* * *
Rohan pushed the doorbell at six-thirty and Abbey opened the screen with a smile that warmed him at the same time as it tore his heart with the knowledge of certain loss.
‘Hi, Rohan. Come in.’ She stood back to allow him to enter and he could see she was bubbling. He didn’t think he’d seen her so happy. He brushed her cheek with his lips as he went past because he couldn’t resist it. The look she gave him was old-fashioned and made him smile.
‘You seem very pleased to see me or is there another reason you look like you’ve won the lottery?’
She grinned up at him and he felt like taking her face in his hands and losing himself in another one of those earth-shaking kisses he hadn’t been able to get out of his mind.
‘My sister’s coming tonight or tomorrow. I’m so looking forward to seeing her.’
Rohan came back to earth and his ego winced. She was excited about someone else. Get used to it, he taunted himself, and searched his memory for the conversation they’d had about her family. ‘That would be Bella, from Sydney—am I right?’
Abbey stopped and gave him a measuring look. There was a wry tinge to his voice that she didn’t understand and wasn’t sure she liked. ‘Yes. Thank you for remembering her name.’
‘I have a very, very good memory.’ His eyes darkened and the unmistakable innuendo sent a shiver down Abbey’s back. She couldn’t help but blush and when he slid an arm around her waist and ushered her in front of him, thoughts of Bella were pushed behind the feel of him against her.
She definitely wasn’t frigid. Abbey hugged the thought to herself. Rohan’s fingers brushed her neck and she shivered. She could hear the smile in his voice when he said, ‘I won’t tease you any more.’
She twisted back to look at him and pouted with mock disappointment. ‘And I was just getting used to it.’
He rolled his eyes as she laughed up at him. ‘From nun to femme fatale in one day. Quick learner.’
Abbey thought of the dreams she’d had and she moved ahead of him into the kitchen as her blush deepened. ‘You have no idea!’
Rohan would have liked to have followed that train of thought but they’d found the rest of the ‘family’ and he stifled his irritation at having to be pleasant to the people who shared Abbey.
The kitchen table was set for five and Sophie was rocking in a wicker rocker near the window with a baby in her lap.
Kayla was shelling peas with another infant draped across her knees and Vivie was stirring a big black pot on the stove with some delicious aroma making its way out of the saucepan and across the room to Rohan. Despite the fact there were six souls more than he normally had around him at dinner, the room was calm.
The adults looked up and smiled and the warmth and serenity seeped into that place he kept separate—the place that reminded him he’d never be a family man—and put a sliver of ‘maybe’ where there’d only ever been a ‘never’.
Abbey walked ahead and lifted a squirming young Sophia Abigail off her mother’s legs and snuggled the infant into her own neck. The baby grizzled but didn’t cry. ‘What’s your problem, chicken?’
The sight of Abbey and Kayla’s baby sent a shaft of paternal phobia through Rohan’s heart. Abbey looked like a red-haired Madonna and it caused a physical pain to think of her with another man’s baby. He wasn’t ready to think about this. Luckily, the room carried on without him. Kayla shrugged at Abbey. ‘She’s got the fidgets.’
Abbey turned slowly and indicated that Rohan should find a seat at the table. ‘Let’s give her to Rohan while I help you guys.’
Sophie snorted from her chair. ‘Why not? He’s got a way with women.’ Rohan narrowed his eyes at the evil witch in the corner and she cackled back.
Rohan took the baby girl and she snuggled into his arms as if she belonged there. With tiny head jerks, she nudged her cheek against his chest a couple of times and then suddenly she was asleep. Rohan looked up to share the moment, but the person he wanted to show was busy.
He watched Abbey for the next twenty minutes as she prepared some rice and laughed with the girls and sparred with Aunt Sophie. Still she managed to meet his eyes every now and then to share a secret smile. Her generosity of spirit awed him and he wished he could be all that she deserved because maybe he could get used to this. But if he did get used to it, something would happen and it would all be snatched away anyway. Better not to expect miracles.
