Half an hour later, they’d nearly finished drinking their tea when there was a knock on the door.
‘I’ll get it.’ Eleanor got up and went across to open it. ‘Oh, hello, Dr Jordan! Nice to see you again, come in.’
Lily spluttered English Breakfast all over herself and the carpet.
‘Lily!’ Moira exclaimed. ‘What a mess!’
As she wiped tea from her chin, Lily looked up and saw Jake grinning at her. She glared at him, aware her cheeks were bright red again. ‘What are you doing here?’ she said.
‘How rude!’ exclaimed Moira. ‘You would tell me off if I was that rude. Ignore her, doctor. She’s in an odd mood today. It’s very good to see you, I must say. We weren’t expecting you because my daughter thought a different doctor was coming?’
‘I ended up doing the home visits again this afternoon,’ Jake said, sitting down on the bed beside her. ‘My colleague is off sick. You seem much better, Mrs Spencer.’
‘Well, I’m still coughing,’ said Moira, clearing her throat and harrumphing. ‘I think you might have to listen to my chest again. Shall I take off this nightie?’
‘No!’ chorused Lily and Eleanor, again, at the same time.
‘Well, I can already hear from your breathing that your chest has less of a rattle. But it would probably be a good idea to take a quick look at you.’
‘Excellent!’ said Moira. ‘Are those hands all nice and warm?’
‘Oh, God,’ Eleanor groaned. ‘Please tell me this isn’t happening.’
Lily went into the bathroom, keeping her eyes averted from the bed as she went past. She stood in front of the basin and angrily swiped at her top with a hand towel, only managing to smear the tea and make the stain larger. What was he doing here? Her heart was pounding She was obviously delighted to see him, although humiliated at being placed on the back foot. How embarrassing she’d reacted like that! She’d been in pretty much constant contact with this man over the last couple of days, so he must have thought she was a right idiot when she spat tea all over herself at the sight of him. On the other hand, when he found out the rota had changed, he could have warned her? He knew Moira was on the home visit list, he also knew she would be here; he could have sent her a text so she wouldn’t be quite so surprised when he walked through the door. He probably just hadn’t thought about it. This whole situation was so peculiar. She had spent most of the morning thinking about this man, and he’d taken up permanent residence in her head – not just the image of him, but the things he’d said, the conversations they’d had, the regular flow of texts they’d been sending. But despite all that, it felt strange to suddenly have him here, just a few feet away, with his stethoscope on her mother’s chest.
She finished trying to wipe her top. She could hear the hum of voices outside in the bedroom. Jake was talking, and then Moira was laughing at whatever he’d said. She ran her fingers through her hair to tidy it and took some deep breaths. She could cope with this, it was all fine. She would go back out into the bedroom and act normally, as if nothing was wrong and Jake was just the local GP who’d come to check up on her mother. She smiled at herself in the mirror and tilted her head to one side, nodding as if she was listening to their conversation. Apart from the brown tea stain splattered across her chest, she didn’t look too bad.
‘That’s good to hear,’ Eleanor was saying, as Lily opened the door. ‘I’m sorry we called you out again, but yesterday there didn’t seem to be any improvement. It’s only today that Granny has started to seem better.’
‘It’s not a problem.’ Jake stood up and began putting things back into his bag. ‘That’s what we’re here for, and it’s always better to be safe than sorry. It has been a pleasure to see you ladies again.’ He turned to where Lily was standing in the bathroom door. ‘I was just telling your mother, her chest is improving and she’s making good progress.’
Lily stared at him; her heart was beating so hard and fast that she was sure Eleanor would be able to hear it from across the room. ‘That’s great,’ she said.
‘I know you’re all keen to get back to Brighton, so I’d suggest that, if she takes it easy for another couple of days, Mrs Spencer should be fine to travel by Monday.’ His eyes were boring into her as he spoke.
‘Monday? Two more days?’ Lily heard her voice catching in her throat.
‘That’s great news, isn’t it?’ said Eleanor. ‘Only two more nights in this awful place, Granny, then we can get you back home.’
‘I’m not bloody well going home!’ said Moira.
‘I’m afraid you are,’ said Eleanor. ‘This road trip of yours is well and truly over. Now we know you’re on the mend, we can make plans to get you back to Brighton.’
‘You can’t tell me what to do!’
‘I can and I will. Anyway, it’s not just me. Mum agrees that she needs to take you home.’
Lily was aware of them sniping at each other in the background, but couldn’t take her eyes off Jake. He was still staring at her too, and she wished she could read his mind, find out what was going on in his head. He looked tired today, the bags beneath his eyes were more pronounced than when she’d last seen him; although maybe it was because they were indoors, under artificial light. The last time she’d stared into these eyes, two nights ago, they’d just walked up the hill from the lake and had stood lurking in the darkness on the other side of the road. She wanted to reach out and touch him, run her fingers down his cheek, put her hand around the back of his neck and drag him towards her. But with Moira and Eleanor right beside them, she couldn’t make a move.
‘Two days?’ she said again. She was near enough to smell his aftershave – that damn smell was addictive. She would have to find out what it was, so she could go and buy a bottle and surround herself with it, once he was no longer around. The very thought of him not being around, the prospect of having to slam a door on something the two of them had only just started to explore, made her want to cry.
He nodded. ‘Yes, that should be plenty of time, the course of antibiotics will be finished by then. After that, there’s no reason why you and your mother shouldn’t make the journey home.’
She nodded. She tried to smile, but her mouth felt wobbly, so she pursed her lips together and dropped her eyes to the carpet. He stood in front of her for another second or two, then she saw his feet moving away and only looked up again as he opened the door; he went through it without turning back.
As the door clicked shut behind him, Moira and Eleanor were still arguing.
‘You can’t force me to do anything I don’t want to do!’ Moira was saying.
‘No one is forcing you to do anything, Granny. You just need to be sensible.’
‘You’re forcing me. You always force me.’
Lily walked across to the bay window and looked down into the parking area. Below her the front door slammed, and she watched as Jake came out and down the steps and began to walk away from the guest house.
There were so many reasons why she should make the journey home, and they all involved Lily being a selfless, dutiful daughter – as usual – and putting her mother first. There were also many reasons why she shouldn’t make the journey home – and they all involved Jake, and would mean Lily making a stand and putting herself first for a change. She just wasn’t sure she was ready to do that yet.