The Country Doctor's Choice Read Online Free PDF Page B

the following day. As she kissed her mother, she decided to phone Paul straight away and gladly accept his invitation.
    ‘That’s great news, darling,’ he said. ‘Your dear mum sounds a very sensible lady. I’ll pick you up from home at half past six, all right? We’ll go to the Mitre, that’s a good way off, away from this place and all the tittle-tattlers, OK?’
    ‘That sounds wonderful, Paul, I’ll expect you at six-thirty,’ she said, adding to herself, ready and waiting for you, my love. The anxiety over her mother had made her feel more strongly her need for Paul Sykes’ love; she revelled in the comfort of it, even though the secrecy from her mother bothered her.
    What to wear? She looked through her skirts, long and short, and decided on a soft wool dress in a paisley pattern. She swept her hair back into an elegant coil, secured with a silver clip. With long earrings and a necklace of semi-precious stones, she would look at her best, or nearly her best, she thought, applying a hint of blusher to her pale cheeks. A spray of the perfume Paul had given her completed her preparation and gave her confidence, even at this testing time, and although she longed for her mother’s operation to be over, the thought of the Last Rites no longer seemed a matter of life or death, but rather a somewhat extreme caution on Bridget’s part.
    Seeing her standing at the door, Paul could only murmur, ‘You look stunning, Shelagh, absolutely stunning,’ and all her efforts seemed worthwhile.
    On the drive through the dark Hampshire countryside, he enquired about her mother, and she longed to lay her head on his shoulder and confide her deepest fears to him, but this was to be his treat for her, and she merely replied that her mother seemed more relaxed and rested; closing her eyes momentarily, she saw again Bridget’s calm face onthe pillows, her hands folded over her prayer book.
    A few tables were already occupied at the Mitre when they arrived; Paul had booked a table near a curtained window, and helped her off with her navy fleece-lined jacket before pulling out a chair for her to sit down at the candlelit table. It was a perfect romantic setting, a handsome couple dining together.
    ‘What will you drink, darling? We’d better order now while we’re waiting to be served. Look, here’s the menu – we must decide what we’re having. I’m ready for my dinner, aren’t you?’
    Shelagh smiled, but to her dismay felt the beginnings of a headache which she would have to conceal. She realised how tired she was, how the events of this week had told on her, and secretly thought it would have been better for them to have spent the evening at her home, enjoying a light salad supper.
    The waiter took orders for wine, white for Shelagh, red for Paul who put his hand over hers on the table. ‘To tell you the truth, I almost called off this evening, darling, and settled for baked beans on toast at your place, only it seemed a cheek – and I know how much you want to get away from things, so I left it as we arranged.’
    She could only smile to hide her disappointment at losing a quiet evening in, but only said, ‘It’s so good of you, Paul,’ and raised her glass to clink against his.
    ‘Here’s to your mum, Shelagh – a happy outcome!’
    When the waiter brought the halibut steak forher and rump steak for him, they heard a woman’s peal of laughter in the middle of the room. When Shelagh looked, she saw to her immense chagrin that the sound came from two girls and a man – Tanya Dickenson, Laurie Moffatt and Leigh McDowall. Paul saw them too.
    ‘My God, that chap knows how to enjoy himself! He’s bagged the two best-looking midwives – d’you think he’s carrying on with them both?’
    ‘I neither know nor care,’ she answered, averting her gaze. What on earth would the trio think, to see her out with Paul on the evening before her mother’s serious operation?
    ‘Well, as long as they don’t see us and