No, that wasn’t fair. Reid and Andrew weren’t bad boys. Not really. But they did long for danger. It had destroyed Andrew. Could she take a chance on Reid only to have it destroy him too, destroy them?
She wasn’t sure she was strong enough to find out.
Chapter 14
Doctor Prita Brennan, a thirty-something woman with gorgeous dark caramel skin and a large, soothing smile, arrived and began to examine Nat as Reid dealt with the lone constable from the nearby Rawson station. Nat was annoyed the police had been brought in because Tilly might have seen them, but Reid assured her Barb had kept Tilly fully occupied in the kitchen of the main building so she would never know he was here.
‘Well, you don’t have a concussion,’ Doctor Brennan said after a thorough examination. ‘There’s a good-sized contusion and a small cut here, but it doesn’t need stitches. I’ll clean it out and you’ll need to wear a bandage over it tonight.’
‘She’s got a lot of pain in her head, Doctor Prita,’ Reid said from the doorway where he’d been standing for the last few minutes having left the constable looking over the mess of her house with Mac and Ben.
‘Yes, I imagine she does. Painkillers and rest will be best for that. I’ll give you some painkillers now but then you’ll have to wait for the rest until after you’ve had a CT scan at the hospital.’
‘Why is that necessary?’
‘You lost consciousness, you’ve vomited a few times, you were disoriented and are still dizzy, and it’s been at least half an hour since the injury. In my experience, in cases like this and given we’re so far away from a hospital, it’s always best to err on the side of caution.’
Nat sighed as she looked at the expression on Reid’s face, one that was even more serious than the doctor’s. He wasn’t going to let up until she agreed to be more thoroughly checked out. ‘Is the nearest hospital the one in Traralgon?’
‘Yes, the Latrobe Regional Hospital is the best one to go to. There are private places you can go to get the scan, but it will cost you.’
‘I’ll go to the hospital then, but not until tomorrow when the kids are arriving for camp. Tilly will be too busy to notice I’m gone.’
The doctor argued a little further, wanting her to go in now, but Nat wouldn’t be budged. She wouldn’t have Tilly worried in that way. Not again.
‘Okay. I’ll make you an appointment time at the hospital for nine. You’ll need someone to drive you.’
‘I’ll bring her,’ Reid said, coming to stand behind her, his hand on her shoulder.
‘Won’t you be needed?’ she asked, looking up at him and wincing at the movement.
‘No.’ He carefully stroked her hair, the motion so soothing she felt like closing her eyes and giving in to the lethargy seeping into her bones. ‘Between Barb, Lisa, Mac, Ben, John, the kitchen staff and the hands, everything will be covered and even if I’m not back by the afternoon ride, they’ll still be fine. It’s not a huge group this week, only twenty in total.’
She could tell by the grim set to his mouth, the stubborn squaring of his chin, that he wouldn’t be argued with and it was settled, Doctor Brennan calling the hospital and setting up a time for a scan and a follow-up with her after.
‘I also don’t want her to be left alone tonight. Even if her head is fine, she’s had a shock and there might be repercussions from that. It’s better if she’s not left alone.’
‘I’ll stay with her.’
‘That’s unnecessary. I’ll be fine.’
Reid just glared at her and asked the doctor, ‘Does she need to stay awake?’
Doctor Brennan smiled, deep dimples appearing in her cheeks. ‘No. That’s a fallacy made up by TV doctor shows.’ She reached for the doctor’s kit she’d brought in with her, putting away the equipment she’d used and pulling out a box and a small notebook. ‘Right, so let’s get some painkillers into you.’ She dispensed the tablets, writing down the dosage and time in the pad. ‘This has codeine in it. If you’re not used to it, it can make you pretty sleepy. But that’s okay, because I want you to sleep. You can take some paracetamol in four hours and then four hours later, but if the pain doesn’t go away, even with the drugs, or if it gets worse, if you vomit again or become disoriented or you notice bruising around your eyes like a racoon, then Reid needs to call the air ambulance and get you to the hospital ASAP, okay? You won’t do your daughter any good if you die of a brain aneurism.’
