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Tom let his nephew go. ‘Sorry, Jojo. I didn’t mean to hurt you. It’s just I was very scared when I couldn’t find you. I’m so glad you’re all right.’

Joey stared at him and said nothing.

‘I know this afternoon’s been scary, but it’s all going to be just fine,’ Tom said softly. ‘I promise. I’m going to have to stay here until the fire’s completely out and everything’s safe, but maybe Mrs Bailey will let you sit in her office and do some drawing until I can get in touch with the childminder and see if she can take you home. ‘

Joey said nothing, and Tom had absolutely no idea what the little boy was thinking. Did he feel abandoned, or could he understand that other people relied on Tom to do his job and keep them safe and he had to share Tom’s time?

Flora was sitting on the low bench by the coat rack. ‘Or,’ she said, ‘maybe you could come home with me until your uncle’s finished here. I live on a farm, and I’ve got the nicest dog in the world. ‘

Tom looked at her. ‘But I’ve only just met you.’ Did she really think he’d let his precious nephew go off with a complete stranger—even if she had been brilliant and helped to rescue him?

She bit her lip. ‘I know, but Joey knows me. And my boss is here—I take it you know Nick Tremayne?’ At Tom’s curt nod, she said, ‘He’ll vouch for me. And it’s no trouble. I just need to pick up my paperwork from the nursery next door—the children will all have gone home by now, so I’ll have to finish the clinic next week anyway. ‘

So she did think he’d let Joey go home with someone he didn’t know.

Then again, Tom was usually a good judge of character and he liked what he’d seen of Flora. She was kind, she was brave, and she’d thought of the children before herself.

‘Is that all right with you, Joey?’ Tom asked.

Joey looked wary, and Tom was about to refuse the offer when Flora said, ‘You can meet my dog and see around the farm.’

‘Dog,’ Joey said.

And, for the first time in a long, long time, he gave a smile. A smile that vanished the second after it started, but it was a proper smile. And it made Tom’s decision suddenly easy.

‘Do you want to go with Flora and see her dog, Jojo?’ Tom asked.

This time, Joey nodded.

‘I can borrow a car seat from the nursery—they have spares,’ Flora said. She took a notepad from her pocket and scribbled quickly on it. ‘That’s my address, my home phone and my mobile phone.’

‘Thank you.’ Tom dragged in a breath. ‘This is going to sound really ungrateful. My instincts tell me to trust you, but—’

‘I’m a stranger,’ she finished. ‘You can never take risks with children. They’re too precious.’ She bit her lip and looked away, and Tom felt like an utter heel. She was trying to help and he’d practically thrown the offer back in her face.

‘Talk to Nick,’ she said. ‘And then, if you’re happy for Joey to come with me, I’ll be next door at the nursery.’

Somehow, she’d understood that this wasn’t personal—that he’d be the same even if the offer had come from a teaching assistant he didn’t know. ‘Thank you,’ Tom said and, making sure Joey was right by his side, went to find Nick Tremayne.

At half past seven that evening, Flora heard the car tyres on the gravel and glanced across at Banjo, who was standing guard over the child asleep on the beanbag. ‘All right, boy. I heard him. Shh, now. Let Joey sleep. ‘

She’d opened the kitchen door before Tom could ring the doorbell. ‘Joey’s asleep in front of the fire,’ she whispered. ‘Come in. ‘

He’d showered and changed; out of his uniform, and with his face no longer covered by a mask and soot, Tom Nicholson was breathtakingly handsome. When he smiled at her, her heart actually skipped a beat.

Which was ridiculous, because he was way, way out of her league. He probably had a girlfriend already; though, even if he didn’t, Flora knew he wouldn’t look twice at her. Looking the way he did, and doing the job he did, Tom was probably used to scores of much more attractive women falling in a heap at his feet. He wouldn’t be interested in a shy, plump nurse who spent most of her time looking like a beetroot.

