Spring Proposal in Swallowbrook Read online

  The interview for the now vacant position of practice manager that had been arranged for Gordon’s niece had been scheduled for Wednesday morning at eleven o’clock and as it would be the first change of staffing since she had joined the practice Ruby was keen to get a glimpse of her.

  The three senior doctors would be doing the interviewing as her own position was too new and junior for her to take part, so she was going to be on the lookout for Laura Armitage’s arrival between patients, but she hadn’t expected the consultation she was due to have with Pamela Cole, the wife of the village chemist to be so lengthy, and by the time it was over the prospective newcomer to the practice was closeted in an office on a lower level of the building with the three doctors.

  Pamela had come because of finding a lump in her breast and was dreading what it might be, She had also had a recurrence of a drop in thyroid performance and Ruby had felt it necessary to increase her daily dosage of thyroxine, but the patient’s only concern had been for the lump she’d found.

  ‘I’m going to send you to the women’s section of the new hospital by the lake,’ she told her. ‘They will do tests there to find out the cause of the swelling, and do remember, Mrs Cole, that it isn’t always cancer when that kind of thing appears. It can be from muscle strain due to heavy lifting, or some other innocent cause, so try not to worry too much until we have a diagnosis, and do make sure to take the increased dose of thyroxine that I’m going to prescribe. The hospital will be in touch with you soon, so until then just carry on as usual until you hear from them.’

  When she’d gone her next patient appeared at the door of her small consulting room before she’d had the chance to call his name and as Ivor Coltrane settled himself in the chair opposite he asked, ‘You’re new, aren’t you, and the only doctor here from the looks of it. Where are the others? They know all about my years of suffering and if they’re not here I’m going to have to explain it all to you, young miss.’

  ‘That won’t be necessary, Mr Coltrane,’ she told him calmly. ‘I have your records in front of me. Dr Nathan Gallagher has asked for a hospital appointment with regard to your haemorrhoids, if that is what is concerning you, and you should get a letter any day. Is there anything else I can do for you, or is it just that you have come to enquire about?’

  ‘Yes, it was about that,’ he admitted, getting to his feet reluctantly, and she could tell that he felt he’d been denied a long chat about minor health problems that he was always eager to discuss with whichever doctor he saw.

  But she’d been warned about Ivor beforehand and as she’d explained to him, she had his notes in front of her if they should be needed, so now as he ambled slowly down the passage outside her room towards the main entrance of the practice she was free to check with one of the receptionists if the meeting was over.

  ‘Yes,’ she was told. ‘They are all on their way up now. Laura’s children are waiting for her in Hugo’s room. We’ve found them some things to keep them amused and have kept popping in to make sure they were all right. One of the nurses has gone to get them.’ Ruby turned at the sound of childish voices and saw a pretty girl of seven or maybe eight years old clutching the hand of a handsome younger boy. No sooner had that thought registered than those who had been at the meeting in the office downstairs came into view, with Libby and Nathan leading the way and an attractive blonde who looked to be in her middle thirties with curves in all the right places was bringing up the rear with an attentive Hugo by her side, and suddenly Ruby found herself hoping that she didn’t get the job.

  Surely there must be others to be interviewed before a decision was made she thought, yet this is Gordon’s niece, they will give it to her because of that and her experience in administration in that order.

  As they all came to stand in the reception area Nathan said heartily, ‘Ruby is our latest recruit in the surgery, Laura, and doing a great job.’ He turned to herself. ‘Let me introduce Laura, our new practice manager, Ruby.’ As the two women shook hands Hugo was observing Ruby’s expression and wondering what was going through her mind, as it was rarely that he’d seen her so unenthusiastic about something connected with the practice.

  The moment Ruby had seen the other woman a feeling of inadequacy had swept over her. She thought Laura very stylish and beautiful, and with her two lovely children, one of either sex. Just how lucky could any woman be? And it seemed Hugo had noticed her attractions too! So much for calm and tranquillity.

  He walked Laura to her car, and Ruby heard him say, ‘I will be only too happy to give you a lift when you move into Gordon’s house, Laura. If you need help of any kind just say the word. I’m told that it could be quite some time before you join us as you’re having alterations done on quite a big scale.’

  She couldn’t hear the other woman’s reply but her smile was wide enough for it to seem that she was delighted with the offer, and deciding that she’d left her patients waiting long enough Ruby went back to them and the morning proceeded with a certain lack of lustre.

  ‘So what’s wrong?’ Hugo asked, when he found her eating a sandwich in the surgery’s spare car during the short break that the doctors allowed themselves for lunch. It was still her mode of transport when making house calls as it was deemed to be more suitable than the ancient Theodora for that function, and today it was somewhere to be alone for a while.

  ‘Nothing, why?’ she asked as her pulse quickened at the sight of him looking down at her through the open car window.

  ‘You weren’t exactly welcoming towards Laura, and you’re eating your lunch out here?’

  ‘So?’

  ‘Well, why?’

  What would he say if she told him she’d felt miserable because Laura had seemed to have everything that she hadn’t got? Petty maybe, childish? And if for any reason Hugo should associate it with himself he might see it as the right moment for him to remind her that she’d made it clear that she didn’t want him on her dating list.

