Beth felt her nerves tighten. She was actually holding her breath as she waited for him to continue.
‘We desperately need more cover here, though. It was hard enough when there was just Eleanor and me, but now that I’m on my own, it’s impossible to keep on top of all the work. I’ve been trawling the agencies to find a locum but there’s nobody suitable willing to work in this part of the world.’ He sighed. ‘Beautiful countryside can’t hold a candle to the bright city lights, it seems.’
‘It must be difficult,’ she murmured, wondering where this was leading. Daniel rarely prevaricated and that he was doing so now set all her internal alarm bells ringing.
‘It is. Which is why I was delighted when I had a phone call from someone I not only know can do the job, but who will also get on with the rest of the team.’ He looked her straight in the eyes. ‘Callum has asked if he can have a job here, Beth. While I know he’s ideal, I don’t want to cause any problems for you, so it’s your call. What shall I tell him?’
* * *
Callum switched off his phone, stunned by what he had just heard. Daniel had called to say that the job was his if he still wanted it. Daniel had been quite blunt when Callum had asked him if there was a vacancy. He had made no bones about the fact that he would need to ask Beth how she felt about Callum working at the surgery. It was the fact that she had agreed that surprised him most of all. Did it mean that she was willing to give him another chance?
He cut that thought dead. There could be a dozen different reasons why Beth had agreed to him working at The Larches, so he shouldn’t go jumping to conclusions. He had spent three wretched days, too wrapped up in his own misery to think clearly. Then, gradually, his mind had started to clear and he had realised what he needed to do. He wasn’t going to give up. He was going to find a way to convince Beth that he cared about their daughter. Maybe he would never be able to convince her that he cared about her too, but he had to accept that.
Staying in Beesdale was the first step and he couldn’t believe his luck when he heard someone mention in the pub one night that the surgery was desperately in need of another doctor. He had phoned Daniel immediately and explained that he was back in Beesdale and looking for a job. Although he hadn’t gone into detail, he had also explained about the delay in receiving Beth’s letter. It had obviously reassured Daniel to some extent, but he had still added the proviso that he would need to consult Beth before he could take Callum on. And it appeared she hadn’t raised any objections. Even though Callum had told himself not to leap to any conclusions, he couldn’t help it.
If Beth had hated the idea of him staying in Beesdale then she would never have given the go-ahead for him to work there.
* * *
Beth found herself starting to relax once she had seen her first patient. Whether it was the shock of hearing that Callum intended to stay in Beesdale or first-day-back nerves, she had felt incredibly tense when she had arrived at the Hemsthwaite surgery. However, focusing on her patients’ problems had soon taken her mind off everything else, even if it was only a temporary reprieve. She buzzed in her next patient, smiling when Diane Applethwaite came into the room. Diane and her husband, Phil, ran a highly successful sheep farm. Their lamb was renowned throughout the Dales for its quality and flavour. With seven children, plus a brand new grandson on the way, Diane was a very busy woman. She was always full of life so Beth was surprised to see how down she looked that day.
‘Hello, Diane. Come and sit down.’ Beth waited until the other woman was comfortably settled. ‘So what can I do for you?’
‘I’m not sure what to tell you, Dr Andrews. I just feel so tired all the time, as though I’ve got no energy left.’ Diane sighed. ‘It’s not like me at all. Phil must be sick of me moping about all over the place. That’s why I came to see you.’
‘I see. Do you have any other symptoms apart from feeling tired?’ Beth asked, mentally running through a list of possible causes. Anaemia was a possibility as a lot of women suffered from that, especially if their monthly periods were heavy. She glanced at Diane’s notes and checked her age: forty-eight. It could be the menopause, of course; that could cause a wide range of symptoms from tiredness through to mood swings. Hormone replacement therapy could help if that were the case, although it was too soon to make a diagnosis.
‘Not really.’ Diane hesitated. ‘Although I’ve felt sick a few times too.’
‘Anything else?’ Beth prompted when Diane paused again.
‘Well, I’ve not had a period for a while.’ She grimaced. ‘I used to be regular as clockwork but in the past year, I’ve been all over the place. Do you think it’s the change, Dr Andrews?’
‘It’s possible, Diane. You’re forty-eight and it could very well be the start of the menopause. We’ll do some tests, check your hormone levels, and see what they show.’
Diane nodded. ‘I thought it might be that. To be honest, I’ve been dreading it. My mum was terrible when she went through the change, had these awful hot flushes and she was so bad tempered too. I’d hate to think that I’ll be like that.’
‘There’s no reason why you should take after your mother,’ Beth said consolingly. ‘Every woman is different, plus there’s HRT these days, which can help enormously to alleviate the worst symptoms.’
‘Is it safe, though? I’ve read so many conflicting reports about HRT that I’m not sure if I want to take it or not.’
‘That’s your decision and I certainly wouldn’t try to force you to take it,’ Beth assured her. ‘However, in my opinion, it’s extremely safe and very helpful too.’ She stood up, not wanting to appear to be pushing Diane into making a decision right then. ‘Let’s take some blood and see what that shows before we go any further.’
Beth took the sample, deciding it was easier to do it herself rather than ask Diane to wait to see Jane Barton, their practice nurse. Once the tubes were clearly labelled, she popped them into an envelope ready for the courier to collect at lunchtime. ‘We should have the results back in a week or so. In the meantime, I’m going to prescribe a course of iron tablets to help with the tiredness. I think you may be a little anaemic—the blood results will show if you are—and the iron will help.’
‘Let’s hope so. It’s a busy time of the year for us and I could do with a bit more energy. I’ll definitely need it when our Sam and Lauren have the baby,’ Diane declared, sounding much brighter than when she had arrived.
‘It won’t be long now,’ Beth agreed, thinking how much it could help to talk through a problem. She sighed inwardly, wondering if she should have talked to Daniel about the problem she had with Callum before she had agreed that he could work at The Larches. Maybe it would have helped a bit, she acknowledged, but at the end of the day it was something she had to resolve by herself. She fixed a smile to her mouth, not wanting to think about her own worries. ‘Are you looking forward to being a grandmother?’
‘That I am. It seems an age since there was a little one running around the place,’ Diane said with a laugh. ‘Steven, my youngest, is seventeen now and at least a foot taller than me. He’s certainly not a baby any more!’
Beth laughed as she saw Diane out. She worked her way through the rest of the list then went to Reception to wait for the courier. There were several more tests that Jane had collected so she handed them over as well. They closed for lunch but there was an open surgery in the afternoon, plus a visit by the local optician. Hemsthwaite Surgery might be smaller than The Larches and open for fewer hours,
