He rose and went to the stereo to put on some music. Mellow jazzy tones filled the room, but the bitterness, which had crept into his voice, still hung in the air. Hazel could see that he was struggling with something. Guilt, perhaps.
‘Tradition is a fine thing,’ she said quietly, ‘but you have to do what’s right for you and the boys.’
He returned to the sofa and sat down beside her. ‘You’re right. From now on I shall listen only to my heart. Anyway, how did you get to be so wise?’
‘Me? I’m not wise.’
‘Yes, you are,’ he insisted. He slipped his arm over the back of the sofa, brushing her neck as he did so and sending shivers of longing down her back. He cupped her face with his other hand. ‘I’ve never met anyone like you, Hazel. You’re open and full of fun, but there’s a thoughtful side to you as well. It’s ... ’
Jonathan’s face was suddenly very close to hers, and her lips parted in anticipation.
‘Yes?’ she whispered. She knew now why she hadn’t fallen for Lawrence’s charm. He could never make her heart beat faster, the way Jonathan did.
‘It’s beautiful. You are beautiful.’
Their lips met. At first Jonathan’s mouth was gentle on hers, softly exploring, then he became more insistent. Slipping her arms around his neck, Hazel responded with the same enthusiasm. Her body moulded itself to his, and every fibre of her being called out to him with desire and tenderness.
Could this really be it? Had she found the love she craved and never thought would happen; the family she’d longed for since she’d lost her parents?
She didn’t dare hope for it. She had to be realistic. What was happening between them was probably nothing more than a bit of harmless flirting, but it was ... oh, so wonderful.
Finally they came to their senses, and Hazel eased away. ‘We mustn’t, you know.’
Jonathan brushed his hand across her cheek. ‘You’re right again. This is neither the time nor the place. But it’s very tempting,’ he added, with a mischievous wink.
‘Behave yourself.’
Laughing, Jonathan hugged her. Hazel sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder. It felt good, sitting there, simply embracing and thinking of nothing but him. She knew now that she was hopelessly in love with him, but she had no idea what he felt about her. She didn’t want her thoughts to go in that direction, but just enjoy the moment while it lasted.
It didn’t take long for the bubble to burst.
‘Hazel?’ Jonathan asked. ‘What were you doing in my father’s lab?’
Jonathan cursed inwardly when Hazel pulled away with a puzzled frown.
‘I was curious. I already told you that.’
‘Yes, but you’ve got to admit that breaking and entering in the middle of the night doesn’t look too good, even if it was just curiosity. By the way, how did you get over the fence?’
‘You wrote the access code to the keypad on your blotter. Then I climbed in through a window.’
‘Did I? That wasn’t very clever of me.’ He narrowed his eyes. ‘If you were so curious, why didn’t you just ask?’
‘I asked George about the green light which I’ve seen a few times from my bedroom window. He denied all knowledge about it, and when Lawrence suggested– ‘
‘Lawrence? The guy you were seen with in town?’
‘Yes, but how did you know?’ Hazel’s brown eyes widened.
Jonathan looked at his hands, hoping that she didn’t notice his evasiveness. ‘Alison saw you.’
‘Lawrence is just a friend.’
‘An old friend?’ Jonathan’s stomach suddenly felt tight with jealousy.
She laughed. ‘No. We met because I spilt coffee on him. Luckily, he forgave me and invited me out. End of story. Anyway, we were talking, and something Lawrence said made me worry about what was going on in the outbuilding. After the lights went out this evening, I decided to take another look.’
‘And what did you think was going on down there? Something illegal?’
Hazel’s colour rose slightly. ‘I suppose so.’
‘You’re not an industrial spy then?’
‘An industrial spy? What on earth gave you that idea?’
Jonathan grinned. ‘Can’t be too careful. Actually, I never thought you were, but my father ... well, he’s wary of people he doesn’t know.’
Seeing the lack of artifice in her eyes and recalling their passionate kiss, was enough to convince Jonathan that Hazel was telling the truth. He felt relief wash over him that she wasn’t spying on his father, but even more so because she didn’t seem interested in this Lawrence character.
