Page 54 of A Scottish Love Story
Amy arrived home in the ambulance the following day with Nurse Anne Munro following in her own small blue Vauxhall. Roxie was concerned to see that Amy looked quite weary so early in the day, but perhaps it was the stress of getting ready and the journey. Ciaran arrived soon after. When he had greeted his mother and been introduced to Anne, he announced that he was famished. Roxie and Amy both shook their heads, but they smiled. They knew it was typical of Ciaran to hide his true feelings, but they could see he was relieved and delighted to see his mum home again.
‘I will show you the downstairs bathroom, Anne,’ Roxie said. ‘It is a little earlier than we usually have our midday meal, but it is ready so we may as well eat now.’ In the hall she lowered her voice. ‘Amy seems quite weary compared to the way she was when I saw her yesterday.’
‘Yes, but I shall persuade her to take a rest in her bedroom after lunch and I think she will be relieved to be home. They all said what a good patient she is.’
‘She is a good person. She never moans, even when she must have been in pain.’
‘That is good to hear.’ Anne Munro smiled. ‘She sings your praises too and she seems extremely happy to know you will soon be part of her family.’
‘I will start putting out the lunch. Come through to the kitchen when you’re ready. We usually eat in there anyway, but Amy said you have a blow-up bed and intend staying overnight for the first two nights at least, so I have made space for you in the dining room, if that’s all right? That’s the door straight across from the bathroom and Amy’s bedroom.’
‘That will be ideal. Most patients like their privacy, but I like to be close in case they need me in the night.’
Roxie was pleased to see Amy helping herself to a decent meal and she seemed to enjoy it. Ciaran certainly enjoyed his, including eating up the spare Yorkshire puddings.’
‘That was delicious,’ Anne Munro announced. ‘If you feed me like this every day, I shall have put on a stone in weight by the end of the fortnight that I am booked to come every day. I am flexible, so we shall see what you need after that, Mrs Baxter.’
‘Oh, do call me Amy. We don’t stand on ceremony here.’
‘No, we don’t,’ Ciaran said. ‘So, no more Mr Baxter either if you please.’
The jolly exchange set the tone for Anne Munro’s visits and they settled into a happy atmosphere during Amy’s convalescence. Some healing could not be rushed, but Amy understood that. Even so, she was delighted when Mr Whittaker came down from Glasgow to see her the third week in June. She knew he would add the trip to his fees, of course, but he helped her spirits tremendously when he told her and Anne that they were making excellent progress between them.
‘You have no idea what a difference it makes to have a well-organised happy household, both to me and to my patients,’ Anne said to Roxie.
‘Amy is certainly looking better for your ministrations,’ Roxie assured her.
‘Yes, and she is so excited about the wedding. I heard her telling her son he must take you down to the farmhouse to choose which bedroom you want to use for yourselves, then he must get the painter in to decorate both it and the sitting room to your own choice. She also instructed him to take you to choose new carpets for both rooms on the days I shall still be coming so she will have company. She said it would help you to feel it is your home and that you truly belong. Not many mothers-in-law are so kind and considerate.’
‘Amy has been kind and welcoming since the moment I arrived,’ Roxie said with a warm smile.
‘And her son too, I imagine,’ Anne said with a mischievous grin.
‘Oh no! Ciaran and I almost had a stand-up quarrel the day I arrived. I suppose we both have a bit of a temper at times.’
‘He’s certainly making up for it now. He obviously adores you.’
Roxie blushed, but made no reply.
The physiotherapist turned out to be a young man named David Vey. He was very good at his job and patient with the people he was treating. He appeared to be late twenties and rather good-looking. He annoyed Ciaran from the first time they met, because he was obviously keen to gain Roxie’s attention and entertain her with his jokes and teasing. Sometimes he joined them for lunch if his appointment coincided with their meal time. Roxie made a point of remembering his likes and dislikes if she knew he would be joining them.
‘There’s no need to make things specially to please that fellow,’ Ciaran grumbled to Roxie one afternoon when he had finally got her to himself.
‘I try much harder to please you,’ she said, grinning cheekily.
‘I wish we were married right now,’ he said softly. ‘It seems ages until September.’
‘Don’t worry about David, Ciaran. He is here to do a job and your mother likes him, but she let him know from the beginning that we are engaged and planning our wedding soon. I think he sometimes flirts with me a little to tease her, but she has realised that and she gives him a bit of cheek in return. He says she’s one of the best patients he has had.’
‘Mmm, that’s all very well,’ he muttered. ‘I think it is time we spent an afternoon together to collect the wedding invitations and check up on the hotel to make sure everything will be organised for the evening guests, and those who are staying the weekend. I feel we should invite the clique Don and I used to go around with. Don and Jenny didn’t have a very big wedding. Jenny was still missing her mother, so they had no evening guests.’
‘I can understand that,’ Roxie murmured sympathetically.
‘Tommy has promised to invite your mutual friends and their partners, especially the ones who helped you with preparations for the sale. He expects most of them will be eager to come. He says you were very popular with them all. He thinks they might hire a minibus, but he is bringing Beth and Maggie in his car.’
‘Goodness me! How do you know all that?’
‘Ah, Tommy and I have had a few chats on the telephone. I think we should have got on very well, if we had known each other. We are both alone in the evenings, so it is a good time to chat and I like to hear about you. I could think of better ways to fill my evenings though,’ he added with a wicked grin.
