A Wedding in the Village

by Abigail Gordon

  He was taking off the leather jacket he’d worn for their outing. ‘Here, put this on, Megan,’ he said, ‘before you get frostbite in that dress. It smells a bit smoky but it will keep you warm.’ And before she could argue he stepped into the ambulance and was whisked away.

  When she put the jacket on she could still feel the warmth of him inside it, and as she hugged its loose folds around her she thought bleakly that it had been some night, with a grand finale of Luke cutting her short as she’d been about to confess her love for him.

  Thank goodness he’d stopped the outpouring of her feelings before she’d made a complete fool of herself, and, conscious that she must look somewhat quaint in a long evening dress and a man’s jacket that was far too big for her, she made her way to where they’d parked the car.

  * * *

  She hadn’t been back at the cottage long when Luke phoned to check that she’d arrived home safely. ‘I’ve had the burn on my hand dressed,’ he told her. ‘I got it from touching the side of the escalator. It was red-hot. They don’t seem to have any worries about my breathing. So I’m allowed home and am at present waiting for a taxi. Sleep tight, Megan, and don’t worry about a thing. I’ll pick my car up in the morning.’

  Sleep tight? she thought when he’d gone off the line. Did he have to be so casual about the night’s events? But maybe casual was how he saw their relationship, and if that was what Luke wanted, he could have it, she thought angrily.

  * * *

  As he waited for the taxi outside A and E, Luke was thinking sombrely that if it took a trauma like tonight’s to make Megan feel she had to admit she cared for him, he didn’t want to know. It would have been so easy to take advantage of her fear and distress, but when she’d calmed down would she have regretted what she’d said?

  If ever she became his, it would be when she was thinking clearly, not in a highly emotional state, and if that was going to tax his patience to the limit, it was how it was going to have to be.

  * * *

  When Luke went to pick up the car the following morning Megan looked as if she hadn’t been up long. She was still in her nightdress with a robe slung over it, and the bright halo of her hair was tousled from a miserable wakeful night when she opened the door to him with an expression that said if she looked a mess, so what?

  There was a parcel on a chair near the door and she said, ‘I’ve been packing up the dress from last night, ready for it to go back to the store.’

  He nodded. ‘We never did get our shopping finished, did we? What happened to the things we’d already bought?’

  ‘They got left behind in the chaos, but there are still two weeks to Christmas, and I’ll wear something I’ve already got to the ball.’

  ‘Are you sure? We can have another try.’

  ‘Yes. I’m sure,’ she said in clipped tones. ‘It would have been an extravagance in any case.’

  ‘You seem to have changed your mind on that. I thought you wanted it because it was going to be a special night.’

  ‘That might have been the case, but things change, don’t they?’

  ‘Only if we want them to,’ he said smoothly. ‘And are you intending turning up at the surgery? It’s only twenty minutes to starting time.’

  ‘Yes, of course I am. If you’ll stop delaying me,’ she told him in the same tone.

  ‘Only I did suggest that you take a few days off if you remember.’

  ‘I don’t need time off. The practice will always be my first concern.’

  ‘Fair enough,’ he said levelly. ‘I’ll see you there.’ His glance was on her night attire. ‘At whatever time you arrive.’

  * * *

  When Luke had gone Megan had a quick shower, brushed the tangles out of her hair, flung on one of the suits she wore for the surgery and set off down the hill, arriving triumphantly on the practice forecourt at exactly half past eight.

  Unable to resist making the point, she posed in the doorway of Luke’s consulting room for it to register. He looked up from the paperwork in front of him and said, ‘A very praiseworthy effort. Except for the odd shoes.’

  She looked down at her feet and, sure enough, one shoe was black and the other brown. ‘I have a spare pair in the cupboard at the back of Reception,’ she told him unruffled, and went to start her day.

  When she’d gone Luke gazed after her bleakly. He knew he’d upset her, and regretted being so abrupt when she’d been about to pour her heart out to him the previous night. He owed her an apology, but what to say without making things worse?

