CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN

After Chris finished chastising me for doing things the hard way, we discussed what to do about the surgery. 'I'll get in touch with Owen Mitchell in Looe—he's single with no children, so he's already offered to fill in for someone who wants to spend the holidays with their family. When were you planning to leave?'

'As soon as I hang up with you, I'll book my flight and drive into London. I want to be on the first plane out in the morning,' I told him.

'Well done, mate,' he chuckled. 'You'll be there in plenty of time for Christmas. Don't worry about things on this end; I'll have everything taken care of. My god, when was the last time you took a vacation, anyway?'

I thought for a minute. 'Ah…I don't recall ever taking one, actually,' I said, walking quickly up the stairs to begin the process of packing.

'Right…. well, just do me a favor and enjoy yourself. And say hello to Anna for me.'

It had taken me less than an hour to get everything sorted—packing, booking a flight, arranging for a rental car once I arrived. After debating for a few minutes, I came to the decision that I would not call Anna and let her know I was coming. I didn't want her to spend her entire day wondering and worrying about whether or not I had gotten there safely, or changing plans she had made to accommodate my arrival. Best to just get on with it and hope I got there without any complications.

This posed another challenge: where exactly was I going? I knew the name of the town in which Anna's family lived, and that it was in Virginia, and a quick search on the computer showed me the closest airport to my destination (which was still 75 miles away). Once I got there, though, I was flying blind. Then I remembered that I had received a Christmas card the day before from Anna's grandmother and had yet to open it. Thankfully, she had printed the return address on the outside of the envelope. Even if Anna was not staying with her, it was a good place to start—her grandmother would certainly know where I could find her. I felt myself smirking at the irony of planning a surprise for Anna, considering how much I disliked surprises…but I had to admit I was a bit proud of myself for coordinating the whole covert operation.

There was one little detail I had forgotten, though, and a reminder came in the form of a phone call while I was driving into London.

'Hello, Marty,' Aunty Joan began hurriedly, 'I won't keep you; I only wanted to make sure you are still planning to come over on Christmas day as discussed.'

Oh, bugger. I winced. 'Uh, no, actually…'

Before I was able to go further, she sighed in exasperation, exclaiming, 'Martin Ellingham, you haven't decided to keep the surgery open, have you? Surely this village can do without you for one day…'

'No, it's not that! It's…well…'

'For heaven's sake, spit it out!' she prodded.

'I've decided to go be with Anna. I'm nearly in London now and will be catching a plane in the morning,' I finished. 'Sorry, I should have rung you, but it's all a bit spur of the moment…'

There was a pause, and then a delighted squeal. I held the phone away from my ear to keep from rupturing my tympanic membrane. 'Martin, that's wonderful! And you came up with this all on your own…my goodness, I can scarcely believe it. Oh, I can't tell you how happy I am! Of course, you could have saved a lot of trouble by just going with her yesterday…'

'Yes, yes, all right,' I grumbled.

'Well, as far as Christmas is concerned, all is forgiven, then,' she went on. 'I'm proud of you, nephew. This will be a learning experience for you—I have a feeling spending time with Anna's family will be unlike anything you've done before…'

'That's an understatement.'

'…and that has to be a bit daunting. I commend you for doing the right thing. Once you get there and get settled, you'll have a lovely time.'

'Mmm…that remains to be seen,' I muttered dubiously.

'Marty, at least try, for Anna's sake!' my aunt ordered. She forced me to promise her I would give everything a chance, and so I promised. Let's face it; when it came to Aunty Joan, did I really have any other choice?

I made it to London without incident and checked into the room I had reserved at the Soho Hotel, and less than 8 hours later, I found myself on a British Airways flight to Richmond, Virginia. For the entire duration of the flight, I pondered what the bloody hell I was getting myself into.

I glanced at the rental car's sat-nav again—I was nearly there. I felt some of my tension dissipate, knowing that I would be stopping soon. Now there was only the nervous anticipation of arriving on the doorstep of strangers, and of course the eagerness to see my Anna again. It was surprising how badly I longed for her when it had only been two days since she had gone. How had I managed to be alone all those years before she came into my life? I hadn't thought my solitude was so bad when I was living in it, but the thought of going back to that life now was too horrible to think about. An existence without her would be unbearable.

As I was lost in thought, there was sudden movement out of the corner of my eye as a deer darted out from the edge of the trees and right in front of the car. I slammed on the brakes, swearing, and turned the wheel sharply to the right, the tyres coming in contact with a patch of icy road. I could feel the car lose traction and I tried to maintain control of the vehicle as it swerved and slid wildly, but it was no use—I soon found myself resting halfway into the deep ditch by the side of the road. I roared another expletive, pounding on the steering wheel in frustration. The fatigue of traveling seemed to hit me all at once, and I leaned my head back against the seat with a groan. Five bloody miles to go and now I was stuck.

The road I was on had nearly non-existent traffic; I hadn't passed more than five cars in the past ten miles. The weather conditions may have had something to do with it, but this also was a quite rural area…maybe this was normal. Whatever the reason, I wasn't keen on the idea of being picked up by a complete stranger in an unfamiliar area, but even less keen on walking five miles in the snow with icy ground under foot. I had just resigned myself to the fact that I would have to call Anna's mobile when a large truck slowed down and pulled on the side of the road behind me. I took a deep breath and opened the car door, maneuvering my way out of the precariously positioned vehicle. Let's get this over with, I thought to myself.

A man got out of the truck and approached me, eyeing the car. 'Everything all right? Anyone hurt?' he asked calmly. He was just under six feet tall, stocky, and bearded…and for some reason, he seemed very familiar.

I shook my head. 'No, no injuries…I'm fine,' I replied with irritation, adding through clenched teeth, 'although I'm beginning to believe I will never get where I'm going…'

The man raised his eyebrows and smiled a bit, and I heard him chuckle. 'Come on with me—I'll take you there,' he said, nodding his head toward the truck. 'I'll get someone to come and pull your car out later, after you've settled. I expect you've had a long trip.' Without waiting for a reply, he turned and walked back toward the truck. I stood for a moment, confused, and without knowing what else to do, I followed him.

I climbed into the cab next to the man. 'Er…thank you,' I said feebly.

'No trouble at all,' he answered, and pulled back out onto the road. 'I'm going in that direction.'

It suddenly dawned on me that I hadn't even mentioned the address of my destination. 'Sorry, how do you know what 'that direction' is? I haven't told you where I'm going yet!' I sputtered.

He chuckled again quietly. 'Oh, I'm pretty sure I know. You're here to see Anna Harper. I've heard a lot about you, Doctor.'

I was gobsmacked. 'What…how…? How could you possibly know…?' He glanced at me with twinkling green eyes, holding out his hand for me to shake. I did so weakly, out of confusion more than anything.

'Andy Harper, Anna's daddy,' he introduced himself. 'Glad you decided to come after all.'