Chapter Five
It took Jessica a moment to remember where she was when she woke up the next morning, and to realise there was someone knocking on her bedroom door.
“Come in,” she said groggily.
Nathan peeped around the door. “Hey,” he said. “I’m heading off to work in a minute. I’ve let the dogs out and they’re in the kitchen. I thought you might like a coffee.” He held out a steaming mug.
“Oh, yeah, thanks. That’s really kind of you. Come in.” Jessica went to sit up and jarred her foot. She winced.
“I also brought you some painkillers,” Nathan said, walking across the room and putting the coffee and the tablets on the bedside table. “Did you manage to sleep?”
“Yes, thank you. My foot kept me awake a little, but not as much as I thought it would. The bed’s really comfortable.”
Jessica tried to tame her hair. Nathan looked completely put together. His hair was damp from the shower and he wore a white shirt and dark grey trousers.
“How’s your foot feeling now?”
“Sore,” admitted Jessica.
“Hopefully the painkillers will help with that. Is there anything else I can get you before I go? Would you like some breakfast?”
“You don’t need to wait on me . . .”
“You’re not very good at being looked after, are you?”
“No,” admitted Jessica.
“Look,” said Nathan. “You’re a professional dancer, you know how important it is to eat properly, how vital it is for your body to get energy from food so that it can perform, and most importantly in this case, heal. It’s not easy for you to prepare food, so I’m offering to get you some. Nothing fancy. I’m not suggesting I prepare you a full English, but I have Weetabix and I have bread which I am willing to toast for you. Which would you like?”
“Weetabix, please,” said Jessica gratefully. Truth be told, she was hungry.
“I’ll be right back with your order, milady,” Nathan said, bowing as he shuffled backwards out of the room.
He soon returned with Jessica’s breakfast.
“Here you go. I’ll be off, then. I’ll see you at lunchtime. Here’s my mobile number in case you have a problem.” He handed her a piece of paper with his handwriting on. “I usually have it turned off during clinic, but if there’s an emergency, call the surgery. I’ve put that number on there as well.”
“Thank you, Nathan,” said Jessica.
“No problem.” He gave her a surprisingly shy smile before he left.
* * *
Jessica got up after she’d eaten her cereal. She managed to attempt a shower of sorts with her plastered foot sticking out of the shower door. At least I’m over my jet lag, she thought wryly as she struggled to ease a pair of shorts over her foot. She’d be limited to shorts, dresses and skirts while she was wearing her boot — lucky it was summer. Carrying her dirty bowl and mug out was not going to be easy while using her crutches she realised. She managed the mug, at least, hooked around her little finger.
She hadn’t had a chance to look around Nathan’s house the night before. She hadn’t even seen the outside properly as they’d arrived in the dark. She opened the bedroom door into the hallway. The next door along led to a sitting room, and the kitchen was at the back of the house. The dogs heard her come out and she could hear them moving about excitedly so she went straight in to see them.
She entered the kitchen warily in case one of them bumped her foot, but though the dogs were clearly thrilled to see her, they seemed to understand that she was fragile and wasn’t to be jumped around. A large window above the sink looked out over Nathan’s garden, which was complete with a potting shed at the end. Jessica opened up the back door to take a closer look, letting the dogs out in front of her.
By the house was a patio with a rusting barbecue and some plastic chairs stacked in a corner; beyond that, a scraggy lawn stretched down to the shed and what looked like an apple tree at the far end. The whole garden was enclosed by a high wooden fence. The sun was already hitting the patio nicely. It was a pretty spot, but seemed a bit neglected and like no one ever really bothered to use it.
She came back inside and heard her phone beep from back in her bedroom. If she wanted to see who was messaging her, she’d have to hobble back in there. She should have thought of that and brought her phone out with her. She could just leave it, but it might be Nathan, and she didn’t want him to worry if she didn’t answer. She’d have to be more organised if she was to move around as little as possible, at least for the first couple of days of her recovery.
Going back along the hall, she looked up the staircase, but couldn’t make out much of what was up there. She wondered what Nathan’s room was like.
Even if he hadn’t told her, it would have been clear he’d not lived here for long: there weren’t a lot of personal items up on the walls, for example, and everything was very clean and new. Like he’d started completely afresh, she guessed.
