by Lucy Clark
‘I didn’t mean just now,’ he interrupted.
There was something in his tone that forced her to lift her gaze to meet his, rising anxiety starting to pulse through her veins.
‘Er…well…erm…what do you mean?’
‘You’ve been missing for twenty years…May.’
‘Uh…’ She forced a tight-lipped smile and shook her head. He’d figured it out and there was nowhere for her to run and hide. How had he figured it out? What should she say to him? She decided the best course of action was to maintain her cover story. ‘It’s Maybelle.’
‘Why did you run out of my apartment last night?’ Straight to the point. That was so like him.
‘I don’t think this is the right place to discuss such a topic,’ she said, standing opposite him, both of them with their backs to supply shelves. He was dressed in trousers, white shirt, college tie and his usual white doctor’s coat. His hair was a little mussed, as though he’d been raking his hands through the soft locks in frustration or agitation. His grey eyes were looking at her with such intensity that she was positive her heart skipped a beat. Good heavens, did the man realise just how utterly gorgeous he was?
‘I think it’s the perfect place because there’s no escaping.’ He paused for a moment as though trying to collect his thoughts. ‘Even if I’ve got this wrong, I just need you to hear me out. Please?’
At her hesitant nod, he began. ‘Ever since you walked into the ED yesterday morning, there’s been something niggling in the back of my mind. You’re so incredibly familiar to me, Maybelle, and then last night…watching you eat and the way you smiled when you cuddled Juzzy and how your eyes widened when I spoke about Clara and then seeing you so upset when you were looking at that photograph…’ Arthur raked both hands through his hair, an action she’d seen him do several times when he’d been exasperated. ‘Who are you?’
‘Maybelle Freebourne.’ Her words were soft.
‘Why did you cry when you saw that photo? If you’re not May Fleming then you at least must know her. What happened to her?’
‘What makes you think—?’
‘Just stop.’ He held up both hands. ‘I’m not going crazy. You know something, and for some far-fetched reason you can’t tell me. Are you being threatened? Are you unsafe?’
‘Arthur…’ She paused, trying to think of what to say next.
‘Even the way you say my name, especially like that, is familiar. I know you…and I also know there’s only one way to prove my hypothesis.’
With that, he took a step towards her. What was he doing? Was he going to…to kiss her?
Maybelle immediately put up her hands to protect herself but all that did was make them come into contact with his shirt-covered chest. Her fingers tingled with heat, a heat that spread up her arms and flooded her entire body. How was it that this man could affect her in such a way? That he could make her heart race, take her breath away? Cause her to be filled with need and desire and all with a simple glance?
When he raised a hand to cup her cheek she gasped with repressed need. ‘Wait.’ The word was a whisper. ‘Wh-what are you doing?’ Her tongue came out to lick her dry lips and she watched as he watched the action, his Adam’s apple sliding up and down his smooth throat as he swallowed.
‘I’m going to kiss you.’
At the soft, deep words Maybelle’s entire body was ignited into a frenzy of longing, one she hadn’t felt in a very long time.
‘Why?’
He was very close now, his head already starting to dip towards her own, his gaze flicking between her eyes and her lips but lingering on the latter as though he needed this just as much as she did. ‘Because it’s the only way to be completely sure you are who I think you are.’
She opened her mouth to ask another question but instead had her lips captured by his, her breath catching in the moment. There was definitely no denying anything now because, as her eyes closed, it was as though she was transported back to the moment of their first kiss…in the backyard of his parents’ house at her sixteenth birthday party. Back then, she’d been determined to seize the moment, to let Arthur know that she didn’t think of him as a big brother any more but rather as someone who had stolen her teenage heart.
To her utter astonishment and complete delight, he had kissed her back. Kissed her tenderly, testing and teasing, just as he was doing now. How was it possible that his scent was still so intoxicating? Or that the taste of him was exactly the same, except with more knowledge and experience in the background?
