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Pippa opened her eyes the next morning and sat up groggily. For a moment, she wondered why she was still fully dressed and sleeping on the sofa. Then it all came rushing back to her.
Sparky!
She sprang up and glanced at the wall clock. It was nearly eight-thirty. Nobody had rung her in the night... did that mean that Sparky had pulled through? She wanted to run across the road right away but she forced herself to at least go into the bathroom, splash some hot water on her face, and clean her teeth, before making her way over to the animal hospital.
The front door was locked again—it was Sunday and the clinic wasn’t officially open—but when she rapped on the door, it was quickly opened by Jenn.
“How is she?” Pippa asked immediately.
Jenn’s face creased into a big smile. “She’s doing well. I think she’s going to make it.”
“Oh!” Pippa felt tears pricking her eyes and blinked them away, embarrassed. “Can I see her?”
“Come on in.” Jenn shut the door behind her.
Pippa followed her eagerly to the ICU ward at the back of the hospital. Sparky was in a large cage and, for a moment, Pippa’s heart lurched at the sight of the small, furry body huddled in the middle of the blankets. Then she saw that Sparky’s eyes were open and that the little tabby was lifting her head and looking around.
“Mew...” Sparky cried weakly when she saw Pippa.
“Oh, Sparky!” Pippa rushed across to the cage and unlatched the door. Gently, she put her hand in and stroked the kitten—and heard her start to purr. Pippa felt tears pricking her eyes again and was glad her back was to Jenn and the rest of the room.
After a moment, she managed to regain her composure and turned around. “She looks so much better.”
Jenn nodded and smiled. “Dr Pearson—Matt—came in to see her earlier and he says she’s a little fighter. She’s recovered so much better and faster than we’d hoped.”
“So he doesn’t think there are any internal injuries?”
“It doesn’t look like it. Her blood tests came back normal—other than the elevated levels of potassium—and she seems otherwise fine. If she had a ruptured organ or something, she wouldn’t be so bright.”
Pippa looked back at the kitten. Sparky still seemed slightly dazed and very weak, but her eyes were definitely brighter and her breathing wasn’t so laboured. “How long will she have to stay in hospital?”
“Probably a few days. I’m not completely certain—but Matt will tell you all that. I’m sure he’ll speak to you later,” said Jenn. She was looking bright-eyed and professional in her scrubs, making Pippa suddenly feel very self-conscious of her messy hair and rumpled clothes.
“How do you manage to look so fresh and neat after spending a whole night here?” Pippa marvelled.
Jenn laughed. “Oh, I’m used to it. We offer round-the-clock nursing for any serious cases, as part of the hospital’s services, and so we often do these night shifts. Craig’s set up a room for us to sleep in and there’s a shower—it’s really very comfortable.”
“Mm-hmm...” Pippa said, suddenly thinking longingly of a hot shower herself. Now that Sparky seemed to be on the road to recovery, she felt like she could relax a bit. “I think I’ll pop back to my place and have a shower, get changed...”
“Oh, sure. Take your time,” said Jenn. “Matt’s organised for one of the other vet nurses to come in and relieve me, so if I’m not here when you get back, she’ll show you in.”
“Thanks.” Pippa gave her a grateful smile. She turned back to the cage and stroked Sparky one more time, then withdrew her hand and latched the door shut. Giving Jenn a wave, she headed back to the front of the hospital and let herself out of the front door. She nearly collided with someone coming up the front steps.
It was Matt.
“Hi.”
Suddenly, Pippa felt horribly self-conscious again and cringed to think what she must look like in the bright morning sun with no make-up, crazy bed hair, and dishevelled clothes. Matt, meanwhile, looked like he had stepped out of the pages of GQ magazine, with his navy polo shirt matched with beige chinos and leather loafers. His dark brown hair curled thickly across his forehead and he was freshly shaven—she could smell the faint citrus scent of his aftershave.
“Hi...” She looked down. “I’ve... uh... I’ve just been in to see Sparky.”
“I came in to see her earlier. She’s making an amazing recovery.”
“Yes.” Pippa smiled. “I can’t believe it. I really thought I was going to lose her.”
“She’ll have to be monitored for a few more days but you should be able to take her home by the end of next week.”
“That’s great.” Pippa looked at the ground again. “Um... I also wanted to say thank you for last night. It was really nice of you to leave your guest and come in. I’m sorry for spoiling your romantic dinner though—” She broke off and bit her lip.