She made it to her bedroom, followed closely by both dogs, and picked up her phone. The message was from her mum: Hello, love. We’re having a lovely time. Andrew did a barbecue in the garden last night and we’re going to Penrith Castle today. Dad’s asking how Monty is. Is he behaving himself?
Jessica sat down on the bed and debated what to reply. She didn’t want to lie to her parents, but she knew if she told them what had happened, they’d want to drive straight back to be with her. She was suddenly filled with gratitude for Nathan. Even the last hour had shown how much she would have struggled alone all day with Monty in a house with the only loo upstairs. Nathan might be at work now, but he was able to walk Monty for her and she was certain he’d make sure she was fed tonight. And most importantly, if she needed him, she knew she could call and he would be back within a few minutes. She had absolutely no doubt of that. How funny to trust someone so completely when she knew so little about them.
Monty’s fine, and he’s made a new friend , she typed. Then she added, Glad you’re having a lovely time! Say hi to everyone from me!
There. She hadn’t lied. She wasn’t sure that was the solution for the whole of the rest of her parents’ holiday, but it would have to do for now. The dogs looked at her expectantly when she got up. “I can’t take you guys for a walk — look,” she said, waggling her plastered foot at them. “But I’ve left the back door open for you so you can go and lie in the sun if you want.”
Jessica’s foot was aching a lot now. She debated going into the sitting room and getting comfortable on the sofa in there, but she was on the bed already so she shuffled onto it properly, propping up some pillows behind her. She could watch something on her iPad. Or at least she could if she’d remembered to get it out of her suitcase before she’d got comfy. This was frustrating. She really didn’t make a good invalid.
* * *
Nathan leaned back into his chair and closed his eyes, pleased to have a few minutes of peace to gather his thoughts. It had been a busy morning in the surgery, but none of his patients had presented anything too taxing, and so he was actually five minutes ahead in his clinic. He’d decided to take a quick break before calling the next patient in.
It was probably a good thing that he hadn’t had much time to think that morning, he reflected. If he had he would have to admit to himself just how insane his actions of the previous day had been.
Yes, he felt terribly guilty about Dennis’s part in Jessica’s accident, but he knew most people would consider he’d more than redeemed himself by taking her to the hospital. No one would expect him to have her as a guest in his house for the next week and a half, especially when they hadn’t seen each other for over twenty years.
And the last thing he wanted after what he’d been through was an attractive woman in his home. He’d moved to Bowerbridge for a fresh start. He needed time alone to heal. He’d planned to focus on work, spending his free time with Dennis.
But there had always been something special about Jessica Stone. He’d been smitten from the moment he’d seen her teaching the other girls in their class how to twirl in the school playground. And it seemed nothing much had changed. Except that she was a bit grumpier now. Although that wasn’t really fair; anyone would be grumpy in her situation — she was in a lot of pain and had had a major disappointment. He supposed there was a chance she wouldn’t be returning to New York, or at least not for quite a while. How patient would her ballet company be with her if her foot took a long time to heal?
Somehow, he suspected Jessica Stone was going to be disrupting his life for a lot longer than just nine more nights.
* * *
Jessica was pleased to hear Nathan’s key turn in the lock of the door at ten past one.
She’d left the bedroom door open so the dogs could come and go to the garden, but they’d spent most of their time sleeping by the side of her bed, except when Monty had decided to investigate her loo, causing her to use swear words she hadn’t even been aware she knew as she hurried to stop him from helping himself to the water.
Overall, she found their presence quite comforting. They rushed out to the door when they heard Nathan, though, thrilled to have a human return who could move around properly.
“Hey,” Nathan said, petting the dogs. “How are you doing?”
“Not too bad. Did you have a good morning?”
“Yeah, busy. Let me make us a bit of lunch. I’ve only got about forty minutes before I need to get back.”
“Thanks. I appreciate you spending your lunchtime checking on me.”
“I usually come home to have a play with Dennis anyway,” he reassured her.
Jessica followed him along to the kitchen.
“Did the dogs behave for you?” Nathan asked.
“They were as good as gold, even Monty. Mostly.”
“Animals can be very perceptive. Maybe they’re going easy on you because they know you’re hurt.”
“If that’s the case, then thank you, guys,” Jessica said with a laugh.
