‘Morning, Reg,’ she said with a smile, and he gave her a nod.
‘Morning. I see she’s back, then.’
Tatty strained to get to him, and he eased through the hedge and gave her a little scratch on her head. ‘Didn’t think I’d see her again. I thought he’d sent her to the dog rescue?’
‘He did, but she wasn’t eating, so he went and picked her up on Friday. It’s just until she has the puppies—or so he says, but he’s a bit of a softy.’
‘I can see that, just how he is with her. I was surprised when he said he’d taken her. I didn’t think he would.’
‘No, nor did I, but whatever, she’s back for now, and I’m dog-sitting until tomorrow because he’s at work.’
He tilted his head on one side. ‘I can look after her, if you like? You know, while the two of you are at work. She’s good company. I don’t mind at all, any time.’
He looked so hopeful, so desperately lonely, and she knew how that felt, from the yawning void after Grace had died when nobody knew what to say to her so said nothing or just plain avoided her.
‘You’ll have to talk to him, but I’m sure he won’t say no. He’s very grateful for your help.’ She hesitated, then stifled her selfish urge to curl up with a book and went on, ‘Reg, what are you doing this afternoon? It’s just that Ryan’s garden is a bit of a mess, and I thought I might have a go at it but I’m not sure what’s what, really, and your garden’s immaculate, so I thought you might be able to give me some pointers.’
All of which was a lie, because she hadn’t had any intention of working in the garden, Ryan had already done quite a lot of tidying, and she knew exactly what was what down to the last perennial poking its head out of the earth. But the old man’s eyes lit up, and he nodded.
‘I’ll just get myself a bit of lunch, and I’ll be over. Leave the gate unlocked, I’ll come round the side.’
* * *
That was odd. He could hear laughter coming from the garden, Beth’s and someone else’s. He let himself in and walked through the house, to find her sitting on the garden steps, Reg beside her with a mug in his hand and Tatty lying on the floor at their feet, dismantling a supposedly indestructible dog toy.
‘Hi, all,’ he said, and Tatty thumped her tail as he crouched down and gave her a tickle.
Beth smiled at him. ‘Hi. Good day?’
‘So-so. It won’t last. What have you three been up to?’
‘We’ve been gardening. Reg kindly offered to lend me a hand and show me which were the weeds and which weren’t,’ she said, staring pointedly at him, and he stifled the smile.
‘That’s kind. Thanks, Reg. Horticulture’s not my strong point and I’m not sure it’s Beth’s, either.’
‘Ah, well, she asked the right person, then. I was a nurseryman for fifty years. Only gave up when Queenie got sick, so if there’s anything you need to know, you only have to ask.’
‘Thank you. That’s very kind. I’ll bear it in mind.’
Reg gave the dog a pat and got stiffly to his feet. ‘Well, I’d better be going then,’ he said.
‘You’re welcome to stay,’ he heard Beth say. ‘I was going to make a salad, there’s plenty.’
‘Ah, now, that’s very kind, my dear, but salad doesn’t agree with me, and I’ve got a nice piece of fish from the hut down by the harbour, freshly caught this morning. I’ll make a bit of batter later and pop it in my fryer. Won’t be as good as my Queenie’s, but it’ll do. I might have a nap first.’
He gave Tatty a little pat, then Ryan showed him out, thanked him again and went back to Beth.
‘Show you what’s a weed and what’s not? Really?’ he murmured, and she smiled, but her eyes were filled with sadness.
‘Yeah, I know, but he was so lonely, Ry. He loves looking after Tatty, he says she’s good company. I think he might be spending most of the day here, you know, while you’re at work. It must be so lonely for him without Queenie. They were married for sixty-five years, and she only died last July. She had Alzheimer’s and she didn’t know him any more, but he kept her at home right to the end, and I think he’s just lost now. It’s so sad.’
Poor Reg. Trust Beth to get him to open up. It was her all over.
‘You’re a good person, do you know that?’ he murmured softly.
‘I just felt so sorry for him. That awful empty ache...’
An ache she must know only too well.
‘Oh, Beth.’
He pulled her into his arms and hugged her, resting his cheek against her hair and breathing her in, fresh air and sunshine and Beth, and it felt so good coming home to her.
Fingers crossed their fledgling relationship might stand a chance of flourishing into something that could stand the test of time, like Reg and Queenie’s had.
He could only hope.
‘Right, I haven’t got long but it was quiet so I thought I’d make a break for it for a while, so can we eat? I haven’t had anything apart from a biscuit since this morning.’
‘Sure, it won’t take a minute.’
She went up on tiptoe and kissed him, and it would have been so easy to take it further, but he was still on call and he didn’t want to start something he might not be able to finish, so he eased away, hugged her again and led her back into the house.
CHAPTER SEVEN
TATTY WAS FUSSING.
Beth had no idea why. She’d had a walk, been fed, been out in the garden again, and Beth wondered if she was going into labour.
No, surely it was too early? The vet had said another two to three weeks. But she’d kept running to the door and whining, and now she was barking, so Beth got up to let her out again, this time following her into the garden.
‘What is it, Tatty?’
