by Lucy Clark
When he glanced over at her, it was to discover she was asleep. Her head was at a slight angle but they weren’t too far from her house. He drove a little more carefully, ensuring he didn’t take the corners too quickly.
‘We’re here,’ he announced after he’d stopped the car in her driveway. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder to wake her but he couldn’t. ‘CJ?’ Nothing. ‘Claudia-Jean?’ Still nothing. She was out for the count. He climbed from the car and opened the door to the house with the keys she’d given him yesterday. There was no way he could let her sleep in such an uncomfortable position because it wouldn’t do her or the baby any good.
Ethan slowly and carefully helped her from the car but still she didn’t wake up completely. He placed an arm about her shoulders to help, but when she sagged against him, he did the only thing possible—he swung her into his arms.
She was surprisingly light, and placed a lethargic arm about his neck before snuggling in. ‘You smell nice,’ she murmured sleepily.
He carried her through her part of the house and into her room, placing her on top of the bed. There, she pulled off the sunglasses and scarf before snuggling into the pillows. ‘Thank you.’ The words were hardly audible but he appreciated them all the same.
He stood there, watching her sleep. She still looked about eighteen years old and he smiled to himself. Her hair had come loose from one of the pigtails and was half over her face. Ethan reached out and smoothed it back behind her ear, then jerked his hand away as though unsure why he’d even performed the action. What was wrong with him?
She was beautiful, no doubt about that. There was something different about her...something unique that was drawing him in, making him want to spend time with her. Relaxing. That was it. He found being in her presence very relaxing and once again, as he breathed in, he was able to fill his lungs. It felt good...and at the same time confusing. Why was it he found her so compelling?
He raked a hand through his hair, exhaling slowly. She liked vintage cars, she liked driving in them, she liked chatting with people and being a part of a community. He could see some similarities. When restoring a car, you needed to take your time, to choose wisely. Was that how CJ lived her life? Taking her time to make long and lasting friendships? If today was any indication, he would say that was a resounding ‘yes’. Did he?
As soon as the thought came, Ethan pushed it away. He had a life—a life in Sydney that he would return to in six months’ time. He would be cleared to go back to work and that would be that. He had close relationships with his sister, his brother and his parents...at least, he used to have a close relationship with them. The past six years had blurred from one day to the next and on each of those days, work had been his only constant.
‘Make new friendships,’ both Leo and Melody had told him. ‘Take your time with things. Live in the moment. Try new experiences.’ Wasn’t that what he was doing? What he’d done today? What he was planning to do tomorrow? He could feel the world of CJ Nicholls starting to envelop him and he wasn’t sure whether it was good or bad.
‘Hmm... Ethan.’ The word was whispered from CJ’s lips as she sighed and shifted slightly on the pillows.
His eyes widened at the sound. Why was she moaning his name in such a way? And why did he like it so much? He riffled his fingers through his hair again and forced himself to leave her room...immediately.
This woman was dangerous. She was making him feel things he didn’t want to, and it was starting to get to him.
CHAPTER FOUR
ETHAN HEARD CJ wake during the night but he stayed in his room. There was no way he was going through a repeat of the previous early morning rendezvous when CJ had made him smile, had made him relax his guard. He was still trying to understand his reaction to his new colleague, still trying to figure out whether he should move out of her home or...
‘Or what?’ He whispered the words into the quiet room, lacing his fingers behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. ‘Stay around and help her when she has the baby?’ It wasn’t as though she didn’t have a lot of help being proffered from her friends and colleagues. Everyone he’d met since arriving in the district seemed to accept CJ’s unborn child as part of their family. In the beginning it had confused him a little but he had to admit it was definite testament to CJ’s easy-going personality. She was both respected and loved by the people of this little town. In fact, he’d never seen such loyalty before.
‘That’s because you locked yourself away. Your heart and your emotions.’ He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed as he said the words. They weren’t his words, they were his sister’s, his brother’s and his parents’. His family had been worried about him after Abigail’s death, after the baby’s death. They’d done what he’d asked—they’d given him time, but when they’d thought that time was up, that he should be talking about his feelings, he’d pushed them all away. The only problem with his family was that they hadn’t allowed it.
‘If you don’t want to talk about it, fine,’ Melody had countered one night after she’d tried everything she could to get him to go and see a psychologist. ‘But don’t think you can push me away. I’m your sister. I love you. I care about you. Deal with it.’ And she’d been right. He was fortunate his family loved him and now he was starting to realise how horribly he’d treated them, especially during those first few years after the tragedy.
Being out of Sydney, away from the frantic pace of life he’d forced himself to live, was really giving him time to think. He didn’t like to admit it, but he was also coming to realise that he’d ignored his pain for so long that it had actually affected his health.
‘I don’t want to die,’ he’d told Melody the night he’d returned home from hospital. After his ‘hiccup’, he’d been hospitalised for a few nights as a precaution and when he’d been released, Melody had insisted on staying that first night at his apartment with him. ‘I miss her. I miss the baby, even though I was only a father for less than a day.’ Ethan had shaken his head. ‘I don’t want to talk about it and I don’t want to think about it, but neither do I want to die.’
