Free The Taming of Dr. Alex Draycott by Joanna Neil

trip to the coast? I know a lovely little cove not far from here, where the children can fish in the rock pools.’
    ‘Yes!’
    ‘Yes!’
    Alex looked round in astonishment as James and Sarah both shouted gleefully, whooping with delight. ‘Say yes, Auntie Alex…please say yes.’ Sarah turned pleading blue eyes on Alex, and James’s face was lit up with joyful expectation.
    Alex was stunned to find that they had both been listening to her conversation with Callum. She turned to him. ‘Now look what you’ve done.’
    Callum’s expression was bland. ‘Who? Me? I didn’t do anything. I just offered to try and fix the taps for you. If you want me to leave it, that’s fine by me.’
    ‘No, no…Auntie Alex, don’t let him leave it…’ Sarah was beside herself with dismay. ‘You keep saying how you’re going to…knock that pipe into next week if it doesn’t stop playing up. Now you don’t have to. I know he can fix it for us…or at least he can try.’
    ‘And then we can go to the seaside,’ James finished.
    ‘Yeah!’ They both added the chorus.
    Alex melted at the sight of the children’s eager faces. ‘I don’t see how I have any choice.’ She looked at Callum and gave a faint shake of her head. ‘There are a thousand and one jobs I should be doing, but now it looks as though I’ll be spending the afternoon by the sea.’ She gave him a mischievous look. ‘Maybe you could help out in other ways,’ she suggested with a wry smile. ‘Perhaps you’d like to come and do my laundry while you’re about it, and mop the floors?’
    His mouth twisted. ‘Sorry, but I don’t do domestic. I come from a household steeped in tradition—Aunt Jane did all the homely things, and my uncle ran the show from his study. He always had lots of advice on how things should be done…but leave it to the women, he used to say.’
    Her mouth curved. ‘Well, let’s hope at least you can fix the plumbing,’ she said. ‘That would be a definite bonus.’
    He nodded. ‘I’ll need a carrier bag and a sponge of some sort if you have one?’
    She stared at him blankly. ‘Those aren’t the usual plumbing tools, are they? I can offer you spanners, a wrench, hammers…pliers or grips…’
    ‘A carrier bag and sponge will be just fine, thanks…and some plastic adhesive tape if you have it.’
    She frowned. ‘Okay.’ She studied him briefly. ‘Are you quite sure you know what you’re doing?’
    He nodded. ‘I hope so.’
    She went to fetch him what he needed, and then sent the children upstairs to get ready for their outing. ‘You’ll need a spare set of clothes in case anything gets wet,’ she told them. ‘And you’d better hunt out your swimsuit and trunks.’
    ‘Seaside! Yay!’ James ran up the stairs, followed swiftly by Sarah. ‘Can we take the fishing nets?’ he called back.
    ‘I’ll get them,’ Alex told him. She stopped to think about that for a moment or two. Last time she’d seen them, they’d been at the back of the shed, along with buckets and spades from previous years…years when they’d gone with their parents to spend time by the sea, digging in the sand and making spectacular sandcastles, with moats and drawbridges, and all sorts of embellishments made from shells and pebbles that they’d found lying about. She’d seen the photos, and heard all about it from Ross and Beth.
    The memories brought sudden tears to her eyes. How could she ever hope to replace all that love and commitment, even for a short time? Would things be the same for them ever again?
    ‘Are you all right?’ Callum was looking at her oddly, and Alex blinked, trying to stem the tears that threatened.
    ‘I’m fine,’ she said, her voice a little choked. ‘I was just thinking about Ross and Beth…it caught me unawares. I suppose I’ve been a bit wound up lately, trying to work out how to deal with everything.’
    He wrapped his arms around her and drew her close. ‘You’re bound to feel that way,’ he said