Is love the one challenge…

…they’ll face together?

Her rivalry with doctor Jamie Campbell-Clarke is fun and, most important, strictly professional! After the devastating demise of her brief marriage, that’s all plastic surgeon Anna Caulder can handle. But when Jamie’s own painful past arrives at her London clinic, Anna’s compelled to seek a deeper connection… Once in his arms, Anna knows that’s where she wants to stay—if only she can find the courage to share her heartbreaking secret.

Cursed with a poor sense of direction and a propensity to read, ANNIE CLAYDON spent much of her childhood lost in books. A degree in English Literature followed by a career in computing didn’t lead directly to her perfect job—writing romance for Mills & Boon—but she has no regrets in taking the scenic route. She lives in London: a city where getting lost can be a joy.

Also by Annie Claydon

Healed by the Single Dad Doc

From Doctor to Princess?

Firefighter’s Christmas Baby

Resisting Her English Doc

Festive Fling with the Single Dad

Best Friend to Royal Bride

Winning the Surgeon’s Heart

London Heroes miniseries

Falling for Her Italian Billionaire

Second Chance with the Single Mum

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

A Rival to Steal Her Heart

Annie Claydon

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-0-008-90249-0

A RIVAL TO STEAL HER HEART

© 2020 Annie Claydon

Published in Great Britain 2020

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

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Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

EPILOGUE

Extract

About the Publisher

CHAPTER ONE

THE YOUNG MAN had a mop of red-brown hair, blue eyes and an easy, engaging smile. Anna Caulder thought she’d seen everything, but the tattoos on the backs of his hands plumbed the depths of bad taste.

‘This may hurt a little, Callum. Tell me if it gets too much, and we’ll stop.’

‘That’s all right, Miss Caulder.’ Callum gave her a cheery smile. Someone must have told him that, as a surgeon, Anna should be addressed as ‘Miss’ and he was clearly eager to please. ‘This place is pretty cool.’

Unfortunately that wasn’t going to make removing the tattoos any less painful. Anna’s expertise might, but only if Callum could be persuaded to stop looking around at the gleaming worktops and state-of-the-art medical equipment, and keep still.

‘I’m going to need you to take a couple of deep breaths, and relax, Callum.’

‘Okay. Are you going to do both hands?’

‘Just one will be enough for this session, Cal. You’ll need some time to heal afterwards,’ Dr Jamie Campbell-Clarke interrupted. He did that a lot.

‘Are you supposed to be here?’ By Anna’s calculations, today was a Monday, which was one of the three days a week that Jamie Campbell-Clarke spent working in the A&E department of a nearby hospital. Thursdays and Fridays were usually the days when she could expect to see him here, at the London Central Clinic, accompanying one of the teenagers he’d referred from the youth charity he ran in Hastings.

‘I’m only at the hospital for two days this week. So I thought I’d come along and watch you work.’ He sounded positively gleeful at the prospect.

‘And make sure I didn’t bottle out,’ Callum reminded him.

‘Yeah. There was that to it, as well.’

Jamie’s charity aimed to help teenagers like Callum overcome all kinds of disadvantages and make the most of their lives. He was fiercely protective of his young charges, and checked on everything. Which was fine, because he was an excellent doctor, but a trace of professional rivalry sometimes crept into his exchanges with Anna.

‘It would get it over with quicker. To do both hands.’ Callum’s face took on an imploring look.

‘Miss Caulder will do as much as she can…’ Anna turned and shot Jamie a glare and he fell silent, hopefully remembering that this was her consulting room and plastic surgery was her speciality.

‘I know you want to get rid of these tattoos, Callum…’ Anna glanced at the spidery words and the suggestive poses of the stick figures, and looked away quickly ‘…but it needs to be done properly, which is going to take a little more time than it did to get them.’

Callum nodded, staring at the backs of his hands. ‘Yeah, I know. Jamie explained it all… At least they’re black ink, so that’s easier to get rid of, isn’t it?’

‘Yes, that’s right. But I’m sure that Dr Campbell-Clarke explained that new tattoos are a little more difficult, and I gather you’ve only had these for a few months—’

‘Twelve weeks,’ Jamie interjected, and Anna ignored him. Heaven forfend he allowed her to get away with anything as vague as a few months.

Callum gave her a sudden smile. ‘I understand. Thanks, Miss Caulder.’

He might not be thanking her at the end of the session, when his hand was hurting, but Callum didn’t make a sound as she carefully traced the outline of the tattoos on the back of his right hand with the laser. When she’d finished, he gave her another smile, which smacked a little of false bravado.

‘That’s going to give us the best results we can achieve for today.’ Anna decided that Callum needed a little reassurance that the short procedure was actually going to show some benefit. ‘I think when the inflammation goes down, you’ll see a big difference. Would you like the nurse to put a dressing on your other hand as well, just to cover the tattoos there?’

‘Yeah. Thanks. It beats having to keep wearing gloves.’

‘All right then. We’ll give you some replacement dressings and a leaflet on how to care for your hand. That’s really important, to avoid any infection.’

Callum nodded. ‘Thanks, Miss Caulder. Jamie’s already told me about that.’

‘I’m sure he has. I’ll leave it to him to check on your hand and re-dress it as necessary.’ Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jamie lay his hand on his chest, as if surprised that she’d finally found something that she could trust him to do.

Anna ignored the gesture. It was just a game that she and Dr Campbell-Clarke played. Each trying to outdo the other. Watching each other like hawks to make sure that the patients that he brought to her consulting room had the best possible treatment. It was harmless enough, and it took her mind off his eyes…

Moss green. On a woman, they’d be stunningly beautiful, and Jamie’s dark hair and the strong line of his jaw made them seem like dazzling jewels, surrounded by steel and muscle. Under the clear lights of the consulting room they seemed almost luminescent.

But she had a policy of not thinking about his eyes. They were enough to make any woman’s hand shake. Knowing that he was watching her every move and that he’d be quick to correct any mistakes gave her hand the professional, rock-steady quality that any surgeon needed.

He was wearing green today, a dark green flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up. That was his style when carrying out the business of his charity, casual clothes and first names. It was a little different from the Dr Campbell-Clarke persona that Anna saw when she visited the large, central London hospital where he worked three days a week, but he had the same self-assurance. The same way of daring anyone to question him, which was perhaps why Anna never hesitated to do just that.

The nurse had dressed Callum’s hands, and he was ready to stand now, a little shaky still from the procedure. Jamie ushered him outside, to where a neat-looking, middle-aged woman was sitting in the waiting room. Callum sat down beside her, and she gave him a brisk nod, but her hand moved to his back in a gesture of comfort.

‘Mary, this is Miss Caulder.’ Jamie introduced the two women quickly. ‘Callum did really well, and Miss Caulder’s very pleased with the results of the procedure.’