She couldn’t see or smell anything, but then Tatty barked again, standing and facing Reg’s bungalow. She went up the steps to get a better look, and to her horror saw flames in his kitchen.
Dear God...
‘Oh, Reg... Tatty, come here.’
She called the dog back in, grabbed her phone and keys, and ran out of the front of the house, through the hedge, banging on Reg’s front door while she dialled 999.
No answer, and it was locked, of course.
Back gate. Please be open...
She ran round to the side, pushed the gate and it opened, and she gave the address to the emergency services, asked for fire and ambulance and tried the back door.
Eureka. She was in, and she shoved her phone in her pocket and turned off the gas ring. The pan was still burning but she knew better than to touch it, so she ran through into the hall, closing the door behind her to try and stop the smoke from spreading.
‘Reg? Reg, where are you?’ she asked, but the air was filled with smoke so she opened the front door wide and to her relief heard the sound of sirens.
‘Reg! Reg, it’s Beth. Where are you?’
A nap. He’d said he was going to have a nap, but not necessarily in bed.
Be systematic.
She started with the room beside the kitchen, but it was empty, so she went to the next, and there he was, sitting in his chair clutching his chest, his eyes wide with fear.
‘Beth—the chip pan—can’t breathe—’
‘It’s OK, Reg. The fire brigade are here now—see the flashing blue lights? And there’s an ambulance, in case you need it. They’ll take you to hospital to get checked over, but I need to get you out—’
‘I can’t leave—Queenie. She’s on the mantelpiece. I can’t leave her, Beth...’
‘It’s OK,’ she promised. ‘I won’t leave her, Reg, but you need to get out now.’
He nodded, just as the fire officer ran in and assessed the situation at a glance.
‘Fire’s in the kitchen. I’ve turned the gas ring off but it’s still burning,’ she told him.
<
br /> ‘That’s all right, we’re dealing with it, but you need to leave the house now.’
‘We will. Reg, can you manage to walk to the ambulance?’
He nodded, but he was shaking like a leaf so the fire officer scooped him up in his arms and carried him into the front garden, and she scooped up Queenie and ran out after them.
‘Queenie,’ he coughed, but she shook her head.
‘It’s OK. I’ve got her here, Reg.’
‘If I go, bury me with her—’
‘You’re going nowhere but the hospital,’ she said firmly, ‘and I’m going to follow you in my car, and ring Ryan and tell him to expect you. If you think for a moment he’s going to let you die then you’re underestimating him.’
She turned to the paramedics. ‘Look after him. I’ve just got to put his wife’s ashes next door and lock up and I’ll follow you, but if you get there first, tell them to get Ryan McKenna.’
* * *
‘Beth?’
He got to his feet, abandoning the notes he was writing up because her face had black smudges on it and something was clearly wrong.
‘Are you OK? What’s going on? What are you doing here?’
‘I’ve come in with Reg. He had a chip pan fire in the kitchen.’
‘Is he all right?’ He sniffed. ‘Beth, you stink of smoke. Tell me you didn’t go in?’
‘I had to. I wasn’t going to leave him, Ryan. It hadn’t spread so I turned off the gas and shut the door and found him—’
‘You what? Beth—’
He swore, hauled her into his arms and hugged her hard, his heart hammering. ‘What were you thinking? You should have called the fire brigade!’
‘I did, and the ambulance, but I wasn’t going to wait and watch his house go up in smoke. He was worried about Queenie. He wouldn’t leave her ashes. I had to make him come here, and the only way I could get him out was to bring her, too, so her ashes are in your study. I hope that’s OK.’
‘Of course it’s OK. So how is he?’
‘Respiratory distress, maybe from smoke inhalation? I don’t know, there wasn’t that much, it could just be shock. He couldn’t walk, but there wasn’t really any smoke in the sitting room where he was. His breathing was awful, though, so I don’t know how much of it was panic.’
‘What kind of smoke was it?’
‘Oh, it was only the oil, the kitchen hadn’t caught fire, but it was pretty stinky. I think they put it out really fast, though.’
‘Oh, well, that’s all right then,’ he said wryly, rolling his eyes. ‘Although of course you didn’t know that when you went in. Right, we’ll get you both checked over.’
‘I’m fine. I’m not stupid, Ryan, I didn’t inhale it. You need to worry about Reg. I promised him you wouldn’t let him die but his heart was misfiring a bit.’
He grunted. ‘Great. Has he got atrial fibrillation?’
She shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Possibly. He had a triple bypass last year, apparently, but he was very shaken. It would be easy to say he’s a tough old bird, but—he said if anything happened, bury him with Queenie, but I’d rather he didn’t get to that point.’
Ryan nodded. ‘Yeah, me, too. Have they got children? Anyone we need to contact?’
‘I don’t know. He didn’t mention children, but I didn’t get his entire life story this afternoon,’ she said with a smile, and he wiped the smuts off her cheek and kissed her, frowning at the frizzled ends on a lock of her hair. Jeez...
‘Let’s hope we don’t have to worry about it,’ he murmured, letting it go for now, and they went to find Reg.
