THE cigarette was ground out in the gravel of Ocean View hospital’s car park with an angry gesture and the pretty blonde woman sighed heavily as she climbed into the black Jeep.
‘I’ve just wasted my money, haven’t I? On those nicotine patches?’
‘Consider it an investment.’ Luke smiled. ‘They’ll keep.’
Maree Winsome sighed again. ‘I’m hopeless, aren’t I? My brother is dying of lung cancer and I can’t give up smoking.’
‘Kev’s cancer has nothing to do with cigarettes. You know he’s never smoked in his life. The pancreas was the site of the primary tumour. It’s just spread to his lungs.’
‘I know. It’s so bloody unfair. It should be me.’
‘Don’t be daft. Life is often very unfair. We both know that.’
Maree broke the silence after Luke started the vehicle and moved off. ‘This is really hard on you, too, isn’t it? You and Kev have always been so close.’
‘We’ve been best mates since we met at play centre when we were about three. The terrible duo, they used to call us.’
Maree smiled. ‘I used to get so jealous of Jodie because she got to hang out with you guys. Did you know I had a huge crush on you when I was, like, twelve or thirteen?’
‘No kidding? No, I never knew that.’ Luke grinned. ‘Does John know about this?’
‘Of course. I was well over it by the time I met him.’
‘How is John?’
‘He’s fine. A bit worried about me. He’s coming over for the weekend and he said he’s looking forward to catching up with you.’
‘I haven’t seen John since…’ Luke had to clear his throat. ‘Hell, I haven’t seen him since Jodie’s funeral—just before you guys moved to Sydney.’
‘And I met him at Jodie and Kev’s wedding.’ Maree’s smile was poignant. ‘Small world, isn’t it?’
‘It’s smaller when you come from a place like this.’ Luke headed uphill and turned into a tree-lined avenue.
‘I miss it sometimes,’ Maree said. ‘Part of it, anyway. Not that I’d want to live here again. I like the pace of city life too much.’
‘I used to think like that. I’d never have come back for more than a few days’ visit if Jodie hadn’t got sick. And then I kept coming back because I couldn’t stay away.’
‘And now you wouldn’t live anywhere else, huh?’
‘It’s home,’ Luke agreed simply.
Maree nodded. ‘I’d forgotten how much like an extended family a small community can be when you need support. Two of the neighbours turned up with casseroles last night and old Mr Donaghue from the end of the road came and mowed the lawns today without even being asked. And Mum would have no hope of coping with any of this if it wasn’t for your mum, Luke. She’s practically living at our house.’
Luke pulled up in front of the old villa that badly needed a coat of paint as she spoke. ‘That’s what best friends are for.’
‘She’s amazing. And it must be so hard. I know it’s been four years but it must be bringing back so many memories of Jodie. For all of you.’
‘The memories have always been there. Kev was never able to let go.’
Maree made no move to get out of the car. Her face was serious. ‘Do you think that’s made a difference, Luke? I mean, he hasn’t put up any kind of a fight, has he?’ She didn’t wait for a response. ‘It’s makes me so angry sometimes. What right has he got to just give up the will to live? Do his family and friends not count for anything?’
‘We count,’ Luke said gently. ‘But it isn’t our battle, love. All we can do is be here for him and help in any way he wants us to.’
‘Well, I don’t want to help him die.’ Fresh tears rolled down Maree’s cheeks and she wrenched the car door open and then slammed it shut behind her. She turned away from the house, however, reaching into her handbag for her packet of cigarettes. ‘You go on,’ she instructed Luke. ‘I need a few minutes to pull myself together.’
‘Want some company?’
‘You want to make me feel even guiltier by subjecting you to secondhand smoke?’ Maree managed a watery smile. ‘No. Go away, Luke. Kev’s been asking for you. You go and do the visiting thing.’
It was no surprise for Luke to find his own mother completely at home and busy in Joan Winsome’s kitchen but, then, this house had always been a second home for him. The two families had been linked long before Kevin and Luke had become inseparable friends. Luke’s father, Don, had been more than an honorary uncle to the Winsome children after Joan’s husband had died when Maree had been a baby.
