A Baby for the Village Doctor

by Abigail Gordon

  So much for her making a situation out of something that should have been handled tactfully, Georgina thought bleakly, and knew what she had to do.

  Ben was home before her and when he answered her knock on the door, she said contritely, ‘I’m sorry, Ben. I didn’t mean you to find out like that. It was unkind of me.’

  ‘So how did you want me to find out?’ he asked dryly.

  ‘I don’t know!’ she told him exasperatedly. ‘I keep telling you that I’m used to doing things on my own.’

  ‘And you want it to stay that way?

  ‘No. Not exactly, but the cemetery was the place where we met that day and since then nothing has been the same. Going together would bring back memories not just of our meeting there but what happened afterwards.’

  ‘You don’t want to remember that, then?’

  She looked down at her unaccustomed width and wondered how he could ask such a question.

  ‘I will never forget it as long as I live,’ she choked. ‘I have far more reason to recall it than you have.’

  He stepped forward and touched her cheek gently. ‘Yes, I know you have. Don’t let me interfere in your routine regarding Jamie. Tell him I love him, and I’ll come see him soon.’

  ‘Yes, I’ll do that,’ she promised, ‘but don’t you think he knows? I won’t linger in London. I expect to be back late afternoon…and maybe next time we’ll be able to go together.’

  It was five o’clock when the local train from Manchester stopped in Willowmere’s small station and Georgina smiled as she stepped onto the platform, bright with its tubs and baskets of flowers. She could hear the jangling kind of music that told her the Easter fair had arrived. If Ben wasn’t too late home, maybe they could have a wander around the sideshows and other attractions after they’d eaten.

  So far he hadn’t seen much of village activities and in a perverse sort of way she was keen to introduce him to country life, even though she was still adjusting to his presence.

  The fair was a yearly event. Everyone turned out for it, and as she heard the noise of it she thought of tomorrow’s wedding in the village. Edwina and her friends wouldn’t be too thrilled at having the music from the fair drowning their efforts on behalf of the happy couple.

  On the short distance to Partridge Lane it occurred to her that Ben in his present confident state of mind might suggest that they marry again, and if he did, what would she say?

  There was no way she would agree for the sake of convenience or propriety. If she ever took his name again it would be because it was something she wanted with all her heart, and at the present time she didn’t know what she wanted.

  She wasn’t to know that since yesterday his confidence had been at a low ebb. The fact that she’d intended going to London without him had been a sharp reminder that he’d blundered into the life that she’d made for herself, and she wasn’t prepared to give it up so easily.

  He arrived home at seven o’clock and the first thing he did was knock on her door to check if she was back. When she opened it to him, he observed her keenly.

  ‘How did it go?’ he wanted to know.

  ‘Fine,’ she told him. ‘The trains were on time, no trouble getting a taxi. I spent an hour in the cemetery and then returned to Euston to get the train home.’

  ‘And do you feel better for going?’

  She smiled across at him. ‘Of course. Need you ask? And now I’ve got a question for you. Can you hear the fair?’

  ‘Yes. Where is it?’

  ‘On spare ground beside the river. Shall we go once you’ve eaten?’

  ‘I’ve already had something in Manchester,’ he said. ‘What about you?’

  ‘I made a meal when I got in.’

  ‘And you feel up to it.’

  ‘Yes, but I don’t think I’ll be risking any of the rides. They do throw one about rather.’

  ‘As your resident physician I agree that is good thinking,’ he said lightly. ‘I’ll go and change into something comfortable and be back shortly,’

  When they set off in the early April evening to where the fair had been set up, Ben thought that Georgina hadn’t had much to say about her day except for the bare details. Remembering their discussion of the previous day, he decided she must be thinking that the least said would be soonest mended.

  As they wandered around the various stalls and sideshows he won a soft toy for hitting the target on a shooting range, and when presented with a coconut for a good score at skittles, asked wryly, ‘What are we going to do with this?’

  Cries of alarm suddenly came from behind and someone shouted, ‘Look out!’

