by Margaret Way
When she walked into the kitchen, Jake indicated the glass of chilled white wine on the breakfast bar. ‘Thanks.’ She lifted the glass and swallowed a mouthful. ‘You having one?’
For answer, he pointed to his opened can of lager on the worktop. ‘Anything you want to debrief about?’ he asked, setting about preparing their food, assembling eggs, bowl and whisk.
She looked down, running the pad of her thumb across the raised pattern on the base of the glass. ‘We did everything we could, didn’t we, Jacob?’
His dark head snapped up, a frown lodging between his brows. So that’s why she’d been so quiet on the way home. Was she doubting herself and her skills? ‘We got to the accident scene as soon as we possibly could. We carried out appropriate emergency procedures as competently as our circumstances allowed. What else could we have done?’
Maxi’s hand tightened around the stem of her glass, remembering those few seconds when she’d felt frozen to the spot. ‘I never felt so isolated in my professional role, or so vulnerable …’
Jake knew those kinds of feelings only too well. His moody gaze raked her face. ‘Don’t start second-guessing everything you do out here or you’ll end up on the shrink’s couch. We got our patient stable enough to travel to specialist help. I think we can forgive ourselves a few moments of panic here and there.’
She returned his gaze uncertainly. Had he guessed? ‘If you say so.’
His brows lifted slightly but, instead of commenting, he merely said, ‘You did well. Now, if there’s anything else you want to unload, just hit me with it.’ He turned away and began to whisk the eggs with undue vigour.
‘I could use a hug,’ she said in a low voice.
‘Sorry?’ He tilted his head back towards her.
Maxi felt put on the spot, feeling the tension between them wind a little tighter. Was he pretending not to have heard? She didn’t know, couldn’t guess. Whatever, she wouldn’t play his games. She pointed to the mixing bowl. ‘I said, that will make them tough.’
‘What will?’
‘Attacking them like that. You need a light hand with eggs.’
He lifted a shoulder dismissively and went on with his task. ‘See if there’s something to make us a green salad, hmm?’
So, end of debrief. Maxi shrugged inwardly, sliding off her high stool. She went to the crisper part of the fridge and dived in. ‘Marie’s left a huge bunch of rocket. Isn’t she a gem? It must be from her own veg garden.’ She broke off one of the peppery leaves and popped it into her mouth. ‘Mmm, gorgeous. We could probably grow a few herbs and things, couldn’t we?’
‘As long as you intend to be around to nurture them,’ Jake threw the words out as a kind of challenge. And wondered whether tonight would be the time when they could actually talk about whether or not they had a future together.
Maxi went on preparing their salad. Had he guessed just how unsettled she’d been feeling after today’s run-in about Brandon? ‘A few plants wouldn’t take up much of anyone’s time. Even yours,’ she added, and her heart gave a little flutter.
Jake’s mouth tightened. Was this her way of telling him he could go to hell? Chasing the little knob of butter around the pan, he waited until it melted and then poured in the beaten eggs. ‘We may as well eat out on the verandah,’ he said gruffly.
‘Fine with me.’
Their mobile phones rang simultaneously when they had almost finished their meal. Jake rocked off his chair and went to the end of the verandah to take his call.
When he came back to the table, Maxi bubbled excitedly, ‘That was Liz. Karryn Goode’s invited some of the CWA girls out to her place tomorrow. She asked Liz to include me.’
A beat of silence and then his throat made a convulsive movement. ‘I’m glad you’re making friends.’ He hitched his hands across the back of his chair. ‘My call was from Ayleen. Appears there are several patients who’d like to be seen in the morning. I’ll go in. You’ve more than earned a day off.’
‘Thanks.’ Maxi stood and began clearing their dishes. She thought she had, too. ‘I’ll just load these and then I’m off for an early night. Not sure when I’ll be back from Karryn’s tomorrow, so I’ll see you when I see you.’
Jake let her go without further comment. Were they ever going to find the right time to actually talk? he wondered grimly.
CHAPTER EIGHT
MAXI found Jake on the verandah when she arrived home. He was sitting at the outdoor table, in semi-darkness, the space lit only by a lantern. ‘I’m a bit later than I thought,’ she said by way of greeting.