The tragically brief marriage between Kevin and Luke’s twin sister, Jodie, had only deepened an already unbreakable bond, and Luke’s mother, Barbara, and Joan Winsome were closer than sisters. The twist of fate that was putting them through the unbearable pain of losing another young life was appallingly unfair but Luke knew they would get through this by leaning on each other.
They all would. There was simply no other choice.
The hug Luke gave his mother conveyed that message well enough for her to nod as she pulled away. And to smile.
‘Did Maree find you? She walked into the hospital to collect the morphine prescription.’
‘I gave her a ride home. She’s outside at the moment beating herself up over her smoking.’
Barbara sighed. ‘I’ll go and talk to her. She’s quite stressed enough right now, without putting herself through any more. She’s been feeling too sick to eat properly for days now.’
‘I know. It’s tough all round, isn’t it?’
‘I persuaded Joannie to lie down for a while. She got really upset when Kev decided to plan the music for his funeral.’
Luke groaned softly. ‘Oh, no!’
‘He’s been asking when you were coming. He’s got a list of CDs he wants to borrow. Said he can’t guarantee he’ll give them back, though.’
Luke was still shaking his head, smiling, as he went through to the sunroom at the closed-in end of the villa’s long verandah. That was so like his mate, to be making jokes to try and lighten such a bleak atmosphere. Jodie had died in her husband’s arms when she’d succumbed to the vicious form of leukaemia she had contracted, and Kevin swore she had been still smiling at the last joke he’d told her.
‘Hey, Kev.’ Luke sat down on one of the chairs beside the bed that the palliative care department of Ocean View had provided. The electronic adjustments could be varied enough to provide comfort and the soft cushioning of the inflatable mattress cover and the sheepskins was a bonus. ‘What’s all this I hear about the concert you’re planning?’
Eyes too large for a wasted face were fixed on Luke. ‘Is Mum still upset, then?’
‘I haven’t seen her. She’s asleep, I think. Anything I can get for you, buddy?’
‘Yeah. Your retro CD…that’s got Procul Harem… “Whiter Shade of Pale”?’ Kevin Winsome’s lung capacity was reduced enough now for him to need to catch his breath after every few words. ‘Nice and ghostly…huh?’
‘It’s no wonder your mum’s upset, mate. You just can’t stop stirring, can you?’
‘I’ll stop soon enough.’ Kevin smiled slowly. ‘And then you’ll…be sorry.’
‘Yeah.’ Luke couldn’t keep up the banter. Maybe Maree was right. Kevin was too accepting of all this. ‘What I meant was, did you need a drink or some more jungle juice or something? How’s the pain?’
Kevin’s hand movement was weak but still dismissive. ‘We’ve got better…things to talk…about. Can you…make a list…for me? Of songs?’
What had Luke just said to Maree? That all they could do was to help in any way Kevin wanted them to? ‘Sure thing,’ he said softly. He pulled out the notepad and pencil that he always kept in his shirt pocket. ‘Fire away,’ he instructed Kevin. ‘What’s first?’
‘That soppy one that…Jodie chose for our…wedding song.’
Luke’s gaze went to the most prominent photograph in the clutter of pictures lining the window-sill beside Kevin. His sister had been the happiest bride in the world, no question. Thank God none of them had known she would be diagnosed with a fatal illness within a year.
Kevin had followed Luke’s line of vision. ‘Gorgeous, isn’t she?’
Luke nodded, the lump in his throat precluding speech.
‘I could never…have found anyone…to take her place…you know.’
‘You two were soul mates, that’s for sure.’
‘Not many people…are that lucky.’ Kevin was tiring and had to catch his breath several times before he could speak again. Then he caught Luke’s gaze. ‘I’m not afraid…to die, mate…I’m kind of hoping…to see Jodie…again.’
Luke’s mouth twisted. ‘You’ll have to say hi from me, then. I miss her.’
‘You have to find…your soul mate…otherwise I’ll come back…and haunt you.’
‘I’m being haunted already, thanks. You remember that theatre nurse I was planning to marry? Beth Dawson?’
