It was late afternoon on Christmas Eve at the
Dancingdean Health Centre and Locum Doctor Kelly Spearman had one last patient
to see.
Mrs Bramwell entered the room with her young
daughter Kylie skulking in her wake.
“Come on Kylie the Doctor hasn’t got all day”
“Hello Mrs Bramwell, how can I help?”
“Kylie’s not right Doctor, very odd”
“In what way?”
“Well look at her Doctor you can see you doesn’t
look right.
She starts the day feeling sick and ends it eating
Pizza with sugar on. It’s no small wonder she’s put on so much weight”
“Well I’ll have to do a full examination” Kelly
said
Kylie lay on the examination table and Dr Spearman
gave her a thorough exam, asking questions as she did so.
When she had finished she told Kylie to redress and
sat down at her desk and tapped at the keyboard until the girl was seated.
“So what’s wrong with her Doctor?” Mrs Bramley
“Well there is no doubt in my mind that Kylie is
pregnant” she replied
“About five months to be precise”
“That’s absolute rubbish Doctor, Kylie can’t
possibly be pregnant, ridiculous that is, she’s only 14 and I can assure you my
daughter has never been with a man”
“There is no doubt” Kelly said as she took off her
glasses
“Tell the Doctor, Kylie, tell her you’ve never been
with a man”
“I haven’t Doctor I really haven’t, not even
kissing” Kylie confirmed
Kelly looked at the girl doubtfully then stood up
and walked to the window and stared out into the darkness shaking her head.
“So what’s wrong Doctor?” Mrs Bramley asked “it’s
serious isn’t it?”
“Not at all, I just wanted to check the sky for
something, because the last time a girl got pregnant without going with a man a
bright star appeared in the East”
“Are you trying to be funny?” Mrs Bramwell asked
“No I’m not, I’m trying to make a point” she
replied
“Whether Kylie says she has been with a man or not,
she is definitely five months pregnant, so I suggest you think back five months
and figure out where she didn’t have sex with a man”
“I don’t like your attitude Doctor if my daughter
says she’s a virg…” she stopped in mid flow and turned to Kylie and said
“You dirty little cow, it was that boy you met on
the beach at Sharpington wasn’t it”
At that the girl began to cry and Mrs Bramley
bustled her out of the room admonishing her without acknowledging Kelly again.
Kelly was one of
the cleverest medical students of her year and she was also one of the sexiest,
a fact she had perpetually tried to play down.
She wanted to
progress in her profession based purely on her abilities and not because she
was “fit”.
She certainly
didn’t want the distraction of having to fend off unwanted advances while she
tried to qualify.
Her style of dress
was muted, still feminine but understated, she wore her hair combed back
severely off her and wore heavy framed spectacles.
A look she
maintained long after qualification and all through her time at the Winston
Churchill Hospital.
The result of
which, being that after ten years she remained single and with a reputation for
being cold and aloof.
As neither
description was true she gave up a senior position at the Churchill to take up
general practice, but she needed to learn the ropes as a GP locum, which was
why she was working at the Dancingdean Health Centre.
Kelly had completed her notes and packed her things
away.
She was looking forward to getting home, she loosened
her hair and shook it out before putting on her woollen hat and slipping on her
coat and finally picked up her bag.
No sooner had her fingers curled around the door
handle than the phone on her desk rang.
“Oh, so close” she said to herself and released her
grip on the door handle.
There was nothing waiting for her at home except
what she craved at that moment, peace and solitude.
But she had noticed the steady snowfall through her
surgery window and she was not a lover of driving in the snow.
“Hello” she said
“Could you see one more patient Doctor?” the
receptionist Lynn Cooper asked “It should be a quick one but it’s quite urgent”
“Of course send them through” she replied and
slipped off her coat and sat down.
A few moments later there was a light knock on her
door.
“Come in”
When the door opened a tall slightly built man of a
similar age to herself walked in.
“Thank you for seeing me Doctor” he said “I’m sorry
to delay you”
“That’s fine” Kelly replied
“I see you’re dressed for the conditions” he added
“I’m sorry?”
