‘That’s sad.’
‘Terribly.’ This was getting too glum, and for now she wanted to take a break from being down and angry and hurt. Nudging Cole in the arm, she said quietly, ‘He had a good team on his side.’ She held her hand up in the high five gesture, and felt happy when Cole’s hand touched hers. Warm and strong. Lifting her spirits, reminding her not everything had gone bad in her life. Here she was, with Cole, tending to someone in trouble. Nursing satisfied a lot of her need to help others. Caring for Bill alongside Cole had been even better. They’d understood what each should do without hesitation. As they used to with most things.
‘Not bad at all considering we’ve never worked together before today.’ His smile was slow and filled with tenderness. The smile that had always made her feel special.
And, surprisingly, it still did. Butterflies beat behind her ribs. They might make this work. If they could get through the next two days without too many disagreements. ‘First time for everything.’ She returned his smile, not quite sure if she was referring to working together or something deeper.
Turning onto the path leading to the house, she said, ‘Just because we’ve been along the road don’t think you’re getting out of cooking the steak.’
‘I wouldn’t dare. Anyway, I’m not letting you near it. I like mine rare.’
‘You still not letting me forget the first meal I ever cooked for you?’ It had been a disaster. She’d been so nervous, not wanting anything to go wrong, so of course the steak had been overcooked. Not to mention the onions and mushrooms. Inedible would be a kind description.
‘Hell, no. I’ve had a lot of mileage out of that night.’
‘True.’ Unlocking the front door, she turned to him gleefully. ‘Of course there were the daffodils you sent me at work.’
He held his hands up. ‘Okay, we’re even.’
She headed for the kitchen and a bottle of water. ‘Plastic flowers last a lot longer than the real thing, but don’t quite have the scent or happiness about them.’ He’d ordered them online while he’d been away, thinking he was in touch with a Sydney florist, when it had been a Chinese warehouse and the box had taken ten days to arrive.
‘You couldn’t have kept real flowers to rub my face in for all this time, though. Still got them?’ he asked, then stopped.
She admitted, ‘Yes, I have.’ She didn’t want to get into talk about having packed up all her possessions from their apartment and bringing them with her to Cairns, leaving his gear and some photos behind. For the moment they were getting along and she’d like to keep it that way for a while longer.
‘I didn’t keep the steak.’
‘Benji enjoyed it.’
Another touchy subject. He hadn’t been around when she’d had to make the decision to put the dog down. Of course Cole couldn’t have changed the outcome of the accident that had put Benji under the vet’s care, but sharing the anguish of telling the woman to do the right thing quickly and painlessly might’ve been some comfort. The day she’d collected Benji’s ashes she’d broken down, cried for hours, missing Cole so much her heart had ached for days.
They’d scattered the ashes together the next time he’d been in Sydney, sneaking out to their pet’s favourite park at night so as not to get caught. Holding hands as they’d said goodbye had been some consolation, though the anguish of making the decision about Benji on her own had haunted her for some time.
She still missed the mutt. Might be time to get another one as part of moving forward. Her stomach tightened. Suddenly, she felt overwhelmed with a need to make the most of being together, to remember how easy it could be between them. Lately all she’d thought about was how they didn’t get on any more.
‘I’m getting out of these wet clothes and bringing the lanterns into the kitchen in case we do have a power outage.’
‘I’ll put the drugs back in the cabinet before I change. Want me to top up the bag as well?’
‘Definitely. Not that we used much out of it.’
‘Water or beer?’ Vicki asked Cole when he returned later.
‘Water.’ He paused in front of the TV she’d turned on. ‘The road’s flooded north of here.’
‘Nothing unusual in that. It happens every time there’s a rainstorm. The council’s geared up for it, but it does mean Port Douglas is cut off. The internal road to Cook Town is closed too.’ She handed over a bottle of icy water as she watched the extent of the flooding being shown on the screen. ‘They’re saying the rainfall is heavier than usual for a monsoon. Bill might’ve been lucky the helicopter got here.’
Cole shook his head. ‘No, even the smaller machines can fly through quite a lot. The deluge out there wouldn’t stop them, only lack of visibility might have been an issue, but they did fine.’
‘You’d have seen a lot of that overseas.’
‘I did. Flew in a few too. Large suckers.’ A pensive look came over his face. ‘The last flight was when I was flown to the local hospital. Didn’t see a lot on that one.’
‘Were you conscious by then?’
‘Yes, though not totally au fait with what was happening. The medic had filled me with enough painkiller to drop a horse. Or so it felt. I wasn’t used to being pumped full of morphine.’
‘Bet you are now.’ She tipped water down her throat, and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. If only she’d known. Yes, Cole, you owed me that much. ‘You still get pain in that leg.’
‘It’s a bit shorter than it used to be. The fractures have healed but there’re residual aches and pains, especially when I overdo things. It’ll eventually quieten down. Or so I’ve told patients in the past. Guess I’ll find out how correct my notes from training days really were.’ Cole’s tight smile went straight to her heart.
He’d have been determined to get back up and running in as short a time as possible once he’d known his legs would work. Damn it. He could’ve been a paraplegic. Yes, and she’d still have loved him. Straightening her shoulders, she refused to let his smile or his near miss with paralysis knock aside her resolve to fight for what was important to her, and thereby to them both.
‘You want a salad with that or shall we have steak sandwiches? I bought some fresh buns today. There’s chilli jam in the pantry,’ she added, no longer in the mood for making a salad or cooking vegetables. Sleepless nights tossing and turning while thinking about Cole and this weekend were catching up.
‘You’ve got me. Buns and jam it is. I’ll turn on the barbecue. I’m starving.’
‘It’s getting late, for sure.’ Where had the time gone? The landline rang. ‘I hope that’s not another accident.’ Vicki picked up the phone. ‘Hello?’
‘Hi, darling. We’ve been watching the news and wondering if everything’s all right at the house.’
‘Hi, Dad. No problems here.’ She hurried to put his concerns to rest. ‘Lots of water, but no flooding around Palm Beach.’
‘That’s good. How’s everything else? Cole make it?’
‘Yes, just in time as the airport closed not long after.’ She needed to divert her father before he came up with questions she had no answers for. ‘We got called to help Bill. He’d gone up his ladder to clean the guttering and fell off. Did himself a lot of damage and had to be flown to hospital. He was lucky in that respect as the ambulances are in high demand right now, and it’s taking them time to get anywhere.’
‘That’s not good. I hope he’s going to be all right.’
‘He was unconscious, has a few fractures.’ Again she changed the subject. ‘You still in Broome?’
‘Yes, moving south tomorrow. I hope you gave Cole the key to the drugs cabinet.’
‘Of course I did.’ Why wouldn’t she? ‘It’s handy having everything here. There might be more calls before this is over. The rain’s not expected to ease till tomorrow at least.’
‘Can you put him
on?’
‘Dad,’ she warned, alarms bells ringing in her head. Her family loved her and would do anything to keep her happy, including interfering with her marriage if they believed they had the answers to solve her problems.
‘I’m not going to tell him how to behave or to be careful what he says to my daughter. You’re big enough and tough enough to do that yourself. This is about the medications in that cabinet.’
Relief sank in. Her dad was always ready to stick up for her, and while it was great to have her family at her back, she really did not want any interference this weekend. ‘Thanks. Please mean that. I’ve got this.’
‘You know what you want more than any of us, my girl. Just sort it sooner than later, all right?’
‘I’m doing my best.’
‘Vicki,’ Dad growled lightly. ‘I’ve learned my lesson after seeing how your mother held herself back for all of us, especially me. I don’t want the same for you.’