That was all she could cope with.
TOM watched the staffroom door close behind the two women and fought the temptation to put his fist through the window.
He was boiling with frustration, aggravated to the point of explosion by the less than satisfactory exchange with Sally. There were things he needed to say and she wasn’t allowing him to say them.
But could he really blame her for that?
He ran a hand over his face and cursed softly. All day he’d been aware of her and it had disturbed his concentration more than he cared to admit.
She’d always played havoc with his emotions.
He prowled over to the window and stared moodily down into the car park, his jaw tightening as he saw Sally opening the door of his sister’s car and sliding inside.
He saw a flash of long leg, a glimmer of blonde hair and then she vanished from sight.
For now.
He comforted himself with the fact that Sally Jenner wasn’t going anywhere. She’d made the decision to come home so she was obviously planning on staying around. Which meant that he had plenty of time to engineer the conversation he was determined to have.
His mouth tightened as he watched Bryony drive off.
And the first thing he was going to do was talk to his sister.
Sally settled into her seat and gave a self-satisfied smile. ‘Thanks for the lift. Excellent timing. It’s hard to make a dramatic exit on a mountain bike.’
Bryony caught the smile and laughed. ‘From the look on your face, I gather you won that round.’
Sally took a steady breath. ‘Well, I didn’t make a fool of myself. You would have been proud of me. I was Miss Cool.’
And somehow she’d managed to pretend an indifference that she hadn’t felt.
Seeing Tom had affected her even more than she’d imagined it would.
Bryony waited for her to fasten her seat belt and then drove off. ‘I would have liked to have seen his face when he saw you.’
‘He was shocked,’ Sally said softly, recalling the look in his eyes with a slight shiver. ‘And disconcerted, I think.’
‘Never seen my big brother disconcerted about anything before,’ Bryony said dryly, shifting gears and slowing down as she approached the exit of the hospital. ‘I wish I could have been there.’
‘Well, fortunately Emma was,’ Sally told her. ‘That wasn’t a meeting I would have wanted to have in private.’
‘So what did he say?’
Sally moistened dry lips. ‘He wants to talk.’
Bryony paused at the junction, her expression serious. ‘About what?’
‘The past, I suppose.’ Her eyes met her friend’s and Bryony pulled a face.
‘Well, that was to be expected.’
‘I don’t want to talk about it, Bry. It was bad enough when it happened, without reliving it. What can we possibly achieve by talking about it?’ Sally asked hoarsely, pulling her coat around herself with a slight shiver. ‘Can you turn the heating up in this car? It’s freezing.’
‘The engine will warm up in a minute,’ Bryony said absently, checking the traffic and pulling onto the main road. ‘And you know as well as I do that if my big brother sets his mind on something, he gets it.’
Sally lifted her chin and stared into the frosty darkness. ‘I can be as determined as him.’
In the past seven years she’d discovered reservoirs of strength in herself that she hadn’t known existed.
She wasn’t the same person who had run for cover when he’d rejected her.
Bryony sighed. ‘I know. Which means we’re in for fireworks.’ She gave her a sympathetic glance. ‘You may not want to talk, but if it’s what Tom wants then, trust me, you’ll be talking. He isn’t easily distracted when he wants something. You know that as well as I do.’
Of course she did.
It was that same single-minded approach that had made him such a respected obstetrician at such a young age.
Bryony sighed. ‘You’ll be fine, Sally. You’ve put him behind you.’
A long silence greeted her words and Bryony glanced at her friend in consternation. ‘Oh, no, tell me you’re not …’
‘No.’ Sally’s voice sounded croaky and she cleared her throat. ‘No, I’m not. But it was hard, Bry. Really hard. Even harder than I thought it would be.’
And she’d always known that seeing Tom again would be difficult.
Bryony reached out and squeezed her hand. ‘Just take it a day at a time. What you need is a new love interest. I’m going to find you someone gorgeous to help take your mind off my brother.’
Sally shook her head. ‘No, thanks. I’m better off on my own.’
‘Can I ask you something?’ Bryony pulled up outside her old cottage and switched off the engine. ‘Has there been anyone since Tom?’
Sally turned away, her eyes fixed out of the window. ‘Let’s just say he was a hard act to follow.’ She gave a sigh and then turned to Bryony with a bright smile. ‘But I’m working on it. Truly.’
Somewhere out there was a man who wouldn’t seem like second best.
She sat, lost in thought, and the silence stretched into infinity.
Finally Bryony spoke. ‘Are you truly going to be able to move on?’ Her tone was doubtful and Sally stirred.
‘I’ve moved on. I’m home,’ she said simply, undoing her seat belt and reaching for her bag. Suddenly she needed to be on her own. ‘Thanks for lending me the cottage. I’ll find somewhere of my own soon.’
‘No need,’ Bryony said with a frown. ‘Jack and I don’t use it any more. We were going to rent it out anyway. Does Tom know you’re staying here?’
Sally paused with her hand on the doorhandle. ‘No. He asked where I was living but I dodged the question.’
‘But it isn’t going to take him long to figure it out. What if he comes here?’
‘I hardly think he’s going to go to those lengths to have a conversation,’ Sally said with a faint smile. ‘Goodnight, Bry. Thanks for the lift.’
‘You left your bike at the hospital,’ Bryony reminded her. ‘I’ll pick you up in the morning.’
Smiling her thanks. Sally let herself into the cottage, flicked on the lights and walked through to the cosy kitchen, feeling the tension in her neck and shoulders.
It had been a hard day. Harder than she’d anticipated.
She’d known that the first meeting would be difficult, of course. Known that seeing Tom would be painful.
She’d expected to feel anger and contempt. Expected to dismiss him with a few well-rehearsed words.
What she hadn’t anticipated had been the race of her heart and the kick of her breathing.
Sally made herself a coffee and then sat down at the kitchen table, her hands coiled round the hot mug.
Tom Hunter was still