Page 14 of Last Dance, Second Chance

“Sure, thanks,” she said and Nathan brought the rice over and served her. She marvelled at this bizarrely domesticated scene she found herself in with a person she hadn’t seen for more than twenty years.

“You chose well for me, thank you,” Jessica said in between mouthfuls.

“I just went for the healthiest thing on the menu,” admitted Nathan.

“Good strategy.”

“So, how long are your parents away for?” Nathan asked.

“They only left today and are booked in for ten nights.”

“Will they come back early when they hear what’s happened to you?”

“They’ll probably want to,” Jessica admitted. “But no way am I going to let them. They’re away with my brother and his family and they’ve all been really looking forward to it. Plus my brother’s car doesn’t have enough space for his family to bring back all of their stuff — my mum and dad had to take some of it in their car, so that would be a complete pain for them.”

“How are you going to manage here by yourself, though? Especially with a large dog to look after.”

“I haven’t finished working that out yet,” Jessica said honestly.

“There isn’t even a loo on the ground floor here, is there?”

“No, the only bathroom’s upstairs.”

“You’ll have to somehow get up and down the stairs every time you need a pee.”

“Yeah... I guess I’ll go up and down on my bum.”

Nathan didn’t say anything for a moment and appeared to be thinking.

Finally, he looked up from his bowl and said, “I think you should come back to my house and stay with me.”

“What?”

“My study downstairs has a bed in it, and it even has an en suite with a shower. You can bring Monty with you. I’ll have to go to work, but at least I can let the dogs out in the morning and at lunchtime, and then walk them when I finish.”

“I know you feel bad about my foot, but that’s insane. I can’t move into your home! And especially not with Monty. I promised Dad I’d look after him — I have no idea what he would do in a different house. He seems like a bit of a loose cannon.”

“Monty will be fine. You can keep an eye on him. And you’re not moving in, you’d just be staying for a week and a half. I’m guessing you don’t really know people around here anymore to help you out, and you won’t be safe going up and down those stairs.”

The suggestion was so crazy, Jessica honestly didn’t know where to begin with all the reasons why it was a really bad idea. “But you don’t even know me. I don’t even know you!”

“I’ve known you since we were five years old.”

“You haven’t seen me since we were eleven! You know nothing about me and I know nothing about you!”

“I know that you hate maths and that you have a Furby called Harriet and collect Power Rangers stickers,” Nathan joked. “You know that I also collect Power Rangers stickers and like ham sandwiches for lunch.”

“Seriously.”

“OK, seriously. I don’t want you to injure your foot any more than you already have. It’s not sensible for you to stay here by yourself, especially not with Monty to look after. I have to walk Dennis anyway, and I always come home at lunchtime to check on him. It’s no more work for me to walk Monty — unless he pulls me down a riverbank as well. And my house is a lot better set up for an invalid than your parents’ house is.”

“That still doesn’t change the fact that I don’t know you.”

“You used to know me and you used to know my family. Plus, as a doctor, I’ve had criminal record checks so I’m unlikely to be planning to murder you.”

“Why would you do this for me though?” Jessica asked. Offering her and Monty use of his home was surely going above and beyond what anyone would generally offer in this situation.

“Because I remember how much you loved to dance. I remember watching you in shows at school — you were brilliant. And the best chance of you being able to get back on that foot as soon as possible is if you have someone to help you.”

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