Page 28 of A Zephyr Rising
“I was.”She’d gone to bed early, exhausted from having spent the previous night awake.The trouble he’d gone to find her intrigued her as much as the fact that he’d mentioned her to his mother.It was charming.
Ginger checked over her shoulder, toward the house.Hopefully, neither her aunt nor Henry watched from inside.
“That’s a pretty vine.”James pointed to her aunt’s garden, where a carefully cultivated vine with purple flowers grew toward the window.
“Clematis, I believe.”Ginger motioned toward the pavement.“Shall we?I was just headed toward the hospital.”
James fell into step beside her.“How is your ankle this morning?”
“Better.”Now why had she said that?It hurt worse than ever.She didn’t want to trouble him with it, though.“I’ll be just fine.How’s Charlie?I’m eager to see him.”
James’s face grew more serious.“Charlie has a fever, I’m afraid.Hopefully nothing serious, but it could be a sign of infection.He’d just fallen to sleep after a long night awake when I left the hospital.”He cleared his throat.“But we can go back to the hospital together.”
Ginger’s fingers tightened on her handbag.Much as she wanted to say yes, London wasn’t one of those towns she could wander about without being spotted by someone she knew.If someone saw her with James, it might get back to Stephen and...
She frowned.Why was she behaving as though Stephen had the right to dictate if she go to the hospital with James?Stephen didn’t own her.And though he may have proposed, she had every intention of telling him no.A warm breeze enveloped her and the white clouds drifting overhead didn’t indicate rain.She might have brought a parasol.She’d spent the summer trying to avoid the freckles that came so naturally to her skin.
The scent of petrol from a passing car wafted across the pavement.She turned, examining James’s profile.He was a nice-looking man, though not particularly what she would call handsome.And she’d enjoyed their brief conversations.“I’d be delighted.”
The smile James gave her made it clear how pleased he was she’d accepted.“I’m glad.I was at luncheon with my mother at Hotel Cecil and it seemed a waste to be so close to where you were without checking.We can walk back that way if you’d like.I’d love for you to meet her.She was fascinated by what I told her about how you handled Charlie.”
“Hotel Cecil?”Ginger gave him another look.For a doctor, he certainly seemed to have connections with the upper class.She’d attended a few functions at Hotel Cecil over the Season.She’d have to make a note to inquire about him further.“The distance to the Strand may be more of a walk than my ankle can handle.”
He led her toward an open-topped car parked a block away from her aunt’s house.“How silly of me.I’ll drive you.It’ll only be a quick visit.I can take you back to the hospital afterward so you can complete your mission to visit the Martins.”
“My, you drive your own car as well?Then you have more skills than a surgeon’s.”Ginger slid into the passenger seat as he held the door for her, the leather of the seat warm against her thighs through her skirt.Was she flirting?She didn’t want him to get the wrong impression of her.
James climbed in and started the car.“You’ll find me to be a man of many talents.”He laughed and pulled away from the curb.“Did you give any more thought to the QA program?”
“I’d love to be a nurse.The more I consider it, I’d like to have some useful skills to offer.Do something that really matters for the war effort.”Her throat hurt from speaking loudly to be heard over the thrumming of the engine.
James gave her a warm look.“I’m pleased to hear it.”
She settled into the seat, enjoying the feeling of the sun on her skin, and the rush of the wind as they drove.London seemed to be turning into a recruitment center for the army—a result of the olive and tan uniforms worn by new soldiers on the streets.Buildings were papered with recruitment posters.
The feeling of excitement she’d felt about nursing came rushing back to her.The wind whipped a feathery strand of hair into her eyes and she pushed it off her face.Being in the car with James, heading to Hotel Cecil with no one in her family even knowing where she was—it was exhilarating.
More than that.She felt bold and capable.In control of her own affairs.And the company was enjoyable, too.James was more interesting by the minute.
She carried the feeling of boldness with her after she parted from James and visited Charlie.As the boy was still resting, the nurse on duty turned her away, much to Ginger’s frustration.Ginger didn’t want Charlie to awaken and find himself alone.Though she didn’t know the boy well, she couldn’t help but feel a bond with him, given what they’d been through together.
Still, the hospital gave her an unusual sense of direction.She waited outside the ward until she finally had a few minutes to see him and then headed back to her aunt’s house.As she arrived, Henry came rushing out of the sitting room toward her.
“Where on earth have you been?”Henry’s heels struck against the polished floor with an echo.
“I popped by Hotel Cecil and then stopped in at the hospital to visit Charlie.”She removed her hat.“Where’s Father?I’d hoped to see him there.”She’d prepared herself on the trip back from the hospital to tell her father about her intention to be a nurse.She didn’t want time and fear to build up and prevent her making her announcement.
Henry peered at her.“Alone?”
“Actually, no.James Clark came by to check on me as I left to go to the hospital.I went with him.He wanted to introduce me to his mother—a lovely lady.”Her aunt’s remarks the day before would make it more of an issue to Henry than it really was.She liked James, but he wasn’t what she would consider as a potential beau.She barely knew him.
Henry frowned.“Madeline may have been right in questioning your interest in Dr.Clark.”
Embarrassment pricked at her chest.“Honestly, Henry.If I were interested in him, I would be more than willing to tell you about it.”Not that she’d even known the man long enough to entertain such thoughts.Then again, James had introduced her to his mother.She might have thought about what it would mean to him before she’d agreed to it.
“Yes, well—” Henry tapped his pocket watch.“The fact is, your visit with him has made us late to meet with David Peterson.Given your interest in the Martin case, I’m shocked you’ve lost track of time so profoundly.”
Oh, no.She’d have fly-aways in her hair from the car trip with James and there wouldn’t be time to change.How could she have forgotten?
