A Wedding in the Village Read Free

weak.
    ‘How did you know where to find me?’ she asked in a voice that didn’t sound like hers, and knew it was a stupid question. Sue would have told him.
    ‘It wasn’t hard,’ he said. ‘Megan Marshall, the village doctor, is a household name. Actually, it was Sue who pointed me in the right direction. She’s in the middle of making a meal and after we’ve eaten the boys are going to show me around the place so that I can get my bearings for tomorrow.
    ‘But first I felt I wanted to see you. We only met briefly that day at the surgery and I got the impression that it was something of a shock and that you weren’t over the moon about it. So I’ve come to suggest that we drink a toast to our future relationship as village GPs. If that’s all right with you. I’ve also come…’
    Here we go, she thought, stifling a groan. He’s going to mention the Valentine card. Wants to wipe the slate clean before we go any further. I wish the ground would open up and swallow me.
    ‘Because I thought you might be feeling a bit low after your parents’ departure,’ he was saying, and her eyes widened. ‘Also, I feel I should tell you that I won’t be pulling rank or anything like that. I will be relying on you to put me right if I make any mistakes.’
    He’d come to sit on the seat beside her, still with the bottle in his hand, and she said in a low voice, ‘And is that it?’
    He smiled. ‘Yes. I think so. I can’t think of anything else. So, are we going to drink a toast, Megan?’
    She nodded, speechless with relief, and went inside to get a bottle opener and glasses. By the time she’d done that she’d found her voice and, standing in the kitchen doorway, she said, ‘Shall we drink it inside or out?’
    He got to his feet. ‘Inside would be nice. I’d love to see what your home is like. It’s a beautiful place you have here.’
    ‘ I think so,’ she said stiffly, still on edge, and stepped back to let him in. ‘Do make yourself comfortable. Though perhaps you should pour the wine first, as you’ve brought it.’
    ‘Whatever,’ he said easily and did as she’d suggested. ‘To us, Megan,’ he said, raising his glass. ‘To a good working partnership.’
    As he took a sip of his wine, Luke wondered if she remembered sending him the Valentine card. When he’d behaved like a moron and left her red with embarrassment, instead of telling her why he hadn’t been ready to take her up on it. She had been the only one of his students that he’d ever taken note of. Small, dainty, with red-gold hair and green eyes, she’d moved like a dream.
    But it hadn’t just been those things that had caught his attention. It had been the way she’d worked, steadily and with zeal, while some of the students had thought that university was a big joke. An opportunity to waste their parents’ money on living it up.
    There had been a strange irony in discovering that half the class fancied him, including the girl sitting opposite him, when his marriage had crashed and he had been going through a bitter divorce.
    He checked the time. ‘I must go, Megan. Sue will have the meal ready by now, and the boys will be raring to spend some time with me, as I’m the nearest thing they’re going to get to a dad.’
    He sighed. ‘The poor kids are in a state at losing him, which is only natural. It’s the first time they’ve been this close to death, and are striking out against it in the only way they know how. They desperately want a father figure at the moment and I’m going to be there for them for as long as they need me. That applies to Sue as well. She’ll be all right when they are. So it’s going to be taking one day at a time.’
    ‘They’re fortunate to have you looking out for them,’ Megan said awkwardly.
    He shrugged. ‘I just wish I could have been here sooner. Anyway, I really must go. It’s been a pleasant evening, Megan, so thank you.’
    As Megan showed him out, he paused in the doorway. ‘How long