‘Maxi …’ He lifted his head, blinking as if he needed to regain his focus. ‘Drink?’ He held his glass aloft.
‘What are you having?’
‘Mineral water.’
She made a small face. ‘I’ll get a white wine.’ She touched his shoulder. ‘Don’t move. I want to tell you all about my day at Westwood.’
‘And the birdsong was almost deafening.’ It was quite a bit later and Maxi’s voice still held a breathless quality as she recounted her impressions of her day on an outback property. ‘And the kookaburras! We had a barbecue lunch and would you believe one of the cheeky young things flew down and snatched a piece of raw steak off the plate where Dean was cooking?’
‘Much of their natural food is caught live,’ Jake said quietly.
She chuckled. ‘Karryn said they’d eat the nose off your face if they thought it was tempting enough.’
‘See any cockatoos?’
‘Dozens. What a chatter! They were flapping around one of the big gumtrees. And then we saw this huge lizard trying to climb the trunk.’
‘That would be a goanna,’ Jake’s mouth twisted wryly. ‘Black and pale green?’
‘Something like that. Karryn said there was probably a nest up there and he was after the eggs. The birds kept swooping on him until he finally came down and lumbered off into the bush. And a couple of king parrots came to lunch. Their feathers were brilliant red and emerald green. Male and female apparently. They sat like sentinels on the railings while we were eating. I took pictures. They were amazing.’ She shook her head. ‘I can’t believe how everyone out here takes such fabulous wildlife for granted.’
Jake flexed a shoulder. ‘From growing up with it, I guess. What else did you do?’
‘Earned my keep.’ She laughed, lifting her tangle of auburn hair and letting it fall away. ‘I checked Karryn and the bub over. They’re doing well. Karryn’s still working far too hard, of course. Dean took me for a run around the property in the Jeep. It’s so vast, mile after mile. And so dry. But Dean said there’s been good rain on the coast and it may move inland—did you know?’
‘No …’
‘Oh, help.’ Maxi swallowed an embarrassed laugh. ‘I’ve been rabbiting on. I never thought to ask. How was your day?’
Jake’s mouth lifted in a brief half-smile that ended in a grimace. ‘Pretty ordinary.’
Maxi frowned a bit. ‘Was the patient list longer than you thought? I could’ve stayed and helped.’
‘No—surgery was fine.’ He took a deep breath and let it go. ‘I was called to an MVA. Young woman dead at the scene. Took some sorting. She’d run her car over an embankment, lost control and it had overturned. She’d broken her neck.’
‘Oh, no …’ Maxi’s throat made a compulsive movement. ‘Was she local?’
‘No.’ Jake would have shaken his head but it hurt too much. Instead, he took another mouthful of his mineral water and waited until the nausea subsided. ‘It was a hire car from interstate. The police found some ID. They’re handling things. I wrote out the death certificate. Medically, that was about all I was able to do in the end.’
So, he’d obviously had an awful, soul-destroying kind of day. And coming on the back of yesterday with Brett … ‘Any clues about whether or not the woman had a family?’
‘There were photos of kids in her wallet.’ Jake lifted a hand to the side of his head and groaned, recognising the
sudden blur in his vision and the sickening throb of pain in his temple.
Oh, hell. He didn’t need this.
‘Jacob?’ Maxi’s gaze flew wide and she recognized his sudden pallor, the strained lines of his face.
‘Migraine. Sorry,’ he muttered, shielding his eyes and leaning forward to support his head in his hands. ‘Haven’t had one since final exams.’
Maxi moved quickly, grabbing a small plastic bucket she used for saving the vegetable peelings for the compost. At least it was clean, she thought inconsequentially, holding it out towards him. ‘Do you want to be sick?’
For answer, he groaned, grabbed for the bucket and promptly threw up. ‘Hell!’ he said hoarsely, and tried to clear his throat. ‘Sorry.’
‘Don’t be daft. You should lie down. What do you normally treat it with?’
‘I’ll sleep it off.’
