Small Town Marriage Miracle

‘Which is where I come in,’ Emma said quickly, stifling a small pang of regret. Maybe she had been looking forward to a much-needed rest after a gruelling six months spent working overseas, but this was an emergency. If she ran the practice while her uncle recuperated, he would be less likely to worry. It was a small price to pay for all the love her aunt and uncle had lavished on her over the years.

‘I’ll take charge of the surgery while you’re away,’ she began, but her aunt shook her head.

‘Oh, no, you don’t need to do that, dear. Daniel will be here, so if you could just help out if it gets really busy, that would be more than enough.’

‘Daniel?’ Emma repeated, somewhat at a loss.

‘Yes. I’m sure I told you last night when you phoned that Daniel had agreed to step in earlier than planned. Or did I? I was so worried, you see.’

‘Daniel who?’ Emma put in hurriedly before her aunt could drift off at a tangent again.

‘Daniel Kennedy.’

Emma swung round when a deep voice answered her question. Her green eyes widened when she saw the tall, dark-haired man who was standing behind her. Just for a moment shock stole her ability to speak as she stared at him in dismay. It had been five years since she’d last seen him, and a lot had happened during that time, yet all of a sudden it felt as though she was right back to where she had been all those years ago—madly in love with the man she wanted to spend her whole life with. The thought scared her witless.

‘Hello, Emma.’ Daniel smiled at her but there was a wariness about the look he gave her, Emma realised, as though he wasn’t sure how she would feel about seeing him again.

He was right to wonder, too, Emma thought grimly as she rose to her feet. Maybe she had believed at one time that Daniel was the man for her, but she didn’t believe it any longer. The truth was that Daniel had used her, slept with her and then cast her aside when he had discovered she’d been getting too serious about him. It had taken her a long time to accept what he had done, but nowadays she was under no illusions. Daniel had never truly cared about her. He’d only ever cared about himself.

Emma took a deep breath. Maybe she hadn’t expected to see him here, but she would deal with it. She was no longer the naïve and trusting young woman she had been back then. She had grown up now and she had seen too much of the world to be dazzled by a man like Daniel Kennedy ever again!

Daniel felt as though his smile had been pasted into place. He had been dreading seeing Emma again for a number of reasons, although he wasn’t about to delve into them right then. He held out his hand, playing the role of old friend to the best of his ability even though he knew it wasn’t true. He and Emma had been a lot more than friends at one time.

‘It’s good to see you again, Emma. How are you?’

‘Fine, thank you.’

She shook his hand and a frisson ran through him when he felt the coolness of her skin. Just for a moment he was reminded of all the other occasions when he had touched her. Her skin had been cool then but it had soon warmed up as he had stroked and caressed her. The memory sent a surge of heat coursing through him and he hurriedly blanked it out, knowing how foolish it was to go down that route.

‘This must have come as a shock to you?’

‘It has.’ She glanced at her aunt and drew him aside. ‘Aunt Margaret just told me that Uncle Jim has been putting off having the bypass done. Is that true?’

‘Yes, it is.’ Daniel sighed. ‘You know how dedicated Jim is. I expect he was worried about what would happen to the practice if he took any time off.’

‘That’s so typical of him. He puts everyone else’s needs before his own.’ She gave him a hard look. ‘Did you know that he was delaying having surgery?’

‘No. I knew Jim had angina, of course, but he never admitted how bad things had got until last week,’ Daniel answered truthfully. ‘I suspect he only told me then because he needed my help. He’d finally agreed to have his op at the end of the month and he wanted me to cover for him.’

‘Really?’ Emma frowned. ‘I don’t understand why he asked you to take over the practice. He knew I was coming home, so why didn’t he ask me?’

‘I can’t answer that. You’ll have to ask Jim, although I suggest you leave it until after he’s had his operation.’ He shrugged when he saw her mouth tighten. It was obvious that she didn’t appreciate his advice but he refused to let it deter him. ‘Jim needs peace and quiet more than anything else at the moment. What he doesn’t need, Emma, is for us to be conducting some sort of personal vendetta.’

‘Don’t flatter yourself,’ she snapped back. ‘The days when I cared enough to fight with you, Daniel, are long gone.’

‘Good. Then it won’t cause any problems if I’m in charge of the practice in your uncle’s absence.’

‘The only problem I have is understanding why you’ve agreed to do it. I mean, working in the middle of nowhere is hardly a step up the professional ladder, is it, Daniel?’

Daniel flinched when he heard the scorn in her voice. It didn’t make it any easier to know that he only had himself to blame for it either. He’d been so desperate to convince her that there was no future for them that he had led her to believe that all he was interested in was his career. Now he was reaping the consequences.

‘It’s all good experience,’ he said quietly. ‘Plus, I’m very fond of your aunt and uncle. I’m happy to help in any way I can.’

‘How very altruistic of you.’ She smiled but her green eyes were chilly. ‘Of course a cynic would wonder if there was an ulterior motive to your generosity. Still, I’m sure the truth will come out at some stage.’

She turned away before he could reply, not that he could think of anything to say in his defence. Emma wouldn’t believe him if he told her that he wasn’t interested in personal advancement and never had been. All of a sudden he bitterly regretted those claims he had made about going into private practice one day, but what else could he have done? Accepted what she’d been offering him, knowing that it could ruin both their lives?

