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‘Don’t you start. It isn’t a date, Rita,’ Alice said tightly. ‘He’s my lodger, thanks to Mary.’
Only somewhere along the way he’d forgotten his role. Lodgers weren’t supposed to probe and delve and yet, from what she’d seen so far, Gio just couldn’t help himself. Probing and delving seemed to be in his blood. Even with Harriet, he’d refused to take her insistence that she was fine at face value. Clearly he didn’t intend to let the matter drop until he’d satisfied himself that she wasn’t depressed.
Alice watched absently as Rita closed the fridge door. But, of course, at least where the patients were concerned, that was a good thing. It was his job to try and judge what was wrong with them. To pick up signs. Search for clues. To see past the obvious. She just didn’t need him doing it with her.
‘It’s not Mary’s fault the letting agency made a mess of things,’ Rita said airily as she washed her hands. ‘And if he were my lodger, I’d be thanking my lucky stars.’
‘Well, you and I are different. And we both know that the letting agency wouldn’t have made a mess of things without some significant help from certain people around here.’ Alice put her hands on her hips and glared. ‘And just for the record, in case you didn’t get the message the first two hundred times, I don’t need you to set me up with a man!’
‘Don’t you?’ Rita dried her hands and dropped the paper towel in the bin. ‘Strikes me you’re not doing anything about it yourself.’
‘Because, believe it or not, being with a man isn’t compulsory!’
Reaching the point of explosion, Alice turned on her heel and strode out to her car before Rita had a chance to irritate her further. That day had been one long aggravation, she decided as she delved in her bag for her keys. All she wanted was to be left in peace to live her life the way she wanted to live it. What was so wrong with that?
Climbing into her car, she closed the door and shut her eyes.
Breathe, she told herself firmly, trying to calm herself down. Breathe. In and out. Relax.
Beside her, the door was pulled open. ‘Alice, tesoro, are you all right?’
Her eyes opened. Gio was leaning into the car, his eyes concerned.
‘I’m fine.’ Gripping the wheel tightly, she wondered whether the sight of a GP screaming in a public place would attract attention. ‘Or at least I will be fine when people stop interfering with my life and leave me alone. At least part of this is your fault.’ She glared at him and his eyes narrowed.
‘My fault?’
‘Well, if you weren’t single and good-looking, they wouldn’t have been able to move you into my house.’
He rubbed a hand across his jaw and laughter flickered in his eyes. ‘You want me to get married or rearrange my features?’
‘No point. They’d just find some other poor individual to push my way.’ Her tone gloomy, she slumped back in her seat and shook her head. ‘Sorry, this really isn’t your fault at all. It’s just this place. Maybe David was right to get away. Right now I’d pay a lot to live among people who don’t know who on earth I am and can’t be bothered to find out. I must get going. I’ve got house calls to make on my way home.’
Unfortunately her car had other ideas. As she turned the key in the ignition the engine struggled and choked and then died.
‘Oh, for crying out loud!’ In a state of disbelief Alice glared at the car, as if fury alone should be enough to start it. ‘What is happening to my life?’
Gio was still leaning on the open door. ‘Do you often have problems with it?’
‘Never before.’ She tried the ignition again. ‘My car is the only place I can get peace and quiet these days! The only place I can hide from people trying to pair me off with you! And now even that has died!’
‘Shh.’ He put a hand over her lips, his eyes amused. ‘Calm down.’
‘I can’t calm down. I’ve got house calls to make and no transport.’
‘I’m leaving now.’ His tone was calm and reasonable as he gestured to the low, sleek sports car parked next to hers. ‘We’ll do the calls together.’
‘But—’
‘It makes perfect sense. It will help me orientate myself a little.’
‘What’s happening?’ Mary hurried up, a worried expression on her face. ‘Is it your car?’
‘Yes.’ Alice hissed the word through gritted teeth. ‘It’s my car.’
‘Give me the keys and I’ll get it taken care of,’ Mary said immediately, holding out her hand. ‘I’ll call Paul at the garage. He’s a genius with cars. In the meantime, you go with Dr Moretti.’
A nasty suspicion unfolded like a bud inside her. ‘Mary…’ Alice shook her head and decided she was becoming paranoid. No matter how much Mary wanted to push her towards Gio, she wasn’t capable of tampering with a car. ‘All right. Thanks.’
