Snowbound With The Surgeon

Inside, there was half a pint of milk and a carton of juice, both frozen into solid lumps. One of his eyebrows arched, and Neve felt her hackles rise in response to the unspoken question.

‘What…?’ She should probably just leave it. Neve tipped the remainder of the shopping into the box and clapped the lid back on, fastening it securely.

‘Nothing… If I’d realised you were so short of supplies, I could have brought a few more things in for you.’

‘I’m fine. I told you that last night.’ She heard herself snap at him and reminded herself that Joe was a volunteer, doing this out of the goodness of his heart, and that she ought to make an effort to get along with him. ‘Are we going to get going, then?’

‘As soon as you tell me where.’ A hint of emotion tugged at the corner of his perfect mouth.

Neve sat down at the kitchen table. Maybe she was overreacting. It wasn’t Joe’s fault that the quiver in the pit of her stomach whenever she saw him reminded her of all the promises she’d made to herself about never letting a man walk all over her again.

‘This is my list. We’re due in Leminster first and then whichever order is easiest in terms of the driving.’

‘Right.’ He pulled the map from his pocket, spreading it on the table, one finger tracing the pattern of the other addresses on the list. ‘So if we drive north from Leminster…’ He swept his finger across the map in a rough circle, indicating forty miles of driving through blocked roads and over sheets of ice.

‘That would be ideal. Can we make it?’

‘Let me worry about that.’ He picked up his gloves from the kitchen table and folded the map, his frame suddenly taut and eager. A glimmer in his eyes seemed to flash out a warning to the world that obstacles weren’t a problem, and only existed to be overcome.

She’d find out soon enough if Joe was as good as his word. Neve picked up one of the bags of medical supplies, which lay ready by the door, and Joe got to the second before she could. ‘Let’s go, then.’

She was silent as Joe drove along the winding, treacherous road into Leminster village. Wary of him maybe?

Joe dismissed the thought. Neve struck him as the kind of woman who wasn’t afraid of anything. When her blue eyes had flashed with stubborn resolve, all his senses had tingled painfully back to life, reminding him that once he’d lived for the kind of challenges she faced now. Her scent and the way she moved only added to the temptation. He dismissed those thoughts as well.

Joe had put himself on trial here. When he’d first come to the village he’d deliberately avoided anything that was even remotely connected with his former life, but now there was a need he could fulfil. If he could do this, without getting involved with the medical side of things, that would be a final step towards putting his old life behind him.

He drew up outside the church hall in Leminster. A surgery had been arranged for those who could make it here, and outside the new fallen snow was already churned and flattened by the passing of feet. Inside, the occasion appeared to have turned into an impromptu coffee morning.

From the relaxed smile on her face when Neve walked into the hall, one would never have guessed that she was probably counting faces, wondering whether she was going to be here all day. She walked briskly into the middle of the noisy throng and clapped her hands.

Silence. Joe allowed himself a smile. That was an achievement in itself.

‘Who’s here for me?’ She made it sound like a party, and that she was excited to see that so many people had turned up. Three-quarters of the hands in the room shot up, and she tried again.

‘One hand for each patient, please.’

Most of the hands went back down again, leaving six. She gave a dazzling smile in response and received a low rumble of approbation from the assembled company.

She had a nice way about her. In Joe’s experience, if you wanted to know about a doctor, you looked first at their patients. And if the faces here were anything to go by, Neve was one of the best. Her style might be a little different from his, a little more long-lost-relative and a little less here-comes-the-cavalry, but that was no bad thing. Joe reminded himself that he was here to drive, nothing more.

‘Who’s first?’ Someone pointed to Fred Hawkins, sitting in the corner of the room, and he reached for his walking stick.

‘That’s okay, Fred. Finish your tea, it’ll be a couple of minutes before I get settled.’ She flashed Joe a smile then turned to the church warden, who guided her away into one of the small rooms at the back of the hall.

Although the intention behind holding a surgery here had not been primarily to carry out a fact-finding mission regarding Joe Lamont, it did turn up a lot of information. Fred Hawkins confided that he was a ‘useful enough carpenter’ while Neve was trying to listen to his chest. Lisa Graham chattered about him incessantly as Neve examined a lump on her young son’s leg, and Ann Hawkins, headmistress of the local primary school and the wife of Fred’s second cousin, proffered the information that Joe had built an adventure playground for the school a few months back.

