A Doctor to Remember

by Joanna Neil

  Her instincts had been all over the place since the accident, and perhaps she was letting that trauma sour her judgement. Ever since she’d woken up in hospital she’d had the niggling suspicion that all was not as it seemed as far as her fall was concerned.

  She’d done what she could to put that behind her, but now the question was, could she put her trust in Matt, who seemed so obliging? What could have convinced her aunt to leave him such a substantial inheritance?

  CHAPTER TWO

  SAFFI FINISHED WEEDING the last of the flower borders in the walled garden and leaned back on her heels to survey her handiwork. It was a beautiful garden, filled with colour and sweet scents, just perfect for the bees that flew from flower to flower, gathering nectar and pollen. Against the wall, the pale pink of the hollyhocks was a lovely contrast to the deep rose colour of the flamboyant peonies. Close by, tall delphiniums matched the deep blue of the sky.

  ‘You’ve been keeping busy, from the looks of things,’ Matt commented, startling her as he appeared in the archway that separated this part of the garden from the larger, more general area. ‘You’ve done a good job here.’

  She lifted her head to look at him, causing her loosely pinned curls to quiver with the movement. He started to walk towards her, and straight away her pulse went into overdrive and her heart skipped a beat. He was overwhelmingly masculine, with a perfect physique, his long legs encased in blue jeans while his muscular chest and arms were emphasised by the dark T-shirt he was wearing.

  ‘Thanks.’ She viewed him cautiously. She hadn’t seen much of him this last week, and perhaps that was just as well, given her concerns about him. In fact, she’d wondered if he’d deliberately stayed away from her, giving her room to sort herself out. Though, of course, he must have been out at work for a good deal of the time.

  It was hard to know what to think of him. He’d said they’d known one another before this, and she wanted to trust him, but the circumstances of his inheritance had left her thoroughly confused and made her want to tread carefully where he was concerned. What could have led her aunt to leave the house to be shared by two people? It was very odd.

  To give Matt his due, though, he’d kept this place going after Aunt Annie’s death—he’d had the leaky barn roof fixed, her closest neighbours told her, and he’d made sure the lawns were trimmed regularly. He’d taken good care of the hens, too, and she ought to be grateful to him for all that.

  ‘I see you’ve made a start on picking the fruit.’ He looked at the peach tree, trained in a fan shape across the south wall where it received the most sunshine. Nearby there were raspberry canes, alongside blackberry and redcurrant bushes.

  She gave a wry smile. ‘Yes…I only had to touch the peaches and they came away from the branches, so I guessed it was time to gather them in. And I had to pick the raspberries before the birds made away with the entire crop. Actually, I’ve put some of the fruit to one side for you, back in the kitchen. I was going to bring it over to you later today.’

  ‘That was good of you. Thanks.’ He smiled, looking at her appreciatively, his glance wandering slowly over her slender yet curvaceous figure, and making the breath catch in her throat. She was wearing light blue denim shorts and a crop top with thin straps that left her arms bare and revealed the pale gold of her midriff. All at once, under that all-seeing gaze, she felt decidedly underdressed. Her face flushed with heat, probably from a combination of the burning rays of the sun and the fact that he was standing beside her, making her conscious of her every move.

  She took off her gardening gloves and brushed a stray tendril of honey-blonde hair from her face with the back of her hand. ‘There’s so much produce, I’m not quite sure what my aunt did with it all. I thought I might take some along to the neighbours along the lane.’

  ‘I’m sure they’ll appreciate that. Annie sold some of it, flowers, too, and eggs, to the local shopkeepers, and there were always bunches of cut flowers on sale by the roadside at the front of the house, along with baskets of fruit. She trusted people to put the money in a box, and apparently they never let her down.’

  ‘That sounds like a good idea. I’ll have to try it,’ she said, getting to her feet. She was a bit stiff from being in the same position for so long, and he put out a hand to help her up.

  ‘Thanks.’ His grasp was strong and supportive and that unexpected human contact was strangely comforting. Warm colour brushed her cheeks once more as his gaze travelled fleetingly over her long, shapely legs.

