‘So, we’ll have to do it again,’ he said, right on cue. ‘Maybe try the golf club? Or go up to the city to somewhere fancy.’
It’s not a date, she wanted to remind him. But then she thought, Why the hell not? Why shouldn’t she get out and have a bit of fun? It had been so long she’d almost forgotten the pleasure of pleasant, undemanding company.
Their meals had arrived while she was considering these astounding revelations, and without a second thought she reached out and pinched a chip from his plate.
He lifted the plate and brought it closer to her, obviously intending to push some chips onto her side plate.
‘Have some more,’ he said, but she waved the offer away.
‘That was me reverting to childhood,’ she explained. ‘Whenever I went out to dinner with Edward, Henry and my father, I’d pinch chips from their plates.’
‘What about your mother?’ he asked.
She smiled and took a quick breath. ‘I never knew her. She was diagnosed with breast cancer while she was pregnant with me and she refused to have an abortion, or any treatment, in case it interfered with the pregnancy. She died soon after I was born.’
He shook his head, such disbelief on his face that she knew he was thinking about the sacrifice her mother had made—it was the same thought that had kept her on track all through her life.
‘How on earth did your father manage?’ he asked.
Lauren smiled. ‘Same way you did with Maddie after your wife left. People just do the best they can. Dad had Henry and Edward too. Henry was a bit older, and had never married, but he was the prop that kept my father going. Between the three of them, and my mother’s mother, who came for a few days whenever she could, I think they did a pretty good job.’
Cam looked up from the steak he was cutting and smiled at her. ‘I think they did an excellent job.’
‘Ah, but you didn’t think that the day I rescued you,’ she reminded him, and he laughed.
‘I was so cranky with myself for flying that darned machine I couldn’t think straight,’ he said, and smiled at her. ‘I do apologise—again. You were wonderful. Are wonderful.’
Embarrassed by his praise, Lauren picked the prawns out of her pasta—which was delicious. Suddenly she was not very hungry. But she needed something fiddly to do to stop her thinking about Cam’s praise.
Was he just a flirt, or was he fancying himself in love with her?
Surely not the latter. They barely knew each other!
But something in his eyes when he’d told her she was wonderful had had the glow of—what?
The same attraction she was feeling towards him?
The same feeling that there was some kind of electric current flashing between them...?
* * *
They finished the meal with a soft, gooey apple and rhubarb crumble and ice-cream, after which Lauren declared she was very glad they’d walked as they could walk off some of it on the way home.
Then they argued about the bill. Cam insisted he’d asked her out, and intended to pay; Lauren countering that with her ‘not a date’ stance.
‘I’ll pay next time,’ she told him, after he’d insisted, and after it had become clear that arguing further would cause a disturbance in the busy restaurant.
‘So, there’ll be a next time?’ he teased as he tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow again and eased her closer to his body.
‘How can I say no,’ she grumbled, ‘when it was the best time I’ve had in ages?’
‘How many ages?’ he asked.
And she knew he really wanted to know.
She sighed.
Knew she should explain...
‘I studied in Sydney, and did my GP training placements down there, then came home for a holiday with Dad. I hadn’t seen him for a while, although we’d talked on the phone, and I suppose I must have been a little worried about him, because I told David, my fiancé, that I might have to stay a while.’
‘And “a while” turned into for ever?’ Cam asked, and slid his arm around her shoulder in a comforting way.
She nodded. ‘It was soon evident that my dad wasn’t managing—he was forgetting things, losing words, and his mind was wandering when he should have been working. Henry was aware of it, and he was the one who told me Dad had been losing more than words—he’d been losing patients to other doctors. I knew I’d have to take over completely. I brought in a young man to take care of Dad when I was working—to take him for walks in the bush, which he loved, or out on Henry’s boat...did you know you have a boat? And I took over the practice, getting in help when I needed, and became Dad’s primary carer.’
‘And David?’
Lauren stopped walking and turned to Cam. ‘David couldn’t handle it—couldn’t understand that I wouldn’t walk away from the man who’d made me what I was. You’re bringing up a daughter—you must know the limits it places on your own life. Dad had done that for me.’ She was silent for a moment before adding, ‘But David’s life was in Sydney, working his way through an orthopaedic specialty—he had no time for a long-distance romance.’
She paused, turned to walk again.
‘I think I was more upset about my poor choice of life partner than the actual break-up. I threw my engagement ring in the lake—which upset him far more than his desertion upset me. He seemed to think I should have given it back for his next fiancée.’
‘Getting even?’ Cam said, and Lauren smiled at him.
‘More getting rid of the past.’
They walked on again, and Lauren was suddenly conscious of the fact she’d just told Cam more than she’d ever told anyone. For years she’d guarded her heart against the hurt David’s rejection had caused. She’d kept it tucked away, pretending to understand and not be unduly bothered—mainly to protect her father from feeling guilty that she’d given up so much for him, back in the early days when he’d have understood.
But now...?
To talk about it...and to Cam of all people...
