Читать книгу: «The Mills & Boon Sparkling Christmas Collection», страница 42

CHAPTER NINE

‘YOU want me to sit in on your clinic?’ Nita went pink with pleasure.

‘Because I’m seeing some high-risk mums today and it’ll be useful experience for you. I would’ve invited Sanjay along, too, had he not been off sick with a migraine,’ Theo added, hoping that Nita would get the message. He was asking her along as a student, to give her experience with patients, not because he wanted her company in particular.

She was practically bubbling with happiness all the way down to the consultancy room. To his relief, she calmed down during the clinic and listened to the mums and asked intelligent questions.

Their final case that morning was a woman who’d been diagnosed with lupus before her pregnancy.

‘What do you know about lupus?’ he asked Nita.

‘It’s an autoimmune disease. It causes chronic inflammation in the skin, joints, blood and kidneys,’ she recited, ‘and it flares up in response to triggers, particularly stress. And it’s a complication in pregnancy.’

‘Absolutely correct. Good. Let’s meet Mrs Hanson.’

Judith Hanson was all smiles as she walked in, and when Theo introduced Nita she immediately agreed to let the student sit in on their discussions.

‘I see from your notes that you were diagnosed ten months ago, and your lupus was stable and in remission before you became pregnant,’ Theo said.

She nodded. ‘And I’m so pleased I was diagnosed—at least now I know why I had the three miscarriages.’

‘Have you had a chance to talk to your family doctor or your rheumatologist?’ Theo asked.

She nodded. ‘And I’ve read up about it. I know there’s a greater risk of the baby being stillborn if my kidneys are affected, and the baby might also grow slowly. The baby might have congenital heart problems—but the figures are one in a thousand, and I don’t have the Rho antibodies that put my baby at greatest risk.’

‘You’re twelve weeks at the moment,’ he said.

‘Yes, and, touch wood, I haven’t had a flare-up. I know that around forty per cent of women get worse, forty per cent stay as they are and twenty per cent go into complete remission during pregnancy.’

She really had done her research. Theo was impressed. ‘There’s also the possibility of a flare-up after the birth,’ he said.

‘Especially the second and eighth week after the birth—and it’s most likely to affect my skin, joints and muscles.’ She nodded. ‘I’m going to get my mum to come and stay with me during those two weeks, just in case.’

‘Sounds sensible.’ But what amazed him most was that Mrs Hanson knew all the risks but had still been prepared to put herself through it for the sake of having a child. The same kind of bravery that Madison would show. The kind of bravery he somehow needed to learn. ‘I’m impressed that you’ve read so much.’

‘If you know what’s going on, it takes most of the worry out and means the risks are calculated—you know where you are,’ she said simply.

‘So you probably already know I’ll want to see you more often than my mums-to-be who don’t have any complications,’ he said. ‘I’ll also be talking to your rheumatologist and giving him regular updates. We’ll be keeping an eye on your blood pressure—and I’m afraid I’ll need extra blood tests, too.’

She nodded. ‘I’ve got a list of the signs for pregnancy-induced hypertension—and I don’t smoke or drink, I’m sensible about getting enough rest, and my diet is disgustingly healthy.’

He smiled. ‘You know your stuff. Good.’ He glanced through her notes. ‘I’m happy with your blood pressure, there’s no sign of any protein in your urine, and the blood-test results won’t be back for a couple of days. I don’t have any worries about you right now—but if you notice any changes in your condition or you have any worries at all, you’ll come straight to me, yes?’

‘Absolutely. I really want this baby, Mr Petrakis. When we lost our third baby, Frankie and I were devastated. But this little one’s going to be just fine. I know it.’ Mrs Hanson cradled her abdomen protectively.

‘I should warn you,’ he said gently, ‘that you’re less likely than the average mum to have a normal delivery. If you’re ill or the baby’s showing signs of distress, we’ll need to do a section.’

She smiled. ‘That’s fine. I’m not taking any risks with the baby.’

