The Doctor's Engagement Wish

Book 0: A Lakeland Practice series

by Gill Sanderson

Genres: Romance; Contemporary Romance; Medical Romance; Workplace Romance

Synopsis

Doctor Erin Hunter had been the Golden Girl in school.  She remembered Josh  Harrison from those days, an amiable, athletic boy who ran in a different crowd from hers. Now they are G.P.Registrars together in Keldale, the village where she had been born. They are living in adjoining cottages and necessarily see a lot of each other. Cautiously, they get to know each other and fall in love. But Erin has a problem. Is she engaged to David King? He insists that she is, says that she agreed to marry him shortly before they had the appalling fall from Helvellyn that resulted in David having to have a leg amputated and and she losing her memory. Can Josh helps her to find the truth...

Release date: May 29, 2014

Publisher: Accent Press

Print pages: 200

Sample

Chapter One

ERIN didn’t really know why she was coming back.

It had been a long journey from London, and it had rained all the way. Now, as the train rumbled on the last few miles to Windermere, it was raining even harder than ever. They pulled up at the last little stop before her destination. Someone opened the door to step out of the carriage and Erin caught a smell she remembered. The raw, evocative smell of the damp countryside. She shivered. It was so much colder here than in London.

For the first eighteen years of her life she had lived near here, and after she had gone to London to study medicine she had spent every holiday here. Until two years ago. Since then her visits had been as brief as possible. And even her parents had moved down to the south coast.

Coming home was supposed to be exciting, comforting. She didn’t feel either excited or comforted.

She shivered again. It was not her way to back out of a fight and she knew she was going to have to fight. She’d have to meet him … some time. But then she’d go back to practising medicine in London and she’d be the Erin she had been two years before.

Time to think of something more cheerful, and perhaps inevitably she thought of Jeremy. Dr Jeremy Barley. Erin smiled quietly to herself. They had just met – as friends, that is. Previously they had been doctor and patient.

She had had a fair number of boyfriends – but not for a while. It was good to have someone as a friend and nothing more. Jeremy was a supportive colleague; he didn’t want to be her lover.

It was Jeremy who had suggested that she take a year away. ‘You still don’t know how you feel,’ he had said. ‘Your body might be cured but your mind is still fragile.’

‘The last thing I am now is fragile,’ she had told him. And this was true – partly.

It was September now and the nights were drawing in. Through the train window the fells appeared nothing but a dark line against the slightly lighter sky. The odd solitary light made the view seem even lonelier. Her flat in London looked across a sea of lights at night, towards AlexandraPalace in the daytime. It was a view she now much preferred.

But she was quite looking forward to her new job. For a year she was to be a GP registrar at Keldale, being trained by Dr Cal Mitchell. She had liked and admired Cal when he had interviewed her. She felt that she would learn from him. And a spell in the country would be good for her. After this she would spend all her life in London.

The train was slowing now, they would soon be in Windermere. She stood, reaching for her overnight bag. Her other luggage had been sent up the week before. Rain rattled against the carriage window. Time to start her new life.

Cal was waiting for her on the platform, a tall, tough looking figure whose very appearance seemed to generate confidence. ‘Typical Lake District weather.’ He grinned at her. ‘Welcome to the practice, Erin.’

‘I remember the weather and I can cope with it. I’ve brought my boots and anorak. It’s good of you to come to meet me, Cal.’

‘It’s nothing, we’re going to work together. And everyone in the practice helps everyone else.’

He leaned over, took her bag from her. ‘Your main luggage arrived yesterday, it’s in your cottage already. Now, let’s get moving before it starts to pour again.’

Quickly they ran to where his Range Rover was parked by the side of the station. For a short while there were streetlights shining on the wet road surface, but soon enough they were in the complete darkness of the countryside, with only the headlights for illumination. She pulled her coat round her. It didn’t get as dark as this anywhere in London.

‘I hope you’ll be happy working at the practice,’ Cal said. ‘Technically I’m to be your trainer but I hope you’ll learn from everyone.’

‘I’m looking forward to it. In hospital everyone seemed to be in a hurry, I often didn’t like to ask questions in case I held people up.’

Cal laughed. ‘We’re always in a hurry, too. But if there isn’t enough time to help someone new then I’m not doing my job right.’

‘I’m sure you are.’ She thought for a minute, then asked as casually as she could, ‘In your last letter you said there’d be another registrar working at the practice.’

