‘They’re ready for you now, Betty.’ Maggie smiled her acknowledgment of the thanks. ‘I’ll take you over to the helicopter.’
Betty hesitated. ‘I hate flying,’ she confessed. ‘If it wasn’t my Charlie in there, you wouldn’t get me near one of those contraptions.’
‘It’s quite safe,’ Maggie assured her. ‘I do it all the time.’ She took Betty’s arm and held her hand. ‘Come on. I’ll introduce you to the paramedics. They’re very nice boys and they’ll take good care of you and Charlie.’
Maggie and Hugo stood together to watch the helicopter take off. ‘I’d like to have gone with them,’ Hugo said as the noise from the rotors diminished. ‘Shame they didn’t have the room for an extra.’
‘He’s in good hands,’ Maggie responded. ‘And you would have only been sitting and waiting at the other end.’
‘I could have kept Betty company.’ Hugo led the way as they moved back to the ambulance. ‘She’ll worry herself sick until it’s all over. It’ll be Charlie who keeps it together despite being scared silly himself.’
Maggie drove the short distance to the ambulance station and then climbed into the passenger seat of Hugo’s Jeep. ‘Are you that fond of all your patients?’ she asked curiously.
‘Of course not. The Barkers are a bit special.’
‘Why’s that?’
‘I guess I just know them better than most of my patients. Charlie helped me convert what was a pretty rough shed for shearing gangs into my house. It took us about a year and Betty was never far away. She’d sit there with her knitting on nice days and turn up with hot soup and scones on cold ones. They hate being away from each other for too long despite the fact they’ve been married for more than fifty years.’
‘That’s so sweet.’
‘So unusual.’ Hugo turned off the main road. ‘Just goes to show how important it is to choose the right partner, doesn’t it? Or maybe it’s just luck. You wouldn’t think it would have been such a successful marriage. They’re like chalk and cheese, those two.’
‘Opposites attract.’
‘Yes, but they don’t always find it works out long term. Betty frets and Charlie reassures her. Charlie’s always been a real go-getter and Betty’s toned him down and kept him out of trouble.’
Maggie made a face. ‘I’d hate that.’
‘What?’
‘Somebody trying to tone me down.’
‘Hmm.’ Hugo eyed Maggie thoughtfully. ‘I guess that’s why the hunk had to go.’
‘The what?’
‘The drop-dead boring guy.’
‘Oh, Brian. Yep, he was definitely into toning down. He would have had kittens if I’d ever driven him on a priority-one call-out in an ambulance.’
Hugo felt another twinge of sympathy for Maggie’s discarded suitor. ‘I have to confess I wasn’t exactly at my most relaxed on the way to the Barkers.’
‘Calculated risk,’ Maggie said lightly. ‘There’s a time and place for everything.’ She shot Hugo a quick grin. ‘Maybe it’s a maturity thing. You’re about the same age as Brian.’
Hugo was silent. He didn’t like the comparison.
Maggie was still grinning. ‘You didn’t try and tone me down, I noticed.’
This time Hugo returned the grin. Maybe he wasn’t drop-dead boring after all. Just safe, as Maggie had said. And safe sounded much nicer than boring. ‘Would it have had any effect?’
Maggie’s grin widened. ‘Probably not.’
‘There you go, then.’ Hugo’s expression sobered. ‘And you obviously knew what you were doing. You’re very skilled.’ He pulled the Jeep to a halt but paused before opening his door. ‘You did a fantastic job there, Maggie. I was really impressed.’
‘Thanks.’ Maggie followed Hugo into the house, trying to keep her pace measured. She felt more like skipping. Hugo had never been ‘really impressed’ with her that she could remember. He had sounded almost proud of her and the pleasure it was giving her was enough to make her toes tingle. She could feel her cheeks getting pinker as well and it wasn’t due to the weather conditions.
‘It’s still cold, isn’t it? Shall we crank up the fire and heat some soup?’
The lunch was leisurely and neither Hugo nor Maggie were in any hurry to leave the warmth of the fire when they finished eating. The weather was closing in again.
‘Not really nice enough to go sightseeing, is it?’