“Is soup all right for lunch? It’s spiced butternut squash.” Nathan held up the carton for Jessica to see.
“Sounds yummy.”
Nathan put the soup on to warm through.
“If you have a chance before you leave, could you get me a couple of the garden chairs down, please? I thought it would be nice to sit in the garden this afternoon, while the sun’s on it.”
“Sure, I’ll do it now,” he said, heading outside. “And then you can get that foot elevated again,” he said, sternly.
Jessica smiled. For someone who hated being bossed around as much as she did, she quite liked it when Nathan became all doctory and strict with her. It made her feel looked after.
Jessica followed him outside and watched guiltily as Nathan got chairs down and wiped them clean before drying them ready for her. By the time she’d got herself sat in one with her foot up on another, lunch was ready and Nathan brought the soup out along with some sourdough bread.
“So,” he said, sitting down next to Jessica. “If you were home in New York now, what would you be doing?”
“Dancing,” said Jessica automatically. “Actually, with the time difference, I’d probably be in the gym right now.”
“How many hours of exercise do you do a day?”
“It varies. More when we’re rehearsing and performing, but at least six.”
“That sounds exhausting!”
Jessica laughed. “It can be, but it’s what you have to do if you want to be a ballet dancer. It’s what I’ve done for fifteen years now.”
“Since you were sixteen?” said Nathan, quickly doing the maths.
“Yeah. I boarded at a ballet school in London during the week until I was eighteen, and then I auditioned and was offered a place in the ballet company I’m with now.”
“That’s dedication.”
“Yep, but I bet you worked incredibly hard to get through medical school.”
“That’s true. I think I’ve blanked most of it out. I survived on about four hours of sleep a night for years, although some of that was so I could fit in some socialising as well,” he admitted.
They finished eating and Nathan took their empty bowls into the kitchen and loaded them into the dishwasher. He came back out with a couple of tennis balls. “It’s probably a good idea to tire these two out a bit before I head back to work.”
Chaos ensued for the next ten minutes as balls flew everywhere. Dennis had been trained to return the ball to the person who threw it and would place it gently in Jessica’s lap for her to throw again, which was very helpful, but a bit yucky as it soon got slimy. Monty, however, would race after the ball, invariably missing it and crashing into the garden fence, before running around with it in a circle like a crazy thing and refusing to give it back to Nathan so it could be thrown again.
“You really don’t get the point of this game, do you, mate?” said Nathan, gently wrestling the ball off Monty once again.
This was fun, Jessica realised. Completely different to her usual life, the life she had worked so incredibly hard to have, and not at all what she had expected from her trip back home, but fun nonetheless.
* * *
Nathan found he was rushing to finish after his last patient had left at the end of the day. He cleared his desk and packed his bag up quickly, heading out of the doctor’s surgery without stopping as he usually did to chat with anyone behind the reception desk. “Maybe he’s got a date to get to,” said one of the receptionists wistfully to another as they watched the handsome young doctor leave.
The truth was that Nathan wanted to get back to Jessica. He was looking forward to spending the evening with her. It would be nice to have someone to cook for again. He’d have to pop to the supermarket to get some food in... he’d take the dogs out first, though.
“Hiya,” he called out as he came in through his front door. The dogs came running up to greet him.
“Hi!” came Jessica’s reply from the garden. He could tell there was something not right straight away.
He walked quickly through the house and found Jessica in the garden still in the chairs he’d put out at lunchtime. It was clear she’d been crying.
“What’s up?” he asked gently, crouching down beside her.
“I had a phone call from my friend, Bethany, this afternoon. She was my understudy for my part in The Sleeping Beauty .”
“And now she gets to play Aurora?” Nathan finished for her.
“Yeah,” said Jessica, blowing her nose. “Usually the part would go to one of the principals as we hadn’t even started rehearsing, but as luck would have it, no one is available. They’re either injured or committed to other parts. I know she’s my friend and I should be happy for her to have this amazing opportunity, but I’ve worked for so long for that part. It’s what I’ve dreamt of dancing my entire career, and now she’s taken it... and before you say it, I know she didn’t take it, it was given to her...”
“It’s completely understandable that you’d be upset. It sucks that this happened to you, especially with working so hard.”
