must have qualified as a doctor, then? Are you specialising in A and E?’ he asked, his glance flicking over her.
She nodded.
‘I imagine you would have done very well,’ he murmured, ‘because I thought you handled the situation here with great skill and expertise. It would have been daunting for anyone, but you were exceptionally cool and organised. It was impressive.’
Her smile was strained. ‘I can’t say that I felt that way. I didn’t have time to stop and think or I might have been even less sure of myself. I was worried about the little boy. He looked so helpless lying there, so young and vulnerable, but I knew I had to attend to the driver first. His condition was the worst.’
‘They’re all safe now, thanks to you.’
She made a face. ‘Thanks to your medical equipment, more like. I think I shall have to start carrying emergency supplies with me, just in case.’
‘It helps to be prepared for anything.’ He looked at her thoughtfully. ‘Are you working locally?’
‘Yes. I’ve just finished my senior house officer year, and now I’m working in A and E at the Royal. It’s a bit daunting, because there have been some staff changes lately, with promotions and people moving on, but I’m glad to be able to work in a place that I’m familiar with.’
She sent him a quick glance. ‘I hadn’t expected to see you again. What are you doing in this neck of the woods? I heard on the grapevine that you were working as a consultant up north.’
‘That’s true. I’ve been running my own department for a couple of years now.’
‘That was what you always wanted, wasn’t it?’ Her mouth moved in an odd shape. ‘I thought you would do well for yourself. You worked hard and you were very determined.’
She had never known him to fail at anything. ‘You still haven’t told me what you’re doing down here. You’re a long way from home.’
‘Not really. My family still live hereabouts. In fact, I was passing through on my way to a meeting.’ He grimaced and glanced at his watch, and as he lifted his arm she saw that his wrist was faintly bronzed by the sun and was covered by a smattering of dark hairs. His hands were strong and capable, and now her breath caught in her throat as she remembered the way those hands had once gently caressed her.
She looked away. That was all over now, finished. ‘Will you be too late for your meeting now?’
‘Maybe not. I’ll be a bit late, but that can’t be helped.’ He studied her features. ‘You haven’t changed a bit.’
‘Haven’t I? I feel as though I’m a lot older and wiser.’
He smiled. ‘Maybe, but you still look the same. Your hair is still glorious and untamed and glowing like fire. I always thought there was such a contrast between that fiery auburn and the calmness of your eyes. They’re such a soft, peaceful green.’
‘They don’t necessarily reflect how I feel.’ She watched the ambulance pull away and hoped that the people inside would be all right. There was nothing more that she could do for them.
‘I should go now,’ she said. His words had unsettled her, made her think of things that could not be. He was just passing through, and even if that hadn’t been the case she couldn’t have stayed with him and chatted as though all was well. Things would always be fraught between them. ‘Time’s getting on and there are some things I need to do.’
‘Is your car nearby?’
She nodded, and he said, ‘I’ll walk with you to it.’
‘If you like.’ She was feeling a little shaky after the events of the afternoon, and for all her conflicting emotions it wouldn’t do any harm to have him accompany her for a bit longer, would it? She turned and began to head towards the parking bay.
‘Do you still live with your family in the old farmhouse?’ he asked.
She shook her head. His question troubled her. Didn’t he know that they had been forced to sell the house? ‘I decided that I needed a place of my own. The farm cottage came up for sale a couple of years ago, and it seemed just about the right size for me, so I snapped it up when I had the chance.’
‘The one near to your family home?’
She nodded. ‘That’s right. It isn’t the family home any longer, though. My parents moved away and bought a smaller place near the sea.’
He frowned. ‘I hadn’t realised that. I thought the house had been in your family for some generations. It was a beautiful old place and they loved it, didn’t they? I didn’t think they would ever want to move.’
‘They decided to go for something more manageable.’ It hurt to remember that the family home had been sold. No one had wanted to see it go, and even though it had been put on the market again recently by its new owners, there was no chance that they would be able to buy it back. It would cost far more than they could afford.
There wasn’t any point in telling Drew what had really happened, that they had been left with no choice but to sell. It would only serve to rake up old wounds and it was highly unlikely that she would be seeing see him again after today.
‘How is your father these days?’ he said. ‘I was worried about him. His health was never good, was it? And I know he took a turn for the worse just before I left.’
Her mouth made a bitter line. ‘What did you expect? As you said, he was ill to begin with and what happened came as a complete shock to him. He built his business up from nothing, and then your father came along and took it from him and everything he’d worked for was destroyed. It was bound to make him ill.’
‘I don’t think that’s fair. It wasn’t my father’s fault. By the time he came along your father had already opened his company up to shareholders. They were the ones who made the decision to sell out.’
‘It was your father’s board of directors that voted him out after the new company took over. My dad hadn’t been prepared for that to happen. It was a hos tile take-over from start to finish. He founded the business and in the end he was left with nothing. Everything he’d worked for his whole life was taken from him.’
‘He was well compensated. He didn’t walk away with empty hands.’
She glared at him, her green eyes flashing contempt. ‘Do you think money is all that matters? His health was so bad afterwards that for a long time he couldn’t work. He was a broken man, and it took him a long time to recover, and when he was well enough he had to start again from nothing.’
Drew stopped walking and reached for her, grasping her shoulders in a gentle but firm embrace. He made her look at him and she was so taken aback that she forgot to struggle, and the warmth of his palms seeped through her thin cotton top and heated her flesh and took her breath away.
‘Katie, I’m sure my father didn’t mean for any of that to happen. He acted in the best interests of his company, as any businessman would. He didn’t intend to hurt anyone.’
‘Didn’t he? My father wasn’t the only one to suffer, was he? The workers were laid off, too. They weren’t
