Resisting Her Rebel Doc (2 page)

‘You too.’ Her voice was husky, her breath coming in short bursts after her rush to get here. That was the excuse she gave herself, but maybe the truth was that it was a shock to see Brodie in the flesh after all these years.

The good-looking, hot-headed youth she remembered of old was gone and in his place stood a man who simply turned her insides to molten lava. This man was strong, ruggedly hewn, his handsome features carved out of...adversity, she guessed, and...success? There was something about him that said he had fought to get where he was now and he wouldn’t be giving any ground.

He was immaculately dressed in dark trousers that moulded his long legs and he wore a crisp linen shirt, the sleeves rolled back to reveal bronzed forearms. His hair was black, cut in a style that added a hint of devilishness to his chiselled good looks. Tall and broad-shouldered, his whole body was supple with lithe energy, his blue eyes drinking her in, his ready smile welcoming and enveloping her with warmth.

‘Come and sit down,’ he said, laying a hand gently on the small of her back and ushering her to a seat by the window. ‘Let me get you a coffee—you must be ready for one after your journey.’ He sent her a quick glance. ‘I expect you’ve been told that your mother is having tests at the moment? The surgeon’s going to see her soon to advise her about what needs to be done.’

She nodded. ‘The nurse told me.’ She sat down, her body stiff with tension. ‘How is my mother?’

‘She’s okay,’ he said cautiously. ‘She’s been conscious all the while, and the paramedics were with her very quickly after her fall, so that’s all in her favour.’

‘I suppose that’s something, anyway.’

‘Yes. The doctor who’s looking after her gave her a pain-relief injection so she’s comfortable at the moment. She’s had an MRI scan to assess the extent of the injury—it’s definitely a fracture of the hip, I’m afraid.’

She winced. ‘Will the surgeon operate today, do you know?’

He nodded. ‘Yes. I was told it will probably be later this afternoon—the sooner the better, in these cases. Luckily she hadn’t had any breakfast to slow things up. You’ll be able to see her before she goes to Theatre.’

‘That’s good.’ She finally relaxed a little and when he saw that she was a bit more settled he left her momentarily to go and get her a coffee.

Caitlin glanced around the cafeteria. It was a large room, with light coming in from a wall made up entirely of windows. The decor was restful, in pastels of green and cream, and there were ferns placed at intervals, providing a touch of the outdoors.

Brodie came back to the table with a loaded tray and handed her a cup of coffee. It was freshly made, piping hot, and it smelled delicious. ‘I thought you might like to try a flapjack,’ he said, putting a plate in front of her. ‘Something to raise your blood sugar a little—you’re very pale.’ He took a small jug and a bowl from the tray and slid them across the table towards her. ‘Help yourself to cream and sugar.’

‘Thanks.’ She studied him thoughtfully. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like having Brodie as a neighbour. ‘How is it that you came to be living next door to my mother?’ she asked.

He sat down opposite her. ‘I’d been staying in a room at the pub,’ he said, ‘while I looked around for something more permanent. Then the place came on the market as a suitable property for renovation. The old gentleman who owned it found the upkeep too much for him when his health failed. He went into a nursing home.’

‘Lucky for you that the opportunity came your way,’ she murmured.

He nodded. ‘It’s a substantial property—an investment project, possibly—and I thought it would be interesting to do up the house and sort out the land that goes along with it.’

‘An investment project?’ It didn’t sound as though he was planning on staying around for too long once the place was renovated. ‘Does it mean you might not be staying around long enough to make it a home?’

He shrugged negligently. ‘I haven’t really made up my mind. For the moment, I’m fed up with living in rented accommodation and wanted something I could renovate.’

‘I see.’ She picked up one of the golden-brown oatcakes and bit into it, savouring the taste. ‘I didn’t get to eat breakfast this morning,’ she explained after a moment or two. ‘Someone emptied the cupboards of cereals and bread.’ She spooned brown-sugar crystals into her cup and sipped tentatively, all her regrets about missing the first coffee of the morning finally beginning to slip away. He watched her curiously.

‘You were right,’ she murmured at last. ‘I needed that.’ She told him about her flatmate drinking the last of the milk. ‘It had to be Mike who was the culprit. Neither of the girls I share with would do something like that. He probably finished off the cornflakes as well.’

