He smashed a fist against the wall and inhaled deeply. Damn, she was right. They were going to kill each other. What had his father been thinking of, arranging for them to work together when he knew that there was so much animosity between them? When he knew that they were just so different? It was all very well saying that they didn’t need to see much of each other, but they were running a small practice. They were the only two doctors. How could they not see each other?
And how was he going to cope with Anna being confrontational and prickly with a camera stuck in his face all day?
He gritted his teeth and applied his brain to the problem.
The first thing was that the cameras certainly couldn’t be allowed free access, otherwise they could find themselves filming bloodshed. He’d have to stage each shoot carefully, making sure that Anna wasn’t within firing distance.
And the second thing was that he was going to work as independently as possible. Surely he could just see his patients and she could see hers? Did they really need to talk much?
And he wasn’t going to involve himself in the practice. He was going to do the job and then see what happened. And if his father decided to retire, he’d find him the best possible replacement. And it wasn’t going to be him. Hadn’t his parents always accepted that this wasn’t the practice for him? His life was in London. He’d chosen a different path. He didn’t want to work here permanently any more than Anna wanted him to.
Satisfied that, given sufficient thought, it would be possible to minimise the contact between them, he finally pushed open the glass door of the surgery and walked into the car park.
Glenda turned up, breathless and apologetic, five minutes before surgery started. She dropped her bag behind the reception desk and smoothed her hair, clearly flustered.
‘Are you OK?’ Anna frowned in concern and Glenda gave a bright smile.
‘I’m fine. Sorry I’m a bit late. I was caught up.’
Caught up with what? Anna wanted to ask, but now wasn’t the time with a busy surgery about to start and Sam strolling across the reception area as if he’d worked here all his life.
How could he be so relaxed?
‘Hi, Glenda.’ He gave the receptionist a big hug and for some reason that she couldn’t quite identify Anna felt her tension rise.
It was just her that he needled and goaded. With everyone else he was capable of being extremely civilised. Warm. People in the village had always adored Sam McKenna and now he was a major TV personality they never stopped talking about him.
Glenda’s face softened. ‘Oh—Dr McKenna. How lovely to see you.’ She pulled away and tried to straighten her hair, her movements jerky and uncoordinated. ‘I suppose you’ll be helping our Anna. Good thing, too. She needs some help around here. She’s been struggling for far too long.’
Anna’s frown deepened. Glenda knew that she and Sam didn’t see eye to eye on anything. Why would she think it was a good thing that he’d arrived? Had she known that David had appointed him as locum?
Or was it just that she wasn’t concentrating because she had something else on her mind?
She hated to admit that Sam was right about anything, but suddenly Anna decided that a conversation with the receptionist was becoming a priority.
‘Busy surgery.’ Glenda flicked on the computer and checked the appointments, seeming more flustered than usual. ‘Open those doors and let the battle commence.’
Resolving to tackle Glenda in private later, Anna turned to Sam. ‘I know that this is throwing you in at the deep end, but can you take your father’s surgery? I expect you’ll know some of the patients anyway, and if you need to know anything that isn’t in the notes you can buzz through to me. Press 4 on your phone. Or I’m just next door.’
Sam lifted an eyebrow, his expression mocking. ‘Sure you don’t want to sit in with me, just to be sure that I don’t kill anyone?’
She gritted her teeth. ‘I don’t think you’re about to kill anyone.’
‘No.’ His voice was dry. ‘You just think my clinical skills are rustier than an old garden fork.’
‘I’m just aware that it’s probably a long time since you did a consultation that wasn’t staged. The way our surgeries run at the moment, there’s not a lot of time to look in a textbook between cases. And you only get the one take.’ Anna sucked in a breath. ‘I was trying to be helpful. Next time I won’t bother.’
‘Good idea. You worry about your own patients. I’ll worry about mine.’ Without giving her time to respond, Sam strode down the corridor towards his father’s consulting room.
‘I’m going to kill him.’ For the first time since she was five years old, Anna found herself wanting to stamp her foot. With an enormous effort of will she managed to restrict herself to an inward growl of frustration. ‘Well, at least we don’t need to change the name on his door,’ she muttered, and then turned to Glenda who was watching open-mouthed. ‘Don’t look like that.’
Glenda found her voice. ‘Nice to see that neither of you have changed,’ she said faintly, and Anna sighed.
‘Oh, don’t make me feel guilty. Maybe I shouldn’t have spoken to him like that, but the guy drives me crazy. And whatever he says to the contrary, he hasn’t seen a real patient for ages. Diseases that they stage for the camera aren’t the same thing at all.’
Glenda frowned. ‘Anna, I thought he’d—’
‘He won’t admit it, of course, because he’s a man, and a man with a big ego,’ Anna said, reaching forward to pick up a pile of results, ‘but you’d better keep an eye on him, Glenda. If you think he’s got a problem with someone, let me know because his pride won’t let him do it himself and he certainly won’t ask me.’
Glenda looked confused. ‘But, Anna, I thought that Dr McKenna—’
‘Oh, let’s drop the subject for now,’ Anna muttered, deciding that she’d had enough of talking about Sam McKenna. ‘Just buzz me if you think there’s a problem.’
With that, she walked through to her own surgery and settled herself behind her desk. Instantly she felt calmer and more in control. This was her space, a place that she loved, and even having Sam next door couldn’t spoil it.
She switched on her computer and pressed the buzzer for her first patient. Seconds later there was a tap on the door and a young mother entered, struggling with a wriggling toddler.
‘Hello, Heather, how are things?’ Anna had been in the year above Heather at school and the two of them were still friends.
That was the wonderful thing about general practice, she mused as she stood up and walked around her desk to admire the baby. You knew the patients. Not like Accident and Emergency where she’d spent six months during her GP rotational training. There the patients were little more than cases and numbers. In general practice the patients had lives. They were real. And the family doctor was part of all that. It was a job worth doing.
‘It isn’t me, Anna,’ Heather murmured, settling herself in the chair and trying to persuade the whining toddler to sit still with her. ‘It’s Grace. She’s had a personality change lately and, frankly, I’m ready to scream.’
Anna reached for her favourite puppet and slipped her hand inside. ‘Hi, Grace,’ she said cheerfully, waggling the furry fox at the toddler. ‘Nice of you to visit me.’
The little girl stopped grizzling at once and stared at the puppet, transfixed. Then she held out a hand to stroke its nose. ‘Fox.’
‘That’s right.’ Anna waggled the puppet. ‘Fox.’ While the little girl’s attention was caught she