The Consultant's Adopted Son

CHAPTER THREE

IT WAS the longest day of Owen’s life, and he couldn’t wait for it to end. Although he tried to avoid any further contact with Rose, it wasn’t possible to escape from her completely. Several times he found himself working alongside her, and each time it was all he could do to hide his animosity.

The sooner she left his department, the better, he thought grimly as he went into the office to check the rosters and see who was on duty the following day. They were carrying three vacancies at the present time—two nurses and a senior registrar—so they had been relying on agency staff to fill in the gaps. As he skimmed his finger down the chart, he felt his stomach sink. Angie had pencilled in Agency’ in the nursing column for the following three weeks and he could only hope that it wouldn’t be Rose who was working for them. After all the hassle she’d caused him that day, he could do without having to spend the next three weeks working with her.

‘Checking what cover we’ve got?’

Owen glanced round when Angie came into the office. ‘Yes. I see you’ve hired agency staff for the next three weeks.’

‘I had to.’ Angie sighed as she glanced at the roster. ‘Now that Maggie’s gone on maternity leave we’re really struggling for cover. I know it’s costly to use agency staff, but I haven’t any choice. And at least the agency came up trumps this time. Rose is great, isn’t she? It’s wonderful to have someone who actually knows what she’s doing for a change.’

‘I wasn’t all that impressed with her,’ he said curtly, hanging the chart back on its hook. ‘Not only did I catch her in the staffroom drinking coffee, but she was also using the payphone in the foyer to organise her social life.’

‘Actually, I insisted she took a break.’ Angie shrugged when he looked at her in surprise. ‘I know what you’re thinking—I’m usually the one banging on about the amount of work agency staff do, but Rose isn’t like that. She’s a really hard worker.’

‘And the phone call?’ Owen said cynically, not convinced.

‘She could have been making the call for one of the patients. The girl who’d broken her finger asked me to thank Rose for getting in touch with her boyfriend,’ Angie explained. ‘I heard Rose say something about using the payphone when I was using the one in Reception, so that probably explains what she was doing.’

‘I see.’ Owen’s mouth compressed. Maybe it was unfair of him to have assumed the worst, but Rose only had herself to blame. If she hadn’t wheedled herself a place in his department, he wouldn’t be a bag of nerves from wondering what she was up to.

The thought of what Ms Tremayne might be plotting was more than he could cope with at the end of such a stressful day so Owen said his goodbyes and left. It was a thirty-minute drive to his home in Richmond on a good day, but the traffic was horrendous that night. It was almost seven by the time he let himself into the house, to be greeted by the thunderous delights of rock music pounding through the ceiling.

He sighed as he hung his coat in the cloakroom and made his way upstairs. The last thing he wanted was another confrontation with Daniel about the amount of time he wasted when he should be studying. He didn’t want to play the heavy-handed father all the time, but what else could he do? He couldn’t take the easy route and allow his son to ruin his whole future.

Owen rapped on the bedroom door and went in. Daniel was lying on his bed, playing air guitar. There was a pile of books on his desk but there was no sign that the boy had attempted to do any work. Walking over to the socket, Owen pulled out the plug, sighing in relief when the music immediately stopped.

‘Dad!’ Daniel leapt to his feet, looking pained as he hurried to the stereo to check if one of his precious vinyls had been damaged.

‘I thought we agreed that you’d cut down the amount of time you spend listening to music,’ Owen said quietly, deciding it would be less stressful if he adopted a reasonable approach. He really didn’t feel like getting into another argument. He’d had his fill after that last confrontation with Rose Tremayne.

The memory of what had happened still had the power to anger him but he battened down his emotions. ‘Have you done that geography essay yet? It has to be handed in by the end of this week.’

‘I was going to do it after dinner,’ Daniel explained mutinously, taking the record off the deck and carefully stowing it away in its cardboard sleeve.

‘Dinner will be a good half-hour yet, so why not make a start on it?’ he suggested mildly. There was no point ordering Daniel to get it done—experience had shown that the boy would make a mess of it on purpose if he did so. Daniel reacted badly to people ordering him about—just like his mother did.

The thought sent a rush of emotions scudding through him. Owen spun round on his heel, not wanting Daniel to see how upset he was. The fact that he had automatically linked Rose to his son made him feel all sorts of things, from guilt to a mind-numbing fear. He couldn’t afford to start noticing similarities in their behaviour—it was too dangerous. Rose was a stranger, and just because she had a problem with authority it didn’t mean that Daniel had inherited it from her.

‘I’ll give you a shout when dinner is ready,’ he said, going to the door.

Daniel muttered something in reply, but for once Owen wasn’t listening to what his son was saying. He was too busy trying to fight his own inner demons. He went downstairs and made them a meal. And the whole time he was grilling and chopping his mind was spinning in ever-decreasing circles.

