‘I bet you’re sorry you came home now, aren’t you, love?’
‘It did cross my mind,’ Emma replied, jokingly. She held up the files. ‘You’d think we should be able to do away with all this paperwork now that we have computers to help us.’
‘I wish!’ Ruth replied cheerfully. ‘The trouble is that computers have a nasty habit of breaking down, so we need the files as back-up.’
‘I suppose so.’
Emma looked round when she heard footsteps in the corridor, feeling her pulse surge when Daniel appeared in the doorway. She had been too stressed about seeing him again to take much notice earlier in the day, but all of a sudden she found herself taking stock of the changes the past few years had wrought. Although he was still extremely good looking with those craggy, very masculine features and that thick dark hair, there were lines on his face that hadn’t been there five years before, an underlying sadness in his hazel eyes that surprised her. Daniel looked as though he had suffered some kind of sorrow in his life and she couldn’t help wondering what had happened. Was it possible that he had fallen in love and been let down?
The thought sent a shaft of pain searing through her. Emma bit her lip to contain the cry that threatened to emerge. That Daniel might have experienced the same kind of unhappiness as she had done when they’d parted should have filled her with a certain satisfaction, but it didn’t. All she felt was an overwhelming sense of grief that he might have loved some other woman more than he had loved her.
‘I hope it isn’t always as busy as that?’ He grinned at Ruth. ‘Sure you didn’t ring round all the patients and ask them to call in tonight so you could put me through my paces?’
‘How did you guess?’ Ruth winked at Emma. ‘Drat! We’ve been found out.’
‘I … um … it looks like it.’ Emma did her best to respond to the teasing comment but it wasn’t easy. The thought of Daniel loving another woman was more painful than it had any right to be. She was over him and it shouldn’t matter, but it did. She took a quick breath to control the pain when she saw him look at her in surprise. ‘We’re only joking, Daniel.’
‘That’s good to hear.’ He smiled coolly. ‘I’d hate to think you had it in for me, Emma.’
Emma flushed when she heard the irony in his voice. She turned away, busying herself with placing the files she’d used in the tray. By the time Daniel added his, it was brimming over. ‘Do you want me to put these away so you can have a clear run in the morning?’ she offered.
‘There’s no need. Dr Haynes took on a part-time receptionist at Christmas,’ Ruth explained. ‘There was some sort of wretched tummy bug doing the rounds and I was snowed under with all the extra paperwork. Claire comes in three mornings a week and helps with the filing, et cetera. We’ll soon get everything sorted out between us.’
‘Oh, right. That’s fine.’ Emma placed the referral letter she’d printed in the tray for posting. ‘There’s just the one letter that needs sending as well.’
‘And I’ve got another one here.’
Daniel leant past her and dropped his letter on top of hers. Emma tried not to flinch when his shoulder brushed against her but he must have felt the small involuntary jerk she gave. He stepped back, his face betraying very little as he told Ruth that he would lock up and set the alarm.
Emma took it as her cue to leave. She murmured a general goodbye and hurriedly left. Although the surgery was attached to the house, it was completely self-contained and she had to walk round to the front door to let herself in. She hung her coat in the hall then made her way to the sitting room to turn on the gas fire. Although the central heating was switched on, the house still felt chilly.
She sighed. It probably felt chilly because her body hadn’t adjusted to the change in temperature yet. When she’d left South Africa early that morning the temperature had been in the high 30s, so it was bound to be a shock to her system to be plunged back into the tail end of a British winter. Still, she would soon adapt.
Emma looked round in surprise when she heard the front door open. It slammed shut and a moment later she heard footsteps crossing the hall. Her heart was already racing when Daniel appeared, even though she had no idea what he wanted.
‘Oh, good. You’ve got the fire going. It’s a lot colder up here than it is in London,’ he observed, crossing the room to warm his hands.
‘I suppose it is,’ Emma agreed uncertainly. She frowned when she realised that he wasn’t wearing a coat. He’d had it on earlier so why had he taken it off? A horrible suspicion started to rear its head and she stared at him in alarm. ‘What are you doing here, Daniel?’
‘At this precise moment, I’m trying to warm up. But give me a couple of minutes and I’ll make myself useful.’
‘Useful?’
‘Uh-huh. I’ll cook dinner tonight. It doesn’t seem fair to expect you to do it after the day you’ve had.’
‘Cook dinner?’ Emma took a quick breath when she realised that she was repeating everything he said. ‘Why on earth would you want to cook dinner?’
‘Because we both need to eat,’ he replied reasonably. He glanced at her, the light from the fire reflecting in his eyes so that she found it impossible to read his expression. ‘We can work out a rota if you prefer, but tonight I’ll cook.’
He straightened up and headed for the door but Emma knew that she couldn’t let him leave before she found out what was going on. ‘Why do we need a rota? Surely you’ll be having dinner wherever you’re staying? Most of the guest houses will provide an evening meal if you ask them to.’
‘Your aunt hasn’t told you, then?’ He stopped and turned, and she could see the concern on his face. It made her feel even more alarmed. ‘Told me what?’ she snapped. ‘That I’m staying here.’
CHAPTER THREE
‘EVERYTHING happened so fast that there was no time to arrange accommodation before I left London. I was going to sort something out when I got here, but Margaret insisted that I stay at the house.’
Daniel shrugged but he could tell from the frozen expression on Emma’s face that the news had come as a shock to her. ‘I can’t see that it will cause a problem, Emma, but if you aren’t happy with the arrangement then, of course, I’ll find somewhere else.’
‘There’s no need,’ she said stiffly. ‘If Aunt Margaret invited you to stay, I’m certainly not going to object.’
‘Fine. If you change your mind, though, just let me know.’
Daniel managed to maintain an outward show of indifference as he left the sitting room, but he sighed as he headed for the kitchen. Emma’s reaction to the news that they would be sharing the house was upsetting but what did he expect? It might have been different if her aunt and uncle had been there, but she probably didn’t relish the idea of them being on their own. All he could do now was monitor the situation and find somewhere else if it looked as though it was going to create friction.
It was the logical solution, although it didn’t make him feel good to know that he was persona non grata so far as Emma was concerned. He tried not to dwell on it as he made a start on dinner. He was just mashing the potatoes to go with the lamb chops and green beans he had cooked when Emma appeared.
‘I’ll set the table.’
She busied herself with place mats and cutlery, glasses for water and condiments. Daniel suspected