Free Heart Surgeon in Portugal by Anna Ramsay Page B

hooded sweat-top. She ripped the incriminating envelope into tiny shreds and pushed it to the bottom of the kitchen waste bin.
    Anyway it was lovely of Emma to write to her, to take the trouble. They had met through brother Jon when he was dating the red-headed physiotherapist. Though the romance had ended perfectly amicably, the two girls had already formed a friendship, and Ellie had been rather sorry it came to nothing as she would have loved to have Emma as a sister-in-law and part of the family. But Jon was Jon and his girlfriends were legion; he stayed on good terms with most of them, but he wasn’t planning on settling down any time soon …
    Ellie took the letters into the formal salon - so different from a chintzy English drawing-room, and settled down on the big wooden couch, her iPod stuffed in the pocket of her linen shorts and her bare feet wedged among the cushions. First she ripped open her mother’s foolscap envelope and with a sigh of thanks pulled out a fat wadge of printed recipes. A yellow sticky note with her mother’s red-ink writing was attached to the top page and Ellie read it and laughed aloud. Good old Mum! She leafed through the recipes and knew she’d have to go through them carefully and make a shopping list … but mañana . That could wait for tomorrow.
    Eager to catch up with Emma’s news she snuggled down with the long handwritten letter.
    Dear Ellie,
    Thanks for the texts! Sounds like you’re having a brilliant time with RH. Thought I’d send a proper letter - see if I still know how to do joined-up writing (seeing I spend most of the day filling in forms while the patient sits there hoping eventually they’ll get some hands-on physiotherapy.) Did it give you a thrill seeing your name and qualifications written on the envelope? I bet it did!
    Ellie’s lips curved in a rueful half-smile. More of a heart attack, Emma dear.
    Wish I could get out of London - come and see you and lie out in that lovely SUN. Must be doing you the world of good. And I do love the name of your place. Casa de la Paz - can just picture it, calm and peaceful and relaxing. (Not sure how calm I’d be seeing RH in Speedos - that man is well fit.) Fancy your not knowing who he was on the plane. That is just hilarious.
    (Huh! muttered Ellie)
    Saw your big brother yesterday and said I was going to do you a proper letter. Jon says give his regards to RH and don’t worry about your Mum and Dad, they’re fine and not missing you at all (ha ha, much). Big hugs for your little self,
    Emma xx.
    Ellie pulled out a tissue and blew her nose punishingly hard to stop herself from crying. Hugs and kisses weren’t coming her way these days.
    All of a sudden she was overwhelmed with homesickness and the longing for a familiar face. She re-read Mum’s note, picturing her sitting all alone at the kitchen table, red pen in hand as she marked a French dictée, the house empty - Dad on tour with his orchestra, Jon up at the hospital, and her only daughter far away in a distant land. For a few moments Ellie lay there sniffling a bit, then her eyelids began to flutter and her letters floated to the floor as she drifted into a dreamless sleep …

 

Chapter Five
    A t Dr Flora’s urgent request, Rafe had spent a Michelin-starred evening wining and dining some of the most influential couples in the region. If the wealthy philanthropists now following him back to the Casa for a nightcap had been disappointed by the absence of the surgeon-in-charge of the Centre, their elegant manners concealed this.
    But Rafe could tell they were a bit wary of a cardiac surgeon from London asking them to subsidise a new Theatre wing for the local Cardiac centre. He’d told them that for the past three summers he’d been coming out to train their surgeons; that it was vital for the Centre to keep up with the latest technology. They seemed to be on board…but until he got feedback from Flora, nothing was certain. And she wanted to action this