as the eggshell-blue skirt and pearl-grey matching twin set she wore. You had to hand it to the woman, Phoebe conceded reluctantly. She looked sexy in the most conservative of outfits. Perhaps I’d warm to her more if she ever had a hair out of place... Then again...maybe not!
‘I knew her,’ she confirmed. ‘Penny was my twin sister.’ She was tired of subterfuge, and if the blonde imagined the truth made her some sort of threat it was just too bad.
The pencilled eyebrows almost disappeared into Ellen’s hairline, and her smile became even more strained and fixed.
‘Really. You were twins?’ Ellen looked as if she was adding two and two. The results of her mathematical calculations appeared to make her extremely unhappy.
Phoebe nodded.
‘Identical?’
Another nod.
‘How strange it must be for Connor, seeing you.’
Tell me something I don’t already know. ‘You’d have to ask him about that.’
‘I probably shall. Connor does tend to confide in me...’ She gave a small smug smile which managed to neatly implant the idea that he did more than confide...
‘Then he really must have changed,’ Phoebe responded briskly. ‘Because the Con of old was always ridiculously strong and silent—you couldn’t prise information out of him with a crowbar!’
‘And do you like your men strong and silent, Phoebe?’
‘A piece of wood is strong and silent,’ she replied, shamelessly fudging the issue because a cosy girlie chat this was not! ‘Actually, Ellen...’ She glanced pointedly at her watch. ‘I must be going,’ she explained, hoping the woman wouldn’t make demands of her imagination by enquiring what tryst required her urgent presence. She doubted whether a cocoa really qualified.
‘Of course.’ Like royalty, Ellen indicated her gracious permission had been granted by a slight inclination of her head. ‘But tomorrow I’d like to have a word about some of your prescribing. We do have a drug budget to keep within, you know...’
‘I don’t prescribe anything that isn’t necessary,’ Phoebe replied, her hackles rising at the implication that she was reckless in her prescribing.
‘But if there’s a cheaper alternative?’
‘I’d prescribe it if it was the most effective treatment.’
‘That’s all well and good, but the partners rely on me to keep an eye on such things.’ She gave another of her superior little smiles. ‘We have to prioritise...’
Phoebe, who had heard all the arguments and stillwasn’t convinced, nodded. ‘You prioritise, I’ll treat people.’
Still seething from her encounter with Ellen, Phoebe stomped down the corridor past Will’s door. A light shone underneath. Desperate or not, she was going to tell Will she couldn’t stay on the extra time he wanted her to. She wouldn’t work with that woman for a moment longer than necessary!
‘Can I have a word, Will? Oh, sorry, I thought you were alone,’ she mumbled, unable to control her instinctive reaction to duck furtively back out of the door.
‘Phoebe, the very girl... We were just talking about you.’
‘You were?’ Feeling extremely foolish, she leant against the wall, gently banging her head against the paintwork. ‘I was just...’ Just making myself look a complete prat, that’s all. ‘See you in the morning.’
‘No, don’t go! It’s only Con.’
That was the problem! A term didn’t exist that could sufficiently cover the degree of gladness she’d experienced on seeing Connor. It involved every hair on her head, every blood cell circulating in her veins. Of course, she wasn’t totally stupid—though some might dispute that, she ruefully conceded. There was also dismay, awkwardness...panic, but all paled into insignificance beside the soaring light-headed feeling of inappropriate joy.
‘So I see,’ Phoebe responded, taking a deep fortifying breathe before reluctantly re-entering the room. The men were seated behind Will’s desk, several patient files open before them. The
‘I knew her,’ she confirmed. ‘Penny was my twin sister.’ She was tired of subterfuge, and if the blonde imagined the truth made her some sort of threat it was just too bad.
The pencilled eyebrows almost disappeared into Ellen’s hairline, and her smile became even more strained and fixed.
‘Really. You were twins?’ Ellen looked as if she was adding two and two. The results of her mathematical calculations appeared to make her extremely unhappy.
Phoebe nodded.
‘Identical?’
Another nod.
‘How strange it must be for Connor, seeing you.’
Tell me something I don’t already know. ‘You’d have to ask him about that.’
‘I probably shall. Connor does tend to confide in me...’ She gave a small smug smile which managed to neatly implant the idea that he did more than confide...
‘Then he really must have changed,’ Phoebe responded briskly. ‘Because the Con of old was always ridiculously strong and silent—you couldn’t prise information out of him with a crowbar!’
‘And do you like your men strong and silent, Phoebe?’
‘A piece of wood is strong and silent,’ she replied, shamelessly fudging the issue because a cosy girlie chat this was not! ‘Actually, Ellen...’ She glanced pointedly at her watch. ‘I must be going,’ she explained, hoping the woman wouldn’t make demands of her imagination by enquiring what tryst required her urgent presence. She doubted whether a cocoa really qualified.
‘Of course.’ Like royalty, Ellen indicated her gracious permission had been granted by a slight inclination of her head. ‘But tomorrow I’d like to have a word about some of your prescribing. We do have a drug budget to keep within, you know...’
‘I don’t prescribe anything that isn’t necessary,’ Phoebe replied, her hackles rising at the implication that she was reckless in her prescribing.
‘But if there’s a cheaper alternative?’
‘I’d prescribe it if it was the most effective treatment.’
‘That’s all well and good, but the partners rely on me to keep an eye on such things.’ She gave another of her superior little smiles. ‘We have to prioritise...’
Phoebe, who had heard all the arguments and stillwasn’t convinced, nodded. ‘You prioritise, I’ll treat people.’
Still seething from her encounter with Ellen, Phoebe stomped down the corridor past Will’s door. A light shone underneath. Desperate or not, she was going to tell Will she couldn’t stay on the extra time he wanted her to. She wouldn’t work with that woman for a moment longer than necessary!
‘Can I have a word, Will? Oh, sorry, I thought you were alone,’ she mumbled, unable to control her instinctive reaction to duck furtively back out of the door.
‘Phoebe, the very girl... We were just talking about you.’
‘You were?’ Feeling extremely foolish, she leant against the wall, gently banging her head against the paintwork. ‘I was just...’ Just making myself look a complete prat, that’s all. ‘See you in the morning.’
‘No, don’t go! It’s only Con.’
That was the problem! A term didn’t exist that could sufficiently cover the degree of gladness she’d experienced on seeing Connor. It involved every hair on her head, every blood cell circulating in her veins. Of course, she wasn’t totally stupid—though some might dispute that, she ruefully conceded. There was also dismay, awkwardness...panic, but all paled into insignificance beside the soaring light-headed feeling of inappropriate joy.
‘So I see,’ Phoebe responded, taking a deep fortifying breathe before reluctantly re-entering the room. The men were seated behind Will’s desk, several patient files open before them. The
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