He needed to find a solution to the problem of Rose Tremayne but it wasn’t going to be easy. If…He paused at that point and took a deep breath to steady himself then carried on. If Rose was as stubborn as Daniel, she wasn’t going to go away. She wasn’t going to stay quietly in the background either. Once she received Daniel’s letter then she would respond to it, and no amount of threats or coercion by him would change her mind.

His main aim had been to keep her out of Daniel’s life, but if it wasn’t possible to do that he would have to try a different tactic. Wasn’t there a saying about knowing one’s enemy? It might work very well in this instance. At the moment Daniel seemed to believe that his birth mother was some wonderful almost mythical being who was imbued with goodness and grace, but once he met her, he could change his mind.

The reality couldn’t possibly live up to his overly high expectations, and that was what Owen needed to concentrate on. Instead of keeping Rose away from his son, maybe he should let them meet and allow Daniel to form a true opinion of the woman who had given him away?

Just for a moment the thought flashed through his mind that perhaps his son wouldn’t be disappointed, but he refused to consider it. Rose might be many things but she wasn’t a saint!

Rose went straight home after she’d finished her shift. As she let herself into the building she could feel her heart racing. Ever since Owen had told her that Daniel had written to her, she had been waiting for his letter to arrive. She knew it could take some time to reach her, because it would have to be forwarded by the adoption agency. There was a system in place whereby a parent or an adopted child could leave a note in their files to say that they would welcome contact from the other party, which was how Owen had been able to get in touch with her. His letter had been forwarded by the agency, although she wouldn’t have been quite so keen to follow it up if she’d had an inkling of the outcome. Why did he consider her such a threat?

There was no answer to that question, or none that she could come up with, at least. Closing the front door, she went straight to the mailboxes at the back of the foyer. Every flat in the block had its own mailbox on the ground floor, to save the postman having to trek upstairs. She unlocked her box and sorted through the usual collection of junk mail and bills until she came to a familiar white envelope bearing the address of the adoption agency on its back flap. Daniel’s letter had arrived.

Rose made her way to the lift and stood there in a fever of impatience as it carried her up to the sixth floor. She let herself into her flat and ripped open the envelope, not bothering to read the accompanying note. She just wanted to read Daniel’s letter and see what he had to say.

The letter was quite short, just a few lines written in an unsteady hand, explaining that he hoped she didn’t mind him writing to her but that he would like to see her if it was possible. He’d included his address at the top and his phone number, then repeated them again at the bottom.

Rose’s eyes filled with tears. Despite its brevity, she knew the effort it must have cost him to write it. Daniel had no idea if she would reply, and the thought of him sitting at home, wondering and waiting as she’d been doing, was more than she could bear. Reaching for the phone, she dialled the number, her heart pounding as she listened to it ringing, once, twice, three times…

‘Owen Gallagher.’

She dropped the receiver back onto its rest. How could she have forgotten about Daniel’s father and his animosity towards her? There was no way that he would allow her to speak to Daniel, so she would have to write to him instead…

The phone rang, startling her so much that she jumped. She was trembling as she picked up the receiver. ‘Hello?’

‘Ms Tremayne? It’s Owen Gallagher. I believe you just tried to phone me.’

‘H-how did you get my number?’ she whispered.

‘I dialled 1471.’

His tone was brisk and she winced when she realised how foolish she’d been to make such a basic error. Now that he knew Daniel’s letter had reached her he would do everything in his power to keep them apart, maybe even go so far as to make sure that Daniel never received her reply

‘…and that’s why I’ve decided you two should meet.’

Rose blinked as she caught the tail end of what Gallagher was saying. ‘I’m sorry, but what did you say?’

‘I said that I’ve changed my mind and I think that you should meet Daniel. Now all we need to do is to work out a time that will be convenient—’

‘Just a moment.’ She took a deep breath, trying to clear the fog of panic from her head so she could think. She couldn’t understand why he’d changed his mind after what he’d said to her that day. ‘Why have you had a change of heart all of a sudden? You made it perfectly clear that you didn’t want me to see Daniel, yet now you’re offering to arrange a meeting with him. It doesn’t make sense.’

‘After considering all the facts, I’ve decided this might be the best way forward for all of us.’

‘I find it very hard to believe that you’re doing this for my benefit, Dr Gallagher,’ she said scathingly, ‘so what is really going on?’

‘Nothing. I’m entitled to change my views the same as anyone else is, surely?’

Rose shivered when she felt the rich deep tones strumming across her nerves. Up till then she’d been more concerned with the content of what he’d been saying and it was only now she realised what a beautiful voice he had—and that it matched his appearance.

