"Louisa, we are going to be late!" Martin yelled from the surgery reception area. He held James Henry, dressed and ready. They were going to meet the Jacobs at the vicarage and were due there in fifteen minutes. Luk had found the name of a "family-friendly" pub that stocked all sorts of imported beers and they were planning to follow them there as neither couple had a six-person vehicle. "Family-friendly" pub - yes that was definitely what Luk had said when he called the night before. Wasn't that an oxymoron? Not these days, Martin guessed.

"Martin, hang on a minute. I just need to add lipstick and I will be down there! Is James' bag packed?" Louisa asked.

"Yes, all is ready," Martin said as she came down the stairs. He stared. She took his breath. Every time. Took his breath completely. She was wearing a lovely blue sweater with just a hint of sparkle along with black slacks. She looked beautiful, her hair falling around her shoulders. Could this woman really love him? He could go out with a vicar and an American every night if he could see her like this. He shook his head to clear it.

"Martin, are you all right?" Louisa asked. "You were staring and then you just shook your head. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, Louisa, believe it or not, everything is fine. Great. I was staring at you. You are so beautiful. So very beautiful."

"Martin, wow, what has gotten into you?" Louisa chuckled then sobered. "I don't usually hear things like that from you. Just words about looking flushed or busy. Have you had a knock on the head today?"

"No I have not," Martin said, slightly hurt. He was trying so hard.

Louisa seemed to sense that she had hurt him and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Martin I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. I guess I haven't gotten used to the changes you have made yet. You look great too, although I think you should be prepared if Luk and Natalie aren't looking as smart as you always do. Vicars' salaries aren't great, you know, and Natalie has not been working outside of the home for quite a while now. She said it took a good bit of their savings to move here, purchase the chemist shop and refurbish it."

They walked out the door and locked it and began to tuck James into his car seat. As they got into the Lexus Martin said, "Louisa it sounds as though you and this Natalie have known each other forever. I thought you had just met."

"Oh, Martin you know how we women can be and she is just so easy to talk to. Even you said that Luk was easy to talk to as well. I hope this will be the start of a great new friendship for us, although I am a bit embarrassed, I have to admit."

"Embarrassed? Why?" Martin asked.

"Well, because we aren't, you know, aren't married. And he IS a vicar. I wonder what they think, I guess, if I am honest. My parents didn't take me to church much as I grew up. I went with Bert sometimes. But I certainly never knew a vicar OR a vicar's wife. I hope he doesn't get all, you know, smarmy, like Danny did at times."

"Louisa, I don't get the impression that Luk will get 'smarmy' as you call it. Who knows? We will have our own car, though, and we can always make some excuse. But our living arrangements are certainly none of their business." And if they knew the truth of our CURRENT living arrangements, they probably wouldn't mind at all, Martin thought.

"I'm just glad you seem to like Luk, though," Louisa said. "I think you will be pleasantly surprised with Natalie as well."

We shall see, he thought.

They arrived at the vicarage a few moments later and Martin met the famous Natalie. She was tall and thin like Louisa, with glossy short, dark hair. She did have a nice smile as she shook Martin's hand and called him Doctor Ellingham. He assured her it was fine to call him Martin, exchanged details with Luk and they got on their way, after Natalie introduced Louisa to Luk.

"What did you think?" Louisa asked when they were back in their car.

Martin knew she was nervous about the way he would act so he tried to reassure her. "She seems nice enough. Hopefully we will get along since we will have to work together. It is nice to have a chemist you can depend on." He was actually worried a bit since she was trained in America but he certainly wasn't going to talk about that during this outing.

When they arrived at the pub, both of the babies had fallen asleep and so they took them out of the cars, seats and all.

They sat down and ordered drinks. Water for Natalie and Martin, white wine for Louisa and Leffe Blonde beer for Luk. He turned to Martin and said, "So Martin, not a beer drinker?"