  ‘You could do with a gardener’s knee pad—one of those covered foam things…’

  ‘Yes, you’re probably right.’ She frowned. ‘I’m beginning to think that looking after this property and the land and everything that comes with it is going to be a full-time job.’

  ‘It is, especially at this time of year,’ he agreed. ‘But maybe you could get someone in to help out if it becomes too much for you to handle. Funds permitting, of course.’

  She nodded, going over to one of the redwood garden chairs and sitting down. ‘I suppose, sooner or later, I’ll have to make up my mind what I’m going to do.’

  She waved him to the seat close by. A small table connected the two chairs, and on it she had laid out a glass jug filled with iced apple juice. She lifted the cover that was draped over it to protect the contents from the sunshine. ‘Would you like a cold drink?’

  ‘That’d be great, thanks.’ He came to sit beside her and she brought out a second glass from the cupboard beneath the table.

  She filled both glasses, passing one to him before she drank thirstily from hers. ‘It’s lovely out here, so serene, but it’s really hot today. Great if you’re relaxing but not so good when you’re working.’ She lifted the glass, pressing it against her forehead to savour the coolness.

  ‘How are you coping, generally?’

  ‘All right, I think. I came here to rest and recuperate but the way things turned out it’s been good for me to keep busy. I’ve been exploring the village and the seaside in between looking after this place. The only thing I’ve left completely alone is anything to do with the beehives. I think I’m supposed to have equipment of some sort, aren’t I, before I go near them?’

  ‘There are a couple of outfits in the stable block. I can show you how to go on with them, whenever you’re ready.’

  She nodded. ‘Thanks. I’ll take you up on that. I’m just not quite ready to tackle beekeeping on my own.’ She drank more juice and studied him musingly. Despite her reservations about him, this was one area where she’d better let him guide her. ‘Did you help my aunt with the hives?’

  ‘I did, from time to time. She needed some repairs done to the stands and while I was doing that she told me all about looking after them. She said she talked to the bees, told them what was happening in her life—I don’t think she was serious about that, but she seemed to find it calming and it helped to clear her thoughts.’

  ‘Hmm. Perhaps I should try it. Maybe it will help me get my mind back together.’

  ‘How’s that going?’

  She pulled a face. ‘I recall bits and pieces every now and again. Especially when I’m in the house or out here, in the garden…not so much in the village and round about. I was told Aunt Annie brought me up after my parents died, and I know…I feel inside…that she loved me as if I was her own daughter.’

  Her voice faltered. ‘I…I miss her. I keep seeing her as a lively, wonderful old lady, but she was frail towards the end, wasn’t she? That’s what the solicitor said…that she had a heart attack, but I don’t remember any of that.’

  ‘Perhaps your mind is blocking it out.’

  ‘Yes, that might be it. Even so, I feel as though I’m grieving inside, even though I can’t remember everything.’ She was troubled. Wouldn’t Matt have been here when she had come back to see her aunt, and again at the time of the funeral? Everyone told her she’d done that, that she’d visited regularly, yet she had no memory of it, or of him.

  She stra
ightened her shoulders, glancing at him. ‘Anyway, I’m glad I came back to this house. I was in two minds about it at first, but somehow I feel at peace here, as though this is where I belong.’

  ‘I’m glad about that. Annie would have been pleased.’

  ‘Yes, I think she would.’ She studied him thoughtfully. ‘It sounds as though you knew her well—even though you had only been back here for a short time.’

  She hesitated for a moment and then decided to say what was on her mind. ‘How was it that you came to be living here?’ She wasn’t sure what she expected him to say. He would hardly admit to wheedling his way into an elderly lady’s confidence, would he?

  He lifted his glass and took a long swallow of the cold liquid. Saffi watched him, mesmerised by the movement of his sun-bronzed throat, and by the way his strong fingers gripped the glass.

