THE NURSE'S RESCUE

by Alison Roberts

  ‘Why?’

  ‘We’d be in the way if…if you had visitors, for instance.’ Jessica avoided Joe’s gaze and fiddled with the stem of her wineglass.

  ‘I don’t have any visitors.’ Joe’s grin was disarming. ‘I’m too ashamed of the mess this place is in. If I want to socialise I go and do it somewhere else.’

  ‘So you’re not expecting anyone else to stay the night in the next week or two?’

  ‘Hell, no.’ Joe lowered his beer with an odd expression. ‘Oh…Are you worried that I might have a female visitor and Ricky might be exposed to something you wouldn’t want him to see?’

  ‘No, of course not.’ Jessica was blushing furiously.

  ‘I wouldn’t worry.’ Joe reached for a pair of tongs and turned to lift the steaks onto a plate. ‘There are no women in my life at the moment—certainly not in the overnight stay category.’

  Ricky followed Joe outside to the barbecue area like an eager puppy but Jessica stayed where she was for a minute or two. She hadn’t been fishing for the information but, despite the embarrassment, she was delighted to have been told. Now all she needed was the courage to take advantage of this opportunity. She got to her feet and went outside.

  ‘Joe?’ He was holding Ricky’s hand as Ricky held the tongs to turn the steaks. Jessica ignored the fact that her son was standing so close to the gas flames. ‘If you’re sure about this, it would be fantastic. We’d love to stay with you.’

  ‘Cool.’ Joe helped Ricky flip the steaks. ‘Let’s see how it goes, then. You might change your mind by the end of the week.’

  Both Joe and Jessica were having cause to question their decisions by then.

  Jessica had never shared living quarters with an adult male in her life. She nearly died from embarrassment when she went into the bathroom early on Monday morning to find Joe standing in front of the hand basin, shaving his chin, with nothing but a towel loosely knotted around his waist. Joe brushed off Jessica’s profuse apology.

  ‘My fault. I’ll have to remember to shut the door. I’m too used to living on my own, I guess.’

  What if she’d marched in a minute or two earlier and caught Joe getting out of the shower—before he’d had time to grab a towel? Maybe it wasn’t just embarrassment making Jessica feel it would be quite possible to fry eggs on her cheeks. She’d been very cautious after that, making sure she knew exactly where Joe was in the house before she ventured anywhere near the bathroom.

  With Joe working day shifts from Tuesday to Friday, Jessica took over cooking dinner for them all.

  ‘You don’t have to do all the cooking,’ Joe protested. ‘I can easily throw something on the barbecue after I get home.’ In fact, it was a little disconcerting to find a meal waiting for him. He liked to chill out for a while with a beer before thinking about food.

  ‘It’s the least I can do,’ Jessica responded. ‘It would be costing a fortune if Ricky and I were staying in a motel or even paying for petrol if we were at Kelly’s place.’

  Joe conceded defeat. Jessica was a good cook and what did it matter if he couldn’t find things in the kitchen because it was taking on such an unusual tidiness? It was only a temporary inconvenience.

  ‘Um…I was just going to wash Ricky’s clothes. Is there any laundry you’d like done at the same time?’

  ‘No. It’s OK, thanks.’ The thought of Jessica sorting his underwear and socks was embarrassing. Almost as embarrassing as the time Ricky had flung open the door of the bedroom he was sharing with his mother when Joe had happened to be walking past on his way to the bathroom. Jessica had been reaching for the bra hanging over the end of her bed. He’d known she had an attractive bust but…phew! The memory hadn’t faded enough for Joe not to still feel embarrassed. He was close to blushing, for heaven’s sake!

  By Friday, Joe was getting fed up with Jessica’s over-protective behaviour towards Ricky and he had to bite his tongue on more than one occasion to stop himself muttering aloud For heavens’ sake, give the kid a break. She worried about him playing alone and she didn’t like him going into the garage where there were so many sharp tools. She had hated him helping Joe cook and he wasn’t even allowed to wear the same socks two days in a row! No wonder the kid was so nervous about trying anything for himself. And no wonder this school thing wasn’t proving a huge success if Jessica was fussing over him there like a mother hen the way she did at home.

