by Penny Parkes
Holly had been through something similar with hospital cutbacks in Reading. The madness of bureaucracy never ceased to amaze her. In the year that MRSA was at its peak, the powers that be had ruthlessly slashed nursing and sanitation budgets. The left hand never seemed to know what the right hand was dealing with.
Holly leaned over and clicked open a computer screen, scrolling down to find out what time Henry Bruce would be finished with patients. The entire afternoon and all of tomorrow was blocked out. Holiday. Allegedly.
‘Grace,’ said Holly, feeling impotent and foolish, ‘I think we’d better have a staff meeting, don’t you?’
In the end, with George being mysteriously AWOL, Henry ‘on holiday’ and feelings running high, it was a depleted and defeated little group that huddled together in The Kingsley Arms. The pub was practically empty this early in the week and it had been decided early on that the easy availability of wine and pork scratchings trumped any potential issues with privacy.
‘Besides,’ Dan had said, ‘if this is running in The Times then the cat will be out of the bag soon enough anyway.’
Luckily, it was Teddy Kingsley’s night off, so there was no awkwardness, as several bottles of wine and a Vimto for Holly were quickly organised and a large table in the corner seconded.
Maggie was the first to speak up. ‘Does anyone know what will happen to our jobs? Are we supposed to take redundancy or will we be offered something else?’
Grace shook her head. ‘I don’t know, Mags. The woman on the phone seemed to think that some staff might be relocated, but it just doesn’t make sense. What I’d like to know is how long George has known about all this and kept it quiet.’
‘And Henry Bruce,’ Dan reminded her. ‘This has got him written all over it. No wonder he’s been looking so cheery the last few weeks. He was whistling in the car park yesterday!’ he said with disgust.
‘He wasn’t whistling when he found that bloody great dent in his car the other week though, was he?’ Taffy said darkly.
Holly flushed. ‘Frankly, if I’d known then, what I know now, I’d have popped into reverse and had another go!’
Everyone turned to look at her in amazement. ‘It was you?’ said Maggie incredulously.
Holly shrugged. ‘Hard to feel guilty now.’ She looked up and felt Taffy’s gaze upon her. If she didn’t know better, she’d have thought he looked almost proud. If not proud, then certainly a little impressed. ‘What?’ she whispered and he grinned.
‘Didn’t know you were feisty, Graham. And obviously, by feisty I mean, prone to episodes of wanton vandalism.’ He shook his head. ‘It’s always the quiet ones.’ The smile he gave her made the air rush out of Holly’s lungs as if she’d been flung around on the dodgems.
Honestly, she chastised herself, here they were, discussing the very future of The Practice, and suddenly all she could think about was that she wouldn’t get to see Taffy Jones at work any more. It would probably have made her feel a lot less foolish, had she known that Taffy was thinking exactly the same thing about her.
Her mobile buzzed on the table in front of her and she saw Milo’s name flash up on the screen. Perfect timing as always. ‘Excuse me a minute,’ she said and slipped away to take the call, leaving everyone at the table in heated debate.
‘Hi, how’re you getting on?’ she asked, heading out into the car park. She knew she was in the pub for a meeting, but to Milo the background noise would sound more like a party. Without any cloud cover, the temperature had dropped quickly that evening and Holly started shivering.
‘Well, I was just wondering when you’d be fetching the boys from Mum’s, actually. She’s phoned three times, you know.’
Holly took a soothing breath. ‘But when I called before, to say I had to stay late, we discussed this, remember? You were going to pick them up and put them to bed at home?’
There was silence at the end of the line. ‘I hardly think that’s fair, Holly, and no, I don’t remember. You have to understand that I can’t just drop everything when I’m writing and you can’t expect Mum to be an unpaid babysitter. When shall I tell her you’ll be there?’
‘Milo. I have to stay. There’s some big stuff happening at work and I need to be here. I’ll fill you in later. Just get in the car and go to your mum’s. And by the way, I didn’t ask her to have the boys for tea. She practically demanded it, something about not spending enough quality time with them. I think her mate Joyce has her grandkids every Wednesday and they’ve been getting competitive . . . Either way, all you have to do is pick them up and read them a bedtime story.’
