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‘You know these things are never straightforward.’
‘And you appear to have a vehicle loaded up with hens sent by one of the charities.’ He quashed a smile. ‘Presumably this is part of the nutrition and economic sustainability initiative? Give each family a couple of hens so that they have free eggs and, as they gain experience, the surplus can be sold at market to give them money to buy other supplies. All of which will take time.’
The corners of her mouth tightened with guilt.
‘Yes...well...’
He didn’t blame her for pushing him away. He wanted to apologise. To explain. But he couldn’t even explain it to himself. Had he really finally stopped pushing her away in some kind of attempt at reverse psychology on himself? It sounded ludicrous even in his own mind.
Not giving her any chance to stammer any further, Fitz adopted a deliberately breezy tone.
‘So plenty of time to test drill for suitable watercourses in each location.’
‘Yes, but—’
‘And you know as well as I do that this country’s health status is one of the worst. Lack of education about defecating near the same rivers from which drinking water is collected is a significant issue, and admittedly the wells are only a small part of it, as is the long-term plan to start building new sewer and wastewater treatment plants.’
‘Yes, I know—’
‘But the wells will still help, not least in reducing diarrhoea and therefore malnourishment, helminth, typhus, kidney diseases, shall I go on?’
A look of defeat skittered over her face.
‘I suppose if you put it like that...’ She shrugged.
‘It’s exactly like that.’
He pushed back his sense of triumph, knowing that he was only trying to deceive himself. Accompanying the medical unit into the local communities was an inspired idea, but it was the knowledge that he would therefore have to accompany her that gave him the greater sense of satisfaction.
The entire situation was alien to Fitz and while he knew he would never compromise a mission, or his role, for Elle, the fact remained that he was more than happy at the prospect of being able to combine the two so easily.
Then again, the thought appeared from nowhere, how many times had he seen a vehicle flip over in front of or behind him?
The thought came before he had the chance to check himself.
‘Now, whose vehicle would you prefer to travel in?’
She looked aghast.
‘Say again?’
‘I recommend my four-by-four—it’s less of a bumpy ride than your ambulance—but it’s your choice.’
She sucked in a breath, actually squaring her shoulders as she glared at him.
‘I’m not travelling with the engineers.’
They both knew she meant she wasn’t travelling with him. He smothered a grin. This was a heck of a lot better than the tension of the last week. It felt like a step back to the easy banter they’d enjoyed that first night in the bar, and he was going to enjoy it fully for the next few minutes.
‘Is there a medical priority?’ he enquired with wry politeness.
She narrowed her eyes at him, quite aware that he was teasing her.
‘You know there isn’t. But—’
‘Good.’ Fitz nodded, ignoring her objection. ‘Because we still need to talk about the design variations for the hospital and several hours of driving through nothingness, with nothing else to do, is the ideal opportunity.’
Chapter Eleven
