by MacKay, Sue
Smiling used to come naturally. In fact, at one time he’d worn an almost permanent one. But that had been before everything had gone pear-shaped.
‘Smells like burnt meat out here,’ Jenny called, as she levered herself across to the barbecue. ‘Nothing like a bit of crispy chop.’ She started deftly flipping the chops over so the other sides could cook.
Great. Jenny’s fault for distracting him so easily.
Note to self: keep focused around Jenny Bostock or more than the chops are going to get burned.
Another note to self: make those appointments for the boys’ haircuts.
*
‘Did you tell your parents about your fracture?’ Cam asked, after he’d seen the boys to bed.
‘Yes,’ Jenny replied. ‘They don’t seem overly concerned, which is a relief, I guess.’
Jenny clicked shut the web page for the local bus company. There were plenty of choices for getting from Havelock to Blenheim if she chose to leave and find a motel. Maybe not tomorrow but the day after when she was bit more nimble.
‘You making school lunches?’ The guy hadn’t stopped doing chores all evening.
Cam spread margarine on slices of bread. ‘Yes. Every day except Friday when I let the kids buy their lunch from the bakery as a treat.’
‘What other things need doing before you take a break?’ He should be sitting down, watching TV or reading a book, talking to her over coffee, not moving from one job to the next. No wonder he looked exhausted all the time. Tomorrow she’d make sure to do some tidying up for him.
He glanced around the kitchen and shrugged. ‘Think I’m nearly done. Did I mention you’ve got an appointment with Angus tomorrow? He called me, said I was the only contact he had for you. Hope that’s all right. I kind of intimated I’m your GP for now.’
‘What happened to calling my cell?’ But he had been looking out for her yet again.
‘I’d say Angus just phoned me without even considering checking your file. I made your appointment for the afternoon so that you can hitch a ride into Blenheim with me and I’ll bring you home at the end of the day. You’ll have to entertain yourself for a few hours after your appointment, that’s all.’
‘I can manage that.’ Presumably there were cafés in Blenheim. Or she could find that motel she should be moving into. ‘Thanks,’ she added, as an afterthought. Cam had gone out of his way to help her and she’d neglected to be appreciative. ‘Again, you’ve been more than helpful. I do appreciate it.’
‘Even having me as your GP?’ He gave her a glance that from anyone else would’ve been cheeky. With Cam she couldn’t tell.
‘Beggars can’t be choosers.’ She smiled. Amazing how easy it was to smile with him. Why wouldn’t it be? He was a ten on the sexy scale. Any female with half a brain would be smiling at him.
‘Where is your GP? Which town?’ Cam spoke tentatively, as though afraid she’d tell him to mind his own business.
Which she normally would do. But what the heck? It wasn’t as though she’d be giving anything major away if she answered. ‘Dunedin. That’s where I grew up and went to med school.’
‘Your folks still live there?’
‘Yes. They’ll never leave, say there’s no place like it. They’re not wrong about that, but whether it’s the best place in the country, I’m not so sure. The weather’s the pits, for starters.’ Too many freezing cold days with snow and ice interfering with plans.
‘Where would you choose?’ He snapped off a length of plastic wrap for the lunches.
‘I have no idea. My last job was in Auckland but I can’t say I liked that city much. Too big and sprawling for me.’
‘Got a favourite place?’
‘I used to have a fixation with mountains. Not as a place to live, though. The sea is appealing, though I’ve never lived on the waterfront.’
‘What changed your mind about the mountains?’
So much for keeping this light. She should’ve kept her mouth firmly shut. ‘I’ve done a lot of hiking, seen more of the back country than most people, and think it’s time to find another interest.’ A safer one. Mum and Dad didn’t need to lose their other daughter.
It was apparent in his steady, sympathetic gaze and the way his smile slowly slid off those tempting lips that Cam knew she’d winged that answer. Thankfully he let it go. ‘Feel like a coffee?’
‘Can I have tea instead? Coffee will keep me awake half the night.’
‘Sure, though I doubt anything’s going to stop you from sleeping when you finally make it to bed. You’ve got serious bags under your eyes.’