* * *
It was nearly eleven before she got home, leaving Reg safely tucked up in bed on a ward with a heart monitor just to be on the safe side and Ryan more or less happy that she wasn’t about to die of smoke inhalation.
He’d given her another lecture, though, about not waiting for the fire brigade before she went in, but she’d ignored it, knowing full well he’d have done exactly the same thing.
The fire engine was gone but the response car was still outside, to her surprise. Maybe it had been worse than she thought, but at least Reg’s home hadn’t burned to the ground. If she’d gone to bed, or ignored Tatty...
She went up the drive and knocked on the open door, and the firefighter who’d carried Reg out appeared. ‘How is he?’
‘He’s OK. He’s staying in overnight. I promised I’d come and get some stuff to take in to him, but I’ll do that tomorrow. I’m surprised you’re still here. Is the house OK?’
‘Yes, it’s fine. I was just filling in the paperwork before I leave, but the kitchen needs a deep clean to remove the smoke residue.’
‘I’m sure we can sort that out. He was all for coming home tonight but I talked him out of it.’
‘He was lucky you were here. Was it you who raised the alarm?’
She nodded. ‘Yes—I was next door. The dog started fussing, so I went out in the garden to find out why, and I saw the flames.’
The man eyed her thoughtfully. ‘He’s lucky you did. You saved his life, there was no way he was getting out and it would have gone up. And well done for not trying to put the fire out, although you could have had serious burns even just turning off the gas.’
She smiled a little wryly. ‘Oh, I know. I’m a nurse in the ED. I’ve seen what can happen with a chip pan fire, and it isn’t pretty, especially if they put water on it. I give the “call the fire brigade and get out” message over and over again, so I wasn’t going to forget, and I was very careful.’
‘Good, but don’t do it again. Right, I’m ready to go, so if I could give you the keys?’
‘Yes, of course. And thank you so much for all you’ve done.’
‘All part of the job, my love. You know that as well as I do.’
He locked the door, handed her the keys and headed down the drive, and she went through the hedge and let herself in to a rapturous welcome from Tatty.
‘It’s all right, sweetheart,’ she crooned. ‘Come on, come and have something to eat, and then I need a shower because I stink.’
* * *
She’d just got out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel when she heard a car, and Ryan appeared in the doorway behind her.
‘Are you OK?’
Was she? Maybe, maybe not.
She felt herself well up, and walked into his arms, suddenly desperate for a hug.
‘He wouldn’t leave Queenie, Ry,’ she said tearfully. ‘He was going to stay there and die rather than leave her. If I hadn’t been here, if Tatty hadn’t warned me—’
‘Don’t.’ His arms tightened around her, one hand cradling the back of her head and pressing it hard against his shoulder, the other firmly round her waist. ‘He’s OK, and so are you, but all I’ve been able to think about is what would have happened if anything had gone wrong. I could have lost you, Beth. You could have died, or been horribly burnt—’
His voice cracked, and she tilted her head and cradled his cheek in her hand.
‘I’m fine, Ry. I’m OK. Nothing happened.’
‘This time. But don’t ever—ever—do that kind of thing again, OK?’
‘You would have done it, too, you know you would. You’ve probably done far worse.’
‘Yes, I have, but that’s no excuse, and it wasn’t a good idea. You were lucky, Beth. So lucky. Your hair’s singed, for God’s sake. You could have died. I could have lost you...’
His grip slackened, and he cupped her face in his hands, staring intently into her eyes, and then his mouth found hers in a desperate and yet tender kiss that turned her legs to jelly and her heart to mush.
She felt the towel fall away, dropping to the floor and leaving her naked in his arms, and he stared down at her, his eyes a little wild.
‘I want you, Beth,’ he grated. ‘I ne
ed you. When I think about what could have happened...’
She nodded. ‘I need you, too,’ she said, her voice uneven. ‘I didn’t even think about it until afterwards, and then—’
She broke off, and he kissed her again, his whole body trembling, then he took a step back and stripped off his clothes and hauled her up against him as his lips found hers again, their legs meshing, the tension that had wound tighter and tighter finally snapping as their bodies came together.
There was no finesse, no foreplay, no tenderness, just a terrible urgency, a raging need to hold and be held, to be as close together as they could be until she couldn’t tell where she ended and he began.
‘Wait.’
He let go of her, yanked open the bathroom cabinet and pulled out a condom, his fingers shaking.
‘Let me.’
‘No. I’m too close.’
And then he was back, lifting her against the tiles and driving into her with a ragged groan. The spring coiled tighter inside her with every thrust, every touch, every heartbeat, and then she felt it shatter and she clung to him, sobbing his name as he slammed into her one last time.
He caught her cry in his mouth, his body stiffening, and then he slumped against her, chest heaving, his head on her shoulder, breath rasping in her ear, and then he lifted his head and stared down into her eyes.
‘I’m sorry...’
‘Don’t be. I think we both needed that.’
He laughed softly and lowered her until her feet touched the floor, then eased away, turning to deal with the condom, and she frowned.
‘Ry?’
She ran her hand lightly down his back, feeling the sweat-slicked skin, the strong columns of muscle, the—scars?
It wasn’t a good idea.
Was that what he’d meant when she’d said he’d probably done far worse?
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