Aidan nodded. ‘Yes, there’s a side road which leads to the lane at the front of the cottage where I keep the Land Rover, but if I’m in a hurry I tend to park on the road and come in the back way down the steps.’
‘And the bedrooms?’ mused Lindsay, stepping from the sittingroom and staring up the stairs.
‘You want to see my bedroom?’
For probably the first time she caught a hint of amusement in his voice, and as she realised what she’d said she flushed. Passing swiftly over his question, she said, ‘How many bedrooms do you have?’
‘Two,’ he replied. ‘There were three but I’m afraid I settled for the modern option in this case and converted one into a bathroom. Want to take a look?’
‘If we have the time,’ she replied coolly. She did want to see because there was something about the whole place and what Aidan had done to it that really fascinated her, but on the other hand, she thought as she followed him up the steep, narrow staircase, the last thing she wanted him to think was that she was keen to see the room just because it happened to be his bedroom.
CHAPTER FIVE
THERE was a large wooden bed in the main bedroom, its headboard and footrail of stylish stripped pine, its cover heavy white cotton. In here the walls were cream and the soft velvet curtains a bright delphinium-blue. Lindsay found herself staring at the king-sized bed and wondering anew if Aidan shared his life with anyone. There were no signs of feminine occupation—no clothes or cosmetics. It was just the bed, which really was very large, that gave her cause to wonder. As she stood in the bedroom doorway, looking round at the room, she fought to find something to say.
‘Do you like it?’ Aidan unexpectedly came to her rescue.
‘I do,’ she replied, nodding. ‘Very much. I was just thinking how much Romilly would like it.’
‘Romilly?’ He frowned.
‘Yes, she’s my father’s girlfriend. She also happens to be an interior designer—a very good one, actually.’
‘Really?’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘And you say she’s your father’s girlfriend?’
‘Yes, a long-term girlfriend. Oh, don’t worry, this isn’t a London den-of-vice case—my mother died many years ago when I was a child.’
‘That was sad—for you especially, I mean.’ He led the way out of the bedroom and opened the door of the second room which was still to be renovated and which appeared to be used as a storeroom. ‘What happened?’
‘She was involved in an accident,’ Lindsay replied with a brief look at the room, understanding as she did so from the state of the walls just how much work Aidan must have put in on the rest of the cottage. ‘A hit-and-run driver on a pedestrian crossing outside the house we lived in at that time. He was never caught,’ she added briefly.
‘I’m sorry.’ He didn’t sympathise or commiserate any further, like most people did on hearing of the tragic circumstances of her background, a fact for which she was grateful. It still hurt to talk about those terrible days when she’d been seven. ‘Do you have brothers or sisters?’ he asked instead.
‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘There’s just me—and my father. We moved to Chelsea soon after the accident, where my father still lives.’
‘And you have your flat in Fulham.’ His tone had changed slightly but she was uncertain of the implication in his tone. She threw him a sharp glance as, after she’d taken a quick look at the modernised bathroom, he stood back in order for her to descend the staircase ahead of him, but his expression was inscrutable.
‘Yes,’ she agreed lightly, ‘I have my flat. And I’m glad of it. There’s nothing like a bit of independence, as I’m sure you’ll agree.’ If she’d thought he might volunteer any information about the degree of his own independence she was mistaken for he declined even to reply.
Instead, once they reached the ground floor he said, ‘I’d better round up those hounds, then we must be on our way.’ Opening the door, he called to the dogs who appeared a moment later from the depths of the garden. By this time Lindsay had stepped from the cottage and was standing in the small courtyard outside the back door.
The two dogs bounded up to the cottage and too late Lindsay realised they were wet through from the grass and undergrowth. Before she had time to take evasive action they’d shaken themselves thoroughly, spraying her with a shower of water.
With a little cry she jumped backwards, at the same time trying to brush the water from her suit. If Aidan noticed, which she doubted, he said nothing. Fuming silently to herself, Lindsay preceded him up the steps, nearly losing her balance as the dogs streaked past and sat on the top step, panting noisily with their tongues hanging out as they waited for Aidan.
