A Mother's Secret (Mills & Boon Medical)

by Scarlet Wilson

He’d been an ‘almost’. He’d seriously dated a woman with a gorgeous little boy for six months a few years back. All his fears about doing as good a job as his dad and having enough hours in the day had almost been pushed aside. Until Zoe had decided island life wasn’t for her and she was leaving. Saying goodbye to little Ben had ripped his heart out. And he’d never dated a woman with children since.

  Too difficult. Too many risks.

  At least with introducing Isla it would take the pressure off him for a while. And it might even take the pressure off his sister Claire. Seven failed IVF attempts had just about finished her, and now the strain of the adoption process wasn’t helping.

  It should be a perfect solution all round. Only it just didn’t feel that way.

  He took a deep, reluctant breath. ‘Don’t panic. I think I might know who Sam was going to recommend.’

  ‘Who? Is it someone reliable? Someone safe? I can’t just leave my daughter with a perfect stranger. And I’m not sure how quickly I’d want to do it anyway. I was only supposed to be working one day in the surgery. We should have some time to settle in together. Have some time to meet the person and make sure I think they are suitable. Will I get references for childcare?’

  She was rattling on. It seemed to be her thing. Whenever she got anxious, she just started to talk incessantly.

  He put up his hand and tried to stop the smile appearing on his face. ‘Oh, you’re safe. I think I can give her a reference—it’s my mother.’

  She stopped. ‘Your mother?’

  He nodded.

  ‘Oh.’ First time he’d seen Gemma stunned into silence.

  ‘Well, I guess that will be okay, then. Providing, of course, she’s happy to do it—and Isla likes her, of course.’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Isla likes who?’

  Isla had appeared next to them.

  Logan knelt down. ‘My mum. She’s going to be your new surrogate granny. If you like her, that is. It means your mum will be able to work in the surgery for a while.’

  It was the strangest thing. The little girl opened her mouth to say something and, from the corner of his eye, he could see Gemma shake her head. ‘We’ll talk about it later. Go inside, Isla.’

  Logan straightened up and stretched his back with a loud clicking sound. What was going on?

  ‘Eurgh!’

  He raised his eyebrows. ‘Orthopaedics not your thing?’ He gave his back a shake. ‘What can I say? Years of abuse from sailing.’

  ‘You sail?’

  ‘Just about everyone on Arran sails. That’s the thing about staying on an island.’

  She looked out over the water. ‘I suppose. Listen, about starting right away. I only agreed to do one day a week. I don’t know how much help I’ll actually be to you.’

  He nodded. ‘I know. When are you supposed to start your paediatric hours?’

  ‘The week after next. I’d timed it so we would have a little time to settle in and sort out childcare and things.’

  He could hear the tone in her voice. The gentle implication that she really didn’t want to do this. She wanted time to settle herself and her daughter. But he was desperate. The surgery was currently bursting at the seams. And would be for the next few weeks—there was no way a replacement GP could be found on an island like Arran.

  He scratched his chin. ‘We might be able to rearrange things. The health board are used to there being issues on Arran—and looking at flexible options. How would you feel about deferring your start date for the paediatric work? Sam will be off for at least six weeks. It would give us a little more leeway.’

  She gave a little laugh. ‘I get the impression you’re not really listening to me, Logan. Don’t you know how to take no for an answer?’

  He tried not to laugh out loud. ‘Only in personal circumstances. Never in professional.’

  She gave a little sigh and held up her hand. ‘If, and only if, I like your mother and Isla likes her, I’ll agree to help you out. But not today, definitely not today.’

  ‘Tomorrow afternoon? That surgery is a stinker.’

  He was chancing his luck, but it was the only way to survive in these parts.

  ‘You make it sound so appealing.’

  ‘Oh, go on. You know you want to.’

  ‘What about the health board stuff?’

  He waved his hand. ‘I’ll sort that. You’ll cover until Sam comes back?’

  She nodded. ‘Four weeks only. Three days a week. I need to start my paediatric hours soon or they’ll forget why they employed me.’ It was almost as if she were drawing a line in the sand.

