Swallowbrook's Winter Bride

Not wanting to be seen watching him, she went slowly back to bed, grateful that it was Saturday with no need to get up if she didn’t want to, and as a pale sun filtered into her bedroom she began to go over the astonishing events of the previous night.

Nathan is back in Swallowbrook, a voice in her mind was saying, but not because of you. He has a family. He has made his choice and it has to be better than the one you made.

She surfaced at lunchtime in a calmer state of mind and, dressed in slacks and a smart sweater, went to the village for food and various other things she needed from the shops after being away.

There had been no sign of anyone from next door when she’d set off, but Nathan’s car had still been in front of the cottage, so either they were inside out of sight or had ventured out for the boy to see where they had come to live, and the man to reacquaint himself with the place where he had been brought up amongst people who had been his patients and friends.

To make her way home she had to pass the park next to the school that strangely for a Saturday was empty, except for Nathan and the boy, who was moving from one amusement to another in the children’s play area.

Don’t stop, she told herself. Nathan has had all morning to see you again if he wanted to, so don’t give him the satisfaction of thinking you’ve followed him here.

The two of them looked lonely and lost in the deserted park. He was pushing Toby on one of the swings, but on seeing her passing lifted him off. Now they were coming towards her and she was getting a better look at the prodigal doctor than in her mesmerised state the night before.

His time in Africa had taken its toll of him, she observed as he drew nearer. He was leaner, giving off less of the dynamism that had so attracted her to him over the years, but his hair was the same, the dark thatch of it curling above his ears, and his eyes were still the unreadable dark hazel that they’d always been where she was concerned.

‘I can’t believe you were going to go past without speaking,’ he said as they drew level.

‘Why?’ she asked steadily. ‘What is there to say?’

‘On my part that I was sorry to hear of Jefferson’s fatal accident, and for another—’

He was interrupted by the child at his side tugging at his hand and saying, ‘Can I go on the slide, Uncle Nathan?’

‘Yes, go along,’ he replied. ‘I’ll be with you in a moment.’ As Libby observed him in a daze of non-comprehension he explained, ‘I’m in the process of adopting Toby. Both his parents are dead. They were lost when a ferry sank while they were touring Europe. Thankfully he was saved. His father was my best friend and I am the boy’s godfather.

‘I went out to bring him home when it happened and applied to adopt him as there were no other relatives to lay claim to him. The paperwork is going through at the moment and soon he will be legally mine.’

‘How do you cope?’ she asked as the heartache of thinking that Nathan had a family of his own began to recede.

‘It was difficult in the beginning because although Toby knew me well enough, naturally it was his mummy and daddy he wanted. He is adjusting slowly to the situation, yet is loath to ever let me out of his sight.’

Poor little one, she thought, poor godfather … poor me. How am I going to cope having Nathan living next door to me with the memory of what he said that day at the airport still crystal clear? He has never been back to Swallowbrook since and now, as if he hadn’t hurt me enough then, he has chosen to live in the cottage next to mine.

He was observing her questioningly in the silence that her thoughts had created, and keen to escape the scrutiny of his stare she asked, ‘How old is Toby?’

‘He’s just five, and the ferry catastrophe occurred three months ago. You might have read about it in the press or seen an account of it on television.’

That was unlikely, she thought wryly. In the mornings it was a quick breakfast, then across the way to the practice, and in the evenings the day’s events had to be assimilated and paperwork brought up to date.

‘What will you do now that you’re here?’ she asked, trying to sound normal. ‘Enrol Toby at the village school?’

‘I’ve already done so and am not sure how he is going to react to yet another change in his life. I have to tread softly with his young mind. He soon gets upset, which is to be expected, of course.’

She felt tears prick. It was all so sad that Nathan had been forced to take on such a responsibility and felt he had to return to Swallowbrook for the child’s sake if nothing else.

As they went to wait for Toby at the bottom of a small slide the man by her side was smiling, which was strange, as given what he had just told her he hadn’t got a lot to smile about.

