City Doctor, Country Bride

by Abigail Gordon

  ‘Do you want to come in and eat with us?’ Henrietta asked uncomfortably when they eventually pulled up in the drive outside The White House. ‘Kate always leaves stacks of food.’

  He shook his head, the coolness back once more. ‘No, thanks. She’ll have made a meal for us at my place.’

  Henrietta nodded, then on impulse stepped up to him and hugged him. ‘Thank you being there for us once again,’ she said softly, and, looking into his surprised dark gaze, she cupped his face in her hands and kissed him gently on the mouth.

  ‘Very nice,’ he said in the same cool tone. ‘But make up your mind, Henrietta.’ He moved away from her and said, ‘Take care, and don’t forget to make sure that all is secure before it goes dark.’

  She nodded. So much for seduction. But was a man like Matthew going to recognise a fleeting kiss as that?

  When the children were tucked up for the night and she was about to go downstairs, Keiran said, ‘You’ll have to marry Uncle Matthew now.’

  ‘Why will I have to do that?’

  ‘We saw you kiss him, didn’t we, Mollie?’

  Almost asleep after the day’s events, his sister mumbled, ‘Yes, we did, Aunt Henny. Shall I start collecting rose petals?’

  ‘Not just yet. There’s no rush. People who are just friends kiss each other too, you know,’ she told them, trying to keep a straight face. ‘Now, sleep well.’

  Alone in the sitting room with the summer night closing in around her, Henrietta was deep in thought. She’d made the first move towards letting Matthew see how she felt, but it hadn’t been easy and a swift peck on the lips wasn’t going to get her far.

  She would have her hair cut, she decided. Instead of the long swathe of it down her back. She would have a shorter, more feminine style that took the attention off her height.

  And clothes. Once the children were on the long summer holiday from school they would have a day in the city centre and do some intensive shopping, she was deciding when there was the sound of the door to the patio opening and a strange voice called, ‘Anybody there?’

  When she hurried to investigate there was an unkempt, bearded man framed in the doorway, weather-beaten, and dressed in clothes that had seen much wear and tear. Immediately Matthew’s warnings about security came to mind.

  ‘Where’s the missus?’ he asked as Henrietta observed him unsmilingly. ‘She usually sorts me out some grub.’

  It was almost dark and she switched on the kitchen lights quickly. ‘Who are you?’ she asked, trying to sound cool with the thought of the children sleeping up above and this fellow only a few feet away.

  ‘Mark McIvor is the name. I sleep rough. I’m here because the lady of the house gives me food when I’m passing this way. Good food it is, too, and while I’m in the village the doctor down at the practice checks me over.’

  Henrietta relaxed slightly. ‘You mean Dr Cazalet?’

  ‘Aye, I do.’

  ‘What does my sister usually give you?’

  ‘Milk, bread, meat, cake if there’s any going spare, and anything else that’s surplus. Where is she?’

  Not entirely convinced by what he was saying, there was no way that she was going to let him see that Pamela and Charles weren’t around, so she said, ‘They’ve just gone down to the village and will be back any moment. I’ll see what I can find you.’

  With a speed that came from apprehension she filled a plastic bag with food and handed it to him.

  He touched his tattered hat. ‘Thank you kindly, miss.’ As he turned to go he said, ‘Will it be all right if I bed down for the night at the other side of the bottom hedge? I won’t make a mess.’

  ‘Yes, I suppose so,’ she told him doubtfully, and the moment he’d gone she phoned Matthew.

  ‘Henrietta,’ he said flatly.

  ‘There’s been a man at the patio door,’ she said, trying to sound calm.

  ‘I take it that the door was locked?’

  ‘Er, no,’ she said awkwardly.

  ‘Are you insane?’ he bellowed. ‘It’s almost dark. Where is he now?’

  ‘Gone to sleep at the bottom of the garden. He was dirty and weatherbeaten and said that every time he passes this way Pamela gives him some food, which sounded reasonable enough, but I want to be sure he won’t harm us.’