‘Charming.’ Any time he mentioned her going to bed her tummy did a little skip. This time, as an added extra, her mouth dried. Bed and Cam in the same sentence were obviously too much to get her head around. He was hot. Scorching hot. But not a reason to get in a dither about. Oh, so her libido was meant to disappear for ever, was it? Was she not allowed to wake up and start looking at men again? It’s not as though she was planning a long-term relationship with Cam. If anything—and that was a big if—she’d only want a fling. A very short one at that because she wouldn’t be staying past Wednesday. A fling implied enjoying herself, something she wasn’t ready for.
Cam said, ‘I trained at Otago Med School, too. But I’d have been four, five, years ahead of you.’
She’d have remembered him. ‘I’m thirty-one, started at university when I was eighteen.’
‘Definitely long gone before you started.’
‘So you’re a geriatric?’ He’d be about six years older than her, she reckoned.
‘Definitely. Milk in your tea?’
Nodding, she asked, ‘So why Wellington for your practice?’
Handing her the mug of tea, he sank into an armchair with his coffee. ‘I went to boarding school there.’
‘Why boarding school?’
‘My parents have been farming in the sounds for forty-odd years. Mum home-schooled us until we were ready for high school.’
‘How’d that go for you?’
‘Loved it. I came home every opportunity, but being in the city was exciting, too.’
‘It must’ve been poles apart from the life you grew up with.’
‘Absolutely.’ He blew on his coffee. Looked around the room, brought his gaze back to her. ‘On Saturday you said you were travelling to Blenheim. Any particular reason?’
Time to drink up the tea and head to that bed he’d mentioned. This time her libido remained quiet. ‘No, not really.’
He didn’t look away or say a word. Just waited for an explanation. It would be hard to hide anything from him. But she didn’t owe him an explanation.
The silence grew, not awkward but none too comfortable either. Gingerly sipping her tea, she thought about being here, doing something as ordinary as drinking tea and idly talking about life. How strange to have someone asking about what she did and where she did it. These past months the few people she’d crossed paths with hadn’t even known she was a doctor. ‘I haven’t worked for a while. Taking a road trip instead.’ And that’s all I’m saying.
‘A long road trip?’
‘I’m nearly done.’ The end was in sight. Except now she had no idea what she was going to do about getting to Kahurangi. Her foot wouldn’t be in any fit state for driving, and there was no other way to get there. Buses went past but being dumped in the middle of nowhere without means of shelter and food wasn’t viable. As for climbing to the accident site—forget it. Impossible.
‘Jenny?’ Cam called softly. ‘If there’s anything else I can do you’ll tell me, won’t you?’
His eyes looked as startled as hers felt, indicating that had come out of the blue as much for him as it had for her. Her eyes widened and a smile stretched her mouth. ‘You’ve already done heaps. I’ll be heading away, out of your hair, as soon as possible.’ Then disappointment rocked her. She didn’t want to move on. Not yet, not until she’d learned more about Cam. But staying would be unfair. He had more
than enough to contend with, without adding her woes to his list.
‘Will you eventually go back to working in an ED? Or do you want to change specialties?’ At least he hadn’t out and out asked why she’d given up medicine.
‘Emergency medicine’s always been my passion, and it’s hard to imagine learning another specialty.’ Even she could hear her voice dwindling away, getting quieter and quieter. Not wanting to face any more questions about any of this, she hauled herself upright and scooped up the crutches. ‘Think I’ll hit the sack.’
Cam’s eyes widened, but thankfully he kept whatever had crossed his mind to himself. Instead, after a drawn-out moment he shocked her with, ‘They’re always looking for emergency specialists at Wairau.’
Bang. She was on her butt again and sucking in a pain-filled breath as her ankle protested at the sudden movement. ‘I don’t think so,’ she finally spluttered.
He shrugged as if it was no big deal. Which it wasn’t to him. ‘Fine. Just letting you know. In case you were contemplating staying around.’
Thanks, but, no, thanks. It was one thing to feel disappointment at the thought of leaving, quite another to have Cam make it sound possible to stay. ‘I’ll keep it in mind.’
