Free New Surgeon at Ashvale A&E by Joanna Neil Page B

found it necessary for some reason…problems at work, maybe?
    ‘Uh, thanks,’ he said. He seemed a touch taken aback by her offer. Perhaps he wasn’t used to impromptu invitations of that sort, but Ruby had been hard at work all day, and she was both hungry and thirsty and didn’t see the point in waiting to satisfy those needs.
    ‘I have some home-made pizza slices that are still warm from the oven,’ she told him as she filled the kettle with water, ‘and there are some scones that I baked this morning.’ It was fairly late in the afternoon, and she guessed he might have been caught up for most of the day in the fast-paced, energy-draining routine of the A&E department.
    He brightened a little. ‘That would be great if it’s not too much trouble. I didn’t get the chance to eat at the hospital.’
    She nodded. ‘I heard on the news that there was an industrial accident in one of the town factories. I thought they would probably send most of the injured to Ashvale.’
    ‘Yes, they did.’
    She switched on the kettle and then glanced at him briefly. ‘I noticed that you would rarely take time out to go and eat a proper meal if we were busy at work. If it hadn’t been for my policy of having a trolley laden with snacks on hand, I don’t know how you would have fared. You always have that lean and hungry look.’ She turned towards the living room. ‘Anyway, sit yourself down at the table. I’ll just go and fetch Becky. She can sit in her high chair and nibble on a rusk while we eat.’
    He did as she suggested, pulling out a chair and carefully removing the large, floppy-eared, patchwork quilt rabbit from the seat, giving it an uncertain look before placing it down on an unused part of the worktop. She sent him a benign smile.There weren’t too many empty areas left since she had been far too busy to clear away all the fruits of her labour today.
    There was a wicker basket of eggs that should have been stowed away in the fridge, a few jars of home-made preserve that her mother had dropped off that morning, and a selection of toys that she had kept handy to amuse Becky while she’d attempted to deal with various tasks during the day.
    ‘How do you cope with all th—?’ He broke off midsentence as though he’d suddenly thought better of what he was about to say.
    ‘With all this clutter?’ she supplied helpfully. ‘It’s easy. I simply ignore it. I have to, otherwise I’d probably go quietly mad.’
    She hurried away to go and fetch Becky, leaving him sitting there with a bemused look on his face.
    Becky seemed pleased to see him when Ruby carried her into the room a few moments later. She broke into a babble of excited chatter and tried to grab a handful of his hair as she passed by.
    He tilted his head to one side, taking evasive action, but unfortunately he wasn’t quite fast enough.
    ‘No, no…’ Ruby admonished the baby, gently unfastening her small fist from the silky strands of his thick, dark hair. His hair was clean and springy in texture, and Ruby was taken unawares by the series of tiny electric shocks that ran along her wrist and arm as her fingers brushed lightly against the strands. Her nervous system was too highly strung for such intimate contact, obviously. In fact, the whole notion that her refined, meticulous former boss was sitting in her grandparents’ country kitchen seemed more than a touch bizarre.
    ‘Leave Sam be, Becky,’ she murmured, getting herself together. ‘He’s not used to our exuberant country ways.’ She placed the infant in her high chair and Becky proceeded to noisily bang her rattle on the food tray, laughing with glee at the din she was making.
    Sam winced at the noise and after a moment or two thoughtfully handed her the oversized rabbit, so that peace reigned for a while as she hugged it close. He looked pleasantly surprised that his strategy had worked, and Ruby gave a soft laugh.
    ‘Now you see what I have to put up with all day,’ she murmured.