LITMIR.BIZ

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what has it been like with me away and you landed with the brood at the Young Sailors’ Club?’ Daniel Osbourne was asking quizzically of his sister, who had turned out to chauffeur him home, when he caught a glimpse of the woman who’d piqued his interest on the train and wondered if she would be able to find her way to where she was going if she hadn’t visited the place before.

      Yet he thought he’d done quite a bit of fussing during the rail journey, so enough was enough, and, as Cordelia pulled out into the moving traffic homeward bound, he thought the odds were that the woman, whoever she was, would have seen enough of him and neither needed nor wanted any more assistance.

      He’d had no doubts about her lowness of spirit from the moment of helping her with her case, and if he hadn’t been so engrossed with the paperwork from the course that he’d just been on he might have done more.

      ‘The “brood”, as you describe them, have been in trouble,’ Cordelia told him with an affectionate glance at the man beside her. ‘They have missed you, of course, two of them especially who have ended up in Oceans House with fractures and suchlike that A and E passed on because they were too complex for them to treat.

      ‘But I hope that you’re not going anywhere near the place tonight because we’re having friends round for supper and we want you with us if you’re not too stressed after being away over the last fortnight. We’re letting the children stay up as the moment your name was mentioned the girls were keen to see you. So what do you say?’ she questioned.

      His expression was sombre after the news about what the sailing club had been up to and he commented, ‘There are other doctors at Oceans House as well as me who will take good care of the injured miscreants.’ Now he was smiling. ‘And with regard to the invitation to supper I say, yes, of course. I’ve got something for the children in my luggage and if they get tired I’ll tell them a bedtime story. You know how much I love your daughters.’

      ‘Yes, I do,’ she told him wistfully. ‘I wish you had a family of your own, though.’

      ‘Don’t fret about me,’ was the reply. ‘At the time when I could have done something about it I was dumb about a lot of things, blinkered by my own concerns, such as getting my degree and providing for us both as Katrina had expensive tastes and a short fuse. She thought herself right in all things and since I divorced her I haven’t seen her—which suits me fine.

      ‘But you know all about that don’t you, sis?’ he questioned as Cordelia stopped the car outside a block of apartments with sea views, not too far from Oceans House and near to where she lived contentedly with her husband and two small girls who adored their Uncle Daniel.

      ‘Yes, of course I remember,’ she said gently. ‘Maybe one day you’ll—’

      ‘Don’t ever be too hopeful about that,’ he said dryly. ‘I’m content to give my time to my patients and when called upon take my place in the lifeboat. Plus getting to know the young teens in the sailing club and helping them learn how to handle the rescue safety boat. But some of them need a firm hand, and with regard to supper I shall look forward to being with you and yours once I’ve showered and changed.’

      ‘Good,’ Cordelia enthused. ‘I wasn’t sure if a gruelling fortnight away might have wearied you too much.’

      ‘Not at all,’ he assured her, with the thought unspoken that he’d also had a cheerless return rail journey on a packed train. That brought to mind again the memory of the fellow passenger that he’d taken under his wing, and he ended up with the feeling that he’d been bossy and interfering. Hopefully they wouldn’t meet again.

      Spending time with Cordelia and Lawrence’s children was always a pleasure. Aged seven and five years, the two small girls always greeted Daniel with delight and excitement because he never arrived empty-handed, and that evening was no different.

      But the memory of his conversation with their mother in the car on the way home from the rail station was lingering, and he asked himself, as he sometimes did, why he had committed himself to living alone when it would be so easy to respond to the interest that women frequently showed in him. But having made one mistake, he would never be in a hurry to make another.

      * * *

      Darcey had arrived at Oceans House and, having obtained the key to the small apartment allocated to her, was taking stock of the premises that, circumstances permitting, were going to be her home for some time to come.

      It contained a bedroom, a shower and a cosy enough sitting room with a through kitchen adjoining. As she took off her jacket and sank down wearily onto the nearest chair the thought was there of how happy she would have been if the original arrangements that she and Alex had made regarding both their futures had stood firm.

      There would have been none of the anxiety on her part because before he had developed a yearning to see the world he had been accepted at university, and been offered accommodation in the halls of residence there, which would have meant that they could have seen each other regularly. It was the kind of situation that did happen and usually parents would be involved, but theirs, hers and Alexander’s, were long gone. She knew that if she didn’t calm down, her own future was going to be threatened and then what would she have left?

      For a crazy moment the memory of the man in the train came back, with his calm authoritarian manner and casual concern about her well-being. She could imagine him having an attractive wife and family waiting eagerly for his return to an orderly organised life while her own was a shambles, but why concern herself about that when she was never likely to be in his company again?

      Her phone rang at that moment and as she fished it out of her hand luggage, Darcey prayed it was Alex. They’d barely been on speaking terms when she’d left and that had hurt the most of all. If he had just turned up at the rail station for a few moments it would have been a move towards peace between them. But there hadn’t been any sign of him and she’d waited until the guard had blown the whistle to announce the train was about to depart before she’d hurriedly boarded the train, and felt like weeping when she’d discovered how little room there had been for last-minute arrivals. But someone had seen her plight and she had been less than grateful for his assistance, which was awful, she thought as the phone continued to ring.

      It was not Alex who spoke when she answered. The voice in her ear was that of the overseer of the pleasant small property that she and her younger brother had just vacated, who was phoning to thank her for promptly settling all rent owing to his firm, and wishing her everything that was good for the future.

      * * *

      With regard to her signing the necessary forms regarding her residence in the hospital property, Darcey had been given all the details of procedure on her arrival there and been informed that the staff restaurant was open until late if she wanted a meal. As she fought back tears at the kind thought from her ex-landlord, hunger was rising. The last time she’d eaten had been from the refreshment trolley on the train, and after food she needed sleep if she was to appear on the wards the next morning with her wits about her, she told herself. But whether sleep would come to her as easily as the food she sought was another matter.

      * * *

      As Cordelia watched her brother play with her daughters that evening, their conversation of the afternoon came back to trouble her. Was Daniel really so disinterested in a family life of his own? she wondered. A couple of her friends were present and would be there in a flash if he should show interest. Both were recently divorced and ready to try again.

      But that was the difference, she thought, he wasn’t. He’d made one mistake along those lines, having married the wrong woman in the petulant Katrina and was not going to make another. Yet watching him with Bethany and Katie, his small nieces, it was clear to see that he would make an excellent father to children of his own given the chance.

      He went once the children were in bed and on the point of leaving told his hosts, ‘I won’t be seeing much of you next week. I’m in Theatre most of the time and there are going to be some staff changes due to retirement and pregnancies, so I will be hoping for no high tides.’

      *

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