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CHAPTER TWO

WHEN Megan awoke the following morning the first thing that came to mind was Luke appearing in the sunset with a bottle of wine. Thinking about it, she wished she could have been a bit less stilted in her manner, but surprise and unease had been responsible for that.

And in the light of day the unease was back. She wasn’t going to be able to cope with being on tenterhooks all the time in case the matter of the Valentine card came up, and she decided reluctantly that the best thing to do was take the bull by the horns and mention it herself.

That way it would be over and done with. She would be able to work alongside him more comfortably when she’d reassured him that the card had just been the result of a youthful crush. It was going to be the first thing she did when she got to the surgery, she decided. She would mention it casually, poking wry fun at herself, and it would be over.

She was using her mother’s room for consultations and Connie, the cleaner, had been asked to come in over the weekend to give the room that had been her father’s a good spring clean, ready for Luke’s arrival.

Megan had to smile when she saw it. Everywhere was immaculate. Connie had even put flowers on the window-sill and a fresh box of tissues for any patient who might be distressed during a consultation. All it needed now was the arrival of its new occupant.

It was a quarter past eight. In fifteen minutes the wheels would start turning and another day at the Riverside Practice would begin. Luke needed to get a move on. She wanted to introduce him to the staff and put him in the picture as to how the surgery was run before he settled himself behind the desk in the room that had been prepared for him.

He arrived just before eight-thirty, looking nothing like the man who’d toasted their partnership the night before. There was a tightness around his mouth and his tie needed knotting into place.

‘I am so sorry,’ he gasped. ‘I intended being here early, but while I was under the shower those lads started playing Sue up, and once I’d sorted them and they’d ambled off to school, she began to cry. I couldn’t leave her in that state, so I hung on until she’d calmed down.’

He flashed a wry smile. ‘Does it sound as if I’m whingeing? I’m sorry if it does. The process of helping them adjust to losing their dad is not going to be easy. I’ll tell you later what Oliver got up to last night.’

She nodded and thought, So much for putting the Valentine episode to bed. It would have to wait.

‘I’ll introduce you to the staff first,’ she told him, ‘and then a quick run through procedures. I’m sure the patients won’t mind waiting a few moments longer.’

There were three receptionists, all efficient middle aged women, and after they’d smiled their welcome, Megan took him into the nurse’s room where Pat Howarth, heading for retirement and dreading it, ruled the roost. Working alongside her was Kath Storey, a young mother of two little girls, who showed a less dominant attitude towards staff and patients.

The practice manager was Anne Faulkner, a quiet woman with accountancy qualifications, who rented the apartment above the surgery.

Connie, the cleaner, was absent. After her labours over the weekend Megan had told her to take the day off.

While the introductions were being made Luke was pleasant and friendly, but he didn’t miss a thing. He’d smiled when he saw the flowers on the window-sill and said, ‘You didn’t have to do that, Megan.’

‘I didn’t,’ she told him. ‘It was Connie, the cleaner. She came in over the weekend to make the place spick and span for you.’

‘Really? That was very thoughtful. Was it her idea?’

‘No, it was mine.’ Connie wasn’t going to get all the praise, she decided. ‘How about I start morning surgery while you wander round and watch us in motion? Maybe you could have a word with Anne, the practice manager, who can answer any questions you might have on the admin side. Then when I’ve finished we could join up for the house calls.’

‘Sure,’ he said easily. ‘Whatever you say. And I promise that by tomorrow I will be up to speed.’

‘I’m sure you will,’ she told him, and left him to it.

* * *

When they met up just before midday Megan said, ‘I suggest that we do the visits together for a few days. It will give you the opportunity to find your way around and meet some of the people in the village.’

Megan was driving, and as they headed along quiet roads lined with old stone cottages, their gardens full of colour, she told him about their first patient. ‘Our first stop today is going to be at the home of my aunt, Isabel Chambers. And I feel I must warn you that she has a sharp tongue and doesn’t wrap up her words. She’s in her early seventies and has diabetes. But she’s a strong woman. She’s been on her own since her husband died forty years ago. They never had any children.’

She turned right up a leafy lane. ‘I call to see her every Monday, just to make sure that she’s all right, and that nothing regarding her health is going haywire. It’s the house next to the old water mill on Rabbit Lane. We’ll be there in a moment.’

As they walked up the path that led to the front door of a large stone house Luke saw that it was unlatched and a voice called from inside, ‘Come in. Megan.’ It belonged to a small grey-haired woman sitting facing them in a rocking chair and as bright eyes looked him up and down she said, ‘So you’ve brought the new doctor to see me, Megan.’

