He rubbed his forehead and looked at his hand as if expecting to see blood.
‘Yes. Fine. I think.’
‘I’m so sorry. I should have warned you.’
‘No, no, my fault,’ he protested, blinking hard as if he couldn’t focus properly. ‘It felt as if I tripped over something, but there isn’t anything there. Must have got tangled up with my own feet. They are pretty big! You’ll think this is stupid, but I sometimes forget how tall I am. My parents are both normal height so they’re not sure where my giraffe-like features come from.’
‘You’d better come and sit down,’ Jules said. ‘You could be concussed.’
She put the box containing her pot down on the coffee table, went to take his elbow and then thought better of it.
‘Can you make it through to the kitchen?’
‘Yes, yes, honestly, I’m fine.’
He was still holding his head as she pulled out a chair from the table. As he folded himself down it reminded her of a concertina.
‘You have gone pale. The whole cottage shook.’
‘I did see stars for a moment,’ he said.
Jules looked at him anxiously.
‘How many fingers?’ she said, waving her hand in front of his face.
‘Three.’ He grinned. ‘You really don’t have to worry.’
‘Except there were only two.’
‘I know that. Just joking.’
‘That’s mean.’
‘Sorry.’
‘You have cut the skin slightly and I can see it’s coming up in a bump. I think it ought to be bathed, and I’ve got a small first aid kit with some antiseptic ointment. Give me a moment.’
She filled a bowl with some warm water and pulled a piece of cotton wool from a small roll. Go into nurse mode, she instructed herself, but her hands were shaking as she approached him. He sat very still as she bathed the wound, hisfingers tapping gently just above his knees almost as if he was playing the piano. She squeezed some ointment from the tube.
‘This might sting a little,’ she said.
He winced slightly as she applied it.
‘Do I need a bandage?’ he asked as she stepped away, ridiculously relieved that they no longer had to be in such close proximity.
‘Not unless you’re really going for the sympathy vote,’ she replied. ‘I could put a plaster over it, but I don’t think it will stay on.’
He checked his watch and Jules thought, not for the first time, what nice wrists he had.
‘Thank you for tending to my wounds. I’d better head off and get the girls.’
‘I think you need to sit for a bit longer. Tea is the answer. With sugar. Erin knows where you are.’
She filled the kettle and got out two mugs.
‘You look very at home here,’ he said as she put the milk jug and sugar bowl on the table.
She paused and looked around and it was as if his words had connected her to something bigger than herself.
