“And it was the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”
“And?”
“Mac’s friends are really nice.”
Colleen was laughing and waving her hands “And?”
Sarah laughed again before leaning into Colleen’s ear and whispering, “And it was the best sex I’ve ever had.”
“Ha! You go, girl!”
Laughing, Sarah was fanning her face with the card from the flowers. “Now get out of here, Colleen Baker, and let me get some work done.”
Colleen gave Sarah a hug. “I’m so happy for you, Sare, and I want all the details at lunch.”
Sarah laughed and swatted Colleen’s retreating bottom with the card.
Chapter Seventeen
After Mac finished up for the day, she had enough time to go home, change, organize some dinner, and be back at the hospital in time to pick Sarah up by seven, when she got off shift. Sitting in the car, she watched as Sarah approached. Mac’s mouth went dry just watching her. By the time Sarah got into the car, Mac’s blood was fairly racing. She took a deep breath.
“Hey, how’s your day?” Sarah asked, fastening her seat belt.
“Yeah, good. Yours?”
“Not too bad as days go. Are you okay?”
“Perfect.”
“You sure? You sound like you’re wound up tight.”
“Yeah, I am. I just need to get out of here. Can you give me a minute?”
Sarah was clearly wondering what was going on. “Okay, sure.”
Mac turned the truck on, driving in silence for a good ten minutes before pulling over. She cut the engine and undid her seat belt, turning in her seat to face Sarah. “Has anyone ever told you, Dr. Macarthur, that you have a damn sexy way of walking?”
Sarah barked out laughing. “What?”
“I’m sorry, but watching you walk across the car park, and seeing you smile that gorgeous smile, all I wanted to do was ravish you the moment you got in the car. But I didn’t want to embarrass you at work with all the people about.”
Sarah was laughing in a disbelieving way. “Are you serious?”
Mac nodded self-consciously. “I told you, you make me feel like I’ve never felt before. You turn my world upside down.”
Sarah undid her seat belt, slid across the seat, and claimed Mac’s mouth in a hungry, desperate kiss. They finally separated, panting, foreheads leaning against each other. Sarah started giggling. Mac pulled back a little to look at her. “What’s so funny?”
Sarah shook her head. “It’s really corny, but it’s a good thing you’re a firefighter because I am seriously on fire. I kept looking at the clock all day, wondering when it would end so I could get back to you.” Sarah kissed her again, her tongue darting in and out of Mac’s mouth, tasting and teasing, her hands starting to roam under Mac’s dress jacket and up her sides. Sarah pulled back and licked her lips. “Your place or mine. I don’t care, just step on it.”
Tyres kicked up the gravel as Mac pulled up into her driveway. Grabbing Sarah’s hand, she ran to the front door and into the house, just managing to shut the front door before the first items of clothing started to be shed. They only got as far as the lounge room before falling onto the couch in a mass of writhing, hungry, and impatient limbs.
*
Sarah’s head rested on Mac’s chest as they lay on the couch, and she listened to the sounds of Mac’s heartbeat and the timbre of Mac’s voice buzzing in her ear when she talked. Sarah raised her head and put her arm and chin on Mac’s chest. “Did you see Thomas today when you went to the school?”
Mac’s fingers were trailing through Sarah’s hair. “Only briefly. Enough only really to wave at him and tell him I’d see him next week. I think I spun the principal out a bit when she saw me signing to him.”
Sarah chuckled. “I bet. I know it did me, when I first saw you. I guess it’s just not something you expect people to be able to do, so when you meet someone who can, it’s a bit of a buzz.”
“Yeah, I suppose. I hadn’t really given it much thought.”
They lay in each others arms just enjoying the peace. Sarah could see the cogs ticking over in Mac’s head. “Penny for them.”
Mac’s attention came back to Sarah. “Sorry?”
“You look like you disappeared in thought. So I said, penny for them.”