Kevin’s nod was painfully slow. ‘She’s the only one…who ever made you…think about getting…married.’
‘Well, she’s turned up here. Taken a job in the emergency department at Ocean View.’
‘Why?’
‘That’s what I’d like to know.’
‘Is she…married now?’
‘I don’t know. She’s not wearing any rings but she might just take them off for work.’
‘Ask her.’
‘I can’t do that. Can’t ask anyone else either. You know what hospital gossip is like. She might think I was interested in her again.’
‘You are.’
‘No way. She dumped me, remember?’
‘You didn’t try very hard…to fix things, mate.’
‘I wasn’t going to beg her to take me back, if that’s what you mean. There were plenty of others who wanted to play. Anyway, it’s all water under the bridge and I don’t want to go swimming in that particular river again. Neither does she.’
‘How do you…know that?’
‘I met her in the corridor this afternoon and she gave me a look that would have curdled milk. The woman still loathes me.’
‘Flip the coin.’
‘What?’
‘Hate’s just…the other side of…love, isn’t it?’
‘You’re getting a bit philosophical in your old age, aren’t you?’
‘May as well.’ Kevin was giving Luke a very intense look. ‘She still cares…You could find…a way to flip…the coin if…you wanted.’
‘Doubt it.’ Luke grinned. ‘Beth has her foot on that coin very firmly. I don’t think she has any intention of even speaking to me again.’
‘I have no intention of ever speaking to him again.’
‘You’ll have to at some point. You work in the same hospital.’
‘Maybe I won’t stay after all. I could learn to make cappuccinos, Neroli. Surely your sister could take on another waitress or something?’
‘You don’t want to do that.’
‘Why not? You’re having fun, aren’t you?’
‘I think the novelty’s starting to wear off.’A sigh echoed over the phone line. ‘I really miss nursing. I think I might have overreacted by chucking it in. I could have just made a change from the emergency department. I’d quite like to be a theatre nurse, actually.’
‘Good thinking. The patients are knocked out so they can’t give you any grief. And you never know your luck. You might even meet a hot surgeon!’
They both laughed but then it was Beth’s turn to sigh. She was staring at her feet. ‘I’m wearing those rabbit slipper socks you gave me for Christmas last year.’ If she wiggled her toes the whiskers on the bright pink rabbit faces twitched and the ears that were attached near her ankles bent forward as though listening to something interesting. Beth smiled. ‘I really miss having you around, Neroli. I could use a best friend.’
‘Luke could be your best friend if you gave him a chance.’
‘Have you not heard a word I’ve said?’ Beth clicked her tongue sadly. ‘I shudder to think how much I’ve spent on this phone call already and now I have to tell you all over again. I’m curious about the man, not interested in him.’
‘Doesn’t sound like it from this side of the ditch, chick. I think you’re jea—’
‘Good grief!’ Beth interrupted. ‘What the hell was that?’
‘What is that?’ Neroli’s voice was very faint as Beth held the phone at arm’s length so she could see out the window. ‘Sounds like someone’s screaming. Beth? Beth? Are you all right?’
‘Got to go. Looks like someone’s come off their motorbike just outside.’ She didn’t wait to hear her friend’s farewell. She didn’t even stop long enough to change the fluffy slipper socks, but nobody seemed to notice as she arrived at the scene of the accident seconds later.
‘Beth!’ The woman from the dairy opposite the motel had learned her name within a week of her arrival. Beth had liked the friendly interest from the shopkeeper. ‘Thank goodness. You’re a nurse, aren’t you?’
‘Did you see what happened?’
‘He shot round that corner and just went straight into the lamppost. Is he dead?’
‘No.’ Beth could feel a good carotid pulse. The black helmet the youth was wearing seemed undamaged but his left leg was bleeding and one arm was bent at an unnatural angle. Right now, though, Beth was more concerned about his breathing. And his neck. ‘Has someone called for an ambulance?’
‘I did.’ The man was still holding the carton of milk he had obviously purchased in the dairy. ‘It’s on its way.’
‘What?’ Beth lost count of both the respiratory and pulse rate she had been trying to take simultaneously.
