Beneath Still Waters. Alex Archer

thank you for the invitation.’

      ‘Of course. Maybe we’ll meet again some time and I’ll be able to make amends, as I do like to repay my debts.’

      ‘You don’t owe me anything, please believe me! It was the least I could do for the poor young guy and compared to what you’ve done for him it was nothing.’

      * * *

      When Leonie arrived at Julie’s studio flat, she found that her friend was feeling much better. She was sitting up and taking notice as Leonie made them a meal and was wide-eyed with astonishment to hear about Callum Warrender’s invitation.

      ‘Weren’t you the lucky one!’ she gasped. ‘Was he surprised to know that you are one of the staff on the orthopaedic unit?’

      ‘No, because I didn’t tell him,’ Leonie told her. ‘I said I was a nurse, but either he wasn’t interested or in fairness to the man he was too tuned in to the injuries of the motorcyclist to get involved in chit-chat.’

      ‘So on Monday morning all will be revealed between the two of you.’

      ‘Maybe, maybe not,’ Leonie said. ‘He almost didn’t recognise me earlier this evening, out of my walking gear. The uniform might really throw him off track, and anyway, they say that Warrender isn’t a woman chaser. That he’s had a bad experience that’s put him off relationships.’

      ‘In what way?’ Julie questioned.

      ‘I don’t know any details. I haven’t been on the wards all that long. He seems like the kind of doctor who will only see nurses as a pair of hands without their faces registering.

      ‘Anyway, enough about Callum Warrender. How have you been feeling while I’ve been up on the moors?’

      Julie shook her head. ‘I do feel a lot better now.’

      ‘Is Brendan coming round later?’

      ‘Yes. We’ve started making wedding plans. I’d be delighted if you’d agree to be my chief bridesmaid, along with my young sister, if that is all right with you, Leonie. It won’t bring back past heartache, will it?’

      ‘No, of course not. The past is the past,’ she told her evasively. ‘I’m over that and if Brendan is coming to talk about wedding arrangements I’ll be off as soon as I’ve tidied the kitchen. I don’t need to tell you not to go to the centre tomorrow. I know what Sundays are like there with every kid in the neighbourhood turning up, but you aren’t fully recovered yet.’

      ‘I’ve already phoned in to say that I won’t be there,’ she replied, ‘so don’t worry about me, Leonie, but do let me know what happens on Monday with you know who.’

      ‘I can give you the answer to that now,’ she said laughingly. ‘Nothing is going to happen. Callum Warrender is not my type.’

      * * *

      Back at home Leonie felt at a loose end. Julie’s reference to the affair she’d had with one of the senior anaesthetists at the London hospital where she’d been employed before coming to Heatherdale had brought back vivid memories of the pain and heartache she’d felt on discovering that he was married. But that had been nothing compared to the raw agony of losing the baby that she’d been expecting.

      Since then she’d been wary of any other relationships as the hurt of being deceived in such a way hadn’t yet healed; it was still new and agonising. Moving to Heatherdale had been about making a fresh start, but that couldn’t erase the memories of the past.

      Still, she was genuinely thrilled for Julie and Brendan. They made a strong and devoted couple. However, it was difficult to imagine ever being in that situation herself.

      To be asked to be a bridesmaid was a different matter. She was honoured that her friend had asked her and she’d be proud to support her on her big day. She wondered what sort of dress Julie had in mind.

      Her reverie was interrupted by the couple from the yurt next door, who were having a few folks round for supper. They asked if she would like to join them. As she accepted the invitation her glance was on the hotel on the opposite side of the river and the memory came back of the one she’d turned down and was now wishing she hadn’t.

      It would have given her the chance to tell Callum Warrender what she did for a living, instead of him discovering on Monday morning in front of all the ward staff of the orthopaedic unit of Heatherdale Children’s Hospital that their acquaintance was not going to be a fleeting thing. Now she still had that doubtful pleasure to come.

      * * *

      Callum sat in the hotel lounge, having a nightcap before returning to his apartment.

      He should have been feeling content but he wasn’t. The night before he’d been full of the pleasure of being back home and enjoying the weekend ahead, but the day that would soon be over had been full of uncertainties.

      The fear that they would lose the boy on the bike when there’d been no heartbeat had been allayed when he and the woman who had been at the scene of the crash had worked on him and he’d begun to breathe again.

      That had been followed by him operating on the young man and he’d had no idea what lay ahead regarding that until he’d seen the X-rays, but as usual he’d been in top form and all was going to be well with the lad.

      Then when he’d arrived back in Heatherdale he’d sought the Leonie person out to apologise for being bossy and abrupt and, totally out of character, when he’d discovered that she’d paid the garage for the removal of the motorcycle had invited her to dine with him and been refused, which had turned it into a very short reacquaintance.

      He’d made a point of telling her why he wanted to take her for a meal and there’d been no finesse in the way he’d done it, so it was small wonder that she’d refused and come up with an excuse that could have been the result of some quick thinking.

      Yet, if he was being honest with himself, hadn’t he issued the invitation because he’d seen her in different clothes, in a pretty blue dress with her chestnut hair down and the merest hint of make-up, so bringing a moment’s brightness to what had been a far from happy day? Or maybe was it because he’d been intrigued by the determination not to be told what to do by him that he’d seen in the green eyes looking into his.

      But tomorrow was another day and he was going to let it make up for this one. He finished his drink and headed home. As he glanced towards the bridge that spanned the river between their two residences he heard laughter filtering over on the night air, saw a flash of blue, and wondered what had happened to the sick friend.

      When he arrived at the apartment there was an email from his ex-wife, Shelley, to say that she was getting married again to her boss, hoped he would wish her well, and that they were going to live in Australia. He gazed at the screen for a few thoughtful moments and then switched the message off, wondering as he did so why he wasn’t surprised.

      * * *

      As Callum walked the length of the corridor that led to the orthopaedic unit on Monday morning his step was light. He was back on his own patch. Back amongst the young patients who came to him for treatment for the long-term or shorter illnesses that were blighting their lives.

      It was a place where he’d performed miracles and his staff followed them up with excellent nursing, and nowhere was he happier than there.

      The time in America had been rewarding and well spent, but on thinking of the persuasion that had been used to encourage him to join them he only needed to look around him at the familiar sights of Heatherdale Children’s Hospital to know that the Americans had never stood a chance.

      Here he was and here he was going to stay. He hoped that there wouldn’t be any changes in the staff that he had left behind when he’d gone to the States, as they were a well-organised team.

      He heard his name called and turned to see his friend Ryan Ferguson, head of the neuro unit, approaching from behind.

      ‘Welcome