The Right Time

by Dianne Blacklock

  ‘They’ve set a date?’

  Evie nodded. ‘They were waiting until she got the all-clear at her follow-up appointment. They’ve chosen New Year’s Day, which is appropriate, because it’s a new start for them.’

  ‘Maybe for all of us?’ Craig suggested hopefully.

  Elizabeth

  ‘. . . and so we extend a warm welcome to the surgical intake for the new year,’ the chief registrar announced from the podium, followed by a polite round of clapping. ‘Please take this opportunity to introduce yourselves to the other members of your group, and of course to your supervising senior surgical fellow. You will have noted you were all given colour-coded name tags on your way in, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to find each other. Please mingle, have a drink, something to eat, avail yourselves of our hospitality. On behalf of all the surgical staff at the hospital, we are delighted to have you as our guests this evening, and excited that you will be part of our dynamic team.’

  After a while, Liz began to think she should remove her name tag. One by one, she had been approached by bright young things, wearing the same purple name tag as she was, introducing themselves with wide-eyed eagerness, desperate to impress, presuming she had to be their supervisor. She was clearly the only one over thirty, and therefore obviously their senior. This was going to be worse than she thought. Eventually she sidled over to the drinks table and picked up a glass of wine. Maybe it was best if she just hid over here in the corner.

  ‘Dr Beckett?’

  Liz turned around to see another young, smiling, eager face. ‘Hello, it’s nice to meet you, but let me just say upfront, I’m not your supervising doctor.’

  ‘No, but I’m yours,’ he said with a grin.

  Liz blinked, glancing down at his name tag. ‘Oh my God, I’m so sorry, Dr Gannon.’ She cleared her throat and thrust her hand at him. ‘I just . . . it’s that . . .’

  ‘It’s Nate,’ he said, shaking her hand.

  ‘Pardon?’

  ‘You can call me Nate,’ he said. ‘At least when we’re not around patients.’

  ‘Oh, okay,’ she replied.

  ‘It is a huge pleasure to meet you finally,’ he said. ‘And an absolute coup to have you in my group. We fought over you, you know.’

  ‘You did?’ she said. ‘I didn’t think I’d even get in.’

  ‘What are you talking about? Your application was . . . well, it was superior.’

  Liz could feel herself blushing.

  ‘It’ll be great to have someone with experience in the group, I’m pretty new to this teaching gig.’

  Liz nodded, starting to relax. He seemed so . . . nice. ‘Hm, well, I feel like housemother,’ she said.

  He laughed at that.

  ‘Oh, you needn’t laugh. I feel like housemother to all of you.’

  ‘What?’ he frowned. ‘No way. I have this stupid baby face. I’m actually thirty-two.’

  She sighed. ‘And you’d know from my application that still makes me older than you.’

  ‘Barely,’ he said. ‘Certainly not old enough to be my mother.’

  He was smiling at her. He had a lovely smile, and his eyes crinkled at the corners, eyes that were a bright blue . . .

  ‘Your publishing record is impressive as well,’ he was saying. ‘Surgeons don’t tend to think about research, but they’re expecting it from everyone these days. Maybe we could collaborate on something down the track?’

  Really bright blue. Oh, this could be dangerous.

  ‘Can I ask you a personal question?’ said Liz.

  ‘Sure. I guess.’

  ‘Are you married?’

  He looked a little taken aback.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘There’s a history, I have to ask, it’s a phobia . . . oh God, shoot me now.’ She closed her eyes, wincing, but when she opened them again, he was smiling that lovely smile at her.

  ‘I’m not married . . . Elizabeth,’ he said. ‘May I call you Elizabeth?’

  ‘Oh sure, you can call me whatever you like,’ she said. ‘Though mostly I get Liz.’

  ‘Okay, Liz. What do you say we go face the young ’uns?’ He touched her elbow.

  ‘Lead the way.’

  As they made their way through the crowd, his hand still cupping her elbow, Liz turned to him. ‘Hey, are you doing anything New Year’s Day?’

