‘Well, it might be—it could be a solution,’ she said, her voice wavering as her body reacted to his gaze, and realised just how stupid this was all going to sound. ‘I thought if I could borrow enough money by mortgaging my half of the house, we might just be able to get the mine working again and eventually there’d be money over and above what it pays to the hospital for me to repay the loan.’
He hesitated for a moment, then slipped his arm around her shoulders, as if preparing her for a hug when he disappointed her with his reply.
‘Caro …’ His voice was deep and husky and his arm tightened around her shoulders. ‘I know you said it was your first idea, but if you don’t mind my saying so, it isn’t the best idea you’ve ever had. What if we can’t get the mine going again, and the bank forecloses and Christopher loses his home?’
‘But surely they’d …’ Caroline protested, so flustered by Keanu’s touch she’d forgotten what she’d meant to say.
‘Only take half a house?’ Keanu finished for her, showing just how ridiculous the idea had been.
Had she looked so disappointed that Keanu used the arm around her shoulders to pull her closer? A comforting hug, nothing more, but given where her comforting hug to him had led earlier, she really should pull away.
Except it was comforting.
Too comforting …
For Keanu too, as he suddenly let his arm slip and got back to practicalities?
‘Now, as you were right about knowing a ballpark figure for the amount of money we need,’ he said, ‘let’s go back to your notes and see what we can come up with.’
He stood up, reaching down to help her to her feet, then keeping her hand in his, not exactly imprisoned because she knew she could pull hers out but firmly, as if he wanted it there.
Here she went again, feeling things between her and Keanu when in reality it was nothing more than their old friendship.
Back in the house, she made tea, and put out biscuits Bessie had cooked that day, carrying them through to the dining room where Keanu was already going through her figures.
Or would have been if he hadn’t been holding the old notebook she’d pulled out of her room to use the blank pages in it, running his fingers over the hearts and flowers she’d drawn on the cover—the hearts with the arrow running through them, linking her initials to his.
She snatched it out of his fingers.
‘It’s the first thing I could find to write on,’ she muttered. ‘But to get back to the mine, the closest I’ve got to a total is the wages owed and the full wages for running the mine—from figures back when Peter was here. I just need weekly or monthly running costs from Reuben and we’ll have some idea of what’s needed.
‘We can get them later,’ Keanu assured her, taking the book from her but flipping back to the cover of the book and smiling at her. The teasing warmth of that smile sent ripples of what felt very like desire downwards through her body.
‘I was ten, just look at the figures!’ she snapped, but he kept smiling.
Damn the man. It was just so much easier being near him when he wasn’t smiling.
But they stood up together, the air between them dense with tension.
In the end it was he who broke the spell, stepping back, so they stood, a foot apart, still looking into each other’s eyes.
Then Keanu smiled, and she regretted the foot of space between them, because right then there’d be nothing she’d have liked more than to be locked in his arms.
Locked in his arms?
As in romance?
‘You loved me when you were ten,’ he reminded her, before turning and walking quietly out of the room, down the hall, across the veranda and down the steps.
Gone …
As HE’D MENTIONED, Keanu was off duty, and Anahera and an aide Caroline didn’t know were working in the hospital when Caroline arrived the next morning.
‘Sam’s in his office,’ Anahera told her. ‘And Hettie says she’s taking a day off, which she should, but I bet she’s doing paperwork in her little villa—she finds it hard to stop, although she does love exploring the island, swimming in the lagoon and climbing around the waterfall. She has a true passion for this place.’
‘And you?’ Caroline asked, glad to have an opportunity to chat with Anahera even if they were only counting drugs in the dangerous drugs cabinet.
Anahera didn’t answer for a moment, then, to Caroline’s surprise, she said, ‘Well, me, I’m just glad you’ve turned up. The island is my home and I’m happy here with Hana, but since Keanu’s arrival, Mum’s been trying to push us both together.’
‘Not interested?’ Caroline said as casually as she could.
‘Once bitten, twice shy,’ Anahera answered obliquely. ‘Not that being interested in Keanu would do me any good. Even Mum’s realised how he is around you.’
Caroline felt heat in her cheeks.
‘It’s just because we’ve always known each other,’ she said, then realised how lame she’d sounded.
The drugs all counted and checked off on the list taped on the cabinet door, the pair of them walked through the hospital.
‘Do you want to change the dressings on the coral cuts while I do some bloods?’
It was good to be doing routine nursing work and now they’d accepted her, the lads with the coral cuts were fun. She took off the old dressings, cleaned the wounds, which were looking good, applied antibiotic ointment and covered them again.
By the next day, she guessed, they’d be able to go home.
She and Anahera had a coffee in the kitchen with a slice of extremely good hummingbird cake, and were just finishing it when Keanu appeared.
‘Can you come down to the airstrip?’ he asked, bypassing any politeness. ‘There’s an emergency call-out to Atangi. Hettie’s done two flights the last two days so Sam suggested you come along to see what we do.’
You’ll be okay, just don’t touch him more than necessary, the sane voice in her head said firmly, but the professional part of her mind was focussed firmly on what lay ahead.
‘What kind of an emergency?’ she asked.
Keanu was hurrying beside her now, long strides eating up the ground.
‘Pregnant woman, thirty weeks, having severe cramps.’
He paused—both feet and words—and turned to look at Caroline.
‘We’ll see how she is when we get there, maybe just bring her back here. Atangi’s a good clinic for you to see first, as it has a fairly well-equipped and stocked operating theatre. Before the hospital was built, the flying doctors used it for their emergency visits.’
‘Thirty weeks, so we’ll take a humidicrib and resus gear?’
‘Already in the chopper.’
They’d reached the airstrip, where Sam was talking to Jack.
‘You’re okay to do this?’ Sam asked, looking at Caroline.
‘Very okay,’ Caroline assured him, not adding that she was actually excited at the thought of going to Atangi after so long a time. You could hardly tell your boss you were excited that someone was ill.
The flight was short, but so beautiful it brought tears