‘I’m waiting for a woman.’ She looked down at her sign again, checking she hadn’t been secretly pranked. Nope. It was still her writing. ‘Jeanne Du Bois.’
The guy gave a lazy kind of smile and put his hand on his chest. ‘I’m Jeanne Du Bois. Except it’s GENE. You know? Like Gene Kelly? Or Gene Hackman?’
She blinked. She still couldn’t get over that accent. She wrinkled her nose. It reminded her of her favourite US TV series. ‘Are you from Texas?’
He tipped his hat again. ‘My mother was French, but I’m a Texan through and through.’ He held out his hand towards her. ‘Pleased to meet you, ma’am. You’ve obviously dyed your hair, Professor Helier. And had a sex change,’ he added with a wink.
Her brain sparked back into gear. ‘Oh, yes. I’m sorry.’ She shook his hand swiftly, the warm touch sending a little pulse up her arm. ‘I’m Dr Cordelia Greenway, Professor Helier’s second in command. I’m so sorry. He’s had a family emergency, literally in the last few hours. I asked him who I was collecting at the airport and when he told me Jeanne Du Bois. I just assumed it was a woman.’
The guy shrugged. ‘You’re in Switzerland. I guess I can live with being mistaken for a woman.’
She wanted to laugh out loud. There was no chance of this guy being mistaken for a woman. Not when he looked, smelled and sounded like that.
She gestured around him. ‘Where’s your luggage? My car is in the car park just a few minutes from here. I can take you back to Professor Helier’s house. I’m staying there too.’
For the briefest of seconds something flashed across his face. ‘Oh.’ He looked her up and down. ‘Right. Yes...that’s great.’
She felt heat rush into her cheeks. He was making assumptions. She shook her head frantically. ‘Oh, no. No. Professor Helier and I are...friends. He’s helping me out too. The ceiling in my apartment collapsed last week.’
Gene’s eyebrows rose. ‘Oh, no. What a nightmare.’
She nodded and smiled. ‘Yip. And my upstairs neighbour is off on a round-the-world cruise for a month. And still doesn’t know about her leaking pipe, or the fact the factor had to break down her door to get in and switch her water off.’
Gene glanced over his shoulder, then looked back at her. ‘So where does that leave you?’
‘Homeless. Wet. With water pouring down my walls and ruining my carpets and electrics.’ She raised her hand and shook her head. ‘No, really, the water might have been turned off, but until my neighbour is back and our insurance companies can battle it out together...’ She let her words trail off.
He nodded. ‘You’re kind of stuck?’ He took off his cowboy hat to reveal short brown hair that he ran his hand through. ‘I guess that means that Professor Helier doesn’t really have a lot of room.’
She held up her hands. ‘It’s fine. Really it is. Honestly, his house isn’t a house—it’s a kind of rambling mansion. It’s the kind of place they read you fairy stories about when you’re a kid. He has plenty of space.’ She wiggled her hand. ‘Not all of it habitable. But there are rooms next to mine that are comfortable. You’ll be fine.’ She looked back at the doors. ‘Do you want to collect your luggage and we’ll go?’
He gave her a nod and stuck his hat back on his head. ‘Are you okay to help me with the cases?’
She was a little surprised. ‘Just how many did you bring?’
He smiled. ‘Just one each.’
She blinked and looked behind him. ‘One each? There’s someone else with you?’
A wave of concern swept his face. ‘You mean Professor Helier didn’t tell you?’
She felt her stomach flip over. She was so looking forward to getting home, eating something takeout and climbing into her pyjamas. She didn’t need any more unexpected turns right now. Not when she needed to be up at six a.m. to prepare for the patients attending clinic tomorrow. She almost didn’t want to say the words out loud. ‘Tell me what?’
‘That I wasn’t coming alone?’ He sounded nervous.
She half expected some beauty queen to emerge from the arrivals hall with a stunning full-length gown, silver heels and blonde hair tumbling down her back. After all, he looked like a guy who would inevitably be dating some kind of beauty queen.
She swallowed. Wine. Maybe she’d have some wine instead of coffee when she got back.
‘No.’ She tried to sound friendly. ‘He didn’t mention it.’ She looked around him again. ‘Is your wife just freshening up?’
He gave her a quizzical glance. ‘Oh, he really didn’t tell you. It’s not my wife. I don’t have a wife. It’s my son, Rory. He’s sleeping. One of the airline staff is minding him while I checked to see if our pick-up was here. I guess that’s you.’
‘Your son?’
She couldn’t help it. She hadn’t meant it to sound like that. Of course some of the visiting doctors brought their partners or families when they came to stay. It just wasn’t like Professor Helier to miss such an important detail. It just let her know how distracted he’d actually been.
Gene gave her a little frown. ‘Is that going to be a problem? I’m happy to call a cab and check into a local hotel. I don’t want to put you to any trouble.’
It was the tone of his voice. He was annoyed. And no wonder. He’d been travelling for hours to a strange city, a new job—and she wasn’t exactly being welcoming.
She held up her hand. ‘It’s no problem. If you want to get your son, I can manage the cases.’
For a few seconds he just stared at her, almost as if he was trying to decide whether to believe her or not. But she could see the fatigue on his face. She had a cheek to feel tired when he’d just crossed the Atlantic to get here. No wonder his son was sleeping. Gene Du Bois probably wanted to be sleeping too.
He gave a nod and headed back to the doors. A perfectly groomed stewardess met him with the child in her arms. Gene took the sleeping little figure easily, letting him snuggle into his shoulder, with one arm under his legs. He grabbed a large navy blue case with one hand as the stewardess brought out another—bright green with a lion on front.
Cordelia smiled as she felt a little pang. Kids. She normally managed to circumvent them. Having an ongoing cardiac condition wasn’t exactly conducive to having kids, and the older she got, the more she thought about it.
She’d learned to distance herself. It was easier that way. There was less chance of seeing what she’d miss out on. Less chance of becoming bitter about what could never be hers.
But she couldn’t exactly circumvent a kid in the same house as her.
She hurried over and grabbed the bright green suitcase, trundling it behind her, and tried to keep up with Gene Du Bois’s long strides.
‘Dr Du Bois, Professor Helier didn’t let me know what programme you’ll be contributing to. I’ll need to make some introductions and ensure everything has been put in place for you. Can you let me know what research you’re involved in?’
Gene gave her a sideways glance and slowed his steps. ‘I’m beginning to wonder if this was a good idea. I came here because the Reuben Institute is supposed to be at the forefront of cardiac research. I’m here for a month, to take the lead on the cardiomyopathy studies.’
She couldn’t help but pull a face. ‘Listen, I know this might seem chaotic, but the only thing that’s normally chaotic at the Reuben Institute is Professor Helier’s desk. Everything else is ruthlessly efficient, I assure you.’
They