‘He’s absolutely sound asleep,’ Tom whispered, looking down at his nephew, who was lying on the beanbag with a fleecy blanket tucked round him.

‘It’s been a long day for him—and a scary one.’ She glanced at Tom. ‘Um, I’ve already fed him. I hope that’s OK.’

‘That’s great. Thanks for being so kind,’ Tom said.

‘I could hardly let him starve.’ Flora shrugged it off. ‘Poor little lad. He’s had a lot to cope with, losing both his parents. I know what that’s like.’ She’d had to face losing both her parents, the previous year, so she had an idea what he was going through—though, being twenty years older than Joey, at least she’d had an adult’s perspective to help her cope. She looked more closely at Tom and saw the lines of strain around his eyes. ‘You look exhausted.’

‘Once the immediate danger’s passed, the real work starts—making sure we keep the site damped down so the fire doesn’t flare up again.’ Tom grimaced. ‘Sorry I’ve been so long. And I took time out for a shower, because if I turned up covered in smuts and stinking of smoke it might scare Joey. ‘

He’d put his nephew first; and no doubt the shower had been at the expense of taking time to grab a meal. It was good that he could put Joey first, but the poor man must be starving as well as tired. And if she made him something to eat, she could keep herself busy doing something practical—which was a lot easier than sitting down and having a conversation where she’d end up blushing and stumbling over her words and getting flustered. She’d learned the hard way that being practical and doing something was the best way of dealing with her hated shyness. ‘He’s perfectly safe and comfortable where he is, so why don’t you sit down and I’ll make you a hot drink and something to eat?’ Flora asked.

‘I can’t impose on you like that.’

‘You’re not imposing. I made a big batch of spaghetti sauce this afternoon. It won’t take long to heat it through and cook some pasta—that’s what Joey and I had.’

‘Thank you.’

The next thing Tom knew, he was sitting at the table with a mug of coffee in front of him and Flora was pottering round the kitchen.

The kindness of a stranger. Tom was used to women offering to cook him things—it was a standing joke at the fire station that, almost every day, someone dropped by with a tin of home-made cookies or cakes or muffins for Tom. Old ladies whose cats he’d rescued, young mums whose toddlers he’d got out of a locked bathroom—and even the hard-nosed local reporter had seen him in action, rescuing someone from a burning building, and had joined what his crew-mates teasingly called the Tom Nicholson Fan Club, turning up with a batch of cookies for him on more than one occasion.

Even though he’d explained gently that he was simply doing his job, he could hardly be rude enough to turn away things that people had spent time making personally for him. So he accepted them with a smile on behalf of the fire crew, wrote thank-you notes—again on behalf of the entire fire crew—and secretly rather enjoyed them making a fuss over him.

But Flora Loveday was different.

There was something about her—a kind of inner peace and strength that drew him. Here, on her home ground, she glowed. He’d been too frantic with worry about Joey to notice properly earlier, but she was beautiful. Soft, gentle brown eyes; her hair, too, was soft, all ruffled and curly and cute. And the warmth she exuded made him want to hold her close, feel some of that warmth seeping into him and taking the chill of the fear away…

And then he realised what he was thinking and slammed the brakes on. Yes, he found her attractive—dangerously so—but he couldn’t act on it. In his job, it wasn’t fair to have a serious relationship with someone. He worked crazy hours and did dangerous things; he’d seen too many friends die and leave families behind. And there was Joey to consider, too. He’d had too many changes in his young life, just recently. The last thing he needed was his uncle being distracted by a new girlfriend.

But Tom also knew that he could do with a friend. Flora was the first person who’d seemed to understand or who had managed to start to reach Joey. And he really, really needed help reaching his nephew.

‘So what have you and Joey been up to?’ he asked.

‘I took him to see the chickens.’

‘Chickens?’ He hadn’t expected that.

She went pink again. ‘My dad started Loveday Eggs.’

He’d seen their boxes in the shops. ‘So you have chickens here?’

