To his dismay it was Lucy who came to assist him at the clinic that afternoon and when he asked what had happened to Jenna she said, ‘I know I’m a poor replacement, but Jenna was knocked off her bicycle when she was cycling back here after lunch.’
‘What?’ he exclaimed. ‘Is she badly hurt?’
‘No, just cuts and bruises, but Ethan has told her to take the afternoon off, and knowing her she’s probably gone down to the beach as salt water is a great healer.’
‘Yes, it is,’ he agreed soberly, but it wouldn’t heal the breach that he’d caused between them, would it? As soon as his clinic was over he would go to check how badly she’d been hurt. He needed to see that she was all right. No doubt he would be as welcome as a wet day for a wedding, but he was still going to call at Four Winds House before he called it a day.
It proved not to be as easy as he’d imagined it. There were more patients than usual at the clinic and it didn’t go as smoothly with Lucy’s help as it did with Jenna’s, so by the time he was driving down the hill towards the headland it was early evening.
When he got there, just as yesterday, there was no family car on the drive, just Jenna’s bicycle looking somewhat the worse for wear with bent mudguards and twisted handlebars. When he rang the doorbell and got no reply he decided he would spend the time sorting the bike out until she put in an appearance—he always carried a tool kit in the boot of his car.
The easiest thing would be to suggest she use the sports car again, but he had a pretty good idea what she would say to that. So he stuck to plan A and repaired the bicycle. It would need one or two spare parts and wouldn’t be safe to ride until they were in place, but once that was done it would be roadworthy once more.
But where was she? he wondered as he propped the bike up against the garden fence and pinned a note on it to explain what he’d done and that it wasn’t yet safe to ride.
He’d been down to the beach and there’d been no sight of her. She wasn’t at home, so where was she—the hospital? He hoped not, but could soon find out.
At that moment she appeared, moving slowly along the headland towards the house, and when she saw him her step faltered.
She looked dejected, was limping, and he waited to see what she would do when she drew level.
‘I’m sorry about this afternoon,’ she said before he had the chance to speak. ‘I didn’t want to let you down but when Ethan heard that the dog from the post office had come dashing out and knocked me off my bicycle he insisted that I take the afternoon off, and I thought you might feel that having to manage on your own was the lesser of two evils.’
‘Lucy helped me,’ he said levelly. ‘What’s the matter with your foot?’
‘Nothing serious. I twisted my ankle when I fell off the bike.’
‘So let’s go inside and I’ll take a look at it.’
‘I am a nurse,’ she protested. ‘I would know if I’d fractured a bone or pulled a ligament.’
‘Nevertheless, I want to make sure, so can we go in?’
‘If you insist,’ she said, unlocking the door.
‘I take it that your parents are out.’
‘Yes, Mum had a hospital appointment at the coronary clinic and Dad said he would see what he could find out regarding George while they were there.’
‘And you didn’t go with them to have your foot X-rayed?’
‘No. It happened after they’d gone.’
He followed her inside and they both sat down in the living room.
‘So take your shoe off,’ he said, expecting her to protest at the fuss, but she didn’t and when he saw how swollen and bruised her foot was he understood why.
Taking it between his hands, he felt it gently and she melted at his touch. How could she be angry with this wonderful man? she thought weakly, gazing down at hair as dark as ebony and the tanned stem of his neck as he bent over her foot.
He looked up and caught her glance on him but didn’t respond in any way and Jenna thought, he hasn’t forgotten the quarrel. Lucas still thinks I’m an interfering nuisance. Wincing at the effort, she withdrew her foot out of his clasp.
‘I’m taking you to A and E,’ he informed her, ignoring the gesture. ‘I don’t think there is a fracture or you wouldn’t have been walking on it the way you were, but you’re a nurse, for goodness’ sake, Jenna. You should have had it checked over.’
She managed a smile but it was an effort. ‘Aren’t those in the medical profession known to be slow to treat themselves?’
She saw amusement in the dark hazel eyes observing her and wondered if she would ever understand this man who held her heart in his capable hands.
When she got to her feet he said, ‘You’ve been on them long enough without an X-ray,’ and picked her up into his arms and carried her out to the car.
He was silent as he pointed the Mercedes in the direction of the major road that led to the hospital and she said, ‘I haven’t asked how the clinic was today. Were there many there?’
In spite of their differences she was upset to have missed it, but it sounded as if she was making conversation and he replied briefly, ‘It went well and, yes, there were a lot of patients.’
His mind was on where they were going and if anyone yet knew that he was returning to the fold on the coming Monday. It would be typical of the way things were going for the two of them if Jenna found out from another source.
He wanted to tell her himself and if it didn’t make her see how much respect and regard for her he had and how important she was in his life, he didn’t know what would.
He almost told her then but felt it wasn’t the right moment in the circumstances, and the fact that they wouldn’t be going anywhere near the coronary unit made it seem safe to take the risk, but when the hospital gates loomed up ahead, instead of parking on the staff spot that was still his he used one of the places available to the public, and told her to stay there while he went to find a wheelchair.
