‘Actually, Clare, I invited Oliver Loveday. He’s the new partner at the—’
That settled it for Nell. ‘No, Kate, I’d love to babysit and, anyway, I’ve nothing to wear.’
Nell gritted her teeth while both women laughed as though she had made a hilarious joke.
‘Nell thinks fashion is a new tee shirt.’
‘And jeans that are only one size too big.’
‘Two sizes if they’re your hand-downs, Clare,’ Nell added innocently. She saw her sister’s lips tighten. Clare’s struggle with her ever-expanding hips was well known and she felt a bit of a bitch. She didn’t mind exactly being the butt of their humour, but she couldn’t help but feel slightly resentful that it had never occurred to either of them that she might enjoy fashion had she ever had the money to spend on clothes.
A knock on the door shook Nell from her brooding reflections. She considered ignoring it, then thought about little Stevie upstairs waking up, the thought was enough to send her surging to her feet. It had taken her half an exhausting hour last time to settle the youngster, who looked cherublike and angelic when he was asleep. The problems started when he woke up. Even when he’d seemed soothed the cranky youngster had produced heart-wrenching tears every time she had tried to tiptoe out of the room.
‘All right, all right,’ she muttered, catching a slipper with her toe and hooking it back onto her bare foot—you didn’t dress up for babysitting and Nell’s slouchy outfit was intended for comfort. ‘I’m coming, keep your hair on.’
She unlatched the front door and, leaving the chain attached, pulled it open a crack. Despite the fact her brother lived in an area where the most serious crime reported was someone picking the flowers in the square he had given her a strict lesson on security before he’d left. His son’s life, he had reminded her severely when she had laughed, was in her hands.
Nothing was in her hands when the tall sinister shadow stepped forward into the security light; she fell gracefully onto her bottom where her limbs and appendages continued to disregard the instructions from her brain—which were along the lines of run…hide.
In the moment before she drew back with a gasp he had seen her eyes widen in shock. He could empathise if not sympathise with her reaction, which could not in his view come close to the shock he had suffered when he had opened the letter. His fingers curled over the envelope in the pocket of his coat when he heard the thud followed by sinister silence.
‘Nell…Nell!’
Luiz inserted his fingers into the crack between the door and the frame feeling for the chain, his hand steady despite the adrenaline pumping through his veins in a torrent.
Even if she had wanted to respond to the urgent call of her name or the subsequent flood of angry-sounding Spanish she couldn’t have; shock had totally paralysed her.
Was she injured? Speculation of the possibilities was a luxury he could not allow himself as he finally forced the chain. In moments like this imagination was not a useful thing.
The door swung inwards on the unoiled hinges with a creak worthy of a horror film. Luiz felt a rush of relief tempered by apprehension as he stepped inside and almost fell over a Victorian umbrella stand complete with umbrellas and into the hallway.
He took in the situation at a glance and reacted despite Nell’s feeble attempt to fend him off with her hand as he dropped down onto his knees beside her.
‘Go away, I’m fine!’ She lifted her head, felt her world swim and let it fall back. ‘Stop doing that!’ The clinical, detached explorative movement of his hands over her body evoked a less than clinical reaction from her nervous system.
‘There doesn’t seem to be anything broken.’
That’s all you know, she thought, thinking of her poor heart that felt as though someone had ripped it out of her chest and stamped on it.
‘Just give me a minute,’ she said, closing her eyes. ‘What?’ As he hefted her into the air in one smooth motion, her face tucked underneath his chin, she produced a token kick but otherwise made no attempt to sabotage his rescue attempt.
A few moments later she was stretched out full length on her brother’s sofa, a cheesy voice in the distance asking if she wanted to take a risk?
No risks—she was playing it safe from now on.
Nell struggled to raise herself. ‘Will you switch off that thing?’
Luiz placed his hand lightly on her chest and she slumped back with a sigh. ‘Stay still. You fainted.’
And whose fault was that? Nell hit his hand and raised herself up on her elbow. ‘I have never fainted in my life. Go away!’ She batted away his restraining arm and swung her legs out over the side of the sofa before hauling herself into a sitting position.