A photo at the back, almost hidden from view, then took her attention. It was of a very young Mitchell dressed in a work uniform. He looked barely old enough to be in high school but he was in what appeared to be a large warehouse. He appeared far too young to be working. Perhaps it had been work experience, she thought as she put down the photograph.
She noticed there were a few photographs of Mitchell, resembling Tarzan, on his travels, although none with women, as there had been in the photos he had sent David. Instead, they were all solo shots in the wilderness. He had hidden his array of girlfriends from his mother, which did hint at a level of good taste. She quickly blinked away thoughts of his very active love life and continued admiring the collections of photographs.
There were pictures from the beach wedding of David and Ruby. Jade reached down and picked up one of the silver-framed photographs. The happy couple were beaming and the beach at sunset in the background was spectacular. She ran her finger absent-mindedly over the image of her sister. Her long blonde hair was braided with fresh flowers and the hemline of her stunning white lace wedding gown disappeared into the sand. Ruby was a beautiful bride and they looked such a happy couple. Jade put the frame down with a tear threatening to spill onto her cheek.
She noticed pictures of Amber on the sideboard and the sight of them all lifted her mood. So many of the photographs that Jade had sent to them were on display, and each had its own frame.
Maureen and Arthur were doting grandparents.
Jade’s mobile phone suddenly rang in the pocket of her skirt.
‘Hello, Jade Grant,’ she answered, after pulling it free.
‘Hi, Jade, this is Susy from the ANR agency. We spoke earlier and I wanted to see if you would consider a three-week placement, starting tomorrow.’
‘That’s quick, but, yes, I’m sure it will be fine,’ Jade responded, immediately recognising the acronym for the Australian Nursing Recruitment Agency. She had thought it would be a few days till she heard anything from them.
‘With your experience and your qualifications in neonatal ICU and midwifery, you were snapped up. I only wish you could stay longer. There would never be a shortage of work for you,’ Susy told her. ‘I know you only want to work part time during your stay in Adelaide so this placement is three shifts per week. It’s to cover holidays and I have another temp neonatal nurse who can job-share with you. What do you think?’
‘I think it sounds great. Where will I be working?’
‘You’ll be at the Eastern Memorial right in the heart of Adelaide, working across paediatrics and neonatal as I know you have experience in both. I think you’ll like working there. The nursing staff are second to none, the facilities state of the art.’
‘It sounds wonderful.’
After Jade ended the call she turned away from the photos of the family and breathed a sigh of relief. It was hard to admit it, but she had to concede that Mitchell was beyond attractive and he had stirred some feelings she’d forgotten she had ever felt, but now this would not be an issue: she would be busy working three days a week so would not see much of him during her stay.
Despite his obvious masculine appeal, and the way he was making her feel, she tried to convince herself that Mitchell Forrester would not be a threat to her. He was wayward and reckless if his postcards were anything to go by, she told herself just in case her hormones were making their own plans. Reliable, steadfast and sensible would be the prerequisites for any man to be in Amber’s life, just the way Ruby had liked her men. And it wouldn’t happen for a very long time, if ever. She needed to focus on being the best caregiver to Amber. That was the role she had been given and she intended on doing the very best job.
She had sat Amber down a few months before the trip and tried to explain why her life was different.
‘I know that most of your friends at playgroup have mommies and daddies but you have an aunty instead,’ Jade began to explain. ‘Your mommy and daddy look down from heaven and watch over you every day to make sure you are happy and safe. And I think that I am the luckiest aunty in the world to have you.’
Jade had become Amber’s legal guardian with Maureen and Arthur’s blessing as they had wanted what was best for their granddaughter. Mitchell had never contested the role, and Jade wasn’t surprised. Jade had seen from the moment she’d arrived in Adelaide that nothing had changed. Maureen and Arthur were so supportive and Mitchell was just there for the fun times.
‘Ith it my birthday?’ Amber squealed her question when she saw her grandfather blowing up balloons and her grandmother putting out pink and yellow napkins and a small stack of brightly wrapped gifts on the table.
