Read Online Bachelor Cure by Marion Lennox - Free Book Online Page B

hospital.’
    â€˜You mean, that’s what Mike is?’
    â€˜Hey, I didn’t say that.’
    â€˜No, but…’ Tess hesitated. ‘Maybe you don’t have to. Mike has a medical practice which must take all his time and more, but somehow he organised his work so he could spend a night searching for Grandpa. When we arrived back here last night, there were two more patients to be seen before he went to bed, and I don’t have to ask why he was up so early this morning. He was paying now for his time off last night. He’s some doctor. He has the most wonderful car and the craziest dog…’
    â€˜Sounds like he’s won a heart,’ Bill said with a chuckle. Then, as a buzzer sounded down the hall, he grimaced and waved a hand in farewell. ‘Duty calls. I’ll leave you to your plans, then, Dr Westcott, and I’ll be very interested to know what they are.’
    â€˜And so will I,’ Tess muttered as the door closed behind him. ‘Because if you’re making plans around Mike, then you’re an airdreamer, Tess Westcott.’
    And then she swerved to look down at the bed. Henry was stirring—and he was watching her.
    â€˜An airdreamer…’ Henry’s voice was a slurred whisper, but it was enough. Tessa’s face burst into joy, and she buried her face into his shoulder.
    â€˜Oh, Grandpa…’
    â€˜I thought you were a dream,’ he whispered into her mass of hair. ‘My Tess. An airdream… Is that the same thing?’
    â€˜Nope.’ She lifted her head and looked at him, long and lovingly. ‘I’m real. I’m a hundred per cent accounted for. I was just making plans.’
    â€˜Plans?’
    â€˜Plans for me. Plans for you. And…’ she took a deep breath ‘…plans for Mike Llewellyn.’
    â€˜I see.’ The ghost of a twisted smile played on Henry’s face.
    â€˜I bet you don’t see at all.’ She lifted her grandfather’s gnarled old hand and rubbed it against her cheek. ‘I don’t see things very clearly myself. I only see that you’re alive. I have you back again.’
    â€˜And you’re here, girl. If you knew how much I’d wanted you…’
    â€˜Oh, Grandpa.’ Her voice broke with emotion. Then she caught herself and managed a glare. ‘Hey, haven’t I always told you to be careful? What do you mean by taking yourself off to that cave to have a stroke?’
    â€˜Is that what I’ve had?’ The left side of Henry’s mouth wasn’t working properly. Each word was a twisted effort. ‘A stroke?’
    â€˜Looks like it.’ Tessa’s voice softened and her hand gripped her grandfather’s with love. ‘It’s a mild one, but definitely a stroke.’
    â€˜Yeah?’
    â€˜Yeah. So, why the cave, Grandpa?’
    â€˜I was feeling lousy,’ he told her, his mouth forming each word with care. ‘I had a king-sized headacheI couldn’t shake. I knew you were ringing Saturday night so I took the afternoon to visit the cave. Just in case…’ He grimaced. ‘It was like…if it was something serious I could say goodbye.’
    â€˜So if it was something serious you could lie for five days without medical help!’
    â€˜Do you have to be bossy?’ Henry’s voice was a frail thread, and she chuckled.
    â€˜Yeah. You know me, Grandpa.’
    â€˜The original Miss Bossy-Boots.’
    He fell silent, exhausted, and it was ten minutes before he spoke again. Mike had told her to ring him when Henry woke but Tess resisted. There was time enough in the future to let the world break in. For now she was content to be alone with Henry.
    â€˜So what plans are you making for Mike Llewellyn?’ he whispered at last, and she started.
    â€˜Oh, nothing.’
    â€˜Tell me.’
    â€˜Well, it’s just that Mike is overworked, overgenerous and over-endowed with