CHAPTER TWO

IT WAS a lot to take in. Only yesterday she had been flying home from two refreshing weeks in Spain with Melissa. Today she was in the park with Nathan and a child that he was adopting, and though she felt great sympathy for their loss she couldn’t help but feel relieved that Nathan hadn’t found himself a ready-made wife and family during his time in Africa.

If she had known he was coming back to Swallowbrook in the near future she would have had time to prepare herself for meeting up again with the man who had made it so painfully clear on parting that he didn’t return her feelings. But instead it was as if she’d been thrown in at the deep end.

She was bending to pick up the bag with her food shopping inside when he forestalled her by saying easily, ‘I’ll take that,’ and to Toby, who was coming down the slide for the umpteenth time, ‘Time to go, Tobias.’

When the little one had joined them they walked back to their respective properties in silence. As they were about to separate Libby asked, ‘Have you been to see your father?’

He nodded. ‘Yes, we went to see him yesterday in a gap between deliveries of furniture and other household goods, and before you came back from wherever you’d been.’

‘I’d been to Spain for a fortnight with a friend for a much-needed break,’ she said coolly, ‘and hope to be on top form at the practice on Monday.’

‘Ah, yes,’ he said vaguely, as if he had only a faint recollection of the place. ‘Dad told me he plans to hand the practice over to you.’

‘Yes. I’m delighted to have his trust. I think I love that place almost as much as he does. I couldn’t bear to see it close down with his retirement and said as much to him.’

‘So you’ll be a doctor short now that Dad’s gone,’ he commented as she fumbled around in her handbag for the door keys.

‘Yes. John and I have seen one or two hopefuls, but he was strangely reluctant to make a decision and now I see why. He’s been waiting for you to come home.’

He nodded. ‘Possibly, but Dad has only just found out about Toby and now realises that it wouldn’t work. I need to be there to see him into school in the morning and to be waiting when he comes out in the afternoon.’

‘Part time?’

‘Yes, unless I was to employ a nanny, but he has had enough changes to put up with already without my putting him in the charge of a stranger.’

She had the keys in her hand now, but before putting them in the lock had one thing to say that hopefully would end this strange moment.

‘Your father might want you back in the practice, Nathan, but I’m not sure that I do. I have my life planned and it doesn’t include working with you. At the moment the doctors in the practice are myself and Hugo Lawrence, who came to us from general practice in Bournemouth to be where he could give support to his sister and her children. She was widowed some time ago and isn’t coping very well.

‘There are three nurses, three part-time receptionists and Gordon Jessup is still practice manager from when you were there before, and with a district nurse and a midwife attached to the surgery we have an excellent team with just one more doctor needed to make it complete. I’m not enjoying the interview process much—it’s not really my area of expertise. Also it’s proving difficult to fill the vacancy. We face stiff competition from urban practices, lots of younger doctors seem put off by the remoteness of the community, but we don’t want anyone too near retirement either. The patients and the practice need stability. I’ve already heard a few rumblings from those concerned about your father’s departure.’

‘But you don’t want me?’

‘No, not particularly, but as the senior partner I suppose I should forget personal feelings and consider the best interests of the patients. They would most likely be thrilled to see the Gallagher name remain above the threshold. And I suppose you working part time might work very well for us—it wasn’t something I’d considered before.’ In a voice that sounded as if she was reciting her own epitaph she went on, ‘So, yes, if that is what you want, come and join us.’

‘Thanks a bunch,’ he said with a quizzical smile, knowing she felt he deserved her lack of enthusiasm. Though would Libby still feel the same if she knew about his last-minute attempt to speak to her before her wedding? But no way was he going to use that to turn her round to his way of thinking.

Apart from the practice, which she would serve well as head, there must be little for her to rejoice about in any other sphere of her life now that Jefferson was gone.

He hadn’t been expecting a fanfare of trumpets on his return to Swallowbrook, or Libby throwing herself into his arms, but he had been hoping she might have forgiven him for what he’d said in those moments of parting long ago.