  For weeks he’d been carrying around the ring that he ached to see on her finger. A solitaire green diamond to match her eyes, that would tell the world that she was his. But it wasn’t going to see the light of day if he carried on like this.

  Yet he was so wary of making another mistake. If he proposed to her and she said yes, the rest of his days on earth would be enchantment. If she said no, for the reason she’d once spelt out for him, he would stay on his own forever. Maybe he’d held back long enough and it was time to make a move.

  His sister and Ned weren’t letting the grass grow under their feet, but Sue didn’t have the same sort of track record as he had. They were talking of a wedding in the New Year and much as he wanted Sue to be happy, he groaned at the thought of taking part when his own dreams were so unfulfilled.

  John Meadowcroft, an elderly farmer, was one of those waiting to see him when the morning surgery got under way, and as he listened to what he had to say Luke started to think that here could be a case of the debilitating Parkinson’s disease.

  ‘My right hand keeps trembling,’ the big, bluff farmer told him. ‘It’s all right while I’m using it, but it starts when it’s at rest.’

  ‘Any other symptoms?’ Luke asked, with a smile for the most well-known sheep farmer in the area.

  ‘It’s difficult to tell when old age is creeping on. Sometimes I feel quite stiff. Other times I feel weak, which is not me. I’ve always been as strong as a horse, but not any more. The wife and I have been wondering about Parkinson’s.’

  ‘Let’s not jump to any conclusions yet. But I’m going to send you to a doctor who specialises in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and we’ll see what he comes up with. And be assured, Mr Meadowcroft, if you are suffering from the onset of it, there are new procedures in medicine that will make your quality of life much better than it would have been some years ago. Patients diagnosed with it are usually started on Levodopa, which helps control the progress of the illness. But first let’s see what the consultant has to say.’

  As he got up to go the farmer said, ‘How are you settling into village life, Doctor?’

  Luke smiled. ‘I love it.’

  ‘Aye. It would be a strange ’un that didn’t. Are we going to see you at the ball?’ John asked.

  ‘Yes, you are. I’m really looking forward to it.’ In more ways than one, he thought.

  ‘The wife and meself are the MCs for the night. We’re very much into ballroom dancing and jive when we’re not working on the farm. But I won’t be doing much of that if I’ve got Parkinson’s, will I?’

  ‘Like I said, let’s not jump to conclusions,’ Luke said. ‘You could have many years of dancing ahead of you, even if it is the case.’

  ‘Let’s hope so,’ John said.

  * * *

  That evening Megan went through her wardrobe and couldn’t find anything she wanted to wear at the ball the following night. The package containing the cream dress was still waiting to be posted and on impulse she took it out of the wrapping and tried it on again. She’d had it dry-cleaned, even though the smoke luckily hadn’t marked it, and it looked perfect.

  She’d felt in the store that it was just what she wanted, and it still was. If she phoned the store in the morning and explained that she’d left the premises in one of their dresses and would like to keep it, she felt certain that, having already missed the item, they would be only too pleased for her to pay by credit card
over the phone and then her problem of what to wear would be solved.

  With that settled she set off to spend the night at Aunt Izzy’s once more, and wondered what arrangement they could make for the following night when she would be late back from the ball.

  ‘Rebekah has offered to stay tomorrow night,’ Isabel told her when she arrived, putting her concerns to rest. ‘So you won’t have to do a Cinderella.’

  Megan’s smile was wry. She’d found the prince. There were no ugly sisters to vent their spite, but she wasn’t jumping for joy. It would be another occasion when she and Luke were still hedging with each other, and after the other night she would be playing it very cool.

  * * *

  ‘Did you know that John Meadowcroft and his wife are the MCs tonight?’ he said on Friday morning.

  Megan observed him without surprise. ‘No, I didn’t. They go in for a lot of competitions, so I suppose they’re the obvious choice. When did you see John?’

  ‘He came to consult me yesterday. I hope I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure he’s starting with Parkinson’s.’

