her and changing the subject so she doesn’t get too anxious,’ Julia said. ‘Thanks, Toni. It’s appreciated.’
‘No problem. One of us will come out to see you tomorrow,’ Toni said, ‘and Archie and I will see you next Monday afternoon.’
* * *
‘She’s a smashing girl, Toni,’ Mr Fellowes said. ‘She used to work in a big London hospital. We’re lucky to have her.’
The nurse practitioner had come here from London, too? And it was unusual to move from a hospital to a general practice. Had she been burned out, in London? Ben wondered. Or had there been some other reason why she’d come here? Even though they’d clashed, Ben had been very aware of her—and, despite his intentions never to get involved with anyone again, he found that she intrigued him.
Mr Fellowes went on to answer the unspoken question. ‘She came home to help her sister look after their grandmother when she became ill. Lovely woman, Betty Butler. Her girls did her proud.’
Which sounded as if Toni and her sister had been brought up by their grandmother. Which was none of his business, Ben reminded himself. He wasn’t going to ask what had happened to her parents, or why her grandmother had needed looking after, or if her grandmother was still around. It was nothing to do with him.
‘She’d do anything to help anyone, our Toni.’
Which told him that the nurse practitioner was kind as well as being popular. He felt another twinge of guilt. Maybe he’d overreacted a bit about the dog. Or maybe he’d overreacted because he’d noticed the colour of her eyes and his awareness of her had spooked him slightly because he hadn’t noticed small details like that about anyone for the last two years.
‘That’s good to know,’ he said neutrally, and guided the conversation back to the ulcer on Mr Fellowes’ lower leg that refused to heal.
* * *
Toni dropped the blood sample into the surgery. She wasn’t sure if she was more relieved or disappointed not to see the new GP again, which unsettled her slightly. If he was a hotshot London doctor like Sean had been, he was the last person she wanted to spend time around. And yet there was something about him that drew her.
She shook herself, and drove to the car park by the beach. She changed into her running shoes, slung a bag over her shoulder with two bottles of water and a bowl for the dog, then clipped his lead on and took him to the dog-friendly side of the beach before letting him off the lead again so he could bound along the sand.
The tide was halfway out; she followed the dog down to the shoreline, enjoying the freshness of the slight breeze coming off the sea and the swishing sound of the waves against the sand. Running produced the usual endorphins; by the time they’d run along the shore and then back to the car park, she was feeling much less grumpy than she had after her run-in with Ben Mitchell.
She picked up a home-made apple pie at the beach café and a sausage for Archie, then clipped the dog into his harness on the back seat and drove to her sister’s house.
Stacey greeted her with a hug. ‘Perfect timing. The kettle’s hot.’
‘Lovely. I’m dying for a mug of tea. And I brought pudding.’ Toni kissed her sister and handed over the apple pie. ‘How’s my best niece?’ she asked, lifting Scarlett out of her bouncy chair and giving her a cuddle.
Scarlett giggled and plastered a mushy kiss to Toni’s cheek. ‘Tee-to!’
Scarlett-speak for Auntie Toni; Toni was so glad she’d stayed in Norfolk and had the chance to watch her niece grow up instead of going back to London, when maybe she would only have seen her sister once a month and missed all the important milestones in her niece’s development.
‘How’s your day been, Stace?’ Toni asked.
‘Good. We had toddler group this morning, and Mary brought her guitar in. Then we went for a picnic in the park. How about you?’
‘My usual Monday afternoon at The Beeches,’ Toni said. ‘Archie brought a smile to a few faces.’
‘That’s good. Though it must be bittersweet for you, going back and knowing Gran isn’t there any more,’ Stacey said softly.
Toni nodded. ‘It is. And I know you miss her, too.’ There was a lump in her throat. ‘She would’ve adored Scarlett.’ Except Betty Butler had died from pneumonia, the month before Scarlett was born. In some ways Toni had been relieved, because at last her grandmother was out of pain and confusion; but in others she’d been devastated. Another link to the past severed. If only Betty hadn’t developed dementia. If only their parents hadn’t died. They would all have loved Scarlett so much. And it must be even harder for her sister with all the might-have-beens.
‘Yes.’
Hearing the slight crack in her sister’s voice and knowing they were sharing the same regrets, Toni changed the subject. ‘The new doctor started at the practice today.’
‘What’s he like?’
Toni wrinkled her nose. ‘Your age, I’d say. Tall, dark and grumpy.’
‘Not handsome?’
‘I didn’t notice.’ It was a slight fib. Ben Mitchell was very nice-looking. Or he would be if he actually smiled. And his eyes were the same green as the sea on a spring day. Not that she should be focusing on that.
‘But grumpy?’ Stacey shook her head. ‘I can’t imagine Ranjit offering a place to someone grumpy. Someone like that just wouldn’t fit in at the practice.’
Ranjit Sidana, the head of the practice at Great Crowmell, was one of the nicest-natured men either of them had ever met, always full of smiles.
‘We clashed a bit.’ Toni rolled her eyes. ‘Over Archie. He didn’t approve of the dog being at the surgery.’
‘Maybe it was first-day nerves,’ Stacey suggested. ‘You know what Gran would’ve said. Give him time to settle in before you judge him.’
‘I guess.’
‘So what do you know about him? Is he married? Single? Any children?’
Toni heard the hopeful note in her sister’s voice and sighed inwardly. ‘I have absolutely no idea. All Ranjit told us about him was that he’s moved here from London.’
‘Like you did.’
‘From another practice, rather than a hospital.’ And the reason why he’d moved from the capital to a quiet country practice was none of her business. ‘Even if he isn’t involved with someone, I’m really not interested, Stacey. You don’t have to hope that he’s a potential date for me. I don’t want to date anyone.’
Stacey squeezed her shoulder. ‘You know I worry about you being alone.’
‘I’m not alone. I live in the same village as the best sister and brother-in-law and niece in the world, I have plenty of friends locally, and I have Archie to keep me company at home.’
Stacey raised an eyebrow. ‘Thank you for the compliment, but you know what I meant. Surely you’d
