Sasha swallowed her annoyance. ‘Mum, did you hear me? Lucy and Sam crashed their truck last night. They’re in hospital.’
Finally Mum’s attention flipped to her. ‘What? That’s terrible. How badly hurt are they? I’ll go over and see to the chooks and dogs.’
‘Leave it, Mum. I’ll see to that after work.’
She got a glare for an answer.
‘Mr and Mrs Donovan will be in hospital for a few days,’ Grady informed them. ‘Mike says their injuries are not serious.’
Repeating herself, Sasha said, ‘I’ll ring the other carriers and see if we can get the citrus cases picked up from your shed. Otherwise I’ll load them after work and take them into the depot.’ The fruit needed to be at the market early tomorrow morning. ‘But right now I’m late for work. See you later.’
Putting the vehicle in gear, she slowly drove away. Mum looked more tired than usual this morning. Thank goodness Dad was nearly home. He’d be able to do some of those jobs Mum insisted she was still capable of doing. Like driving into the township for supplies. Like loading heavy cases onto the ute and delivering them to the depot. Which was definitely her job whenever Mum would listen.
She hated this illness; hated the thought Mum would slowly lose the ability to do all the things she loved doing. Mothers weren’t meant to get ill. They were meant to be there for ever. Well, I’m going to be here for ever, watching, helping, looking after her. Doing everything possible to make life easier for her.
She’d ring Mum later and see if she needed anything picked up. Grady was in for a shock tomorrow night. By the end of the day her mother didn’t always have the strength for cooking so they could very well get heat and eat on a foil plate. Nothing like the wonderful home-cooked meals Mum used to be famous for in Takaka.
Deep in thought, she hadn’t noticed the silence in the cab until Grady broke it with, ‘You’re annoyed I accepted your mother’s invitation.’
Was she? Probably. Seemed he was getting into her space too much, too quickly. ‘A little. But I’ll get over it.’ Please.
‘I can beg off if you want me to.’
‘Leave it, Grady. Mum would be disappointed. Just…’ How did she explain without explaining?
‘Sasha? Is everything okay? You and the baby are doing fine, aren’t you?’ Talk about a left-field question. How did he go from discussing her mother to asking about her baby? His concern could be her undoing. If she let it.
Her lips pressed together and her eyes blurred as hurt for Mum gripped her. Blinking furiously, she focused on the road in front, thankful for the lack of traffic at this time of year. Shaking her head from side to side, she managed, ‘Everything’s hunky-dory. But it can be a little out of whack at times so be prepared for anything tomorrow.’
And that was all he was getting. The ache in the back of her throat grew but at least her vision cleared. She could feel Grady watching her closely. There’d be questions in those beautiful eyes that always saw too much. She would not look at him. There was plenty of time later if she wanted to talk to him about the disease devastating her family. And whether she did or didn’t depended on lots of things, but mainly on how well they got along over the next few days.
Grady had skin thicker than the steers she could see in the paddock alongside the road. ‘What’s this about you loading the boxes of lemons? You can’t do that in your condition.’
Condition? Like I’m sick or something. ‘Trust me. I won’t do anything that could hurt my baby.’
‘I believe you, but do you recognise when you’re doing too much? I remember those boxes. They weren’t light. You should leave the job to someone else.’
Like who? ‘When did you turn so bossy?’
‘I had two teenage sisters to deal with. They never made anything easy for me. I probably didn’t make it easy for them either, trying to fill Dad’s shoes and be the man about the place. I wasn’t ready for that job.’
‘It must’ve been hell for you all.’ She relaxed, tossed him a smile. ‘But go, them. Where are they these days?’
‘They’re both in London with Ma and her husband. Collete’s a lawyer and Eve’s a gym instructor.’
‘Your mother remarried?’
‘Yes, two years after Dad died.’ His tone quietened, deepened.
‘That didn’t make you happy?’
‘I’m fine with it. Carrington’s a good man and Ma’s blissfully happy. She’s not the kind of woman who can live on her own for long. She doesn’t cope well with finances and making sure the insurance or rates are paid.’ His turn to stare out the window at the passing paddocks. ‘That took me a while to realise and when I did she’d made some bad calls with money. She wouldn’t let me take total control so we agreed to sell the trucking business and invest the money to give her a monthly payment. It worked, sort of. Then along came Carrington and he took care of them all.’
‘Leaving you free to get on with your medical training.’
