you still working in London?’
He looked up when she spoke, trying to control the surge his pulse gave as his eyes alighted on her face. Although he had been out with a number of extremely attractive women since they’d parted, he had never been tempted to have a long-term relationship with any of them. A few dates and that was it: finito. In fact, he’d gained a bit of a reputation amongst his friends as being a ‘love them and leave them’ kind of guy. He always laughed off the accusation by claiming that he simply hadn’t met the right woman, but now he realised the truth was far more complicated. He had never met anyone who could match up to Emma.
It was an unsettling thought and he tried not to dwell on it as he answered her question. ‘Yes. It’s a busy practice, lots of variety, and I get on well with the rest of the team so I’ve not been tempted to leave.’
‘And they don’t mind you taking time off to work here?’
‘No. They were very sympathetic, in fact,’ Daniel replied, wondering what was behind her sudden interest.
‘It must have caused a problem when you had to drop everything without any warning, though,’ she persisted. ‘Didn’t you say that Uncle Jim had asked you to cover from the end of the month originally?’
‘That’s right. Fortunately, our practice manager was able to juggle the timetable and fit it in.’ He shrugged. ‘It’s worked out quite well, actually. I had some leave owing, so I’m using it up.’
‘Really?’ Her brows rose. ‘You had six whole weeks of leave stored up?’
‘One of the senior partners was pregnant last summer and we couldn’t get locum cover for part of her maternity leave,’ he explained. ‘I offered to carry my leave forward. It’s lucky I did as it turns out.’
‘Hmm, very lucky indeed.’
Daniel frowned when he heard the scepticism in her voice. He wasn’t sure what had caused it and before he could ask, the telephone rang. He stood up before he was tempted to explain that it wasn’t the first time he hadn’t taken his full holiday entitlement. It always seemed like a waste of time, taking time off, when he could be working. Although he had never been driven by personal ambition, he wanted to learn all he could so he could help the people who relied on him for their care. That aim had become even more important since he and Emma had parted.
‘I’ll get that,’ he said briskly. It wouldn’t help the situation to dwell on how much his life had been influenced by what had happened between him and Emma. ‘It’s probably Ruth checking that there’ll be a surgery tonight. Morning surgery had to be cancelled so I expect it will be busy this evening.’
‘I’ll give you a hand when I get back from the hospital,’ Emma offered.
‘That would be great.’ He smiled at her, relieved that she was willing to do her bit to maintain the peace. ‘Thanks.’
He went out to the hall to take the call. As he’d expected, it was the practice receptionist, Ruth Hargreaves. He assured her that surgery would go ahead as scheduled and hung up. There was no sign of Emma when he went back to the kitchen but he heard a car starting up and looked out of the window in time to see her driving away. She hadn’t bothered saying goodbye but why should she? So far as Emma was concerned, she would do what had to be done and that was it. She wasn’t going to suddenly want to become his best friend and he didn’t blame her. He had hurt her badly and the worst thing was knowing that he could never atone for what he had done. Even if he told her the truth, and even if by some miracle she believed him, it was far too late to get back what they’d had.
The waiting room was packed when Emma got back shortly after five p.m. Aunt Margaret had decided to stay the night at the hospital so Emma had come back on her own. Ruth was on the phone when she went in, looking unusually harassed. Emma waited until the receptionist finished the call.
‘Problems?’
‘Oh, just the umpteenth person phoning to see if we’re open.’ Ruth rolled her eyes when the phone rang again the second she put down the receiver. ‘That’ll be another one. I’m sorely tempted to take the wretched thing off the hook!’
‘I don’t blame you.’ Emma smiled sympathetically. ‘I’m helping out tonight so you can send the next patient in to me when you get the chance.’
‘Will do.’
Ruth snatched up the receiver as Emma made her way along the corridor. There were two consulting rooms and she guessed that Daniel would be using the one her uncle normally used. She made her way to the other room and switched on the light. The room hadn’t been used very often since her uncle’s partner had retired some years ago. Although Uncle Jim had tried to find a replacement, few doctors had been keen to relocate to the area. The younger ones thought the town too quiet to consider living there permanently, while the older ones weren’t willing to cope with the difficulties of the job.
As well as caring for the townsfolk, the practice provided care for the people living on the outlying farms. Some home visits could be extremely difficult to reach, especially during the winter months. The few candidates who had applied for the post had soon lost interest when they’d discovered what the job had entailed, so in the end her uncle had given up advertising and run the surgery single-handed. However, if the number of patients in the waiting room was anything to go by, it really needed more than one doctor to run the practice.
It was something that needed thinking about in view of her uncle’s health, Emma decided. However, there was no time to worry about it right then. A knock on the door heralded the arrival of her first patient, a young woman who looked vaguely familiar. Emma smiled at her.
‘Please sit down. I’m Dr Roberts. I’m helping out while my uncle is in hospital.’
‘Oh, I remember you!’ the young woman exclaimed. ‘You were in the same class at school as my sister—Cathy Martindale. Remember her?’
‘Of course I do.’ Emma laughed. ‘No wonder you look so familiar. You’re very like Cathy. How is she, by the way?’
‘She’s fine. She lives in Leeds now with her husband and her two little boys.’
‘Tell her I was asking about her, will you?’ Emma picked up the folder of notes that the girl had brought in with her. ‘So, Judith, what can I do for you today?’
‘It’s my periods, Dr Roberts. They’re so heavy and irregular that they’re causing me a real problem. I also suffer the most awful pain in my tummy and lower back each time it happens.’
‘I see. How long has this been going on?’ Emma asked.
‘About a year now. I came off the Pill eighteen months ago because my husband and I want to start a family. My periods were very erratic after I stopped taking it, but I thought everything would settle down once the drugs were out of my system. Instead, it’s just got worse.’
‘Have you had any other symptoms? Pain on having intercourse, perhaps?’
‘Yes.’ Judith blushed. ‘I’ve never had a problem before, but recently I dread making love with David because it’s so uncomfortable.’
‘Which doesn’t help when you’re hoping to have a baby,’ Emma said sympathetically, standing up. ‘I’ll just check your blood
