Several minutes later they were back at their front gate, the children each carefully carrying a perfect little brown egg for their tea.
Friday afternoon.
In an end-of-working-day gesture, Kate raised her arms and stretched. It had been a busy week and she was tired, yet at the same time exhilarated. She was holding her own. That thought gave her immense satisfaction.
In weekend mode, she got to her feet, collected her things and made her along the corridor to the doctors’ weekly staff meeting.
She was the last to arrive. Only four chairs had been placed at the table for the meeting. And the only one vacant was next to Aiden. A dozen disturbing thoughts collided in Kate’s head. Oh, for heaven’s sake. He was just a man, wasn’t he? And if there was chemistry, so what? So nothing. She took her place beside Aiden, vividly conscious of his body warmth, the faint drift of apple laundry softener on his shirt.
Aiden turned his head and smiled at her ‘Water?’
‘Sounds good.’ Kate smiled back at him and then wished she hadn’t. There was such an easiness about him, an almost arrogant sexiness that was a threat to her sensibilities.
‘Thanks.’ She took a sip from the glass and then placed it in front of her.
‘Right.’ Angelo settled his glasses more comfortably and looked expectantly around at his colleagues. ‘Who wants to be first cab off the rank? Kate, your patient with meningo? What’s her prognosis?’
‘So far she’s holding her own.’ Kate looked around at the practice team. ‘But it will be a long haul for her. And her family. They’ve only moved here recently to new jobs. Now their whole lives have been thrown into chaos.’
‘On the other hand,’ Angelo came in quietly, ‘they should be very thankful for your swift diagnosis. Community medicine at its best, Kate. Well done.’
‘Hear, hear,’ Brady and Aiden concurred.
‘Thanks.’ Kate felt a lift in her spirits, warmed by her colleagues’ approval. ‘We had an outbreak of meningococcal when I was working in the States,’ she offloaded modestly. ‘The symptoms are something you don’t forget in a hurry.’
‘I don’t know if I’d have jumped on it so quickly,’ Brady admitted candidly. ‘It’s been a long time since I saw a case.’
Aiden leaned back in his chair, tapping his pen end to end on the table. ‘Well, it’s always better to err on the side of caution and give the antibiotics anyway, as Kate did.’
‘I’m sure we’re all agreed on that.’ Angelo shuffled his notes into a neat pile.
The meeting eventually wound to a close.
‘OK, guys, if no one has any further business, that’s it.’ Angelo tucked his pen into his shirt pocket. ‘Kate, your caseload manageable?’
Before Kate could answer, Aiden said, ‘I think we should make sure Kate’s patient list for the afternoon surgery doesn’t run over.’
Kate’s chin came up, disbelief widening her gaze. Dammit. What on earth did O’Connor think he was doing? She didn’t need him advocating for her. She could fight her own corner. ‘That happened only on Monday,’ she pointed out thinly. ‘And the circumstances were extraordinary.’
Aiden blinked. Her angry little thrust as she turned towards him revealed the creamy skin of her throat and upper chest. He felt his body grow hot, imagining the tip of his tongue traversing that same silky skin. He blinked the thought away as if it had the power to rear up and bite him. ‘I just think your special needs should take priority.’
Special needs? Kate pursed her lips disapprovingly. Where did he get off making a loaded comment like that? He’d made her sound like some kind of basket case.
‘I’m sure Kate will speak up if she needs any change in her surgery hours,’ Brady came in smoothly. ‘Right, Kate?’
Kate sent him a grateful nod, temporarily unable to find words.
‘Good, good.’ Always the mediator, Angelo was brisk, gathering up his notes. ‘I’m on call at the after-hours clinic over the weekend. What about the rest of you—Brady, any plans?’
‘Nah.’ Brady leaned back in his chair, his fingers drumming a lazy tattoo on the tabletop. ‘Staying close to home.’
Aiden chuckled. ‘Figures.’ He arched back, raising his arms in a long stretch. ‘What about you, Kate? What kind of weekend do you have planned?’
As if he cared. And it was none of his business anyway. Kate felt like poking her tongue at him. But that would have been totally juvenile. She jerked a shoulder in a careless shrug. ‘Cleaning the house and doing the laundry will be high on my agenda.’
‘Riveting stuff, then,’ he said.
She shot him a look, certain she hadn’t imagined the trace of boredom in his tone. Well, nice for some. He didn’t have kids to consider when he made his weekend plans. ‘What about you, then, Dr O’Connor?’ she asked. Not that she cared.
‘I’m going sky-diving. Should be a good day for it.’
Kate’s insides froze. A good day for what—killing himself? She felt sick to the stomach, drowned in a thousand memories. Scooping up her notes, she got to her feet. ‘Um—excuse me. I have to collect my children.’ Suddenly she needed to fill her lungs with good, clean air.
Frowning, Aiden watched her almost run from the room. He gave a short humourless laugh and shot a wordless query at his male colleagues.
‘Kate’s husband was killed in a sky-diving accident,’ Brady supplied gruffly.
‘Oh, God …’ Aiden’s breath of disbelief hitched to a halt. ‘Why did no one tell me?’ He shot a pained look at the two men.
‘Kate and I had a quiet chat after her appointment had been confirmed,’ Angelo looked contrite. ‘She told me then.’
‘And I found out from Jo,’ Brady said. ‘She and Kate have become friends.’ He looked at Aiden and gave an apologetic open-handed shrug. ‘Sorry, mate. I thought you would have known.’
Saturday.
How long was a fair time to grieve? Kate wondered as she placed the last of the breakfast dishes in the drainer. It had been three years and surely now it was time to stop. A stray sunbeam burst through the open window, catching the fine gold of her wedding ring.
Was that a sign? she wondered. Perhaps, to be fully free so she could move forward, the ring had to go.
Her breath almost stilled as she eased the wedding band from her finger. Happy-go-lucky Cory. She’d loved him with all her heart. She couldn’t imagine falling in love again, let alone going to bed with someone other than Cory. She cast the rather desolate thought away. Hadn’t she just convinced herself it was time to move on?
Being outdoors seemed like a plan, she thought, going out onto the deck that overlooked the back garden. The kids were happily engaged. Luke was bouncing his soccer ball off the brick wall that separated the garage from the garden, while Mia had staked out a strip of the concrete path and was playing a game of hopscotch.
Well, she’d take a leaf out of her children’s book, Kate thought. She’d get cracking on the garden. She had some daisies she wanted to thin out and replant and there was bound to be some weeding that needed doing.
Ignoring the thump, thump of Luke’s ball, Kate got to work with her trowel. The smell in the air was simply glorious, she mused as she hacked her way through the clumps of daisies. A sweet pungency drifted up from the earth and while Kate worked, two leaves of gold and brown fluttered down beside her. Finally, she was done, stripping off her gloves and flexing her fingers thankfully.
But