by Lucy Clark
Plus, Flynn was making it very comfortable for her to stand there, leaning into him, knowing his big, strong arms would support her and keep her safe. At this particular moment it didn’t matter one jot what had happened between them all those years ago. What mattered was that Flynn was offering comfort and she was going to be selfish and accept it.
The memories from her past, the memories she’d tried so hard to push away, to ignore, to never think about again, were returning with a vengeance as she continued to lean against him. She knew he wouldn’t let her fall, that he would support her, and for a wild moment she desperately wanted to go back in time. Back to when Flynn had professed his love for her. Back to a moment when her life, for the very first time, had felt…complete.
‘Go back,’ she mumbled into his chest, her words incoherent.
‘Reggie?’ Flynn eased away just slightly to look down at her, but she only seemed to snuggle in closer. Who was he to argue? He closed his eyes, allowing himself to absorb the sensation of once again having his Reg in his arms. It was clear the attraction they’d felt for each other all those years ago was still alive and well…at least, it was on his side. Could she feel it, too?
‘Reggie?’ He tried again and when the only answer he received was her steady and even breathing, he realised that the day had definitely taken its toll on her. Not only had she been watching over Melva for the past few hours but she’d also answered a barrage of questions from the police, providing them with whatever information she could. Thankfully, both her other neighbours had been contacted and although they were devastated at the loss of their belongings, at least none of them had lost their lives. Therefore, he wasn’t the least bit surprised at Reggie being so completely wiped out that she was literally asleep on her feet.
‘Come on, Reg,’ he murmured, shifting her slightly in his arms so he could guide her as they walked quietly out of the ward.
‘Where are we going?’ she asked, half roused. He couldn’t help but smile down at the gorgeous sight of her, her short, black hair sticking out a little at the sides and her eyelids half-closed.
‘You need sleep,’ he replied.
‘Good idea. Residential wing will have a bed free.’
‘Goodnight, Ayana,’ Flynn called quietly as he waved to the night nurse. ‘If there’s any change in Melva’s condition—’
‘I’ll call you and Reggie immediately,’ Ayana promised. ‘Get her to a bed, and soon, Flynn. She really is asleep on her feet, isn’t she?’ Ayana smiled as Reggie continued to lean against Flynn. It would be far easier for him to scoop her into his arms and carry her through the hospital but he was already mindful of the looks they were receiving with her snuggled so closely against him. The last thing he wanted was for Reggie to have to deal with a barrage of gossip on top of everything else that had happened to her.
They headed out of the ward towards the lift, Reggie more than content to let him guide her. That way she didn’t have to think about anything. She couldn’t remember being this exhausted since she’d been an intern, trying to cope with the all-nighters followed by a full day shift. Perhaps the trauma of losing all her possessions, of the impending frustration and stress of dealing with the insurance company, of having to go out in the morning and buy new clothes and shoes and…She didn’t even own a toothbrush. Not anymore.
‘And all the Christmas presents,’ she groaned, her words muffled as she spoke into Flynn’s chest, another layer of stress falling on her shoulders.
‘What?’ Flynn bent his head so he could hear her more clearly.
‘I’d finished my Christmas shopping. Now it’s all gone.’ She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream and bellyache and wail, but she was just too exhausted.
‘We’ll sort it out,’ Flynn promised her as they headed out into the humid December night.
‘Thank you, Flynn. You always were so reliable…except, you know, when you broke my heart.’
‘You’re mumbling, Reg. Can’t understand a word,’ he told her. ‘And you’re starting to trip over your own feet,’ she heard him say, and the next instant she felt as light as a feather, floating along in the breeze. She looped her arms around Flynn’s neck and rested her head against his shoulder, only belatedly realising he’d scooped her off her feet and was carrying her, striding purposefully towards the residential wing like the gallant hero she’d always thought him to be.
‘Flynn,’ she sighed as her head was finally placed onto a soft pillow. She had no idea just how much time had passed and could have sworn she’d been strapped into a car at one point. Perhaps Flynn had decided to drive around to the residential wing rather than carry her the entire way.