It had been partly for Toby’s sake that he’d come back to Swallowbrook, but always there had been the hope that one day he and Libby might meet again and a chance to make up for the past would present itself.

‘Do you want to come to the practice on Monday morning to discuss your hours? I could make sure I’m free at ten o’clock,’ she was suggesting.

‘Yes, please.’

He’d said it meekly but the glint in the dark eyes looking into hers said differently.

He hasn’t changed, she thought. Nathan Gallagher is still a law unto himself. She put her key in the lock and told him, ‘So ten o’clock on Monday it is.’

Bending, she planted a swift kiss on Toby’s smooth cheek and said in gentle contrast to the businesslike tone she’d used to Nathan, ‘We have a lovely school here, Toby, I’m sure you’ll like it.’

He was a wiry child with a mop of fair curls, and so far hadn’t said a word to her, but that was about to change.

‘Are you my uncle’s friend?’ he asked.

Aware of Nathan’s gaze on her, she said carefully, ‘No, I am just someone he used to work with.’

Having satisfied himself on that, Toby had another question that was more personal.

‘Have you got any children?’

‘No, I’m afraid not.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I have never found anyone nice enough to be their daddy,’ she told him.

‘So why—?’ The small questioner hadn’t finished, but didn’t get the chance to continue the interrogation as Nathan was taking his hand and preparing to depart.

‘Say goodbye to Dr Hamilton,’ he said, and with half a smile for her, ‘Until Monday, then, at ten o’clock, Libby.’

She nodded, and with sanctuary beckoning opened the door and went inside.

It seemed as if Sunday was going to be a non-event day and Libby was thankful for it. While she was having breakfast she saw Nathan and Toby go down the drive and get into the car with fishing rods and surmised they were going to spend some time with his father at the pine lodge he’d recently moved into.

When they’d gone she did what she’d been doing ever since their discussion about Nathan coming back into the practice, which was wishing she hadn’t been so overbearing in her manner.

She’d made it clear without actually putting it into words that she hadn’t forgotten that day at the airport, and wasn’t going to fall into the same trap ever again where he was concerned. Yet if that was the case, why had she been so happy to discover that he wasn’t married with a family?

What he was doing for Toby was so special it brought tears to her eyes every time she thought about it. Through no fault of his own Nathan had taken on the role of single father with the burden of care that went with it, and all she had done so far was cut him down to size about working in the practice, which was where he belonged now that the African contract was finished.

He’d said he was sorry to hear about what had happened to Ian and she’d thought that he didn’t know that disillusion had followed swiftly after a marriage that had been a mistake from the start. Remembering Toby’s curiosity of the day before, the answer she’d come up with for not having children had been true. She wouldn’t have wanted a child from a union as empty as hers and Ian’s had been.

With the afternoon and evening looming ahead, she decided to resort to one of her favourite pastimes, a sail on one of the steamers that ploughed through the waters of the lake countless times each day, and on disembarking at the other end would have her evening meal at her favourite restaurant beside the moorings.

The boat was full and she stood holding onto the rail, taking in the splendour of the new hospital on the lakeside as they sailed past and gazing enviously at houses built from the pale grey stone of the area with their own private landing stages and fishing rights.

She could see farms in the distance, surrounded by green meadows where livestock grazed, and high up above, towering on the skyline, as familiar as her own face, were the fells, the rugged guardians of the lakes.

Had Nathan the same love of this lakeland valley as she had? she wondered. Had he ever longed to be back in the place where his roots were during those hot days in Africa? If he had it would be at least one thing they had in common, she thought wryly, and wondered how many fish he and Toby had caught in the river beside John’s pine lodge.

The answers to the questions in her mind were nearer than she thought as his voice came from behind and as she turned swiftly he said, ‘I used to dream I was doing the round trip on one of these boats when I was far away. Sometimes it was the only thing that kept me sane.’

Before he could elaborate further Toby was tugging at her sleeve and announcing excitedly, ‘We’ve caught some fish, Dr Hamilton.’