  ‘Laura seems very nice,’ he said, changing the subject, ‘and what cute kids. There is a marriage split somewhere according to Gordon, but obviously he didn’t go into details. And listen, Ruby, if we don’t get the chance to speak again before you go, I hope you have a lovely Mothering Sunday with your family this coming weekend.

  ‘Have you got a simnel cake to take for your mother, true to the tradition down the years for children working away from home in service or something similar to be given a day off to see their mothers and present them with a cake of that sort?’

  That brought a smile to her face. ‘Yes. It’s on order at the bakery, Hugo. I am not likely to forget that.’ As the smile wavered he watched her bottom lip tremble and wondered what he’d said now to upset her.

  He wasn’t to know that she was trying to face up to what should have been a joyful moment, the realisation that she loved him, loved Hugo Lawrence so much she couldn’t speak his name without dissolving into tenderness…and tears. She loved his thoughtfulness and his wry humour, the essential kindness of him, and his amazing attractions, but none of those things were meant for her.

  As he observed them, sparkling on her lashes, he had no idea that they were because of him, he just thought how beautiful she was with her long shining swathe of hair, the coltish slenderness of her, and the big brown eyes awash with tears.

  ‘I’m sorry if I’ve upset you, Ruby,’ he told her softly, ‘though I don’t know how or why. I thought you would be looking forward to seeing your family.’

  ‘I am,’ she croaked. ‘They are very special, but it isn’t easy, Hugo. My mum used to be so happy but not any more.’

  ‘Do you want to tell me about it?’

  ‘Yes! I mean no! Definitely not! It’s private!’

  ‘All right,’ he agreed soothingly, ‘and now I’ll leave you to finish your lunch, but remember I am always available if you need s
omeone to talk to.’

  When he’d gone she wiped away the tears with the back of her hand and munched on what was left of her sandwich unseeingly. Hugo was the last person she would want to tell that she didn’t intend having children.

  The weekend was pleasant enough. Her father had booked lunch for the four of them at a well-known restaurant on the Sunday, and her mother had seemed brighter than she usually was on such occasions. Possibly because Robbie hadn’t had a bleed for ages, Ruby thought, and maybe also because she had made no further mention of the doctor she worked with who was also her landlord.

  If her mother asked about him she intended making just a casual comment about Hugo. There was no point in creating a situation that would worry the woman who had unknowingly passed on the defects of a faulty gene to the son and daughter that she loved.

  As she was on the point of leaving the family home on the Sunday evening her mother said when just the two of them were together, ’You haven’t mentioned your doctor friend while you’ve been here, Ruby.’

  There was a question in the comment and she was ready with an answer. ‘If you mean Hugo Lawrence, that is all he is, Mum, just a friend.’

  ‘Remember not all men want children, Ruby. Don’t punish yourself too hard,’ was the reply from a mother who knew her daughter too well to accept the ‘just good friends’ story. It might be how the doctor felt, but there had been something in the way Ruby had spoken of him that said she had deeper feelings for him than she was prepared to admit.

  ‘Hugo wants a house full of children,’ she told her mother flatly. ‘What more is there to say?’ And as the rest of her family appeared at that moment to say goodbye and wish her a safe journey the brief and painful conversation came to an end.

  It was past midnight when Hugo heard Theodora pull up on the drive and his brow cleared. Ruby was home safe. He was determined not to fuss and didn’t intend going out to greet her, but was observing her from a side window of the house and when he saw her reaching wearily into the back seat of the car for the small overnight case that she’d taken with her he changed his mind and decided that he could at least make her a coffee and a bite after the long journey from Tyneside.

  When he stepped out into the porch she turned swiftly and he said, ‘Hi, there. I’m just about to have a late-night snack. Do you want to join me? You must be shattered after such a long journey.’

  ‘I am rather,’ she agreed, drowning in the pleasure of seeing him again as if they’d been separated for ever instead of just over twenty-four hours. ‘Even Theodora was chugging a bit as we drove the last few miles. I would love a bite of something and a hot drink. Thanks for the offer.’

  You are crazy, a voice inside her said as he stepped back to let her pass him into the elegant hallway of Lakes Rise. Where is your strength of will? You are supposed to be giving Hugo a wide berth out of work, but he has only to beckon and you come running.

  She almost told him she’d changed her mind and was going to go straight to bed, but he was pointing to a chair by the last glowing embers of a log fire and moving towards the kitchen. Minutes later he reappeared with a coffee pot and slices of the ginger cake that the area was famous for and as they sat facing each other in soft lamplight he said casually, ‘So did it go well, your visit back home?’

  She observed him gravely, not having forgotten their last conversation in the surgery car park where he’d found her eating her lunch inside the car.

  ‘It was lovely,’ she assured him, and it was true. The spectre that had traumatised them all for so long had been well battened down while she’d been there, and apart from those last solemn moments with her mother the atmosphere had been quite light-hearted.