‘Or with yourself,’ he added. ‘Is there anything you’d like to ask me or Nita about?’

Mrs Hanson shook her head. ‘Everything’s fine. I’m not worried about anything.’

‘Good. Would you mind if Nita examined you?’

‘Not at all.’ She hopped up onto the couch, lay back and allowed Nita to bare her abdomen and examine her.

He double-checked Nita’s findings, confirmed them, and let her write them up in the notes; she turned pink with pleasure.

And then it was the end of his morning’s clinic.

‘You were brilliant,’ Nita said.

He shrugged. ‘No, Mrs Hanson was very well informed—and that’s definitely something to encourage in our high-risk mums. The more they know, the more aware they are of any changes in their condition that aren’t quite right, the better it will be because they’ll come to us early enough for us to help effectively.’

‘I still think you were brilliant.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Theo, you’ve been so good with me, helped me so much…I was wondering, um, can I take you out to dinner tonight?’ The words came out in a rush.

Oh, lord. He really hadn’t been expecting this. Even if he hadn’t been involved with Madison, he wouldn’t have accepted Nita’s offer—but at the same time he wasn’t going to be rude and obnoxious about it and make the girl feel embarrassed or hurt. ‘It’s very sweet of you to ask—thank you very much. But I’m afraid I already have plans for tonight.’ Important plans. As in cooking dinner for Madison and her cousin.

‘How about tomorrow?’ she suggested.

She looked so full of hope and he felt horrible, stamping on her dreams like this, but he had to be honest to be kind. ‘Nita, I’m very flattered that a clever and beautiful girl like you would ask me to dinner—particularly as I must be nearly fifteen years older than you are—but I’m sorry, I can’t.’

She didn’t say it, but it was written in her eyes. Why?

Well, he was going honest. May as well tell her the truth—just enough of it not to make life difficult for Madison. ‘I’m seeing someone,’ he explained.

‘But…’ She blinked. ‘We never see you with anyone. Everyone thought you were single.’

He shrugged. ‘My partner and I—’ ha, what a way to describe Madison ‘—both hate gossip, so we keep it low key.’

‘It sounds pretty serious.’

He nodded. It was. Which was why he was having such a hard time right now. He wanted her, and yet he couldn’t give her what she wanted from life—so he ought to do the noble thing and end it, give her a chance to find someone who wanted the same things she wanted.

Nita looked embarrassed. ‘I’m so sorry. I would never have asked you if I’d had any idea that you were involved with someone. I just…’ Her voice faded.

Relief flooded through him. This wasn’t going to be difficult, after all. ‘It’s not a problem, Nita. And it’s not going to make any difference to the fact that we’re colleagues. Come and have a coffee and you can tell me what you know about antiphospholipid syndrome and how to manage lupus in pregnancy—let’s see how much you learned from Mrs Hanson.’

‘Are you sure…? I mean, your gir—’ She stopped abruptly. ‘I mean, your partner…’

Remembering the way Madison had teased him on the very same subject, he chuckled. ‘You were right first time. My partner’s female. And she has coffee with colleagues all the time. It makes case conferences and teaching so much more civilised, don’t you think?’

‘Thank you. For being nice, when I’ve made a fool of myself.’

‘You haven’t made a fool of yourself,’ he reassured her, and shepherded her down to the hospital café.

He only saw Madison in passing during the afternoon, and when he arrived home he was relieved that he’d suggested cooking dinner rather than going out somewhere. At least it meant he had something to do rather than just pace the house and wait for the time to pass until he met them. Something to do other than think about the fact that he really wanted Katrina to approve of him…and at the same time he really wanted her to disapprove of him, to tell Madison that he was completely wrong for her.

How could you want something so much and yet not want it at the same time?

He busied himself finishing the starters he’d begun making the previous evening, then took the pork from its marinade and began cooking the main course. Everything was bubbling away nicely when the doorbell rang, and Theo’s heart skipped a beat.

He opened the door and Madison was there, smiling, holding a huge bunch of flowers.