When he eased back, they both exhaled, their breaths mingling. She stood with her eyes closed, trying to grasp the magnitude of what had just happened. Not only was it now impossible to deny exactly who she was, but worse than that was the realisation that whatever had been brewing between herself and Arthur two decades ago still lingered in the far recesses of their minds and bodies.
He slid his fingers down from her cheek to cup her chin, his thumb brushing lightly over her still-parted lips. ‘May?’ Her real name was a question on his lips. ‘It’s you.’
Maybelle looked at him from beneath hooded lids. ‘Yeah.’
‘What…? How?’ He dropped his hand and took a step back, shoving both his hands into his trouser pockets. ‘Why are you called Maybelle?’
She exhaled slowly, trying to get her breathing to return to normal so she could make some sort of attempt to explain the past two decades in the simplest way possible. Even then, she had no doubt he’d want to know the ins and outs of exactly what had transpired. She knew she would, if the positions were reversed.
‘When we left—’
‘When you and your parents vanished without even a simple goodbye,’ he interrupted, a hint of old annoyance in his tone.
‘We were put into witness protection.’ The words seemed to tumble out of her mouth in a rush.
He was silent for a moment as he processed this information. ‘OK.’
‘OK?’
‘OK.’ He shrugged. ‘Clearly something bad had happened and it was necessary to protect your family from harm and it explains your sudden disappearance without a word of warning.’ He nodded again. ‘OK.’
‘Just like that? You accept what I’m saying?’
‘After that kiss, there’s no reason for you to lie to me.’
‘I…guess not.’
‘So your name is Maybelle now?’
She was still trying to process the fact that Arthur had simply accepted her explanation with no other questions or repercussions. Where were the twenty questions? The need to understand the details of exactly what had happened with her parents, of the threat they’d all lived under for far too long? ‘Yes. It’s as close as I could get to my real name.’
‘And Freebourne?’
‘I chose Freebourne because, technically, I’m free from the threat.’
‘You’ve been reborn?’
She smiled as he pulled out his pass card and swiped it through the access panel, the door clicking open on the first try.
‘Something like that.’ He was holding the door open and grabbing hold of the stocked trolley before Maybelle held up her hand to stop him. ‘Wait a second.’
‘What?’
‘That’s it? That’s the extent of the explanation you need to let you know that you’re not crazy? That I’m the same person you grew up with? The person who vanished from your life without a trace?’ Especially after what had happened between them the final night before she’d left?
‘A lot of things finally make sense,’ he said with a shrug of his shoulders. ‘May…belle.’ This time when he spoke her name his gaze rested momentarily on her lips before he smiled. ‘It suits you. A sort of grown-up version of May…and you’ve definitely grown up.’ He winked at her then, just like he had in the past, just like he had yesterday when he’d been teasing her, but this time, the wink was filled with a double entendre. Then he turned on his heel and wheeled the trolley from the supply room, leaving a stunned Maybelle to f
ollow him.
She’d been so used to playing her cards close to her chest, not confiding anything about her true identity to anyone, and now that she had, Maybelle couldn’t help but experience a sense of anticlimactic confusion. She was happy Arthur had believed her so readily, that after their shared kiss he knew there was no way she could lie to him.
Perhaps this new life of hers wasn’t going to be as difficult as she’d originally thought…except, of course, for the fact that her attraction to Arthur was most definitely still there after all these years. What she was going to do about that, she had no clue. No clue whatsoever.
CHAPTER FIVE
NOW THAT SHE wasn’t hiding the truth from Arthur, Maybelle couldn’t believe how free and giddy she felt. It was almost as though she were happily intoxicated because she didn’t need to lie to him any more. Free. She felt free and freedom had been the one thing she’d been craving for years.
When the twins, Evie and Lizzy, returned from having their scans, Maybelle looked at the results on the computer screen. ‘Evie definitely does have appendicitis,’ she confirmed, explaining to the girls’ parents what would happen next. Arthur was standing beside her as she spoke, which made her feel a little self-conscious. Yes, he was her boss and he had every right to monitor her when she spoke to parents and patients. However, this didn’t feel like a test but more like a ‘let’s work together’ type of thing…and Maybelle liked it.