‘But why would George worry about spies?’ she insisted. ‘There’s nothing to see in his lab except plants and more plants.’
Jonathan smiled. ‘The plants you saw are jatropha plants, a native species of Mexico and Central America, with a very high oil content; about 37%, I think. The oil can be used for fuel in a diesel engine without being refined, a so-called bio-friendly fuel. Sustainable energy. You’ve heard of that, right?’
‘But hasn’t that already been done? I’m sure I read that somewhere.’
‘The idea isn’t new, but Dad is on the brink of discovering a different way of extracting the oil, which is more efficient than previous methods. Once his invention is widely used, it could give a much greater national yield, and cost next to nothing in the long run.’
‘I can’t imagine the oil companies being too happy about that,’ Hazel commented.
‘They’re not, and they’ll do anything to stop him, which is why he installed all that security. He lost his research with the old company and had to start again, and he’s terrified that someone will steal his invention before he can register a patent with the Patent Office. He wasn’t too pleased with me when I gave Tabitha a job.’
‘What’s she got to do with it?’
‘Tabitha used to work for an oil company.’
Hazel stared at Jonathan, unable to believe what she’d just heard. Tabitha had worked in the oil industry, George’s invention could potentially render the use of fossil fuels obsolete, and now Tabitha was working with Jonathan. It seemed too convenient to be a coincidence.
Could this be what Aunt Rose had meant about Tabitha still being on the payroll? Whose payroll exactly?
But before she could voice her suspicions about Tabitha, they were interrupted as George suddenly appeared in the doorway.
‘Ah, there you are, Jonny,’ he said, in his usual gruff manner. ‘The boys were looking for you, and when they couldn’t find you, they came to my apartment. They’re not well. I can’t be sure, but it looks like measles. You had it as a child.’
He paused and looked at Hazel in a way she couldn’t quite decipher. ‘They’re asking for Miss Dobson.’
CHAPTER NINE
‘Measles?’ Cold fear slid down Jonathan’s back, and he rose quickly. ‘How can they have measles?’
‘I don’t understand either,’ said George. ‘I thought they’d had all their jabs, but I’ve called the doctor anyway. He’ll be here soon.’
Jonathan reached the door in a couple of strides, registering out of the corner of his eye that his father helped Hazel up from the sofa. Torn between concern for her and for his children made him stop and turn, but Hazel waved him away.
‘George and I will follow in a minute.’
Seth and Ben were lying top and tail on George’s sofa, looking hot and feverish, and Seth was crying.
‘I don’t feel good!’ he wailed.
Jonathan rushed towards them, accompanied by Lulu, who jumped up from the floor where she’d been keeping guard. She watched the boys, concern obvious in her big brown eyes.
‘It’s okay, girl,’ he said, patting the retriever to thank her for her devotion.
‘Dad,’ Ben called feebly from the sofa, ‘where’s Hazel? Isn’t she coming?’
This made Seth cry even louder, and Jonathan’s heart almost broke. ‘Don’t worry, she’ll be here.’
While he felt the boys’ foreheads, his father appeared, supporting Hazel as she hobbled into the room.
Excited, the boys sat up, their eyes shiny with fever. ‘Hazel! You came.’
‘Of course.’ She smiled reassuringly at them. ‘Not that you needed me when you have Lulu. Seems she’s been looking after you, eh?’
The dog glanced at her charges with soulful eyes, then trotted across the room to Hazel’s side, tail wagging.
‘They’re burning up,’ Jonathan said, frowning. ‘Dad, there’s some Calpol in my bathroom cabinet. Could you fetch it for me, please?’
Nodding, George left the room.
Hazel hobbled closer, using Lulu for support. ‘What would you like me to do?’
Jonathan sighed. ‘I guess all we can do is give them the Calpol and wait for the doctor to arrive. Looks like it’s going to be a long night.’
Hazel could tell that Jonathan was seriously worried, which was understandable. But there was something else in his eyes too – a hint of jealousy, perhaps, that they’d asked for her and not him? She put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. ‘When kids are ill, only mums will do.’
