Christmas at Willowmere

by Abigail Gordon

  ‘And if I offer him the job?’

  ‘It will be between the two of you. Just make sure he realises that I had nothing to do with it, and give some thought to where he is going to stay if he accepts.’

  ‘Well, the spare bedroom here has an en suite, as you know, so I can accommodate him temporarily if he accepts my offer. I don’t think having the kids around would bother him. It’s easy to see he’s good with children, and you are only next door.’

  ‘I can see that your mind is made up,’ she said, still bemused by this latest turn of events.

  ‘Only if you are in favour of the arrangement, and don’t forget he has yet to be asked.’

  ‘Yes, I know, and if he agrees it probably won’t be for long. He’ll soon be off on his travels again. So, yes, it’s all right by me, and now I’m going home or I’ll never be up on time in the morning.’

  ‘Promise me you won’t stay awake, worrying,’ he begged, ‘as nothing may come of it.’

  ‘I’ll do my best,’ she said, and went to have a peep at Polly and Jolly before going to the annexe next door. As she looked down at them, beautiful and innocent in sleep, Anna felt peace descend on her.

  She might have just done the wrong thing, but wasn’t it better to keep up the charade of Glenn being just an acquaintance rather than never to see him again? That was what would have happened if she’d told James not to offer him the position.

  CHAPTER THREE

  SLEEP evaded her, as she’d known it would after the events of the day. She heard the church clock strike one, and was still wide awake.

  James had been right to consider asking Glenn to join the practice, she thought. What had been between them was long gone, even though he had appeared out of the blue and taken her breath away.

  Unlike herself, Glenn had no family to share his life with. It was possible he might appreciate the chance to sample living in the countryside. He’d been prepared to do that when Julie had died and must still wonder why she’d rejected the suggestion and ended their relationship, especially as he’d discovered on his return that there was no one else in her life.

  She’d agreed to James’s suggestion for both their sakes, and Glenn would have nothing to lose if he accepted, but for the sake of keeping him near she was making a difficult situation even more complicated.

  Yet why worry about something that might never happen? she told herself. The odds were that the thought of actually living in Willowmere, as compared to a short visit, would make Glenn refuse James’s offer.

  Anna hadn’t been the only one finding sleep hard to come by. In his room at The Pheasant, Glenn was reliving every moment from his first sight of her on the snow-covered pavement, taking the children to school.

  He’d remembered where she lived, had been to Bracken House on the day she’d called it off. Yet when he’d driven past that morning there had been no signs of life. But as he’d cruised along the main street of the village, luck had been with him. He’d seen Anna walking along the pavement with two small chidren.

  If she’d been pleased to see him, Anna had concealed it well, he thought. Yet she’d gone to have a drink with him, invited him for a meal, and had agreed to see him again tomorrow. She seemed friendly enough but he sensed that she was on her guard for some reason and wondered if she thought it tasteless that he had resurfaced after all this time and was here in Willowmere.

  Yet what did any of it matter? Unless she gave a sign that she still had feelings for him, he would accept that there really was nothing left of what they’d had before and go on his way.

  ‘You’re looking very glamorous,’ Georgina said when Anna arrived at the surgery the following morning. ‘What’s the occasion?’

  ‘Just afternoon tea with a friend I haven’t seen for some time,’ she replied.

  Georgina Adams was an attractive thirty-five-year-old divorcee, who lived alone in a stone cottage at the end of one of the leafy lanes leading off the main street of the village. She kept herself to herself, but could be relied on for a cheery word and a smile whenever they stopped to chat.

  The women patients usually chose to consult her, especially if they had something embarrassing to discuss, and she and James had a good working relationship.

  Time was always of the essence on weekday mornings. Making sure the children had a good breakfast and seeing them safely to school before she put in an appearance at the surgery left little time for make-up and smart clothes. And in any case the practice nurses wore a neat blue uniform. But today she was wearing a fashionable cashmere top and skirt, and her hair hung straight and shining.

