A Father for Poppy Read online

  It wasn’t like he’d been expecting Tessa to be all dewy-eyed and panting to take up where they’d left off three years before. If he had, she would have soon put that misconception right when she’d seen him at the meeting and observed him so joylessly that the attention he’d been receiving from everyone else had seemed claustrophobic.

  If she was going straight home in the morning, would she let him give her a lift? he wondered. For all he knew, she might be turning the occasion of the AGM into a shopping trip or a theatre break and he could hardly go knocking on her bedroom door to question her plans after three years of silence and all that had passed between them...

  He had planned on making an early start because he had to find somewhere to live when he got to Gloucestershire. He wanted to be settled into some kind of accommodation before appearing at the hospital in his new role on Monday morning. So it would seem that unless they met at breakfast their first proper encounter would be at work, under the eagle eyes of their colleagues. It was hardly ideal, but they were professionals and they would make the best of it.

  It turned out that Tessa was already in the dining room amongst a smattering of other early risers when he went downstairs at six o’clock the next morning, and before he could give it another thought he stopped by her table and said, ‘I’ve got a hire car and will be leaving shortly. Can I give you a lift to Gloucestershire?’

  ‘No, thanks just the same,’ she told him levelly, in the process of buttering a piece of toast. ‘I have a seat booked on an early train. The taxi that I’ve arranged to take me to the station will be here soon.’

  ‘Are you still at the same address?’ he asked casually, letting the rebuff wash off him.

  ‘No, I’ve moved recently,’ was the curt reply, and then to his surprise she followed up with ‘If you haven’t got any accommodation arranged, there is the house in the grounds of the hospital that the retiring consultant has been living in.

  ‘The property was bequeathed to Horizons in the will of some grateful patient and is now vacant. I’m sure it could be made available to you if you wished.’

  Drake was frowning. ‘I don’t want any fuss, Tessa, I’m here to work.’ He realised his tone had come across perhaps a little harshly, so he added, ‘But I suppose living so near work could be very useful.’

  In truth, he was amazed. After her tepid reaction to his return he hadn’t expected her to do him any favours. He was the one who’d been a selfish blighter all that time ago and anyone observing them now would find it hard to believe they’d been lovers.

  ‘I will most certainly look into that,’ he assured her, dragging his mind back from the past.

  Meanwhile, Tessa’s only thought was whether there would be anyone sharing the place with him if it was available.

  It was an old house that its previous owner had cherished, with high vaulted ceilings, curving staircases and spacious rooms all furnished with antique objects, with its biggest benefit being that it was only a matter of minutes away from the hospital for the consultant in charge when needed.

  ‘Now that you mention it, I seem to remember something about being offered it when I accepted the position,’ he said, ‘but I had so much on my mind at the time I’d completely forgotten about it. So thanks for that, Tessa.’ Could he sound more like an idiot? Drake thought to himself.

  She shrugged as if it were of no matter. ‘You would have heard about it sooner or later.’

  ‘Yes, well, thanks anyway,’ he told her, and as a member of the dining room staff came to show him to a table, added, ‘Until Monday morning, then.’

  She nodded and turned back to her tea and toast, hoping that she hadn’t given any sign of the fast-beating heart that the turmoil inside her was responsible for. Having already settled her account, when her taxi arrived she left the hotel as swiftly as possible, and without a backward glance.

  So far so good, Drake thought sombrely as he watched her go. At least they were on speaking terms and Tessa had taken the trouble to tell him that his accommodation arrangements might soon be solved. But who was it that she had moved house for?

  She wouldn’t have left her beloved apartment for no reason, and he could hardly expect that her life had been on hold while he’d been away. She’d watched him leave that day without a murmur. Or could it have been that he hadn’t given her a chance to get a word in with his obsession about the job in Switzerland, and the opportunities for developing new techniques it had presented?

  But he’d made his choice and paid the price. It had been over then and nothing had changed. It wasn’t like he’d returned to Horizons for her. He’d wanted the job—and to see her for old times’ sake, not to rekindle what had once been between them.

  But that wasn’t to say that he’d forgotten the passion they’d shared, or how it had felt to lie in each other’s arms. So much so that he hadn’t slept with anyone since, hadn’t found anyone he’d wanted to share that with. Now that he had some distance, he could see that what they’d had was without equal—but he didn’t regret taking the Swiss job, which had developed his skills and offered him a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Now, for better or worse, he was back and he couldn’t deny that a part of him was curious to see if there was anything left of it.

  He could tell from Tessa’s manner that his return hadn’t sent her into raptures—far from it—but perhaps beneath her frosty reception she was as curious as he to see whether any of the old passion remained. The old Tessa certainly would have been.

  * * *

  On the train journey home Tessa rang her friend Lizzie, who was Poppy’s childminder and the only person she would entrust her adopted daughter to stay with overnight, and was told that she’d been fine. A little bit weepy at bedtime but a couple of stories had made her eyelids start to droop and then she’d slept right through the night.

