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‘Wow.’ He gave her a look of such understanding that Evelyn found herself wondering if he could read her mind. ‘So, how are you doing with that?’

Yup. Definitely reading her mind, Evelyn thought as she replied carefully. ‘She’s really pleased to be back. And can’t wait to get on with making friends and having a normal life again. She’s not had that for quite some time. She’ll be fine, I know she will.’

‘Of course she will,’ Jake agreed as he stood. ‘But you didn’t answer my question.’ He held her gaze with his. ‘How are you doing with Summer being back at school?’

Evelyn felt like all the air in her lungs was trying to escape at once. Even her mum – wonderful as she was – had only seen Summer’s return to school as a good thing, yet here was Jake, knowing the exact right questions to ask. ‘It’s not the easiest day. I keep wandering around looking for things to do, and ways to keep busy.’

‘You could come and have lunch with me.’ Jake made the offer easily, yet Evelyn felt herself hesitate. She was only just finding her feet in Broclington again, and was still settling Summer into her new “normal” life.

‘Aww, come on.’ Jake nudged her elbow with his. ‘Save me from my soggy cheese sandwich. Have you been to The Brockle’s Retreat yet?’

‘The pub in the square? No, not yet. At least, not since I’ve been back.’ Evelyn wavered, really wanting to say yes, but still questioning if she should. ‘What about Tilly?’

Jake laughed. ‘This is Broclington. If businesses round here didn’t welcome dogs, they’d lose half their customers. They even have a dog menu there, though I can’t say I fully approve as there’s a lot of sausage on it.’ He laughed as Tilly sprang to attention in a perfect begging pose. ‘See, I told you I’m irresistible to every furry female. I know exactly how to keep them happy. But what about you? Can I convince you to let me buy you lunch?’ He gave her another cheeky grin and Evelyn found herself thinking that Tilly wasn’t the only girl around who found the vet hard to resist.

She smiled. ‘No, but I’ll buy you lunch. It’s the least I owe you.’

‘We can argue over the bill later. Just give me a minute to close up, and grab her ladyship’s dental chews.’

Jake laughed as Evelyn pushed her plate away and leaned back, defeated. ‘That was delicious. But I’ll explode if I eat another bite.’

Jake gave the half-uneaten slice of treacle tart a wistful glance. Evelyn must have caught his look, because she slid the plate over with a smile and shrug. ‘Help yourself. Shame to let it go to waste.’

‘I shouldn’t, but I will.’ He felt her eyes travel over his chest and down to his waist. This was interesting, and he wondered if her eyes would have tracked even lower if it hadn’t been for the table in the way. She glanced up, caught him watching, blushed and looked away.

So he dug into his extra dessert and watched Evelyn’s fluster with amusement. She had a crumb of pastry just in the corner of her top lip, and he watched it in fascination, wondering what Evelyn would do if he were to reach over and brush it away, touching her lips in the process. He wondered what her lips would feel like, whether they’d be sweet and sticky with gloss or velvety and smooth.

He smiled as he took the last bite, and watched as she tucked her golden hair behind one ear. Tilly was napping happily at her feet, filled with sausage and mash from the doggy menu, not to mention a few chips she’d shamelessly begged from a nearby table. Evelyn finally looked relaxed and happy, and Jake was thrilled that he’d been the one to help put a smile back on her face.

‘I should be getting back. I’ve got surgery starting in half an hour.’ He admitted reluctantly, not wanting to break the cosy spell that the crackling fire and ancient beams created, or give up the chance to spend more time with Evelyn.

‘Oh, of course you must.’ She caught the eye of the girl who’d been serving them, and made the universal “squiggle in the air” sign to ask for the bill, before giving Jake a bright smile. ‘Thank you. This has been lovely, but I’ve taken up far too much of your time already.’ She reached down to untie Tilly, but Jake leaned forward to grab her hand.

‘Don’t do that, Evelyn.’

‘Do what?’ She gave him a bemused look.

‘Don’t put on some bright, not-totally-real smile.’ He didn’t give her a chance to reply. ‘I hope you meant that you’d had a lovely time, because I have, and if I didn’t have patients arriving shortly, I’d be asking you to spend more time with me. Right now.’

‘Oh.’ Evelyn blushed, and turned away to hide her reddening cheeks as the waitress arrived with the bill.

While she fiddled with her bag, trying to untangle it from Tilly’s leash, Jake pulled out a couple of notes and tucked them inside the little leather folder holding the bill. There was no way he was letting her pay. He already knew she wasn’t working after time off to look after Summer, and even if that wasn’t the case – he wasn’t the kind of man who let a woman pay when he asked her out to eat.

‘Jake, I said I’d pay.’

He shrugged in a way that he hoped was nonchalant and shot her one of his best grins. ‘If it means that much to you, you can pay next time.’ And he really, really hoped there would be a next time.

‘OK,’ Evelyn replied slowly. ‘The next one’s on me.’

Jake gave himself a mental high-five as he held the door open for her.

‘Thank you,’ she murmured as she stepped through, so close that for a second Jake got a whiff of her perfume – something light and fruity and fresh.

They fell into step easily, strolling back towards the surgery and pausing every so often for Tilly to stop and sniff a particularly interesting plant or bit of wall.

When Evelyn’s toe hit a bit of the pavement pushed higher than the rest by a tree root, Jake automatically caught her, his hand wrapping around her delicate forearm. Without thinking, he drew her closer.

For a moment Evelyn stiffened, and Jake froze, worried that he’d done the wrong thing and misread her earlier blushes and signals. But after a dozen or so heartbeats, she relaxed and shifted her arm into a more natural position, tucked into the crook of his.