‘Yes, I do,’ she told him. ‘How do you feel about it, Josh?’
‘It’s great, just as long as I don’t have to push it out in the buggy in front of my mates. I hope it’s a boy.’
‘A little sister would be just as nice.’
‘Like Polly, you mean?’
‘Yes, maybe. Now, mind how you go. No more messing about with rusty nails.’
‘He’s a nice kid, that one,’ Beth said when he’d gone. ‘Let’s hope he’s as thrilled when the house is full of baby things and junior is teething.’
There was still no sign of Glenn. She could hear his door opening and shutting down the passage as patients came and went, but he hadn’t yet ventured forth for any reason. Eventually one of the receptionists came round with elevenses and then he appeared, mug in hand.
‘Hello, there,’ he said, framed in the doorway and addressing them both, but with his glance on Anna. ‘Everything all right?’
‘Yes,’ Beth said breezily. ‘It’s a typical Monday morning, with the regulars and those who’ve fallen by the wayside over the weekend.’
Anna’s expression was sombre. It had only been a short time since she’d gone back into her own place, leaving Glenn at Bracken House, yet it seemed much longer. How she would cope if he didn’t settle in Willowmere, she shuddered to think. Yet common sense said that would be the best thing in the long run.
‘Was it good to be back where you belong?’ he asked as Beth was bringing up their last patient’s records on the computer and labelling the blood sample she’d just taken.
‘Mmm, it was nice. I slept with an easy mind, knowing that James was back, Jolyon was much better and you were next door, too.’
‘Good,’ he said without further comment, and went back into his room.
It was a cold night. A winter moon hung over the village and as lights in the windows and gardens of the cottages twinkled out to where the trees stood fronded with frost, the magic of Christmas was taking hold of Willowmere.
It was not surprising that Anna loved this place, Glenn was thinking as he looked out across the village green from his bedroom window. It was wooing him, enchanting him with its peace and timelessness. There was no sound of gunfire to make him flinch, or the never-ending grind of the traffic of a big city, just the quiet of the countryside.
Yet he hadn’t given up the idea of going back to the kind of work he’d been doing before the longing to see Anna again had become unbearable and he’d flown home. But if he ever went abroad again he would want her with him, in his bed at night whenever the chance to sleep presented itself and by his side in the daytime. He’d come back to find some normality and she was it. Together, as husband and wife, doctor and nurse, they could accomplish much.
But there was the small matter of getting her to see his point of view and it wasn’t going to be easy or soon. If he kept harassing her, it wouldn’t be fair. He had no right to interfere in her life to such an extent. She had set herself on a course that she felt she must keep to, and he loved her for it.
He would have liked to tell James how he felt about Anna but it would be putting the onus on him and he, Glenn, had no way of knowing what kind of disruption it would cause, as he didn’t know if Anna had ever told her brother just how deeply they had once been involved…
It was clear that the two of them, James and Anna, had a loving bond and that his arrival back in her life had not at first been as welcome as the flowers in spring as far as she was concerned, yet once he’d discovered that she was still single he’d begun to hope.
If she could convince him that she didn’t want him enough to change her lifestyle, he would go back to where he’d come from—but he would have to be sure, and if the way she’d responded to him the other night was anything to go by, she wanted him just as much as he wanted her.
He pulled a warm jacket out of the wardrobe and went out into the frosty night. When he knocked on Anna’s door there was no answer and the lights weren’t on so, surmising that she might be at the village hall, he walked in that direction, but that too was in darkness.
Now that he’d ventured out, he was reluctant to go back inside so soon and pointed himself in the direction of the lake, deciding that if he couldn’t be with Anna he could at least spend a few moments at the place she held so dear.
He wondered if it ever froze over enough for the locals to skate on. That would be a sight to behold, but there were no signs of anything like that when he got there, just a solitary car parked by the lakeside with its headlights shining across its still waters. He smiled. It would be lovers, wanting to be unobserved, he’d like to bet.
