Dr. Langley: Protector or Playboy? by Joanna Neil

Author:Joanna Neil [Neil, Joanna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781460376881
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

‘SO, IS that settled then…? Are we all meeting up by the wharf this afternoon?’ Matt helped himself to more rashers of crisp bacon from the pan, and carefully slid them between two rounds of toast.

‘Um…I’ll be working at the café bar until mid-afternoon,’ Jade said. ‘I’d like to have left earlier but that’s the best I can manage. I’ll come and find you as soon as I’ve finished there, if you’re planning on staying around the wharf area.’ She dipped bread into the yolk of her fried egg and looked up at him.

Matt nodded. ‘We only planned on moving as far as the market, last time we talked about it. There should be plenty of people milling about, wanting to hand over cash for good causes.’ He looked at the charity tins assembled on the kitchen worktop. ‘All being well, we should raise a lot of money.’

Jade glanced at Ben and Lucy, seated at the other end of the table. ‘I’ll be able to stay and help out for two or three hours at least, but then I have to go and meet up with my father.’ She sobered at the thought, and Ben must have caught her sombre expression, because his eyes narrowed as he studied her thoughtfully.

‘Does that bother you…going to see your father?’

She was hesitant. ‘I’m not sure. A bit.’ Even now, she found it difficult to talk to her father. She’d been ten years old when he’d left, and a lot of years had passed since then, but she still couldn’t quite forgive him for walking out on his family. Something major had gone wrong with the father-daughter relationship…a lack of trust, perhaps, on her part.

‘It’s bound to be difficult to make a real bond, when he’s missed a good chunk of your growing up. But I imagine he must be proud of you, now that you’re studying medicine.’

‘I suppose so.’

‘It’s good that you go on meeting, though. If you keep doing that, with any luck, things should work themselves out, eventually.’ He looked her over once more, giving her an assessing kind of glance, and then he shook his head. ‘I don’t know how you go on doing as much as you do and still manage to stay serene—going out to work and putting in shifts at the hospital, I mean. Perhaps this afternoon will turn out to be a pleasant change for you.’

She smiled. ‘Yes, I expect so.’

‘I’ll have to leave around two o’clock,’ Lucy murmured, pouring coffee. ‘So I’ll only be able to manage about an hour’s collecting, I’m afraid.’ She looked a little pale, her long, golden hair lending her an ethereal quality just then. Her blue eyes were troubled, making Jade wonder if something was wrong, but then Lucy added, ‘I have to go home for the weekend—well, I’ll be away at least until Monday evening, I think. I’ll miss a couple of lectures, but I can easily get hold of what I need online to catch up. Something’s come up at home, and my parents have asked me to visit.

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