New Surgeon at Ashvale A&E

by Joanna Neil

  She studied him thoughtfully. ‘It seems to me that you’re a wonderful, caring, intelligent individual, with everything going for you, but I can’t help feeling that you’re missing out on something very precious. I wish I could help you to find it.’

  His expression was totally bewildered. ‘I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about. What do you mean, Ruby? What are you trying to say?’

  ‘I mean that there’s more to life than work, and that doesn’t seem to have occurred to either you or your brother. Don’t you think you ought to try to get together with him and his family more often…perhaps even invite them over for the fund-raiser? Scotland isn’t all that far away, is it? Family is important, and I don’t think you should let these ties wither if it’s at all possible to save them.’ She pressed her lips together in a faintly downward curve. ‘I know it’s not my place to interfere, but who knows…your brother may be wishing you’d get in touch.’

  He frowned. ‘Men don’t look at life that way. They don’t go in for all this sensitivity and sentiment type of nonsense.’

  She laughed. ‘No, you’re probably right. That’s why there are women in the world—women who know how to steer men in the right direction and smooth off all the rough edges…let their softness act as a foil for men of steel.’

  He began to smile and moved towards her. ‘I can go along with that.’ He reached for her, letting his palms flatten on her waist as he gently tugged her towards him. ‘I’d appreciate the feel of your soft, feminine curves against my body any day.’

  His head lowered, and he kissed her tenderly, his lips brushing hers and slowly exploring the ripe fullness of her mouth as though he would savour its sweetness for as long as it was possible.

  Ruby’s lips clung to his, ripples of excitement flowing through her, filling her body with exquisite longing. Her fingers tangled with the fine linen of his shirt, and she felt the heat coming from him as though she was firing up a furnace.

  After a moment or two, though, he carefully started to ease her away from him. She looked up into his eyes and tried to fathom what was going on in those blue-grey depths.

  ‘People,’ he said, as though reading her thoughts. ‘Nurses, doctors, patients. They’re all out there, coming and going, waiting for instructions, waiting to be seen. I should go and attend to them.’ He ran his fingers through the silky fall of her hair, easing it back from her face. ‘You, on the other hand, should go home. Get some rest, and then maybe you’ll begin to see the world in a different light.’

  She frowned. Of course he was right. She wasn’t thinking straight. This whole day had been odd, from start to finish, and that could only be because she’d had a bad night and was suffering the consequences.

  ‘I’ll go,’ she said, ‘or I’ll be fit for nothing. I have a full day ahead of me tomorrow on the farm, tending to the animals, and looking after Becky. I do wish my sister would come home. That, at least, would be one less worry. I just can’t concentrate properly for wondering where she is, or whether her health is deteriorating. I keep imagining her lying ill somewhere, dazed and confused.’

  ‘Maybe you should send her a text message to say that Becky is missing her. Tell her how her baby cries for her and won’t be consoled without her mother. She might gain enough strength to be able to overcome her difficulties if she believes her child needs her.’

  She was surprised that he’d made the suggestion, but at least it was a step in the right direction. He was acknowledging that Becky needed her mother and taking into account the fact that Sophie would want to come home.

  She thought about it as she drove along the country lanes some half an hour later, heading back to the smallholding. What would Sophie’s reaction be? Would she contemplate coming back and suffer the questions that would undoubtedly follow, or would she shrink back even further into her shell, weighed down by doubt and sickness?

  She parked the car on the drive and spent a minute or two gathering up her belongings. Then she stepped out onto the smooth tarmac, pausing to lock up. Behind her, she thought she saw a flicker of movement, but when she turned to check it out, there was only a bird flying to roost in a nearby tree.

  Deep in thought, she walked towards the front porch, glancing at the honeysuckle that trailed in profusion around the door. The pale cream flowers gave off a sweet, light fragrance that filled the air, and she breathed it in, enjoying that moment of sensory bliss.