  ‘Oh, no!’

  ‘Oh, yes, I’m afraid. I’ve seen too much of it not to recognise it, but we need to be sure. Anyway, have you sorted out what you’re wearing yet?’

  ‘Yes. I think so.’ She had yet to ring the store.

  ‘So what time shall I pick you up?’

  ‘What time does it start?’

  ‘The meal is at seven-thirty.’

  ‘Sevenish, then, if that’s all right with you. What has Sue arranged about the boys?’

  ‘They’ve conveniently got a sleepover. So seven it is. And before we go to our separate rooms, are you still angry with me?’

  ‘Er, maybe disillusioned is a better word.’

  ‘Whatever. The main thing is you are not happy.’

  ‘I’m all right,’ she told him dismissively, and went to face her patients, wondering what all that had been about. They were talking in riddles again.

  * * *

  As the day progressed winter was really making its presence felt. There had been warnings of snow and strong winds, which in the extreme spelt blizzard conditions. Knowing the tops like she did, Megan was hoping that anyone living up there wouldn’t be prevented from joining the festive crowd at Beresford Lodge.

  It included herself, as once snow started to fall it was amazing how quickly roads were cut off, and with the addition of strong winds it would drift, making driving dangerous and difficult.

  The surgery had been reasonably quiet. It was beginning to look as if they would manage an early finish and Luke said, ‘Why don’t you get off while the roads are reasonable, Megan? Take your things to Sue’s place and get changed there. If the cottage gets snowed in, you’ll be stuck there and won’t make it to the ball.’

  She sighed. This wasn’t how she’d wanted it to be. She’d planned on opening the door to Luke when he came for her, looking cool and elegant. Instead, he would be around while she was getting ready and it wouldn’t be the same.

  But there was unmistakable logic in what he was suggesting. She knew the caprices of the weather up on the tops as well as anyone, certainly more than Luke did, so she nodded and reluctantly made a quick departure.

  It wasn’t as bad as she’d expected when she turned onto the hill road, until she came to the lane where she lived, and as she drove up to the cottage her eyes widened. Old Jonas, her neighbour, was lying on the pavement outside her cottage with one of his legs twisted awkwardly beneath him.

  ‘Megan!’he gasped through blue lips as she stopped the car beside him. ‘I slipped and I think I’ve broken me leg.’

  ‘How long have you been lying here?’ she asked anxiously in the fading light.

  ‘I don’t know, but it seems a long time.’

  She bent and examined the angle of his leg. ‘It does look like a fracture. I can’t risk moving you in case I do more damage,’ she told him. ‘I hope I can get a signal on my phone in this dreadful weather to get an ambulance up here.’

  The fates were with her. She got through to the emergency services and made her request, telling them that it was extremely urgent before the old man froze to death. Then she ran inside, grabbed blankets and filled hot-water bottles wrapped in towels, to place on top of him until help came.

  Jonas was a tough old guy, she thought as she monitored his breathing and pulse, but it wasn’t going to be enough to prevent hypothermia if he wasn’t moved into the warmth soon.

  She’d given him something for the pain and now he seemed to be in a doze, and as she shivered in the cold Megan prayed the ambulance would arrive before the weather closed in on them.

  It did. She could hear its siren as it came up the hill and then its headlights were lighting up the dark lane, with the snow swirling around them.

  The paramedics lifted Jonas carefully onto a stretcher, making sure that the injured leg was kept in position, and then covered him in foil to fight the cold.

  ‘Don’t worry about me, lass,’ Jonas told her weakly, ‘but I’d be obliged if you’d see to my cat.’

  ‘Yes, of course I will,’ she told him with a warm smile. ‘I’ll be in to see you the first chance I get.’

  Then the ambulance was speeding off into the night and she was left to gather her wits.