Brodie grinned. ‘I guess he’s down for a tongue lashing at some point.’

Her mouth twitched. ‘Definitely, if only so I can vent...not that he’ll take any notice. He never does—why should he when he leads a charmed life?’ She took another sip of coffee. It was reviving and she savoured it for a moment or two before her thoughts shifted to her mother once more. ‘Can you tell me anything about what happened this morning with my mother? I’m guessing you must have been outside with her when she fell.’

He nodded. ‘I was about to head off for a meeting. Your mother usually feeds the hens first thing, and then checks up on the rabbits, and we say hello and chat for a minute or two. Today she seemed a bit preoccupied—she was worried a fox might have been sniffing around in the night—so she didn’t say very much. She started to pull a few weeds out of the rockery and I went to my car. Then I heard a shout and when I looked around she had fallen on to the crazy paving. I think she must have lost her footing on the rocks and stumbled.’

Caitlin winced. ‘I’ve told her to leave the rockery to me. I see to it whenever I’m over here. This is why I worry about leaving her on her own for too long. She’s not so nimble on her feet these days, but she’s always been independent, and if something needs doing she’ll do it.’

‘You can’t be here all the time. You shouldn’t blame yourself.’

She sighed. ‘I do, though. I can’t help it. I love her to bits and I often think I should never have taken the job in Hertford. It seemed like such a good opportunity at the time.’

He nodded agreement. ‘Jane told me you’re a children’s doctor; she’s always singing your praises. She’s very proud of your achievements, you know.’

Caitlin smiled. ‘She’s always been the same. She sees the best in everyone.’

‘Yeah.’ Brodie gave a wry smile. ‘She was the only one who ever saw any good in me. Of course, she’d been friends with my mother since they were at school together, so that must have helped.’

‘Yes, I expect so.’ Sadly, Brodie’s mother had died in a car accident when he was a teenager. That was probably another reason why Jane Braemar had taken him under her wing. Caitlin had lost her father and there had been an immediate bond between her and Brodie because of their shared circumstances. They had each understood what the other had been going through, and in their own way had tried to comfort one another. It had given them a unique closeness, and it had also been good, a source of consolation, that her mother had looked out for Brodie in his darkest times. She’d stood by him all through his unruly, reckless phase.

She hadn’t been able to do anything to stem the tide of hostility that had grown among the locals with Brodie’s exploits, though.

After a whirlwind period of rebellion—of cocky, arrogant defiance, trespass, petty vandalism, and a ‘love ’em and leave ’em’ way with girls—even Brodie must have realised he’d gone too far and that he’d worn out any vestiges of goodwill people might have felt for a motherless boy. He’d finally used up all his chances. On his eighteenth birthday, his father had kicked him out of the family home and Brodie had had to hunt around for somewhere to live. He’d stayed with various friends, Caitlin recalled, before he’d left the village a year or so later. At the time, she’d been broken-hearted. She’d suddenly realised she didn’t want him to leave.

Her phone trilled, breaking into her thoughts and bringing her sharply back to the present day. ‘My mother’s back on the ward,’ she told Brodie after a second or two. ‘The nurse said she’s a bit drowsy from the pain medication but I can go and see her.’

‘That’s good. It might help to put your mind at rest if you can spend some time with her.’

She nodded. ‘Thanks again for looking after her,’ she said softly, her grey eyes filled with gratitude. ‘I owe you.’

‘You’re welcome any time, Caitlin.’ He stood up with her as she prepared to leave. He reached for her overnight bag. ‘Let me help you with that,’ he said.

‘Thank you.’ She watched him lift the heavy bag effortlessly. In it, she’d packed everything she thought she might need over the next few days, including her hairdryer, laptop, make-up bag and several changes of clothes.

‘Have you thought about what will happen when your mother leaves hospital?’ he asked as they set off for the orthopaedic ward. ‘She’ll need a lot of help with mobility. Perhaps she could go to a convalescent home for a few weeks?’

She shook her head. ‘That won’t be necessary. I’d planned on coming back to live in the village in the next week or so—this has just brought it forward, that’s all.’