Dinner was noisy and fun and delicious, and to his surprise the girls shooed Abbey into her study with him and commandeered the washing-up.
Rohan brought along the leftover champagne from the night before and the mood was desultory and pleasant.
She’d moved the chaise longue in front of the fire so they could sit together. ‘I see you’ve moved the furniture,’ he said as he followed her into the study. He couldn’t help teasing her and she blushed, as he’d known she would.
‘I’m always moving furniture,’ she said, and he hid his smile as he sat down beside her.
‘I really enjoyed the meal tonight. Thank you for asking me, Abbey.’
She smiled and relaxed beside him. ‘I’m glad. I know it’s different to what you’re used to, but different can be good.’
He shrugged and met her eyes. ‘I’ll never be a family man, but I can appreciate what others can see in it.’
Abbey reached out and touched his cheek, something she wouldn’t have done twenty-four hours ago, and the warmth that flooded through her made her see that she loved him. It wasn’t a blinding revelation—just a sureness that said it was no mistake and had happened. She loved him in a hundred ways and loved him so much she knew she had to let him go.
And now that she knew she loved him, it was going to be a hundred times more painful to see him leave. But let him go she must. Why would a man with his lifestyle want to exchange it to be tied to a woman like her? They were so different. She was family orientated and he was self-sufficient.
She would always appreciate that he had woken her from the isolation in which she’d locked herself, she knew, but it was only going to hurt more if she didn’t accept that there was no future for them as a couple. Abbey swallowed the painful lump in her throat.
He needed to see he was free. ‘Nobody expects anything from you, Rohan. I appreciate your friendship and maybe one day, somewhere, you’ll find a place that feels like home to you.’
Apparently it was all right for him to think those things but Rohan didn’t seem to appreciate hearing Abbey say it. ‘Don’t patronise me. I’m not one of your lame ducks, Abbey,’ he snapped. ‘I’ve managed to stand on my own two feet for more than twenty years. You don’t have to save me.’
Abbey grasped the opportunity she knew she had to take for her own sanity and plastered a smile on her face. She pretended to ignore his ill humour. ‘I’m glad you said that—because you don’t have to save me either. I’d like to call off the lessons you had planned for my “education”!’
He pulled back away from her as if that had been the last thing he’d expected her to say to him. ‘Was it that bad?’
She punched his arm gently to lighten the mood. ‘You know it was great.’ Toe-curlingly great and—now that she knew she loved him—far too dangerous. But she wasn’t going to say that.
She met his gaze squarely. ‘I’ve been running myself down for too long. You were right—you proved it to me with one kiss. It was Clayton and not me. I have to thank you for that. So I don’t need lessons. I think we both understand each other a bit better and I’d really rather not talk about it any more.’
He opened his mouth and then shut it again. There was a mutual awareness of the shift in their relationship. Last night’s kiss had changed everything and if they weren’t careful things could become complicated. He shrugged and reluctantly abandoned the topic.
Her voice was determinedly bright. ‘So where do you go from here when your time is up?’
‘I might go back to Tamworth for a while but I’m not sure.
’ He didn’t want to think about the time when he was going to leave Abbey for ever. ‘Tell me about your sister who’s coming tomorrow. Tell me about Bella.’
CHAPTER EIGHT
BELLA WILSON was tired. She’d assisted with a long labour the day before and with her disastrous love life she was mentally exhausted as well as physically weary.
It had been dark for an hour and the road was starting to blur in her headlights. She knew she had to stop but she was so frustratingly close to home!
STOP, REVIVE, SURVIVE, the flashing road sign warned her and she took it as an omen. A minute later one of those road traffic authority commercials came on her radio and the announcer droned, ‘Most accidents on country roads occur within an hour from home.’