  They could hear the pounding of hooves coming towards them and as Georgina and Ben swung round the crowd behind them scattered as a white-faced teenage girl on a pony bore down on them with the animal out of control.

  It took a split second for Ben to realise that someone was going to get hurt and that someone might be Georgina, and as the animal came charging towards them he grabbed the bridle. The impact almost wrenched his arm out of its socket and slammed him up against the supports of a nearby sideshow, but at least it had halted the frightened animal and no one in the crowd had been hurt.

  The girl was shaking from head to foot. ‘It was the music that made her bolt,’ she said. ‘I should never have brought Dinky near the fair but I couldn’t resist, and nearly killed somebody.’

  She turned to Ben. ‘Thank you for saving me and my horse and some innocent person.’

  He nodded. ‘Fortunately no one was hurt, but another time do take care, young lady.’ He smiled at her crestfallen expression. ‘The next time you come to the fair, I suggest you leave Dinky at home.’

  ‘I will,’ she promised fervently, and with an apologetic smile for the onlookers rode off slowly towards a quieter part of the village.

  Georgina was by his side, aware that every time he moved his arm and shoulder he was wincing, and she said, ‘I’ll take you to A and E to have your arm looked at.’

  He shook his head. ‘No, Georgina. I’m all right. Let’s go home and I’ll bathe it.’

  ‘I’ll bathe it,’ she told him, and he smiled.

  ‘All right, whatever you say. If it’s still painful in the morning, I will go to A and E.’

  When they got home she removed his shirt with gentle hands and saw a livid red weal across a shoulder that was already swollen and discoloured.

  ‘Can you move it?’ she asked anxiously.

  ‘Yes,’ he said calmly. ‘It will be all right when the swelling goes down. I’ve just wrenched my shoulder joint.’

  She was observing him doubtfully. ‘I do think we should go to A and E to have it X-rayed.’

  ‘I’ll see how it feels when I’ve been in the bath,’ he conceded.

  ‘Let me put witch hazel on it first,’ she insisted. ‘It’s so good for inward bruising and strains.’

  As she rubbed the age-old remedy gently all over his back and shoulders Georgina was thinking that this was the first real physical contact they’d had since the day they’d made love. The opportunity to go back in time to when his wellbeing had been as important to her as breathing was a moment to treasure.

  He was observing her whimsically over his shoulder and commented, ‘I could really get to like this, though not the reason for it. That girl shouldn’t have been anywhere near the fair with her pony. The kind of music they were playing was enough to frighten any animal. Someone could have been killed.’

  He was reaching for his shirt and she said, ‘Let me help you,’ and held it out for him while he eased his arms into it. As she was pressed up against him, fastening the buttons, the baby moved inside her and she reached for his hand as she’d done on that other occasion.

  It was a timeless sort of moment, yet in reality it only lasted seconds, and when it was over he reached out and took her face between his hands and kissed her gently on the mouth. Starved of the passion that had once been one of the mainstays of their life together, she kissed
him back with a fervour that brought him rigid with surprise and pleasure.

  When at last he put her away from him gently Ben said, ‘I can’t think of a better way of making me forget that my back hurts, Georgina. Does it mean that I’m forgiven?’

  ‘I could say that I forgave you a long time ago,’ she said breathlessly, ‘but there was never anything to forgive. We just found ourselves travelling along different roads and there was nothing left to hold on to. But it doesn’t mean that I’ve forgotten how it used to be.’

  He was reaching out for her again but she shook her head and told him, ‘As your doctor, I recommend rest and quiet. A repeat of what just happened is not in keeping with that. I suggest that you go home, have a warm bath and a hot drink, and we’ll see how the patient is in the morning.’

  ‘All right,’ he agreed, and paused on the doorstep to comment dryly, ‘I note that you managed to hang on to the cuddly toy. I wonder what happened to the coconut?’