‘Yes, I have, Aunt Izzy. This is Luke Anderson. He and I are going to be running the practice from now on.’

‘I see,’ she said, and held out her hand for him to shake. ‘You look all right to me,’ she told him, taking in the height of him, and added to Megan, ‘But I can see you getting a crick in your neck having to keep looking up.’

‘I’m sure we’ll manage,’ she said quickly, dreading what was coming next.

She had cause to. ‘Have you brought a wife and some young ’uns with you?’ she asked Luke, and he shook his head.

‘I’m afraid not,’ he told her. ‘I’ve come to look after some young ’uns but they aren’t mine.’

‘Dr Anderson is related to Sue Standish,’ Megan told her aunt. ‘He’s come to give her some support.’

‘Hmm. I see,’ she said, then turned her sharp eyes on Megan. ‘And who’s going to look after you, lass? I told your mother and father they’d no right leaving you like that.’

Concealing her mortification Megan said, ‘I don’t need minding, Aunt Izzy. I’m twenty-nine years old.’

‘Maybe,’ the old lady said crustily, ‘but you’ve been left with the practice to see to and a stranger to deal with.’

Megan saw Luke turn away to hide a smile and thought, enough is enough. ‘I’ve come to check on your health, Aunt Izzy,’ she said firmly. ‘So let’s see what the diabetes has been up to. I’m going to test your blood pressure, and see what your blood-glucose levels are. And while I’m here I’ll have a quick look at your feet.’

‘All right,’ she agreed, ‘but don’t rush me. Go and take a walk round the garden while I take my shoes off.’

‘I’m so sorry,’ Megan told him as they stood among summer’s flowers. ‘Aunt Izzy means nothing by it, but her comments can be misconstrued.’

‘You mean like the one about the stranger who is going to be a millstone around your neck,’ he said quizzically. ‘I promise I won’t be that. I’ll have to see if I can dredge up some charm from somewhere to win her over.’

Megan looked away. Since they’d met up again she was seeing another side to the man who’d shown such scant interest in her Valentine card, and charm was high on the list as far as she was concerned.

When the weekly check-up was over and she’d assured her aunt that all was well, Isabel nodded and turned her attention to Luke.

‘I hope you’re going to fit in here,’ she said dubiously. ‘You look more of a town dweller than a countryman.’

‘I’m going to fit in, Mrs Chambers,’ he told her firmly. ‘Have no doubts about that.’

* * *

As Megan drove to their next call, with Aunt Izzy’s comments ringing in her ears, she felt that a change of subject was required and said, ‘So tell me what young Oliver was up to last night.’

‘I caught him halfway out of his bedroom window at gone midnight, all set to meet his friend Mikey.’

‘Oh, dear!’

‘Yes, indeed,’ he agreed.

‘So what did you do?’

‘Nipped his nocturnal activities in the bud by bringing him back inside and making a deal with him.’

‘What sort of a deal?’

‘I promised I would go mothing with them tonight, as that’s what they were intending doing.’

She was laughing. ‘Ooh! That sounds exciting. Catching moths in a net.’

He raised his eyebrows. ‘It’s a better scenario than the kid being out in the fields without supervision at dead of night, don’t you think?’

She nodded, serious now. ‘Yes, of course. Young ones never see danger, do they?’

‘No, they don’t. Can you imagine the state Sue would have been in this morning if she’d found his bed empty? Her nerves are in shreds as it is, and there’s something else.’

His tone was warning her that it wasn’t a minor matter and she said slowly, ‘What is it?’

‘Some friends who live in France have invited her and the boys to stay with them for a few weeks for a change of scene. She’s dead keen to go, but it would mean taking Owen and Oliver out of school and these days parents are in big trouble if they do that.’

‘Surely it wouldn’t be frowned upon in the circumstances.’

‘Maybe not, but the lads don’t want to go, and in any case Sue doesn’t want them missing school.’

She could guess what was coming next. ‘So?’

‘So I’ve told her to go and leave them with me.’

‘And what did she say to that?’

‘Jumped at the chance. It’s just what the poor girl needs. To get away for a while without any worries regarding her children.’

‘So she’s going.’

‘Hmm. She was checking flights when I came out.’

‘Sue does realise that you being part of the practice is a big responsibility?’

‘Yes. I’m sure she does.’

‘And having those two mixed-up boys to look after on your own could be an even bigger one, and then there’s the business.’

‘Am I being told off?’ he asked. ‘You think I won’t be pulling my weight at the practice.’

‘No, of course not,’ she assured him, a bit too hastily. ‘It’s just that I feel Sue could have waited a while. You’ve been in the village less than twenty-four hours.’

