Her Christmas Eve Diamond - Page 20

He nodded his head slowly. ‘That sounds like a plan. What do I have to do in return?’

A thousand suggestions sprang to mind—most of them X-rated. She couldn’t stand the pain she’d seen in his eyes earlier. But this definitely wasn’t what she’d signed up for. She had to think about herself. She didn’t want to end up hurt and alone. She didn’t want to end up without Brad.

‘I’m sure I’ll think of something,’ she murmured as she took him by the hand and led him back to the bedroom.

CHAPTER SIX

15 November

CASSIDY hurried up the stairs. Her cardigan was useless this morning, and her new-style uniform wasn’t keeping out the freezing temperatures. She touched one of the old-fashioned radiators positioned nearby the hallway. Barely lukewarm. That was the trouble in old stone buildings with antiquated heating systems; the temperature barely rose to anything resembling normal.

The true Scottish winter had hit with a blast over the last few days. This morning, on the way to work Cassidy had slipped and skidded twice on the glistening pavements. She dreaded to think what A and E had been like last night.

Brad had been on call, so she hadn’t seen him. He’d phoned her once, around midnight, to say he was expecting a few admissions and to chat for a few minutes. But things had felt a little strained—just as they had for the last week. She still couldn’t get her head around all this. Not least the part he hadn’t told her he had a daughter.

But the thing she was struggling with most was how much she actually liked him. It didn’t matter her head had told her he was ultimately unsuitable. For the last few weeks she’d spent every minute with him. And no matter how confused she was, one emotion topped the rest. She was happy.

Brad made her happy. Spending time with him made her happy. Talking to him every day made her happy. Working with him made her happy. Cuddling up on the sofa with him made her happy. Kissing made her very happy, and anything else...

Her heart sank as she saw the bright lights and bustling figures at the end of the corridor. It wasn’t even seven o’clock in the morning and her normally darkened ward was going like a fair.

She strode into the ward, glancing at the board. Jackie, one of her nurses, came out of the treatment room, holding a medicine cup with pills and clutching an electronic chart.

‘What’s going on, Jackie?’ She could see instantly that the normally cool and reliable member of staff looked frazzled. Jackie had worked nights here for over twenty years—it took a lot to frazzle her.

Jackie looked pale and tired, and she had two cardigans wrapped around her. ‘What do you think?’ She pointed at the board. ‘I’ll give you a full report in a few minutes, but we’ve had six admissions in the last few hours and we need to clear some beds—there are another four in A and E waiting to come up.’

Cassidy nodded quickly. ‘What kind of admissions?’

Jackie pointed at the window to the still-dark view outside. ‘All elderly, all undernourished, two with hypothermia and the other four all with ailments affected by the cold. Just what we always see this time of year.’

The stream of elderly, vulnerable patients reminded Cassidy of her gran.

‘You rang?’ Lucy appeared at Cassidy’s side.

‘I heard you needed to transfer four patients to my ward. Thought it would be easier if I just came along, got the report and then transferred them along myself.’

Cassidy nodded. ‘Perfect.’ She walked over to Jackie and took the medicine cup and electronic chart from her hands. ‘Introduce me to this patient and I’ll take over from you, then you can hand over to Lucy before we do the report this morning.’

Jackie nodded happily. ‘That’s great. If we get these patients transferred, I’ll give you a proper handover before the beds get filled again.’ She shrugged her shoulders. ‘Brad’s around here somewhere. I saw him a few moments ago. He hasn’t stopped all night and...’ she smiled ‘...our normally tanned doctor is looking distinctly pale this morning.’ She winked at Cass. ‘I hope he hasn’t been having too many late nights.’

Cassidy froze. The words sank in quickly. She didn’t think that anyone knew about Brad and herself. But she should have known better. Word always spread quickly in a hospital like this.

She tried to regain her composure and pretend she hadn’t heard the comment—best not to make a big deal of these things and hope the gossip would disperse quickly.

