The Bachelor Doctor
Auteur
Judy Campbell
Lezers
18,3K
Hoofdstukken
10
CHAPTER ONE
THE wind whipped Cara’s hair about her face, stinging her cheeks and making her draw her coat more closely around her. Reaching into her pocket, she brought out the photograph, and for a long moment she looked at it, then savagely tore the paper into small shreds and tossed them over the lookout point. The pieces fluttered like small moths down the valley and she watched their progress against the backdrop of the loch and mountains she had known since childhood.
‘Goodbye and good riddance,’ she muttered grimly. ‘The last day of the old year, thank God! Tomorrow, Cara Mackenzie, is the start of the rest of your life!’
She turned abruptly away and got into the car, flicking a quick, tender look at her little son asleep in his car seat. Long lashes formed an arc on his round cheeks, and a chubby arm was flung out, still holding his battered teddy. Was she doing the best for Dan in leaving London—a job she enjoyed, her friends, her house—and returning to the wilds of Scotland? She shrugged. She’d made the decision now—there was no looking back. It had been a long time, but now she couldn’t wait to see her father again and introduce him to little Dan—the grandchild he didn’t even know he had.
Driving slowly down the hill, she glanced round at the rolling countryside with the towering mountains in the background, their shapes etched darkly against the cold blue sky, and the town nestling below. It had been five years since she’d been in Ballranoch, unable to come back and admit to anyone—especially her father—that life in London had been anything less than perfect.
And it was perfect at first, she reflected sadly. Perfect until…until I found out the truth.
Her knuckles clenched white on the steering-wheel as she turned into the country road where her father lived, and she bit her lip, forcing her mind to concentrate on the present, allowing the old familiar sights to soothe her. She drove past the first of the big houses built on either side—solid Victorian dwellings made of the local mellow stone, standing in quiet and austere dignity at the end of tree-lined drives. It all looked very staid and respectable. Now the sky had changed quite dramatically, as it could in these parts, and the steely blue had darkened as it started to rain heavily.
The sound of thumping music floating above the noise of the rain filtered into the car, and Cara peered curiously down one of the drives—New Year celebrations had obviously started early, she thought with an indulgent smile. Then she drew in her breath and braked sharply as a man suddenly hurtled out of the drive in front of her, waving frantically at her to stop.
‘For goodness’ sake!’ she spluttered, grinding to a halt and looking crossly at the tall figure dressed incongruously in running shorts striding towards her.
‘I could have injured you then—what on earth’s the matter?’ she shouted through the window, certainly not prepared to open the door until she was sure he wasn’t going to attack her.
A dripping face appeared before her, water running in rivulets from hair plastered down on his forehead. ‘Sorry!’ he mouthed through the closed window. ‘This is an emergency!’
Cara looked into a pair of deep blue eyes that peered at her through the drips on dark lashes in a tanned face, and felt a slight start of surprise. There was something vaguely familiar about the man’s face—surely she’d met him somewhere before? She frowned, trying to kick-start her memory.
‘Have you got a mobile phone on you?’ he asked loudly, breaking into her thoughts. ‘If so, we need to use it!’
Cara opened the window a crack and cut the engine. ‘Why? What kind of an emergency is it?’ she asked cautiously, her mind still grappling with the elusive thought that she and he were acquainted.
‘We need the police and an ambulance here quickly.’ His voice was brusque, assured, a man who was used to giving orders and having them carried out. As if reading her mind, he said reassuringly, ‘Look, this is for real—a party of youngsters has got out of hand, and one of the girls seems in a bad way.’
Cara blinked. ‘Are you a guest?’
A flicker of a smile crossed the man’s strong features and made him seem younger, more boyish. ‘Not my scene, I’m afraid! I was going on my daily jog down the road when a hysterical young girl came running down the drive and asked me to help her. There’s a horde of youngsters holed up in the house—gatecrashers who won’t let me in. The girl’s friend is in the garden with her and she seems rather ill. It might be a spiked drink, but I’m concerned about her.’
And I thought I was coming to a haven of peace, a little backwater where nothing much happened, thought Cara wryly as she reached into the glove compartment of the car and took out her phone. She stabbed out numbers quickly and flicked a look at the house name on the gatepost.
