New start, new life...

New family?

After a lifetime of putting others first, GP Nick Cooper is craving his fresh start in Yoxburgh—it’s time to discover what he wants. And that’s his beautiful new colleague, Ellie Kendal! But Ellie comes as a package deal, and as a devoted single mom of three, she’s nothing like anyone he’s ever met before! His head warns him to hold back, even though his heart already belongs to them all...

CAROLINE ANDERSON is a matriarch, writer, armchair gardener, unofficial tearoom researcher and eater of lovely cakes. Not necessarily in that order! What Caroline loves: her family. Her friends. Reading. Writing contemporary love stories. Hearing from readers. Walks by the sea with coffee/ice cream/cake thrown in! Torrential rain. Sunshine in spring/autumn. What Caroline hates: losing her pets. Fighting with her family. Cold weather. Hot weather. Computers. Clothes shopping. Caroline’s plans: keep smiling and writing!

Also by Caroline Anderson

One Night, One Unexpected Miracle

Yoxburgh Park Hospital miniseries

Risk of a Lifetime

Best Friend to Wife and Mother?

Their Meant-to-Be Baby

The Midwife’s Longed-For Baby

Bound by Their Babies

Their Own Little Miracle

A Single Dad to Heal Her Heart

From Heartache to Forever

Tempted by the Single Mum

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

Tempted by the Single Mum

Caroline Anderson

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-0-008-90232-2

TEMPTED BY THE SINGLE MUM

© 2020 Caroline Anderson

Published in Great Britain 2020

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

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I have many people to thank, not least my editor

for her endless patience. Sheila, you are a star.

Also Juno, who’s looked after us for very many years,

through many trials and tribulations.

Thank you for your kindness and support.

And, last but not least, thanks also to

my long-suffering husband John, who must

surely be sick of me saying, ‘We can’t do that.

I have to write my book…’

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

EPILOGUE

Extract

About the Publisher

CHAPTER ONE

WHY? WHY TODAY, when she was already running late before she’d even started, did someone have to make it even worse?

She glared at the car reversing neatly into the one remaining doctors’ space—a car she didn’t recognise, and she’d never seen the driver, either. He certainly wasn’t one of their doctors, so whoever he was he had no business parking there.

Didn’t seem to bother him. He either didn’t know, or didn’t care, but he flashed her a smile as he got out of the car, then locked it and headed for the surgery without a backward glance.

Who did he think he was? Cocky, arrogant—argh! There weren’t words for what she felt. The expensive car, the confident stride, the easy charm—not to mention the insanely good looks. Clearly a man for whom everything had always gone his way. Well, not now. Whoever he was—probably a drug rep—he was about to get his comeuppance.

Still fuming, she reversed into the last available space in the car park, not really wide enough but doable—or it would have been, if she hadn’t been so cross.

She heard the scrape, closed her eyes and breathed, then shuffled the car slightly further from the offending wall, squeezed out of the ridiculously narrow gap she’d left herself, slammed the door and headed across the car park.

Seriously, could today get any worse? Well, his could. If he was still in Reception—

He was. He was chatting to the receptionist, leaning forward engagingly as he spoke, and that easy charm was obviously working on Katie, which just infuriated her more. His hands were shoved casually into the pockets of immaculately cut trousers that fitted his neat, strong hips to perfection. Of course they did. They wouldn’t dare do anything else.

She eyed his shoulders, broad and yet not heavy, the legs strong and straight below firm, taut buttocks. He probably worked out in a fancy gym somewhere. You didn’t get a neat, sexy bottom like that by accident.

She dragged her eyes up to head height.

‘You’ve parked in a doctor’s space,’ she said crisply to his back, keeping a lid on her temper with difficulty, and he straightened up and turned towards her, that infuriating smile still on his face.

‘Yes, I—’

‘I know parking’s tight, but that is just not on. There was another space, so why not park there yourself? Or anywhere else, frankly! Or was that the only space big enough for your ego? Thanks to you I’ve scraped my car, I’m now ten minutes late and I’ve got patients waiting!’

An eyebrow rose a fraction. Over his shoulder she could see Katie gesturing wildly, but she ignored her and stood her ground, and he shook his head slowly.

‘Maybe you need to get up earlier,’ he murmured, and she stifled the urge to growl at him.

‘And maybe you need to learn to read!’

‘Ellie! Dr Kendal!’ Katie chipped in, getting to her feet and looking even more flustered, and his eyebrow went up a little further, a lazy smile now playing around his aggravatingly beautiful mouth.

‘I think we’d better start again,’ he said, holding out his hand, the smile tugging at his lips. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dr Kendal. I’m Nick Cooper. Dr Nick Cooper.’

The new—and desperately needed—member of their team.

Brilliant.

Why didn’t the ground just open up and swallow her?

He had to stifle his laugh.

Her jaw sagged, and for a second she was speechless. Then she shook her head, mumbled what could have been an apology and fled through the staff door as Katie opened it, her face flaming.

He dropped his hand back to his side, shrugged and smiled at the receptionist who was looking horrified and fascinated all at once.

‘So, that’s Dr Kendal,’ he murmured, vaguely intrigued.

‘Yes. Ellie. I’m so sorry, she’s normally lovely. I don’t know what’s got into her.’

He pulled a face and walked through the door into the back of Reception, closing it behind himself. ‘I do. I took the last doctor’s space, and now she’s scraped her car. Oops. If I’d known who she was I would have moved, but I didn’t have a clue.’

‘She’s only part-time, so if she wasn’t on duty when you came for your interviews you wouldn’t have met her—and she does normally walk. You weren’t to know.’

He nodded. ‘No. Ah, well. I have no doubt we’ll have time to catch up later.’

Katie gestured towards the other doorway, still looking flustered. ‘Come in and I’ll introduce you to the admin team, and I’m sure Dr Gallagher will be out in a minute to talk to you. I’ve let her know you’re here.’

She led the way, and he followed her into the office and scanned it for any sign of his fiery new colleague, but she’d gone.

Pity. Never mind. He was here all day, there was time, and he could look forward to what was bound to be an interesting conversation...

Why had she done that?

Torn him to pieces without even giving him a chance to speak? And if he’d been a patient, he would have been well within his rights to complain. No, it was even better than that. He was a colleague, her senior, and she’d just hurled abuse at him in their first interaction.

Marvellous. Just marvellous.