‘Really!’ she exclaimed, suitably impressed. ‘How many?’

‘Two. A salmon and a pike,’ he announced.

‘But we had to throw the pike back into the water because it is a special fish,’ Nathan explained.

‘And so where is the salmon now?’

‘Dad is cooking it for us for when we get back,’ Nathan informed her, ‘but first I wanted Toby to sail on the steamer.’ In a low voice he added, ‘I’m sorry if you feel that I’m everywhere you turn, Libby. I had no idea you were on board. Would you like to come back and join us? There will be plenty of fish to spare.’

Temptation was staring her in the face, but she was not going to succumb. It was going to be a strictly working relationship that she had in mind for them and nothing else, so she said politely, ‘Thanks for the invitation, but I have a regular table booked at my favourite restaurant and wouldn’t want to let them down.’

He was getting the message, Nathan thought. Not exactly the cold shoulder, but the ‘I have not forgotten’ treatment, and he wished, as he had done many times before, that he had got in touch with Libby the moment he’d arrived in Africa and at the very least apologised to the beautiful girl whose heart he had broken.

But the timing had been wrong all along the line, beginning with him discovering at the airport that he wasn’t as indifferent to Libby Hamilton as he’d thought he was, followed by the knowledge that his flight was due to be called any moment, and overriding everything else, at the forefront of his mind, had been his commitment to the hospital in Africa.

The outcome of it had been that he’d been dumbstruck by the suddenness of it all, and had sent her away, then months later there had been his dash across half the world to speak to Libby before she became Jefferson’s wife but he’d missed his chance by seconds and returned to Africa with his questions unanswered.

But now he was home, back in Swallowbrook once more, and she was minus a husband, though undoubtedly still reeling from grief, and he was still no nearer to knowing how deep her feelings had been that day at the airport. It could have been a carry-over from her schoolgirl crush. In fact, it must have been a short-lived infatuation judging from the speed with which she’d married Ian Jefferson, and there had certainly been no chemistry between them since he’d turned up out of the blue with Toby. Plenty of being put in his place but no rousing of the senses for either of them as far as he could tell.

‘Fine,’ he said easily in answer to her refusal.

She’d looked so solitary standing by the rail, watching the steamer cutting its way through the water on its journey across the lake, that he hadn’t been able to resist inviting her to join them at his father’s place but again the barriers had been up.

When they arrived at the moorings at the far side Nathan and Toby stayed on the steamer in readiness for sailing back and Libby, after a brief goodbye, went to dine at the restaurant that she’d used as an excuse to refuse his invitation.

The fact that she’d already been on her way there didn’t make her excuse to Nathan any less untruthful. Although she dined there frequently she didn’t have a table booked on a regular basis, and for once she didn’t enjoy the food that was put in front of her.

She caught the last steamer back before the light went and then made her way to Swallowbrook in a sombre mood with the thought of starting work as senior partner with Nathan as her newest employee the following morning.

A knock on the door of her consulting room at precisely ten o’clock announced Nathan’s arrival and Libby pushed back her chair and went to let him in.

He was alone and the first thing she said was, ‘Where’s Toby?’

‘He’s playing with the children’s toys in the waiting room. One of the receptionists is keeping an eye on him,’ was the reply.

Seating himself across from her, he asked, ‘Did you enjoy your meal?’

‘No, not really,’ she admitted.

‘Why was that?’

‘I don’t know. Maybe it was because I like freshly caught salmon.’

‘But not the guy who reeled it in?’

‘I have no feelings either way about him,’ she said and followed it with, ‘I do have patients waiting, Nathan, so shall we proceed? What hours would you be available to join us here?’

‘Half past nine to three-thirty when the primary children finish,’ he said promptly. ‘We’ve been to see the headmaster before coming here and it’s sorted for Toby to start tomorrow. Today I’m going to take him into town for his uniform and a satchell.

‘If it’s all right with you, I feel that Wednesday would be a good day for me to settle back into the practice. It will leave me with tomorrow free in case Toby is reluctant to go when the moment arrives. He’s had so many changes in his life over recent months I wouldn’t be surprised.’

