No, it couldn’t. Just the moment you’re better and I’m given the all-clear by the physios, I’m going back to Africa.’
Her fingers tightened on his, her right hand clutching at him in desperation. ‘No, Sam! Don’t! You can’t go back!’
That was probably true, although not the way she meant it, but he wasn’t giving in. Not yet. ‘Mum, I have to go,’ he repeated, and, freeing his hand, he dropped a swift kiss on her cheek and walked out.
‘Sam! I didn’t expect to see you here. It’s the last place!’
‘Well, ditto,’ he said, and his smile looked strained. ‘Have you seen Jamie?’
‘He’s here somewhere,’ Gemma said, trying to control her see-sawing emotions. ‘Doing the name badges and the drinks for the parents? He will have done the careers thing last year, so he’s only helping. I don’t like to be unkind, but it doesn’t sound like him.’
‘Maybe it was just a reason not to go and see Mum. He hasn’t been in yet. I think he’s scared, but while I’m here I need to speak to his teachers and find out what I can about him hanging around with Gary Lovelace.’
‘Well, Lachlan D’Ancey’s here, he’ll fill you in. He’s Chief Constable now, but he just comes to support the school and sell the police force. Nick Tremayne’s here, too. If Lachlan’s busy I expect Nick could use some help, there are always lots of people thinking of studying medicine.’
He shook his head. ‘I don’t think the school would be interested in my support. I wasn’t exactly their star pupil.’
‘That’s rubbish, Sam, you got four As at A level!’
‘Only because I was constantly being grounded.’
She smiled slightly, remembering the tales of how rebellious he’d been, how he’d pushed everyone to the limit of their patience, worried his mother senseless and alienated half of the town.
Which, of course, had only made him even more attractive.
She dragged her eyes from Sam and looked at the girl who was hovering behind him. ‘Hi. Did you want to see me?’
‘Um—yes, please. I’m thinking of going into nursing, and I wondered if you could tell me about it.’
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sam lift his hand in farewell as he walked away, and she stifled a sigh of regret.
Foolish, foolish woman. It’s over. Forget it.
But she couldn’t, and for the rest of the evening her eyes were constantly searching for him, and every time they found him, her silly, stupid heart would lurch against her ribs.
It might be over, but apparently she couldn’t forget it. Not for the last nearly eleven years, and certainly not now, with Sam right here under her nose, his presence reminding her of everything she’d lost…
CHAPTER TWO
‘SAM—good to see you.’
He stifled a wry grin at the blatant lie from the man who’d had altogether too much to do with him in his youth. ‘Hello, Lachlan. How are you?’
‘Very well. Great, actually. Married again.’
Sam hadn’t known he’d got unmarried, but he wasn’t surprised that yet another thing had happened in Penhally without him knowing. He’d done his best to distance himself, so it was hardly rocket science, and he made some trite and socially acceptable remark and then Lachlan brought the conversation, not unexpectedly, around to Jamie.
‘Your brother’s getting himself in a bit of bother these days,’ he murmured. ‘You want to have a word with him. He’s going to end up with a criminal record if he goes on like this, and it’s a crying shame because he’s a good lad really. Sharp as a tack, which is half his trouble, of course, like it was yours. What he needs is a good role model.’
‘Well, don’t look at me,’ Sam said with a low laugh. ‘I’m the last person to give him advice.’
‘I disagree. You’re just the person—he reminds me a lot of you.’
‘What—loud and unruly?’
‘No—lost,’ he said, and Sam looked away, uncomfortable with Lachlan’s all too accurate interpretation of his youthful emotions. ‘You need to get him out of the influence of that young Gary Lovelace. He’s a nasty piece of work—God alone knows what Jamie sees in him, but he’s leading your little brother into all sorts of mischief.’
Sam straightened. ‘Not drugs?’
‘Not that we know of, but I shouldn’t be surprised. But Gary’s a thief, and a bully, like his father and his little brother, and you need to get Jamie away from him before something bad happens.’
Sam sighed inwardly. This was the last thing he needed.
‘So how’s your mother? I was sorry to hear about her stroke—she seems far too young.’
‘Yes. But strokes can happen to anyone, from tiny babies upwards. She’s making great progress, but we just need to know why it happened to stop it happening again.’
‘You ought to speak to Gemma. It was Gemma who found her. She went round after work and checked up on her because she was worried.’
‘Did she?’ he said softly, wondering why Gemma hadn’t mentioned it. Because she didn’t want to talk to him any more than she had to? Very likely. He didn’t really want to talk to her, either, and so far all their exchanges had been carefully contained, with all hell breaking loose just under the surface—at least, on his side. But if Gemma had found his mother, she could easily have been responsible for saving her life, and at the very least he ought to thank her. Not even he was that churlish.
‘I’ll go and have a word. Thanks, Lachlan—and if you hear anything I need to know about Jamie, let me know.’
‘Will do. And you do the same.’
‘Sure.’
He went back towards Gemma, but there was a crowd of young girls around her, so he wandered over to the desk where Jamie was handing out name tags and soft drinks to parents.
‘Checking up on me?’ Jamie said, his mouth set in a defiant line, and Sam just smiled.
‘No. I don’t need to, I’ve got the rest of Penhally doing that, by all accounts. How long are you going to be here?’
‘Another few minutes, then I’m going out with my friends.’
Sam frowned. ‘Why? It’s a school night. You’ve got your exams in a few weeks, you should be working.’
‘Nah. I’ve got it all under control, Sam. You don’t have to come home and play the heavy brother with me.’
‘That’s not what I’m hearing.’
‘Well, tough. What do they know?’
