Page 191 of Feathers in the Wind
Wasn’t anyone at work today?
Mark had been bad enough, but Jenny, sweet girl though she was, could be something of a gossip.
‘Hi, Jenny.’ I forced a smile and when she looked enquiringly at Nat, added, ‘Jenny, this is an old family friend, Nat Preston.’
To my mortification, Nat executed a courtly bow in the middle of High Street. Jenny’s eyes widened and she giggled.
‘Nice to meet you, Nat.’
‘Nat is one of Alan’s re-enactor friends. He likes to practice,’ I extemporized.
‘Oh, I did wonder,’ Jenny said. ‘Such fun. I’ve been thinking of joining, particularly,’ she added sotto voce to me, ‘if they all look like your friend.’
‘Trust me, they don’t,’ I said. ‘Jenny works with me at the hospital,’ I explained to Nat.
‘Are you a doctor?’ Nat inquired.
‘A very new one,’ Jenny replied. ‘I’ve just finished my rotation through pediatrics. Jessie’s a terrific role model and fabulous with kids.’
Nat gave me one of those glances I now recognized as betraying a break down in language.
‘‘Well, thank you for that vote of confidence.’ I took Nat’s arm and gave him an engaging smile. ‘If you’ll excuse us, we have quite a long shopping list. See you tomorrow, Jenny.’
‘Great,’ I muttered to myself as we walked away.
‘What’s the matter?’
‘It’ll be all over the hospital in the morning.’
‘What will be?’
I smiled and thought of Mark. Maybe a bit of gossip wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Nat went silent before looking at me with a frown. ‘You look after goats?’ ‘What?’
‘Mistress Young said you were fabulous with kids.’
I sighed. ‘Children. Kids is another word for children. Ah, Marks and Spencer.’
I had forgotten how tedious shopping with men can be, but fortunately Nat seemed content to let me do the choosing. Good choices too, if I say so myself.
He looked at the shopping bags. ‘How long do you think I will be staying?’ he asked. ‘There are more clothes here than I have owned in my entire life.’
I hated to admit that I had enjoyed shopping for him, even when he jibbed at the endless ‘trying on’ and left me to guess suitable sizes. It wasn’t hard. Nathaniel Preston had the sort of build that would make a garbage bag look like a million dollars.
We managed to find a hairdresser open for business. Nat tugged the rubber band from his hair and regarded it curiously, stretching it experimentally with his fingers as we waited for the girl to finish with her last client.
‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ I asked.
He nodded. ‘I feel like I am standing with a foot in two worlds at the moment. And if you are going to keep making me take baths every day, trust me, a polled head would be a great advantage.’
I was hardly going to suggest the judicious use of a shower cap so I let the barber have her way and the centuries fell to the floor at her feet.
The result took my breath away. If I’d thought him an attractive man before, the transformation of barbered chin and freshly cut hair only served to highlight those stunning gray green eyes. No wonder Jenny had been reduced to a giggling mess.
‘It’s a little early, but there is a lovely little restaurant by the river we could go to for lunch.’ The heat rose to my face, like a schoolgirl asking a boy to go to the movies. ‘But it’s a little early yet.’
‘Ah, the river. I recall it well.’ A lazy half smile curled his lips and he looked past my shoulder as if he seeing that time so long past. Bringing his attention back to me, he said, ‘Shall we go for a walk along its banks?’
