He blinked, and then took her abrupt question in his stride. “Because I wanted to ask you out,” he answered with an easy smile.
Oh. Well, then. Excitement flickered through her, and yet even so Olivia couldn’t banish a stirring of unease. “You haven’t been to buy a cupcake in days.”
“I know.” He glanced away briefly. “I meant to, but…”
She shook her head. “It’s not a big deal.” It really wasn’t, and yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something Simon wasn’t telling her. Something he didn’t want to tell her. And yet she had no idea what it could be.
“Anyway,” Simon said, injecting a bright note in his voice. “If you fancy a drink at The Three Pennies one night…”
Did she? Of course she did. Whatever Simon wasn’t saying, and perhaps it was nothing, she still fancied a drink with him. “Yes, of course,” she said. “Whenever you’re free…”
“Tomorrow night?”
Excitement flickered again, stronger this time. “Yes, okay.”
He smiled, and then nodded towards the shop. “Any cupcakes left?”
She nodded, smiling back. “Today was toffee apple.”
She pushed open the door, blinking in the bright light of the shop as Simon followed her. Her mother had tidied up, clearing tables and tucking in chairs, but Olivia couldn’t see her anywhere.
“Mum…? Are you here…?”
“Back here.” Her mother sounded distressed, and with her heart leaping into her throat, Olivia hurried towards the kitchen.
“Mum…!” Her mother was slumped against the counter, cradling her arm to her chest. “What happened?”
“It was so silly of me…” Tina shook her head, tears of pain as well as shame smarting in her eyes. “I was pouring the mulled wine and I didn’t see… I managed to slop it all over myself.”
“Oh, Mum.” Gently Olivia took hold of her mother’s arm, wincing at the sight of the red, blistered burn from her wrist to her elbow. “This needs to be seen to, Mum—”
“I don’t want to make a fuss—”
“It looks serious.” Panic cramped her stomach as she gazed at the burn. “Let me drive you to the hospital in Witney.”
“Oh, no—”
“Please, Mum.”
“Why don’t I drive you?” Simon said unexpectedly. “Then you can focus on your mum, Olivia, and I can manage the driving and the parking. My car’s parked just down the road.”
“Oh…” Disconcerted, Olivia couldn’t think how to respond. The offer was so surprising and yet also welcome. Olivia was shaken herself, and her mum needed all her attention. And, she realised, she liked the idea of having some support. “Only if you want to…” she started, trailing off uncertainly, only to have Simon give a firm nod.
“Of course I do,” he said. “I’ll go get my car and drive up to the front of the shop.”
Chapter Six
The waiting room of Witney Hospital’s A&E was crowded with a variety of illnesses and injuries, and despite Olivia insisting on the severity of her mother’s burn—not to mention her age—the nurse didn’t give them any preferential treatment. Not that Olivia would have wanted it, precisely, but she still felt anxious, perhaps more anxious than the situation warranted.
Her mother had always been her bedrock, she reflected as the three of them sat in hard plastic seats in the waiting room. For her whole life, her mother had solidly been there, utterly dependable, always warm and welcoming. And yet now, with the painful benefit of hindsight, Olivia could see that her mum had started…fading a little in the last two years, since she’d moved back home.
It had happened in such small increments that she hadn’t really noticed; she’d been busy with the shop, and she’d seen what she’d wanted to see. But now she felt as if a dark mist was creeping over the landscape of her life and she didn’t even understand it, or why she was so worried. It was just a burn…wasn’t it? It had to be.
The touch of Simon’s hand on her own startled her out of her worried reverie. “Try not to worry,” he said, his voice gentle. “I’m sure she’ll be seen soon.”
“Thank you,” Olivia murmured. She was grateful for Simon driving them to Witney; her mum had been agitated and Olivia had concentrated on trying to comfort her. She’d felt too dazed to drive, and yet now that they were here and she was starting to feel a little bit more like herself, she realised it was undeniably awkward to have Simon Blacklock here, kindly and well meaning—as well as a potential date—but still a stranger. And who even knew how long they’d be waiting? A crowded A&E in the pre-Christmas flu season? It could be hours, maybe even all night.
“If you want to go back,” Olivia offered in a low voice, “please feel free. I don’t know how long we’ll be, and I can always call a cab.”
“I’m not bothered,” Simon replied. “I don’t have anywhere better to be.”
“Don’t you?” She was curious, and it felt like a much-needed distraction to wonder about someone other than her mum. “Why not?”
Simon shrugged. “I’ve only been in Wychwood for a few months. I don’t know many people, haven’t got much going on.” He sounded a bit like her, give or take another year or two. He smiled at her, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “I’m happy to be here, Olivia.”
Olivia nodded, believing him, yet it still felt like a big ask, and it put their relationship, or lack of it, on a whole other, awkward footing. She turned to her mum, who was cradling her arm, her gaze unfocused.
“How are you holding up, Mum? Can I get you anything?”
“I just want to go home,” Tina said, looking as if she were fighting tears. “I don’t need all this bother.”
“I know it’s difficult,” Olivia said as gently as she could, “but it’s a bad burn and it needs proper looking at, Mum. We’ll be seen soon, I’m sure.” Tina just shook her head, and Olivia bit her lip.
Her mother’s behaviour seemed so out of character—and yet it had been in
