‘Charlotte, we can’t deal with this in a couple of minutes!’
‘We can as we must!’ I stood up and faced him. ‘I’ve got to know before I go. Will you expect me to chuck nursing while the kids are young ‒ which, of course, means going back out-of-date, out-of-step, and even with refreshers either as a dogsbody part-timer, or doing a Sister Olaf and settling for a lower grade for eternity?’
‘My dearest girl, we’ve no time ‒’
‘Yes, or no?’
His faced tensed unhappily, but his eyes were honest. ‘ “Expect” is the wrong word. I’d not do that, nor have any right to, but ‒ yes ‒ I would hope you would! I know this would be very unfair to you and your career. I just don’t know any way round. Och, yes ‒ I know it’s now supposed to be perfectly possible for a woman to combine marriage, motherhood and a successful full-time career, and maybe some women manage it ‒ but I’ve got to say, I’ve not met them. I have met, and treated, far too many good mothers torn apart by the ties of home, family and job ‒ and seen one or the other ‒ and always the women suffer ‒ to pretend I know of any solution to the overall problem. I wish to God I did! I wish to God I could say, marry me, my darling, bear the bairns I hope we’ll have, and I promise you your nursing career won’t suffer, but I can’t! I know that with you, and our bairns, I’ll be greatly helped in getting to the top of my profession. But if, with me and our bairns, you can still get to the top of yours, it’ll be in spite of, and not because of! We’ll hold you back ‒ and though, as I’ve said, that is monstrously unfair ‒ I’ve seen that happen too often to pretend there is any easy solution ‒ if, indeed there is one at all. Some problems just can’t be solved!’ He opened the front passenger door. ‘Get in. We may just make it!’
‘To hell with that bloody train! There’ll be another later. If necessary, I’ll sit up all night.’ I walked away, stood looking at the sea and when I turned he was still holding the car door. ‘Why do you have to be so honest? Why couldn’t you’ve lied ‒ and then I could’ve got on that train knowing you were lying and that I was absolutely right to get away from you before either of us had the chance to hurt each other more. You’d have let me go, wouldn’t you?’
‘Of course. If that was what you wanted.’
‘And flown back to Thessa this evening?’
‘No.’ He closed the car door.
‘Home to Gairlie?’
‘No. I’ve got a suitcase in the boot. I’d have got back in the car and driven out until I came to a hill worth climbing. Then, I’d have gone up. And on the way up, or down, or both, I’d have done some thinking.’ The small smile round his lips didn’t reach his eyes. ‘My old instant transfusion therapy.’
I shook my head at my thoughts. ‘I’ve hurt you enough already. I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to hurt me. Why’re people fools enough to think love is heaven?’ My voice cracked. ‘It isn’t! It’s mostly sheer hell!’
‘Very like life, except for the very rare, very unimaginative, and very lucky few. But if love is no analgesic, my darling, it does at least have certain anaesthetizing qualities.’ He came closer and took both my hands in his. ‘Wouldn’t you agree?’
‘Yes.’ I looked up at him and thought aloud, ‘Price tags.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Something Sister Olaf once said. Tell you about it another day.’
His grip on my hands tightened. ‘Whenever you wish. Well? Seeing you’ve missed one train, what do you want to do, just now?’
I didn’t answer for over a minute and he didn’t hurry me. His face was grave and his watchful eyes were guarded. I couldn’t think what to say until I heard my voice doing the job for me in my most affected drawl, ‘One gathers the Western Highlands really are absolutely super!’
For about another minute his expression didn’t alter. Then slowly, his glorious smile reappeared. ‘Indeed? Jolly good, Charlotte,’ he said, ‘jolly good!’
Also by Lucilla Andrews
If you enjoyed Highland Interlude, you will also want to read these other stories by Lucilla Andrews.
The Print Petticoat
A moving story of heartache and hope in the Maternity Unit of a busy 1950s teaching hospital.
Joanna Anthony is a dedicated Nursery staff nurse at St Gregory’s Hospital. The nurses and doctors share laughter and tears as they tend to the mothers and babies in their care.
There is time for romance, too. After five years together, is ambitious Dr Richard Everley finally ready to settle down with Joanna? And what of the two other young doctors who have more than a professional interest in her?
It takes a serious illness for Joanna to understand where, and with whom, her future really lies.
Read The Print Petticoat from Amazon UK
Read The Print Petticoat from Amazon.com
Read The Print Petticoat from Amazon AUS
The Secret Armour
There’s romance for Nurse Maggie on the wards of a 1950s teaching hospital. But is she in love with the wrong man?
Nineteen-year-old nurse Maggie Howard is completing her training at St Benedict’s Hospital. Life on the ward is hard and the Sisters are strict, but Maggie and her set mates, Alice and Rose, love their work. That’s not all that Maggie loves, when against all advice she falls for a dashing patient, David Corford.
