Louisa dropped the cloth in the bucket and scrambled to her feet, her cheeks flushed and her eyes shining. ‘Isn’t he brilliant? He’ll make an excellent guard dog while we’re all at work.’
‘Based on what?’ Josh looked at her, his expression comical. ‘His ability to bash someone to death with his tail?’
‘He has a ferocious bark,’ Louisa said primly, ‘and he knows his territory.’
And she adored him.
Mac rubbed long fingers over his forehead. ‘My house used to be a peaceful sanctuary,’ he muttered, ‘and then you sent me Louisa as a Christmas present. Thanks, Josh. Great move.’
But there was humour in his eyes and something else that made Louisa’s heart skip a beat. Since that moment in Resus she’d been careful to keep her distance. Careful not to crowd him in any personal sense. But the awareness between them was growing by the minute. When he entered the room her spine tingled and her pulse increased alarmingly.
‘Dinner’s in the Aga, guys,’ she said huskily, burying her face in Hopeful’s coat and giving him a hug. ‘Help yourselves. I just need to shower and I’ll be down.’
It was great to have both of them home. Often when they weren’t at the hospital, they were on the beach windsurfing and the utility room was always full of dripping wetsuits. And she loved the lifestyle. She loved being able to wander into the rambling garden and down onto the sand. She loved being able to sit on the beach and watch the waves thrash against the rocks. She loved watching Mac and Josh powering across the bay at speeds that made her gasp.
She loved everything about the place.
Looking forward to a nice evening, she sprinted upstairs to her room, closely followed by Hopeful. ‘You’re not supposed to be upstairs,’ she scolded gently, reaching down to stroke his head as he licked her hand. ‘Go downstairs. Kitchen.’
Hopeful ignored her and sat down with a plop, his tongue lolling out of his mouth.
Louisa sighed and dragged her muddy sweatshirt over her head. ‘OK, but just this once. And stay off the bed or Mac will kill you. And then he’ll kill me.’ She stepped into the bathroom, showered quickly and pulled on a clean pair of jeans and a jumper.
She was about to dry her hair when there was a tap on the door. ‘Lu?’ Josh’s voice came through the doorway. ‘Phone for you.’
Louisa sprinted downstairs to take the call, her dark hair hanging wetly down her back, Hopeful close on her heels. ‘Hello?’ She listened and then smiled. ‘Alice? How are you? How’s the wrist?’ Her smile faded and she frowned. ‘She what? Just now? Oh, no!’
Mac glanced up with a frown. ‘What?’
Louisa covered the receiver. ‘Vera has fallen downstairs. Alice can’t move her. She’s called an ambulance but they’ve said they can’t get anyone to her for half an hour at least, and she’s panicking.’
Mac didn’t hesitate. ‘We’ll go round there now. Josh?’
‘Right with you, bro.’ Josh abandoned his casserole and stood up. ‘We’ll take my car.’
‘The Maserati?’ Mac gave a snort of derision. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. The roads are so slick we’ll end up needing the ambulance ourselves. We need a four-wheel-drive. We’ll take mine.’
‘What’s wrong with mine? She handles fine on the ice.’ Josh looked offended. ‘You’re becoming middle-aged, do you know that?’
‘Blame Louisa,’ Mac said dryly, ‘I used to be unencumbered but suddenly I seem to have all sorts of responsibilities. One of which is currently chewing your fancy shoes, Josh. Louisa, do something about your wet hair or you’ll catch pneumonia.’
Josh turned in time to see Hopeful lumbering away with a shoe in his mouth.
‘Stop arguing.’ Louisa stuffed her hair into a wool hat, reached for her coat and made for the front door. ‘Hopeful, on guard! You’re in charge.’
Mac rolled his eyes. ‘Heaven help us all.’
* * *
Vera was lying at the bottom of the stairs, her face white with pain.
Mac was beside her in an instant, his handsome face concerned. ‘Hello, Vera, what have you been up to?’
Vera winced with pain. ‘Oh, I’m so sorry to be a bother, only Alice thought it would be all right to call Louisa. I didn’t know you came out to patients.’
Mac glanced at Louisa and gave a ghost of a smile. ‘I don’t usually but we’re neighbours, so that’s different,’ he said softly, shrugging off his coat and bending down so that he could take a closer look. ‘I don’t want to move you until I’ve assessed the damage. Can you remember what happened?’
Vera closed her eyes. ‘Stupid really. I was upstairs, pottering around, and decided that I wanted a glass of water.’