Blazing Fear

by Leisl Leighton

  It had been such a relief, but her luck in avoiding Flynn was unlikely to continue. She was going to bump into him on one of her next visits. She just knew it. Grimacing, she asked, ‘Who is it this time?’ Please don’t be Aaron. The bundle of mischief was well overdue for some feat of daredevilry that usually ended up with him bruising or cutting or spraining something. And if Aaron had hurt himself, Flynn would be there. So please don’t be Aaron. Please don’t—

  ‘It’s Aaron.’

  Crap.

  ‘It looks like he might have dislocated his shoulder.’

  ‘How did he do that?’

  ‘I don’t know, but Barb said it looked bad.’

  Okay. She could do this. ‘Tell them I’ll be right there.’ She picked up her bag, already planning in her head what she needed to do so the plans with Carter could still go ahead. She was not letting her little boy down. He was with Lisa at the moment because it had been a student free day at school. That meant she could pick him up on the way—she’d call Lisa and ask her to have Carter ready and waiting to jump into her old 4WD so there’d be little delay. He’d be happy enough to stay with Barb while she tended to Aaron. Or he could run down the track to Reid and Nat’s and spend time with Tilly. Did she have the right supplies in her boot to treat a suspected dislocation? Did she have some morphine whistles? Yes. Cherry had restocked this week. She was halfway to the door when the intercom squawked again.

  ‘You don’t have to go there. Flynn’s bringing him here.’

  ‘What?’ She barked the word so loud she was certain people in Walhalla heard it. She swallowed her embarrassment and pressed the intercom button. ‘Tell him it’s best for Aaron if I come to them.’

  ‘Too late. He’s already on the road. Barb said he’d be here in ten.’

  Crap. Didn’t he realise his boy would be in horrible pain and every movement of the car would be excruciating until the shoulder was put back in? Really, what was Flynn thinking? She hoped he hadn’t tried to put it back in himself. Some people fancied themselves glorified medics just because they’d done years of first aid training or watching doctor-based TV shows which were as close to reality as her butt was close to being petite.

  Really, it did her head in sometimes.

  She thought Flynn knew better. Nat would have. So would Reid. So, why hadn’t they stopped Flynn from putting Aaron in the ute and bringing him here? Where it would be only the two of them in that little treatment room with his injured son. The treatment room where they’d kissed and then she’d run from him, only to kiss him again up in her bedroom followed by that horrible conversation. It had taken her a lot of hard work to try not to think of that kiss every time she walked into the treatment room since. And now, he was going to be there again, crowding up the room and making it hard to think straight. She could ask Cherry to stay. She was her nurse after all.

  But no. Cherry had plans and it would be completely arseholish of her to ruin them.

  Crap-crap-crappity-crap-sticks!

  Prita sighed and put the bag down, fingers clenching reflexively. ‘Relax, Prita. Relax.’ She took a deep breath and plastered a pleasant smile to her face—her doctor’s smile, the one that always helped her sound like she was in control and knew exactly what she was talking about and wasn’t bothered by anything. She’d used that smile a lot in the last few weeks with the phone calls and Bob Thompson and Doc Simpson’s ongoing backstabbing. And with Max Smith coming by every day to drop in a new candle he’d made that he thought she might like and flirting with her in that slightly nervous-sweet way of his. She really was going to have to do something about that.

  So, smile. Calm, self-assured doctor smile. It should feel second nature by now but it felt forced. Giving it up, she pressed the intercom. ‘Thanks, Cherry. I’ll just go prep the treatment room. Can you please call Lisa and tell her I’ll be by to pick up Carter a little later than planned?’

  ‘Sure thing. Do you want me to tell her why you’ll be late? Maybe if she tells Carter it’s for Aaron, he won’t be so disappointed.’

  ‘Cherry, you’re a godsend. Yes, that would be great. Thank you. Then you better go. You don’t want to miss out on any of your date night.’

  ‘You sure? I could stick around for a little longer. Frank won’t mind.’

  ‘No. It’s fine. Flynn can help if I need it. You go. And thanks for calling Lisa for me. I really appreciate it.’