‘Please, send an ambulance and the police to The Glenside House, Spinney Lane, Ballranoch village.’ Her voice was crisp. ‘There’s a party there that’s getting out of control, and a young girl who needs urgent medical attention.’
The man nodded as if satisfied with her efficient response. ‘Thanks. I’d better get back to her immediately.’ He paused for a second and frowned, looking at her more closely. ‘Sorry if I startled you. You’re not from round here, are you?’
‘Originally I was—some time since I’ve been back, though. Look,’ Cara added, ‘I ought to come with you. I do happen to be a doctor…’
She flicked a glance to the back of the car. Amazingly Dan was still asleep, exhausted after their long journey and oblivious to the disruption.
The owner of the blue eyes smiled. ‘Thanks, but don’t worry. I’m a medic, too, and I can see you have your little boy with you. I can cope.’
‘He’ll be asleep for at least half an hour, and I’d be glad to help—I’ve got my medical bag with me. I’ll park the car just by us so that we can keep an eye on him. The ambulance could take fifteen minutes getting here.’
The man nodded, but looked doubtfully for a moment at the sleeping Dan. ‘If you’re sure…It would be good to have another opinion and some back-up! I’ll meet you at the house. By the way, I’m Jake—Jake Donahue.’
Cara stared wide-eyed at his back view as his lean figure powered its way round the corner of the drive, and her memory clicked into place like a piece of a jigsaw. Of course she knew exactly who Jake Donahue was! It had been five years ago, but the brief and memorably unsatisfactory meeting when her father had introduced her to his new locum sprang vividly to her mind. It had been just before she’d left for London and she remembered Jake’s raised eyebrows and his barely disguised sarcasm when she’d told him she was leaving Ballranoch.
‘You have ambitions beyond a remote place like Ballranoch?’ he’d said with an air of disapproval that had touched a nerve. ‘You’ll be missed—there’s a shortage of doctors here, as you know.’ His blue gaze had flicked over her critically. ‘Remember, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. You’ll just be one of thousands of overworked and under-valued GPs in London, whereas here…’
She remembered the flash of irritation and resentment she’d felt at his implied criticism. Talk about opinionated! Typical of the arrogant sort of male who felt his outlook was the only valid one. He’d only just met her, and he’d had the presumption to assume she was leaving for purely selfish reasons.
She’d cast him a withering look and said coldly, ‘My reasons for leaving are my own—I have to live my own life. Anyway, experience is a good thing. I want to see how things work in a city as well as a country practice.’
‘I’m sure it will be a good move, career-wise,’ he’d replied smoothly.
But, of course, he’d been wrong, she reflected. It had been nothing to do with her career. She’d left because there had been no room for her here any more. She, who’d always loved Ballranoch and the beautiful country around since she’d been a little girl, had suddenly become an outsider, a cuckoo in the nest. Her glamorous new young stepmother had been far too jealous of the close relationship between Cara and her father to want her stepdaughter around for long. The chance she’d needed to get out had come her way, and it had been time to grab it. Not that that had been any of Jake Donahue’s business.
‘I can always come back…’ she’d said defensively.
The sea-blue eyes had looked at her almost mockingly. ‘I doubt it. Once the bright lights and excitement of London get to you, Ballranoch will seem very small beer.’ Then his expression had softened slightly and he’d held out his hand, gripping hers firmly. ‘I’m sorry we haven’t had time to get to know each other better. Don’t forget about us…and I hope you enjoy your life there.’
That wave of guilt she’d felt then at leaving her father to manage his practice alone came back to her now—Jake Donahue had been quite perceptive. Of course, he hadn’t known just what had happened to precipitate her departure—nothing would have persuaded to her stay at that time. Now, with the benefit of hindsight, it was easy enough to see that it had been a huge mistake. She smiled faintly to herself. She’d been on a pretty steep learning curve over the last few years. Had Jake Dohahue changed as much as she had?
