by H. P. Munro
“Hmm gorgeous huh, I can accept that,” Maddie smiled flirtatiously, thrilled at the compliment from Alex, albeit accidental. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
They sat silently for a moment before Maddie spoke again, “He seemed really popular from what I saw in the year book.”
Alex nodded, pleased to be talking about her brother, even after all the time that had passed their friends seemed unable to come to terms with his death and were always careful to avoid mentioning him, “Yeah he was, particularly with the ladies. He and Matt were terrible together, I think me and Ruth were probably the only two females in the county not to have slept with either one of them.”
“Ah, Sully the ‘manhole’ according to your daughter.”
Alex’s eyes widened in surprise at Maddie’s remark, before settling on her now softly snoring daughter.
“She overheard someone called Teddy apparently,” Maddie explained.
Narrowing her eyes Alex gave a half laugh. “Claudia Roosevelt, I will kick your ass,” she muttered, then seeing Maddie’s bemused expression she shrugged. “Sorry that’s Teddy’s real name, I’ll have words with her to make sure she’s more careful. So, anyway, after Pooh died, my dad got sick and retired here. I looked after him until the end, and after he died, I stayed. I had no family left but Grace Falls is home and honestly there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
“And Jessica?” Maddie probed gently.
“You mean you haven’t heard the story yet?” Alex asked surprised. “Maybe there are secrets in this town after all!” she laughed dryly. “Or maybe you’ve just not spoken to enough people yet. It was a scandal at the time,” she shook her head and prepared to tell the story of how her daughter came to be. “When I hit thirty, my biological clock started ticking so loud that I swear it could have been picked up on the Richter Scale,” Alex smiled. “So I enlisted Matt’s help, he’s too much of a manchild to have a relationship work but he was desperate for kids. His parents were lousy and I think he wanted to prove to himself that he could be better, so he was happy to lend a hand,” she snorted as she realized her pun. “Literally.”
Maddie’s mouth opened in surprise, “Ah, so you two weren’t together…together?” The strong sense of relief she felt at the realization surprised her. “You know I really couldn’t picture you two together,” she added.
“Oh God please don’t,” Alex laughed running a hand through her hair. “Let’s say I love Matt, he’s been one of my best friends from when we first moved here but he’s reeeeally not my type,” she stressed in reply glancing sidelong at the doctor sitting next to her. “He’s a great father though, and a great guy once you get past the ‘manhole’ thing,” she laughed. “The thing with Matt is the women he really cares about; he doesn’t try and sleep with them. Well now he doesn’t, when he was younger anything that had a pulse was fair game.” Her mind drifted towards Lou, as she convinced herself that she was trying to dissuade Maddie from Sully for her assistant’s sake and not because of any attraction she felt towards the doctor.
Yawning, Maddie moved onto her knees and picked up her stethoscope. “Good to know! What about you?” she asked keeping her tone neutral as she listened to Jessica’s chest, making the sleeping child swat a hand at the cool metal on her chest and generating a smile from Maddie and Alex.
“What about me?” Alex asked carefully, deliberately stalling her answer.
“You don’t have someone that you care about enough not to sleep with them?” Maddie asked playfully, settling back down beside her.
Alex snorted. “If we go by that yardstick. I care about a whole mess of people!” she sighed. “I’ve been focused on Jessica and work. It doesn’t leave me time for much else and I’m not sure that someone I like is just gonna fall in my lap.”
Maddie gave her a sympathetic smile. “I know what you mean, but,” she added getting to her feet, “you never know what’s around the corner.” She completed her quick examination of Jessica. “Her chest sounds good, I think you two should stay over,” she caught a slight flicker in Alex’s eye. “To save you taking her out into the cold,” she added quickly, frowning as she realized that it was probably a balmy seventy degrees outside, even at the late hour. “Plus I can keep an eye on her. You two can have the bed I’ll sleep on the sofa.”