That was until he saw the make of the car and its number plate. His eyes widened. It was Anna’s car, and even as it registered he was hoping that she’d got the doors securely locked.
When he tapped on the window on the driver’s side, she was sitting staring into space, but she turned her head at the sound and when she saw him it was her turn to be surprised.
‘Glenn! What are you doing here?’ she exclaimed, getting out of the car to stand beside him.
‘I should be asking you that,’ he said evenly. ‘I was expecting it to be a courting couple in the car and was about to give it a wide berth until I saw the number plate.’
‘I came out here to think. James was going over the practice accounts, the children were tucked up for the night, and for once I didn’t have a pile of ironing staring me in the face. And, as I’ve already explained, this is my favourite part of the village.’
‘Yes, I’m aware of that,’ he told her, and thought of the watercolour painted by Alex Graham that he’d bought from the gallery as a Christmas gift for her.
The event that brought joy to every dark winter would soon be here, and he had a feeling that he shouldn’t have accepted her invitation to share it with them, that he would be butting in on a family occasion, Yet he’d agreed to join them and that was it, and if he didn’t get any closer to Anna over Christmas, he would just have to suffer in silence.
‘Does the lake ever freeze over?’ he asked as they stood looking at the moon reflected in its waters.
‘Yes, sometimes, and then we all turn up with our skates, but it has to be well below zero for that to happen.’
‘I could stay here for ever,’ he said softly. ‘It’s beautiful in moonlight on a frosty night, Anna, and so are you.’ She turned to look at him and for a moment he saw the desire he felt reflected in her eyes, and he ached to draw her into his arms.
‘Please, don’t, Glenn,’ she whispered. ‘I can’t give you what you want. If you want to put roots down in Willowmere, then stay, but it’s for you to decide. You know the score.’
She was moving towards the car. The spell had been broken. ‘Do you want to walk back, or can I give you a lift?’ she asked, not meeting his gaze.
‘I’ll walk, thanks,’ he informed her flatly, ‘though I’m not going until I’ve seen you safely on your way.’
‘All right, whatever you say,’ she said in a similar tone to his, and when the engine spluttered into life she waved briefly and he watched her drive off into the night.
When Anna arrived home she went slowly upstairs, thinking as she did so that it had been perfect by the lake, just the two of them in the quiet night. When she’d realised what had been about to happen between them she’d had to stop it, though it had nearly broken her heart. But at least she had finally told him something of the truth. That she couldn’t give him what she knew he wanted.
Still in a melancholy mood she walked across to the window and looked out over the village, as Glenn had done earlier, and saw him returning, but instead of going into Bracken House he went to the boot of his car and as he reached inside she turned away. Whatever he was doing, it wasn’t her concern, she decided, but as she was taking her jacket off the doorbell rang and her heartbeat quickened. What now? she thought.
When she opened the door he was holding a tree, half the size of the one they’d decorated previ
ously but just as fresh and sweet smelling, and as she eyed him in surprise he reached out and placed it just inside the hallway.
‘Peace offering,’ he said, and smiled.
‘Oh, Glenn,’ she breathed, returning his smile and wishing so much for their situation to be different. ‘Please, won’t you come in?’
He shook his head. ‘No, not now. It’s late. But I’ll come and help you decorate it tomorrow night, if you like, now that I’ve honed my Christmas-tree decorating skills.’
She was laughing, gloomy thoughts put to one side, and he thought how lovely she was as she breathed in the Christmassy scent of the small but perfect tree.
‘That would be great,’ she said. ‘And thanks for the lovely surprise.’
‘My pleasure,’ he replied and went.
The next morning at the surgery Beth said, ‘We’ve heard from our Jess, Anna. She’ll be home soon. She’s passed the course for nursery nursing or becoming a nanny, so now it’s going to be job-hunting.’