Yet again she’d managed to surprise him.

‘Flowers? For me?’ he asked as she handed them to him.

‘Not quite as spectacular as the ones you gave me the other day,’ she said. Flowers that had made her eyes widen in delight. She smiled at him. ‘I brought you some wine as well, but it’s traditional to give your host flowers.’

He raised an eyebrow. ‘Including male hosts?’

Her eyes were filled with amusement. ‘Don’t be so sexist, Kyrios Petrakis.’

‘Signomi, Madison. I should remember my manners and thank you properly.’ He swept into a low bow. ‘I deeply honoured by your gift, Despinida Madison,’ he said, making the English words sound heavily accented. ‘Please to come into house and sit down.’ Enjoying himself, he hammed it up even more. ‘I with you soon. I check dinner. Me no want burn food like Despinida Madison does.’

Madison cuffed his arm. ‘Behave, Theo.’

‘You started it,’ he reminded her with a grin, then turned to the woman beside her. ‘Hello, Katrina. Pleased to meet you, and I apologise for my poor manners. Do come in.’

He ushered them through into the living room, where Madison handed him a bottle of red wine and a bottle of white. ‘I wasn’t sure what you were cooking, so I erred on the side of caution.’

‘Efkharisto, matia mou.’ He kissed her lightly on the cheek.

Katrina gave him a box of dark chocolates. ‘Maddie tells me you like these ones.’

He smiled at her. ‘I do indeed. Thank you very much—they’ll be perfect with coffee.’ He wrinkled his nose. ‘I have to admit, that’s the one thing I forgot to buy. Which, considering that this evening involves dinner and Madison, was incredibly stupid of me.’

‘Coffee. Uh-oh. Please, tell me you’re not going to make us Greek coffee?’ Madison asked, looking appalled.

‘Kardoula mou, I told you I was making you a traditional Greek meal,’ he reminded her.

She groaned. ‘So we get gloopy coffee. And Greek meals don’t include chocolate.’

He laughed. ‘Of course they do. The cocoa tree is theobroma cacao, and “theobroma” is Greek for “food of the gods”.’ He smiled. ‘But I’ll stop teasing you and admit it’s not a completely traditional Greek meal, because I know someone who would live on a certain French pudding and Italian coffee if she could.’

Madison’s face brightened. ‘You bought crème brûlée?’

‘No.’ He hadn’t bought it. He’d made it for her himself, the previous evening. From scratch. With a bit of telephone help from his sister Melina. But he wasn’t going to tell her that just yet. ‘Can I get you both a glass of wine? White or red?’

‘White, please,’ Katrina said.

‘Same for me, please,’ Madison said. ‘Can I do anything to help?’

‘You, hara mou, helping in a kitchen? Willingly? Hmm, now, that’s a new one,’ he teased.

Katrina laughed. ‘He clearly knows you well, Maddie.’

Madison smiled ruefully. ‘I don’t mind washing up.’

‘This evening,’ Theo said, ‘you’re here as my guest. So, no, you’re not washing up tonight. But thank you for the offer.’

He went into the kitchen, took a bottle of white wine from the fridge and filled two glasses for Madison and Katrina, then switched the steamer on.

‘Ten minutes until dinner,’ he said, returning to the living room with the wine.

‘I’m afraid I’ve been very nosy about your photographs,’ Katrina said, gesturing to the pictures on the mantelpiece.

‘My family.’ He went through them, putting names to the faces for her. ‘There are more in the dining room.’

‘I can’t imagine what it was like, growing up as one of five,’ Katrina said.

‘Noisy,’ Theo said. ‘And a lot of fun.’

‘You must miss them horribly.’

‘I do.’ He wrinkled his nose. ‘I know we have IM and webcams as well as the phone, but it’s not the same as being there with them. And every time I see my niece and nephew, they’ve changed so much.’

‘So are you going back to Greece when your secondment’s over?’

He knew exactly what Katrina was asking: Are you going to break Maddie’s heart?

