Bella had tried to talk to her father about it. She didn’t tell him about the phone call, she just tried a tentative query about the family in general that had led to a question about her grandfather.
Don’t even go there, her father had warned.Especially in front of Kate.
Even Bella hadn’t had the nerve to ask why not but she was thinking it. Did they not know that her grandfather had got himself sober? That he was full of remorse for whatever it was he’d done? That he wanted to at least start putting things right by apologising?
No wonder Bella was feeling shut out.
And cross.
Even crosser today because work had not gone well.
‘He’s unbelievable,’ she informed her aunt over dinner.
‘Who is?’
‘Mr Dawson. Oliver Dawson.’
‘The neurosurgeon?’
‘That’s the one.’ Bella’s scowl deepened.
‘What’s wrong with him?’
‘He shouted at me.’
‘Oh?’ Kate had stopped picking at her meal and looked at Bella. ‘What did you do wrong?’
‘Why do you assume that it was my fault?’
Kate actually smiled and Bella realised it was the first smile she’d seen for days. Oh, well. That was something, she supposed.
She rolled her eyes. ‘It wasn’t as if I was in there as a scrub nurse or anything. And the operation hadn’t even started yet. There was no reason for me to have done my mask up properly. I was nowhere near the table.’
‘What did Oliver say?’
‘That his theatre wasn’t some kind of nursery and if I needed to wear a bib I should go and find a day-care centre or something.’
Kate’s lips twitched. The kitten must have learned its name already because it jumped into Bella’s lap. Then it tried to climb onto the table. Bella lifted it clear before Kate could growl and she cuddled it under her chin.
‘He’s so stuffy,’ she went on. ‘Old and stuffy and… and…’
‘And very good at his job by all accounts,’ Kate said mildly. ‘And he’s younger than me, thanks very much. I don’t think he’s much over thirty, in fact.’
‘Well, he acts like he’s fifty.’
‘He’s conservative, certainly,’ Kate agreed. ‘But his upbringing probably has a lot to do with that.’
‘What – was he brought up in a monastery or something?’
Kate chuckled. ‘Not far off. Don’t you know about the Dawson family?’
‘No. Should I?’
‘One of the wealthiest families in Auckland. Pillars of society and all that. Oliver was an only child and his social responsibilities were probably drummed in from an early age. I suspect he has very high standards in everything he does and that’s why he’s such a good surgeon. And why he expects everybody else to follow the rules.’
Bella snorted. ‘I prefer people that break the rules occasionally. Like Connor.’
The sudden chill in the atmosphere was unmistakeable.