‘Is that a definite risk?’ Reid asked.
‘I think it’s unlikely in this case as Nat is showing no signs of anything more than a bad bump on the head and a shock, but as I said before, it is best to err on the side of caution. I would prefer you to come in now for a test, but given you’re against that, monitoring tonight and going to the hospital for a CT-brain first thing in the morning will have to do.’ She pointed her finger at Nat, her friendly smile suddenly serious. ‘I trust you’ll do the right thing and not be stupid.’
‘Yes, Doctor Brennan. Everything you say, Doctor Brennan.’
The doctor smiled at Reid. ‘Was that sarcasm?’
‘I think it was.’ Reid’s lips were twitching.
‘Excellent. Sarcasm is a good sign.’
Reid laughed openly. ‘I now know why Barb likes you.’
‘Good.’ She closed her case. ‘I better go. Cherry stayed to look after Carter when you called, but she and Frank have a date night.’
‘Can’t get in the way of that,’ Reid said.
‘No.’ She flashed him a grin, her deep dimples showing. ‘You can let Constable Bruce talk to Nat but when he’s done, she needs to lie down and rest.’ She pointed her finger at Nat. ‘I mean it. If you don’t rest, I don’t care what you say, Reid here has instructions to haul you into emergency.’
‘I’ll be good.’ Lying down did sound like an excellent idea.
‘Good. I’ll call tomorrow after I’ve got the report from the CT-brain and book you in for a follow-up appointment. Otherwise rest up, take painkillers if necessary and be sensible about work.’ She left, but her voice drifted back to them as she spoke to the constable. ‘Constable Bruce, you can go in now, but she’s had a nasty bump on the head and needs rest, so do not take too long questioning her. If I hear from Reid you upset her in any way or kept her too long from her bed, I’ll be talking to your bosses in Traf.’
‘Yes, Doc. I won’t take too long.’
Nat was smiling as Constable Bruce walked in looking very tentative and like he thought she was going to break apart. She didn’t have anything more to tell him than what she’d already told Reid. He took her statement, adding it to Reid’s and then put the pad back in the pocket of his vest and picked his cap off the table from where he’d put it when he sat down. ‘I think Mr Stratton is correct. It was probably some youths looking for money and easy to sell valuables. We’ve had a few incidents like this in the last few months but we’ve been unable to catch anyone. If you find anything missing, let us know, because that might help us track down the perpetrators.’
Nat glanced around but apart from there being a lot of broken stuff and things turned out of drawers, she couldn’t really see anything obvious. There was no TV or Blu-ray or computer here and she didn’t have anything else of value, any jewellery worth anything, including her engagement and wedding rings, having been sold to get them here. ‘There’s only my purse and credit card.’ She looked up at Reid.
‘Do you want me to look for them?’
‘Mac found them in your bedroom on the floor,’ Constable Bruce said. ‘Your credit card was still in there, but there was no cash.’
‘I didn’t have anything but some coinage. We spent all our cash when we went into Walhalla a few days ago to do the Gold Mine tour and visit the lolly shop.’ She swallowed and touched her head. The painkillers hadn’t had a chance to kick in yet and the throb in her temple was making her feel ill and difficult to grab at her thoughts clearly. ‘I can’t think of anything else, but if I notice something, I’ll let you k
now.’
‘Good. I’ve taken photos and prints from the doors and a few other areas—sorry about the fingerprint powder. A hot soapy rag should remove it.’ He stood, putting the cap on his head. ‘Here’s a card for a counselling service for victims of violent crime. Please call it if necessary. And here’s my card. Call me if you think of anything else. You are free to clean up in here.’ As he glanced around, his professional facade disappeared. ‘I’m so sorry you have to deal with this having just got here. It’s not a good welcome to the area.’
‘I’ll be fine, Constable, and it hasn’t changed my view of coming home. Thanks for your concern, though. I appreciate it.’