‘We’ve called the surgical registrars, who will be down very soon to take Evie to Theatre. They’ll be the ones to go over the consent forms with you.’
‘And Lizzy?’ their mother asked.
‘Lizzy is fine, just sympathy pains.’
‘She’s not faking it, you know.’ The protective maternal tone was insistent.
‘Oh, no. I completely agree and to that end I’ll be prescribing some fast-acting analgesics to help take away Lizzy’s pain until Evie’s out of Theatre and on the mend. There have been a lot of research papers written about emotional pain transference with twins and sometimes with close siblings who aren’t twins. I’d also like to admit Lizzy tonight because once Evie’s out of Theatre, it will aid in Evie’s recovery if Lizzy is close.’
‘If everything progresses well,’ Arthur added, ‘the girls should be able to go home tomorrow afternoon or early the following morning.’
‘That’s right. Our ED clerk is organising beds for the girls in the ward but with the advances in technology and the means of removing the appendix via laparoscope, the surgery is much easier nowadays.’
‘Better than when you had your appendix out?’ the dozing Evie asked, rousing for a moment.
Maybelle smiled and placed a hand on Evie’s forehead, brushing a few strands of hair out of the way. ‘Much better,’ she confirmed.
‘And here’s Felicity. She’ll be the doctor looking after you,’ Arthur said, introducing the surgical registrar to the girls and their parents. Once the handover was complete, the girls were transferred to the surgical ward, where their treatment would continue.
‘Another satisfied customer,’ Maybelle said, as she sat at the desk and started typing her notes onto the computer. Arthur looked at the list of patients waiting to be seen but kept glancing over at Maybelle. ‘What is it?’ she finally asked.
‘Huh?’
‘You keep looking at me as though you’re—’
‘Seeing a ghost?’ he interrupted.
Maybelle glared at him. ‘You said you didn’t need any explanations.’ Her words were quiet and she looked around to make sure no one could overhear their conversation.
‘It’s not an explanation I’m after, per se, but…’ Arthur leaned in closer and stared into her eyes. ‘Why are your eyes brown? You used to have the bluest of blue eyes.’
‘Contact lenses.’ Maybelle tried to ease away because when he’d leaned closer to her she’d caught a breath of his hypnotic scent and found it difficult to look away from his own sexy eyes. He’d grown into an extremely handsome man and she was stunned he wasn’t yet married. No sooner had the thought come than she voiced it. ‘Why aren’t you married?’
‘I was. Now I’m divorced. Didn’t work out and right now I’m more than happy to do the work and career thing.’
‘Oh. I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you.’
The corner of his lips twitched. ‘Are you?’
Her heart skipped a beat when he looked at her like that and with his sexy scent still winding its way through her senses, causing a flood of awareness and desire, Maybelle slowly shook her head from side to side. ‘As long as you’re happy.’
‘You, too.’
‘I hope the two of you are discussing a patient.’ Gemma’s words interrupted their tête-à-tête. ‘Because if you’re not, there’s some serious sexy stuff going on between you.’
Arthur’s answer was to laugh, turning to face the clerk. ‘You think there’s serious sexy stuff going on between everyone.’
Gemma joined in the laughter. ‘It’s true. I do. What can I say?’ She sighed longingly. ‘I’m a hopeful romantic.’
Arthur left to go and see a patient and Maybelle watched, confused by what had just happened. She had definitely been drawn in by him, staring intently into his eyes as he’d stared into hers. Like Gemma, she’d thought there’d been some serious sexy stuff going on but apparently not. Did Arthur flirt like that with all women? Was this just part of his natural charm? Something she’d misinterpreted? He had kissed her, though. Had she misinterpreted that? Had he been interested in kissing her or had it simply been a way for him to prove he wasn’t going insane?
Was that why he wasn’t that curious as to what had happened to her? Hadn’t he just stated he was more focused on his career than romantic entanglements? She shook her head, more cross with herself than with him. She’d been so worried about him finding out about who she really was that she hadn’t considered how he would treat her once his curiosity had been satisfied.
