Book Title: Lost for Words
By: Jax Burrows
Esme craves forgiveness but the only person who can grant it is dead.
Joel wants a fresh start. But his past may not be as far behind him as he thinks.
When Dr. Joel Whittaker takes up the post of GP at Leytonsfield Medical Centre, he is instantly drawn to a senior practice nurse, Esme McBride. He recognizes her as a damaged soul, but he's determined to break down the barriers she has erected against the world and get to know the real Esme.
When Esme lost her fiancé ten years ago, she retreated from the world. She shut out love and laughter and vowed never again to lose control of her emotions. Her family and friends think it's time to move on and start living but it's not until the handsome doctor arrives that she wonders if they could be right.
Excerpt
CHAPTER ONE
It was Monday morning again. Esme McBride stepped through the door of the medical center with a familiar swirl of anticipation and dread in her stomach. She shook her head a little. Dread was too strong a word she told herself sternly. But sometimes the anxiety she’d been suffering with for the past ten years made things feel worse than they were. Her heart rate increased as she nodded and smiled at the two old ladies in the waiting room who greeted her.
‘Good morning, Sister,’ they said cheerfully.
‘Good morning,’ she replied before continuing down the corridor to the treatment room she used to see her patients.
The feeling of anticipation was always there, however, as she loved her job as a senior practice nurse at the medical center, and with each day being different, she never knew what was in store.
When she reached the kitchen in the middle of the corridor, she heard laughter emanating from the propped-open door. It should be shut when the clinics were running, to keep the noise level down. But, propped open, any loud laughter would be heard by the two patients already in the waiting room.
The laughter continued. It was obviously a very funny joke. Should she ignore it and get ready for clinic? But the professional Esme was annoyed and she had to speak out.
She walked through the open door to the sight of Patricia, one of the registered nurses, Sally, the youngest receptionist, and a man she had never seen before standing in the middle of the kitchen. The laughter died as soon as they saw her. She must have had a serious look on her face to match her mood. Granted the clinics didn’t start for another half an hour, but the staff knew better than to behave like school kids on a day trip when they were on duty. They were professionals and should behave with decorum at all times.
‘Morning, Sister McBride,’ said Sally as she squeezed passed her to return to the reception desk carrying a mug of coffee in each hand.
‘Good morning, Sally.’
‘Esme,’ said Patricia, ‘good timing. This is Dr. Whittaker, our new GP. He was just telling us a funny story of when he was a medical student. Right, I’ll leave you in Esme’s capable hands.’ Patricia left the kitchen and Esme turned her attention to the man who was standing in front of her with his hand out to shake and a smile on his lips.
‘Good morning, nice to meet you. Shall I call you Esme or Sister McBride?’
Esme looked at his hand—strong with beautifully manicured fingernails—then took it in hers. He was looking directly into her eyes, his blue eyes seeming to reach into her soul. She dropped his hand quickly.
‘I’m old school, Dr. Whittaker, I think we should be professional at all times, so Sister McBride will suffice.’ Esme knew that many nurses her age weren’t concerned with titles but she preferred to be called by hers. She may be only thirty-two but she was an old-fashioned girl at heart and she’d worked hard for her title.
‘Absolutely,’ he said with a smile. An open, happy smile which reached his blue eyes and showed a glimpse of the fun-loving side of his character. Esme imagined that Dr. Joel Whittaker smiled a lot.
‘But welcome to Leytonsfield Medical Centre, we’re very pleased that you’re joining us, and I hope you’ll be very happy here.’
‘I’m sure I shall.’ Dr. Whittaker spoke slowly, enunciating each word clearly and he hesitated slightly before he pronounced some words.
Esme hoped she hadn’t annoyed him, that was never her intention. She came across as quite stern and serious—she’d been told enough times by both her family and her colleagues to lighten up—but she was serious about her job and liked things to be done just so. It was unfortunate that, in the modern world in which they were all forced to reside, most people preferred informality. She’d lost count of the number of times she’d had to complain about the receptionists using their mobile phones when the clinics were running. It created such a bad impression for the patients.
‘Would you like me to show you to the room you’ll be using today?’ Esme asked in an attempt to make up for her earlier abruptness.
‘Thank you, that would be very kind.’ Dr. Whittaker spoke politely but Esme couldn’t lose the feeling that he was laughing at her in some way. It wouldn’t be the first time someone mistook her desire to behave appropriately for stuffiness. His blue eyes were twinkling far too much for her liking.