Anna could have said that herself. She resisted the urge to push him to one side, and smiled at the other woman. ‘I’ve just done the one hand, and I think that when the inflammation goes down you’ll see an appreciable difference. Callum asked us to dress his left hand as well, to cover it up.’

Mary nodded. ‘Thank you, Miss Caulder.’

‘I’ll see him again in six weeks. I’m hoping we won’t need too many sessions, and we should be able to remove the tattoos completely.’

‘It’s very good of you.’ Mary frowned. ‘I’m sorry—’

Jamie cut her short. ‘It’s okay. What’s done is done and we look forward, eh, Callum?’

Callum nodded, his fingers moving to back of his right hand. Mary grabbed his hand, snatching it away before he could worry at the dressings.

‘Maybe you’d like to sit for a while before you go.’ The armchairs in the comfortable waiting room were laid out so that patients could sit in groups with their families, and Anna gestured towards the side table. ‘Help yourself to coffee or tea.’

‘Thank you. I think we’d like a drink before we get back on the train…’ Mary glanced at Callum and he nodded.

‘Great. Well I’ll see you in six weeks then, Callum.’ Anna smiled at him, and Mary nudged him.

‘Yes. Thanks, Miss Caulder.’

Jamie went to fetch Mary and Callum’s drinks, and Anna turned away, walking back to the consulting room. All the teenagers that Jamie brought here had some kind of story, and Jamie’s obvious concern for Callum showed that his probably wasn’t a good one.

She heard a knock on the open door and turned.

‘Nice job,’ Jamie said from the doorway.

‘Did you expect anything else?’

He shrugged and Anna took a gulp of air into her lungs. The to and fro between them didn’t seem to be working as well as it usually did. Maybe because of the green shirt, which made the colour of his eyes so much more prominent.

‘Ask. I know you want to.’

If he was going to add mind-reading to his talents, then Anna needed to establish a few more boundaries. But she was curious. She gestured towards the door, and Jamie walked into the room, closing it behind him.

‘All right then. Callum seems a nice lad, and Mary doesn’t look like the type to take any nonsense. What on earth is he doing with those tattoos?’

Jamie quirked his lips downwards. ‘He is a very nice lad. Mary’s his aunt, and she took him in two years ago. Before that, he was neglected and abused by his mother.’

‘Poor kid. So he’s acting up?’

‘Yeah. His older brother turned up three months ago, and Callum disappeared with him. Mary was frantic, and tried everything she could think of to find him, that’s how she made contact with us. He came back a week later, his brother had moved on and dumped him.’

‘And that’s where he got the tattoos?’

Jamie nodded. ‘Callum craves acceptance, and like a lot of kids with his kind of background he has a few issues with impulse control. He just wants to please, and he doesn’t think about the consequences. Our youth counsellor is working with him pretty intensively, and it’s pretty clear that we don’t know the full scope of what’s happened to him yet.’

‘You’re getting to the bottom of it, though.’

‘Yeah. We will. In the meantime, I just wanted to let you know that we’re doing all we can to make sure that he won’t be back with another set of tattoos that he regrets. And to…um…apologise. For any embarrassment.’

‘I’ve seen worse. I didn’t run out of the room screaming then either.’

‘No. Of course. But your non-judgemental approach is just the kind of thing that Callum needs.’

Was that a thank you? Anna decided not to push it and ask. ‘I’m just glad that they’re a single colour and relatively superficial, so they shouldn’t be too difficult to remove completely. Something like that won’t help Callum when it comes to getting a job or a place in college. Or a girlfriend…’

‘Yeah. He didn’t grasp the full implications of some of them. Mary asked me to explain it to him…’ His brow furrowed. Clearly he’d not found the conversation particularly easy.

‘Well… Good luck with him…’ The words slipped out before she’d had a chance to think. Jamie quirked his lips down.

‘We don’t leave things to luck.’

‘No, I know. Hard work, determination and expertise.’ Along with a lot of caring. Jamie’s charity had a policy of tough love, and it worked. ‘I’m actually not too proud to take a bit of luck when it comes my way.’

‘I’ll bear that in mind. Thanks for what you did today. I’ll let you get on now.’ He turned suddenly, closing the door behind him as he left.

Anna flopped down into her chair. Maybe Jamie was right, and luck didn’t come into it. But there were some things that determination and hard work alone couldn’t put right.

Maybe it was those eyes that were making her think this way. They tempted her to revisit a past that was done with, and couldn’t be changed. If things had been different, then she might have allowed herself to get a little closer to Jamie. But they weren’t different, and he probably wasn’t interested in her anyway.

Think that. Keep thinking it.

She had no business lingering over Jamie Campbell-Clarke’s eyes, or his dedication, or the spark that fuelled their professional rivalry. Anna wasn’t in the market for a relationship with him, or anyone else.

She’d fallen into that trap once before. As soon as things had started to get serious with Daniel, she’d told him that she couldn’t have children, fully expecting him to leave. When he hadn’t, she’d thought she had found that special someone who could accept her as she was. But after a year of marriage he’d changed his mind and left. Once was more than enough when it came to having her heart broken.

Anna puffed out a breath. Jamie was right in one thing. She had patients waiting and she had to get on.

Jamie’s characteristically brusque two-line email had imparted the information that he’d visited Callum at home the previous evening, that he was in good spirits and that his Aunt Mary had reinforced the message that his gratitude for the help he was being given should take the form of not worrying at the dressings on his hand. He’d be back in six weeks and was looking forward to losing the unfortunate tattoos. Anna emailed a similarly brusque acknowledgement of the update, telling him to contact her if there was anything else she could do. She imagined there wouldn’t be.

And this morning there were new challenges, the first of which didn’t take a medical form. The private London Central Clinic was used to receiving patients whose fame required a degree of discretion and anonymity, but this patient had stretched policy almost to breaking point. She’d even caught her boss humming snatches of ‘Everywhere’.

And the singer responsible for that rock classic was here. Even Anna felt a small flutter over meeting the man who had reached a million hearts, including her own, with the song.

‘How’s he doing?’ She murmured the words to the ward receptionist, who leaned across her desk to whisper a reply.

‘Just great. A little taller than I thought he’d be.’

Right. That wasn’t the information Anna was after. ‘He’s settling in?’

‘Oh, yes. They took him a cup of green tea and a biscuit.’

Asking what kind of biscuit would only stoke the fires. ‘He has someone with him?’

‘No, he came on his own. Just a driver and he didn’t stay long. Parked on a meter, I expect.’

So fame didn’t always guarantee companionship. It seemed a shame, though. ‘Everywhere’ had been the song that had spoken to Anna when her life had hit a rough patch, and she imagined she wasn’t alone in that. It was all about hope, about kindling a flame in the darkness, to lead the way into the light.

