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‘It’s OK. I’m early anyway.’

‘Brilliant. Thanks.’ The woman turned to Liv with a bright smile. ‘Can I help you? Do you have an appointment?’

Liv couldn’t help smiling back, instantly warmed by the other woman’s friendly energy. ‘Actually, I think I’m here to help you.’ She held out a hand. ‘I’m Liv Emery.’

‘Right. Doctor Emery.’ The woman seized Liv’s hand and shook it firmly. ‘Tom’s old student. You’re locum-ing for him while they’re in Africa. Sorry for the chaotic welcome. The Macpearsons run the surgery together. With them both off adventuring, we’re short on admin as well as doctor resource. I’m Millie. Mostly community midwife and sometimes health visitor, though I do a lot of work in the surgery as well.’

‘Nice to meet you. And it’s Liv.’

‘Nice to meet you too, Liv.’ She smiled cheerfully, before stepping behind the reception desk and grabbing some files. ‘If Callum hasn’t come out to meet you, he’s either got a patient, or is running late with his daughter.’ She shrugged. ‘Struggles of being a single parent, I guess.’

‘I’ve already met his daughter.’ Liv smiled and reminded herself that she didn’t care about the grumpy arse’s marital status. Even if he did have warm hands and the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. ‘Very memorable.’

‘She’s a real sweetie. Anyway, I can show you to your room, and you can get settled.’

‘You’re busy.’ Liv’s eyes flicked to the young expectant mother. ‘I can wait.’

‘Don’t be silly. I’m a community midwife and nurse. Multitasking is par for the course. Kerry—’ she turned to her patient — ‘give me one more min, then come on in and I’ll get you checked over. Liv, this way.’ She headed down the corridor and held the third door open. ‘Right. This is your room, at least temporarily. Give me a shout if you need anything, or have any questions.’

‘Thank you.’

‘More than welcome. We’ve been desperately waiting for you. There’s been a flu bug making the rounds, and we’ve been run off our feet. Anyway, make yourself at home. Maybe we can have lunch later in the week?’

‘That sounds good, thanks,’ Liv agreed eagerly, already thinking she liked Millie. She might make a good ally in helping her to settle in and quickly learn more about the community.

‘Perfect. I’ll drop something into your diary when I’ve checked mine, and then I can fill you in on all the local gossip and everything you need to know.’

‘I’ll look forward to it.’

Millie paused at the door. ‘Welcome to Broclington, Liv.’

Liv smiled to herself as she started to unpack her bag. If only everyone was so pleased to have her here. But she wasn’t going to let one moody person ruin this for her. She’d just ignore him and focus her time on other people. Like Millie, and her patients. Resolved, she closed the door to her new, temporary office.

It swung open again a few seconds later. ‘Damn. You beat me.’ Callum’s eyes sparkled at her from behind a tray of take-away cups, balanced on a white box, emblazoned with a black badger. ‘I’d been hoping to leave these in here and meet you at the front desk. I didn’t know how you took your coffee, so I got one of everything. And pastries too.’

‘One of each of those as well?’ Liv eyed up the huge box.

‘More than one. The others would not be best pleased if I didn’t bring them some to share as well. And they wouldn’t be shy in letting me know that. Especially our midwife, Millie. She’d make my morning miserable if I’d been to the café and forgotten her Brockle cake.’

Liv laughed. ‘And is this a regular thing?’

‘More of a special occasion or bribery type thing.’

‘So, which is this?’

‘This is a third, and hopefully not to be repeated, option.’ He sounded somewhat sheepish. ‘For when I’ve made an idiot of myself and need to apologise.’

‘And does this third option happen often?’ Liv found herself smiling at him, in spite of her earlier promise to herself.

‘More often than I’d like to admit.’ He set the box and cups on the desk. ‘I was less than welcoming on Saturday. In fact, I was downright rude. I was busy and stressed, and then you came in late, and I took my frustration out on you. And now that I’ve come to understand the real reason you were late, I feel like I’d be a successful candidate for this year’s “Village Idiot”.’

‘You heard about the little boy with anaphylaxis.’ Liv wasn’t surprised word had travelled quickly through the community.

Callum nodded, shamefaced.

‘How is he?’

‘He’s going to be fine. Thanks to your quick actions. He should be coming home from hospital today. You’ve already made a big impact on the village.’