One minute he’s doing chest drainage on a baby and the next he’s playing Air Attack with a ten-year-old on the ward. I wish I could be as relaxed about the job.’
Jade nodded. ‘It