  ‘And a few on-calls for the hospital?’

  A soft pink teddy bounced off his head. ‘Only if there’s absolutely nobody—and I mean nobody—else that can do it. I’d need to wake up Isla and bring her in the car.’

  ‘Understood.’ He held out his hand towards his latest lifesaver.

  ‘Welcome to Arran, Dr Halliday.’

  * * *

  Gemma opened her eyes. Curtain poles were going to be an issue. It was only five-thirty and sunshine was streaming through her bedroom window. She made a mental note. First thing, see if anywhere on the island sells curtain poles.

  She rolled over in her bed and tried to stifle a groan. Second thing. Don’t let perfect strangers steamroller you into starting work early.

  She should be having a leisurely day with Isla, sipping tea and sorting out some boxes. Instead, she’d be introducing her daughter to a potential babysitter and getting a guided tour of the local Angel Grace Hospital and GP surgery. She must be mad.

  ‘Mummy, are we getting up now?’

  She smiled. Isla seemed to have an internal radar and knew whenever her mother’s eyes flickered open. Gemma pulled back the cover and swung her legs out of bed. ‘Tea and toast?’

  ‘Tea and toast,’ Isla said, in her most grown-up voice.

  * * *

  Three hours later they were standing in front of a cottage with pretty flowered curtains. The blue front door opened and an older woman with an apron tied around her waist stuck her head outside. ‘You must be Isla,’ she said immediately. ‘I’ve been waiting for you. I was just about to start some baking. Would you like to help me?’

  There was the quick nod of a little head and Gemma was summarily dismissed. Moments later Isla was standing on a wooden chair at the kitchen sink, washing her hands, a little girl’s pink apron tied around her waist.

  Gemma hesitated at the kitchen door. ‘Mary, thank you for this. Are you sure you don’t mind? Would you like me to stay to give you a chance to get to know each other a bit better?’

  She’d had a chance to have a long conversation on the phone with Mary Scott last night. Logan had been right. His mother seemed delighted to look after Isla and had asked Gemma about her interests so she could plan ahead.

  A floury hand was waved. ‘We’ll be fine. Go on and get to work.’

  Gemma grabbed a piece of paper to write down her mobile number. ‘Here’s my number. Call me about anything—anything at all.’

  ‘We’ll be fine, Mummy. Go and meet Logan. I liked him.’ Gemma felt her face flush, and could see the not-so-hidden smile on Mary’s face. She dreaded to think what was going on in her head. Isla had lifted a glass jar of sultanas and was ready to pour them into Mary’s mixing bowl.

  Children were so much more relaxed. So much more at ease than adults. Her stomach had been in a permanent knot since last night at the thought of starting work early and having to meet the rest of her new colleagues. Isla didn’t seem to have any such worries.

  Gemma picked up her car keys again. ‘Okay, then.’ She dropped a kiss on Isla’s head. ‘See you later, pumpkin. Be good for Mary and I’ll pick you up in a few hours.’

  The surgery was only a five-minute drive away and the hospital five more minutes along the road. If she needed to get there in a hurry, she could.

  The practice was buzzing as she entered. Patients were already sitting in the
waiting room, with a number queuing at the reception desk. Gemma hesitated and then joined the queue, waiting her turn until she reached the front.

  The receptionist, with long brown hair in a ponytail and a badge that read ‘Julie’, gave her a friendly smile. ‘Are you a holidaymaker? Need an emergency appointment?’

  ‘No, I’m Gemma. Gemma Halliday, the new doctor. I’m supposed to be meeting Logan Scott here today.’

  The smile faltered for the briefest second as Gemma felt the young receptionist’s eyes quickly run up and down her body. Should she have dressed more formally? Her pale pink shirt and grey skirt had suited at her last job. Maybe things were a little more formal in Arran?

  The girl leaned backwards in her chair. ‘Logan!’ Her shout was like a foghorn. ‘Our new doctor’s arrived. Get out here.’

  ‘He’ll just be sec,’ she said, as she picked up a pile of patient notes and disappeared through a door behind her.