“Thank you,” Alex replied gratefully moving to pick up Jessica, who grumbled in her sleep at the movement.
Once satisfied that both were tucked up safe in the double bed, Maddie went down the stairs and sat down on the sofa. The night’s activities finally caught up with her and she slumped back, letting her head fall against the back of the sofa. Her tired brain still wouldn’t allow her to switch off from the drama that had appeared at her door. She stood up zipped up her hoodie and slipped out of the front door into the night.
***
Timothy McNeil switched on his beside light; he checked his wife was still sleeping soundly beside him before grabbing his dressing gown from the bottom of the bed, slipping his feet into his waiting slippers he was still pulling his robe around him as he padded down the stairs. In all his years as Grace Fall’s doctor he was accustomed to being summoned in the middle of the night by patients, however, this would be the first time it had happened since his retirement; his ex-patients understanding and respecting the reason for his premature departure from the post. He switched on the porch light and opened the front door.
Maddie spun round from looking out towards the street, “I’m sorry to wake you. I’ll do it.”
Timothy looked at her quizzically.
“I want the equipment returned to the clinic first thing in the morning, starting with the nebulizer,” she gave him a quick smile then hopped down the stairs. “Nice jimjams by the way,” she called from the gate.
McNeil watched her departure then shook his head and chuckled, “Looks like we’ve bagged ourselves a doctor.” He turned back into his home and snapped the lights off.
Chapter Two
Maddie woke slowly; the cover that she had pulled around herself during the night slipped as she shifted, starting to stretch her limbs out from their cramped position on the sofa. She winced as she moved her head, feeling her neck complain immediately about the angle that she had slept at. She opened her eyelids gradually allowing the light to enter, jumping as two blue eyes, inches from her own, came into sharp focus.
“Jessica!” she exclaimed pushing herself back into the sofa in surprise.
“We slept here,” Jessica said, more as a statement than a question.
“You did,” Maddie smiled. “How are you feeling?”
The young girl rubbed her chest, the heel of her hand moving the small monkey’s face on the front of her pajamas. “Sore,” she replied.
Maddie sat up looking around for her stethoscope which she’d lain down somewhere in her tiredness during the night. Spotting it across the living room, she padded over to collect it and listened to Jessica’s chest giving a relieved sigh at the clear breath sounds she heard. “You sound much better,” she smiled at Jessica. “How about we make some breakfast. Is your mommy still asleep?” Jessica nodded then followed Maddie into the kitchen. “Would you like some orange juice?” Maddie asked. “Then maybe I can make us some eggs or French toast?”
“Orange juice please,” Jessica replied, remembering her mother’s instructions on manners. “An’ then French toast.”
“Excellent,” Maddie smiled taking the items from the fridge and getting a glass. “Does your mommy like coffee?” she asked as she poured a glass of orange.
Jessica accepted the glass with a look of incredulity. “She owns a coffee shop,” she replied slowly in response.
Maddie narrowed her eyes, “That would be a yes then.” She turned and started to make a pot of coffee muttering under her breath, “Fifteen love to the child.” She heard movement behind her, glancing up she caught sight of Jessica in the reflection of the window, the young girl was stretching across the table to reach Maddie’
s iPad. “Would you like to play a game while I’m getting breakfast?” she asked good naturedly.
Blue eyes widened in excitement, “Can I?” she held the iPad out to Maddie who switched it on.
“Okay, we have Angry Birds?” she looked at Jessica, who shook her head furiously, her blonde curls bouncing around. “Nope? Okay we have Tetris?” again she received a shake of blonde curls in reply.
“Do you have poker?” the girl asked sipping her orange juice.
“Actually I do,” Maddie said scrolling through the screens to locate it. “Wait, you’re a kid, you’re not playing poker,” she exclaimed stopping her search for the application.
Jessica shrugged, “My daddy taught me.”