‘Okay, I’ll go and see him now. Which room…?’

Jonny Campbell was sitting alone in his room. Dark glasses covered his eyes, and his head was nodding slightly to whatever was playing through his high-end headphones. His bag lay on the bed, unopened. One of the ward orderlies would unpack it for him if necessary, but Anna reckoned that Dr Lewis had told them to wait a short while, to see if he’d do it himself. Their patient was nominally here for assessment of burn scars on his arm and the side of his face, but Jon’s listless indifference during his assessment interview had raised the possibility of mental health problems as well. Dr Lewis had taken overall charge of his case, and Anna had been told to start treating the burns, but to be aware that there may be other issues.

‘Hello. I’m Anna Caulder.’

Her words made him jump. Maybe his eyes had been closed under the glasses. Anna saw his hand shake as he removed his headphones.

‘Hi. Jon Campbell.’

‘I’m sorry if I startled you. You prefer Jon, or Jonny Campbell?’

His lips curved in a slow smile. ‘Jonny Campbell’s my professional name. Just Jon will do. You prefer Anna or Miss Caulder?’

‘Anna will do.’ He seemed so different from his stage persona. And yet somehow so familiar. Anna shook off the feeling. Her job was to find out what the real Jon Campbell needed, not the rock star Jonny Campbell.

‘I think Dr Lewis prefers Dr Lewis. Or maybe sir…’

Anna laughed. The dry humour that Jonny Campbell put to such good use on stage was there still.

‘Yes. I think he does. He’s a great doctor, though.’

‘I’ve no doubt of that. But he doesn’t have your beautiful blue eyes.’ Jon tilted his head towards her, and Anna blushed, fighting back the urge to tell him that she’d been to one of his concerts and loved his songs.

‘Well I’m here to take care of your burns.’ And to ignore compliments.

Jon flexed his arm. ‘Yeah, that would be great. I didn’t have much time to get them looked at when they happened, I was touring. I took a handful of painkillers and was back on stage the following evening. Being on stage in front of tens of thousands of people tends to make you forget about everything else.’

‘And you never had a doctor look at them?’

‘I was in hospital for a week in America. They said that my arm had become infected and gave me a course of antibiotics.’

‘You went to hospital for the burns? I didn’t see anything about that in your notes.’

‘No, I…’ Jon shrugged. ‘I needed a break.’

If he’d been in hospital for a week, it sounded as if there was a bit more to it than that. ‘Would it be okay if we contacted the hospital and asked them to send us through their notes?’

‘Sure. Knock yourself out.’

‘Thanks. I’ll have our administrator follow that up with you.’ Anna pulled up a seat, sitting down opposite Jon. ‘Can you tell me what happened when you burned yourself?’

‘One of the amps wasn’t working. I kicked it, and it burst into flames.’ Jon shook his head slowly. ‘Serves me right. I guess there’s a song there somewhere.’

‘I’d like to hear it.’ Anna bit her tongue. She’d resolved not to mention the songs.

‘I’ll sing it for you, Anna.’

Right. Another trace of Jonny Campbell’s charm. But it was faded and worn, like a mask Jon assumed when he didn’t want to face a reality that found him alone in a hospital room.

‘Will someone be coming? To visit you…?’ Maybe she was overstepping her boundaries a little, but the doctors here were given the time to get to know their patients as people, and were encouraged to do so.

‘Didn’t you know that I’m here incognito?’

‘I did. That doesn’t extend to family and friends, though, does it?’

‘When you tour, all you have is the band. We’ve been having our differences lately. That’s privileged information, by the way…’

‘It’s all privileged information here.’

‘That’s what everyone says.’ Jon twisted his mouth. ‘Then you see it in the papers the next morning.’

‘It’s not the way we do things.’ Anna searched for eye contact and found none. She wished he’d take the glasses off, but guessed he wouldn’t for a while at least. ‘It’s important that you understand that everything you say to us is completely confidential.’

Jon shrugged, as if it didn’t really matter one way or the other.

‘Blue-eyed Anna… It’d make a great song. Does that turn you on?’ He was retreating again behind the rock star persona, expecting her to go weak at the knees. There was nothing like meeting your heroes to inject a dose of reality.

‘Not particularly. Doing my job turns me on, and right now my interest in you is that you have scars that can be improved.’

Jon laughed suddenly, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender. ‘Okay, fair enough. My twin brother is just the same. Being a doctor turns him on.’

‘You didn’t ask for his help? With the burns?’ The back of her neck was prickling, and Anna ignored it. Two and two didn’t always make four, and the feeling that she knew Jon Campbell was just an illusion, born from his fame.

‘Nah. We don’t talk. Jamie and I had a falling out.’ Jon shrugged. ‘He doesn’t know I’m here, and he probably doesn’t care. The rest of the family isn’t much impressed with me either…’

‘It’s up to you but…sometimes families can surprise you.’

Jon shook his head, taking his glasses off, and suddenly there was no question about it. Anna’s words dried in her throat. The jade-green eyes and ravaged face of Jonny Campbell really were familiar. His brother was Dr Jamie Campbell-Clarke.

CHAPTER TWO

MAYBE JON CAMPBELL had taken her wordless shock for granted, as the kind of thing that any woman would do when faced with a rock idol. Whatever. Anna couldn’t think about that right now. She couldn’t think about Jamie Campbell-Clarke either. What she could think about was her duties as a surgeon.

She asked Jon if she could examine his burns, and he nodded his assent, rolling up his sleeve. The skin was discoloured, beginning to tighten and contort, showing that the injuries had been given very little care.

It was odd. Whatever it was that made her heart beat a little faster when Jamie was in the room was entirely absent. Now that she’d made the connection, she could see that the brothers were very alike. Brown hair was brown hair and Jon’s was longer than Jamie’s, but they both had the same strong jaw, the same shaped face. And the eyes left no doubt, even if Jon’s seemed just an unusual colour, while Jamie’s were compelling.

She retreated to her seat, clasping her hands together. She had to remember that Jon was her patient, and act according to his wishes and in his best interests, even though her first thought was that Jamie would be horrified to find that his own brother was in the clinic and he didn’t know it.

‘I think that the scars can definitely be revised and improved, particularly the ones on your brow and neck. The one on your arm is a little bigger, but there’s a lot we can do there as well.’

Jon nodded. ‘Good. Thank you.’

Anna took a breath, wondering how best to ask. ‘You said that Jonny Campbell is your professional name. Is your real name Campbell-Clarke, by any chance?’

‘Yes, it is.’ Jon shot her a questioning look. ‘Not many people know me as Jon Campbell-Clarke any more…’

‘So Dr Jamie Campbell-Clarke is your brother?’

A flash of defensiveness. ‘Yeah. Looks a bit like me. We’re not identical twins.’

