Nick raised dark brows. ‘You’re blaming my father and me?’ He, too, spoke in a lowered voice.
‘I am. Who else would I blame?’ She returned his gaze steadily. ‘His health is failing, yet you bombarded him with paperwork and tried to persuade him to hand it over. He was looking at the papers this morning when he was taken ill. The vineyard means everything to him, and you’ve set him a huge dilemma. I don’t believe he’s in any state to be dealing with matters such as this.’
‘I hardly think you can lay the blame at our feet. Jack has been ill for a number of years, and his lung function is way below par. As to causing him any distress, all I can say is that if he didn’t want to consider our offer, he only had to say so.’ His eyes darkened. ‘He’s perfectly capable of making his own decisions.’
Katie stiffened. He hadn’t added ‘without his daughter’s interference’, but the implication was there, all the same.
The nurse appeared just then with a trolley, and Nick broke off to go and set up the nebuliser. ‘Just try to relax and breathe deeply,’ he told her father, his manner soothing. ‘It’ll take a few minutes, but your blood oxygen levels should gradually start to rise. In the meantime, I’m going to go and glance through your medical notes and see where we can make changes to your medication.’ He halted as a thought had occurred to him. ‘Katie’s obviously concerned about you. Do you mind if I discuss your medical history with her, or is it something you would rather I kept private?’
Jack shook his head. ‘That’s fine. Go ahead. There’s nothing to hide.’
‘Okay.’ Nick checked the monitor once more, before saying quietly, ‘I’ll also arrange an urgent appointment for you with your respiratory specialist.’
‘Thanks,’ Jack said. He looked exhausted and seemed relieved to be able to just lie back and let the drugs do their work.
Nick came back to the desk and glanced towards Katie as he sat down.
‘He should start to feel better once his airways expand.’ He accessed her father’s medical notes on the computer, and then said quietly, ‘You seem very concerned over this matter of the vineyard. Have you been out to see it?’
She nodded. ‘He took me on a tour a few days ago. I was very impressed, completely bowled over by it, in fact. So much work has gone into making it what it is now. It’s something to be proud of.’ She looked at him through narrowed eyes. ‘I can’t see any reason why he would want to let it go.’
His mouth made a crooked shape. ‘I’d say it was possibly becoming too much for him to handle, but it’s probably better if we leave off that discussion for a while. It isn’t getting either of us anywhere, is it?’
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