  When he’d gone, Georgina sank down onto the sofa and thought what a strange day it had been. It had started with her self-imposed solitary pilgrimage to London, followed by their visit to the fair that had changed from pleasure to panic in just a few seconds.

  Then last, but by no means the least, in the emotionally charged moment that they’d shared after feeling the baby move, she had let her heart rule her head, given way to longing, and now she was feeling guilty because she’d given Ben cause to hope when she still wasn’t clear in her mind about the future.

  But exhaustion was kicking in and she went slowly upstairs to her lonely bed and tried not to think about how right it had felt when she’d been in Ben’s arms.

  As sleep began to slide over her she thought drowsily that it was almost as if the little unborn one, be it Aimee or Arran, was playing a little game of its own by making its presence felt at meaningful moments.

  Next door Ben was having a leisurely soak to ease an aching shoulder and planning to sleep on the side not affected, wishing at the same time that he could awake the next morning to find Georgina beside him.

  Outside in the lane in the dark spring night the fox slunk by once more on the lookout for an unsuspecting meal.

  CHAPTER SIX

  WHEN Georgina went to check on Ben’s injured shoulder the following morning, he assured her that it was much better but, noting painkillers on the worktop in the kitchen, she insisted on being shown the affected area. When she saw the swelling and amount of bruising that had come out during the night, she said that they should have it looked at in A and E.

  ‘I can move it all right,’ he told her, ‘so there is no fracture, but if you insist, I’ll go.’

  ‘We’ll go,’ she said. ‘I’ll drive.’

  ‘I’m supposed to be looking after you,’ he protested.

  ‘I don’t need looking after,’ she told him firmly.

  ‘So I’ve gathered, but don’t forget when you go to see the gynaecologist next week, I would like to be there. What time is the appointment?’

  ‘Three in the afternoon, between surgeries.’

  She understood his concern. It had not been an easy pregnancy when she was expecting Jamie, but so far all was well, and she was not going to take any risks regarding the baby’s safety. It was a precious gift, conceived in a moment of madness, and where at first she hadn’t liked the thought of that, now she saw it differently because of the joy it was bringing with it.

  Ben had been X-rayed in A and E at St Gabriel’s, the main hospital for the area, and he’d been right. There were no broken bones, just a lot of soreness that could take a few days to ease off.

  As they were about to leave, he said, ‘I’m told they have a new paediatric centre here that is quite something.’

  ‘Yes, they have,’ she said.

  ‘I know the manager of the unit. I’m sure he’ll let us have a look round when he knows who you are.’

  She was right. Ben’s name brought immediate recognition, and they were shown round the centre by one of the doctors. Not only was it state-of-the-art, with every kind of up-to-date equipment, it was bright and sunny, with lots of things to take young patients’ minds off their problems.

  As they were leaving, Ben shook the doctor’s hand and said, ‘Many thanks for showing us round. My wife and I are most impressed.’

  Georgina didn’t comment on it when they left but he did. ‘I know what you’re thinking,’ he said wryly. ‘You’re not my wife any more. I felt it more appropriate to introduce you like that as you are so obviously pregnant.’

  ‘And so avoid any gossip?’

  He glanced at her sharply. ‘Yes, but on your account, not mine. I know what hospital grapevines are like. I don’t give a damn what people think of me, but you are known in these parts.’

  ‘Yes, I am,’ she agreed levelly. ‘I’m known as a woman who hasn’t been open to any advances from members of the opposite sex since she came here, and who gets on with her life without burdening others with her problems and heartaches. Until you came back into my life James was the only one who knew anything about me and he has never heard the full story.’

  ‘He has now. I told him,’ he said coolly, stung by her words. ‘I also told him that he was the only person I’d ever opened up to.’

  She stared at him with surprised hazel eyes. ‘When was this? You’ve barely met the man.’

  ‘It was at the cricket match last weekend…and I like the guy.’

  ‘Well! The new you is certainly full of surprises.’