‘No.’ Maggie made space for Lass to climb up on the couch beside her. ‘To be honest, your idea of browsing through journals seems like a nice way to spend the afternoon.’
‘Help yourself.’ Hugo waved at the pile on the coffee-table.
It was a surprisingly enjoyable few hours. Maggie found plenty of articles of interest and Hugo was quite happy to have his own reading interrupted to answer any queries she came up with. Periodically, they wondered aloud how the Barkers were getting on and by five o’clock, Hugo couldn’t wait any longer. He put a call through to the coronary care unit in Dunedin and spoke at length to one of the consultants. He was smiling broadly by the time he finished the call.
‘They tried to abort what was looking like a major inferior infarct with angioplasty but they ran into difficulty so he got taken straight to Theatre and they went ahead with bypass surgery. He’s just out of Theatre and in Intensive Care, and so far everything’s looking good.’
‘That’s fantastic!’
‘Sure is. Calls for a celebration, I think. How about a glass of wine?’
‘Double fantastic.’
Sharing a bottle of red in front of the fire was a noticeable improvement on an already very pleasant afternoon. The cold and now dark and wet evening was forgotten even by the dogs, who gave no indication that they might need to be let outside.
Hugo raised his second glass of wine. ‘Here’s to you, Maggie. For making the inspired decision to come and live in Central Otago.’
Maggie drank the toast happily and then held up her own glass. ‘Here’s to Charlie,’ she said. ‘May he make a full and speedy recovery.’
Hugo drank to that toast. ‘Here’s to your skill with speedy driving.’ He grinned. ‘A trip with you makes me appreciate being alive.’
But he didn’t raise his glass any further to reach his lips. And neither did Maggie. For a long moment they stared at each other.
‘It wasn’t my fault, you know, Hugh,’ Maggie said softly. ‘The accident.’
‘I know that.’
‘It wasn’t Fliss’s fault either. That bus came round the corner completely on the wrong side of the road.’
‘I know.’
‘It hadn’t even been my idea to go to Athens. Fliss was so set on seeing the Acropolis.’
Hugo tried to smile. ‘I can believe that.’
‘It felt like my fault, though,’ Maggie whispered. ‘And I know you blamed me.’
‘I didn’t,’ Hugo said slowly. ‘Not really.’
‘You never answered my letters.’
‘I had trouble coping for a while.’ Hugo was turning his glass round and round in his hands, staring at the blood-red liquid it contained. ‘I blamed myself as much as anyone else. I took responsibility for Fliss after Dad died. She could talk Mum into anything. It was always my role to be the sensible one. To point out the dangers. To try and look after her.’
‘And I was always the one getting her into trouble, wasn’t I?’ Maggie’s eyes shone with unshed tears.
‘You were always the one she wanted to be with.’ Hugo used the last of the wine in his glass to wash away the lump in his throat. ‘And you always had such fun together.’
‘Until something went wrong.’ Maggie sniffed and rubbed her nose with the back of her hand. ‘Do you remember that time we decided to be fairies and try flying around the living room? We broke that precious ornament of your mother’s.’
‘The china shepherdess?’ Hugo’s smile was lopsided as he reached for the bottle to refill his glass. ‘You put all the pieces into a shoebox and hid them
in my bedroom.’
‘And you spent hours gluing it back together. It was months before she spotted the cracks.’
‘And do you remember the time you decided you’d both look good with jet-black hair? You must have been about twelve or thirteen.’
Maggie chuckled softly. ‘Fliss looked like a vampire and my hair turned that weird sort of bottle-green shade.’
‘And what about the time you went to the movies and missed the last bus home and decided to try hitch-hiking?’
‘You were so cross.’
‘You were both lucky you found a ride with someone decent.’
‘I knew he was safe enough. He had grey hair and a dog collar.’
‘It was still a damned stupid thing to have done. You were only fifteen.’
‘I knew you’d tell us off.’
‘Didn’t need to, did I?’ Hugo was smiling now. ‘Inviting him in for a cup of tea and an off-the-cuff sermon did the trick.’
‘It was awful,’ Maggie groaned. ‘We thought he was never going to stop and I didn’t dare look at Fliss, ’cause I would have started giggling and you would have been even more furious.’ Maggie looked up at Hugo and suddenly the tears overflowed. ‘Oh, Hugh. I still miss her so much.’
