Doctor...to Duchess?

Oliver quickly pulled out a plate and slipped it onto the table as he scrubbed a hand through his hair. Why did coming home always bring out the bad guy in him? He exhaled heavily as a list of answers began jostling for pole position.

“Shall we get this X-ray wrapped up?”

“That sounds like an excellent idea.” Her tone was curt. Any flirtation that had been cracking between them had evaporated entirely. He could’ve kicked himself. Not that he was planning on asking her out for a date or anything but surely he could’ve managed to be pleasant and professional?

Life in St. Bryar was normally so predictable. He arrived, saw his parents, attended the obligatory cocktail party his mother threw to see if she could tempt him with any women on that year’s “available for marriage” list and stayed calm and neutral before flying off to another Red Cross camp. There he could be himself: passionate, caring, committed. Being that version of himself here? Impossible.

They remained silent until Oliver pulled out the used X-ray plate and slipped the results onto the light tray. “I hope you’re not left-handed.”

He didn’t even try to sound chirpy. Fractured. Both her pinky and ring finger. A noticeably unencumbered ring finger.

“I’d normally tease you that I was a lefty but I daren’t risk getting my head bitten off again.” She said the words with a smile, but Julia saw they had hit their target. A microscopic green-eyed flinch.

Good.

She knew he must be hurting after seeing Dr. Carney so ill, but biting off the head of the person who was around day in, day out to care for him? Not a good move.

“I guess we’d better get you trussed up, then.”

“Don’t worry,” Julia said grumpily. “I can buddy tape and splint them myself. I will need as much dexterity as possible and don’t want to be hassled with having my hand in plaster.”

“Let me advise you, then,” Oliver retorted without so much as a hint of a smile, “you are going directly against doctor’s orders.”

“That’s rich, considering it’s a doctor who put me in this predicament.” Julia only just stopped her voice from rising.

“Are you going to realign them yourself? Perform the reduction? Give yourself the anesthetic jab?”

She glanced at the X-ray. It was doable. Sort of. Not completely advisable, but doable. Particularly since it meant the Ogre of St. Bryar would leave her alone. A distractingly attractive ogre—but an unwelcome beast nonetheless.

“Yes, thanks. I’m sure you’ve got plenty else to do.”

“Fair enough.” He turned to leave the X-ray room, his six-foot-something frame filling the doorway, before he stopped to speak over his shoulder, eyes fastidiously avoiding hers. “I’ll be back in the morning. You’ll need help.”

“I’ll be just fine, thank you. No help necessary,” she called to his receding figure as she clapped her hand to the door frame. Ouch!

Julia forced herself to count to ten before stomping to the supplies cupboard where she crankily rooted around for a small splint and some medical tape. How dared he impose himself upon her and her clinic?

Hmm … Well, technically it was his clinic on his property. But apart from that she was the one responsible for running the place and there was little chance she was going to let him elbow in and reimpose the fuddy-duddy ways that had this place stuck in the mud.

Stuck in the mud … Like she had been. With Oliver. Face-to-face, their breath virtually intermingling. Their lips had been so close to each other’s. And his eyes … just the most perfect, mossy green. Breathtaking. Her heart had thumped so wildly in response she’d been amazed he hadn’t felt it. Perhaps he had.

Which made him all the more unpleasant for being such a curmudgeon! Julia sucked in a deep breath. She’d show him how to run a clinic—a clinic that kept a community afloat. Just because he swanned around the world with his flak jacket, looking gorgeous and aiding the masses, didn’t mean helping the people of this beautiful village was a waste of time. Not one iota. Her chosen role was every bit as important as helping in war zones!

She rested her forehead on one of the shelves and forced her whirling thoughts to slow to a less heady speed. Was it Oliver she was battling or her guilt over Matt?

Matt. Soldier. Husband. The loyal man she had been best friends with since primary school. She’d learned to live with the niggling frustration that had cropped up every time he’d broken it to her she’d have to change her plans to kick-start her medical career again because they were moving. There was always “a bigger problem out there in the world” that needed fixing. How could you argue with that? War-torn nation versus small-town hemorrhoids?

You had to laugh.

Didn’t you?

Not if, the last time you’d talked, you’d bickered about that very topic. Told him you had had it with packing boxes and following in his wake yet again as you sidelined your career for the umpteenth time. She’d wanted to be a family GP for so long and now, here she was, living the dream. If only it hadn’t come about via her worst nightmare.

She swallowed hard. She’d been through this. Matt would’ve been happy for her. Happy to see her doing what she loved.

She resumed her search for supplies, doing her best to squelch down her feelings. She couldn’t stop a grin from forming when she found some tape that had been donated by a big-city sports team. The company making the tape had spelled the name of the team incorrectly and it reeled an endless stream of Burnside Tootball Club.