  Gemma turned slowly. She could feel every set of eyes in the room studying her. All potential patients. Giving her the once-over. She took a deep breath and smiled nervously. ‘Hi, there.’ Her normally steady voice came out as a surprising squeak. This would never do.

  She jumped as a hand settled in the small of her back. ‘Hi, Gemma.’ Logan’s voice was low, husky. Not what she expected in the middle of busy waiting room. She shifted a little. ‘I take it my mother and Isla are getting along famously?’

  She nodded. ‘How did you guess?’

  His hand pressed into her back, guiding her away from the watchful eyes in the waiting room and towards one of the consulting rooms. ‘My mother could hardly contain her excitement. She spent most of last night deciding what the two of them could bake together.’

  Gemma smiled. ‘Yip, they were both on their way to being covered in flour when I left.’ She wrinkled her brow. ‘Doesn’t your mother have any grandchildren of her own.’

  Something flitted across his eyes. ‘Not yet.’

  What kind of answer was that? She instantly felt uncomfortable for asking the question. She watched as Logan poured coffee into two cups and handed one to her. He must have a wife or a partner and be trying for a family. Her eyes fell to his hand. No ring. But, then, these days that meant nothing. Lots of men didn’t wear rings.

  His hand gestured towards the chair opposite his as he took a seat. He gave a professional kind of smile. It seemed it was all business with him here. That cheeky demeanour she’d witnessed the day before didn’t seem to feature.

  ‘You can see we’re already starting to get busy. This is just the start of the season. Arran’s population doubles in the summer months.’

  She nodded. ‘I had heard that.’ She took a sip of her coffee. ‘Did you clear it with the health board about me working here for the next month?’

  He gave her a smile as he gritted his teeth apologetically. ‘Six weeks, actually. They agreed you can start your paediatric hours when the school session starts again.’

  Her brain started to whirr. This was a new colleague. But he obviously didn’t know her at all. People making assumptions about her made her temper flare. He could have consulted her first.

  She took a sip of her coffee and looked at him carefully. Logan Scott was probably used to being a force to be reckoned with. On a small island like this, he probably pretty much got his own way. It was clear to Gemma that at some point they would lock horns.

  ‘It would have been nice to be consulted, Logan,’ she said simply. He had already moved his attention elsewhere and was pulling up screens on his computer for her to look at.

  ‘What? Oh...right, sorry.’

  He didn’t look sorry. He didn’t look sorry at all. The moment the words had come from his lips they had just vanished into the ether.

  She pulled her chair around next to his to look at the information he was pulling up on the computer screen. ‘That’s fine. Just don’t do it again.’ Her voice was firm this time. Much more definite.

  And this time he did pay attention. His bright blue eyes met her brown ones, with more than a little surprise in them.

  The smile had disappeared from his face, replaced by a straight line. ‘If you say so,’ he murmured.

  * * *

  It only took an hour or so to familiarise Gemma with the practice systems and introduce her to the two other GPs who worked at the surgery. She seemed to pick things up quickly, only asking a few pertinent questions then going round and introducing herself to the rest of the staff.

  The working-hours negotiations were a little more fraught. He’d hoped she’d be a bit more flexible. She needed to cover three days within the practice, but it would have worked out better if she could have worked some mornings and afternoons and actually done her hours over five days.

  But Gemma Halliday was an immovable force. She was adamant that three full days was all she could do. No extra surgeries at all. Her time was to be spent with Isla.

  They walked over to the Angel Grace Hospital. It was a nice day and the brisk walk did them both good.

  ‘I’m hoping you’re happy to see everyone who comes into the practice.’

  ‘Why wouldn’t I be? Isn’t that what GPs do?’ He should have asked her if she had a jacket. The breeze was rippling her pale pink shirt against her breasts, and the unbuttoned collar was flapping in the wind. Boy, she could be prickly.

  ‘I just thought you might request to see only the kids.’

  She shrugged and shook her head. ‘Not at all. Happy to see anyone. If the other partners want me to see more than my share of kids, that’s fine too. Obviously, they’re my specialty. But that doesn’t mean I won’t see other patients.’