“Your rather fetching headgear” he explained
“Oh” she said with a laugh “I forgot I had it
on”
“So what can I do for you? Mr Springthorpe”
“I need a repeat prescription for my Theophylline I have
nearly run out” he said and she tapped at her keyboard
“Your last prescription was in October you
shouldn’t have run out yet” she said
“I know but the water tank in my loft sprang a leak
and brought the ceiling down which ruined everything in its path” he explained
“Your medication included” The Doctor said
“Yes” he confirmed
“Very well I’ll write you another one” she said
“Thank you Doctor”
“The pharmacy in Oakwood Road is open until 10
o’clock tonight” she said and handed him the prescription
“Thank you Doctor and Merry Christmas”
“Not to Merry I hope” she scolded “Happy Christmas”
The moment the door closed she quickly redressed in
her out door clothes and left before the phone went again.
She ran the festive gauntlet of staff members,
exchanging greetings in the time honoured fashion and emerged into the snowy
car park and she was surprised to find exactly how much had fallen.
She got into her car and set off towards Mornington
By Mere.
Kelly had only lived in Mornington for a few
months, she wanted somewhere that was in striking distance of Shallowfield,
Purplemere and Childean which were the towns she would be able to work as a
locum.
Even Finchbottom and the Pepperstock’s were doable
from Mornington at a pinch.
She had a rented a house in Military Row which was
one of a number of good sized family dwellings originally built as Officers
Quarters for the Officer personnel from the since defunct Mornington Airfield.
The original plan was to get a short time let and
work as a Locum and then when she managed to secure a permanent position in a
practice she would then move somewhere close to where she would be working but
she had rather fallen in love with the village.
Despite the conditions she had made steady progress
and had travelled about two and a half miles before she spotted the red tail
lights and she came to a halt at the end of the queue.
There were three or four people milling around in
the road so she got out of her car to join them in the hope of finding out what
the problem was.
Just ahead of the queue of six cars there was a
seventh car being reversed out of a snowdrift.
She made her way to the front and asked
“Is anyone hurt, I’m a Doctor?”
“No Doc, nothing hurt but his pride” An old country
man replied
“A bit of a brown trouser moment though I shouldn’t
wonder”
This induced a good deal of laughter as much from
Kelly as anybody else.
“I take it the road is closed” she said when the
laughter had subsided.
“Very much so Doc” Another bumpkin replied
“Then I shall wish you all a Merry Christmas and go
in search of an Inn”
She did a three point turn in the road and headed
back the way she had come and hoped she wouldn’t have to spend the entire
evening driving around looking for a room.
Kelly was not yet fully au fait
with Shallowfield and its environs but she had stored several key landmarks in
her memory bank but the only Hotel she could bring to mind was the Shallowfield
Lodge Hotel by Teardrop Lake.
Which she thought was as good a place as any to
start, if that failed she knew that a lot of her colleagues at the Health
Centre lived in the area so she would try her luck with one of them.
Jonathon
Springthorpe was due to have dinner on Christmas Eve with his oldest friend and
business partner Richard O’Sullivan but he had to cancel it at the last minute
when he realized he was almost out of his medication.
Although
it was a genuine emergency and not an excuse he still felt guilty cancelling
their dinner date because Richard was such a lonely cove.
He pledged to himself he would call round to
Richards’s house once he had rectified his medical emergency.
He was very pleased to have caught the Doctor
before she left for the Holiday, and even more pleasing was the fact she was so
attractive.
After leaving the Health Centre he drove to the
Oakwood Road pharmacy and was grateful he didn’t need to drive any further as
the snow was several inches deep already and was falling exceedingly fast.
Under the circumstances he abandoned his plan to go
and see Richard, so all being well he would be safely indoors for the night
within half an hour and then the weather could do as it pleased.
Kelly parked her car and opened the boot,
fortunately being a practical person she always had a change of clothes in the
car for emergencies.
Unfortunately this did not include underwear so she
would need to rinse through what she was wearing, provided of course she could
get a room.
She went inside and straight up to the reception
desk where a trim well-dressed woman was stood smiling in her direction.
“Can I help?” Mrs Brown said
“I do hope so” she replied dropping her bag to the
floor
“I’m stranded in Shallowfield because of the snow
and I’m hoping you have a room”
“You’re not the only one dear” Sheryl Brown said
“But you’re in luck I have one room left”
“Thank you so much” Kelly said and she felt her
shoulders relax
Sheryl Brown gave her a registration card to fill
out and asked
“Is it just the one night dear?”