Maddie looked at her in surprise, she released her breath in a quick surge of disbelief, “Okay, poker it is,” she opened up the application and handed the iPad over with a look of resignation. “I better not get in trouble with your mom for this,” she warned the small child who grinned at her in response before turning her attention back to the iPad and furrowing her forehead in concentration. Maddie shook her head and resumed her coffee making.
She knocked gently against the bedroom door, getting no response she pushed it open and entered the room. She smiled at the sight of Alex in the middle of the bed; the woman was lying on her back still asleep, one arm thrown carelessly above her head. Maddie walked quietly around the bed and placed the cup of coffee down on the nightstand as she turned to walk away she heard a murmur coming from the bed. She turned back to look at Alex who was starting to come around, her face wrinkling at the effort.
Maddie couldn’t help but stare as Alex, still with her eyes closed, started to twist on the bed arching her back and moaning at the muscle stretch, the action causing the strap on her camisole to slip from her shoulder. Maddie bit her bottom lip and reluctantly decided to let Alex know of her presence. “Morning,” she said quietly, her voice laced with burgeoning arousal, she coughed quickly to clear her throat and blushed at the effect that seeing Alex in her bed had created.
Alex’s eyes opened slowly. “Mornin’,” she replied sleepily, she looked to her side where the sheets still held the imprint of Jessica’s body.
“She’s downstairs in the kitchen, her chest sounds clear and none the worse for scaring us both to death,” Maddie said pre-empting Alex likely query. “I brought you coffee,” she smiled pointing to the nightstand where the coffee cup sat, steam rising gently from it. “I wasn’t sure how you took it,” she shrugged apologetically.
“I could get used to waking up like this,” Alex murmured sitting up and fixing the strap on her camisole as she reached for the cup, she paused as she realized the possible implications of her words. “With coffee I mean. I can’t remember the last time someone brought me coffee in bed,” she added quickly, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
Maddie gave a soft chuckle, “Well when you’re ready to come downstairs, there’s going to be French toast.”
Alex’s eyes widened over the top of her coffee cup. “You don’t have to really, you’ve already done so much,” she said taking a careful sip.
“I don’t mind,” Maddie smiled. “Oh do you know that your daughter is a card shark?” she asked fiddling with the comforter at the end of the bed, “She’s playing poker on my iPad. I hope that’s okay?” she asked her brow creased with worry.
Alex laughed. “It’s okay, her dad is a bad influence on her in that respect. Is your iPad connected to the internet?” she asked with a hint of concern in her tone.
Maddie shook her head. “No, no signal. Oh, there’s nothing on there that isn’t kiddie friendly,” she added quickly plunging her hands into the pockets of her hoodie.
“Oh, it’s not that,” Alex smiled. “My daughter has a past record,” she rolled her eyes. “Eight months ago she wanted a horse, we said no, so she got my credit card and bought one on eBay.”
Maddie chewed on her lips trying not to laugh.
“It’s okay you can laugh,” Alex assured her. “We did, once we got the seller to understand what happened. She’s smart for her age, we’ve got her on an accelerated program at school ’cause she’s too clever for her own good!” she laughed. “So she has no internet privileges until she’s sixteen.” They shared a laugh, then Alex started to look around the room. “God I’ve not been in this room since I was a teenager,” she smiled. “In fact the last time I was in the room I was on this bed,” she smiled at the memory her palm touching the mattress as if lifting the memory from it. “And if it hadn’t been for Matt I would have lost my virginity here,” she laughed as more of the memory returned. “God poor Charlotte Grace, her face was a picture,” she stopped and winced slowing lifting her eyes to meet Maddie’s. “Sorry, over sharing. So French toast!” she said brightly, smiled broadly at Maddie who was smirking at her.
“Ruth told me it was a different bed and not the one her mom died in.”
Looking at the bed, Alex’s brow furrowed. “Looks the same,” she commented dispassionately. Her face screwing up as her brain processed the implication. “Eww, God, I so hope it’s not,” her mouth twisted in disgust.