  ‘I should be with you by lunchtime and will come straight to your place,’ Tessa told her, but Lizzie suggested bringing Poppy to the station to meet her, knowing how she would be longing to see her again. Tessa was anxious to hold her little girl in her arms again, and thanked Lizzie, who was mother to two cute little ones of her own. But when her friend asked if the meeting had justified the long journey and overnight stay in London, Tessa could only reply that it had been full of strange surprises.

  She didn’t regret refusing Drake’s offer of a lift home, even though it would have been faster. The thought of being in close contact with him for three to four hours had been inconceivable.

  Until yesterday he had been out of her life completely and now he’d come back into it with the same ease as when he’d appeared at her door at six o’clock in the morning an eternity ago, and now she was wishing him far away... Or was she?

  With Drake back in her life he would no longer be a shadowy figure from her past. She would be able to see him and hear him, but would also have to keep him at a distance.

  Her life had been transformed with Poppy in it. The little one had been in care, waiting to be adopted after losing her parents in a car crash, and when she’d been brought into Horizons soon after with a bleed behind her eye from the accident, Tessa had been drawn to the solemn little orphaned girl and had spent much of her free time beside Poppy’s bed.

  ‘You are just what the child needs,’ her social worker had said.

  ‘What! A single mother!’ she’d exclaimed. ‘Hardly! My life has never been planned to include children.’

  But the seed had been sown and the more she’d thought about it the more she had known that she wanted to take care of Poppy. So the proceedings to adopt had begun, with every step along the way feeling to Tessa more and more that it was the right thing to do. If she needed any confirmation of it, the happy little child that Poppy had become was proof.

  If Drake had any recollection of the pact they’d once made, he was in for a surprise, she thought, and as the train left the station on the last leg of her journey home she was wishing that he had stayed in the place that he’d been so
eager to go to, because now she had her life sorted.

  They were waiting for her on the station platform, Lizzie holding Poppy’s hand tightly as the train stopped, and when she saw her, the little one cried, ‘Mummy Two!’ It was the name that Tessa had taught Poppy to call her so that ‘Mummy One’ wasn’t forgotten, and as she held her little girl close her world righted itself.

  ‘So where are the boys?’ she asked Lizzie, whose twins were the same age as Poppy.

  ‘They are at home with their daddy. He’s taking a few days’ leave from work so I didn’t need to bring them,’ Lizzie explained, as she pointed to where her car was parked. As they walked towards it she asked, ‘So what went wrong while you were in London, Tessa? You didn’t sound very happy when you phoned.’

  ‘You aren’t going to believe it when I tell you,’ she told her. ‘Guess who is taking charge at Horizons from Monday?’

  ‘I haven’t a clue. Who is it?’ she asked.

  ‘Drake is to be the new chief consultant. Drake Melford!’

  ‘What?’ Lizzie cried. ‘He’s back here in Glenminster? How do you feel about that?’

  ‘Honestly, I’m shattered at the thought. My life is sorted, Lizzie. I’m happy as I am with Poppy and my job. They fill my days.’

  ‘Have you actually spoken to him?’

  ‘Yes. He’s on his way here in a hire car and offered me a lift, which I refused...needless to say.’

  ‘And he’s taking over on Monday?’

  ‘Yes, giving me no time to compose myself after our London meeting,’ Tessa replied, looking down at Poppy, who was holding her hand tightly, ‘but nothing is going to interfere with my life and Poppy’s. Drake will be in my working life—that I can’t help—but for the rest of it he will be just as much out of it as he has been during the years we’ve been apart.’

  * * *

  Her first thought on awakening on Monday morning was that she would be in the same place as Drake today. Indeed, it was a while before she could focus on anything else. For not only would she be in the same place as Drake today, she would be for the foreseeable future. While their professional goals would be aligned, she could imagine him making his entrance into the life of Horizons Hospital with his usual charm and confidence, while she would be struggling just to keep afloat.

  But at least she wouldn’t be on the wards or in Theatre, where he would surely be. That would be intolerable, so if the chance came to stay in her office all day she would take it. Coward, she couldn’t help but think.

  What about all the other days when she would be out there, arranging and improving the standard of care that the hospital provided for its patients? She couldn’t hide in her office every day.

  She’d risen through the ranks because of her expertise, efficiency and professional manner. She had years of experience, having worked in a similar capacity on cruise ships, and wanting to revert to dry land for a change had gone into hospital administration. She couldn’t help but wonder how her life would have been different if she’d never met him, if she’d stayed on cruise ships perhaps.

  But there was no point going over what couldn’t be changed. And, anyway, she could never regret the road that had brought her darling Poppy into her life.

  Her friend Lizzie lived on the other side of the hospital, at the edge of a town that was endowed with the beautiful architecture of bygone days and wide shopping promenades. It was an arrangement that suited both mothers. As well as putting Tessa’s mind at rest, knowing her little adopted daughter was cared for by someone she could trust during working hours, it provided Lizzie with an income of her own and gave the two friends an excuse to see each other very often.

  Tessa had to drive past the hospital to get to Lizzie’s and as she took Poppy to be dropped off she saw what must have been the hire car that Drake had indicated when he’d been offering her a lift at the London hotel.