“Oh, I see.” Mac smiled. “I was just thinking about Thomas. What’s his and Jean’s story?”
Sarah rested her head on Mac’s chest again and sighed. “Not a happy one, I’m afraid. Jean met a charming man a few years her senior at university. They fell in love, moved in together, and eventually got married. For a few years they moved around a lot with Richard’s various jobs, and eventually Jean fell pregnant with Thomas. We hardly ever saw each other, and when we did, it was never for very long. I never really got to see much of Thomas until he was close to two years old.”
Mac’s fingers moved down from Sarah’s hair to gently stroke her back and shoulders.
“That must have been tough.”
“Mm, it was a bit strained there for a while. Then one day she turned up on the doorstep, black and blue, with a broken wrist. Apparently Richard came home drunk one day, having lost his latest job, lost the plot, and took it out on Jean. He accused her of all sorts of things, including alienating him from his son by teaching him nasty things with her evil voodoo finger language.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. Jean said that the first year or two they were married were okay, although he did suffer from the occasional wild mood swing, but as the years went on and he couldn’t hold down a job, he started to drink more, sometimes disappearing for days on end, only to return home in a state. Sometimes he would be depressed, other times he would be violent.”
“Poor Jean.”
“He never learned sign language, so the fact that he couldn’t communicate with his son, and Jean could, only made his frustrations and paranoia worse. She tried to leave him a couple of times, but he would always somehow find them, bring them back, only for it to start all over again. The last year, she was constantly on the move. I didn’t know about any of this for ages. The last time he found them, he locked them in a house and was threatening to kill them. Fortunately, the neighbours heard the noise and called the police who broke in and managed to subdue him, but not before he had beat the crap out of Jean. He was charged with assault and battery, with part of his sentence including getting some treatment. After that, Jean went to court, got a divorce, and was awarded sole custody of Thomas. She later moved states to come and live afresh here.”
“Poor Jean and poor Thomas. That’s just crap.”
Sarah sighed sadly. “Yeah, it is. I guess, in a way, it’s been a small blessing that Thomas is deaf and he wasn’t subjected to the verbal part of the abuse. But even though Jean tried to shield him as best she could, he saw enough. He’s never really had much of a chance to go to school, have friends, be a kid. This is the longest they’ve had in one place, and they’re both finally starting to relax and live normally.”
Mac’s hand stopped. “I hear a but coming.”
“Yeah. Richard was released a couple of weeks ago, and he’s supposed to check in with a probation officer and a counsellor once a week. Jean got a call to say that he’s missed his last few appointments and no one seems to know where he is.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. Shit.”
“Is there anything we can do?”
“Not really. Jean has a meeting with her solicitor and the police this week to discuss what options she might have, and maybe, by then, they’ll have news.”
“Well, if there’s anything I can do, just let me know. You’re welcome to give Jean my number and let her know that she can call me anytime. I’m never very far away, and having a truck with lights and sirens means I can usually get somewhere a bit faster than most.”
“Thanks, babe. That’s lovely of you.”
“Well, she’s your family, and that makes her an
d Thomas important to me too.”
Sarah’s eyes filled with tears. “Why is it you always say the most amazing things?”
Mac leaned in and kissed Sarah’s tears away tenderly. “Because you make me feel amazing.”
*
Sarah stayed over at Mac’s but had to get up to make the two a.m. shift. Mac drove her in, as she’d left her car at the hospital. As Mac pulled into the car park, Sarah sighed, reluctant to make a move. “Thank you for driving me to work. We didn’t think it through very well yesterday, did we? I could have driven to your place yesterday and you could have had a few more hours’ sleep this morning.”
Mac shook her head. “I wouldn’t have slept anyway. I discovered the bed’s too big when you’re not in it.”
Sarah leaned over and kissed her. “I know what you mean.”
Sarah wasn’t keen to get out of the car and Mac wasn’t keen to let her go. “What time do you get off?”
“I should be finished by lunch.”