‘Yes, we’ve got another trainee, he’s been with us for three months. Doing very well, he’ll make a fine GP. In fact, he’s another local, he remembers you from school. He’s called Josh Harrison, a year older than you but he’s been out in Africa for a year. Remember him?’

In the dark, Erin frowned. Josh Harrison? Yes, she remembered him.

‘He was a year ahead of me, I think. A good rugby player, did a lot of walking and climbing.’ Memories of her schooldays, not entirely happy, came flooding back. ‘He was big but he was … quiet. Lovely curly hair.’

Cal laughed again. ‘He’s still big, still playing rugby and climbing, and he gets more results by not asking questions than many doctors do by asking too many. You’ll work well together. You didn’t see much of him at school, then?’

‘Not an awful lot. I tended to run with a different crowd. In those days I was very interested in acting and the amateur dramatics lot tended to hang together.’ She paused and then went on, ‘I was a different person then.’

‘Possibly. Now, there’s a turning here … we go up this track.’ The Range Rover started to bump and lurch its way upwards.

‘This isn’t the way to Keldale,’ Erin said.

‘We’re going to Leatherslack Farm. Since I’m in the area I thought I’d call on Mary Benson. She came out of hospital after abdominal surgery a couple of days ago and I want to check up on her. But you’re still wearing your town shoes so you can stay in the car if you like. They’ll only get filthy in the yard.’

‘My shoes will clean. I’d like to come with you if I may.’

He smiled. ‘You’ll be very welcome. Mary likes Visitors.’

He pulled up in the farmyard and they were invited straight into the kitchen by Billy Benson, Mary’s husband. ‘Glad you called, Dr Mitchell,’ he said. ‘We were going to phone the nurse tomorrow morning. Mary’s been in a bit of pain – more than before.’

‘Let’s have a look, then.’

They were shown into Mary’s bedroom. Mary, a tough-looking fifty-year-old, tried to smile at them.

‘Sorry to cause you trouble, Doctor,’ she said. ‘I suppose I ought to expect to hurt after I’ve had a hole cut in me.’

‘It’s no trouble and I don’t like seeing my patients in pain. Billy said it’s got worse.’

Mary shrugged. ‘Who knows what to expect?’

Cal asked if Mary minded Erin being there, and if she could conduct the examination. Mary was entirely happy. ‘We all have to learn, love,’ she said to Erin. ‘If I can help, I’ll be happy to.’

So Erin examined Mary’s abdomen. She was as gentle as she could be as she eased back the dressing, but she guessed from the hissing of Mary’s breath that she had still caused her pain.

A normal surgical scar. No, not normal. The wound was angry. There was erythema, a reddening round the site. It had swollen and there was some pus exuding. Carefully, Erin took a swab and slid it into a phial. Then she asked, ‘You didn’t feel something give in the wound – perhaps when you were exerting yourself? No sudden increase in pain?’

‘No. I’ve looked after myself, or Billy has. And the pain came on slowly.’

Next Erin palpated the sides of the wound, being as gentle as possible. Then she looked at Cal. ‘What’s your diagnosis?’ he asked.

‘I think the wound is infected. We’ll send the swab to be cultured, to make sure. There’s cellulitis round the wound so there’s infection in the subcutaneous tissue – I suspect streptococcus. I don’t think the muscle layers have split. I suggest treatment with penicillin or erythromycin.’

 ‘I agree entirely. And I have the penicillin in my car. What d’you think of Dr Hunter, Mary?’

‘She’s got soft hands. She’ll be good.’

They were dropping down into Keldale village now. Erin remembered it – she had visited it in the past, though she used to live on the other side of Kendal. They splashed past an attractive-looking pub called the Red Lion and after five minutes pulled up outside a row of four tiny cottages. They belonged to the practice, and one of them was to be hers while she worked there.

Cal didn’t get out of the car at once. Instead, he looked at the end cottage, and in the light of the dashboard Erin could see a smile on his lips.

‘My fiancée Jane lived in that cottage for a few weeks,’ he said. ‘In that cottage we really got to know each other. Happy times, Erin. I hope you’ll be as happy living there.’

‘I’m lucky to have somewhere so nice,’ she said. ‘I did have a quick look round and I know I’m going to be comfortable here.’

It had started to rain again now so he took her case and they ran to the front door. He unlocked it, turned on the hall light and they stepped inside. Then his mobile rang.

She had noticed that he kept it fitted to the car dashboard, but when he left the car he carefully unhooked it and put it into his pocket.