‘What kind of name is that for a doctor?’ The man with the milk sounded incredulous.
Beth almost smiled. Luke had said exactly the same thing once. ‘And I’m not savage,’ he’d added with a winning smile. Am I?’
And Beth had assured him he was anything but. Determined, yes. Confident, certainly, but she hadn’t thought it tipped over into arrogance. Not then, anyway. Ruthless? Unlikely. But very definitely not savage. He was capable, in fact, of being the most gentle man Beth had ever known. She opened her mouth to say something in defence of Luke and his name but there was no need.
‘He’s a wonderful doctor,’ the woman from the dairy informed her customer stoutly. ‘He looked after my dad last year and you wouldn’t want anyone else after you’ve had Dr Savage, let me tell you. You’d know all about that, wouldn’t you, Beth?’
The groan was fortunately contained in her head. Luke had slammed the door of the sleek black Jeep behind him and had clearly heard the final piece of that interchange. His startled glance at Beth set a confused whirl of thoughts into that spin-drier action again.
You wouldn’t want anyone else after you’ve had Dr Savage.
The comment stabbed at something astonishingly raw. Neroli had been about to tell her she was jealous of that blonde woman she had seen in Luke’s company. And it was true. She was jealous. And she had never found anyone she truly wanted after Luke. Imagine if she’d agreed with the woman from the dairy? Both she and Luke would know she wasn’t referring to any professional skills the man possessed, however wonderful they were.
Again, thankfully, there was no need or opportunity for her to say anything. Luke’s glance had been even briefer than the painful flash of insight. He was now crouched beside the young man on the road.
‘Airway’s clear,’ Beth told him. ‘But I haven’t been able to assess his breathing properly with the way he’s lying.’ The crumpled figure was almost in a recovery position and while she could feel the movement of his chest and abdomen, it was hardly adequate for a proper assessment.
‘We’ve got enough people to do a log roll.’ Luke moved to hold the helmeted head. ‘I’ll look after his neck.’ He looked up at the bystanders. ‘You’re Mrs Coulter, aren’t you?’
‘Doris.’ The woman from the dairy beamed at the recognition.
‘I need you to help us, Doris. We’re going to turn this man over so he’s lying on his back but we need to be very careful with his neck. We’ll need you as well,’ he told the man with the milk. ‘Beth will show you where to put your hands.’
It took only moments to achieve spinal alignment and the movement made the injured man groan.
‘It’s OK,’ Luke told him. ‘Try not to move, mate. You’ve had an accident. Can you open your eyes?’
The groan was louder this time but there was no response to the command. Luke frowned, adjusting his hold on the man’s head. ‘Stay as still as you can,’ he instructed. ‘Beth, can you undo that jacket? OK, chest wall movement looks equal from here.’
Beth nodded. ‘I can’t feel any rib fractures. Sternum feels stable and trachea looks midline.’
‘What’s happening with that leg? Looks like there’s some blood loss that needs controlling.’
The wail of a siren was getting steadily closer as Beth removed the now bloodsoaked blanket Doris had helpfully fetched and then used to cover the lower half of the injured man.
‘Looks like a degloving injury.’ Beth eyed the mangled skin and flesh dubiously. ‘I can’t see any obvious fracture.’
‘Use that towel that Doris has to cover it.’ The ambulance was pulling to a halt and Luke was watching for the paramedic to emerge. ‘Sally—good to see you. We need some large dressings, stat. I didn’t have my first-aid kit on me.’
Sally’s partner put an oxygen cylinder on its side near Luke and attached a high-concentration mask to the outlet.
‘Can you grab a collar, please?’ Luke asked him. ‘And, Beth, could you help me get his helmet off so we can put a collar on? Sally can deal with that leg. She’s got gloves on.’
They should all have gloves on, Beth realised. She slipped hands that already had smears of blood on them inside the bike helmet to hold the youth’s head as Luke gently eased the bulky item clear. His movements were very careful and he was making very sure he didn’t move the man’s neck as he removed the helmet.