The rain was easing, and in the background the steady beat of music had abated somewhat as Cara drew the car up to the side of the house where Jake was kneeling by a young girl. Cara glanced at little Dan, still fast asleep, satisfying herself that she was near enough to keep an eye on him before she leapt out of the car with her medical bag and a rug she’d taken from the back seat.
Through the windows of the house she could see some figures and hear the sound of voices and raucous laughter. The inmates seemed totally oblivious to what was happening outside.
Cara turned her attention to the young girl who was half lying on a garden seat on a verandah at the side of the house. Jake’s hand was holding her wrist and he turned round as Cara came up to him.
‘This is Anna and her friend Megan,’ he said, then dropped his voice slightly. ‘I’m concerned about Anna—her pulse is racing and she seems agitated and confused. Megan tells me they both had something to drink, but I’m not sure Anna’s symptoms are alcohol-induced. I’d be glad of your input.’
Anna looked round in a dazed fashion, and mumbled something. Behind her another rather plump girl was standing looking totally terrified, twisting her hands together and with tears streaming down her face.
Cara bent down and swept an assessing glance over the young girl, now turning restlessly on the seat and murmuring incomprehensibly. She noted her pallid skin and the light sheen of perspiration on her forehead, and laid the rug over her gently.
‘Hope the ambulance isn’t long—it’s pretty cold out here. She’s very, very thin, isn’t she?’ she remarked quietly to Jake. ‘Do you think there’s some underlying condition?’
He nodded, frowning. ‘She could be anorexic—I’d take a guess her BP’s low.’
Quickly taking a sphygmomanometer out of her bag, Cara wound the cuff around the girl’s thin arm and watched the gauge as she pumped up the cuff. ‘Not too good,’ she murmured. ‘Eighty over fifty.’
Jake turned to Megan, staring with large apprehensive eyes at her friend. ‘You know Anna well, don’t you?’ His deep voice was kindly but firm, trying to calm the frightened teenager. ‘How long has she been like this? It would help if you could describe her symptoms. Take it slowly.’
Jake Donahue may be opinionated, but he’s got the right measured approach towards patients, thought Cara. He emanated a calm reliability and she watched, impressed, as Megan took her cue from him. The young girl took a deep breath and swallowed, trying to control herself.
‘She…she started being odd about half an hour ago. Said she felt faint. Then she began talking all funny as if she didn’t know where she was…said she had stomach-ache.’
‘Good, good—that’s very helpful. Do you know what it was she had to drink?’
‘No. It seemed to be a mixture of things just poured into a bowl—they broke into the drinks cupboard.’ Megan’s voice started to wobble again and she looked in a stricken way at Jake and Cara. ‘I never meant for anything like this to happen—everything’s gone wrong.’ She brushed a tear away from her eyes and Jake put a hand on her arm.
‘Things can be put right,’ he said gently. ‘Are there any adults here?’
Megan gave a hiccuping sob. ‘Grannie and Grandpa went out for the evening, and all these people came and gatecrashed, and they’ve trashed the house—everything’s ruined. They…they trusted me just to have a few friends in, and now…What can I say to them?’
‘You mustn’t blame yourself,’ observed Jake crisply. ‘There wasn’t much you could do against that horde of hooligans.’
His eyes hardened, and as he turned back to Cara he murmured, ‘Her grandparents happen to be patients of ours. I wouldn’t have thought they’d have been stupid enough to leave teenagers alone at night—they’re supposed to be responsible people. He used to be the local M.P.’
For a second she saw a hint of the tough, opinionated man she’d met five years ago. She shrugged. They were probably elderly and totally out of tune with the behaviour of modern teenagers.
‘We can’t lay the blame yet—we don’t know the whole story,’ she observed lightly, then she turned to Megan.
‘The police are coming soon and they’ll get rid of everybody,’ she said kindly, adding in a no-nonsense voice, ‘But first it’s very important that we know more about Anna—and this is where you can be very helpful. How is she healthwise? What can you tell us about her?’
‘Wh-what do you mean?’
‘Has she had any pills, drugs of any sort?’
Megan shook her head vehemently. ‘No, no—she doesn’t do that sort of thing at all.’
‘Is she normally healthy, energetic?’
