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He paused in the kitchen doorway and as if he hadn’t been dismissive enough said, ‘Let me know when you want to go across there and I’ll take you on a short guided tour.’
‘I’m ready now,’ she said meekly, eager to take advantage of his reluctant hospitality.
‘OK. So go and sort out what food you want to take with you and I’ll bring your case down. The sooner you’re settled in there the better you’ll feel, even though it will only be for the one night.’
And the happier you will be on both counts she thought. Count one because it is only for one night, and count two because you will have your privacy back, but you will still have to endure my presence at the surgery Dr Lawrence, and you could be in for a surprise as my sparkle has only been dimmed, not extinguished.
‘Oh! This is lovely,’ she said, looking around her at the pristine open-plan dining room and kitchen. Her glance went to the window. ‘I can see the lake through the trees!’
Hugo was checking that the lighting and central heating were switched on at the mains and didn’t reply. He just nodded his agreement and pointed towards the apartment’s one bedroom and en suite arrangements for her to inspect.
‘I hope I’ll be able to find somewhere like this when I start looking for accommodation next week,’ she said wistfully, and waited to see if he would rise to the implied suggestion, but it fell on stony ground and once he had satisfied himself that she was au fait with the workings of everything he said, ‘Libby and Nathan usually get back from their weekends away around half past seven on a Monday morning, so you should be able to get in touch with them tomorrow any time after that.
‘If you should leave here after I’ve gone to the surgery just drop the keys through my letter box.’ And off he went … to read the Sunday papers while she did some unpacking and had that long soak that she had promised herself.
Then, after making a meal of sorts from the food that Hugo had insisted she take with her, she changed into jeans and a thick sweater and went to renew her acquaintance with the stretch of water that was as familiar to her as her own face, taking care not to pass his windows on the way as the feeling that the dishy though unwelcoming Dr Lawrence had seen enough of her to be going on with was getting stronger by the minute.
But the moment she reached the lakeside he was forgotten in the pleasure of watching a launch go by on its calm waters and the sight of the sails of yachts gleaming whitely against the rugged sweep of the fells, the ageless guardians of the valley.
It felt so right to be back where she had made her promise to the Swallowbrook practice. The only blot on the horizon was the taciturn Dr Lawrence, who hadn’t been able to get her out of his orbit quickly enough. If she’d had any grandiose ideas about herself they would have disappeared completely at the thought of having to compete with the Sunday papers for his attention.
She went to The Mallard for her evening meal as several hours of her own company was beginning to pall and once she was installed in the dining room amongst the friendly chatter of its patrons the feeling of loneliness that was tugging at her began to disappear.
Until during the last hour before the place was due to close her reluctant host appeared and his eyes widened at the vision of her seated beside the big log fire that was one of the main features of the place.
The sight of him brought Ruby to her feet. She was ready to leave immediately as if caught doing something he wouldn’t approve of. As she wished him a meek goodnight and tried to pass him in the crowded room Hugo said, ‘If you’re going back to the apartment I’ll walk along with you.’ When she was about to protest at being singled out in front of everyone, he added, ‘Please don’t object. It isn’t good that you should be out alone at such a late hour.’
She didn’t reply, just continued making her way towards the door, and as he followed he was remembering how flat his evening had been until now. After shunting Ruby out to the apartment above the garage he had expected his joy at his longed-for return to normality to clock in, but instead of that he hadn’t been able to settle.
And now, instead of livening himself up with a last drink of the day with friends and acquaintances, he was fussing once again over this young woman who probably thought nothing of being out all night on her own, let alone walking just the short distance to where she’d been accommodated for the night.
They walked the first few yards along the road in silence and then, ashamed of her irritation at his concern for her, Ruby said, ‘I walked by the lake this afternoon and it was so lovely to be back. Do you go down there much?’
It sounded trite, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say and he was actually smiling when he replied, ‘It is the lake that has made me want to stay in Swallowbrook instead of going back down south to practice. Did you remember the house on the island from when you once lived here?
‘That is where Libby, Nathan, and their son spend their weekends. Here in the village they have cottages next to each other and now they are married are having the two made into one big one for weekdays. Otherwise I suppose you could have stayed in the empty one.’