‘And I’ll give you a jab to speed things along.’ Maxi helped him to his feet. ‘Lean on me. And take my bedroom. It’s closest and I changed the linen this morning.’
‘Shame …’ He tried to smile and couldn’t.
‘Are you OK in those clothes?’ she asked as he sank down on the side of her bed. He was wearing loose cargo shorts and a battered T-shirt.
‘You want to strip me, Max?’ He tried to lift his head but the pain was too much.
‘Don’t think I couldn’t.’ She bent and eased off his deck shoes and then rolled him onto the bed. Going back out into the hall, she took a cotton blanket from the linen cupboard. ‘Back in a tick,’ she said softly, unfolding the blanket over him. ‘I’ll just get my bag.’
He was still lying where she’d left him when she returned, his eyes squeezed shut. ‘Remember, you’re not tranquilising a buffalo …’ he reminded her hoarsely, his brow wrinkled with pain.
She chose to ignore that. ‘Just a little sting now,’ she said gently. ‘And I’ll be here if you need anything.’
‘Anything …?’ He made a mock-grimace as she shot home the dose of painkiller and anti-emetic.
‘Within reason, Jacob.’ Her mouth moved into a prim little moue. ‘Now, try to sleep.’
Maxi checked on him during the next couple of hours. He wasn’t sick again and finally he became less restless, his dozing easing into sleep. She could safely leave him now, she decided, blocking a yawn.
She had a quick shower and then, with Chalky on the floor beside her, she settled onto the big divan in the lounge room, pulling a sheet over her. There was no way she could face going into Jake’s room and sleeping in his bed.
She woke at about six and tiptoed in to check on him. Some time during the night he’d obviously shucked off his T-shirt and the blanket but he was still fast asleep, his hands splayed on either side of the pillow, head turned to the wall, his tanned, strong legs sprawled apart, his right knee slightly bent.
Maxi leaned over him, touching her hand to his neck and forehead. He seemed quite cool, normal. Thank heavens.
She stayed beside him, watching almost entranced. He looked so vulnerable in sleep. Her mouth dried. Almost helplessly, as though she was watching from outside herself, she followed her hand as it slid across his back, all pretence of treating him as her patient vanishing like leaves in the wind as she acknowledged the wild beat of her heart, her breasts achingly aroused. She took a swift indrawn breath. His skin was warm, smooth, like the pelt of an animal. And stroking him gave her such pleasure. A pleasure she’d denied herself for two long years.
She rose slowly from her crouched position. Could she do what she wanted to do so badly? She bit her lips together, stifling the whimper of need that would have spilled from her mouth. Driven by something beyond her power to explain, she went to her stash of oils. Quietly and deliberately she coated her palms with a refreshing light mixture of lavender, camomile and ginger.
Should she be invading his privacy like this? Had she crossed the line from being professional to very, very personal? She beat back her unease. A massage would help him relax, she justified silently. Help him recover from the crippling pain of last night.
She kept her movements light and delicate so she wouldn’t wake him but even that didn’t stop her from enjoying the sleekness of his skin, the fluid power of his muscles.
She felt a quiver low in her abdomen. Once she’d known his body as well as she knew her own.
Once.
Now she had the chance to rejoice in looking at his body up close, anew. Almost mesmerised, she followed the ridge of his backbone, letting her fingers drift slowly over the symmetrical bumps and hollows. And then wander across to the shallow curves of his ribs and along the indentations between them.
It was only when her fingertips slid beneath the waistband of his shorts and he stirred that she pulled back.
Enough was enough.
She hurried along to the main bathroom and threw herself under the shower. Heavens, their water bill would be sky high at this rate. But she needed the soothing warmth to still her turmoil.
Out of the shower and towelled dry, she looked around for something to wear. The morning felt sticky, the temperature climbing already. She sighed, pulling on a pair of shorts and a sleeveless top. Taking up a brush, she tamed her hair and tied it back into some semblance of order.
She looked in the mirror, watching in dismay as two spots of colour rose in her face and stained her cheeks. She shouldn’t have done what she’d done. And Jake would know. Once he’d smelt the trace of oil on his body, there’d be no way he’d not know.