This was why she did her best not to get personally involved with the people she worked with. She didn’t need to be contemplating such questions when she was at work. It was unprofessional and, more importantly, she didn’t like herself for being weak and letting Arthur get under her skin so easily. They’d known each other in the past—so what? They’d shared some kisses and highly intimate moments—so what? They’d kissed, less than two hours ago, in the supply room and it had been…breathtaking, mind-boggling and heart-stopping—so what?
Gritting her teeth, she shoved all personal thoughts of Arthur Lewis to the back of her mind and concentrated on her job: treating patients and writing up her notes.
*
When her shift was over, Maybelle walked the five blocks back to her apartment, rugged up against Melbourne’s cold weather but pleased it wasn’t raining.
As she showered her day away, she resolved to only think of Arthur as an old family friend and a new colleague. Nothing more. Once she was dressed in her pyjamas, she sat down and made a list of all the things she still needed to purchase. At the moment she had the basics when it came to furniture, such as a table and four chairs, a bed, a wardrobe and a lounge suite. She would, however, like a microwave and a blender.
She also needed to lease a car. It was the most direct way of getting transport because right now she didn’t have the time it took to purchase a good car. Maybelle was just looking up the number for a car leasing company when she heard a dog yapping outside her door. Intrigued, she opened her apartment door and, sure enough, there was Fuzzy-Juzzy sitting proudly. Behind her stood Arthur with a bag of take-away food in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other.
‘Dinner?’ he asked with a smile, and before she could reply, Juzzy ran past her into the apartment.
‘Juzzy!’ Maybelle called, and quickly chased after the dog. Spending another evening with Arthur hadn’t been on her agenda so if she could quickly catch the dog, she could politely refuse him. ‘Juzzy, come here.’ The dog was sniffing her way around the apar
tment and just when Maybelle thought she had the pooch cornered, the dog would dart to another location.
Finally, Maybelle was able to pick the dog up but by the time she’d done that Arthur was in her kitchen, already dishing up the food. The dog was licking her and nuzzling with delight, clearly happy to be with her. So, it appeared, was Arthur.
‘I’m starving. I hope you like Italian cuisine.’ He placed the plates on the table with cutlery then hunted around the kitchen for a pair of wine glasses. Eventually, he pulled out two coffee mugs. ‘No wine glasses, eh? Looks like you need to go shopping.’ He tapped the list she’d made. ‘I’m free on Saturday and so are you.’
‘How do you know when I’m free?’
‘Because I draw up the rosters. I’ll come by around ten o’clock. It’s always good to have a sleepin when you can.’
Maybelle stood, still holding Juzzy and patting the dog, who was snuggling into her as though they were the oldest of friends. She shook her head. ‘What are you doing, Arthur?’
‘Pouring wine into coffee mugs,’ he replied, before carrying the wine-filled mugs to the table.
‘I mean what are you doing here, providing me with dinner—again?’
He looked at her for a long minute before shrugging. ‘You need to eat and so do I. We’ve had a long day—’
‘You have questions.’ It was a statement and for some reason Maybelle was disappointed.
‘Don’t you? We’ve got twenty years of catching up to do.’ Arthur pulled a clean dog bowl from one of the bags he’d brought in and opened a can of dog food for Juzzy. Sniffing, the dog scrambled to be free of Maybelle’s arms and headed into the kitchen, where Arthur was most definitely making himself at home.
Once Juzzy was eating her dinner, Arthur walked behind Maybelle and held a chair for her, indicating she should sit down. Realising it was easier to accept than refuse his nice gesture, Maybelle sat down and waited until Arthur was seated.
‘Thank you. For dinner, I mean.’
‘Welcome.’ He peered at her. ‘You haven’t taken your contacts out.’
‘I don’t usually do that until I go to bed. Besides, the contacts are also prescription so taking them out means finding my glasses and at the moment I think they’re at the bottom of a packed box.’