The thought made her gasp, and she clamped her lips together to stop any sound escaping. She couldn’t afford to show any sign of weakness in front of this man. Even though he appeared to be offering her an olive branch, she wasn’t convinced it was what he actually intended. Until she knew what he was up to, she had to be on her guard.

‘I think it would be best if you two met somewhere Daniel feels at ease. Here, at home, might be best.’

‘It would be far too stressful for him to meet me there,’ Rose said quickly, setting aside her own concerns for the moment. ‘It needs to be somewhere neutral—a place where he won’t feel guilty.’

‘Guilty?’

His tone had sharpened and she sighed. She wasn’t deliberately trying to annoy him, but she’d read all the research that had been done about adopted children and how they felt when meeting their birth parents, and the biggest factor of all was the guilt they often experienced.

‘Adopted children who have been brought up in a happy and loving home often feel guilty about making contact with their birth parents. They feel that they are letting their adoptive parents down and I don’t want Daniel to be put in that position, do you?’

‘No, I don’t. So what do you suggest, Ms Tremayne?’

There was far less assurance in his voice this time and Rose felt her heart suddenly ache when she realised what he must be going through. The situation was just as difficult for him as it was for her. Her voice softened, unconsciously taking on the soothing cadence she used so often with patients who were deeply traumatised.

‘I think we should ask Daniel where he would like to meet me. He is the most important person in all of this, and we need to ensure that he feels completely comfortable with the arrangements.’

‘Do you want to speak to him now and ask him yourself?’

Rose couldn’t think of anything she would like more than to do just that, but now that she was thinking clearly she could see how stressful it would be for the boy to have to speak to her without prior warning.

‘No. It would be better if you told him that I’d phoned and gave him my telephone number. That way he can get in touch with me when he’s ready.’

‘Yes, you’re right.’ Owen paused, and it sounded as though the words were being forced out of him when he continued. ‘Thank you. You’ve been very understanding and I appreciate it.’

Rose didn’t have time to reply because he hung up. She put the receiver back in its rest, then picked up the letter and read it again. Half a dozen lines, which had bridged a gap of years and brought her precious son back into her life. All she could do now was pray that everything would work out the way she hoped it would. She didn’t want to replace Daniel’s mother—she couldn’t even if she tried. She just wanted to be there for him if he needed her. Yet so much depended on Owen, didn’t it?

He might have seemed much more reasonable tonight but she wasn’t convinced he would continue to behave that way. It all depended on whether he still believed she was a threat and, quite frankly, she didn’t know how to convince him that she wasn’t. The only thing she could do was to be herself and hope it would be enough to reassure him.

Owen had spent another restless night, so he felt tired and out of sorts when he arrived at work the following morning. Daniel had veered between euphoria and terror when he’d found out that Rose had phoned. It had been sheer torture to watch him getting so stressed and not be able to do anything about it. It was a father’s responsibility to protect his child and Owen hated feeling so powerless. The fact that he’d found his attitude towards Rose softening had troubled him, too. He couldn’t afford to lower his guard.

The thought that he might have allowed himself to be taken in by her apparent concern was very hard to swallow. He was in no mood to compromise when he strode into the A and E unit so it was unfortunate that Rob was making the most of the lull between patients to chat up their new receptionist, Polly. Owen’s face was like thunder as he strode over to the reception desk and tapped his registrar on the shoulder.

‘If you spent less time on your love life, you might actually make something of yourself, Dr Lomax. Have you no work to do? I can soon find you something if you haven’t.’

‘I…um…Yes. Sorry, sir.’

Rob leapt away from the counter and disappeared towards the cubicles, leaving Owen feeling like some sort of a throwback to earlier times. He’d worked for a consultant who’d had a hair-trigger temper early on in his career and he hated to think that he was starting to exhibit the same tendencies. He sighed as he went to the office. It was wrong to allow his personal problems to intrude on his work….

‘Oops!’

He ground to a halt when Rose came hurrying out of the office and cannoned right into him. There was a moment when their bodies were in the most intimate contact—breast to breast, thigh to thigh—and his heart gave an almighty lurch when he felt her soft curves nestling against him. In the two years since Laura had died he hadn’t wanted another woman. He’d been celibate out of choice, not through lack of opportunity, yet all of a sudden his libido was asserting itself. He took a hasty step back when he felt his body quicken, hating the fact that it was Rose of all people who had caused this reaction.

‘I’m sorry. I should have looked where I was going.’ She sounded almost as shocked as he felt, and Owen felt his body respond with even more fervour to that idea. Had she experienced the same rush of desire he had? Was her body quickening, too, her senses coming alive because of his nearness?