  Ellen

  Ellen cut the engine, but then she just sat there, not moving. Well, she was moving a little – her legs were shaking. It was one thing to drive over here, quite another to get out and go speak to the man. She thought about driving away again, but what if he’d seen the car? She dared to turn her head and peer over towards the garage and the office. She couldn’t see anyone, any movement. It was Friday afternoon, she’d left it late so there was unlikely to be anyone else around. She’d nearly left it too late, realising at the last minute that he might have closed up, then racing over here, barely keeping to the speed limit, cursing every red light and honking impatiently at cars that got in her way.

  And now she was here, wishing she’d never come. But she had to do this, if only to get everyone off her back. She would finally be able to say to her sisters, and now Kate as well, that she had gone to talk to Finn and, as she suspected, it was well and truly over. The end. Of course, then she was going to have to put up with their exhortations to ‘put herself out there’ all over again. But one thing at a time.

  What she hadn’t admitted to them, and barely to herself, was that she wanted to see Finn again. She really did. She wanted to see if there was any chance, so she was using her sisters’ goading to motivate her. She had missed him, more than she was prepared to admit to anyone.

  So Ellen forced herself to open the car door and step unsteadily onto the tarmac. She closed the door again, took a deep breath and turned around. Her heart was thumping in her chest as she looked over towards the office and the garage, expecting Finn to appear at any minute. But he didn’t. There was music blaring out from the garage, and as she walked, slowly, tentatively closer, she saw a pair of legs, well, half a body leaning over the engine of a car, the top half obscured by the bonnet.

  It was probably Dave. Ellen didn’t know what to do. The music was very loud, no one would have heard her approach. She should walk over to the office, check if Finn was in there. As she drew closer, she could see through the glass that it was empty. Maybe Finn wasn’t even here? Ellen glanced over towards the garage and, from this vantage point, she could tell it was the top of Finn’s head leaning over the engine. It wasn’t Dave, Dave was blond. She quickly stepped back out of sight, blocked now by the body of the car. Ellen stood there, breathing hard. This was getting ridiculous. She had to go through with it. She walked, as though on eggshells, right up to the back of the car and cleared her throat.

  ‘Excuse me . . . Finn,’ she said, but her voice was drowned out by the music. Ellen contemplated her approach. She didn’t want to come up behind him and risk startling him. She could imagine him jerking his head up suddenly, hitting it on the underside of the hood, like a scene from a bad slapstick comedy. So she walked tentatively along the opposite side of the car. That way he would see her at the same time that she got his attention.

  ‘Finn?’ she said in a loud voice.

  He jerked his head up suddenly, hitting it on the underside of the hood.

  ‘Ow,’ he said, wincing and rubbing his head as he stepped back from the car and straightened up.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Ellen said loudly over the music, ‘I was trying not to startle you.’

  ‘That was never going to happen,’ he said. Or at least that’s what she thought he said.

  He walked over to a bench by the wall and flicked off a console. The music reverberated in her ears for a moment. And then there was silence. Finn strolled slowly back over to the car, and leaned one elbow on the roof. His expression was wary, perhaps suspicious. She’d go with wary.

  ‘What are you doing here, Ellen?’ he said finally. ‘Car troubles?�
��

  ‘No,’ she replied.

  He raised his eyebrows then, waiting.

  Oh God. She felt stupid. ‘Well, I, um, well, I came by, um, well, to ask you something.’

  ‘Oh?’ He seemed curious, at least. That was something.

  ‘What did you want to ask me?’ he prompted when she didn’t say anything.

  She really felt stupid now. This was a bad idea.

  ‘Ellen?’

  Just go ahead. Ask him. Make a fool of yourself.

  ‘Well, I wanted to ask you . . . if you want to come to a wedding with me.’

  ‘What?’

  She took a breath. ‘Emma, you know, my sister? Well, she’s been cleared by the doctors, so the wedding’s back on. It’s New Year’s Day.’

  She couldn’t decipher the expression on his face.

  ‘And you want me to come with you?’

  ‘I’d like you to come with me,’ she said. ‘If you want.’

  He seemed to be thinking about that. ‘Who’s going to be there?’ he asked eventually.

  Interesting question. Ellen leaned against the car, looking at him directly over the roof. ‘My kids, my parents, my sisters, my brother.’

  He nodded. ‘And how would you introduce me?’