‘I can’t see her having much trouble there,’ Anna commented. She liked Beth’s capable and cheerful daughter immensely. ‘She’s a natural with children. The twins love it when she calls round.’
‘Jess has certainly chosen the right vocation,’ Beth agreed, ‘but I hope she doesn’t end up in America or somewhere else far away. Her dad and I would be desolate without her, and deep down Jess is really a home bird.’
The chairs outside in the corridor were filling up and as the morning progressed they were too busy to think of anything but the patients, for which Anna was thankful.
But in rare quiet moments the events of the previous night occupied her mind. They’d been spellbound by the glittering beauty of Willowmere in moonlight and it would have been so easy to have gone one step further. But doing so would only have brought more heartache, and she was determined that tonight, when he came round to help her decorate the tree, nothing would happen between them.
Glenn’s door remained closed and in the middle of the morning James informed her that he had gone out on an urgent call before she’d arrived and was still not back.
‘What was the problem?’ she asked.
‘The gypsies have arrived for their yearly visit to these parts and have camped at their usual site for a while,’ he explained. ‘As you are aware, in recent years they’ve registered with us because of the length of their stay, hence the request for a visit. It sounded as if one of their members is quite poorly.
‘I’m not sure if any of them have had the flu vaccination as that was what it sounded like—a bad case of flu or maybe pneumonia. Glenn rang in a few moments ago to say that half of them are unwell. He’s been checking out more than the one patient and is waiting for public health to arrive as there seems to be a stomach bug also doing the rounds amongst them.’
‘Oh, dear!’ she exclaimed. ‘We’ve known them for years and they’ve never had anything too serious while they’ve been here. I hope it doesn’t get worse.’
‘So do I,’ he agreed. ‘However, this time it might be different if it is some sort of gastric bug that isn’t nipped in the bud. But Glenn has got it all under control. Infection will never have been far away in the places he’s been working in. I hope he is with us for a long time to come and have a feeling that how long he stays will depend on you.’
‘It will be up to him, not me. He knows where I stand,’ she told him, but knew she didn’t sound very convincing.
James didn’t pursue it. Instead, he informed her, ‘He’s sending those who are still standing for the flu jab so you and Beth have a busy time ahead once they arrive.’
She smiled. ‘I’d better be getting on, then.’
When Glenn returned, the gypsies had been for their vaccinations and gone. He reported that the patient he’d been called out to had been taken to hospital with suspected pneumonia, and that he’d given out prescriptions to those with the stomach upsets and left them in the care of public health.
‘Who was it that you had admitted to hospital?’ asked Anna.
He looked at her in surprise. ‘Why? Do you know them personally?’
‘I know some of them, yes. We usually expect the gypsies at this time of year. They’ve come as long as I can remember and the villagers have no problem with them. They keep themselves to themselves and don’t leave a mess when they go.’
‘It was an older guy called Marco who has got pneumonia.’
‘I know him. He’s usually in charge. Was Montrose there?’
‘How would I know?’
‘Monty is Marco’s son and devoted to his parents.’
‘There was a tall, dark-haired fellow hovering all the time I was doing the rounds.’
She nodded. ‘That would probably be him and it explains why he didn’t come for the flu jab like the others. He would have gone to the hospital with his father. Monty is a friend of mine. We played together when we were kids and enjoy meeting up each year for a short time.’
Anna spending a short time with Monty suited him fine, Glenn thought. The fellow had been attractive in a flashy sort of way, but they couldn’t be that close or Anna would have known the gypsies had arrived and she hadn’t been aware of it until he’d rung in to report on what he’d found when he’d got there.
It was a quarter to three and Anna was about to go and meet the children from school when Monty came strolling into the surgery at the same moment that Glenn arrived back from the rest of his delayed house calls.
‘How are you, Anna?’ he said with a smile. ‘The new doctor has been very good to us. Has he told you about my father?’
‘Yes,’ she said gently. ‘How is Marco now?’