‘Not for a few days, but this is an early birthday party so that Uncle Mitchell can say happy birthday and watch you blow out the candles,’ Maureen told her. ‘He has to go to work for the rest of the week so he will miss your real birthday. So you’ll have two parties.’
Amber’s eyes grew wider. ‘Two parties?’
‘Yes, Amber,’ Jade answered. ‘Grandma is spoiling you and you’ll be having two parties this year.’
Amber was clapping her hands and laughing as she sat beside her grandfather while he blew up the last of the balloons.
‘Don’t tell me I’m doing this again in a few days?’
‘Darling,’ Maureen began, ‘there’s only a handful of balloons so please just tie the ribbons onto each one and we can put them up before Mitchell arrives.’
‘Too late, I’m here.’
Mitchell had initially hesitated to accept the dinner invitation when his mother had called but when he’d discovered it was to celebrate Amber’s birthday he agreed immediately. The vision of Jade by the pool had haunted him all day and was the reason he’d hesitated. Something made him want to stay away from Jade but something stronger made him want to spend time with her.
He wanted to find out more about her, and if he was right about her motives. Did she really think that wearing clothes so dour that they were suited to a retired prison warden would make her a better guardian? A blind man could see her devotion and success raising Amber. She didn’t need to dress in costume to achieve anything. He would never understand why she covered the body he knew for a fact was amazing. And why she seemed so averse to his light-hearted remarks about life.
It was as if she had nominated herself for the position of moral compass of the family, if not the world. But as he looked at her he had to admit something about her was growing on him. She was cute, a good and devoted woman, and now that he had seen so much more she had also become desirable woman in his eyes. Common sense told him to limit his time around her but something else told him the opposite.
Jade turned around to see Mitchell standing in the doorway with a large white bear in a yellow spotted dress and a very small white box with a silver bow. He was wearing black jeans, black boots and a tight plain white T-shirt that didn’t hide his ample chest. She felt her temperature start to rise and her heart flutter. Then she noticed he was avoiding eye contact with her.
She prayed he had not seen her watching him from her balcony as he’d walked to the beach that morning. The swagger in his step and his lean, tanned body barely dressed had had a mind-numbing effect on her the moment she’d seen him and the image was still close to doing the same now. She felt her skin heat up and threaten to flush and she was bewildered by what was happening to her.
Over the past three years on her own she must have seen hundreds of good-looking men walking the streets, having coffee in the hospital cafeteria, in the twenty-four-hour supermarket when she called in after a late shift, but none of them had stirred any interest. Nothing. She’d walked past them as if they’d been store mannequins. But now, looking at Mitchell, she was very aware of the unsettling attraction she was feeling.
With difficulty, she attempted to drag her thoughts back to where they belonged and where they needed to remain for the next few weeks.
‘This is for the birthday girl,’ Mitchell said, his
hands outstretched to Amber.
Jade could see Amber’s face light up as Arthur led her by the hand over to Mitchell and the presents.
‘The teddy is for now,’ he began, as he put the bear into her arms. ‘And this present is for when you are older.’ He carefully handed her the small present.
Jade noted the colour of the dress. Mitchell had remembered Amber’s favourite colour. Amber took the presents and gave Mitchell a hug before she returned to the chair and unwrapped the white bow on the box, her teddy firmly planted on her little lap.
‘It-th’s pretty!’ she exclaimed, as she pulled a silver heart-shaped locket from the box. ‘Look, Aunty Jade, it-th’s pretty.’
‘You can put photos inside so one day when you are off travelling the world you will always have your family travelling with you,’ Mitchell added.
Amber had no idea what he was talking about but Jade was taken aback and the expression on her face did not hide it. The teddy was cute and the locket was lovely but the message behind it didn’t sit well with her. Was this Mitchell’s advice to her? Head off, put family in a locket and live your life somewhere else? She hadn’t pictured Amber ever leaving to see the world. She felt sick at the thought of not being there to protect her. And upset that Mitchell was using Amber’s birthday to impart his set of values on niece when she was only three years old.
