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but before we can do that, we have to get the oedema down. The swelling,’ he added hastily. ‘So we have to admit her, and put her in ice-packs and things like that. Say a day, two days. Then we have to plaster the foot up. Takes about, oh, two, three weeks before she can walk—with a walking cast, that is. And maybe, oh, altogether, six weeks until everything is back to normal.’
    ‘But I can’t do that,’ Katie wailed. ‘I have to go to a wedding. Marion would kill me if I missed. I know she would. I have to go—’ But her words were getting softer and softer, and eventually they faded away, as she did, into sleep. The two men standing over her beamed at each other.
    ‘Nice-looking girl,’ the doctor said. ‘Nice.’
    ‘Yeah, nice,’ Harry returned softly, with a proud hit in his voice.
    It was four days later before he was allowed to come and take her away. Her foot was weighed down with a tight plaster cast that covered all except her bare toes, and went up her leg to just below the knee.
    ‘Now don’t forget,’ the doctor commanded, ‘lots of rest. Make no attempts to walk. Keep the foot elevated as much as possible. Don’t get the cast wet. Take two of these pills at bedtime, and whenever you feel pain during the day. No more than six a day. Got it?’
    ‘She’s got it,’ Harry assured him. ‘She’ll do just as she’s told, believe me.’
    ‘I will not,’ Katie mumbled under her breath.
    ‘What?’ Harry bent over and stared at her. The gleam was back in his eyes again.
    ‘I said yes,’ she stated clearly. And then, under her breath again, ‘Arrogant man!’ But he was too busy with last-minute papers and instructions. Or at least he seemed to be.
    A hospital attendant pushed her to the door in a wheelchair. The Mercedes was standing outside, in a no-parking zone. A friendly policeman was leaning on the hood. He straightened and waved a casual greeting to Harry before walking away. She could not hold back the little dig. ‘You have a lot of friends in this town?’
    ‘Not really,’ he laughed. ‘It’s the name. The King family is well known in these parts. I never tell anybody that I don’t come from the famous branch. Nobody seems to care, and I enjoy it. Any other witticisms you want to get off?’
    Her eyes were big as she shook her head, and a tear moistened the corner of one eye. ‘Oh come on,’ he laughed, as he picked her up and transferred her to the back seat of the car. He sat her down sideways, her foot resting on the seat, then propped her up with a couple of foam-rubber cushions. ‘Okay now?’ She nodded her thanks and surreptitiously wiped her eye.
    ‘Oh. One more thing,’ he said. He squeezed into the back seat with her, smoothed back the hair from her forehead, and gently kissed her. ‘I’ve wanted to do that for the longest time,’ he laughed. ‘Your knees didn’t buckle this time?’
    ‘No,’ she said gravely, ‘I think I’ve been inoculated against kissing.’
    ‘Well, we’ll have to see about that when you get better,’ he replied.
    They started for home. Strange to think of the mountain house that way, her mind told her. Home? The day was exceptionally bright. Two crows swooped down, doing acrobatics over the car, as they left town. ‘That’s my welcome committee,’ Katie said gleefully.
    ‘Of course,’ he replied, and sounded as if he meant it. She tried to carry on the conversation in the same vein, enquiring after Jon, Aunt Grace, and—heaven forgive me, she thought—Eloise. But when they pulled up at a traffic light on the outskirts of Erwin he turned and looked at her. ‘You know, I hate gabby women,’ he said.
    ‘O-oh!’ Her voice started off normally, but rose to an injured squeak. They made the rest of the trip in silence. An infuriating man, she thought, concentrating on the scenery. An abominable man! And if I just had my car—and if I just had my car it wouldn’t make the slightest bit of difference, because I wouldn’t