No. Not yet, anyway.’ There was a little edge to his tone. As if there was a smile on his face as he was saying the words.
‘And are we going to have to remortgage the clinic to pay for it?’
Leo let out a laugh. ‘No, that’s all under control.’ His voice went a little quieter. ‘It was Lizzie’s dream to get married there and I plan on giving her exactly what she wants.’
There was a little pause then Ethan replied, ‘Making Lizzie happy is exactly what you should do.’
The edge of the cups had heated up and Lexi shifted her fingers to try and avoid being burnt. Maybe it was safe to go in now? She stepped closer to the door.
‘So—I wanted to ask you a question.’ Her foot stopped mid-air. Maybe not.
‘What is it?’
She was close enough now to see both men. Ethan was leaning heavily on the table—still not using the walking stick that he should. Leo was sitting opposite him, his hand pulling at the edge of his ear. The way he did when he was uncomfortable.
‘I wanted to ask you to be my best man.’ The words came out in a rush.
There was a pause. A heavy silence in the air.
Just say yes, Lexi willed Ethan. She shifted her fingers on the cups again. Say yes before I burn myself.
‘I don’t think so, Leo.’ Ethan’s voice was low, so low Lexi couldn’t believe he’d just said those words. She must have misheard.
‘Why not?’ She cringed. She could hear the tension in Leo’s voice, no matter how he tried to hide it.
‘I just don’t think it’s a good idea. Ask Declan or Edward—you’ve known them for a long time. They’d do a better job than me.’
Lexi could almost hear the long intake of breath from Leo. She could only imagine how hurt he felt right now. Even if he wasn’t showing it.
From this angle she could see him paste a smile on his face. ‘You never were very good at speeches, were you, Ethan?’
‘Rubbish. Whether you wrote them for me or not.’
It was an easy let-off. Even though he was obviously hurt, Leo had decided not to enter into a spat with his brother. His voice went a little lower. ‘I just thought I should ask you first. You were the one to tell me to get my act together and sort out things with Lizzie.’
‘That’s because I’m the smart one in this family—and don’t you forget it.’
Ethan had turned and headed towards the door. The conversation was clearly over.
‘Sorry, Lexi, didn’t see you there.’
She pasted a fake smile on her face. ‘You’d better not have eaten my doughnut, Ethan Hunter. You could be in big trouble.’
He winked. ‘Why break the habit of a lifetime?’
Lexi walked into the room and put the cups on the table. ‘Sorry I took so long, Leo.’ She didn’t want to let on that she’d heard any of the previous conversation. It seemed wrong to hear private business between the brothers. It made her uncomfortable.
Leo grabbed a cup and took a drink, pushing the plate with the doughnuts on it towards her. ‘Go on, dive in.’ He looked down at the papers spread in front of him and gave a sad kind of smile. ‘The income of the clinic has skyrocketed since you got here, Lexi. We’re going to be able to support Olivia Fairchild’s charity much more than I originally thought. I want you to know you are worth your weight in gold.’
Lexi bit into the doughnut, blowing her calorie count for the whole day. It was as if the whole conversation before hadn’t happened. However hurt Leo must currently be feeling, he wasn’t showing it.
But Leo was good at that. He’d switched from personal to professional mode in an instant.
It was up to her to do the same. No matter how hard she found it.
She pulled out the spreadsheet she was looking for. ‘I’m glad you’re happy, Leo. There’s just a couple of other things we have to discuss.’ She laid them out on the table and opened a laptop, which had Iain’s interview loaded and ready to be released.
Leo’s eyes focused on the first shot. Iain in his dark suit, white shirt and red tie, standing in front of the Hunter Clinic sign with his arms folded across his chest. He let out a laugh. ‘Lexi Robbins. How did you manage to get that shot?’
She raised her eyebrows and tapped her nose. ‘I have my ways. But I’ll never tell.’
Leo leaned back in his chair as he watched, shaking his head in wonder as the video finished. ‘Wow, Lexi. You’ve done a fantastic job.’ He glanced outside. ‘I’d better hire a new receptionist. Our phones are going to ring off the hook.’
She nodded. ‘I think you’d better.’
‘It goes out tonight?’
‘Yes.’
‘Does Iain know? He’s very private. I’m surprised he agreed to shoot it.’
She gathered up her papers, a knowing smile on her face. ‘Let me handle Iain. I am the PR person after all.’
Leo nodded and gave her an appreciative smile. ‘You certainly are.’
Iain was deep in surgery. He was grafting skin taken from the thigh onto a patient’s cheek. His registrar was driving him crazy with all the questions she was asking.
‘But why did you select the thigh area?’
He took a deep breath under his mask. ‘We looked at the other traditional areas. The skin on her arms was too freckly, the skin on her buttocks wasn’t suitable to transfer to her face. The skin on her thigh was the best option.’
The registrar let out a little sigh. ‘It just seems so odd. Most people are more conscious about skin cancers these days—particularly on the face. Why didn’t she see about it sooner?’
‘And why didn’t you read the case notes?’ Iain snapped.
There was silence in the theatre. He could sense the rest of the staff cringing but he was tired of this lazy registrar with her enquiring mind. She asked thousands of questions without once looking for the answers herself.
And what’s worse was that this patient had seen her doctor. She’d seen several doctors, several times, none of whom had referred her to get a biopsy until it was too late. Her cancer could still be treated, but if she’d been referred the first time she’d worried about the pale brown mark on her face, the surgery she would have needed would have been minimal. A tiny scar. Rather than extensive surgery into the surrounding tissues that required a skin graft. And if the registrar had bothered to do her job she would have known all that.
He gritted his teeth. He was getting to the most important part. He’d just separated the epidermis and part of the dermis layer ready to transfer to the face. His first surgical steps had been to remove the cancer thoroughly, ensuring margins wide enough to capture all the cells but small enough to allow the best outcome for the patient. Stitching the graft into place required steady hands, tiny stitches and intense concentration.
Concentration had never been a problem for Iain before. But then again he’d never been in a relationship with Lexi Robbins before.
And something was bothering him. Even though he’d almost been upfront and honest with her, something wasn’t right with Lexi.
She was busy doing her job and flying around the world, drumming up publicity for the clinic and the charities. He’d taken her back to Frank’s twice and she’d enjoyed it just as much as the first time.
But something was still wrong. He could sense it. He could feel it.
But it had been so long since he’d felt something, he couldn’t