She nodded. ‘The hens are free range, so we went and collected some eggs. And then we made some brownies.’ She smiled. ‘There are some left. But not that many.’ She placed a bowl of pasta in front of him.

‘This smells amazing. Thank you.’ He took a mouthful. ‘Wow. And it tastes even better than it smells.’

‘It’s only boring old spaghetti and sauce.’ She looked away.

‘It’s wonderful.’ He ate the lot and accepted a second bowl. And then he grimaced. ‘Sorry. I’ve just been horribly greedy.’

‘You’ve just spent hours sorting out a fire. You must’ve been starving.’

‘I was,’ he admitted. And then he accepted her offer of helping himself to the brownies. ‘Wow. These are seriously good. And you made them with Joey?’

She fished her mobile phone out of her handbag, fiddled with it and then handed it to him. There was a picture of Joey, wearing a tea-towel as a makeshift apron, stirring the chocolatey mixture in a big bowl—and there was almost as much chocolate round his face.

And he looked happy.

Tom couldn’t speak for a moment. Then he gulped in a breath. ‘I didn’t know Joey liked cooking.’

‘Most kids love messy stuff,’ she explained, her colour deepening. ‘And cooking’s better still because they get to eat what they make.’

In one afternoon, she seemed to have got far closer to his nephew than he’d managed in a month. And he knew he needed help. Flora might be the one to help him reach Joey—and there was just something about her that made Tom sure that she wouldn’t judge him harshly. ‘It never even occurred to me to try doing something like that with Joey.’ He raked a hand through his hair. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I like kids. I’m always the one sent on school visits, but I just don’t seem to be able to connect with Joey—and I’m his uncle. Everything I suggest us doing, he just stares at me and says nothing. I can’t reach him any more. I feel…’ He shook his head, grimacing. ‘Hopeless. Helpless. I don’t even know where to start.’

‘Give it time,’ she said. ‘It’s only been a month since the accident—and he was one of the quieter ones in the school even before then.’

Tom blinked in surprise. ‘So you work at the school? I thought you said Nick Tremayne was your boss?’

‘He is, but I’m the school liaison,’ she explained.

‘So you visit the local schools?’

She nodded. ‘I spend half my time at the local nursery and schools, and half my time at the practice. I do a health visitor clinic at the primary school for mums one morning a week, a clinic at the high school, and I do the vaccinations and preschool health checks in the nursery. Plus I take the personal development classes—I get the little ones thinking about healthy eating and exercise and how they can get five a day, and how they can look after their teeth properly.’

It was the most he’d heard her say in one go, and she looked animated; clearly she loved her job and felt comfortable talking about it. ‘So I take it you like your job? ‘

She smiled. ‘I love it.’

Just as he loved his: something else they had in common. Tom paused, remembering what she’d said when he’d first walked in. ‘I’m sorry about your parents.’

‘And I’m sorry about your sister.’ She bit her lip, looking awkward. ‘I didn’t know her very well, but she seemed nice.’

‘She was. My big sister.’ Tom sighed. ‘And I feel worse because I was meant to go to France with her, Kevin and Joey to see our parents for New Year and I bailed out. Maybe if I’d been driving the crash wouldn’t have happened.’

‘You don’t know that,’ Flora said. ‘And think of it another way—if you had been in the crash, Joey might’ve been left without anyone at all.’

‘Mum and Dad would’ve stepped in to help, but they’re nearly seventy now, and it’s not fair to drag them back to England and make them run around after a little one. Dad’s arthritis really gives him gyp.’ He rubbed his hand across his forehead, but the tight band of tension refused to shift. ‘I loved spending time with Joey when Susie was alive—I used to see them most weekends. I’ve always tried to be a good uncle and we used to have fun—but since the accident he’s just put all these barriers up and I don’t know how to get them down again.’

‘Give it time,’ she said again, her voice kind.

‘Did he talk to you this afternoon?’