Oops.

“Nice to see a smile on those lips.”

Julia jumped at the sound of Oliver’s voice.

“Sorry—I thought you’d gone.”

“I have a feeling my bedside manner hasn’t exactly been winning.” He tilted his head at her and offered a smile complete with a couple of crooked teeth.

Good! He’s not completely perfect! Or does his imperfection make him more perfect?

“It could be,” Julia conceded after a thoughtful chew on her lower lip, “that you encountered my stubborn nature.”

“Stubborn? You?” Oliver’s smile broadened as he reached for the tape and small splint she was holding. “May I?”

Despite her resolve to complete the reduction herself, her logical side knew it was best to have it done properly. She was too young to worry about arthritis.

“All right, you win.” She tipped her head in the direction of the exam room across the hall. It wasn’t like she was going all weak-kneed or anything, but standing together in the tiny supplies cupboard was a bit too close for comfort.

Oliver took Julia’s hand in his, suddenly very aware of how delicate her fingers were. They would have suited a surgeon—which would’ve made fracturing them doubly awful.

“Did you ever have any ambitions beyond being a village GP?”

Julia’s eyes shot up defensively. If he could’ve swallowed the words right back he would’ve. There it was again—his “I’m better than you are” tone. His mother had always warned him against being a know-it-all and it looked like he still had some work to do.

Oliver quickly covered. “That came out all wrong. I just meant, are you happy with what you’re doing?”

“Perfectly.” The sharp look in her eyes dared him to challenge her. Then she sat back, visibly reconsidering, and continued openly, “The pace is obviously nothing like what you do, but I absolutely love what I’m doing here. You’re looking at the child of parents in the Diplomatic Service. I went on to marry a military man. I’m not sure I’ve ever stayed anywhere longer than a couple of years.” She pushed her lips into a deep red moue.

How did lips get that red without lipstick? Distracting. Very distracting. Oliver found himself quickly rewinding through everything she’d just said.

“You’re married?” He made a stab at small talk, well aware he’d already clocked her ring-free hand.

“Yes. Well …” She was flustered. “Was.”

What was she now? Divorced? Separated?

“Widowed.” She filled in the unasked question for him. “Just over a year and a half now.”

“I am sorry to hear that.”

“It was always a possibility.” Her voice was surprisingly even. Oliver looked up from taping her fingers with a questioning look.

“The military life is an uncertain one,” she said without malice. “At least I’ve got the children.”

Oliver felt his eyebrows raise another notch.

“Children?”

“Yes. Two.”

“Did I see them today? I would’ve thought a fun day in a moat would be straight up a kid’s alley.” Children? She’d jammed a lot of living into her life. She didn’t look as if she was over thirty years old.

“You’re not wrong there!” She laughed, a bit of brightness returning to her eyes as she continued. “They love it here—absolutely love it. But their school—it’s in Manchester—managed to lure them away from me for the weekend with the promise of a trip to London and a West End show.”

“St. Bryar Primary not good enough?” The words were out before he could stop them. Oliver hadn’t gone there, so why he was getting defensive about the tiny village school was a bit of a mystery.

“Not at all. You’ve got the wrong end of the stick.” Julia waved away his words. “My two—thirteen-year-old twins—are at the Music Academy in Manchester. I don’t know where they got it but they are unbelievably talented musicians. Cello for Henry and violin for Ella. Heaven knows they didn’t get it from me or their father.”

“He wasn’t a musician?”

“Heavens, no!” Julia laughed. “Special forces through and through.”

“Yes, of course. You mentioned the military.” Oliver’s mind raced to put all of the pieces together. Widowed military mother, a GP, with children a good hour away at boarding school. What on earth was she doing here? Hiding away from the world?

He watched as her blue eyes settled somewhere intangible. “His job was a different kind of creative. He saw his main mission as being a peacekeeper. Ironic, considering his job only existed because of war.”

Oliver nodded for her to continue.

“It seems people are always busy trying to stake their claim on this town or that country, while others are desperately trying to cling to the tiny bolt-hole they have, no matter how insignificant. It’s almost laughable, isn’t it? The messes we humans get ourselves into.”

If her words hadn’t hit home so hard, Oliver would’ve immediately agreed.

Every day with the Red Cross he saw the ill effects of war. Huge swathes of humanity moving from one camp to another. Lives lost over what, exactly? Half the time it was hard to tell what the endgame was.

And now, sitting here in the tiny country hospital he had never imagined working in, it was next to impossible to divine what was significant in the world. The big picture? The small moments? The beautiful fingers resting on his palm? A torrent of emotion threatened his composure as he felt the heat of Julia’s hand cross into his.

He looked up at Julia, unsurprised to see curiosity in her eyes.

“No, it’s worse,” he answered with feeling. “It’s heartbreaking.”