“I’m here giving classes today. Do you want to meet for lunch?”
“If I can, I’d love to. I’ll text you to let you know how I’m going.”
“Okay. Um, I was thinking about Jean and Thomas and Martha.”
“Mm?”
“Do you think they’d be interested in having a dinner together? Sort of a getting-to-know-each-other thing, in one fell swoop?”
Sarah stopped and thought about what Mac was really asking. Do I think that this relationship is at the point of meeting family? Mac had already met Jean and Thomas—was she ready to meet the closest person to family that Mac had? “I’ll ask Jean and Thomas, but I think it would be a lovely thing to do.” Sarah could see Mac’s shoulders relax marginally.
“Okay, how about I ask Martha and you ask Jean and Thomas and we’ll work on a night after that, depending on what they say?”
“That’s sounds wonderful.”
“Okay. I guess I’ll see you for lunch then, maybe.”
“I hope so.”
“Have a great shift.”
“You have a great rest of your night.”
They kissed and Sarah slid out of the truck and watched as Mac pulled away.
As Mac’s headlights sliced through the silent darkness, she knew she wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep. She decided that she could use the extra few hours to work on the sculptures in the shed, figuring she might as well make the waking hours useful hours. She pulled into the driveway, quickly changed while the kettle boiled for the makings of an inspirational mug of tea, and headed out the back.
Sitting on the stool, sipping her tea, she stared sightlessly at the carving on the table. Mac realized she didn’t know where Sarah lived. She’d never seen her house, let alone been inside. It struck Mac as a little odd. Not wrong, just odd. I’ll talk to her about it over lunch. I don’t want to stuff this up by being thoughtless or selfish. Then Mac picked up her carving tools and set to work.
Three hours later, Mac stood up and dusted off the shavings. She was happy with her progress. Except for some finer sanding, the wooden figurine was done for the moment. She hunted around the workshop and found the pieces of wood she had already picked out for the figure of the boy. Setting these on top of the bench, she took the dog off the clamp and put it to one side, so that the bench would be clear and ready for her to start when she was next in. She glanced at her watch—time to head off to the refuge for the morning clean and feed. She was looking forward to seeing Nell again and to see how much of her training she remembered.
Chapter Eighteen
From the moment Sarah walked into work, she was run off her feet. It was one case after another: the hypothermic drunk with gangrenous toes, an angina attack, a badly inflamed appendix, and an overdose. It was getting on midmorning and Sarah was hiding out for a brief minute in the utilities room, looking into a mirror, cleaning up a series of angry scratches running down her neck from the overdose patient. Wincing briefly at the last of the antiseptic sting, she straightened as her phone went off. It was a text from Mac, who was between safety classes.
Can you do coffee or would you like me to do a drive-by drop off?
Sarah smiled. There weren’t any new cases in at present, so she could afford to take a break. She told the nurses’ station that she would be on a break, with instructions to page her if they needed her. She met Mac outside on a bench in the sun where she was waiting with two coffees and something to eat. There were dark circles under Mac’s eyes.
Mac arched her neck to meet Sarah’s lips. “Hey, babe, how’s your morning been?”
Sarah grunted. “Ugh. Busy. Thanks for the coffee, you’re a darling.”
“No problems.” Mac gently tilted Sarah’s chin and neck to the light to get a better look at the scratches. “Did you get some hellcats lobbed on you last night?”
Sarah shook her head. “Nah, just a junkie pissed at the world because I wasted a good trip with a shot of Narcan.”
Mac chuckled. “Damn you do-gooders.”
“Yeah, it’s always a dilemma—what to choose, death or sobriety? According to them, sobriety is not always the ideal choice.” Sarah was chuckling. “I wonder if someone can invent a happy Narcan, so when they come out of it, they thank you all very much and wish you a pleasant evening.”
Mac laughed and shook her head. “Good luck with that one.”
“How about you, how are your classes going?”
