made no comment. Matt moved awkwardly into the room, hampered by the fact that Jack had slipped his fingers through his belt and was trying to tug him towards her. Suddenly, the way forward became blindingly obvious.
His fingers brushed her elbow and Beth almost yelped as she jumped back. She didn’t want him touching her, not now. Not after the bombshell that Jack had just dropped. Somewhere, alongside the sorrow at a woman’s death and the clawing regret that a child should have to suffer this, there had been sympathy for Matt. And however natural that might be, it was still an emotion. She didn’t trust herself with any kind of emotion when it came to Matt Sutherland.
‘I want to thank you for this afternoon. I really appreciate everything you’ve done for Jack.’ He had reacted to her start and was maintaining a safe distance now.
‘It’s been my pleasure. Jack’s been keeping me company and helping out with lots of different things.’ Jack wasn’t the problem. It was his father who was unsettling her.
Beth turned her back on both of them, on the pretext of collecting her coat and handbag. Now that Matt was out of range and out of sight, she could think more clearly and her hands unconsciously repeated the resolutions that the heat of his smile had reshaped into restrictions. Stand on your own two feet. No more dating.
When she looked around, Matt was already cajoling Jack into his coat, and she tucked the display boards that she was taking home under one arm and slung her handbag across her shoulder. Pausing to sign a goodbye to Jack, she made for the door.
Jack signed back to her and then turned to Matt. ‘You don’t know what I said to Beth, do you?’
‘Not a clue, mate.’ Matt gave her a conspiratorial wink that would have melted an iceberg. ‘Care to tell me?’
Jack shook his head and turned to Beth. ‘It’s our secret language and my dad doesn’t know what we’re saying.’
The son was so like his father, blond and blue eyed, but so unlike him as well. Jack was lively and open, his thoughts and feelings easy to read. ‘Not much of a secret around here, Jack. Everyone knows how to sign.’
‘Yes, but my dad doesn’t.’ Jack flashed Matt a look of reproach.
‘Well, perhaps you’ll teach me, then.’ Matt rumpled his son’s hair, his easy warmth surfacing again.
‘Beth could teach you.’ Jack stretched up towards his father confidingly. ‘Beth’s got a bionic ear.’
Jack looked at her for approval and Beth grinned. One of the things she liked about children was their ability to refer to her cochlear implant as if it was something to be proud of.
‘It’s pretty neat, isn’t it?’ Matt sounded as impressed as Jack had been. ‘All the same, I want you to teach me what you’ve learned today.’ His jaw tightened and Beth wondered again whether he had heard any of her conversation with Jack.
Jack heaved a theatrical sigh and waited at Matt’s side while Beth pulled her coat on and dumped the display boards outside the door, fishing in her handbag for her keys. Before she’d even slid the key into the lock, Matt had picked up the boards, tucking them under his arm along with his heavy-looking case. ‘Let me carry these to your car.’
‘No, that’s okay. My car’s in the garage, so I’m on the bus.’ The way he’d picked her things up, without asking, had put her on edge. If she had needed any help she would have said so.
‘In that case, let me give you a lift home. Where do you live?’
He gave her a ‘don’t argue’ look and Beth wondered how many people in Matt’s life contested his decisions. Probably not that many. ‘Easington. The bus goes from the hospital grounds practically to my door.’
‘And we go past Easington and can drop you off right at your door. Jack, pick Beth’s gloves up and bring them along.’ Beth looked down to where her gloves lay on the floor, realising that she must have dropped them out of her coat pocket. Before she could retrieve them, Jack had pounced on them and was rolling them up in the end of his father’s dark blue scarf.
She might have had few scruples about arguing with Matt, however lofty his position, but Jack was a different matter. From the smug look on Matt’s face he had obviously been banking on that very fact and was pleased to have been proved right. Beth swallowed her reservations, locked the doors of the hearing therapy unit and followed the two of them to the staff car park.
It was already dark and sleet was bouncing off the windscreen of the car. Out of the shelter of the city, the roads were thick with ice and Beth began to be thankful that she wasn’t waiting at a windy bus stop or sitting on a bus as it wound its way around all the neighbouring villages before finally reaching her own.
She’d be home soon. Safe and sound in the protective cocoon she’d made for herself after Pete had left. And Matt Sutherland would be driving away, taking his disturbing smile with him, along with all the reactions it provoked in her.
Without thinking, she brushed his arm to get his attention. The gesture, so automatic among the deaf, seemed suddenly too intimate and she snatched her hand away. ‘Turn left here. There’s a row of cottages a little way down. Mine’s the one at the far end.’
She was scrabbling for the doorhandle almost as soon as he drew up. He turned the engine off with a decisive motion and went to get out of the car. ‘Stay put, Jack, I’ve just got to talk to Beth for a moment.’
What now? She shivered impatiently in the cold night air as Matt retrieved her display boards from the boot, propping them up against the wheel arch instead of giving them straight to her.
‘Jack doesn’t talk much about his mother,’ he started stiffly. ‘I heard you talking with him and wanted to thank you.’
So he had heard. Beth licked her lips nervously. ‘I didn’t mean to pry into your business.’
‘You didn’t. Jack has every right to say whatever he likes to whoever he likes, he doesn’t need my permission. He doesn’t do it enough.’
‘I’m glad he felt he could talk about her today, then. I really did enjoy spending the afternoon with him, he’s a great kid.’
He nodded. ‘I … I hope we’ll see you again. It would be nice if you could join us for lunch some time. As a thank you. You’ve given him a way to express his feelings, and I’m truly grateful for that.’ She was pretty sure he had that engaging smile on his face again. Out here in the darkness it was difficult to tell.
‘Sometimes things that can’t be said one way can be said in another.’ Beth ignored Matt’s invitation and concentrated on Jack. ‘I’ve got some wall charts that show the finger-spelling alphabet and some simple signs. If he’d like one, I can drop it in to Phyllis next week some time.’ That seemed safe enough.
His voice warmed with enthusiasm. ‘Thank you, I’d really appreciate that. It won’t do him any harm to learn another language and …’ He was suddenly lost for words.
‘I know. Anything that gives him a voice. I understand, I used to do the same thing myself when I was little. All my secrets were signed.’ Apart from the one she’d told Jack. Beth flushed. If he’d heard that then no wonder he hadn’t taken her refusal of his offer of a lift too seriously.
