She could stand here wishing for something that was never to be or see to the patients waiting. “Next,” she said in Mamprusi, and waved the next person toward the doctor’s examination table. She glanced to where Neetie played with some friends under a shed used as the nutritional clinic that morning. She had received the final papers making Neetie hers the day before. She smiled. Neetie filled her life with joy but a void still remained that only Court could fill. She missed Court with an ache that didn’t ease. “Please sit on the table,” she told the woman, turning to get the BP cuff.
“I’ll do her heart and respiration while you see to her BP.”
Court.
Maggie went stock-still, her breath caught in her throat. It couldn’t be but she’d know that deep, rusty timbre anywhere. It replayed in her head very night before she dropped off to sleep. The woman’s name she was trying to write on the paper became a mess of wiggly lines. The pencil fell from her hand to the floor but she still didn’t look at him. She was afraid she’d make a fool of herself by jumping into his arms.
His arm hair tickled her skin when he brushed against her as he placed the pencil on the counter. Maggie shivered as her body heated up.
“You’ll have to look at me some time,” Court whispered, close enough to her ear that it was almost a kiss. She wished it had been. “Maggie, we have a patient waiting.”
Court knew her well enough to know that would bring her round. He stepped to the patient and began listening to her heart. Maggie went to the other side of the table and put the BP cuff on the woman’s thin arm.
“Why’re you here, Court?” she asked in a shaky voice as she pumped the bulb on the blood-pressure cuff.
“Raja needed a ride home.”
Her heart, already filled with joy, expanded with more. Her head jerked up, meeting his gaze. He made that statement like he was a taxi driver who made flights into Teligu once a week.
He smiled and there was tenderness, caring and something she didn’t dare put a name to in his beautiful blue eyes. “You can see her when we finish here.”
She glanced at the people waiting in line. Could she wait that long?
His smile grew. “Go on, I’ll handle things here until you get back. She’s waiting just outside. Don’t be gone long.”
“You can’t just fly in and start telling me what to do.”
He chuckled. “I’ve missed you, Missy Maggie.” His words were low, almost a caress. He came around the table and nudged her toward the door. “Go and see Raja. I’ll be here for you to lambast when you get back.”
* * *
It was difficult for Court to concentrate on his patient when he could hear the high chatter of the women seeing each other for the first time in months.
Raja had quickly adapted to the state-of-the-art artificial leg. The weeks of physical therapy had paid off. She was walking well and starting to run. It was gratifying to have been a part of seeing that she had a chance at some semblance of a normal life.
Maggie reentered the examining room, as he’d finished up with the patient and she was leaving. The bright smile on Maggie’s face made his heart swell. With no inhibitions, Maggie walked up to him, wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. “Thank you. Thank you.”
“I think you can do better than that.” He dipped his head and caught her lips with his.
Maggie leaned into him, and he angled his head so that he could capture her mouth fully. The sound of someone climbing onto the examination table forced him to pull away. Maggie’s soft sigh made him want to go back for more. Maybe he still had a chance.
He said to his patient, “She attacked me.”
The man offered a broad smile, showing the few teeth he owned. “My wives do the same thing to me.”
Court chuckled, and Maggie went an attractive shade of crimson.
She stepped away and became all business but Court noticed the tremor of her hands as she cared for the old man. A couple of times he caught her looking at him overtly. A rattled Maggie was an irresistibly lovely Maggie. He had missed her so and was ready to be done with clinic so he could get her in his arms again.
“Have you seen Neetie?” she asked as another patient made his way toward them.
“Not yet. I thought he must be in school and I didn’t want to disturb him. I’ll go find him as soon as we’re finished here.”
“He’ll be so excited you’re here. He’s missed you.”
“Have you missed me, Maggie?”
Pink touched her cheeks, and she looked at him longingly before she turned her back, acting as if something of great importance was on the counter. “Yes, I’ve missed you.” The answer was little more than a whisper but he’d heard what his heart desperately needed to know.
The tension built between them as they worked in the small space. A brush of a hand when he requested a supply, the closeness of their bodies as she passed on the way to the cabinet, to the look in Maggie’s eyes when their gazes met had Court wanting to grab her and find the nearest private corner. Thankfully the line of patients dwindled and they only had a few more to see or he might embarrass them both. Not soon enough, the last patient left.
Co
urt caught Maggie’s hand and pulled her toward the door, closing it. Leaning back against it, he drew her to him. It felt marvelous to have her touching him. This was where he belonged. In Maggie’s arms. In Ghana. He’d come home. Court took a deep breath, inhaling the sweet smell of wildflowers in her hair. With a tug of the band, the mass of brown bounty fell around her shoulders. His hands ran through it and held her face so that he could look into her eyes. They had gone wide with surprise.
Maggie blinked. The surprise was replaced by expectancy, desire and welcome. She shifted toward him, and that was enough of a silent offer.
He brought her lips to his, maneuvering until the perfect connection was found. The link he’d been missing. The one he’d been so desperate to find again over the past long weeks. Maggie gave herself and he gratefully accepted, his tongue mating with hers. A gentle sound of pleasure came from her as she pressed closer. Small fingers crept over his chest in a kneading motion until they clenched about his neck.
Knocking on the door vaguely caught Court’s attention but his focus remained on the wet, welcoming lips beneath his.
The knock became a banging against the thin wood. “Mommy Maggie, Mommy Maggie.”
Court knew that voice. He’d missed the kid too.
Mommy Maggie suited her. She mothered everyone. Always tried to make everything right. She was what made his world right.
Maggie stepped away, put a finger to Court’s lips and smiled. She called to Neetie, “Just a minute, honey. I’ve got a surprise for you.”
Court smiled down at her and let her pull him away from the door. She searched for her hair band and found it on the floor. Flipping her head over, she retied her hair. “It’s not because I have to put my hair in order.”
He looked at her as if he didn’t believe her.
“I’ve gotten better about letting it be messy. I don’t want people asking questions about what we’ve been doing because my hair is down,” she whispered.
“I wouldn’t care.”
“I’m sure you wouldn’t.” She pulled open the door. “Look who’s here.”