And sympathy.
And something more?
Something he didn’t understand.
But he didn’t want this woman in his house. He didn’t want anyone in his house.
He didn’t want anyone in his life!
And who was Ernest?
He was saved by the waiting-room bell. Marion, his receptionist, had ushered Nell into his surgery but with the last patient safely with Blake, she’d felt free to leave, so there was no one out there to see what the problem was.
‘I need to see who this is.’
She glowered. ‘There’s no need to sound pleased. We haven’t come to an arrangement.’
‘Afterwards,’ he told her, and opened the door with real relief.
CHAPTER TWO
AS A rescuing angel, Ethel Norris didn’t quite make the grade.
She was a massive woman, weighing close to twenty stone. Normally well groomed and cheerful, she was anything but well groomed now. Her clothes were soiled. Her mass of grey curls looked as if it hadn’t been brushed since she’d climbed out of bed this morning and her cheeks were grubby with tearstains. She looked up as Blake entered the reception area, and the look she gave him said it was the end of her world.
‘Oh, Dr Sutherland. Dr Sutherland…’ She put her face in her hands and sobbed as if her heart were breaking.
‘Hey…Ethel.’ He guided her to a chair and pushed her into it, then knelt before her and pulled her hands away from her face. ‘What is it?’ His eyes were on hers. He was totally focussed on her distress, unaware that Nell had followed him to the door and was watching.
‘I can’t… I couldn’t…’
‘You couldn’t what?’
‘I broke.’ She took a ragged gasp. ‘And I’ve been doing so well. I’ve lost four stone and you were so pleased with me. My clothes have been getting looser and looser, and then all of a sudden I couldn’t go on. I dunno. I sort of snapped. I went out and bought everything I could find. Ice cream. Biscuits…’ She took a searing gulp. ‘Not just one. Tubs and tubs of ice cream. Packets and packets of biscuits. I’ve stuffed myself stupid, and I’ve been sick but not sick enough. I’ll have put all my weight back on and I can’t bear it.’
‘Ethel, you can’t have put it all back on.’
‘I have.’ It was a wail of agony.
‘How long have you been dieting?’ Nell’s voice cut across both of them.
Blake flashed her a look of annoyance but Nell seemed unconcerned. In fact, she appeared not to even notice.
‘You must have been dieting for ever to lose four stone,’ she said in a voice of awe. ‘That’s fantastic.’
Ethel looked up at her, her attention caught. Well, how could it not be caught by purple patchwork?
‘Don’t mind me. I’m just another doctor,’ Nell told her blithely. ‘I’m Dr Sutherland’s new associate. But losing four stone. Wow!’
‘I haven’t—’
‘How long have you been dieting?’
‘Six months.’
‘And this is the first time you’ve cracked?’ Nell’s voice remained awed. ‘Six months of solid dieting! I never heard of such a thing. That’s fantastic.’
‘But now I’ve ruined it.’
‘How have you ruined it?’ Nell’s eyes took in the vastness of the woman’s figure, and her sharp intelligence was working overtime. Ethel must have had a serious eating disorder over many years to account for so much weight. ‘It’s my guess that eating a few tubs of ice cream wasn’t a rare occurrence before you started dieting,’ she said softly. ‘You did it often—right?’
‘Yes. But—’
‘But now you’ve had a day off your diet.’
‘I wasn’t just off my diet.’ The woman wailed. ‘I binged.’
‘Well, I don’t blame you,’ Nell said stoutly. ‘If I’d lost four stone in six months then I’d binge, too.’
‘Dr McKenzie.’ Blake was glaring at her. This was his patient. She had no business butting in.
‘Yes, Dr Sutherland?’ She gave him her sweetest smile. ‘Am I saying what you were about to say? I’m sure I am. I understand all about diets. I’ve been on ’em ever since I was a kid.’
‘You?’ the woman whispered, and Nell chuckled.
‘Yeah, well, I’m not on one now. As you see, I’m a bit pregnant and it’d be bad for baby. But as soon as I stop breastfeeding I’ll be back to dieting. I just have to look at a tub of ice cream and I gain a midriff.’
‘But nothing like me.’
‘But not like you,’ Nell agreed. ‘I’d imagine you and Dr Sutherland have talked about the underlying problems—why you got so big in the first place.’
‘Yes, but—’
‘But nothing.’ Nell crossed to Blake’s side. She stooped and elbowed him aside. ‘Dr Sutherland, this is women’s business.’
He glowered. ‘How can it be women’s business?’
‘Have you ever dieted?’ She looked up and down at his long, lean frame. ‘Marathon man.’
He was taken aback. ‘No.’
‘There you go, then.’ Another sweet smile. Then she turned back to Ethel. ‘You know, losing the amount of weight you need to lose to be healthy is going to take a couple of years.’
‘I know that. That’s why it’s so terrible…’
‘That you broke? No. That’s why it’s understandable. And there’s no way you’ll have gained four stone in a one-day binge. You won’t have come close.’ Nell smiled. ‘You know, I’m watching my weight while I’m pregnant, but I can’t do it all the time. I’d go stark staring mad. So I give myself days off.’
‘Days off?’
‘Like Christmas.’ Nell’s voice was totally serious now. She had eye contact with Ethel and she wasn’t letting go. Woman to woman. ‘Christmas is in two weeks. I can last until then, but I intend to eat way too much on Christmas Day. Far too much. Then on Boxing Day I’ll think how much I enjoyed it and get on with being sensible.’
‘But—’
‘But there’s lots more time to go before you hit an ideal weight,’ Nell agreed. ‘More so for you than for
