Page 18 of Welcome to the Cornish Country Hospital

‘Yes, his fiancée, who also happens to be my best friend. So even if I was interested in him, which I’m not, I wouldn’t—’

‘I wasn’t talking about Esther.’ Aidan cut her off. ‘The only person Lucas is really in love with is himself. I realised it the first time I ever met him.’

‘What do you mean?’ Danni had picked up on the fact that Aidan wasn’t Lucas’s biggest fan, whenever he’d been down in A&E. But they were both big personalities, and that wasn’t always a good mix.

‘I heard him telling the daughter of the bus driver who died thathe’ddone everything he could to save her father’s life.’

‘Are you sure he didn’t saythe teamdid everything they could? That’s what I told Dave’s wife.’

‘I know what he said.’ Aidan folded his arms across his chest. ‘And I heard him call one of the kids he came to assess a little brat. It was under his breath, but I definitely heard it.’

‘He wouldn’t do that. He loves kids and he’s brilliant with them. Everyone says so.’ The skin on Danni’s scalp was prickling. She might be starting to question whether Lucas enjoyed taking risks by pushing the boundaries of their relationship, but she refused to accept that he wasn’t who she thought he was in every other way. She’d spent seven years loving him but, if what Aidan was saying was true, then she’d never really known him at all, and she didn’t believe that. She couldn’t.

‘Of course they do and that’s the whole point. It’s an act he puts on, but he’s not fooling me.’

‘I’ve worked with him for a really long time and I’d definitely have seen something.’ Danni’s determination to defend him was making her eyes sting.

‘There are none so blind as those who will not see.’ Aidan raised his eyebrows, and she’d been about to ask him what the hell he meant by that when a familiar voice cut through the noise around them.

‘Danni! I didn’t know if you’d still be here.’ Esther was making her way through the crowd of people to get to the bar. She didn’t have to push; the crowd seemed to part to make way for her, and in that moment it was obvious why Esther had never seemed insecure about the way people looked at Lucas, because they looked at her like that too. She had the sort of incredible bone structure that suited her pixie-style haircut perfectly. It would have made Danni want to chop off all of her own hair, if she hadn’t come to the conclusion a long time ago that she had a funny-shaped head. When she’d mentioned it to her hairdresser, he’d just laughed and said she was talking rubbish, but either way she couldn’t possibly pull off a haircut like that. The ability Esther had to turn heads probably explained why it had been so easy for her to get into the bar, too.

‘Aidan won’t let me leave and I had to beg to be allowed off the dance floor for a ten-minute break.’ Danni grinned, her body flooding with relief when she realised this was her opportunity to cut off the difficult conversation she’d been having with Aidan, especially once she was certain Lucas wasn’t with Esther. ‘I didn’t know you were coming.’

‘Neither did I.’ Esther wrinkled her nose. ‘But Lucas got called in to cover emergency surgery on a guy who’s had a motorbike accident. So it was a toss-up between coming here, to see whether Bar None really is the celebrity hangout it’s meant to be, or heading home and eating dinner alone… again.’

There was something in Esther’s expression that would have made Danni question her further if they’d been alone. She looked sad. It had only lasted for a split second before Esther had shaken it off, but Danni had seen it. As soon as she got the chance to speak to her, without Aidan listening in, she was going to do it. She couldn’t bear the thought of Esther being unhappy, and the prospect of that having anything to do with her and Lucas made her chest feel tight.

‘And you decided you didn’t want Danni’s average Friday night to become yours too!’ Aidan laughed, dropping a wink in Danni’s direction. He really was handing out his version of home truths like sweeties, but Esther was shaking her head.

‘Any excuse to spend time with my best friend works for me, and someone let slip that Gary’s dance moves became legendary after the Christmas party last year.’ Esther reached out and squeezed Danni’s hand as she spoke. She’d been protective ever since she’d learnt more about Danni’s past, and every time anyone made a joke about Danni’s private life, she always shot them down.