‘A bit. He was a little shy.’ She shrugged and looked away. ‘But so am I, so that’s OK.’

And that was one of the reasons why Flora seemed to understand Joey better than he did: she knew what it was like to be shy, and Tom never had. And he couldn’t help wondering what Flora was like when she wasn’t shy. He knew she was practical and kind—but what did she look like when she laughed?

Or when she’d just been thoroughly kissed?

Oh, for pity’s sake, he really needed to keep his libido under control.

Luckily his thoughts weren’t showing on his face, because Flora continued, ‘I read him some stories after we’d eaten—he chose them from the box I take to clinic—and then he fell asleep on the beanbag.’

‘Bless him.’ Tom bit his lip. ‘I think he’s had a better time with you than he would’ve done at the childminder’s.’ He sighed. ‘I feel bad taking him to the childminder’s for breakfast and then not picking him up until after dinner for half the week, but I work shifts—it’s the only thing I can do. I was trying to avoid any more change in his life, but she told me the other week I’m going to have to find someone else because she’s moving.’

‘Would your childminder be Carol?’ she asked.

Yet again, she’d surprised him. ‘How did you know?’

‘I know all the local childminders, through work,’ Flora explained. ‘Carol loves it here in Cornwall, but her husband’s been promoted to his company’s head office in London so that’s why she has to move.’

‘So if you know all the local childminders…’ Tom brightened. ‘Do you happen to know anyone with spare places who’d be good with Joey and could take him from half past six in the morning until school, and then after school until a quarter past seven or so? I can hardly take him with me to the station, in case we have a shout.’

‘Nobody’s got any spare places right now,’ Flora said. ‘The ones who did have are already booked up from taking on Carol’s clients. But I can ask around again, if you like.’

Yet another example of his failure at being a stand-in parent. ‘Susie would’ve had that sorted out on day one,’ Tom said grimly. ‘When Carol told me she was leaving and I’d have to find someone else to look after Joey, I was still trying to get my head around what had happened and learning to fit my life round my nephew. I didn’t have room in my head for anything else. And now I wish I’d made more of an effort.’ He blew out a breath. ‘Sorry. I shouldn’t be dumping on you like this.’

‘Not a problem. It’s not going any further than me.’

‘Trust you, you’re a nurse?’

‘Something like that.’ Flora smiled at him, and Tom realised that she had dimples. Seriously cute dimples. Dimples he wanted to touch. Dimples he wanted to kiss.

Though now wasn’t the time or the place. ‘Thank you. You’ve been really kind. Can I impose on you and ask you what’s your secret? You’ve got through to Joey when nobody else can, not even his teachers.’

She shrugged. ‘I think he likes Banjo.’

The dog wagged his tail at hearing his name. The sound of Banjo’s tail thumping the floor woke Joey, and he sat up, rubbing his eyes. For a moment, he stared wildly round him, as if not knowing where he was.

‘Hey, Jojo, we’re at Flora’s. At the farm,’ Tom said, going over to him and squatting down so that he was at his nephew’s level. ‘You fell asleep, sweetheart. I hear you’ve been running about with Banjo here and seeing the chickens and making brownies.’

Joey nodded.

‘Did you have fun?’

Joey nodded again.

‘That’s good.’ Tom smiled at him. ‘The fire’s out now so your school’s all safe again, ready for Monday morning. And we ought to let Flora get on. Shall we go home to Uncle Tom’s upstairs house?’

Joey just looked at him.

Home.

Clearly Joey didn’t think of Tom’s flat as home. Maybe he should’ve moved into his sister’s house instead of taking Joey back to his place, but he simply couldn’t handle it. Every second he’d been in the house, he’d expected Susie to walk into the room at any time, and it had to be even harder for Joey. Right now, Tom was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, and he hated himself for not being able to make Joey’s world right again. For being a coward and escaping to work whenever he could, losing himself in the adrenalin rush of his job.

‘Shall we say goodbye to Flora and Banjo?’