If Oliver hadn’t left the small clinic when he did, Julia was certain her commitment to disliking him would have required some plasterwork. When she’d heard the first whisperings that the future heir of Bryar Estate had few to no plans to stick around once the place was his, she’d vowed to fight tooth and nail to keep the clinic open. If it could stand on its own two feet, there was no reason for it to be a factor in whatever he did with the rest of the estate.

To keep her focus, she’d vowed to see Oliver as her mortal enemy. Of course, she’d done this before clapping eyes on her globetrotting nemesis. Who would’ve thought he’d be all sexy-academic-looking? And smell nice? And have long black eyelashes surrounding some seriously divine green eyes? Her normal composed, calm and collected disposition was feeling distinctly volcanic.

Her laugh filled the empty exam room. Who was she kidding? Meeting Oliver had pulled the rug straight out from under her firmly planted feet. Up until now, life had been straightforward.

Well, not really. Okay, not at all.

Then when Matt had died everything had become an unknown. What did she know about being a thirty-something widow with two children and a general practice to build? Absolutely nothing.

And now, finally—after so much soul-searching and a huge burst of encouragement from her children, who were joyously pursuing their passion for music—she’d found something that was her own. Something solid. Safe.

Despite the clinic’s retro vibe, she loved every square of the stone exterior. Every bud on the climbing roses just threatening to blossom in the soft spring air. Every patient they helped in this chocolate-box village brought a smile to her lips. Speaking of which, she owed Dr. Carney an update before she went back to her cottage. The overnight nurse would give him his meds later but Julia always like to check in on him around teatime. He’d dedicated his life to this place, and she wanted him to know he’d made the best choice when he’d selected her to take over.

She poked her head round the corner of his room and saw he was resting quietly. She placed a couple of fingers on his wrist and checked the heart-rate monitor. His obs looked good, considering. Truth of the matter was, she wasn’t all that sure how much longer he had, but nothing would stop her from making sure he had the most comprehensive care and comfort he could enjoy in his final days.

“His heart’s in the right place, you know.”

Julia started, realizing Dr. Carney wasn’t just talking in his sleep.

“Who?” Stupid question. You both know who he’s talking about, ninny.

“Oliver.” Dr. Carney opened his eyes to meet hers, and Julia was still amazed to see how clear and blue they were despite his rapidly declining health. “He’s just never really recovered and it makes being here …” He hesitated. “It makes all this quite difficult to deal with.”

Recovered from what? Being born into gentry, being handed an amazing estate on a plate and rejecting it? Or did Dr. Carney mean something more immediate?

“Do you mean seeing you here?” Julia sat down when he indicated she should perch on the side of the bed. She tugged at the corners of the handmade quilt one of the villagers had brought in.

“Oh, I’m sure that wasn’t very nice for Oliver. We probably should have told him, but no. That wasn’t what I meant. I’ll leave him to tell you those things.”

“Tell me what?” Julia felt the hairs prickle on the back of her neck.

“It’s not my place to say, dear, but give him time. Patience.”

“Dr. Carney, if you’re trying to get me to understand a man who is set to inherit all of this and chooses to be anywhere but here …” She paused for a moment. Telling Dr. Carney she thought a man passing up the chance to run his very own family practice was bonkers might not go down well. Then again, if Oliver’s plans didn’t involve the clinic at all, she had to ramp up her fight to keep it alive. She needed to know where she stood. “You don’t think he plans to sell the place, do you?”

“Now that’s just idle gossip, my dear. Nothing’s been set into motion, has it?”

Dr. Carney tutted as he gave Julia’s hand an affectionate pat. “I’ve probably already said too much. Just give him a chance. The two of you are an awful lot alike, you know.”

“Ha! I find that hard to believe. He seems to like the high-flying life and I’m quite happy here in good old-fashioned St. Bryar.” Even as she said the words they didn’t sit well. The little she did know about Oliver was that he was passionate about medicine. And that he cared for Dr. Carney. It must’ve hurt coming in here and seeing a man he’d known his whole life in this condition. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I don’t know the man at all. I guess his arrival just took me by surprise.”

“It’s all right, dear. No one takes easily to change.”

“Isn’t that the truth!” Julia quipped, meaning Oliver, then realized Dr. Carney had most likely meant her. Uh-oh. She thought she’d changed a lot since she’d come here. Maybe not. She peered at Dr. Carney, hoping for more answers, but he just smiled and looked toward the window. Just outside, a crab apple tree was in full blossom. Beautiful. If everything could stay exactly like this … Screech! Wait a minute. Embrace the change. Embrace the change. And give Oliver a chance. Maybe his plans for this place were for the better. Maybe he’d be sticking around for a while … An involuntary ribbon of excitement unfurled within her tummy.

Easy, tiger. Stop reading into things.