It was inevitable that their hands would touch. And not just briefly. At one point Luke’s hands overlaid Beth’s as he inched the helmet clear with tiny increments of zigzagging pressure from his thumbs. Every second of that physical contact seemed to Beth to stretch into infinity. The effect of the most fleeting touch that night of the thoracotomy had been noticeable and they had both been wearing gloves that night.
This was bare flesh against bare flesh and the nerves in Beth’s hands had caught fire. The burning sensation was travelling up her arms and then spiralling down to somewhere deep in her abdomen.
‘Right. Keep holding that position, Beth, until we get the collar into place.’
Things seemed to happen fast after that. Too fast. The injured man was given oxygen. An IV line was inserted. His level of consciousness was improving rapidly as his leg was covered with sterile dressings and then a pressure bandage put on to control the bleeding. His neck was encased in a semi-rigid collar and then he was strapped to a backboard, with cushions and straps ensuring that no untoward movement could worsen a neck injury.
Within fifteen minutes they were ready to load and Luke was heading for his vehicle.
‘I’ll go in with him,’ he told Beth. ‘He’s going to need that leg cleaned out under anaesthetic. Do you want a lift home?’
‘No. I’m living just across the road.’
‘Really? You’re lucky. Places this close to the beach don’t come up very often.’
‘I’m in the motel.’ Beth felt inexplicably embarrassed and dropped her gaze. It felt like she was admitting some kind of failure. She was a displaced person with no home. ‘Just temporarily.’
‘Oh-h.’ The drawn-out monosyllable had an odd tone to it. Beth glanced up but could then see why Luke sounded odd. He was staring at her feet and Beth blushed.
‘They were a present,’ she muttered. ‘From a good friend.’
‘Very cute.’ Luke looked up and caught her gaze. And then he smiled. Beth smiled back and for just a moment there was a connection of shared amusement. And then, suddenly, there was a much deeper connection and their smiles dimmed as quickly as if a switch had been flicked.
And they both turned away at precisely the same moment. The ambulance edged past and Sally was looking out of the driver’s window.
‘Shall I tell them you’re on your way, Luke?’
‘I’ll be right behind you.’ Luke got into his vehicle and drove away. Beth had no idea whether he looked back or said goodbye because she was walking back to her motel unit and she did not turn back.
At least, not until his car was just a black speck at the far end of the road.
Daytime shifts at Ocean View were busy enough to leave Beth little time to think about personal issues, which was just as well because she seemed to see rather a lot of Luke over the next four shifts.
Did he never have days off? Why didn’t he send a registrar or houseman down when surgical opinions were sought in the emergency department?
And how did a population base as small as that which Ocean View serviced manage to produce so many patients requiring the skills of a general surgeon? There had been two cases of obstructed bowels and a perforated duodenal ulcer. A baby had come in with a Meckel’s diverticulum and there had been an elderly man whose colostomy had broken down. Then there had been a case of rectal cancer, a femoral hernia and a nasty abscess or two.
Beth counted them off on her fingers. OK, so Luke hadn’t appeared to assess them all but he had appeared in the department at least once every day. There had also been the times she had spotted him in the staff cafeteria and he had driven past her when she had been walking home yesterday. There was simply no way to avoid the accumulation of reactions that required considerable thought when she had her quiet moments away from the hospital.
None of those occasions had provoked more turmoil than the encounter on Tuesday evening, however. It had been a long and very hot day and Roz had persuaded Beth to have a quick swim in the hospital pool before heading home.
‘But I don’t have any swimming togs.’
‘Chelsea keeps some in her locker. She won’t mind if you borrow them.’
And Chelsea had arrived for her night shift and agreed wholeheartedly. ‘Go for it,’ she’d urged Beth. ‘My togs should fit you.’
They had, though rather too snugly for Beth’s comfort. She had never been a stick figure but the cut of the costume had given her a cleavage that had made her wish she’d had a T-shirt available to wear on top. At least it had been black, which had helped the hip line, but Beth had regretted her decision to swim the instant she had surfaced from her first dive into the deliciously cool water.
Luke was dropping a towel onto one of the deck chairs surrounding the pool. His swimming shorts were boxer style and hardly revealing, but Beth’s memory banks happily filled in the area covered by the modest costume and suddenly the water lost any of its power to cool and soothe.
