‘I mean that I know what it feels like to have his fingers so tightly laced around my throat that I don’t know if I’m going to survive the night,’ she said, relief surging through her as the words came out, as she finally admitted to someone what she’d had to live with. ‘I mean that his friend is a bottle, and that friend has become his constant companion, so that no day living under his roof is a good one anymore. Sometimes I could be asleep in my bed when he came home, when he wanted someone to take his anger out on; other times I could be standing in the kitchen doing the dishes when he snapped.’
‘I see.’ Art had a vein bulging on his forehead, and he was tightly clenching and unclenching his fists.
‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything,’ she muttered. ‘The last thing you need is to know why I’m all broken.’
‘You think you’re broken?’ he asked, his eyebrows shooting up. ‘Because what I see is a strong, incredible nurse in front of me. I don’t see anything broken.’
‘You’re just saying that because you need my help to get back to your bed.’
He grunted. ‘No. I still couldn’t give a damn whether you left me out here to die or not. I just didn’t want to keep seeing that hurt look on your face all the time.’
She smiled, not sure what to say to him and not used to the kind expression on his face.
‘Will you go home to your Charlie’s family after the war?’ he asked.
‘No.’ Eva shrugged. ‘Why would they want a reminder of the son they lost? We weren’t even married yet. I’ll just have to find my own way in the world.’
She thought Art was going to tip out of his chair then, and she scrambled to her feet.
‘Yourownway in the world?’ he spluttered. ‘What does that mean? What about your mother?’
She laughed, but it was only because if she didn’t laugh, she’d cry. ‘Well, my mother won’t stand up to my father, and my father has cut me off financially. She’d be terrified of the same happening to her. When I accepted Charlie’s proposal and then decided to leave home to be a nurse, he made it clear I was never welcome back in his house again.’
Art’s hand lifted and hovered, before gently resting over hers. ‘Want to hear what my mother wrote to tell me?’ he asked. ‘Since we’re talking about family?’
She was staring at his hand, wishing it would stay there. His palm was so warm, the contact such a relief after feeling alone for so long. Eva shut her eyes and thought of Charlie, hated that she couldn’t make out his face as clearly as she’d once been able to, hoping that he didn’t think she was betraying him if he was looking down on them. Art was her patient, but he was also a man—a very handsome man with a much bigger heart than she’d realized.
‘Yes.’
‘A letter arrived from her last week, and it said she’d been notified that I’d been injured in the line of duty,’ Art said. ‘And she said that whenever I was feeling sorry for myself, I was to tie my shoelaces as tight as could be and walk around, and then I’d forget all about my sorrows.’ He laughed, and she kept her eyes shut, squeezing back tears. ‘I haven’t the heart to tell her that I’d do anything to have two pairs of laces to tighten.’
They stayed connected, her leaning into his chair and him holding her hand.
‘We’re a good pair then, aren’t we.’
Art looked up at her, and she smiled down at him.
‘Yeah, we are,’ she whispered.
They stayed like that until Eva noticed the sky swirling darker and realized how long they’d been gone.
‘I’m going to get in so much trouble for being out here so long. Come on; let’s go.’
‘Anyone tells you off, you tell them to come find me,’ he said.
Eva resisted a sudden urge to kiss the top of his head as she stood up straight and took hold of the wheelchair. ‘You know, I might just do that.’
‘Thank you,’ he said as she pushed him.
‘For what?’
‘For saving my life. Twice over.’
She gripped the handles as warmth spread through her body, realizing how long she’d been waiting for him to acknowledge what she’d done. ‘You’re welcome.’
CHAPTER TWENTY
APRIL