‘He was quite a talking point for a while…’ Ann winced as Neve removed the dressing from her swollen finger to reveal a cut.

‘Do you have any loss of sensation? Here?’ Neve worked gently along the main nerves.

‘No. It’s a real addition for us. The kids love it.’

‘Right. I’m going to put some adhesive stitches onto the cut and I’ll prescribe antibiotics, just to be on the safe side.’

Ann nodded. ‘Thanks. He doesn’t seem to have anyone. Not that some of the younger women haven’t tried. I had to have a word with one of our teaching assistants about staring out of the window all moony-eyed at him when she was supposed to be doing her job.’

Neve hid a grin. It appeared that Joe-itis wasn’t just confined to the teaching assistants. The school’s head teacher had been infected with the epidemic as well, along with what sounded like half the village.

‘So what exactly does he do?’ Neve’s curiosity about Joe had been growing, and she gave in to the inevitable. ‘His job, I mean.’

‘I heard he was ex-army.’ Ann pursed her lips thoughtfully. ‘I don’t know if that’s true. He doesn’t seem to have a job now. Unless of course he’s doing something on the internet in the evenings.’

Professional gambler? She imagined that Joe would have the perfect poker face if he put his mind to it. Writer? Internet entrepreneur? Combination of all three?

‘There were a few rumours going round, but they were just idle talk.’ Ann dismissed any further speculation with a disapproving twitch of her mouth. ‘But, then, people will wonder.’

True enough. The secret to keeping a secret was never to let a soul know that you had one. Neve had never told anyone about her marriage, and so the awkward questions about why it had been such a disaster never occurred to anyone.

‘Hold still, Ann. This will sting a little bit.’

Ann winced as Neve cleaned and disinfected the wound. ‘He wasn’t well, of course, when he first came here. You know his grandmother was born in Leminster? Fred remember her from way back, when he was just a boy. Says she was a pretty little thing.’

Perhaps that was why the village had taken Joe to their hearts. The prodigal son returned. But in Neve’s experience, any respect you got from the close-knit communities around here was generally earned and not just doled out on account of who your grandmother was.

‘Right, then, Ann.’ She handed her the prescription. ‘I want you to take these for a week. Can you get to the chemist today?’

‘Yes, no problem.’ Ann got to her feet. ‘I suppose you’re back on the road again now. You must be busy.’

‘Yes. It’s a lot easier with Joe doing the driving, though.’

‘Mmm. With the weather like this, you need someone to help you.’

By the time Neve had finished, Joe had been persuaded up a ladder to fix Christmas decorations to the high ceiling beams and had helped move the piano to make room for the Christmas tree. It was something of a relief to retrieve his coat and follow her back outside to the car.

‘What’s that you’ve got?’ She nodded at the plastic food container in his hand.

‘Chocolate cake. I said it was a bit early for me, so there are two large pieces here for later.’ He wondered whether she’d greet this latest offer of food with the same prickly indignation she’d shown that morning.

‘Oh, nice. I like chocolate cake.’ She had a particular flair for confounding his expectations, and Joe found himself smiling.

The first real obstacle of the day presented itself a mile down the road, in the shape of a white minibus. It was blocking the road ahead, almost invisible against the drifting snow, only the bright flash of a logo on its side clearly distinguishable.

Joe slowed and stopped. ‘Television crew.’

‘How do you know that?’

‘I heard they’ve been filming around Leminster. Community in crisis, that kind of thing.’

Neve was frowning at the vehicle. ‘Looks as if the community’s dealing with the crisis a bit better than they are.’

‘Yeah. Perhaps they can film themselves.’

The sound of a racing engine drifted towards them and the wheels of the minibus spun uselessly. Joe swung out of the car. ‘Hey. Hold up. That’s not going to get you anywhere…’ he called over to the driver and the engine stopped abruptly. One of the doors opened and a woman got out.

Joe knew what was needed, and it didn’t take much to persuade the woman to leave things to him. He trudged back to his own vehicle, nodding grimly at Neve and opening the tailgate.

‘What are we going to do?’ She scrambled out of her seat, almost losing her balance on a patch of ice and grabbing at him to steady herself.