He frowned. ‘You’re leaving your job?’

‘Yes. I’ll have to find something else, of course, but I’d made up my mind that it was something I needed to do.’

‘Are you doing this for your mother’s sake or for some other reason?’

‘A bit of both, really.’ He was astute—she should have known that he would suspect an ulterior motive. ‘I have some personal reasons for wanting to leave.’

‘There wasn’t a problem with the job, then?’

‘Heavens, no.’ She looked at him wide-eyed. ‘I love my work. I just hope I can find something as satisfying to do here.’

They approached the lift bay. ‘Hmm. Maybe I could help you out there,’ he said. ‘No promises, but I’ve just taken over as head of the children’s unit here and I’m fairly sure I’ll be able to find you a position.’

She stared at him in disbelief. ‘You’re a doctor?’ Not only that, he was in charge of a unit. How could that be?

He nodded, his mouth quirking. ‘I know that must seem strange, with my background, but thankfully I managed to get my head together before it was too late. I used a legacy from my grandfather to put myself through medical school. I didn’t know anything about it until the lawyers contacted me but as far as I was concerned it came in the nick of time.’

She was stunned. ‘I can’t get used to the idea—you were an unruly, out-of-control teenager. You were always playing truant, going off with some friend or other to spend time in the woods.’ She shook her head. ‘Are you making this up?’

He laughed. ‘No, it’s all true. I took stock of myself one day and realised I was going nowhere fast. For all that I missed out on some of my schooling, I managed to get through the exams without too much bother, so when I made up my mind what I wanted to do it wasn’t too difficult for me to get a place at medical school.’

They stepped inside the lift. ‘What made you decide you wanted to be a doctor?’ She still couldn’t get her head around it.

His mouth flattened. ‘I think my mother’s accident had something to do with it, although I didn’t consciously think of it in that way until some years later. I did some work with troubled teenagers and then I spent some time helping out in a children’s home, supervising leisure activities and so on. I suppose that’s what guided me towards a career working with young children. They aren’t at all judgemental and I think that’s what I liked most. They accept you for what you are; I find I can get along with them.’

The lift doors pinged and opened out on to the floor where the orthopaedic ward was housed. Brodie walked with her to the doors of the ward and then handed over her bag. ‘I’ll leave you to go and spend some time with your mother,’ he said. ‘Perhaps you’ll think over what I said about the job? We always need paediatricians and even though I’m fairly new to the hospital I’m sure the bosses will accept my judgement on this.’

‘I will give it some thought, of course—though I can’t help thinking you’re taking a bit of a risk offering me something like that when we’ve only just met up.’

‘I suppose some might think that. Actually, though, I know your boss in Hertford. Jane told me you were part of his team and I knew then you must be good at your job. He’s a decent man; he picks out good people.’

Her mouth curved. ‘It sounds as though my mother has been giving you my life history.’

‘Like I said, she thinks the world of you.’ He scanned her face briefly. ‘In fact, your boss actually mentioned you to me once. He said he had this dedicated young woman, Caity, working with him—though at the time I didn’t realise he was talking about you.’ He was thoughtful for a moment or two, then added, ‘If you like, if you’re stuck for something to do while your mother’s in Theatre, you could maybe come over to the children’s unit? The surgery will take a few hours and rather than you waiting about I could show you around. I’m on duty, but you could tag along with me, if that doesn’t sound too off-putting?’

She nodded cautiously. ‘It sounds fine to me. Perhaps I’ll do that.’

He smiled then turned and walked away down the corridor. She watched him go. He was tall, straight backed and sure of himself. He’d always been that way, but whereas once there had been a brash recklessness about him it seemed to have been replaced with a confident, shrewd perception.

He’d made up his mind quickly about her and decided she would be capable of doing the job. She had accepted his explanation but perhaps his decision also had something to do with knowing her from years before.

She didn’t know what to make of him. He seemed calm, capable, efficient and friendly—all good attributes. But could he really have changed so completely? Were there still vestiges from the past lurking in his character?

He was certainly impulsive. Was he still the same man who had girls clamouring for his attention? He’d enjoyed playing the field back then; he and his younger brother had caused havoc among the village girls.