cottages and quaint shops and general sleepy atmosphere. As for the bay, it was a wide arc of golden sand, backed by rugged cliffs and rocks, a striking contrast to the clear blue of the Pacific Ocean that lapped its shores. Beyond all that was the magnificent range of the Santa Lucia Mountains, lush and green, their slopes forested with redwoods, oaks and pine.
She drank in the view for a moment or two longer, absorbing the tranquillity of her surroundings. Then she pulled in a deep breath and turned away to walk along the road towards a distant building set high on a bluff overlooking the sea.
One way or another, it had been a difficult day so far, and she could see little chance of things improving. She still had to meet with her father, and even though she had become used to seeing him over these last couple of weeks, it was always something of a strain for her to be with him.
‘We’ll have lunch,’ he’d said, as though it was an everyday, natural occurrence.
‘Okay.’ She’d looked at him and his expression had been relaxed and easygoing. He seemed to genuinely want to meet up with her again. ‘I have a half-day on Wednesday,’ she told him, ‘so that should work out well enough.’
And now he was waiting for her at the restaurant, sitting at a table on the open-air terrace, gazing out over the ocean. Katie guessed he was watching the boats on the horizon. He hadn’t noticed her coming towards him, and she was glad of that. It gave her the chance to compose herself, as well as an opportunity to fix his image once more in her mind.
She studied him. He was not as she remembered from all those years ago, neither did he bear any resemblance to the pictures her mother had carefully stored in the photograph album. She guessed at one time he must have been tall and vital, a vigorous man, full of energy and ambition, but at this moment he appeared frail, a shadow of his former self. His body was thin, his face faintly lined, and his brown hair was faded, threaded through with silver strands.
‘Hi, there….’ Katie hesitated. She was still struggling with the idea of calling this man her dad. It went against the grain to use the word, considering that he was almost a stranger to her. Instead, she asked, ‘Have you been waiting long? I’m sorry I’m a bit late. I was held up at work.’
‘That’s all right. Don’t worry about it.’ Her father smiled and rose carefully to his feet to pull out a chair for her. ‘You look harassed. We can’t have that, can we? Sit yourself down and take a minute or two to settle. Life’s too short to be getting yourself in a tizzy.’
His breathing was wheezy and laboured, and Katie was concerned. She’d heard that he had been ill for some time, but his health seemed to have taken a downturn even in the few days since she had last seen him.
‘Thanks.’ She sat down quickly so that he could do the same. Then she gazed around her. ‘It’s lovely to be able to sit out here and enjoy the fresh air…And it’s all so perfect…idyllic, with the tubs of flowers and all the greenery.’
‘I thought you’d like it. The food’s good, too.’
A waitress approached with menus, and Katie accepted hers with a smile, opening it up to look inside and study the contents. In reality, though, her mind was in a whirl and she was finding it difficult to concentrate, so that the text became a blur.
Her father signalled to the wine waiter and ordered a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, before turning back to Katie. ‘Why don’t you tell me what sort of a day you’ve had?’ he suggested. ‘It can’t have been too good, by the looks of things. Are you getting on all right at the hospital? You’ve been there almost a week now, haven’t you?’
She nodded. ‘I’m really happy to be working there. The people are great…very friendly and helpful. I’m working in Paediatrics most of the time, but I also have a couple of days when I’m on call to deal with general emergencies if they arise locally. Mostly people will ring for an ambulance if there’s an accident or medical incident, but if I’m nearer and it’s likely to be something serious then I’ll go out as a first responder. It’s a good opportunity for me to keep up with emergency work, so I was glad with this job came up.’
Her father glanced at his menu. ‘It sounds as though it’s the kind of work you enjoy. It’s what you were doing in England, in Shropshire, isn’t it?’
‘That’s right.’
The wine waiter arrived, pouring a small amount of clear, red wine for her father to taste, before filling two glasses.
Katie took a sip of her drink, savouring the rich, fruity flavour. She sent her father a quick, searching glance. Somehow he always managed to get her to talk about herself. He very rarely revealed anything of his lifestyle, about what had brought him to where he was now.
‘What about you?’ she asked. ‘Did you always have it in mind to come out here—was there something about Carmel Valley that drew you—or was it someone who led you to this place?’
‘The company I worked for sent me out here,initially,’ he answered, placing his menu down on the table. He nodded towards the one she was holding. ‘Have you decided what you’d like to eat yet? The filet mignon is always good.’
‘Yes, I think I’ll go with that. But I’d prefer the cold slices, rather than a steak, I think…with tomato, red onion and blue cheese.’
‘And a Caesar salad?’
‘That sounds good.’
He nodded. ‘I’ll grab the waitress’s attention.’ He studied her once more. ‘So what’s been happening to get you all flustered today? You’ve always been calm and collected whenever we’ve seen one another, up to now. Is it a problem at work?’
She shook her head. ‘Not really…I mean, yes, in a way, I suppose.’ She gave an inward sigh and braced herself. It didn’t look as though he was going to give up on trying to tease it out of her, so she may as well get it off her chest.
‘I saw a little boy at the clinic today,’ she said. ‘He was around four years old, and his mother told me he’d been unwell for some time. She hadn’t known what to do because his symptoms were vague, and she put it down to the fact that he’d had a cold and sore throat. Only he took a sudden turn for the worse. When I examined him, his body was swollen with oedema, his blood pressure was high, and his heart was racing.’
Her father frowned. ‘Seems that he was in a bad way, poor little chap.’
‘Yes, he was. I had him admitted to the renal unit. He was losing protein in his urine, and it looks as though his kidneys are inflamed.’
He winced. ‘Definitely bad news. So, what will happen to him now?’
‘They’ll do tests, and give him supportive treatment. Probably diuretics to bring down the swelling, and he’ll be put on a low-sodium, low-protein diet.’
She glanced around once more, looking out over the redwood deck rail to the ocean beyond. The sound of birds calling to one another mingled with the soft whoosh of surf as it dashed against the rocks below.
She looked back at him. ‘What about you? You haven’t told me much about yourself. Mum said that you worked in the import and export trade years ago—you had to travel a lot, she said.’
‘Yes, I did. I suppose that’s how I first became interested in the wine business.’ He beckoned the waitress and
