St Piran's: The Fireman and Nurse Loveday. Kate Hardy

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      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 СКАЧАТЬ