‘I appreciate that the practice comes first with you,’ he said, and now his tone was cool. ‘But those kids didn’t ask to lose their father and they are at a difficult age in any case. I thought you might have understood that.’

‘Of course I understand,’ she flared. ‘But think about it. You’ve been part of the practice for just over two hours and all you’ve thought about are your family problems.’

‘So maybe you should wait and see how I perform,’ he suggested in the same cool tone.

‘Maybe I should,’ she told him, and as they did the rest of the house calls neither of them had any further comments to make.

When they’d finished and were driving back to the surgery, Megan broke the silence to ask, ‘Do you want to stop off somewhere for a quick sandwich and a drink? There’s The Badger in the village and a tearoom not far away.’

‘I suggest we call in at the tearoom,’ he replied. ‘Doctors propping up the bar in the lunch-hour doesn’t seem quite right, even if we are only drinking coffee.’

‘Fine by me,’ she said dismissively.

They ate in silence and when they’d finished and were back at the practice he said levelly, ‘I’m ready to take my share of the afternoon surgery. If there’s anything I’m not sure about regarding the way things are done, I’ll ask.’

‘Yes, do that,’ she told him, and went in and closed her door.

This is dreadful, she thought. We haven’t even got through Luke’s first day at the practice and we’re at loggerheads. No one was more sorry for Sue and the boys than herself, but was her friend being fair to him?

When she’d known Luke before it had been his looks and status that had attracted her, but since he’d arrived in the village she was seeing another side to him. He was compassionate and caring, and in consequence thought her to be only interested in her own affairs. He hadn’t said it, yet she knew it was what he was thinking. But she was relying on him to help her run the practice. Would he always be there when he was needed if Sue went ahead with her plans?

* * *

‘How did it go?’ she asked when the late surgery was over.

‘Just a couple of hitches,’ he said calmly, ‘but the receptionists sorted me out. There was no need to disturb you.’

She could feel herself getting rattled again at the display of cool competence. It would be interesting to see how alert the new doctor at the practice was when he’d been up half the night mothing, she thought as she drove homewards.

* * *

She made a meal of sorts, but left most of it uneaten as the day’s events took over her mind. Luke was going to be a liability, she thought sombrely. He’d admitted that he’d taken the position in the practice to be near Sue and the boys and she’d seen nothing wrong in that.

But at that time she hadn’t expected he was going to be left in sole charge of Owen, Oliver and the garden centre at the back of Woodcote House. Somebody was going to have to keep an eye on the business and he was the obvious choice, being family and already on the premises.

Where on his list of priorities was the Riverside Practice going to come? she wondered dismally. And where would she come? In spite of her annoyance at what she saw as being let down by him, the old attraction was still there and it wasn’t going to go away.

But it wasn’t sexual chemistry that was her main concern at that moment. Her parents had left with an easy mind, believing that between them the practice would be in safe hands, and today had made her doubt if that was going to be the case.

* * *

Megan wasn’t the only one thinking sombre thoughts about the day that was past. When she’d left for home Luke had told the staff that he would lock up, and when the place was empty he went into his room and stood gazing thoughtfully out of the window.

It was a fantastic view in anybody’s book. The peaks rising ruggedly in the distance, and closer the quaint village street with shops that made the uniformity of supermarkets seem soulless and synthetic.

He could see Megan’s point of view. Understood that she felt he was going to be a loose cannon instead of a reliable partner. Sue going away for a prolonged holiday on her own was something he hadn’t bargained for, yet he could see the wisdom of it. As well as support, the boys needed a firm hand at the moment and she was not in a fit state to provide it, but he was.

As to the business, he would concern himself about that when he had to. At the moment it was running smoothly. The staff were loyal and ready to help the grieving young widow in any way they could.

His main concern now was to convince Megan that he wasn’t going to let her down and after her annoyance of earlier in the day he suspected it wasn’t going to be easy.

* * *

At almost the same time as the evening before, Megan heard footsteps on the flagging outside, but this time it wasn’t just one pair of feet, there were others, and she wasn’t out in the garden, watching the sunset. She was hunched on the sofa, staring into space.

A knock on the front door brought her to her feet and, putting the chain on, she opened it warily. Her eyes widened when she saw the trio standing in her porch. Oliver was smiling across at her with a boy she didn’t know by his side, and standing behind them was Luke.

‘We wondered if you’d like to join us,’ he said. ‘It’s a lovely night, perfect for mothing.’

She had to laugh. If this was a peace offering, it was original.

‘I might if you’ll give me time to put on some sensible shoes and tell me what I have to do,’ she told him.

