Page 30 of Welcome to the Cornish Country Hospital

Bringing Brenda to the autumn fundraising fete for the hospital was always a risk. There were too many catering options available, and far too many opportunities for Brenda to attempt a hamburger heist as a result.

‘Are you going to be on our team, Danni?’ Esther’s father, Patrick, raised a questioning eyebrow. ‘I hope so.’

‘Is that because you think I’m the ideal build to be the anchor of a tug-of-war team?’

‘No, it’s because I’ve never met anyone as determined as you. Which is why, sweet girl, I always make sure you’re on my team at games night.’ Patrick winked and Danni laughed. It was true they were always paired up for the infamous games nights Esther’s parents hosted. Danni might be almost as competitive as Patrick, but she’d argue he took the overall crown, given that he’d once ended up dislocating his shoulder trying to win a game of Twister. He’d even insisted on carrying on with the games night after Danni had managed to pop it back into place. His wife, Caroline, had only allowed it on the proviso that the Twister mat went straight into the wheelie bin.

‘I’d love to join in, but I can’t trust Brenda. She’s got the scent of barbecuing meat all around her and, even if I tie her up, she’s more than capable of pulling a fence post out when she gets on the trail of something.’

‘Could one of your colleagues have her for ten minutes? We need you!’ Esther’s mum, Caroline, wrapped an arm around Danni’s waist. ‘Patrick knows he’s got to have me and Esther on the team, but having two members who barely pass the minimum height is not going to cut it. We need some leverage.’

‘Is that all I am to you, the height factor?’ Danni laughed again, knowing the real reason Caroline and Patrick were so determined to include her was because they considered Danni a member of their family. More often than not, her own mother would forget special occasions, like her birthday, but there was always a thoughtful gift from Caroline and Patrick. They’d never met Danni’s father, but along with Esther, they always remembered the date of his passing too. They’d send flowers, or chocolates, with a note saying they hoped it would give Danni a lift. And Caroline always texted too, checking that Danni was okay and telling her they were always there if she needed someone to talk to.

It was obvious where Esther got her warmth and empathy from; she’d been surrounded by it her whole life. And Danni loved her best friend’s parents almost as much as she loved Esther. All of which meant it had been a relief when she’d discovered Lucas wouldn’t be at the fundraiser. She didn’t want him there, tainting the relationship she had with Esther and her family. Ever since he’d told her how he felt at the hospital, she’d dreaded the time when she had to face him again. His confession had been too raw, too real and too risky, and it had made her more certain than ever that nothing could happen between them, whatever decision Lucas ultimately made about his relationship with Esther. Danni had expected to feel sad about letting go of the fantasy, but now her overriding emotion was of shame that she’d ever allowed herself to consider it. When he’d played on having been the only one to truly love her since her father’s death, she’d almost fallen for it. But the truth was that Esther had done that long before either of them had met Lucas. She didn’t know how she could ever have risked that, even if she’d tried to rationalise it by telling herself she only wanted a relationship with Lucas if Esther stopped loving him first.

‘We’ve got Gary and Aidan as well. So our team is a mix of A&E staff and Hamilton family members, with me and Danni qualifying on both counts.’ Esther shot her a smile and Danni felt some of the tension drain out of her. In the twenty-four hours since Lucas had pinned her up against the wall, she’d driven herself half-mad with the idea that Esther might somehow know what had happened.

‘We’re up against the midwives.’ Aidan moved closer to the group and lowered his voice, as if he was about to impart some terrible secret. ‘I asked Gwen to be on our team, but she chose them and it’s a mixture of midwives from St Piran’s and some from the unit in Port Agnes.’

‘There’s eight of them in total, so we’ll need to find at least one more person.’ Gary began scanning the crowd as he spoke. ‘I saw Debbie, one of the healthcare assistants, just now. She’s always down the gym, and she could turn out to be our secret weapon.’

