LITMIR.BIZ

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didn’t.’ The answer was too defensive to be anything other than an excuse. ‘I … I just got a bit of a shock. Someone must have forgotten to clean the steam nozzle properly last night and when I switched it on …’ She tailed off. The tips of her ears were bright pink now and she was clutching at straws, trying to pretend that she hadn’t panicked and tried to run when he’d only tried to help her.

      ‘Made me jump, too.’ Not entirely true, but he got a nervous smile in return. ‘How’s your hand now?’

      He expected her to evade the enquiry, but instead she withdrew her hand from the water, squinted at it and then plunged it back into the sink. ‘It looks fine. A little red, but it doesn’t feel too bad.’

      She couldn’t have piqued his curiosity more if she’d tried. That sudden, perplexing reaction, followed by what seemed like a decision of sorts to trust him. ‘Best to keep it in the water a little while longer.’ She seemed far more comfortable now that the counter was separating them, and Luke planted his hands down on it, in a sign that he didn’t intend to again invade what she so obviously considered was her territory.

      She nodded, abstractedly. She clearly had something on her mind, but it was impossible to tell what. Perhaps doing something practical would reassure her. ‘Have you got a first-aid kit behind there?’

      ‘Yes. It’s here.’ She reached under the sink with her free hand and pulled out a large plastic box, stretching across to slide it onto the counter.

      Luke reached for the box and snapped it open. ‘I may not be qualified to treat humans, but I can do some basic first aid.’

      ‘Who are you qualified to treat?’ She was looking at him gravely.

      ‘Animals. I’m a vet.’

      She nodded. ‘Well, I’ve seen enough burns to know that this one’s superficial. It’ll be sore for twenty-four hours and then it’ll be fine.’

      ‘Good. Now we’ve got that out of the way, perhaps you’ll let me dress it for you. It won’t take a moment to put a bandage on it.’ Luke couldn’t usually reason with his patients and it was refreshing to do so now. More complicated as well. Animals didn’t smell so good.

      There was a moment of awkward silence and then the tension between them snapped. The quiet sound of her laugh was like fresh water poured over his burnt-out nerve-endings and sparking them back into life. ‘I suppose I’d be better off if I had four legs and not two.’

      ‘Much better. Or no legs. I’m good with snakes as well.’ He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

      ‘So how do you bandage a snake, then?’ She lifted her hand out of the water, dabbing it dry with a napkin as she walked slowly over to the counter.

      ‘Carefully. But that’s a very old joke.’

      She laughed again, her eyes dancing, and then held her hand out towards him. Gently he touched the tips of her fingers and felt them tremble. Turning her hand to ascertain the extent of the damage, he applied his knowledge of first aid for humans and decided that he concurred with her assessment. It was a very minor burn.

      Luke withdrew a small bandage from the first-aid kit. ‘You’ll not be wanting an Elizabethan collar?’

      ‘Think I can resist the temptation to gnaw at it.’ Even though she seemed more at ease with him now, she was still watching him carefully and Luke concentrated hard on winding the bandage with absolute precision around her hand. Tried to forget her eyes and the pallor of her skin against her auburn hair. The fragility of her almost-too-slender wrist.

      ‘That should do it.’ He fastened the bandage carefully, and she held her hand in front of her face, inspecting his handiwork.

      ‘Very neat.’ She was teasing him now, and Luke’s stomach tightened. Everything she did and said just seemed to stoke the growing fascination he felt. ‘So where do you usually do your bandaging?’

      It was an innocent enough question, but Luke was under no illusions. This was a breakthrough of mammoth proportions. Up till now she’d shied away from anything that was even remotely personal, and he’d done so, too. But her mesmerising eyes broke his resolve.

      ‘I have my own practice. I’m also involved with the new nature reserve a couple of miles out of the village on the road towards Knighton. Along with a few other projects.’

      ‘So you’re a busy man, then.’

      Luke nodded. He’d kept himself busy since Tanya had left. Found the contentment in his work that the sudden end of his marriage had stripped him of, filling his time so that there was no temptation to look elsewhere. ‘I stay occupied.’

      ‘Better get you your coffee, then. I don’t want to stop the wheels of industry from turning.’ She turned away from him, concentrating hard on the coffee machine, and Luke saw the side of her face flush slightly. ‘You won’t … tell anyone, will you? This is the first time I’ve opened up on my own.’

      Women and their secrets. But this one seemed innocuous enough. ‘What’s to tell? Why don’t you sit down and I’ll make the coffee?’ He supposed that would have to be their secret, too, and the idea made him smile. ‘You … er … might be in shock or something.’

      She dismissed the thought with a laugh. ‘I don’t think so.’ She pushed a large cardboard beaker in his direction. ‘But thanks for helping. This one’s on the house.’

      It was almost a week before Luke heard another word from her. On the mornings that she was there in the coffee shop, she somehow contrived to be busy, leaving someone else to serve him. The more she ignored him, the more it intrigued him and finally, in the face of Luke’s determined patience, she broke.

      ‘Don’t you have a loyalty card?’

      It was something. Luke was used to gaining trust by inches, and this sudden leap forward made an indifferent Thursday morning take on a sparkling, gem-like quality. ‘About twenty of them, in the glove compartment of my car. Each of them with one stamp.’

      She twisted her lips in what might be construed as a grin. ‘That’s okay, you only need seven stamps for a coffee. Nothing in the rules that says they all have to be on the same card.’

      Luke planted his elbows on the counter, leaning towards her slightly, and she didn’t draw back. ‘Okay, I’ll—’

      ‘No, no, no!’ Olenka, the manager of the coffee shop, had been checking stock behind the counter and it was she who leaned towards Luke, her chin jutting belligerently. ‘No kitten, no free coffee.’

      The spark of excitement that was making Luke’s heart beat a little faster fizzled out, and the grimace he shot Olenka wasn’t all for show. ‘That’s blackmail, Olenka.’

      ‘Well spotted. Katya will not give you free coffee until my child has a kitten.’

      Katya. She didn’t wear a name badge like the others, and Luke had been trying to fit different names to her smile. This one was perfect and it rolled around Luke’s brain, leaving happiness in its wake. Katya.

      ‘Do you hear me?’ Olenka was waving a finger at him.

      ‘I hear you. And it’s still next week, free coffee or not. You can’t rush nature.’

      Olenka gave a laughing gesture of resignation, slipping into her mother tongue to express her feelings as she turned to Katya.

      ‘Tak.’ Katya gave Luke a small shrug. ‘Sounds as if you get to pay this week.’

      ‘That’s fine.’ Luke grinned at Olenka. ‘I’ll collect next week.’

      Katya made his coffee, just the way he liked it, and handed it over, stamping a new loyalty card and stowing it under the counter. ‘I’ll keep this here, so you can’t forget it next time.’

      ‘Thanks.’ Time for just one more question before he had to pick up

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