‘That’s kind.’
‘That’s Clara. She’s lovely.’
She tipped her head to one side. ‘You’re close to her?’
Closer than he’d been to most people. Which was why it hurt so much that she’d done the job swap thing without even talking to him about it beforehand. She hadn’t trusted him with how she was feeling; and he hadn’t been a good enough friend to notice something was wrong. ‘She’s my best friend. The sister I never had.’ Like the family he’d never had—and they hadn’t stayed with him, either.
Georgie thought about it. The sister he’d never had. Right now, she guessed that Ryan was feeling as frustrated and angry with Clara as her own brother was with her. But maybe this job-and-life swap thing meant that Clara would support Joshua if Georgie would support Ryan.
‘I’m a stranger,’ she said, ‘and I know next to nothing about dogs. But Clara and I are pretty much swapping lives. She’ll be getting used to my life in London, and I’ll get used to her life here. We’re going to have to make the best of sharing. If you’re really the world’s worst cook, then I don’t mind doing the cooking for both of us—but then the washing up will be your department.’ She’d spent years being the one who did everything, to keep life easy; from now on, it was equals or nothing.
‘That,’ he said, ‘sounds fair. Clara and I have a rota. We can tweak it to suit.’
‘That’s fine with me.’ She paused. ‘I stocked the fridge a bit. I wasn’t entirely sure what to get, because I didn’t know if you’re vegetarian or have any allergies. If chicken stew isn’t OK, I can cook pasta with tomato sauce tonight.’
‘Chicken stew,’ he said, ‘is absolutely fine. No allergies and I’m not fussy.’ Foster care had taught him very quickly not to be fussy about food. ‘Thank you. And either I’ll give you half of what you spent in the shop, or you give me a list and I’ll pay for the next shop, so it’s fair shares.’
‘OK. I’ll heat the stew and the rice and serve dinner at six,’ she said. ‘I’ll, um, see you in a bit.’ And she disappeared upstairs to her room.
Ryan was quiet and a bit distant when they ate.
The last time she’d shared a house with someone she didn’t know was more than a decade ago, when she’d been a student. Making conversation had been so much easier back then: you’d ask your fellow students about their home town, their A-level subjects and their course, and then you’d talk about music and TV and films and establish what you had in common. She couldn’t really do any of that with Ryan; it felt too much like being nosy. Still, she had a good excuse for an early night. ‘I’m on an early shift tomorrow, so I’ll head for bed.’
‘I’m on a late,’ Ryan said. ‘I would offer to take you into the hospital tomorrow morning, but there isn’t a bus back here, so you wouldn’t be able to get home until my shift finishes.’
‘I’ll be fine driving myself in,’ she said. ‘I did a recce earlier today. See you tomorrow.’
‘See you tomorrow.’
He wasn’t quite as abrasive tonight as he’d been the previous day, but there was definitely something upsetting him, Georgie thought. Something that had made those grey eyes full of misery. And he barely knew her, so he was hardly going to confide in her.
She wasn’t going to brood about it. Or start asking about him: because she didn’t want her own past becoming common knowledge and gossiped about, either.
At least she was starting at the hospital tomorrow. Once she was actually doing her job, something she was familiar with, she’d feel a lot better.
CHAPTER TWO
THE JOURNEY INTO work was lovely, with the sky streaked with pre-dawn colour. Georgie managed to park without a problem, then was introduced to everyone by the head of the Paediatric Department, had a copy of her rota from the department’s secretary, and got straight to work in the Paediatric Assessment Unit.
‘I’m Parminder—everyone calls me Parm,’ the nurse in the assessment unit told her with a smile. ‘I’m rostered on with you in the PAU today. Welcome to St Christopher’s.’
‘Thank you.’ So not everyone at the hospital was going to be as difficult as Ryan, then. That was a relief. ‘I’m Georgina, but everyone calls me Georgie.’
‘So are you settling in all right, Georgie?’
‘I think so. It’s very different from London—I wasn’t expecting to be living somewhere quite so rural,’ Georgie admitted.
Parminder smiled. ‘At least you’re sharing a house with Ryan. He’s such a sweetie.’
Were they talking about the same person? Ryan most definitely wasn’t a sweetie, in Georgie’s experience. He’d opened up to her a bit about his dog the previous evening, but he didn’t seem to have much of a sense of humour, and she felt as if she was treading on eggshells around him. ‘Uh-huh,’ she said, trying her best to sound noncommittal.
‘He’s really good with the staff. All the students love him,’ Parminder said.
Why? Just because he was really good looking?
As if she’d asked the first question out loud, Parminder told her, ‘He’s always got time to explain things to them, and he’s really good with the kids. And he treats the nurses with respect instead of behaving as if we’re much lesser mortals.’
Ha. He’d behaved as if she was a lesser mortal.
‘Mind you, he’s been so quiet, this last year. Ever since his divorce. And he doesn’t seem to have found anyone to share his life since then.’ Parminder wrinkled her nose. ‘Sorry. I shouldn’t be gossiping.’
‘Don’t worry. I won’t repeat anything you said,’ Georgie reassured her. Though she didn’t quite feel up to
