sighed. It probably felt chilly because her body hadn’t adjusted to the change in temperature yet. When she’d left South Africa early that morning the temperature had been in the high 30s, so it was bound to be a shock to her system to be plunged back into the tail end of a British winter. Still, she would soon adapt.
Emma looked round in surprise when she heard the front door open. It slammed shut and a moment later she heard footsteps crossing the hall. Her heart was already racing when Daniel appeared, even though she had no idea what he wanted.
‘Oh, good. You’ve got the fire going. It’s a lot colder up here than it is in London,’ he observed, crossing the room to warm his hands.
‘I suppose it is,’ Emma agreed uncertainly. She frowned when she realised that he wasn’t wearing a coat. He’d had it on earlier so why had he taken it off? A horrible suspicion started to rear its head and she stared at him in alarm. ‘What are you doing here, Daniel?’
‘At this precise moment, I’m trying to warm up. But give me a couple of minutes and I’ll make myself useful.’
‘Useful?’
‘Uh-huh. I’ll cook dinner tonight. It doesn’t seem fair to expect you to do it after the day you’ve had.’
‘Cook dinner?’ Emma took a quick breath when she realised that she was repeating everything he said. ‘Why on earth would you want to cook dinner?’
‘Because we both need to eat,’ he replied reasonably. He glanced at her, the light from the fire reflecting in his eyes so that she found it impossible to read his expression. ‘We can work out a rota if you prefer, but tonight I’ll cook.’
He straightened up and headed for the door but Emma knew that she couldn’t let him leave before she found out what was going on. ‘Why do we need a rota? Surely you’ll be having dinner wherever you’re staying? Most of the guest houses will provide an evening meal if you ask them to.’
‘Your aunt hasn’t told you, then?’ He stopped and turned, and she could see the concern on his face. It made her feel even more alarmed. ‘Told me what?’ she snapped. ‘That I’m staying here.’
CHAPTER THREE
‘EVERYTHING happened so fast that there was no time to arrange accommodation before I left London. I was going to sort something out when I got here, but Margaret insisted that I stay at the house.’
Daniel shrugged but he could tell from the frozen expression on Emma’s face that the news had come as a shock to her. ‘I can’t see that it will cause a problem, Emma, but if you aren’t happy with the arrangement then, of course, I’ll find somewhere else.’
‘There’s no need,’ she said stiffly. ‘If Aunt Margaret invited you to stay, I’m certainly not going to object.’
‘Fine. If you change your mind, though, just let me know.’
Daniel managed to maintain an outward show of indifference as he left the sitting room, but he sighed as he headed for the kitchen. Emma’s reaction to the news that they would be sharing the house was upsetting but what did he expect? It might have been different if her aunt and uncle had been there, but she probably didn’t relish the idea of them being on their own. All he could do now was monitor the situation and find somewhere else if it looked as though it was going to create friction.
It was the logical solution, although it didn’t make him feel good to know that he was persona non grata so far as Emma was concerned. He tried not to dwell on it as he made a start on dinner. He was just mashing the potatoes to go with the lamb chops and green beans he had cooked when Emma appeared.
‘I’ll set the table.’
She busied herself with place mats and cutlery, glasses for water and condiments. Daniel suspected that it was displacement activity, aimed at taking her mind off the thought of eating with him. He couldn’t help feeling sad as he remembered all the other meals they had shared—impromptu picnics in the country, lunches in one of the local pubs. It hadn’t mattered what they’d eaten or where because they’d always enjoyed it. Just being together had added extra zest to the food.
‘Remember that meal we had at the Golden Goose?’
Emma’s voice cut into his thoughts and he felt a tingle run through him. That she had been recalling the good times they’d had seemed too much of a coincidence, yet why should it be? It wasn’t the first time their thoughts had been so in tune. Maybe there was still some kind of connection between them.
Daniel hurriedly quashed that thought. He couldn’t allow himself to think like that; it was too dangerous. ‘Not really,’ he replied offhandedly.
He spooned mashed potato onto the plates, ignoring the flicker of hurt that crossed her face. He was doing this for her sake. They couldn’t go back and they couldn’t go forward either. Not together. Leaving aside the fact that Emma no longer loved him, the old objections were as valid today as they had been five years ago. He knew from what Jim had told him that Emma was determined to make consultant one day. If that was to happen then he knew that she needed to remain completely focused. If she failed to achieve her goal, she would regret it just as much as she would have done if she’d given up surgery all together.
Daniel’s heart was heavy as he carried the plates over to the table. Even if Emma was prepared to give them a second chance—which she wasn’t!—there was no future for them. ‘I hope this is all right for you. There’s no gravy, I’m afraid. I’ve never mastered the art of making decent gravy.’
‘It’s fine. Thank you.’
Her tone was painfully polite and it cut him to the quick to know that she was deliberately distancing herself from him. He didn’t react, however, as he pulled out a chair and sat down because there was nothing he could do that would help. Emma sat down as well and began to eat. Apart from the faint clatter of cutlery, the room was silent and Daniel could feel the tension mounting as the minutes passed. He searched his mind for something uncontroversial to say, but all he could come up with was work. Still, it was better than nothing.
‘How did you get on tonight?’
‘Fine, thank you.’ Emma forked a little potato into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed it then looked at him. ‘How about you?’
‘Oh, yes, fine. Thanks.’ Daniel inwardly groaned when he heard the stilted note in his voice. This was hardly the best way to improve the atmosphere, was it?
He cleared his throat and tried again. ‘I was surprised by how busy it was, to be honest. I know morning surgery had to be cancelled, but even so I didn’t expect that many patients to turn up. Did you?’
‘No.’ She scooped a little more potato onto her fork then hesitated. Daniel held his breath, hoping that she would find something else to say. If the next few weeks weren’t to be an ordeal for them both, Emma needed to meet him halfway.
‘To be frank, I don’t know how Uncle Jim copes on his own. It was obvious from the number of people we saw tonight that it needs more than one doctor to run this practice.’
Daniel felt like punching the air in relief, but managed to control the urge. Two sentences didn’t make a conversation. And they definitely didn’t make up for past hurts.