The sigh that reverberated down the line made the hackles on the back of Holly’s neck rise. ‘Fine,’ he said begrudgingly. ‘I’ll get them. But we really need to talk about this, because it’s unacceptable to take Mum for granted like this, Holly. And, yes, we all know your new little job is terribly important, but you’re not the only one with things to do . . .’ With that there was a definite clunk as he hung up the phone.
Holly found herself speechless, spluttering disjointed expletives as she tried to marshal her emotions. Was the world going mad around her?
She jumped at the sound of a small discreet cough and looked over to see Taffy approaching her. ‘Brought your jacket,’ he said. ‘It’s freezing out here.’ He held open her coat for her in exactly the same way that her father had when she was small, shrugging her into the sleeves. She swallowed hard.
‘That was very thoughtful, Taff,’ she said quietly.
‘You looked cold,’ he said simply. ‘You okay? Not too shaken up by all this?’
Holly managed a small smile. ‘Just domestic stuff, you know.’
He shook his head. ‘I don’t really, to be honest. I only have to think about me, myself and I most of the time. I get a bit jealous when I see my sister and her bloke – they’ve got this amazing teamwork thing going on with their kids. Makes me feel about as deep as a puddle.’ He leaned forward and unhooked the folded in collar of her jacket, smoothing it down onto Holly’s shoulder.
‘I think I’d probably be jealous of your sister’s teamwork too,’ Holly said quietly. ‘Milo’s more, well, Milo’s more . . . Let’s say, he takes hands-off parenting to a whole new level.’
Taffy’s brow furrowed. ‘But your boys are amazing. I mean, obviously it’s bloody hard work being a parent, but isn’t the fun what makes it worthwhile?’ He looked a bit embarrassed for a moment, before clearly throwing caution to the winds. ‘I loved doing the Wild Swim with them. There really is nothing like a bear hug from a tired two-year-old, is there?’
‘There really isn’t,’ Holly agreed. She watched the breeze ruffle Taffy’s hair and saw the gentle affection in his eyes. She knew he had a reputation as a ladies’ man, she knew that Maggie had warned her off, but somehow Holly couldn’t compute that anyone who looked at her with such warmth and compassion could be anything but lovely.
‘We should go back inside,’ she said eventually, not trusting herself in that moment not to snuggle in against Taffy’s ancient jumper and never leave.
‘We should,’ he agreed, making no effort to move. ‘I hope you don’t mind, Holly, but Dan talked to me about the whole Lizzie/Dan/job thing. He’s so worried that you’re furious with him. Although, if you ask me, they’ve both been pretty shabby to you.’
Holly shook her head. ‘I guess I’m not the only one out of a job though now, am I? Puts things into perspective. And for what it’s worth, I’ve loved living here – wouldn’t have changed it. The town, the people,’ she swallowed hard, unable to meet his gaze. ‘It may not have lasted long, but it’s given me an idea of how I’d like to live, you know.’
‘I lived next door to the same family for six years in London and I never knew their name,’ said Taffy. ‘I bet Marion Gains could tell you what I eat for breakfast every day.’
It was just the silly mood breaker that Holly needed to get her emotions under control, ‘Ooh, Taffy. You and Marion Gains – I had no idea. Now
come on, Romeo, let’s get back inside and kick some bureaucratic butt.’
As they got back to the table, debate was still raging about lay-offs and potential redundancy packages. Possibly because she’d already known that she had no real job security, or possibly because she genuinely liked the people she’d met since moving to Larkford, but Holly felt that she was coming at this from a different angle.
It was all very well for the medical staff to be worried about their jobs if The Practice closed down, but had anyone actually stopped to think about the patients? How on earth would the residents of Larkford cope without their doctors’ surgery? It was a hellish trek into Bath to see a doctor and to fight with the notorious traffic wardens. The only other alternative was the purpose-built centre in Framley, where rumour had it, you never got to see the same doctor twice and you had to wait three days to get an appointment.