‘That is very pretty’ she said, as she sat down and opened the delicate locket. ‘It will be lovely to wear to very special parties.’ Not a trip around the world away from family, she continued in her mind.
‘I’m surprised you didn’t buy one in green to go with her camouflage outfit for her trip down the Amazon for her sixth birthday,’ she said to Mitchell in a lowered voice as she made her way past him to the kitchen. ‘Really, a trip around the world? She’s three years old and maybe there’s the chance she’ll be like her father and she won’t want to run away from her family.’
Mitchell was stunned into silence. He thought her rebuke was an overreaction. It was a present of his choice with his sentiment. Not everyone saw the world the way Jade obviously did. He noted her dress sense had returned to that of elderly maiden aunt.
‘Like me? Is that what you mean? Actually, the message was about the importance of family,’ he said in the same low voice with a scowl as he followed her into the kitchen. ‘Pity you couldn’t see past your own agenda to see I didn’t have one.’
‘My agenda?’
‘Yes. It’s pretty obvious you’re planning on wrapping Amber in cotton wool for her entire life. Let her build sandcastles but avoid the water. Like a bystander who can watch but not experience life. That’s what this is about. It’s not healthy to bring up a child with no sense of adventure.’
‘How lovely to see you two getting to chat finally,’ Maureen said as she entered the kitchen to collect some plates. ‘Arthur is putting some prawns on the barbeque to go with the potato bake and salad.’
‘That sounds delicious,’ Jade said through gritted teeth. She was so angry with Mitchell. She was just protecting her niece the best way she knew how. She suddenly prayed that Mitchell wasn’t right. She didn’t want to cocoon Amber and not let her take her place in the world or have fun as she grew up. She bit her lip as her eyes darted nervously around the room. His words made her question herself. Was she at risk of smothering Amber?
‘I’ll see what I can do to help outside,’ Mitchell said, his eyes narrowing in Jade’s direction before he disappeared onto the balcony to help Arthur put up the balloons.
‘Such a pretty locket and so sweet of Mitchell to think of something like that. I thought you’d approve of something so delicate and timeless,’ Maureen said as she collected the salad from the refrigerator, added some home-made dressing and headed back outside.
‘Very pretty,’ Jade returned. She couldn’t agree with the rest of Maureen’s words. She wasn’t sure what she thought about Mitchell or herself any more.
Mitchell and Jade chose to sit at opposite ends of the table for dinner. They said nothing to each other and neither made eye contact with the other. Amber didn’t appear to have much of an appetite and just played with her food, then lay down on the sofa with her new teddy.
‘Are you okay, sweetheart?’ Jade asked with a little frown of concern.
‘I’m full.’
Maureen looked over at Amber and lowered her voice. ‘She didn’t want much for lunch today either. I think jet-lag has hit her. It was a long trip for a little girl. And you too, Jade.’
‘I’ll keep an eye on it,’ Jade said. ‘You’re probably right but if she doesn’t pick up I’ll take her for a check-up.’
‘Do you want me to make an appointment with the nephrologist just for peace of mind?’ Arthur asked. ‘It’s probably not related but it will put your mind at rest.’
‘Let’s see how she goes,’ Jade replied, as she watched Amber play with her yet-to-be named bear. ‘The flight probably exhausted her. In a day or so she should pick up.’
‘Teddy wants to lie down, he’th tired.’ Amber said softly.
The adults all smiled and returned to their dinner, each of them not wanting to appear concerned but still keeping an eye on Amber.
* * *
‘And what did you get up to today while Amber was showing us the dolphins, Jade?’ Maureen finally asked to lift the conversation.
‘Nothing much...I just relaxed by the pool.’