‘You both have the same colour eyes.’

‘That’ll be him then. You know him?’

‘I do, and I should tell you that he sometimes visits this clinic.’

Jon nodded, pursing his lips. ‘I didn’t know that. Is that going to be a problem?’

‘No. It’s entirely up to you whether you want him to know you’re here or not.’ She should make that clear before she started to make the case for telling Jamie. ‘I just thought that you should know.’

‘Yeah. Thanks.’ Jon heaved a sigh. ‘When I said that we had a falling out… It was a pretty big one. And it was my fault, he has good reason to be angry with me.’

‘Do you think he might also have good reason to forgive you?’

‘Not particularly. Look…we were close once and now we’re not. None of us gets to change the past.’

‘Jamie might take issue with you there. He tries to change things for the kids he works with.’

‘That’s different.’ She saw a flash of anger in Jon’s face. ‘Look. Sorry, but I can’t…’

‘It’s okay. Just know that I’m here to help, and that I’ll do whatever you want me to do.’

‘Right. Well, you can tell him if you want. Or don’t tell him, it’s up to you. But I know what he’ll say, and I don’t want to hear it. Are we agreed?’

‘Agreed. Is there anything else I can do for you?’

Jon heaved a sigh. ‘I don’t suppose there are any books in this place, are there? Not magazines, something I can get my teeth into.’

‘Yes, we have a small collection. I’ll send our activities co-ordinator in with a selection and if none of them appeal she’d be happy to go out and get you something that does.’

‘Activities co-ordinator.’ Jon gave a mock frown. ‘She’s not going to ask me to make raffia baskets, is she?’

Anna chuckled. ‘Raffia baskets don’t turn you on?’

‘Not even a little bit. I’d like some fresh air…’

‘We have a small garden area on the roof. It’s secluded and the air’s about as fresh as it gets anywhere in central London.’

‘Sounds good to me. Jamie’s not going to find me up there, is he?’

‘No. He’s not expected here for the rest of the week, and after that…we’ll handle things.’

‘Still thinking you might engineer a reconciliation?’ Jon raised one eyebrow. ‘I can save you a bit of time there, because you won’t. Just handle it so that neither of us gets any nasty surprises.’

‘All right. Consider it done.’

Lunchtime. Anna pulled on her coat, grabbed an energy bar from her desk drawer, and hurried out of the building. She’d already thought of about a thousand reasons why she shouldn’t do this…

Families were out of her sphere of expertise, she knew that. She was the only child of two only children, and the large, extended family she’d married into had sometimes baffled her but mostly delighted her. She’d lost them when she and Daniel had divorced…

The clinic was her family now. Anna always did her best for the families of the patients who passed through, and now Jamie Campbell-Clarke came under that umbrella. It meant crossing the line that she’d drawn between professional and personal with him, but she couldn’t step aside and do nothing.

He was sitting alone in the office he shared with two other doctors, the door wide open, and when he saw her he smiled. ‘You wanted to see me?’

Why did that always sound like a challenge? Anna swallowed whatever smart retort was about to reach the tip of her tongue. Not the time for it.

‘Yes, I did.’ Anna sat down on the other side of his desk, keeping her coat on and clutching her handbag in her lap. ‘Can we have a private conversation?’

Something kindled in his eyes and Anna ignored it. Jamie closed the door, sitting back down again. ‘Sure…’

‘We have a new patient at the clinic. He has some recent burn scars for revision, and…he has a demanding job, which has caused a great deal of emotional strain recently.

Jamie nodded. ‘And who is this mystery patient? One of your celebrities?’

‘Yes.’

He gave her a searching look. ‘So you’re not going to give me a name.’

Not until she’d reassured Jamie that Jon’s condition was stable and he wasn’t in any danger. ‘He booked himself in earlier this morning. He’s being well looked after, and there’s no need for any concern.’

‘That’s always nice to know.’ Jamie shot her a puzzled look, leaning back in his seat. He’d obviously decided that she’d get to the point sooner or later, and that he’d wait.

‘It’s your brother. Jon.’

Jamie’s face hardened suddenly. Whatever it was between the two brothers, it was serious. She’d never seen Jamie look so thunderously angry.

‘He asked you to come and see me?’

‘No. I… He said he had a twin brother, but that there was some bad blood between you. When I realised it was you he was talking about, I told him I knew you and said that I thought you should know he was at the clinic. He seems…alone.’

Anna lapsed into silence. Maybe she’d got this all wrong. Maybe she should have listened to Jon when he’d told her that there was only one answer that Jamie would give to any plea for reconciliation. But Jamie never turned anyone away. It was a matter of pride that his charity would at least try to help any kid that knocked on its door.

‘Okay. Thank you.’

That was it? ‘I’m sorry if this… I didn’t mean to overstep any boundaries.’

Suddenly the boundaries that she and Jamie had drawn had changed and Anna felt crushed within them. She should probably go now, and hope that Jamie would forget this had ever happened.

‘That’s okay. Jon knows you’re here?’

‘He said that I could tell you he was at the clinic, but I wasn’t to tell him your reaction. He thinks you’ll refuse to see him.’ Right now that seemed to have been a forward-looking strategy on Jon’s part.

‘Right. It’s good of you to let me know. Is that all?’

That was a clear invitation for her to leave. Anna wanted to ask what Jamie was going to do, even hint that he might tell her how he was feeling about this. But the hard mask of his face left her in no doubt that he’d just tell her to mind her own business.

‘Yes. I’d better be going. I have to be back at the clinic in forty-five minutes.’

It was surprisingly hard to get up and leave. She’d come here intending to deliver a message, but now she badly wanted Jamie to let her in and allow her to help him. But he already seemed to have forgotten that she was in the room. As Anna closed the door behind her, he was staring at his hands, which were clenched into fists in front of him on the desk.

Jon. It had to happen sooner or later, and in truth Jamie was surprised that he hadn’t bumped into his twin brother before now. But Jon’s career only took him on flying visits to London, and hardly ever to Hastings. And in the three years since they’d argued, their family had tactfully contrived to keep them apart.

And the first person who’d brought him news of Jon, beyond what he tried to stop himself from reading in the paper, was Anna. Jamie’s first thought had been to lock her in his office until she promised never to set eyes on Jon again. To protect her…

He reminded himself that Anna could look after herself. She’d proved that to him time and time again, meeting him headlong and refusing to back down when she knew she was right about something. She wasn’t going to fall for the good looks and the rock star charm.

Jamie shook his head, trying not to think about it. Women did fall for Jon. Jamie’s own fiancée had fallen for him, and Jon had done what probably came perfectly naturally to him as a rock star, and what any brother would have found unthinkable. Jon could have had any woman he wanted, but he’d taken the one that Jamie had wanted.

