‘But you—’
‘I want to talk to you about Glenda. She has problems we need to help her with. Big problems.’
Anna stared at him. ‘Tell me.’
He straightened. ‘In case you’ve forgotten, we’ve got patients piling up outside the door, Riggs. Let’s clear the decks and then we can concentrate on Glenda.’
* * *
‘She called me this morning in a state.’ Sam nursed a coffee, trying not to notice Anna’s hair. He loved the sleekness of it. The smoothness. The darkness against her perfect white blouse. It was all he could do to keep his fingers out of it. And away from the rest of her. He just wanted to reach out, grab and help himself. Just as he had the night before.
Damn, he should never have touched her. Then he wouldn’t have known that she tasted like a dream.
‘A state about what?’
He struggled to keep his mind on the job. ‘How much do you know about her mother?’
Anna sat back in her chair. ‘Not much, I suppose. Just to say hello to her in passing. She’s your father’s patient. I don’t think she’s consulted me at all in the time that I’ve been here. I only know her as Glenda’s mum. You think there’s something wrong with her?’
‘It would seem so. Glenda rang me this morning because she was afraid to leave her on her own in the house.’ Sam ran a hand over his face, trying to keep his mind on the job in hand. Concentration had never been so difficult. ‘Basically, she’s been trying to ignore the problem. Pretend it isn’t happening. But yesterday she lost her mother when they were out shopping.’
‘She lost her?’
‘She wandered off. Glenda panicked. Apparently that was the final straw that made her call me.’
Anna stared at him. ‘You’re suggesting that her mother has a form of dementia?’
‘I think it’s highly probable. We need to refer her to a specialist mental health service for assessment.’
‘There’s an excellent memory clinic at the hospital.’ Anna closed her eyes and breathed out. ‘Oh, help. Poor thing. And poor Glenda. What a thing to cope with. And she’s an only child, isn’t she? No other siblings to help?’
‘That’s right. And she’s really been struggling. Afraid to leave her mother on her own for any length of time, desperate to do her job here and not let us down…’
‘She needn’t worry about the job,’ Anna said immediately. ‘We’ll make whatever arrangements are necessary to cover her if she needs to be at home, but her job is here for as long as she wants it.’
Sam felt something shift inside him. The woman might be tough on the outside but she was marshmallow on the inside. Loyal and giving. And maybe a part of him had always known that. After all, hadn’t she been the one to stay and help his father while he’d chosen a different path? ‘It won’t be easy.’
‘It’s Glenda that matters, not the practice. Hannah can do extra time and I’ll rack my brains to think of who might be able to help her.’ Anna frowned and drummed her fingers on the desk, her neat fingernails tapping a rhythm while she thought. Her brow cleared. ‘I know. We’ll ask Fiona.’
‘She retired a year ago.’
‘But she was the most efficient receptionist we ever had and she taught Glenda everything she knew,’ Anna reminded him, flicking through a box on her desk and pulling out a card. ‘I’ve got her number here. Once we’ve spoken to Glenda, we can give her a ring if necessary. But the more important question is how to help Glenda and her mother.’
‘I went round there this morning,’ Sam told her, a drawn look on his face as he recalled the visit. ‘Frankly, I can’t begin to imagine how Glenda has coped without help up until now. It’s no wonder she’s been so stressed. I’m amazed she’s been making it to work at all. Her mother was really agitated and aggressive. And she clearly forgets everything, which drives Glenda up the wall.’
Anna groaned. ‘I just wish she’d said something sooner. This is all my fault.’ She scooped her hair away from her face in a gesture that made him want to groan aloud. ‘I should have noticed sooner that something was very wrong. She hasn’t been herself for ages. And now I see why. And I see why she’s always dashing off at lunch-time and arriving late in the mornings.’
With a determined effort Sam shifted his gaze away from her, trying to remind himself just how badly they clashed. ‘She’s been checking on her mother—afraid to leave her for too long,’ he agreed, ‘but don’t blame yourself, Riggs. You’ve been propping up this place virtually single-handed for too long. And that brings us to another subject we’re going to have to tackle. You should have told Dad he was no longer up to the job a long time ago.’
Anna bit her lip. ‘That isn’t true.’
‘It’s true,’ Sam said heavily. ‘You’ve been covering for him, picking up his workload. The sabbatical idea was genius. It enabled you to get some help without telling him outright he needed to retire. Hopefully he’ll get the message himself when he’s away.’
Her eyes slid away from his. ‘Your dad is a brilliant doctor.’
‘But his health has been getting worse and you need to be on full power for this job,’ Sam said steadily, ignoring the ache inside him. ‘It’s hard to acknowledge that he’s getting old, but that’s the truth. There are things Dad should have been doing that he hasn’t.’
‘That reminds me.’ She looked him straight in the eye. ‘I want to talk to you about your ideas for that teenage clinic. I want to try it.’