A Doctor to Remember by Joanna Neil

to recuperate, by doing some gardening, or wandering round the shops in town, and exploring the seashore whenever the weather was good.
    The very next day she made up her mind to go down to the beach. They were enjoying a few days of brilliant sunshine, and it would have been sheer folly not to make the most of it.
    The easiest way to get there from the house was via a crooked footpath that ended in a long, winding flight of steps and eventually led to a small, beautiful cove sheltered by tall cliffs. She’d been there a couple of times since her arrival here, and she set off again now, taking with her a beach bag and a few essentials…including sun cream and a bottle of pop.
    The cove was fairly isolated, but even so several families must have had the same idea and were intent on enjoying themselves by the sea.
    She sat down in the shade of a craggy rock and watched the children playing on the smooth sand. Some splashed at the water’s edge, while others threw beach balls or dug in the sand with plastic buckets and spades. Her eyes darkened momentarily. This was what Charlie should be doing, enjoying the weekend sunshine with his family.
    There’d been no news from the hospital about the little boy, and she’d thought about giving them a call. But she wasn’t a relative, and none of the staff at the hospital knew her, so she doubted they would reveal confidential information. She had to rely on Matt to tell her if there was anything she needed to know. He would, she was sure. She trusted him to do that.
    She frowned. He was so open with everything else. Why was he so reluctant to talk about their past?
    A small boy, dressed in blue bathing trunks, came to stand a few yards away from her. He was about four years old, with black hair and solemn grey-blue eyes, and he stood there silently, watching her. There was an empty bucket in his hand.
    She smiled at him and put up a hand to shield her eyes from the sun. ‘Hello. What’s your name?’
    ‘Ben.’
    ‘I’m Saffi,’ she told him. ‘Are you having a good time here on the beach? The sand’s lovely and warm, isn’t it?’
    He nodded, but said nothing, still staring at her oddly, and she said carefully, ‘Are you all right? Is something bothering you?’
    He shrugged his shoulders awkwardly and she raised a questioning brow. ‘You can tell me,’ she said encouragingly. ‘I don’t mind.’
    ‘You look sad,’ he said.
    Ah. ‘Do I?’ She smiled. ‘I’m not really. It’s too lovely a day for that, isn’t it?’
    He nodded, but his expression was sombre, far too wise for a four-year-old.
    ‘Are you sad sometimes?’ she asked, prompted by a vague intuition.
    He nodded again. ‘It hurts here,’ he said, putting a hand over his tummy.
    Saffi watched him curiously, wondering what could be making him feel unhappy. Being here on the beach and being out of sorts didn’t seem to go together somehow.
    ‘Do you feel sad now?’ she asked.
    He shook his head. ‘I did, a bit, ’cos I don’t see Daddy every day, like I used to. But it’s all right now.’
    ‘Oh. Well, that’s good. I’m glad for you. Are you on holiday here with your daddy?’
    He shook his head. ‘We live here.’
    She looked around to see if his father was anywhere nearby, and saw a man just a few yards away, in rolledup jeans and tee shirt, kneeling down in the sand, putting the finishing touches to a large sandcastle. When he stood up and looked around, Saffi’s throat closed in startled recognition.
    Matt came towards them. ‘What are you up to, Ben? I thought you were coming down to the sea to fill up your bucket. Or have you changed your mind about getting water for the moat?’
    Then he looked at Saffi and his eyes widened in appreciation, taking in her curves, outlined by the sun top and shorts that clung faithfully to her body. ‘Hi…I wondered if I might see you down here some time.’
    She nodded vaguely, but inside she was reeling from this new discovery. Matt had a son?