Authors: Unknown
'Not exactly—but you're right, I am involved. Maybe you've heard that I'm taking a three-month sabbatical this summer?' He looked at her enquiringly but she shook her head. 'I'm doing research on the asthmatic child for one of the medical journals and Toby is a particularly interesting case. I have a house in Yorkshire, left to me by my grandfather, and it was at my suggestion that the Underwoods rented a house nearby. They have agreed to allow me to study Toby for my research.'
'I see—well, I hope you find a girl for the job,' she said, drinking the last of her cocktail. It was wonderful what you could do when you had plenty of money, she thought. It seemed that everything dropped neatly into Sean MacInnon's lap.
'I don't want just any girl, Katy,' he told her, his eyes looking into hers. 'I want you.'
For a moment she was completely taken aback. Her breath caught in her throat as the devastating eyes met hers, then resentment reared its head again. It wasn't
her
he wanted. That wasn't really what he was saying at all. It was merely that she had presented him with a challenge and he was used to getting things his own way.
She drew herself up stiffly. 'If the Underwoods are doing the employing maybe they should have the choice,' she said, her eyes glinting.
He continued to look at her steadily. 'They have entrusted the choosing to me,' he said simply.
'And did you tell them that there was bound to be some stupid girl failing her finals who'd jump at the chance of a job that wouldn't tax her feeble brain too much?' she demanded hotly.
He smiled calmly. 'I like a girl with spirit, but you really mustn't start getting paranoid about failing your finals, Katy. You know perfectly well that you'll pass next time if you really make up your mind to. No, I want you for this job because you have a natural affinity with children and I believe we could work together.'
She stared at him. 'Work together—how do you mean?'
He sighed. 'I would require you to make notes on the boy's progress and condition—keep a sort of diary. I believe Toby would be relaxed with you and one of the things I want to study is to what extent he is affected by tension and the removal of it.'
As he was speaking a waiter came to tell him that their table was ready. They rose and moved through to the dining-room. When they were seat
ed and the waiter had gone Sean looked at her enquiringly.
'Well—what do you think?'
She shook her head stubbornly. 'I've told you, I've made up my mind to go home and look after my father. When I make up my mind I don't change it.' She glanced sideways at him. 'I hope you won't feel you've wasted a perfectly good evening.' She picked up the menu. 'I suppose I'd better
choose
something cheap under the circumstances—or maybe I should pay for my own dinner?'
He snatched the menu from her. 'Katy Lang, I don't know whether to laugh at you or hit you over the head with this menu! In view of where we are I'd better just satisfy myself with choosing for you. You'll have the steak!' He summoned the waiter and ordered briskly, including a bottle of expensive wine in the already sumptuous meal. Katy's lip curled. All right, if he wanted to show off then let him! After all, she didn't eat like this every night of the week.
As they ate, Sean continued to tell her about the Underwood child in spite of the fact that she had shown no interest in taking the job.
'He first contracted asthma when he was about three,' he told her. 'He was very bad at the time and the condition affected his growth. He's still small for his age. Soon after his mother died it cleared up quite suddenly and as time went by the family almost forgot about it, then just as suddenly, about eighteen months ago, it reappeared, worse than ever. It became so bad that he had to be removed from the boarding-school he'd just started and as I explained, Claire has been teaching him at home ever since.'
Katy was thoughtful. The case interested her in spite of her refusal to become involved. 'Might it have been the school? It's quite traumatic for a little boy of that age to be sent away from home, especially after losing his mother.'
He looked up at her with a grin. 'So you're not as indifferent as you make out to be.'
'I didn't say I was indifferent,' she said hotly. 'Naturally I find it interesting, but that doesn't mean I want to take the job.'
He didn't press the point.