‘OK, OK. I hear you,’ she grumbled, as she came into Willstown. She’d have dinner and some coffee at the Star Hotel and hopefully she’d wake up enough and wouldn’t have to stay the night. She knew if she rang Abbey, her sister would come and get her, but Aunt Sophie had said Abbey’s doctor friend was coming for tea. The last thing Bella needed to do was be nice to another doctor.
Bella bypassed the noisy front bar and entered through the side door directly into the bistro. She’d been here once or twice with her friends before she’d moved to Sydney and knew the food was good. Quiet music played in the background and the Bay Marie was full of steaming pastas that made her mouth water.
‘Good evening, madam. May I help you?’ The bistro supervisor’s voice was smooth and a touch too friendly.
His face tugged at a long-buried memory but that really wasn’t surprising when she was so close to home. Bella was too tired to worry and ordered coffee and pasta. If she didn’t feel a whole heap better after that, she ought to stay the night.
She watched him serve the pasta and tried to pin down where she’d seen him before, but her brain was foggy. She just didn’t care enough. ‘Do you have any rooms vacant in case I’m too tired to go on?’
‘Certainly, madam. There’s three left, and breakfast is included. If you decide to stay, I’ll show you what’s available after your meal.’
Bella nodded and took the cutlery he handed her over to her table. A group of teenage boys came in at the same time as her pasta arrived and the room became noisier, to the detriment of her vague headache.
The seafood pasta was delicious but her head had started to thump and she wondered where her coffee was. ‘I think I’ll have a look at the rooms, then I’ll decide.’
‘Certainly, madam.’ The man’s smile was kind of oily and Bella stamped down the feeling of unease she felt in his presence. She was being paranoid. He probably had a wife and six kids. He was old enough.
He reached behind the bar and collected a bunch of keys before leading the way up the wooden staircase to the accommodation section. The whole area was clean and old-fashioned and remarkably quiet. He unlocked a room at the end of the corridor and stood back. Bella walked into the room and it was small but homey, and the flowered quilt on the bed and fluffy bath towels looked so inviting she decided to stay.
‘This is fine. I’ll take it. I’ll slip out to my car and get my things.’
She followed him down to the bistro again and filled out the registration and paid for the night. She didn’t notice the narrowing of his eyes as he saw her surname.
‘Perhaps you’d like your coffee up in the room, where it’s not so noisy?’
‘Great idea.’ He wasn’t so bad. He gave her a key and turned away to make her coffee and Bella forgot about him.
But he didn’t forget about her. He glanced up to see if anyone was watching and then reached into his pocket for a small plastic ampoule and snapped off the top. He squeezed the contents into her cup.
* * *
Rohan was on the ward the next morning when Abbey took the telephone call from Sophie.
‘What do you mean, something is wrong with her? Is she sick, hurt, upset?’ Then the blood drained from Abbey’s face and she sank into the chair beside the desk. He moved over to stand beside her because she went so pale he thought she was going to faint right off the chair.
‘Has she rung the police? No. I’ll be home as soon as they can find a replacement. Give her my love.’ She put the phone down slowly and turned to face him.
‘Bella is home.’ Her voice shook. ‘She was drugged and Aunt Sophie says Bella thinks she was attacked last night at the Star in Willstown. She can’t remember anything after she went to bed, but woke up this morning…’ Abbey stopped and bit her knuckles and then picked up the phone to call the supervisor. ‘I have to go to her.’ When Abbey had briefly explained, the supervisor promised to come over immediately and relieve Abbey until she could get someone else in.
Abbey’s eyes filled with tears. ‘Why Bella? She’s so gentle and sweet.’
‘Why anyone?’ Rohan enfolded her in a loose embrace. He wished he could have protected her from this distress. Without thought, he kissed the top of her head and then realised what he’d done.
He stepped away and tried to distance himself by being practical. ‘I know it will be hard to ask Bella but she needs evidence to put who ever did this to her in a place where he can’t hurt other people.’
Abbey flinched and then nodded, and quietly Rohan went on. ‘She needs to have blood taken to screen for drugs still in her system. It’s less than twenty-four hours so there will still be traces. She’ll need the results later. And swabs.’