Three years. He could still feel the anger and the shock. The clawing pain that two people who he’d loved could have betrayed him like that.

Did that outweigh the thirty-odd years that had gone before? Growing up together, doing everything together? Looking out for each other? His parents and sister had made it very clear that they wouldn’t force a reconciliation and that if Jamie didn’t want to take the first step they didn’t blame him. They probably didn’t know that Jon was in the clinic either.

It was probably better to let sleeping dogs lie. But the childhood refrain, whenever Jon had been hurt or upset, wouldn’t stop echoing through his thoughts.

What did you do now, little brother?

It was relatively normal to go for weeks without seeing Jamie Campbell-Clarke. But as luck would have it—and Anna wasn’t sure whether the luck was good or bad—he was waiting for her the following morning when she walked into the A&E department of the hospital.

She’d been worrying all night about whether she’d done the right thing. But Jamie hadn’t come to the clinic to see his brother so she should do as she’d been asked and let it go. That was easier said than done.

‘Hi. Thanks for coming.’ He looked very tired.

She’d seen Jamie tired before—his schedule was impressively busy—but today his face reminded her of Jon’s haggard features. It didn’t look as though he’d had much sleep either.

‘My pleasure.’ They had work to do, and she should concentrate on that.

‘I didn’t know you had an interest in syndactyly.’ He too seemed anxious to keep this professional.

‘I studied under Sir Max Barnes in Manchester for a while.’

‘Ah. That explains it.’

It really didn’t need any explanation. The clinic made the services of its doctors available to nearby hospitals on a regular basis, as part of an ongoing partnership programme. Jamie would have consulted the list and found Anna’s name on it. That was all there was to it. Jon had had nothing to do with his call to the clinic to ask if she might give a second opinion on one of his patients. All the same, there was a formal unease about Jamie’s manner that wasn’t like him.

The best thing to do was to ignore it. She followed him to a cubicle where a nurse was sitting with a baby.

‘This little fella was brought in early this morning. He was abandoned and the police are looking for the mother.’ Jamie’s face was impassive, but his eyes reflected the same compassion that showed in the nurse’s face. In an environment where every case had a story behind it, some were still easier to deal with than others.

‘I’ve examined him, and he’s generally surprisingly healthy. But I wanted a second opinion on his hands. You’ve seen the X-rays I sent over?’

Anna nodded. ‘Yes, and it looks to be a case of simple syndactyly. The second, third and fourth fingers on both hands are fused by soft tissue, but the bones are separate. Let me take a look at him.’

The nurse lifted the baby boy from the cradle, and Anna examined his hands carefully. His fingernails were also fused, but it looked as if separating the fingers would be a relatively straightforward matter.

‘This is going to take more than one operation, isn’t it?’ Jamie was watching her intently, but there was none of their usual joking rivalry in his manner.

‘Yes, it’s not possible to operate on more than one side of the finger at a time, or there’s a risk of damaging the blood supply. When the time comes to operate he’s going to need probably four procedures.’

‘We’ll be sending him up to the ward soon—is there anything I need to ask them to look out for?’

‘I don’t see any signs of a more complex syndrome but they should be aware of the possibility. I’ll add my recommendations to his notes.’

‘Great. Thanks. Can I leave you to it for a moment? I’ll be right back…’ As usual, Jamie had more than one patient to attend to.

‘Yes, that’s fine. I’ll watch him.’

Both Jamie and the nurse hurried out of the cubicle. The little boy began to fret in his cradle, and Anna couldn’t resist picking him up to soothe him.

She wouldn’t…couldn’t have her own child. The nieces and nephews she’d gained when she’d married had never really belonged to her and, along with their parents, had just melted away again after the divorce. And this little one was only hers for a few short moments, before Jamie or the nurse returned. But he didn’t know that, all he knew was the reassurance of being held by someone.

‘Hey there, sweetheart. Everything’s going to be all right.’ She cooed the words at him, and he seemed to respond to her voice.

Everything was very far from being all right. An abandoned baby who faced painful medical procedures. It seemed such a cruel twist of fate when Anna would have done anything to have her own child. She felt tears well in her eyes, and blinked them away quickly.

She rocked the baby boy in her arms, singing to him quietly, and his eyes began to close. He was so peacefully unaware of everything that was going on around him.

She could put him back into his cradle, now, but somehow it seemed wrong to do so, as if holding him might add just a drop more love to a life that already needed all the love it could get. When Jamie returned, she was still holding the little boy, the notes untouched. He glanced at them and then looked at her.

‘Everything okay?’

‘Oh. Yes…’

Jamie finally managed a smile. ‘They smell so good, don’t they? My sister always had a battle on her hands, getting me to hand her newborns back…’

He shot her a speculative look and when Anna failed to answer he seemed to decide that he needed to delve a little further. ‘This little man tugs at the heartstrings.’

Anna’s heartstrings were close to snapping. And she’d forgotten to really take in that new baby smell. It was too late now, and it was just one more loss to contend with.

‘What’s his name?’ She asked the question before she’d really thought about it, and Jamie shook his head slowly. Of course. They didn’t know.

‘He’ll be staying here for a little while, while his foster care is arranged. I dare say the nurses upstairs will be giving him a name.’

He took the baby from her arms, and Anna tried not to notice the way his face softened. Jamie’s green eyes seemed to be cutting into her heart more painfully than usual. He put the baby back into the cradle, stopping to gently stroke his cheek with one finger.

‘I really appreciate your time, thank you.’

‘No problem. I’ll just write my recommendations up and then I’ll be on my way.’ Anna decided that everything would go a bit faster if she did them outside, where she couldn’t be distracted by either Jamie or the baby. She picked up the notes and headed for the door of the cubicle.

‘Anna…’ Jamie’s voice behind her sounded suddenly strained.

‘Yes?’

‘How is he?’

There was no need to ask who he was talking about. Jamie wasn’t as unconcerned about his brother as he seemed.

‘He’s fine, Jamie. I saw him this morning and he’s settling in well.’

Jamie nodded. ‘Thanks.’

Nothing else. No indication that Jamie would come to see his brother, and no message. But she’d done all she could and it was time to take a step back now, and let Jamie work things out. And she did have to get back to the clinic.

Anna turned, getting the distinct impression that Jamie was watching her as she walked away.

Five o’clock. She should be going home, but Jon hadn’t had a visitor all day. Anna decided to pop in and see how he was, but when she looked in his room he wasn’t there. She found him up on the roof of the building, huddled in a heavy leather jacket and a scarf. As she walked towards him, he slid the headphones he was wearing down around his neck.

‘Aren’t you cold?’ An autumn chill was beginning to set in and the evenings were drawing in.

‘Nah, I’m good. I like it up here.’ Jon tapped his finger on the book in his lap. ‘I have plenty of company.’