As they crossed the car-park the night was cool. The sky was clear and the moon had risen. Katy felt a little woozy from the champagne cocktail and the wine they had drunk with their meal, but she tried hard not to let Sean see this as they walked towards the car together. When he took her hand she made no attempt to snatch it back. Ordinarily she might have been irritated by the gesture, thinking that he only did it because it was expected of him, but the wine had softened her reasoning, simply telling her how good her hand felt enclosed by his large warm one. They drove back in silence until they reached the tall Victorian house, the ground floor of which made up the flat occupied by the three girls. Sean got out and came round the car, opening the door for her. His arm held hers firmly as they walked up the path. In the porch he looked down at her.
'Give me your key.'
She blinked up at him. 'What do you want that for?'
'Would you believe to open the door for you?' In the light from the street lamp she could see the comers of his mouth twitching and catch the glimmer of laughter in his eyes again. This time it was because of the effect the wine had had on her. She straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath.
'I'm perfectly capable of opening the door for myself, thank you,' she said with dignity.
'l can see I'm being too subtle for you,' he said. 'Don't I get invited in for a nightcap?'
She shook her head. 'You certainly do not!'
He lifted his arms helplessly. 'I see—I'm supposed to kiss you goodnight out here on the doorstep, am I?'
'You're not supposed—' She got no further. The next moment Sean's arms were round her and his lips were on hers. He kissed her briefly, then paused for a second before taking her lips again, this time pulling her close to him, his lips moving sensuously against hers. As he released her she leaned helplessly against him, her heart beating wildly.
'Mmm—you're very sweet, little Katy,' he said, his face buried in her hair. 'And I have a very strong feeling that we
will
be working together this summer, whatever you think now. When you change
your mind just let me know, will you?'
She closed her eyes as his warm breath tickled her ear deliciously, then suddenly she registered what he was saying and struggled free. 'Th—thank you for a nice evening and—and dinner,' she said, gulping hard. 'But I shall not be changing my mind. You'd better look for someone else for the job.' Frantically she scrabbled in her bag for her key, then thrust it into the lock and turned it, almost falling into the hall in her haste to get away from him. As she turned to close the door she caught the look on his face.
'What's the desperate hurry, Katy?' he asked lazily. 'Are you afraid of me—or is it yourself that you're afraid of?' And chuckling softly to himself he walked away from her, down the path to his car, pausing at the gate to wave and blow her a kiss. Furious with herself for standing there long enough to see it she slammed the door hard.
Inside she leaned weakly against it. Damn him! If she hadn't had all that wine she would have, been able to conceal her feelings better. When he had kissed her she had felt as though her knees had turned to water. She decided that all the rumours she had heard about him were true. But if he thought he had only to kiss her to have her chasing after him to the ends of the earth—or at least to Yorkshire—then he was mistaken. She would show him just how wrong he could be. She may have failed her finals but she did know how to make up her mind and stick to it!
Katy
arrived at the bus stop and put down her case with a sigh of relief. It was ten days since she had had the shattering news of her failure and Sean MacInnon had taken her to dinner, and since then nothing had seemed quite the same. All the girls she had begun her training with were now qualified nurses and had been busily applying for jobs. The air had been full of plans, both for the new jobs they were hoping to get and for the holidays most of them were going to take first. Sadly, she realised that even if she had decided to stay on, things could never be the same as before. Even the girls she knew at St Anne's would now be far above her in status. She felt humiliated and inferior and couldn't wait to be on her way home. After her fortnight's holiday with Dad she would have only another two weeks of her notice to work out, then it was home to all that was dear and familiar.
The May sunshine was warm and she unbuttoned the jacket of the grey suit she had bought to cheer herself up. Underneath it she wore a white blouse with a pie-frill collar and her bright hair hung loose about her shoulders, just the way that Dad liked to see it. When she had telephoned to tell him she would be coming home for a fortnight he had sounded vaguely pleased. He had also muttered something about a new friend he wanted her to meet. She was delighted. Dad didn't have much of a social life. He had always left that sort of thing to her mother who had had no difficulty in making friends. Mary Lang had always captivated people with her vivaciousness and striking looks and she could have charmed the very birds from the trees with her sparkling personality and her soft Irish brogue. Katy sighed, wishing she could have inherited her mother's charm and beauty.
