Posh Doc, Society Wedding

Posh Doc, Society Wedding
Joanna Neil

Posh Doc, Society Wedding

Joanna Neil

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

Table of Contents

Cover Page (#u0a695e3c-37c2-5604-8914-d5b27bb32372)

Title Page (#ubbd3fec4-b173-5140-a4a8-7a5d43430313)

About the Author (#uf465af40-162c-5554-b25e-5b82920b4ed7)

Chapter One (#ue475994c-73f1-5308-8c45-fb3dc643e760)

Chapter Two (#uc6982f50-a809-5657-a4cc-47ba7c9ca399)

Chapter Three (#u0f752560-888d-58db-8103-498d37c41636)

Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

When Joanna Neil discovered Mills & Boon®, her lifelong addiction to reading crystallised into an exciting new career writing Medical™ Romance. Her characters are probably the outcome of her varied lifestyle, which includes working as a clerk, typist, nurse and infant teacher. She enjoys dressmaking and cooking at her Leicestershire home. Her family includes a husband, son and daughter, an exuberant yellow Labrador and two slightly crazed cockatiels. She currently works with a team of tutors at her local education centre, to provide creative writing workshops for people interested in exploring their own writing ambitions.

Chapter One

THE doorbell made a cheerful jangle as Izzy walked into the village store, and the scent of freshly baked bread came to greet her, wafting on the air, teasing her nostrils and making her mouth water. Hunger pangs clutched at her stomach, causing her to frown momentarily. When had she last eaten? Could she count the couple of bites she’d taken from a sandwich several hours ago before all hell broke loose in A&E?

‘You look as though you’re ready to be off home, Izzy. Has it been a difficult day for you?’ Mary the shopkeeper came forward from behind the counter, her all-seeing glance taking in Izzy’s pale countenance, a smile softening her features.

‘You could say that.’ Izzy’s mouth made a faint curve in response. Mary was a motherly figure, always ready to talk, the sparkle in her blue eyes belying the years hinted at in her grey hair. ‘Unfortunately there was a triple-car accident on the dual carriageway earlier, and we were kept busy for most of the day dealing with all the casualties. We patched up the ones who were really badly injured, and sent them on to the hospital in Inverness.’ Izzy broke off to glance around the shop, taking in the wide assortment of goods on display.

Mary nodded. ‘I heard about it on the local radio. I guessed they would be taken to your A&E first of all, it being the nearest. It was a marvellous day when they gave the go-ahead to set up the unit next to the health centre, wasn’t it? You and your doctor colleagues must have helped so many people there over the last few months.’

‘It’s true we’ve been in demand.’ Izzy turned her gaze from shelves filled with household essentials and pushed back a swathe of chestnut coloured hair that had fallen across her cheek. ‘Living here in the Highlands, people have always faced a long journey to hospital, but now the new A&E unit acts as a halfway station. Knowing it had been given the go ahead was one of the things that drew me back here…that and the fact that I can go out as an immediate care responder. It makes for variety and gives me a sense that I’m doing something worthwhile.’

Izzy’s gaze wandered again. She had dropped in here planning to pick up a set of teacloths for her kitchen, but her senses were filled with the appetising aroma of hot meat pasties and oven-fresh bread.

Mary smiled. ‘I guessed you would come back to us before too long…once you had completed your medical training. This place is in your blood. You were always one to love the hills and the mountains, and I remember when you were a teenager you could often be found down by the harbour, watching the boats.’

The shopkeeper contemplated that for a moment or two, but then her face straightened, her mouth pulling in a flat line. ‘Unlike some I could mention. You’d think the Laird would put in an appearance at the castle from time to time, wouldn’t you, instead of leaving everything for Jake Ferguson to handle? Not that Jake’s done a great deal to help things along in the Laird’s absence…And now it looks as though he’ll be doing even less, if it’s true he’s thinking of moving down south to be with his daughter.’

‘Is he?’ Izzy raised a brow. No wonder she hadn’t received a reply to her request for various repairs to be carried out on her rented property. Jake obviously had other things on his mind. Why was she the last to know what was going on in the village? Her mouth made a rueful quirk. That was what came of working all hours and trying to mind her own business.

‘That’s what Finn the postman reckons.’ Mary was frowning. ‘He’s always the first to know the gossip.’ She gave a small gesture of dissatisfaction at the complexities of life before gathering herself together once more. ‘Anyway, what can I get for you today, Izzy?’ she asked. ‘Will you be wanting a loaf of bread to take home? I’ve just brought a batch fresh from the oven, and I know how much you like it.’

‘Thanks, Mary. That would be lovely…and a couple of those pasties, too, since I’m in no mood for cooking today. I’m so hungry I could eat one here and now.’

‘Then you must do that,’ Mary said with a chuckle, handing her a pasty along with a serviette.

