The Surgeon's Family Wish (17 page)

But he also loved Annabel more than he could ever have imagined and had regretted the hurt he'd caused her. Somehow he'd had to put things right but hadn't thought that going down on his knees would have much effect in the circumstances.

He'd added one or two embellishments of his own in persuading her to fall in with his plans, but had kept the main reason for them to himself. He wanted her back, desperately, just as he wanted his mother to be happy and Lucy properly looked after.

There was no way he intended having his daughter fobbed off onto a succession of childminders. The only person he wanted to care for Lucy besides himself was Annabel, and he was hoping that by the time his mother's wedding day dawned he would be forgiven and the future would be theirs.

When she'd agreed to participate he'd felt a great knot of uncertainty begin to unwind. But there were tricky days ahead and she'd reminded him in no uncertain
terms that what they were doing was a pretence, when all the time he wanted it to be real.

For the rest of the day they played the parts of lovers reunited and every time he kissed her or even touched her Annabel had to remind herself that it was a game they were playing.

She was still not sure how she was going to cope in the weeks to come. Would she be able to endure Aaron's attentions during that time, knowing them to be a very convincing act, when she craved for the sincerity of what they'd had before?

But she'd agreed. She'd put her hand to the plough and couldn't turn back in the face of Mary's happiness. Yet if she found that Lucy's life was to be less than secure once her grandmother had left the family home, she would have much to say to Aaron and a lot of it he wouldn't like.

When she was ready to leave for home he came out onto the drive with her. Taking advantage of the fact that they were alone for the first time since she'd arrived, Annabel said, ‘In all the excitement of weddings and sham engagements, have you definitely turned down the Canada job?'

‘Yes. They've been on to me again, but I told them I hadn't changed my mind. Maybe some time in the future but not now,' he said.

He didn't tell her that the only thing that mattered at the moment was themselves. He had to put matters right between them and he wouldn't be able to do that if he was in Canada.

With that thought in mind he had her swivelling round to face him in surprise as she was about to get into her car when he said, ‘Don't send the necklace back, Annabel. I want you to keep it. And with jewellery in
mind, I think we should go shopping tomorrow to put the final touch to the performance we're putting on for my mother.'

‘What do you mean?'

‘A ring. An engagement ring.'

‘Are you serious?' she asked angrily. ‘For what we're doing, a rubber band would be sufficient.'

He
was
serious. To have Annabel with his ring on her finger, no matter what the circumstances, would be one step nearer to putting right the mess he'd made, but it was to be expected that she wouldn't see it that way.

‘Humour me in just this one thing,' he said.

‘All right,' she agreed. ‘Though I don't see the sense in it. I'll hang onto the necklace and return it along with the ring when the charade is over.'

She thought that might have got to him, pierced his infuriating complacency, but he just smiled and said, ‘Time enough to concern yourself about that when the occasion arises.' And with a quick squeeze of her hand he let her go.

* * *

They chose a ring in the afternoon of the next day. It was a hurried affair, the last thing Annabel would have wanted it to be if it had been for real. But as it wasn't it didn't matter that they made a rushed visit to a jeweller's when they had a few minutes to spare.

‘Have you any preference?' Aaron asked as they looked around the display units.

‘Oh, yes. I've got lots of them,' she told him. ‘I would prefer not to be mixed up in your scheming, worthy though it is. I would prefer not to have to wear a ring. I would prefer—'

‘You've made your point,' he said in a low voice, ‘so can we please do what we are here for? Do you like
diamonds? Rubies? Or emeralds like those in the necklace?'

‘I'd like a ring with a single pearl,' she told him. ‘They say that pearls are for tears. I've shed mine, but there could be others coming when your mother finds out there won't be any wedding bells for us and Lucy's life is turned upside down.'

The words were no sooner out than she wanted to take them back. She'd let him see the depth of her hurt. Pride should have stopped her from doing that.

As he'd listened to her she'd seen Aaron's calm desert him for the first time since he'd asked her to help him convince his mother that their romance was alive and flourishing.

