The Village Nurse's Happy-Ever-After by Abigail Gordon

wear,’ he teased as she stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind her. ‘The dress is amazing and so are you.’
    â€˜It belongs to another age, a time that I don’t want to be reminded of,’ she replied. ‘A time of wine and poses.’
    â€˜I’m not with you,’ Harry said over his shoulder as he preceded her down the stairs.
    â€˜It means wining, dining, pretending—things that to some are as natural as breathing, but not me. When the chance came I got out of it, gave birth to my son in a place where he was well away from all of that and safe from psuedos. I’m happy in this new life I’ve chosen in Bluebell Cove, and hope that you will be too.’
    He was holding out his hand to help her down the last step and when they were both on the same level hesaid, ‘I’m working on it. For instance, it is ages since I’ve been anywhere socially.’
    He would have preferred them to have stayed upstairs in her apartment, to give him the chance to hear anything further that Phoebe might want to tell him about her life before Bluebell Cove. But, as he’d just said, it was a social occasion, and he wasn’t ready to tell her about his past, which might be what she would expect in return.
    Still holding her hand, he said, ‘So let’s go, Phoebe. Let’s head for Wheatlands Farm and the Valentine Ball.’ She nodded and lifted the hem of her dress so that she wouldn’t trip over it in the dark, and, with the high heels of her strappy gold sandals clicking on the hard surface of the practice forecourt, they walked hand in hand to where Harry’s car was parked.
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    When they arrived at the farm, Pamela Enderby and her husband were waiting to welcome the partygoers in the spacious panelled hallway of the farmhouse. As they approached, they saw that she had a bouquet of beautiful flowers laid across her knee and Ian was holding a magnum of champagne.
    When they stopped in front of them, Pamela presented Phoebe with the flowers and said, ‘These are to say thank you for helping to save my life, Phoebe.’
    â€˜And our deepest gratitude to you, Harry,’ Ian said, passing over the champagne. ‘If it hadn’t been for the two of you, Pamela might not have been here tonight. We shall always remember what you did for her.’
    â€˜We were only doing what we are employed to do,Ian,’ Harry said. ‘So much of helping patients is being there at the right time, but thanks for your kind words…’ he smiled in Phoebe’s direction ‘…and for the champagne and the flowers.
    â€˜My aunt and uncle are here,’ Harry said when they’d left the Enderbys greeting the next lot of guests. ‘Do you mind if we have a word with them before we start enjoying ourselves?’
    â€˜No, not at all,’ she told him, hoping that the stories she’d heard about battle-axe Barbara Balfour, as she’d been called in years past when she’d been in charge of the practice, weren’t true. Her patients had been her life and the hospital had always jumped to her tune when she had been on the line or visited it in person.
    She recalled how Francine, the French wife of Ethan Lomax, had come under her scrutiny, even though Barbara no longer had any say in the running of the practice. When the man that she’d loved like a son had been stressed and very unhappy, it had been Barbara who had brought Harry home from Australia to save Ethan’s marriage.
    Barbara was normally to be found in a wheelchair due to advanced rheumatoid arthritis, and tonight was no different when the two of them presented themselves to her.
    At a first glance Phoebe took an immediate liking to Barbara’s husband, but observed Harry’s Aunt Barbara warily as she asked him, ‘So who is this that you have brought to meet us, Harry?’
    He smiled. The days were long gone when Aunt Barbara ruled the