Julia gave Dr. Carney’s hand a small squeeze. “Rest now, Doctor, it’s been a long day.”

Dr. Carney gave her a knowing smile. “Sweet dreams, Dr. MacKenzie.”

Oliver vaulted over the centuries-old stable door. It was how he’d always entered the kitchen as a boy and suddenly—some fifteen years since he’d done it last—he felt a rush of impulse to do it again.

Sentimentality? Or just plain whimsy, because he’d met a beautiful woman? A beautiful woman who had tilted the world of St. Bryar on a whole new axis. He shrugged off the questions as a steaming stack of hot cross buns came into view.

“Mr. Toff! Hands off!”

The cry was familiar and so was the voice.

“Clara!”

“C’mere, you. I haven’t seen hide nor hair of you since you’ve been back!” He was instantly surrounded with the same warm embrace he’d enjoyed as a boy and, after the shock of seeing Dr. Carney, he was grateful for the familiarity.

Clara Bates had been with the family for over forty years and showed few signs of releasing her iron grip on the Bryar Hall kitchens.

“It’s only been a few hours!” He pulled out of the tight embrace and held her at arm’s length. “Now. Tell me why I’m not allowed one of your delicious buns.”

Pulling the platter of steaming baked goods out of his reach, she explained, “They’re for the Cakes and Bakes stall at the church.”

“Sorry?” There’d never been so much as a toast soldier at church services in his day.

“It’s new,” she continued with a broad smile. “One of our Dr. MacKenzie’s ideas. We’re raising money for one of those portable heart-attack machines.”

“A portable AED?” he prompted. It was a good idea. In such a remote hamlet, they should have had one the second they’d come on the market. He should have thought of it. Then done something about it.

“That’s it. If we make a certain amount, we can get a matching grant from the government or something like that. Dr. MacKenzie has all the bumph.”

Oliver rocked back on his heels, finding purchase on the ancient cast-iron oven. Wait a minute: our Dr. MacKenzie? That was quick work. Making herself part of the woodwork here at St. Bryar was quite a feat, considering the villagers didn’t consider you a local unless your family had tucked a good three hundred years under their collective belts. Impressive. And ruddy annoying. He’d come back to nail down how things ticked at Bryar Hall, but with Julia changing things left, right and center, it didn’t seem anything would be still enough to get a proper perspective.

He felt his soft spot for her become less pliable.

“You don’t know the half of it,” the cook continued without noticing the creases beginning to form on Oliver’s forehead. “She’s just come along and blown a breath of fresh air into everything. Really made the place come alive again since your mother passed. Of course, it’s all very different from when the duchess was with us. Your mother was very traditional, wasn’t she? Liked things just so.” She gave Oliver a wide-eyed look and a squeeze on the arm.

He knew what she meant. His mother had been renowned for living in the world of How Things Used To Be Done. If old-fashioned decorum was your thing, Bryar Hall was the place to be. One piece of cutlery out of place on a table laid for fifty, and his mother could’ve eagle-eyed it from the doorway. Oliver had always thought that was how everyone had liked things, as well. Surely he hadn’t misread his entire childhood?

“Dr. MacKenzie’s not so much a stickler for the details, but she sure likes a good commotion! Seems there’s nothing she can’t lay her hand to and make it better. You should meet her. Birds of a feather, you two!”

Birds of very different feathers, is more like it. He had always been hands-off when it came to the estate, and she was anything but.

He drummed his fingers along the stove top, rattling through options. When he’d come home, his remit had seemed so clear: start the long-put-off handover of the estate with his father and decide once and for all how he would take on the mantle of Duke of Breckonshire.

Home or away?

Sell up or stay put?

Suffocate under the aristocratic code or live freely as a conflict zone surgeon?

Bish, bash, bosh.

He knew he didn’t want to be here and so did everyone else. All he had to do was find a way to make cutting ties permanently as painless as possible. And what had things been from the moment he’d arrived? The polar opposite.

How had Julia managed to get everyone here to don rose-tinted glasses? Even he’d been sucked in! Wild horses couldn’t have kept him from joining in that fun run.

“Scooch. I have another batch of buns in the oven.”

Oliver found himself being unceremoniously moved to the side as Clara bustled about the oven doors.

“Are you sure there isn’t just one tiny bun free for me?”

“What? And rob the village of a heart attack machine? Oliver!” Clara’s eyes went wide in mock horror before slipping one of the steaming currant buns onto the counter. “There you go, but I’ll leave you to tell Dr. MacKenzie why we won’t have hit our target if we’re twenty-five pence short.”

Add fuel to Julia’s fire that he didn’t give a monkey’s about the locals? Hardly.

“I’ll pay for it right now.” Oliver dug into his pocket and pulled out a bit of lint with a sheepish grin. “Put it on my account?”

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