For whatever reason, she’d opened herself up in a way that made her feel vulnerable, so when their pace slowed, and Cam turned her towards him, she didn’t resist, but nestled in his arms and raised her head for the kiss she knew was coming.
You’re just seeking comfort, her head told her, but her response to his kiss was more than just comfort.
It was hunger—as raw and needy as she had ever felt.
But this was Cam—her neighbour—someone she was likely to see nearly every day. And even as his response sent her heart into overdrive, and long-forgotten sensations stirred her body, the warnings in her head grew more strident.
How would she feel in the morning, when all the doubts she had about a relationship with Cam would come surging back? His age, his marital status, her fear of being hurt again... And the unspoken one—the fear of what might lie ahead of her...the shadow of her father’s illness.
She eased away, dropped her head so his lips kissed her forehead. ‘It’s too much of a muddle,’ she whispered. ‘Too hard for me to think about—to think clearly at all.’
He drew her close again and nuzzled her neck. ‘Were you always this sensible? Have you always analysed every move you make?’
She couldn’t think with that nuzzling going on, making desire burn hotter.
She eased away again. ‘I think I probably have,’ she said, and this time she stepped away and turned resolutely towards her house. ‘It wasn’t that Dad and Henry ever set rules for me. But I was always conscious of not wanting them to—well, to be disappointed in me, I suppose. I was conscious, as I grew older, that they’d probably given up a lot of their own pursuits to bring me up.’
Cam gave her a one-armed hug. ‘So,’ he said, with amusement in his voice, ‘Great-Uncle Henry not only left me a house, a veterinary practice, an animal sanctuary and a flying machine, but also a
woman of principle! Is that it?’
She smiled at him. ‘Kind of...’ she said. ‘I just don’t know...’ She sighed. ‘I don’t get muddled,’ she added, a little later. But it sounded feeble even in her own mind. ‘This is just totally beyond anything I’ve ever imagined, and I don’t know how to begin to think about it.’
She studied his face.
‘Let’s walk,’ she said, and took his hand to lead him on along the path to their homes.
* * *
Cam didn’t know how to think about it, either. This woman was unlike anyone he’d ever known.
Was it that she was so principled?
Yes, but he’d known plenty of other principled people—his own parents, for a start—and he rather hoped it was a trait he had himself.
So it was something else that made Lauren different—and even more attractive than just the physical pull she had on him.
She’d stopped walking, pausing to look out at the lake, and he studied her, so beautiful in the moonlight, with the silvered lake behind her, the silence of the bush around them.
‘I think you might just have bewitched me,’ he said. ‘Because all I can think about is how soon we can do this again.’ He drew her closer and kissed her chastely on the lips. ‘Friends?’ he asked as he drew away.
She smiled at him. ‘Friends!’ she whispered, and then turned to take the track to her house, leaving him to go on to his vehicle, shaking his head at the way a simple dinner out had grown into such a muddle.
It really was the only word.
His fault, of course. Wanting to rush headlong into things the way he had with the ultralight.
He gave a huff of laughter.
Comparing Lauren to an ultralight?
No way!
* * *
Lauren went into the house, closed the door and leaned against it. She stayed upright this time—behaving like the adult she was. But the contact with Cam had shaken her—and not only physically. It had affected her perception of who she was.
She had always seen herself as a strong, independent woman. And in recent years her life balance of work, volunteering, exercise and get-togethers with friends had been all she’d needed or wanted. She liked the solitariness of her life—the need to please only herself in choosing what to do, what to eat, what holidays to plan.
She knew it came from being a solitary child, happy making up her own games in the bush around the house, too far from the village and the school for other children to be around. At boarding school for her senior years she’d become friends with others like her—young people from distant places who went back home when each term was finished.
Then at university, right there in the same college as her, had been David, and the two of them had become a couple—bringing a new type of isolation with her friend and lover...being a couple in the midst of singles.
So why change the habits of a lifetime and get involved with the man next door? The young man next door...
Although, apart from the ultralight adventure, he didn’t come across as young. Probably being left to bring up a small daughter alone had matured him beyond his years.
With a sigh—it was becoming a habit, this sighing—she slid into her normal routine, checking the downstairs doors were all locked before climbing up to her room, where she walked to the open window and leant on the sill to stare out at the night.
Was Cam looking out at the lake too?
Silly thought. She really had to stop thinking about it—about him.
The melody of the mobile phone in her pocket startled her. Not because she never had night call-outs, but because she’d been so lost in her own thoughts.
‘I hoped you were still up.’ Cam’s voice was urgent. ‘It’s a dog—left on my front step, wrapped in a blanket. He’s badly injured and I need help if I’m going to save him. Could you come?’
‘Of course.’ It was the only answer. Aware that his veterinary nurse lived close to Riverview, she realised why he’d rung her.
She quickly pulled off her good sweater and pulled on a T-shirt. She’d grab a jacket from the rack near the front door—and shoes. Her ankle-height wellies were by the front door, too. She’d wear those.