‘Here, let me help you up.’ Cam stood in front of her, hand extended. ‘That was some thump you took just then.’
‘Not sure what happened.’ Yeah, right.
‘I upset you again.’ Contrition blinked out at her from those disturbing eyes.
Shaking her head from side to side, she said, ‘Not your fault. Anyone would make the same suggestion given the situation.’ Because they had no idea what she was up against. Placing her hand in his, the instant heat that warmed her had her making to tug away, except Cam closed his fingers around hers and held tight, pulling her to her feet.
Raising her gaze to meet his, she sucked in a breath at the need and loneliness and understanding she saw. Just as suddenly she wanted something from him, too. Wanted friendship, closeness—wanted that fling she’d thought about earlier. It was there for the taking. She could see Cam’s need in his eyes, feel it in his raised pulse as he held her hand, smell it in the thick air hanging between them.
Like a chrysalis slowly opening so that what lay inside could spread its wings and try to soar, it was as though her life was starting over. That she was being given a second chance. Her body swayed closer to his.
She didn’t deserve a second chance. She pulled back.
Cam continued to watch her as he leaned close again. She only had to lift ever so slightly on her toes and her lips would be on his. And then she’d know what it was like to kiss Cam, to taste him.
Tugging her gaze away from that beautiful face looking down at her, she glanced around the room. Looking for? Approval? Condemnation? Toy trucks and a helicopter and a plane were stacked messily in one corner. Toys, Jenny, toys. Children lived here, with this man. They had first dibs on Cam, not her. She didn’t have any dibs. What had she been thinking? Maybe she had hit her head when she’d fallen. She’d sure been acting strange ever since.
Jerking her hand free, Jenny hobbled sideways around Cam. ‘Sorry,’ she muttered. ‘I need to get some sleep.’ Then she might be able to put these out-of-left-field thoughts about Cam to rest.
Silently he handed her the crutches, watched as she tucked them under her arms. His face gave nothing away. That need she’d seen moments earlier had been banished. Thank goodness. It was hard enough controlling her own wayward reaction, without seeing the same staring back at her from the man who’d sent her libido into a tango in the first place.
‘Goodnight, Jenny.’
A sharp nod, a curt ‘Goodnight’ and she clomped down the hall to the bedroom she used.
Now she really did have to find somewhere else to stay until she could get around more easily. Staying here any longer wasn’t fair on Cam—or herself.
Tomorrow you’re going with Cam to Blenheim to see your surgeon. You could spend those spare hours afterwards ringing around motels, enquiring about a suitable unit.
She could. It was the perfect solution. So why didn’t she feel ecstatic? Why wasn’t she hopping up and down with glee to know the end of staying here and being a pain in the butt for Cam was in sight?
She didn’t want to leave. She liked it here, enjoyed the boys, nearly as much as their father. She felt comfortable, was even relaxing enough to start communicating more with her mum and dad.
All the more reason to be moving on. Whether she wanted to or not was irrelevant. Cam Roberts certainly didn’t need the added distraction of her suddenly wide-eyed, ready-to-roll libido coming between them.
Knock, knock.
She spun round. The crutches slipped, tangled around her legs and tipped her onto the bed. Pain sliced through her ankle, ripped up her leg, sent nausea crawling up her throat. She let out a strangled cry.
‘Hey, careful.’ Cam pushed open the door and was instantly at her side, reaching down to remove the crutches. ‘I’m sorry. I thought you’d hear me coming along the hall. I wasn’t trying to be quiet.’
Deep breaths, in one two, out one two. In, out. Slowly, slowly the pain ebbed away, leaving her feeling drained. ‘Goes to show I’m not improving as fast as I thought,’ she finally gasped out.
Cam knelt down and gently straightened her leg. ‘As fast as you’d like, you mean.’
‘I guess.’
‘Are you always so impatient?’ Straightening up, he lifted her to stand on the good foot and quickly whipped back the bed covers before lowering her onto the bed.
