Charlie smiled across at Vicki. ‘Being a mother doesn’t get any easier, does it? Every time I think I’m making headway with Aimee she tosses up something different for me to deal with.’ So far health issues hadn’t been a problem, but she crossed her fingers anyway. ‘She’s started climbing everything in sight.’ Which wasn’t good when there was a road outside the front gate.
‘I know exactly what you mean. It’s like a minefield. I thought that once Josh was old enough to go to school he wouldn’t be having any problems. Shows how much I know.’ Vicki ran her hand lovingly over her son’s head.
Charlie turned to the boy. ‘Josh, where were you playing yesterday?’
‘Dad took us to the river for a swim.’ Scratch, scratch. ‘I saw an eel and my sister cried when she slipped on the rocks.’ He grinned, with no sympathy for little Karla whatsoever.
‘No sand flies? Bees? Wasps?’ When the boy shook his head she continued, ‘I’ll arrange for an allergy test to be done by one of our nurses. It will take about an hour. And I’ll give you some cream to take the itch and heat out of those bumps.’
Josh asked, ‘Can Gemma do it? I like her best.’
‘I’m sure she can.’
Vicki and Josh disappeared back to Reception to make an appointment with Gemma.
Charlie went in search of her next patient and bumped into her father in the hall. ‘Why are you here so early?’
His eyes lit up. ‘I’ve been replaced at home. My breakfast was waiting when I came out of my room. Aimee was in her highchair, firing pieces of toast around the kitchen and quite happy to be waited on by Marshall, who looked as though being out on a recce with his troop would be a whole lot easier than dealing with an eighteen-month-old.’
She chuckled. ‘Wish I’d been a fly on the wall.’
‘Can’t you at least pretend to feel sorry for him?’
Pressing her lips together, she shook her head. ‘Nope. It’s good for him.’
‘You’re a hard woman, Charlotte Lang.’
‘Wonder where I learned that?’ She walked into the waiting room and looked around the patients. ‘Kathy, come on through.’
By eleven Charlie was more than ready for a coffee and biscuit. As her previous patient disappeared Gemma stepped through the door, her eyes wide and bulging.
‘I thought the Greeks had it sussed when it came to male gods. But I’m telling you, there’s a hunk out in Reception, holding Aimee, who puts all those statues to shame.’
And that’s with his clothes on. Charlie’s stomach tightened as she smiled. ‘Am I right in thinking he might be about six-three, broad shoulders tapering down to slim hips, buzz-cut hairstyle and a face to get lost in?’
‘That’s the one. Aimee’s plastered all over him as though she’s never going to let him go.’
Charlie’s smile slipped. That could be a problem. ‘I’d better go and rescue her. Or should that be him?’
Gemma laughed. ‘Charlie, you’ve been hiding out on me. I know you said Aimee’s dad was one of a kind, but I never got an inkling just how wow he really is.’
‘Dribbling doesn’t suit you.’ Running a hand over her hair, she slipped around her desk, excitement fizzing along her veins. It hadn’t been three hours since she’d last seen Marshall but it was impossible to deny the need crawling through her. To see him, kiss him, touch him. Oops. Hold on. She was at work.
‘Hey, did Marshall come right out and say he was Aimee’s father? To everyone?’
Gemma stood blocking the doorway, a wide smile on her face. ‘Yes, he did. Looked quite pleased with himself, too. He’s gone through to the kitchen with Brendon to meet everyone. Your man seems to be getting on well with your dad.’
Her man? If only. ‘They do get on, but I think Dad’s working on buttering him up for a long-term plan that will work for both Aimee and me.’
‘Sounds like Brendon, always thinking ahead.’
‘That reminds me. Dad thinks you’re pretty good, too. I just wanted to say if you’re interested in getting close to him, go for it. I heartily approve.’ Good-natured, sweethearted, happy-go-lucky Gemma would be perfect for Dad.
Gemma. Someone she owed so much to. She’d spent hours sitting with her as she’d puked her stomach dry after rounds of chemo. It was Gemma who’d gone shopping for wigs with her, and had laughed until she’d cried when a wig had got whipped off her head as she’d ducked under a low-hanging branch one day. Gemma had held her hand and listened to all her fears for Aimee and Dad. Gemma, fifteen years older than her and yet the best friend she’d ever had.
Gemma’s hug enveloped her. ‘Didn’t think you’d mind. Now, go and claim that hunk out in the kitchen before one of the other females in this building hustles him away.’
CHAPTER EIGHT
EARLY TUESDAY MORNING Charlie got dressed in her running gear. ‘I can’t believe how much my muscles ache,’ she grumbled as she jogged beside Marshall. ‘It’s going to take weeks to get fit.’
‘Toughen up.’ He nudged her gently and when she flipped her head up he was grinning at her.
‘Easy for you to say.’ She glanced at his long legs, which were eating up the metres no problem at all. One stride of his equalled almost two of hers. ‘I’ve got an idea. Tomorrow I’ll ride my bike while you run. Then we’ll see who’s fastest.’
His laughter made her happy and caused him to lose his breathing pattern. She laughed in return when he had to stop to sort his lungs out and she got a little way ahead. Not for long, though.
‘Going my way?’ He waved as he raced past.
Her lungs were hurting and her legs protesting. Wishing she could take up the challenge, she wheezed out, ‘I’m heading home. See you later.’
He turned and ran backwards for a moment. ‘I’ll bring lunch in to work.’
‘We’ll go down to the lake.’
*
A little after midday Charlie swallowed a mouthful of panini filled with salad and chicken and asked Marshall, ‘What did you find to talk about to the other doctors all afternoon yesterday?’
‘Medical stuff. You’d be surprised what other doctors want to know about the
trauma cases I deal with out in the field.’ Marshall chewed a blade of grass and gazed out over the sparkling wavelets the light breeze was churning up on the lake. ‘I don’t give a lot of detail but I guess it seems exciting compared to the routine of a clinic. What they don’t get is that there are days I’d happily swap places. At least most of your patients won’t have lost a limb or have holes blasted in their torsos by random gunfire.’
Charlie put her food aside, suddenly not hungry. ‘How do you deal with that all the time?’ Marshall rarely talked about his medical duties.
‘I try to think about the guys I’m helping and put the rest aside.’
‘Like that works.’ Disappointment at being fobbed off grabbed at her. He’d finally said something personal and then backed away the moment she’d picked up on it.
He turned a grim face to her. ‘Not a bit.’
She gasped at the raw pain in his eyes. ‘Marshall?’ she whispered, as she wrapped her hand around his much larger one. Small tremors shook him. His skin felt clammy and cold. His chest rose and fell on short breaths.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ he croaked.
‘Yeah, it does.’ She looked around at Aimee, playing happily with the stones at the edge of the bank. ‘Tell me,’ she said.
His hand turned to cover hers, his grip intense. ‘You remember Rod? My best buddy?’ When she nodded he continued in a low voice, ‘Two months after we left Hawaii we were in Afghanistan.’ His Adam’s apple bobbed. ‘A plane carrying half my troop crashed at the end of the runway. Rod didn’t make it. I tried everything I could to save him. Finally put him on the casualty flight out to Germany. I never saw him again.’