She slid in, accompanied by a drift of some light and spicy perfume that smelt like the spring flowers Chloe kept around her flat, and she must have felt comfortable because she slid her sandals off.
Suddenly his car took on a new life. There was something earthy and incredibly sexy about bare brown toes rubbing over each other as she settled back in the leather seat.
She sighed blissfully and his day got better. ‘Always fancied a convertible.’
He laughed. She made him laugh. ‘Me, too.’
‘This car would go with my house.’
He nodded sagely. ‘Hell with a stroller, though.’
‘Especially a twin stroller.’ Their eyes met and he was pleased and surprised to see the serenity in hers. He admired her more each time they talked.
He’d have to watch that. ‘I see you’re at peace with your decision.’
‘Yes. Thank you, Dr Kefes.’
‘Nick.’ He pulled over into a parking space right outside the restaurant that someone had just pulled out from, parallel to the beach. ‘You must be very lucky to have around. I usually park twenty minutes away from this place.’
Her head was back against the headrest and her eyes were shut as the sun bathed her in bright yellow light. ‘Lucky Lucy. That’s me.’
He soaked the sight in for a few seconds, shook his head at her ability to just enjoy the moment and then leaned forward and removed his keys from the ignition. ‘Handy and lucky? Worth cultivating.’
She opened her eyes. ‘Hopefully someone will think so one day.’ There was no self-pity in the statement. Just truth. ‘I’m starving.’
He laughed again. ‘So am I.’ Typically, she was out of the car before he could get to her door.
They scored a table right on the corner of the big verandah overlooking the beach. ‘More luck,’ Nick murmured, and Lucy just smiled.
The salt-laden breeze blew their big umbrella backwards and forwards a little so that most of the time they were in the shade but every few seconds a brief wash of sunlight dusted her shoulders with golden light. Nick decided the view was great in every direction.
‘So, have you thought about what you’ll do when the babies are born?’
She rested her cute chin on her fingers. She made him feel so relaxed. ‘My next-door neighbour used to say, “Planning to make a plan is not a plan”, so, yes. I have a plan.’
He was intrigued. ‘And that is?’
She straightened. ‘I’ll work as long as I can then hopefully I’ll get maternity leave from work. It won’t be paid but from what Flora May said I think I get to keep my job. The hospital has a crèche, so I’ll go back to work one day a week part-time as soon as possible, and that’s only eight hours away from them. That’s not unreasonable.’
She shrugged. ‘When we all get used to that I’ll do two days and so on. Not quite sure how I’ll survive financially with that but that’s a few months ahead. And I’ve saved a little money.’ She grinned at him. ‘Luckily, I’m not a material girl.’
It sounded pretty shaky for a plan but she hadn’t had much time. ‘What about your parents?’
Her face changed and he wondered if she really was shrinking into the chair or if he was just imagining it. She looked away out over the waves and he seriously regretted having asked the question, judging by her response.
‘Parent.’ She shrugged and still didn’t meet his eyes. ‘Only ever had Mum, though she’s a two-edged sword. She always said I ruined her life.’
‘Your mother?’ He tried to imagine an older Lucy with a nasty mouth.
She shrugged and he decided she had the best shoulders in the restaurant.
‘Imagine one of those anxious-to-please, quiet little girls who could never get anything right?’ She forced a smile and Nick decided it actually hurt to watch. Maybe she wasn’t so together after all.
He couldn’t quite put this girl together with the one who had dragged him in to see her patient on her first day.
‘Anyway. That little girl was me. The only time I ever felt like a winner was when I accepted my midwifery degree. And Mum didn’t make it to see that.’
But, still, her mother? Nick thought. ‘So she won’t help you?’
‘Mum?’ Lucy laughed but it wasn’t the sound he’d heard before. Surprisingly there was no bitterness in the sound, just the scrape of raw nerves. ‘She taught me to rely on myself. That’s a pretty helpful trait.’