Music and books. They were wonderful company but didn’t replace a family. Anna wondered where Jamie was, and what he was doing.

‘You contacted him, didn’t you?’ Jon was looking at her keenly.

‘Yes, I did. I went over to the hospital yesterday and saw him.’ Anna bit her lip. Maybe she shouldn’t have let Jon know that Jamie was so close, or that it had been more than twenty-four hours since Jamie had heard that his brother was here. But Jon just nodded.

‘I’m not gonna ask you what he said.’ Jon shifted fitfully in his seat. ‘You think we’re alike?’

The question came right out of the blue, and it was a difficult one. The two brothers looked alike, but… Jamie was Jamie. He was unique.

‘You resemble each other. You seem different to me.’

Jon laughed suddenly. ‘Good answer. We used to hate it when we were kids and people reckoned we were just two versions of the same. We had this aunt who always bought identical Christmas presents for us, even when I was on the road, touring, and Jamie was at medical school.’

There was regret in Jon’s face. He obviously missed his brother, and Anna wondered again what had torn them apart. Neither of them seemed to want to talk about it, and in that they were identical.

‘I guess that’s one of the hazards of being a twin.’

‘Yeah. Jamie was always the one who said less but had more going on in his head.’

Anna smiled. ‘I can’t imagine that the person who wrote “Everywhere” doesn’t have something going on in his head.’

‘You like that song?’

‘Yes, I love it. It got me through a bit of a rocky patch in my life. It’s so…optimistic about the future.’

‘It’s a great song.’ Jon’s lip quivered. ‘Jamie wrote it, you know. I imagine he probably hasn’t told you that.’

‘No, he didn’t.’

‘Like I said. Jamie has a lot more going on in his head than I do. I generally used to write the music and he wrote the words, but “Everywhere” was all his own work.’

They must have been close once. If writing songs together wasn’t proof enough, then she had only to look at the regret in Jon’s face. Maybe she should change the subject, even if the words to ‘Everywhere’ were now running insistently through her head. The hope for the future and the determination not to give up made so much more sense now that she knew they were Jamie’s words.

‘What are you listening to?’

Jon took the headphones from around his neck, detaching the earpieces from their mounting and handing one to her. She pressed it against her ear, leaning forward so that Jon could listen through the other one, and he traced his thumb across the screen of the phone he’d taken out of his pocket.

‘Bach! Really…?’

Jon laughed. ‘Both Jamie and I had music lessons when we were kids and we played all the classics. Bach was always my favourite. Don’t you think this has a lot in common with all song structures?’

‘Now you mention it, I suppose…’ Anna put the earpiece against her ear again, and Jon began to trace the precise tempo with his finger in the air, like a conductor. When the complex strands of the melody wove together to draw the music to a close, he made a concluding flourish and Anna laughed.

‘I see it now…’ Anna looked over her shoulder as Jon’s gaze suddenly left her face. Jamie was standing by the door that led from the stairs to the roof garden, watching them.

Something about the look on Jamie’s face made her quickly give the earpiece back to Jon and lean away from him. She was just talking to a patient, wasn’t she? Maybe Jamie thought that she was taking sides, because he shot her an injured look.

‘Jon, I…’ She turned back to Jon, whose face was moulded into a look of stony shock. ‘I didn’t know he was coming.’

Jon didn’t reply. His attention was all on Jamie, who was walking towards them, and the closer his brother got, the more agitated Jon looked. This whole situation was turning into a nightmare. Something was about to explode…

‘I heard you were here.’ Jamie’s voice was quiet, his face impassive.

‘Yeah. I’m here.’

Jamie sat down, without even looking at Anna. The two brothers regarded each other steadily. It would be good to leave right now, but Anna wasn’t going anywhere until she knew that they weren’t going to start arguing as soon as she turned her back.

‘Let’s take a look at your arm, little brother.’

Jamie’s quiet words seemed familiar to Jon, and he gave a stiff smile as he pulled up the sleeve of his jacket to expose the bottom half of the burn scar. Jamie turned the edges of his mouth down.

‘Looks as if it hurt. Probably still does.’

‘Yeah. The doc says she can sort it for me.’

Jamie nodded, turning to Anna with the hint of a smile. ‘You don’t mind if I step on your toes?’

He’d never asked before, but then they’d never been in this situation before. She stood, flashing a smile at Jon. ‘I’ll leave you to it, if that’s okay.’

Jon nodded, and Jamie turned his attention again to his brother. When Anna reached the door that led to the staircase, she turned and saw him examining the scar on Jon’s arm carefully. Then he gestured towards his brother’s face, and Jon turned his head so that Jamie could see the scars on his brow and neck.

She shouldn’t stay. But her heart was beating like a drum in her chest. One spark and the fragile reconciliation could all go up in smoke. Jamie and Jon were talking, and Jamie gestured to the book on Jon’s lap. Jon picked it up and began to read aloud, and Jamie leaned back in his chair.

That was an odd thing to do. But it seemed to be part of an old bond that she knew nothing about, and the taut lines of Jamie’s body began to relax a little. As they did so, Jon began to smile. Anna shook her head. Whatever worked for them. She turned, opening the door. One last look told her that neither of the brothers was even aware that she was leaving.

CHAPTER THREE

HARD? THIS HAD been much more than hard. More than any of the adjectives that Jamie could apply to any given situation. But he’d known he had to come, and when he’d shrugged on his jacket and left the hospital it hadn’t even occurred to him to call ahead. He just wanted to see Jon, and make sure that he was all right.

The receptionist in the ward knew him, but she gave him a second look when he asked for Jon, as if she’d only just noticed the resemblance and put the two names together. It had been a long time since anyone had asked whether he and Jon were related, and Jamie guessed it was because their lives were so very different.

He’d reached the top of the stairs and stopped short, shock gluing him to the spot. Anna was leaning towards Jon and they were both listening to the same piece of music. He always noticed everything about Anna, and now he saw that her blonde hair, usually tied back when she was working, was loose and falling forward across her shoulders. Just inches from Jon’s hand.

The intimacy was obvious, and he wanted to grab Anna and pull her away. But Anna wasn’t his to protect, and she had every right to spend time with Jon if she wanted to. Then Jon saw him, and the two started almost guiltily.

Rage flowed through him like a tide of molten lava. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t see Anna with Jon. But he somehow managed to get himself under control and walked towards them.

An hour later, he’d brought Jon back down to his room, and bade him goodnight. His head was spinning, and he didn’t want to see Anna. But his legs didn’t obey the command of his head, and he walked towards her office, knowing he’d find her there.

‘You’re still here?’ He stood at the open door, trying to feign surprise.

‘Yes. I’ve been trying to make up my mind about whether I did the right thing or not. And wondering if there was going to be an explosion…’ She gave him a nervous smile.