  He placed it back on the table a moment later. ‘I’d started a new job in the area and I was looking for a place to live. Accommodation was in short supply, it being the height of the holiday season, but I managed to find a flat near the hospital. It was a bit basic, though, and after a while I began to hanker for a few home comforts…’

  ‘Oh? Such as…?’ She raised a quizzical brow and he grinned.

  ‘Hot and cold running water, for a start, and some means of preparing food. There was a gas ring, but it took forever to heat a pan of beans. And as to the plumbing—I was lucky if it worked at all. It was okay taking cold baths in the summer, but come wintertime it was bracing, to say the least. I spoke to the landlord about it, but he kept making excuses and delaying—he obviously didn’t want to spend money on getting things fixed.’

  ‘So my aunt invited you stay here?’

  He nodded. ‘I’d been helping her out by doing repairs about the place, and one day she suggested that I move into the annexe.’

  ‘That must have been a relief to you.’

  He smiled. ‘Yes, it was. Best of all was the homecooked food—I wasn’t expecting that, but she used to bring me pot roasts or invite me round to her part of the house for dinner of an evening. I think she liked to have company.’

  ‘Yes, that was probably it.’ Her mouth softened at the image of her aunt befriending this young doctor. ‘I suppose the hot and cold running water goes without saying?’

  ‘That, too.’

  She sighed. ‘I wish I could say the same about mine. I would have loved to take a shower after doing all that weeding, but something seems to have gone wrong with it. I tried to get hold of a plumber, but apparently they’re all too busy to come out and look at it. Three weeks is the earliest date I could get.’

  He frowned. ‘Have you any idea why it stopped working? Perhaps it’s something simple, like the shower head being blocked with calcium deposits?’

  ‘It isn’t that. I checked. I’ve a horrible feeling it’s to do with the electronics—I suppose in the end I’ll have to buy a new shower.’ Her mouth turned down a fraction.

  ‘Would you like me to have a look at it? You never know, between the two of us, we might be able to sort it out, or at least find out what’s gone wrong.’

  ‘Are you sure you wouldn’t mind doing that?’ She felt a small ripple of relief flow through her. He might not know much at all about plumbing, but just to have a second opinion would be good.

  ‘I’d be glad to. Shall we go over to the house now, if you’ve finished what you were doing out here?’

  ‘Okay.’ They left the walled garden, passing through the stone archway, and then followed the path to the main house. Out in the open air, the hens clucked and foraged in the run amongst the patches of grass and gravel for grain and food pellets, and ignored them completely.

  ‘So, what happened when you tried to use the shower last time?’ Matt asked as they went upstairs a few minutes later.

  ‘I switched on the isolator switch as usual outside the bathroom and everything was fine. but after I’d switched off the shower I noticed that the isolator switch was stuck in the on position. The light comes on, but the water isn’t coming through.’

  ‘I’ll start with the switch, then. Do you have a screwdriver? Otherwise I’ll go and get one from my place.’

  ‘The toolbox is downstairs. I’ll get it for you.’

  ‘Thanks. I’ll turn off the miniature circuit-breaker.’

  He went off to disconnect the electricity and a few minutes later he unscrewed the switch and began to inspect it. ‘It looks as though this is the problem,’ he said, showing her. ‘The connections are blackened.’

  ‘Is that bad? Do I need to be worried about the wiring?’

  He shook his head. ‘It often happens with these things. They burn out. I’ll pick up another switch from the supplier in town and get someone to come over and fix it for you. I know an electrician who works at the hospital—I’ll ask him to call in.’

  ‘Oh, that’s brilliant…’ She frowned. ‘If he’ll do it, that is…’

  ‘He will. He owes me a favour or two, so I’m sure he won’t mind turning out for this. In the meantime, if you want to get a few things together—you can come over to my place to use the shower, if you like?’

  ‘Really?’ Her eyes widened and she gave him a grateful smile. ‘I’d like that very much, thank you.’

  She hurried away to collect a change of clothes and a towel, everything that she thought she would need, and then they went over to his part of the house.

  She looked around. The first time she had been here she’d been so taken aback by his revelation about the inheritance, and everything had been a bit of a blur, so she hadn’t taken much in.

