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‘You’re rattling around in that huge house in the middle of nowhere and it isn’t safe at this time of year with all those weirdos on the beach and—’
‘Mary!’ This time her tone was sharp and she stepped closer to the desk and lowered her voice. ‘Mary, don’t you dare do this. Don’t you dare.’
‘Do what?’
‘Interfere.’ Alice gritted her teeth. ‘He can’t stay with me. That isn’t a solution.’
‘It’s a perfect solution.’ Mary smiled up at her innocently and Gio saw the frustration in Alice’s face and wondered.
‘You’ve gone too far this time,’ she muttered. ‘You’re embarrassing me and you’re embarrassing Dr Moretti.’
Not in the least embarrassed, Gio watched, intrigued. He wouldn’t have been at all surprised if she was going to throw a punch. It was clear that she believed that Mary had in some way orchestrated the current problem.
Adding weight to his theory, the older woman looked over the top of her glasses, her gaze innocent. Far too innocent. ‘It’s the perfect solution while I look for somewhere else. Why not?’
‘Well, because I…’ Alice sucked in a breath and ran a hand over the back of her neck. ‘You know I don’t—’
‘Well, now you do.’ Mary beamed, refusing to back down. ‘It’s temporary, Alice. As a favour to the community. Can’t have our new doctor sleeping rough in the gutter, can we? Are you ready to go, Rita?’ She stood up as the practice nurse walked into reception. ‘What a day. I’m going to pour myself a large glass of wine and put my feet up. Can we call in at Betty’s on the way? I need to pick up a local paper. See you in the morning. Oh, and by the way…’ She turned to Gio with a wink. ‘I suggest you order a take-away for dinner. Our Dr Anderson is a whiz with patients but the kitchen isn’t her forte.’
They left with a wave and Gio watched as Alice’s hands clenched and unclenched by her sides.
He broke the tense silence. ‘You look as though you’re looking for someone to thump.’
She turned and blinked, almost as if she’d forgotten his existence. As if he wasn’t part of her problem. ‘Tell me something.’ Her voice was tight. ‘Is it really possible to admire and respect someone and yet want to strangle them at the same time?’
He thought of his sisters and nodded. ‘Definitely.’
He noticed that she didn’t use the word ‘love’ although it had taken him less than five minutes to detect the warmth and affection running between the three women.
‘I want to be so angry with the pair of them.’ Her hand sliced through the air and the movement encouraged wisps of her hair to drift over her eyes. ‘But how can I when I know—’ she broke off and let out a long breath, struggling for control. ‘This isn’t anything to do with you. What I mean is…’ Her tone was suddenly tight and formal, her smile forced, ‘you must think I’m incredibly rude, but that wasn’t my intention. It’s just that you’ve stepped into the middle of something that’s been going on for a long time and—’
‘And you don’t like being set up with the first available guy who happens to walk through the door?’
Her blue eyes flew to his, startled. ‘It’s that obvious? Oh, this is so embarrassing.’
‘Not embarrassing.’ He watched as the colour flooded into her cheeks. ‘But interesting. Why do your colleagues feel the need to interfere with your love life?’
She was a beautiful woman. He knew enough about men to know that a woman like her could have the male sex swarming around her without any assistance whatsoever.
She paced the length of the waiting room and back again, working off tension. ‘Because people have a stereotypical view of life,’ she said, her tone ringing with exasperation. ‘If you’re not with a man, you must want to be. Secretly you must long to be married and have eight children and a dog. And if you’re not, you’re viewed as some sort of freak.’
Gio winced. ‘Eight is definitely too many.’ He was pleased to see a glimmer of humour in her eyes.
‘You think so?’
‘Trust me.’ He tried to coax the smile still wider. Suddenly he wanted to see her smile. Really smile. ‘I am one of six and the queue for the bathroom was unbelievable. And the battle at the meal table was nothing short of ugly.’
The smile was worth waiting for. Dimples winked at the side of her soft mouth and her eyes danced. Captivated by the dimples, Gio felt something clench inside him.
She was beautiful.
And very guarded. He saw something in the depths of her blue eyes that made him wonder about her past.
Still smiling, she gave a shake of her head. ‘I know they mean well but they’ve gone too far this time. It’s even worse than that time on the lifeboat.’
‘The lifeboat?’
‘Believe me, you don’t want to know.’ She sucked in a breath and raked slim fingers through her silky blonde hair. ‘Let’s look at this logically. I’m assuming Mary was telling the truth about your flat having fallen through—’
