‘A letter came this morning.’ Glenda handed it over, oddly hesitant.
Anna scanned it, blinked, scanned it again and then her temper exploded. ‘Where is he?’
Glenda flinched. ‘If you mean Dr McKenna, he’s just parked his car and he’s walking through the doors as we speak. But, Anna—’
Anna whirled round, lights flashing in her brain as she came face to face with him. ‘Of all the miserable, vile, small-minded b—’
‘We’ve got an audience, Riggs,’ Sam interrupted her, an answering flash of anger in his blue eyes as he faced her head on. ‘You might want to hold onto that temper of yours
.’
‘I don’t care who hears this.’ She tossed her hair back, her gaze furious as she waved the letter under his nose. ‘You were supposed to offer him the job, McKenna. You were supposed to tell him that he was the one.’
‘He wasn’t the one.’ Sam tried to step past her, a muscle flickering in his jaw. ‘I didn’t think he was the right person for the job.’
‘Well, I did!’
He turned on her. ‘I’m well aware of that.’ He growled the words like a man goaded to the extremes of his tolerance. ‘You made it perfectly clear how much you liked him.’
‘And what’s wrong with that?’ She spread her hands in a gesture of disbelief. ‘I was going to work with the guy. I was supposed to like him. Or is that what this is all about?’ Her hands fell to her sides and she glared at him. ‘Is it jealousy, McKenna? Is that’s what’s wrong?’
They were both breathing rapidly, eyes locked in combat, totally indifferent to their growing audience.
Polly cleared her throat. ‘Sam, your new trailer is on air in about two minutes. Why don’t we all watch it?’
Sam sucked in a breath, his eyes still on Anna’s. ‘Fine. Let’s watch it.’
Anna had to stop herself from screaming. She didn’t want to watch his trailer. She didn’t want to see what his plans for the future were because she knew they didn’t involve her and that knowledge made her want to cry like a baby.
She stuck her chin in the air. ‘Fine. Let’s watch the trailer.’
She stalked into the staffroom where Glenda was already glued to the screen. ‘Here we go…’
‘This autumn, Medical Matters moves from London to the seaside, following the trials and tribulations of life in a busy harbour practice…’
The narrator’s voice droned on and then there was Sam, standing on the beach, his dark hair blowing in the wind as he talked.
When he’d finished, Glenda pressed the ‘pause’ button and stared at Anna.
Anna stood in silence.
She opened her mouth to speak and then closed it again.
Sam’s eyes were fixed on her face. ‘Say something.’
She swallowed. ‘You’re going to make the programme here?’
Polly grinned. ‘It was that or he was going to resign, and I’m not about to lose my best medical presenter.’
Anna stared at him. ‘You were going to resign?’ She stared at the TV. ‘It said this autumn.’
‘The trailer is for you, Riggs,’ Sam said roughly. ‘We made it just for you. The real series and trailer won’t be shown until next summer.’
Her expression was blank. ‘Sorry?’
He glared at her in exasperation. ‘It’s a message from me to you,’ he shouted, ‘but you’re so damn stupid you can’t even see it!’
‘If you stopped yelling, maybe I’d be able to concentrate,’ Anna yelled, lifting a hand to her chest. Suddenly it was difficult to breathe. ‘I don’t understand.’