“Why did it have to be now? Why not years ago when I was in the corps and it wouldn’t have mattered so much if I’d had to take a few months off?”
“It’s completely unfair, I’m sorry.”
“I’m trying to be happy for Bethany,” said Jessica, putting her head in her hands.
“I don’t think anyone would expect any more from you.”
“It was nice of her to call me,” said Jessica. “It must have been awkward for her. She’s the only one in the company who knew how much I wanted that particular part. Of course, every ballet dancer wants to be a principal, but that part was extra special to me.”
“Why’s that?” Nathan pulled a chair over for himself and sat down next to her, never removing his attention from her.
“ The Sleeping Beauty was the first ballet I ever saw. My mum won a couple of tickets to a production in Covent Garden. I was only five at the time and my mum thought I’d be bored, but my dad didn’t want to go so she figured she’d brave it with me.”
Nathan smiled. “I bet she regretted that when she started having to drive you to classes all the time.”
“Oh, yes. She said I was completely mesmerised by the dancing. I cried when it finished because I didn’t want to leave the theatre in case the dancers came back out again. The next day my mum found a dance class for me and I never looked back.”
“Why don’t we see if we can cheer you up this evening?” Nathan suggested. “You’ve spoken to your company and to your friend, so at least those things are out of the way. I need to take the dogs out, but then we can cook some supper.”
Jessica gave him a weak smile. “That sounds nice. Thank you.”
“I’ll go to the supermarket on my way back. Is there anything you want?”
“Could you get me some plain skyr yoghurt and a bag of frozen berries, please? Do you want the money for them now?” Jessica asked, going to stand up.
“No, we can sort it out later. I’ll be back soon, OK?”
“OK.” Jessica was so grateful she had Nathan around, not just for the practical stuff he was doing for her, but also so she had someone to talk to.
* * *
While Nathan was out walking the dogs, Jessica took the opportunity to tidy herself up. She hobbled into her bedroom, sat down on the bed, and checked herself in her make-up mirror. For someone who took a lot of pride in her appearance and was frequently judged on it because of her career choice, she thought she looked a fright.
This was the first day for as long as she could remember that she hadn’t put her hair up in a chignon for at least part of the time. It would probably do it good to have a break from it, she decided, and gave it a brush, leaving it loose around her shoulders. She put on some concealer and foundation, to hide her puffy eyes as best as she could, and added some eyeliner and mascara. It would make her feel better. Nothing to do with the fact that she’d be spending the evening with Nathan at all. She changed into a clean top. She was feeling excited, she realised. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d been excited about spending an evening with a man, unless she was going to be dancing alongside him, of course. It was a nice feeling, and it was certainly good to have her mind taken off her foot, at least a little.
* * *
It seemed like an age until Nathan returned, but when he did he came bearing food and two worn-out dogs.
“I’ve got some rainbow trout, and I thought we could have some sweet potato wedges and asparagus with it,” said Nathan as he unpacked the bags of shopping.
“Sounds yummy. You’ll have to let me pay towards food while I’m here, though.”
“We’ll go halves,” said Nathan, easily. “I also got a bottle of this Shiraz I like — will you have a glass with me?”
“I don’t usually drink,” explained Jessica.
“I’ve also got some sparkling elderflower if you’d prefer?”
“Actually —” Jessica hesitated — “do you know what? I think I will have a glass of wine. I reckon I deserve it after the afternoon I’ve had.”
“I think so too. This definitely counts as extenuating circumstances.” He retrieved two glasses from a cupboard and poured them both a drink before handing one to Jessica. Their fingers brushed as she took it from him, sending a little tingle around her body. A very pleasant tingle, she mused to herself.
“If I get a chair set up for your foot to rest on, you can sit at the kitchen table and be my sous chef,” Nathan offered.
“OK, but don’t expect too much from me,” Jessica warned. “I’m a terrible cook.”
“I doubt that.” Nathan took out two knives and two chopping boards and placed one of each in front of Jessica.
“No, I really am,” Jessica said, laughing. “I think it comes from never really taking the time to learn and never having the patience to wait around for things to cook properly. But then the takeaway food and the delis in New York are so amazing.”
“Not quite like in Bowerbridge, eh?”
“No. The food you got last night was lovely,” she quickly added, “But there’s not a lot of choice.”