  The first thing she did once inside the cottage was to try to get Luke on her mobile phone. But this time there was no signal and she groaned. It had been ages since she’d left the practice. He would be wondering where she was, why she hadn’t turned up at Sue’s house, and there was nothing she could do about it except try to get back down the hill…

  Without wasting a second, she packed a small case with the dress, underwear, shoes and the make-up she was going to need, and opened the door once more to the atrocious weather.

  She shuddered and took a step back as her dread of storms came galloping back and it was then that she saw him coming along the lane on foot, battling against the wind and the snow, and she almost wept with relief.

  But it was not to be a blissful moment. As he came up the path he bellowed, ‘What on earth have you been doing all this time, Megan? Have you seen the weather?’

  ‘Of course I’ve seen the weather,’ she cried. ‘I could hardly miss it, could I? I’ve been looking after Jonas, my neighbour. I found him almost on my doorstep with what I’m expecting to be a broken leg. I couldn’t risk moving him so I’ve been sitting there beside him, trying to keep hypothermia at bay, while we waited for an ambulance.’

  ‘I’ve been frantic,’ he said tightly as she stepped back to let him in.

  ‘Imagining you up here alone and being afraid of the storm as you were that other time, or you having set off and been stuck in a drift somewhere.’

  ‘Frantic was how I felt the other night when you were inside that burning building,’ she told him angrily, ‘but you didn’t seem to be bothered. Wouldn’t let me say what I wanted to say, which was that I love and adore you. Can’t get you out of my mind. I was half in love with you when I sent the Valentine card, but that was nothing to what I feel now. I know I upset you when I said I would want to be the first love of the man I married, but it wasn’t meant to be a criticism of you personally and I’ve regretted saying it ever since.’

  Luke was peeling off his wet jacket, revealing his dinner suit beneath. ‘Oh, Megan,’ he said raggedly, ‘what are we doing to each other? I can’t hold back any longer. It’s killing me. You are my first love. My feelings for Alexis weren’t love. It was a mad infatuation that I allowed to propel me to the altar, and I’ve had plenty of time to face up to that fact. Apparently I was unique amongst her men friends because I was the only one who ever put a wedding ring on her finger, for what good it did me.’

  He held out his arms and said softly, ‘Come here, my beautiful, precious girl…my Valentine, and let me show you how much I love you.’ And with everything else forgotten that was what he did.

  Much later, with the ring sparkling on h
er finger, he said, ‘How about a St Valentine’s Day wedding?’

  She smiled up at him from the circle of his arms. ‘That would be perfect. We won’t be crowding Sue and Ned. They’ll have time to get their wedding over, and then it will be our turn. Luke, I still can’t believe that you love me as much as I love you.’

  ‘You have to believe it. We have a lifetime of loving to look forward to,’ he said tenderly. ‘It will be another husband-and-wife team running the practice.’

  Megan smiled. ‘Only until we start having babies. Then we’ll have to find a locum. My parents were always too busy to spend much time with me, and that isn’t how it’s going to be with our children.’

  ‘Our children,’ he breathed. ‘Two magical words.’

  * * *

  It was ten o’clock and when Luke went to the door to check on the weather he came back to report that the wind had dropped and that the gritters had been by.

  ‘If they’ve gritted the lane they’ll certainly have done the same to the road down to the village,’ she told him. ‘Why don’t I get changed and we go to the ball? It will be on for hours yet and it would be a shame to miss it, as long as the roads are accessible.’

  ‘Fine by me,’ he said softly. ‘Though I shall have to restrain myself from going up on to the stage and telling everyone how fortunate I am because the girl of my dreams has said she’ll marry me.’

  When they entered the ballroom at Beresford Lodge the first thing they saw was John Meadowcroft and his wife doing a lively quickstep around the floor, and the feet that Luke had last seen in heavy boots were moving smoothly along in a pair of shiny, black, patent-leather shoes.

  Then they got chatting to Elise and her husband. The results of Elise’s amniocentesis had come back normal, and the mother-to-be was glowing with good health and happiness. The whole family were now thrilled that they were to have a new addition, the girls having got used to the idea, and Megan and Luke were delighted that things were going well for them.