his hospital.’ She rolled her eyes in a dramatic gesture. ‘When he’s not trying to take charge of me he’s really something, isn’t he? I bet the girls back home would think he was gorgeous.’
Katie threw her a look from under her lashes. ‘That may be so, but we aren’t going to see him again, so perhaps we should try to forget about him. We’ll concentrate on you from now on.’
It was a brave attempt at self-protection on Katie’s part—easier to forget about it and move on. Those all-seeing, grey-blue eyes were imprinted on her mind, though, and the promise that glimmered within them would haunt her for some time to come.
‘Oh, phooey.’ Jessica rolled her eyes. ‘He’s a dream-boat, and you’re such a spoilsport. How can you not want to talk about him?’
‘SO, THIS is your place?’ Jessica’s grey eyes widened as she gazed at the L-shaped, stone-built cottage in front of her. ‘I never imagined that you would buy anything like this. It’s lovely, really quaint, and so different from our place back home.’
Katie nodded, looking up at the gabled roofs that were at angles to one another. ‘I think that’s because it’s so open here—everything around is green and peaceful, and there aren’t that many houses dotted about. You only have to look out of the bedroom window and you can see crags and fells for miles around. Mind you, once we get inside you might feel differently about it. It’s quite poky, and there’s still a lot that I have to do to make the place feel comfortable.’
Katie started to unlock the front door, but Jessica hung back, lightly touching the silky, pale mauve petals of the wisteria that covered the front wall. ‘This is beautiful,’ she murmured, breathing in the sweet fragrance.
‘Yes, you’re right, it is.’ Katie paused to share the moment with her sister. ‘I ought to stop more often and take time to appreciate what I have.’ The truth was, lately all she had thought about was how much work there was to do, and how wild and overgrown the garden had become. She gave a half-smile. Having her sister here with her was already making a difference to her outlook on things.
‘Come through to the kitchen and I’ll make us some tea.’ She glanced at Jessica. ‘You’d better put your hold-all down. It looks heavy. You must have brought everything with you bar the kitchen sink.’
Jessica gave an awkward laugh. ‘I packed as much as I could manage.’ She looked up at Katie, biting down on her lower lip.
‘I know it must be awkward for you, with me turning up here like this, out of the blue, but I didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t stay at home, not after the way Dad’s temper took off. He locked me out of the house, and it was all because I was a few minutes late getting in. I went and spent the night round at my friend’s house, but I knew I had to get away. I couldn’t stand it any more, and all I could think of was that you might take me in.’
Jessica was silent for a moment, deep in thought. ‘You know how he is, and I’m sure that’s why you left home as soon as you could manage it. It was bad enough when you went off to medical school, but at least that was close by and you were able to come home for a few days every week. Then when you started on your house officer jobs at different hospitals, I thought I was going to lose you.’
Katie gave her sister a hug. ‘Has it been so bad? I’m sorry if you felt that I was leaving you behind. You know I was always there for you, just a short car ride away. I kept in touch and came to see you as often as I could.’
‘Yes, and that was good, but now you’ve moved up here to the Lake District, and it isn’t as though you could just drop by every weekend, is it? I just didn’t think I could go on this way any longer. Dad’s always going on at me about something or other. He says I’m scatterbrained and I’ll always be troublesome.’
‘Have you tried talking to Mum about how you feel?’
‘What would be the point in doing that?’ Jessica made a hopeless gesture with her hands. ‘Mum never listens, and she certainly never takes my side. She just says, “Oh, I can’t cope with the two of you arguing all the time. You’re making my head hurt.” She always seems as though everything’s too much for her and I think she’ll be better off with me out of the way.’
‘You know that’s not true. She loves you.’ Even so, Katie had to acknowledge that her mother had never coped well with any form of stress, and it wasn’t hard for her to imagine what Jessica was going through.
She washed her hands at the sink and started to prepare a light meal for the two of them, but all the time she was busy turning over all the options in her mind. It was a difficult situation, but she couldn’t help feeling that her sister needed a breathing space, time to gather up her defences and allow her to face up to the world once more.
‘You can stay here for a few days at least,’ she told her, ‘maybe even a couple of weeks, while we work out what we’re going to do. I’ll do what I can to square things with Mum and Dad.’
She knew it wasn’t quite what Jessica had been hoping for, but the girl nodded and gave her a relieved smile. ‘Thanks, Katie. I’ll show you how good I can be, and then perhaps you’ll let me stay for longer.’ Her gaze was pleading and Katie hugged her once more.
‘We’ll see,’ she said. ‘I’ll show you where the second bedroom is and, if you like, you can put your things away in there while I finish making supper.’
An hour or so later, they were sitting down to eat at the kitchen table when the doorbell rang. Katie frowned. ‘I can’t think who that would be,’ she murmured, getting to her feet. ‘You go on with your meal,’ she told Jessica, who stood up as though to go with her.
‘It wouldn’t be Mum or Dad, would it?’ Jessica’s expression was apprehensive. ‘You said they agreed to let me stay when they rang back earlier. Do you think they might have changed their minds?’
‘I don’t know, but if it is them, I’ll sort it out, don’t worry.’
When she opened the front door, though, she was startled to see the man who was standing in her porch. He was gazing around at the old stonework and casting a glance over the rough stone wall that edged the property.
‘Alex?’ She stared at him. ‘What are you doing here? How did you find me?’ He had changed out of the business suit and now he was wearing casual clothes, dark trousers and a jacket that was open to reveal a cool cotton shirt in a shade of blue-grey that matched his eyes. She dragged her gaze away from his rangy body and looked up at him once more, trying to cover her discomfiture.
‘I asked Jessica for your address when we were at the café. I wanted to make sure that I was making a safe handover.’
Katie frowned. ‘Is that why you’re here? Do you think I might be mistreating her in some way?’ Even the thought that he might doubt her in some way was enough to bring an affronted glare to her blue eyes.
His mouth twisted in the semblance of a smile. ‘Are you always this touchy?’ He looked her over as though she might give him a resounding agreement to that statement, and her eyes narrowed on him.
‘Not usually.’ She sighed and stood back, waving him into the cramped hallway. ‘I’m having