‘As good as your farm?’
‘No, but-’
‘But nothing,’ Mike said solidly. Damn Hannah. He’d have to give her a few solid orders about what she could and couldn’t talk to patients about. ‘Tessa has you all sorted out,’ he told the old man. ‘Like it or not, she’s dragging you back out to your farm as soon as you’re on your feet, and she has every intention of you and her and Doris the pig living happily ever after.’
‘That’s no life for a girl.’
‘Says who?’
‘Says Hannah. It’d be all right if she was right…’
‘If who was right?’
‘Tessa. Tess says…’ Henry paused for a moment to cough. He was still as weak as be damned. It took him two minutes before he collected himself enough to continue, but Mike waited as if he had all the time in the world. This was important.
And finally it came. ‘Tess says it’s not just she and me and Doris,’ Henry managed. ‘It’s…’
‘It’s?’
Henry hesitated, and then his face creased into a shame-faced grin. ‘It’s you, boy,’ he confessed. ‘Tess told me she intends to marry you.’ Then, as Mike’s face stilled, he hurried into an explanation.
‘Oh, she was just kidding, mind. I told her I wouldn’t have her wasting her life here and she said, nonsense, her intended husband lived here and she had no intention of leaving. Ever. So I thought…’ He smiled. ‘Maybe it’s nonsense but I thought…just for a bit, until I felt more myself…I’d let myself believe it. Only…I told Hannah, just as a joke, like. And Hannah says that’s crazy because there’s no way you’ll ever marry anyone, even someone like Hannah or Liz Hayes, much less Tessa.’
Good grief. What was he to say to this?
‘But, Henry, I’ve only known your granddaughter for three days,’ Mike said helplessly. He was totally at sea here. It was as if he were being washed by waves he couldn’t even see. ‘That’s crazy.’
‘Yeah.’ Henry grimaced. ‘But Tess said three minutes was enough for her. She knew.’ He sighed heavily and tried to twist in bed. His paralysed side held him back. He gave a grunt of frustration and Mike moved to ease him over.
‘Her grandma was the same,’ Henry said finally when he was comfortable again. ‘Tessa’s grandma took one look at me and told me that was
‘But I’ll not be talked around,’ Mike said heavily. ‘This is nonsense.’ He took a deep breath. ‘So is the thought of a nursing home for you. There’s a job and a life for your granddaughter in this valley without me in the equation. So let’s just make you comfortable and get you back onto your feet and back to Doris. Doris…now, there’s a nice, uncomplicated female.’
‘Ain’t no such thing,’ Henry said morosely. ‘Uncomplicated female? Hah!’
Mike spent most of what little remained of the night staring sleeplessly at the ceiling. About dawn he fell into an uneasy slumber but at seven Strop heaved himself up on the bed and took over the pillow-and by eight Mike was up and ready for work.
In work lay his salvation.
Sunday morning was his easiest time, and it was often his only rest for the week. There was no surgery. He ran an evening clinic for urgent cases-mostly just to lighten his load on Mondays-but apart from emergencies he was free.
There was nothing urgent happening in the hospital this morning, and after Tessa’s intervention there was nothing hanging over from the day before.
He let Sally go home with her relieved parents-proudly carrying her ‘toe ring’. He talked Jason through accepting a full tear of his Achilles tendon and the possibility of fixing it in the valley if Tessa’s registration came through. He made sure Myrtle was comfortable and settled and still determined to stay where she was, and then he turned his attention to the rest of the day.
Tess was nowhere to be seen. He’d visited Henry but Henry was visitor-free and sleeping soundly, no doubt tired after his busy social life the night before. Louise was acting charge nurse, cheerful and still slightly flushed after her night at the ball.
‘Tess went out to the farm early,’ she told him. ‘She’s moving there today.’
Great. That meant he had the hospital to himself.
The day suddenly seemed drab and totally uninteresting.
There was one really nasty task that had to be done. Sam Fisher’s dental records had been dropped off at the surgery the night before. Mike mentally squared his shoulders and headed down to the morgue.
By the time he’d finished making absolutely certain that what lay there was definitely what remained of Sam, the day seemed more than just drab. He was depressed past belief.
Hell!
So, now what?
He collected Strop and emerged from the hospital to brilliant autumn sunshine. The day was gorgeous. He stood in the car park breathing in huge lungfuls of fresh air, trying to drive away the smell and remembrance of what he’d just done.
Who’d be a doctor?
It did have advantages. One of them lay just before him. His Aston Martin was the pride of his life. It was a bit dog-haired, but it was still gorgeous.
It needed a woman in the passenger seat, he decided, looking at it with affection. Not a dopey Basset. To really set it off, it needed a woman, with red hair flying free…
Oh, terrific. He was going nuts here. What the hell was he thinking of? He’d known Tess for three days and he was going nuts.
Strop cast him a reproachful look and he laughed and climbed into the driver’s seat. ‘OK, I’m not thinking of replacing you. Or maybe I could get you a cushion so the gearshift doesn’t bruise your butt.’
More dirty looks, and Mike grinned. Strop knew the priorities. He needed no one else in this car. No one!
Maybe he should go and collect Liz. She’d always come for a drive with him. But…she didn’t like Strop.
So… He’d go for a drive with just Strop.
He didn’t. Instead, he nosed his beloved car northwards, up toward the mountains. He had his phone on his belt. He could be contacted if needed. He’d just see…
And the sleek sports car purred its way straight to Henry Westcott’s farm, and it turned into Henry’s gate as if it were magnetised. It was just to see that Tess didn’t need help, he told himself firmly, but he didn’t believe it for a minute.
It was just because he wanted to see Tess. Hell, he had the self-control of a mating newt!
Tess was in the shed with Doris. Today she was dressed for farm business, with stained jeans that were just a tad too tight-gloriously too tight-a work-stained T-shirt and a gorgeous blue scarf, tying back her red curls.
As Mike entered the shed, Strop at his heels, he found her squatting beside the piglets, deep in conversation with Doris.
‘I don’t know how you can tell them apart because I can’t,’ she was telling the sow. ‘You need hospital wristbands. Trotter bands. Though this little one…he’s fatter than the rest. Let’s call this one Mike, shall we?’
‘Why? Because I’m fatter than the rest?’
‘Oh…’ Tess swung around to face him, and her face flushed scarlet. ‘Whoops. I didn’t know.’ She scrambled to her feet, and then she smiled and there was no disguising her pure, unmitigated pleasure that he’d come. Mike felt himself warm from the toes up at her welcome. ‘I didn’t dare hope you’d come,’ she told him.
‘So this is a private name-calling ceremony?’
‘It’s a family affair,’ she agreed. ‘Just me and Doris and the kids.’
‘Are we intruding?’
‘No, not at all,’ she said cordially. ‘Unless Strop is interested in piglet.’