His gaze dropped to her breasts before he could stop himself and the blood began to drum along his veins when he saw how her nipples were pressing against the thin fabric of her uniform—proof, indeed, that she’d been equally aroused by the contact. All of a sudden it felt as though the walls were closing in on him. He knew that he had to extricate himself from the situation as quickly as possible, but it appeared that Rose had other things on her mind now.

‘Did you tell Daniel that I’d phoned last night?’ she said quickly as he went to move away.

‘Yes, I did.’ Owen paused, torn between making his escape before anything else happened and carrying through with his plan. He took a deep breath and forced his rioting libido to settle down. If he was to rid himself of the threat this woman posed to his son, he had to learn how to deal with her.

‘And how did he react? Was he upset? Excited? Scared?’ She laughed, and there was a wealth of tenderness in her voice. ‘Or all three at once, more likely!’

‘He veered between euphoria and terror,’ he replied shortly. So what if she sounded truly concerned—was he really going to take it at face value when he couldn’t rule out the possibility that she had an ulterior motive? Nevertheless, it was hard to convince himself that she had anything except Daniel’s welfare at heart when she spoke about him that way.

‘Did he?’ She stared at the floor for a moment and there were tears in her eyes when she looked up. ‘It must be so confusing for him. I can’t bear to think about what he’s going through. I know how I feel and if it’s anywhere near as—’

‘I gave him your telephone number.’

Owen cut her off in mid-sentence because he really didn’t want to know how she felt. Maybe it was a sign of his own weakness, but he couldn’t afford to take any account of her feelings. It was Daniel who mattered, and Daniel who must be his only concern. How Rose felt wasn’t an issue.

‘Oh. Right. Thank you.’

Her smile was no more than the merest flicker yet he felt its effects in every cell of his body. He didn’t say a word as he turned round and made his way back to Reception. Polly glanced nervously at him as he passed her desk, but he wasn’t interested in tearing her off a strip for chatting to his registrar. He had too much else on his mind.

He took the stairs to the first floor two at a time and went straight to his office. He spent very little time in there because he’d always preferred a hands-on approach when it came to running the department. His maxim was to be seen and heard, so there was no skulking in his office for him as there was for so many consultants. However, it was the perfect place at the moment, the only place he could think of where he could get a few minutes’ peace.

Sitting down behind his desk, Owen closed his eyes and tried to rid himself of all the tension that filled him. It wasn’t an easy thing to do because it had been building up for years. He’d tried to remain strong when Laura had been diagnosed with cancer, knowing how important it was to have a positive attitude. Even when it had become apparent that she’d been losing the battle he’d never wavered.

After she’d died, he’d needed to be strong for Daniel, and he could honestly say that he had managed it, too. It was only when Daniel had started talking about finding his birth mother that he had found it difficult to cope. And now that he’d met Rose…Well!

He shot to his feet and started pacing the floor, unable to withstand the torrent of emotions that were flooding through him. Rose worried him on so many levels that it was hard to know how he really felt about her. He didn’t trust her, yet couldn’t explain why. It was gut instinct that had warned him to keep her out of his life, and it was gut instinct that had told him to draw her closer. It was instinct that had made him respond to her just now, too. His feelings towards her weren’t based on fact, they were rooted in emotion—fear, anger, desire. And that was what scared him most of all. How could he hope to do what was right when he had no idea how to handle all these feelings she aroused inside him?

Rose felt tense and on edge all morning long. She might have attributed it to nervousness at the thought of Daniel phoning her, but she knew it wasn’t just that. Bumping into Owen as she’d come out of the office had affected her in a way she would never have expected it to. She couldn’t remember having experienced such a strong physical reaction to anyone before, and it alarmed her that she should have felt that way about Owen when it would only complicate matters. She had to control these unwelcome feelings and not let them get out of hand.

Fortunately, they started to get busy just before lunch so she was able to focus on work. Three teenagers had been found unconscious and ambulances had been despatched to bring them into the department. Rose immediately offered to forgo her break when Angie told her what had happened.

‘Are you sure?’ the charge nurse said, frowning. ‘You’re entitled to a meal break—it’s in your contract.’

‘It’s probably in yours, too, but that won’t stop you working,’ she replied lightly.

Angie laughed. ‘You’re right there! Anyway, thanks. If you could cover Resus with Julie and Ellen, that would be a big help. Sharon can take her break and I can keep things ticking over out here.’

Rose nodded. She followed the nurses into Resus and made sure everything was ready when the ambulances arrived. The other women seemed a bit more approachable that day, and showed her where the various supplies were kept to save her having to hunt for them. By the time the first stretcher was wheeled in she felt as though they were starting to accept her, and she had to admit that it felt good to be part of the team for a change.

She grabbed a corner of the board and helped transfer the patient onto the bed. It was a young girl and she was unconscious. ‘Where was she found?’ Rose asked the paramedic.