‘So you held on.’
‘I’m not entirely sure that it made any difference. But, yes, I willed myself to live. And I willed whoever happened to drive past to see my car and stop.’ He shrugged. ‘I’ve never told anyone that. Everyone assumes that I was unconscious, and I don’t remember.’
‘I’ve heard that a lot of people don’t remember.’
He nodded, started to row again. ‘Yes, I’ve heard that too. It didn’t work that way for me.’
She hugged Phoenix as the boat moved forward in the water. Caro waited for him to say more, but it seemed that Drew had said everything that was on his mind.
‘Thank you for telling me.’
‘Thank you for listening.’ He smiled suddenly. ‘I appreciate you not handling me with kid gloves. Probably a great deal more than you know.’
Blake hadn’t appreciated it at all. He had always been telling her that she shouldn’t be so literal, or so outspoken. But then Blake, and all his put-downs, were right where they ought to be. A long, long way away.
‘I could do kid gloves. If I put my mind to it.’ Caro covered Phoenix’s ears with her hands, and Drew chuckled. He knew what that meant. ‘Tonight...’
‘Sex with kid gloves. How does that work?’
‘I touch you very slowly. Very gently.’ Caro smiled at him.
‘I’m up for that. And leave Phoenix’s ears alone, she doesn’t know what we’re talking about.’
‘She knows some things.’ Caro spelled out the word cheese.
‘Okay. Well, if you don’t associate the word sex with treats from the fridge, then it’s not likely to have much significance for her...’ He manoeuvred the boat carefully into mouth of the cave beneath her house. Together they pulled it out of the water, then Drew wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.
‘You, on the other hand, react very admirably to the word...’ she whispered in his ear, feeling his body harden against hers.
Drew chuckled. ‘Just goes to show how well you’re training me up.’ His fingers brushed the side of her face, so lightly that it made Caro shiver. She took his hand, leading him through the cavern
and into the house.
* * *
Drew struggled to think of a time when he’d been so happy. There had been odd instances, but he’d never before been so perfectly content for twenty-one consecutive days.
It was odd. Nothing was settled between him and Caro. They were still different, and their relationship still wasn’t going anywhere. But happiness didn’t listen to logic, it just burst in on his heart anyway.
They tramped every inch of the ten acres around the Dolphin Cove Veterinary Clinic. They went beachcombing and diving in the bay. Drew showed her the woods, and the badger setts, and they listened in the silence for birdcalls. Phoenix seemed to be growing in front of his eyes and was developing an even bigger appetite and a gentle but mischievous nature. And he was getting stronger. His leg still hurt from time to time, and would do for a while, but he was beginning to feel powerful and able to tackle anything again.
They shared their nights, and when Drew wasn’t working at the clinic he spent his days with Caro. She still maintained a fearsome work schedule, but Drew could make sure that she ate something by cooking for her while she worked. And coaxing her to bed was never that difficult.
He was falling in love. And love brought with it the terror of loss. Drew tried hard not to think about it, because he knew in his heart that he couldn’t overcome his fears, and they had the power to tear them apart.
Yesterday she’d finished the first prototype of her animal prosthetic, and they’d packed it into a box and taken it to the clinic. Lucas and a selected group of consultants would be putting it through a whole barrage of tests, and assessing its viability, and he and Caro could take the weekend off. Drew had made cupcakes with candles to celebrate.
It wasn’t unusual for him to wake up alone. Caro often got up early, and he’d find her pottering around in her workshop, still wearing her pyjamas. But when he went to find her, calling that he was about to make coffee, she didn’t reply. And when he looked out of the window he saw something that almost made his heart stop.
Throwing on his clothes, he rushed down the steps onto the beach.
‘Caro! Get out of the water!’
She was wearing her drysuit and had waded into the sea until it was up to her waist. The brisk autumn breeze and a strong tide was buffeting her back and forth, so that she could hardly keep her footing, and a snorkel hung from her hand. Much good that would do her in this rough sea—she was just as likely to get a lungful of water as she was air.
‘In a minute.’
‘Now, Caro!’