Like his face, the whole of Luke’s body was browner and leaner than it had been six years ago. There wasn’t an ounce of fat to blur the outline of muscle on those long, long legs and broad shoulders. The evening sun gave his bronzed skin a warm glow and Beth had to duck below the surface of the water to stop herself staring.
Luke was still, by far, the most gorgeous man she had ever met.
Going underwater was her second mistake of the evening. She had to come up for air eventually and it was unfortunate that her timing and position coincided with Luke completing his initial dive. He surfaced close enough for Beth to be liberally splashed by the water he shook from his head and she could almost feel those long fingers as they raked hair back from his forehead and out of his eyes.
‘I sure need a haircut.’ Luke blinked droplets from the thick, dark eyelashes Beth had once coveted, and then his gaze focussed. ‘Oh…hi, Beth.’
‘Hi.’ Being below the surface for so long had left her breathless. Beth trod water but the sight of Luke’s near-naked body scrambled her brain and she was totally unable to think of anything else to say.
‘Hey, Luke!’ Roz was waving a large Frisbee. ‘Catch!’
He did and then he flung the Frisbee back to Roz, who immediately flicked it on to Beth. She missed, thanks to her reluctance to launch herself any closer to Luke, but then she caught the mood of the group of people intent on having as good a time as possible as they cooled off and her own agenda could be shoved aside.
It was fun. Seeing Luke’s glistening body as he leapt and dived as enthusiastically as anyone else was simply a part of that enjoyment. Beth even decided that the way-ward reaction her own body was producing was simply another memory that hadn’t been adequately filed.
The mental filing proved difficult, however. It was easy enough to locate the pocket it should go in once Beth was alone later that evening, but the temptation to ruffle through other memories of Luke’s body proved too powerful.
The way he had kissed her. No, the way he had looked at her before he had kissed her. As though she had been the only thing in the universe that Luke had been aware of. The only thing that had mattered. His hands would cradle her head so gently and Beth would watch his eyes and then his lips as he started to slowly close the distance between them. And Beth would be in freefall, the anticipation and excitement and sheer driving lust making her as completely focussed on Luke as he was on her.
The memory had been enough all by itself to stir a physical reaction that could only leave pure frustration in its wake. Beth had shoved the memory back, thrown in the one of Luke in the swimming pool and tried to slam the drawer shut on the mental filing cabinet. She had tried very hard.
And yesterday, Wednesday, she had avoided even looking at Luke when he’d been in the department, in case that drawer broke a lock she knew was weak and started sliding open. She had kept her head down and repeated very firmly to herself that nothing had changed.
Just because he was still such an attractive man didn’t change a thing. The fact that her relationship with Luke had been enough to sour any later attempts to connect to other men also changed nothing. Luke Savage was not the man she needed in her life right now. She was not going to go down that road again no matter what Neroli thought because she knew there was an accident scene at the other end of the road and that the victim would be herself.
She didn’t need Luke in her life. She didn’t need any man in her life. At least, not until she had sorted herself out a little more. No wonder her relationships in the last few years had never worked out. How could she hope to be happy with someone else if she wasn’t happy with herself?
What she needed, Beth decided, was a focus that was purely selfish. Something that would keep her busy outside working hours. Busy enough to get past the mental block Luke had presented. Heavens, if she kept up thinking about the man this much, she would have to admit it was becoming an obsession and that would be totally unacceptable. Pathetic, even.
Beth used her days off to search for that new focus. One of the benefits of living in a motel was the wealth of pamphlets available that extolled all the attractions of the area she was now living in. On her first days off after the night shifts, Beth travelled the short distance to the Marlborough Sounds and she fell in love with the seemingly infinite number of sheltered bays and islands. The wildlife cruise she took let her see tiny blue penguins for the first time and almost touch a dolphin that cruised on her side of the shallow boat.
There were plenty more attractions. Hereford was a town in an area now famous for its vineyards and crafts. There were fabulous restaurants to try, gardens to visit, riverboat cruises and the most wonderful shopping at numerous craft galleries and markets. Beth set out to explore and found herself tasting treats like early cherries, asparagus and crayfish caught just down the coast at Kaikoura. She made plans to attend the upcoming wine and food festival that was now a major attraction for Marlborough, and she stopped her car on several occasions just to admire the views.