  ‘Oh, as my mechanic, of course,’ she quipped, but his face was stony. ‘Just trying to break the ice, make a joke.’

  ‘Not a very funny one.’

  Ellen sighed. ‘No, it wasn’t,’ she said seriously. ‘I’m sorry, Finn. I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry for the way I treated you, it was inexcusable,’ she blurted out all at once. ‘Well, maybe not so much inexcusable, because what I want to say to you is that I . . . I didn’t know what I was doing. I haven’t dated for so long, since I was a teenager. I stuffed it up and I’m sorry. I took you for granted, and I was obnoxious, and rude, and inconsiderate of your feelings . . . and . . .’ She paused, looking at him. ‘You can jump in here any time.’

  ‘No, you’re doing great, don’t let me interrupt.’

  ‘What else do you want me to say?’ she said plaintively. ‘I said I was sorry, and I didn’t know what I was doing. I mean, think about it from my perspective. I was going through such a hard time, and then my car breaks down, and it’s towed here, and I meet you, and really, how weird is that? We never would have met otherwise, let alone . . . you know, and that was . . . overwhelming . . . and how was I supposed to deal with all that?’

  His face finally cracked a smile.

  ‘What?’ she said in a small voice.

  ‘I’ve told you before, you think too much.’

  Ellen breathed out as Finn walked towards the back of the car. She followed on her side, watching him. Then they were standing, facing each other, at the back of the car. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his overalls and turned to lean back against the boot.

  ‘So what happens after the wedding?’ he said.

  ‘Hm?’

  ‘After your sister’s wedding, what then?’

  ‘They live happily ever after, I suppose.’

  He looked at her. ‘I’m not talking about them . . . I’m talking about us.’

  He said ‘us’. Ellen took a step closer and turned and leaned back against the boot, next to him.

  ‘You know,’ she said, ‘you think about things too much, Finn. Why does everything have to be so complicated, why can’t you let things just unfold?’

  She looked sideways at him. He was shaking his head, but he was smiling.

  ‘Do you want a beer?’ he asked her.

  She smiled back at him. ‘Do you have any lemon?’

  New Year’s Day

  Emma was waiting for her sisters. They better not take too much longer: a bride missing from her own wedding reception was a tad conspicuous.

  Just then the door burst open and all three of them spilled into the room, talking over the top of each other.

  ‘Sorry, Em.’

  ‘I couldn’t get away from –’

  ‘Have you been waiting long?’

  ‘No, it’s fine,’ she said. ‘But I think I might be missed if I don’t get back soon.’

  Ellen was shaking her head in admiration. ‘You’re such a beautiful bride, Em.’

  ‘Why thank you.’ She gave a little curtsy. ‘And you three scrubbed up all right yourselves. I can’t get over how the champagne suited everyone so well.’

  ‘Are you enjoying yourself?’ Liz asked her.

  ‘I am,’ she smiled. ‘It’s better than even I imagined, and you know how long this has been cooking in my imagination.’ She clapped her hands together. ‘But listen, we don’t have much time. So, what do we think? What’s the consensus?’

  They all drew closer in a huddle.

  ‘She’s very attractive,’ said Evie.

  ‘Looks aren’t everything,’ said Emma.

  ‘I’m just glad he found someone sensible,’ said Ellen.

  ‘Being a lawyer doesn’t necessarily make her sensible,’ said Liz.

  ‘She works for a charitable foundation!’ said Evie.

  ‘I had a good talk to her,’ said Ellen. ‘She’s definitely got her head screwed on right.’

  ‘And most importantly, Eddie seems happy,’ said Liz.

  Emma smiled. ‘So we like her?’

  They all nodded.

  ‘Why’d he have to fall for an Eliza?’ said Emma. ‘Another E?’

  ‘At least she fits in,’ said Liz.

  ‘They do make a handsome couple,’ said Ellen.

  ‘Speaking of handsome,’ said Emma, ‘your doctor’s very easy on the eye, Liz.’

  ‘He’s not my doctor.’

  ‘I should hope not, that’d be weird, and awkward, having your boyfriend as your doctor.’

  ‘He’s not my boyfriend either,’ Liz insisted. ‘It’s not serious, I’m trying to keep my head here. I’ve only just got out of a very long-term relationship, let’s not forget.’