She shook her head and swallowed the lump in her throat. She’d face him. There was nothing else to do. And perhaps it was about time they clarified things. Did they want to be lovers again—or not?
Perhaps today would be the day she would find out.
She walked back through the lounge room and Chalky looked directly at her, lifting his head, his mouth opening in a huge, doggy yawn, showing his teeth and pink gums. Then he stood and stretched, clipping along beside her as she went through to the kitchen.
‘Outside, now,’ Maxi commanded, opening the screen door for him. ‘When you come back, I’ll get your food.’
‘Any tea going?’
Maxi spun round, feeling her face flood with colour. Jake stood, arms folded, leaning against the doorframe. ‘Oh, you’re up. How do you feel?’
‘Better—thanks to your massage.’
Her gaze flew wide. ‘Dammit, Jacob! You were awake, weren’t you?’
He rocked a hand. ‘Drifting a bit.’
‘You could have stopped me.’
‘Why?’ His eyes glinted and there was a brief taut silence before he added, ‘I enjoyed it—didn’t you?’
‘Yes.’ She held her head high. There, she’d said it. ‘I’ll … make that tea.’ She caught her lower lip between her teeth, concentrating on the practicalities. ‘And you need to keep up your fluids.’
‘Yes, Doctor.’ He wandered over and took one of the high stools. ‘Thanks for everything, Max. I was a cot case.’
She hitched a shoulder, getting down tea mugs and placing them on the breakfast bar. ‘You’d have done the same for me.’
‘Don’t know whether I’d have managed the massage quite so expertly.’
Her throat constricted. ‘I thought I might have overstepped—’
‘I’m all for overstepping,’ he challenged.
Maxi took a shallow breath, felt the tingle of awareness down her spine. She felt his gaze on her as she made the tea and handed his mug across. ‘It occurs to me I may have been rather selfish yesterday.’
‘In what way?’ Jake lifted his mug, lapping thirstily at the black sweet brew.
‘Taking off like that. You deserved a day off, too. In fact, Dean asked where you were. He said he thought you would have understood the invitation included you—after you’d finished surgery, of course. He was the only male among all the women.’
‘And he was complaining?’
Maxi dimpled. ‘Out of his depth a bit, I think.’ She placed
her mug back on the counter and wrapped her hands around its warmth. ‘I should have stayed and helped with the surgery. After all, we’re supposed to be a partnership, aren’t we?’
‘Don’t beat yourself up about it, Max,’ he reproved softly. ‘You needed a break—from me, as well as from the practice. I was totally out of order about Brandon. I undermined you. You deserved much better.’
‘Oh.’ It was more, far, far more that she’d hoped for or indeed expected. ‘I was pretty miffed at the time,’ she admitted candidly. ‘So,’ she said after a minute. ‘What’s the future for Brandon and the family now? Are they going to be able to keep the property or are they still on the bank’s hit list?’
‘A relative of Mrs McCall’s has helped out with a sizeable infusion of funds, I gather.’
Maxi frowned a bit. ‘And that help wasn’t forthcoming before …’
‘Harley didn’t like to ask, I suppose. He felt enough of a failure without having to go to his wife’s family to bale him out.’
‘If only they’d just talked about it.’ Maxi shook her head at the futility of it all. A few words could have saved the man’s life.
‘We need to talk as well.’ Jake’s gaze narrowed on her face. Almost without her noticing, he’d slid off the high stool, skirted the end of the breakfast bar and come to stand very close to her. He put out a hand and touched her cheek.
Maxi felt her throat tighten, fluttering her eyes closed as his fingertips idled, taking their time, delicate, like the finest strands of silk. And when they reached her lips she parted them, in thrall to their exquisite touch which sent shock waves right through her body.
‘Max … open your eyes for me …’ She did, every part of her aware of the heat of his body against hers, of that fathomless blue gaze and of a need as basic as her own. Lifting her hands to the back of his neck, she gusted a tiny sigh and drew his face down to hers.
At last the kiss ended and they drew slowly apart.
They looked at each other for a long moment, unmoving until Jake reached out to slide his fingertip up her cheek and tucked a wayward curl behind her ear. ‘I want all this to end, Maxi.’