  They were back in the car ready to drive home and he said, ‘Here’s one more. I want to buy you an Easter egg like I used to when Jamie was with us, so can we stop off somewhere? Then we have to decide what we’re going to do with the rest of the day. After all, it is Easter Saturday.’

  Picking up on his mood, she said, ‘I suggest we give the fair a miss after yesterday’s near catastrophe. How about a picnic by Willow Lake?’

  ‘Agreed as long as I help to prepare the food.’

  She shook her head. ‘No, rest your shoulder. I’ll do the catering. I’ll shop for it when we get back to the village and you can go on home and do your own thing for a couple of hours.’

  And now she was making a salad to go with smoked salmon, and buttering crusty bread to be eaten with it before they went on to meringues and the apple tart that she’d bought at the village baker’s.

  As she bent to get fruit juice from the fridge, the Easter egg, resplendent in a fancy box with her name piped across in icing was there at her elbow, and she paused. Was she falling into a trap of her own making, allowing Ben to charm her with his concern and happy memories from the past when the future still wasn’t clear?

  ‘Do you remember how we used to call Jamie “Chocolate Chops” at Easter time,’ he’d said, while they were waiting for her name to be piped on to the egg.

  ‘Yes,’ she replied softly. ‘I remember everything the three of us did together, and I know that you do, too, Ben.’

  It had been a tender moment that the girl behind the counter had broken into by saying laughingly, ‘Your husband’s name is Ben? That’s a nice short name to go on an Easter egg. I’ve only just managed to get Georgina on yours!’

  When Ben had bought Easter eggs for Jamie, he’d always bought one for her, and it would seem that he hadn’t forgotten. In the pleasure of the moment she’d suggested the picnic and could hardly change her mind now, but for the rest of the holiday weekend she was going to retreat behind what few defences she had left.

  When Ben had first arrived in Willowmere, she’d told him she didn’t want a relationship with anyone, and had meant it. But she was realising that the bond between them remained unbroken. It might be battered and bent, but it was still there and always would be.

  * * *

  Next door Ben was also in a more sombre mood, remembering how Georgina had described herself at the hospital. He’d taken it on board at the time but pushed her words to the back of his mind. Now they’d come back
to plague him and he wondered if they’d been a reminder that nothing had changed. That there might be precarious harmony between them but he wasn’t to take it for granted. Her not wanting him with her when she went to see the gynaecologist fitted in with that.

  Yet when she appeared carrying a picnic basket covered with a white napkin, she seemed happy enough, and he resolutely put his uncertainties to one side.

  If the fair hadn’t been in full swing at the other side of the village, Willow Lake would have been the star attraction on a sunny Easter Saturday, but as it was, there were just a few people there. Some out for a walk, others just sitting beside the water’s edge, enjoying the peace of the place or having a picnic like themselves.

  As Ben was opening up a couple of folding chairs and a small table that he’d taken from the boot of the car Georgina looked away and, seeing her expression, he asked, ‘What’s making you look like that?’

  She managed a smile. ‘Just a memory, that’s all.’ Before he could question her further, her attention was caught by the approach of Christine Quarmby, for once without her gamekeeper husband.

  ‘Do I take the absence of your husband to mean there’s a shoot taking place on Lord Derringham’s estate?’ she asked Christine after introducing Ben as her next-door neighbour and pretending not to notice the glint in his eye.

  ‘Yes,’ was the answer. ‘His lordship has people staying with him over Easter, and Dennis is on call all the time. He wishes he wasn’t as he’s concerned about me, but I tell him that his job is our bread and butter, and I have to learn to be less reliant on him. It might sound ridiculous, Georgina, but I feel better now I know what is wrong with me.

  ‘I’m not jumping for joy, far from it, but for anyone who is waiting for the results of tests and a diagnosis, it’s like wandering in the wilderness. I’ve read all I can find about Sjögren’s syndrome and searched on the Internet so I know the score. But it isn’t going to stop me from leading as normal a life as possible.’ She smiled at Ben, who had been listening intently. ‘And now I’ll go on my way having had my exercise for today.’