‘I think we should make a plan,’ announced Holly suddenly. ‘We can’t sit around waiting for someone else to act. We need to start thinking about the patients. None of you have even stopped to think about what will happen to people like Elsie, or the Major even, if they haven’t got a friendly doctor on the doorstep.’
Dan cleared his throat uncomfortably, looking a little sheepish that he hadn’t mentioned that earlier. ‘Look, obviously we don’t know everything at this point, but from the people I could get hold of just now, it seems we really are behind the curve. As far as I can tell, the plans to amalgamate all the smaller rural practices through a central surgery in Framley are pretty advanced. All the talk over the last few months about slashing each individual practice’s budgets has just been designed to get all the GPs on the back foot. The plan seems to have been to let everyone work out how badly the cuts will affect them, and then the idea of a new mega-practice wouldn’t seem quite so bad.’
There was an uncomfortable silence in the room that even the warm buzz of an excellent Bordeaux couldn’t soften. ‘Shit,’ said Grace quietly.
‘They really are a bunch of scheming bastards, aren’t they?’ said Taffy angrily, not stopping to question how much of his anger was fuelled by his own personal motivations for keeping The Practice open.
‘Rather a clever approach, though, really. Get everyone riled up and then throw them an olive branch,’ said Grace.
‘It’s not an olive branch so much as a bloody great prickly holly branch,’ said Holly furiously, completely missing her own pun. ‘Why does everyone assume that bigger and newer is necessarily better? What’s wrong with the personal, local touch? Jesus, what could be more personal than your family’s health? I tell you, what we need is our own plan. Play them at their own game.’
‘Well you’ve got my vote,’ said Dan as the others noisily concurred.
‘You’re pretty fired up about this, bearing in mind that you thought you were off,’ said Taffy quietly to Holly under the heated discussion that was raging around them.
Holly looked at him and felt her heart sigh a little at what might have been. ‘Well, with something like this, it’s not just all about me, is it? Or you? Or Dan?’
‘Or us?’ he replied, momentarily brushing his hand against hers under the table.
Holly held his gaze and felt her eyes fill with tears. ‘Or us,’ she agreed, before being pulled back into conversation with Grace about the best way to bring Henry Bruce down a peg or two.
Chapter 30
Holly sat on the twins’ bedroom floor, surrounded by Duplo and, in that moment, utterly content. Yes, it was 5 a.m. and yes, most sensible people were still in bed, but the dawn was just beginning to break and the birds were kicking off a choral arrangement that was worthy of Westminster Abbey.
Tom was building an intricate arrangement of chimneys and Ben was on unusually affectionate form, cuddling onto her lap and twiddling with her hair. It was almost worth surviving on four hours’ sleep.
If only the same could be said for her discussion with Milo last night. He simply couldn’t see why she was so upset. As far as he was concerned, Larkford was where they lived at the moment. He’d accidentally let slip that he’d already spoken to a rental agency back in Reading after the furore with Lizzie and Dan the week before. In Milo’s words, ‘Let them get on with it, Holly . . . It’s not our battle. And by the sound of it, nobody’s promising that you’ve still got a job, either way.’
Holly looked out across the rooftops of their little road to the hills and woodland beyond. She could just make out the church spire in the Market Place and the slanting roof of Elsie’s Georgian townhouse nearby. Never having been struck by community spirit before, Holly was finding it a little overwhelming. Obviously, she needed to make sure that the boys were okay and that she had an income coming from somewhere, but there was also the drive to see things done properly. The very fact that Henry Bruce had resorted to such cloak and dagger tactics made alarm bells ring in her head. If she had to leave, then so be it, but she was damned if she was going to sit by and watch this community deprived, just to swell Henry Bruce’s ever-expanding ego and bank account.
Holly picked up Ben’s favourite book, Too Hot To Hug, about a little dragon who needed a cuddle and was soon deeply engrossed in the silly voices and actions that they adored. She probably only had half an hour before the chaos of the day would begin and she wanted to make the most of it.
Two hours later, the boys were washed, dressed and fed and watching The Shiny Show. Holly was jotting down campaign ideas in a Bob the Builder notebook, galvanised into action by the pile of Reading Rentals particulars she’d found on the coffee table by Milo’s chair. Sure, it was a long shot, that by saving The Practice she might also save her job. But it was a shot worth taking, with no downside. Even if she personally lost, then at least Larkford might win.