‘No problem,’ he said equably. ‘We’ll wait by the gate. We’ve walked up across the fields and our trainers might be muddy.’

When she appeared minutes later in jeans and a white cotton shirt that would stand out in the darkness, Oliver produced a net for her. She observed it blankly and asked, ‘So what do I do?’

‘We catch the moths in the net,’ he told her. ‘There are lots of them flying around in the dark, and when we shine a torch they are attracted to the light.’

‘And what then?’

‘We keep them in a jam jar so they can’t get away, but Uncle Luke says it’s cruel. So we’re going to let them go when we get home.’

‘Right,’ she said gravely, and saw Luke’s teeth flash whitely as he smiled in the fading light.

‘Are you sure you want to come, Dr Marshall?’ Oliver’s friend asked.

‘Absolutely,’ she assured him. The irritations of the day had disappeared when she’d seen Luke on her doorstep.

As they walked along behind the two boys he said in a low voice. ‘Have you noted the time? Half past nine. No midnight excursions. It’s part of the deal.’

‘You seem to have Oliver eating out of your hand at the moment.’

‘Yes, but will it last?’ he said dryly.

They were out in the fields for an hour and although Megan didn’t catch many moths it was nice to be with Luke again in the quiet night. She stumbled over a tree root and his hand came out to save her. His clasp on her arm was the first time he’d touched her and it felt good. Whether he was experiencing the same sensation she didn’t know. He wasn’t showing it if he was.

When they got back to Woodcote House it was time to release the fluttering prisoners from the jam jars and, as they flew off into the night, Megan said, ‘I don’t know how they survived without air.’

‘They had air,’ Oliver assured her. ‘Mikey and me, we punched holes in the lids.’

The lights were on in the house and Luke said, ‘Sue will still be up.’ He sent a wary glance in her direction. ‘She’s busy packing. Do you want a word?’

‘Yes, why not?’ she said as all her forebodings came back to the surface, and they both went upstairs to Sue’s room.

‘So you are off to France, Luke tells me,’ she said after the two women had greeted each other.

‘Yes,’ Sue replied, looking perkier than she’d been in weeks.

‘And the boys aren’t going with you?’

‘No. I don’t want them to miss school.’

‘So you’re leaving Luke to see to things while you’re gone.’

‘Yes. He says everything will be fine.’

‘I’m sure he does.’ She gave her friend a swift kiss on the cheek and said, ‘Have a lovely time, Sue. Maybe when you come back you’ll be a little nearer to facing a future without Gareth.’

Forlorn once again, Sue whispered, ‘I hope so.’

Having looked uncomfortable while the conversation was taking place, Luke spoke into the silence that followed and said, ‘I’ll run you home, Megan.’

As he went to find his car keys Megan knew she couldn’t leave Sue like this. Putting her arms around her, she said gently, ‘It can only get better. You’ve been at rock bottom, the way now is upwards. I’ll do what I can to help Luke while you’re away.’

* * *

‘So?’ Luke said as he drove up the hill towards her cottage. ‘Am I still in trouble now you know that Sue is definitely going to France?’

‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘I really don’t know. I was ashamed back there because I wasn’t being as supportive as I should. Yet I still feel that you are letting me down by taking on this huge burden of responsibility.’

‘So you feel that nothing has changed since our few heated words in the lunch-hour.’

‘Yes and no. I’ve had a lovely time mothing with you and the boys, and presume you delayed telling me that Sue was almost ready to leave because you didn’t want to spoil things.’

‘Correct, and spoil things it has, hasn’t it?’

She didn’t reply to that. ‘I can’t think straight,’ she said wearily as he pulled up in front of the cottage. ‘I ought to be praising you for your kindness and tolerance instead of complaining, but I can’t. I’ll see you in the morning, Luke. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.’

He quirked a dark eyebrow in her direction and commented wryly, ‘It can hardly be worse, can it? I may as well tell you the whole thing where Sue is concerned. She’s flying out of Manchester tomorrow at ten o’clock in the morning, and before you ask, no, I have not offered her a lift to the airport. A taxi will be picking her up. She needs to be there at least two hours before the flight, and if I took her it would make me late for morning surgery.’

‘By all means feel free to let me know that I’m selfish and opinionated,’ she said tightly as she got out of the car. ‘Goodnight, Luke.’

* * *

He did not want it to be like this, Luke thought grimly as he returned to Woodcote House. He wanted to get to know the student from way back, who was now a country GP. When he’d agreed to stay with his sister and keep an eye on the boys, the last thing he’d anticipated had been being left in complete charge of them and the business almost as soon as he’d arrived in the village.

