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Max was already halfway up the stairs, with Fenella following close behind, and when they saw Betty's elderly husband prostrate on the floor he said, 'Let's get him onto the bed, Fenella. One of us on each side and when I say lift...lift.'

Ben was moaning softly as they laid him on the bed. 'What's the matter with me?' he croaked. 'I can't even get to the bathroom on my own.'

Max was checking his pulse and heartbeat and having satisfied himself that there was no problem there he asked, 'Have you had any problems lately with your ears, Ben?'

'No,' he mumbled. 'Not a thing.'

'You are on medication for hypertension, aren't you?'

'Aye,' he replied. 'If you mean high blood pressure.'

'I do,' Max told him. 'I'm going to check it as I think we might have a hiccup there. Then I'm going to ask our new doctor at the practice to do the same and give us her opinion.

'All right?' he questioned, turning to Fenella.

'Yes, Dr Hollister,' she agreed, and Max hid a smile as he thought that she'd no need to sound so meek. If Fenella didn't get this right, he
would
be having doubts about asking her to join the practice.

'So?' he asked when they'd both checked the patient's blood pressure.

'I think that it has taken a sudden dip and gone too low,' she said. 'That
low
blood pressure has caused the dizziness. Maybe Ben was over-prescribed for a short time and that has caused it.'

Max was smiling. 'I agree,' he told her, and turning back to the patient he said, 'Normally in a situation such as this I would prescribe tablets to take away the problem, but your attack is too serious for that. So I'm going to give you an injection that will bring relief in the shortest time.'

As he prepared the syringe Max turned to Betty, who was hovering at the foot of the bed, and flashed her a reassuring smile. 'This should do the trick,' he told her, 'but it will be a few days before Ben is back to his usual self. An attack of this nature can leave a person feeling weak and somewhat disorientated, but it will clear eventually.'

She breathed a sigh of relief. 'Thank you, Doctor. I've never seen anything like it!'

'No,' he agreed. 'It is an unpleasant experience that leaves the patient quite out of control, yet may never occur again. However, if it should do, send for one of us immediately.'

As the three of them went downstairs Betty said, 'Would you like a cup of tea or a glass of my home-made cordial?'

Yes, she would, Fenella thought, but Max was shaking his head. 'It's nice of you to offer, Betty, but Dr Forbes and I have a busy afternoon ahead of us.'

He'd seen her expression and as they walked back to the car he said whimsically, 'Wilting already, are we?'

When he glanced across at her she was laughing. 'No. I'm just thirsty. I could have murdered a cup of tea.'

'You can make us both one when we get back,' he suggested, and she had to be satisfied with that.

'Max and I
are going to the hospital to see Simon tonight,' Ann said as the two women cleared away after their evening meal. 'He's picking me up at a quarter to seven.'

'You mean Simon Wells, the injured partner?' Fenella questioned, aware of an overtone of embarrassment in her mother's voice.

'Yes,' she replied. 'Either one or both of us visit him whenever we can,' and she went upstairs to change out of her working clothes without prolonging the conversation.

'So tell me about him,' Fenella persisted when she came down again.

'What do you want to know? Simon is fifty years old and recently divorced. The accident occurred when he had been visiting a patient at a farm up on the tops. As he was driving back to the practice a car came round a bend too fast on one of the narrow lanes and crashed into him. The other driver was unhurt, but Simon received multiple injuries and is likely to be in hospital for some time. It happened a fortnight ago, the night before you left university.'

'Does he live here in the village?'

'Yes. He moved into one of the lock-keeper's cottages by the canal when his divorce came through, and now, if you've finished asking questions, I have to be off,' she said with heightened colour. 'Max has just pulled up outside and he won't want to be kept waiting.'

'I think you could be right about that,' Fenella agreed dryly, and watched from the window as they drove off down the hillside.