‘Maybe you should stay in the car.’ Much as he liked her weight on his arm, it wasn’t going to get the van on its way.

‘What, and comb my hair? Check my make-up?’

Joe straightened up. However much he got snagged on her protective spikes, he still couldn’t help but smile at her. Maybe it was the vulnerability behind that tough exterior. Or the bravery that met everything head on. ‘If you use the rear-view mirror, don’t forget to adjust it back the way you found it.’

A moment of fleeting outrage and then she relaxed. ‘Sorry. It’s just that I’ve been managing on my own for a while now…’

‘I know.’

She leaned back against the car. ‘So what are you going to do?’

‘I should be able to dig them out. Might need to give them a tow but I hope not. It’ll take time to get the snow chains on the wheels to give me the extra traction.’

‘What’s that for?’ She pointed to the large bag of cat litter that he’d dumped in the snow beside them.

‘It’ll soak up the water around the wheels and give something for them to grip onto.’ Joe reached for the fold-up shovel that he’d stowed in the boot, snapping it open.

‘You have a cat?’ No detail was too small to escape her interest and Joe couldn’t help grinning.

‘Why would I have cat litter if I don’t have a cat?’ He picked up the bag and started to trudge back towards the stricken minibus.

‘Let me know if you need a hand,’ she called after him.

‘Sure. Let me know if you can’t find your comb.’

Neve remained where she was, leaning against the side of the SUV. Two men had got out of the minibus and Joe had set one of them to work with the shovel while he spread the cat litter around the wheels. The woman Joe had been talking to had left them to it and was headed in Neve’s direction.

‘I’m glad you guys turned up.’ She was grinning brightly. ‘Your friend seems to know what to do. What are you doing out today?’

‘I’m a doctor. I have house calls to make.’

‘Ah.’ The woman nodded enthusiastically. ‘And your partner?’ She gestured over towards Joe. ‘He’s a doctor too?’

‘He’s a volunteer. He’s helping with the driving.’

‘Nice one. As we’re stranded here, perhaps you could give me an interview.’ The woman didn’t wait for Neve’s answer and gestured over to the second man, who was standing by the stricken vehicle, watching Joe. ‘Camera, Nick…’

‘I don’t think we have time. We have to get on…’

‘Just for a minute. We won’t keep you.’

Neve bit back the temptation to say that the news crew was already keeping them, by dint of their minibus blocking the road. ‘I have patients…’

‘I promise we’ll be finished before you know it. Or you could go over there and pretend to help, if you prefer.’

No, she didn’t prefer. The last thing Neve wanted to do was to embarrass herself with Joe by pretending to help him for the cameras.

‘Joe…’ She marched over to the minibus, where he was now shovelling ice and snow from under the chassis. ‘We’ll be going soon, won’t we?’

He straightened, taking in the hastily assembled tripod and camera. ‘She’s asked you for an interview, hasn’t she?’

Neve shifted uncomfortably. ‘Yes. But I’ve told them there’s no time. We have to be on our way…’

He grinned. Joe was enjoying her discomfiture a little too much. ‘I’m afraid it’ll be a short while yet. And I don’t dig well with an audience. Perhaps you can keep them amused for a few minutes.’

‘Thanks a lot.’

He shrugged. ‘Thought you wanted to help.’

Not what she’d had in mind. Neve turned on her heel and walked back to the camera.

‘Ready?’ The woman smiled brightly at her. ‘Perhaps if you could take your hat off so we can see your face.’

She was going to have to do this. Neve stood on the spot the reporter indicated and removed her hat, smiling uneasily. The camera swept across the snow-covered hills and then homed in on her.

‘How are you coping in these difficult conditions? Are your patients going without the medical help they need?’

An image of Maisie on the phone, reassuring worried callers that the doctor would be able to see them, flashed through Neve’s mind. ‘No, we’re seeing everyone. We’re coping very well.’

‘But your resources must be strained to breaking point. How long can you go on like this?’

‘As long as we need to. We expect snow during the winter here, and we plan for it. It’s business as usual, and that’s not going to change.’ Neve tried to put all the gravitas of her profession behind the statement. Difficult when a blast of icy wind had just slapped the side of her face, almost taking her breath away and making her nose drip.