Not that he’d been exactly polite himself, telling her to get up earlier. She’d been up before half five as it was to do the laundry, and if Maisie hadn’t been a diva and Evie hadn’t needed her nappy changed again and Oscar hadn’t lost one of his shoes and then had a meltdown, she wouldn’t have been late and then none of this would have happened.

She felt her eyes prickle, and clamped her jaw shut hard, blinking furiously as she closed her consulting room door behind her and leant against it. It could have been worse. There could have been a whole bunch of patients in Reception, so at least she hadn’t had an audience while she’d made a total fool of herself.

‘Breathe,’ she said softly, and closed her eyes, sucking in a long, slow breath through her nose and out through her mouth. In...and out... In...and out—

The quiet tap on the door made her jump, and she leapt away from it and wrenched it open, to find herself face to face with her worst nightmare, no doubt coming to tear her apart in private. Well, it was certainly justified, and he probably hated her already.

Or maybe not...

‘Katie thought you’d want this,’ he said quietly, holding out a mug of tea without a trace of a smile, and she stared at it suspiciously.

Beware of strangers bearing gifts...

‘Why are you bringing me a peace offering? I’m the one who should be apologising—or have you slipped something into it?’

His mouth twitched. ‘Don’t tempt me,’ he murmured, and gave her a wry smile. ‘It’s not a peace offering. Katie was about to bring it to you, and I suggested I do it. I thought we could do with clearing the air.’

She took it from him with fingers that weren’t quite steady, then made herself meet his eyes. He held her gaze, his searching, thoughtful, the smile gone now. She was quite glad she didn’t know what he was thinking...

She felt her shoulders drop in defeat. ‘Look, I’m sorry, I didn’t know who you were, which is no excuse whatsoever, I know that, but—’ She broke off, still mortified and wondering if there was any way she could rescue the situation. ‘I hadn’t realised you were coming in today, I thought you’d be starting on Monday, so I wasn’t expecting you, I didn’t recognise you, and then you took the last reserved space, and as if that wasn’t enough I scraped my car parking by the wall, which was just the icing on the cake—’

‘Ellie, breathe! It’s OK. Forget it. You’re right, I am starting on Monday, I’m just having an induction today, learning the ropes a bit, finding my feet before I start. I guess nobody told you. And I’m sorry I took your parking place, but Lucy told me to park there because you usually walk to work. Obviously not today.’

‘No. I should have been, I nearly always do, but I got—held up,’ she said, for want of a better way of putting it.

‘So it seems. Parking’s tight, isn’t it? Lucy said it’s a regular occurrence with the building work going on.’

She nodded, sighing with relief because he had every right to be unreasonable about this. ‘It is, but they should be finished soon and the builders’ vans will be gone, and not a moment too soon. Look, I’m sorry, can we do this later? I don’t mean to be rude—again—but I do have patients waiting and I’m already on the drag.’

‘Of course. And I’m sorry about the parking—and your car.’

‘Don’t be sorry. You had every right to park there, as it turns out, and I massively overreacted. And thank you for the tea. I haven’t had time for one today.’

His eyes softened at the corners, that flickering smile sending strange little shivers through her body. ‘My pleasure,’ he murmured. ‘We’ll catch up later.’ His lips twitched again. ‘You can teach me to read, and I can teach you to tell the time.’

She rolled her eyes. He might have forgiven her, but he clearly wasn’t going to let it drop.

‘Oh, I can tell the time,’ she told him wryly. ‘I was up at five twenty-seven, for what it’s worth.’

A silent ah, and he backed out, fingers waggling. ‘Better not hold you up any more, then. I’ll see you later.’

She nodded, and the door closed softly behind him.

Shaking her head and wishing she could wind the clock back, she put the tea down, washed her hands and fired up her computer, her mind refusing to let go of that lazy, sexy, fleeting smile.

Stupid. She was nearly twenty minutes late now, and it would have a knock-on effect on the rest of the day. She didn’t have time to daydream, and particularly not about a man who probably practised his smile in the mirror!

‘Get a grip, Ellie,’ she told herself, took a gulp of her tea and pressed the button to call her first patient.

Predictably she finished her morning surgery late, checked some results and wrote two referral letters and then, just because why not, when she went upstairs to their temporary staff room to make herself a coffee and eat the lunch she’d hastily thrown together at crazy o’clock, Nick was in there alone.

Time to eat humble pie again...

He looked up from the paperwork scattered on the table in front of him, and his unbelievably blue, improbably beautiful eyes locked on hers with that clear, steady gaze that she was beginning to find unnerving.

‘OK?’

She laughed. Was she? Probably. ‘I’ll live. People don’t normally die of embarrassment. Have they abandoned you?’

‘They’re all busy. I’m fine. I’m reading through a pile of stuff they gave me and I was sort of hoping you’d come in so we could start again.’

‘No need, Nick, it’s fine, and I think I’ve probably said enough to last a lifetime. Can we just drop it? I’m not normally so inexcusably rude.’

‘I’m sure you’re not, but you were hassled and I was in your space. And you’d just trashed your car.’

She shrugged and headed for the kettle. ‘It’s hardly trashed, it barely shows, and I still shouldn’t have been so rude. You could have been anyone.’

Though how anyone else would have been worse than the new partner it was hard to imagine.

He got to his feet and headed over to where she was standing, moving with a lithe, easy grace—and a slight wince? ‘Let’s start again. I’m Nick.’

‘And I’m Ellie.’

She took the hand he was holding out to her, and as his fingers wrapped around her hand she felt warmth and reassurance and strength. And about a million volts. She dropped it like a hot potato, and he switched on the kettle and settled back against the worktop edge, legs crossed at the ankle, arms folded, sex appeal pouring off his perfectly honed body in waves.

Why did he have to be so darned sexy?

‘I’ll get you a drink, you eat your lunch,’ he said, that smile flickering again. ‘And while you do that, you can tell me why you were up at five twenty-seven.’

She rolled her eyes, handed him her empty mug and ripped the lid off her lunch box, retreating to the other side of the table for a bit of much-needed distance.

‘Coffee, please, white, no sugar. And since you asked, it was nothing unusual, I’m often up that early. I put the washing on, hung out the load which had done overnight, showered, dressed, hung out the second load, got the kids up, finally got them dressed after the usual arguments, we had breakfast, then Maisie had another strop because her best dress was on the line, Oscar lost a shoe and then had a meltdown and wouldn’t put his other shoes on, and Evie did a poo so I had to change her nappy, by which time Oscar had taken his shoes off again and hidden them, and Maisie was changing her dress for the third time. So, just another day at the office, really.’

