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and present griefs, but Lucy and his mother had set the ball rolling and he’d had to say something. Once he’d started it had been oddly comforting to be talking to an outsider who’d listened with sympathy and understanding, while making no demands on him.
    And an ‘outsider’ Annabel must have certainly felt when he’d been so keen to emphasise that she’d been there merely in the role of someone to whom thanks were due. She must have thought him tactless and rude, though she’d shown no sign of it.
    And then there’d been his mother! Sounding Annabel out and showing how anxious she was for him to find himself another wife, when he had no such intentions. It wasn’t like her. She was the kindest and most thoughtful of mortals. But something had got into her and they were going to have to talk it through.
    All was silent as he let himself back into the house and as he stripped off and flung himself on top of the covers of his bed Annabel’s face kept coming to mind.
    â€˜No. I haven’t got anyone in my life,’ she’d told him back there in the car, and he’d known immediately that that hadn’t always been the case. Had it been a past relationship that had taken the colour from her cheeks?
    Whatever it was, he had a strong feeling that if he’d become more interested in her during the evening, his mother’s comments would have put the flattener on any stirrings Annabel might have been experiencing. If she gave him a wide berth on Monday morning, he wouldn’t be surprised...
    * * *
    But he was to see her again before Monday. On Saturday afternoon Aaron took Lucy into the town for some new shoes, and as they were leaving the shop he saw Annabel cross the road, looking in the window of an estate agent.
    â€˜We meet again,’ he said from behind her a few seconds later, and she swung round in surprise.
    â€˜Yes, we do,’ she agreed, adding with a special smile for Lucy, who was fishing her new shoes out of the bag for her to see, ‘You’ll be surprised to see that I’m looking at property.’
    â€˜Yes. What has prompted that?’
    She had a smile for him now and Aaron thought if she had been upset the night before it obviously hadn’t persisted.
    â€˜What do you think?’ she replied. ‘Going back to the flat after spending the evening in your palatial residence.’
    â€˜Really? So last night did do you some good.’
    She could have told him that she’d also woken up feeling ready to face the day, which had to be a step in the right direction, and that the carrier bag she was holding held some smart new clothes. But it wouldn’t do for Aaron to think he’d had that much influence on her.
    Lucy was dangling a pair of black school shoes under her nose and Annabel bent to admire them.
    â€˜So do I take it that you’ll soon be going back to school?’ she said as eyes blue as the sky looked up into hers.
    â€˜Yes,’ Lucy said. ‘On Monday. I’ve been away a long time. I’ll be behind in my work and all my friends will have forgotten me.’
    â€˜I’ve told Lucy that the teacher knows she had a nasty accident and won’t expect her to catch up straight away,’ Aaron said gravely as his eyes met hers above Lucy’s blonde head.
    â€˜Yes, of course,’ Annabel agreed, ‘and I’m sure that your friends won’t have forgotten you. I imagine that they all think you very brave having such a serious operation and coming back to school looking just the same as before.’
    â€˜Can I tell them that the doctor who mended my head is my friend?’
    â€˜Er...yes, by all means,’ Annabel said, aware of the amusement in Aaron’s dark eyes. She watched it change to surprise as she suggested, ‘Maybe we could take Lucy’s class on a tour of the hospital. It would increase her standing and they would know what to expect if ever