‘If
I've
made you cry, I'm sorry, Annabel,' he said as a dark flush suffused his neck. ‘You've had enough things to cry about in your life without me causing you grief.'

He wanted to tell her that he was hoping that it would all end in joy rather than tears and that to see his ring on her finger would be a part of it. But she was checking the time and saying flatly, ‘Let's just pick the ring, shall we? I'm due in Theatre in half an hour.'

He nodded. Their thought processes were so far apart they might as well have been living on separate planets.

When they'd left the shop, leaving behind a shop assistant who was thinking that they'd been the least in love couple he'd ever served, Aaron said, ‘What are you doing tonight?'

‘Nothing.'

‘Would you like me to put the ring on your finger now, or somewhere more atmospheric?'

‘Now will do,' she told him. ‘No point in making an even bigger farce of what we're doing.'

Annabel was thinking that she needed to get away from him before the tears she'd referred to came back in floods, and as he did as she'd asked she looked down bleakly at the milky perfection of a single pearl set in a delicate band of gold. It was a beautiful thing, the ring that was to tell everyone they belonged together. What a pity that it was just a prop for the pantomime.

* * *

Charles Drury was the first person they saw when they got back to Barnaby's. He'd just finished his rounds on the two main wards and was making his way back to his office.

When Aaron told him their news he smiled. ‘So the rumours that have been going round weren't rumours after all. Congratulations to you both. My wife and I have had thirty-five happy years together and I hope it will be the same for you.'

Aaron was watching Annabel's expression out of the corner of his eye and he thought wryly that she was probably thinking that thirty-five weeks, or even days, would be nearer the mark where they were concerned.

Charles went on to say, ‘You have a fine man here, Dr Swain. Kind, caring, excellent at the job. I'm sure he'll take those qualities with him into your married life.'

Aaron was squirming. The last thing Annabel needed in the present climate was a description of his worthiness. But he couldn't fault her. She was looking up at him fondly and murmuring, ‘I'm sure that you're right, sir.' If there was mockery in her glance when it met his, he had only himself to blame.

‘This really is a day for good news,' Charles said as he observed them with benign approval. ‘Young Jack with the ALD is back with us.'

‘Oh, no!' Annabel exclaimed. ‘That isn't good news, surely. The last time we saw him he was deteriorating, slowly, admittedly, but deteriorating nevertheless.'

‘True,' the consultant agreed with a twinkle in his eye, ‘but this time he's back because a bone-marrow donor has been found. An urgent search has been going on because none of the family could be considered and we're now in a position to do a transplant.'

‘That's great news!' Aaron enthused. ‘At least the youngster is going to get a chance, and the sooner the better.'

‘Tomorrow we will start the procedure, I think,' Charles Drury said. ‘The donor is immediately available and once we've aspirated the bone marrow from him, the transplant can take place. Jack's parents are with him now and will stay with him until it's over. Then he will be in isolation. As we all know, infection can be a major problem during the recovery process after a bone-marrow transplant.'

When he'd gone on his way Annabel and Aaron went into the ward to see the boy. His parents were by his bedside and his mother said tearfully, ‘What are the chances? How much can we hope?'

‘We honestly don't know,' Aaron told her. ‘Hope by all means. That is all I can suggest.'

She nodded, knowing in her heart that what the doctors were planning to do was a gamble, which if it was successful would give her son a chance of a normal life. If it wasn't, it would mean that what they had already faced up to would continue. As her husband took her hand in his there was hope
and
uncertainty in both their minds.

* * *

‘Could I ask you to come with me to choose a wedding outfit, Annabel?' Mary asked the next evening when she was having dinner with them. The ring had been duly admired, though the older woman had said in surprise, ‘I thought that pearls were supposed to bring tears. I hope I'm mistaken.'

It had been a perfect opportunity to put Aaron's mother straight about a few things, but she'd merely smiled and said, ‘It was the one I liked the most. Surely that's just superstition?'