Maggie will experience happiness, heartache and misunderstandings. And throughout the emotional ups and downs, young houseman George Hartigan is always there to provide a shoulder to cry on.
Will Maggie risk her career and future happiness over her love for a handsome patient?
Read The Secret Armour from Amazon UK
Read The Secret Armour from Amazon.com
Read The Secret Armour from Amazon AUS
The Quiet Wards
Young nurse Gillian Snow is blamed when a dangerous drug goes missing during her shift on the ward of a 1950s teaching hospital. But who took it?
Twenty-one-year-old Nurse Gillian Snow finds her career in jeopardy when a dangerous drug disappears from the drug cupboard under her care. The situation also affects her romance with dashing house-surgeon Peter Kier.
Moved from her ward to do other duties, Gillian experiences the happiness and heartache that comes from nursing both children and accident victims.
As she struggles to understand who took the drug, and why, Gillian finds support and truth from some unexpected quarters.
Read The Quiet Wards from Amazon UK
Read The Quiet Wards from Amazon.com
Read The Quiet Wards from Amazon AUS
The First Year
Rose Standing has a lot to learn about hospital life, patients ‒ and romance, during her first year as a probationer nurse at St Martin’s Hospital in 1950s London.
Twenty-year-old Rose has a reputation for being accident-prone and absent-minded. Does she really have what it takes to make a good nurse?
The biggest question on Rose’s mind is whether the Senior Surgical Officer, Jake Waring, will even notice her existence. Are her daydreams about a romance between them destined to remain a fantasy?
Rose discovers that each department has its own heartaches and joys as she gains experience on the men’s surgical, women’s medical, and Casualty wards.
Meanwhile, handsome student doctor Bill Martin shows a keen interest in Rose. But she has her suspicions about his motives.
A moving and heart-warming story of a young nurse, and the challenges she faces on the hospital wards and in her personal life.
Read The First Year from Amazon UK
Read The First Year from Amazon.com
Read The First Year from Amazon AUS
A Hospital Summer
In the summer of 1940, Clare Dillon is a V.A.D. in an English military hospital, nursing the wounded as the bombs fall.
Twenty-year-old Clare must rise to the challenge of nursing in wartime. Whether giving comfort to a dying soldier, or assisting in a birth during an air raid, she has to remain
clear-headed and professional.
Clare is not only dealing with problems at the hospital. She is also worried for the safety of her brothers, who are both in the forces. Then the Dunkirk evacuation changes her world forever.
With the medical emergencies and bombings, it’s no wonder Clare doesn’t have time to think about the attention she’s getting from young medical officer Joe Slaney. But she surprises herself when news about Joe makes her face up to what she really wants for the future.
A gripping, bittersweet story about the courage and determination of young V.A.D. nurses in the Second World War.
Read A Hospital Summer from Amazon UK
Read A Hospital Summer from Amazon.com
Read A Hospital Summer from Amazon AUS
My Friend the Professor
Young probationer nurse, Frances Dorland, is dealing with the ups and downs of 1960s hospital life when she meets an understanding older man ‒ the Professor.
Frances’s nursing friends joke about the identity of the Professor, but the truth is that none of them know anything about him, except that he proves to be a loyal and kind friend to Frances.
As Frances starts to realise she feels more than friendship for the Professor, she is also trying to help the course of true love run smoothly for her best friend Estelle Dexter. And handsome student doctor Bart More is sending mixed signals to both young women.
It is only when one of the hospital staff becomes dangerously ill that Frances and her friends come to realise home truths that will change their lives forever.
Read My Friend the Professor from Amazon UK
Read My Friend the Professor from Amazon.com
Read My Friend the Professor from Amazon AUS
Discover all of the available novels by Lucilla Andrews, and be the first to know when the next ebook is released, by going to www.lucillaandrews.com
Wyndham Books: Timeless bestsellers for today’s readers
Wyndham Books publishes the first ebook editions of bestselling works by some of the most popular authors of the twentieth century. Enjoy our Historical, Family Saga, Regency, Romance and Medical fiction and non-fiction.
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A Nurse’s Life by Jane Grant
Heart-warming and humorous tales from a 1950s student nurse
In this warm and witty book, Jane Grant recounts her life as a trainee nurse in a busy 1950s London teaching hospital.
Jane, and her friends Mary and Phyllis, discover that both happiness and heartache can be found on the wards of St. Bernard’s Hospital. Before long they realise it takes determination and a sense of humour to deal with the colourful characters of hospital life – and that goes for the staff as well as the patients.
The young nurses gain their medical training under the watchful eyes of strict, but generally fair, sisters and matrons. They meet patients who are facing the biggest challenges of their lives, and share with them moments of bravery and fear. There are times of laughter, but also of tears.