  Joe’s suspicions that Ricky’s environment was at least contributing to, if not causing, the child’s problems were confirmed by the conversation he had with Jessica on Friday night. He had opened a bottle of wine while Jessica put Ricky to bed.

  ‘He’s asleep already,’ she told Joe when she returned to the kitchen. ‘He’ll probably sleep the clock round, he’s so tired.’ She picked up a plate from the table. ‘He hardly touched his dinner, and mince and mashed potatoes has always been his favourite.’

  ‘Come and sit down, Jess.’

  ‘In a minute. I’ll just do something about these dishes.’ Jessica was rinsing a plate under the cold tap.

  ‘Give it a rest,’ Joe protested. ‘The dishes can wait. Anyway, you cooked so it’s my turn to do them. Sit down,’ he invited again. ‘Otherwise I’ll be drinking on my own and a guy could get a reputation that way.’

  Jessica’s lips were set rather primly as she complied with the request and sat down. Dishes always waited rather too long in this household in her opinion. For all his good qualities, Joe Barrington was a slob. And he had no idea how to look after children. If he had his way, Ricky would be allowed in the garage totally unsupervised to hammer at the pieces of junk Joe had donated to ‘his’ corner. Or to saw up the lumps of timber Ricky had decided would make a good bridge for the road project still in progress in the sand pile. He’d even let Ricky pour his own orange juice tonight, for heaven’s sake. The floor still felt sticky despite Jessica using three rags to clean up.

  Still, a glass or two of wine could be just what the doctor ordered as far as Jessica was concerned. It had been a tough week. She was used to being observed in her role as a nurse but had never felt that her role as a mother was under critical assessment. She sighed heavily.

  ‘What’s up?’ Joe handed her a glass of wine.

  ‘They’ve asked me not to stay at school with Ricky next week. They want me to drop him off at 8.45 and then collect him at 3 p.m.’

  ‘That’s good.’

  ‘No, it’s not!’ Jessica contradicted. ‘He’ll never cope on his own. He’s scared stiff of the teachers and especially the psychologist. He’s got a beard!’

  ‘They must think he can cope or they wouldn’t have suggested it.’ Joe smiled encouragingly. ‘It could be that Ricky picks up on your anxiety when you’re with him,’ he continued as tactfully as he could. ‘Maybe they want the chance to see if he’s different on his own.’

  Jessica avoided eye contact with Joe. Most of her anxiety at present was caused by Joe’s assumption that Ricky could cope on his own, but that was a can of worms she didn’t want to open right now. Not while they were guests in Joe’s house.

  Her thoughts were virtually visible but Joe thought it was time Jessica made use of a perspective other than her own. If it came from the school, so much the better. His own opinion was hardly likely to count for much, anyway. Not when it came to kids.

  ‘Tell me about Ricky,’ he invited. ‘Were you married to his dad?’

  ‘No.’ Jessica’s face tightened. ‘Ricky’s father was married to someone else.’

  ‘Oh-h.’

  ‘It wasn’t like that.’ Jessica flushed. ‘I had no idea he was married. He was a visiting consultant on a psychiatric ward I was working in after I finished my nursing training.’

  ‘Really?’ Joe raised an eyebrow. ‘How old was he?’

  Jessica shrugged. ‘I’m not sure. Forty-something.’

  ‘And you were?’

  ‘Twenty-three.’ Jessica ignored another quirk of Joe’s eyebrow. Yes, it had occurred to he
r that she had been looking for a father figure but it hadn’t seemed important at the time. ‘I was twenty-four by the time Ricky was born and he turns six in November.’

  Joe didn’t want to be distracted by a discussion of Ricky’s upcoming birthday. ‘How long did the relationship last?’

  Jessica snorted. ‘Only until he found out I was pregnant. A couple of months, I guess. Maybe three.’

  ‘And does he have anything to do with Ricky now?’

  ‘He’s dead. He had a car accident when Ricky was six months old. My mother thought he’d got exactly what he deserved.’

  ‘And is that what you thought?’ Joe was watching Jessica’s face closely. Her mother’s harsh judgement spoke of an entrenched bitterness. Was that towards men in general or just a particular one? How badly had Jessica been treated?