Megan frowned. ‘She’s diabetic—I know that. She carries things around in her bag for it.’
Jake and Cara gave a quick intake of breath and their eyes met in concern. ‘Spontaneous hypoglycaemia!’ they both said simultaneously.
‘Of course!’ Jake thumped his fist into his hand. ‘As you said, she’s sweating and apparently confused—both indicators of diabetic distress.’
Megan looked from one to the other, slightly bewildered. ‘What do you mean, hypo…whatever? I thought she was drunk.’
Jake shook his head. ‘It means,’ he said grimly, ‘that Anna’s system is out of balance. Basically she’s suffering from a lack of sugar in the blood. She’s probably eaten very little and the insulin she took earlier, coupled with the alcohol, has tipped her into a hypoglycaemic attack.’ He looked at Cara. ‘Anything in your box of tricks we can help her with?’
Cara nodded, watching Anna closely. ‘I think she’s slipping into a hypo coma,’ she said suddenly, noting the girl’s glazed eyes closing. ‘I’ve got a glucometer in my bag that will give a reading of her blood sugar. I’ll just take a pinprick.’
They both watched the reading on the small machine and Jake gave a low whistle. ‘Pretty frightening reading—under one. She’ll need intravenous glucose—50/100 mils of 50 per cent.’
‘What are you doing?’ squeaked Megan, as she watched Cara quickly insert a needle into Anna’s arm and inject her with a pre-dosed phial of glucose.
‘Nothing to worry about. We’re just working some magic on Anna—giving her blood some much-needed sugar. Now, watch!’
After a few seconds, Anna blinked drowsily and started to stir, struggling to sit up properly.
‘Ah!’ said Jake with satisfaction. ‘Bingo!’
He and Cara looked at each other in mutual expressions of relief, and for a second Megan forgot her worries about the house and leaned forward in amazement.
‘Wow!’ she breathed. ‘She looks much better already—that’s brilliant of you!’
‘Wh-what’s happened?’ Anna looked at Jake and Cara in puzzlement, her voice slightly slurred. ‘I feel funny…sort of dizzy.’
‘In a minute you’ll be back to normal now you’ve had some glucose,’ said Jake, holding her hand comfortingly. ‘The ambulance will be here very soon and take you to hospital for a check-up. We need to make sure your diabetes is balanced again—you know how important that is.’
On cue, the sound of an ambulance’s siren came wafting over the thudding music, and in a few seconds a police car came speeding up the drive, followed by the ambulance, its blue light still flashing.
In no time at all the drive seemed to be filled with police and paramedics dressed in jackets with large fluorescent bands on them with the words PARAMEDIC or POLICE written on the back.
‘Ah, it’s Dr Donahue!’ said one of them. ‘What have you got for us this time, Doc?’
Jake put the paramedics quickly in the picture regarding Anna, and then both he and Cara watched as the young patient was stretchered into the ambulance and driven away.
The music had suddenly stopped and a line of sullen-looking youths and girls were coming out of the house, shepherded like reluctant sheep by several policemen. Megan looked a forlorn and dejected figure standing by Jake’s side.
‘Don’t worry, Megan,’ said Cara, going up to her. ‘I’ll come round tomorrow and see if I can help you clear up the mess. Perhaps you can get friends into help you too. It’ll seem a lot better in the morning…’
Megan smiled mournfully at her. ‘Thanks very much. I just don’t know how I’ll face Grannie and Grandpa, though—I was only meant to be having a few friends to stay for hogmanay.’
‘Where are you going to stay tonight?’ asked Jake. ‘I don’t think you should be here by yourself.’
‘I’ll go to my friend’s—her parents won’t mind me staying over.’
Both doctors were silent for a second, watching the young girl walk in a dejected way down the drive with a police officer to make a statement, then Jake turned to Cara.
‘Lucky you happened to be passing. It was a hairy situation and if you hadn’t been around, there might have been more to worry about than a trashed house.’
There was an engaging openness about the smile he gave, reflected Cara, giving him a more youthful air than his normally austere expression allowed. In fact, she thought with surprise, flicking a covert glance towards him under her lashes, he was rather a good-looking guy in his way—blue eyes, thick, dark hair and an athletic body—and probably the arrogance to go with it!