His smile faded. ‘Not good. They say at the hospital it is pneumonia. My mother is with him while I go back to see to the others who are sick.’
As Glenn went into the surgery kitchen to prepare a belated lunch he heard Monty say, ‘There is something I wanted to ask you, Anna. I hope you’ll say yes.’
He didn’t hear the rest. They’d moved down the passage out of earshot and he had a sinking feeling that he wouldn’t want to hear, even if he could. Her face didn’t light up like that when he put in an appearance. When he came out of the kitchen with a sandwich in one hand and a mug of tea in the other, Monty had gone. Anna was about to leave, and she was still smiling.
‘It is obvious that someone’s face fits,’ he said whimsically. ‘I’ll have to ask him what his secret is.’
The smile wavered. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ she said, ‘but tell me something—are you into weddings?’
Glenn froze and said stiffly, ‘It all depends on who is getting married.’
‘I’m talking about a gypsy wedding. Monty has invited us to his wedding to Tabitha, the daughter of one of the families that travel with them. He has asked me because I’m a friend from his childhood, and you’re invited because of the way you’ve looked after his people today.’
He relaxed. ‘When is it to be?’ he questioned in an upbeat tone that made her glance at him in surprise.
‘Next week, if his father is well enough to be there.’ She looked at him and frowned. ‘Glenn! Are you crazy? Surely you didn’t think I was going to be the bride? He’s just a friend from way back. We don’t see each other from one year to the next. So, are you going to take me to his wedding or not?’
‘Yes, of course. I can’t think of anything I would like more.’
Glenn walked back to his room with a lighter step. That wasn’t strictly true, of course. There were lots of things they could do together that would outclass going to Monty’s wedding, such as making love and planning a future. But it was a start.
That evening, James had just taken the children upstairs to spend time with them before putting them to bed. Anna was tidying up after the meal when Glenn said, ‘What about a wedding gift for Monty? Are we going to join or buy separate presents? There’s only the coming Saturday for us to go shopping, or maybe we could take advantage of the late-
night Christmas hours during the week. What do you think?’
‘I think we should give them a joint gift, and late-night shopping won’t be as crowded as a Saturday so near Christmas.’
‘I agree,’ he said. ‘How about tomorrow night? And have you any suggestions? For instance, does Monty have his own caravan?’
Anna shook her head. ‘No. A gypsy couple don’t move into their own home until the first child is born. Before that the bride lives with her in-laws and helps generally on the domestic front. Their customs are very different to ours. Often the marriage ceremony is just a matter of the bride and groom holding hands in front of everyone and promising to be true to each other.
‘Marriages amongst them could almost be classed as arranged. The father of the bridegroom pays a sum of money, what we would call a dowry, to the bride’s father to recompense him for the loss of his daughter, and it is the parents who make the wedding arrangements.’
‘You seem to be well informed,’ he commented.
‘I am. I’ve never had an invitation before, but I’ve watched a few of their weddings from a distance, and I think I should warn you that the festivities go on for days.’
He smiled. ‘Not for us, I hope!’
‘No, of course not. I think our patients would have something to say if we were missing for that length of time.’ Anna’s eyes twinkled. ‘We’ll just have to make our excuses when we’re ready to go.’
‘And so getting back to the wedding gift?’ he prompted.
‘I don’t know. I’ll give it some thought. Their own people usually give them money so that when the firstborn comes along and they move into their own caravan, they have some savings to fall back on, but as outsiders I feel it might seem intrusive if we do that.’
‘So tomorrow night it is,’ he confirmed, and when she didn’t reply immediately he went on, ‘Are you sure? We’ll have been in each other’s company at the surgery during the day, and will be together all the time we’re shopping. I wouldn’t want you to feel you are having an overdose of my company, as I haven’t forgotten our arrangement for tonight with regard to a certain tree.’
Christmas at Willowmere Page 9