He put the coffee down in front of her, his eyes wide and brimming with something that could have been sympathy if it hadn’t been for the laughter fighting its way to the top.

‘Ouch,’ he said softly, sitting down again and propping his elbows on the table as he held her eyes with that gorgeously blue and now sympathetic gaze. ‘That’s not a great way to start the day!’

She tried to smile but it was a wan effort and she abandoned it, making him frown. He leant slightly towards her, his eyes searching.

‘Are you OK, Ellie?’ he asked softly, and she shrugged.

‘Of course. I’m just tired. And it could have been worse,’ she said, forking up another mouthful of salad and trying not to think about the gorgeous eyes. ‘At least none them had thrown up in the night or had a temperature, but I pity the people at nursery. Oscar was still screaming by the time we got there because I’d put him in the car without his shoes on, and Maisie was mutinous and grumpy for England.’

‘And Evie? You did say Evie, didn’t you?’

She felt her face soften into an involuntary smile at the thought of her baby girl and put her fork down, the salad forgotten. ‘Yes, it’s Evie. She was her usual sweet, sunny little self, bless her heart.’

He grinned, his eyes crinkling and making him suddenly even more approachable. ‘Small mercies?’ he murmured, and she laughed.

‘Absolutely. I live for them, and I’m sure it won’t be long before she gets the terrible twos and it all falls apart. I’m enjoying it while it lasts.’

He sat back, his eyes still searching hers thoughtfully. ‘So, where’s your husband while all this is going on?’ he murmured.

The urge to smile evaporated, along with any trace of humour she’d been feeling, and she sat up straighter and dropped her eyes to her salad, prodding it around for something to do before she looked up again. ‘No husband,’ she said crisply. ‘I’m divorced.’

‘Ah. Join the club. I tell you what, let’s not go there, shall we? It’ll take all day and we’ve got much better things to discuss.’

It was his turn to look away, but not until she’d seen a subtle change in those fascinating eyes, a flicker of something like regret or disappointment or—grief? No matter. She was happy to let the subject drop and sip her coffee. Divorce was always a bit messy, and some were messier than others. Clearly not everything in life had gone his way...

‘So, how long have you been working here?’ he asked lightly, moving the subject on, and she was happy to pick it up and run with it.

‘Since after Maisie, so a little over three years? We had a flat in London, but David’s parents live in Yoxburgh and we’d bought a holiday home just round the corner from them, but he was away all the time working abroad so after we had Maisie we moved up here to our house and kept the flat on for when he was doing a fast turnaround, and I started work here when she was ten months old. And then two months in I realised I was pregnant with Oscar, which wasn’t planned, and then Evie came along.’

Although she wasn’t going into that, because David’s reaction had devastated her. It still hurt now, nearly two years later, and probably always would, but she was fine without him. Better, really, no matter how tough it might be sometimes.

‘So, how old are they now?’ Nick asked softly.

‘Maisie’s just four, Oscar’s two and a half, and Evie’s nearly fifteen months.’

His eyes widened. ‘That’s...’

‘Three in thirty-four months. I know. It’s ridiculous.’

He let out a long, slow breath. ‘I don’t know about ridiculous, but that’s pretty hardcore, for a single parent. For any parent, come to that, especially if you’re working. It must be a nightmare.’

She shook her head. ‘They’re a joy, really, when I have time to draw breath and think about it. Today was just one of those days, but I wouldn’t change it for the world, tantrums and all.’

‘No, of course not. I’m sure you love them all dearly.’

‘I do.’ She eyed him steadily, wondering if she’d heard something odd in his voice. ‘So, your turn. Why here?’

He shrugged. ‘Why not? I wanted a total change, I don’t have any ties, and it’s the sort of job I’ve always wanted. I was ready for it, it was there—it seemed sort of meant.’

‘What about your kids?’ she asked, blatantly fishing, but he just shook his head, his eyes steady but expressionless now.

‘No kids. If we’d had kids, I’d still be there. Children are a lifetime commitment. You don’t walk away. It’s not negotiable.’

She gave a little snort. ‘Tell it to the fairies. My ex walked out when I was eight weeks pregnant with Evie.’

He blinked, his eyes startled. ‘Seriously? He left when you were pregnant? Did he know?’

He sounded appalled, and she couldn’t help the bitter little laugh. Oh, yes, he’d known. It was why he’d gone.

‘I thought we weren’t going into this?’ she said, trying to keep it light and move on, but he didn’t let it drop.

‘Does he see them?’

‘Oh, yes. He comes up every fortnight and stays with his parents, who think it’s dreadful that he walked out on his marriage, and they’re not thrilled with me, either, because I won’t have him back, but they’re sticking by us because they want a decent relationship with their grandchildren, and the kids adore them. His loss.’

‘And the children’s. Idiot.’ He held up a hand. ‘Sorry, not my place.’

‘Oh, no, feel free. Nobody’s going to argue with you except him, and he’s not here, thank goodness.’ She gave him a wry smile. ‘Just as well, or he’d be ranting at me for scraping my car on the wall this morning.’

He pulled a face, his mouth tipping ruefully up at one side. ‘Sorry—again. I ought to pay for it to be fixed.’

‘Why? You weren’t driving it.’

‘No, but it was my fault and I didn’t exactly make your morning any better, did I? And I really am sorry about that. You obviously have enough on your plate.’

She answered his smile, wondering why that little tilt of his lips was having such a weird effect on her. Crazy—

‘Yes, well, I think we need to forget all about it, and I think I need to do something a bit proactive or my afternoon’s going to go down the tubes as well. I’m duty doctor this afternoon so I’ve got all sorts of patients slotted in. I need to go.’

She got to her feet, hesitated a second and then leant across the table, holding out her hand, telling herself it wasn’t to find out if she felt that electric tingle again. ‘Friends?’ she asked, and he smiled and took her hand.

Yup, still there, fizzing all the way through her body.

‘Friends,’ he murmured, and she smiled and dropped his hand and straightened up, resisting the urge to rub her tingling palm on her trousers.

‘Good. I’ll see you on Monday, then,’ she said, as the door opened and Lucy Gallagher came in.