‘No explosions. You did the right thing.’

She nodded. ‘Come in. I’ll get you some coffee.’

Jamie walked into the office, sitting down in the chair on the other side of her desk. ‘No coffee. I don’t think I’ll be sleeping much tonight as it is.’

‘I’m glad you’ve patched things up. Whatever this argument was about…’ She waved her hand, as if that didn’t matter.

She didn’t know. Jamie told himself that it made the intimacy he’d seen between Anna and his brother a little less shattering, but he still couldn’t put it out of his mind. He reminded himself that he’d seen Anna many times with patients, and that her manner was always caring and kind. He should look at it in that context.

‘We haven’t so much patched it up as… We’re not talking about it.’

Anna shrugged. ‘Whatever works…’

Who knew whether it was going to work or not? Right now it was about the only option as Jamie still couldn’t talk about what had happened without betraying his anger, and right now Jon needed his care.

‘Do the rest of the family know Jon’s here?’ There were a lot of questions he hadn’t asked Jon, and Jamie realised that he’d been saving them for Anna.

‘Not as far as I’m aware. Jon said that if you weren’t coming then he didn’t want the rest of the family to have to take sides.’

‘That was decent of him. Unnecessary, though. I’ll call my sister tonight. My parents are in Australia for three months, but I’ll email them and let them know.’

‘Sounds like a plan.’ Anna’s obvious approval began to cut through the haze of uncertainty that Jamie felt. ‘You’ll be back?’

‘Tomorrow morning. The charity can do without me for a couple of weeks, and I’ll be staying up in London full time.’

Anna nodded. Another little shard of warmth, something concrete to hold onto.

‘If you’d like, you can use my office to work in while you’re here. I’ll mention it to my boss but I doubt he’ll have any problem with the idea. You work with us on an informal basis anyway.’

‘You’re keeping me here for as long as you can?’ Jamie flashed her a smile.

‘That’s the general idea.’ She smiled back. Honesty was one of Anna’s more endearing traits.

‘Thanks. That would be really helpful and… I should spend as much time as I can with Jon, but it would be nice to have a bolthole as well.’

‘I thought that might be the case.’ Anna leaned back in her chair, regarding him thoughtfully. ‘So what’s with the reading?’

She didn’t know that either. It was no secret, but Jamie’s habit was to compensate for his dyslexia as much as possible when he was working. ‘I have mild dyslexia. When we were kids, Jon used to read to me. It was usually comics then, he used to do different voices and act things out.’

‘Ah. So that explains the planner on your office wall, then.’ She smiled at him. ‘And your diary. I thought you were just terrifyingly organised.’

Both his diary and his calendar were colour coded, allowing Jamie to see what was most important at a glance. It was one of the many small techniques he employed that most people didn’t even notice, even if they knew about his dyslexia.

‘Yeah, I find that colour coding makes things a bit easier. Although I wouldn’t want to dissuade you from your belief in my organisational skills.’

‘Okay. I’ll remain suitably terrified.’ She shot him a smile. ‘Jon says that you both made music together when you were young as well.’

Jamie knew exactly what Anna was doing. She was gently probing, getting him to talk in much the same way as she got all her patients and their families to. Soon he’d find himself tempted to tell her about his darkest fears, the way they did.

He’d meet that problem when he came to it. Jamie wondered if Anna knew that he’d been concentrating on the things they’d shared before the bust-up as a way of reconnecting with his brother, and decided that she’d probably already worked that out.

‘Yeah. He was always the showman, though. The one who liked to get up and sing.’

‘He told me that you wrote “Everywhere”. It’s one of my favourite songs.’

Her smile made his heart beat a little faster. Maybe Anna had let his words into her life, as she’d sung along to them on the radio… The thought made his hand tremble.

‘I…um…was at a bit of a turning point in my life when I wrote it. I’d applied to medical school and they’d accepted me, despite the dyslexia. It was a dream I never thought I’d be able to accomplish, but I was also a bit concerned about how I might cope.’

Anna nodded her head. ‘That’s what I like about the song. It seems to me to be all about hope and accomplishing your dreams. Maybe not in the way you thought you would, but doing it anyway. Suddenly your charity makes a lot more sense.’

Jamie dragged his thoughts from wondering where she’d first heard ‘Everywhere’ and what she’d been doing, and focussed his mind on his charity. That usually gave him a bit of clarity.

‘The charity only exists because of the royalties from the song.’

‘And you and Jon did that together.’ She gave a little nod of approval.

Much as he liked the feeling of having made a connection with Anna, Jamie couldn’t think about it any more. In retrospect, ‘Everywhere’ had been the beginning of the end for him and Jon. It had blasted his brother into the stratosphere of fame and set their paths on an ever-diverging trajectory.

‘Yeah, look… I’d like to see Jon’s notes.’

Anna pursed her lips. Maybe she was about to give him the lecture about stepping on her toes and leaving her to get on with treating her own patients. Jamie flashed her an apologetic look.

‘You’re asking as a doctor? Or as his brother?’

That was the nub of it. Jamie had always imagined himself a doctor first, beyond anything. ‘His brother.’

‘Fair enough. I’ll have to check with Jon first, of course.’

‘Of course.’

‘Right, then.’ Anna got to her feet, and Jamie took the hint. He should be going now. But when he started to rise from his seat she waved him back down again. ‘Stay there. I won’t be a minute.’

She was actually a little more than a minute. Jamie stared at the wall, trying to rearrange his thoughts, but everything seemed jumbled, like words on a page that wouldn’t respond to any of his normal reading techniques. He was out of his depth, and the old panic about whether he’d be able to make sense of anything had returned. And he was hanging on to Anna for dear life.

He wondered if the families of her other patients felt like this. That she could be trusted to steer them through the myriad of decisions that faced them, all of which seemed frighteningly incomprehensible. He guessed they probably did…

‘All right.’ Anna bustled back into the room, making him jump. ‘I’ve spoken to Jon and he was very pleased you were taking an interest. My only reservation is that you remember who you are…’

‘You’re his surgeon, Anna. I’m a concerned family member, who happens to understand the issues involved a little better.’

‘Perfect. In that case, we could go for coffee and something to eat if you like. I skipped lunch…’

He hadn’t eaten either. Jamie wondered if her reasons were the same as his, and let it go. And suddenly he found himself at a loose end. He wouldn’t be driving back down to Hastings tonight—after all, his place was here with Jon, and he’d stay in his London bedsit for as long as it took.

‘That sounds great.’

He followed her out of the building, and she crossed the road, obviously making for somewhere. Jamie didn’t much care where.

‘Italian okay for you? They do food upstairs in the evenings, and it’s pretty quiet around this time.’ She led him through winding back streets to a bustling coffee bar.