‘I’ll find somewhere, even if it means sleeping on a park bench or in an empty boat house,’ she assured him breezily as another reminder had come her way to the effect that where she was going to live was only his problem for a few more hours.
With Lakes Rise and the apartment only feet away, she said in a more restrained manner, ‘Thank you for your company once more Dr Lawrence. You are very kind. What will you do now? Go back to The Mallard for what is left of the evening?’
‘Possibly,’ he told her, keen to let her know subtly that he wasn’t always going to be at her beck and call.
CHAPTER TWO
Making his way back to the light and noise of The Mallard, Hugo was feeling uncomfortable about the way Ruby had risen to her feet and prepared to leave the moment he’d appeared, as if keen to avoid any further contact.
He’d noticed immediately that the red cape had been discarded for the time being and that dressed in dark blue jeans, a short white jacket and wearing flat walking shoes she looked smaller than when she’d been wobbling on high heels the day before.
She was attractive in a pale, ethereal sort of way, he’d decided as she’d been making her way through the crowded room towards the exit, and the thought had crossed his mind that the life of the GP was not always easy—would a person as vulnerable looking as Ruby be up to it?
With his determination still in place to stay aloof, he hadn’t lingered when they’d arrived back at the house and now that was also niggling at him. Ruby hadn’t put a foot wrong since interrupting the free time that he’d been so looking forward to, yet he was treating her as if she had the plague.
The thought of going back to have a drink with friends was losing its appeal so, turning, he retraced his steps and when Lakes Rise appeared once more he noted that the apartment was in darkness. After checking that it was secure from all angles, he opened his own front door and went inside.
Lying wide awake up above, Ruby had heard him try the door and thought that with any other man she might have wondered as to his motive, but not Hugo Lawrence. He wouldn’t have any plans to join her, like some predatory types might think of doing.
The dishy doctor would be satisfying himself that she wasn’t intending seeking him out again before morning, as he’d made it clear that in spite of looking after the basics of her wellbeing he wanted his privacy back as soon as possible.
Perhaps at some time in the future when she’d got to know him better, and that would have to happen no matter what, with them both working at the practice, she would suggest that The Hermitage would be a better name than Lakes Rise for his beautiful house and see if Hugo thought that as hilarious as she did.
But there were other things on her mind, much more important than her reluctant host. During the trauma of yesterday and her subsequent extreme weariness she’d put to the back of her mind what the haematology department had said during her check-up at the hospital in the town where she’d been based all the time she’d been studying for her degree.
It had been nothing new, she’d had the same discussion with similar departments of the NHS that were geared to her potential problem and nothing had happened to make her change her decision.
But it was still nonetheless heartbreaking because she had to face up to it and accept it for the rest of her life. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she didn’t. But one day the test would come and what would she do then?
Putting aside memories of the punishing past, she reminded herself that tomorrow she would be starting an exciting new life as a doctor in the Swallowbrook Farm Medical Practice, something she had promised herself she was going to do long ago, and maybe the pains and hurts of that other time would seem less if she could make her mark in the medical centre that had served her family so well in their time of need, and with that thought the painful memories came crowding back.
Robbie had been just a toddler and she’d been fourteen when the nightmare had begun and changed their lives for ever. The family had been on the point of leaving Swallowbrook to move to Tyneside, where her father’s job was taking them, when Robbie had had his first bleed and it had been action stations on Dr John Gallagher’s part without a moment to spare when it had happened. She’d crouched in fear and trembling by his hospital bed, wondering what it was all about, while her frantic parents had tried to cope with the mention of haemophilia, the hereditary bleeding disease, being present in the family.
Their move had been imminent yet she hadn’t wanted to move away from Swallowbrook, she’d felt safe there, but the arrangements had still had to go ahead or her father might have lost his job, so even while they had been waiting for the results from Robbie’s tests they had left the village with arrangements in place that the findings would be transferred to the haematology department at a hospital near their new home.
The results had been positive. The lack of a clotting agent in Robbie’s blood had caused the serious bleed. He had inherited the problem from their mother who unknown to her was a carrier of the faulty gene that caused the condition.
The hospital had explained that hereditary illnesses had to start somewhere and the reason their mother hadn’t known about it was because she was the first one in her family who had ever been a known carrier of the haemophilia gene.