  At least if Carter knew it was for Aaron, he would be more likely to understand. Even though he’d been much better since they’d moved here a year and a half ago, he was still prone to anxiety, particularly when it came to adults letting him down. And her having to stay late tonight would be letting him down. Especially given their celebration. But he did love Aaron and would understand she needed to stay to treat him.

  She just wished Flynn hadn’t put his poor boy in a car to bring him to her. It would have been so much better for all of them if she’d just gone to CoalCliff. She could have dealt with going out there. The boy had probably injured himself trying one of the new climbs on Reid’s rock climbing wall. It was Friday. Training night for the Nippers Squad after school. The only reason Carter wasn’t there was because of their special plans. Reid and Nat would be there as would Barb, possibly Mac and Ben as well. She could have dealt with seeing Flynn with all of them around.

  But no, he had to pack Aaron into his ute and bring him here.

  She made a tsking sound as she left her office and walked into the treatment room to prepare for their arrival. She’d give him a piece of her mind after she’d made sure Aaron was okay. Actually, no, she wouldn’t do that at all. That would prolong him being here and she really didn’t want to do that. Certainly not in the room where they’d kissed. God, that kiss …

  She took a deep breath. ‘Stop it, Prita. You are a doctor. Aaron is a patient. You see patients and their parents all the time. This is no different.’ Yes. There. That was better. Or it would be if she could only make herself believe it.

  Damn it.

  ‘Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?’

  She jerked around. Cherry stood in the doorway, a look on her face that said she’d heard Prita talking to herself and understood exactly why she might not want to be in a room with Flynn alone. Bloody hell. To make it worse, she wasn’t the only one who seemed to have an inkling why she’d been avoiding Flynn since the day of the party. Barb and Nat had started angling looks at her every time they had one of their weekly catch ups—at her place, of course. She’d used the excuse that Carter needed the routine of being in his own house. The looks had quickly turned into words, like, ‘let me talk to Flynn’ or ‘maybe I can help smooth the waters’ or her personal favourite, ‘what the hell happened between you two?’ uttered by Nat just yesterday after she’d mentioned Flynn had got his stitches out when he was in Melbourne, noting it was strange he hadn’t come to see Prita for a check-up, and even stranger she hadn’t demanded it as she was a bit, how had Nat put it?—‘anally retentive with doctor stuff’. She’d been squirming under Nat’s microscope of questions when Barb, in her inimical way, had said, ‘They must have kissed. Things only get that difficult between a man and woman after they kiss.’

  Prita hadn’t known where to look and had blurted out, ‘I need to go to the loo’, and then spent the next few minutes trying hard to compose herself and think of how to respond, while desperately trying not to think about the hottest, sexiest kiss of her life, one that played in her mind over and over, and every night in her dreams making her wake all hot and sweaty and wanting some relief in the worst way.

  Oh no. Now that image was in her head from her dreams last night. How was she going to face Flynn with that image in her head? This was just getting worse and worse.

  She needed to grab hold of her anger. The anger she’d felt when Flynn had practically accused her of throwing herself at him and then making it perfectly clear that she was not someone he wanted to be with. Despite the fact she didn’t want to be with h
im either, it had been embarrassing and soul destroying, confidence knocking and anger-making. She tried to find a little of that anger now, but it had disappeared and hadn’t returned. How could it after he’d uttered those shattering words, ‘I still love my wife.’

  Of course he did and she couldn’t hold it against him.

  Maybe that’s what would make it okay now. Maybe there was nothing to worry about. He loved his wife and she didn’t want to be with him for a whole range of reasons that were her own and nobody else’s business. Yes. That utterance of his would be the saving grace.

  ‘Echem.’

  She realised Cherry was still looking at her, waiting for an answer. What had she said? She couldn’t remember? Oh, yes, staying. She waved her hand and put on her doctor’s face. ‘I’ll be fine. You go. Have a wonderful night. I expect to hear all about it on Monday.’

