‘And so you saved his life.’
He smiled. ‘Only partly. The hospital had something to do with it, too. He was operated on immediately.’
‘He and his family must have been grateful for your presence in the cell. I can see why his brother was so welcoming when you appeared.’
‘Yes, we’ve become firm friends, but Michael, the guy who had the appendicitis, is still drinking too much for his own good and everyone else’s.’
‘You must get a lot of job satisfaction from your police work.’
‘Yes. I do,’ he agreed. ‘Just the same as when I’ve been able to bring a patient back to good health. And with regards to the practice, how would you like to work for us?’
She stared at him in amazement. ‘In what capacity?’
‘Practice nurse, of course. We employ two, but one of them wants to leave in a hurry. As early as next week, in fact. If you are interested, I have another proposition to put to you.’
Still taken aback, she asked, ‘And what’s that?’
‘I have a small house that I rent out not far from the surgery. It was my wife’s before we were married. It’s vacant at the moment. If you took the job you might want to consider living there instead of where you are now. ‘
‘I’ve never worked in general practice,’ she explained. ‘I’ve always been hospital-based.’
‘Does that matter?’
He wasn’t going to tell her that he’d offered her the position because he wanted her near him. He wasn’t sure why, but he did. Maybe it was because she’d been left high and dry after her father’s death and he was concerned for her. Or were his motives more selfish than that? He didn’t want to get bogged down in self-analysis.
He could imagine Maxine’s reaction if Helena took the job. Fortunately he had the main say and if she didn’t like it, too bad.
‘I’d like to think about it if you don’t mind,’ Helena was saying. ‘I feel that you’ve already done enough for me.’
Suddenly he was the senior partner rather than her good Samaritan. ‘You would be expected to cope with a heavy workload and would get no special concessions from me.’
‘I wouldn’t expect any!’ she exclaimed. ‘I’m used to being treated on my own merits. What about the woman who was at your house last night? Did you say she was connected with the practice?’
‘Yes, that was Maxine Fielding. She and Darren Scott are the other two partners. By all means think about the offer. I just felt that both suggestions might solve your problems for the time being.’
So he had no thought of it being on a more permanent basis, she told herself. No need to feel flattered that Blake was keen to employ her. Once again he was merely trying to be supportive at a time when she needed someone. He was anticipating that once she’d got herself sorted she would move on.
Yet what had she expected? They’d only known each other a couple of days. It was incredible that he was making her such an offer in so short a time. The suggestions he’d made were like a lifeline in her present situation and even if they hadn’t been, there was a feeling of rightness about them that she couldn’t ignore.
‘Tell me about yourself,’ he said as they ate a leisurely meal. ‘How long have you been in nursing?’
‘Ever since I left school. My mother was a nurse and I always wanted to be the same.’
‘So you find it fulfilling.’
She was smiling and he thought how different she looked. She ought to do it more often, but he reminded himself that since they’d met she’d had very little to smile about.
‘Yes, I do. Fulfilling…and tiring,’ she told him, adding on a sudden impulse that she knew she might have cause to regret, ‘You already know quite a bit about me, but I know nothing about you, except that you’re a GP who is also involved in police work. You said that your family weren’t around. Dare I ask why?’
She watched his expression change and wished she’d contained her curiosity. It was as if a cloud had settled on his face, but his voice was pleasant enough as he told her, ‘You can ask, but I’m not sure whether I want to answer. If I do it will bring painful memories into a pleasant evening.’
‘I’m sorry,’ she said contritely. ‘I presume something awful must have happened.’
‘It did,’ he agreed heavily. ‘My wife, Anna, and our seven-year-old son, Jason, were killed in a car crash three years ago.’
‘Oh, you poor man!’ she said softly. ‘You must think I’m making a big thing out of what has happened to me. No way does it compare with that.’
‘I don’t think anything of the kind,’ he told her. ‘I’m only too sorry that you came home to what you did, but I think a change of subject is called for.’
Helena nodded her agreement and said, ‘So tell me about the practice.’
He launched into an account of a visit he’d made that afternoon to elderly twin sisters who were always ill simultaneously with the same complaint, and how, garrulous and hyperactive, they vied for his attention.
She was laughing as he described their antics and Blake thought that it was incredible that this green-eyed woman was fancy-free. Or was she? She hadn’t said so. There might be someone in Australia anxiously awaiting her return.
Though if that were the case, she wouldn’t be hesitating about going back, would she? And if she’d left some guy behind when she’d gone out there, he would have been the one she’d turned to rather than himself.
‘If you’ll excuse me for asking, how old are you, Helena?’ he asked.
‘I’m twenty-five.’
‘And commitments?’
It was one way of asking if she was unattached, though it misfired somewhat.
‘You know that I haven’t. I’ve already told you I was an only child.’
‘I was referring to relationships.’
‘Oh, I see. Would it matter if I was in one?’
‘No. Of course not,’ he said smoothly. ‘But again it’s the sort of thing you might be asked about by the other two partners.’
‘But not by you?’
‘No. Not by me. I’m offering you the job because of what’s happened.’
‘Because you’re sorry for me, you mean?’
‘Yes. Partly. And also because you came back to a raw deal. I admire your father for what he did. There are lots of folk who won’t risk life and limb in the cause of justice, but he did. Thankfully no one got to him, which is not surprising as the witness protection service allows for no margin of error. So your father died the way the rest of us hope to go…naturally.’
He wasn’t offering the job because he was attracted to her, then, she thought wryly. She’d been a fool to think he might be. Blake Pemberton, senior partner, police surgeon…and childless widower…must have them queueing up for the chance to take his dead wife’s place.
Blake had allayed her fears about going back to the house but Helena was in no hurry to return. As they lingered over coffee at the end of the meal he said, ‘So are you happy to go back to the house? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.’
‘No. I’m fine,’ she told him. ‘I’m not afraid any more. And, Blake, I will take the job at the practice if you’re sure you want me. And I’ll rent the house, too. You’ve solved all my problems for me.’
She meant it, but