As they walked down the corridor to the room Dr. Whittaker would be sharing with two part-time GPs, she realized that she had to look up to meet his eyes. At five feet eleven inches tall, Esme towered over most women she met and a lot of men too. But Dr. Whittaker must have been over six feet tall. It made a refreshing change. Not that she had a problem with her height, she rather liked being tall.
‘Right. Here we are. Georgina, our practice manager, will be along before the clinic starts to show you how to navigate the patient software and set up passwords and the like. I can give you a brief tour before she arrives.’
Dr. Whittaker sat down and Esme stood next to him, leaning over slightly to use the mouse and show him how to move from one piece of software to another. She was aware of him as he stared at the screen, a tiny frown creasing his brows. It had been a long time since she had been this close to a man and she knew her cheeks would be cherry red if she didn’t back off and keep her distance. Damn these blushes. She’d been plagued with them all her adult life and wished she knew how to control them. No matter how cool and detached she wanted to be, her red cheeks always gave her away.
‘Good. It looks similar to the one I used at my last place, so I’ll be able to hit the ground running.’ He turned his head to look up at her and the smile was back in place.
‘Where were you working before?’ Not that she really cared but small talk had never been her strong point.
‘A small health center in Manchester.’
‘Oh, so what made you move to Leytonsfield? It’ll be a lot quieter here than what you were used to in the big city.’
‘Peace and quiet sounds good at the moment.’ He sighed and looked away, staring at the computer screen again. ‘I’ve moved in with my brother who is a psychotherapist at Leytonsfield General. He bought himself a fixer-upper and finds now that he has neither the time nor the skills to do the place up. I needed a change, so I offered to help him.’
She was tempted to ask him why he needed a change but feared it might be too personal a question. Stick to the mundane and avoid affairs of the heart.
‘Do you know anything about house renovation Dr. Whittaker?’
His smile this time was barely perceptible as if he had secrets he was reluctant to share. ‘I did a lot of work on my own house in Manchester, so I’m not a complete novice, and anyway, there’s plenty of advice on the internet.’
Esme had run out of questions to ask him and was keen to get ready for the clinic. ‘I see. Well, good luck with it all.’
‘Thank you.’
The door flew open, and Georgina, the practice manager, rushed in. ‘Sorry, sorry… the bus took ages this morning. I’m here now anyway and I’ll take over. Thanks, Esme, for looking after Joel. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here to welcome you. Well, I’m here now.’
‘Right.’ Esme backed away from the desk to avoid Georgina elbowing her out of the way. ‘I’ll go then.’
‘Yes, go, clinic’s starting soon and some of your patients are already here.’
Esme left the two of them together, Georgina still talking and Dr. Whittaker—Joel—frowning at the screen, trying to keep up with the cascade of information Georgina was no doubt imparting.
As Esme reached the small clinic room she used to see her patients, Patricia was coming out of it.
‘Esme, I’m sorry, I forgot what day it is. No wonder you were a bit tetchy earlier on. Are you going to the…’
Tetchy? She was merely expressing an opinion. But at least Patricia had the grace to apologize. ‘Yes, I’m going after work today. Thank you for remembering.’
‘Oh, you’re welcome. It must be… well, I know how hard this day is for you. If there’s anything you need, please just shout.’
‘Thank you, Patricia, I will.’
‘Right, better get on.’
When Esme was alone, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to calm her thoughts and her fast heartbeat. Then she turned her attention to the list of patients she was seeing at that clinic. Professional at all times. Personal things would have to wait until later.
Meet Jax
Jax Burrows has done many different jobs in her career, including working in the NHS for twenty years, providing her with a rich source of material for her novels. As a voracious reader from childhood, Jax has always wanted to write a novel, and Indie-published her debut novel “Rescuing the Rossini Heir” in January 2017. Since then, she has published two more stand alone novels; “Roses for His Rival” and “Love, Lies and Weight Loss”. Her first medical romance series is called "The O'Connors" and she is working on her second series called "The McBrides". Jax writes sweet, clean romance with sexy men and strong, empowered women, and she loves a happy ever after. When not writing, Jax loves to travel; Italy and Australia are two of her favourite places. She loves to hear from her readers and you can contact her via her website jaxburrowsauthor.co.uk or on Twitter @jaxburrows3.
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