She smiled back at him. ‘I certainly didn’t expect to be thrown into a medical emergency as soon as I arrived back in Ballranoch—I was hoping for a few days’ rest!’
Jake frowned slightly, sweeping a critical gaze over her face. ‘We haven’t met before, by any chance?’
‘We have,’ she said simply. ‘About five years ago.’
He looked at her quizzically. ‘Go on—where?’
A faint smile lifted Cara’s mouth. ‘You were giving me some advice, telling me not to go to London—remember? Said I was letting Ballranoch down by going off to the Big Smoke and that I would hate it there!’
Jake nodded. ‘Of course! You’re Sir Gordon Mackenzie’s daughter, aren’t you?’ He paused for a minute, and looked over to Dan in the car. ‘I wasn’t aware you had a little boy. Gordon will be thrilled that you’ve brought him up for hogmanay.’
Cara’s heart fluttered for a second. ‘I hope so…Dan’s very excited about seeing him.’
‘It’s been quite a while since you’ve been up,’ observed Jake. ‘You must have a full life in London. Your career’s taken off, has it?’
His words hung in the air, the unspoken criticism being that her work came before seeing her father. Cara bit her lip—she was right about the arrogance!
‘Ballranoch’s a long way from London, and I’ve been very busy,’ she said tersely.
There was a short silence, and Jake started to dry his wet hair vigorously with a towel he took out of a small rucksack, his dark eyes appraising her closely. ‘So I was wrong—life’s been good to you in London?’
Cara swallowed and thought of the photograph she’d destroyed, and with it her memories of London. How this man would love to have been proved right in his predictions!
‘I’ve made many friends,’ she said brightly. ‘Had lots of good times.’ She looked curiously at Jake. ‘And you—you’re still working around here, then? You came five years ago as a locum to help my father, didn’t you? I thought you would have moved on from here—perhaps gone to a less isolated practice with more facilities.’
Jake’s face shadowed for a second and his lips tightened. ‘Ballranoch suits me very well.’ he said briefly as he stuffed the towel back in the bag.
Cara looked at him with surprise—she seemed to have touched a sensitive nerve there. He looked such a confident man she found it hard to believe there was a chink of vulnerability in that assured manner. She gave an inward shrug. So he had a story to tell in his background. It was none of her business, but she couldn’t help being intrigued.
‘Do you still help my father, then?’ she persisted.
He frowned slightly. ‘I would have thought Sir Gordon would have told you I became a partner in the practice a year or two back.’
Cara reddened. ‘Perhaps he did mention it—probably slipped my mind.’
‘It was getting hard for him, being a single-handed practice, and now I think the workload is too much for him even though I’m here.’ He paused, rubbing his thumb on his chin as he looked at her. ‘Things haven’t been easy for him since his wife…since Angela left, as you probably will have guessed.’
Angela! Hearing that hated name was like having a douche of cold water poured over her, and the blood pounded uncomfortably in Cara’s ears. It was hard to escape the fact that her stepmother had been the cause of all the heartbreak in her family, and unconsciously she clenched her fists. Whatever happened now, she was damned if she’d allow that woman to destroy their lives any more.
‘I can imagine how my father would feel,’ she said tersely. ‘I’m afraid she and I never got on very well.’
She made an effort to swing the conversation back to something safer, something that wouldn’t tear her heart so much. ‘So Ballranoch suits you—and your family?’
‘I live in the hills beyond the town—and, yes, I love it around here.’
Cara noticed that he didn’t expand on his family commitments. His stern expression softened as he glanced smilingly at Dan in the back of the car. ‘It will do Gordon a world of good to see his little grandson. Are you able to stay here for long?’
‘Er…I’m not sure.’ Cara bent down and put the glucometer back in her bag.
‘Dan’s father’s coming up separately, then?’
Cara flushed and a knife twisted inside her. She would have to get used to this question.
‘Dan’s father isn’t around any more,’ she said lightly, as if it had been of no more consequence than him being away on holiday, but her words hung heavy in the air.