  Then she heard the sound of twigs cracking underfoot, and she looked around to see who was there. ‘Sophie, is that you?’ Hope burned briefly inside her, but there was nothing, no sign of anyone on the drive, or even around the sides of the house. She went to look. All she could see was a grey shadow flitting against the background of the shrubbery, and she felt a shiver of alarm pass through her as another, more worrying thought occurred to her. Was she being followed? But then she guessed it must have been a rabbit scurrying to its burrow, or even a squirrel heading for one of the tall trees.

  Perhaps she was even more tired than she thought and her mind was playing tricks on her. Going inside the house, she dropped her bags onto the table in the kitchen and went to phone her mother.

  ‘Go and get some rest,’ her mother said. ‘Becky’s fine. She’s playing happily, and in a little while she’ll be ready to sleep. We’ll bring her over to you tomorrow around mid-morning.’

  ‘Thanks, Mum.’

  They chatted for a little while longer, and then Ruby went to soak in the bath, easing away the cares of the day. She fell into bed an hour later and slept deeply, waking in the morning as the sun filtered through the bedroom curtains.

  Her parents dropped Becky off as promised, and they all had a late breakfast together before her mother and father set off on a journey to the coast and a visit to her grandparents.

  ‘Why don’t you come with us?’ her father suggested, but she shook her head.

  ‘I’ll stay here in case Sophie comes back. Besides, I have work in the morning, and Craig’s coming over today to see the new chicks that have hatched.’

  ‘Oh, they’re so gorgeous,’ her mother said, her face breaking into a smile. Her hair was a chestnut colour, similar to Ruby’s, though it was cut in a short, wavy style, and it was threaded through with streaks of grey. ‘They’re such beautiful little bundles of brown fluff…it was so good of Craig to bring the incubator over and help you to hatch them.’

  ‘And good of him to show me how to care for them now that they’re free of their shells.’

  Ruby went to see them off, showing Becky how to wave goodbye, and then they went back into the house, and she set the baby down on the rug to play with a selection of toys.

  Craig arrived a few minutes later, bringing with him a bag of ready-mixed chick food. ‘They call it chick-crumbs,’ he told her, ‘and they’ll feed on this for around a month. All they need apart from this is clean water.’

  She lifted Becky up in her arms, and they went outside to the shed where the chicks were being cared for in a specially prepared brooder. Heat was provided by means of a lamp, and the chicks moved around within the area of the brooder, pecking at bits of food on the floor or falling over one another in a scrabble to reach the food trays.

  ‘Ba-ba…ba-ba…’ Becky said, her eyes widening with excitement, her body straining towards the brooder, and her hands reaching out as if she would grasp the baby birds.

  ‘No, poppet. You can’t hold them,’ Ruby gently told her, holding on to her tightly. ‘They’re too little. But we’ll stand here and look at them for a while.’ She glanced at Craig, who had filled up the feed trays with chick-crumb and was now carefully removing a chick who had decided to clamber inside one of them. ‘How do you think they’re doing?’ she asked.

  ‘They look fine to me,’ he said. ‘Generally, if they’re content, they will sit together and make a purring sound. If they’re too hot, they’ll move away from the source of heat and begin to gasp, and if they’re cold, they’ll huddle together and make cheepin
g noises. These seem perfectly happy to me.’

  ‘Good, I’m glad.’

  They moved away, going back towards the house, and Ruby said, ‘I wish Sophie could see them. She used to love coming over here to see the chicks when our grandparents told us they’d hatched.’

  ‘There’s still been no news?’

  She shook her head. ‘I wondered if she might be hiding out around here, or at least be close by. Yesterday, when I came home, I had the strongest feeling that someone was following me, or watching me, but even though I looked around, I didn’t find anyone. I sent her a text message to say that Becky was missing her, but she didn’t answer. I know she wouldn’t stay away unless there was a problem. I just don’t know how to bring her back.’

