.

      ‘Invitation?’ Her forehead pleated in puzzlement and Ben nearly chuckled aloud. Kat really had no idea what the man had in mind, which meant that there was almost no chance that she was attracted to him. Although why that should matter to him was something he would have to think about later.

      For now, he was enjoying watching the man sweat a little while he tried to make-believe he was a smooth man of the world, when in actual fact he obviously came nowhere near deserving a woman like Kat.

      ‘Um, the dinner-dance? This Saturday?’

      This was almost painful, but Ben didn’t want to miss a delicious moment of it, especially as Kat was apparently oblivious to the fact the man was almost hyperventilating, waiting for her answer.

      ‘Oh, Mr…Greg, I’m sorry, but I couldn’t possibly. I’m on call all this weekend.’ And the sooner Ben was able to take that chore from her, the better, he thought darkly, hating the idea that he wasn’t pulling his weight on such an exhausting part of the workload.

      Ben saw the man throw a glare in his direction and, guessing what was coming, leant back against the reception counter and deliberately crossed his broken leg in front of the good one.

      ‘Oh, but surely that’s why you employed…’ Too late he realised his mistake.

      ‘Sorry, old man, but I can’t even get behind the wheel at the moment, let alone drive out to do a house call,’ Ben said smugly, knowing he was putting an end to the man’s dreams. ‘And, anyway, if I was called out, who would look after Josh and Sam if Kat was out with you? I certainly couldn’t take them with me and they’re too young to be left alone.’

      ‘But…’ Ben had to give him his due—the man didn’t want to admit defeat—but this time it was Kat who interrupted.

      ‘I’m sorry…Greg. It was good of you to think of me but, as you can see, my life is a bit complicated at the moment. Perhaps another time…?’

      It was beautifully done, with regret for turning him down sweetened with the possibility of another chance at some unspecified time in the future, but Greg definitely wasn’t happy about it. Man to man, he probably knew that Ben would be gloating over seeing him turned down because he would have in the same situation.

      ‘Dr Leeman?’ Rose interrupted the charged silence. ‘You haven’t forgotten that the boys need collecting from sports club tonight?’

      ‘Tonight?’ Kat whirled to face Rose and Ben nearly chortled aloud at the faces Rose was pulling to stop Kat pointing out that it had been sports club night yesterday. ‘Ah, yes. Thank you for reminding me, Rose. I’d better go and get my keys now, or I’ll be late.’ She turned back to the chemist briefly. ‘I’m sorry to have to dash off, but thank you for your invitation,’ she said like a well brought-up child then walked briskly out of the room.

      ‘Well, that’s my cue to get the meal on the table,’ Ben said casually, as he adjusted his grip on the crutches and straightened up to his full height, stupidly pleased to note that he topped the other man by nearly half a head. ‘The boys like it to be ready when they get home so they have time to do their homework before bedtime.’ And if that didn’t sound cosily domestic, nothing did, he thought as he turned his back on the man, only to catch Rose trying to wipe a grin from her face.

      ‘And it’s time I finished putting these files away and locked up,’ she volunteered briskly, picking up the basket Kat had brought through. ‘Tomorrow will be here soon enough. Goodnight, Dr Ben. Say goodnight to Dr Leeman for me, will you?’

      ‘Oh, I will, Rose. I will,’ Ben called over his shoulder, as he left the building and made his way as swiftly as he could safely manage round the corner of the practice in case the disappointed suitor should see him laughing.

      ‘Rose, could you ask Mrs Couling to come through, please?’

      Kat paused just long enough for the receptionist’s murmured reply before putting the receiver down, then blew out a steady stream of air through pursed lips and marvelled that the embarrassment was still there, just as fiercely, several days later.

      She’d never been a social butterfly, even as a teenager. She’d been far too focused on her goal of becoming a doctor for anything but the most cursory of dates until she’d met Richard part way through her training.

      ‘I just hadn’t realised how clueless I was,’ she muttered, and the heat surged into her cheeks all over again when she remembered looking out of the window to see when her unexpected visitor left, and had caught sight of Ben laughing himself silly.

      That had been when the penny had dropped.

      Until that moment, she honestly hadn’t realised that the pharmacist had any sort of intentions towards her. Perhaps the fact that it had now been more than a year since Richard had died should have reminded her of the strange conversation she’d had with him some weeks ago. À propos of absolutely nothing, he’d started talking about the fact that he was a very traditional sort of man who liked the ‘old ways’. Looking back on it, had that been his way of telling her that he was waiting until the old-fashioned ‘year of mourning’ was over before he felt free to ask her out?

      Ben had certainly understood what had been going on and had been highly amused, but had it been necessary for him to laugh like that? At least he’d spared Mr…something…George? No, Greg…Greg Sadowski. At least he’d been spared the humiliation of knowing that he was the butt of the joke.