In fact, the image consultant was a great success, and the turnout was greater than Lucy and Kim had hoped for in their wildest dreams.
‘Can you believe the Porter family are here?’ Kim muttered to Lucy in an undertone as they checked the list of children for vaccination. ‘I’ve never managed to persuade her to come to clinic before. I can’t believe that an image consultant and a free cup of coffee was all it took.’
‘It’s nothing to do with the image consultant or the coffee,’ Ros said dryly. ‘It’s Joel. They’ve all come to see him.’
Lucy and Kim exchanged looks, startled, and then both turned to look at where Joel was standing, surrounded by a group of giggling mothers.
‘I think you just might be right, Ros,’ Kim said softly. ‘Oh, well, whatever it takes.’
They spent the rest of the session giving immunizations to little ones and advice to mothers, and when the last mother finally left they looked at each other in disbelief.
‘We had five babies who’ve never been immunised before,’ Ros said slowly, looking at her list. ‘That’s amazing.’
Joel nodded. ‘It was a great idea, Lucy.’
Lucy shook her head. ‘It wasn’t me, it was you. They came to see you.’
Joel frowned briefly and then shrugged. ‘Just as long as they’re gentle with me.’
He gave her a wink that was so sexy it made her insides lurch uncomfortably.
‘House calls, Dr Heartthrob,’ Ros teased, waving some notes in his direction. ‘One of them is Millie Gordon. She’s been discharged from hospital and Michael wanted to call on her, but he’s been tied up with a man with chest pain for an hour. He wondered if you’d go.’
‘Gladly.’ Joel put out his hands for the notes and looked at Lucy. ‘Want to come with me as she was your patient?’
Lucy looked at the clock and bit her lip. It was already two o’clock. She didn’t have patients booked in for the afternoon and she’d planned to do some restocking, but still…
‘They don’t live far away. I’ll have you at the school at three, and that’s a promise,’ Joel said softly, clearly reading her mind.
‘All right, then.’ She nodded and smiled. ‘I’d really like that.’
She grabbed her coat and followed him to his car, a brand-new BMW.
‘Is it better than the motorbike?’ She slid into the passenger seat and cuddled her coat around her. The weather was still bitterly cold.
‘Well, it’s a lot warmer,’ Joel said, his teeth gritted as he started the engine and shivered. ‘Or at least it is once the engine warms up.’
Millie and her family lived in one of the tiny fishermen’s cottages. Joel and Lucy walked down the path together towards the front door, and rang the bell. After a minute or so Millie’s mother opened the door, and her face brightened. ‘Oh—I wasn’t expecting you to call. How nice.’
‘Dr Michael wanted to come,’ Joel told her, ‘but he’s dealing with an emergency so you’re landed with me instead. He sent his best wishes and told you to call him, day or night, if you’re worried. Talking of which, how are things?’
‘Well, it feels a bit strange, Millie being home from hospital,’ Mrs Gordon confessed. ‘I feel a bit nervous that it’s all my responsibility now, but she seems fine. I suppose they wouldn’t have discharged her if she wasn’t.’
‘That’s right,’ Joel agreed, following her into the sitting room and grinning at Millie. ‘Hello, trouble. How are you doing?’
‘I’ve been in hothpital,’ the little girl lisped, her cheeks dimpling as she smiled.
‘I know you have.’ Joel nodded and dropped to his haunches next to the little girl. ‘What was it like?’
‘Fun. I did you a painting.’
‘You did a painting for me?’ A strange expression crossed Joel’s face and he cleared his throat. ‘Well—that’s great. Thank you. Can I see it?’
Millie nodded and wriggled off the sofa, padding across the room to the table at the far end.
‘I did one for you, too.’ She handed a brightly coloured blur to Lucy. ‘Because you saved me.’
Lucy felt a lump build in her