Page 80 of A Helpin g Hand for the Village Nurse

I’m nowhere—Watch my foot!

Stacey and Ottilie exchanged a grin. As Stacey turned back to the plaster she was knocking off, Ottilie glanced round to see Heath watching her. Like lightning, he looked back to his work, forcing the claw of his hammer beneath a stubborn nail in the floorboard.

‘It looks a bit stuck,’ she said. ‘It might help if I loosen the other end…’

Ottilie stepped onto the floorboard, unaware that Heath had freed it so that now his end was untethered. Like something from a cartoon, it flipped up and narrowly missed his groin.

He leaped back with a yelp. ‘Jesus!’

‘I’m so sorry!’ Ottilie squeaked as the floorboard landed again with a musty thump. ‘I had no idea it was going to do that!’ She rushed over. ‘Are you all right? It didn’t hit you, did it?’

‘A minor miracle considering the effort you put in,’ he said, eyeing the board balefully.

Ottilie stared at him, but he looked so mortally offended that despite the fact she’d nearly castrated him, she felt a sudden urge to laugh.

‘It’s not funny,’ he said. ‘I might want children one day.’

This only made Ottilie’s smirk grow, and she fought harder to keep the laughter in. But it had been a losing battle from the start, and it finally burst free.

She giggled. ‘I am sorry!’

‘You sound it. I’d hate to see what you’re like when you’re not sorry.’

‘I can’t help it… Your face…’

‘You nearly swiped my face off with that board.’

‘You keep your face in your pants then?’ she asked, almost breathless with laughter. ‘Oh my God, your face is even angrier!’

‘I’m not angry,’ he sulked. ‘I’m traumatised. My life flashed before my eyes.’

‘Stop!’ Ottilie snorted. ‘Oh God, please stop!’

Victor came in, directing a bemused glance from one to the other. ‘Everything all right in here?’

‘Yes,’ Ottilie said, trying to regain her composure.

‘It very nearly wasn’t,’ Heath said. ‘My crown jewels were in mortal danger.’

Victor grinned. ‘I don’t think I should ask.’

‘I don’t think I could bring myself to talk about it if you did,’ Heath replied, and though he was doing a decent job of looking outraged, Ottilie could see that he wanted to smile now too.

‘This might be a good time to stop for lunch anyway,’ Victor said. ‘If you’re not in the middle of something you might as well have a break.’

‘Yes, boss.’ Ottilie grinned.

Ten minutes later everyone was sitting outside on Ottilie’s back lawn sharing a pile of food that she’d tipped out onto a picnic blanket so they could help themselves. There was no standing on ceremony here – it was every man for himself and manners were for days when they weren’t all covered in dust and grime, fingers riddled with splinters.

Magnus and Geoff were listening to Stacey recount an incident involving Chloe and one of her infamous sulks, while Victor was on the phone to Corrine, checking she was all right. Ottilie smiled sadly as she caught bits of the conversation. He’d never let on, but he was as scared for her as she’d admitted being for him. She knew that things would turn out all right, but hoped that she wasn’t wrong, because she couldn’t imagine how they’d cope if not.

The situation left her sitting with Heath, and it didn’t go unnoticed by him either.

‘Was it something we said?’ she asked.

He reached for a flask and unscrewed the cap. ‘It must be. You have to wonder if it’s deliberate.’

‘Huh?’

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