Midwife"s Baby Wish (ebook)

Argumento de Midwife"s Baby Wish (ebook)

Life has to go on. Lyn Pierce's husband is dead. Now there is no need for her to worry about whether or not she can have children. Bringing babies into the world makes her happy and so she is more than contented with her life as a midwife. Then Dr Adam Fletcher joins her practice. They meet first when he rescues her from drowning and they quickly become more than just friends. But Adam loves children, and is determined to have a family. He loves Lyn as much as she loves him. But could she marry a man when the chances are that they will never have a child of their own?

It was Adam’s last appointment so Lyn came back to see him after she’d seen Marion out. ‘She was your patient,’ he pointed out. ‘You could have referred her yourself. You probably know more about this kind of thing than I do.’

Lyn was pleased that he could acknowledge this. ‘Just calming Marion down a bit,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry if you feel that I was wasting your …’

‘Good Lord, no! You were wasting nothing. Patients are entitled to reassurance, no matter where it comes from. There’s much more to medicine than diagnosing and prescribing.’

She liked this idea. She found that she didn’t want to leave the room; she wanted to stay to chat a while. He was an easy man to chat to. ‘How have you enjoyed your first half day here?’

‘I’ve enjoyed it no end. It’s different, having a practice that’s scattered all over the local hills instead of one that’s confined to a few city streets. Perhaps I’ll look for a permanent job here, never go back to London. I like the weather, the scenery.’ He paused a moment and then said, ‘I very much like the people, too.’

She didn’t want to think too much about this. Hastily, she said, ‘Wait till winter time. You might change your mind.’

‘I doubt it.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘That seems to be the end of my morning session. Shall we go and have a coffee together?’

But Lyn decided that she needed a breathing space before she met him again. ‘I do my rounds this afternoon. I think I’d better get off at once. See you around, Adam.’ And she fled.

When she’d gone, Adam went to the window of his consulting room and looked out. There was a view across the lawn to a grove of great trees, and beyond he could see a line of hills, with distant white-painted farmhouses. Very different from the noisy streets outside his old London rooms. He was going to like working here.

Apart from his experience in the silo, he’d had a typical GP’s morning. A patient with persistent backache – he’d decided it was muscular rather than anything affecting the kidneys. An embarrassed older woman for whom he’d prescribed medication for cystitis. An eighty-year-old man who’d really dropped in for a chat, but had been happy to be reassured and given a prescription for his chest complaint. A mother whose child could not shake off a cold.

There were no life-threatening diseases, nothing greatly exciting. But he was meeting people, helping them with their problems, making their lives easier. It was what he enjoyed.

The work was different from his work in the city. There was an expectation that there’d be a little time for a chat, that he was a person as well as a doctor.

A couple of his patients had taken over an hour travelling to see him – the practice was very widespread so people expected a little more than a quick diagnosis and prescription. They had social needs.

So, he liked the surroundings and the work. But it wasn’t just these that attracted him. He’d just had his first professional encounter with Lyn. He knew he was going to work well with her. And he hoped they might become friends. Or even more.

That evening Jane and Cal called on her, bringing Helen with them. They often called round as, being next door neighbours, Jane and Lyn had become very close.

‘We’ve got something to tell you, or ask you,’ Cal said, holding Jane’s hand. ‘I’ve persuaded Jane to move into the house with me. We’ll be getting married soon and it’s silly her running between my house and hers. And Jane says my place needs a woman’s touch.’

‘And how,’ said Jane.

‘Moving in does make more sense,’ Lyn agreed, ‘and I’ll be sorry to see you go. But what did you have to ask me?’

‘How d’you feel about having Adam Fletcher as a neighbour? He’s been renting a cruiser for a few weeks but at present he’s lodging at the Red Lion. He’s happy enough there but I think he’d like a place of his own. It’s just that when you first heard he was coming to the practice you didn’t seem too pleased.’

‘He’s not like I thought he might be,’ Lyn said. ‘In fact, I quite like him. I’m sure we’ll get on well, though not as well as I’ve got on with Jane. But it was good of you to ask me, Cal.’

‘Settled, then.’ Cal grinned and looked down affectionately at Helen. ‘Come on, twinkles, time to go home for supper.’

When they had gone, Lyn wondered about what had been decided. She and Jane had been in and out of each other’s houses, each other’s lives, for the past few months. How would it be with Adam? There were another two houses in the little terrace, and she got on with the inhabitants well enough. But something told her that she’d see more of Adam.

She’d be living next door to a very attractive man, who seemed to have indicated that he found her attractive, too. She was half excited, half afraid. Then it struck her, with a force that was entirely unexpected, that if he asked her out – if he seemed to want to see more of her – she would accept. She swallowed. In half a minute her entire life picture, the way she saw herself, had changed. She was no longer Lyn Pierce, a widow. She was Lyn Pierce, a young, unmarried woman.

She swallowed. This would take some getting used to.0