  ‘Could anyone else have been following you?’

  ‘I don’t know. I don’t think so, but it was scary for a while. I’m not usually prone to wild imaginings, but, then again, I was tired.’

  ‘Well, it’s true the mind can play tricks on you when you’ve been overdoing things, and you have had a lot on your plate, lately.’

  They went back inside the house, and Ruby settled Becky back down on the rug in the living room. The doorbell rang, and she left Craig to watch her while she went to answer it.

  ‘Sam,’ she said. ‘It’s good to see you. Come in. Is everything all right? There isn’t a problem at work, is there?’

  He smiled and shook his head, following her along the hallway towards the living room. ‘I just wanted to make sure that you were all right and to check that your central heating problem had been fixed to your satisfaction. My maintenance man said he had fitted a new pump for you, but you’d need to give it a trial over a few days to make sure it was working as you wanted.’

  ‘It’s fine,’ she told him. ‘There are no problems at all, and he fixed the slates and the roofing felt for me, so everything’s drying out now. I was really pleased with what he did.’

  ‘That’s good. I was sure he’d sort everything for you. I thought maybe we could go over the arrangements for the fund-raiser if you’re not too busy?’

  ‘Yes, of course. That’s a good idea.’ She showed him into the living room, where Craig was down on his knees playing peek-a-boo with Becky. The baby was holding a soft book in her hands, lifting it to cover her face, and every time Craig gently tugged it down and peered over the top of it, she burst into giggles that made her whole body shake.

  Craig looked up as Ruby walked into the room and came to his feet, greeting Sam with a nod and a smile.

  ‘I wondered if Craig might come along and judge the dog show for us,’ Ruby said, glancing at Sam. ‘We need someone who knows what to look for, don’t we?’

  ‘That’s true.’ Sam’s expression didn’t show what he thought of that idea, but Craig seemed happy enough to go along with it.

  ‘I don’t have to work next weekend, so it shouldn’t be a problem,’ he murmured. ‘I told Ruby that I’d been out to your estate a couple of times to tend to the horses.’ He studied Sam thoughtfully. ‘I don’t think you were there at the time, but the stable manager was around to deal with everything. You certainly have a beautiful place. It seems to me it will be ideal for a fund-raising effort like the one you have in mind.’

  ‘I hope it will work out all right.’ Sam made a brief smile. ‘All we need is good weather, although we can hold the major part of the activities in the various barns and outbuildings if there’s a problem.’

  Becky began to shuffle along the floor, alternately rolling, sitting and scrabbling her way towards the two men. Ruby watched her, guessing that she was intent on finding Craig, but all the baby could see from her vantage point were two pairs of trouser-clad legs.

  The infant began to tug at the nearest pair, clutching the fabric with her fists and pulling herself upright onto wobbly legs. Sam looked down to see what was going on, and Becky looked up, expecting to see a familiar face.

  When she saw that it was Sam whose legs she was clutching, she sank down onto her bottom and began to wail. Sam’s face was a picture, a comical mix of consternation and astonishment.

  ‘Oh, dear,’ Ruby said with a laugh. ‘That didn’t quite work out the way she expected, did it?’ She sent Sam a quick look. ‘It’s just that she’s more used to Craig being around. He was often here when Sophie or I came to visit our grandparents, so she’s grown up knowing him.’

  She picked up the child and gently tried to soothe her tears, all to no avail because now that Becky was nearer to Sam, it seemed to make the situation worse, and her crying became louder.

  Sam winced, and Craig made a rueful face. ‘That’s my cue to head for the door, I think,’ he said. ‘All the animals seem to be going along fairly well, Ruby, so you shouldn’t have any worries on that score. I’ll call in again in a few days’ time to see how you’re doing and find out if there’s any news about Sophie. I just wish there was something I could do to help out. She’s such a sweet girl, it doesn’t seem right that she would have gone unless there was a strong reason. I hate to think that she’s ill and needing someone to look after her.’