Daniel’s heart was heavy as he excused himself and made his way along the corridor. There was a coffee machine at the bottom of the stairs and he fed some coins into it. It disgorged a stream of insipid-looking liquid into a plastic cup but he didn’t care how it looked or tasted even. He took it over to the window and stood there staring out across the town. Avondale was a pretty little market town in the middle of the Yorkshire Dales. During the summer months, the population virtually doubled thanks to a steady influx of tourists, but at this time of the year there were few tourists willing to brave the inclement weather. He had first come to the town to do his GP training and that was how he had met Emma. She had just completed her rotations and was enjoying a well-deserved break before she took up a junior registrar’s post in Scotland with a top surgical team.

Daniel knew that competition for surgical posts was always fierce, and that it was particularly hard for a woman to break into that field. Whilst most consultants paid lip service to the idea of equality between the sexes, far too many refused to accept a woman as part of their team. The old prejudices were still rife: what was the point of training a woman when she would only leave to have a family? That Emma had overcome such narrow-minded thinking and secured a prestigious post for herself proved how hard she must have worked. He was impressed. He was also deeply attracted to her.

Almost before he’d realised what was happening, Daniel had fallen in love with her and she with him. It had been a gloriously blissful time for them both until Emma had announced one day that she had changed her mind about going into surgery. She no longer wanted such a demanding career, she’d claimed. She wanted a private life, time for them, so she would stay in England and train as a GP instead. That way they could be together.

Daniel had realised immediately that he couldn’t allow her to sacrifice her dreams for him. Although she might truly have believed that she was happy to give up her plans to become a surgeon, he knew how much it meant to her and that it would drive a wedge between them eventually if she didn’t fulfil her goals. He had seen it happen to his own parents, watched as his mother’s resentment at forsaking her career had eaten away at their marriage, and he had sworn the same thing would never happen to him.

For Emma to succeed in her chosen field, Daniel knew that she would need to focus all her attention on her training for the next few years. Even though he could have found a job in Scotland easily enough, he realised that it wasn’t the answer. She would be working long hours and wouldn’t have time to devote to a relationship. He would be a distraction for her, a hindrance, and he couldn’t bear the thought that she might fail because of him. Although it was the hardest decision he had ever made, he decided that he had to give Emma up rather than run the risk of her ending up hating him.

He sighed as he recalled her shock when he had told her curtly that he had no intention of making a commitment at that stage in his life. He had plans for the future and they were far more important than their relationship. The contempt in her eyes as she had told him that she understood had devastated him. He had almost weakened at that point and admitted that he’d lied, but somehow he had managed to hold back. She had packed her bags and left that same night and he hadn’t seen her again until today.

The sound of footsteps made him look round and he felt pain stab his heart when he saw her coming along the corridor. She must have come straight to the hospital from the airport because her clothes were crumpled after the long flight, her red-gold hair lying in tangled waves around her shoulders, but that didn’t matter. She was still the most beautiful and most desirable woman he had ever seen. It was only when she drew closer that Daniel could see the lines of strain that tugged down the corners of her mouth.

He knew from what Jim Haynes had told him that she’d been working overseas for the past six months and could imagine how hard it must have been, working under the most gruelling conditions. However, he also knew that it wasn’t the work or the shock of learning that her uncle was ill that made her look so drawn. It was seeing him again that was the problem. In that second Daniel realised that he had to make the situation as easy as possible for her. He couldn’t bear to think that he might end up hurting her again as he had hurt her once before.

Emma took a steadying breath as she stopped in front of Daniel, but she could feel her heart racing. Seeing him again had been a shock—she had admitted that—but she could handle it. She certainly didn’t intend to go to pieces just because the man she had once mistakenly thought she’d loved had reappeared in her life.

‘Aunt Margaret has gone in to see Uncle Jim,’ she said coolly. ‘They’ll be doing the bypass later today and she wants to sit with him until it’s time for him to go to Theatre.’

‘The sooner it’s done, the better.’

There was a roughness to Daniel’s voice that troubled her until she realised how stupid it was to let it worry her. Daniel Kennedy was part of her past, nothing more than a memory she had long since relegated to the darkest reaches of her mind.

‘Definitely.’ She glanced along the corridor, giving herself a moment to absorb that thought. When she turned to face him again, she was pleased to discover that she didn’t feel a thing. ‘I’m not sure how long it’s going to take, but there doesn’t seem any point you hanging around here.’

‘It isn’t a problem.’ He checked his watch and shrugged. ‘I don’t need to get back to the surgery for another couple of hours yet, so I’ll stay a bit longer.’

‘There’s no need. Aunt Margaret will be fine.’ Emma stood up straighter, determined to get her own way. ‘I’m more than capable of looking after her.’

‘I’m sure you are.’ He smiled, his hazel eyes skimming over her face before they came to rest on her mouth, and despite her resolve, Emma felt a little flutter of awareness in the pit of her stomach. She took a quick breath, determined that it wasn’t going to grow into anything bigger. The days when one of Daniel’s smiles could turn her insides to jelly were long gone!

‘You always were very good at looking after other people, Emma, but you need to think about yourself for once. You’ve had a long journey to get here and you must be tired. Why not let me stay with your aunt while you go home and get some sleep?’

‘I don’t need you to tell me what to do!’ she shot back, terrified by the speed of her response. One minute she’d had herself under control and the next …

She shivered as a wave of fear swept over her. She couldn’t bear to think that Daniel still had an effect on her. Five years ago she would have done anything for them to be together, but he had made it clear that all he’d cared about was his career. It had been a devastating blow but it had taught her a valuable lesson: she would never make the mistake of falling in love again.

‘I am not trying to tell you what to do. I’m just making a suggestion. It’s entirely up to you whether you stay here or go home.’

His tone was reasonable in the extreme and she felt her face heat. She knew she was overreacting and she hated to think that Daniel might read anything into it. She didn’t care about him any longer, but if she carried on this way, he would never believe that.