  ‘All right, all right,’ said Emma.

  ‘He does seem nice, though,’ said Evie.

  ‘Very nice,’ Ellen agreed. ‘How old is he?’

  Liz winced. ‘You can tell, can’t you?’

  Ellen frowned. ‘Tell what?’

  ‘That he’s younger than me.’

  ‘I thought he looked about the same age.’

  ‘Then why did you ask?’

  ‘Wow, Liz,’ said Emma. ‘How much younger is he?’

  ‘A couple of years, well, not quite, it’s about twenty months, almost.’

  ‘That hardly makes you a cougar,’ Emma said drily.

  ‘But he’s my boss as well.’

  ‘At least he’s not married . . . is he?’

  ‘Of course not, do you think I’m going to make that mistake again?’

  There was a knock at the door and they all jumped.

  Emma cleared her throat. ‘Come in.’

  The door opened and Tayla popped her head around. ‘Excuse me, Mummy, Uncle Blake asked if I could find his wife for him, please.’

  ‘That’s me!’ Emma exclaimed happily. ‘I’m Blake’s wife. Oh I love the sound of that.’

  Tayla grinned at her aunt.

  ‘Would you please tell my husband we’ll be along in a moment, thank you, Tayla.’

  ‘Okay, Aunty Emma.’

  ‘She has been an absolute delight, Evie,’ Emma said as Tayla closed the door again. ‘You should be very proud of her.’

  Evie smiled. ‘I am.’

  ‘And what about you and Craig,’ said Liz, giving her a nudge. ‘You looked like a couple of teenagers out on the dance floor.’

  ‘Things are going well,’ she said.

  ‘So you are getting back together?’ asked Ellen.

  ‘We will, but I’m not in any hurry. I’m having too much fun.’ Evie dropped her voice. ‘And the sex has never been better.’

  They all laughed.

  ‘Okay, that’s the end of the briefing,’ said Emma. ‘I best be getting back to my husband.’
r />   Evie and Liz linked arms with Emma and they headed for the door.

  ‘Guys . . .’ Ellen said plaintively.

  They turned around.

  ‘Oh, I suppose you want to know what we think of the mechanic?’ said Emma.

  ‘Don’t call him that.’

  ‘But he is a mechanic,’ said Liz. ‘He’s going to service my car.’

  ‘And mine,’ said Emma.

  Ellen’s face dropped. ‘You haven’t been talking to him about cars the whole time, have you?’

  ‘Stop teasing her, you two,’ said Evie, coming to Ellen’s side. ‘Finn is gorgeous, Lenny, I really like him.’

  ‘Second that.’

  ‘Third that.’

  ‘You do?’ she said. ‘Really?’

  ‘Yes, really,’ Liz insisted. ‘What’s not to like?’

  ‘And the way he looks at you . . .’ said Emma.

  ‘Hm, I noticed that,’ said Evie.

  ‘I don’t know . . .’ Ellen stood wringing her hands, her forehead all creased. ‘I’m falling so hard.’

  ‘So, what’s the problem?’ asked Liz. ‘Enjoy the ride.’

  ‘Don’t you think it’s too soon?’

  ‘It’s nearly a year since you separated,’ Evie reminded her.

  ‘But he’s the first man since . . . you know, maybe I should see what’s out there . . .’

  ‘First we couldn’t get her out there,’ Emma muttered.

  ‘I’m just worried I’m rushing into this. I mean, Finn’s wonderful, we get on so well, I’ve never felt this way . . . But maybe it’s infatuation, and I’m not seeing things clearly. I can’t be this lucky.’

  ‘I thought you were working on that whole glass half-empty thing?’ said Liz, raising an eyebrow.

  Emma stepped forward and took Ellen’s hands in hers. ‘Ellen, I was lucky that Liz was at the fitting that day, when I think about what could have happened . . .’ She paused. ‘Yes, it was luck that your car was towed to Finn’s garage, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t have happened, or that it wasn’t meant to be. Quite the opposite. I know you’re scared. I’m scared too, scared it will come back, that I won’t be so lucky next time. But I’m not going to let that stop me now. You shouldn’t either.’