‘Me? Impatient? Only when I need to get something done.’ Great, now she was in bed, fully dressed and her body craving to relax back into the mattress. But she was damned if she’d undress while Cam was still in the room. Not after that searing moment back in the lounge.
Cam obviously had other ideas. He pulled the oversized T-shirt she slept in from under the pillow and handed it to her. ‘You have something you want to do urgently? Some place you need to be? Or are you in a hurry to leave us?’
‘All of the above.’ That wasn’t a fib.
He crossed to close the curtains, tossing a question over his shoulder. ‘What’s so important you can’t give that fracture a couple of days to start mending?’
‘I hate being a nuisance.’ Avoid the big questions. Makes life far easier. ‘My ankle can heal just as well in a motel as it can hanging out on your deck.’
He turned back to face her. ‘Sounds kind of lonely to me.’ There was disappointment and something a bit like hurt in that steady gaze locked on her. ‘But I guess being stuck with two highly energetic kids and their grumpy father could be worse for someone who obviously prefers her own company.’
Her heart rolled over. ‘You’re not grumpy.’ Well, not often. ‘Anyway, I’m not stuck.’ Her gaze dropped from that devastatingly attractive face to her encased ankle. ‘Not much.’ Maybe tomorrow Angus would organise a new, stronger cast for her ankle so she could get around more easily, take in the sights of Havelock the day after tomorrow. Though what would she do for the rest of the day, when she’d finished perusing the few shops?
‘You’re not used to stopping in one place for any length of time, are you? Especially somewhere as small as Havelock?’
See? She knew he could read her like an open book. How had he learned to do that? ‘That depends what I stop for.’
Again disappointment filtered through his eyes. ‘Get some sleep, Jenny. Your eyes are bugging with exhaustion.’
‘Bugging now? You need practice on complimenting a woman.’
Heat singed his cheeks but he didn’t look away. ‘I’ll look on line for a book that might give me some pointers.’ There was that little smile, albeit a tad reluctant.
That smile warmed her in places she’d been cold all year. That smile came with a danger warning. She really needed to be moving on—fast. Yet knowing and doing seemed poles apart right at this moment.
Not that she’d be falling int
o a deep sleep easily. Too much going on inside her head for that to happen. Cam had rattled her in more ways than one and she needed to work her way through everything so she’d wake up refreshed and ready to stride ahead and leave him behind—metaphorically if not physically.
But the next thing she was aware of was the sound of the boys calling each other names as they ran down the hall. Glancing around the room, she noted the sunlight at the gap in the curtains where Cam hadn’t quite made them meet.
She’d overslept. Hardly unusual. Waking up early was not her thing. Nothing was worth rushing out of bed for. What about a glimpse of Cam’s mouth-watering, muscular body to start her day off? What about getting her head on straight? Leaving Cam behind should be the plan. Tomorrow would do for that.
Sitting up straight, Jenny raised her arms over her head to stretch high. She felt good. When she tentatively wriggled her toes even her damaged foot seemed a lot happier this morning. Perhaps some of the swelling had gone down.
Tossing the covers aside, she clambered out of bed and got a shaft of pain for her efforts. Had she spoken too soon? She waited for the throbbing to calm down before limping across to pull open the curtains fully.
There was a light knock on her door. ‘Jenny, you awake?’ Cam called softly.
‘Of course I am.’
The door opened wide and Cam stepped in, taking up all the breathable air at the same time. ‘How are you this morning? Those eyes don’t appear so bugged.’ He stood watching her hop across the room in a T-shirt that barely covered her bottom.
She replied, ‘I’m good. Really good.’
Cam gave an affirmative nod in her direction, but his gaze didn’t lift to her face. He thought she was good? In what way? The tip of his tongue appeared between his lips, sending her heart rate skittering all over the show.
‘Was there something you wanted to ask me?’ she croaked. There were a few things she’d like him to ask, but that wasn’t going to happen.
He shook his head. ‘No, nothing.’
‘Then I’ll see you at lunchtime?’ she asked.
‘Yes. You’ll have to get your own breakfast. I did poke my head in an hour ago to see what you might like but you were comatose, and now I’m running late.’
