Page 46 of A Helpin g Hand for the Village Nurse

‘And I suppose she got cold in there…’ He hooked a thumb at the pool, water still rushing in their ears as it dropped from the hillside above to fill it over and over. ‘So that was a brilliant idea, wasn’t it?’ He looked Ottilie up and down. ‘I suppose you persuaded her it would be all right?’

‘Of course I didn’t! I didn’t even go in!’

‘But you thought it was all right to let my gran get in? I thought you were a nurse. Remind me never to get ill in Thimblebury.’

Flo might not have been at her best, but at this her hand shot out to slap his arm. His look of shock gave Ottilie a childish sort of satisfaction, but she was going to enjoy it nonetheless.

‘Apologise!’ Flo snapped.

‘For what?’ he asked with a note of offence. ‘I didn’t do anything wrong!’

‘I’m not in a wheelchair yet, and it’s not Ottilie’s doing if I decide to take a dip. I do have some free will, you know, even at my age.’

‘That’s not what I meant?—’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ Ottilie cut in.

‘It does!’ Flo insisted. ‘I have my own silly self to blame for this mess and I won’t have you insulted. And, Heath, you’re better than that.’

Heath didn’t apologise and, despite her chastisement, Flo didn’t push it. Perhaps she was still a bit too weak for that, but she’d made her point. Ottilie didn’t see a reason to chase the topic any further either, so she turned her thoughts to their descent.

‘Right,’ she said briskly. ‘Are we going to do this or what?’

CHAPTER TWELVE

What would have been a difficult, if not impossible, journey down the hillside was made a lot easier with Heath’s help, even though Ottilie accepted it grudgingly. It was clear from his monosyllabic responses to pretty much everything that was said to him that he was annoyed. Why, Ottilie didn’t know and didn’t care to ask, though she could probably guess at many reasons. Because he’d been called out of his way, because he’d been asked to do something that was tricky, because he was a busy man who didn’t have time for this sort of nonsense, because he really didn’t like Ottilie. There might have been many more, but they weren’t her concern. At least, she told herself they weren’t her concern, but for reasons she couldn’t quite put her finger on, she did find herself caring. But what did it matter to her whether Flo’s selfish grandson liked her or not?

OK, perhaps not selfish but certainly self-absorbed as far as Ottilie could see. His life wasn’t going so well and it seemed to mean that he didn’t have time to consider that others might not be faring so well either. Flo wasn’t getting any younger, and yet he was making his displeasure at the inconvenience of having to get her down this hill very evident, like she was a knot in a shoelace he was trying to tie when he had somewhere to be, or a puncture in a tyre on his way to work, or a phone glitch that meant he couldn’t get online.

They drove back to Thimblebury – Heath in his car with Flo, and Ottilie in her own, following. She’d wanted to have Flo in with her so she could keep an eye on her condition, but Heath hadn’t given her a choice – he’d ushered his gran into his own and sped off before she’d been able to voice her opinion. So she’d driven back reflecting on what an arse Flo’s grandson was and marvelling that Flo had thought for even half a second that she and Heath might be a good match. Had she been looking for a man, Heath would be at the very bottom of any list of potentials…even if he was quite good-looking. And anyway, looks were superficial.

Even if Ottilie did think he was attractive – which she definitely did not – it didn’t matter. Even if he might actually be angry with her only because he was worried for his gran, and even if that was a tiny bit attractive – and Ottilie definitely did not find it attractive in his case at all – she wasn’t interested. And perhaps she might be able to see that he’d been damaged by his previous marriage – if it was anything like as tumultuous as people said – but that didn’t give him the right to go around being rude, and it definitely did not make him attractive. He was absolutely, categorically not attractive. Only on the surface and only to others but definitely not to Ottilie. So that was final. No looking at Heath and thinking that the rudest, brusquest man she’d ever met was a tiny bit attractive. And anyway, she’d lost the most perfect man there had ever been, so how could she even look at anyone else?

Ottilie could have driven straight to Wordsworth Cottage and let Heath and Flo get on with things, but there was no way she could leave Flo without checking her over and giving some advice. And so she pulled up outside Flo’s cottage just as they were going inside. It bristled that he hadn’t thought to wait for her, closing the door behind him as she got out of the car. And so she marched up to the front door and hammered on it.

It was opened immediately.

‘Oh,’ Heath said. ‘Sorry…’ He didn’t sound sorry at all. ‘I thought you’d be heading home.’

‘I wanted to check on Flo first.’

‘She’s fine. I’ll make her a cuppa and she’ll warm up.’

‘Still, I’d rather see for myself. She might look all right, but she might not be.’

‘We’ll phone the doctor’s if she’s not.’

‘I’m here – surely it’s easier to let me look her over and save the bother.’ She stared him down. ‘What are you worried about? Why’s it such an issue?’

‘It’s not.’ He moved back from the door to let her in. ‘Go on then – knock yourself out.’

Florence was sitting on the sofa. Ottilie pulled one of the throws from a nearby chair and wrapped it around her.

‘I’m all right,’ Flo grumbled, but secretly Ottilie wondered if she was quite enjoying the attention. Now she had her new friend and her grandson fussing over her, and as someone who’d told Ottilie she was lonely, that must have been nice.

‘I’ll get you a hot drink,’ Ottilie said, but as she straightened up to go to the kitchen, Heath gestured for her to sit down.

‘I said I was going to make her a cuppa and I will.’

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