Joey yawned, then made a fuss of the dog, who licked him.

‘You can come back any time you like and play with him,’ Flora said. ‘He liked playing ball with you this afternoon.’

Joey said nothing, but there was the ghost of a smile on his face.

‘Thank you for having us,’ Tom said, knowing that his nephew wasn’t going to say it.

‘My pleasure. Come back soon, Joey,’ Flora said with a smile.

Tom tried slipping his hand into Joey’s as they walked to the front door, but Joey twisted his hand away. Tom was careful not to let his feelings show on his face. ‘Bye, Flora. Thanks again.’

He opened the car door, and Joey climbed onto his car seat. The little boy allowed Tom to fix the seatbelt, but Tom could see by the look on his nephew’s face that Joey had retreated back into his shell again. He didn’t even wave to Flora. If only he could find a way of getting through to Joey. He was just going to have to try harder.

CHAPTER THREE

DESPITE the fact that he’d lain awake half the night, worrying about Joey, Tom’s body-clock was relentless. He didn’t even need to look at his alarm to know that it was six o’clock. For pity’s sake, it wasn’t even light. And it was the weekend. Why couldn’t he just turn over, stick the pillow over his head and go back to sleep?

Ha. He knew the answer to that. Because Joey woke early, too, and Tom needed to keep the little boy safe. His life had changed completely. Nowadays, he couldn’t stay up until stupid o’clock watching films or playing online with his friends on a game console, or sleep in until midday on his day off. He had responsibilities.

Coffee, first. Tom dragged himself out of bed, then pulled on his dressing gown and headed for the kitchen. He blinked in surprise when he switched on the light and saw Joey sitting at the table in the dark, all dressed and ready to go out. Joey’s long-sleeved T-shirt was on back to front and he was wearing odd socks; Tom couldn’t help smiling. Cute beyond words. Part of him was tempted to ruffle his nephew’s hair, but he knew that the little boy would only flinch away, so there was no point.

And that hurt.

‘Why were you sitting in the dark, Jojo?’ he asked gently.

Joey said nothing, but glanced over to the doorway.

Of course. He couldn’t quite reach the light switch. Tom’s flat wasn’t designed for a four-year-old.

‘I’ll get a light put in here you can reach,’ Tom promised. An uplighter would be the safest. Or maybe one on a timer switch. ‘You look all ready to go out.’

Joey nodded.

‘Where do you want to go?’ And please don’t let him say ‘home’, Tom begged silently.

‘I want to play with Banjo.’

Flora’s dog had clearly made the breakthrough that none of the adults had been able to make, because this was the longest sentence that Joey had strung together since the accident.

It would be an imposition on Flora, Tom knew, but this was the most animated he’d seen Joey since the little boy had come to live with him. He couldn’t afford to let the opportunity slip away. Though going to visit Flora at this time of the morning would be a little too much to ask; he needed some delaying tactics.

‘OK, sweetheart, we’ll go and see Banjo.’ And Flora. Awareness prickled all the way down Tom’s spine, and he squashed it ruthlessly. This wasn’t about his attraction to the sweet, gentle school nurse who had the most kissable mouth he’d ever seen. This was about his nephew. ‘But it’s a bit early to go and visit anyone just yet; it’s still dark outside. I’m not even dressed—and I don’t know about you, but I really could do with some breakfast first. How about we make something to eat, then go and buy some flowers to say thank you to Flora for looking after you yesterday, and a…’ What did you buy dogs? Tom’s parents had always had cats rather than dogs, and he hadn’t had the space in his life to look after an animal properly so he had no pets. ‘A ball or something for Banjo?’ he finished.

Joey nodded.

Tom put water in the kettle and switched it on. ‘What do you want for breakfast?’

Joey shrugged.

‘Juice? Cereals?’ Flora had got through to him yesterday by baking. Tom didn’t bake. He did the bare minimum when it came to cooking: stir-fries, pasta and baked potatoes were pretty much his limit. Anyway, suggesting cake for breakfast wasn’t exactly healthy.

