‘Just look at the facts, Miles. We run a very busy rural practice here. We don’t take private patients and we certainly don’t have any VIPs on our list. We’re just your average, run-of-the-mill GPs’ surgery and I find it hard to understand why Harry would offer to work here. So you tell me, what’s in it for Harry?’
‘The pleasure of your company?’
Grace spun round when a familiar voice cut into the conversation. Her mouth thinned when she spotted Harry lounging in the doorway. It had been some time since she’d seen him but he’d changed very little from what she could tell. As her eyes skimmed over the coal-black hair, the marine-blue eyes, the clean-cut jaw, she couldn’t stop the appreciative flutter her nerves gave, a warning that she was as susceptible as any woman to Harry Shaw’s undoubted charms. The difference was that she knew what he was really like and she wasn’t about to be taken in by good looks and a nice line in chat.
‘I’m flattered, Harry. Or I would be if I was fool enough to believe you.’ She treated him to a chilly smile which wavered when she saw the expression that crossed his face. Good heavens, surely Harry’s feelings hadn’t been hurt by that remark.
‘Harry, good to see you again. I was beginning to wonder if you’d got lost. I’m hopeless at giving people directions, I’m afraid.’ Miles leapt to his feet and rushed across the room to greet him.
Grace dismissed that fanciful notion when she realised what her partner had said. She looked accusingly at him as he led Harry over to the desk. ‘You never mentioned that you’d invited Harry here tonight.’
‘Didn’t I? Purely an oversight, I assure you.’ Miles fussed around, fetching a chair and taking Harry’s overcoat. He hung it on the peg behind the door then looked pleadingly at Grace. ‘I know we haven’t had time to discuss this, but you know as well as I do that we desperately need help. I’ve been onto the agency every single day this week about hiring another locum but they simply haven’t got anyone on their books willing to relocate at this time of the year. Nobody wants to spend the winter months in such a remote part of the country, apparently.’
‘So what you’re saying is that it’s Harry or nothing,’ Grace said sweetly.
‘Well, I wouldn’t put it quite like that,’ Miles blustered in embarrassment, although Harry didn’t seem the least perturbed by her bluntness.
‘Why not, if it’s true?’ He clapped Miles on the shoulder then smiled at Grace. ‘A bit of a dilemma for you, isn’t it? It’s a choice between letting me loose on your patients or going under. I’d find it very difficult to choose in your shoes, too, Gracie.’
‘Don’t call me that.’ She sat down behind her desk and glared at him. ‘You know how I hate stupid nicknames.’
‘Sorry.’
He didn’t sound sorry but short of making a fuss and thereby letting him think he’d scored a point, there was nothing she could do about it. She smiled up at him, her grey eyes colder than the January sky outside the consulting-room window. ‘Apology accepted. So shall we start from the beginning? Why have you offered to work here when you made it abundantly clear in the past what you thought about general practice?’
‘Because you and Miles need a helping hand.’
Harry sat down and crossed one long leg over the other as he waited for her next sally. Grace wasn’t fool enough to go rushing in unprepared, however. She took the time to study him instead.
He was as impeccably dressed as ever, she noted sourly, the black suit he was wearing obviously not something he’d picked up off the peg. He’d teamed it with a pale blue shirt and a jaunty red and blue silk tie that must have cost a small fortune, but, then, money had never been a problem for Harry because his family was loaded. Harry was used to having the best of everything and it showed.
By contrast, poor Miles looked even more dishevelled than usual. Miles had been struggling to cope since his wife, Penny, had found out last month that she was pregnant. Penny had lost a baby only the previous year and they were both desperate that she didn’t lose this one, so Miles had insisted that Penny must do as little as possible during the first trimester. However, it had put him under even more pressure and it was starting to show.
Grace knew that Miles had been doing far too much, but there was little she could do to help when her own workload seemed to be increasing on an almost daily basis. The truth was that the practice was getting far too big for the two of them to manage. Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad, having Harry here, if it gave them a respite, she conceded grudgingly.
‘How about a cup of coffee?’ Miles suggested, jumping up. He rubbed his chest and grimaced. ‘That’ll teach me to bolt my lunch. I’ve had indigestion all afternoon. I’d better take some antacids while I’m at it.’
‘Don’t go to any trouble on my account,’ Harry said easily. ‘I’ll be having dinner when I get back to the hotel.’
‘Oh, it’s no trouble. Anyway, it will give you and Grace a chance to talk and see if you can reach a compromise.’ Miles turned to her and Grace could see the beseeching look in his eyes. ‘Just don’t say no before you’ve had time to think about the idea.’
Grace didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to upset Miles but neither was she prepared to be pushed into a decision she might come to regret. She waited until the door had closed before she turned to Harry again.
‘All right, I’m willing to admit that having you here would be a big help at the moment, but how come you happen to have so much free time on your hands? The last I heard you’d been appointed to some new government health committee. I’d have thought you would have had enough to do with that on top of your job at St Theresa’s.’
‘St Theresa’s has been undergoing a major refurbishment programme for the past two years. Obviously, we couldn’t close the whole hospital while the work was being done so we’ve had to shut each department in turn.’ He shrugged. ‘It’s our turn at the moment, so it seemed like the ideal opportunity to take some of the time I had owing to me.’
‘It won’t be much of a holiday if you end up working here,’ she pointed out.
‘Oh, I don’t know. They say that a change is as good as a rest, don’t they?’ he quipped, tipping back his chair and grinning at her.
It was the sort of smile that Grace had seen him bestow dozens of times before on some poor unsuspecting woman or other, but if Harry thought he could turn on the charm and get her to agree to his proposal, he was mistaken. Harry never did anything unless it furthered his own interests and she wasn’t about to let him fob her off with any nonsense.
‘I can’t see any point in trying to have a sensible discussion if that’s your attitude.’ She went to stand up then stopped when Harry leant across the desk. Her heart jolted when she saw how serious he looked. Normally, Harry treated life as a huge joke just there for his enjoyment and it was unsettling to see this other side of him for once.
‘I’m sorry. I know how you feel about me, Grace. I should do because you’ve always made it perfectly clear that you doubted my motives. So to answer your question properly, I happened to be in the area on business rather than on holiday. Working here for a couple of weeks won’t spoil my plans one little bit.’
He didn’t explain what sort of business had brought him all the way to Cumbria and Grace didn’t ask. What Harry did was of little interest to her, except where it impinged on her own life, of course.
‘I see. Now that your business has been concluded, you have some free time on your hands.’ Her brows rose steeply when he nodded. ‘That’s very altruistic of you, Harry. Not many people would offer to give up their time off like this.’
‘I just want to help. Miles told me about your locum leaving and what had happened to your practice nurse.