Immediately, colour flooded her cheeks. Mums. Why did I say that? What was I thinking?
But Jonathan didn’t seem to have noticed her gaffe. Instead, he helped her sit down. Seth flung his arms around her.
‘My eyes are hurting,’ he cried. ‘I want it to go away!’
Hazel stroked his thick brown hair. ‘Shh. The doctor will be here in a minute, and he’ll give you something to make you feel better.’
Ben snuggled up to her too. ‘Will it taste bad?’
‘Oh, probably.’ Hazel caught Jonathan’s horrified expression at her frank reply. ‘The worse it tastes, the better it makes us feel. It’s the Natural Law of Medicine.’
‘Really?’ Two pairs of blue eyes sought hers. Seth had stopped crying and sent her a wary smile.
‘Yep.’
Just then George returned with the Calpol and a man in tow, whom Hazel assumed was the family’s GP. The doctor was middle-aged, with glasses and salt and pepper hair, and he was dressed casually in brown corduroys and an oatmeal-coloured fleece.
‘What have we here?’ he said cheerfully, as if it was commonplace for him to be disturbed in the middle of the night by a suspected case of measles. ‘Let’s have a look at you.’
With a quick glance at Hazel’s bandaged foot, the doctor pulled up a chair beside the sofa and beckoned for the boys to come closer to the lamp. Hazel saw Seth squeeze his eyes shut at the light, but he didn’t complain.
‘Haven’t you got a proper greeting for your doctor?’ he asked.
‘Hello, Dr Cooper,’ said Ben dutifully.
‘How are you, Dr Cooper?’ aped Seth.
‘That’s better.’ Dr Cooper examined the boys, turning their heads from side to side to reveal brownish-red spots behind their ears, and shining a little torch into their mouths.
Then he patted their heads, and rose to speak to Jonathan while Seth and Ben climbed back on the sofa with Hazel. ‘It’s definitely measles. They have all the classic signs: fever, sore eyes, white spots inside the mouth. Keep them away from school and in bed for the duration of the fever. I’ll prescribe some eye drops, as well as antibiotics to avoid any secondary infections, and you can give them Calpol or any other paracetamol elixir to get the fever down.’
Raising his eyebrows at Seth and Ben, who seemed livelier already, he got out his prescription pad. ‘And keep them entertained. In my experience, boys that age can’t sit still for more than five minutes. Staying in bed will be torture unless they have something to do.’
‘I still don’t understand,’ said Jonathan. ‘I know my wife didn’t believe in the MMR and wanted the vaccines done separately instead of a triple vaccine, but I thought that they’d had the measles jab. If I’d known ... ’ He tailed off.
‘There’s nothing on their medical records to indicate that they had it, Mr Gough.’ Dr Cooper handed Jonathan the prescription. ‘Could this have been around the time of your wife’s death perhaps?’
‘It must’ve been.’ Jonathan looked stricken, and Hazel ached to put her arms around him.
‘No need to feel guilty,’ said Dr Cooper briskly. ‘It was an oversight, I’m sure. Now you must focus on looking after those two scallywags. I know you have a business to run, but it seems to me you have a ready assistant in your pretty fiancée over there.’
‘I’m not ... ’
‘She’s not ... ’ Hazel and Jonathan protested simultaneously.
‘Oh, well, that’s a shame.’ Dr Cooper sent Hazel a warm smile and took his leave, followed by George.
Jonathan turned to the boys. ‘Right, you two, you need to get back to bed.’
‘I want Grandad to carry me,’ said Ben.
‘No, I want him to carry me,’ Seth protested.
‘Me first!’
‘No, me first!’
Hazel knew where this was heading, and although she was pleased that Seth and Ben seemed to have bonded with their grandfather, an argument between the boys was the last thing Jonathan needed right now.
‘Shush, the pair of you,’ she said sternly. ‘Grandad’s too tired to be carrying such big boys. You’re perfectly capable of walking, so off you trot.’
‘Okay,’ they grumbled, but got up from George’s sofa without further complaint. ‘Will you come too?’ Ben asked.
