Her Real Family Christmas. Kate Hardy
needed to keep a clear head in case of an emergency? Or because he was a single parent, and couldn’t afford the luxury of a couple of glasses of wine, in case his daughter woke and needed him in the night?
Not that it was any of her business.
‘So how come your general knowledge is so amazing?’ Daniel asked.
She smiled. ‘Misspent youth.’ Which he could interpret how he liked. She wasn’t going to tell him that it was from growing up with her nose in a book to keep the outside world at a safe distance. She’d read and read and read, and absorbed everything.
‘I’m impressed. And I’m trying to work out how I can annex you for our team, next time round.’
This time, she laughed. ‘Sorry. Max Fenton’s already suggested that to Rhys and got short shrift.’
‘I’m not Max.’ He tapped his nose and grinned.
‘I still don’t rate your chances.’ She turned her glass round in her hands. ‘I meant to say, I’m sorry about your wife. It must be hard for you.’
‘Yeah, it was very hard when she was killed.’ He grimaced. ‘I might as well tell You now and get the pity party out of the way.’
Oh, no. She hadn’t been fishing. ‘You really don’t have to say anything,’ she backtracked hastily. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be nosey.’
‘It’s natural to wonder. And I’d rather you heard it from me than from anyone else.’ He looked sad. ‘It was a freak accident, four years ago. Mia was only two at the time. An elderly driver panicked when she was parking her car and she hit the accelerator instead of the brake. She ended up driving over the pavement and mowing Meg down. We were lucky that Mia wasn’t killed, too—Meg had the presence of mind to shove the pushchair out of the way when she realised the car wasn’t going to stop.’
Stephanie stared at him, shocked. ‘I’m so sorry. What an awful thing to happen.’
‘Not just for me. Meg’s family lost their daughter, Mia lost her mum, my family lost Meg… and the old lady who killed her probably still has nightmares about it. She was in bits at the inquest—but it was an accident. It’s not as if she meant to run Meg over like that.’ He shrugged.
‘Sometimes I wonder what would’ve happened if she’d given up driving when her family asked her to, instead of being stubborn and insisting that she could still do it and they were trying to take away her independence. Meg would probably still be alive. Mia might have a brother or sister. We’d probably have a dog.’ He blew out a breath. ‘But it’s pointless torturing myself over it because nothing I can do will ever make a difference. And I have a lot of good things in life. I have Mia and my family and Meg’s family.’
Yeah. He was definitely lucky there. Not that Stephanie intended to say that. It would be too crass.
‘And they all chip in to help with Mia.’ He smiled. ‘Mum does the school run for me in the mornings if I’m on an early shift. My sister, Lucy, happens to be a teacher at Mia’s school, so she’ll take Mia home if I’m on a late, provided she doesn’t have a meeting. If she’s got a meeting, then Meg’s mum picks Mia up and gives her dinner. I’m really lucky.’
‘And so is Mia, having So many people who really care about her.’
‘Absolutely.’ he smiled at her. ‘So what’s your story?’
The question threw her. ‘I… er… ’
‘Married, children?’ he asked.
Once, and almost, she thought. ‘No story.’ At least, not one she wanted to tell: a failed marriage; a failed surrogate pregnancy; and a failure at being part of a family.
‘In other words, back off and stop being nosey,’ he said.
She winced. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to be that sharp. You weren’t being nosey. I’ve noticed that everyone’s very close here, at the London Victoria, and they look out for each other.’
‘And at your last hospital it was a bit more private?’
It was a let-out, and she took it gratefully. ‘Something like that. And there isn’t a story. I’m just a boring divorcée.’
Oh, there was a story, all right. Daniel recognised the barriers Stephanie was busy putting up; he’d spent enough of the last four years doing something similar. Keeping people at a little more of a distance, except for his family, and evading all the attempts by well-meaning friends and his mother to fix him up with a date to help him move on from the past. And if he pushed Stephanie too hard right now, he had a feeling she’d do exactly what he’d done in the past and make an excuse to leave early. It took courage to join in with inter-departmental events when you had a past to live down.
‘Message received and understood,’ he said easily.
Stephanie looked relieved that she didn’t have to explain any further, especially when Daniel steered the conversation back to more normal things—how long she’d been in the department, how she’d settled in and what the differences were between the London Victoria and her old hospital in Manchester.
‘I do hope you’re not trying to poach our new quiz star for the maternity team, Dan,’ Rhys Morgan said, coming to stand by their table.
‘If you are,’ Katrina said, ‘then I’ll be having a word with my cousin.’
‘Cousin?’ Stephanie looked at her. ‘You have family working in the maternity ward?’
‘Maddie Petrakis,’ Katrina confirmed. ‘She’s part time at the moment. You might have met Theo, her husband.’
‘My boss,’ Daniel said. ‘Who’s not here tonight, or you lot might’ve been buying us the celebratory drinks.’
‘In your dreams, Dan—you know the last round’s always between us and Max’s lot,’ Rhys said with a grin. ‘Actually, I’m seeing Theo on Monday about a cross departmental project. Stephanie, I want to talk to you about that, too.’
‘And you can talk to her on Monday, Rhys,’ Katrina cut in. ‘You’re both off duty right now.’
‘I know. And we have a babysitter to relieve,’ Rhys added. He kissed Katrina lingeringly. ‘I get the message. I’ll shut up. Let’s go home. See you later, Stephanie.’
‘See you on Monday,’ Stephanie said with a smile, then turned to Daniel. ‘You must have a babysitter to relieve, too.’
Well, of course she’d know that. She’d treated Mia. But Daniel was intrigued by the difference between the bright, confident doctor in the PAU and this slightly diffident woman who’d drawn such huge barriers round herself. At the same time, it worried him that she intrigued him. OK, so it had been four years since Meg had died, but he wasn’t ready to think about another relationship—not when he had Mia to put first—and he was pretty sure that Stephanie had emotional baggage, too. So it would be much more sensible to keep things to strictly colleagues.
Though he could still be kind to a new colleague.
‘My parents are babysitting,’ he confirmed. ‘But I can give you a lift home, if you like.’
‘No, you’re fine, but thanks for the offer. See you later,’ she said, and beat a hasty retreat. Just as he did, he thought wryly, when anyone tried to get too close to him.
Daniel filled Stephanie’s thoughts as she walked home. If she was honest with herself then, yes, she did find him attractive. She’d already warmed to his personality, and his smile and cornflower-blue eyes could make her heart skip a beat. Now she knew for sure that he was single, there were no barriers to her acting on that attraction.
Apart from the fact that he came with complications. Daniel was a widower who’d lost his wife in incredibly tragic circumstances. OK, so it had been four years ago now, but that didn’t mean he