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.
* * *