She looked up as Milo appeared in the doorway, designer stubble newly trimmed and a bundle of papers under his arm. ‘Is it a good idea for them to watch so much TV?’ he asked, completely oblivious to his condescending tone.
Holly didn’t bother to reply. After all, what could she possibly say? Even if she fought her corner about the last two hours of reading and playing and singing and eating and cuddling, Milo wouldn’t hear her. It was easier to ignore him.
‘Oh, and I’ve been thinking about what we talked about last night. I don’t want you getting all gung-ho about this Save The Practice nonsense, okay? You’ve had your fun here. Better to leave with a little grace and dignity, I always think.’
Holly nearly choked on her toast. Was he honestly forgetting his own emotional outbursts at the University when the Board had voted to put him ‘on sabbatical’? The wheedling, cajoling phone calls to the Dean? Or the angry diatribes when the wheedling failed? Talk about rewriting history!
‘So, anyway,’ he carried on, ‘I’ve got Mum to have the boys for the weekend and I’m taking you away for the night. We need some quiet time to talk all of this through and who knows, a little couple-time might be just what the doctor ordered.’ He really did look terribly pleased with himself. ‘So, it’s all booked and sorted, and you don’t need to do anything. I’ve found the perfect place – a spa! Just, well, let’s focus on ourselves for a bit, okay?’
With that, he was gone. Holly was speechless. She didn’t want to go away. She didn’t want to be poked and prodded and pummelled by a stranger, or by her husband if she was completely honest with herself. She wanted to stay here and swim in the river, play with the boys in the woods and have brunch at the deli – to make the most of living in this gorgeous place while she had the chance. And if she couldn’t do that, well then, she’d still rather march around the Market Place with a placard. Was he totally clueless? Didn’t he know her at all?
Holly swept into action like a well-oiled machine as she glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece and saw the morning getting away from her. That was when her gaze fell on the photograph beside it. Milo and Holly on their honeymoon, wrapped in huge terry-towelling robes, blissful smiles from ear to ear . . . at a spa. The spa that s
he had chosen.
‘Bugger!’ she said under her breath. Maybe Milo didn’t know her now, but he’d known her then. He just hadn’t seemed to realise that she’d changed.
‘Mummy said bugger!’ came a little voice beside her. ‘Bugger bugger bugger,’ Tom chanted, delighted with himself and his new word.
She knew it was wrong, she knew she’d pay for it later, but Holly began to laugh. It was the kind of nervous, exhausted laughter that built and built, draining away all the tension of the last week. She wiped the tears from her eyes and cuddled the boys on to her lap.
‘Bugger!’ said the little voice into her shoulder once more.
By lunchtime, Holly was almost relieved when Grace popped into her room with a request. There was so much anger and bitterness in the air at The Practice this morning, it was almost toxic. Holly had given up trying to get a straight answer out of anyone, trying to separate fact from rumour, and just got on with her patient list. There would be plenty of time for Twenty Questions later.
‘I’ve just been chatting with Elsie Townsend on the phone,’ said Grace. ‘She wanted an appointment for this afternoon, but she didn’t sound great to be honest. You never know whether it’s something or nothing with these old dears, but she wasn’t herself at all. She even said please! Any chance you’d be an angel and call in during your lunch-break? I’ll pick you up a baguette for when you get back?’
‘No problem,’ said Holly, logging out of her screen and pulling a fiver from her drawer. ‘Can you get me one of those egg mayonnaise ones, with crispy bacon?’ Holly couldn’t understand it, but the thought of wearing a swimsuit in front of Milo was making her want to stuff her face. Not the logical approach to a romantic weekend away, she had to admit.
She picked up her jacket and made her way through the office, finding Julia Channing loitering in the car park, a guilty expression etched all over her face. Holly hadn’t seen Julia since the bombshell had fallen, leaving it up to Dan to break the news this morning. The expression on Julia’s face made Holly wonder, for Julia, how much of a surprise all this news actually was.