Without a word Lindsay climbed into the Land Rover. Aidan let the dogs into the back and almost immediately Lindsay felt a wet nose nuzzle the side of her neck. Turning her head sharply, she found Skipper, the Old English sheepdog, had his chin resting on the back of her seat.
‘He really seems to have taken to you,’ said Aidan with a glance over his shoulder as he secured his seat belt. ‘He isn’t usually so amiable with strangers.’
‘Really?’ Lindsay replied coolly.
It only took about five minutes to reach the home of Douglas and Milly Morgan. This, too, was a stone and slate cottage but one in a row of five others, all with immaculate front gardens and net curtains at the windows. Milly was watching out for them and had the front door open almost before they were out of the Land Rover.
‘I thought you might be here today, Dr Lennox,’ she said with a smile. She was a plump, apple-cheeked little woman whose appearance was as neat as that of her home. ‘And who’s this?’ She turned an inquisitive but not unfriendly look at Lindsay.
‘This is Dr Lindsay Henderson,’ Aidan replied as they followed Milly into her tiny living room. ‘She’s come to join us at the practice for a while.’
‘And where are you from, then?’ asked Milly.
‘I’m from London.’ Lindsay braced herself as she waited for the usual adverse reaction which that particular confession seemed to bring forth.
‘Ah,’ said Milly. ‘London.’
‘Milly is from London, aren’t you, Milly?’ said Aidan.
‘Many, many years ago,’ Milly replied with a sigh as Lindsay turned to her in surprise. ‘I was born and bred in London until a certain Welshman whisked me away to his native Wales.’ She looked up at Lindsay. ‘Tell me, how is the old city?’
‘It was looking well when I left,’ Lindsay replied, ‘but, then, it’s a lovely time of the year and the parks were all at their best.’
‘So how is the Welshman today?’ asked Aidan.
‘He’s about the same.’ Milly shook her head. ‘His nights are bad, though—he’s very restless.’
‘Let’s have a look at him, Milly.’
Milly turned as if to lead the way into the next room, but before she could do so the door was pushed open and a Zimmer frame appeared, followed by an old man who shuffled forward, holding tightly to the frame.
‘Hello, there, Douglas,’ said Aidan. ‘Nice to see you mobile today.’
While Milly bustled forward and helped her husband to a high-backed chair by the window Aidan put his case on the table and unlocked it. Lindsay, who was watching Douglas, saw the uncontrollable fit of shaking, so characteristic of sufferers of Parkinson’s disease, that gripped him as he sank back into his chair. After a moment he turned his head in her direction, stretched out a still shaking hand and appeared to be trying desperately to say something.
‘You want to know who this young lady is who’s come to see you, don’t you, Douglas?’ said Aidan with an unexpected chuckle. ‘She’s a doctor and her name is Lindsay Henderson.’ As he spoke, he handed Lindsay Douglas Morgan’s records containing his care plan and medication chart.
‘Dr Henderson comes from London,’ announced Milly, before bustling away to the kitchen to brew some tea.
Lindsay took Douglas’s hand in hers. ‘I’m pleased to meet you,
Mr Morgan,’ she said. She didn’t let go of his hand immediately, and as she held it, while Aidan read through Douglas’s latest hospital reports, she looked around the small but spotlessly clean living room. There were photographs everywhere—pictures of children and presumably grandchildren and great-grandchildren. There were framed wedding photographs, christening pictures, one of a young man in a mortarboard and gown and above the sideboard a faded, black-and-white photograph of a bride in a two-piece costume and feathered hat, with her handsome groom in army uniform. A whole lifetime of memories were there in that room.
Lindsay looked at Douglas and saw the tears had come to his eyes as he’d watched her follow the path of his and Milly’s lives. Briefly, before she let go of his hand she gently squeezed it.