Abbey straightened her shoulders as the supervisor came into view. ‘Will you come back with me?’
Rohan forgot he didn’t get involved in other people’s lives. Abbey needed him and he couldn’t hesitate. ‘Of course.’
* * *
By the time Abbey had Bella tucked up in bed, and the police had been, Rohan needed to go back to work. His receptionist had done well to reschedule the morning session of patients in Scott’s rooms, but to catch up was going to be a nightmare. Abbey had been so upset when the police had said they’d drawn a blank on Bella’s attacker, he’d hung around, worried she was going to do something stupid to find the man.
The bistro supervisor had an unbreakable alibi for his time after work, the young men had seen nothing suspicious and no one had seen anyone else loitering who could have been responsible for Bella’s attack.
Bella hadn’t spoken much and as the hours had gone on she’d spoken less and less. Rohan could see Abbey was beside herself with worry and he’d stayed at the Chisholm Road house despite there not being much he could do.
He caught her as she hurried towards Bella’s room. ‘I have to get back to work, Abbey.’ She blinked and he wondered what was going on inside her head. If he could have protected her from all this, he would gladly have done anything.
He tried reassurance. ‘They’ll catch him, Abbey.’
‘When?’ Her voice was bitter.
Rohan winced. ‘As soon as they can. You’ve done every thing you could to help, now leave it all in the hands of the police.’
He saw the wall come up between them as soon as he said it and he sighed. ‘I’ll come back tonight, and I’ll bring a sedative in case Bella wants one.’ He leaned towards her to drop a kiss on her forehead but she stepped back out of reach. He stared at her for a moment but she didn’t say anything.
Abbey watched Rohan leave and she knew she’d been hard on him. For a man who wasn’t into domestic crises he’d been a wonderful support. But she was going mad with the inactivity of the police. She wanted to see the attacker found and put away before his next victim suffered and—to be honest—Abbey wanted to avenge her sister. The last time she’d seen Bella she’d had trouble containing her own tears and all this procrastination was not helping.
* * *
Over the next few days Bella became more and more withdrawn. The drug test had proved a measured dose of the sedative had still been in her bloodstream the day after the attack. All they had to do was capture the man.
Bella barely spoke to anyone and Rohan had suggest
ed to Abbey that Bella consider a short course of antidepressants to help lift her over the shock, but her sister had refused. He’d been coming over every night, and his good humour had done much to keep the entire household from sinking into depression.
Vivie had been the real heroine as she’d voluntarily relived her own experience for the police to help with their enquiries. Vivie was the only person Bella would talk to and Abbey was at her wits’ end.
When after a few days they were still no closer to finding the culprit, Abbey knew she had to do something. Finally she’d had enough waiting. She found her aunt in her sitting room in front of an unusually blank TV.
‘Bella said the bistro supervisor was familiar. I know the police say he couldn’t have done it, but it’s the only lead. If I could see who he is, I think we’ll find our answer. I don’t know when I’ll be back,’ she told Sophie, ‘but I can’t sit around here doing nothing any more.’
Sophie didn’t look surprised. ‘Have you told Rohan you’re going?’
‘It has nothing to do with him. He said to leave it all in the police’s hands but Bella needs this resolved now.’
Sophie nodded and didn’t even try to change her niece’s mind. Abbey had always dealt with the family crises. ‘Be careful.’
Abbey pulled up at the Star Hotel and sat in the car for a few minutes to steel herself to go in. It was still light and when she entered the bistro there was no one behind the bar. She stifled a disappointment that was unreasonable. It wouldn’t be that easy.
A small, timid woman came out from the staff area and smiled. ‘Can I help you?’
Abbey offered a token smile back and pretended to cover a yawn. ‘Some dinner and a room, please, if you’ve got one. I don’t think I can drive any further today.’
‘We’ve plenty of rooms. Did you want to see one?’
Abbey shook her head. ‘No. I’ve stayed here before.’
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