There is romance too, as Jane and her fellow student nurses enjoy the attentions of the hospital’s handsome young doctors, falling in and out of love for the first time.
A Nurse’s Life is a moving and amusing account of a bygone era, brought vividly to life. Also available in this series, there is more from Jane and her friends and family in More From a Nurse’s Life, A Sister’s Life and A Country Life.
Read A Nurse’s Life now from Amazon UK
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Doctors and Nurses: 3-in-1 box set by Sheila Burns
Three medical romances from the 1960s in one box set. Romance and drama in medical settings.
Doctor Called David ‒ Can Valerie escape her past, or is history destined to repeat itself?
1966. After nurse Valerie Scott is found innocent of a terrible crime and released from jail, she turns to prison doctor David Graves for support. The offer of a new position as a private nurse to a kind and elderly couple seems the ideal chance to rebuild her life. But are the Goddards and their adopted son Gregory all that they seem? And can a doctor called David protect Valerie from a cruel twist of fate?
Dr Irresistible M.D. ‒ Sharon wins a beauty competition but can she win a handsome stranger’s heart?
1962. Sharon’s life takes an unexpected turn when she wins a beauty competition. Then she crashes the prize car of her dreams, and is rescued by a mysterious, good-looking man. He is Glynn Rodwell ‒ Dr Irresistible. The chance of a Mediterranean cruise offers Sharon excitement and opportunity ‒ but if she takes it, will she ever see Dr Irresistible again?
The Eyes of Doctor Karl ‒ Will Cherrie discover the truth behind the hypnotic eyes of a handsome doctor?
1962. While sitting in a traffic jam, Cherrie locks eyes with a dark and handsome man. That evening she reads about the strange case of Dr Karl Heineman whose patients have died in mysterious circumstances. Cherrie accompanies a newspaper reporter friend who is investigating the story. When they call on the doctor, she is surprised to find he is the man whose eyes she hasn’t been able to forget. As Cherrie is drawn closer into his world, will she discover the truth, and love, behind the eyes of Dr Karl?
Read Doctors and Nurses now from Amazon UK
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The Country Doctor by Jean McConnell
Captivating tales from a young GP’s case notes
Young doctor Linda Ford swaps a busy London teaching hospital for a six month post at a small West Country General Practice. She soon discovers that countryside life is far from uneventful.
John Cooper, the senior doctor, warns Linda not to get emotionally involved in her cases. But Linda can’t help taking a personal interest in her patients, particularly when their problems seem to be more than medical. And as this is the late 1970s, Linda also faces some misgivings about a female doctor. Especially a young and pretty one.
Linda clashes over medical matters with Dr Peter Cooper, the older doctor’s son. But there is an undeniable attraction too. Where will it lead? And as Linda is keeping Peter’s place until he joins the practice as his father’s partner, what will her future hold?
This slice of rural life uncovers the dramas, family secrets and dilemmas which confront patients young and old. Their stories are in turn intriguing, poignant, and heart-warming.
Read The Country Doctor now from Amazon UK
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A Doctor’s Life by Dr Robert Clifford
A heart-warming, nostalgic look at life for a doctor in the 1940s and 1950s, perfect for fans of Call The Midwife and classics such as Dr Finlay’s Casebook and the Richard Gordon Doctor series.
This charming and amusing story follows young doctor Bob Ramsden from his training at a busy 1940s London teaching hospital to life in general practice as a Somerset GP in the 1950s. It is also the tale of his love for the beautiful, clever Priscilla, the medical colleague he falls for at first sight, despite feeling sure that she is out of his league.
Once at medical school, he soon discovers that both laughter and tears are to be found on a hospital ward.
During his medical career, Dr Bob meets patients who can be brave, funny or a challenge. His fellow doctors provide moments of entertainment, as well as support. There are many tales of happiness and heartache in this nostalgic look at a doctor’s life in post-war Britain.
Bonus Short Story: The Bevin Boy. Bob spends time as a Bevin Boy, working in a Yorkshire coal mine. There he enjoys the camaraderie of his fellow miners, but also experiences great tragedy.
A Doctor’s Life is a poignant, feel-good account of a doctor’s love for his profession and his patients, as well as his devotion to the woman wh
o is the love of his life.
Read A Doctor’s Life now from Amazon UK
Read A Doctor’s Life now from Amazon.com
Read A Doctor’s Life now from Amazon Australia
Wyndham Books: Timeless bestsellers for today’s readers
Wyndham Books publishes the first ebook editions of bestselling works by some of the most popular authors of the twentieth century. Enjoy our Historical, Family Saga, Regency, Romance and Medical fiction and non-fiction.
Join our free mailing list for news, exclusives and special deals:
www.wyndhambooks.com
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