The sound of the minibus’s engine choking into life saved her. Joe was in the driver’s seat, gently rolling the vehicle forward and out of the patch of slush that its spinning wheels had produced.

‘Sorry. Got to go.’ Neve almost skipped over to where the empty cat-litter bag and the shovel lay, picked them up and carried them back to Joe’s car. Then she got in, shutting the door firmly. The news crew took one last shot of Joe walking back to the SUV, then there was a scramble to get the camera packed up and they were on their way, Joe following the minibus as it nosed its way along the narrow, snow-filled lane.

As soon as the road widened, he flashed his headlights and a brief, assertive blast of the horn signalled the driver of the minibus to pull over. Joe overtook it, and in a sudden show of bravado he put his foot down, a shower of powdery snow flying up from the wheels as they accelerated away.

‘Show-off.’

He chuckled. ‘You looked a bit put out by some of those questions.’

He’d noticed. No surprise there, Joe seemed to notice everything. ‘Well, really. What did they expect me to do? Go on TV saying that my patients will be lucky to get a visit this side of next week?’

‘I imagine that’s what they wanted to hear.’

‘Well, tough. I’ll make it through to everyone…’ It occurred to Neve that Joe had a part in that now. ‘I meant we.’

He gave her a melting grin. ‘Yeah. We’ll make it.’

After eleven hours, half of it spent huddled in the passenger seat of his car and the other half seeing her patients, Neve still shone. In Joe’s experience, that took some doing. When they drew up outside her house that evening, she heaved a deep sigh of contentment.

‘Look…’

He looked. Welcoming light glowed from the porch. ‘Your power’s back on?’

‘Yes.’ Her smile made it seem like the end of a perfect day, rather than the first piece of good luck that she hadn’t had to work hard for. ‘Will you come in for tea?’

The warmth of her rambling farmhouse kitchen. The warmth of her smile. In a past life, which seemed so distant now it was if it had all happened to someone else, Joe wouldn’t have hesitated to say yes.

‘No. Thanks, but I should get going. I’ll see you in the morning. Same time?’

‘Tomorrow’s Saturday. Aren’t you taking the weekend off?’

‘Are you?’

She shrugged. ‘Not this weekend. I’ll be off next weekend.’

‘Then I’ll see you in the morning. Eight-thirty.’

Her smile made the whole day worthwhile. ‘Shall we say nine? I think we both deserve a lie-in.’

‘Nine it is.’

‘Thanks for all you’ve done today, Joe. I really appreciate it.’

It had been his pleasure. Having her rely on him, bringing her safely home again had made Joe feel strong again. As if he’d flexed muscles that had been long under-used and had found, almost to his disbelief, that they had taken the strain. But he shouldn’t go too far.

He carried her bags up the path for her, setting them down on the doorstep and turning back, before the lure of refreshments got too great. Got into his SUV and waited until she was safely inside the house before he started the engine and drove away. Neve was just the kind of woman who could tempt a man into believing that he could be whatever he wanted to be. And in Joe’s experience, the one good thing about having found your breaking point was that you knew for sure that some things were out of reach.

CHAPTER THREE

‘HOW ARE WE going with the list?’

The list had been the overarching purpose of their lives for the last three days. How many people were on it and where they lived. It was a challenge and a reason for Neve to spend her days with him. Joe was getting to love the list.

However much he loved it, he didn’t get to spend a lot of quality time with it. While she let him get on with his side of things, assessing their route, driving and the odd spell of snow clearing, the list was Neve’s responsibility, and she seemed to function best when it was under her control.

‘Not bad. Just four more. We need to go up to Holcombe Crag, and there are three more between there and Leminster.’

‘Where first?’ Joe had no inclination to involve himself in the decisions about who needed her most urgently, and was always careful to let Neve set their priorities.

‘What do you think? I guess it would be better to go up to Holcombe Crag while it’s still light.’ She reached for the bag of toffees on the dashboard, offering him one, and when he shook his head she unwrapped one for herself.

‘Probably, but don’t worry about that. If the others need to be seen first…’

‘No, they’re all routine visits. They could wait until tomorrow morning if we don’t get time today, but Nancy Olsen’s got a young baby so I’d like to see her this afternoon.’