At any rate, she was simply glad to finally be in a bed, a sheet being pulled over her, the ceiling fan whirring gently above to keep her cool throughout the night. Someone was removing her shoes and once that was done she drew her knees up and snuggled into the inviting world of dreams.
‘Sleep sweet, Reg.’
Flynn’s glorious deep words washed over her and then she dreamed he’d placed a kiss on her forehead. ‘Mmm, Flynn. I’ve missed you,’ she whispered.
He straightened up and stared down at the woman sleeping in his spare room. She’d missed him? Really? Was that just the exhaustion talking? Did she mean ‘miss’ as in she’d wanted to see him again? Because from the moment he’d seen her at the hospital the impression he’d gained had definitely been the opposite, especially as she’d spent the better part of the last week avoiding him.
With her breathing settling into an even rhythm, letting him know she was definitely sound asleep, Flynn knew he should leave yet he couldn’t seem to move. Watching Reggie sleep made his heart contract with pain and pleasure as his mind was flooded with a round of what-if’s.
She was the woman he’d once loved with all his heart, the woman he’d planned to marry and spend the rest of his life with, the woman who had managed to show him he was a person of worth, to accept him for exactly who he was…and then everything had exploded. He’d been weak, had allowed himself to be manipulated, and it had brought him nothing but pain and mortification.
‘Not anymore.’ He shook his head and exhaled heavily. When he’d accepted the job at Sunshine General, he hadn’t known Reggie was working there, not until a few days before his starting date, when he’d had a meeting with Geetha to fill in the remaining paperwork.
‘The staff here are very friendly, especially Reggie,’ Geetha had told him after they’d finished dealing with the red tape. Flynn had literally frozen at the name.
‘Reggie?’ It might not be the same person, he’d rationalised, astonished to find his heartbeat had increased. The name ‘Reggie’ might actually be referring to a man named Reginald, not a dynamic woman called Regina who had the biggest blue eyes, fringed with dark lashes and the most encompassing laugh he’d ever heard.
‘Reggie Smith, she’s one of our general surgeons.’ Geetha had shaken her head. ‘Incredibly talented, should have been head of department years ago but instead she prefers to work as a functioning member of the team, at least that’s what she tells me.’
‘Reggie Smith.’ Flynn had settled back in his chair, his heart racing at the thought that soon he’d see Reggie again. Was that a good thing? He’d thought about her constantly over the past six years, especially when his marriage had broken up. He’d been tempted time and time again to find her, to track her down, but what would he say to her when they met again? I’m sorry I broke your heart. Can we try again, please, because I can’t seem to get you out of my mind?
He’d also presumed she would be happily married with a couple of children, that she’d moved on with her life…her life without him. Thoughts like that had stopped him from trying to find her. Reggie deserved the world of happiness, especially after the abominable way he’d treated her, and if she’d found that happiness with some other man, he did not want to know about it.
Now, though, not only had he been granted the opportunity to see her but
to also work alongside her. She wasn’t married, didn’t have children, and if the way she’d just whispered his name into the pillow was any indication, perhaps there was a small spark of hope. It was clear, on his part, that the attraction he’d felt all those years ago certainly hadn’t diminished. The question was, could Reggie forgive him for his past behaviour? If she couldn’t, there was no hope of them moving forward together.
His phone started to ring and he quickly left the room, wondering who would be calling him at this hour of the night. Another emergency? He hoped not. He didn’t want to leave Reggie alone in his town house, concerned she’d wake up and not know where she was.
He checked the caller ID and saw it was Violet. He quickly answered the call. ‘Hey, Vi. Everything OK?’
‘It’s Ian,’ she told him. ‘He has a temperature. I don’t know what to do. You know I fall to pieces when he gets sick.’
‘What are his symptoms?’ Flynn walked through to the lounge and slumped down into a comfortable chair as he listened to Violet describe five-year-old Ian’s symptoms. ‘It does sound like it’s just a tummy bug, especially as you haven’t been feeling well. You’ve given him paracetamol?’