He nodded. ‘I’ll let you know if we discover anything about the perpetrators.’
‘Thank you.’
‘I’ll show you out,’ Reid said.
She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead when they’d gone, then using her hand against the table to steady herself, stood and took a step forward. Her foot connected with something. A bowl—Tilly’s favourite Peter Rabbit bowl from when she was two—lay at her feet, a large chunk missing from the side of it. ‘Goddamn them.’ She bent to pick it up. The room swung around her and she grabbed for the table.
‘What do you think you’re doing?’ Reid was there suddenly, holding her steady.
‘Cleaning up. They’ve made a mess.’ Her chin wobbled as she looked down at the broken Peter Rabbit bowl. He picked it up, and the moment he handed it to her, she clutched it to her chest. ‘Thank you, but it’s more than one bowl.’
‘Mac and Ben and I’ll take care of that. You’re going to bed. Remember the rest you promised you’d take.’ Before she could say anything, he plucked the bowl from her fingers, put it on the table and picked her up.
‘Reid!’
‘Nat?’ he said back in the same aggrieved tone.
‘Put me down. What about your injured shoulder?’
‘It’s fine. And I’ll put you down when we get you to a bed.’
They were at her bedroom door and she craned her head to look into her room. Mac and Ben were in there picking up broken pieces of wood off the floor. ‘The chest!’ It had been smashed to pieces and scattered about. But it wasn’t the only mess in the room. The draws of the dresser were all open and every stitch of clothing she owned strewn all over the floor. ‘Oh god. Tilly’s room?’
‘It’s the only room that wasn’t touched,’ Mac said, tipping his hat back with his forefinger. ‘I guess they didn’t get upstairs before you disturbed them.’
‘Thank goodness.’ At least no more of Tilly’s things had been wrecked. She could hide one broken bowl, but any of Tilly’s other things … Tilly had lost too much already, she couldn’t bear for her to lose any more.
Reid made a strange growl in his throat, nostrils flaring, his breath fluttering her hair. ‘You can’t stay here. I’m taking you to my place. Mac, can I trust you to call in the troops to help put this place back to rights?’
‘Consider it done.’
‘Can I have some of my clothes? I’d like to get changed.’ She was still in the bathers she’d swum in, the chlorine sticky on her skin.
‘Mac, can you—?’
‘I can get them myself if you put me down.’
Reid gave her a searching look but then lowered her gently to a standing position and stayed by her side as she picked up a pair of yoga pants, a t-shirt, some underwear and a bra, but when she swayed he picked her back up again, muttering, ‘Enough,’ and headed towards the door.
‘Reid! I’d also like a shower.’
‘You can do that at my place.’
They were out the door before Nat even had time to consider his high-handedness. ‘I want to help tidy up!’
‘You can barely stand upright for more than a minute without swaying. It’s better if you follow doctor’s orders and let Mac and Ben take care of the tidy up. They don’t mind.’
‘I know they don’t mind, but I do. I don’t really want them to be picking up my underwear.’
Reid snorted.
‘What? This isn’t funny.’
‘No, it’s not funny. You worrying about Mac and Ben touching your underwear when your house has been ransacked and you got hit on the head and could have been more seriously injured, that’s funny.’
‘I did not get hit on the head. I got knocked into the wall and hit my head.’
‘Oh, well that makes it all better then.’
‘So does sarcasm.’
He growled again, the vibration buzzing against her shoulder. ‘As I was saying, I don’t think you need to worry about your underwear. Your underwear will be fine.’ His arms tightened a little around her, his breath coming hard and fast in his chest. ‘You, however, are not fine. You’ve been hurt and I’m going to take care of you while Mac and Ben and the others take care of setting your place to rights and you’re just going to accept the help. Okay?’
She blinked, realising suddenly there was more to this than he was saying. ‘I’m fine, you know that, don’t you? Nothing really bad happened, okay?’
He stopped walking and stared down at her, his expression tight, vulnerable. ‘When I saw you lying against the wall like that, blood on the wall and floor, I …’ He shook his head and started walking again.