‘I took the remaining six months of that year off, went north to pick fruit, tried my hand on a commercial fishing trawler, pulled beers in a pub. Generally let loose for a while, knowing that once I started at med school there’d be no let-up for a long time.’
‘Makes sense.’ While Grady was okay with talking about himself she’d absorb every detail going. It was getting harder by the minute to keep him at arm’s length. She craved information about him, what he’d done, where he’d lived, who he loved.
Who Grady loved? Did he have a partner? Was she in Auckland, working while he dealt with this pesky little issue of a house out in the back of nowhere? Her heart rate picked up speed. What did any of that matter? She wasn’t getting back with the guy and she’d be the last person to wish him anything but happiness.
With relief she pulled into the car park at the back of the medical centre. At least there’d be more air in the centre, fresh air that didn’t hold that spicy scent that was Grady, and she wouldn’t starve for oxygen because he’d sucked it all up.
‘There you go. Delivered safe and sound.’ Wasn’t that what Jessica would say when she put Flipper in her arms? Giving Grady a ride had seemed almost as traumatic, though not as painful.
‘So uneventful I thought I was dreaming.’ A hint of laughter in his voice had her head spinning round. He added, ‘I don’t remember a single time you ever drove or flew me anywhere that was downright steady and safe.’
Yeah, she’d been a little on the wild side then, had got worse after their bust-up. ‘That was before Flipper.’ Long, long before. Recently life had become so sedate she bored herself.
‘Flipper?’ His mouth twitched into a heart-wrenching smile.
‘Baby. Commonly known as Flipper for her swimming antics that feel like what I’ve seen the dolphins doing out in the bay, rising and falling through the water.’
‘Her? So you’re having a girl.’ His smile died, his gaze turned wistful. ‘A little Sasha.’
Why wistful? This was her, the woman he’d professed not to love, at least not enough to hang around with for the rest of his life. ‘Yep, a little me. Guess I’m in for payback time for all the worry I put my parents through. Dad keeps warning me I’ll have heart failure every time she moves, wondering what antics she’ll get up to and if she’ll be safe.’
‘Ian encouraged you to do those things. It was your mother who had the heart failure.’ Thank goodness the laughter had returned to his voice. She didn’t like Grady being sad. It didn’t fit her memories, the ones that had escaped the box overnight.
He’d always been full of fun and laughter, teasing, happy. Ping. Another memory. The day his father had dropped dead on the golf course. Grady had never been Grady afterwards. The shock had knocked him and his mother and two much younger sisters to their knees. Mr O’Neil’s passing had been completely unexpected. He hadn’t had a sick day in all his adult life. Never been to a doctor. Hadn’t swallowed pills for anything. A big, solid man, who’d adored his family, worked hard and given generously. Di
ed at forty-four of a massive coronary while swinging an iron at a golf ball.
When Sasha had heard the appalling news she’d gone home and hugged her dad hard and long. It had been impossible to imagine what losing a parent would be like, but she’d known how much she’d loved Mum and Dad and had never stopped telling and showing them ever since.
That day had been the beginning of the changes that had overtaken her and Grady’s lives. What if she’d been too impatient with him? Selfish in her own wants, not hearing beyond what he’d actually said? She’d moved on, trained as a nurse, done pretty much anything and everything she’d wanted, and now was preparing for a new challenge—becoming a mum. But what if she’d failed Grady? Was that why men left her? Because she didn’t stack up when the chips were down?
The sound of a car door slamming broke into her reverie and reminded her she was already late. At least Mike wasn’t here to give her a hard time about that, and Roz might just be more relaxed and prepared to give her a chance after last night’s events. ‘Better get cracking. Monday mornings are hectic, without fail.’
She didn’t wait for Grady but headed straight inside, anxious to put some space between them. Until last night she hadn’t considered if bringing up Flipper alone was wrong. Sure, all kids needed two parents, and that was on a good day, but those who only got one seemed to do okay. Until Grady’s reappearance she hadn’t worried too much about that.
CHAPTER FOUR
‘HEY, YOU DIDN’T call me.’ Jessica looked up from her desk in the nurses’ office as Sasha slipped inside and opened her locker.
‘Get growled at for waking you at two in the morning? I don’t live that dangerously. Any more,’ she added under her breath.
Jessica fixed her with a compassionate look. ‘Sasha, I want to warn you…’ She hesitated.