Fenella had been close to her father and missed him a lot. She knew he wouldn't begrudge her mother some happiness with another man if she so desired, but if she did like Max Hollister, why wasn't she bringing her feelings for him out into the open? Did she think that her daughter wouldn't understand that she could love someone else? They were so close in lots of ways, but not in this, she thought painfully.

It was nine o 'clock when she heard the car pull up outside and the thought crossed her mind that Max was the one most likely to be wilting after a long day at the practice with hospital visiting tagged onto it. But maybe he thought it was worth it if he could have her mother to himself for a while.

When she heard voices in the hallway she groaned. He was coming in. Hadn't he got a home to go to?

'Hi there, Fenella,' he said as he followed her mother into the sitting room and sank down onto an easy chair. 'We meet again.'

'Yes, we do, don't we?' she replied flatly. 'How did you find your partner?'

He flashed one of his rare smiles in her mother's direction and said softly, 'I think Ann can answer that question better than I.'

Her mother was standing just inside the doorway and so far she hadn't spoken. Now, when she did, her voice came over in an uncomfortable sort of mumble.

'I have something to tell you,' she said nervously, and Fenella's heart sank as she thought that she hadn't been wrong in her surmises. Why, of all men in the world, did her mother have to have feelings for Max Hollister? She could be attracted to him herself if she wasn't careful, and after today was looking forward to getting to know him better.. .but not as her mother's new love.

'Max is here to give me moral support,' Ann said. And Fenella thought, Well, he would be, wouldn't he, if they were in love?

'I'm getting married again, Fenella,' she said, talking fast now. 'I hope you'll be happy for me, and won't think that I've forgotten your dad, because I haven't. I never will. We have been good friends for quite some time and in recent months it has turned to love. When Simon comes home he will need someone to look after him and it will be so much better for both of us if we are together. He asked me to marry him tonight and I said yes.'

'You're marrying Simon?' Fenella said incredulously. 'So it's not...' She stopped herself in the nick of time.

The last thing she wanted was for the bright hazel gaze that was fixed on her to register that she'd had him lined up for her mother's new husband. She would die of mortification if he ever found out.

'Aren't you going to congratulate me, Fenella?' her mother asked anxiously. 'I can't go ahead with the wedding without your approval.'

'Of course you have my approval,' Fenella said softly, holding her mother close. 'Dad told you often enough not
to stay on your own. Though what he thought I would be doing after he'd gone, I don't know. I've come back here to be with you.'

There were tears in her mother's eyes. 'Yes, I know. But he would want you to live your own life. Would hope that one day his beautiful daughter would find the man of her dreams and be as happy as we were.'

'So when am I going to meet this man?' Fenella asked abruptly, as a lump came up in her throat. 'Has he got any children?'

Her mother shook her head. 'No, Simon hasn't got any children.. .and I'll take you to meet him soon.'

Max had got to his feet. 'I'll be off now that you've told Fenella your good news, Ann. It's been a long day, but a good one in many ways. I've got my new assistant, and you have the chance of happiness with Simon. Go and make yourself a nice cup of tea and Fenella can see me out.'

'Er...yes...of course,' Fenella mumbled as waves of thankfulness washed over her because some divine providence had stopped her from making a complete fool of herself.

'So
are
you happy about that?' he asked in a low voice as they stood at the gate. 'You seemed a bit odd in there.'

'Dumbstruck would be a better word,' she told him, not meeting his gaze.

'So you are not upset about Ann remarrying?'

'No. My dad will always be my dad, but I will do my best to get on with Simon and take it from there.'

'That is a very generous attitude. I can promise that you will like him.'

'I hope so,' she said on a less positive note. 'Remember
how I said this morning about my life changing in the last few days? What my mother has just told me puts everything else in the shade.'

'You'll make a beautiful bridesmaid,' he said whimsically, but she didn't respond. It was too soon after having him in the frame as the bridegroom.

He'd noted her lack of response and was ready to call it a day. 'Till tomorrow,' he said, and as he walked towards the car she nodded.

