A Taste of Home by Heidi Swain (the beginning after the end read novel TXT) 📕

‘Who are you?’ I quickly countered.

‘I asked first.’

I shrugged and turned away again.

‘I’m Eliot,’ he said to my back. ‘I’m a friend of Mr Brown’s and currently one of his home carers.’

He couldn’t have looked any less like what I assumed a home carer would look like if he tried. Not that I generally went in for stereotypes, but this guy was becoming more unfathomable by the second.

‘Then it’s a shame you weren’t here earlier when Vicky needed you, wasn’t it?’ I snapped. ‘She said you were really late and she had to leave, but the doctor’s here now.’

‘I couldn’t be here earlier,’ he told me, ‘because one of the people I look after had a hypo and I had to stay with them until the ambulance arrived.’

‘Oh.’

I supposed that sounded like an adequate excuse for his late arrival. It certainly took some of the gale force wind out of my inflated sails.

‘But never mind that,’ he continued. ‘You still haven’t told me who you are.’

‘I’m no one,’ I shrugged, turning away again and looking towards the road. I was determined not to give up my identity to another stranger. ‘I was just passing and I heard someone shouting as I reached the gate so I stopped to check everything was okay.’

I knew that sounded unlikely, but I really didn’t want this guy knowing my name. If he was as good a friend to my grandfather as he made out, then he would no doubt mention that he had bumped into someone claiming the family name, and that was the last thing I wanted. I needed to get out of Wynbridge without another soul sussing me out.

‘But my colleague was here then, was she?’

‘I’ve already told you she was.’

‘And she left you with Mr Brown and headed off?’ Eliot frowned as I risked another look at him. ‘She just left you, a total stranger, in charge here and carried on with her day?’

‘That’s right.’

And it was right. I was a total stranger. Bill Brown and I might have shared blood, but we didn’t know each other.

‘Just like you, she had an emergency to get to,’ I added for good measure. ‘And I need to head off now as well, so if you don’t mind.’

‘I do mind actually,’ he shot back. ‘Because the way Vicky tells it, you told her that you were Mr Brown’s granddaughter, called Felicity, and that’s why she left you with him.’

Bugger.

Of course, she’d told him that. How could she not? She would have had to offer some justification for abandoning her post, and the presence of a family member would have been a more than adequate one, wouldn’t it?

‘Did she?’ I asked, chewing my lip.

‘She did.’

‘Well, that’s as maybe,’ I said, aiming for distraction, ‘but don’t you think you ought to be going inside? The doctor might need some help.’

‘I’m not going anywhere unless you come with me,’ he said, pulling his arms completely out of the leather suit and pushing it down to his slim waist. ‘I don’t want to let you out of my sight.’

I wasn’t sure how to read his tone but I knew I had no choice other than to begrudgingly follow him back inside.

The doctor entered the kitchen from the opposite direction just as we walked in and closed the door behind her.

‘Ah, Eliot,’ she smiled. ‘You’re a sight for sore eyes.’

‘I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner,’ he apologised. ‘I’ve just seen Joe off to hospital. The ambulance took an age to arrive, otherwise I would have been here a good hour ago.’

I rather wished he had been here then. I might not have been intimidated by Vicky and ended up revealing my true identity as a result. I could have scarpered without any of the intervening fiasco.

‘What’s the matter with them all?’ Doctor Clarke tutted. ‘They’re dropping like flies today.’ She eyed me curiously. ‘You didn’t get the chance to introduce yourself before,’ she pointed out.

‘Oh, I’m no one,’ I told her. ‘I just happened to be passing earlier, heard shouting and put my head in to see if everything was okay.’

I could feel Eliot’s eyes fixed on me.

‘Mr Brown was very upset when I arrived,’ the doctor frowned.

‘I don’t suppose he was expecting to find a stranger in his house,’ I smiled weakly. ‘But I was only trying to help. He got more upset when I told him my name.’

‘Ah,’ she said as the pager in her hand began to bleep. ‘Yes, Felicity. That’ll account for some of his confusion then. That was his wife’s name. She’s been dead for quite some time.’

‘Right,’ I said, horribly aware that Eliot was still staring. ‘I’m sorry to hear that.’

‘Not to worry,’ she said, thankfully distracted by the pager. ‘You weren’t to know. I’ve got his meds sorted now and he’ll be right as rain in no time. Although Vicky shouldn’t have left him here alone.’

‘He wasn’t alone,’ I cut in, not wanting her to get in trouble. She might track me down and subject me to further intimidation. ‘I was here and I said I’d wait because she was in a rush to get to someone else who was poorly.’

‘I’ll still have to talk to her,’ said Doctor Clarke. ‘It isn’t usual practice to leave a patient with a stranger, under any circumstances.’

‘Do I need to pick anything up for Bill today?’ Eliot asked, thankfully not revealing to the doctor who Vicky had told him I was.

‘No, I had everything I needed for today with me.’

‘That’s good,’ said Eliot.

I thought his eyes were still tracking back to me, but I didn’t dare check.

‘Right, I have to go,’ said Doctor Clarke, waving the pager about. ‘Apparently, I’m needed back in town. Thank heavens this thing still works out here in the land of no mobile signal. You might need to pick up more meds for Bill next week, Eliot.’

‘That’s fine,’ he said, moving aside. ‘I’ll see you out.’

‘Nice to meet you Felicity,’ she smiled. ‘Why don’t you get the