Half an hour later, with the report given and Jackie quickly leaving to go home, Cassidy gave a sigh and went to make a cup of tea. The breakfast trolley had just rolled onto the ward. The auxiliary nurses and domestics were helping the patients, and her two staff nurses had started the morning drug round.

Lucy appeared at her side. ‘Make one for me, too, please. I’ve just taken the last patient round to my ward.’

Cassidy nodded and put two tea bags into mugs. She could kill for a skinny caramel latte right now.

Lucy nudged her. ‘So, spill. What’s happening with you and Dr Wonderful? I haven’t seen you for over a week.’

Cassidy bit the inside of her lip. There was no point beating around the bush. Lucy would only pester her until she told anyway. She poured the boiling water into the cups.

Lucy nudged her again. ‘Come on. Is the prediction going to come true? Are you going to be a Christmas bride?’

Cassidy dropped her teaspoon into the sink. ‘What? Are you mad?’ She’d forgotten all about smelly-cat woman and her mad predictions.

‘What’s wrong? I thought things were going swimmingly between you and surf boy. Come on, you must have done the dirty deed by now—surely?’

Cassidy felt the instant flush as the heat spilled into her cheeks. It was just a pity her body didn’t know how to tell lies.

‘I knew it! Well—tell all. Is he wonderful?’

She took a deep breath. ‘Do you want me to answer everything at once?’

‘I just want you to say something. Anything. What’s wrong, Cass?’

‘Well, in that case...’ She counted off on her fingers. ‘No, I definitely won’t be a Christmas bride—and I’d forgotten all about that rubbish. Yes, I’ve done the dirty deed. Yes, it was wonderful—or it was until the next day when he told me he had a daughter.’

‘A daughter? Brad has a daughter?’

Cassidy nodded slowly.

‘Why hasn’t he ever mentioned her? What’s the big secret?’

Cassidy picked up her tea and leaned back against the sink. ‘The big secret is he doesn’t know where she is. Her mother vanished with her two years ago. Apparently she fell in love with some doctor from the US and didn’t tell Brad anything about it. He thinks she didn’t want to get into a custody battle with him, so basically she did a moonlight flit.’

Lucy looked stunned and shook her head slowly. ‘Wow, he’s a dark horse, isn’t he? I would never have guessed.’

Cassidy sighed again. ‘Neither would I.’

There was silence for a few seconds. Lucy touched her arm. ‘Whoa, you’ve got it bad, girl, haven’t you?’

Cassidy closed her eyes. ‘You could say that.’

Lucy stepped in front of her, clutching her steaming cup of tea with one hand and wagging her finger with the other. ‘What happened to Cassidy Rae and “I’m never going to fall in love with another foreign doctor”? Where did she go? And what’s the big deal about Brad having a daughter? She’s lost. The US is a big place, and chances are she might never be found.’

‘Cassidy Rae met Brad Donovan. That’s what happened. And as for his daughter, I’ve no idea what will happen. But one thing is for sure—ultimately he won’t stay in Scotland with me.’

Lucy leaned forward and gave her a hug. ‘Cassidy, you might be making a whole lot of something out of nothing.’

Cassidy stopped

for a few moments. Maybe Lucy was right. He hadn’t managed to find Melody so far—and that was with a private investigator working for him. Maybe he would never find her? Maybe she could just forget about Melody and start to focus on them again?

But she still had an uneasy feeling in her stomach. Brad wouldn’t stay in Scotland—whether he found his daughter or not. Why on earth was she pursuing a relationship with a man who wasn’t right for her?

She shook her head. ‘A daughter isn’t nothing, Lucy. It’s a whole big something. What happens if we get serious, and then he gets a call to say his daughter has been found? I’ll be left high and dry while he jets off somewhere to find his lost child. It’s hardly the ideal setup for a lasting relationship.’

Lucy took a sip of her tea, watching Cassidy carefully. ‘That’s the first time I’ve ever heard you say anything like that.’

Tags: Scarlet Wilson Romance
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