“Oh I don’t know” Kelly said “I hadn’t thought”
“Well look I’ll book you in for two nights, just in
case” she suggested
“Ok yes, that’s a good idea” Kelly agreed
After all the formalities were completed and Mrs
Brown had given her the key Kelly leant in close and whispered conspiratorially
“There was one other thing, I need to wash my
underthings…”
Sheryl put up her hand and stopped her mid-sentence
“Don’t worry dear I have just the thing” she said
and disappeared through a door marked private only to emerge 30 seconds later
holding a small Tupperware box with a quantity of powder in.
“This is what you need”
“You are a Godsend” Kelly said “Thank you so
much ...”
“Call me Sheryl”
“Thank you Sheryl”
“My pleasure” she replied “Now the restaurant is
still open though under the circumstances it’s a rather improvised menu, but it
will be hot”
“Hot will suffice” Kelly said gratefully
Kelly went up to her room and quickly freshened up
and then made her way back downstairs.
She smiled at Sheryl Brown, as she passed the
reception desk, who was busy helping someone else.
She walked into the busy restaurant and found an
empty table and had only sat down long enough to order a drink when she was
asked.
“Do you mind if I join you doctor?”
It was Jonathon Springthorpe
“Not at all but please don’t call me Doctor” she
replied in a hushed tone
“Why? Have you been struck off?” he said
“No” She replied and laughed “But if people know
you’re a doctor they can’t help sharing the details of their ailments with you”
“Oh I see, so what should I call you?”
“Kelly will be fine” she replied “would you like a
drink?”
“Just a coke please”
“Nothing stronger?” she asked
“No it reacts with my medication” he said and
tapped his coat pocket
“Just testing” she lied
“So Kelly what brings you to the Shallowfield Lodge
on a snowy Christmas Eve?” Jon asked
“You first” she said
“Well as I said earlier I have some water damage in
my house so I’ve moved out while it’s being sorted”
He explained
“So what about you?”
“I was trying to get home but the road was closed
by a snowdrift”
She replied
“And where’s home?” he asked
“I live in Mornington” she replied
“So do I” Jon said “I live in the Old Forge”
“Really I’m renting one of the houses in Military
row” she said
“It’s a small world isn’t it?”
“So why here?” he asked after the waitress had
taken their dinner order
“It was the first place I tried” she replied “but I
wanted somewhere local because I’m on call from lunchtime tomorrow for two
days”
“Oh bad luck” he said
“No not really I volunteered” Kelly said
“Why on earth did you do that?”
“Well everyone else has a significant other or a family” she
said
“And
you don’t?”
“No, I
have no significant other and no family within easy reach, all
my nears and dears are many miles away”
“So
not married?” he asked
“No”
“Divorced?”
“No just never married”
“By accident or design?”
“A little of both I suppose” she replied
enigmatically just as the food arrived
“So what about you?” Kelly asked
“Divorced” he replied
“How long?
“What married or divorced?”
“Both”
“Married 10, divorced 2” he said
After desert Kelly asked
“So why are you staying here?”
“I told you, my house is unliveable”
“Yes I know, but why here?” she persisted
“Oh I see, well I work in Shallowfield”
“And what do you do for a living?”
“Auctioneer” he replied proudly
“At O’Sullivan and Springthorpe”
“Oooh one of the bosses” she said feigning
impression
“One of the partners” he corrected her “Of which
there are a number”
“Still, name over the door” she said playing with
him
While they were drinking their coffee Jon suddenly
asked
“What are you doing for Christmas Lunch tomorrow?”
“I don’t know, whatever they’re serving here I
suppose”
“I’m going to my parents for lunch tomorrow” he
said
“Why don’t you join us?”
“Oh no I couldn’t impose” she replied
“Nonsense it’s no imposition”
“No I can’t and I’m on call anyway” she insisted
“It’s only in Shallowfield” he said “so it won’t
affect you being on call”
“Wait a minute” she said “Your parents live in
Shallowfield?”
“Yes”
“So why are you staying here why didn’t you stay at
your parents?” she asked aghast
“Are you kidding, 36 years old and moving back in
with the folks” he said
“I’d only be there for a day and Mum would start
ironing my socks”
When they had stopped laughing Jon said
“So will you come?”
“Oh alright then” she conceded “But explain to your
mother that if I have to disappear in a hurry it’s not because I’m not being
rude”
They were to meet in reception at 10.30 on
Christmas morning,
In the cold light of day Kelly questioned the
wisdom of her decision to accept Jon’s invitation.
