wasn’t even a decision to make. Turning down any assistance, let alone that of a trained paramedic, would be reckless at a time like this. ‘Happy to have you along. I’d appreciate the help.’
That was that, then. There was a lot of unresolved anger between them, but if they could put that aside this could work.
They stood for a moment staring at each other and then Mimi broke the silence.
‘Look, this is difficult, but we could make it a lot easier.’
‘Yeah, I guess we could. I’d like that...’ Rafe remembered not to call her Mimi this time. That was just the kind of thing that might shatter this unstable truce.
‘We’ll make a new start, shall we?’
Pretend that none of it had ever happened? That he hadn’t loved her and then left her, and that resentment wasn’t colouring everything they did now. It was a tough prospect, but if that was what it took... It was, in fact, an opportunity. If there was unfinished business between them, then maybe now was the time to finish it for good.
‘Yes. Okay, I’d like that. New start.’
* * *
Mimi felt better now that she’d had a chance to wash her face and comb her hair. She folded Rafe’s sweater, making a conscious effort not to bury her face into its softness, trying to catch one last trace of his scent. This was hard.
She stuffed the sweater into a bag, dragged her jacket on and marched out into the rain. He was sitting in the car, waiting for her. Her colleague. The one she’d slept with once upon a time, but that had been a mistake and it was all finished now.
‘Ready?’ She settled herself into the front seat of the car.
He nodded, turning the radio down until it was just a gentle beat, swallowed up by the drumming of the rain on the windscreen. ‘Yep. First one’s near Shillingford. We’ll have to go through Eardwell.’
Her home village. ‘Yes, that’s the best way.’
‘You want to call in on Charlie?’
‘He’s... I spoke to him a few minutes ago. He says everything’s okay.’ Mimi wished that Charlie would accept her help a little more readily, but she knew better than to fuss.
‘How’s he doing?’
‘A lot better. He plays in a wheelchair basketball team now.’
‘Sounds as if he’s a great deal more independent.’
‘Yeah. As time went by we all learned how to make that happen.’ The cottage that she and Rafe had rented, just across the road from Charlie’s place, had been a factor in that. Close enough to help, without crowding her brother. When Rafe had said he was moving, to take up a new job and be closer to his mother, he’d known full well that Mimi couldn’t abandon Charlie and follow him.
‘I don’t suppose he’s got a spare flask he can lend us. If he could fill it up with coffee it would be even better.’
She couldn’t help but smile. Rafe and Charlie had always got on well, and it seemed that Rafe still cared about her brother enough to find an excuse to pop in and see whether he was all right. ‘You want a sandwich as well?’
‘Sounds good. Call him and tell him we’re coming.’ Rafe swung the car out of the hospital car park and on to the road.
* * *
Rafe drove the familiar route, which he’d used to call the road home. He hadn’t reckoned on it being quite so hard. When he stopped outside their cottage, it looked just the same as it always had, the white render gleaming pale in the pouring rain like a ghost from his past.
‘You’re still here?’ He tried to make the question sound as casual as possible, as if there hadn’t been a time when he had dreamed about walking back to that door every night.
There was a slight pause, as if she was weighing up whether it was all right to answer. ‘Yes. I bought the place.’
‘Mrs Bates died?’ The elderly woman who had owned the cottage had gone into a nursing home and her family had rented the property out.
‘Yes. Four years ago. The family didn’t want the cottage and decided to sell, so I put in an offer.’
‘Smart move...’ Rafe bit his tongue. He wasn’t in a position to give Mimi advice on what to do with her life any more. All the same, he’d thought more than once that if the roomy cottage they’d rented ever came on to the market they should put in an offer for it.
She nodded as if she didn’t want to discuss it any more, and rather unnecessarily pointed to the driveway of Charlie’s one-storey house, right across the road. It had only been five years, not a century. And Rafe hadn’t forgotten.
He got as close to the front door as he could and switched the engine off, leaning back in his seat in an unequivocal signal that he’d wait. Turning up here with Mimi wasn’t the most tactful of things to do.
‘Come and say hello to Charlie.’ She shot him a pretty fair counterfeit of a welcoming smile.
‘I thought... Wouldn’t you prefer me to stay here?’
‘I told him you were here when I spoke to him. He’s not going to eat you, Rafe.’
Maybe he would and maybe he wouldn’t. But Rafe had often wondered how Charlie was doing and he wanted to see him. Mimi had already got out of the car and was running up the ramp which led to the front door, her jacket over her head. It opened as she approached and Rafe saw Charlie inside.
Rafe swung out of his seat, following Mimi to the front door. Charlie looked great. Strong and smiling as he pulled Mimi down for a kiss. ‘You just couldn’t resist, could you...’
‘What?’ Mimi broke free, giving a look which was far too innocent to be believed, and Charlie grinned at her.
‘Couldn’t resist checking up on me.’
‘All I want is coffee. Then we’ll go. If you want you can go lie on the floor and I’ll step over you on the way out.’ Mimi turned her back on her brother and walked towards the kitchen area at the far end of the open-plan space.
‘You can finish making the sandwiches...’ Charlie called after her and then turned his attention to Rafe, his face suddenly impassive. ‘You’re back then.’
‘I’m here to help out, that’s all.’ Mimi seemed to be busy in the kitchen and Charlie was showing no inclination towards following her. Rafe sat down. If Charlie wanted to give him the third degree, he could do it face to face.
‘I hear that Jack’s marooned, and the ambulance was towed?’ Charlie seemed to be fishing for information, and Rafe guessed that Mimi hadn’t told him the whole story.
‘Yeah, that’s right. The river broke its banks near Holme and the bridge has been washed away. Jack got pretty wet, but we hear he’s okay. Mimi had walked back up the hill to make a phone call.’
‘Yeah.