  ‘Ooh, and won’t there be lots to tell. My Franky-boy certainly knows how to make me scream,’ Cherry said, waggling her eyebrows. ‘In fact, did I tell you about the time he—’

  Prita stuck her hands in her ears. ‘Yes. Yes, you did and I’ve never been able to get that image out of my head. Those aren’t the kinds of details I was talking about. I could do without ever hearing those kinds of details again.’

  ‘Pity. You might learn a thing or two,’ Cherry said, chuckling, then she sobered. ‘Sorry, I forget what a sheltered upbringing you had.’

  ‘Sheltered?’

  ‘Yes. With you being brought up by your Indian relatives. I know how they shelter their girls. I’ve seen it in all those Bollywood movies.’

  That was a stereotype she just couldn’t seem to live down. ‘You know, not all Indian families are like what you see in the movies. Besides, I did spend the first thirteen years of my life touring with my dad and his band.’

  Cherry batted her eyes. ‘Oh my, your dad. Diarmuid Brennan. That must have been quite something.’

  ‘Yes. Yes, it was.’

  ‘Did I tell you that Frank and I first made out with your dad’s song, ‘Dark Rain’ in the background? Ooh, that song still makes me get all hot and bothered.’ She shivered, her cherry red locks moving across her shoulders. ‘Maybe tonight we’ll put it on again for old time’s sake. Frank knows it always gets my juices—’

  ‘Lalalalala not listening. Not listening,’ Prita said, sticking her fingers in her ears and shutting her eyes.

  Cherry snorted. ‘See? Sheltered.’

  She dropped her hands away from her ears and, ignoring that comment this time—she wasn’t going to tell Cherry just how sheltered she wasn’t—she said, ‘See you Monday.’

  Cherry put her hands on her hips and cocked her head. ‘We need to get you some hot man action as well.’

  ‘Cherry. I’m perfectly content.’ At least she would be if she could stop having those hot and juicy dreams with Flynn in the starring role.

  ‘Content isn’t what you should be.’

  Prita sighed and turned to the bed, pulling the paper covering down from the container on the wall. ‘I get enough of the match-making schtick from my family, which was why I left them and came here.’ A small lie that she was quite used to telling. It was astonishing how easily it tripped off her tongue.

  Cherry raised her hands. ‘Enough said. It’s only that I worry about you.’

  Prita stilled, the paper fluttering in her shaking hands. She cleared the massive frog that seemed to have lodged itself in her throat and made herself turn, a smile on her face despite the hot well of emotion roiling in her chest. ‘I know. But you don’t have to. Since Carter came into my life, I’ve never been happier.’

  Cherry’s frown didn’t disappear as she said, ‘Yes, that little boy is special. You’re such a wonderful mother.’

  ‘Thank you. That means so much coming from you. And you know he loves you like a grandmother.’

  Cherry blushed and looked away. ‘Yes, well, I love being his surrogate granny too—even though I’m far too young to be a grandmother. I’m not like Barb, popping them out while I was still in my teens. Me and my Frank waited until we were in our twenties. But I’m sure my brood will start coupling up and popping out the grandchildren in the next few years.’ A car horn sounded out the front. ‘That must be Flynn—he got here fast.’ She looked at her watch. ‘Holy cow, is that the time? I should have been gone ten minutes ago, not stand around gasbagging. I’ll go send Flynn in and then head off.’

  ‘Great. Thanks. Have a lovely night.’

  ‘I will. You too, when you finally get to Carter. And happy birthday, lovely.’

  Prita accepted her kiss and hug, then waved her off and turned back to prepping the room. She stopped to sweep her thick hair into a ponytail—she always felt more in control when she had her ponytail in place—and had just picked up a tray of bandages to place on the trolley when a scream sounded from the waiting room.

  The tray of bandages hit the floor with a loud clang as she ran out of the room to the reception area. ‘What? What is it?’

  Cherry turned, her face white, eyes blazing as she pointed at the reception desk.

  On the desk was a bloody mess of carcass and guts of some kind of blackbird, its head missing.

  Oh god. Not this again!