For a start she was not dressed as smartly as she
would have liked but under the circumstances it was the best she could manage.
Fortunately when she arrived downstairs she found
Jon had dressed down for the occasion, which made her feel much more
comfortable.
“Happy Christmas” he said and kissed her cheek
“Happy Christmas Jon, are you sure I won’t be
imposing?”
“Absolutely not” he insisted
The snow was still falling though much lighter than the night before, so there
was an eerie hush apart from the satisfying crunch underfoot.
If she hadn’t been
on call they would have walked all the way but she needed her 4 x 4.
When they arrived at the Springthorpe’s home she
realised his apparel was not as she had thought, coincidental, but was by
design, as all of the family were in their best bib and tucker.
Jon had realised that morning that Kelly would have
limited options for the day so deliberately dressed down so she wouldn’t feel
awkward.
“Thank you” she whispered when she realised what he
had done.
He introduced her to his parents, aunts and uncles,
nephews and nieces, kissing cousins, two godsons and a brother all of them
dressed to impress.
Including Kelly and Jon there were 19 for dinner,
and seating and feeding that many people was no mean feat.
But Margaret Springthorpe did it in style, and everyone’s
food was piping hot.
After dinner the gathering fragmented and Kelly
volunteered to help with the clearing away, fending off the initial protests
that she was a guest.
Just as the last plate was wiped up and put away
Jon appeared
“Oh look perfect timing” Margaret said
“Dad won’t stop talking about the Golf game
tomorrow so I just had to get out of there” he announced.
“It’s a shame you didn’t get fed up with it a bit
sooner then you could have helped” Kelly said
“Well said” Aunty Victoria said
The reason for his father’s discontent in regard to
the Golf was that the Annual, Springthorpe Family Cup competed for every year
on Boxing Day had been cancelled for the first time since 1936.
Not even Adolph Hitler had been able to put a stop
to it.
There had been snow at Christmas before and it had
been possible to play the day after but this year due to the depth of snow on
the ground the course was unplayable.
“Does it bother you that you won't be playing?”
Kelly asked Jon.
“Yes. I love the Boxing Day game” he replied “But it’s impossible, Dad just
won’t accept it”
“So why not play it on New Year’s Day instead?” she suggested
Jonathon opened his mouth to speak but seemed
unable to find the words and closed it again.
He repeated this mime twice more then turned and
left.
“Did you see that Margaret? She left him
speechless” Victoria said
“Absolutely marvellous!” Margaret said
Kelly was roundly congratulated by the family for
her solution to the Springthorpe Family Cup debacle and they were genuinely disappointed
when at just after four o’clock she was called out.
She promised she would return as soon as she had
finished but as it turned out she didn’t return until 7 hours later so she went
straight to the Hotel where she found Jon waiting for her in the Hotel bar
drinking hot chocolate.
“Come and have some” he said “it’ll warm you up”
“What I need is sleep” Kelly said
“Have a drink first, please” he begged
“Oh ok”
“You were a big hit with the family” Jon said
“Oh I don’t know about that”
“Seriously” he said “so much so that you have been
invited to take part in the Springthorpe Family Cup”
“But I’m not family”
“You have been made an honorary member” he said
“How do you know I even play?” Kelly asked
“Well you do, don’t you?”
“A little” She said “maybe you can coach me”
They talked for about an hour before Kelly excused
herself and went off to her bed.
The moment her head touched the pillow she was
asleep and she slept very soundly, which was just as well because on Boxing Day
she was bounced all over the district, dealing mainly with patients who have
severely overindulged the day before.
Kelly checked out of the Lodge on the morning after
Boxing Day and that evening after surgery she was finally able to drive home to
Mornington.
The first thing she did when she got home was to
change her underwear, although she had washed them out every night before she
went to bed, after wearing the same knickers for four days she still felt
dirty.
She then had two wonderful days off in lieu of
Christmas which gave her time to tidy her house and do some laundry.
But she was on call again on New Year’s Eve.
Kelly checked back into the Shallowfield Lodge
after work on the 30th and that night she had dinner with Jonathon
at the Phoenix Restaurant in Shallowfield but it had to be an early finish as
she was on call from midnight.
Kelly was on call from midnight on the 30th
until one minute past midnight on New Year’s Day.
It was a very quiet day she only had three call
outs all day and it gave her plenty of time to think things through.