‘Yeah. Anything…’

Anna nodded. Upstairs the restaurant area was quiet, just a few evening diners, and she led him to one of the booths that lined the far wall, which afforded them some privacy. Jamie managed to remember to help her out of her coat and lay it down on the bench that ran around the table.

A waiter approached them, wearing a smile and handing Jamie two menus. He passed one to Anna and fixed his gaze onto his own.

The closely typed words seemed to be moving in front of him, locked in a complicated dance, and not heeding his silent exhortations to just sit back down in their usual places and behave. Tonight they were breaking free of the framework he usually applied and continuing with their hedonistic movement.

‘Mmm…’ Anna was studying her menu. ‘Lasagne looks nice… Or tagliatelle. They do a really nice carbonara here, but I think I’m a bit hungrier than that…’

Was she reading the menu to him? Jamie decided that he didn’t care if she was. So what if he could usually manage without betraying his difficulties. This evening, he was too stressed out to use his usual coping strategies.

‘I think I’ll have the carbonara.’

She nodded. ‘Yes, I think I will too. We can always have a second course. Are we having wine?’

‘Don’t let me stop you. I’ll stick to water.’

‘Okay.’ She closed the menu decisively and beckoned to the waiter.

Jamie was obviously struggling. Whatever the argument between him and his brother had been about, it must have been bad. Something life-changing that had parted brothers who had once been close. Since it was clear that neither of them were going to talk about it, Anna had to quell her curiosity and just hope that they could work it out between themselves. The way that Jamie had responded to the knowledge that Jon was in hospital made it quite clear that he wanted to work it out.

And he’d written ‘Everywhere’. The song that gave people hope. In the dark days after her marriage had ended so abruptly, she’d sung it at the top of her voice, along with all the other survival songs in her break-up playlist.

And now she had to get Jamie through tonight. She could see him eyeing the folder that was sticking out of the top of her handbag, and when the waiter brought her a glass of white wine, she took a mouthful and gave Jamie his brother’s medical records.

He opened the folder, running his finger under the printed words. She’d seen him do that before and had thought little of it. But he seemed to be struggling rather more than usual, probably because of the stress he was under.

‘This doesn’t make any sense.’ He wiped his hand across his face. ‘Or is it just me…?’

‘No, it’s not you. When Jon first came to the clinic he made an outpatient appointment with Dr Lewis—he just said that he was away from home and needed general medical advice. He asked primarily about the burns, but he also complained of a whole raft of other unconnected symptoms and Dr Lewis suspected that there were other underlying issues. He told Jon that he wanted to give him a more thorough assessment, which Jon agreed to, so he was booked into the clinic, and referred to me for scar revision.’

‘Right. You’re saying he has something else wrong with him?’

‘We found out that he’d been in hospital in America about six weeks ago. There’s a summary of the notes that they sent through on the next page.’ Anna reminded herself of Dr Lewis’s advice to her this morning. Tread carefully. Answer questions and let both Jamie and Jon take things at their own pace.

Jamie turned the page, running his finger along the printed lines. It stopped at the list of medications that Jon been prescribed. ‘These are strong anti-depressants. What aren’t you telling me? And why on earth didn’t you tell me before?’

That was an unequivocal expression of intent. Jamie wanted to know everything. Anna took another sip from her glass, resisting the impulse to gulp the lot down.

‘Second question first, I didn’t tell you before now because I didn’t have permission to do so. It’s up to Jon whether you see his medical records or not. So you can thank him for letting me show you this when you see him tomorrow.’

‘Okay. That put me in my place.’ The signs of strain were showing on Jamie’s face, and Anna longed to reach out and touch him.

‘I have to do everything properly, Jamie. You must understand that.’

He nodded, taking a sip of water. Jamie knew all this, but he was asking the same things that any concerned family member would. ‘Okay. And my first question?’

‘I don’t have a final answer to that, yet. We’ve talked to Jon about his previous stay in hospital, and all he says is that he just lost it for a while. Apparently he’d locked himself in his hotel room and wouldn’t come out, and everyone just left him there for two days, until the hotel staff raised the alarm. We know that he’s exhausted and very probably depressed, but we have to rule out any physical causes for his symptoms.’

Jamie nodded his head, flipping the pages and reading through the rest of the file. ‘So you’re still in the diagnosis stage at the moment. What does Jon say about that?’

Anna shrugged. ‘We’ve explained everything to him, and he just tells us to go ahead and do whatever we want. He doesn’t seem to care. He says he wants to stay and get the burns sorted out, but my opinion is that the clinic is a safe place for him at the moment. A refuge.’

Jamie heaved a sigh. The pain in his eyes was almost tearing Anna’s heart out. ‘He didn’t want me to know, did he? Everything was falling to pieces, and he didn’t want me to know…’

Anna had come to the same conclusion, and glossed over it for Jamie’s sake. ‘Maybe he thought you wouldn’t come. But he was wrong about that, wasn’t he?’

‘I took my time.’ He shot her an anguished look.

‘You came. That’s all that matters. Don’t beat yourself up about it, there are plenty of more constructive things you can do with your time right now.’

He pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers, shaking his head as if he were trying to clear it. ‘That’s your standard advice, is it?’

There was a trace of the confrontation that seasoned any discussion they had about a patient. But this time it was bitter, with no hint of a smile.

‘I may have said it a few times before. That doesn’t mean it isn’t true, Jamie. I don’t underestimate my patients’ families. Did you think for one minute I’d say anything different to you because you’re a doctor?’

For one moment she was lost in his gaze. Those searching eyes that seemed to need so much from her at the moment. Then he smiled.

‘You really are trying to put me in my place, aren’t you?’

‘There’s nothing wrong with knowing your boundaries, in any particular situation. Being a great doctor isn’t going to help you now. Jon needs you as a brother. I know that’s difficult for you, on lots of different levels.’

He nodded. ‘All that matters at the moment is that he needs me. So I should remember to eat and sleep, and just be there for him. Because concentrating on his medical care is just my way of distancing myself from the emotional issues.’

‘Yeah. You’re getting it now.’ Jamie always had been aware of what his patients and their families went through emotionally, and now he got to put that knowledge into practice.

He smiled, that same smile that he always wore when she’d prevailed in one of their debates. Jamie could never be accused of being a sore loser.

‘Thanks, Anna. I really appreciate what you’ve done here.’

She could feel herself beginning to blush, the way she always did when Jamie spared some praise for her. She took a gulp of wine, hoping the gesture might cover her pleasure, or at least explain the redness of her cheeks.

‘No problem. All part of the service.’ That was an obfuscation too. Anna had longed for brothers and sisters when she had been growing up, and then she’d found a family and lost them again. Losing each other must have been ten times harder for Jamie and Jon. She’d go to any lengths to make sure that the fragile reconciliation between them took root and flourished.

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