And it was then his sister had voiced the plan of coming here, of getting away, of doing something productive but relaxing with his imposed six-month break. The fact that he’d managed to breathe more easily in the past forty-eight hours than he had in the last six years was clear proof that being here was the right thing.
But was being near CJ the right thing? Why was he so concerned with her? With her unborn child? Why had he felt that overwhelming urge to protect her and her child? Was it just because she was pregnant and looked the picture of radiant health? Her blonde hair, her smiling eyes, her mouth that would easily quirk at the corners, a smile always at the ready.
Ethan breathed in deeply, then out again as he thought about her.
Being with her, hearing the sound of her voice, enjoying the small memories of her father that were scattered around the house, the openness of this woman was encompassing him and helping him to slowly unwind.
He opened the curtains and gazed out at the night sky, the half-moon providing slivers of light. Ethan lay back down in the bed, propping his head up on some pillows, staring out at the stars. He reflected on how CJ had worn the scarf around her hair in the car, about how she’d fallen asleep on the way back and how she’d sleepily murmured his name. Even though he wasn’t sure why she had, he couldn’t hide his delight that she’d been thinking of him as she’d drifted off to sleep. Why he’d been delighted, he wasn’t one hundred percent sure, only that...it had been a long, long time since any woman had sighed his name in such a way and it gave a much-needed boost to his ego.
At six o’clock, he was astonished when his alarm woke him up. He’d slept and, apart from the slight crick in his neck, he felt fairly well rested. As he headed to the bathroom to shower, the hot water helping to soothe his neck, he felt determined to try and enjo
y the day CJ had planned for him. Networking was good. Networking was necessary if he wanted to break into the tight-knit community of the town, and this would be the way to do it. The last thing he needed was to be ready to help out in the clinic but have no patients booked in to see him because they didn’t trust him.
Walking into the kitchen, he was surprised to find CJ sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal. ‘Have you been up all night?’
She looked up at him and smiled that sweet and lovely smile he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about. She shook her head as she chewed her mouthful of food. He had to admit that she looked glowing, in a pale green knit top with three-quarter–length sleeves, the colour making her eyes more vibrant. Her blonde locks were once again in pigtails, making her look vulnerable and...adorable. She swallowed, her smile widening.
‘No. Not all night. Junior let me get some sleep because...today is grape picking day!’
‘Do you really plan on picking grapes or are you going to sit and put your feet up and let everyone else do the hard work?’
CJ laughed, the sound settling over him like sunshine. ‘Not you, too. You’re starting to sound like every other over-protective person in this town. I might help out a bit but only with the vines at chest height. My brain hasn’t completely turned to mush.’
‘Glad to hear it.’ He took the cereal down from the cupboard.
‘You don’t need to eat. Breakfast is provided and it’s a lavish spread.’
He put the cereal away and looked at her bowl.
‘Junior was hungry.’ She grinned and carried her bowl to the sink. The black skirt she wore swished around her legs and she adjusted the hem of her top so it wasn’t crinkled over her stomach. ‘So, does the fact that you’re up and ready to shake, rattle and roll mean you’re coming grape picking with me?’
‘Someone’s got to keep an eye on you.’
‘Ha. Trust me, Ethan. Everyone there today will be keeping an eye on me.’
‘They really are protective of you?’
‘Yes.’
‘Because your husband died?’ He knew he was probing but what she’d said about her husband yesterday had only stirred up more questions. She hesitated before nodding. ‘Were they protective of you before your husband’s death?’
‘Of course they were.’ She looked away and gestured towards her room. ‘I’ll just grab my handbag, then I need to stop off at the clinic to pack my medical bag and then we can go.’ She effectively changed the subject by walking out of the room.
Ethan frowned, his dislike for her husband continuing to grow, which was ludicrous. The man had done nothing to him and up until a few days ago he hadn’t even known of Quinten’s existence. Still, every time he mentioned her husband, sadness came into CJ’s eyes—a haunting sadness that indicated her marriage hadn’t been a happy one.
When she returned, she was her bright, happy self and they went outside. ‘I won’t be a moment,’ she said, heading over to the clinic. ‘You can wait in the car if you’d prefer.’
Ethan walked beside her. ‘Expecting some emergencies today?’
She shrugged. ‘I know Donna will have a well-stocked emergency kit but I still like to have a bag packed, just in case. Besides, there’s the usual ailments—cuts, scrapes, mosquito bites.’
‘Mosquitoes?’
‘Yes. Because the vines are constantly drip-watered, it makes shallow puddles that are an ideal breeding ground for—’
‘Mozzies,’ they said together.
She packed her bag, going over the check list twice before locking up the clinic and walking back to her house. ‘Can we take your car again? It’s a dream to ride in.’
‘Of course.’ He held the door for her before heading round to the driver’s seat. ‘If you weren’t pregnant, I’d even let you have a drive, but the seats don’t adjust all that well.’
