Fixing her gaze on the steering wheel, she breathed into the bag. One... Two... Concentrate... She felt her heartbeat slow a little. And then the car that she’d seen in the distance rounded the corner.
Ethan. No. Not here. Not now.
She threw the paper bag into the footwell, trying to slow her breathing. Not daring to look him in the face as he walked towards her, she fixed her gaze on his left shoulder.
He reached the driver’s door, squatting down next to it. He must have come straight from work. She hadn’t seen Ethan in a white shirt and tie before. Even though the tie had been loosened and the shirt was open at the neck, he looked quite devastatingly reliable.
The ‘R’ word again. Don’t even think it. Don’t think the ‘H’ word, either. It was difficult not to, because she didn’t actually need to look at him to know he was handsome, she remembered all too well what he looked like.
Slowly, he raised his arm, circling his hand in an indication that she should put the window down. Kate complied with the instruction in a haze of misery.
‘Hey, there.’ He reached in, tipping her face gently towards him. ‘Car’s broken down, eh?’
‘Yes.’ Maybe he hadn’t noticed the state she’d got herself into.
‘Okay.’ He lifted the tab on the inside of the door, and she heard the central locking disengage. Then he opened the door, bending down again next to her.
‘Here.’ He managed to retrieve the paper bag from the footwell without touching her. ‘Just breathe.’
She couldn’t resist his quiet, authoritative tone. It felt that, if she just did what Ethan said, everything would be all right.
‘Better?’
She nodded wordlessly.
‘All right. Keep going.’
She started to count again in her head, and then realised she was going too fast. Ethan was counting slower. When she followed his lead, the panic that was reverberating in her chest began to recede a little.
It seemed like an age but finally he stopped counting and her own rhythm took over. She felt surer now and stronger. She crumpled the paper bag in her lap, and Ethan nodded.
‘Give me your keys. I’ll go and get your bag from the back of your car and we’ll go and sit in mine. Then we’ll phone and find out where the tow truck
is.’
He knew exactly what to do. Kate handed him her keys, feeling the car rock slightly as he opened the boot. Then the sound of him unlocking the boot safe. He reappeared, carrying her veterinary bag in one hand and the smaller drugs bag in the other.
‘Are you going to look at the engine?’ That was what any self-respecting hero would do. He’d look under the bonnet and tell her to try the ignition. The engine would then choke reluctantly back to life.
Ethan raised one eyebrow. ‘No. I’m a doctor, not a car mechanic. We’ll wait for the tow truck.’
‘Oh. Good.’ The thought that Ethan had at least one chink in his armour was oddly reassuring. Kate got out of the car and followed him over to his, watching as he stowed her bags under the back seat and opened the passenger door for her.
‘Are you on any medication?’ When Kate got into the car, he bent down beside her again.
‘No!’
He grinned suddenly. ‘Fair enough. Have you changed the oil in your car recently?’
‘So you are a mechanic, then.’
‘No. I just thought you might like that line of questioning a little better. How quickly did you stop?’
‘Slowly. I didn’t need the brakes, but as far as I know they’re okay as well.’
‘Good to know. Look at my finger.’ He held one finger up, moving it from side to side.
He could be forgiven for thinking she’d hit something, or bumped her head, after all the fuss she’d made. ‘The engine just cut out and the car stopped. It’s an old car and I’ve been thinking I should get a new one. I just...panicked a bit. Stupid.’ She was feeling better now. Stronger. As if a smile wasn’t totally out of the question.