She excused herself soon afterwards and Nick concentrated on explaining to Ian what would happen next. The man would be referred to a specialist at a nearby hospital, who would be able to start him on the most appropriate form of treatment.
Ian was eager to make the appointment that day so Nick went to his office and put through a call. It all took some time, plus a little gentle persuasion on his part, but eventually everything was arranged. Ian was despatched by taxi to the hospital.
It was lunchtime by then, but Nick didn’t bother going out for anything to eat. He still had the report to finish and he would be hard-pressed to get it done on time. He looked up when he heard footsteps pausing outside his door and felt his heart perform the strangest manoeuvre when he saw Leanne in the doorway. It was an effort to act as though there was nothing wrong when it felt as though his pulse was trying for a new Olympic record.
‘Are you off now?’
‘Yes. I’ll see you tomorrow.’ She started to leave, stopped, glanced back then shrugged. ‘Bye.’
‘Bye,’ he repeated, because it was easier than thinking up anything more witty.
He took a deep breath as she hurried away and held it for a count of ten. It didn’t help. His pulse was still hammering at high speed. Whichever way he looked at it, working with Leanne was going to be a challenge.
LEANNE was up before six the following morning. She hadn’t slept well and it had seemed easier to get up rather than lie in bed, staring at the ceiling.
She had spent the previous afternoon trying to find out more about her mother. According to her birth certificate, the woman’s name was Mary Calhoun. However, when Leanne had tried to find the address that was given on the certificate, she had drawn a blank. The street where her mother had lived had been demolished and there was now a supermarket on the site.
It was rather depressing to have come up against an obstacle at such an early stage, but she tried not to let it get her down as she showered and dressed in her new uniform. She made herself some coffee and toast then set off for work even though it was really too early to leave. She would just have to wait if there was nobody at the clinic to let her in.
She’d found a poky little flat close to Euston station when she’d arrived in London so she didn’t have far to walk to catch the tube. The weather was grey and dreary, gusts of rain sweeping along the street. As she joined the long line of commuters waiting to get on the escalators she found herself thinking wistfully about the weather back home in Sydney. At this time of the year—early November—the days would be hot and sunny.
‘Fancy running into you. I didn’t realise you lived round here.’
She jumped when a familiar voice suddenly spoke in her ear. She felt her heart jolt when she turned and found Nick walking alongside her. She had carefully attributed her sleeplessness to disappointment at not having made any headway in her efforts to trace her mother, but it wasn’t as easy to lie to herself when Nick was standing right there beside her. More than once she’d found her thoughts returning to him during the night and at one point, when she’d dropped off to sleep, it had been Nick she’d been dreaming about.
‘What are you doing here?’ she exclaimed, feeling herself blush. She could scarcely believe that she’d had such erotic dreams about someone who was a virtual stranger to her. She couldn’t recall ever dreaming about Michael that way.
It was an unsettling thought and she hurried on. ‘Silly question! Obviously you’re doing the same as me and catching the tube to work.’
‘Got it in one!’ Nick laughed as he stepped onto the escalator then turned to face her. ‘So, whereabout do you live, then?’
Leanne willed her racing heart to calm down, but it wasn’t easy to control it. It didn’t help that Nick was standing on the step below her so that they were on eye level. She found herself suddenly entranced by the green flecks in his velvety brown eyes, by the way his thick, black lashes cast shadows onto his cheeks. It was an effort to focus on the question he’d asked her.
‘Penkworth Street. I’m renting a flat there, well, if you can call one tiny room with a sofa bed and a cupboard for a kitchen a flat.’
‘It’s amazing what passes for a flat in London.’ He smiled ruefully. ‘I’ve not yet decided if estate agents are actually dishonest or if they suffer from rose-tinted-spectacle syndrome. Maybe it is an illness which makes them describe ten square feet of living space in such glowing terms.’
Leanne laughed. ‘I think you are being far too kind. And if you saw my flat, you would most certainly agree with me!’
‘Ditto my own less than salubrious accommodation,’ he replied easily.
The escalator reached the bottom and he paused to wait for her. Leanne shivered when he put a steadying hand under her elbow as she stepped off.
His manners were impeccable, she thought as he led the way to the next in the series of escalators which would carry them down into the bowels of the underground railway system. Michael had never bothered opening doors for her or helping her off escalators so she appreciated the small courtesies all the more, then wondered why she kept comparing the two men all the time.
Nick was just a colleague whereas Michael had been her fiancé. It was silly to keep weighing up one against the other and alarming to discover that Nick kept coming out on top.
‘So where do you live?’ she said quickly, not wanting to go any further along that avenue.
‘Sandwell Gardens.’ Once again he turned to face her and grinned. ‘And before you get the wrong idea, the name sounds far grander than the actual place is! The said gardens boil down to a scrubby bit of grass and a few pathetic trees.’
‘But at least you do have grass and trees,’ she said tartly. ‘The only thing I can see from my window are the houses across the road. The view is less than inspiring, I assure you.’
‘In other words, count my blessings, eh?’
His gaze was warm, far warmer than it should have been bearing in mind the short time they’d known one another. Yet it didn’t feel as though it had only been a matter of hours since she’d met him, she realised. It felt as though she’d known him for ever. Maybe she had in a way because Nick was the living, breathing embodiment of the man she’d always dreamed of spending her life with.
The thought shocked her so much that she gasped, and she saw his eyes darken with concern. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Yes, fine.’ She hunted for an explanation because telling him the truth was out of the question. Nick would run a mile if he found out that she’d decided he was the blueprint of the man she had always wanted to marry.
‘I just remembered that I meant to phone my father last night,’ she said, using the first excuse she could think of. ‘I promised to let him know how my first day at work had gone and it completely slipped my mind.’
‘He’s probably worried sick that you’ve been abducted by slave traders,’ Nick said lightly, but she was relieved to see that he seemed to have accepted her story.
They reached the platform and Leanne followed as he made his way through the crowds of people who were waiting for the next train to arrive. He turned to her when they reached a relatively quiet spot.
‘Why don’t you phone him from the clinic? You can always reimburse the company for the call so it isn’t a problem. I know what my dad is like when my sisters are away—he worries himself to death in case something has happened to them.’
‘No, it’s OK. I’ll do it tonight,’ she assured him, then frowned as she mulled over what he’d said. ‘I thought you had just the one sister,