“Pretty good so far. I think most people have walked away with something positive or new. If you hear any feedback in the staff room, I’d love to know what they thought of it—if I need to make any changes or if things made sense or not.”
“Okay, I’ll keep my ear to the ground and let you know. And of course, I can always give you first-hand feedback tomorrow, when it’s my turn to do the class.” Sarah wriggled her eyebrows up and down mischievously. Mac playfully bumped her with her shoulder.
“I spoke to George in maintenance. He said the contractors are in and are starting to remove the old sprinklers and are making preparations to fit new lines and pipes in the laundry. They’ve downscaled the laundry work for a couple of days, so the contractors can get in. So some of the laundry staff are helping out in the classes.”
“How’s that going?”
“Not too bad. One guy’s a bit of a pain, but I don’t have to deal with him again until tomorrow morning’s session.”
“Have you told George?”
“No, not yet. I thought I’d give him another go tomorrow and see if we can work something out. Some fellas don’t appreciate being told what to do by a woman. I just have to find a way that makes him feel more positive about it.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
Mac had an evil cheeky grin on her face. “Then I know of a few good places to bury the body.”
Sarah spat her coffee out onto the grass in surprise.
Mac calmly handed her a napkin to wipe her face. Sarah shook her head and laughed, bumping Mac’s shoulder in fun. Sarah’s pager went off. There was an MVA coming in with an estimated arrival time of five minutes. She sighed. “Gotta go, babe, duty calls. Thanks for the coffee. Let me know when you break for lunch.”
Mac relieved Sarah of her empty coffee cup and placed it on the bench. Then she faced Sarah and caressed her cheek with her thumb. “Go get ’em, love.” Leaning in, she tenderly kissed her on the lips. Sarah rose to head back to work, leaving Mac to collect the bits and pieces and put them in the bin.
*
Sarah never made it to lunch but had arranged for Mac to meet her at her place after work, sometime after five. She gave Mac her address. Sarah had managed to pick up some groceries on the way home and grab a quick nap. She put her feet up on the coffee table and cradled a coffee, then snagged the phone and called Jean to catch up on the latest news from her meeting with the solicitor. “Any news?”
Sarah could hear the tension in Jean’s voice. “No. Nothing.” Jean sighed. “I had another phone call this morning�
�more of the same.”
“How are you holding up? Honestly.”
“Honestly?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Well, the longer this goes on, the more nervous I get. I’m starting to jump at shadows, wondering if it’s him.”
“How’s Thomas holding up?”
“I haven’t told him anything, but he’s not stupid. He knows there’s something going on.”
“Are you going to tell him?”
“Yes, I was just hoping to spare him for a little bit longer, but you’re right. Putting it off won’t make it any easier.”
“I was thinking this afternoon, on the way home…How would you feel about moving in to my place?”
“Oh no. That’s a lovely offer, but—”
“Hang on, hear me out first. This place has security cameras. It’s in a secure complex of units and there’s a guard on duty in reception. It’s not going to make the Richard thing go away, but it might make things a bit more comfortable for you until this blows over. What do you say?”
“Having the two of us there, Sare, it might cramp your style. We might drive you crazy.”
“You guys wouldn’t drive me crazy. To be honest, I’ve hardly been at home much these last few weeks, so it’s been largely empty. You two would have the run of the place most of the time.”
“Have you been pulling double shifts again?”
Sarah cleared her throat. “Not exactly.”
“What do you mean, not exactly?”
“I’ve been staying at Mac’s place.”
“So it’s all going well then, I take it?”
Sarah smiled. “Yeah. It’s good. No, it’s better than good—it’s great.”
“Oh, honey, that’s the best news I’ve heard in ages. I’m so happy for you.”
“Me too. In fact, we were wondering if maybe you and Thomas would be interested in having dinner with us and a close friend of Mac’s.”
“I’ll talk to Thomas, but I’m pretty sure we’d love to. He thinks the world of Mac. Let us know when.”
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