  She’d decided that if Glenn didn’t choose to join the practice it might be the last time she saw him, and whenever he thought of her in time to come, if he ever did, she wouldn’t want him to remember her as drab.

  All the practice staff, with the exception of herself, started at half past eight, so James and Georgina had already been seeing patients when she arrived, and Anna wondered when he was going to speak to Glenn.

  She hoped it wouldn’t be before they met up that afternoon. Calm and controlled was how she wanted to be while they walked by the lake and chatted over tea. The children were very good at the table, but Polly and Jolly were only five years old and sometimes they did need some assistance, which could prove to be a diverting exercise if a diversion was needed.

  ‘I’m going to call at The Pheasant to see Glenn this evening when I’ve finished here,’ James told her when he had a moment to spare. ‘So I might be late for dinner. Is that all right?’

  ‘Yes, of course,’ she told him. ‘I’ll give the children theirs at the usual time, though.’

  He nodded. ‘And you’re not going to say anything to Glenn about him joining the practice when you’re with him this afternoon, are you?’ he questioned.

  ‘Absolutely not!’ she exclaimed. ‘I said last night that I don’t want to be involved in what you are considering, James. I would be mortified if he received the impression that I had anything to do with it.’

  ‘Don’t be,’ he said affectionately. ‘You know I would never do anything to upset you. There’s still time for you to say you would prefer me not to approach him.’

  She shook her head. ‘No. Go ahead. I think Glenn has been feeling rather out on a limb since he came back home. Your suggestion could be just what he needs.’

  It was along the lines of what she’d been thinking during the sleepless hours of the previous night and as she went to change the dressing on what had been a badly infected finger of a teenage boy she still wasn’t sure if it was what she needed.

  The lad was the son of Bryan Timmins, who owned one of the biggest farms in the area, and until recently Anna had thought him to be spoilt and surly. When young Josh had pierced his finger on a rusty nail and it had become infected, James had put him on antibiotics and sent him to the nurses’ room for a tetanus injection. Today she was hoping to see some improvement when she changed the dressing.

  She’d seen a new side to Josh when he’d called at Bracken House one afternoon with some eggs that his father had forgotten to deliver and had stopped and played with the children.

  They’d had lots of fun and Polly and Jolly hadn’t wanted him to go, but his mother had phoned, concerned about where he’d got to, and he’d had to leave.

  ‘How are the twins?’ he asked as the finger was revealed and appeared to be healing satisfactorily.

  ‘They’re fine, Josh,’ she replied. ‘You’re good with children, aren’t you? I can see you having a house full of your own when you get married.’

  ‘I don’t know about that, but I won’t have just one, that’s for sure,’ he said, and Anna saw the light. Josh had been a different person that day. He was obviously a lad who missed not having brothers and sisters.

  ‘Come round any afternoon when you’re not with your mates,’ she said as he was leaving, and his expression brightened.

  Georgina popped into the nurses’ room shortly afterwards and said
, ‘I’ve just seen Josh Timmins leaving. That young man is in for a surprise and so are you, Anna.’

  ‘Why me?’ she asked.

  ‘His mother came to see me yesterday afternoon and she will be attending our antenatal clinic in the morning.’

  ‘Maggie Timmins is pregnant!’ she exclaimed. ‘That is amazing!’

  ‘What do you mean? She’s not exactly in her dotage,’ Georgina protested mildly. ‘Maggie was forty last month, which isn’t exactly the first flush of youth but not too old to conceive.’

  ‘That isn’t what I meant. Another child in the family could make a big difference to Josh’s life.’

  ‘I know what you mean. Lots of teenagers don’t take kindly to finding out what their parents have been up to and the prospect of perhaps having their nose pushed out of joint.’

  ‘That won’t apply to Josh,’ Anna informed her. ‘From what I know of him, he’ll be delighted. He loves children. You should see him with Polly and Jolly.’

