Unwrapped by the Duke by Amy Ruttan

Author:Amy Ruttan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarlequinUKLtd
Published: 2016-11-08T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

“WILL I BE in here over Christmas?” Lord Twinsbury demanded. “I can’t be in here over the holidays.”

“I’m afraid so,” Thomas said as he finished his examination. “You’re not healing as quickly as I’d like and you’re still not ready to go home. You’ve had two open heart surgeries in the course of a couple of weeks. You need to stay in the hospital. So I’m afraid you’ll be here for Christmas.”

“Blast, I didn’t want to miss the carols from King’s College at Cambridge. It’s important I attend.”

“Understandable, but you’re staying put.”

Lord Twinsbury groaned. “You, of course, wouldn’t understand. You’re an Oxford man.”

“Oxford or Cambridge makes no difference. You’re recovering from surgery.” Thomas leaned over. “Oxford is the far superior university anyway. You should know that.”

“Young pup, if I weren’t laid up...”

Thomas cocked an eyebrow. “You’d do what? Tan my hide? I think I can outrun you.”

Lord Twinsbury huffed grumpily.

There was a knock at the door and Thomas turned to see Geraldine standing there. It had only been a couple of days, but his heart skipped a beat seeing her standing there in her business clothes and her pristine white lab coat.

“Am I interrupting?” she asked.

“Ah, now there’s a sight for sore eyes!” Lord Twinsbury exclaimed with delight.

“Lionel, you flatter me,” she said sweetly.

“Nonsense, you’re a damn sight better than the duke here,” Lord Twinsbury grumbled.

“That’s Mr. Ashwood, my lord,” Thomas corrected him.

“Can I speak with you, Mr. Ashwood, about a case?” Geraldine asked.

“Of course.” He was glad to get away from Lord Twinsbury’s complaining.

“Please come and see me afterward, my lady. Your visits make my day.”

Thomas rolled his eyes.

“I will try, Lionel.” Geraldine shut the door when Thomas was in the hall. “I’m sorry for pulling you away from your rounds, but I had a referral from a general practitioner in Aylesbury of a pregnant woman who has suffered a myocardial infarction.”

“Your mother is dead, Thomas. So is the baby. They’re gone and crying won’t bring them back.”

His father’s harsh words haunted him. It had been at that moment his father had turned his back on him. Resented him for being like her. All Thomas had wanted was the comfort of his father when his mother had died, but he’d been denied it. Instead he’d been sent to boarding school. The day his mother had died had been the day he’d really lost both of his parents.

There had never been a chance for him or his father to make things right between them. The day Zoe had been born with the atrial septal defect and had almost died, his father had tossed him out of the room.

“Haven’t you haunted me enough?”

It was almost as if his father had been blaming him for Zoe almost dying at birth. It’s why Zoe’s mother had walked away from his father and instead had became the surrogate of the parent he’d never had. His father had resented him for that too.

And they’d never had a chance to resolve anything. His father had hated him until the day he’d died, when Zoe had been ten.

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