‘I’m going to give him a light sedative at night,’ murmured Aidan, looking up from the notes he was reading. ‘Hopefully, that way they’ll both get some rest. I don’t want Milly getting too tired. There are some days when Douglas is bedridden and Milly has to do literally everything for him. Her angina has been worse this last winter and it’s all taking its toll.’ He handed Lindsay the records and while she was studying them Milly came back into the room. Aidan rose swiftly to his feet to relieve her of the tray she carried.
‘Milly, you’ve been baking again,’ he said as he set the tray down on the table. Glancing at Lindsay, he added, ‘Milly makes the best Welsh oatcakes you’ve ever tasted.’
‘I’m not sure I’ve ever tasted Welsh oatcakes,’ said Lindsay, shaking her head.
‘Then your education is incomplete,’ said Aidan solemnly.
Milly had started to pour the tea but at this interchange she set the teapot down and picked up a plate of the delicious-looking oatcakes. ‘You will try one?’ she said.
‘How could I possibly refuse?’ said Lindsay with a laugh. Only moments later, however, as she bit into one of the cookies, she knew that for once she and Aidan had found something they were in complete agreement about.
They stayed with the Morgans for a further ten minutes then when the pot was drained and the plate empty they took their leave, Aidan telling Milly that he would call in again in a week’s time unless she needed anything before that. ‘I’ll drop the prescription into the chemist,’ he said as Milly showed them to the door, ‘then Elspeth can bring it home with her when she finishes work.’
‘Who’s Elspeth?’ asked Lindsay as they took their seats in the Land Rover to the accompaniment of an enthusiastic greeting from Skipper and Jess.
‘She’s a neighbour,’ Aidan explained. ‘She works in the butcher’s shop, which is next to the chemist in the village. Roma, who’s the pharmacist’s assistant, will take the prescription to Elspeth before she goes home.’ He paused and glared indignantly at Lindsay. ‘Why are you laughing?’ he demanded.
‘I’m not,’ she said. ‘Not really. It’s just that it’s all so informal here, with everyone knowing everyone else. What you’ve just described would never happen in a million years in London. So much is so different here from what I’d expected…’
He was silent for a moment then, after he’d executed a perfect U-turn in the road, he said, ‘So, are you going to tell me why it bothered you when you found out I was to be your trainer?’
For one moment the unexpectedness of the question took her breath away. ‘I…well,’ she floundered, ‘I don’t know that it exactly…’
‘Yes, it did,’ he said bluntly. ‘You said it did. Last night at Henry’s when I asked you if it was important to you that we should have got off to a good start, you said that it might have helped if we had, especially when you found out that I was to be your trainer. And then I asked you if it had bothered you, finding that out, and you said, and correct me if I’m wrong but I think your exact words were, “Actually, yes, it did if you must know.” But that was as far as you got because Henry came back into the room at that moment.’
‘All right.’ Lindsay took a deep breath and raised her hand in a quick submissive gesture. ‘That’s right. I did say that.’
‘And did you mean it?’
‘As it happens, yes, I did.’
‘So are you going to enlighten me as to why it should bother you so much?’ he demanded. ‘After all, let’s face it, you’d only just met me so on that fact alone it seemed a pretty sweeping statement to make.’
‘It probably had more to do with the fact that Henry was no longer to be my trainer than the fact that you were,’ she admitted tightly at last.
‘So are you saying it had nothing to do with me at all?’
‘Actually, no, I’m not saying that. If you must know, I was still annoyed with you for not introducing yourself in the shop. Oh, I know you said you thought I was a tourist and I suppose I might give you the benefit of the doubt over that, but you must have realised who I was later, at the scene of the accident, and you should have said then who you were. From your behaviour I can only assume that you weren’t too happy to have me in Tregadfan which automatically leads me to conclude you weren’t too keen to have been landed with the job of my trainer. Am I right or not?’ she demanded when he remained silent.
‘Actually, yes,’ he said at last. ‘Absolutely right.’