“I lived in Manchester for about five years before moving here, and there are some amazing restaurants and takeaways there,” he said, taking the fish out of its packaging and placing it on his board.
“I bet. How come you moved, was it just for the job?”
Nathan’s demeanour shifted, and he was silent for a moment, apparently very absorbed in the trout he was deboning. Eventually, he said, “No, it wasn’t just the job. My relationship broke up and I needed a change of scene.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s fine, but I’d rather not talk about it if you don’t mind,” Nathan said.
“Of course, not a problem. When did you learn to cook?” Jessica asked to change the subject.
Nathan looked at her gratefully. “I guess I started at university just because it was cheaper than buying prepared food or takeaways, and I found that I quite enjoyed it so I taught myself more.”
“And look at you now, gutting fish like a pro! That really does look disgusting by the way...”
“It will taste amazing,” Nathan promised. “If I scrub the sweet potatoes in a minute, can you cut them into wedges?”
“That I think I can do,” said Jessica. Their eyes met and Jessica smiled shyly at Nathan. His eyes travelled down to her mouth and she felt her heart begin to race. Then Monty jumped up at the counter to try to help himself to some fish.
“Monty! Get off!” Nathan said sternly. The moment was lost and the dog was put outside to think about his actions.
* * *
Supper did indeed taste amazing, and the glass of wine Jessica drank relaxed her enough that if it hadn’t been for her stupid foot, she would have been having a really good time.
She went to stand so she could help to clear the table. “Don’t you dare,” said Nathan immediately. “You know what the doctor said, you still need to be staying off it as much as possible for the first forty-eight hours.”
“I feel bad letting you do all the washing-up.”
“Well don’t. It’s fine. Most of it gets chucked in the dishwasher anyway. It’ll only take a few minutes.”
He opened the back door to let the dogs out into the garden — Monty having been permitted re-entry after a further talking-to.
“You can amuse me with tales from the ballet world while I scrub away at the fish pan.”
Jessica laughed. Nathan was so easy to be with and to talk to. She loved how she could relax with him, not having to keep up the facade she usually maintained. Most of the people she knew were in the business of ballet, and if she showed any weakness they would use it against her, or at least they had the potential to. Not that they were all bad people by any means, but they were working towards the same goal as she was, and they were very aware that they might not reach it. She could hardly complain; she was exactly the same.
“So there was one time in Paris...” she began.
* * *
They finished clearing up and Nathan made coffees which they drank while they chatted together at the table. He’d just finished telling Jessica about how he’d got Dennis from a dog rescue, when Jessica found herself thinking how handsome he looked. Maybe it was because he’d cooked for her and was looking after her so well... and they’d had that moment earlier, she mused.
“I had something that I’d planned to do last night, that I’d kind of like to do now,” Nathan said once the clearing up was all done. “But I’m worried you’ll tease me.”
Jessica’s cheeks flushed. Oh, for heaven’s sake, she told herself sharply — get a grip. He’s not talking about anything with you. Most of the time he’s spent with you recently was when you were either crying or covered in mud.
“What is it?” she managed to croak.
“Promise you won’t tease me?”
“I can’t promise that!” Jessica exclaimed. “It’s my moral duty as your friend to tease you if you’re doing something embarrassing.”
“We’re friends, then?”
“Of course we are. I’d feel really bad about taking over someone’s home and having them wait on me hand and foot if they weren’t even my friend,” Jessica quipped. She could feel her cheeks heating up again. “Anyway, stop changing the subject. What did you want to do?”
“Come through to the sitting room and I’ll show you,” Nathan said, before adding, “Carefully.”
Jessica had poked her head into the sitting room but hadn’t been in there properly before. It was nice — very clean and tidy like the rest of the house, and without much of anything personal in it.
There was a large cardboard box in the corner. Nathan helped Jessica get settled on the sofa and put cushions underneath her foot so it was elevated. When he was quite sure she was comfortable, he went over to the box and opened it up. The dogs sniffed the box, but decided it wasn’t anything interesting and both climbed up to sleep on the second sofa.
“I didn’t take you for someone who’d let his dog lie on the sofa.” Jessica laughed at how comfortable the dogs had made themselves.
“It’s his house as well.” Nathan shrugged.
“Fair enough.”
