Page 44 of Mending Hearts at the Cornish Country Hospital (The Cornish Country Hospital #6)

‘I wanted answers after she died and I hoped they’d come with the postmortem, but they never really did.

I wanted to make a difference for Flora and after that I wanted to make a difference for my mother too.

I didn’t want another family to go through what I did, or feel like they were being fobbed off, because there were people who might not want the truth to come out.

My father would have hated the interest it would have raked up in the press if it had been revealed that his actions had driven my mother to suicide.

Sometimes I’ve even wondered if he encouraged her in some way.

’ Drew shook his head. ‘Whatever his reason for accepting such a superficial investigation, he wanted to come out of the situation with his reputation unblemished. That was far more important than the truth, and I wanted to do what I could to try and change that.’

‘She’d have been so proud of you.’ Eden might never have met his mother, or even know much about her, but she was certain what she was saying was true. After all, how could anyone be anything but proud of what Drew had achieved?

‘I hope so.’ Drew turned the car down a narrow lane, with a sign directing them to where they could access the Camel Trail. ‘I’ll never know, but my father hates that I didn’t follow him into the law, and that’s more than enough for me. Right, here we are.’

Eden turned and looked out of the window. There was a large wooden building at the back of the car park, and a sign emblazoned with the words ‘Cycle Hire’.

Her heart sank, heat colouring her cheeks. ‘I thought I told you that I can’t ride a bike.’

‘You’ll be okay with what I’ve got planned.

I promise you it will be fine.’ There was a smile playing around Drew’s lips and she realised she trusted him when he said it would be fine.

She had no idea how, but she knew it would be.

If Jesse had been wearing the same kind of expression as Drew, it would have been because he was laughing at her expense, planning something to show her up, and knock her confidence.

He’d been a master at it. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that Drew would never deliberately do that to her and another wave of affection washed over her as he got out of the car and took Teddie out of his car seat.

The little boy was hugging him tightly, almost as if he’d understood every word of the conversation they’d had on the way here and he wanted to comfort Drew the way Eden had wished she could.

‘Do you mind just grabbing the rucksack out of the back, please. It’s got everything we might need.

’ Drew was clearly still determined not to give anything away and Eden did as he asked, before following him in the direction of the cabin.

He definitely had the heavier load carrying Teddie in his arms. Maybe they were just parking here.

There were various stops along the Camel Trail, a route that ran alongside the River Camel from Padstow to Wenfordbridge on the track-bed of two former railway lines.

Eden had never walked the trail, but it was something she’d wanted to do for a long time.

The scenery was stunning, and from what she’d heard the terrain was fairly even.

Although if Drew was intending to walk rather than ride, she’d need to get Teddie’s buggy out of the car, because he was far too heavy to carry over any significant distance.

‘Shall I go back for Teddie’s buggy?’ Drew shook his head, almost before Eden had finished asking the question.

‘We won’t need it.’ The smile was still playing around Drew’s mouth, but Eden wasn’t going to keep pushing him for an answer he clearly didn’t want to give.

It was only when they rounded the side of the cabin that she saw the rows of different types of bikes.

There were kids’ ones and adult ones, as well as e-bikes for anyone who needed to take it a bit easier, but then she saw the family bikes.

They looked almost more like oversized pedal cars, with two seats for adults, each with its own steering wheel.

There was a bench seat behind, that could accommodate a couple of children, and another bucket-style seat in front, which reminded Eden of the ones in shopping trolleys.

And all of the family bikes had red-and-white striped canopies.

‘Are we taking one of those out?’ She was already smiling at the idea. Teddie would be in his element sitting up front.

‘Yes, I’ve booked one for the next three hours and we can see how far the Camel Trail takes us.

I know you said you always wanted Teddie to be able to ride a bike, and that you wish you could too.

We might not be able to make either of those things happen today, but we can work on them.

In the meantime, I thought this might be the next best thing. ’

‘It isn’t the next best thing. It’s the best thing and so are you.’ Dropping the rucksack on the ground, Eden threw caution to the wind and wrapped her arms around Drew, sandwiching Teddie between them.

‘You’re the kindest, most thoughtful man I’ve ever met.’

‘You forgot ruggedly handsome.’ He laughed and she nodded.

‘Sorry, I thought that was obvious.’ Reaching up, she kissed him, not caring what anyone thought of the display of affection outside the bike hire shop.

Finding out she could have such strong feelings for someone who fitted into her life so perfectly hadn’t been something Eden had even thought possible.

It was like Drew was the final part of a puzzle she hadn’t even realised had a missing piece, but he’d changed the whole picture and she never wanted it to go back to how it had been before.