Suddenly, there was a knock on her open door. She lifted her eyes to see the freshly shaven, impeccably groomed subject of her thoughts. His crisp white shirt highlighted his slightly olive complexion, and once again his blue eyes caught her attention. They appeared even more vivid from across the room.
‘May I come in?’
‘Of course,’ she said, trying to keep the rhythm of her heart from racing and bringing a blush to her cheeks. She doubted she would be successful so she launched into the much-needed apology. ‘I’m very sorry about yesterday. I behaved so poorly and I’m not sure how to make it up to you. It was professionally reprehensible, not to mention just plain awful, on my part to speak to you that way after you had made the effort to deliver the Abbiatis’ decision in person.’
Charlie stood in silence for a moment and she was unsure how he would react.
‘Apology accepted, Juliet,’ he said, taking long purposeful steps across the room and very quickly closing the gap between them. His cologne filled those senses that his very being hadn’t already claimed. ‘You travelled a long way, it can’t have been easy without much notice and I’m sure you have a lot on your mind. Let’s just agree to disagree. I will not change my mind about the surgery and you, I can very clearly see, do not agree with the benefits of waiting.’
‘You’re right,’ she returned. ‘And it’s very generous of you to accept my apology. I’m honestly not normally so rude—in fact I don’t think I’m ever really rude at all. Normally.’ Normally covered many different things for Juliet that day. Quite apart from not normally hopping on a plane with less than a day’s notice, normally she didn’t find herself fighting her attraction to a colleague.
‘Let’s call a truce,’ he replied.
‘Done,’ she agreed, hoping that the heat she was feeling hadn’t made her cheeks glow.
‘I have something for you in my office. I’ll be back, then we can discuss the Abbiatis.’
‘Sure,’ Juliet responded, not entirely sure at all what Charlie had for her but suspecting it was the update on the quads’ condition. Juliet prayed it had not worsened during the night. She had intended on heading to Georgina’s room as soon as she had read her emails. She wanted to speak in more depth with both Georgina and Leo about the surgery that was scheduled in two days. The risks needed to be explained again and the permission signed for surgery. Both parents had to accept that, while this was the best way forward, there would still be risks.
Juliet was deep in thought when she heard Charlie return. With a large arrangement of the most beautiful flowers.
‘Oh, my goodness,’ she said, getting to her feet as she watched Charlie place them on a small table by the window. ‘They’re gorgeous. You shouldn’t have.’ It was a lovely round arrangement, as if it had been picked from an English garden. Although she knew it wouldn’t be from a garden in the snow-covered Cotswolds. She could see foxglove, hollyhock, snapdragon, sweet peas, roses and a few sprigs of lavender. It was the prettiest arrangement she had ever seen. And as she moved closer she could smell the delicate scent of the flowers’ perfume.
‘Glad you like them,’ he returned. ‘But I can’t take the credit, since they’re not from me. The board asked me to order them as a thank you for coming all this way on short notice.’
‘Oh,’ she mumbled, feeling silly and trying to mask the disappointment she was feeling.
‘I thought I’d test the water before I brought them in case you were still upset and planned on throwing them at me. I know I didn’t make it easy on you and we really did not get off to a good start.’
Juliet knew she had been crazy to think a man like Charlie Warren would buy flowers for her. She felt very foolish for thinking that he would.
‘I agree we got off on the wrong foot,’ she managed to reply. ‘But…it’s all sorted now.’
Little was truly sorted in Juliet’s head. She had been entertaining romantic thoughts and even having dreams about a man who had just followed the instructions of a board and ordered flowers. At least she knew exactly where Charlie was coming from.
‘Actually I haven’t bought flowers since…’ He paused, then stopped the conversation completely and walked to the door in silence.
Juliet thought Charlie was about to let her into something about him. The man who had an office devoid of photos or personal belongings. There was no visible history or connection to another person or persons. And no hint of a life outside the hospital. She didn’t want the opportunity to know more about him to pass. ‘Since?’ she prompted before Charlie could leave.
Charlie drew a deep breath and turned to face her. ‘Not since my wife died. There were so many flowers at the funeral that I couldn’t face another flower again. Besides, there was no one to buy them for after that.’
Juliet’s disappointment was quickly pushed aside by the shock of what he had said and the instinctive reaction to comfort him. She was momentarily speechless.
Her emotions were once again swinging like a pendulum.
And he was gone.
CHARLIE LEFT JULIET’S office before she had a chance to offer him any words of comfort or condolence. Juliet watched as he rushed out of the door, confirming matter-of-factly on the way out that they would meet with Georgina and Leo an hour later. There was no further reference to his wife or being a widower. He did not put a timeline of context to his statement. He apparently had another important appointment and one that oddly seemed to lift his spirits when he spoke about being needed elsewhere. He had quite literally dropped an emotional bombshell and run before she could say anything. The swing of the pendulum grew wider by the minute. Charlie mentioned he couldn’t be late for his tough taskmaster. She couldn’t think who would be harsher than himself but clearly there was someone in the hospital giving him orders. And he jumped. But jumped willingly. While the news was sad, Charlie seemed strangely upbeat as he left.
Juliet thought better than to try to learn more. He had said enough. He was a widower, and she was a single mother. Facts about each other that she had to remind herself had no relevance to their working relationship. But it was not news she had imagined hearing from him.
But it suddenly did make sense. And she could understand better why he appeared to not have a life outside Teddy’s. He would have lost the life he knew when he lost his wife.
Trying to push thoughts about Charlie from her mind, she read the medical updates that had been emailed to her and sent an email to her parents, informing them that she would call in the next day or so once she had everything under control. Although she wasn’t sure exactly when that would happen. She doubted while Charlie was around, or, more accurately, while she was anywhere near Charlie, that everything would be under control. He was complex and perhaps even still grieving and she was confused.
She wasn’t sure she would ever really know Charlie Warren.
But she did still need to ask him to be in Theatre. She had assumed he might have attended, but after seeing the theatre staff listing and noticing his name was not there she wanted to raise it with him. It had slipped her mind in her office, but a lot did when he was around.
She had to put him back in context. He was Georgina’s