  ‘Good. That’s good.’

  ‘How much antenatal care do you have?’

  He shook his head. ‘Minimal. We have around twenty-five to thirty-five births a year on the island. Our midwife, Edith, generally does all the antenatal care. It’s only if someone is a complicated case that we become involved.’

  ‘Do the mothers deliver here?’

  ‘Most deliver on the mainland. Last year we had six home births. All planned with military precision by Edith. A few more requested them, but Edith and the obstetric consultant deemed them too risky. When we have plans for a home birth, both midwives on the island have to be on call. It can get a little complicated.’

  They reached the door of the hospital and Logan held it open for her. ‘So what happens in an emergency situation—for anyone, not just maternity cases—and we need to transport someone quickly?’

  He led her down one of the corridors of the hospital. ‘That’s when we call in the emergency helicopter from the naval base at Prestwick. Surgical emergencies, unstable head injuries and maternity emergencies would get transported that way. Ayrshire General Hospital is only about ten minutes away once the helicopter gets in the air.’

  He opened another door. ‘We do have a theatre that can be used in emergencies, but it’s a bit basic. This is mostly used for minor procedures.’

  She looked around the single theatre. She’d already noticed that the hospital was an older building, probably left over from the war. ‘Do you have a lot of emergencies that require the helicopter?’ Even the thought of the helicopter made her nervous.

  ‘We had ten last year. They are search-and-rescue helicopters. There are three of them and they normally get scrambled every day. They cover a huge area—twelve times the size of Wales—and we only call them out if absolutely necessary. We’ve transported stable patients on the main island ferry before, or we occasionally run a private boat if the ferries schedules are unsuitable, and transport patients to the mainland where we have an ambulance waiting.’

  They walked further along the corridor. ‘Oh, and there’s also the hyperbaric chamber over on the Isle of Cumbrae—Millport. It’s one of only four in Scotland and used for anyone with decompression sickness.’

  ‘You deal with that around here?’ She shook her head. She hadn’t even considered anything like th
at. And she didn’t know the first thing about decompression sickness.

  He nodded slowly. ‘It would surprise you, but we have a lot of diving in and around the island, and along the Scottish coast. But don’t worry, there’s an on-call hyperbaric consultant at Aberdeen Hospital. He’s the expert in all these things.’

  They continued along the corridor and Gemma tried not to let the panic on her face show. She really hadn’t realised the realm of expertise that would be required to work in an island community. At this rate she was going to have to go back into student mode and start studying again. They’d reached the single ward in the hospital. Logan pointed through the glass.

  ‘Sixteen beds, with patients that we normally reassess on a daily basis. It’s kind of like a mix between a medical ward and an elderly care ward. Lots of chest conditions and confusion due to low oxygen saturation. We have good permanent nursing staff that are more than capable of dealing with any emergency. They re-site drips, give IV antibiotics and other meds, order X-rays and can intubate during an arrest.’ He pointed down the corridor.

  ‘There are also a few side rooms if required and an A and E department that is chaotic during the summer.’

  Gemma’s eyes widened a little. ‘How is that staffed?’ His stomach curled a little. This woman could practically see things coming from a million miles away.

  ‘It has its own doctor, a couple of nurse practitioners and some regular nursing staff.’ He pointed to a rota on the wall. ‘If the A and E doctor isn’t busy, he would deal with any issue with the ward patients. If not, we get called out.’ He could tell from the expression on her face that she was worried. ‘Don’t worry, it doesn’t happen too often.’

  She nodded slowly. ‘I knew there would be occasional callouts because I was covering one day a week for the GP practice. I guess I’ll just need to bring Isla with me.’

  Darn it. He hadn’t considered her little girl when he’d persuaded her to work three days a week in the GP practice for the next six weeks. Her job as a paediatric consultant two days a week wouldn’t have included any on-call services. He’d only been thinking of the needs of the practice, not the needs of a single parent and her five-year-old daughter. With one step he’d just trebled her chances of being called out.