The Midwife And The Single Dad by Gill Sanderson Read Free Book Online Page B

hospital. She was nearly sixty. I liked her but I didn’t think she was quite the ideal for a place where you need to be out and about all the time. Still, we needed someone desperately and I thought we could make things work. Then I got a message saying that Miss Prendergast had dropped out and that you were coming in her place. What happened to her, do you know?’
    Alice had to giggle. ‘Sorry, it’s not really funny,’ she said. ‘But just a week ago Miss Prendergast was out walking her dog, tripped over the lead and fell and broke her leg. And I’d just signed on with the agency, offering them a year’s work anywhere. Anywhere as far from London as possible. And they offered me this position.’
    ‘Why was it important to be as far from London as possible?’
    She wasn’t yet ready to explain it all to him. So she just shrugged. ‘I’d been there fifteen years. I needed a rest.’
    She suspected that he didn’t entirely believe her. He had always been astute, always able to guess at her feelings. Still, it was a reasonable story.
    ‘So it was a complete coincidence that you came back to Soalay?’
    ‘Yes, it was a complete coincidence. And I didn’t know you’d be here until I’d signed the contract.’ She knew that he’d believe that. After all it was entirely true. ‘But I did wonder…can you ever come back to a place when you’ve left it apparently for good?’
    ‘So have you happy memories of here or not?’
    Suddenly they were on dangerous ground. This was a question that could lead to trouble, lead to things being aired that they had both carefully tried to disregard. The peaceful atmosphere that had been in the room suddenly seemed charged with electricity.
    She looked across at him, apparently at ease in his seat. He looked as casual as ever but she sensed that a lot would depend on her answer. But she had always tried to be direct. She had to be the same now.
    ‘Most of my memories are to do with you,’ she said. ‘And they are…happy memories.’
    ‘We were very close. And I…’
    Then she sensed that he felt that he had to back away from anything that might be seen as a statement. An endorsement of the feelings that she knew he had then.
    ‘But we were children,’ he went on. ‘We didn’t know what we were doing, what feelings were, we didn’t know how the world worked. We had to get away into the wide world.’
    ‘It did us both good?’ she suggested. ‘It was something that we had to do?’
    ‘Perhaps.’
    Then he said something that astonished her. ‘I feltthat I talked you into going to London—into our parting. I did think it would be good for you. But I always hoped you’d change your mind. I wanted you to come to Edinburgh with me, as we’d agreed. But once you had decided, that was it. I had to respect that.’
    It was a shock. She had never known he’d felt that way! She didn’t know what to say, she didn’t know what she wanted to say. After a while she muttered, ‘I enjoyed the London course, I felt I learned a lot. Things could have been different but I…’
    Her voice trailed away. What was the use of talking? She said, ‘I think I’m tired, I’ll go to bed now.’
    His voice was soft. ‘Goodnight Alice. You know you don’t have to stay with Fiona, don’t you? I feel I’m putting on you.’
    ‘I want to stay with her.’
    Perhaps she was more tired than she’d thought or perhaps because he had just shocked her by telling her how he had wanted her to stay with him. Was it a good time to share confidences? She just didn’t know. She had walked as far as the door before she made up her mind. Then she turned, walked back and sat down again.
    ‘I want to tell you one thing, just tell one simple thing. I don’t want any long explanation or discussion. I just want you to listen. Like a doctor and a patient. But I don’t want any medicine or suggested cure. I just want to tell you facts.’
    ‘I can listen.’ He was obviously