‘Thanks. You’re a life-saver.’ Izzy took a bite, savouring the tender meat and flaky pastry before brushing crumbs from her mouth. ‘Mmm…that’s delicious.’ She closed her eyes fleetingly, to better relish the experience. ‘And will you add a bag of my father’s favourite mint sweets? I’ll drop them off to him on my way home. And my mother’s magazine, if it’s come in.’

‘Aye. I can do all that. And we’ve a new batch of diaries in, ready for the New Year, if you’re interested. I’m very taken with them, with the gold embossed lettering and the soft feel of the leather.’

Izzy glanced over to the display rack where the diaries were set out, and paused to run a clean index finger lightly over the cover of one that stood to the front. ‘You’re right—and I will take one with me, before they’re all snapped up. They’re beautiful, aren’t they?’ She gave a gentle sigh. ‘If only we could really start afresh with each year that comes along. We’ve still a few weeks to go before then, though, haven’t we? It seems like an eternity. These last few months have been so difficult, in one way or another…For all of us, not just for my family. I can’t say I’ll be sorry to see an end to this year.’

‘Me, too.’ Mary put in a heartfelt acknowledgement. ‘The business is limping along, but I’m not alone in that…all the villagers are having a tough time of it.’

Izzy nodded, taking a moment to finish off her pasty before wandering over to the shelves where the teacloths were stacked. ‘The crofters haven’t been doing too well, have they?’ She frowned, pausing to pick up a linen cloth, holding it up to the light of the window. It was pleasingly decorated with a Highland scene, depicting a shimmering loch bordered on either side by craggy, heather-clad mountains. ‘I know the harvest was poor this year, so it’s probably just as well the majority have other jobs to keep them going.’

‘It is,’ Mary acknowledged, ‘but I can’t help thinking you’ve come off worse than any of us, with your cousin Alice being in hospital and all. Your poor mother was terribly shaken up by it, I know.’

‘Yes, it hit us hard, all of us—my mother especially. Hearing about the car crash came as a dreadful blow. After all, Alice lived with us for a few years after her parents passed away, and she was more like a sister to me.’ Izzy was still shocked by the thought of the accident that had kept Alice in hospital these several months. It saddened her that she was helpless to do anything to speed up her recovery, and it wrung her heart that there was so much bitterness and recrimination associated with the whole event.

Her father had never reconciled himself to the circumstances that had taken Alice away from them, some six or seven years ago, and now her return to Scotland was tinged with unhappiness.

She tried not to think about it. Instead she looked out of the window at the landscape of her birth, a sight that invariably had the power to calm her. In the distance she could see the glorious hills and mountains of the West Highlands, with white painted houses clustered along the road that wound gently through the glen, and if she looked very carefully she could just make out the curve of the bay and the small harbour where boats bobbed gently on the water.

Bringing her glance closer to home, she looked to where the side road led on to the paved forecourt of the village shop. She thought she heard the soft purr of an engine drawing closer. Moments later a gleaming four-by-four made an appearance, gliding to a halt in front of the store.

‘Well, there’s a vehicle that makes a grand statement, if ever there was one.’ Mary came to join her by the window, and both women looked out at the majestic silver Range Rover that had come into view. ‘Now, who do you think that belongs to?’ the shopkeeper queried absently. ‘No one from around here, that’s for sure.’

Izzy didn’t answer, but watched as the driver slid down from the car and walked purposefully round to the passenger side. He pulled open the door and reached inside the vehicle, resting his arm on one of the seats as he paused to speak to someone who was sitting in the back.

Perhaps it was the casual, loose-limbed confidence in the way he moved that caught Izzy’s attention, or maybe it was the taut stretch of black denim straining against his strong thighs that alerted her, or even the sweep of his broad shoulders, clad in a supple leather jacket…Either way, Izzy’s senses were suddenly geared into action. A band of tension tautened her abdomen. She realised there was something intensely familiar about the rugged, long-legged man who had come out of the blue to fill her vision.

Right now he was inviting a tawny-haired child to step down from the vehicle, and when the girl hesitated he lifted his arms to grasp her with both hands and swing her effortlessly from her seat, setting her carefully down on the ground. For a second or two, as he paused to steady her, he looked towards the far hills, so that his features came momentarily into sharp relief. Izzy pulled in a brief, harsh breath of recognition.

What had Mary said about the Laird not coming home? She watched as he stood aside to encourage a young boy to jump down from the car, and beside her Mary echoed what they were both thinking.

‘Well, I never. Talk of the devil. If it isn’t himself, come to grace us with his presence. And aren’t those children with him your Alice’s bairns? I thought they were staying with their aunt, Alice’s sister, down in the Lake District?’ She frowned. ‘I wonder what brings him to these parts after all this time? How long has it been? About six years, do you think?’