  ‘I don’t believe I’m hearing this.’

  She could hardly tell him that she’d forgotten to lock the door because she’d been daydreaming about him. But she needed to know if it was true when the man had said that Matthew knew him.

  ‘He says that he—’

  ‘I’m not interested in what he says,’ he interrupted. ‘I’m on my way.’ And the line went dead.

  She hadn’t wanted him to come over. All she’d needed was to know if he knew this Mark McIvor, but he hadn’t given her time to ask.

  All right, she knew she should have locked the door, and this was going to be another black mark against her. But did Matthew have to be so scathing about it?

  The homeless man’s appearance was the last thing she’d been expecting. It was surprising that Pamela hadn’t warned her about his visits. She would have been less taken aback then.

  Remembering how Matthew had been there for them at the hospital earlier, it was as if he was doing everything right and she was doing everything wrong.

  CHAPTER NINE

  AS HE drove the short distance to The White House, Matthew’s expression was sombre. He had let himself fall in love with Henrietta. Had come out from behind the protective shield that he’d lived behind since losing Joanna, and now was as vulnerable as any other man whose heart had been captured by a woman.

  She was always in his thoughts. He was aware of how alone she was, in spite of having her sister and her family in her life, and was constantly wanting to be near her. Aching to make love to her. All feelings that had been long dead until she’d appeared on the scene.

  Was this new love, this crazy passion he’d developed for Henrietta, going to turn him into some sort of a puppet dancing on a string? he wondered. He may have been miserable before, but at least he’d been able to sleep at night.

  When he arrived, the windows were blazing with light and dominating the landscape in the summer dusk. All appeared to be calm, but it wasn’t what was going on from the outside that mattered. He wanted to know what was going on inside, that Henrietta and the children were safe.

  ‘Where is this man now?’ he asked the moment she opened the door.

  ‘There’s smoke coming from the bottom of the garden,’ she told him, ‘so I imagine he’s cooking himself a meal from the food I gave him. He had an old frypan with him.’

  ‘Is he? We’ll see about that. I’m not having him hanging about round here while you and the children are on your own,’ he said tightly.

  ‘He says he knows you.’

  About to go charging down the garden, Matthew stopped in his tracks.

  ‘He knows me?’

  ‘Yes. He said his name is Mark McIvor.’

  ‘Ah! Of course! Old Mark always appears in these parts in the late summer. If you’d said he’d told you who he was, I wouldn’t have got so steamed up.’

  ‘I would have done if you’d given me time, but you put the phone down and set off for here as if I’m some sort of witless creature who can’t cope.’

  ‘The day will never dawn when I think that,’ he said with a tight smile. ‘So why did you phone me, then? Why do that if you didn’t want me to come? Were you expecting me to just go to bed after what you’d told me?’

  ‘I admit that I was a bit apprehensive when he first appeared,’ she said, not to be placated. ‘But it was mainly on the children’s behalf. I’ve been in situations much worse than that when I worked in Manchester.’

  ‘There is no need to be so uppity,’ he pointed out. ‘If I’d known the full circumstances, I wouldn’t have interfered. Mark McIvor does appear around these parts about this time every year and he’s quite harmless, wouldn’t hurt a fly. I had n
o idea that he called here on his travels, otherwise it might have occurred to me to mention it. But top marks to your sister for helping the homeless.’

  ‘It’s good to know that one of us has your approval,’ she told him stiffly, ‘though it’s been a long time coming, as far as Pamela is concerned.’

  ‘So you don’t want me to be concerned about your welfare?’ he questioned, without taking her up on the comment about her sister.

  Of course she did, Henrietta thought miserably. She wanted them to look after each other, wrapped around with love. She wanted to give him the babies he longed for, but did he see her in that role? Friend, colleague, yes, but not someone to give his bruised heart to.

  ‘I’ll go and have a word with Mark,’ he said levelly, ‘and fix up for him to come to my place for a bath and a checkup, and then I’ll go.’