But there had to be something they could do.

‘How about a bacon sandwich?’ he asked. ‘We can make it as a team. How about you’re the chef, in charge of buttering the bread and squirting on the tomato ketchup, and I’ll grill the bacon?’

Joey gave him a tiny smile, and went to the drawer where Tom kept the tea-towels. Without a word, he tucked a tea-towel round himself like an apron, the way he had in the photo Flora had shown Tom the previous evening, then fetched the butter and tomato ketchup from the fridge.

This was good, Tom thought. A positive step.

Joey buttered the bread while Tom grilled the bacon. Tom carefully laid the cooked bacon on the bread, then looked at Joey. ‘Over to you, Chef.’

Joey squeezed tomato ketchup over the bacon—a bit too much for Tom’s taste, but he’d wash it down with coffee and a smile because no way was he going to reject his nephew’s efforts. ‘Excellent teamwork. High five, Chef.’ He lifted his palm, hoping that Joey would respond.

For a moment, he didn’t think Joey was going to react—and then Joey smiled and touched his palm to Tom’s. Only momentarily, but in Tom’s view it was huge progress from the way things had been. And it gave him hope for the future.

‘Can we see Banjo now?’ Joey asked when they’d finished, his face eager.

‘Once you’ve washed your face and changed your shirt— because they’re both covered in ketchup—and cleaned your teeth,’ Tom said. ‘And I need to wash up the breakfast things. Then we’ll go to the shop on the way.’

‘My singing isn’t that bad, you horrible dog,’ Flora said, laughing as Banjo started barking.

But then he went over to the kitchen door and barked again.

‘Visitors?’ Odd. She wasn’t expecting anyone, and it was too early for the postman. But there was no other reason why her dog would be barking by the front door. She switched off the vacuum cleaner and went to answer the door.

‘Oh—Tom and Joey! Hello.’ She hadn’t expected to see them today, despite telling them the previous evening that they could come round at any time. And it was incredibly early. Barely after breakfast.

‘We wanted to bring you something—didn’t we, Jojo?’ Tom said.

Joey nodded, all wide-eyed.

‘These are for you.’ Tom handed her the biggest bunch of flowers she’d ever seen. ‘We weren’t sure what colour you like, but Joey thinks all girls like pink.’

And there was every shade of pink. Bold cerise gerberas, tiny pale pink spray carnations, even some blush-pink roses.

Flora couldn’t remember anyone ever buying her flowers before—except her parents, on her birthday and when she’d qualified as a nurse—and it flustered her. ‘I, um…’ She felt the betraying tide of colour sweep into her cheeks. ‘Um, they’re lovely. I, um…’ Oh, help. ‘Do you want to come in?’

‘This is for Banjo.’ Joey was carrying what Flora recognised as a squeaky toy bone.

‘Thank you. He loves those.’

Just to prove it, when Joey squeaked the bone, Banjo bounced into the middle of the room, bowing down and wagging his tail to signal that he was ready to play.

Be practical, Flora told herself. Don’t make an idiot of yourself. ‘I’ll put these lovely flowers in water,’ she said. ‘Would you like a coffee?’

‘I’d love one.’ Tom smiled at her, and she felt her toes curl. Which was crazy. She didn’t react to people like that. Anyway, he wasn’t here to see her…was he?

To cover her confusion, she turned to the little boy. ‘Joey, would you like some milk or some juice? ‘

Joey shook his head and continued playing with the dog.

Tom glanced at the vacuum cleaner. ‘Sorry, you were busy.’

‘It’s OK. I was only vacuuming. And you brought me those gorgeous flowers.’

‘It was the least we could do. You were a total star yesterday. We wanted to say thank you.’

