Surgeon On Call. Alison Roberts

firmly. ‘It’s time to go home.’

      Samantha looked disappointed enough to prompt Joe to try again. ‘I could drop Sam home a bit later.’

      ‘I’ve come into the hospital now, Joe. I’ve left the boys with Nigel and he’s busy at work. We’ve got grocery shopping to do and Scott’s due at his piano lesson at 4:30. I haven’t got time to chop and change arrangements. I’ll take Samantha home with me now.’

      Joe gave in. It wasn’t worth the stress of trying to talk Dayna out of a decision. Not this time anyway, when Samantha was probably tired. He watched Dayna help his daughter off the bed.

      ‘Mum?’

      Dayna was folding up Samantha’s cardigan, which had been abandoned on the end of the bed. She didn’t appear to have heard.

      ‘Mum?’

      Joe gritted his teeth at the repetition. Dayna wasn’t Samantha’s mother. She was her aunt. Samantha had started calling her ‘Mum’ because of the example set by Dayna’s two sons. And Dayna certainly hadn’t discouraged her.

      ‘Mum?’ Samantha was trying again. ‘Can I give Woof Woof Snowball a bath with me tonight? He’s really dirty.’

      ‘He can go in the washing machine.’ Dayna turned her attention to the nurse who required a signature on the discharge papers. Joe bent down towards his daughter and spoke quietly.

      ‘When you come and stay with me you can give Woof Woof Snowball a real bath.’

      Samantha’s grin at the private suggestion was worth a lot. The one-armed hug was worth even more, despite the obstacle the soft toy presented. It almost restored the pleasure Joe had anticipated from the afternoon’s outing. He could watch Dayna lead Samantha briskly away without the usual heartache. He even found himself smiling. Using that awful name for the toy hadn’t been that difficult at all. Maybe he just needed to relax. He just hadn’t had enough time with his daughter and that wasn’t entirely his fault.

      He could learn. Look at how easily Felicity had established such an easy rapport with his child. Instead of being resentful at the way she’d effortlessly gained what he was having such difficulty achieving, he should follow her example. He could be relaxed and confident like that. And friendly. Felicity was obviously a friendly person, good with children, and she clearly knew what she was doing if she was a consultant emergency physician. She looked far too young for the position. She couldn’t be much over thirty, surely?

      It seemed, by now, typical that Joe should encounter Felicity as he left the emergency department. This woman had a knack of appearing when least expected. He paused and directed a smile at her.

      ‘Thanks very much for your help, Dr Munroe.’

      ‘A pleasure, Mr Petersen.’

      The formality was ridiculous. It made them both smile.

      ‘The name’s Joe.’

      ‘And mine’s Fliss.’

      They both held their hands out simultaneously. The shake was brief but firm. Not so brief that Joe didn’t notice that Felicity wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, however. His mind was turning rapidly. No, she couldn’t be much over thirty and she really was an incredibly attractive woman. Those large hazel eyes were rather difficult to look away from. They weren’t looking as friendly as they had when Samantha had been around but that was hardly surprising.

      ‘I’d like to apologise,’ he found himself saying hurriedly.

      ‘What for?’ Felicity’s tone was cool. Disinterested, perhaps?

      What for, indeed. There was too much to choose from. Joe had insulted her on more than one occasion already by making erroneous assumptions about her qualifications. He’d also displayed his lack of confident parenting in an embarrassing manner. He should have known better than to answer Samantha’s questions for her. Or upset her about the dog’s name. Felicity probably thought he was an idiot. A rude idiot, at that.

      ‘Our acquaintance didn’t get off to the best start. I’m sorry I didn’t enlist your expertise at that accident scene.’

      ‘You didn’t know I had any.’ Felicity dismissed the apology.

      ‘I wasn’t much of a help with Samantha today either.’

      ‘It’s often harder to cope with one’s own family than patients.’

      ‘The thing is, I...’ Joe hesitated. The only hope he had of repairing this woman’s opinion of him would require her to have at least some understanding of the complicated background his actions sprang from. However, any explanation of the reasons for his behaviour on the two occasions they’d met was likely to be time-consuming, and Felicity was looking past Joe’s shoulder at present as though she wanted to escape. ‘I’d just like a chance to explain,’ Joe finished. ‘An opportunity to redeem myself, perhaps.’

      ‘There’s absolutely no need.’

      ‘Maybe a coffee?’ Joe couldn’t quite accept the brush-off. He didn’t want to be brushed off. ‘When you have the time, that is.’

      ‘I don’t think so.’ Felicity’s smile was polite. ‘But thanks for the invitation. Nice meeting you again, Joe.’

      Joe watched Felicity walk into the emergency department and kicked himself mentally. Surely he could have handled that a bit better. He had really wanted that coffee. It would have provided the opportunity to spend time with the young consultant and gain more than the initial impression he was being left with. It was an impression he was not going to forget in a hurry. One that he would very much have liked to have built on.

      Not that he was going to get the chance. Felicity had spelt that out fairly convincingly. Of course, there was always that appointment Joe had tomorrow. If that interview was successful it was just possible he might get another opportunity to persuade Felicity that he was worth spending some time with. He hadn’t been all that bothered about whether it was going to be successful because he hadn’t been sure it was what he really wanted. Now Joe was quite sure it was what he wanted.

      He wanted it rather a lot.