Her only comfort had been in knowing that she wasn’t competing against another woman, that it was his career that was going to take him away from her, and ever since then Tessa had kept the memory of that time buried deep in one of the past chapters of her life.
But a fleeting glimpse of the back of a man’s neck and the dark thatch of hair above it as he’d got into a taxi outside a London railway station had been a reminder that anything as memorable as the time she’d spent with Drake Melford would never stay buried.
She brushed a hand across her eyes as if to shut out a blinding light. It wasn’t the first time she’d given in to wishful thinking, and she knew how hard she had to fight to keep sane once the raw and painful memories were allowed to intrude into the life she had worked so hard to build in Drake’s absence.
She groaned softly and an old lady next to her in the taxi queue asked, ‘Are you all right, dear?’
Managing a smile, Tessa told her that it was just a stitch in her side instead of a thorn in her heart.
It was a Friday. She was in London for an important meeting and at the moment of seeing the man at the front of the queue getting into the taxi her thoughts were on what lay ahead and any surprise announcements that might be made.
She’d travelled up from Gloucestershire, where she was employed for the yearly AGM that was held in the city, and intended on staying the night at a hotel and catching an early train back in the morning.
Horizons Eye Hospital was on the edge of the elegant town of Glenminster, with the green hills of the county looking down on it, and was renowned for its excellence in specialised treatment. Tessa was employed there in a senior management position and was deeply committed to every aspect of it.
She’d heard it said that the health service had more managers than doctors. Though she, of course, respected the fantastic work done by the medical teams, at least a doctor didn’t have to get up in the middle of the night when a patient who had arrived with valuables in their possession and asked that they be put in the hospital safe was unexpectedly being discharged and wanted their belongings returned to them. As the only key holder, this meant a deal of trouble for Tess.
It had also been said that she must wish that her position there was more connected with healing than organising. But Tess had always believed that a clean, healthy and efficient facility with good, wholesome food did as much for a patient’s recovery as the medical miracles performed there.
As her taxi pulled up outside the building where the meeting was to take place, she was remembering a veiled comment that the chairman of the hospital board had made to her.
The top consultant of the hospital was retiring, so would be saying his goodbyes at the AGM, and the chairman had remarked that, much as the hospital was already famous, the man who was to replace him was going to take it even higher on the scale of excellent ophthalmology. When she’d asked for a name he’d just smiled and said, ‘All will be revealed at the AGM.’
And now here she was, still too bogged down with the past to be curious about the present, until she walked into the conference room and realised that this time she hadn’t been wrong in thinking she’d seen him. Drake Melford was there, chatting to some of her colleagues in his usual relaxed manner. It was history repeating itself.
Tessa turned quickly and made her way to a powder room, where a face devoid of colour stared back at her from the mirror. She closed her eyes, trying to shut out what she’d seen out there, telling herself that she should have known it was Drake that she’d glimpsed at the taxi rank.
She’d caressed his neck countless times, pressing kisses on to the strong column of it, raking her fingers through the dark pelt of his hair … But the meeting was due to start any moment and the chairman would not be expecting her to be skulking in the powder room.
The hospital board was already seated around a big oval table when she went back into the room, with Drake, the chairman and the retiring consultant seated centrally. When he saw her, Drake felt his heartbeat quicken and wished that their meeting—after what felt like a lifetime of regret—had been a more private one. But a part of him knew it was better this way, as a casual meeting of old friends, rather than. Rather than what? he asked himself.
As she eased herself into a seat at the far end of the table, Tessa listened to what was being said as if it were coming from another planet.
The chairman was making a presentation to the retiring consultant, who was following it with a short farewell speech, and then Drake would be introduced to those who would be working with him at the famous hospital.
He received a warm welcome from the chairman, who described him as a local man, top of his field in ophthalmology, and who, having fulfilled his obligation to a Swiss clinic, had agreed to accept the position of chief consultant at the Horizons Hospital.
There was loud applause. Tessa joined in weakly. Then Drake was on his feet, speaking briefly about the pleasure of being back in the U.K. and how he was looking forward to being amongst them. For Tessa it was like a dream from which she was sure she would awaken at any moment.
After that, routine matters were discussed and soon the assembled members retired to a nearby hotel where an evening meal had been arranged for all those present.
So far the two of them hadn’t spoken, but when she was chatting to one of the members of the hospital board, Drake went past with some of the bigwigs and called across, ‘Hi, Tessa. You’re still around, I see.’
She made no reply, just smiled a tight smile at the thought of being referred to as part of the fixtures and fittings. It was hardly the reunion her fevered brain had imagined during all those nights of tossing and turning.
As the evening wore on it seemed that quite a few of those at the meeting were booked in at the hotel for the night, Drake amongst them. Every time she thought of him being under the same roof she had to pinch herself to believe it.
Leaving most of them settled in the bar after they’d eaten, she went to her room and tried to come to terms with the day’s events. The first time she’d met him had been mesmerising and today had been no different, though for a different reason, she thought, lying wide-eyed against the pillows.
The most mind-blowing thought was that after three years of being denied his presence, she would now be seeing him on a daily basis. How was she going to cope with that? Their agreement had made it easy for him to leave her when the opportunity for a promotion had landed at his feet, and there had been no word of any kind from him since he’d left. Not one. And now they would be colleagues again. Tessa groaned into her pillow.
Drake had gone to his hotel room shortly after her and there was no smile on his face now. When he’d received the offer to work in Switzerland everything else had faded into the background. It had been a chance to improve his expertise and he’d been so keen to get over there he had given no thought to what he and Tessa had shared, so obsessed had he been with his own affairs.
It had only been as the months had become years without her that he’d realised what he’d lost in his arrogance. Too much time had passed for him to get in touch with her again, and he had felt … what? Regret? Shame?
For all he knew, she might be married with a couple of little ones, he’d told himself whenever the desire to be with her had surfaced. He’d hoped it wouldn’t stop him from making amends if the opportunity ever presented itself, and almost as if the fates had read his mind had come news of the vacancy at Horizons Hospital. Discovering that Tessa was now a senior manager at the hospital was only an additional bonus, he told himself.
He’d been anticipating her arrival at the meeting and observed the dismay in her expression when she’d seen him. There would be no warm welcome or happy reunion.
Then, fool that he was,