Last night the girls she shared the flat with had given a party but somehow she hadn't been in the mood. Sean MacInnon had been invited but had failed to put in an appearance. Katy imagined that he was out with someone else. Since the night he had taken her out to dinner they had hardly spoken; it might never have happened. In fact Katy sometimes wondered if she had dreamed the whole thing. When he was on his ward rounds he would smile and nod—sometimes they would pass in the corridor or see each other at a distance across the canteen. It was almost impossible now to imagine that she had actually been in his arms that night and of course it was obvious from his present attitude that it had all been done in the hope of persuading her to take the job he had told her about. She sighed and looked at her watch. Another ten minutes before the bus was due. Suddenly she heard a loud hoot and a familiar yellow car drew up, alongside her, Sean's dark head leaned out of the window.
'Taxi, Miss?'
She smiled. 'I couldn't afford a taxi for the distance I'm going.'
'You never know your luck. Your destination wouldn't happen to be Kensbridge, would it?'
She stared at him. 'Well yes—but—'
'Right, hop in. I'm going there myself.' She hesitated and he leaned across and opened the door. 'Come on dozy, get in. Do you want me to catch it from a traffic warden for stopping at a bus stop?'
She heaved her case into the back seat and got in and almost before she could catch her breath they were on their way.
She studied his profile and the clothes he was wearing—a tweed jacket, open-necked shirt and light trousers. Obviously he was off on holiday or for the weekend. He caught her looking at him out of the corner of her eye and turned to grin at her.
'Sorry I missed the party last night—have a good time?'
'Super!' Katy lied. 'Were you supposed to be there then?'
'Yes—I flattered myself that it was you who had invited me. At the last minute there was an emergency in the theatre. Still, I'm glad you had a good time.'
Instantly she was sorry about the lie. When the girls had decided that they would each put six names into a hat Sean's was the first one she had written. He hadn't been out with someone else after all.
'Actually I didn't enjoy it all that much,' she conceded. 'Leaving isn't the celebration for me that it is for the others. I shall be glad to begin afresh.'
'I daresay.' His eyes were on the road and he didn't mention the Underwoods or Yorkshire again.
'Are you going to visit your aunt?' Katy asked.
'Yes.' He grinned. 'A duty visit before I go off to Yorkshire for the summer. She's eighty and as deaf as a post. She also seems to be under the impression that I'm still ten years old and on my school holidays. We have chocolate cake for almost every meal!'
Katy laughed. He was quite different today— more approachable somehow. 'You'll put on weight,' she told him.
'Never mind. A few hard games of squash should put that right and she's rather an old dear really.'
As they turned into Cremorne Crescent Katy wondered wistfully whether she would ever see him again. 'I shall be away for two weeks, then I have another two of my notice to work,' she told him as she reached into the back of the car for her suitcase.
He grabbed the case and hoisted it on to the pavement for her. 'Great! Maybe we'll run into each other. Have a good holiday!' And with a wave and a hoot he was gone, leaving her standing at the kerb looking after him as the yellow car roared away up the quiet road.
She let herself into the house. Dad wouldn't be home from work, for over an hour yet. There would just be time for her to pop out to the shops and get his favourite pork chops for dinner—cook them just the way he liked, with orange sauce and—She stopped in the hall, sniffing as her nose picked up the unmistakable aroma of cooking. Dad must be improving if he had gone to the trouble of putting something in the oven ready for when he got home. Or maybe he had at last found an efficient daily woman. She put her case down and looked around. Yes, the place certainly did look better. There were flowers on the hall table and the furniture shone with recently applied polish.
It was a pretty house, a spacious detached, built between the wars. It had been her mother's pride and joy. She had hunted for the valued antique 'treasures' with such pleasure and had upholstered the Victorian spoon-back chairs in the living-room with her own hands. Katy went up to her old room and unpacked her case. The room was the same as it had always been, even to the row of dolls ranged along the top of the bookcase. When she came home for good she would have to redecorate it, she told herself.