It was only after the glass doors of the terminal building had closed behind them that Anna realised that he’d left without answering her question about the locum.
She gave a sigh of exasperation and settled herself back in the car, ready for the long drive back to Cornwall. She knew nothing about the doctor David had appointed to cover his absence, except that it was a man. But perhaps it didn’t matter. She didn’t really need to know the details. Just that he was going to turn up.
Knowing that the summer holidays were almost upon them, Anna just hoped he liked hard work. Because he was going to get it in spades.
‘Do you think she’s guessed?’ From inside the privacy of the terminal building, David watched Anna’s little car pull away. ‘She kept asking and I kept evading the question. Now she thinks I’m going senile.’
‘She was joking. If she’d guessed then we wouldn’t be standing here now,’ Elizabeth said calmly. ‘You know what our Anna is like when she loses her temper. We’d be lying in pieces on the pavement and the fire brigade would be on their way.’
David rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and cast her a dubious look. ‘I hope we’ve done the right thing. Just because you and Anna’s mother always had this thing about our children marrying each other…’
‘You and Philip had the same dream,’ Elizabeth reminded him firmly, ‘and don’t think Susan and I didn’t know it. You wanted to hand the practice over to the two of them. You still do.’
Her husband shot her an impatient look. ‘Well, of course I do. It would be perfect. The only thing that isn’t perfect is that they can’t stand the sight of one another. I have to admit that, much as I would like this whole plan to work, I can’t see how it is going to.’
Elizabeth delved into her handbag for a mirror. ‘They’re both strong characters. Neither would want an insipid partner for the journey through life. They suit each other. It’s just that they’re both too stubborn and blind to see it themselves and that’s just because they’ve never been forced to spend time together. Hopefully, by the time we return, they’ll have discovered that they can’t live without each other.’
David pulled a face. ‘They might kill each other first.’
‘Possibly.’ Elizabeth gave a womanly smile and checked her lipstick. ‘But I don’t think so. Now, that’s our flight they’re calling. Are you ready?’
David cast a glance through the window again but Anna’s car was long gone. ‘There are going to be fireworks in Cornwall tonight,’ he muttered, and his wife clipped her bag shut and gave him a little push.
‘Then it’s just as well we’ll be in Switzerland. Now, stop worrying. Everything is in place and we can do no more. We have to leave the rest up to fate and the chemistry that has always been there between those two. Oh…’ She gave a smug smile. ‘And then there’s the whole of the village, of course. I’m sure they’ll be only too happy to give fate a helping hand.’
Anna drove home, mentally listing all the urgent jobs that had to be done. Too many jobs, not enough time.
She just hoped the locum was a good swimmer because he was going to be thrown right in the deep end with no buoyancy aid.
The sun blazed down on the car, the sea sparkled and Anna turned up the volume on the radio. Cornwall in the summer might be a crazy place to work but it was a beautiful place and she’d never want to live anywhere else. She smiled and the smile lasted for the time it took for her to pull up outside the surgery.
She was met by a film crew and her smile went out like a light.
For a moment she just sat in her little car and stared at the big van and the cameras and then finally she opened the door and ventured outside.
‘Are you Dr Riggs?’ A man with a microphone scurried over to her and she nodded.
‘Yes. Is there a problem? What’s going on here?’
‘Just hold it right there.’ The man held up a hand to halt her movement and gestured to the cameraman. ‘We want to get some footage of you greeting Dr McKenna. Wait just a moment…’
Footage? Of her greeting Dr McKenna?
To the best of her knowledge, she’d just waved Dr McKenna off at the airport and there was only one other Dr McKenna that she knew of, and he wasn’t…
She glanced at the film crew again and shook her head in denial.
Oh, no. No. No. David wouldn’t have done that to her. He couldn’t…
Ignoring the man’s plea for her to stay put while they prepared to shoot, she slammed her car door and stalked across the small car park towards the group of people gathered by the entrance, a suspicion growing inside her.
‘McKenna?’ She growled his name like a threat and the people moved to one side. But she had eyes only for one person.
Cool blue eyes swept over her and his mouth tilted slightly. ‘Riggs. What an unexpected pleasure.’
He was as handsome as the devil and his arrogance drove her nuts.
‘Unexpected?’ She slammed her hands on her hips and glared at him. ‘This is my surgery, McKenna, so how can my presence here be unexpected? What is unexpected is the fact that you’re standing outside it. You’d better have a damn good reason for causing a disturbance.’