AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His voice was a warm, accented drawl and Betty flushed a deep shade of pink as she shook his hand. ‘Well, thank you again. And welcome. If you need any help with anything, just call into the newsagent’s.’ She waved a hand, flustered now. ‘I’d be more than happy to advise you on anything local.’
Gio smiled. ‘I’ll remember that.’
‘By the way…’ She turned to Alice. ‘Edith doesn’t seem herself at the moment. I can’t put my finger on it but something isn’t right. It may be nothing, but I thought you should know, given what happened to her last month.’
‘I’ll check on her.’ Alice frowned. ‘You think she might have fallen again?’
‘That’s what’s worrying me.’ Betty reached for her handbag. ‘Iris Leek at number thirty-six has a key if you need to let yourself in. I tried ringing her yesterday for a chat, but I think she was away at her sister’s.’
‘I’ll call round there this week,’ Alice promised immediately. ‘I was going to anyway.’
Betty smiled. ‘Thank you, dear. You may not have been born here but you’re a good girl and we’re lucky to have you.’ She turned to Gio with a girlish smile. ‘And doubly lucky now, it seems.’
The couple left the surgery and Alice shook her head in disbelief. ‘Well, you really charmed her. Congratulations. I’ve never seen Betty blush before. You’ve made a conquest.’
His gaze was swift and assessing. ‘And that surprises you?’
‘Well, let’s put it this way—she’s not known for her warmth to strangers unless they’re spending money in her shop.’
‘I thought she was a nice lady.’ He switched off the light and tidied up the equipment he’d used. ‘A bit cautious, but I suppose that’s natural.’
‘Welcome to Smuggler’s Cove,’ Alice said lightly. ‘If you can’t trace your family back for at least five generations, you’re a stranger.’
‘And how about you, Alice?’ He paused and his dark gold eyes narrowed as they rested on her face. ‘From her comments, you obviously aren’t a local either. So far we’ve talked about work and nothing else. Tell me about yourself.’
His slow, seductive masculine tones slid over her taut nerves and soothed her. It was a voice designed to lull an unsuspecting woman into a sensual coma.
‘Alice?’
Alice shook herself. She wasn’t going to be thrown off her stride just because the man was movie-star handsome. She’d leave that to the rest of the female population of the village. ‘There’s nothing interesting to say about me. I’m very boring.’
‘You mean you don’t like talking about yourself.’
He was sharp, she had to give him that. ‘I came here after I finished my GP rotation five years ago so, no, I don’t qualify as a local,’ she said crisply, delivering the facts as succinctly as possible. In her experience, the quickest way to stop someone asking questions was to answer a few. ‘But I’m accepted because of the job I do.’
‘And it’s obviously a job you do very well. So where is home to you? Where are your family?’
Her blood went cold and all her muscles tightened. ‘This is my home.’
There was a brief pause and when he spoke again his voice was gentle. ‘Then you’re lucky, because I can’t think of a nicer place to live.’ His eyes lingered on her face and then he strolled across the room to wash his hands. ‘Do you often do night visits?’
Relieved that he’d changed the subject, some of the tension left her. ‘Not since the new GP contract. Why?’
‘Because I was told that the other night you were up with a child who had an asthma attack.’
‘Chloe Bennett.’ She frowned. ‘How do you know that?’
He dried his hands. ‘I was talking to the girl in the coffee-shop yesterday. Blonde. Nice smile.’
Alice resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. ‘Katy Adams.’ Obviously another conquest.
‘Nice girl.’
Knowing Katy’s reputation with men, Alice wondered if she should warn her new partner that he could be in mortal danger. She decided against it. A man who looked like him would have been fending off women from his cradle. He certainly wouldn’t need any help from her.
‘Chloe Bennett is a special case,’ she explained briskly. ‘Her mother has been working hard to control her asthma and give her some sort of normal life at school. It’s been very difficult. She has my home number and I encourage her to use it when there’s a problem, and that’s what happened the night before last. I had to admit her in the end but not before she’d given me a few nasty moments.’
‘I can’t believe you give patients your home number.’