Hugo stood up and then Maggie was in his arms and he was holding her tightly.
‘So do I,’ he murmured.
‘And I missed you, too,’ Maggie snuffled. ‘And I thought you blamed me and would never want to see me again.’
‘I don’t blame you,’ Hugo said. And, finally, it was true. ‘Fliss loved you. She had the happiest moments of her life with you. And maybe, thanks to you, she had more of them in just nineteen years than some people get after living for sixty years.’ His mouth was against Maggie’s hair. He could feel the softness of it with his lips as he spoke. ‘I’ll bet you had all sorts of adventures in Europe that I never heard about.’
‘I’ve got lots of photos.’ Maggie’s words were muffled by Hugo’s shoulder. ‘Would you like to see them?’
‘Sure.’ Hugo nodded. ‘But not just yet.’
Maggie pulled away to look up at Hugo. ‘Will it ever stop hurting like this?’ she whispered.
‘I think it might,’ Hugo said gently. ‘Especially if we can remember the good things.’
‘It seems a lifetime ago some days,’ Maggie said. ‘And then it seems like only yesterday.’
‘It was a long time ago.’ Hugo pushed a stray tendril of hair back from where it was caught on Maggie’s damp eyelashes. ‘You were both just kids.’
‘I grew up fast.’ Maggie managed a watery smile.
Hugo smiled back. She had grown up all right. Maggie might still need the kind of comfort he’d given her as a child, but he was holding a woman in his arms now. She might still have the spirit of the irrepressible child he remembered but she had a wisdom and strength and confidence that was new…and extraordinary.
And very disturbing. Hugo could actually feel his awareness of Maggie evolving. He could sense with a kind of detachment the reaction his body was having to her. The recognition that she was an attractive woman had suddenly become rather personal. She was attractive to him, and the acknowledgment of her sexuality felt like a betrayal of all they had ever had between them.
Maggie saw the rapid changes in Hugo’s expression and could feel a mirror image of the emotions they portrayed. A shared grief as well as joy. Forgiveness for any past misdemeanours or judgements. The recognition that they were both long past adolescence—and with that came that split second of shared desire that seemed so inappropriate in the wake of remembering the trust and love they had forged over so many years. The roles they had always kept firmly within were no longer there. Maggie didn’t need a big brother. She wasn’t an extension of Hugo’s family any more.
Had it, in fact, been only she who had felt that sharp twinge of desire? That expression had been so fleeting in Hugo’s eyes that she could easily imagine it had never happened. Maybe she had simply projected an awakening of her old feelings. Had Hugo recognised it enough to be embarrassed or even appalled? Something was certainly enough to make him almost push her away. To make a show of putting more wood on the fire and then snapping his fingers at the dogs.
‘Come on, you lot. I don’t care if it’s snowing again. You need some fresh air.’
Hugo needed some fresh air as well and, for once, Maggie wasn’t making any attempt to join them. The thought that she might have seen something of what he’d felt in his face was horrifying and he couldn’t blame her for turning away in embarrassment. She’d held him in a position of trust all her life. Hugo hesitated by the front door. He couldn’t break that trust now. Maggie needed to know she was still safe with him.
‘Don’t forget your hat if you’re coming with us,’ he called over his shoulder. ‘It is snowing again out here.’
CHAPTER SIX
‘IT’S cute.’
Maggie stared from the passenger seat window of the ambulance at a property enhanced by a sunny winter’s afternoon. On the edge of the central business district in Queenstown, it was one of a line of what looked like doll’s houses. The gardens, if there were any, would be adjacent to the back of a row of shops. The houses were old and square with tiny verandahs. The example Maggie was peering at had the winter skeleton of a rampant climbing rose obscuring some decorative ironwork gracing the verandah’s curved iron roof.
‘It’s bigger than it looks.’ Jason drove the heavy vehicle half onto the footpath of the narrow street so that they wouldn’t obstruct traffic. ‘There’s four bedrooms.’ He opened the driver’s door and jumped out. ‘Come and have a look. They’re not expecting us at the medical centre for fifteen minutes yet.’