  Chapter 6

  The scream rang through the air as Flynn hopped out of the car. Turning to his white-faced son, he said, ‘Stay here,’ and then raced towards Prita’s practice.

  The door banged open with the force of his push. The bell above the door, torn from its footing, went flying across the room to crash-jangle against the opposite wall. Prita and Cherry stood in the middle of the room, staring at the reception desk, Prita’s arm around Cherry’s shaking shoulders.

  ‘What is it? What’s happened? Are you okay?’

  He wanted to go to Prita, to touch her, make sure she was safe, but after their disastrous kisses and the way he’d lost control of himself, he’d been keeping his distance. She was a friend. Could only be a friend. It’s what he wanted. It’s what she wanted. Why was it so difficult to remember that?

  Because, that kiss had blown all rational thought away. Nothing had been right since that stupid kiss.

  Prita turned, her eyes looking past him with a cool detachment that cut to the bone. She didn’t even smile at him. He missed her smile, those deep dimples that wedged into her cheeks, the way her skin glowed with the light of laughter that always seemed to bubble just beneath the surface, even when she was tending to a patient. It was what made her so good at what she did. She had a knack for making people feel better just by being there, just by looking at them. Except for him, right now. He shifted uncomfortably. ‘Who screamed? What happened?’

  Prita didn’t answer, just looked past him, frowning. ‘Where’s Aaron?’

  Of course she’d notice Aaron was missing. ‘I left him in the car when I heard you scream.’

  ‘We should go get him.’ She made to edge past him and out the front door.

  Which was when he saw the mess on the desk. ‘What is that? Is that what made you scream?’

  ‘I didn’t scream,’ Prita said, her expression affronted in a way that made him want to stroke the aggravation from her slowly, surely, with the calm determination he was known for. What the hell was he thinking? He took a step back.

  Prita tsked at him. ‘It’s just a dead bird.’

  ‘A dead bird someone left on your desk.’ Hands clenching at his side, he squared his jaw, holding tight to his anger as he stepped forward to get a better view. Christ. It had been pulled apart. A threat. That’s what this was. An escalation. Someone didn’t start with this. Jabbing his finger at the mess on the desk, he said, ‘How long has this been going on? Is Bob threatening you again?’

  ‘What? No.’ There was something in her voice he didn’t quite believe.

  He walked past her, careful not to touch her, to get a closer look. ‘Was there a note? Did they say why they left that here? Have you called the police?’

  ‘Police.’ Pri
ta snorted. ‘They won’t be any help unless they catch cat burglars.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘It’s that bloody cat!’ Cherry said, hands clenched at her sides—he suddenly realised she wasn’t shaking from fear, but from fury. ‘I swear I’m going to string it up next time it cat-burgles its way in here.’

  ‘Machiavelli is just showing you he likes you by bringing you a present, Cherry.’

  ‘A present! I suppose the shit he left in my shoe was a love drop.’

  Prita giggled.

  ‘Machiavelli,’ Flynn said, almost choking on the name. ‘You called a cat Machiavelli?’

  ‘What’s wrong with Machiavelli?’

  ‘It’s … not a name most people would give a cat.’

  ‘Who are you to talk, naming all your animals after movie and TV show characters?’

  She had him there. ‘But how did you come up with Machiavelli?’

  ‘Well, Cherry said that cat was like the devil and I said I thought he was more Machiavellian than devilish and Carter asked what that name meant, so we looked him up and he thought it was the perfect name for him, especially given the antics he gets up to around here.’

  ‘Antics?’ Cherry snorted. ‘We should have called him Satan.’

  ‘Aw, come on, Cherry. He’s simply showing us his affection by leaving us some food.’

  ‘That—’ she pointed to the desk, revulsion on her face, ‘—is his disdain for me, not affection. He’s not leaving dead mice and birds on your desk, I note. Or tripping you up every time you move. Or shitting in your shoes.’

  ‘I bought you a new pair. Don’t you like them?’

  Cherry looked down at her shiny shoes, a smile twitching at the edges of her mouth. ‘They’re lovely. That’s not the point.’