The Rebel And Miss Jones. Annie Claydon

on the architect’s plans for an extension to the hospital where I was working. Kath was there to meet me, and he tried to chat her up in the canteen.’ Reece was grinning.

      ‘So you found my brother trying to hit on your sister …’ Sara laughed. ‘How did that go?’

      ‘Oh, pretty much as expected. I thumped my chest and growled a bit, and Kath kicked me under the table. Simon had told her that he was only just off the plane, and before I knew what had hit me, she’d roped us both in for a trip up to Sydney with her friends.’

      ‘And did Simon and Kath ever …?’ Sara waved her hand to indicate whatever it was that might have happened between the two of them.

      ‘Nah. Kath’s interest was purely humanitarian. We’ve both been in that situation enough times—new place, no friends—and she was just trying to make him feel at home.’ He grinned. ‘Kath does that.’

      Reece did too. He’d taken her in without a second thought. ‘Thank you. For looking after him.’

      Reece gave her the smallest of nods in acknowledgement. ‘So what about you?’

      ‘Me?’

      ‘Who looks after you?’

      The question floored her for a moment and she stared at Reece, not sure quite how to answer. ‘No one.’

      ‘Surely there must be someone.’ Reece was gazing at her intently and Sara felt her cheeks flush. ‘Or haven’t you told Simon about him yet?’

      Suddenly, and quite unaccountably, she felt the need to defend herself. As if being single made it okay for her to have looked at Reece and wanted him, even if it was impossible, and she’d rather be dangled over a tank of hungry sharks than admit it.

      ‘There’s nothing to tell.’ There was no time for a man in her life. When she wasn’t working, Gran took up all of her spare time. A man couldn’t be expected to stay with a woman who could only give him about five minutes of her undivided attention per day. ‘There’s been no one since before my mother died. And Simon’s my only close family.’

      Apart from Gran. Simon seldom asked about her, probably assuming that she still lived independently, and Sara didn’t dare tell him any different until she could be more sure of his reaction. She could just about understand him staying away when their mother had been ill, but if he acted the same way with Gran, Sara would never be able to forgive him. And if Simon wasn’t to know just yet, then telling Reece would be foolish.

      They ate in silence for a while. ‘Simon talked a lot about going home when your mother was ill.’ Reece had clearly been giving some consideration to which bombshell to drop next.

      ‘Did he?’ Sara couldn’t conceal her surprise. Simon had pretty much covered everything he’d had to say to her in one line of an email. He wasn’t coming back. It would be hypocrisy to do so when his mother hadn’t spoken to him for more than ten years.

      ‘Perhaps he’s been saving it. Until he sees you.’

      ‘Maybe.’ Maybe not. The last two years had been tough. First her mother had been diagnosed with cancer, and then her grandmother had fallen and broken her leg. Sara had given up her job, her home and, one by one, most of her friends in order to move back to her mother’s house to take care of them both. She had never quite understood why Simon had stayed away.

      ‘Give it time.’

      ‘I thought I’d done that already.’

      ‘Then give it some more.’ He was holding her in his gaze. It felt almost as if he was cradling her, keeping her from any harm.

      ‘Yeah, I suppose so.’ She may as well say it. He’d obviously heard most of it from Simon already. ‘I don’t want you to think that it was all Simon’s fault. Mum wasn’t the easiest of people to live with. We each dealt with it differently. I gave in to her on the things that didn’t matter and held out for the things that did. But Simon couldn’t do that. They used to have the most awful rows.’

      Reece nodded her on. He seemed to understand that she both wanted and needed to say this to someone. And he was all she had right now.

      ‘It all came to a head when Simon said that he wanted to travel for a year after he’d done his degree in architecture. Mum had been pushing him away for years and then when he did leave she was so angry with him that she never mentioned his name again, even when she was dying.’

      ‘Simon told me that your father leaving had a pretty big impact on her.’

      ‘I don’t remember that. I was just a baby.’ Gran had told her about it, though. ‘I’m told she just shut herself off from everyone, became totally focussed on showing that she was better off without him. She threw herself into work and built up a successful company from nothing. She used to say all the time that my father was unreliable and weak …’ Too much information, perhaps.

      ‘And that’s what she said about Simon too?’

      ‘Yes.’ It felt good to be able to say it, even if it was hard. Sara swallowed down the lump in her throat. ‘It’s not true, though, is it?’

      ‘No. That’s not the friend I know.’ The look in his eyes was almost unbearable. Liquid blue, as if she could somehow plunge into his world. Luxuriate in the safety of those cool, soothing waters. ‘And you and Simon kept in touch. That has to say something, doesn’t it?’

      ‘Yeah. Not sure what … but, yes, it says something.’

      He seemed to realise that she’d had enough, and that she couldn’t talk about this any more. He nodded towards her plate. ‘Eat. It’s been a long day already, and it’s not over yet. And this is too good to waste.’

      ‘Thanks. There are some more potatoes in the kitchen if you want them. I always make too much.’ She reached for his plate, but he was already on his feet.

      ‘I’ll go. You want some?’

      ‘No, I’m fine with this, thanks.’ Sara went back to her food, smiling as she heard the sound of a pan being scraped from the kitchen. She loved cooking, and having someone with appetite enough to scrape the pan was a welcome novelty.

      ‘Do you like Australia?’ When he returned to the table, he seemed as intent as Sara was on lightening the mood.

      ‘I love what I’ve seen so far.’ She shrugged. ‘Simon and I have been keeping ourselves to ourselves since I arrived. You and Kath are the first real Australians that I’ve met.’

      ‘Well, I hope we’ve not let the team down.’ He grinned at her then looked at his watch. ‘We’ll get going as soon as we’ve finished lunch. Simon will be wanting to see you.’