‘Right now,’ he said quietly, ‘I really don’t know. I’ll go back soon because it’s been six weeks since I’ve seen them, and that’s too long.’

‘So you’re taking a week’s holiday?’ Madison asked.

Theo shrugged. ‘A long weekend, perhaps.’ And although part of him wanted to ask her to go with him, he knew it would be a mistake. It would raise too many expectations—with Madison herself, as well as with his family.

They’d absolutely adore her.

And press him to set a date for the wedding.

Except he wasn’t quite ready for that. He still had things he needed to sort out in his head. So did Madison. It was best to leave things as they were.

He glanced at his watch. ‘Would you like to come through into the dining room?’ He ushered them through, then turned to Katrina. ‘I apologise in advance if I’m being patronising—that’s really not my intention—but Maddie tells me you have some hearing loss. I’ve tried to set the table so you can see both our faces, to make it easier for you to lip-read, but if I’ve got it wrong please feel free to move things around.’

Katrina smiled. ‘It looks absolutely fine. Thank you—and you’re not being patronising, you’re being thoughtful.’

Madison glanced at the table. ‘Wow. That’s dinner?’

‘It’s the first course. Mezedes,’ he explained. As Katrina and Madison sat down, he talked them through the dishes: taramasalata, tzatziki—yoghurt with chopped cucumber and mint—tiny triangles of feta and spinach wrapped in filo pastry known as spanikopita, stuffed vine leaves and plenty of wholegrain bread.

‘Maddie said you were a great cook,’ Katrina said when she’d tasted a bit of everything. ‘I see what she means. These pastries are fabulous.’

He inclined his head. ‘Efkharisto.’

She was even more enthusiastic about the main course, a rich Greek stew which Theo served with fluffy rice and steamed vegetables.

‘It’s afelia—well, our family’s version of the recipe,’ he said with a smile. ‘My sister Melina is a chef. I borrowed this one from her.’

‘Obviously it includes pork, red wine…and ground coriander?’ Katrina hazarded.

‘Yes.’ He was impressed that she’d picked out the ingredients so easily. ‘And a cinnamon stick in the marinade.’

‘It’s gorgeous. Trade you the recipe for this for my recipe for lasagne?’

‘She makes the best lasagne in the world—better even than my mum,’ Madison added.

‘Sounds good to me. It’s a deal, Katrina.’ He glanced at Madison, then back at Katrina. ‘Your cousin told me that you were the cook and she’d rather do the ironing.’

Katrina smiled. ‘Which suits me fine, because I loathe ironing.’

‘So you always wanted to be a doctor?’ he asked.

‘I suppose I was following in Maddie’s footsteps,’ Katrina admitted. ‘Though if I hadn’t been a doctor, I would probably have been a chef.’

‘Half the time she believes that fixing people involves feeding them,’ Madison added.

‘Half the time, it does,’ Katrina said. ‘You think how many stress-related illnesses there are. If people took a little more time, ate together and communicated properly…they’d be under a lot less strain and their health would be better.’

‘That,’ Theo said, ‘is a very fair point. Though some people find it hard to communicate.’ And some things were incredibly difficult to talk about. Like the things he knew he should tell Madison, but he didn’t know where to start.

‘Communication problems is where food really comes into its own,’ Katrina said.

‘Preferably pudding,’ Madison added with a grin.

‘Eat your main course, kardoula mou, and you can have pudding,’ Theo said.

‘And this was the man who once promised to cook me an entire dinner of puddings,’ Madison grumbled teasingly.

Though when Theo cleared the plates away and brought through a platter of fresh fruit, her face fell.

‘This is your idea of a non-Greek, international pudding?’

‘Isn’t it yours?’

‘Hmm.’

He smiled. ‘Matia mou, were you hoping I’d made something French?’

‘No-o.’

It was a very obvious fib, and he ruffled her hair. ‘One moment.’ He disappeared to the kitchen, returned with a shallow dish containing the crème brûlée and a blowtorch, and proceeded to caramelise the sugar there and then at the table.

