Page 32 of A Helpin g Hand for the Village Nurse

‘At the surgery?’

Ottilie nodded and Lavender blew out a breath. ‘I honestly can’t remember. My youngest had just started nursery school, so…’ She did some counting in her head for a moment – at least Ottilie thought so, because she looked as if she was trying to work it out. ‘I’d say about twenty-five years,’ she said finally.

‘So you must like your job then.’

‘I do.’ She looked at Fliss and grinned. ‘It’s absolutely nothing to do with the fact that there are hardly any other jobs in Thimblebury at all…’

‘I’ve told you before,’ Fliss said as she poured cream onto the slice of cherry pie she’d dished up for herself, ‘you know where the door is when you’ve had enough.’

‘Well’ – Lavender’s grin widened – ‘that’s my problem, isn’t it: I don’t seem to know when I’ve had enough.’

‘I could put you in touch with a good counsellor about that.’

Both women started to laugh. Ottilie watched, already fond of them despite only spending a short time working alongside them. She loved that they felt so comfortable around each other. Too many of her colleagues at the hospital dared not even speak to the senior doctors, let alone banter with them. It spoke of a good working relationship, of mutual respect and a deep affection that came from years of cooperation. Fliss clearly trusted Lavender with the administration of the surgery, which meant she could devote all her time and energy to her patients without distraction. Ottilie looked forward to the day when she’d slot in as well, where she’d have complete and total trust in the people around her, comfortable enough to be able to say anything to them. She’d already had a preview of that day, when she’d gone to supper at Fliss’s house, and she liked the way it looked.

‘Corrine already loves you,’ Lavender said, turning to Ottilie, and though she was smiling there was something more serious in her tone. ‘Singing your praises when she came in to see us.’

‘And I don’t blame her,’ Fliss said, also looking more serious. ‘I suspect you may have saved her life.’

Ottilie shook her head. ‘I didn’t do anything special. Victor was the one who asked me to take a look, and I didn’t really know what I was looking at. That’s the only reason I sent her down to see you.’

‘But you did send her down, and that’s what counts. You could just as easily have assumed it was something and nothing and told her to fetch lotion from the pharmacy.’

‘Nobody in my shoes would have done that.’

Fliss raised her eyebrows. ‘I’ve worked with the odd one over the years who would.’

‘I couldn’t live with myself if I had,’ Ottilie said firmly. ‘I hope she’s going to be all right.’

‘If the biopsy comes back positive, I feel confident that she’ll still be all right. I think we caught it early enough for a very good outcome.’ Fliss dug her fork into her pie and smiled at Ottilie. ‘That was a good day’s work.’

‘Let’s hope we can get a good outcome for Florence too,’ Ottilie said. ‘I popped in to see her, to check how she was doing…What’s the deal with the grandson?’

‘You mean the golden boy Heath?’ Lavender said with a grin. ‘Sun shines out of somewhere it ought not to be able to, if you ask Flo.’

‘I get that impression,’ Ottilie said. ‘He was there when I went to see her, but as soon as I sat down he rushed off. Said he’d got stuff to do, but I felt as if I was the reason.’

‘I wouldn’t take it personally,’ Lavender said. ‘I don’t know much about it, but from what I can tell, his divorce messed him up quite badly. He’s probably terrified he might fancy you. From what Flo says, I wouldn’t blame the poor boy if he was put off women for good.’

‘She was that bad?’ Ottilie asked.

‘I only met her a couple of times, but I didn’t warm to her at all.’

‘We don’t know what went on there,’ Fliss cut in. ‘No point in speculating, especially now it’s over.’

‘I’m only saying I think it was a very bad divorce, and I think she put him through the wringer.’

‘As long as he’s there for Flo, I suppose we ought to give him the benefit of the doubt,’ Ottilie said thoughtfully. ‘Does she have much in the way of family?’

‘Not local,’ Fliss said. ‘It could present a problem if she needs hospital visits over the next few weeks and months.’

‘We have a community ambulance service, right?’

‘A very sporadic one,’ Lavender said. ‘Spaces on that are like gold dust round here. One ambulance serving about half a dozen villages. A nightmare trying to book someone onto it.’

‘Has she got something coming up?’ Ottilie asked.

‘I’m going to request an echo and some scans. Perhaps if we can work some magic and get them all on the same day, it might only need one hospital trip.’

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