‘You’ll see him tonight at ours for dinner, I hope?’ Lucy said, and she turned to her friend and colleague, her jaw dropping.

‘Dinner?’ she said blankly.

‘Yes—Nick’s welcome dinner?’

Oh, no. ‘Isn’t it next Friday?’

‘No, it’s tonight, at seven. Ah...’ Lucy tilted her head to one side. ‘No babysitter?’

She closed her eyes and counted to ten. Could Liz help out? Maybe. Another favour—oh, lord.

‘No. I didn’t need one, but David changed his weekend, and I didn’t join the dots. Idiot me. I’m so, so sorry, Lucy. I’ll ask my mother-in-law, and I’ll let you know. I’ll come if I possibly can, but it might just be for a short while.’

Lucy smiled and shook her head. ‘Don’t worry, I quite understand. Give her a ring, do what you can.’

‘I will. I need to go; I’ve got a stack of patients. I’m sorry.’

She threw a vague smile in their direction, scooped up her coffee and headed for her room, her salad forgotten, but her hand was still tingling from his touch, scrambling her brain even further.

Liz said yes, bless her heart, and even volunteered to pick the children up from nursery for a sleepover, so after her surgery was finished she drove home, packed their things and dropped them round, then went back, threw the breakfast things in the dishwasher, brought in the washing off the line and then went to change. But into what?

She studied the contents of her wardrobe blankly, but nothing was right. Ridiculous. She was going for an informal supper with the rest of the doctors and their partners and the practice manager and her husband, just to welcome Nick. It didn’t matter what she wore. Anything would do.

Except it wouldn’t, somehow, because she’d already made a disastrous impression, and she wanted a chance to remedy that. If it wasn’t already way too late...

So, the blue dress? No, too dressy. Pink? No. Too casual. Black? Too formal. OK, not a dress, then. Trousers and a top and pretty pumps?

Better—but which top?

She tried all of them, in the end, and went for the one that hung well, disguised her flabby bits and made her feel good about herself. That alone was quite an ask, but hey. Not that it mattered, she reminded herself crossly. The only thing that really mattered was getting there on time, because if she knew Lucy’s husband, he would have been in the kitchen all day cooking up a storm, and the last thing she needed was to upset anyone else!

She touched up the makeup she’d hurled on hastily at six thirty this morning, slipped on her shoes and coat, grabbed the bottle of wine she’d bought for them and walked out without checking herself in the mirror again because it just didn’t matter.

The Gallaghers only lived round the corner, and the drive would be full, so she walked, timing it so she’d be there just after seven so that hopefully some of the others would have arrived and she could melt into the background without having to talk to him. Not that she wanted to be rude to Nick, she’d done enough of that today to last a lifetime, but she didn’t want to look over-keen either.

And heaven knows why she was letting it worry her! He was a work colleague, nothing more, and never would be. She’d be polite, friendly enough, and stop thinking about his cute behind and that lazy, oh-so-sexy smile. Surely she could manage that?

She arrived at five past seven, just as Dev and Reeta got there. Perfect.

Brian’s car was there, and she could hear the others talking as Dev opened the door, but there was no sign of Nick’s car on the drive. Had he walked? Or was he late? No. He didn’t seem like the type to be late—or totally forget that he’d been invited for dinner.

Thank God for her mother-in-law. She would have been sunk without Liz in so many ways. The woman was a saint.

She plastered on a smile and followed Dev and Reeta in.

He was sitting in between Julia Wade, the practice manager, and Sarah Baines, another part-time doctor whose husband was at home with their children, and on the other side of Julia was Brian Rowlings, the practice principal. He’d met him and Julia before at his interviews, and also Dev Patel, the only other full-time doctor apart from him and Brian.

Dev was seated on the other side of the table, his wife Reeta, another part-time doctor, on one side and Ellie on his other, with Julia’s husband next to Ellie on her other side, which put her right opposite him and gave him a perfect opportunity to study her. It was threatening to become a habit...

He dragged his eyes off her and looked up at their hosts. Lucy Gallagher, the most senior doctor after Brian, and her husband Andy, who he gathered was a part-time ED consultant at Yoxburgh Park Hospital, were busy piling food on dishes and setting them down along the length of the table, watched longingly by their black Labrador, Stanley.

‘Just dig in, folks,’ Andy said, so they did, passing things around, spoons waving in the air and not a trace of inhibition. It felt like a noisy, cheerful family Sunday lunch, he thought, not a formal introduction to the practice, and he liked it. He liked all of them, but he wanted to know more about them, most particularly Ellie.

He didn’t get a chance to talk to her, though, because not surprisingly everyone wanted to ask him questions or tell him interesting and useful things about the practice, and he had to force himself to pay attention, but he was still aware of every breath she took.

After the main course they swapped places, and he ended up next to Ellie, which would have been fine if it hadn’t been for the unmistakeable current of something seriously tempting that ran between them.

She wanted trifle but she couldn’t reach it, so he stood up and leant across her, feeling the brush of her arm against his thigh as he picked it up, and he nearly dropped the dish.

‘Here,’ he said, sitting down again and holding it for her, then passing it across to Brian when she was done. And then Brian started to tell him things about the practice, things he probably needed to know, and at any other time would have been interested in, so he still didn’t get to talk to her. Didn’t mean he wasn’t still utterly aware of her, of her scent, the sound of her laugh, the hitch in her breath and slight shift of her leg away from his as his thigh accidentally brushed hers—

‘Coffee, anybody?’ Lucy asked when they’d all ground to a halt, and Ellie shook her head.

‘No, it’s been lovely, Lucy, but I need to make a move. Sorry. I had a very early start and I’m running out of steam.’

‘Yes, me, too,’ he said, getting to his feet with a rueful smile. ‘It’s been great to meet you all, and I’m looking forward to working with you and getting to know you all much better, but I’ve got a lot to do over the weekend before I start on Monday. My house is in chaos and I need to be able to find my clothes, at the very least.’

‘Give us a shout if you need a hand,’ Andy offered, which produced a chorus of other offers, and he nodded and thanked them all, thanked Lucy and Andy for the meal and ended up on the drive at the same time as Ellie.

‘Did you walk or are you driving?’ he asked her.

‘I walked—why?’

‘So did I. I’ll walk you home.’

‘You don’t need to do that—’

‘Yes, I do. I don’t want you on my conscience.’

