He laughed back and drew her closer, palm to palm. ‘I hope you don’t mind sitting and drinking coffee awhile,’ he said. ‘I’ve been craving anything other than that hideous Compo blend.’
‘I thought the fancy doctors would get the real stuff,’ she said, walking through the door ahead of him when he held it open with one hand.
‘I’m afraid not. Don’t you think I’d have smuggled you some in if I did?’
‘A girl can only hope.’
They ordered their coffee and sat down, and Ellie was struck by how ordinary everything seemed. There was terrible damage all around, roads ruined and buildings blasted beyond recovery, but in this little café, the world seemed almost perfect. As if she was a regular girl on a regular date, about to sip coffee and talk. She leaned closer to Spencer, head bent and wishing she was sitting beside him instead of across the table.
‘I was worried Scarlet was tricking me,’ she confessed.
Spencer looked up and stared straight into her eyes. ‘I’ve been wanting a moment alone with you since the very first time we spoke.’
‘When I bumped into you in the hall that day?’ she asked, feeling some of her old confidence returning.
‘Well, maybe the second time. That first time I was just struck by your beautiful big eyes.’ He gave her a half-smile. ‘I even told my mother about the beautiful nurse who’d taken me by surprise.’
She giggled, like a silly little girl. And if felt wonderful. ‘You did?’
‘Of course. I couldn’t write a letter home and not mention that I might have someone to introduce her to when we get back.’
‘Tell me what you have planned for us today,’ she said, eyes averted, not wanting to know what he’d told his mother. She couldn’t believe he’d done it in the first place!
He raised an eyebrow and made her laugh again. This was a different Spencer, one she hadn’t had the opportunity to enjoy with everything that had been happening.
‘What would you say if you found out that I’d made up a story about needing you for an evening shift at the local convent?’
His wry smile made her blush. ‘You have?’
‘Are you angry?’
‘I can’t be angry yet because I don’t know what you have in store for me!’
Spencer leaned back when their coffee was placed on the table, the steaming hot cups looking as good this time as her first one had.
‘There’s a stream that runs through a farm near here. I thought we could sit down there and talk,’ he said simply. ‘I like you, Ellie. Despite everything we’re dealing with, I met you, and that makes everything I’ve had to deal with worth it.’
‘How did you find this stream?’ she asked, wishing she had the nerve to tell him that she liked him straight back.
‘Do you remember when I had to leave last week?’ he asked. ‘I went to the other hospital.’
‘Of course.’
‘Well, I had a few hours off, after a shift that ended up being almost two days with not a moment of sleep,’ Spencer said, taking a sip of his coffee. The taste made him smile and she sipped her own. ‘I came here, to this very café, and met a woman. She was crying and I asked what was wrong. It turns out her son had broken his arm and her daughter was sick, and she had no one to help her.’
‘So you, dashing doctor that you are, helped her, didn’t you?’
He nodded. ‘I bought her a coffee, since I had a pocket full of francs, then went back to her house. She has a lovely little home, full of warmth, but her son’s arm hadn’t been set and I was able to check both her children over. Today, I called in to check on them all and I happened to mention you.’
Ellie’s heart leapt. ‘What about me?’ What could he possibly have told this woman about her?
‘That I finally had a date of sorts with you. She offered to make us a simple meal to say thank you, and told me that there is a lovely stream at the bottom of her property, with a hut of sorts that her husband made for the children long before the war. She said she will leave the food for us there, should we wish for some time away from everything.’
Ellie was speechless. She didn’t know what to say, how to react; but she did want to say yes.
‘Are we, er, are we going there soon?’ she asked when Spencer didn’t say anything else.
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Unless you want to go back instead?’
‘Spencer,’ she whispered, ‘there is nothing I want to do more than forget this war and spend every stolen moment with you.’
He leaned forward, hesitated, then pressed his lips softly to hers, his kiss barely touching her mouth it was so gentle.
‘Well, good then,’ he muttered.
She was kissing her man in front of anyone who cared to watch, and she didn’t give a damn.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Ellie
‘Is this too much?’ Spencer asked, his voice soft.
Ellie stared in amazement around her. It was definitely too much, but it was also perfect. The stream was pretty as a picture, the water trickling gently and long grass tickling its way right down to the bank. She looked up at Spencer, their hands linked, the smile on her face impossible to stifle.
‘It’s perfect,’ she said.
‘I wasn’t sure if you’d want to be here alone with me,’ he said, dropping her hand and stroking her back instead. ‘But compared to being stuck in the hospital, it seemed the better option.’
She exhaled and leaned into him, more comfortable with Spencer than she could explain. There was something so lovely about him. He was charming, but strong; capable, but also so easy-going and not at all pushy. Not to mention he was an amazing doctor, which made her admire him all the more. He genuinely cared, she could see that, and it showed her the type of person he was.
‘Hungry?’ he asked.
She sighed. ‘Starving. But I’d give you the same answer any hour of any day. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the lack of food.’
He grunted. ‘I see you feeding the patients sometimes and think how hard it must be. Giving them food when you know how many hours it’ll be until you have a meal.’
They stood a moment longer before turning together. There were oak trees dotted around them, long grass scattered amongst areas of dirt and stone. But it was the little house that caught her eye; it was almost like a miniature log cabin it was so perfect.
‘Can you believe this?’
Spencer chuckled, looking straight ahead. ‘It’s like a beautiful house that’s been shrunk.’
‘Did you say her husband built it for their children?’ she asked.
He nodded. ‘Yes. Lucky kids.’
‘I hope for their sakes that he makes it home,’ Ellie whispered, wishing she wasn’t thinking about war again. But it was impossible not to. ‘To think of all those families . . .’
Her voice trailed off and Spencer squeezed her hand. ‘Come on. Let’s see what she left for us to eat.’
She followed his lead and she waited as he pushed open the door to the wooden playhouse. They both had to duck their heads to get inside, but it was cute, with a little table and two children’s chairs to one side, and a picnic basket in the middle waiting for them.