“Though in honesty, that was one of those pick your battles things. I was determined not to allow him on there, but he was more determined to be on there, so I gave in on that one.”
“I don’t think I could bring myself to chuck him off when he looks so cosy.”
“Exactly,” Nathan agreed. “So, do you like playing computer games?” he continued, pulling some leads out of the box.
“I honestly don’t think I’ve ever played a video game in my life,” Jessica said.
“Seriously? How is that possible?”
“I don’t know. I guess I just never had the time to.”
“Well, now you do.”
“My brother, Andrew, had a PlayStation, but I wasn’t allowed to touch it.”
“Can’t say I blame him. I wouldn’t have let my sister touch this if my mum and dad hadn’t made me.” Nathan produced a games console from the bottom of the box. “I present to you my Xbox360. I was given this bad boy for Christmas when I was fifteen. I was the envy of all my friends for months.”
“I bet.”
“My mum dropped it off when she came to visit a couple of weeks ago. She didn’t want it cluttering up her house anymore.”
“I can’t understand why...” Jessica said with a giggle.
Nathan shot her a look. “You can make yourself useful by untangling these cables. I’m going to check that the TV has the right sockets.”
“I think I’ve drawn the short straw here — these are as bad as Christmas lights.”
“Stop complaining and get untangling, or I won’t make you a cup of coffee in a minute.”
“Yes, sir!”
The wires weren’t as badly knotted as Jessica had thought, and it only took a few minutes for Nathan to set up the machine. He handed Jessica one of the controllers. “What do you want to play?” he asked.
“Honestly?” said Jessica. “I have no idea about computer games.”
“Well, they’re much more fun to play with someone else, so please play one with me. Just for half an hour?”
“OK,” said Jessica with an exaggerated sigh. “Half an hour, and only because you cooked me such a nice dinner.”
“Hooray! What sort of game would you like? The football ones are pretty simple to pick up.”
Jessica screwed up her nose in disdain.
“Fair enough . . .” muttered Nathan.
“What’s your favourite?” Jessica asked.
“ Fable II ,” Nathan said immediately. “I bought a second-hand copy after I finished my A Levels. I spent days of that summer holiday playing it. It’s a wonder I managed to pull myself away from it for long enough to go to university.”
“What’s it about?” asked Jessica suspiciously.
“It’s like an adventure game. You’re the hero and there’s the main quest and then loads of little quests you can do. It’s fun, I promise.”
“OK, I believe you. Definitely sounds better than a football game anyway.”
“Right, I’ll be the main player, and you be the secondary player so you’ll need to stay near me, but it means I can show you around.”
“Man, you even get to boss me around in the video game?”
“Yep, ’fraid so.”
“Half an hour, right?”
“I swear.”
* * *
“It’s 1a.m., Jess. I’ve got to go to bed — I’ve got work in the morning,” Nathan said, rubbing his eyes.
“I know, I know, I’m sorry! I just want to explore that creepy old mansion on the hill for some treasure, and then I promise we can stop. And since when did you call me Jess?”
“Since you took over as main player because I’m apparently not ‘forceful enough during confrontations with gargoyles’. I won’t call you Jess if you’d rather I didn’t. It just seemed like a natural thing to call you.”
“It’s fine,” she said. Somehow his calling her by the shortened version of her name served to make them seem closer, like real friends. She liked it.
* * *
Nathan didn’t look quite as put together when he brought Jessica in her cup of coffee the following morning. He was obviously someone who needed his eight hours of sleep every night.
“Don’t expect this kind of treatment every morning,” he warned. “This is only while you’re supposed to be keeping your weight off your foot.”
“Thank you,” said Jessica. “And I’m sorry I kept you up so late last night.”
“It’s my fault for introducing you to the game, though I did warn you it was addictive.”
“That Lord Lucien has got to pay for his behaviour! He can’t be allowed to get away with it!”
“He won’t,” said Nathan laughing. “I’m guessing you’d like to play some more this evening?”
“Yes, you’ll have to cook by yourself I’m afraid because I’m going to need to do a lot of blacksmithing to be able to afford the sword I’m after. And then I think we need to go hunting for a wife.”
“I’m beginning to regret this . . .”
“Nothing you can do about it now,” said Jessica with a grin and a shrug.