Hazel hesitated. She’d love to tuck them up for the night but sensed that Jonathan needed to spend time with the boys on his own. ‘No, I’m going to bed now, but I’ll see you in the morning. I’ll bring something to play with and some books, if you’d like. You heard the doctor; someone needs to make sure you stay in bed.’
‘Yay!’ The boys high-fived and scuttled off in the direction of Jonathan’s apartment.
To stop Hazel putting too much weight on her injured ankle, Jonathan helped her as far as the door to her own apartment. ‘Would you really do that for me?’
‘It makes sense. I need to rest my foot, the boys are quarantined, so we might as well entertain each other. It’ll be a pleasure anyway.’
Holding her close, Jonathan caressed her cheek. ‘What have I done to deserve you?’
‘I don’t know,’ she croaked. Their embrace was making it difficult for her to speak, her knees had turned to jelly, and her heart was galloping like a runaway horse. He pressed his lips to hers, and she returned the kiss with all her passion.
When he finally let her go, she was shaking with emotion.
‘We’ll talk soon,’ he murmured against her cheek.
The following day, Hazel went in search of the boys, armed with a selection of board games and books she’d found in the library.
They’d installed themselves in Jonathan’s king-sized bed, with Lulu slumbering at the foot end. Hazel was loath to enter Jonathan’s private domain, but his bedroom was very impersonal with just the bed, a wardrobe and an armchair, and she soon got over her awkwardness.
The only concession to his personality was a silver-framed photograph of Seth, Ben and George on his bedside table, and a Turner print on the wall. It was practical and, well, manly, and – like the rest of his apartment – clearly without a woman’s touch. That made her feel a whole lot better.
The boys’ faces lit up when they saw her, and they bombarded her with questions. Lulu eyed them tolerantly. Then, with a yawn, she rolled over on her back, inviting Hazel to scratch her tummy.
‘What have you brought?’ Seth asked, pulling at her sleeve. ‘Got any good games?’
‘I hope it’s not Monopoly,’ Ben groaned.
Hazel dropped her bags on the bed. ‘One thing at a time. Let me just sit down first.’
The boys suddenly realised that she was hobbling and wanted to help her, but she ordered them back to bed and pulled up the armchair. Sinking into the chair, she groaned when Lulu decided to lie halfway across her lap.
‘Bad dog, Lulu!’ Ben shoo
ed the retriever away.
Seth rummaged in a bag.
‘Alison brought you some croissants when she heard you were ill,’ said Hazel. ‘Try not to get crumbs all over... oh, too late, I see,’ she added, as Seth ripped the paper bag open and began to tuck in. Ben joined him and soon they were munching away, heedless of the mess they were making.
Hazel shrugged and ordered Lulu to lick up the crumbs, then got out a stack of board games and a copy of Wind in the Willows she’d brought to read aloud. Shortly after, they were absorbed in playing Ludo, and Hazel was enjoying herself so much she completely forgot the time.
She spent the next few days with the boys. Lawrence called her on her mobile to invite her out, but she explained what had happened and he seemed to accept that she was unavailable. In some ways, Hazel realised, it was fortunate that she couldn’t go out. It wouldn’t be fair to encourage Lawrence, not with the way she felt about Jonathan. They still hadn’t had a chance to talk about what was happening between them, nor had Hazel had an opportunity to raise the issue of Tabitha’s potential involvement with the oil company, but it could wait. Seth and Ben were her first priority.
Getting the boys to take their medicine proved to be a challenge, however.
‘It’s so gloopy and horrible,’ Ben complained.
Seth griped when it was his turn, and Hazel decided to make a game of it to see if that would help. ‘Do you know what the pilot did after he took his medicine?’
The boys shook their heads.
‘He did a gloop-the-gloop.’
‘Aww, that’s really lame!’ Pulling a face, Seth swallowed his spoonful.
‘Well, let’s see if you’re any better at telling jokes.’
‘Okay, you asked for it,’ Seth grinned. ‘Why did the pony cough?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Because it was a little hoarse.’
Hazel rolled her eyes. ‘Is that the best you can do? That’s even lamer!’
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