She laughed at that. ‘Nick, this is Yoxburgh! Nothing’s going to happen to me.’

‘Nevertheless,’ he said with a smile, with no intention of backing down. ‘And anyway, I want to talk to you. I have questions.’

She looked up at him, her face illuminated by the porch light, her expression sceptical as if she could see right through him. ‘Such as?’

‘Oh, practice stuff. Well, people stuff, really,’ he added, improvising like crazy, but she nodded as if that seemed reasonable, and then turned away and set off, and he fell in beside her.

‘So, ask away,’ she prompted.

‘Brian,’ he said, because he genuinely was interested in what she had to say about him, so it seemed a good place to start.

She glanced at him. ‘What about him?’

‘He was on his own, and I understand he’s had some time off recently. Anything I should know?’

‘Yes. His wife had early onset Alzheimer’s, and he took time off and looked after her. She was only fifty-eight when she died last year, and she didn’t know him for the last few months.’

He felt the weight of a familiar burden settle over him. ‘That must have been difficult.’

‘It was difficult. I covered what I could, but I was pregnant with Evie so we all picked up a bit and we got a locum for one day a week, and then she died and he came back a couple of months later. I think he was glad to get back to normal, to be honest. He’d been very isolated.’

He knew how that felt, when he’d been coping with his brother after Rachel had left him. He’d been hanging by a thread by the time Sam died. Still was, in a way.

‘So, what else do you want to know?’

Nothing, really, but he drummed up a few questions to take his mind off Sam as much as anything, and then she came to a halt outside a surprisingly modest and fairly boring little eighties house—or at least it would have been, if it wasn’t for the fact that it overlooked the sea.

‘Well, this is me,’ she said with a smile. ‘See, no muggers or rapists or roving gangs.’

‘No,’ he said. ‘Well, I’ll say goodnight, then.’

She said nothing for a moment, and then looked up at him. ‘Coffee?’

He tried to read her eyes, but it was too dark to see them properly. ‘I thought you needed an early night?’

‘I do, but I’m going to sit down first and chill for a while. It’s been a hectic day. And we can talk more about the practice if you like. Up to you.’

The practice was the last thing on his mind. Getting to know her better, though...

‘No, I don’t fancy coffee.’

Did her face fall? Maybe, and he tipped his head on one side and smiled slowly. ‘Tea, on the other hand...’

She let out a soft huff of laughter and turned away.

‘You’d better come in, then.’

CHAPTER TWO

IT WAS A MESS. Why had she invited him in? She must have been nuts.

‘Come on through. I’m sorry, it’s a bit of a tip. I left in a hurry this morning and I haven’t had time to tidy it.’

He gave a quiet chuckle that did something weird to her nerve endings. ‘Don’t worry about it. I’ve seen much worse.’

‘Very likely, but that doesn’t mean I’m proud of it.’

He chuckled again, the sound soft and rich and oddly disturbing. She busied herself with the kettle, ridiculously aware of him behind her. What was he making of the house? And what did it matter what he thought of her or her house?

‘Are these the kids’ drawings?’

‘Well, they’re not mine,’ she said with a laugh, turning back to him. He was studying the fridge, plastered with Oscar’s little doodles and scrawlings, Maisie’s almost recognisable pictures of a house and a bunch of flowers, and in the middle Evie’s small messy handprints in pink and green and orange. He reached out a finger and traced a little handprint, and there was a wistful smile on his face that touched her heart.

Why doesn’t he have children?

‘How do you take your tea?’

He turned back to her, the smile becoming suddenly more generic as he hid whatever feelings they’d been that she’d had that little glimpse of. ‘Oh, white, no sugar, as it comes.’ He glanced around, frowning slightly. ‘So how do you get to the garden? I take it there is a garden?’

‘Oh, yes, it’s a nice garden once you get to it, but you have to go through the sitting room—or out of the front and round the side.’

His eyebrow twitched. ‘That’s handy for the bin.’

She laughed again, this time with real irony. ‘You don’t say. The layout’s ridiculous. Someone blocked up the kitchen door that led to the garden, and yes, it’s handy to have more cupboard and worktop space, but a back door would be handy, too. If you can stand the mess, I’ll give you a guided tour while the kettle boils.’

He chuckled again. ‘I can stand the mess,’ he said, and followed her, eyeing the house curiously as she pointed out the interesting features, like where the back door should have been, the lack of a utility room, the dining room with the wasted sea view, the three cramped bedrooms and tiny bathroom.

‘It’s not what I expected.’

‘What did you expect? Pristine tidiness?’

He laughed and looked down at her, his eyes gentle. ‘No, I didn’t mean that at all. This is just normal family mess. I wasn’t expecting a sea view. You were lucky to get it. They’re always at a premium.’

‘Absolutely. That’s why we bought it. David never did anything by accident—well, not a lot,’ she added economically, and headed down the stairs. ‘And the sea view would be fine if I ever had time to look at it, but even if I did, you can hardly see it because of the stupid layout. The house isn’t big enough for three children, but I can’t afford to extend it or move house, and David’s attitude is if I want to do things to it, or move to something better, then all I have to do is have him back.’

‘I take it that’s not an option,’ he ventured cautiously.

She laughed at that, a brittle little tinkle of sound, and led him back to the kitchen. ‘I don’t think it’s a serious suggestion anyway, so even if I thought it was a good idea, which I definitely don’t, I’m still stuck here.’

‘So what were you planning to do?’

‘Move the sitting room to the front and the dining room to the back because it’s as far from the kitchen as you can get at the moment, and extend it out into the garden to make a family area and put another bedroom and bathroom on. That way at least there would be a sea view from a room that would be used, rather than just the dining room, which I hardly use, and my bedroom, where I sleep with the curtains shut. As I said, wasted.’

‘That’s not wasted! You could lie in bed with a cup of tea in the mornings and look at the sea. Bliss.’

‘With three small children crawling all over me? That’s not bliss, that’s asking for trouble.’

His face softened into a wry grin. ‘Yeah, maybe. But the downstairs layout is crazy, I’ll give you that. I’d probably just open it all up if you didn’t want to spend a lot.’

‘But then there’d be nowhere where I could just retreat and know it’s going to be tidy and not covered in toys. Here, your tea,’ she said, handing it to him, and led him back into the sitting room, sweeping little wooden blocks out of the way with her feet, and behind him she heard that chuckle again.

