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She jumped, throwing off the woollen jacket that was wrapped around her shoulders and twisting around. When she saw him she smiled, and Edward felt the hard edges of his anger melt.
‘It’s you...’ She rubbed her eyes with her hand, as if she had been dozing.
It occurred to Edward to make the point that there wasn’t much to gain by locking the front door if she was going to fall asleep with the doors to the patio wide open. But that sounded rather too much like criticism, and he’d already seen her flinch enough times when she or Isaac did something that she thought he might disapprove of.
‘Did I wake you?’
‘I must have just dropped off...’ Her gaze swung from him to the house and then back again. ‘Ohhh. I locked you out...’
That didn’t seem so much of an issue as it had a moment ago. ‘Putting the chain on the front door’s a sensible precaution at night.’
‘And falling asleep with the patio doors open isn’t.’ She gave a little self-deprecatory smile.
He shrugged, as if he’d not thought about that. ‘Why don’t you give yourself a break? You’re safe here. No one can find you.’ No one apart from him. He liked that thought so much that he dumped his briefcase on the stone flags and pulled up a chair, sitting down next to her.
She nodded. ‘Thank you. Having a safe place to stay has meant a great deal to me and Isaac.’
‘So you’ve had a good day?’
‘Yes, thank you. We had lunch and then went to the park. They’ve got a great playground there, and a lovely cafeteria. We p
layed football, as well.’
She made it sound like a real treat, and Edward found himself smiling, wondering whether football wouldn’t have been preferable to a dark, humid lecture theatre. She and Isaac were a small, self-sufficient unit, though. They probably wouldn’t have wanted him along.
‘Sounds nice. Have you thought about what you’re going to do yet? With regard to your situation?’ He tried to put it delicately.
‘I called Paula and she’s going to lend me her laptop tomorrow. I’ve drawn up a list of things I need to find out about, and then I can start in on sorting everything out.’
Edward had left his own laptop on the coffee table, specifically so she could use it if she wanted to go on the internet. He should have thought that she wouldn’t touch it, or allow Isaac to either, without asking. ‘No need for that. Mine’s right there.’
‘Oh. Thank you.’ There was a hint of awkwardness in her manner as she slid to the edge of her seat. ‘Would you like something to drink? There’s some hot chocolate...’
Her determination to pay her own way seemed to know no bounds. Everything he did for her—things that he gave without expecting anything in return—was entered on a balance sheet in her head to be repaid at a later date. Edward was debating whether he should tell her that she really didn’t need to wait on him like this, but she was on her feet already.
‘Hot chocolate would be great. Thank you.’
Since she so much wanted to do something for him, he supposed he should let her, and Charlotte’s bright smile as she disappeared into the house tentatively proved his theory.
She brought him a mug of creamy hot chocolate, along with a plate of home-made biscuits.
‘Thank you.’ He took a sip and nodded his approval. Archie materialised from his nightly tour of the garden and curled up under her chair. If she’d been feeding him as well as she seemed intent on feeding Edward he couldn’t fault the animal’s change of allegiance. ‘There’s something I want you to do for me.’
She brightened noticeably. ‘Yes, of course. What is it?’
Too late, Edward realised that he should have chosen his words more carefully. The impression that she was about to do him a favour was accurate enough, in the context of the amount of thinking time he’d already given to her plight, but Charlotte probably wouldn’t see it that way.
‘My father has his own practice at law, and I want you to consider making an appointment to go and see him. He can advise you and get his investigative team to find out exactly what’s going on. With my dad on your side, you can get things sorted out quicker and more efficiently.’
‘But I can’t afford to pay a lawyer, Edward.’
‘You won’t need to. If I ask him, he’ll do it for free.’
She hesitated. For a moment Edward thought that her pride was going to let her see sense and give in to expediency. Then she shook her head.
‘No, I can’t do that. It wouldn’t be fair. Please don’t mention it to him.’
He sighed. ‘What isn’t fair is that you’re spending time on researching and fighting your own battles when there are people who will happily help you out. It’s not just you that it makes an impact on—it’s your work at the clinic.’
