‘Write a couple of introductory paragraphs about your project. You can be as vague as you like, there’s no need to give away anything you don’t want anyone to know. I’ll append that to an email asking some of our dog owners if they’d like to participate in the initial study.’
‘Okay, thanks. I’ll do that...’ Caro pulled the throw away from her legs. She could apply her mind to that simple task while Sherlock Holmes tackled the more difficult question of tracking down a criminal mastermind.
She felt Drew’s hand on her shoulder, and Phoenix scrambled out of the way as he leaned across to arrange the throw across her legs again. ‘Tomorrow’s soon enough. Are you going to stay put?’
Who in their right mind would want to move now? When he was so close and the bulk of his body, along with the tenderness of his hands, were so very apparent.
‘If you insist.’
He smiled. Before Caro could wonder whether his lips were as soft as they looked, he’d moved away.
‘Of course I insist. Are you doing anything tomorrow? If you want, we can meet up at the clinic and send out the email. Maybe you could set up your testing equipment and show me what’s involved.’
‘You’re going to help me, then?’ Caro hadn’t wanted to take his participation for granted.
‘Yeah, of course I am. It’s an exciting project. I want to see where it goes.’
‘Thanks. What time shall I come?’
‘Any time after eight?’
‘Okay. Eight’s fine. I’ll be there.’
‘Great.’ He drained his own mug and picked up hers. It was probably better not to tell him she’d deal with the mugs, and she watched the TV while Drew added them to the rest of the things in the dishwasher and set it running.
‘I’ll see you tomorrow, then.’ He seemed positively breezy now. Moving more easily, even taking a few short steps without his stick. Obviously an afternoon spent sitting down and reading, while she’d slept, had satisfied both his restless mind and his need for physical rest.
‘Yeah, okay. You’re sure you’ll be all right down the steps?’
‘Positive.’ He called Phoenix and she leapt off the sofa and went careening towards him. He clipped her lead onto her collar and put his coat on, shouldering his canvas bag. ‘Watch the TV. And don’t sleep in your clothes tonight...’
Caro shot him a look, calculated to imply that sleeping in her clothes was the last thing she’d ever consider doing. Drew chuckled, opening the front door and waiting for Phoenix to follow him through it. Then he was gone.
Now she could stop this game and get on with something. Caro couldn’t quite think for the moment exactly what. Maybe she’d just watch through to the end of the film...
Beneath all the playfulness, Drew was obviously frustrated and bored. He still needed some downtime to recuperate from his injuries, but his restless mind also needed stimulation, and quite by accident she’d managed to contrive both today.
Allowing him to look after her had just been a joke, but... It had obviously fed a deeper need for Drew. Maybe a deeper need for her too. No one had ever looked after her like this.
Not even Blake Harmer. He had been the handsome
lecturer and she the budding inventor. Ten years older than her, and touched by the California sun, she’d felt pale and unworldly next to him, but somehow he’d chosen her. She’d fallen in love harder and faster than she’d realised was possible, and when he’d asked her to move in with him Caro had finally found the home that her parents’ itinerant lifestyle had never given her.
She’d ignored the voices that had whispered behind their backs, saying she was the more talented of the two. They hadn’t understood.
But then it had become obvious that it was Caro who didn’t understand. The water feature in their garden had been leaking, and she’d fixed it by making a self-cleaning valve. By the time she’d realised the potential for its use in developing countries, Blake had patented it as his own.
She’d hoped it was all a mistake, but had then found out that the companies Blake had been negotiating with wouldn’t waive their exclusive rights to the new valve for charitable and non-profit agencies. They’d argued, and she’d seen the glint of avarice in his eyes.
‘Suck it up, Caro. You can play with your robots and your wild dreams all you like, someone has to deal with the money side of things. Since you don’t seem capable of doing that, you should leave it to me...’
When the news had got out that Blake had lucrative offers for the rights to the valve, and was leaving his teaching post, the whispers had begun again. What had he seen in Caro anyway? Had it only been the chance to make money from her inventions? This time Caro believed them. Blake hadn’t ever wanted her for herself, just what she could do for him.
She’d run. Put her legal claim against Blake into the hands of an attorney and fled back to England. This time her designs would be used for the purpose that she intended. This time her heart wouldn’t break.
Now she saw things more clearly. Someone like Drew could never find her attractive. He might want to work with her. He might even like her a little. He’d even attempted to address the cost of making her wild dreams work, in effort and time, which was something that Blake had never done. But she shouldn’t get carried away and think that there was anything more to it than just an attempt to be nice.
Caro shifted on the sofa, curling up under the throw. She was warm and comfortable, and felt more relaxed than she had in a long time. She could accept that one small favour from Drew, even if she could take nothing else.