‘You need a fairy, Ellie. Someone to come in while everyone’s sleeping and tidy it all up.’

She rolled her eyes and curled up on the sofa. ‘Er—that would be me? Nice idea, though. I wonder if the tooth fairy has a cousin who’s looking for work?’ she added with a grin, and he gave a soft huff of laughter and sat down opposite her, stretching his legs out with that little wince she’d noticed earlier.

‘Are you OK?’ she asked, and he tilted his head slightly.

‘OK?’

‘You winced.’

‘Oh, that. No, it’s an old fracture. It plays up a bit if I’ve overdone it. It’s nothing.’

‘Overdone it? You sat in the staff room or the office for a lot of the day, and you’ve been sitting down at dinner.’

‘That’s today. Yesterday I moved all my stuff up here into my new house. There was a lot of lifting and lugging.’

‘Didn’t you have a removal company?’

He smiled. ‘Yes. There’s still a lot of lugging around to be done. My fault. I should have been more specific about where I wanted things. Anyway, it’s all in the right place now, more or less. All I have to do is unpack.’

She wondered where the house was, but it seemed rude to ask—except he’d seen every inch of her chaotic and overcrowded little house, so the location of his could hardly be a state secret. Even if it was none of her business...

‘Where is it?’ she asked, finally giving in to her curiosity.

‘Just round the corner, on a little private road with half a dozen or so houses on it near the steps to the beach.’

‘Jacob’s Lane. Wow. I know it well. There are some lovely houses there. Which one is it?’ she asked, totally forgetting that she wasn’t supposed to be being nosy.

‘Split-level timber thing on the right, built in the seventies, with a weird mono-pitch roof?’

‘I know the one, it’s been empty for a while. I really like it.’

‘Yeah, me, too. It’s nothing from the front but it’s quite interesting inside, and it’s got a lovely courtyard style walled garden—and all the rooms open onto it. The only thing lacking is the sea view, but I’ve got legs and it’s hardly far away.’

That quirky grin again, which seemed to have some magic power over her.

Why? Why him, her new colleague? Although he seemed to have forgiven her for her tirade this morning, so she should be grateful for that, and she could live with a bit of unrequited lust in the interests of a peaceful and amicable working relationship.

‘So does it need a lot of work?’

‘Not really. Just an injection of my taste and a bit of tweaking.’

‘Not a project like this was meant to be, then?’

He gave a soft laugh and shook his head. ‘No. I didn’t want that, not now, not at this point in my life. I’ve had enough challenges. I’m ready for a quiet life.’

She chuckled softly. ‘Me, too, but there’s not much chance of that with three small people. Frankly I’d settle for six hours’ sleep a night. That would help.’

Just the thought made her want to cry with longing, and she was running out of steam. She stifled a little yawn, and apologised, but he gave her a wry smile.

‘I need to go. You’ve had a long day and I’m keeping you up, so I’ll leave you to what’s left of that early night you wanted. Maybe you’ll get more than six hours.’

‘Oh, bliss. I might even take a cup of tea up in the morning and look at my sea view. That would be a novelty.’

He chuckled and got to his feet—that wince, again—and headed into the kitchen with his mug, setting it down on the worktop before he walked to the front door. Then he turned and smiled down at her, his eyes gentle, and her stomach flipped over.

‘Thanks for the tea and the guided tour, and for filling me in on the practice.’

‘You’re welcome. Thank you for walking me home, even if it wasn’t strictly necessary. I’ll see you on Monday.’

‘I’ll look forward to it.’

He hesitated for a moment, then cupped her shoulders in his hands and touched a kiss to her cheek, then dropped his hands, turned away and headed off in the direction of his house.

She watched him go from the open doorway, her fingers tracing the tingle on her cheek. She’d felt the slight graze of stubble on her skin as he’d kissed her, breathed in the scent of his skin against hers, and her breath caught.

Crazy. Her mind was scrambled by a mixture of tiredness, the two glasses of wine she’d had with dinner, and her unexpected reaction to a man she’d been convinced she’d dislike.

And she didn’t dislike him at all, she realised. She liked him. Liked him a lot, and wanted to know more—such as why he didn’t have children, why his marriage had gone wrong, and why he’d moved here on what seemed like a whim. For the quiet life he’d talked about?

Too many questions, and none of those things were anything to do with her. Just a colleague. Nothing more.

‘Get a grip, Ellie,’ she told herself, and closed the door firmly.

Damn.

Why was she so nice?

Stupid, really, but he hadn’t wanted her to be. Not a woman with three children. A woman with three children definitely wasn’t on his agenda, and there was no way on earth he was going there.

So what was with the pang of regret?

He missed his footing slightly in the dark, and his ankle wrenched a little, taking his mind off her.

Not before time. They had to work together, and the last thing he needed in a new job that he hoped would be a long-term, settled future for him was an inappropriate reaction to an inappropriate woman.

He crunched over the gravel drive, slid his key into the lock and closed the front door behind him with a sigh. Boxes everywhere, stacked up in every room. Boxes containing his life—and some of Samuel’s. Not that he was ready to unpack those yet. Might never be.

Navigating his way to the kitchen, he put the kettle on, made himself a cup of chamomile tea and turned up the heating. Not that it was particularly cold, but the house had been empty for months, and it needed warmth and life injected back into it.

A fridge smothered in multicoloured handprints and colourful scrawls? Blocks and cars and jigsaw pieces all over the floor?

Hardly. He’d leave that to Ellie.

Not that he had a choice. His own stupidity had taken care of that, but at least his sisters had provided their parents with grandchildren, so that box was ticked. One small thing that he didn’t have to feel guilty about.

He went up the few steps to the sitting room, dropped onto the sofa, went to reach for the TV remote and changed his mind. Instead he leant back with a sigh, cradling his tea and letting his mind run back over the evening and all he’d learnt.

Brian was a widower, working part-time but for how long Ellie didn’t seem to know, and as for the others, they were a cheerful, friendly bunch of people he’d be happy to work with. It would be nice to be part of a team again, after four years of patchy locum work as his brother had grown steadily more dependent. He’d taken time out to help his parents, but he’d missed it, missed the camaraderie, the belonging.

He wanted to belong again, and from what he’d seen so far, he’d be welcomed with open arms by the other practice members.

And then there was Ellie.

