Bachelor Cure Read Free Page A

now. It will hurt, but so will travelling over rough roads to get you to town. I can give you some morphine, but I think the best thing to do is just manipulate it back in fast. Will you try to relax and see what I can do?’
    â€˜You…you really are a doctor?’
    â€˜I really am a doctor.’ He smiled down at her, his blue eyes gentle and reassuring. He was hauling on his best bedside manner and then some. ‘The sergeant here will tell you. I even have a certificate somewhere to prove it.’
    â€˜And…you know how to get this back?’
    â€˜I’ve put back dislocated shoulders before.’
    The girl looked up, her eyes doubtful. This wasn’t the normal person’s idea of a doctor. He wasn’t wearing white coat and stethoscope. He wore blue jeans and a rough wool sweater. He had deep black hair that curled in an unruly tangle and needed a cut, and his face was tanned and his eyes were crinkled, as if he spent a lot of time outdoors.
    He wasn’t the least bit doctor-like.
    But he had piercing blue eyes, and a smile on his broad, tanned face that told her she could put herself safely in his hands. It was his very best bedside manner, turned on in force, and it usually worked a treat.
    Now was no exception. The girl sighed and nodded, closed her eyes and forced herself to go limp. She waited, waited for the pain…
    He looked down at her in surprise. Had this happened to her before, then? She looked like she knew what to expect.
    There was no point dragging it out.
    He lifted her wrist, bent her elbow to slightly higher than ninety degrees, then slowly, firmly, rotated her arm down and back—so firmly that the girl gave a sob of agony.
    And then, miraculously, it was over. The shoulder clicked right back into place.
    Silence.
    The girl took two deep breaths. Three. Four. And then she opened her eyes to a pain-free world.
    Her green eyes crinkled into a smile of absolute relief. ‘Thank you.’
    The girl’s words said it all. There was no need for him to check his handiwork. The girl’s breathed words of gratitude and the easing of the agony behind her eyes told him all he needed to know. He smiled down at her, and she smiled right back—and it was some smile!
    â€˜Well done.’ He put a hand on her good shoulder. Tessa’s courage was amazing. ‘Brave girl. Don’t move yet. Take your time. There’s no rush.’
    No rush…
    Her smile faded and the girl looked about her in bewilderment, as if seeing where she was for the first time. Doris lay exhausted on the straw. Around the sow, the piglets were starting their first, tentative movements toward her teats.
    Someone had to break the silence, and it was finally the police sergeant who did.
    â€˜Now, young lady, suppose you tell us just who—’
    The policeman’s voice was gruff, but Mike put a hand on his arm, shook his head at him and silenced him with a hard look.
    â€˜Nope. Questions can wait, Ted. She’s done in. She’s Henry’s granddaughter. That’s all we need to know.’
    â€˜You’re the girl who phoned from the US earlier this week?’ the policeman asked.
    â€˜Yes. I…I’m Tessa Westcott. I flew in this afternoon, hired a car and came straight here.’
    â€˜We don’t need to know any more,’ Mike said firmly, and Tessa’s eyes flew to his face.
    What she saw there seemed to reassure her. Mike’s was a face of strength—strongly boned, with wide mouth, firm chin and lean, sculpted lines. There were traces of fatigue around his deep blue eyes, but his eyes sent strong messages of kindness and caring. He ran a hand up through his dark tousled hair, his eyes smiled at her and the impression of reassurance deepened.
    â€˜If Henry Westcott’s your grandfather, how come we’ve never heard of you?’ The barking demand came from behind, and Mike wheeled in sudden anger. It was Jacob,