There’d been a paramedic called Craig when they’d worked in London, who seemed determined to paint Danni as some sort of Miss Havisham figure, ever since she’d turned him down at the Christmas party. He’d made little comments or digs whenever she saw him, and then there was the evening when one of the nurses had told anyone who’d listen that she’d got engaged on the holiday she’d just come back from. Craig had passed on his congratulations and then made a joke that the only chance Danni had of getting engaged would be if she proposed to her cat. She’d just rolled her eyes and chosen to ignore it, but it had been like someone had lit a firework underneath Esther. She’d charged towards Craig and, if Danni hadn’t managed to stop her, she wouldn’t have fancied his chances, despite the fact he was at least a foot taller than Esther.

When they’d spoken about it afterwards over a bottle of wine, and Danni had asked her why the comments had bothered her so much, Esther had said she couldn’t stand the thought of someone like Craig thinking he was better than Danni, just because she’d chosen to be on her own. Then she’d said something that Danni had never forgotten.

‘What that moron doesn’t seem to realise is that you could be with anyone you wanted. But you’ve chosen to be on your own, because you’d rather do that than be with the wrong person. One day you’ll meet someone who’s made exactly the same choices as you have, and stayed single until they met the right person. And you’d never take someone else’s right person away from them, even if you knew you could.’

For a moment Danni hadn’t known what to say, and her eyes had met Esther’s for less than a second, before her friend had laughed and topped up their glasses. ‘Sod that idiot anyway, any woman in their right mind would rather propose to her cat than end up with him.’

It couldn’t have meant anything, because if Esther had even an inkling of Danni’s feelings for Lucas, there was no way their friendship would have survived it. As for being on her own, most of the time it didn’t bother her. And Esther was right that she’d much rather be on her own than with the wrong person. But it would have been a lie to say she didn’t want to find someone to have a family with, and maybe it was time to be a bit more proactive, especially after what Connie and Gwen had said.

‘Gary’s moves more than live up to the hype.’ Danni couldn’t help laughing as she looked over to where he was dancing with Chloe and some of the other nurses. He looked a bit like someone making their way across the beach when the sand was too hot to stand on, hopping from one foot to the other. ‘But I was just thinking about making a move. Maybe I can pass the baton on to you and Aidan will finally let me leave.’

‘No way! If you’re heading home, I’m coming with you.’ Esther widened her eyes. ‘We haven’t had a girls’ night in for ages.’

‘It’s eleven already.’ Danni didn’t miss the look that crossed Aidan’s face and even she had to admit that it sounded like an excuse, especially as she wasn’t working the next day.

‘Ooh eleven o’clock, you party animal. Amy’s not going to be happy if you head off. Her goal for tonight was to get you and her a date for the fundraising ball. It might not be until December, but she seems to think the closer it gets, the harder it’ll be.’ Aidan gestured over to where Amy was still kissing Zach’s replacement. ‘It looks like she’s cracked it, but you’re going to have to go with Gary at this rate.’

‘I could do far worse.’ Danni took a deep breath; if she committed to it now, in front of Esther and Aidan, then she wouldn’t be able to back out. She looked towards her best friend. ‘Okay, you can come back with me for a late girls’ night in, if you promise to help me with something.’

‘Anything.’ Esther was already nodding. ‘What is it?’

‘I’m going to set up an online dating profile.’ It had been another spur-of-the-moment decision, but she’d been telling herself all night that she needed to do something drastic to change things between her and Lucas. This was something that would send a clear message to Aidan, Gwen, Connie and, most of all, Lucas, that her life in Cornwall wasn’t going to turn into a carbon copy of the one she’d had in London. ‘Amy’s right, I need a date for the fundraiser, but I don’t think meeting someone in a bar is going to work for me.’

‘Are you really going to do it? I can’t believe it.’ Esther looked like a kid on Christmas morning as she turned towards Aidan. ‘I’ve been suggesting she should do this for years.’

‘So why now?’ Aidan narrowed his eyes and Danni let out another long breath.

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