two are living together.’
Her mouth flattened. ‘We’re not living together, as you so bluntly put it. We just happen to share the same house. Jessica lives there, too, remember?’
‘I do. But you and Alex go way back, don’t you? I still catch you looking at him with those moon eyes, as though he’s sugar candy wrapped up in exotic packaging.’
She laughed. ‘Jealous, are you? Poor Connor. That must be a very odd experience for you.’ She lightly patted his hand. ‘You’ll get over it, I’m sure. You were never one to worry over lost opportunities. There’s always another one just around the corner.’
‘You’re a cruel woman, and you have me all wrong, you know.’ He made a good attempt at a crestfallen face, but Phoebe was wise to his antics.
The lift doors swished open. ‘I have to go,’ she said, stepping inside. ‘There are several babies who need me much more than you do. Perhaps I’ll see you later, back at the house.’
He nodded and waved a hand in acknowledgement as the lift doors closed on her, and once the lift started to move and he was out of her field of vision she relaxed a little, letting out a long, slow sigh and allowing her shoulders to slump a fraction. Somehow, she hadn’t realised how much the tension had been building up inside her as she had spoken to Connor, or how much she had relied on her senses to help her to stay on alert. He was a threat to her in every way imaginable, and it was sheer relief to be moving out of range.
Alex, on the other hand, was a much easier person to get along with. There were no worries with him. She knew what to expect, and he was always there for her, just as she was there for him.
‘Is the consultant giving you a hard time?’ she asked Alex as they collected their lunch trays in the hospital restaurant a couple of hours later. ‘I was hoping that things would be going smoothly for you.’
‘He’s watching me like a hawk. I think he remembers me from a year or so back. He thinks I have promise, but need a push to live up to it.’
‘So he’s going in hard, right from the beginning? It seems a bit strange to be doing that this early on.’
His mouth twisted. ‘I was supposed to have done some groundwork on a few of the case notes before starting ward rounds with him today. Usually I wouldn’t have had too many problems with that, but someone dropped the files and it was all a bit of a scramble to put things together again in time. I had to think on my feet and hope that everything would be all right. I don’t think the consultant was too impressed.’
Phoebe carried her tray to a table by the window. ‘I can’t help thinking that it’s a bit unfair really, to come down so hard on you right from the outset, but I’m sure you’ll manage to sort things out. You’ve a good, clear head on your shoulders, and you’re brilliant with the patients. Your boss is bound to see that, given time.’
He grimaced. ‘I hope so. I suppose he’s only doing his job, keeping me on my toes. I started off on the wrong foot, wanting to do A and E instead, but things don’t always go according to plan…like you with the neonatal. I wish we could have been working together, Phoebe. I always seem to get along so much better when you’re around. It’s as though everything magically falls into place around you.’
She chuckled at that, and started to eat her lunch, twirling spaghetti around her fork with a deft hand. ‘If only…I could do with a magic touch, up on Neonatal.’
Alex ate a mouthful of steak pie. ‘I think Connor was there when they handed out the pixie dust,’ he said after a moment or two. ‘Everything he touches seems to go his way. Did you see the car he’s driving around in?’
Phoebe shook her head. ‘I came in with Jessica this morning. We set out some fifteen minutes after Connor left, and I guessed he must have parked in the garage block last night.’ She flicked a glance at him. ‘Is it something special?’
‘A midnight-blue convertible. I can’t believe he landed on his feet so well…I know his family have money, but he always reckoned he’d make his own way in the world.’
‘Perhaps he changed his mind.’
‘Yeah, maybe.’ Alex finished off his food and glanced across the room. ‘Talk of the devil.’
Phoebe blinked. ‘He’s here?’
Alex nodded. Her glance followed his, and met with Connor’s piercing gaze.
‘Pity he left it so late to put in an appearance, or we might have had a chat.’ Alex glanced at the watch on his wrist. ‘I have to be getting back to Orthopaedics. I want to get on the good side of my boss, and if I show him I can put in extra time, it might help things along.’
He pushed his chair back and stood up, coming around the table to give Phoebe a swift embrace. ‘It was good being able to have lunch together,’ he said. ‘You’ve helped me to put a bright face on things.’
She smiled up at him. ‘You’ll be fine,’ she murmured. She laid a hand lightly on his arm. ‘Just remember what it was that made you decide to become a doctor in the first place. You were so good at helping people when you volunteered with the rescue services that they all thought it was something you should follow up on. That still stands, to this day.’
He brushed the back of his hand gently over her cheek. ‘And you’re a treasure. Remind me to pay you back some day.’
Phoebe flashed him a mischievous grin. ‘You can do that by remembering to get the groceries in. If you don’t, you’ll have Jessica to reckon with.’
‘Oh, no. Save me from that.’ Alex started to walk away from the table, raising a hand in greeting to Connor as he went.
Phoebe looked across the room at Connor. He wasn’t alone. He was with a senior house officer from A and E, a pretty girl who Phoebe had chatted with from time to time. The woman’s cheeks were faintly flushed, and Phoebe guessed she was finding it all too easy to fall for Connor’s charm.
Phoebe’s mouth took on a wry slant. It hadn’t taken him long to find someone willing to take her place by his side this lunchtime, had it? Were the two of them coming in here to grab a sandwich after a pleasant stroll along the leafy paths that threaded through the woods nearby? Why did that thought needle her so much?
It was the supreme confidence of the man…that must be it. As Alex had said, Connor managed to land on his feet every time.
CHAPTER THREE
‘YOU’RE very quiet. Is everything all right?’ Phoebe glanced at Jessica as they tended to the flowerbeds in the garden at the back of the house. She pulled up a handful of chickweed and tossed it into a bucket.
‘It’s fine.’ Jessica stood up and placed her hands on the back of her hips, stretching her spine as though she was aching a little.
‘You don’t have to do this with me, you know.’ Phoebe shielded her eyes from the sun as she looked up at her friend. ‘I like being out here, and I find that I can think things through more easily if I spend some time tidying up the garden, but I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.’
‘It isn’t that…I think plants brighten the place up, and this is such a small area that it doesn’t take much to look after it. It’s more of a courtyard, really, isn’t it, but it’s great to sit out here and enjoy the lovely summer weather.’ Jessica flopped down into a wrought-iron chair by the round table and helped herself to a glass of fruit juice. ‘Shall I pour one for you?’ She lifted the glass jug and raised a brow in query.
‘Yes, please. I’m parched.’ Phoebe pulled off her cotton gardening gloves and went to sit down opposite her.
She took a moment to look around. The walls of the house were white-painted, reflecting the warmth of the sun, so that it was pleasant to sit out here and while away an hour or so. At intervals, the walls were covered with rectangles of wooden trellis, where jasmine