  But now she saw that his living room was large and airy, with a wide window looking out on to a well-kept lawn and curved flower borders. He’d kept the furnishing in here simple, uncluttered, with two creamcoloured sofas and an oak coffee table that had pleasing granite tile inserts. There was a large, flat-screen TV on the wall. The floor was golden oak, partially covered by an oriental patterned rug. It was a beautiful, large annexe—what could have persuaded Aunt Annie to leave him all this?

  ‘I’m afraid I’m on call today with the first-response team,’ he said, cutting into her thoughts, ‘so if I have to leave while you’re in the shower, just help yourself to whatever you need—there’s tea and coffee in the kitchen and cookies in the jar. Otherwise I’ll be waiting for you in here.’

  He paused, sending her a look that was part teasing, part hopeful. Heat glimmered in the depths of his grey eyes. ‘Unless, of course, you need a hand with anything in the bathroom? I’d be happy to help out. More than happy…’

  She gave a soft, uncertain laugh, not quite sure how to respond to that. ‘Well, uh…that’s a great offer, but I think I’ll manage, thanks.’

  He contrived to look disappointed and amused all at the same time. ‘Ah, well…another day, perhaps?’

  ‘In your dreams,’ she murmured.

  She went upstairs to the bathroom, still thinking about his roguish suggestion. It was hard to admit, but she was actually more than tempted. He was strong, incredibly good looking, hugely charismatic and very capable…he’d shown that he was very willing to help out with anything around the place.

  So why had she turned him down? She was a free spirit after all, with no ties. The truth was, she’d no idea how she’d been before, but right now she was deeply wary of rushing into anything, and she’d only known him for a very short time.

  Or had she? He’d said they’d known one another for quite a while, years, in fact. What kind of relationship had that been? For his part, he was definitely interested in her and he certainly seemed keen to take things further.

  But she still wasn’t sure she could trust him. He was charming, helpful, competent…weren’t those the very qualities that might have made her aunt want to bequeath him part of her home?

  She sighed. It was frustrating to have so many unanswered questions.

  Going into the bathroom, she tried to push those thoughts to one side as she looke
d around. This room was all pearly white, with gleaming, large rectangular tiles on the wall, relieved by deeply embossed border tiles in attractive pastel colours. There was a bath, along with the usual facilities, and in the corner there was a beautiful, curved, glass-fronted shower cubicle.

  Under the shower spray, she tried to relax and let the warm water soothe away her troubled thoughts. Perhaps she should learn to trust, and take comfort in the knowledge that Matt had only ever been kind to her.

  So far, he had been there for her, doing his best to help her settle in. She had been the only stumbling block to his initial efforts by being suspicious of his motives around her aunt. Perhaps she should do her best to be a little more open to him.

  Afterwards, she towelled her hair dry and put on fresh clothes, jeans that clung to her in all the right places, and a short-sleeved T-shirt the same blue as her eyes. She didn’t want to go downstairs with wet hair, but there was no hairdryer around so she didn’t really have a choice. Still, even when damp her hair curled riotously, so perhaps she didn’t look too bad.

  Anyway, if Matt had been called away to work, it wouldn’t matter how she looked, would it?

  ‘Hi.’ He smiled as she walked into the living room. ‘You look fresh and wholesome—like a beautiful water nymph.’

  She returned his smile. ‘Thanks. And thanks for letting me use the shower. Perhaps I ought to go back to my place and find my hairdryer.’

  ‘Do you have to do that? I’m making some lunch for us. I heard the shower switch off, so I thought you might soon be ready to eat. We could take the food outside, if you want. The sun will dry your hair.’

  ‘Oh…okay. I wasn’t expecting that. It sounds good.’

  They went outside on to a small, paved terrace, and he set out food on a wrought-iron table, inviting her to sit down while he went to fetch cold drinks. He’d made pizza slices, topped with mozzarella cheese, tomato and peppers, along with a crisp side salad.

  He came back holding a tray laden with glass tumblers and a jug of mixed red fruit juice topped with slices of apple, lemon and orange.