Laurie sat on the wooden settle in the hall, holding out her hand. Maura took her glasses from her handbag, looking at it carefully and then flexing her wrist.
‘You’ve got a nasty graze there, but your wrist seems okay.’ Maura was gently applying pressure in all the right places, and Laurie managed to smile.
‘None of that hurts. I haven’t broken anything.’
Maura gave a wry laugh. ‘I dare say you could have told me if you had, I gather you’re a doctor yourself. Although sometimes the shock of a fall masks injuries.’
‘That’s just what I’d be saying to you, if the boot were on the other foot.’ Laurie couldn’t help liking Maura. Her manner was a lot like Ross’s, but she didn’t have the annoying habit of questioning every answer that Laurie gave.
‘Did you bang your head?’
‘No. I landed with my arms up around it.’
Maura nodded. ‘Good instincts. Come with me, and I’ll make you a cup of tea and find a pair of tweezers to get those pieces of gravel out of your hand.’
Laurie was just searching for a way to refuse the offer when a dark shadow appeared in the doorway. ‘Mum?’
Maura’s face lit up at the sound of his voice. ‘Ross, darling. I didn’t need you to help me after all. Laurie came to the rescue with the bags. But she’s taken a bit of a tumble...’
Laurie swallowed hard. Maura was obviously bent on salvaging what little pride Laurie had left, but from the look on his face, Ross wasn’t buying it.
‘Are you all right?’
‘Yes. Fine.’ Laurie tried to keep the curtness out of her tone. ‘Really, I’m all right. Three doctors for one grazed hand is overkill.’
Ross was shaking his head, but Maura chuckled. ‘I suppose so. It doesn’t do to fight over a graze. Ross, carry my bag through, will you?’
He picked up the bag with irritating ease, his gaze still on Laurie as she got to her feet. Maura held out her arm in an indication that Laurie should accompany them through to her apartment.
‘I’m sure you have lots to talk about. I’m going to leave you to it.’ She shot a pleading look at Maura. ‘Really, I’d rather see to myself.’
Maura’s gaze searched her face for a moment. ‘All right. I’ll call in later to see how you are, and if you need anything, you know where I am.’
‘Thanks. I really appreciate it.’
Maura nodded, turning to follow Ross, who had already disappeared towards her front door with the suitcase. Laurie breathed a sigh of relief. Maura would keep Ross busy for a while, and by that time she’d be back in the guest apartment with the door closed behind her.
Some hope. Her hands were still shaking from the fall, and as she willed the key into the apartment door, she heard footsteps behind her.
‘I reckon if you really were all right, you could have managed a quicker getaway.’
Laurie closed her eyes. Apparently it was far too much to hope that Ross would stay out of this.
‘It’s not a getaway, Ross. And I am all right. How many times do I have to say it?’ She didn’t turn to face him.
‘A tip for next time. The less you say it the more believable it sounds. Getting up and walking away doesn’t make you all right either.’
She tried to choke it back, but the blind anger swamped all reason. ‘Get off my case, Ross. I’m not your patient any more.’
‘No, you’re not. I’m sorry that you don’t give me enough credit to expect I might show a little concern for anyone who fell all the way down the front steps.’ He spoke quietly, but when Laurie turned she saw a pulse beating at the side of his jaw.
‘I didn’t fall all—’
His gesture of exasperation silenced her. ‘The case was at the top, and you have gravel in your hand. It doesn’t take a genius to work that one out, Laurie.’
‘I fell down, I got up. What more do you want from me?’ Suddenly her father’s demands seemed a lot less complicated. All he’d wanted was that she get up again when she fell. Ross wanted much, much more than that, and giving it went against everything she’d been taught.
He wouldn’t push his way into the apartment, that much she knew, and shutting the door on him would end this conversation. Laurie turned, groaning as pain shot through her hip and the keys jangled onto the floor.