‘I was sunbathing.’
‘I’d never have guessed,’ he said with a smile of his own.
* * *
Josh had been lucky. The X-rays showed no spinal injuries, but he had sustained a fracture of the tibia of his right leg. The break was across the shaft, for which Selina was thankful as fractures of the lower part of the tibia often resulted in a fragmented ankle bone that had to be repaired by surgery, whereas in Josh’s case, a plaster cast on the leg for approximately six weeks should see the bone healed.
‘I’m keeping him in for a couple of days just as a precaution,’ Gavin said when the cast had been applied, ‘and as it goes without saying that you won’t be budging from his side once he’s settled into the children’s ward, why not go home and change out of your fancy dress? I’ll keep an eye on Josh until they find him a bed.’
‘I might just do that,’ she said. ‘I’d hate your staff to think that your sister’s eccentric…and, dear brother, am I glad that you’ve chosen to do a stint in Accident and Emergency.’
He shrugged. ‘In a crazy sort of way I’m enjoying it. It’s a case of you ambulance folks bringing ’em in, and my lot sorting ’em out.’
Selina shuddered. ‘And in this case it was Josh that they wheeled in. I can’t stop thinking that he might have been killed.’
As she was making her way to the main reception area to telephone for a taxi she saw the two paramedics coming towards her. Remembering how her introduction to the new man had been somewhat heated, Selina said awkwardly, ‘I see you’re back already.’
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Another red alert came through before we’d got back to base and, having delivered the patient to A and E once more, we’re on our way back again. How’s the boy?’ he went on.
‘He’s got a fractured tibia, which has just been put in plaster, and my, er…Gavin is keeping Josh in for a couple of days. There were no obvious spinal injuries, but he isn’t taking any chances and wants to keep him under observation for a while.’
He nodded.
‘Good.’
Dark eyes were flicking over her and momentarily a smile tugged at his mouth.
‘I take it that you’re going home to change. We’ll drop you off if you like.’
‘I’m starving,’ Mike put in. ‘If you’re taking Selina home, I’ll have a bite in the restaurant here and you can pick me up on the way back.’
Selina hesitated. Another encounter with the man who was going to be featuring prominently in her working life in days to come didn’t appeal. But for him to take her home and bring her back almost immediately when he came to pick up Mike would be so much quicker than any other way, and she didn’t want to be away from Josh for a moment longer than necessary. He was happy enough with his Uncle Gavin, but it was her he needed the most…and his absent father.
But if she started thinking about Dave she would go to pieces completely and that wouldn’t help anybody, especially Josh.
She smiled.
‘That’s an offer I can’t refuse. I’m so anxious to get back to Josh.’ She looked down at the shapeless raincoat and, thinking of what it was concealing, told him, ‘I was sunbathing when I got the call from the school and I threw on the first things that came to hand. I don’t remember if I locked the door even, so I do need to go home for a few minutes.’
‘Let’s get moving, then,’ he said flatly, as if he thought she was gabbling somewhat.
When she climbed in beside him Selina was aware that, if what Mike had said was correct, this man was replacing Charlie. That was how it was going to be in future, and a bigger contrast to the amiable sixty year-old she couldn’t imagine.
As they pulled out of the city limits he said, ‘I suppose I’d better introduce myself.’ Taking a hand off the steering-wheel for a moment, he offered it to her. ‘Kane Kavener is the name, and the station officer has told me that you and I will be working together.’
His grasp was firm as they shook hands briefly. Selina thought illogically that it was like the man as there seemed to be nothing limp about…what was it he’d said his name was? Kane Kavener?
‘What they’ve told you is correct,’ she confirmed as their hands fell apart. ‘Charlie Vaughan, who I’ve worked with ever since joining the ambulance service, retired yesterday and so I’m short of a partner.’
‘So, what stage of training are you up to?’ he asked. ‘You’re not a paramedic?’
Selina shook her head.
‘No. Not yet. But I hope to be soon. I’ve done my year as a trainee and am almost at the end of a second year as an ambulance technician. As we both know, the next step is to take my paramedic exams.’
‘Who looks after the boy while you’re working?’ he questioned. ‘His father?’
‘Er…no. My brother and his wife live nearby and she looks after Josh, along with her own two children, while I’m at work.’
He nodded.
‘I see.’
Selina was observing him warily. What was he doing? Assessing her to see if she would be pulling her weight when they were on call-out? Or what?
‘How old is Josh?’
‘Nine,’ she replied briefly, ‘and he’s an only child.’
She was beginning to feel as if it was time that she did a bit of probing of her own.
‘Where have you moved from?’ she asked casually.
‘I’ve been living and working down south. This is my first experience of a northern city. I’d hoped to settle here a couple of weeks ago to give me some breathing space, but something cropped up and I only arrived yesterday.’
‘And you’re already on the job!’ she exclaimed. ‘That seems a bit much.’
He shrugged as if it was of no consequence. ‘My contract said that I start today, and today it is.’
She was giving him directions and he said, ‘I take it that working in the inner city is enough. You don’t choose to live there?’
‘That’s correct. I live in a Pennine village that isn’t too far away for commuting and is a better place to bring Josh up in.’
When they stopped outside the neat stone cottage, which had seemed like a paradise when Dave had been around and now was just a place to live, Kane settled back into the driving seat and said, ‘I’ll wait. Do whatever you have to do. If any calls come through, I’ll radio back to base and explain what’s happened and where I am.’
Selina hesitated. The least she could do was invite him in.
‘Don’t wait out here. You can make yourself a drink while I’m changing.’
‘You’re sure?’
‘Yes.’
He opened the door and stepped onto the pavement, observing the house as he did so.
‘Nice. Have you always lived in the area?’
She nodded, wishing as she did so that he would leave it at that.
He did and, after directing him into the kitchen and showing him where she kept tea, coffee and suchlike, she went into the hall and took off the drab raincoat.
Selina paused for the briefest of moments as the bikini was revealed. She sighed. It seemed like a lifetime since she’d padded out into the garden to sun herself.
Framed in the mirror opposite was a woman with straight golden hair fastened back in