‘Wednesday will be fine,’ she assured him, and had to admire the way he had his priorities sorted. Getting back to the reason for his presence on the premises, she informed him, ‘Your father’s consulting room at the opposite end of the corridor is vacant, and as all the staff are new since you were last with us, apart from Gordon, the practice manager, I’ll introduce you to them while you are here if you like.’

‘Yes, sure,’ he said easily. ‘It would seem that the only things familiar to me are going to be the layout of the place … and you, Libby.’

In your dreams, she thought. She would accept him as a neighbour because she had no choice, and as a colleague because she knew his worth as a doctor, but that was the limit of it. Familiar she was not going to be.

Nathan didn’t stay long after the introductions had been made. He separated Toby from the assortment of toys provided to keep small patients happy and took him for his school uniform of dark green and gold, leaving Libby to ponder on how much, or how little, she was going to enjoy working with him again.

She saw the two of them go past the surgery window the following morning and a lump came up in her throat to see the small boy resplendent in a green and gold blazer and matching T-shirt and shorts with Nathan holding his hand and looking down at him protectively.

She’d once dreamed of a similar scenario for the two of them, loving each other, loving the children they created, but that was all it had been, a dream. In utter foolishness she’d turned to someone else and that had been a nightmare, so where did she go from here? she wondered.

Yet she knew the answer to the question almost before she’d asked it of herself. She and Nathan were going nowhere. That way she would steer clear of any more heartbreak connected with the men in her life. She’d shown herself to be a poor judge when it came to that.

She’d thought sometimes during the long years he’d been gone, Why shouldn’t he have said what he did? At least he hadn’t strung her along into thinking he was interested in her when he wasn’t, which was what Ian had done, pursued the attractive young doctor at the practice when she was at her most vulnerable to satisfy his ego.

But there was work to do, patients to see, and she needed normality to keep her mind free from the events of a very strange weekend.

As she rose from her desk, intending to make a quick coffee before the next patient appeared, Nathan was passing again, homeward bound this time. When she waved he smiled, gave the thumbs-up sign and went on his way, leaving her with the feeling of unreality that had been there ever since she’d opened her door to him on Friday night.

Henrietta Weekes was a regular visitor at the practice with most of her problems associated with a failing heart due to having had scarlet fever when she was a child. A smart, intelligent woman, she usually coped with them calmly with little fuss, but today she was in distress and needing to see a doctor.

After checking her heart, Libby exclaimed, ‘How on earth have you managed to get here in this state, Henrietta?’

‘My son has brought me,’ she gasped.

‘I’m glad to hear you haven’t walked,’ she told her soberly. ‘Your heart is completely out of control and is affecting your lungs. I’m sending you to the coronary unit at the new hospital straight away by ambulance. You will be attended to more quickly that way than if your son was to take you. I’ll get one of the nurses to help you back into the waiting room to join him while I send out an emergency call. You’re an amazing woman, Henrietta, I’m not giving up on you. Once they get you into Coronary Care, you’ll be in safe hands.’

‘If I live that long,’ she said with a grimace of a smile, and Libby thought it was typical of the woman that she was facing up to what might happen with the same sort of stoicism that was always there in every crisis that brought her to the surgery for help. Her family, who were devoted to her, must live on a knife edge where their mother’s health was concerned.

As the day progressed like any other busy Monday at the practice there was no time to wonder how Nathan was occupying himself until Toby came out of school, or let her thoughts wander to how a small orphaned boy might be coping on his first day. Maybe she would find out tonight when her day at the practice was over and she was back at the cottage.

She was about to make a snack meal for herself that evening when there was a knock on the door, and when she opened it Toby was smiling up at her and announcing, ‘Uncle Nathan says would you like to come and eat with us?’

Clever uncle, she thought. He knows I won’t refuse if he sends Toby with the invitation, but didn’t he get the message when we were on the steamer and I came up with an excuse for not accepting the invitation to join them at his father’s place?