Maggie followed a little less enthusiastically. She hadn’t said she was definitely interested in the upcoming vacancy in Jason’s flat, just that it sounded like a possibility. Now she was here, she wasn’t sure that it even ranked that highly.
‘You’re really close to the shops, aren’t you?’ Maggie was careful not to make it sound like a criticism and she obviously succeeded.
‘Great, isn’t it? We hardly ever cook. The restaurants and take-aways are brilliant. And we’re within easy walking distance of all the pubs and clubs.’ Jason grinned at Maggie. ‘We never have to worry about driving home if we’ve been out for a bit of a rave.’
‘That’s handy.’ Maggie wondered how often Jason and his friends hit the club scene. Not that it mattered. She’d been working with Jason for over a month now and she had no complaints. He was a competent ambulance officer who loved his job and was keen to advance his training. He was good company and reliable. He was also young at only twenty-five, good-looking and popular, and Maggie would be the last person to suggest that someone should tone down and get less enjoyment out of his life. She stepped over a dodgy-looking broken board on the verandah and waited while Jason unlocked the front door. ‘Doesn’t it get a bit noisy some nights?’ she ventured.
‘Yeah.’ Jason’s dreadlocks bounced as he nodded. ‘Queenstown really rocks. You’ll love it.’
Maggie said nothing. The thought that the silence and peace of Hugo’s lakeside haven was preferable wasn’t something she could share with Jason unless she didn’t mind sounding like someone’s grandmother.
‘You go ahead.’ Jason waved her on. ‘The kitchen’s down the end.’
Maggie walked down a narrow, dark central hallway into a kitchen-living area at the back of the house. A man of about Jason’s age stood by the bench wearing nothing but a pair of board shorts. Tall, blond and lean, he had bright blue eyes and a friendly smile. Very friendly.
‘So what do you think?’ Jason was saying behind her. ‘Nice?’
Maggie couldn’t help returning the smile the Greek god was bestowing upon her. ‘Very nice,’ she murmured.
‘Oh…’ Jason had spotted the god now. ‘Hi, Sven. You’re up already!’ He turned to Maggie. ‘Sven’s a ski instructor,’ he told her.
‘No kid
ding?’ Maggie tried to rein in her smile so that she didn’t come across as being totally inane, but so far Sven was by far the most attractive feature of the flat.
‘Maggie’s thinking of taking over Donna’s room,’ Jason told Sven. ‘Cool, eh?’
‘Very cool.’ Sven’s accent was another bonus. ‘Do you ski, Maggie?’
‘Not yet,’ Maggie said happily. ‘But I’m thinking of taking lessons.’ Heavens, now she sounded like a wannabe ski bunny.
‘How’s the day off going?’ Jason asked his flatmate. ‘We don’t usually see you out of bed before lunchtime.’
‘Lisa had to work,’ Sven said sadly. ‘No point staying in bed.’
Jason laughed. ‘Lisa is Sven’s roommate,’ he informed Maggie. ‘That’s how we get five of us living here and keep the rent down so well.’
‘Oh.’ Maggie let her gaze roam as Sven’s attraction faded into insignificance. The living room was tiny. Did everyone spend their time in their own rooms or were they all too busy with the club scene to worry about lack of space at home? There weren’t too many worries felt about cleaning up either. Ski boots lay on piles of newspaper and magazines. Dirty dishes lay in corners and empty beer cans littered the hearth.
‘It’s my turn to clean up this week.’ Jason grimaced as he noticed the direction of Maggie’s gaze. ‘I’ll get round to it soon.’
‘I’m not the tidiest person on earth myself,’ Maggie confessed.
‘Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the house.’ Jason turned his back on the mess. ‘This is Erin’s room. You met her the night we all went out to dinner, remember?’
Maggie nodded. ‘How’s her arm?’
‘She’s due to get her cast off next week so she should be back to full duties at the hospital again.’
‘That’s great. They’re still very short-staffed.’ It would be nice having another cheerful face around her working environment. As a flatmate Maggie could imagine that Erin would be just as good company as Jason was.
‘This is Donna’s room, right beside the bathroom.’ Jason’s grin was cheeky. ‘That’ll be useful for a lady of your advancing years.’
A Courageous Doctor Page 9
