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‘Why would you want to do that?’
Was it all right to be honest? He gave a wry smile and risked it. ‘Because I want to live?’
Because he respected his stomach far too much to eat another one of her meals and because he needed to show her that there was more to eating than simply ingesting animal and plant material in any format.
She sighed and dropped her fork. ‘All right, it tasted pretty awful but I’m not that great at curry. I think I might have got my tablespoons mixed up with my teaspoons. Does it really matter?’
‘When you’re measuring chilli powder? Yes,’ he replied dryly. ‘And, anyway, I’m very happy to cook from now on. I love to cook. I’ll do you something Italian. You’ll enjoy it.’
She pushed her plate away, the contents only half-eaten. ‘We eat to live, Gio, not the other way round. The body needs protein, carbohydrate, fats and all that jazz in order to function the way it should. It doesn’t care how you throw them together.’
She was all fact, he thought to himself. All fact and science. As far as she was concerned, if it couldn’t be explained by some fancy theory then it didn’t exist.
It would be fun to show her just what could be achieved with food, he decided. And atmosphere.
At least she’d stopped jumping every time he walked into the room. It was time to make some changes. Time to push her out of her comfort zone.
He tapped his foot under the table, his mind working. Maybe it was time to show Dr Alice Anderson that there was more to life than scientific theory. That not everything could be proven.
Maybe it was time for her to question her firmly held beliefs. But before that he needed to deal with his indigestion.
‘Let’s go for a walk on the beach.’
She shook her head and dumped the remains of the totally inedible curry in the bin. ‘I need to catch up on some reading. You go. Take a left at the bottom of the garden, along the cycle path for about two hundred metres and you reach the harbour. Go to the end and you drop straight down onto the beach. You can walk for miles if the tide is out. Once it comes in you have to scramble up the cliffs to the coast path.’
‘I want you to come with me.’ Not giving her a chance to shrink away from him, he reached out a hand and dragged her to her feet. ‘The reading can wait.’
‘I really need to…’ Her hand wriggled in his as she tried to pull away, but he kept a tight hold and used his trump card. Work.
‘I want to talk about some of David’s patients.’ He kept his expression serious. Tried to look suitably concerned. ‘It’s obvious to me that the only time we’re going to have for discussion is during the evenings. And I have so many questions.’
He struggled to think of a few, just in case he needed to produce one.
‘Oh.’ She thought for a moment and then gave a shrug. ‘Well, I suppose that makes sense, but we don’t have to go out. We could do it here and—’
‘Alice, we’ve been trapped inside all day. We both need some air.’ Letting go of her hand, he reached out and grabbed her jacket from the back of the door. ‘Let’s walk.’
‘Have you come across a specific problem with a patient? Who is on your mind?’
He racked his brains to find someone to talk about, knowing that if he didn’t start talking about work immediately, she’d vanish upstairs and spend the rest of the evening with her journals and textbooks, as she had the previous evening.
‘I thought we could talk about the right way to approach Harriet.’ He stepped through the back door and waited while she locked it. ‘You know her after all.’
‘Not that well. She was David’s patient. Mary knows her, she might have some ideas.’
She slipped the keys into her pocket and they walked down to the cycle way. Although it was still only early evening, several cyclists sped past them, enjoying the summer weather and the wonderful views.
The tide was far out, leaving sandbanks exposed in the water.
‘It’s beautiful.’ Gio stared at the islands of sand and Alice followed his gaze.
‘Yes. And dangerous. The tide comes in so fast, it’s lethal.’ She stepped to one side to avoid another cyclist. ‘There are warnings all over the harbour and the beach, but still some tourists insist on dicing with death. Still, it keeps the lifeboat busy.’
They reached the harbour and weaved a path through the crowds of tourists who were milling around, watching the boats and eating fish and chips on the edge of the quay.
Gio slipped a hand in his pocket. ‘Ice cream, Dr Anderson?’
‘I don’t eat ice cream.’ She was looking around her with a frown. ‘Bother. We shouldn’t have come this way.’