Now Robbie was twelve, and medically much better cared for, due to new treatments, than past sufferers, but the anxiety was always there for his parents and big sister, who had been left with anxieties of her own to cope with.
She fell asleep at last, too tired to think anymore about the ups and downs in her life, and awoke the next morning to a room filled with pale sunshine and the sound of the engines of one of the large launches that crossed the lake at regular intervals chugging its way across its smooth surface.
It has arrived, she thought excitedly, hugging herself with delight. She was back in her dream village, about to start her dream job.
Hugo’s thoughts were running along very different lines when he surfaced in the big bedroom that he’d carried Ruby up to the night before last. Thoughts of her consumed him now, how could they not whilst she was his temporary tenant and soon-to-be colleague? It seemed she was sorted for work, but just what did she plan to do for accommodation?
So far he’d had no bookings for the apartment over the garage, as requests for accommodation around the lakes didn’t usually commence until nearer Easter. So why shouldn’t he offer to rent it to her long term if she was interested?
She’d certainly seemed impressed on her first viewing of it, which was not surprising as it was a delightful small let, and for someone like her who was probably having to carry the burden of repaying a student loan, he could afford to be generous in what he asked for rental, just as long as she stayed on her side of their living arrangements, and left him to enjoy his well-earned rest with an easy conscience after having helped her to settle back into the village to some small degree.
He’d known that a medical graduate was joining them in a couple of weeks. That she’d lived in the village when she was young and even then had wanted to be part of the practice when she grew up.
Along with his two partners he had been in favour of taking a talented young newcomer into the practice to help cope with their growing number of patients as new lakeside properties were being built all the time, and had agreed that she would help to fill the gap that would be coming soon when Libby wanted to point herself towards full-time motherhood.
He was pretty sure that she and Nathan would be surprised when they discovered that the newcomer had arrived earlier than expected, but would be better equipped to deal with it than he’d been.
It wasn’t so much her sudden appearance as the way he’d coped with it that was making him feel uncomfortable, but the offer of the accommodation above the garage should hopefully redeem him!
When he got up from the breakfast table Hugo glanced down the road as he often did to where the lake could be seen a short distance away with the fells towering above it, and the feeling of rightness that it always gave him was there, until he saw a slender figure wearing a red cape over a neat grey dress striding briskly towards the house with pale cheeks rosy from the winter morning’s chill and hair fastened back off her face into a neat twist.
She was moving straight towards the apartment without a glance in his direction but when he opened his front door and called across to her she came slowly towards him.
‘You’re up bright and early,’ he commented when they came face to face. ‘The surgery won’t be open for another hour.’
‘Yes, I know,’ she told him, ‘I’ve been down by the lake again and stopped for a coffee at the only café that was open at this time.’
‘I wanted a word,’ he said, stepping back to let her into the hallway. She entered hesitantly. ‘I’ve been having a think about your accommodation problem.’
He saw surprise in the big brown eyes observing him for a second and then it was replaced by wariness. She didn’t speak, just waited to hear what he had to say, and as she listened she was filled with delighted amazement.
‘If you should feel that you would like to rent the apartment I would be willing to discuss it with you,’ he was saying. ‘On thinking about it I feel that it would be easier from my point of view to have just one regular tenant in there, rather than having to deal with different ones all the time on a holiday let basis.
‘So think about it, and if you are interested let me know, but before you do I feel that I must tell you that at this time of year there are always lots of places to rent before the holiday season clocks in. So feel free to use the apartment for the time being until you’ve had time to sort out your priorities with Libby and Nathan, as they might already have somewhere in mind for you.’
She was dumbstruck. Of course she would want to stay in the lovely apartment where she’d spent the night, but what had changed? Only yesterday she’d felt that Hugo Lawrence was irritated by her presence, keen to see the back of her, and now …?
Concealing her pleasure at the thought of accepting his offer, she answered gravely, ‘I will do as you say, Dr Lawrence, and give your suggestion some thought. Thank you for allowing me to stay until I have had the chance to do that, and now if you will excuse me I’m going to have some breakfast before presenting myself at the surgery.’
‘Sure,’ he agreed easily. ‘I’ll see you there later. I hope that your first day will be a good one.’