  Misery washed over her as he went out through the patio door and strode off to where spirals of smoke were rising at the other side of the bottom hedge.

  When he came back Matthew avoided the house and went straight to his car, and as she watched from the window Henrietta couldn’t believe how she’d thrown his concern back in his face. He had been a bit over the top, but she had been at fault for not locking up after his reminder.

  She’d told herself when she’d phoned him that it was just to ask if he knew the man, to put her mind at rest, but she admitted that underneath she’d hoped he would come.

  And, of course, he had, at top speed, but he’d brought annoyance with him, and she’d resented it and been snappy with him.

  I wish I’d never come to this place, she thought dismally. Everyone here knows each other, except me. I came to take care of the children and found the man of my dreams. Yet where has it got me? After treasuring every moment we spend together, I’ve just spoilt it with a few heated words.

  He’d just behaved like a prize fusspot, Matthew thought as he drove home. Ranting and raving like a Victorian father. Henrietta was right. She was able to look after herself. But the trouble was he was in love with her, and with love came caring.

  Before she’d come into his life he’d had only Kate and himself to think about, but when he committed himself to something he didn’t do it by halves, and that applied to falling in love. Whether he wanted it or not, he was back in the real world and not sure how much he was enjoying being there.

  Matthew was late arriving at the practice the next morning, which was most unusual, and as the minutes ticked by and there was no message Henrietta began to feel uneasy. It was her turn to be anxious, she thought wryly. Maybe Matthew was out to teach her a lesson and it didn’t matter if he was, just as long as he was all right.

  She had already started seeing her patients when she heard his voice in Reception and her spirits lifted. In a few moments she would see him and come alive, in spite of the previous night’s disagreement.

  But he didn’t open her door to say good morning. His footsteps went past and straight into his own room and the brightness that his arrival had brought was dimmed.

  Meriel Martin, the vet’s wife, was one of those waiting to see her. Henrietta hadn’t met her before as she’d been away looking after a sick relative on the day that she and Matthew had made a home visit to their small daughter.

  She was a plump, motherly-looking woman and Henrietta immediately thought how dreadful it must have been, and most likely still was, to know that one’s child had been responsible for someone’s death.

  ‘The top of my foot started to swell over the weekend,’ Meriel explained, ‘and even though I bathed it with witch hazel, which I swear by for that kind of thing, it has had no effect. Now it’s extremely painful. I had a similar swelling on my hand a couple of months ago and antibiotics cleared it more or less. But there is still some inflammation there that seems to come and go.’

  Her foot was bright red and very shiny and as Henrietta examined it she asked, ‘Have you ever had cellulitis?’

  ‘Yes,’ was the reply, ‘but it was many years ago.’

  ‘I’m going to have your blood levels tested for glucose and uric acid,’ she told her. ‘Cellulitis, gout and erysipelas are all diseases connected with inflammation of the body tissues, and this kind of thing can also be caused by diabetes. So we need to be sure where it’s coming from. In the meantime, I’m going to prescribe an antibiotic called flucloxacillin, which should clear up the infection.

  ‘If you’d like to pop along to one of the nurses, she’ll do the blood tests. Phone towards the end of the week to see if we’ve got the results, and then I’ll need to see you again.’

  As she got to her feet Meriel said hesitantly, ‘How is Dr Cazalet these days?’

  ‘In what way?’

  ‘Er…is he any happier. Or more relenting? I’m sure he will have told you what happened.’

  ‘Yes, he has,’ Henrietta said softly, ‘and I think the answer to both your questions is yes. But you should ask him yourself, shouldn’t you? It isn’t really for me to say.’

  ‘Our boy has been abroad ever since it happened,’ Meriel explained, her pleasant face crumpling, ‘but he can’t stay there for ever. We miss him terribly. But though I’m longing to have him back with us, I’m dreading it, too. We don’t want to cause Matthew any more pain.’

  ‘I’m sure you don’t. Why not just let it happen and take each day as it comes? It will be a difficult time for all of you, but I’m sure that Matthew won’t want to make it any more distressing for your family.’