He guessed his own parents had done that to Chloe and him as well. ‘And you’re not bitter?’ He certainly was. Not for himself now but for the young teen his sister had been when they’d cast her off, and him for supporting her.
He guessed his parents had hurt him the way he could see Lucy’s mother had hurt her, but he hadn’t really had time to worry about it. He’d been more worried about getting food on the table and pushing Chloe to study.
Lucy was staring over the waves and fancifully he wondered why the sun wasn’t playing with her any more.
‘Mum managed as well as she could with her own disappointments. Now she is a material girl.’
She straightened and he saw a little more of the midwife advocate he’d seen on the ward. ‘If there’s one thing I know, it’s that my children won’t feel a burden. I’m ambitious for my midwifery, but I’ll be there for them no matter what.’ It seemed she could fight for others but not for herself. He’d think about that later.
‘My mother told me she’d left it too late to get rid of me, and I’m so pleased I can say I made the choice to keep my children.’
Hell. Her mother had told her that? Nick had thought his parents were insensitive but he couldn’t imagine what being told that would do to the psyche of a young woman.
But she’d moved on. At least in this conversation. ‘I’d hoped that by the time I had kids my husband would have a warm and fuzzy mother who would tuck me under her wing and do girl things with me. Looks like that’s not going to happen.’
He didn’t usually mention it, in fact, he couldn’t remember ever mentioning it, but maybe it would help if she knew other people had failures as parents. ‘Or you could end up with a mother like ours who just wiped Chloe and me out of her life and broke off all contact.’
‘What do you mean?’
They’d behaved as though their two children hadn’t existed. My word, he remembered that, the way he’d pleaded with them to soften towards his sixteen-year-old sister, when all he’d wanted to do had been to tear strips off them for their unforgiveable behaviour.
He’d taken too many bitter rebuffs for Chloe to ever forgive them.
It had been a defining moment in his life to learn that people could choose to exclude others regardless of how much pain they’d caused. It was also the perfect reason not to become emotionally involved, and that mantra had worked for him very well.
And Chloe was suffering because she still couldn’t do the same. ‘Refused to communicate. Didn’t answer calls when I tried to get them to talk to Chloe.’
‘That sucks. I’m sorry.’ Then she looked away and he almost missed her further words. ‘But you have your sister. I had no one.’
She lifted her chin. ‘Sorry. I’m spoiling your breakfast with my complaining. I didn’t mean to. And I’ll have my babies soon.’ She lifted her chin higher. ‘I’m tough. I’ll give up whatever I need to for my babies to have a good life and I will always be there for them. Money and possessions aren’t important. Love is.’
This had got pretty deep pretty fast, but he’d asked for it. He shifted in his seat. Contrarily, now he wanted out of this discussion. He tried for a lighter note. ‘Money buys you sports cars.’
She raised those haughty brows. ‘Yeah, but you can’t fit twin strollers in them.’
The waitress arrived to take their orders, the conversation bounced back to imp
ersonal, and thankfully the sun came back and danced on her. He didn’t know if he’d directed it that way or if she had, but seagulls wheeled overhead, and the breeze made him want to push the hair out of Lucy’s eyes.
They talked about the hospital, the great facilities the birth suites had, their young mum’s baby’s progress and how the young mum had been so diligent in the special care nursery after her own discharge. They were both careful not to mention anyone’s names, and it made it more intimate that only the two of them knew who they were talking about.
To his disappointment, the meals were on the table in no time.
For the first time he wished the usually ‘snowed under with orders’ staff were not so efficient because by the way Lucy was tucking into her meal they’d be out of there in half an hour.
They ate silently until Lucy sat back with an embarrassed smile. ‘Wow. I even beat you.’
He admired her empty plate. ‘I can see you were hungry.’
She shrugged. ‘Rather feed me for a week than a fortnight, eh? But up until today I haven’t been eating well.’
She was too cute. ‘I think you’re cured.’