He’d brought her flowers to say thanks for helping with Joey. No other reason. She squished the ridiculous hope that he’d bought them for the usual reason a man bought a woman flowers. Of course not. She already knew she wasn’t the kind of woman who could make men look twice; she was way too short, thirty pounds too heavy, and on the rare occasion she wore a skirt it was usually six inches below the knee rather than six inches above. Plus she spent most of her time with a red face, tongue-tied. No way would someone like Tom be interested in her.

As always when faced with a social situation involving adults, she took refuge in practicalities, gesturing to Tom to sit at the scrubbed pine table in the centre of the kitchen, then busying herself arranging the flowers in a vase. Once she’d put them on the table, she made two mugs of coffee, took the remaining brownies from the tin and put them on a plate, then sat down with Tom and slid the plate across to him. ‘Help yourself.’

‘Thanks…’ he smiled at her ‘… but, lovely as those brownies are, I’d better pass. We’ve just had breakfast. Chef Joey there makes a mean bacon sandwich.’

She raised an eyebrow. ‘I assume you grilled the bacon.’

‘But he did the important bit—he buttered the bread and added the tomato sauce.’

Joey clearly wasn’t paying attention to anyone else except Banjo, but then Tom lowered his voice. ‘I’m sorry we turned up unannounced. He told me this morning that he wanted to come and play with Banjo—and it’s the longest sentence he’s said in a month. I feel bad about taking up your spare time, but this was a chance to get through to him. I just couldn’t turn it down.’

‘It’s not a problem,’ Flora said, keeping her voice equally low. ‘I wasn’t doing anything in particular, just the usual Saturday chores.’

‘I don’t want to make things awkward with your boyfriend.’

She felt the betraying colour heat her cheeks again. ‘I don’t have a boyfriend.’ The boys at school had never looked twice at her, she’d never been the partying type as a student nurse, and she knew that she wouldn’t even be on the radar of a gorgeous firefighter like Tom Nicholson. Then a really nasty thought hit her. ‘Is it going to be a problem for your girlfriend, Joey coming here to play with Banjo?’

‘There’s nobody serious in my life—just Joey.’ He smiled wryly. ‘Let’s just say my last girlfriend found it a bit hard to share my time. The way she saw it, I should’ve made my parents come back to England to look after him.’

‘How selfish of h—’ Flora clapped a hand to her mouth. ‘Sorry, it’s not my place to judge.’

‘No, you got it right first time. And she told me that the day after the accident.’ For a moment, he looked grim. ‘Apart from the fact that we hadn’t been dating for very long, it wasn’t a hard choice to make. Joey comes first.’

‘Well, of course he does.’

Tom gave her an approving smile that made her feel as if she were glowing from the inside.

‘I’ve been thinking about your childminder issue. I could help out, if you like.’ The words tumbled out before Flora could stop them. ‘I finish at five, the same time as the after-school club—so I could meet him from there if you like. There’s only me and Banjo to please ourselves, and it’s as easy to cook for two as it is for one, so if you’re out on a shout or something he can have his tea here with me—if you think he’d like that,’ she added swiftly.

Tom looked surprised at her offer. ‘That’s really kind of you,’ he said carefully.

Oh, no. He’d obviously taken it the wrong way. She’d better explain. ‘Look, I just know what it’s like to lose both parents,’ she said. ‘And that wasn’t me trying to—well, you know.’ She blushed again.

Trying to come on to him? From another woman, Tom wouldn’t have been so sure. But with Flora, he knew she was genuine; he hadn’t known her long, but it was obvious that she was the type to wear her heart on her sleeve. She was offering to help because she was kind, because she cared, because she’d lost her own parents and she could understand exactly how Joey felt—and she wasn’t emotionally hopeless with the boy, the way he was.

‘I know it was a genuine offer,’ he said softly, ‘and I’m not trying to come on to you, either.’ Though he knew that wasn’t strictly true. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something about Flora Loveday drew him. And it was completely unexpected because she was nothing like the women he usually dated. She wasn’t sophisticated, fashionable or glamorous. But there really was something about her that made him—well, just want her.