  ‘It was a relief to know I’d never see him again but I wouldn’t wish a fate like that on anyone. His family had to wait more than a week before they turned off the life-support system.’

  ‘What made you decide to keep the baby?’

  Jessica’s jaw dropped. Nobody had ever asked her such a personal question. She responded after a lengthy pause that Joe made no attempt to break. ‘My mother got abandoned when she was pregnant. If she’d decided not to keep her baby, I wouldn’t exist. Maybe that was a subconscious influence but it never occurred to me to do anything else.’

  Joe nodded. Her mother had been badly treated as well so her opinion of men could well have been general. Fostered even, by living in relative isolation.

  ‘And was it your choice to go back to Silverstream?’

  ‘I had nowhere else to go,’ Jessica said simply. ‘I was sick. It wasn’t an easy pregnancy and I needed Mum to look after me. Then Ricky was born prematurely and he had a lot of problems. He was four months old by the time we got to take him home and he was still sick for a long time after that.’

  Joe sipped his wine reflectively. So. Two women who had been badly treated by men and a sick baby for them both to dote on. In a tiny rural community. The picture he was forming in his mind was taking a clearer shape.

  ‘Was your mother over-protective, Jess?’

  ‘What?’ Unbidden, the memory of the horse-riding incident surfaced again and Jessica blinked. ‘I suppose she might have been…a bit. It didn’t make her a bad mother, though,’ she added defensively. She frowned. ‘You think I’m over-protective of Ricky, don’t you?’

  ‘I think that, given his history, you have every reason to be very protective,’ Joe said carefully. He took a larger swallow of his wine. ‘But I also think that he needs to try things for himself a bit more. I think part of his problem might be due to the fact that he’s an intelligent kid and he’s frustrated.’

  Jessica blinked again. Nobody had ever said they thought Ricky was intelligent, but what did Joe know? She shook her head. ‘Ricky’s had far too many accidents. He falls over things, cuts himself—he’s broken his arm twice now and got concussion once. He has trouble with even simple tasks. Look at what happened with the orange juice!’

  ‘I suspect there are a given number of glass-tipping incidents as part of the learning curve for that particular skill. It’s just that most kids are doing it when they’re three, not nearly six.’

  ‘You just said he was intelligent. Now you’re saying he’s retarded?’ Jessica was sounding distinctly defensive and Joe wondered if he’d gone too far already.

  ‘I’m saying that the only way to learn anything is by being allowed to make mistakes and being given the chance to fix them up. Ricky managed much better with the second glass, didn’t he?’

  ‘The floor’s still sticky,’ Jessica muttered. Joe’s words had struck a chord and she didn’t like the sound she was hearing. ‘I’ll have to wash it again.’

  ‘I’m only trying to help,’ Joe said quietly. ‘I’m not criticising you, Jess.’

  ‘Yes, you are! You think I’m over-protective. That I’m fussy. You probably agree with the school that Ricky will be better off if I’m not around.’ To her horror Jessica found tears filling her eyes. ‘You don’t understand, Joe. I love Ricky so much. I only try to do what’s best for him. I’d do anything if I thought it would help him.’ She gulped in a fresh breath. ‘And I don’t understand why Ricky is so different with you. He wants to copy everything you do and be with you all the time when you’re at home. It makes me feel like I’ve never done the right thing.’ Jessica stood up quickly, hoping that Joe hadn’t noticed the tears she’d managed to keep from spilling. She moved to the sink and turned on the tap.

  Joe stared at her back. Was Jessica jealous of the bond he had with Ricky? He hadn’t tried to put himself in a position of favour. The last thing he wanted was to become overly important in the kid’s life. He’d become an ‘uncle’ by default, without even having the benefit of a relationship with Ricky’s mother. And Jessica had looked as though she was about to cry. He’d upset her and he didn’t like that idea at all. She’d had a tough life one way and another and the last couple of weeks had been horrendous. If he was any kind of friend at all, he’d be helping her, not criticising.

  She was definitely crying. Joe could see her shoulders shaking. He stood up and stepped over to the sink, reaching past Jessica to turn off the tap. Then he put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him.