Max was in a thoughtful mood as he drove home. There had been something strange in Fenella's manner just before Ann had told her she was getting married. She hadn't been surprised, for one thing. Yet her mother had assured him on the way to the hospital that so far Fenella knew nothing about her relationship with Simon.

For a bizarre moment he'd thought that she'd had
him
labelled for the bridegroom, but he'd dismissed the idea as soon as it had come. Yet why had she looked so traumatized? It had been clear that Fenella didn't mind her mother remarrying, but something had been on her mind and he would like to know what it was.

Yet he had more important things to think about than the fads and fancies of his new assistant, or had he? Having Fenella in his house earlier in the day had left him in a thoughtful mood. It had made him realise how much the place needed a woman's presence.

He was remembering the sound of her light footsteps on the parquet floor in the kitchen and the scent of her perfume in the air as she'd moved from room to room. Surely somewhere in his very busy life there was room for that other
thing called love. If he wanted babies there was one vital ingredient missing in his life...a wife. But he'd known that for a long time. Why start thinking about it now?

Life had been hectic enough before Simon's accident, but since then it had been a situation where there weren't enough hours in the day. He dragged himself upstairs at the end of each day in a state of exhaustion. So much for turning the king-sized bed into a marital one!

He wondered what Fenella had thought when she'd seen it. Probably something along the lines that when it came to his personal life it was as empty as his professional life was full. She was young and vibrant and later that night as he lay sleepless for the first time in ages, he could still smell her perfume, as light and tantalising as the girl herself.

There was an upbeat atmosphere the next day at the practice when the staff heard about the engagement of the practice manager to the injured partner. When Fenella was asked for her comments she just smiled and said if her mother was happy then so was she, and that she was looking forward to meeting Simon. But inside she was wishing she'd had more time to get settled into the job before this new turn of events.

'So how are you this morning after your mother's news of last night?' was Max's greeting when she seated herself beside him in readiness for her second day of training. 'Resigned? Rejoicing? Relieved?'

'Yes. I'm resigned,' she told him. 'If it is what my mother wants then it's all right by me. Rejoicing? Not too much as yet. Remember I have still to meet the man in question. I will feel happier when I have. And why you should be expecting me to be relieved, I really don't know.'

She did, of course. There was a sinking feeling inside her. She'd given herself away when her mother had been about to make her announcement. The sardonic gleam in his eye was confirming it.

'Oh, I think that you
do
know. You had me down for the wicked stepfather, didn't you?'

'No! Yes!' she floundered. 'I'm not one of your villagers, don't forget. I haven't seen much of this place since my mother moved here. I've been away at university most of the time. I only came back to live a couple of weeks ago because I didn't want her to be alone any longer. Though it would seem that I needn't have been concerned on
that
account.'

He sighed. 'Are you going to get to the point, or what?'

Fenella was sitting bolt upright on the chair, indignation replacing the cringing feeling. Fixing him with a direct blue gaze, she said, 'I am merely trying to explain that I had no knowledge of what had been happening in my long absences. I wasn't to know that the warm looks
my
mother was bestowing on you came from gratitude rather than attraction.'

She wasn't going to admit that he was right in his surmise. She
had
been relieved, and Max, sitting beside her, calm and inscrutable, didn't know that it was because she was attracted to him herself.

She met the man who was to be her mother's new husband and liked him. Simon Wells had twinkly blue eyes and curly grey hair, with a neat beard to match, and in spite of still being in a lot of pain and discomfort he had smiled a lot and told her that it was lovely to meet her and that he
would take great care of her mother once he was mobile again.

She didn't stay at his bedside long, knowing that the two of them must see every moment they spent together as precious, but she went away with a good feeling after meeting the bridegroom-to-be.

Fenella's pleasure at being part of the village practice was increasing as the days went by. The staff were friendly and supportive, and on discovering that she was her mother's daughter the patients accepted her as if she were one of their own.