Another book caught her eye. It was one she knew her parents would love and she bought it on impulse, even though it was expensive. She only hoped that there would be enough space left in their cases for it.
Although her mother was able to visit the hospital whenever she wished, Heather tried to keep to normal visiting hours, so as not to disrupt the ward too much. A glance at her watch reminded her that it was time for her to go if she wanted to see her father.
The hospital was within pleasant walking distance, and chill winds made her hurry along briskly.
Nurses hurried in and out of the building like busy worker bees, an ambulance pulling to a screaming halt as Heather approached. Averting her head, she quelled the sick despair flooding through her body at the sound of its siren. Since her father’s collapse she had nightmares about hearing that ominous sound.
The ward was a long one, with her father in a smaller four-bedded room at one end.
As she pushed the door, Heather heard voices, and tensed, recognising Kyle’s.
‘She seems to…’
Abruptly he broke off and turned his head.
An unwelcome sense of déjà vu engulfed Heather as she stood there, but she knew well from where the unwanted memory came. It was her childhood all over again. A childhood during which she had felt that she stood on the outside, while her parents and Kyle formed a small, exclusive adult group that excluded her.
Her immediate impulse was to turn and run, as she had done many times as a child, but she managed to quell it, and instead forced her lips to curve into some semblance of a smile.
Her father, she saw now, was watching her with loving, concerned eyes, and she focused her attention on him, ignoring Kyle’s tall, dark figure at his bedside.
‘You didn’t say you were coming to visit Dad.’ She couldn’t do a thing to stop herself from making the small, stinging remark, and however much she wished it unsaid when she saw her mother’s quick concerned frown, the best she could do was to add quickly, ‘If I’d known, I’d have begged a ride with you. The van isn’t too reliable at the moment.’
‘It was an impulse decision,’ Kyle said smoothly, but she could read the condemnation in his eyes and knew that he could see through her smile to the bitterness in her heart.
‘Kyle’s just been telling us that you’ll be staying with him over Christmas. I must say that it will be a relief to know that you’ll be with him.’
‘It’s very kind of him to have me.’ What else could she say? ‘I must say I rather envy you two, though, sunning yourself in Portugal while we’ll probably be knee-deep in snow.’
‘Well, I have to admit I am looking forward to it
,’ her mother responded, adding with a quick look at her husband, ‘Of course, it all depends on how well your father responds to the surgery. I was going to ring you tonight. The specialist has been to see him already.’ The warm smile she gave Kyle made Heather clench her teeth to stop the sharp, bitter protest leaving her throat. ‘Kyle’s been absolutely marvellous, taking all the worry off our shoulders. The specialist has scheduled the operation for the day after tomorrow.’
Kyle frowned. ‘I wish I could put off this trip to the States, but I’m afraid it’s impossible. I should be back in a couple of days, though. Heather, perhaps you could pick me up at the airport? I’ll get a taxi out there, but they aren’t always easy to come by when you land. I’ll leave a set of keys for the Jaguar. It is insured…’
Heather wanted to protest that she had no intention of driving his car, nor of picking him up, but just in time she remembered why she had embarked on this venture in the first place, and said dulcetly instead, ‘I’ll try to make sure I’m there on time.’
She saw Kyle look at his watch.
‘I’d better go.’
He turned to kiss her mother, and automatically Heather stepped back from him. She saw that he had not missed the significance of her withdrawal when he looked grimly at her, but he said nothing, turning instead to her father.
‘I’ll see you when I get back.’
The comparison between her father, so tired and grey in his hospital bed, and Kyle, so full of vitality and health, tore at Heather’s heart. She had to turn away to hide the sudden shimmer of tears filming her eyes. She hated anyone to see her cry, and Kyle most of all.
‘Remember,’ he told her quietly, as he turned to leave, ‘I expect to find you installed in the house when I come back.’
‘I can’t tell you what it’s meant to us to see Kyle again,’ her mother said quietly once he had gone. ‘It’s done your father so much good, and the fact that he’s insisting on buying the company has lifted such a weight from our shoulders. He says he’s told you all about his plans.’
Surely that wasn’t a touch of wariness in her mother’s voice? It hurt just to think that her parents might be apprehensive of her reaction to Kyle’s takeover.
‘Yes, yes, he has, and I think Dad’s done the best thing,’ Heather said firmly. ‘I must say that I’m looking forward to starting my new job.’
She managed to sound so enthusiastic that she even surprised herself, but it was worth the deceit to see the smile of relief in her mother’s eyes, as her whole expression lightened.
‘Oh, darling, I’m pleased for you. You were wasting your talents with the company. This job with Kyle will open up a whole new way of life for you. Are you excited about the New Year’s Eve “do”? From what Kyle was telling me about it, it promises to be a fabulous event.’ Heather frowned, and her mother checked herself, and bit her lip. ‘Oh dear, he hasn’t told you, has he? He must have wanted to keep it as a surprise.’