Once inside the apartment Ruby’s gravity was cast aside and she danced around the place delightedly. Of course she was going to take up Hugo Lawrence’s offer, but after the way she’d butted into his well-organised life and been received with what could only be described as reluctance, a more staid approach was called for when she was in his company.
As for the rest of it, she was in a state of bliss at his suggestion because the surgery and the lake were so close. She would be able to explore all her old haunts again. Life was as good as it was likely to get, just as long as the precarious path to good health that her young brother had to travel along didn’t have any life-threatening side turnings.
Hugo was smiling when she’d gone. Not so docile this morning, was she? It would be interesting to see how she came over at the practice with Libby, Nathan, the rest of the staff and the patients. Maybe he should have offered to drive her down there instead of leaving her to make a solo appearance, but he wanted to call on one of his patients who was causing grave concern on his way to the surgery, and in any case the newcomer needed to stand on her own two feet from the start.
‘Ruby! Is it really you?’ Libby exclaimed as she was opening up the surgery at eight o’clock and saw the new junior doctor approaching.
‘We were not expecting you just yet.’
‘I know,’ Ruby told her apologetically. ‘But I suddenly found myself homeless on Saturday and decided that the only thing to do was come straight here and hope you wouldn’t mind me descending upon you without notice.’
‘And we weren’t here, were we? What a shame! So where have you stayed for the last two days?’ Libby asked, and taking her arm, ‘Come inside out of the cold and we’ll have a cup of tea and a chat before everyone arrives. Nathan is at the cottage, getting Toby ready for school, and will be here about half past nine when he’s seen him safely inside.’
‘I hope you don’t mind me arriving too soon,’ Ruby said as Libby brewed a pot of tea in a pleasant kitchen at the far end of the building.
‘Not at all,’ she assured her. ‘We are very busy and badly need your input in the practice, but I haven’t yet sorted out anywhere for you to live, so we must see to that before anything else.’
The young newcomer was smiling. ‘I’m already fixed up with accommodation. When I arrived on Saturday in a pretty distressed state I asked the first person I saw if he knew where you might be and it turned out that I was speaking to Dr Lawrence.’
She wasn’t going to mention sleeping in his room on top of his bed! ‘He let me use the apartment over his garage until now, and has said if I want to rent it I can.’
‘You’ve already met Hugo, then!’ Libby exclaimed, ‘and he’s willing to let you rent that delightful apartment! Wow! You must have made a good impression.’
‘I doubt it,’ she said whimsically, ‘but I think he feels that a regular tenant is the lesser of two evils rather than one let after another. He’s told me to think about it, not to rush into anything I might regret, but I don’t need to, the place is gorgeous so I’m going to agree to his suggestion before he changes his mind.’
The rest of the staff was arriving in ones and twos and as she was introduced to each in turn Ruby’s dream was being realised. When at last she and Libby were alone in the small consulting room that would be hers she said, ‘I’m so grateful for this opportunity to be part of the Swallowbrook practice, Dr Gallagher.’
‘And we are delighted to have you with us,’ Libby told her. ‘If there is anything that you’re not sure of don’t be afraid to ask.’ As Nathan appeared at that moment to offer his words of welcome, she said to him, ‘Ruby has already met Hugo. He took her in for the weekend when we weren’t around and has offered her the apartment above his garage to rent.’
‘Really!’ he exclaimed laughingly. ‘That doesn’t exactly fit in with his expressed desire for no visitors and time to himself when away from this place. You are to be congratulated, Ruby.’
She smiled. It was hardly the moment to explain that he had accommodated her on sufferance … and where was he? Hugo Lawrence didn’t strike her as someone who would be a poor timekeeper.
The two doctors had left her to settle into her room and gone to deal with their patients, when there was a knock on the door. She crossed to open it and there he was, in the passage outside, observing her questioningly.
‘Is everything all right?’ he asked before she had the chance to greet him. ‘You’ve met Libby and Nathan and the rest of the staff?’
‘Yes, everything is fine,’ she said brightly. ‘Libby was concerned because she hadn’t had time to find me somewhere to stay with me arriving earlier than expected, but I told her that I’d already had a very good offer of your apartment that I will be delighted to accept if it is still open.’
He was frowning. ‘When you get to know me better, Ruby, you will discover that I usually mean what I say. So, yes, the apartment is yours for a nominal rent for as long as you want. If you will come across to the house this evening, we’ll sort out the details.
