her to see if she would be pulling her weight when they were on call-out? Or what?
‘How old is Josh?’
‘Nine,’ she replied briefly, ‘and he’s an only child.’
She was beginning to feel as if it was time that she did a bit of probing of her own.
‘Where have you moved from?’ she asked casually.
‘I’ve been living and working down south. This is my first experience of a northern city. I’d hoped to settle here a couple of weeks ago to give me some breathing space, but something cropped up and I only arrived yesterday.’
‘And you’re already on the job!’ she exclaimed. ‘That seems a bit much.’
He shrugged as if it was of no consequence. ‘My contract said that I start today, and today it is.’
She was giving him directions and he said, ‘I take it that working in the inner city is enough. You don’t choose to live there?’
‘That’s correct. I live in a Pennine village that isn’t too far away for commuting and is a better place to bring Josh up in.’
When they stopped outside the neat stone cottage, which had seemed like a paradise when Dave had been around and now was just a place to live, Kane settled back into the driving seat and said, ‘I’ll wait. Do whatever you have to do. If any calls come through, I’ll radio back to base and explain what’s happened and where I am.’
Selina hesitated. The least she could do was invite him in.
‘Don’t wait out here. You can make yourself a drink while I’m changing.’
‘You’re sure?’
‘Yes.’
He opened the door and stepped onto the pavement, observing the house as he did so.
‘Nice. Have you always lived in the area?’
She nodded, wishing as she did so that he would leave it at that.
He did and, after directing him into the kitchen and showing him where she kept tea, coffee and suchlike, she went into the hall and took off the drab raincoat.
Selina paused for the briefest of moments as the bikini was revealed. She sighed. It seemed like a lifetime since she’d padded out into the garden to sun herself.
Framed in the mirror opposite was a woman with straight golden hair fastened back in a ponytail, slender almost to the point of being too thin, with violet eyes behind long lashes and a kind mouth.
The men on the unit often joked that she should be on the catwalk instead of the paramedic treadmill, but she only laughed when they said it. Ever since she’d joined the St John’s Ambulance Service while still at school Selina had known where she was heading.
But her mother’s long illness, her father’s incapacitation until he, too, had passed away and then becoming pregnant with Josh almost as soon as she and Dave had married had put a hold on career plans until a couple of years ago.
At that moment the kitchen door swung back and Kane Kavener was standing there with the coffee-jar in his hands.
‘It’s empty. Shall I er…?’ His voice trailed away when he saw her, and there was something in his glance that made her face grow warm.
‘Open a new one? Yes. You’ll find one in the cupboard,’ she said quickly, and with an about-turn she ran up the stairs.
Within seconds she was back down, dressed in a white cotton top and denim cropped trousers, and carrying a small holdall.
He put down the mug he was holding and with the other hand replaced the photograph of Dave and herself that he’d picked up from the window shelf.
‘Your husband?’ he asked casually.
‘Yes,’ she told him quietly, ‘and if you’re wondering why he isn’t here when his son is asking for him…’
He raised his hand with palm outwards to halt the flow of words.
‘Not my business. It just seemed a shame, that was all. Josh wanting him and him not being there, but fathers have a living to earn. They can’t always be around.’
‘Dave is dead,’ she told him tonelessly. ‘He died of cancer a year ago.’
Kane’s face went slack. ‘I’m sorry. So sorry! It must be very hard for you.’
‘It is,’ she said simply. ‘But there has never been anyone to tell us that life is fair, has there?’
‘No, indeed,’ he agreed soberly.
Wishing that she’d been a bit less upfront with her affairs, she said, ‘Are you ready?’
‘Of course…and make sure that you lock up this time.’
Not another word passed between them on the way back but Selina thought that she’d said enough already, considering they’d only met hours ago. But at least he would have her sussed for when she turned in for duty—he would have found out her circumstances sooner or later.
Kane Kavener hadn’t been very forthcoming about himself, though, had he? A quick glance at his inscrutable profile was a reminder that if she’d been upfront about herself to the man who was to be her new partner, he wasn’t prepared to paint a picture of himself for her.
When he stopped on the hospital forecourt he spoke for the first time.
‘I’m told that you’re due back on duty the day after tomorrow, and that would have been our first day together, but obviously your son’s accident will have changed that.’
Selina nodded.
‘Yes. I’ll be staying with Josh until he comes out of hospital and will want to be with him the first few days after he comes home while he adjusts to the plaster cast and moving around on crutches. Once that’s sorted he’ll be all right with my sister-in-law, Jill.’ She cast an anxious glance at the door marked OUTPATIENTS. ‘Just as long as there are no unforeseen complications from the accident.’
‘I hope that won’t be the case for both your sakes,’ he said gravely, then added, with his voice lightening, ‘Can I take it that you won’t be bossing me about when we start working together?
She gave a weak smile.
‘You mean like this morning?’
‘Hmm. Although I do admit there were extenuating circumstances.’
‘You’ll have to wait and see, won’t you?’ she said smoothly, and on that note she opened the door and was gone.
Josh had just been settled into the children’s ward when she got there, and now that his leg was more comfortable and his cuts and bruises had been treated he was feeling more cheerful and ready to enjoy the novelty of the situation he found himself in.
When Selina appeared
