LITMIR.BIZ

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… you know the fire crew then?’ Maddy asked, wanting to break the now awkward silence developing between them.

      ‘Yes,’ Harry said, nodding. ‘I used to be a fireman. I transferred from Exeter, but I was only with them six months.’

      ‘Oh, why did you leave?’

      Harry grimaced for a split second, and he looked at his half-full latte glass. Without meeting Maddy’s gaze, he said, ‘I’d rather not talk about it.’

      ‘Oh, okay, sorry …’ Maddy found herself fumbling with the straw in her iced latte. Change the subject. Quick. ‘So, can you tell me why one is called Shep?’ She’d heard one of the firemen call another by this name, and had thought it unusual.

      Harry’s expression softened. ‘His real name is Shaun.’ Maddy frowned at him in confusion. ‘As in Shaun the Sheep? At first he was Sheepy, but it got shortened to Shep.’

      ‘Oh, I get it, as in a sheepdog.’ She smiled her understanding. ‘And Barrows?’

      ‘That’s his surname.’ Harry chuckled.

      ‘That’s not very exciting. Why do they call you Roses?’

      ‘Tudor … War of the Roses …’

      Maddy laughed. ‘I get it! Firemen are odd. Why don’t you all call each other by your real names?’

      ‘Where’s the fun in that?’

      ‘And Dixons … because he likes spicy curries? Get it – Curry’s – Dixons?’

      Harry chuckled. ‘Not quite, but I like your line of thinking. It is actually because he has to have every latest top of the range gadget going. 3D HD TVs whatever they are … surround sound, you name it the man’s got it. He was named Dixons before they merged with Carphone Warehouse – obviously.’

      ‘Obviously.’ Maddy nodded, finishing her drink and feeling more relaxed in Harry’s company. Harry emptied his glass.

      ‘Shall we head back? Have you got all you need?’ Harry crumpled his paper napkin and poked it inside the empty glass so it wouldn’t blow away.

      ‘Yes, I have so much to do, it doesn’t bear thinking about.’ However, she wasn’t sure she’d get much done by the time they returned. Maddy stood, gathering her shopping bags. Harry took them off her as if it was the most natural gesture in the world – that a man should carry a woman’s bags. To remove the temptation to link her arm through Harry’s, like she would have with a close friend or Connor, and cause herself more embarrassment, Maddy pushed her hands into her pockets, unsure what to do with them. They started walking, weaving their way through the crowds, towards Lemon Quay where Harry’s truck was parked.

      ‘Oh, cat food!’ Maddy said, spying a Tesco supermarket by the car park. All of her food had been destroyed in the kitchen.

      ‘Good idea,’ Harry said. ‘I only had the one can of tuna.’

      ‘What did you feed her this morning?’ Maddy asked. Her brain was all over the place, and she was even forgetting to feed the cat.

      ‘I nipped round to number twenty-two – I know she has a cat, too. She gave me a can.’

      ‘Oh, it’s all right that she owns a cat,’ Maddy said, smirking. ‘I bet you haven’t fallen out with her over her cat.’

      ‘Funnily enough she’s never moaned about where I park my truck.’ His eyes narrowed on Maddy, but there was mischief behind them.

      ‘You know, she has two cats, don’t you? So there are plenty of cats in the close that could be crapping in your garden.’ Maddy pouted. Her ponytail swished as she picked up her step more confidently next to Harry.

      ‘I know, I know, I take it all back – about your cat! She’s living with me isn’t she?’

      ‘I bet you twinkled those blue eyes of yours and made the poor old woman at number twenty-two weak at the knees. She didn’t stand a chance.’

      ‘Nothing wrong with using the charm. If you’ve got it, flaunt it.’

      Maddy gently elbowed him, chuckling. The touch of his hot skin against hers sent a shot of electricity through her. He had it all right.

      Between them, they picked up some groceries and food for Sookie, Harry pushing the shopping trolley around the store. Then, laden with heavy shopping – Harry carrying most of it – they made their way back towards the car park.

      ‘So why’s she called Sookie?’ Harry loaded the shopping into the back of the flatbed then closed the tailgate and pinned the cover back down. ‘Anything to do with socks?’

      Maddy laughed, shaking her head. ‘No, at the time I adopted her, I was reading the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. Because Sooty is a common name to call a black cat, but it’s more a name for a tom, I thought, being a girl, Sookie would suit her better.’

      ‘Oh, so it’s nothing to do with her having one white paw then. I keep calling her Socks.’

      ‘If you feed her, she’ll answer to anything.’

      Twenty minutes into their journey, the traffic had come to a standstill on the A39 northbound, while traffic whizzed by on the other side. Unlike the A30, this road was single carriageway for most parts.

      ‘All we need – there’s been an accident,’ Maddy said, presuming that was the cause of the delay. She huffed out a breath, anxious to get home.

      Momentarily, Harry’s eyes widened, then he breathed as if trying to calm himself down.

      ‘No, no, it looks like they’ve just broken down,’ he said, pointing out the windscreen.

      He sounded relieved. Maddy was pleased too. It might mean the traffic would get moving quicker. She’d been deep in thought, her head heavily clouded with stress, processing the amount of jobs stacking up, from the small menial tasks of the washing coming off the line, to where to start on the house so she could move back into her home. Plus, when she could go back to work at the gallery.

      ‘Let me see if they need a hand.’ Harry pushed the button on the dash and his truck’s hazard lights flashed. Before opening his car door, he said, ‘Stay here, Maddy, please.’

      As Maddy watched Harry jog up to the vehicle three cars ahead, she wondered if she’d imagined his expression of panic when she’d assumed it was an accident in front. It was as if he’d physically relaxed as soon as he’d realised it was only a broken down car.

      She waited patiently in the truck as Harry spoke to the driver of the car – a distressed looking man in his forties, who had his young family out on the side of the road, up on the bank for safety. The mother carried a crying toddler, while an older child held her hand. Maddy watched Harry take control of the situation. With the window down, she could hear some of his instructions. He gathered a couple more helpers from the cars in front and sent an older man in his sixties back along the traffic, to keep any cars from passing. The last thing anyone needed was an accident. With the help of the other men, Harry pushed the car along to a safer position on the road. There was a lay-by not far ahead.

      ***

      Panting and sweating from the exertion of pushing the car, Harry jogged back to his truck. Maddy was looking at her phone, with a finger poised, scrolling along the screen. As he opened the driver’s door, Maddy jumped.

      ‘Harry, don’t do that!’

      ‘Sorry,’ he said, his breath still heavy. He could see worry etched on her face. This was a woman with a lot on her mind. ‘Are you okay? I didn’t mean to make you jump.’

      ‘Yes, sorry, I was away with the fairies, worrying. Thought I’d try to distract myself with Facebook.’ She waved her phone at him, then gestured ahead to the cars starting to move. ‘We’re lucky it was only a breakdown. An accident could have meant

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