Secrets at the Loch (Loch Lannick #5) - Hannah Ellis Page 0,19
standing and giving Grace her hand.
She cried out as soon as she put any weight on it and Lexie eased her back down to the ground.
“It’s probably just sprained,” Damian said. He scanned the group then looked at Lexie. “You wait here with her. Nick and I can take the rest of them back. I’ll come out on the quad bike and drive Grace back on that.”
Grace groaned and took Lexie’s hand again as she stood. “That’s so embarrassing. I can hop back if you’ll help me.”
“You can’t hop back,” Damian said firmly. “You could do even more damage.”
“I’ll be fine,” Grace insisted and did a couple of hops to prove it, wincing as she went.
“I can give you a piggyback if you want,” Nick offered.
“Really?” Grace said with a look of relief.
“No,” Damian answered. “He can’t.”
Nick shrugged. “I don’t mind.”
“It’s against health and safety procedure.” Damian looked at him impatiently. “If you trip when you’re carrying her, you can make her injury worse and do yourself damage while you’re at it. Or you could injure your back carrying her.”
“I’m fairly sure she doesn’t weigh very much.”
Damian shot him a fierce look before telling Lexie to stay with Grace and encouraging the rest of the group to get moving.
It seemed as though Nick was about to follow the group but dithered and turned back to Grace. “Do you want a piggyback now Mr Health and Safety is out of the way?”
“Yes, please,” she said, giggling at the nickname.
Nick took her hand to help her up then crouched in front of her so she could get on his back. As he straightened up, Lexie held his arm to support him.
“I might go a bit slow,” Nick said. “If I fall and injure us both, I’ll be getting the biggest lecture ever.”
“I won’t get you in trouble, will I?” Grace asked.
“No. I don’t usually work here so it’s not as though I can get fired or anything.”
Damian looked over his shoulder after a few minutes and shook his head but didn’t slow down.
“Uh oh,” Nick said in a silly voice. “Someone’s not happy.”
Grace laughed and shifted her hold as Nick hoisted her higher on his hips.
“Are you okay with her?” Lexie asked.
“Aye. I’m fitter than I look.”
She ducked under a low branch. “I didn’t say you look unfit.”
“Not out loud!”
It took about ten minutes for them to reach the activity centre. Nick was only a little out of breath as he lowered Grace onto the couch in the common area.
“I hear you’ve been fighting with tree roots,” Tim said to Grace, handing her an ice pack. “Put that on it. I spoke to your mum. She’s on her way and will take you over to the clinic to get it checked if she thinks it needs it.”
Grace winced as she positioned the ice on her ankle, then smiled up at Nick. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he said before walking away with Tim.
When a couple of Grace’s friends crowded around her, Lexie moved away and went in search of Nick. She could hear raised voices as she approached Tim’s office. It wasn’t a massive surprise – she’d known Damian would have something to say.
“You can’t make comments about how much young girls weigh either,” Damian was saying when Lexie slipped inside.
“What are you talking about?” Nick asked.
Damian folded his arms over his chest. “You said she looked light. As though that was a good thing. It’s the wrong message.”
Nick gave a humourless laugh. “It is a good thing when you’re carrying someone for half a mile.”
“Well if you’d listened to me you wouldn’t have been carrying her. There was no need for you to play hero.” He scowled at Nick. “And it was pretty obvious you only did it to impress Lexie.”
The room fell silent for a moment. Tim sat at his desk and squeezed the bridge of his nose.
“He didn’t do anything wrong,” Lexie snapped. “He only came along as a favour and now you’ve got the cheek to have a go at him.”
Nick put a hand on her arm as her voice grew steadily louder. “Just leave it.”
“But he shouldn’t speak to you like that,” she said, without taking her eyes off Damian.
“I’m just going to go,” Nick said.
Tim blew out a breath. “Thanks a lot for helping.”
“No worries. See you.”
Lexie remained glaring at Damian for a moment before following Nick out of the room. She caught up to him outside the front of the building.