‘She certainly is.’ Determined to make her relax with him, he kept up the small talk while he finished preparing the supper and then served it onto two plates which he carried through to the dining table. ‘OK. Tuck in.’
She sat opposite him, occasionally glancing out of the huge window at the views of the harbour. ‘I love this apartment. I’m amazed your parents have trouble letting it.’
Trouble letting it?
Joel opened his mouth to tell her that this particular apartment was always in demand, and then he realised just in time that his parents must have told her that because they’d known that otherwise she wouldn’t have taken it.
And then she would have had nowhere to live.
Suddenly he was immensely proud of his parents. They were great people.
‘Not many people want to come to Cornwall in the winter,’ he hedged, shifting the conversation away from the subject of the flat. ‘And what about you, Lucy? He topped up her wineglass and looked at her quizzically. ‘Why did you choose Cornwall?’
‘If you’d seen our flat in London, you wouldn’t have to ask that,’ she said with a rueful smile. ‘Our money didn’t go very far. And Sam’s asthma got worse. I thought we needed a change and I saw this job advertised. I just didn’t think for a moment that I’d get it.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because I’m a single parent,’ she said simply. ‘Working when you’ve got small children is hard at the best of times. Doing it when you’re on your own with no support becomes a nightmare.’
‘In what way?’ He looked at her blankly. ‘Surely once you’ve sorted out your child care, it’s fine?’ To be honest, he’d never given it a thought before.
Her eyes were bright with amusement. ‘Spoken like a man with no children. I can assure you that it’s far from fine. Working when you have a child just means that you are constantly torn between the two.’
‘How come?’ He leaned forward, his expression curious. ‘Surely when you’re at work you’re working, and when Sam finishes school you’re at home.’
It sounded straightforward enough to him.
‘Unfortunately it’s never quite as neat as that.’ She gave a sigh and put her fork down. ‘Patients don’t observe the clock, and I’m horribly aware that I’m letting the practice down by not being able to give my all like everyone else. If there are extra patients I often have to refuse, and then I feel stressed and frustrated. If Sam is ill then the whole finely balanced show falls apart. I have to let people down at the last minute, and instead of just worrying about Sam being ill I’m also worrying about how I’m letting everyone down at work.’
Joel stared at her in silence, taking in everything she’d said. ‘I’d never really thought about it before,’ he admitted quietly. ‘But I can see now that it must be a pretty stressful balancing act.’
‘It’s certainly that.’ She gave a short laugh. ‘Fortunately, your father is the kindest person I’ve ever met. If it weren’t for him—’ She broke off and Joel frowned, hating the fact that she was putting herself down.
‘He hasn’t taken you on out of charity, you know. You’re a fantastic nurse, Lucy. And even in the short time I’ve known you I can see that you get more done in the hours you work than many people do in double the time.’
Lucy gave a soft smile. ‘Your father said the same thing earlier, but—’
‘No buts. And don’t fret about things that haven’t happened, like Sam being off school. When it happens, we’ll deal with it.’
Her eyes widened. ‘We?’
He cleared his throat, as surprised as she was by what he’d said. What was he planning to do? Take care of the child himself?
He suddenly realised that he’d do exactly that if it would make things easier for her.
‘You’re part of a team, Lucy,’ he said quietly, genuinely wanting to help. ‘One of us would help and, yes, I’m quite prepared to be the one who takes care of Sam.’
She gave a soft laugh and shook her head slowly. ‘What are you going to do? Take him on your calls with you?’
Joel gave it some thought. ‘We could tuck him up in Reception with Ros. She looked after me on countless occasions when I was ill as a child.’
‘She has a job to do,’ Lucy pointed out, starting to laugh. ‘Thank you for trying to help, but it really isn’t your problem.’
He stared at her, thinking how gorgeous she looked when she smiled. ‘What would you say if I wanted to make it my problem?’
‘What are you, my knight in shining armour?’ Her smile faded slowly. ‘I didn’t realise that riding a white charger was part of your job description, Dr Whittaker.’
‘You know, you could drop the “Dr Whittaker” and call me Joel,’ he suggested mildly, leaning back in his chair and finishing his wine. ‘All this “Doctor” business is probably a little formal in the circumstances.’