‘No. No. Good idea. I’ll do that. Hold on. Don’t hang up.’
Flynn closed his eyes, feeling strange receiving a phone call from Violet while Reggie was asleep in the next room. It was as though the two different parts of his life, family and the separate life he was trying to build, were once more colliding. He’d been given a second chance with Reggie and he wasn’t going to blow this one. If she knew he was still in contact with Violet, that might jeopardise everything, and the fact that she’d just been murmuring his name in her sleep was a good sign that things were progressing the way he was hoping.
However, he also knew he’d have to tell her about Violet…at some point. Right now, though, he was going to do his best to keep his two very different worlds as far apart as possible. He didn’t want anything jeopardising the chance that he and Reggie might be able to pick up where they’d left off six years ago. Now, that certainly would be something to dream about.
Reggie opened her eyes, stretching her arms above her head. She’d had a wonderful sleep but a moment later, as her mind began to wake up, she remembered the events of yesterday evening. Her apartment had burned down.
‘Melva!’ She sat bolt upright in the bed, thinking fast. She’d get out of bed and go check on Melva, then start figuring out what to do next. No doubt she’d have to go shopping as the clothes on her back were literally the only clothes she had. She could borrow some from Mackenzie and…
She frowned, looking around the room, taking in her surroundings. This wasn’t a tiny room in the residential wing. ‘Where am I?’ As she continued to inspect the room, she realised she was in Sunainah’s spare room…or what had previously been Sunainah’s spare room. Her friend had moved out of this town house when she’d married Elliot. The town house had been vacant since then and listed on the hospital’s bulletin board. Her eyes widened as realisation dawned. ‘Oh, no!’
Reggie flicked back the covers and checked the floor for her shoes, quickly slipping her feet into them as she tried to piece together what she could remember of last night’s events after the fire.
She’d been at Melva’s bedside. Sunainah, Mackenzie and Bergan had all come to find her once they’d heard the news—her friends were always there when she needed their support. Then, being the stubborn woman she was, she’d refused to leave Melva’s side until her neighbour had been settled in the ward. She could remember sitting by Melva’s bed…then…she’d fallen asleep. Someone had woken her up and—
‘Flynn!’
Reggie shot to her feet and opened the spare-room door, pushing her hands through her hair as she walked through the lower part of the town house towards the kitchen—Flynn’s kitchen. She was in Flynn Jamieson’s town house and by the scents of coffee and pancakes wafting from the kitchen it appeared he was making breakfast.
Sure enough, she found him standing at the stove, expertly flipping pancakes in the air and catching them in the frying pan. ‘Flynn?’
‘Ah.’ He turned and looked at her over his shoulder, his smile bright and welcoming. ‘Good morning, Reggie.’ He indicated the table, which was set with plates, knives and forks, a glass of juice and a bottle of maple syrup in the middle. ‘Take a seat and I’ll bring you your breakfast.’
‘You know how to cook now?’ Still trying to wrap her head around this surreal moment, of having Flynn cook breakfast for her, she moved towards the table and dropped down into the chair, glad of its support. ‘Back in the Caribbean you weren’t sure how to boil water.’
He grinned at her. ‘I wasn’t that bad but, yes, during my time there I realised a lot of things about myself and how I needed to become more self-sufficient.’ He checked the pancake again. ‘Almost done.’
‘You always were full of surprises,’ Reggie murmured, her tone indicating that some of those ‘surprises’ hadn’t always been good ones.
Flynn’s answer was to wink at her, and her insides instantly flooded with a tingling warmth. Why, oh, why couldn’t she be immune to his charm? She immediately looked away from him and stared at the empty plate in front of her, trying to get her thought processes jump-started.
‘I’ve called the hospital,’ Flynn said a moment later, ‘and been informed that Melva has slept peacefully throughout the night and was sitting up, drinking a cup of tea.’
Reggie lifted her head and sighed with relief. ‘That’s great news. Thanks for the update.’