  The other woman nodded. ‘I hope you’re right, Dr Mason. We all need some kind of closure.’

  When she’d gone Henrietta sat back and thought about what the vet’s wife had said. She was right. They did need closure and she hoped that Matthew would see it that way. He was a kind and loving man who had suffered great pain, and was now throwing off its bonds, ready for a new beginning.

  It was lunchtime before they came face to face and he said, as if nothing was amiss, ‘I’m sorry I didn’t get the chance to phone in to say I would be late. It was a bit hectic at my place first thing. McIvor came for a bath and a check-up, which all took time, and then there was the cleaning up afterwards.’

  ‘Did you have time for any breakfast?’

  ‘No. I didn’t, and who’s fussing now?’

  ‘I am. I’m so sorry about last night, Matthew. I was a pain and an unreasonable one at that. Can I take you for a nice lunch somewhere between house calls and the late surgery to make up for it?’

  ‘I doubt we’ll have time,’ he said, ‘especially if we had to wait to be served. Why don’t we pick up something from the village bakery and drive up on to the tops for half an hour?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said immediately, relieved to be back on their usual footing. ‘I’ll go to the bakery at the beginning of the lunch-hour, and if you bring your car round and wait outside while I’m served, we can make a quick getaway.’

  When lunchtime came and she’d bought the food, he drove to the top of the hill road where bracken, gorse and ripening windberries grew on the bleak terrain.

  There was silence between them in the car as they ate the food and washed it down with fruit juice, but once they’d finished Henrietta turned to him and said, ‘I have something to tell you.’

  Matthew needed to know that the vet’s son would soon be home, and it might be better that he found out from her now rather than later from Kate or one of the villagers. Being the messenger with that sort of news wouldn’t endear her to him, but at least he would have heard it in private.

  He was winding down the car window, letting in air that was fresh and fumeless, and she saw him tense. Did he already know? she thought uneasily. And wasn’t going to thank her for a second telling of it?

  Henrietta is going to leave the practice, he was thinking. She’s weary of working with a control freak. Last night must have been one step too far. She’d said she was sorry for being snappy, but it didn’t mean that she was going to put up with his interfering any more.

&n
bsp; She had begun to speak in a low voice and he had to drag his thoughts back from where they’d wandered to. As he tuned in to what she was saying he picked up on, ‘She said that her son is coming back to the village to live.’

  He stared at her blankly. ‘Who did?’

  ‘Meriel Martin. The vet’s wife. She came to consult me this morning with an infected foot. and told me that they can’t bear to be away from their son any longer, so he’s coming home and she’s hoping that…’

  ‘I’ll be amenable.’

  ‘Yes, something like that.’

  ‘I suppose you might have had worse things to tell me, though not much. For instance, you could have been going to tell me that you’re leaving the practice.’

  ‘I’d only do that if you didn’t need me any more!’ she exclaimed. She loved the job almost as much as she loved the man.

  ‘It was just a thought that I picked up from your expression.’

  ‘If I looked solemn it was because of what I had to tell you, but I thought the news might be less painful coming from an outsider.’

  ‘Outsider! Is that what you see yourself as?’

  ‘Yes, sort of, but it isn’t a problem. Pamela and her family are part of the local fraternity, whatever their lifestyle. Kate is the very personification of all that is best in village life, and you…’

  Her voice trailed away. If she started telling him what she thought of him she would give herself away, and there was nothing more mortifying than the person one was in love with becoming aware of it when they didn’t have the same feelings.

  ‘Yes, me. What am I?’ he asked dryly.

  ‘You’re the focal point of the place. So many depend on you. The way you run the practice is so stressless and caring I couldn’t believe it when I first came here after the hustle and bustle of my last job.’

  ‘I know I didn’t think that during those first few days. You were prickly as a hedgehog, but the feeling didn’t last and I soon got to know the real you.’

  No mention of any attraction, he noticed. Just the good old GP looking after his patients.