‘Home? Back to California?’
‘Yeah, Santa Monica.’
‘Oh, Woody! When?’
‘Well, now I’ve more or less retired I’ve got all the time in the world. But, sometime over the winter I guess, most likely Christmas. As you know I’m still involved with the handover up at the police station, but that should be all wound up by Christmas.’
Kate felt a little light go out inside her. She’d got so used to having him around and she couldn’t bear to think of Christmas without him. He’d probably be gone for weeks because California wasn’t exactly on the doorstep.
‘It’s to see my mom, really,’ he said. ‘She’s coming up to ninety-two and I haven’t seen her for a couple of years. And I should look up my brother and sister too.’
‘I’ll miss you,’ Kate said. ‘How long would you plan to be away for?’
He shrugged. ‘I guess a month or so.’
A whole month!
‘Oh,’ Kate said, sipping her wine.
‘I wondered’ – he hesitated for a moment – ‘I wondered if you’d like to come with me?’
‘Wow!’ Kate was taken completely off-guard. Her spirits soared for a brief moment, then plunged again. ‘But I’m still working, Woody, and I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t let me have a month off.’
‘Have you any holiday owing to you?’
Kate thought for a moment. ‘I’ve only been there eight months and I had a week off to go up to Edinburgh when little Calum was born. I might be able to scrounge a week, but never a month.’
‘That’s a shame because I’d like you with me,’ he said quietly.
Kate sighed. Apart from getting time off, she considered her rapidly dwindling finances. ‘I honestly don’t think it’s going to be possible,’ she said sadly.
‘I’ll pay your fare,’ he said.
Kate was so touched that she felt her eyes fill up with tears. ‘That is so nice of you, Woody, but I wouldn’t be able to get so much time off. And then there’s Angie.’
‘What about Angie?’ he asked, sounding a little annoyed.
‘Well, you know what she’s like when she hits the gin. She could set the place alight.’
He placed his hand over hers. ‘Kate, she’s not a child. You’re fifty-eight years old and she’s sixty, for God’s sake! Why should you feel responsible for her? It’s high time she dried out and acted her age.’
‘Yes, but a month…’ Kate gazed at the fire. ‘And then there’s Barney.’ She thought fondly of their springer spaniel and how he adored her and the long walks she took him on daily. ‘She forgets all about him when I’m not around. She never takes him for walks. And now she’s met this mad Irishman, Fergal, and they frequently go off somewhere for the day.’
Woody sighed. ‘OK, OK, it was just an idea. But, if you change your mind…’
Kate would love to change her mind but she had to be realistic. She couldn’t afford to jeopardise her three days at the medical centre. Damn, damn, damn.
They talked about other things, then. Woody spoke about his daughter in London who had a new man in her life and Kate reported the latest achievements of the precious grandson, who was without doubt going to grow up to be some sort of genius.
But, underlying their conversation, Kate kept thinking about a whole month without Woody. Who could have predicted that she’d ever feel this way about anyone again? She very much valued her independence of course and suspected Woody did too but their set-up was perfect with his cottage on the opposite hillside, facing hers, a ten-minute walk away.
They’d gone to bed together for the first time back in April when the murder investigations finally concluded and just before his so-called retirement. He was a kind, caring lover and insisted that they ‘hit the sack’ in his cottage, as opposed to hers. Mainly because of Angie.
‘It’s easier at my place,’ he’d said.
After the meal, when they were curled up in bed, Kate was still deep in thought. It was a very busy surgery and arranging holidays at the best of times was a nightmare. Then again, perhaps she could get a week or two if she added on the days the surgery was closed over Christmas? She’d investigate the possibility before mentioning it to Woody, but she was not over-optimistic.
Just as she was drifting off to sleep, she was jolted awake by a dream. She was tumbling down the stairs. Wide awake again, her thoughts returned to Seaview Grange.
Three
Tinworthy Medical Centre was a ramshackle place, situated in the Middle Tinworthy village – Higher Tinworthy being half a mile up the road, and Lower Tinworthy half a mile down the road. It was a one-storey concrete sprawl, painted white, with a green-tiled roof. As the population of the Tinworthys had grown over the years, so had the building with add-ons added to add-ons, mainly at the expense of car parking, which was now the main complaint and topic of conversation. It had almost become a competition amongst the patients in the waiting room as to who had had to park furthest away and who had had the most agonising hobble to get there.
Dr Andrew Ross headed the team of three doctors and, in addition, there were three nurses on duty: Sue, who worked there full-time and had done so for the last twenty years, and Elaine, who split the week with Kate.
The office and reception desk were ruled by Denise, who knew everything about everybody and put up with no nonsense in ‘her’ surgery. She was the old-school type of doctor’s receptionist, firm but fair and unfailingly polite, even though at times it was through gritted teeth.
Kate had hardly got in the door of the surgery at 8.30 the following Monday when Denise, already at her desk and ready to do battle with anyone who upset the schedule, beckoned her over.
‘Guess what? We’ve had a phone call expressly requesting that you should make a visit. Your new friend, Edina