‘You’re welcome. Coffee?’
‘Uh…most definitely, please.’ She frowned as she watched him pour her a cup of coffee, not adding any milk or sugar before placing it on the table before her.
‘You still take it black, right? No sugar?’
‘Correct.’
‘That’s because you’re sweet enough.’ He smiled brightly. ‘Isn’t that what you always used to say?’
‘Flynn, stop it.’
‘Stop what?’
‘Trying to take us down memory lane.’ She spread her arms wide. ‘What are you doing here?’
He stared at her as though she’d gone completely loopy. ‘Did you hit your head last night? Are you feeling all right?’
‘Flynn,’ she growled, her teeth gritted, her tone filled with warning. He had the audacity to laugh.
‘Reg, I’m not exactly sure what you mean.’
‘Here. In this particular town house.’
‘It was listed on the bulletin—’
‘I know. I know it was listed but why did you, of all people, have to move in?’
‘I don’t follow.’
‘Sunainah used to live here and Richard lived here before her and before that Richard’s parents and before that…I don’t have a clue, but the point is, you’re living slap bang in the middle of my three closest friends.’
‘And the problem with that is…?’ he asked, carrying the frying pan towards her and placing a perfectly round, perfectly cooked pancake onto her plate.
‘Thank you,’ she said politely. ‘It’s just odd that you, the man I was once going to marry, is living here. Among my friends. In the town house they wanted me to move into. Joining the cul-de-sac crew.’
‘There’s a crew?’ His eyes were alive with delight at this news. ‘Do they get together for movie nights and dinners?’
‘Flynn, be serious.’
‘I am. Do You know how much I’ve always wanted to be accepted as just part of a crew, part of a team?’
That stopped her. ‘You have?’ She was surprised at his words and stared at him for a moment, realising there was still so much she didn’t know about him.
‘Anyway, you were saying your friends wanted you to move in here?’
‘Yes, but I was more than happy where I…was.’ Reggie sighed as the weight of the previous evening’s events fell on her shoulders like a tonne of bricks. She slumped forward and buried her h
ead in her hands, not even the delicious scent of the pancakes able to help in this situation.
Flynn put the frying pan back on the stove top, adding more mixture before coming over, placing his hands on her shoulders and gently starting to massage them. ‘I’m sorry your place burnt down, Reg.’ His words were simple, effective, perfect.
‘So am I,’ she said, leaning back a little to grant him more access to her neck, her eyes closing at the touch of his hands. How did he still manage to know exactly what she needed? Straightforward words and a bit of support. No flowery sentiments, no immediate solutions to problems. Just support. That was all she needed at this moment and he was offering it in a caring and gentle manner.
‘You still have magic hands,’ she sighed after a few minutes. ‘And thank you for the pancakes. They’re my favourite.’
‘I remember.’
‘They do make me happy, Flynn, I just can’t…’
‘You can’t show it the way you usually do. The ever optimistic, happy and bubbly Reggie. I get it.’
‘Get what?’
‘With me, everything’s different. You think there’s too much water under the bridge between us. That it would be impossible for things to move forward between us.’ He nodded. ‘I understand.’
‘Do you?’ Did he really understand just how much he’d hurt her all those years ago?
‘I might even be so bold as to declare that I understand you, Reggie.’
She laughed without humour. ‘I’ve changed.’ She shifted a little in her chair, acutely aware of the way he was making her feel with his hands on her shoulders, massaging gently. The air between them seemed to be charged with unspoken conversations, things they should have said but hadn’t…things they shouldn’t have said but had.
‘Everyone changes, Reg, but hopefully not in essentials,’ he offered, releasing her shoulders. ‘I think you’re still the same Reggie, wanting to help others, smiling, laughing, spreading sunshine wherever possible. I watched you do that when we were together in Sint Maarten, amazed and in awe of your ability and—’ He dropped his hands and quickly pulled out the chair next to her and sat down, facing her, his expression determined. ‘I’d like to help, Reggie. I’d like to take a leaf out of your book and spread a little sunshine.’