Joe nodded, and started the car. ‘Holcombe Crag it is, then.’

Neve had been watching the clouds draw across the sky as they approached the crag. ‘Are we going to make this? It looks as if the weather’s closing in.’

‘We’ll make it. There’s plenty of time to get up there and back before it gets dark— Is that your phone, or mine?’

‘Mine, I think.’ Neve unzipped her jacket and pulled her phone from the inside pocket, studying the small screen. ‘It’s a text from Maisie.’

‘Another house call?’

Neve shook her head and read from the screen. ‘“Local radio news. Car carrying father and young son found abandoned in your area this morning. Search under way. Keep your eyes open.”’

Neve texted a short acknowledgement back to Maisie and put her phone back into her pocket. ‘Anyone walking in this weather is going to be freezing.’

Joe nodded, his brow creased. ‘Hopefully they’ve been able to find some shelter. Shame they didn’t stay with the car.’

‘I hope they find them soon.’

‘Yeah. When we get to Holcombe Crag I’ll take a look around. Might get lucky.’

He turned off and took the track that climbed towards Holcombe Crag. At the best of times it was a steep hill to climb, but now the ice and snow seemed an impossible barrier. But Joe took it calmly and steadily, confident of what the vehicle could do and not asking the impossible from it. He drew up outside the single-storey, stone-built house, which clung to the slope three-quarters of the way up the crag.

‘If I walk up to the top, I’ll get a much better view.’ He’d extracted a pair of field glasses from the boot of his car, which seemed increasingly to Neve like an Aladdin’s cave of useful items. ‘How long will you be?’

‘I think Nancy would appreciate some a little extra time.’ Neve looked at her watch. ‘Shall we meet back here in half an hour?’

He nodded, dropping his car keys into her hand. Joe always carried her bags from the car, and this sudden break with what had become a small, comfortable ritual between them unsettled her. He must be worried.

She watched as he strode away from her. Strong, steadfast. However much she tried not to depend on him, however misguided it felt to allow any man to shape her fate, he was still becoming an indispensable support to her in this hostile landscape. She dismissed the thought and turned towards the house.

When Nancy opened the door, beckoning her inside, the smell of baking bread assailed her, and Neve’s mouth began to water. ‘Thanks for coming, Doctor. I’m so sorry to bring you all this way, but I’m worried about Daniel…’

Neve laid a reassuring hand on her arm. ‘I’d rather you called if you have any concerns at all. Let’s take a look at him.’

Neve was taking her time with each patient, aware that asking someone to pop back to the surgery if things got any worse wasn’t a viable option for most people at the moment. But after a careful examination, she found baby Daniel was suffering from no more than a slight cold. Neve reassured Nancy and allowed herself to be tempted into the kitchen for fresh-baked bread and strawberry jam.

‘Will you hold him while I put the kettle on?’ Nancy smiled down at her son, and he stretched his arms up towards her face, mimicking her expression.

‘I’ll make the tea.’ The bond between them was so precious, too beautiful to break, even for a moment. Neve couldn’t help feeling a little stab of envy.

‘That’s okay.’ Daniel gurgled with joy as Nancy planted a kiss on his forehead, before delivering him into Neve’s arms. ‘See you later, my sunshine…’

Daniel’s tiny fingers curled around hers when she tickled his palm and he looked up at her solemnly. Neve no longer had to steel herself to be around babies. The pain of her own loss had slowly given way to gnawing regret for what might have been, and when she smiled at Daniel and he rewarded her with one of his own, everything was suddenly right with the world.

‘Can you see Joe?’

Nancy leaned across the sink to get a better view out of the window. ‘No. He was at the top a few minutes ago, but he must be on his way back here now.’ Nancy turned, seeming to need the reassurance of checking once again that her own child was safe. ‘I can’t stop thinking about them out there. I hope someone finds them soon.’

‘Have you heard any search helicopters?’

‘Yes, I heard one go over about half an hour before you got here. I called Daryl when I heard about it on the radio and asked him to keep his eyes open.’

Word of mouth. Passed from wife to husband, friend to friend. Everyone in the area would be on the alert. ‘They’ll find them.’

Nancy grimaced. ‘I hope so. It’s snowing again and it’ll be dark soon.’