‘I’ll hold you to that once the baby’s born.’ Once her scarf and sunglasses were in place, she gave him directions to Donna’s house.
‘What is that smell?’ he asked, as they neared Donna’s house. ‘It’s like...alcohol and...’ He sniffed again, unable to pinpoint the smell.
‘Manure,’ she supplied.
‘Exactly.’ He turned into the driveway and followed it up the winding path.
‘The vineyard owners have to save water where they can, so it’s recycled into “grey water”. Sometimes it can give off a bad aroma but it’s worse after the grapes have been crushed.’
‘And this is supposed to be fun,’ he stated dryly.
CJ laughed as Donna’s house came into view. ‘Yes.’ She waggled a finger at him. ‘So make sure you enjoy it.’
The house was surrounded with cars parked at all sorts of angles and Ethan managed to find a space not too far from where the festivities were taking place. He came around and helped CJ out of the car, his fingers lingering a moment longer than necessary. It was enough to make her pulse jump into the next gear and start racing with anticipation.
‘Thank you.’ The words came out on a breathless whisper. She glanced down at the ground and cleared her throat before meeting his gaze once more and smiling shyly up at him. ‘I’m not used to playing the damsel in distress but there’s no way I can get out of the car without help—at the moment.’ She tried to laugh off the feelings he was evoking, telling herself she was silly for even experiencing them in the first place. Look at her, for heaven’s sake. What man would find her attractive now?
‘I don’t think you’re a damsel in distress.’ His blue eyes were intense with sincerity, his deep voice slightly husky and filled with promise. ‘I think you’re a radiant mother-to-be.’
She swallowed, unable to look away. They were standing closer than she’d realised and she could still smell the fresh scent of his shower. Everything around them became a blur as they continued to focus solely on each other. Desire—surprising yet very real—raced through him at an alarming rate and he forced himself to take a step away.
As he closed the car door behind her, CJ was thankful for the momentary reprieve as she tried to squash the emotions he was forcing to the surface. She cleared her throat. ‘I’d better go find Donna. Would you mind passing me my bags, please?’
Once she had them in her hot little hands, she took off so fast he was surprised. The only time he’d seen a pregnant woman walk that quickly was when she needed to go to the bathroom! Perhaps that’s where CJ was headed...or perhaps she wanted to get away from him.
Either way, he was very glad there was a growing physical distance between them. ‘Just do your job and get back to your life,’ he muttered to himself as he followed the direction CJ had taken towards the house.
‘Yoo-hoo! Dr Janeway.’ He turned at the sound of his name being called. He was just about to head up the few steps to the front door when Tania, the receptionist from the clinic, came around the side of the house. ‘We’re all out the back. Here.’ She linked her arm through his. ‘I’ll show you.’
Ethan forced himself to smile as he allowed himself to be led by Tania. ‘Look who’s here,’ Tania chattered as they came around the house to the rear entertaining area where about twenty-five people were gathered. There were introductions all around and before he knew it, an empty plate was being thrust into his hands and he was being guided towards a rustic table laden with food. There were cold meats, cheese, salads and loads of fresh fruit.
He was greeted warmly by Donna and her husband, as well as many others, and all the while he made polite conversation he kept an eye out for CJ. Was she all right? Was she inside with her feet up? He wanted her to rest but he also wanted to be around her. She was his anchor in this strange new place and he was a little miffed that she’d deserted him so quickly upon arrival.
Had she felt it, too? That tug? That stirring of desire that he’d experienced yesterday at Whitecorn Hospital but which he had brushed o
ff as ‘ridiculous’? Today, though, when he’d held her hand, when he’d stood close to her, when he’d breathed her in, he could have sworn she’d been just as mesmerised by him as he’d been by her. How was that possible? They barely knew each other.
‘Try the olives,’ she told him, suddenly appearing by his side, plate in hand. ‘They’re grown on the property, too.’
‘You’re hungry again?’
‘Eating for two,’ she stated, loading up her plate. When she went to sit down, he was pleased she’d left room for him to sit next to her. The conversations flowed naturally and after a while of feeling like an outsider, Ethan began to relax. These were nice, genuine people and they were accepting him as easily as CJ had.
* * *
Two hours later, the grape-picking had well and truly begun. Once he’d been shown what to do, Ethan worked quickly and efficiently. He was by no means a stranger to hard work and found the task both enjoyable and, oddly, relaxing.
‘Having fun?’ She pulled on one glove to protect both her hand and the grapes.
‘Yes. I am.’
‘You sound surprised.’ CJ used her pair of snips and cut off a bunch of grapes, putting it into his bucket.
‘I am.’
‘Are you always surprised when you try something new and it turns out to be fun?’
He nodded. ‘Leaving Sydney. Coming to a new town. Meeting new people.’ He listed them. ‘I didn’t think any of them would be fun but it hasn’t been as bad as I’d thought.’
‘And what about sharing a house with another person?’ she added, then looked at him questioningly. ‘Are you going to stay?’
