He shook his head. ‘Why would I? It pays well. I get to meet a wide range of interesting people, get to travel to sales conferences and such, where I stay in nice hotels. It’s a good job.’ He stopped and looked at her through suddenly narrowed eyes. ‘Why? Are you thinking you might like it?’

She hoped her laugh didn’t sound forced. ‘No, I like what I do. I’m simply curious.’

‘Good,’ he said firmly, ‘because whereas I like it, it’s a tough job. I have rhinoceros-like skin, you’d be gobbled up and spat out in no time.’

Jodie looked down at the table so he wouldn’t see the annoyance that flickered in her eyes. He’d been so kind, so supportive over this whole mess she’d gotten herself into. Did it matter that he seemed to see her as a weak pushover when she was anything but? Was that what being fired had resulted in… a shrinking of her role as a professional experienced nurse, a lessening of her power, her place?

Flynn reached for the bottle and topped up their glasses again. He wasn’t even aware he’d annoyed her. Perhaps she was taking it too personally. He was, after all, trying to be kind. To protect her. There was nothing wrong with that.

The weekend passed in a haze of long walks and cosy lunches in local pubs. In the evenings, they relaxed in front of the TV, ordering takeaways, enjoying their favourite programmes, delighted to find they had similar taste.

Jodie shied away from talking about her predicament, giving monosyllabic answers when Flynn brought the topic up, until he finally turned to look at her with one eyebrow raised. ‘You don’t want to discuss it?’

They were walking hand in hand along Gordon Promenade enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon. Jodie was pretending everything was right in her world. She didn’t want to talk about being fired. It might have been good to talk about Victor, to use Flynn as a sounding board for some of the crazy ideas that raced through her head. But that would entail telling Flynn about her past and she wasn’t willing to do that and to see his expression change to one of pity. She tightened her fingers around his. ‘This investigation will take three or four months according to my rep. I want to try to forget about it as much as I can.’ She stopped and turned to face him, the breeze blowing her hair in a whirl around her head. She held it back with one hand. ‘I don’t want every conversation to be about me, Flynn. It makes me seem so…’ She sought for the right word but he pulled her closer with the hand he held and wrapped his other arm around her.