‘But what’s he like?’ Chloe persisted.
Lauren leaned back and sighed, unable to keep her smile from broadening. ‘Absolutely
divine
.’
No way was she going to last out Gabriel’s time here without being a
very
bad girl.
Hopefully.
‘T
HANKS
again for coming in early this morning, Gabriel. I think we’ve covered everything,’ Nick Tremayne decided, leading the way back to his consulting room after a tour of the revamped surgery. He returned to his chair and rubbed his hands together. ‘Do you have any other questions?’
‘Is the expansion work nearly complete?’ Gabriel had been impressed with the improvements that had taken place since his previous weekend visit in July.
‘It won’t be long now. Hopefully no more than a week. My daughter Lucy originally worked on the plans for the changes and devised a way to use the dead space we had here to make more room. We’ve rearranged the layout, adding extra facilities as well as increasing consulting-room availability upstairs and down,’ Nick explained. ‘There are a few minor jobs to finish, mostly outside, but we’ve been very lucky…the builders have worked around us so that patient disruption has been kept to a minimum.’
‘The new X-ray and plaster rooms on the ground floor must make life much easier.’
‘Indeed,’ Nick agreed. ‘It means we can handle the less serious breaks and injuries here now, rather than having to send everyone on the half-hour journey to the hospital in St Piran. It benefits the hospital, the patients and ourselves. As does having
the new physiotherapy room for Lauren,’ he added. ‘Our workload is increasing all the time—and not just during the tourist season—so your presence here is even more welcome.’
‘Thank you.’
Nick shuffled some papers on his desk. ‘I’ve arranged for you to spend a few days working with Oliver Fawkner. You can take your own consultations, of course—we’ve assigned you one of the new rooms next to Lauren’s—but Oliver will help you learn your way around the district. Is that all right with you?’
‘But, yes, I appreciate it. I have already met Oliver, Chloe and Lauren—we had lunch together yesterday.’
‘Good, good. I’m sure you’ll get on well.’ Nick nodded with approval, then handed over a sheet of paper. ‘Here is this week’s roster. We take turns doing out-of-hours cover so no one is unduly burdened, but we won’t expect you to do your own evening and weekend calls until you are settled in. Again, as Oliver is temporarily living so close to the Manor House, you can share duties with him for a week or two before we add you to the list to do calls alone.’
‘That sounds fine. Maybe I could also make some visits out with other staff?’ Gabriel suggested, following up on the idea Lauren had given him.
Nick glanced up, an eyebrow raised in question. ‘What did you have in mind?’
‘I would be interested in learning how the various disciplines interact here. And it would give me a chance to meet some of the regular patients. Maybe if I spent a morning with the nurses, and also go out on a few home visits with Chloe and Lauren during my first couple of weeks?’
‘An excellent idea,’ his new boss agreed. His smile of approval stripped some of the characteristic sternness from his face. ‘The more familiarisation you can gain, the better. I’ll leave you to arrange the details with the staff concerned. You can sort things out to fit your own schedules. I’ll mention it
when we all meet and—’ The phone buzzed and Nick frowned, momentarily distracted. ‘Excuse me,’ he murmured. ‘Yes? Of course, Hazel. We’ll be there directly.’
Gabriel visualised Hazel, the practice manager, whom he had met a short while ago during his wander around with Nick. The older woman had been polite while giving him the once-over but appeared to be reserving her judgement about him. He could understand that. Hopefully he would pass muster with her, and the rest of the staff, in time. He was thinking of all he had been told about his new colleagues when Nick set down the phone and reclaimed his attention.
‘Pretty much everyone on duty is here now. Come on up to the staffroom, Gabriel, and I’ll introduce you,’ he invited, rising to his feet.
Glad that their chat had gone well, and looking forward to starting work, Gabriel followed Nick towards the stairs. Although reserved and serious, the senior partner had been welcoming, their discussion informative. Even so, Gabriel was thankful to have had the chance to meet Oliver and Chloe in more informal and relaxed circumstances at Lauren’s cottage the previous day. He had thoroughly enjoyed himself. They had lingered over a delicious lunch and talked long into the afternoon. It had been dark by the time he had walked the short distance back to the Manor House feeling content and more comfortable about his new job.