‘That’s just showing off,’ Maddie said, folding her arms. ‘Big time.’

He spread his hands. ‘Insult the cook, kardia mou, and you don’t get pudding.’

‘I take it back,’ she said quickly, then tipped her head to one side and looked at him. ‘You actually made this for me?’

He rolled his eyes. ‘Did you think I’d bought it from a deli and just added a bit of sugar and the blowtorch to impress you?’

‘Take pity on the girl. She hates cooking,’ Katrina reminded him.

Theo brushed the backs of his fingers against Madison’s cheek. ‘I rang Melina last night and got a few tips on how to make crème brûlée. And, yes, hara mou, I made it especially for you.’

Pudding was followed by coffee—lattes for Madison and Katrina and strong black coffee for Theo—and chocolates. They were so busy talking and laughing that the time simply vanished—and with a start Madison realised it was gone eleven p.m. ‘We’d better be going—we’re both on early shift tomorrow,’ she said.

‘I’d drive you myself had I not had that second glass of wine. So I’ll call you a taxi,’ Theo said immediately.

‘Theo, we’re one stop away on the tube,’ Madison protested. ‘And there are two of us. We live three doors away from each other.’

‘I don’t care. At this time of night, you’re taking a taxi,’ he insisted. ‘And I’m paying. No arguments.’

Theo was implacable so, in the end Madison submitted with good grace. When the taxi arrived, he kissed Katrina’s cheek and then Madison’s, and she suppressed a pang of disappointment that he hadn’t kissed her goodbye properly. Or maybe, she thought, he hadn’t wanted to appear too pushy in front of Katrina.

‘He’s the one, isn’t he?’ Katrina asked as the taxi pulled away.

‘What do you mean?’ Madison asked.

‘Gorgeous mind, gorgeous heart—and very easy on the eye.’ Katrina smiled. ‘And he’s a fantastic cook. He ticks every single box on your list, Maddie.’

‘Did you like him?’

Katrina nodded. ‘He’s a nice guy. I liked the fact his mantelpiece was full of family photographs—and I noticed he has children’s drawings on his fridge, held there with magnets.’

‘They’re his niece’s.’

‘That’s the only thing. Do you think he’ll change his mind about the issue of kids?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘So where do you go from here?’

‘I have no idea.’ Madison sighed. ‘I don’t even know how he really feels about me.’

‘I think I do,’ Katrina said thoughtfully. ‘Did you realise he watches you all the time?’

Madison frowned. ‘What do you mean, he watches me?’

‘He looks at you as if you’re the focal point in a room—and there’s a special softness in his eyes when he looks at you. When he smiles at you, it’s not the same way he smiles at anyone else. There’s a lot more depth to it. And he calls you “darling” all the time.’

‘No, he doesn’t.’

‘He does,’ Katrina insisted. ‘Well, strictly speaking, “matia mou” means “my eyes”, but in Greek that’s a really romantic thing to call someone.’

Madison gave her cousin a curious look. ‘How come you know so much about Greek endearments?’

Katrina coughed. ‘Someone I met on holiday. Years ago. And it wasn’t serious and it didn’t go further than a kiss and holding hands, so don’t give me a grilling. Besides, we’re talking about you and Theo. He loves you, Maddie. And every time he looks at you, he looks torn. As if he doesn’t want to love you, but he can’t help himself.’ She paused. ‘And you look that way at him, too.’

Madison knew that her cousin noticed more than most people; Katrina had grown used to picking up visual cues to compensate for her poor hearing. And Katrina was also a stickler for the truth. ‘It scares me, Kat. The way I feel about him. It’s even stronger than the way I felt about Harry. And suppose I’ve got it just as wrong this time?’

‘Somehow, I don’t think you have.’ Katrina took Madison’s hand and squeezed it. ‘I’d say hang on in there, hon. Because when Theo’s sorted out whatever the problem is in his head, he’ll be worth the wait.’