‘I’ll come with you.’
She hesitated, then shook her head firmly. ‘No, that’s okay. I’d appreciate it if you could give me a hand getting him into my car, but I’ll be fine once I get to the surgery.’
Kate might feel okay about this, but he didn’t. It was one thing to rationalise about lightning not striking twice, but quite another thing to leave her to negotiate the darkness outside the surgery.
‘I’d like to just...see Jeff off. And, now I’ve thrown away three quarters of a glass of a very nice Chablis, it’s the least you can do to let me tag along. I might go to my parents and spend the night there, so I’m around for Sam when he wakes up.’
‘Okay. That sounds like a good idea.’
Ethan supressed a smile, wondering if he might add that he’d follow her home and see her inside. But there was an obvious flaw in the assertion that her place was on his way to his parents’ house, which was that he didn’t know where Kate lived. Maybe he’d work his way round to suggesting that later.
* * *
Ethan seemed to want the company and Kate had to admit that she was very glad he was there. They’d carried Jeff into the surgery together, and Ethan hadn’t left her side until she was safely back in her car. Then he’d bent down, tapping on the window.
‘Which way are you going?’
‘I live in Eadleigh. On the edge of the village.’
His face broke into a broad grin. ‘It’s on my way. I’ll follow you and see you inside.’
The last time she’d negotiated the dark shadows which crowded in on her front path at night, she’d forced herself to walk and not run, but had still arrived inside the house breathless and pushing away the panic. Kate would certainly appreciate him being there, but she didn’t want to admit it.
He turned suddenly, not waiting for her answer, and got into his car.
She parked in the lane outside her cottage, dimly aware that the lights of his car, which had shone reassuringly behind her all the way from the surgery, had just been extinguished. She looked in the rear-view mirror and saw him swing out of the driver’s seat.
Okay. So he was a gentleman. The closeness that had tingled in the air between them this evening somehow made this a more obvious move than it otherwise might have been. Kate got out of her car, marching towards him.
‘I’d ask you in but the place is a terrible mess. End of the week, you know? I do my housework on a Saturday...’ She pressed her lips together. She was protesting too much and, if Ethan couldn’t see the lie on her face in the darkness, he might well hear it in her voice.
He shrugged. ‘Yeah, I know.’
‘Well, goodnight, Ethan. I’m so sorry you lost Jeff this evening.’
He nodded. ‘I think we both did our best for him and that means a lot. Thank you.’
Kate swallowed the impulse to hug him, and turned, hurrying up the front path. As she fumbled for her keys in her handbag, she saw Ethan leaning against his car, watching her inside, and breathed a word of thanks that she knew he couldn’t hear.
Waving to him, she closed the front door, shooting the bolt on the new deadlock. Everything was quiet, undisturbed. Just the way she’d left it this morning. The back door was locked and the windows were secure.
She walked into the sitting room, slumping into a chair. The place was clean and rather relentlessly tidy, to the point that it looked a little starker than usual. During the hours when she wasn’t either at work or trying to sleep she’d been keeping herself busy, finding that physical effort gave her some relief from the clamour of her thoughts.
She could have asked him in—offered him a cup of tea, given him the opportunity to talk a little more if he’d wanted to. But somehow, asking anyone into her home, her sanctuary, was a little more than she was able to do at the moment. Here she was safe.
Safe from the feeling that it would feel good just to curl up with Ethan and go to sleep, undisturbed by the nightmares. He’d taken on the role of hero in her imagination and this couldn’t go on. His eyes were just eyes and they didn’t need any adjectives to describe them.
She looked at her watch, stifling a yawn. She had an early call tomorrow and she hadn’t had a great deal of sleep last night. Hopefully tonight would be different.
CHAPTER FIVE
JOY. THE EMOTION came before Kate had the opportunity to temper it with reason. Her phone caught her unawares and when she saw Ethan’s name on the caller display there was one moment of pure, heart-stopping joy.
‘Hi, Ethan. How are things?’ Her voice sounded strangely breathless and Kate looked around at the crowded waiting room full of patients for her evening surgery to see if anyone had noticed.
‘Good, thanks. Are you okay?’
‘Yes. I’m good.’