  Robbie had grown a lot since she’d last seen him and was now a beanstalk of an energetic teenager, her mother had smiled more than usual, and her father had been content to have her where he could see her.

  ‘What about your weekend, Hugo?’ she asked. ‘What did you get up to?

  He was smiling. ‘I had great fun on Saturday with Toby. I took him for the day to give Nathan and Libby some quality time together, and have spent today tackling the garden here, which is sending out messages all over the place that spring is here.’

  ‘So you had fun with Toby?’ she said, trying not to sound envious. ‘How did you pass the time?’

  ‘It seems that he loves going to the island in the middle of the lake so we took the launch and a picnic lunch and were dropped off there for the day. Nathan had given us the key to the house so we could go in and out as we pleased and we had a great time exploring the place from one end to the other.’

  With his voice softening he said, ‘He is a fantastic kid, happy and secure with them both after losing his parents so tragically, and soon to have a little brother or sister to complete the happy family. I have to admit that I envy them.’

  Not as much as I do, she thought, and wished she hadn’t punished herself by asking how he’d spent what had obviously been a happy day with Toby.

  Hugo was observing the changing expressions on her face.

  There had been a brief rapport between them as they’d drank the coffee and eaten the cake. He’d been pleased to have her back where he could see her if not touch her. But since she’d asked how he’d spent his weekend the atmosphere had changed and he didn’t know why.

  He remembered how gentle she’d been with Toby on the night she’d looked after him so that Libby and Nathan didn’t need to rush home from the party at the hotel, so surely she’d understood the pleasure that his day on the island with the child had given him?

  She was getting up out of the chair, ready to go, when he asked, ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘I’m just tired, that’s all,’ she told him. It’s been a long day and I need to get some sleep before Monday morning is upon us.’

  ‘And that is it?’ he persisted.

  ‘Yes, that is it.’ Taking his hand in hers, she held it for a moment and it was as if she’d lit a fuse.

  ‘Don’t keep doing this to me, Ruby,’ he said levelly. ‘I need to know once and for all if you could learn to care for me.’

  Care for you! she wanted to cry. I’ve loved you from the moment you took me in when I was so tired and desperate for somewhere to stay. You are the most wonderful man I’ve ever known, and have no idea how much I would love to give you the children you long for. But I can’t bring a child into the world that might have the same blight on them that Robbie has, or be like me, a carrier of it that leaves me untouched bodily, but breaks my heart because of the bonds it binds me with.

  Instead she said gravely, ‘You are my best friend, Hugo, won’t that do?’

  ‘I suppose it will have to if that is all you have to offer me,’ he said heavily, and as she opened the door poised for flight he went on, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, Ruby…’ and unaware that he was adding to her misery ‘…at the antenatal clinic as usual for a Monday.’

  He stood and watched her walk across to her own front door and when it was safely closed behind her went slowly up to bed, telling himself as he did so that he was getting a taste of the very thing he’d vowed to avoid after witnessing his sister’s grief because she’d loved too much. But at least Patrice had been loved in return and that must have been something to hold onto.

  His was a new love that had seemed to come out of nowhere. He was happy to be Ruby’s best friend, yet was beginning to want more than that, but she might as well be on another planet from the way she was responding to him.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  IT WAS Easter and the village was in festive mood with garden parties on the Saturday of the weekend at various houses, including Lakes Rise, and afterwards sports on a field behind the vicarage.

  Hugo had asked Ruby in the preceding week when they’d had a free moment at the surgery if she would li
ke to host the event at his place with him and give a hand with preparing the food.

  When she’d observed him warily he’d said quizzically, ‘No need to panic, there are no strings attached. All those who are opening their gardens to the public will do so at ten o’clock on Saturday morning, so the first wave of visitors will be mostly there for coffee until around twelve and then it will be a light lunch available until two o’clock when the sporting activities behind the vicarage begin, and that will be it as far as Lakes Rise is concerned.

  ‘I’ll be doing a huge shop in the next few days and am planning on soup for starters, cold meats and salad for the main course, and a couple of desserts to choose from, so I would be grateful for your help if you haven’t anything else planned for that day?’

  She’d been smiling as he’d outlined his plans and had told him, ‘Yes, of course, I’d love to help.’ Her smile deepened. ‘You never cease to amaze me, Hugo.’

  ‘Why would that be?’ he’d asked, refraining from commenting that it couldn’t possibly be as much as she confused him.

  ‘‘Well, this garden party for one thing. I can’t envisage any other man I know offering to do that kind of thing on his own. Can you cook?’

  ‘Of course. I wouldn’t have offered if I couldn’t, would I?’

  ‘I’m sure I don’t know,’ she’d commented. ‘The workings of your mind are a mystery to me.’

  ‘Just as yours are to me,’ he’d told her, and it had been back, the thing that lay between them, for him an unknown, unseen barrier that he wasn’t allowed to cross, for her an ache that she would have for all her days and nights to come.

  But not willing to let it come between them with regard to the garden party he’d said, ‘So before we get sidetracked, can you be at the house for eight o’clock on Easter Saturday? And in the meantime pray for good weather for all the events being planned, as anything of that nature is always a flop if it’s raining.’