‘Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must ring the hospital to have a patient admitted who is far from well with what appears to be septicaemia. Last week it was a mild infection that could have gone either way, but I’ve just called at the house and his condition has worsened over the weekend into something quite serious.’
‘Will you have time to tell me about it when you’ve made the call?’ she asked.
‘Er, maybe not at the moment as I have patients waiting, but if you’re still keen to know I’ll tell you about it tonight when you come round to discuss your renting of the apartment.’ he replied. ‘So, what have Libby and Nathan got planned for you on your first day here?’
He could have suggested that Ruby sit in with him during his consultations for today, but wasn’t going to as he felt he’d made enough concessions already towards welcoming her into the fold, and maybe she would be better sitting in with Libby on her first morning at the practice.
As if on cue Libby appeared and said, ‘I thought you might like to join me during my consultations today, Ruby. It will give you the feel of things and an insight as to how and what we have to deal with, don’t you agree, Hugo?’
‘Yes, I do,’ he told her, ‘and I have an urgent phone call to make so I’ll leave you both to it.’ And with a smile that embraced them both he strode off to his own particular part of the busy surgery, while Libby did likewise in the direction of hers with Ruby close behind.
It had been a fantastic day, reflected Ruby as she ate her solitary meal that evening. Even Dr Lawrence had had a smile for her and soon she would be seeing him again when she went to discuss the rental procedures, and he satisfied her eagerness to hear about the infection that he’d been dealing with.
But first she was going to ring home. She’d spoken to Robbie and her parents yesterday, so they were aware that she had arrived in Swallowbrook earlier than expected, and would now be waiting to hear how her first day at the practice had gone.
They were a close-knit family and had been a very happy one until Robbie’s illness had shown itself and her mother had been faced with the dreadful impact of her part in it.
Before she’d discovered that she had the faulty gene she’d always been happy and carefree, singing around the house, hugging them all close at every opportunity, but ever since Robbie had been stricken with that first bleed all that time ago and had had others since, she had become quiet and withdrawn, not loving or caring for them any less, more if that were possible but joyless in the process.
As Ruby had grown older and begun her medical career she had understood more than anyone the feeling of being flawed that was with her mother constantly and once when she’d asked her what she would have done if she’d known she carried the gene, she’d replied sadly, ‘I don’t know, Ruby. Because I didn’t know I was a carrier of the haemophilia gene I was never faced with having to make a choice with regard to having children.
‘Your dad is loving and supportive, tells me to stop fretting, that I am not to blame for what is happening to Robbie, that it is not because of any known fault of mine, genetics have made me what I am, but I still have to live with it, don’t I? Live with the knowledge that Robbie’s illness isn’t the only blight I’ve put upon my family. There is also what I’ve done to you, Ruby.’
On that occasion with a wisdom beyond her years she had held her mother close and told her, ‘All you’ve ever done to me is to be the best mother in the world and Robbie, when he is older, will feel the same, so don’t weep for what you didn’t know about, Mum. What Dad says is right.’
But tonight when her mother’s voice came over the line there was only happiness in it as they chatted about Ruby’s return to Swallowbrook and her first day at the practice, until she told her about her attractive landlord-cum-colleague-cum–recluse neighbour.
‘You aren’t going to fall in love, are you?’ her mother asked, trying not to sound anxious.
They’d gone through this scenario a few times, the worry that relationships with the opposite sex brought about, and understanding only too well her mother’s thought process Ruby told her gently, ‘Not with this one. He is dubious about my suitability from all angles.’
When she’d finished speaking to her mother Ruby rang Hugo to ask what time he would like her to go across to the house to discuss the tenancy.
‘Come now if you want and let’s get it over with,’ was the brisk reply, without any hint of welcome. ‘It won’t take long. Just a matter of fixing a rental, the two of us signing the appropriate forms, and me giving you a copy of rules and regulations, along with details of the user instructions for everything.’
So ‘Mr Nice Guy’ from the surgery had changed back into ‘Sir Keep Your Distance’, Ruby thought as she replaced the receiver. What did he think she was going to do, take her knitting with her? She would be in and out like a flash and would not be asking him to tell her about the patient that he’d called to see on his way to the surgery that morning.