  ‘I’m pinning my hopes on her answering my message,’ Ruby said, lightly jogging Becky in her arms to distract her attention. ‘Like you say, she could be ill or troubled, or both.’

  Craig slid his arms around her and held her close for a second or two, taking a moment to tickle Becky under her chin. ‘If you have any more worries that someone might be following you,’ he told Ruby, ‘let me know. It will only take a phone call, and I’ll come and find you.’

  ‘Thanks, Craig. I’ll remember that.’

  She showed him out, waiting as he went to his car, and then she watched him drive away.

  Becky had stopped crying by now, and Ruby took her back into the living room, placing her down inside the playpen, where the infant practised pulling herself up and down with the aid of the wooden bars.

  ‘What was that about you being followed?’ Sam asked, his dark brows drawing together. ‘Has someone been bothering you?’

  She shook her head. ‘I had the feeling that someone was hanging around outside, but it was most likely just my imagination working overtime.’

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

  ‘Why would I? Anyway, you weren’t here, and it happened after I left work. It was nothing.’

  He looked at her oddly, and she wondered if perhaps finding Craig here had unsettled him. It couldn’t have helped, either, that Becky had cried on seeing him. It was a bit like a rejection…not anything that mattered, but one more thing that put him at odds with the world.

  She made a pot of coffee, and they talked for a while about how things were being organised for the fund-raiser at his family estate. ‘I managed to get a local band of musicians to come along on the day,’ Sam said, ‘and there’s a dance group who’ll perform some lively, modern routines, so that should help to draw a crowd.’

  ‘Sounds good.’ Ruby glanced over at the playpen and saw that Becky was rubbing her eyes. ‘I asked around and found some people who will provide refreshments. I think it should turn out to be a real success. We’ve sold a lot of tickets in advance, and even though we aren’t asking much of an entrance fee, it looks as though that will bring in a sizeable sum on its own.’

  ‘I just hope we’ll make enough in the end to provide a boost to the A&E unit. I’m really keen to get the board to think again about closing us down, and this might buy us time, at least.’

  She nodded. ‘There’s only one thing bothering me about all this, and it’s more of a personal thing,’ she said. ‘I’d like it if I could bring Becky along with me. I don’t want to ask Mary to watch her for such a length of time, and I know my parents would help out, but they were planning on going over to a nearby town where Sophie used to work, on the off chance she’s gone somewhere familiar. They just want to look around and see if they can find anyone who’s seen her.’

  ‘That’s not a problem,’ Sam said. ‘I thought you would want to brin
g her. I’ll come and pick you up if you like. That way you won’t have to worry about anything, and you could even have something stronger than lemonade to drink if you felt like it.’

  She smiled. ‘Thanks, that would be great. I’m relieved to be able to bring her along with me. Mary said she would look out for any sign of Sophie coming back to the smallholding, so all in all we have most of the options covered.’ She sent him a quick, thoughtful glance. ‘Did you think any more about meeting up with your brother?’ she asked. ‘Only, it occurred to me that he might enjoy seeing all that was going on at the family estate next weekend. It’s part of his heritage, isn’t it, and his boys probably don’t have much idea of their true background, living where they do.’

  ‘You don’t need to concern yourself with my family or our well-being,’ he said. His features stiffened a little, as though he was disturbed by her comments. ‘My background, my upbringing, my home life, isn’t anything that you need to worry about.’

  She looked at him, feeling chastened. Had she gone too far? He was a man of mercurial moods, one time holding her close and showing her how much he cared for her, and in almost the next breath he was mentally pushing her away.

  She didn’t know what to make of him, yet suddenly it dawned on her that she wanted to bridge that gap between them. She yearned to be closer to him, both in a physical and in an emotional sense, but the chances of that happening were in a state of flux. Over these last few months he had somehow managed to work his way into her heart, and she had no idea what she was dealing with.