Free St Piran's: The Fireman and Nurse Loveday by Kate Hardy Page A

just up the coast; and over a leisurely lunch they discovered that they had a lot in common. They both enjoyed the same kind of music andboth were fans of historical crime novels—though Flora found out that Tom preferred action movies and hated the romantic comedies she enjoyed. And she couldn’t remember the last time she’d enjoyed someone’s company so much. When he’d opened up to her in the churchyard, it had made her feel close to him—to the point where she’d actually stopped feeling shy with him. They’d gone past that. She felt as comfortable with Tom now as she did with the people she worked with; and the fact that he seemed to listen to what she said, was interested in her views, made her feel more confident than she’d felt outside work since…since for ever, she thought.
    Eventually, Tom glanced at his watch and gave a start. ‘I’ve got to pick Joey up from school in a quarter of an hour! I can’t believe how fast time’s gone. I’ve really enjoyed having lunch with you, Flora.’
    ‘Me, too,’ she said, meaning it.
    He tipped his head slightly on one side. ‘Come with me to meet Joey?’
    Flora pushed away the tempting thought that Tom might want her company for a bit longer. He was simply being practical; if he dropped her home first, he’d be late for school. ‘OK.’
    Joey was the last one out of the classroom and, although several of the children were lingering in the playground while their mums chatted, nobody made a move to speak to him. Flora’s heart went out to him; poor little mite, he was having such a tough time.
    Joey was silent on the way to the car, but when Tom strapped him in he asked, ‘Are we going to see Banjo?’
    ‘I do need to drop Flora back at the farm before we go home—but, if Flora doesn’t mind, we can stay for a few minutes.’
    Joey’s faint smile said it all for him.
    Tom stayed long enough to have a cup of tea with Flora,and Joey accepted a glass of milk and a cookie; but then Tom called his nephew over from playing with the dog. ‘We need to let Flora get on, and I have to cook you something for tea. We need to go, sweetheart.’
    Joey nodded, but said nothing.
    Tom’s eyes were sad as he glanced at his nephew, and Flora’s heart contracted. If only she could wave a magic wand for them. But they were going to have to muddle through this together and learn to bond and talk to each other and trust each other.
    ‘We’ll see you on Wednesday morning, then, Flora,’ Tom said, and, to her surprise, kissed her on the cheek.
    She felt the betraying wash of colour flood into her cheeks. Obviously Tom was a fairly tactile person; the kiss didn’t mean anything at all, and this was just friendship. Yet she could feel the touch of his lips against her skin all evening, and it sent a mixture of warmth and excitement bubbling through her.
    Tuesday was busy, thanks to a cold snap. Flora was on duty at the surgery all day on the minor injuries clinic, and there was a steady stream of people coming in to see her after falling over, most of them with hands that hurt. Several of them had very obvious signs of Colles’ fractures. ‘I’m going to have to send you to St Piran’s for an X-ray and backslab,’ she explained to the first of her patients. ‘Everyone puts their hands out to save themselves when they fall, and if you land awkwardly you can end up breaking your wrist. You’ll be in a cast for a couple of weeks until it heals. The good news is that casts are lightweight nowadays, so it won’t get too much in the way, but the bad news is that you’re going to have to get someone else to do all your lifting and carrying until your arm’s healed.’
    It felt odd not to see Tom and Joey in the evening. Flora was cross with herself for getting too involved, too fast. For pity’ssake, she knew that Tom had other demands on his time. His job was incredibly difficult, and he had to get used to being a stand-in dad to his nephew. He wasn’t going to have