Trust Me - Sheryl Browne Page 0,32
shook her head, blew her nose and dabbed at her eyes. ‘No,’ she said, with a shaky breath. ‘I’ll be okay, Dr Merriden. Thank you for being so kind.’
He didn’t assure her it was just part of his job. She needed genuine kindness right now. And he really did feel for her. ‘Come and speak to me if you need to. Any time.’ He gave her shoulders a squeeze. ‘Just let Emily or Nicky know I’ve okayed it and we’ll fit you in.’
She managed a tremulous smile. ‘I will.’ She nodded and got to her feet. ‘You’re a lovely man, Dr Merriden,’ she said, leaning to give him a hug. Hugging would definitely be deemed bad protocol, but Jake was reluctant to step away, given how upset she was. ‘Emily is a lucky woman,’ she added, easing away herself after a second to pick up her bag.
Jake hid a rueful smile as he followed her to the door to open it for her. He doubted Emily was thinking herself lucky right now. He had no idea what her thinking was, apart from the fact that she clearly thought he was the biggest bastard that walked the earth.
‘Take care,’ he said, making sure to offer Zoe a reassuring smile as she left.
Going back to his desk, he debated for a second, and then decided to take the bull by the horns and ask Emily to come into his office. He would never normally do that unless he needed a female present for patient examination purposes. Usually he would go out to reception, but he was desperate to talk to her on her own, out of earshot of the kids, and try to establish what evidence she had to back up her accusations. At least then he would have some idea what he was dealing with. Right now, he had no clue. Or what to do about it. Everything he said seemed to make the situation worse. His emotions were all over the place, see-sawing between bewildered and bloody petrified. What if he couldn’t convince her he wasn’t cheating on her? What then? It was true he’d been neglecting his family lately, but they meant the world to him and he couldn’t bear the thought of losing them. Losing Emily. She’d been the one constant in his life. The only thing he’d kept going for at one point, when he’d felt that the dark cloud that dogged him was closing in on him. The nightmares had been relentless for years after his mother’s death, never a night where he didn’t relive the day he’d walked into the hall and his world had stopped turning. He’d never confided his fears to anyone but Emily, who’d always been there for him, always supportive. He needed to remind himself of that. He prioritised making time for his patients, to listen and try to read between the lines. He needed to do the same with his wife and attempt to put things right, if only she would let him.
His gut churning, as it had been since this whole thing started, he braced himself and picked up the phone.
Two minutes after he’d called through to reception, Emily appeared, looking cautious. She was looking good, he noticed, in leather boots with leggings. She was wearing make-up and her hair was in some sort of updo. It looked nice. He wanted to compliment her, but he really didn’t know how she would take that. It was as if he didn’t know her any more. She was like a different person. Whatever her thinking was, she was behaving strangely. She was clearly unwell, and he was worried.
‘Was it something important?’ she asked. ‘It’s just that with only the two of us out there and Fran coming in later to do her cleaning, we’re a bit backed up.’
Noting the formal tone, Jake sighed inwardly. He guessed that Fran would be talking the hind leg off a donkey, as she always did, and he knew Emily and Nicky had their work cut out without a much-needed extra medical secretary to take on some of the load, but … ‘Yes,’ he said, getting to his feet again to walk around her and close the door, ‘it is important. Extremely. Assuming you think our marriage is important, that is?’
Emily’s eyes immediately shot to the floor. ‘I’d rather not discuss our personal problems here, Jake. It’s inappropriate,’ she said, taking a step towards the door.
Jake had his back to it, however, and inappropriate or not,