She patted her round stomach. ‘Not too cured, I hope. I don’t want to look like a balloon by the time these babies are born.’
His eyes slid over her appreciatively. ‘I don’t think you have to worry. But I’ll mention to your obstetrician to keep an eye on your weight.’
She wagged a finger at him. ‘You do that.’ Then she began to fiddle with her teaspoon and he wondered what was coming. You never knew with this woman. ‘I need to thank you.’
He shifted uncomfortably. ‘What for.’
Hazel eyes caught his. ‘For looking after me on the day the bomb dropped.’
He glanced at the children playing in the surf. ‘My pleasure.’
She laughed and he looked back at her. Couldn’t avoid the urge at the sound. ‘I’m sure it wasn’t. I fell to pieces.’
Her eyes crinkled and her white teeth were just a little crooked. That tiny unevenness made her seem more real than other women he’d dated. Seriously delightful. ‘I didn’t see any pieces. I though you held up remarkably well.’
She threw back her head and laughed and he saw a man at another table look their way with an appreciative smile. Nick stared and the guy looked away.
Lucy was oblivious to anyone else. ‘Come on. I threw up in front of you.’
That made him smile. ‘But very tidily.’
He shrugged. ‘I didn’t actually see anything...’ He shook his head mournfully. ‘And have tried not to think about it.’
She laughed again and he enjoyed that he’d made it happen this time. ‘I had no idea you were mad.’
‘I hide it.’ He shrugged.
She pretended to clap her hands. ‘Very well, if I may say so. Anyway. Thank you. If it wasn’t for you I would have been alone.’
She shouldn’t have been. It made him wonder just where this one-night stand was now. It took two to tango. ‘What about the father?’
She brushed the unknown man away and, contrarily, now Nick winced in sympathy for the mystery sperm donor. ‘I don’t expect anything more from him. My mother managed when my own father walked out.’
‘But does he know?’ Nick still had issues with that. He’d certainly want to know if a woman he’d helped make a baby with hadn’t told him.
Almost as if she’d read his thoughts, she said, ‘I’ve told him. He had a right to that information. He suggested termination.’
‘Did that offend you?’ He’d sort of put it out there, too, not that he was an advocate, especially after Chloe’s disaster. Did she hold that against him?
‘It clarified his level of commitment. Although he sent a generous amount of money for a termination and said to use it as emergency fund if I didn’t use it for that. I won’t be putting him on the birth certificate, or expect financial assistance again, unless the babies want that sometime in the future.’
Some conversation that must have been. ‘Is that wise?’ She was so clinical. ‘Won’t you need more financial help?’ Judging by her ‘plan’, he thought she might.
‘He’s a friend. You don’t ask friends for money. Even ones you accidentally sleep with. He has his own life and these are my children.’
In this sense she was so tough. So focused. And if he admitted it, just a little scary in the way she seemed to have taken this momentous news in her stride.
It was in his culture to expect women to need help. Greek heritage was all about family. Except for his own toxic parents.
Chloe had allowed him to be there when she’d needed him, but she was his sister. And she was less amenable now. This woman was nothing to him and he was nothing to her. He should be glad she could stand on her own feet.
Lucy heard the brave words leave her mouth and almost believed them. She pushed away the tiny ache for someone else to share some of the responsibility at least. It certainly wasn’t this lovely doctor’s problem. A shame, that.
She needed to man up. The thought made her smile. Like one of those insects that changed sex once they were pregnant, except she was going the other way. Actually, quite a disquieting thought. ‘Thank you for bringing me with you for breakfast.’
Ouch, Lucy thought, she sounded like a little girl after a party. But he was too sweet. Too darned handsome and masculine and eminently capable of carrying responsibility. She rummaged in her purse and brought out the correct change for her meal and slipped it discreetly under her napkin.
Thankfully he didn’t say anything. Just picked it up and put it in his pocket. ‘I gather you’re ready to go?’
