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Accepting defeat, she climbed out of her car, handed the keys to Mary and slid into Gio’s black sports car.
He pressed a button and the roof above her disappeared in a smooth movement.
She rolled her eyes. ‘Show-off.’
He gave her a boyish grin, slid sunglasses over his eyes and reversed out of the parking space.
The last thing she saw as they pulled out of the surgery car park was the smug expression on Mary’s face.
He drove up the hill, away from the harbour, with Alice giving directions.
‘I’m embarrassed turning up at house calls in this car,’ she mumbled as they reached the row of terraced houses where Edith lived. ‘It’s hardly subtle, is it? Everyone will think I’ve gone mad.’
‘They will be envious and you will give them something interesting to talk about. Is this the lady that Betty was talking about earlier?’ Gio brought the car to a halt and switched off the engine.
‘Yes. Edith Carne.’ Alice reached for her bag. ‘She’s one of David’s patients but she had a fall a few weeks ago and I just want to check on her because she lives on her own and she’s not one to complain. You don’t have to come with me. You’re welcome to wait in the car. Who knows? Keep the glasses on and you might get lucky with some passing female.’
‘But I am already lucky,’ he said smoothly, leaning across to open the door for her, ‘because you are in my car, tesoro.’
She caught the wicked twinkle in his dark eyes and pulled a face. ‘Save the charm, Romeo. It’s wasted on me.’ She climbed out of the car and walked towards the house, her hair swinging around her shoulders, frustration still bubbling inside her.
‘If she’s David’s patient, she’s going to be mine,’ Gio pointed out as he caught up with her, ‘so this is as good a time as any to make her acquaintance. It’s logical.’
It was logical, but still she would have rather he’d waited in the car. Having him tailing her flustered her and put her on edge. She needed space to calm herself. Normally she loved her work and found it absorbing and relaxing but today she felt restless and unsettled, as if the door to her tidy, ordered life had been flung wide open.
And it was all thanks to Mary and Rita, she thought angrily, and their interfering ways.
If she hadn’t been living with the man, she could have easily avoided him. The surgery was so busy that often their paths didn’t often cross during the day.
The evenings were a different matter.
Pushing aside feelings that she didn’t understand, she rang the doorbell and waited. ‘Her husband died three years ago,’ she told Gio, ‘and they were married for fifty-two years.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘And you don’t believe in love?’
‘There are lots of reasons why two people stay together.’ She tilted her head back and stared up at the bedroom window through narrowed eyes. ‘But love doesn’t come into it, in my opinion. Why isn’t she answering?’
‘Does she have family?’
‘No. But she has lots of friends in the village. She’s lived here all her life.’ Alice rang the bell again, an uneasy feeling spreading through her.
‘Why did she fall last time? Does anyone know?’
‘I don’t think they found anything. The neighbour called an ambulance. She had a few cuts and bruises but nothing broken. But I know David was worried about her.’ And now she was worried, too. Why wasn’t Edith answering the door? She sighed and jammed her fingers through her hair. ‘All right. I suppose I’ll have to go next door and get the key, but I hate the thought of doing that.’ Hated the thought of invading another person’s privacy.
‘Could she have gone out?’ Gio stepped across the front lawn and glanced in through the front window. ‘I can hear voices. A television maybe? But I can’t see anyone.’
Alice was on the point of going next door to speak to the neighbour when the door opened.
‘Oh, Edith.’ She gave a smile of relief as she saw the old lady standing there. ‘We were worried about you. We thought you might have fallen again. I wanted to check on how you’re feeling.’
‘Well, that’s kind of you but I’m fine, dear.’ Edith was wearing a dressing-gown even though it was late afternoon, and the expression on her face was bemused. ‘No problems at all.’
Alice scanned Edith’s face, noting that she looked extremely pale and tired. Something wasn’t right.
‘Can I come in for a minute, Edith? I’d really like to have a chat and check that everything’s all right with you. And I need to introduce you to our new doctor.’ She flapped a hand towards Gio. ‘He’s taken over from David. Come all the way from Sicily. Land of canolli and volcanoes that misbehave.’
‘Sicily? Frank and I went there once. It was beautiful.’ Edith’s knuckles whitened on the edge of the door. ‘I’m fine, Dr Anderson. I don’t need to waste your time. There’s plenty worse off than me.’