He also hadn’t expected that an old attraction was about to rekindle. Life with Alexis had made him loth to get involved in another relationship, but now he wasn’t so sure.

Back at the cottage Megan was admitting to herself that part of her annoyance was pique, because in the kind of life that Luke was planning for himself in the weeks to come, there wasn’t going to be much room for her.

* * *

He was there before her the next morning and she wondered if he was trying to prove a point.

‘Did Sue get off all right?’ she asked, making no comment on his early arrival.

‘Yes. She’ll be killing time at the airport by now, I would imagine.’

‘And the boys?’

‘Breakfasted and on their way to school, and if you’re going to ask if I’ve washed the pots and made the beds, the answer is no. The breakfast things went into the dishwasher and, wait for it, I asked Sue to find me a cleaner and a housekeeper. So bedmaking will be part of her duties.

‘She didn’t tell me that she’d found me both, until late last night, and I did wish she’d mentioned it earlier. It would have made you feel less uncertain of me if you’d known, wouldn’t it?’

‘Yes, possibly,’ she said flatly. ‘Who are they?’

‘I haven’t met them yet, but the cleaner is Connie, and according to Sue she was grateful for the extra hours. The other person is someone called Rebekah Wainright. She’ll be working from twelve until six each weekday. Hopefully she will be there when I get home this evening so that we can introduce ourselves. But the main thing is that she’ll be around when Oliver and Owen come home from school. The last thing those two young ones need at the present time is coming home to an empty house.’

‘I know Rebekah Wainright,’ Megan said. ‘She’s a friend of Aunt Izzy’s, and a good soul. I’m glad for both our sakes that Sue sorted all that out before she left.’

It was another dawn, another day, she thought. If she’d known yesterday what he was telling her now, she wouldn’t have got herself in such a state. Now it was her turn to make a peace offering and, smiling across at him, she said, ‘Last night I told Sue I would do all I could to help while she was away, but I was in an awkward position, torn between my commitment to the practice and the problems of a friend. I hope you’ll forgive me, Luke.’

‘There’s nothing to forgive,’ he said quietly. ‘I let my longing to make life easier for Sue and the boys make me forget what I’m here for. And with regard to that, Megan, ten minutes to go and it will be time for the Riverside Practice to swing into action.’

‘How do you manage to be so good-humoured all the time?’ she asked as she perched on the corner of her desk and flipped through the mail. He didn’t answer and when she looked up his face was thoughtful.

‘It’s because I’m content, I suppose. I’m here in this beautiful place with those I care about. When we knew each other before I was not at my best. I was at the tail end of a divorce and disillusioned with womankind in general. But I’m over all that. Ready for new beginnings, and coming here is one of them.’

‘I see. Was that why you took such a dim view of the Valentine I sent you?’

It was out, she thought. She’d done the thing she’d been dreading and was waiting to hear what he had to say.

He shook his head. ‘It wasn’t like that. My first reaction was amazement when I found it on my desk amongst an assortment of others. For a few seconds I was flattered, until it dawned on me that it might be a joke. I remember that I handled it badly.’

‘They were all doing it,’ she said hastily, ‘and I thought I’d join in. It was a stupid thing to do, I’m afraid.’

‘Think no more of it. I’d forgotten it.’

It was a lie, of course. He hadn’t forgotten it, or her. But she wasn’t to know that and instead of being relieved to have cleared the air Megan was wishing she’d never mentioned it. She’d presented Luke with the opportunity to let her see she meant nothing in his scheme of things.

When she went to make a quick coffee before calling in her first patient, Megan saw Elise Edwards, who owned the village bakery, chatting to one of the receptionists.

‘I’m here again, Megan,’ she said, half laughing, half apologetic. ‘I’m haunting this place, aren’t I?’

She was a jolly, buxom woman in her mid-forties, who until recently had rarely been seen at the surgery, but that seemed to be changing. First there had been a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis that Elise could have done without. Then there’d been something suspect in the colon that had turned out to be benign, and as she wasn’t due for a check-up, it seemed as if there might be something new for her to fret about.

‘So you’re down on my list for today,’ she said, and Elise shook her head.

‘I’m afraid not. You didn’t have a free slot, so I’m seeing the new doctor. What’s he like?’ she asked Kathy, the receptionist.

‘Very nice,’ was Kathy’s reply, and as Megan went into the small surgery kitchen to make the coffee, she thought that was putting it mildly.

The only snag was that so far, not having said a wrong word, Luke was making her seem like some sort of a control freak, and it was the last thing she wanted him to see her as.