"Not much of a drinker at all, as a matter of fact," Martin said, but with no trace of his usual acidic tone. How did he do that, Martin thought - get me to speak and even act genially? "I tend to, um, fall asleep, with not much alcohol at all. And of course it has an appalling effect on the liver so I find it best to do without most of the time." Martin paused and looked at their faces. Louisa's was frightened but Luk and Natalie merely looked interested. "But you please enjoy yourselves and don't mind me," Martin said, and Louisa visibly relaxed. Whew, Martin thought.

"Being from Belgium sort of requires you to drink beer," Natalie laughed. "At least that is what Luk tells me. The first time we visited there I was absolutely amazed at all of the different labels. Unbelievable."

"So you two met in America?" Louisa asked.

"Yes. I had come to Natalie's parish from France and we met after my very first sermon. I asked her out right on the spot and I think she was afraid to say no because I had just been speaking about the need for people to say yes to new experiences," Luk laughed.

"That was definitely it," she said. "Actually I was just taken in by the lovely accent and we have been together ever since. How did you two meet?" she asked, looking right at Martin.

Oh no, he thought. How could he get out of this?

Louisa came to the rescue. "Actually we met when Martin came to apply for the GP position. Our old doctor had passed away and Martin came from London to try for the post. I was on the panel that interviewed him," she said.

"Really?" asked Luk. "Martin I bet that was a tough one. How did you come to leave London? Were you a GP there as well? Was it your Aunt Ruth?"

Martin paused and looked at Luk and Natalie. I don't do this, he thought. I don't talk about these things. I need to get out of here. But, as he stared at their sincerely interested faces, he did it again. He opened his mouth and said "Actually it is difficult to discuss."

"No problem," Luk started to say but Martin interrupted. "But I will make a long story short by saying that I was a vascular specialist in London and began to experience hemophobia - fear of blood," he added in case they weren't familiar with the term. "My Aunt Ruth's sister Joan farmed just outside this village most of her adult life and I used to visit her in summers when I was young. So, when I could no longer perform surgery, I decided to become a GP and since Port Wenn had a position available, I thought I might come here for a while and enjoy being near Joan again."

"The hemophobia must have been hard to deal with. But then you two met and fell in love, hmm?" Natalie asked. "But what happened to Joan - where is she now?"

I frowned. Louisa tensed. "Yes, we did fall in love Natalie. Joan... Joan had a heart attack the day after James Henry was born. They found her in her truck, out on the moor," Louisa answered for me.

"Oh, Martin, how awful for you," Natalie said. "So did she get to see the baby at all?"

Martin answered this time. "No, unfortunately she did not. Ruth has now inherited her farm and has moved from London where she worked as a psychiatrist."

"And your parents Martin? Are they nearby as well?" Luk asked.

"No. Divorced. My mother is in Portugal and my father in London - Kensington as a matter of fact," Martin said.

Louisa then asked Luk and Natalie about their families. Martin could tell that she knew he didn't want to talk more about his parents and he knew for sure she wouldn't want to talk about hers with a vicar. Her father in prison. Her mother who knew where. We are sure a pair, Martin thought. It is probably a miracle that we have gotten this far, with families like ours.

The food arrived and Luk brought Martin back into the present. "Can we ask a blessing?" he said.

They all bowed their heads. "God of grace, thank you for these gifts of food, friendship and fellowship. Help us to treasure all three to nourish our bodies and souls. In Christ's name, Amen," Luk said.

Natalie and Louisa began to eat but Luk spoke again. "I realized something today when I was in my office," Luk said. "James Henry's baptism is coming up soon, isn't it?"

"Yes it is," said Louisa. "I was going to ask you about that."

"We should set up a meeting to talk about it. I generally meet with parents and talk over the meaning of the vows and the particulars of the service. Do you think we could do that next week? The big day is coming up fast."

"When would you like to meet, and where?" Louisa asked.

"Why don't you come up to our home next Friday night?" Luk said, looking at Natalie as he spoke as if to question the day. She nodded to him and he continued. "Come about five and we can meet before dinner. That way you can get little James back home in time for his bath. Would that work?"

"Sure," Louisa said. "Next Friday, five o'clock."