With dark hair and green eyes, Chloe was kind and gentle, as dedicated to her role as a midwife as Lauren was to hers as a physiotherapist. As for Oliver, dark-eyed and with overlong dark hair, Gabriel had liked him from the first, forming an instant friendship with the handsome, charismatic doctor. Oliver was only three years younger than himself and they had quickly established that they shared many interests in common besides their careers, especially a love of sport. Gabriel did not share Oliver’s and Chloe’s love of motor
bikes, however. It hadn’t needed Lauren to tell him that Oliver and Chloe were a couple…that they were madly in love was obvious to anyone who saw them together.
And then there was Lauren herself.
She had been a complete surprise to him and he had not been able to stop thinking about her since finding her in his kitchen on Saturday afternoon. He’d been intrigued to learn she was an accomplished artist. There hadn’t been an opportunity to look around her studio the day before but he had seen a couple of her landscapes hanging in the surgery’s reception area during his tour with Nick. He had found himself drawn to the paintings even before he had realised they were Lauren’s. She had real talent. He was looking forward to working with her—and to getting to know her better socially. Only his early meeting with Nick had prevented him from joining Lauren for her morning jog. There would be time for that in the days ahead. And, he hoped, for much more. He still intended to be cautious, but any resolve to remain uninvolved had wavered on Saturday and melted entirely on Sunday.
The sound of chatter coming from the staffroom became louder and drew him from his thoughts. As Nick led the way inside and an anticipatory silence descended, Gabriel’s nervousness at the prospect of meeting his colleagues returned. He’d never experienced this self-doubt about acceptance until recently—until his world had turned upside down after his father’s death and things he had thought he had known about his life, his family, his very identity—had proved to be a lie. Gabriel swallowed the rush of emotions, forcing his private issues to the back of his mind. It was good to know there would be at least a couple of familiar faces here. A quick glance around the room told him that Lauren had yet to arrive and he struggled to mask his disappointment. However, Oliver and Chloe were there, their smiles reassuring him.
Uncomfortable at being the centre of attention, he hoped
his own smile was natural and that he came across as being more relaxed than he felt under the scrutiny he was being subjected to. Thankfully the atmosphere was welcoming, although he imagined some people had similar reservations to those Hazel had exhibited earlier. He remained silent as Nick made the introductions and turned to draw him forward.
‘Come on in and join us. Everyone, this is Gabriel Devereux.’ His manner benevolent and paternal, Nick gestured around the room. ‘You already know Oliver and Chloe. And you remember Kate Althorp, our other midwife, from your visit in the summer?’
‘But of course. It’s good to see you again, Kate.’ As the older woman rose to greet him, he gave her a Gallic kiss on both cheeks. ‘How is your son Jem?’
Kate’s smile revealed her pleasure. ‘He’s well. Thank you, Gabriel. Welcome back to Penhally Bay! We are so pleased to have you with us.’
‘I am excited to be here.’ He smiled back, grateful for Kate’s warm approach.
Nick made the other introductions and Gabriel shook hands with the rest of the team. When the formalities were over, Gabriel sat on an empty chair opposite Oliver and Chloe, and accepted the mug Eve Dwyer, one of the practice nurses, handed him.
‘We usually start the day with a coffee and a chat,’ she explained, her manner friendly. ‘Milk and sugar?’
‘Just a dash of milk, please.’
As Eve added the milk to his mug and then turned to replace the carton in the fridge, a crash sounded out on the stairway, followed by a string of muffled curses. Gabriel looked round in time to see Nick shaking his head and moving towards the door.
‘That must be Lauren.’
Everyone laughed in response to Nick’s wry comment, but
the amusement was affectionate, Gabriel realised with some relief, already feeling protective of Lauren. Then he noted the concern on Oliver’s face, along with the way Chloe’s smile dimmed when she exchanged a glance with her fiancé. Gabriel shared a look with Oliver and as a silent acknowledgement passed between them he felt a shiver of unease. He had known Lauren less than forty-eight hours, but it appeared he was not alone in his impression that something more might lie behind her clumsiness. Gabriel filed the moment away. He would keep his own counsel for now, but Oliver could be the man to talk to if his initial worrying suspicions came to anything.
Looking adorably flustered, and dressed in a uniform of navy blue tunic and trousers, her hair tied back in a ponytail, Lauren hurried into the room. She was carrying a haphazard stack of files and balancing a round tin precariously on top.
