reserved. She just didn’t know what. Didn’t want to know, really. Because everyone had something, right? ‘Just the boss’s house.’
‘What kind of boss brings you out at night in the dark? Walking up a hill? Does he know about your heart—?’
‘No.’ Rose cut her mother off. At some point she’d realise her daughter wasn’t an invalid any more, but it hadn’t hit home yet. ‘There’s no reason to tell him, okay? Why would I? The job agency only ask if there are any medical issues that interfere with my ability to do the job. And I don’t have any. I’m healthy. Healthier than a lot of people my age. I get lots of exercise, I eat well. I take my tablets and I get regular check-ups.’
Mostly, she didn’t want all the questions, the Oh, I’m so sorry or… You’re so lucky and, worst of all, What happened to the person who died? Once upon a time she’d loved being the party girl and centre of attention, but not now. She hated all the interrogation and prying into her life.
Unfortunately her mother hadn’t got that particular memo. ‘I’m worried about you, Rose. I still don’t understand why you went into nursing…all those infections in hospitals. You could catch something, or worse…’
‘Please, Mum, we’ve talked about this so many times. I’m fine. Dr Lee said nursing would be fine as long as I was careful.’
‘You had a lovely job at Red Public Relations. They were nice people. Our kind of people.’
Your kind of people. Not mine. Not any more. ‘Not this again, please. I love nursing.’
‘And I don’t know why you had to move so far away from everyone who loves you.’
Because of conversations like this. ‘I’m just trying to make my own way, Mum. It’s so lovely here; you should come and visit.’
‘I just might.’
Give me three years’ notice to prepare myself mentally. ‘I’ve rented a place with two bedrooms, so come any time. Just give me some advance warning so I can get time off to show you round. We could go to Beatrix Potter’s house; you’d love it.’
‘What about Toby?’
‘What about him? I don’t think he’s interested in Jemima Puddleduck. Far too boring for Toby.’
The terrain had evened out a little now as she got closer to Thor’s house, but her heart was hammering at the exertion. And at the mention of her ex-boyfriend. ‘Please don’t bring him with you.’
Her mother sighed. ‘I’m sure if you came home and talked to him he’d take you back.’
Rose stopped outside the doctor’s house. No car. Which meant they were still out. Good—she’d just leave the food here then head back home. Stupid idea in the first place; God knew why she’d suddenly decided to bring it. Or why they had to talk about her pathetic love life and ruin this lovely evening.
‘Toby dumped me, if you remember. Because I’m not the fun-loving girl I used to be, apparently. Because I decided to do something to give back.’
And mainly—although she hadn’t had the heart to tell her mum this—because he couldn’t cope with the fact that there was still a good chance Rose’s life would be cut short. He didn’t want to back a lame horse when he could marry a perfectly normal woman with all her own body parts and an uncomplicated life expectancy.
‘You could give back in lots of other ways, darling. A little charity work or something.’ She cleared her throat and Rose waited for the Don’t let your one chance slip through your fingers talk. ‘Don’t miss out on your chance with Toby Fletcher just because you’re stubborn. He said he didn’t mind that children were out of the picture.’
‘He didn’t want them in the first place, Mum.’ Rose had been the devastated one when they’d been told that.
‘That’s good then, isn’t it? And he’d look after you, financially at least.’
‘For God’s sake, Mum, he didn’t want me, okay? Besides, are you saying I should marry a man just because he’s rich? Do what he says? Fit in with who he wants me to be? Try to be someone who I’m not?’
‘Rose?’ A man’s voice behind her. Gruff.
‘Oh!’ Her poor heart damned near thumped out of her chest. ‘Joe! You’re home? I didn’t realise. Got to go, Mum. Bye.’ Flicking her phone into her pocket, she turned to meet steady and distinctly unamused blue eyes. ‘No car here…’
His mouth twitched. A little wary. ‘It’s in the garage.’
Of course it was. She looked over at the dark shadow of a building on the left-hand side of the house. There was the garage. A faint smell of petrol in the air. She looked down at the plastic container in her hand and shrugged. Now she just felt stupid, like a kid trying to be teacher’s pet or something. She’d just planned to leave the container and a note and then go back to her cottage, not have an actual conversation.
And now there were tingles again and she was pretty sure her heart should have stopped bumping after he’d made her jump, but it was still rattling away. ‘I wasn’t expecting you back so soon. How is Maxine?’
He shrugged. ‘As I expected. Tired and still very poorly, so we literally just popped our heads round the door for a brief chat and then came home. The doctors are doing more tests but she’s scheduled for a bypass once she’s stable. Katy’s just happy to have seen her.’
‘It’s a long journey; you must be tired.’ Clearly they were all very close.
He nodded. ‘Worth it, though. She said to say thank you and that she owes you a lot.’
‘Seriously, she doesn’t owe me anything. Anyone would have done the same.’
‘Ah, but you get the Maxine tick of approval. That’s usually hard-earned. But you’ll see, if she takes you under her wing you’ll have the whole village eating out of your hand.’
He stood aside and indicated for her to walk into his house. Exhaustion etched his eyes and she ached to press her hand to his face and get him to lean against her. To take some of his stress away. But why? She couldn’t understand what this weird feeling inside her was…unsettled, yet excited.
‘So, did you want something other than to talk outside my window about marrying rich men?’
‘I—er…’ He’d heard? Her stomach twisted into a tight knot. Marrying anyone was the last thing on her bucket list.
‘Don’t, by the way. Don’t ever try to be someone you’re not.’ A small smile that tugged at her gut. He was trying to be nice. ‘Just be you.’
‘God, I’m sorry you heard that.’ She was still working out who she was. For her, time was split into before she got sick and after the operation. With a blur of pain and panic and dread, and a zillion promises that if she survived she’d do some good in between. But somewhere along the line she’d lost herself, and it was only now she was finding out what she wanted out of life and who she truly was. Today, it appeared to be blithering idiot with a dash of good neighbour. She held out the still-warm container. ‘I’m just dropping off
