Page 50 of New Dreams for the Village Nurse
There was a pause. Ottilie was about to explain how much of a hurry she was in when he spoke again.
‘I wanted to clear the air.’
‘Does it need clearing?’ She sat on the side of the bath. ‘What for?’
‘Yesterday at the spa…I didn’t mean to…It was wrong of me not to tell you I’d been there before.’
‘Heath, I thought we’d cleared this up. It’s OK.’
‘But it wasn’t OK, was it? And don’t say it was because I could tell. I should have said something yesterday but…I don’t know…I didn’t want to mess it up or make it worse by saying the wrong thing. Can I come over?’
‘Tonight?’
‘I could be there in an hour and I wouldn’t keep you up late. I just want to?—’
‘I’m sorry. I’m going over to Fliss’s.’
‘Is that tonight?’
‘Didn’t I say?’
‘You said you were going over but you didn’t—I didn’t realise it was tonight.’
‘Yeah. I mean, I could put them off, but…’
‘God, no. This can wait.’
It didn’t sound like it could wait. And now that he’d brought it up, Ottilie realised she wanted this conversation as much as he did, but she’d committed to something else now, and it was too late really to change it without upsetting Fliss and putting everyone else out.
‘I’m sorry. But Fliss is cooking, and Simon has stayed behind from surgery, and?—’
‘No, I get it. I said it could wait.’
Did Ottilie detect the merest hint of impatience in his tone? Or was that in her guilty imagination?
‘Maybe I could phone you back when I’m done there?’
‘It might be late.’
‘It might be, but I could if you think it would help.’
‘I think…’ He paused again. ‘I think I’d prefer to do it face to face. It feels too easy to mess up on the phone.’
Ottilie frowned as she picked the lint from a towel. What was it he needed to say that he could possibly mess up? She was filled with a sudden dread. Surely he wasn’t thinking of ending things? Had their misunderstanding caused that much damage? Surely not?
She shook the notion. He sounded calm enough, if a bit awkward. He didn’t sound like someone who was about to dump her.
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean it’s easier to get crossed wires, isn’t it? It’s easier to mistake someone’s tone.’
‘We could FaceTime?’
‘Still…’
‘How about I let you know when I’m home and you decide if it’s too late to FaceTime or not?’
‘Maybe. But it could wait until I see you.’