‘Yes, please.’ She picked up her bag and stood before he could come round to her chair. She had the idea she was frustrating his attempts to treat her like a lady but she wasn’t his date and she wanted to make that clear.
Judging by his face, he got it. ‘I’ll fix this up and meet you outside, then.’
Good. She’d have time to go to the ladies’ room. She smiled to herself. Being pregnant certainly affected her bladder capacity.
Nick tried not to watch her scurry off and he remembered she was pregnant. How could he have forgotten that? There was no reason they couldn’t be friends but the sooner he dropped her home the better. Afterwards he might go and buy himself a paddleboard and take some of that frustration out on the waves.
CHAPTER FOUR
BEFORE LUNCH ON Monday Nick had a strange conversation with Callie Richards, ostensibly a neonatologist discussing a case with attending obstetrician.
Nick wasn’t sure how Sally’s baby in NICU had somehow ended up with Cade Coleman, the prenatal surgeon, who was apparently giving Callie a hard time. Which was a bit of a joke because Callie loved to straight-talk, too, and the whole hospital was buzzing with the sparks those two were striking off each other.
Callie was a good friend, but there was no chemistry between them, despite their pretty similar outlooks on relationships and no-strings sex.
He thought to himself with amusement, as Callie raved, that any chance of that was out there amongst the waves, with Cade now on the scene.
He put up his hand to stem the flow. ‘You fancy him.’
Callie stopped. Shocked. ‘I do not.’
Nick raised his eyebrows. ‘So this is you being oblivious is it?’
She glared at him. ‘I’m just sick of being growled at.’
‘I’ve seen him work in prenatal surgery.’ Nick shrugged. ‘The guy’s intense, he cares, and he’s even great with the parents. He’s allowed a little growling.’
‘I’m whining, aren’t I?’ Callie drooped.
‘A little.’ Nick couldn’t help but smile.
Callie lifted her head and drew in an audible breath. ‘I needed that.’ She picked up h
er briefcase. ‘You’re right. Thanks.’ And she sailed out.
Nick shook his head and glanced at his watch.
Lucy should be here in a minute. He’d given her the time slot he usually reserved for completing the paperwork from the morning and he guessed he could start it now.
He sat down at the desk and tried to concentrate to stop himself opening the door to see if she’d arrived yet. Obviously she hadn’t because his secretary would have rung. He picked up his pen again and his eyes strayed to his watch.
* * *
Lucy turned up for her first real antenatal appointment at the hospital and despite the fact she was going straight to work from there, she’d tried to be inconspicuous by dressing in loose civilian clothes.
It didn’t work. The first person she saw as she opened Nick’s office door was the Callie Richards, who was just leaving.
‘Hello, there, Lucy isn’t it? You’re the midwife who looked after Sally, aren’t you?’
‘Yes, how is little Zac?’ Lucy could feel the heat in her cheeks as she smiled and nodded, pretending it was wonderful that the senior paediatrician had recognised her entering an obstetrician’s office. On one level it was, but on the other, not so great.
Callie must have picked up her discomfort because her expression changed. ‘Great.’ And then, cryptically, she said, ‘No problem, by the way.’ She smiled reassuringly. ‘Have a good day.’
This was silly, feeling embarrassed. It was all going to come out pretty soon anyway. ‘You, too.’
Callie left and as Lucy crossed to the reception desk, her cheeks only got pinker. This was terrible.
Nick opened his door. ‘Lucy?’
The receptionist looked up and waved her through and as she walked past him into his rooms she started to feel better.
Nick seemed so broad and tall and she realised she really liked that about him. It was reassuring for some reason. He was a man to have beside you in a dark alley. Or a single-parent pregnancy.
At five feet seven she wasn’t short, but he made her feel tiny as he shut the door behind her. She crossed the room, sat in the seat she remembered from nearly three weeks ago and tried to relax.
Gold Coast Angels: Two Tiny Heartbeats Page 5