Ellie, with her long dark hair, grey-green eyes that showed every emotion, and that wickedly dry sense of humour. Not to mention a curvy, womanly body that made him ache to wrap her up in his arms and kiss her senseless.

No, that would be him who’d be senseless, because it wasn’t just her eyes and her wit and her lush, beautiful body. It was her three very small children, all part of the same package, and he wanted nothing to do with it.

Liar.

He sighed again, sipped the chamomile tea and pulled a face. The tea was the last thing he wanted, but he had no idea where he’d put the bottle of single malt he kept for the times when he wanted to drown his sorrows and wallow in self-pity, and maybe that was just as well.

He had a lot to do tomorrow, and he needed to spend Sunday resting or his hip and ankle were going to give him hell.

He got to his feet, went back down to the kitchen, poured the tea down the sink and went to bed.

Just because the damage was already done, the children were saints on Monday morning, and she dropped them off at nursery and walked into the practice at ten past eight with plenty of time to prepare for her morning surgery.

She’d vowed not to drive so that Nick could have the parking space, this time without argument, and there was no sign of his car as she arrived. How gratifying—

‘Morning!’

He appeared at the top of the stairs as she put her foot on the bottom step, and she couldn’t help the wry smile.

‘Your car isn’t here. I thought I’d beaten you to it.’

His mouth kicked up, and she felt a strange sensation in her chest, a weird flutter that brought a tiny glow with it. What was it about that smile that it seemed to light up the corners of her heart?

‘Sorry to disappoint. I’ve been here since half seven. Lucy and Julia came in early so they could talk me through my day. It’s looking busy already.’

‘It will be. It’s always busy. Have you had a cup of tea?’

‘No, I’ve had coffee, but the kettle’s hot. I’ll be up again in a minute.’

She nodded and headed up, passing him on the stairs. Wasn’t that supposed to be unlucky? Except that the stairs were wide and she’d hardly felt the brush of his arm against hers.

Even so, it had left a little tingle in its wake—or was that the fresh scent of soap or shower gel that lingered in the air? She recognised it from Friday, when they’d been seated side by side at Andy and Lucy’s table, and again when he’d kissed her as he’d left. Not aftershave or cologne, more subtle than that, but it had made her want to rest her head against his chest and breathe him in—

Pull yourself together! You’ve got work to do. Enough of the daydreaming and fantasy. He’s just a colleague.

And if she told herself that often enough, maybe it’d sink in. She made a cup of tea, took it down to her consulting room and logged into her computer, and there was a tap on the door.

‘Come in!’

It was Nick, sticking his head round the door with a serious look on his face. ‘Have you got two minutes? One of your patients is down to see me and he’d rather see you, apparently, only your list is full. James Golding?’

‘Oh, Jim. Yes, of course I can see him. He’s a dear old boy and he never makes a fuss. He’s had a triple bypass but he still gets angina from time to time, so it might be that. I’ll get Katie to swap it over.’

‘OK. I think he might be here already, actually.’

‘Sounds likely. I’ll see him now. You could take my first patient, if you like. I have no idea who they are so there’s no continuity of care issue.’

‘Done. I’ll see Katie. Thanks.’

‘Don’t thank me. I’d rather see Mr Golding myself because there must be something going on. He doesn’t like to make a fuss, so I’ll check him over thoroughly.’

‘Good. Thanks. See you later, maybe.’

They shared a smile, and she went out into the waiting room and spotted Jim Golding, tucked into the corner with his hands knotted round the handle of his walking stick. She went over and perched beside him.

‘Morning, Jim. I gather you wanted to see me?’ she murmured, and he looked up and gave her a weary smile.

‘They said you were busy,’ he said, his voice distressed.

‘No. We’ve swapped. You’re with me. Do you want to come now?’

Not that she really had time, because there was always a ton of admin to do before she could start and it was going to put her behind, but there was something about the cautious way he stood up that set alarm bells ringing.

‘No rush,’ she said gently, and ushered the frail, elderly man into her consulting room and settled him in the chair. ‘So, Jim, tell me what’s going on.’

‘How was he?’

Ellie put her cup down with a plonk next to the kettle, not sure where to start, and he got up and went over to her.

‘Ellie? What’s up?’

She pulled a face. ‘I’m not sure. He said he was OK but he’d had a twinge or two, so I’ve sent him to see Megan for a twelve-lead ECG and a raft of bloods. Just to be on the safe side. He also wanted me to draw up a DNAR.’

‘Really?’

She nodded. ‘Yes, and I don’t like it. I think there’s something going on that he hasn’t told me. Gut instinct?’

He gave a soft huff of laughter. ‘Yeah, I know the feeling. Sometimes I hate my gut.’

‘Don’t hate it. Trust it. I trust mine and it’s giving me grief right now.’

His mouth kicked up into a fleeting smile. ‘You could be being overcautious.’

Or not, as it turned out, because when she was back in her consulting room wading through test results, she heard a yell and went out to find Nick on his knees in the corridor, bent over Mr Golding.

‘What’s happened?’

‘I don’t know. An MI, maybe? We need to move him and repeat the ECG. Oh, hang on. No, no, no, no, don’t do this!’

She turned back to find Nick had the elderly man’s shirt open and was listening to his chest.

‘Anything?’

He shook his head and started doing chest compressions. ‘No. He’s arrested. Can you call an ambulance?’

‘No. Nick, stop.’ She dropped to her knees beside him and covered his hands with her own, stilling them. ‘He’s got a DNAR, remember? He signed it before he went in with Megan. We can’t resuscitate him and I wouldn’t want to. His wife died last year, he’s really struggled without her. He doesn’t want this.’

‘Is it in his notes?’

‘Yes. I put it on the computer, and we have the physical document on file. He signed it in front of witnesses.’

His hands slowly lifted, and he stared down at the man for a long moment before he shut his eyes and sat back on his heels.

‘We need to close off the corridor and move him somewhere until they get here to take him away. I’ll do that, you call the office and get an ambulance.’

She nodded, went back into her surgery and asked Katie to call an ambulance, and then left a message on Jim’s daughter’s voicemail asking her to call. She ought to call in her next patient, there was no time to grieve for the patient she’d grown very fond of over the past few months, but somehow her heart was heavy and she just needed a moment...

Something splashed on her hand and she swiped it away, and then she heard her door open and she turned, as Nick’s arms closed around her.

‘I’m sorry I couldn’t save him,’ he murmured, the sound echoing through his chest under her ear.