Her foot had been X-rayed and there were no fractures, which, considering the number of bones present in that part of the body, was surprising.
There’d been a couple of young registrars nearby while he’d been waiting for her to come out of Radiology and one of them said in a voice he mistakenly thought wouldn’t be overheard, ‘That was bossy Balfour’s daughter. Half of the unattached guys in this place have tried to date her at one time or another but all they ever got was a big smile and a “no, thank you”.’
‘So who’s the guy with her?’ his companion asked.
‘Looks familiar, but can’t place him,’ was the reply.
As Lucas turned away to hide a smile Jenna reappeared with the news that there were no fractures, and, deciding that any other treatment such as cold compresses or applications of witch hazel she could do herself, they returned to the car in the autumn dusk.
He was smiling as the car pulled out of the hospital car park and she observed him questioningly.
‘I’m thinking of a conversation I heard while you were being X-rayed,’ he explained.
‘What about?’
‘You.’
‘Me?’
‘A couple of young registrars were discussing your popularity with the male staff of Hunters Hill. How you always said no when asked for a date.’
‘Oh, that! It would be when I was home on vacation from college. I used to work on the wards as a trainee for experience and extra cash. Did they recognise you?’
‘Er, no,’ he said whimsically, ‘but one of them thought I seemed familiar. They had no problem deciding who you were, but I was a nonentity.’
As she joined in his laughter at that, Jenna was happy, happy that they were back on the same wavelength, that her foot wasn’t fractured, and that life was going to be as wonderful as it had been before, with Lucas running his heart clinic and living in The Old Chart House close by. Maybe one day he would feel he could go back to the hospital and then she would know for certain that his demons had gone.
Thinking b
ack to what he’d overheard, she thought what a randy lot those young doctors at the hospital had been. There’d been some sort of competition amongst them to get her into bed, but it hadn’t worked. And now, when she was ready to give heart, body and soul to the man beside her, he wasn’t taking her up on the offer.
‘I repaired your bike while I was waiting for you to show up,’ he said, breaking into her thoughts.
When she observed him in amazement, he said, ‘No need to look so surprised—putting things back together again is part of my job. It still needs a couple of small parts to be replaced, which I’ll get tomorrow, and when I’ve done that you’ll be able to ride it again. The next time I call in at the post office I will be telling the guy who owns it to keep his animal on a leash. Tell me, what was so important that you went walking on an injured foot?’
What indeed? she thought. Themselves, of course. She’d come home to help care for her mother and had met a very special man that she knew she was going to love for the rest of her life.
But had she been taking too much for granted? He was way above her, high up in the medical world with no ties to bind him, and didn’t want her in his bed. Those were the kinds of concerns that had sent her out walking on a badly bruised foot.
CHAPTER EIGHT
KEITH and Barbara had arrived back long before them and the moment her mother saw that Jenna was limping she was the doctor once more and wanted to know what was wrong.
‘The big collie from the post office came gambolling out as I was going past on my bicycle and knocked me off,’ she told her. ’I hurt my foot when I fell and as it was swollen and bruised Lucas took me to A and E to have it X-rayed.’
‘And what was the result?’
‘No fractures, just swelling,’ she told her. ‘And what about you? What did they have to say on the coronary unit?’
Here we go, Lucas thought. The moment of truth had arrived. But Barbara merely said, ‘My heart isn’t good, but the angioplasty seems to be working and they were reasonably optimistic that I might be around a little longer to plague you than I’d at first thought, due entirely to you being there when I needed you, Lucas.’
‘It’s what I’ve been trained for, Dr Balfour,’ he reminded her, ‘and every time I put that training into practice there is a great feeling of usefulness.’
He was smiling and there was relief in it. It would seem that the news of his return hadn’t yet filtered through. There were four days left for him to tell Jenna and then he would be gone, but only from the practice. He would still be living in Bluebell Cove. Nothing on earth was going to make him move out of The Old Chart House, unless at some time in the future she didn’t want to live there with him.
It was her father’s turn to contribute to the conversation and he said, ‘We saw George Enderby while we were there and, considering that he almost died, the old fellow is holding onto life very well. There was some talk of surgery that I didn’t quite grasp, but you’ll understand that more than I do, Lucas.’
‘Jack and his wife were with him and said to tell you both how grateful all the family are for what you did for George. If you hadn’t been there they would have lost him, that’s for sure.’
For the rest of the week Lucas kept a low profile until Thursday afternoon came along and with it his last clinic. This time Jenna was there as he saw each patient, her swollen foot having responded to treatment, and totally unaware that it was the last time they would be together as doctor and nurse.
After taking her to A and E on Monday he’d avoided contact, wanting to tell her that he was doing as she’d suggested and yet holding back. Supposing his fears and uncertainties came back and he found he’d made a mistake? he kept thinking. How would she feel then, knowing that it was at her insistence that he’d moved back to Hunters Hill?
He was going. Wasn’t going to change his mind on that. He’d always been a man of his word, afraid of nothing until the motiveless attack that had scarred him for ever. Would it be better if she were to find out when he’d actually made the move and was more confident that it had been the right thing to do? he pondered. Because he would soon know if it was.