Matt gave her an unreadable look. “Why did you think it would be romantic?”
Pippa finally raised her head and met his eyes properly. “Megan told me. About Justine coming to visit you this weekend. And how she thought you guys were getting back together.”
He stiffened.
“She also said...” Pippa swallowed painfully. “She also said that she saw you showing Craig a diamond engagement ring. She thought you were going to propose to Justine this weekend.”
“That’s not true,” said Matt harshly. “Justine... Well, yes, she did come to visit and she wanted to see me. But there was nothing special—”
“Why didn’t you tell me about her then?” asked Pippa.
Matt shrugged. “I don’t know. It was stupid, I guess. I just thought it would complicate things. And you sounded so down when I spoke to you on Friday night—I didn’t want to add anything else that might upset you.”
“Why should Justine’s visit upset me?” demanded Pippa. “Unless it meant something special to you.” She tilted her head and looked at him. “Do you still feel anything for her?”
“No. I mean, yes, of course I still care about her but...” He gave a rueful smile. “The whole time during this so-called romantic dinner with her... I was thinking about you,” he said softly.
Pippa caught her breath.
“And the thing with the ring... yes, I was showing Craig a diamond engagement ring. It’s actually my mother’s—it’s a family heirloom.” Matt smiled at her. “But it wasn’t for my proposal—it was for his. Craig is planning to ask Sara to marry him and he likes the idea of an antique-style diamond ring. I mentioned my mother’s ring to him last week and he was really keen to see it, so I brought it in to show him yesterday. Megan probably overheard us but completely misinterpreted everything.” He shook his head. “A good reason why you shouldn’t listen to gossip.”
Pippa’s temper flared. “I wouldn’t have to if you told me about Justine in the first place! I still don’t understand why you couldn’t have just told me she was coming from the beginning. The fact that you didn’t makes it look like you had something to hide.”
Matt’s eyes flashed with annoyance. “I wasn’t hiding anything. I told you—I just thought it made things more complicated. I figured that the less I made a big deal of it, the less of a big deal it would become. I even talked it over with Craig and he agreed with me. He said it was best to keep things simple because women tend to jump to the wrong conclusions and get worked up over nothing.”
Pippa felt her blood pressure rise even further. “That is such a typically stupid male attitude! And this was not ‘nothing’!”
“Besides, you were already sounding so down, I didn’t feel like it was a good time to mention that my ex-girlfriend was coming for a visit,” Matt added quickly. He looked slightly disgruntled. “I thought I was doing a nice thing.”
“Well, it was a stupid thing,” Pippa snapped. Suddenly the last twenty-four hours—the terror and panic over Sparky, the lack of sleep, the despair over Matt’s betrayal—all came together like a volcano erupting. Pippa felt her blood boil. “And you know what, Matt? I’m tired of being jerked around.”
Matt’s eyebrows came together. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about you! Blowing hot and cold—and jerking me around. First those drinks at the Laughing Kookaburra—and then avoiding me for days. Then the trip to the Hunter Valley and kissing me and... and... making me feel like you cared about me—and then being all weird and distant on the phone and not telling me about Justine.”
Matt frowned. “I wasn’t weird and distant—”
“Yes, you were!” Pippa insisted. “How do I know now that you won’t suddenly go all cold again on me again next week? I feel like I can’t trust where I am with you.” She took a deep breath. “I’d been agonising over this decision all week—but it’s not such a dilemma anymore. I was going to tell you about it this weekend—if we had managed to meet up—but I might as well tell you now. I’m thinking of moving to Sydney.”
Matt stared at her. “Sydney?”
“Yes.” Pippa raised her chin defiantly. “I’ve run out of job options here. But I would have lots of opportunities in Sydney. It seems stupid of me not to go. I was delaying the decision because I really didn’t want to leave Summer Beach and because of... you. I thought we had something special—something worth staying for. But I’m not sure now.” She took a step back from him. “I think this whole thing between us was a mistake. Maybe I was feeling a bit lonely and emotional—and you were on the rebound. I don’t know. But I think it’s best if we just forget it ever happened.”
Pushing past him, Pippa ran down the rest of the front steps and across the street, back to her house. She could feel Matt’s eyes on her the whole way but she forced herself not to turn her head, not to look back. A part of her was hurting even more than yesterday when she had thought that Matt had betrayed her, but she ignored it. Short pain for longer gain, she told herself fiercely as she shut the door behind her. The best thing for her now was to leave Summer Beach and forget all about Dr Matt Pearson.
