The Emergency Specialist by Barbara Hart

Author:Barbara Hart
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781460376546
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

THE drive to Cornwall took four hours. They stopped from time to time to stretch their legs—and once for a picnic lunch that Anna had prepared. It was the first ‘real’ picnic that Saskia had ever had and she was delighted with it.

‘I want picnics all the time!’ she declared, after realising that it didn’t matter if you dropped crumbs or knocked things over because it was outside and Christine wouldn’t be able to tell her off for being messy.

As they set off on the last leg of the journey, crossing into Cornwall, Anna was beginning to feel as excited as Saskia. There was something magical about the land and its natural beauty which she could sense even from behind the insulation of the car windows. Turning left off the main road, Jack drove them through the picturesque Cornish countryside which was dotted with the old workings of tin and copper mines, skirting quaint villages with ancient churches and historic inns, towards the small hamlet where his parents lived.

Their stone and slate cottage was at the end of a winding country lane. Jack parked the car outside and switched off the engine. He turned to Anna.

‘We’re here.’

‘It’s beautiful!’ she exclaimed.

The front door opened and two people of a similar age to her own parents walked down the garden path towards them. Anna clutched at Jack’s arm nervously.

‘They do know I’m coming, don’t they?’ she asked in a low voice so that Saskia wouldn’t hear. ‘You said you were keeping me as a surprise… I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.’

‘Relax,’ said Jack. ‘I told them I was bringing a girlfriend. I didn’t tell them about the other thing— about us getting married. I wanted to tell them such momentous news in person, not over the phone.’

Saskia managed to unclip her own seat belt and was jumping up and down, impatient to be let out of the car.

‘Grandma! Grandpa!’ she squealed as Jack opened the door for her.

Jack greeted his parents who were very busy making a fuss of Saskia, telling her what a big girl she was and how much she’d grown since they last saw her.

After a few moments, Anna stepped out of the car and stood next to Jack. He put an arm round her and introduced her to his parents.

As she caught sight of her son’s new girlfriend, Mrs Harvey’s eyebrows shot up.

‘Oh, you look like—’ she blurted out, before she could stop herself. Jack’s father intervened.

‘You look like you could do with a nice cup of tea,’ he said, smiling genially at Jack and Anna. ‘And I hope you’ve come with big appetites because there’s an enormous amount of food in there that your mother insists on referring to as ‘‘afternoon tea’’. More like the feeding of the five thousand,’ he said with a grin, hoping that his wife’s near-blunder had passed without notice. Jack’s new girlfriend did look uncannily like his late daughter-in-law, but Mr Harvey, the embodiment of tact, would have been the last person to mention it.

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