Within minutes she was at Cam’s place, and saw the lights were on in his veterinary rooms. She made her way there, going in through the open door, closing it behind her.
‘Cam?’ she called.
‘In here—the surgery. You know it?’
Indeed, she did. She’d loved watching Henry with the animals.
Cam’s ‘going out’ clothes were covered with a green gown, and as she walked in he pulled down the cloth mask that covered his mouth and nose.
‘I’ve put a gown out on the bench for you, and a mask and gloves with it,’ he said, then returned his mask to its place and his attention to his patient.
He glanced up when Lauren joined him at the table, his blue eyes angry and intent. ‘I think he’s been injured in illegal dog-fighting,’ he said, barely taking his eyes off the animal as he probed the gashes and tears in the poor dog’s skin and muscle.
‘I thought that had been snuffed out—illegal dog fighting,’ she said. ‘I haven’t heard of any in the area—although I suppose I don’t go to places where I might hear.’
He glanced up at her again. ‘I think it just goes further underground when the authorities try to stop it,’ he said, and she could hear the bitter anger in his voice. ‘This is a fairly isolated area—I imagine that out beyond the lake and the village there are plenty of sheds the organisers can use...and possibly some own a shed or two as well as dogs.’
‘What can I do to help?’ Lauren asked, and he looked up from his examination of the injured dog as if surprised to see that she was there.
‘I’ve mixed some disinfectant in that bowl over there. If you could take a cloth from that pile and try to clean him up a bit... Later we’ll need antibacterial solution to clean out the wounds, but for now I just need to see the extent of the damage.’
Cam was swabbing wounds on the animal’s head, so she began at the other end, wiping off mud and blood and who knew what from the animal’s skin.
‘He’s got old scars and some bruising,’ Lauren said, cleaning his belly and seeing a clear boot mark.
‘The owners treat them badly—starve them, beat them...anything to make them angry enough to fight.’ His voice was hard with a fury that seemed to burn in him.
‘Oh, Cam...’ she whispered, as the thought of what this animal had been through hit her. ‘There are some quite deep bite marks here on the side of his shoulder,’ she said, as she worked her way from the tail up. ‘And from the look of that tear on his face that you’re swabbing, he’s been badly mauled.’ She paused, then asked quietly, ‘Have you thought of euthanising?’
‘No way.’
The words were ground out from between gritted teeth.
‘I am going to get this guy back on his feet and then talk to the police about the bastards who did this to him. They must have some inkling that this is happening, and they’re the ones who need to stop it. This is illegal, and the penalties are harsh, but they’re so secret, these fights, that the venues change—perhaps even week to week. And that means the law doesn’t have the time or the manpower to pursue them—at least, not in the UK.’
‘And you do?’ she murmured, feeling rather fearful that he was angry enough to put himself in danger. She knew enough about dog fighting to know that a lot of people made money out of it.
‘I’ll make a fuss,’ he growled. ‘That’s the least I can do. Now, if you’ll help me turn him, we’ll clean up the other side and get started on repairs.’
But as they turned the dog they saw the pool of blood, and the torn blood vessel that had leaked it.
‘Damn—I thought I’d checked that!’ Cam muttered. ‘I’ll clean it up and suture the
leaking blood vessel before we do any more.’
He was holding the seeping vessel with his fingers, peering around helplessly.
‘Look,’ Lauren said, ‘you know where to put your hands on everything you need. I’ll hold that while you set up.’
He glanced at her with a grateful smile and stepped aside so she could take his place. Her fingers slid over his to grasp the blood vessel, and his closeness as they swapped brought a flash of the warmth she’d felt earlier.
Idiot, she told herself. We have a life to save here, so get with the programme.
Working with Cam was special, in a challenging kind of way. She just hoped his very real anger at the practice of dog fighting wouldn’t lead him into trouble.
Trouble?
She barely knew this man, but she instinctively felt that ‘trouble’ might be his middle name.
His Great-Uncle Henry had had a streak of bravado a mile wide—he’d always been willing to have a go at anything, no matter how impossible!
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, with the bleeder sutured and the dog relatively clean, they could see the extent of the damage.
‘Okay,’ Cam said, ‘now for some surgery. You ever been a surgery nurse?’
She smiled at him. ‘Not as such. But I did do a surgical rotation during training, and a couple more in my intern years, so if you keep the orders simple I should be able to manage.’
Cam insisted they both gowned up in fresh gear—and even allowed her to help him on with his gloves after he’d washed his hands with the particular care of a surgeon. She followed him at the basin, washing her hands and pulling on new gloves and mask.
He checked their patient’s heart-rate and pulse, shaking his head at the fact that an animal so badly injured should still be not only hanging in, but hanging in strongly.
‘Nothing like the will to live, is there?’ he said to Lauren, the blue eyes above his mask shining with admiration for the plucky animal.
And, even in this fairly critical conversation, Lauren felt her knees go wobbly at the gleam in his eyes.
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