  ‘Anyone would love those two,’ Georgina said wistfully, and aware that the dark-haired doctor was hurting for some reason, Anna let the subject drop.

  ‘What is it to be first?’ Glenn asked when she opened the door to him just minutes after she and the children had arrived home from school. ‘Willow Lake or the Hollyhocks Tea Rooms?’

  He’d exchanged the suit of the night before for the warm sweater and jacket, and instead of feeling tense at the sight of him Anna felt suddenly as if the sun had come out from behind a cloud.

  He was smiling and she wondered if the smile would still be there when James put forward his proposition. But that was not on the menu at the moment and knowing that the children would be hungry she said, ‘Let’s eat first, shall we? It’s the kind of day when one feels the need for something warm inside. It could be chilly by the water with the snow still around.’

  ‘Did you say that the Hollyhocks place is near the post office?’ he questioned as the three of them came trooping out to join him.

  ‘Yes, we’ll be there in minutes.’ And with Pollyanna and Jolyon skipping along in front, they set off in that direction.

  Anyone who didn’t know them would think they were a family, she thought, but they would be very much mistaken. It was a scenario she couldn’t visualise in the near future, or the far distance for that matter, but Glenn was strolling along beside her contentedly enough and the old familiar ache was there.

  After a delicious meal, Glenn sat back contentedly in his chair. ‘That was fantastic food!’ he said to Emma, the pleasant, middle-aged woman who came to clear the table. ‘I can’t remember when I last tasted anything so good, and the children have cleaned their plates too.’

  Anna nodded, and smiled. ‘Emma’s husband, Simon, is the cook, and Emma rules the roost in here, don’t you?’

  ‘Yes, I suppose I do,’ she agreed, ‘but it’s Simon’s baking that brings the customers in.’ She glanced at Glenn. ‘We haven’t seen you in these parts before. I take it you’re a friend of Anna’s.’

  ‘We studied medicine in London at the same time some years ago,’ he said. ‘I was passing this way and called to see her.’

  ‘Oh, yes, Simon and I saw you both in The Pheasant last night,’ Emma said, and Anna guessed they would be thinking that she’d found herself a man. It was what she’d thought herself once but had discovered that the fates had had other plans and in spite of Glenn coming to seek her out she had no expectations of anything changing with regard to that.

  As the four of them got up to go, the children hesitated with their bright blue gazes on Emma behind the counter. She smiled and, pushing a tray of freshly baked gingerbread men towards them, said, ‘I haven’t forgotten. Help yourselves, my dears.’ As they promptly obeyed, she told Glenn, ‘When Pollyanna and Jolyon come here they always get a gingerbread man to take home.’

  ‘Nice people,’ he said as they walked towards their destination. ‘I couldn’t see that happening in the cities. Getting to know one’s neighbour is a rare happening.’

  ‘So there are some nice things you will remember about Willowmere when you leave us?’

  ‘Oh, yes, definitely, but I’m not all that sure my turning up on your patch has given you much pleasure. You seem to have a keen interest in my departure.’

  ‘Not at all,’ she protested, her colour rising, ‘but when you go, don’t forget that James will want to say goodbye.’

  It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that James had something to say that might make goodbyes fly out of the window, but she’d promised not to say anything, and in any case she wanted this time together to be free of tension.

  ‘Wow!’ he exclaimed as the lake suddenly appeared before them, cold and crystal clear beneath the slender drooping branches of the trees that had given it its name. ‘What a heavenly place! Do you come here often?’

  ‘As often as I can. James and I bring the children here for picnics in summer and sometimes if I have a spare moment I come to enjoy the silence on a summer evening. The willows are much greener then, but as you can see they retain some of their leaves in winter and are still very beautiful.’

  ‘You love this place, don’t you?’ he said gravely. ‘And I can understand why.’

  She was smiling, hazel eyes bright with pleasure because he understood how she felt about the lake, and she told him, ‘When I want to be invigorated I walk by the river as it bustles along, but if I want peace I come here.’