‘Sorry I’m late. I was delayed downstairs talking with a patient on the phone,’ she explained, sounding a touch breathless. ‘The waiting room is starting to fill up early—the usual collection of post-weekend crises, no doubt. Hazel is holding the fort and says to carry on without her.’
‘Are those some of Hazel’s biscuits?’ someone asked.
Gabriel watched as Lauren awkwardly juggled the files and manoeuvred the tin so she could prise open the lid. ‘Her Cornish fairings,’ she announced once she had peeped inside. A twinkle of mischief in her smoky grey eyes, she offered him the tin. ‘All Hazel’s home-made food treats are favourites here, Gabriel, so I advise you to take what you can before the rest of this unruly lot devour them.’
‘Thank you.’ It was a bit early in the day for him, but Gabriel accepted one of the biscuits to please Lauren. He tried it with his coffee, surprised how much he enjoyed the ginger-flavoured local delicacy. ‘They’re excellent.’
‘Tell Hazel that and you’ll be in her good books for life.’ Kate laughed.
‘Come on, Lauren, don’t hog the tin. I missed breakfast and I’m starving,’ GP Adam Donnelly called, growling in mock complaint as others grabbed their share of the biscuits before the tin reached him.
Gabriel was gratified when Lauren chose the chair next to him, her smile and the look in her eyes setting off the zing of awareness he felt every time he saw her.
‘A word of warning, Gabriel,’ one of the district nurses joked. ‘Make sure you park your car well away from Lauren’s—if you want to find it in one piece when you go back to it!’
As the tale of her reversing into a car at a recent wedding was recounted, Lauren smiled, taking the ribbing in good part, but Gabriel could see the flash of hurt and worry in her eyes. The belief that there was something more than Lauren just being clumsy nagged at him but he hadn’t yet put his finger on what it was that disturbed him. Frowning, he remembered her uneasiness leaving the Manor House on Saturday night and the way she had tripped in the dark. She had explained away her stumble by telling him how accident prone she was, but he had sensed she was covering up for something else. More than once in their short acquaintance he had noticed the way she squinted at her mobile phone screen, tilting it around before reading the message. Then there were the moments she displayed an apparent lack of spatial awareness and misjudgement of distances.
As Nick reclaimed the attention of those in the room, the teasing ceased and Gabriel had to set his considerations about Lauren aside. Instead, he listened with interest as the discussion turned to items of surgery business and any noteworthy out-of-hours incidents with patients. Adam had been called out the previous day to a thirteen-year-old girl with appendicitis who had been admitted to St Piran Hospital, while Kate had attended a mum-to-be who had reported some abdominal pain.
‘I’m convinced it is nothing serious but, given her level of
anxiety, I’ve arranged for her to see the consultant at the hospital today instead of next week.’
‘Better to be safe than sorry,’ Nick remarked, to murmurs of agreement.
Gabriel watched the interaction between Nick and Kate with interest. The tension between the two had been glaringly apparent during the barbecue at Nick’s house back in July. He had no idea of their history but he thought it went beyond the doctor-midwife dynamic. Thankfully, the atmosphere between them today was less fraught.
‘Gabriel is going to be shadowing Oliver this week, especially on home visits and out-of-hours work,’ Nick outlined as the patient reviews came to an end. ‘I’ve also supported his request to spend some time with other staff and will leave you to organise convenient days between you…Lauren, Chloe and the district nurses in particular. Gabriel, enjoy your time here and speak up if you have any queries. I am sure everyone will do all they can to make you welcome and help you settle in for this year-long stay with us.’
Smiling his thanks, Gabriel’s attention lingered on Lauren beside him. She had done more than anyone to make him feel comfortable, both at home and work, and her insights and advice had been invaluable. As everyone rose to their feet and began to file out, heading off to attend to their respective duties, Oliver hung back with Chloe.
‘We can do a joint list this morning, Gabriel. And when we come back from the house calls, we’ll get you set up in your own room. You can take your own surgery slots from this afternoon if you’d care to,’ his new friend suggested.
‘That suits me.’
‘Great.’ Oliver smiled and ushered Chloe ahead of him. ‘I’ll see you downstairs in a few minutes, then.’
Left alone in the staffroom, Gabriel felt Lauren’s hand slide into his. Palm to palm. A perfect fit. Delicate yet strong.
And her skin was satin soft. Not at all sorry to be touching her but surprised by her actions, he looked into warm grey eyes.