He tucked her closer into his arms. “And the other cyclists?”
“All okay. Only one was seriously hurt; he hit his head. I felt—” She shook away the strange shiver that rose in her. The whole thing had been so quick. And then so hazy. Too much pain, too much confusion. “I wanted to check on him. I tried to find out his name, but the police wouldn’t release any information. Privacy laws, you know. Later, when I got home from the hospital, I called the cycling club, and they let me know everyone who had signed in was fine and back home.”
“And did they find the person who hit you?” Josh asked.
“They found the car. It had been stolen from a nearby village. Do you know Duncton?” She snorted roughly, embarrassed. “Sorry, that’s a stupid question.”
Josh grunted, but he didn’t seem offended.
“Anyway, it was abandoned in a field afterward, and set on fire. It could have been taken by anyone.”
“They never found the driver?” Josh asked, blue eyes intent.
“No. The police think it was someone joyriding. Teenagers.”
“And you?”
A man. Dark hair. Dark glasses. Collar high. Cap low. No defining features. “Not teenagers. It was a man, but I didn’t see enough… I couldn’t be certain.”
“And now, driving is…?” He let the sentence hang. A question.
“Difficult.”
He nodded slowly, his gaze locked on hers. “Okay.”
And somehow, it was. More than that, for the first time, difficult didn’t feel impossible. She’d climbed behind the wheel every day and gone a little farther every time. And she could go farther today. For him—and for herself.
He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “I believe in you, Ellie.”
God. How could such simple words mean so much?
“Thank you.” She cleared her throat, forced her spine straight. “Shall we go then?”
He stroked her hair slowly, never looking away. “It’s up to you. We can go now, if that’s what you want. Or another day, if you prefer. Either way, I’d like to spend the afternoon outside. With you.”
Chapter Eleven
They spentthe rest of the day working in her vegetable garden. He’d asked her what she wanted, and this was what she wanted.
If he was going to disappear, she wanted some time with him first. Time when they could both relax. And she wanted to share this special place—a place she’d never shared with anyone before. Most of the men she’d dated had been firmly rooted in the city; even Vic had barely taken a glance—but it was one of her favorite places in the world.
A small courtyard of stone walls formed the perfect suntrap. Tomatoes, peas, and zucchini were planted in neat rows. Runner beans climbed frames alongside a wall of lettuce growing in vertical hanging planters. Strawberries were just starting to show fruit in the baskets she had placed in every free corner.
When she was stuck, when she needed to think, this was where she went. Something about working with her hands outside in the fresh air gave her the mental space she needed. And it didn’t hurt that she could eat the results later.
Josh clearly loved being outdoors. There were a few slightly strained moments at first when she passed him tools or he started working on something new, when he seemed to falter. His expression got a little more closed, and he’d rub the backof his neck or scratch his thumb through his beard, looking like he’d never seen a garden tool before. But after a few seconds, he would take whatever she’d handed him, test the grip a few times, and carry on. And over time, it seemed to come easier, until the lines of tension around his mouth softened and the shadows in his eyes seemed to lighten.
After an hour of companionable side-by-side digging and planting, Nissy came out to join them. She padded over, getting under Ellie where she kneeled beside a bed of beetroot, bumping Ellie’s chin with the top of her head and purring softly.
Ellie pulled her glove off and stroked her soft fur, crooning quietly. “Hey, pretty girl. My beautiful Nissy.” Nissy stepped delicately back and forth, rubbing herself on Ellie’s arms, her tail high and swaying as she walked.
Josh looked up from the hole he was digging. His shoulders were relaxed, his lips turning up into a smile. “Missy? Is that her name?”
Ellie chuckled. “No, her name is Niss, but I call her Nissy.”
Josh blinked at her a few times and then he threw back his head and laughed. “You called her Cat-Niss.”
It was glorious. Magical. He’d been so stoic and so shuttered that she hadn’t imagined it was even possible for him to laugh like that. “Yes,” she admitted. “Yes, I did.” And her own lips twitched into a huge grin, until she was also laughing, laughing just from the joy of seeing him so free.