“Let’s just believe that it’s new,” Maddie said standing up. She walked to the door. “French toast in ten and Alex you do remember that this town apparently has no secrets so if I want to find out about you and that bed, or should I say its predecessor, I probably could,” she grinned and left Alex sitting on the bed shaking her head.
“I have no doubt about that Madeleine, there would be a load of people only too happy to fill you in on my activities,” Alex murmured, her eyes fluttering in pleasure as she took a long drink of coffee and forgot all about the bed beneath her.
***
She pulled her cardigan tighter around her body as she approached the kitchen, the sound of laughter and music had met her almost from the bottom step of the stairs, the noise getting louder as she approached the kitchen. She paused in the doorway smiling as Jessica sat on the counter beside the cooker wriggling in her seven-year-old version of dancing. The child was dressed in Maddie’s hooded top, the arms rolled up so her hands, that were creating shapes in the air, were free. Maddie was standing with her back to her, now dressed in just her pj bottoms and white tank top, her hips shaking in time to the music blasting from the iPad.
“You’re making them wrong,” Jessica yelled over the noise, looking down at the pan.
“What do you mean? They’re perfect!” Maddie replied defensively, she was of good Italian stock and prided herself on her cooking ability and her French toast was a particular specialty.
“There’s no black bits, there’s supposed to be black bits. Those are the best bits,” Jessica said emphatically, she looked up and caught sight of her mom watching them. “Tell her, Mama, there’s supposed to be black bits.”
Alex rolled her eyes and entered the kitchen, she placed her cup down beside her daughter and took her face in her hands landing a sloppy kiss on her cheek. “Way to let the doctor know that I burn French toast munchkin,” she said regarding her daughter, ignoring the chortle that was coming from the taller woman still dancing at the cooker.
“But the black bits are the bits I like,” Jessica added.
“Okay, how’s that?” Maddie asked tipping the pan towards Jessica to show her the now blackened pieces of French toast.
“Perfect,” the girl clapped her hands together, the material of Maddie’s hoodie getting in her way.
“Go sit at the table,” Alex instructed, lifting her daughter from the counter. “Is there anything I can help with?” she asked Maddie, using all of her self-control to look into the doctor’s brown eyes and not at her chest.
“Grab those plates?” Maddie asked jerking her head in the direction of the white plates stacked on the counter.
Alex picked them up and took them to the table where Jessica was already kneeling on a chair, knife and fork at the ready. She put the plates out then sat down giving Jessica a quick glare to re
mind her of her table manners, the child carefully put down the knife and fork and waited patiently. Alex had just picked up her glass of orange juice and was taking a drink when Maddie started to dish out the slices of French toast from the pan, the movement making her braless breasts move beneath her white top. Alex choked slightly at the sight, the noise echoing into the glass at her mouth.
“You okay?” Maddie asked concerned.
Managing to drag her eyes northwards Alex gave her a weak smile, “I’m fine, thanks.” She puffed air out of the side of her mouth silently berating herself; she was getting as bad as Matt.
They ate breakfast together chatting about Jessica’s day at school; Alex was relieved that she managed for the most part to maintain eye-to-eye contact instead of eye-to-nipple. Afterwards Maddie waved away any offer of help to clear up and Alex and Jessica left her with a grateful hug and a wave as they made their way back to their home to get ready for the day. Watching them disappear through the gate and reappear on the other side Maddie took a deep breath.
“Okay. Now time to go be a town doctor. How the hell d’you do that?”
She mused over her decision as she stripped her sleepwear off, now the bravado and adrenalin from the night before were gone, in the cold light of day Maddie was starting to panic about her choice. She had spoken to Timothy again via phone call after Alex and Jessica had left and agreed to meet him at the clinic where the equipment would be returned to.
She stepped into the shower and switched on the hot water faucet, gasping as her body was met with a cold stream of water.