‘Good call.’ Aidan looked at his watch. ‘But we’ve only got ten minutes, so you’d better go and find her.’

‘I’m on it.’ Gary disappeared into the crowd of people milling around the stalls flanking the ‘showground’ on all four sides. In truth, it was just a fenced-off square in the middle of the meadow behind the hospital, which had been loaned to the fundraising team by the landowner, and had been freshly mown to host the inaugural Friends of St Piran’s fundraiser. Gwen and her team of volunteers who ran the shop had come up with the idea and done most of the organisation for the event and the showground was hosting a series of activities, from a dog show to a dance display, and of course the tug of war competition. But the biggest draw of all would be the stall selling the homemade blackberry ice-cream Gwen was famous for, not to mention the blackberry gin she recommended washing it down with.

‘Did you manage to track down Richard’s effects?’ Danni had texted Aidan, asking him to find Richard’s clothes and the missing letter, once she was on her way to Charlie’s place in the taxi. She’d needed to get away from Lucas, and the hospital, but she hadn’t wanted to break the promise she’d made to Richard. The letter Connie had sent him was too important to be left to chance, and it had been up to her to make sure he got it.

‘Would I let you down?’ Aidan raised his palms. ‘I found them within five minutes of you running out of the place like your arse was on fire and made sure I got all his stuff to him before he was taken to the CDU.’

The clinical decisions unit was a short-stay ward, where Richard could undergo further testing before a decision was made about admitting him. It was a relief to know that by the time Danni went into work the next day, he would have read the letter and had the chance to go and speak to Connie face to face if he wanted to. Danni was just praying it would all work out between them. They’d both sacrificed a lot in the past, but they had the chance of getting to know one another again and, even better, of getting to know their son. ‘I knew I could count on you.’

‘Always, now it’s your turn to make sure we can count on you and get someone to look after Brenda, while we show the midwives who the winners are.’

‘What about him?’ Patrick pointed to someone behind Danni. ‘He looks trustworthy and he’s already proved he’s a dog lover.’

Turning around to see who Patrick was pointing at, Danni smiled. ‘Oh perfect, it’s Charlie.’

‘Charlie, eh?’ Aidan looked in his direction. ‘I must concur. He does look pretty damn perfect. And how exactly do we know this Charlie?’

‘He’s the son of one of my patients.’ Danni hoped she sounded more nonchalant than she felt, but Charlie had a weird effect on her. She might only just have met Charlie, but he’d already helped her see the situation with Lucas in a different light and accept that it wasn’t her responsibility to sort out the problems between him and Esther. So, even if this turned out to be the last time she ever saw Charlie, she’d always be grateful that they’d met.

‘Well, go on then, ask him to look after Brenda.’ Aidan put his hand in the small of Danni’s back, forcing her to move forward.

‘Hi, Charlie,’ she called out and waved her hand at the same time, as if there was a chance of him not seeing her, despite the fact he was less than twenty feet away.

‘Hi.’ He smiled, and crouched down as he got to where she was standing, stroking Brenda’s head. ‘And hi to you too, beautiful girl.’

‘Bet you wish he was saying that to you.’ Aidan nudged Danni’s side, his stage whisper so unsubtle it made her face go hot.

‘I need to ask you a favour.’ She hoped pretending she hadn’t heard Aidan would make Charlie assume he was talking to someone else.

‘If it’s within my power, and it’s legal’ – Charlie smiled as he stood up to face Danni – ‘consider it done.’

‘Could you look after Brenda for about ten minutes, please? I’ve been roped into the tug of war contest, and I don’t trust her not to go on a raiding mission of the food stalls while I’m gone.’

‘Roped in, I see what you did there.’ Charlie was still smiling, despite assuming the terrible pun she’d accidentally made had been intentional. ‘Maggie and I would love to keep Brenda company, and cheer your team on, of course.’

‘Have you got any pom-poms you could shake for us?’ Aidan pushed his sunglasses down his nose so he could look over the top of them at Charlie.

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