Kelly liked Jon, he made her laugh and feel sexy
all at the same time, and he was kind and thoughtful.
But he or anyone like him was never in her plans
for the future.
She had not moved from a senior position at the
Winston Churchill into general practice looking for a man, however kind and
thoughtful he might be.
But she didn’t think of him as just a man and she
hadn’t felt that way about a man since she was studying medicine in Edinburgh.
However that had all ended very badly indeed and
left her totally devastated and she did not want to repeat that mistake and
feel worthless again.
Perhaps she should just nip it in the bud and not
take a chance with him.
But why should she? Why wouldn’t it succeed?
She had always succeeded in her life when she put
her mind to things, her recreation, her education, her profession, so why could
she not succeed in a bright future for her and Jon.
The only fly in the ointment as far as she was
concerned was that she wasn’t really sure how he felt about her.
He hadn’t even tried to kiss her, apart from a peck
on the cheek on Christmas Day.
And she had wanted him too, after she found him
waiting for her in the bar with hot chocolate.
She concluded that perhaps it was time for her to
take the initiative.
On New Year’s Day Jonathon picked her up from the
Hotel Car park.
It was a beautiful crisp winter’s day, no wind and
not a cloud in the sky, she was standing by her car when Jon pulled up.
“Happy New Year” he said and kissed her cheek.
“Well that’s encouraging” she thought “but just on
the cheek again”
but out loud she just repeated his greeting.
While he helped her transfer her clubs from her
boot into his she was thinking that if was only going to kiss her on public
holidays she would have to wait until Easter for the next one.
The Forest Ridge Golf Club was on the road between
Shallowfield and Childean and the journey took about 15 minutes and all the way
Jonathon was giving her Golf tips, her grip, her stance, her swing.
His coaching continued in the car park and on the
walk to the clubhouse.
“Shut up Jon and kiss me” she screamed in her head
“The most important thing is to relax, don’t tense
up” he said
“No the most important thing is that you take me in
your arms and kiss me” she replied silently
Even if she’d said it out loud there wouldn’t have
been time to act on it as they were soon surrounded by other members of the
clan.
Jon and Kelly were the last to tee off in a four
ball with his younger brother Chris and his Uncle George.
“Don’t worry if you’re only a novice” he said as
they approached the 1st tee “I can teach you as we go around”
“Ok” she said
Kelly was the first to tee off, it was a short dog
leg par four, just under 200 yards to the turn so she selected her 3 wood and
took up her position.
“That might be a little ambitious” Chris said
“Remember to relax those shoulders” Jon said
encouragingly, agreeing with his brother about her club selection
Kelly took a couple of practice swings and then
addressed the ball before hitting a crisp clean drive which sailed straight
down the middle of the fairway.
“Whoa” Chris said “I thought you were a novice”
“I never said that” Kelly retorted
“You did say you played “a little”“ Jon said
“I have only played “a little” since I moved to
Mornington” she said
“You’re a bandit” Jon said and laughed
By the end of the 17th Uncle George and Jon were 5
shots off the pace and Kelly and Chris were all square.
After 3 shots Chris was on the green with a 20ft
putt and Kelly was on the apron more than a hundred feet from the pin.
Chris was supremely confident as he watched Kelly
chip to within 12 feet of the hole.
Chris however 3 putted and Kelly holed hers to win.
Jon was delighted partly because it gave him
ammunition to rib Chris but mainly because he liked Kelly.
When all the scores were in Jon’s Cousin Mike won
the day but Kelly was the highest placed woman and she won the nearest the pin
on the par 3 7th.
There was a great huddle of bodies at the bar but
she was stood in a quiet corner of the lounge admiring her little trophy when
Jon joined her.
“So I wasn’t able to teach you anything today after
all” he said
“I was trying to impress you and you ended up
impressing me”
“That was my intention” she said
“To impress me?” he asked
“To get you to notice me” she replied and he looked
puzzled
“you wanted me to notice you?”
“You have a lot to learn about women” she said
taking a step towards him.
“Maybe you can teach me then” he told her looking into her eyes.
“There’s no maybe about it” She said and leaned her face towards him and
touched her full lips gently to his.
He responded in kind and they were both lost in the
magic of the moment.
As their lips parted they both opened their eyes.
“Would you like me to teach you some more?” she asked smiling.
“That’s a silly question” he replied and wrapped his arms around her waist
pulling her close and their lips met again, but this time there was no
restraint.
