Page 22 of Last Dance, Second Chance

* * *

Nathan didn’t look quite as put together when he brought Jessica in her cup of coffee the following morning. He was obviously someone who needed his eight hours of sleep every night.

“Don’t expect this kind of treatment every morning,” he warned. “This is only while you’re supposed to be keeping your weight off your foot.”

“Thank you,” said Jessica. “And I’m sorry I kept you up so late last night.”

“It’s my fault for introducing you to the game, though I did warn you it was addictive.”

“That Lord Lucien has got to pay for his behaviour! He can’t be allowed to get away with it!”

“He won’t,” said Nathan laughing. “I’m guessing you’d like to play some more this evening?”

“Yes, you’ll have to cook by yourself I’m afraid because I’m going to need to do a lot of blacksmithing to be able to afford the sword I’m after. And then I think we need to go hunting for a wife.”

“I’m beginning to regret this . . .”

“Nothing you can do about it now,” said Jessica with a grin and a shrug.

Chapter Six

The day went by slowly for Jessica while Nathan was at work. She really did make a terrible invalid, mainly because she wasn’t used to having time to fill. She needed a project to keep her busy — but what? The video game was really fun, but most of what made it fun was playing it with Nathan; it wouldn’t be nearly as good doing it by herself.

As the day was overcast and cooler, Nathan took the dogs out for their walk when he came home at lunchtime so they’d have more time for Fable II in the evening. Jessica only saw him for a total of about ten minutes when he made them both a tuna and bean salad and bolted it down before he needed to get back to the surgery.

She wished there was something nice she could do for him, but it was tricky without being able to move around much, and she knew Nathan would be cross if she overdid it. Though not as cross as she’d be with herself. As frustrating as it was to be so restricted in what she could do, she knew it was really for the best that she follow doctor’s orders to the letter and give herself the best chance of her foot healing up quickly and well. She couldn’t allow herself to contemplate what she’d do if her foot didn’t mend properly and didn’t regain its previous strength.

Nathan was home soon after his clinic ended. Jessica wondered if he’d hurried back to be with her, or if he usually left work so promptly.

“I’ll stick some baked potatoes in the oven,” Nathan said, “and we can get started.”

“Great. I’m the primary player, though,” said Jessica. “I’ve basically spent today working out what we need to do, and it would take me too long to explain it all to you.”

Nathan laughed. “Are you always this competitive?”

“Yes,” admitted Jessica. “You’ve got to be really competitive to make it as a ballet dancer, especially if you’re a woman.”

Nathan raised an eyebrow.

“There are fewer male ballet dancers,” Jessica explained, “So it’s less competitive. Though I guess it’s still more competitive than most careers.”

Jessica’s mobile rang. She looked at the caller ID and her face fell.

“Is it your friend again? The one who’s been given your role?”

“No, it’s Mum. I don’t know what to say to her because I haven’t told her about my foot yet.” Seeing the surprise on Nathan’s face she said, “I didn’t want her to worry. She’ll want to come back and that would ruin everyone’s holiday.”

Her phone stopped ringing.

“I think you should tell her,” he said. “You can reassure her that you’re fine, but she’ll be upset when she gets back if she finds out you’ve lied to her.”

“You’re right. She will be hurt if I keep it from her, even if I am being looked after fairly well.” Jessica smiled. “I’ll call her back.”

“Let me help you get comfortable on the sofa.”

“Don’t worry, I’m all right,” said Jessica. It was lovely how Nathan fussed over her.

She got settled on the sofa, and taking a deep breath, dialled her mum on a WhatsApp video call.

---