When the last patient had gone and there was just the two of them, he was besieged by an aching feeling of farewell, even though he would only be working a couple of miles away and would be back in the village for all the rest of the time. But she wouldn’t be part of his working life any more and he was going to regret that.
Always quick to tune in to his moods she asked, ‘What’s wrong? Why so glum?’
‘It was just a thought that came into my mind, and now it’s gone.’
‘And are you going to tell me what it was?’
‘Probably, but not now. Some time over the weekend maybe.’
‘Why not now?’
Because then will be my last chance, he thought. I’ve been getting myself psyched up all week to tell you that we won’t be working together any more, that I’m doing what you suggested and hoping that it’s the right thing.
He didn’t reply.
‘Are you ill?’ she persisted.
‘No.’
‘You’re worried about Ethan?’
‘No, none of those things, so let it pass, will you, please, Jenna?’
‘You won’t let me into your life, will you?’ she said evenly. ‘You’d be a wow in M15. Whereas my life is an open book as far as you’re concerned.’
‘Yes, I know,’ he agreed patiently, ‘but you have been fortunate to have escaped life’s hurts so far. You’re uncomplicated and serene, like the still waters of a lake, rather than the surging sea, and I don’t want to be responsible for taking that away from you by making any wrong moves.’
‘You make it sound as if our lives are a board game!’ she cried, ‘and don’t forget I’ve had my share of bad times with a mother who fitted me in when she had a moment to spare, though I was fortunate that Dad was always there for me, kind and loving, making it all bearable.
‘One thing is for sure, when I have children they won’t ever be kept on the edge of my life. They will be adored as much as I adore their father, whoever he might be.’
She was about to go back to the nurses’ room, having said her piece, and he asked, ‘So am I still in the running for that role? Or have you given up on me?’
As if, she thought. How could she ever give up on him? But because she was smarting she couldn’t resist pointing to the ringless third finger of her left hand and telling him before she went, ‘Watch this space.’
If he hadn’t been feeling so down at the thought of not being in her working life any more he might have laughed at the threat and taken her in his arms, but the space on her finger wasn’t the only space he was aware of.
There was the one beside him in the big double bed where he slept alone, and whose fault was that? Not hers. He’d refused her because of his pride, and because she was beautiful and generous, and deserved better than some guy who’d made a huge error of judgement.
So where did they go from here? She’d been pointing out the lack of a ring to get back at him because he was keeping her on the surface of things again, but the conversation he’d overheard at the hospital between the two young doctors had been like a warning.
Jenna wasn’t going to want to wait for ever while he blew hot and cold as she saw it. There were plenty of other fish in Bluebell Cove, in and out of the sea.
Once he had made the huge step back to reality at Hunters Hill he would ask her to marry him, and if she said yes it would be like the dawn after a long night because he couldn’t deny that he loved her any longer.
But before that he had to tell her what he was going to do. That today had been his last clinic, his last connection with the practice, but hopefully it wouldn’t be his last connection with her.
He went round to Four Winds House on Sunday morning, aware that he’d left the telling of his plans a bit late, but at least he was here, he thought as he scanned the beach for any sign of her.
&
nbsp; She wasn’t there and there were no signs of life at the house. As he stood on the drive, nonplussed, Lucy came along, walking her dog. When she saw him she called, ‘They’ve gone to relatives in Yorkshire for the weekend, all three of them, and won’t be back until early Monday morning. I imagine Jenna will go straight to the surgery.’
He’d blown it, he thought wretchedly. By the time she came back the first day of his return to the hospital would already be under way.
‘Do you know where?’ he asked.
She shook her head. ‘No, I’m sorry, I don’t, Dr Devereux.’
The weekend seemed endless. She couldn’t wait for Monday to come, with the heart clinic in the afternoon, Jenna kept thinking. It had been a spur-of-the-moment decision to join her parents for a short break and she was regretting it.
Barbara and Keith had arranged to stay with his sister and her husband in the Yorkshire Dales, and her aunt and uncle had been keen for her to go with them, not having seen her since she’d come back from abroad.
She was on a low after losing her temper at the end of the heart clinic and had agreed to accompany them as she was feeling that every time she was with Lucas, something went wrong. Now, however, she couldn’t wait for the weekend to be over.
After an early start her father dropped her off at the surgery on Monday morning. Her spirits were lifting because she would soon see Lucas again. There was no sign of him at his house but she didn’t see anything strange in that and hurried inside to get the day under way.
The morning brought into the surgery a case of shingles: the chickenpox virus, sometimes having lain dormant in the body for years and then flaring up again in a nasty and sometimes serious form.
It was Jacintha, who was in charge of the Tourist Information Office down on the coast road, and when Ethan saw the half-circle of angry red blisters starting in the middle of her chest and ending between her shoulder blades, he said sympathetically, ‘It’s shingles, Jacintha, that’s the bad news. The good news is that you haven’t got it in your eyes, on your scalp or various other parts of the body where it would be so much harder to cope with. How long is it since the blisters appeared?’
Wedding Bells for the Village Nurse Page 11