Mitchell choked loudly on hearing the words. His drink threatened to spill from his lips and his eyes watered as he valiantly fought to not splutter. Nothing much didn’t just describe her day...it did, however, describe her outfit, or lack thereof, perfectly. She had been lying naked by the pool. And had looked amazing doing so.
‘Are you all right, dear?’
‘Uh-huh,’ he responded, his lips forming a rueful slant as he tried not to make eye contact with Jade. He wasn’t all right. He wanted to be honest and tell her that he had seen her that morning lying sans clothing by the water’s edge but he would never embarrass her that way. Also peeping Tom came to mind to describe him and he didn’t want that label. It had been an accidental sighting but a very pleasant one.
But the sighting even now, many hours later, was causing his heart to beat a little faster despite his opinion of her. It was an image at total odds with the role she was playing. Perhaps being the only one at the table who knew the real Jade drew him to her. He had seen the version she was hiding from the world and his parents. And he liked what he’d seen. He suspected why she was behaving that way but he didn’t agree with it. Just as she had over-reacted about the locket, Jade was trying to protect her niece from the world and even the real Jade. He just had to find a way to convince her that she didn’t need to be anything other than herself.
‘I just got a bit of sun...’
‘Oh, I’d say you got a whole lot of sun,’ he muttered under his breath.
‘Is everything okay?’ she asked with a curious frown.
‘Yes, fine, I’m just saying that you must have enjoyed sunbathing while everyone was out. I guess you just really like the sun.’
‘What a peculiar thing to say, Mitchell,’ Maureen said as she took another mouthful of salad.
Jade shot him a confused glance as she collected the plates.
‘Never mind,’ Mitchell returned as he stood to take the stack of plates from Jade’s hands. His warm skin brushed against hers and the electricity surged despite her anger towards him.
‘Forget I said anything. It’s just my warped Aussie humour. I’m sorry if the present upset you. There was nothing meant by it. Amber can put anything she wants in the locket. By the time she’s sixteen she will probably have a crush on a pop star who can’t sing a note but he’ll have great hair and perfect teeth and she will put his picture in the locket.’
Jade stepped into the kitchen. ‘More than likely.’ Her tone was cool but pleasant.
‘What about a truce?’ he whispered as he followed her. ‘For Amber’s
sake?’
Jade met his glance but wasn’t convinced.
‘I was out of line,’ he apologised. ‘I understand you want to keep Amber safe. With what happened to Ruby and David, you have every right. But please trust me, I would never let anything happen to Amber.’
Jade squinted a little as she took his words on board. They did seem heartfelt and she didn’t want any animosity ruining what little time they had with Maureen and Arthur.
‘Truce.’
* * *
‘Happy birthday, dear Amber, happy birthday to you.’
Amber was happy to sit back at the table for the arrival of her two-tier princess birthday cake. Her eyes lit up when she saw the iced strawberry sponge cake with tiny wax figurines of her favourite storybook princesses sitting on the top, with three candles burning brightly.
To the sounds of Hip, hip, hooray, she blew out the candles, ate half of the slice of cake on her plate and then went back to the sofa with her new teddy and rag doll. The trip had taken its toll, and Jade wasn’t surprised that Amber wanted to go to bed early.
On seeing how tired she was, Mitchell scooped her up and carried her to the bathroom, where Jade brushed her teeth then slipped her into her pyjamas before he helped to tuck her into bed.
His assistance with the bedtime preparations was his effort to show he was serious about the truce and helping out, but he was surprised how much he enjoyed being a part of it all. Something deep inside felt good about being able to kiss Amber on the forehead and hear her say goodnight to him. It was a long way from his handshake two days previously. He had never experienced that unconditional affection.
He spent all of his working hours saving the lives of children but he never saw them tucked into their own beds. He experienced gratitude in buckets from the parents, although he never expected it. Ensuring these little patients had the best possible opportunity for healthy, happy lives was just what he did. But as he stood watching Amber drift off to sleep he felt a tug at his heart. Perhaps he was missing out on something after all.
A Baby to Bind Them Page 7