She shook her head and eased away a little, feeling suddenly awkward. ‘Don’t be. It’s what he wanted. I just wish I could have done more to help him.’

He let go of her, one hand coming up to wipe a tear gently from her cheek. ‘You helped him get what he wanted in the end, Ellie. He went very quickly, and he wasn’t distressed. I think he knew what was happening.’

She nodded, hauled in a breath and straightened up, blew her nose and tried to smile. ‘We aren’t supposed to get involved.’

‘No. We’re not.’ But his smile said it all, and with a quick check to make sure she was really OK, he went back to his patients and left her to deal with Mr Golding’s daughter.

‘I’m sorry you lost a patient on your first day. Are you OK?’

He looked up into Ellie’s concerned eyes, closed the file he was working on, shut the lid of his laptop and stood up. ‘I’m fine, Ellie. It happens, people reach the end of the road, and anyway he wasn’t my patient. How about you? Are you OK?’

‘Yes, I’m fine,’ she said, but he wasn’t convinced.

‘You’re working late tonight.’

She shook her head. ‘No. I always do an evening surgery on Mondays. It’s a busy day but I’m done now. I’m glad I caught you, though. I spoke to Mr Golding’s daughter and broke the news, and she rang back later after she’d been to see him to thank us for looking after him and for letting him go when we did. Apparently he’d rung her and said I was making him have all sorts of silly tests, but I’d been really kind so he was indulging me.’

‘Do you know what he said to me, when I found him on the floor? “Oh, dear, I’m making such a fuss.”’

She swallowed, as if she had a lump in her throat, and let out a soft laugh—to diffuse her emotions, maybe?

‘That’s so typical. He was such a gentleman,’ she murmured, and her wistful smile warmed something deep inside him and made him want to hold her again, because frankly that tiny hug this morning for a sad colleague had been nothing like enough.

‘Do you have to collect the children?’

‘No. Liz takes them back to mine and gets them ready for bed.’

‘I’ll walk you home then. I’m done now.’

She hesitated, then nodded and gave him a weary smile.

‘OK. But just to the end of your road. I’ll walk the rest of the way on my own.’

‘Because you don’t want your mother-in-law getting ideas?’

She laughed, probably because he’d hit the nail right on the head. ‘Something like that. And anyway, you don’t need to be exposed to the monsters at the end of the day. They can be pretty grim when they’re tired.’

He smiled and shook his head, not in the least concerned about the children, or the mother-in-law, come to that. And anyway, he had to get home.

‘Don’t worry about it. I need to get back to the dog anyway.’

‘Dog?’ Her eyes widened in surprise. ‘I didn’t know you had a dog. You said you didn’t have any commitments.’

His smile felt a little off kilter. ‘I didn’t, not until yesterday when my parents delivered him. He’s my brother’s dog.’

‘Your brother’s? So how come you’ve got him?’

He looked away so she couldn’t read his eyes. ‘He died last year,’ he said economically, and felt the usual sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.

‘Oh, Nick, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.’

Her voice was filled with compassion and it choked him for a moment so he picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder as they headed down the stairs.

‘No reason why you should have known,’ he said. ‘Anyway, Rufus kind of adopted me while it was all going on, and he’s been pining for me since I left last week, apparently, so I said I’d have him. They’ve been in Kettering with my sister, so they just popped over for the afternoon and dropped him off.’

He held the door for her, and then fell into step beside her.

‘So what is Rufus?’ she asked.

‘Cavalier King Charles spaniel. He’s a nice little thing, and very placid. He spent most of his life on Samuel’s bed, and he used to let us know when he was about to have a seizure, which was totally unexpected and incredibly useful.’

‘Was he a trained seizure alert dog, then?’

He shook his head. ‘No. He had no training at all, and he was chronically disobedient, but he just latched onto Sam and he was amazing with him. He really calmed him, and even when Sam didn’t recognise us any more he knew Rufus.’

‘Poor dog. He must have been gutted when your brother died.’

He swallowed and drew in a long breath. ‘Yeah,’ he said, and left it at that, mainly because he couldn’t say any more. How could it still feel so raw, over a year later?

‘What had happened to him? To Samuel?’

He shrugged. ‘He was born with very complex needs. Nobody could say why, but he was very compromised in all sorts of ways, and my parents’ lives revolved around him for thirty-eight years.’ And not just their lives. His, too, but that was another matter.

And there was that lump in his throat again, which didn’t get any better when she rested her hand lightly on his arm.

‘I’m so sorry.’

He nodded, and kept walking, and then they were at the end of his road and he slowed to a halt and smiled at her.

‘Right, this is me. I take it you can find the way from here?’

She rolled her eyes at him, then cocked her head on one side and studied him thoughtfully. ‘Are you OK?’

‘Yes, of course I am. Why shouldn’t I be?’

Her smile was tender and nearly pushed him over the edge. ‘Because you’re sad?’

He was. Sad, and guilty, because there’d been an element of relief when Sam had finally slipped away and he’d been free of the burden, and he was filled with shame about that.

He found a smile and pinned it on. ‘I’m fine, Ellie. Will I see you tomorrow?’

She nodded. ‘I work Monday, Tuesday and Friday.’

‘I’ll have the kettle on for you,’ he promised, and her mouth curved into a grin, and she went up on tiptoe and brushed a kiss on his cheek.

‘You do that. Take care, Nick. I’ll see you tomorrow,’ she murmured, and turned and walked away, leaving him feeling oddly—lonely? He watched her till she was out of sight, and then let himself into his house and went to find Rufus.

He wasn’t hard to find. The little dog was curled up in his bed in the hall beside the boxes of Samuel’s possessions, and he lifted his head and wagged his tail in greeting, his eyes huge and sad as ever.

‘Hi, little guy,’ he said gently, his voice gruff and scratchy, and as he crouched down Rufus got to his feet, put his paws on his chest, whined softly and licked his face.

‘I’m sorry, mate. I’m a pretty poor substitute, aren’t I?’ he murmured gruffly, but Rufus wagged his tail and sat down, looking hopeful.

He gave the little dog another stroke, straightened up and went into the kitchen, hauling in a long breath. ‘Come on, then, little man. Let’s find some supper, and then you need a walk, and we’ll see if we can find something nice on the telly later, shall we?’ he murmured, and Rufus followed him, tail wafting gently, his mournful eyes fixed on Nick’s every move.

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