Chapter 12 #3
‘I’m very well, thank you, Hope. All the better for having the company of my lovely nephew, Louie, of course.
’ Gwen hooked her arm through his and smiled broadly.
‘He’s not long started work at the hospital, like you.
I’ve been waiting for the chance to introduce the two of you, so this is perfect. ’
‘Nice to meet you.’ Hope felt inexplicably shy, as though she were six, not twenty-six.
It was pretty ridiculous given that her job involved meeting new people and being able to put them at their ease immediately.
But Louie wasn’t an expectant mother, so maybe that was the reason.
Even as she tried to convince herself of that, she knew it wasn’t true.
She couldn’t just stand there staring at him open-mouthed, so she had to say something.
‘You’ve just started working with Joe Carter, haven’t you? ’
Hope flushed a deeper shade of red. She definitely hadn’t meant to mention Joe.
She could just have said the mental health team, or acted as if she had no idea where Louie worked.
The brief conversation she’d had with Joe about that, weeks ago, probably wouldn’t have stuck in her mind if it hadn’t been the first time she’d ever met her biological father.
She couldn’t explain that to Gwen or Louie, though.
So she’d just have to let them think whatever they wanted to about why she’d remembered that detail.
‘That’s right.’ Louie’s lovely smile didn’t waver, and Hope realised she was overthinking things.
He didn’t seem to think it odd and neither did Gwen, she was just reading too much into the situation because of the secret she was keeping.
‘Joe’s an amazing person to work for, a real inspiration, and the department as a whole is extraordinary.
I’ve already learned so much and there are so many opportunities to learn even more.
How about you? Are you enjoying working at St Piran’s? ’
‘I love it, but it’s even better being able to split my time between the hospital and the midwifery unit. I really enjoy working in the community and having the chance to get to know my patients properly, in a very different way to the patients I work with in the hospital.’
‘You didn’t fancy working for the midwifery unit full time?’ Louie asked, and Hope shook her head.
‘No, because the hospital deliveries can be a lot more complex and that allows me to experience a whole different side of midwifery. It really is the best of both worlds.’
‘It sounds ideal.’ He looked as if he might be about to say something else, but Gwen cut across him.
‘Work is all well and good, but you have to make room for some down time too and a night out. That’s not always easy when you’re new to the area, like you and Louie.
Maybe the two of you could team up?’ Gwen was about as subtle as a brick in her matchmaking efforts and Hope’s face reddened yet again.
She wanted to say something to let Louie off the hook and explain that he didn’t need to feel obliged to follow up on his aunt’s suggestion, but he responded before she got the chance.
‘I’d be up for getting together some time, if you would? Jobs like ours don’t allow much time for making new friends outside of work, do they? And I’ve been wanting to try the new tapas place on King’s Street.’
‘I love tapas.’ Hope’s response surprised her, not because it wasn’t true, but because she’d expected to make some kind of excuse, or at least give a far more non-committal response.
Maybe it was because going out for dinner with Louie would give her the chance to think about something other than the secret she was still carrying.
Or perhaps it was because of his link to Joe.
The third possibility was that she just wanted to go out with an attractive man, who might become a new friend, possibly even something more.
She couldn’t be entirely sure which of those things were true, but it didn’t matter.
All she knew for certain was that she wanted to go.
‘I’m free on Wednesday or Thursday evening next week, if either of those work for you? ’
Who on earth was this woman, acting as though she asked men out for dinner all the time?
Her sisters would have been incredulous if they could hear her.
She was all for female empowerment, and women being the ones to go after who or what they wanted, but she’d never been the sort of person to do it herself.
Let alone in front of an audience of other customers in a crowded bakery, one of whom was Louie’s aunt.
‘I can do either, but let’s say Wednesday, it’s one less day to wait.
’ Louie gave her another one of his lovely smiles and she allowed her shoulders to relax a little.
He was being every bit as open as she was, making it clear that he didn’t want to waste time, or play it cool, for no good reason. She liked him all the more as a result.
‘Wednesday it is then. If you give me your number, I can send you a text so that you’ve got mine too.
’ Hope pulled her phone out of her bag, as Gwen turned towards the counter to place her order, a wide smile on her face, having clearly achieved her aim.
Tapping Louie’s number into her contacts as he read it out to her, Hope sent him a text consisting of just the word hello, before looking up at him again.
‘I’ll book a table at El Caballo Loco at 7 p.m., but if you need to change the plan for any reason, you’ve got my number now. ’
‘I certainly have, and there was I thinking the best thing I’d get today was a saffron bun.’ There was a twinkle in Louie’s eye that made him even more attractive.
‘You can’t beat a saffron bun.’ Hope moved towards the counter as Gwen collected her order, determined not to overthink her decision to go out to dinner with Louie.
She was spending time with someone who was new to Port Agnes, like her, that was all.
She didn’t need any further complications in her life right now.
So, however dinner with Louie turned out, if things got even a tiny bit complicated, she’d be calling time on the prospect of a new friendship before it even had the chance to begin.