She’d certainly seemed impressed on her first viewing of it, which was not surprising as it was a delightful small let, and for someone like her who was probably having to carry the burden of repaying a student loan, he could afford to be generous in what he asked for rental, just as long as she stayed on her side of their living arrangements, and left him to enjoy his well-earned rest with an easy conscience after having helped her to settle back into the village to some small degree.
He’d known that a medical graduate was joining them in a couple of weeks. That she’d lived in the village when she was young and even then had wanted to be part of the practice when she grew up.
Along with his two partners he had been in favour of taking a talented young newcomer into the practice to help cope with their growing number of patients as new lakeside properties were being built all the time, and had agreed that she would help to fill the gap that would be coming soon when Libby wanted to point herself towards full-time motherhood.
He was pretty sure that she and Nathan would be surprised when they discovered that the newcomer had arrived earlier than expected, but would be better equipped to deal with it than he’d been.
It wasn’t so much her sudden appearance as the way he’d coped with it that was making him feel uncomfortable, but the offer of the accommodation above the garage should hopefully redeem him!
When he got up from the breakfast table Hugo glanced down the road as he often did to where the lake could be seen a short distance away with the fells towering above it, and the feeling of rightness that it always gave him was there, until he saw a slender figure wearing a red cape over a neat grey dress striding briskly towards the house with pale cheeks rosy from the winter morning’s chill and hair fastened back off her face into a neat twist.
She was moving straight towards the apartment without a glance in his direction but when he opened his front door and called across to her she came slowly towards him.
‘You’re up bright and early,’ he commented when they came face to face. ‘The surgery won’t be open for another hour.’
‘Yes, I know,’ she told him, ‘I’ve been down by the lake again and stopped for a coffee at the only café that was open at this time.’
‘I wanted a word,’ he said, stepping back to let her into the hallway. She entered hesitantly. ‘I’ve been having a think about your accommodation problem.’
He saw surprise in the big brown eyes observing him for a second and then it was replaced by wariness. She didn’t speak, just waited to hear what he had to say, and as she listened she was filled with delighted amazement.
‘If you should feel that you would like to rent the apartment I would be willing to discuss it with you,’ he was saying. ‘On thinking about it I feel that it would be easier from my point of view to have just one regular tenant in there, rather than having to deal with different ones all the time on a holiday let basis.
‘So think about it, and if you are interested let me know, but before you do I feel that I must tell you that at this time of year there are always lots of places to rent before the holiday season clocks in. So feel free to use the apartment for the time being until you’ve had time to sort out your priorities with Libby and Nathan, as they might already have somewhere in mind for you.’
She was dumbstruck. Of course she would want to stay in the lovely apartment where she’d spent the night, but what had changed? Only yesterday she’d felt that Hugo Lawrence was irritated by her presence, keen to see the back of her, and now …?
Concealing her pleasure at the thought of accepting his offer, she answered gravely, ‘I will do as you say, Dr Lawrence, and give your suggestion some thought. Thank you for allowing me to stay until I have had the chance to do that, and now if you will excuse me I’m going to have some breakfast before presenting myself at the surgery.’
‘Sure,’ he agreed easily. ‘I’ll see you there later. I hope that your first day will be a good one.’
Once inside the apartment Ruby’s gravity was cast aside and she danced around the place delightedly. Of course she was going to take up Hugo Lawrence’s offer, but after the way she’d butted into his well-organised life and been received with what could only be described as reluctance, a more staid approach was called for when she was in his company.
As for the rest of it, she was in a state of bliss at his suggestion because the surgery and the lake were so close. She would be able to explore all her old haunts again. Life was as good as it was likely to get, just as long as the precarious path to good health that her young brother had to travel along didn’t have any life-threatening side turnings.
Hugo was smiling when she’d gone. Not so docile this morning, was she? It would be interesting to see how she came over at the practice with Libby, Nathan, the rest of the staff and the patients. Maybe he should have offered to drive her down there instead of leaving her to make a solo appearance, but he wanted to call on one of his patients who was causing grave concern on his way to the surgery, and in any case the newcomer needed to stand on her own two feet from the start.
‘Ruby! Is it really you?’ Libby exclaimed as she was opening up the surgery at eight o’clock and saw the new junior doctor approaching.
‘We were not expecting you just yet.’
‘I know,’ Ruby told her apologetically. ‘But I suddenly found myself homeless on Saturday and decided that the only thing to do was come straight here and hope you wouldn’t mind me descending upon you without notice.’
‘And we weren’t here, were we? What a shame! So where have you stayed for the last two days?’ Libby asked, and taking her arm, ‘Come inside out of the cold and we’ll have a cup of tea and a chat before everyone arrives. Nathan is at the cottage, getting Toby ready for school, and will be here about half past nine when he’s seen him safely inside.’
‘I hope you don’t mind me arriving too soon,’ Ruby said as Libby brewed a pot of tea in a pleasant kitchen at the far end of the building.
‘Not at all,’ she assured her. ‘We are very busy and badly need your input in the practice, but I haven’t yet sorted out anywhere for you to live, so we must see to that before anything else.’
The young newcomer was smiling. ‘I’m already fixed up with accommodation. When I arrived on Saturday in a pretty distressed state I asked the first person I saw if he knew where you might be and it turned out that I was speaking to Dr Lawrence.’
She wasn’t going to mention sleeping in his room on top of his bed! ‘He let me use the apartment over his garage until now, and has said if I want to rent it I can.’
‘You’ve already met Hugo, then!’ Libby exclaimed, ‘and he’s willing to let you rent that delightful apartment! Wow! You must have made a good impression.’
‘I doubt it,’ she said whimsically, ‘but I think he feels that a regular tenant is the lesser of two evils rather than one let after another. He’s told me to think about it, not to rush into anything I might regret, but I don’t need to, the place is gorgeous so I’m going to agree to his suggestion before he changes his mind.’
The rest of the staff was arriving in ones and twos and as she was introduced to each in turn Ruby’s dream was being realised. When at last she and Libby were alone in the small consulting room that would be hers she said, ‘I’m so grateful for this opportunity to be part of the Swallowbrook practice, Dr Gallagher.’
‘And we are delighted to have you with us,’ Libby told her. ‘If there is anything that you’re not sure of don’t be afraid to ask.’ As Nathan appeared at that moment to offer his words of welcome, she said to him, ‘Ruby has already met Hugo. He took her in for the weekend when we weren’t around and has offered her the apartment above his garage to rent.’
‘Really!’