  ‘On your own? It sounds rather solitary.’

  ‘It may be hard to understand but I’ve become a very solitary person, Glenn, even though I lead such a busy life.’

  ‘Maybe it’s because you put all your energies into the lives of others and need to shut down occasionally. That was how I used to feel sometimes when I was out there with a never-ending queue of people needing my help, and now I’ve come back it’s just the opposite. Nobody needs me,’ he said with a dry smile.

  Anna was silent for a moment before she said levelly, ‘I don’t think any doctor can truthfully say that.’

  ‘No. I suppose not,’ he agreed, as a flock of Canada geese arose out of reeds by the lakeside and flew overhead in formation, silhouetted against a winter sunset. ‘It’s just that I’m not in the habit of lazing around, I suppose.’

  The winter afternoon was closing in on them and, ready to change the subject, she said, ‘We ought to be making tracks. It will be dark soon and it’s getting colder.’

  When they arrived back at Bracken House Glenn shook her hand. ‘Goodbye, Anna,’ he said. ‘It’s been great seeing you again. I’ve enjoyed meeting your brother and his beautiful children and seeing this place where you seem so content.’

  I thought I was, a voice in her head suddenly whispered. She ignored it and told him, ‘Yes, Willowmere is a lovely place. I’m surprised you don’t want to see more of it. You’ll call to say goodbye before you go, I hope.’

  ‘Of course,’ he said steadily.

  It was half past six and he was a solitary figure in the dining room of The Pheasant when James appeared in the doorway. He rose to his feet but the other man waved him back down. ‘Don’t let me interrupt your meal,’ he said. ‘I’ll ask the landlord to bring me a glass of wine.’

  When that had been done James said, ‘I wanted a word with you before you leave, Glenn.’

  ‘Sure. What can I do for you?’ he said easily.

  ‘Would you be interested in a locum position at the practice?’ James asked. ‘We need another doctor now that Dad has passed on. It could be for as long as you wanted. If you decided to go back abroad or developed other plans, it would be fine by us. I’ve spoken to Georgina Adams, who is the other full time GP, and it’s all right with her if you would consider joining us.’

  Glenn had put his knife and fork down slowly. ‘Yes, but what does Anna have to say?’

  ‘The same as Georgina, that she has no objections.’

  ‘She said that!’

  ‘Yes, she did.’

  �
��Then I’d like to take you up on your offer. A locum position was one of the things I’d been considering when I decided I was going to come back to the UK. You’ve solved that problem for me. It will be a pleasure to work with you, just as long as you’re sure that Anna won’t mind having me in the practice. Sometimes it’s easier to work with strangers.’

  ‘I discussed it with her before I approached you,’ James assured him, ‘and she said you would be an asset to the practice.’

  ‘That’s fine, then,’ he said in disbelief. ‘When do you want me to start?’

  When James arrived home Anna and the children had just finished their meal and when she looked up from the table the question she was eager to ask was in the eyes meeting his.

  ‘The answer is yes,’ he told her. ‘Glenn will be delighted to come into the practice. He’s been thinking of doing something along those lines and when he’d satisfied himself that you would have no objections, he accepted my offer.’

  ‘I see,’ she said slowly, ‘and you made it clear that it wasn’t my idea.’

  ‘Yes. He knows the suggestion is wholly mine. He’s driving back to London early in the morning to tie up any loose ends there and will be back late Sunday night.

  ‘When he mentioned accommodation I told him I have a spare room and he said that would be fine. It is fortunate he doesn’t have a property to sell or anything. That sort of thing can drag on, and it’s also fortunate that he likes us enough in Willowmere to stay for a while. I don’t think we’ll regret having him as part of the practice.’

  After he’d eaten and gone upstairs to spend time with the children, Anna sat deep in thought. Everything was going to change and she had only herself to blame. If she’d said no when James had suggested asking Glenn to join them, she wouldn’t be sitting around like a jelly with her confidence draining away like water down a drain.