‘Well, that’s charming.’ She did nothing to disguise the sarcasm in her voice. ‘Now we know exactly where we stand. You didn’t want me here. You don’t want to be my trainer, and I’m fed up because I had set my heart on Henry being my trainer.’
They were silent for a moment then Aidan spoke again. ‘The only reason I didn’t want you here was because I didn’t happen to think the practice would benefit from a trainee. I didn’t think it was the right time and, as it turned out, I was absolutely right. I went along with Henry in the end because it was what he wanted and I didn’t think it would affect me too much. When Megan became so ill I thought Henry would drop the whole idea but, no, he didn’t want to disappoint you so he asked—practically begged—me to take you on. I agreed in the end simply because I think Henry has enough stress at the moment with Megan, without adding to it.’
‘Well, I wish someone had contacted me and asked me what I wanted,’ retorted Lindsay.
‘What would you have done if we had?’ Aidan threw her a curious glance.
‘I wouldn’t have come. It’s as simple as that. The only reason I’ve come all this way is because I wanted Henry to be my trainer. He’s my godfather and ever since I was a child I’ve looked up to him and admired him. Had I known what was to happen I would have found another practice to take me on—probably one nearer home.’
‘I thought you said you wanted to get out amongst ordinary people…’
‘I could do that in London—it isn’t all Harley Street, you know. There are plenty of areas where I would have gained experience of real life.’
They were silent again while Aidan drove back through the village then took a sharp left-hand corner and drove out onto the main road.
‘So,’ said Lindsay after a while, ‘was your only reason for not wanting me here to do with the good of the practice, or was there anything against me personally?’ When he didn’t answer she said, ‘Come on, fair’s fair. You asked me the same question and I answered you.’
He took a deep breath. ‘All right,’ he said. ‘If you must know, I didn’t think you’d fit in here. I thought you looked totally unsuitable.’
‘Why?’ she demanded.
‘Everything,’ he said. ‘Everything about you—your clothes, your style, your hair, even your car—it all smacked of wealth and privilege.’
‘So you were ready to condemn me on appearances alone?’
He shrugged. ‘Condemn’s a strong word. Let’s just say I thought you would find it very difficult to fit in with the folk in Tregadfan. And, I’ll be honest, I thought that the moment I set eyes on you…’
‘In the village shop?’
‘Yes.’
‘There you are, I said you knew who I was.’ Her voice rose and there came a low growl from the back o
f the Land Rover.
‘Quiet, Jess.’ Aidan only spoke softly but there was no further sound from the Border collie. ‘Let’s just say I guessed. And my fears were proven.’
‘Well, you weren’t the only one with fears or misgivings,’ she snapped. ‘I can tell you I very nearly hightailed it straight back to London.’
‘But you didn’t.’
‘No,’ she admitted. ‘I didn’t.’
‘May I ask why?’
‘Because I also didn’t want to upset Henry. He’d obviously gone to a lot of trouble and he’s so worried about Megan…’
‘So our feelings on that score are obviously the same.’ He drove on in silence.
‘Look,’ said Lindsay after a moment, ‘it seems as if we’re stuck with this situation whether we like it or not. I guess we’ll just have to put up with a bad job and get on with it.’
‘Yes.’ He nodded. ‘I guess. But…’
‘But what?’ She threw him a sharp glance but his face was expressionless.
‘May I make one suggestion?’
‘What’s that?’
‘That you get yourself some decent shoes.’
‘What’s wrong with my shoes?’ she demanded.
‘Nothing,’ he said. ‘There’s nothing wrong with your shoes at all and I’m sure they are absolutely perfect in London, but they’re hardly practical for house calls in and around Tregadfan.’
She was still smarting from his criticism when they reached the address of the next patient. This time it was the home of Janet Pearce, a middle-aged woman whose elderly mother was bedridden after suffering a stroke. The patient was experiencing problems with digestion and diarrhoea and was suffering from the long-term effects of depression. After he’d examined her, Aidan turned to Janet.
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