‘Ah. I see…’ Jake nodded. ‘I’m sorry.’
She snapped the bag closed and looked quickly at her watch. ‘I really must go now—my little boy will be waking up soon and he’ll be very hungry. And, of course, I’m dying to see my father.’
Jake smiled. ‘Then perhaps I’ll see you later at your father’s hogmanay party.’
She stared at him in dismay. She’d forgotten about the traditional party, and the thought of being sociable after a long and tiring day wasn’t appealing. And how did she know yet that she’d be welcome?
‘Perhaps,’ she said cautiously.
They walked towards Cara’s car together, and he opened her door. ‘Thanks again for your help,’ he said. ‘We made a good emergency team. Perhaps we should start one up—this area’s short on emergency cover!’
For a second his eyes locked with Cara’s, then he turned and ran back along the drive. Cara smiled as she watched him disappear, an incongruous figure for a winter’s afternoon, dressed in running shorts, his shirt soaking wet and outlining the broad muscular shape of his chest. Like a bolt from the blue, a shiver almost like an electric shock crackled through her heart, and the hairs prickled at the back of her neck. Jake Donahue, she suddenly realised, was not only good-looking but emanated a sexual attraction that was rather too compelling!
She stared crossly at herself in the car mirror. Having made a fool of herself once, surely she wouldn’t allow herself to react to the first attractive man she’d met since Toby. Men were off limits as far as she was concerned—especially men like film stars with deep blue eyes! She’d been impetuous once before and it had nearly ruined her life. There was no way she was going to get involved in another relationship for a long time—especially with someone who probably had a wife and several children.
Shakily she put the car into gear and drove off towards her father’s house. The last thing she wanted at this moment was to have to socialise at her father’s party. What she needed more than anything was a time of peace and reflection, to build bridges with her father—not the effort of being sociable with people who were bound to ask questions.
A sigh and a yawn from the back seat alerted her that Dan was stirring and rubbing his eyes sleepily.
‘You’ve been so good, darling,’ she soothed as she turned into the tall gates of Glen Shee Manor. ‘Soon you’ll meet your grandpa, and have a nice drink of milk and some toast soldiers. And you’ll be able to play with Buchan, the dog.’
Dan brightened. ‘Can I see Grandpa now?’ he demanded.
‘In a minute,’ promised Cara.
Her heart pounded as she parked before the wide front door set in the stone arch with her family’s crest carved over the lintel, FAITHFUL AND LOYAL. A faint smile touched her lips. Perhaps it should have been STUBBORN AND UNYIELDING! She wondered if her father would forget the past and give her a loving welcome—or would it be cold indifference? Five years ago she and her father had parted on bitter terms. Now, after all this time and what had happened, she longed more than anything else to be reunited with him.
She drew in a deep breath and stepped forward with her son cuddled into her arms, and pulled the old-fashioned wire bell pull. This was the moment of truth for her and Dan—the next few minutes would determine whether they stayed or left.
There was a jangling noise deep within the house and after a short while the sound of footsteps coming slowly towards them and a dog barking. The door swung open.
The frail, stooping figure of Sir Gordon Mackenzie peered down at Cara and Dan from the steps of the porch and they gazed at each other for a long moment. Then he moved forward and touched her arm tentatively, as if unable to believe his own eyes.
‘Cara…Cara—is it really you?’ His voice trembled slightly.
Tears welled up in Cara’s eyes. How he’d aged! The last time she’d seen him he’d been portly, imposing. Now he looked gaunt, old and very tired.
‘Yes, Dad, it’s me.’ She smiled tremulously and then held up the little boy. ‘And this is Dan, your grandson.’
‘My…my grandson? My own grandson? But I never knew you had a child.’ The old man’s voice was a whisper and he looked incredulously at Cara and then Dan. ‘How…how old is he?’
‘Nearly three.’
‘Three!’ He put up a hand to touch the little boy’s head. At last he said unsteadily, ‘You’ve come to stay for a while, then?’
Cara swallowed a troublesome lump in her throat. ‘No, Dad, we’ve not come to stay for a while. We’ve come back to Ballranoch—if you’ll have us—to live.’