And now Mary was turning the screw by asking her to help her choose a wedding outfit.

‘I've bought a few new things recently but I don't feel that any of them are suitable for such an occasion,' she said, and Annabel could hardly refuse.

‘Yes, of course, I'll go with you,' she told her with the familiar guilt surfacing. ‘What did you have in mind?'

‘Well, my friend, Alice, who is to be my matron of honour, is wearing beige, and I thought perhaps a long dress in pale turquoise or blue for myself. Tom and Aaron, who will be giving me away, will be in grey toppers and tails.'

‘And I'm going to be scattering rose petals in a beautiful pink dress,' Lucy chimed in. ‘What are you going to wear, Annabel?'

‘I haven't decided yet,' she told her, thinking that sackcloth and ashes would be a fitting ensemble under the circumstances.

She had the cream wool suit that she'd worn over Christmas, or maybe she might wear a pale green dress and jacket that she'd bought recently. But what did it matter what
she
wore, for heaven's sake? She would be tense as a coiled spring, wondering what was going to
happen after they'd waved off the bride and groom. Would she be the next one to be waved off?

* * *

In spite of her inward misgivings, Annabel enjoyed her outing with Mary as she watched her try on various outfits and gave her opinion for or against.

In the end Aaron's mother found exactly what she'd had in mind—a long dress of pale turquoise silk with matching hat, handbag and shoes.

As her purchases were being wrapped she said, ‘Shall we celebrate a successful morning's shopping with lunch?'

Annabel smiled her agreement, her mood still upbeat. Until her companion suggested suddenly, ‘Why don't we look for a bridal gown for you while we're here, Annabel? I can picture you in ivory or cream with your brown hair and hazel eyes. Aaron tells me that your wedding won't be long once mine is over. I'm sure you would appreciate having another woman with you when you make your choice, and I mightn't be around nearer the time.'

So Aaron had told his mother they would be getting married soon! He had some cheek, she thought furiously as the brightness of the day dimmed. What sort of a game was he playing? The arrogance of the man! But Mary was observing her expectantly and she couldn't blight the other woman's happiness at this stage.

Yet there was no way she was going through the motions of choosing a wedding dress that she might never wear so she said, ‘I feel that I'd rather come another time when I'm geared up for the occasion. Hopefully you might be available then. If you're not, I'll ask someone from Barnaby's.'

Which just went to show how low she was on friends
and would be even lower when the woman making the suggestion was happily married and she, Annabel, had served her purpose.

* * *

‘You do love Aaron, don't you, Annabel?' his mother questioned as they waited to be served in a restaurant nearby.

It was one question she could answer truthfully. ‘Yes. I do,' she said. ‘I think I've loved him since that very first day when he came rushing to the hospital to be with Lucy. I thought he was one of the most attractive men I'd ever seen.' She smiled. ‘And the most bossy.'

Mary laughed. ‘That's my boy. He does like to have his fingers on the pulse. Can't do with anything going on that he doesn't know about.'

‘Yes. I
do
know that,' she replied.

‘Of course you do, but that's all in the past, isn't it?'

‘Yes. It is.'

If only it were true. His castigation of her
was
in the past, but it was spilling over into the present and casting a shadow over the future. But the woman seated opposite was not to be made aware of that.

Reverting back to her original question as to whether she really was in love with Aaron, Mary said ‘The reason I ask if you love my son is because all the affection seems to be on his side. Sometimes I feel that you're cold towards him.'

And not without cause, Annabel thought grimly. Maybe she wasn't as good an actor as he. If she didn't know better, she would be tempted to think that Aaron was still as much in love with her as she was with him.

‘Maybe I'm not as demonstrative as he is,' she said easily, as if what they were discussing was general chitchat, and the subject was dropped.

She hoped she'd convinced his mother. Aaron would be upset if the pretence they were involved in fell apart. She would have to get her act together, play the part of the loving fiancée more convincingly.