The Doctor's Engagement. Sarah Morgan

high and she seemed flustered.

      ‘There’s a man in Reception who came off a jet ski in the bay,’ she said crisply. ‘I was going to send him to the Infirmary, but—’

      ‘Oh, I’ll see him as I’m here,’ Mark said, his tone pleasant but firm. ‘I’ve finished my calls so it’s only lunch he’s disturbing and I don’t usually get that anyway. Send him through to my room. Holly can give me a hand—we used to work in A and E together.’

      Holly rolled her eyes. ‘Perhaps I’d better get my suitcase out of the boot and unpack my uniform,’ she said dryly. ‘I seem to have started work immediately.’

      Mark pulled a face and looked guilty. ‘I wanted to give you the weekend to make yourself at home in Cornwall. Do you mind starting straight away?’

      ‘Of course I don’t.’ Holly smiled and followed him down corridor to his consulting room, gasping as she saw the view. ‘Oh, Mark! No wonder this is your dream job. How on earth can you concentrate on the patients with a view like that out of the window?’

      The yachts and fishing boats bobbed in the bay and the coast path stretched enticingly into the distance.

      ‘Nice, isn’t it?’ Mark dropped his bag by his desk and switched on his computer. ‘Oh, well, I suppose we’d better see this patient now.’

      Holly lifted an eyebrow. ‘Do you do anything except minor accidents in this practice?’

      ‘That’s what happens in a holiday resort,’ Mark told her ruefully. ‘We get plenty of the ordinary routine stuff, too, but we’ll tell you about that over dinner. We’re meeting Ian Hughes, the senior partner, this evening.’

      ‘Oh, yes, I met him in London. I really liked him.’ Holly stared out across the bay. ‘Where’s your house?’

      When she had helped Mark move five months earlier he had rented a small flat until he’d found somewhere more permanent. Now she was dying to see the house he’d chosen.

      ‘You can’t see it from here. I wanted you to come down before I bought it but you didn’t answer the phone for about two weeks...’ Mark looked at her quizzically and Holly coloured and turned away, avoiding that penetrating gaze. Mark saw too much.

      ‘I—I had a lot on...’

      ‘Right.’

      She knew from his tone that he didn’t believe her but, good friend that he was, he didn’t push her.

      ‘So, is it far?’

      ‘No, not really.’ Mark walked across and stood next to her. ‘My surgery finishes at five-thirty and I’m off then until tomorrow so if you can wait that long you can follow me home.’

      ‘Well, if I’m going to be here all afternoon I might as well unpack my suitcase and see some patients,’ Holly suggested.

      Mark hesitated and then gave a shrug. ‘If you’re sure you don’t mind, that would be great.’

      Holly frowned. ‘Just one thing—I think Caroline’s taken an instant dislike to me.’

      ‘Yes.’ Mark’s tone was guarded. ‘She probably would.’

      ‘She would?’ Holly lifted her eyebrows. ‘Why would she? What have I done?’

      ‘Done?’ Mark dragged his long fingers through his dark hair and sighed. ‘You haven’t done anything. The reason Caroline doesn’t like you is because you are my fiancée, and she’s the woman I was telling you about.’