‘Cal Mitchell here.’

She watched as he listened, his face becoming more and more grave. Then he said, ‘Of course I’ll come round, Alice. About twenty minutes. But you do know there’ll be nothing I can do? No, it’s no trouble at all.’

The call ended and he looked seriously at Erin. ‘I’m going to have to leave you to find your own way around. That was Alice Brent. She’s been nursing her husband at home for the past five months. He’s got an inoperable brain tumour and it looks as if his time has come. She’s been expecting it but … she’d like me to be there.’

‘Shall I come with you?’

He shook his head. ‘This isn’t medicine, Erin, it’s friendship. But thanks for the offer. I’m sorry I can’t show you where things are but I …’

‘I’ll help Erin get settled.’

Erin jumped. Where had that voice come from? It was a soft but a deep voice. She turned, and just outside the door was a figure, haloed in the rain. A large male figure.

‘Thanks, Josh, that’d be a great help,’ Cal said. ‘Erin, welcome to the practice again. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Get in about nine. Jane says when you get settled that you must come round and meet Helen again. Now Josh will look after you and I’d better go.’ He thrust the phone into his pocket, ran for the Range Rover. A moment later it roared away.

For a moment Erin stared silently at the figure outside. Then she said, ‘You’d better come in.’ He followed her as she walked a couple of steps and found the switch for the living-room lights. Then they looked at each other and Erin nearly swayed with the shock.

She remembered Josh Harrison as a schoolboy, neat in his uniform. Even though he had been big, he had been shy, had had little to say. He hadn’t been a member of the in crowd that she had belonged to. But over the past ten years he had changed.

It wasn’t his appearance – though he had lost the expression of schoolboy innocence that she vaguely remembered. His face was calmly friendly, his hair still had the dark curls that so many of her friends had envied, now enhanced by drops of silver rain. She had recognised him at once – which was odd, since they had never been more than acquaintances.

 But as they stared silently at each other, there flashed some kind of message – a different kind of recognition. Josh was now a man and she was aware of his maleness, of what he could mean to her. Already he was inspiring feelings in her that made her uneasy. And something told her that he felt exactly the same way.

She shook herself irritably. This was silly. All it was was a recognition that Josh had grown into quite a handsome man. She had met many handsome men – her last hospital had been full of them. It was just that she was tired, imagining things, non-scientific things like instant attraction. And the last thing she needed now was any kind of intense relationship. That could only harm her.

But she could feel something pulsing between them, and knew he did, too.

‘Hello, Juliet,’ he said, after what seemed like an eternity. Still that soft deep voice.

But he had said the wrong thing. He had annoyed her, though he wasn’t to know why. ‘My name is Erin – Erin Hunter,’ she snapped. ‘Nice to meet you again, Josh.’

Feeling oddly formal, she held out her hand to him. He took it in both of his, held it in a way that was almost a caress. She liked it, but after a while she took her hand back.

He smiled. ‘I’m afraid you’ll always be Juliet to me. I sat at the back for every rehearsal of the play, watched it for the three nights it was on. I thought you were wonderful in the part. It almost made me want to change from biology to English.’

To be honest, she knew he was right. She had acted as she had never acted before or since. But that was a long time ago, and it was now clouded with unhappy memories. Sharply, she said, ‘That was nearly ten years ago. I’m a doctor now, not a schoolgirl in a school play. And the only reason you were there every night was because you’d been roped in to shift scenery.’

He didn’t seem to notice her annoyed tone. ‘Not exactly,’ he said. ‘I could have played cards with the other scene-shifters. But I chose to watch you – you and … wasn’t it David King playing Romeo? You were good together.’

How could he upset her so much? She guessed that he was merely being polite, trying to make her feel at home. And this was what she had come back here to face. But she couldn’t stop her voice sounding sharp.

‘That was a long time ago. I don’t want to reminisce; I want to look forward. As I said, we’re doctors now, not schoolchildren.’

‘True.’ He had now recognised her annoyance, but seemed more curious than put out himself. ‘I hope we’ll be good neighbours,’ he said. ‘And since we’re registrars together, we’ll be seeing a lot of each other.’ He considered this a moment, and then his voice became more practical. ‘Now, shall I give you a five-minute tour of the premises and then leave you alone to unpack? You see there’s a fire lit here and your luggage has been taken upstairs.’

It did only take five minutes to look round the little house, to see where the meters were, how to operate the central heating system, . . .