She touched his face, turned it so he was looking at her again, making him slow down. ‘I am okay. I’m going to be okay.’
He sucked in a shuddering breath. ‘I know. But you need to rest.’ He started to walk again.
She suddenly realised they weren’t heading to one of the cabins or towards Barb and Flynn’s house. ‘Aren’t we going in the wrong direction?’
‘No. We’re going to my place. It’s got four rooms, so you’ll have your own room. You don’t need to share.’
‘I’m not worried about that.’ Well, she hadn’t been until he’d said it. ‘You know I can walk.’
‘You’re wobbly. I don’t want you to fall down and hit your head again.’
‘You’re just trying to show how big your muscles are and how manly you’ve become.’
‘Is it working?’
He flashed a cheeky smile, but rather than making her laugh, tears pricked at her eyes again because she knew he wasn’t only trying to be funny to cover his own worry, but to make her laugh, to cheer her up, to take her mind off the mess her lovely little home had become. She began to shake.
‘Are you cold?’
‘No. It’s just shock settling in.’ He started walking faster. ‘I’ll be fine. It will pass in a little while.’ She knew it would. She’d been through shock too often not to know the signs. ‘A cup of tea will help. And some peace and quiet.’
‘I can definitely help with both of those.’
A minute later they broke out of the bush and into the clearing where Flynn’s house stood. She’d had no reason to come this far down in the property, so she hadn’t seen the house up until now. She’d been expecting a wooden structure with a gabled roof, but this wasn’t anything close to that.
It was made of stone and wood and slate, two storey with angles and slants and hints of bronze here and there and massive floor to ceiling windows along the front and sides that glinted in the sun and would give an amazing view of the valley and mountains beyond. It had a modern feel about it that should have been wrong in this bushland setting, but somehow fitted in wonderfully. It was nothing she ever thought Flynn would build—although maybe it had suited Anna—but it certainly suited the man who held her in his arms.
He walked up the front steps—rough-hewn slabs of bluestone—and onto the wide patio area. He put her down to unlock the front door and then bent as if to pick her up again.
‘You are not carrying me across the threshold.’
He chuckled. ‘That’s not what this is.’
‘No. It’s not what this is.’ She walked gingerly forward, clutching her clothes to her chest, into a large foyer that had a staircase on the right leading up to the second floor, a corridor lead
ing off behind the staircase and a large open doorway on the other side where she could see a lounge room. He quickly joined her, arm around her back. She wanted to look around, but he led her to the stairs.
‘The bedrooms are upstairs. I’ll get you settled and then bring you a cup of tea.’ He looked like he was going to pick her up again.
‘I’m fine. I can make it. I’m feeling steadier now. And I can have the cup of tea down here.’
‘No.’ He began to escort her up the stairs. ‘The doctor said you were to rest, so you will rest.’
‘Yes, Sergeant Major Stratton.’
He smiled at her cheek and it was a punch to the solar plexus. So much so, she would have swayed backwards and fallen down the stairs if not for his strong arm anchoring her to his side. ‘Whoa, you okay?’
‘Fine.’
‘I think that’s your word of the day.’
‘Well, I am fine.’ He angled her a look as he turned her towards a doorway to the left off the large landing. ‘Well, as fine as you can be when you’ve been attacked in your home by drug-addled teenagers, woken with a bump on the head, a splitting headache and your house wrecked.’
‘Oh, well that’s all good then. As long as you’re fine.’
She couldn’t help but laugh at his tone. ‘You’re being silly.’
‘Pot kettle black, baby.’
She stopped and blinked up at him. ‘What did you say?’ She had a flash of memory, of him standing in front of her, stopping her from riding off on Gypsy Rose in the middle of the night, telling her she was being reckless and dangerous. She’d said to him, ‘Pot kettle black, baby,’ and then had kicked Gypsy Rose into a canter past him, making him dive out of the way. He’d caught up to her later and yelled at her and that’s when …
Climbing Fear Page 17