  It was parked amongst other staff cars and she wondered where he had stayed over the weekend, and how she could possibly be so disinterested after the way she’d adored him. Had her feelings eventually turned to pique because she’d been discarded so thoughtlessly for a promotion and a trip to Switzerland?

  When she arrived at her office, which was part of the hospital’s administration complex, her secretary, middle-aged Jennifer Edwards, was already there and eager to inform her that the new senior consultant had called to say hello on his way to the wards and what did she think of that?

  ‘I don’t think his predecessor even knew we existed,’ Jennifer said in a tone of wonder, and Tessa’s hopes of a busy day in the office without sightings of Drake began to disappear. But Jennifer went on to say that he’d stopped by to explain that he was calling a meeting of all staff who were free to attend at five o’clock that afternoon and hoped that the two of them would be there.

  ‘But will you want to stay behind?’ she asked Tessa, knowing that normally she would be setting off to collect Poppy at that time.

  It was a tricky question. Her dedication to her job demanded that she be there to support the new head consultant, and deep down she knew that if it wasn’t Drake she would be phoning Lizzie to explain that she would be a bit late. She’d already been away from her little one for part of the weekend on hospital business and felt that she had given enough of her free time, but Tessa knew that was just an excuse. It would be worse if Drake thought she was being difficult because he had come back into her life unexpectedly—perhaps she should go to the meeting just to show him that he was fine. Stop it, Tessa, she told herself severely.

  She was free of the spell he had cast over her. And she wasn’t going to the meeting. If they didn’t speak today she would explain tomorrow that she’d had another commitment that had been equally important.

  * * *

  It had been a hectic day, Drake thought, as he made his way to the main hall of the hospital at five o’clock, but it was to be expected with patients and staff all new to him...with the exception of one.

  Would Tessa be there when he spoke briefly to his new team? He hoped so. There was no way he would want to cause her pain or embarrassment, but they were adults—and professionals, for goodness’ sake—and could surely behave that way.

  If his restlessness and discontent while he’d been in Switzerland had been because he’d made a big mistake by not cementing their relationship, there was nothing to indicate so far that she’d been missing him. If she was now living with someone else, he had only himself to blame.

  He was crossing the hospital car park to get to where the meeting was being held and caught a glimpse of her in the distance, about to drive off into the summer evening. He quickened his step but she was pointed in the opposite direction and as the car disappeared from view he had his answer.

  She had better things to do, it would seem, than stay behind to hear his few words of introduction to the staff. It was going to take more than just showing up, or his charm, to get to know her again. Did he even want that?

  Minutes later he faced a varied assembly of the workforce and with complete sincerity assured them that every aspect of the day-to-day challenges that Horizons Hospital was confronted with would have his full attention. Relieved that the meeting at the end of their working day had been brief yet reassuring, most of them went on their way, leaving just a few who wanted to meet the new chief consultant.

  CHAPTER TWO

  AFTER THE LAST of the staff members had left Drake’s thoughts turned to food.

  He was starving, and the thought of relaxing over a meal in a good restaurant in the town centre had no sooner surfaced than he was on his way there.

  He had to pass a park on the way and happened to cast a glance at a certain bench that had memories of a time that was as clear in his mind now as it had been then. Did Tessa remember? he wondered. Did she think of it each time she passed this spot?

  As he drove along a country lane not far from the hospital he unexpectedly found his curiosity satisfied about where she had moved to. It was i
n the porch of a cottage by the wayside that he saw Tessa, and he almost ran the hire car into the hedgerow in his surprise.

  She was chatting to a guy of a similar age to himself and as he drove past Tessa reached out and hugged him to her. Drake’s first thought was that this had to be the man who had replaced him in her heart. His second thought, which took a while to summon up, was, So what? But at least he knew now where she was to be found out of working hours.

  As for himself, he’d wandered into the house in the hospital grounds that she’d mentioned, after remembering the keys on his desk and the chairman’s note offering him the use of it, and thought it wasn’t his type of place. It was too drab and he thrived on light and colour. But he had already decided that its proximity to Horizons would be perfect in an emergency, so was going to take advantage of the offer. He’d look for something else when he had time.

  * * *

  The food was fine when he found a restaurant that was his type of place; it battened down his hunger with its goodness, but Drake hardly noticed it. He’d got the job of a lifetime back in his home town and a place to sleep that plenty would die for, yet he wasn’t happy.

  It had been a mistake to come back to where he and Tessa had been so besotted with each other, so right for each other in every way. He’d had three years to realise in slow misery that he’d thrown away a precious thing without a second thought to satisfy his ambitions, and would have been even more selfish if he’d expected that time might have stood still where she was concerned.

  She was just as beautiful now as she’d been then, but there was no warmth in her towards him, and as the night was young—it was barely seven o’clock—he decided to call on her on the drive back. If possible, he would wipe the slate clean by apologising for his past behaviour and assure her of his intention to stay clear, with the exception of their inevitable coming face to face sometimes in a professional capacity at Horizons.