  ‘I’m sorry, Jess. I didn’t mean to upset you. Here…’ He picked up the tea-towel and used a corner to wipe away the tears on her cheeks. ‘You’re a fantastic mother. The kind of mother I’d like to have had.’ He used his thumb to catch another tear. ‘That was why I went back into the mall to try and rescue Ricky, you know. Because I thought that any kid lucky enough to have a mother like you deserved to be rescued.’

  ‘Really?’ A wobbly smile broke through the tears. Jessica sniffed inelegantly.

  ‘Really. And I really wasn’t trying to criticise you. Maybe I have the benefit of not knowing much about Ricky so I don’t worry about him not being able to do things.’

  Jessica bit her bottom lip. ‘He…he seems almost normal when he’s around you.’

  ‘That’s good. Isn’t it?’ Joe was trying not to stare at Jessica’s lips after the little tooth marks had faded.

  ‘It’s brilliant. You’ve shown me a side of him I didn’t know was there. I’ve got an awful lot to thank you for, Joe.’

  ‘It’s my pleasure.’ Joe was relieved to see a hint of sparkle returning to Jessica’s eyes. ‘So we’re friends again?’

  ‘Of course.’ Jessica reached up and hugged Joe.

  There was no reason at all not to return the gesture. It was just a friendly hug, wasn’t it? It certainly started out that way. It was fine until Joe suddenly became acutely aware of the shape of Jessica’s body and the way he could feel her breasts touching his chest. His hands seemed to slide down her back of their own accord. It would be so easy to pull back a little. Just enough to see her face so that he could bend his head and kiss her.

  Jessica felt Joe’s hands move and felt a moment of panic. This was what she had hoped would happen, wasn’t it? So why did her mother’s dictum that no man could be trusted flash into her head? And why did she suddenly remember how it had felt the first time Chris had kissed her? Or Ricky’s father? Joe could not be considered any kind of father figure. And he wasn’t out to make Ricky vanish from her life. Was it the unknown that made him seem suddenly dangerous?

  They both pulled apart at the same instant and they both covered any embarrassment by making a cheerful show of cleaning up the kitchen bench together. They finished the bottle of wine as well and their conversation was a non-threatening comparison of their childhoods and early careers, with plenty of amusing anecdotes to share. When Jessica said goodnight she got changed for bed and then waited to make sure Joe had finished in the bathroom. Just as she had been doing all week.

  But something had changed. Being in this house, being near Joe, felt…different.

  The difference might have been subtle to
begin with but there was no mistaking what the change was. Joe’s comment about his reason for rescuing Ricky had been enough to make Jessica relax a little. When Ricky not only coped without her at school but appeared to enjoy the independence, it was another step towards normality and Jessica relaxed even more. She could see Joe’s attitude as fostering independence rather than slackness on his part because she knew that he would not let Ricky come to any harm. He’d risked his own life to save him after all. Maybe the fact that her mother wasn’t around to impose standards and regulations that both Jessica and Ricky had to respect was also beneficial. Certainly Ricky didn’t appear to be missing his grandmother in anything more than a matter-of-fact recognition of her absence. Enjoying the freedom of not having to constantly run through mental checklists to ensure nothing had been left undone that would have upset Norma made Jessica feel a little guilty, but she was getting used to it remarkably quickly.

  To fill in the hours while Ricky was at school, Jessica began pottering around Joe’s garden, attacking the giant weeds with enthusiasm. She found herself enjoying the challenge and the exercise. Joe was intrigued by her progress and also came to the conclusion that it wasn’t really an intrusion to come home and find someone else in his house. Ricky was always hanging out the window, watching for him, and there was invariably a delicious smell emanating from the kitchen. Maybe he was getting used to it, which was just as well as the school didn’t want Ricky to leave next week.

  Or maybe it was the fact that Jessica was looking happier that had removed that tension. Joe decided that he wouldn’t work any overtime this week after all. He’d stay home and help Jessica in the ridiculously huge task she had taken on, trying to tame his garden. He’d be around when Ricky got home from school, too, and he could help him do something about that bridge he’d built in the sand pile that kept collapsing.

  Jessica could be a lot of fun to be around when she wasn’t worried about something. When Joe and Ricky came inside from completing their bridge repair, they discovered Jessica playing the piano.