She loved it all. The sea and forests, the hills and mountains. She loved the fabulous climate and the casual way people dressed. The way Doris from the dairy always greeted her by name and the wonderful sunsets she was in the habit of watching from a now favourite boulder on the beach near the motel.
What she didn’t love was the motel unit and the way the walls closed in on her when she had to return to sleep, but on her second day off Beth found the answer. She had started making an effort to stop at every tiny craft gallery she passed in her explorations the previous day but she almost missed this one. The hand-painted sign advertising pottery was only just visible beneath the ivy creeping up its pole. The shop was just as low key—part of a shed that housed the artist’s kiln.
But there it was. The Answer. Staring at Beth in the form of a casserole dish. The pottery was gorgeous. With a base colour of a rich, earthy brown, a golden-hued glaze had been applied so that it looked as if something had boiled over and oozed down the sides to finally trickle into droplets that ringed the base like jewels. What really captured Beth, however, was not the piece of pottery so much as what it represented.
Home. An oven from which the aroma of a hot, meaty dinner wafted on a cold winter’s night. A family big enough to warrant cooking the size of casserole this dish would hold. A table big enough for them all to gather around. Beth could almost hear the laughter and feel the love around that table, and the yearning was strong enough to be painful.
That was what she wanted in her life. What she had always wanted even when she had been too young to understand what had been missing. Waiting for the right partner to provide a home was never going to work. And it didn’t matter because Beth could do it for herself. Well, maybe not the family bit but she could certainly do the rest.
‘I’ll take this dish, please,’ she told the owner of the kiln. ‘I just love it. And you wouldn’t happen to know any local real estate agents, would you?’
The first step was taken late the same afternoon and it was with a sense of growing excitement that Beth found herself being chauffeured around Hereford by Ronald from L. J. Homes Ltd, viewing any available properties within easy commuting distance of Ocean View hospital.
‘I’d like something old,’ she told Ronald. ‘I’d be happy to renovate.’ Restoring an old house would be a wonderful project to keep her occupied outside work, wouldn’t it? And it would be a home. A real home. She would spend all the money she had saved so carefully ever since she had started working. She would buy at least part of the dream symbolised by the casserole dish that was now looking oddly out of place on the tiny kitchenette bench of her motel unit.
‘I’d really like to be near the beach,’ she added.
‘Might be a bit pricey for you, love.’ Ronald consulted a printout of listed properties he had in his briefcase. ‘We could get you up on the hills maybe, with a view of the sea. Or what about south of town, near the river?’
Beth was looking at the printout as well. ‘That cottage looks cute. Can I see that first?’
So they drove a little north of Hereford. Ronald’s car slowed to negotiate the bend at the top of a hill and Beth turned her head sharply to peer at the yellow wooden arrow on her side of the road.
‘So that’s where Boulder Bay is!’ she exclaimed.
‘Do you know it?’
‘I’ve heard of it.’ Beth wished she hadn’t sounded so interested. To have any thoughts of Luke encroaching on this new adventure took some of the excitement away.
‘Nothing for sale down there,’ Ronald told her. ‘And even if there was, you couldn’t afford it, I’m afraid. Besides, the road’s awful and the residents aren’t going to pay for it to get upgraded. They like their privacy.’
‘How many houses are down there?’
‘Only one.’ Ronald was increasing speed as the road led down the other side of the hill. ‘Belongs to one of the docs at the hospital. You said you were a nurse, right?’
‘Yes.’
‘You probably know the bloke, then. Luke Savage?’
‘I’ve met him.’ Beth’s tone prompted a glance from Ronald who instantly dropped the subject and left them in silence until he pulled up outside the cottage Beth wanted to view.
Not that she took that much notice of the tour. Ronald had said ‘they’. If there was more than one resident to the exclusive Boulder Bay, it had to mean that Luke was sharing his house.
Who with? The woman wearing the wedding ring? No. Beth actually shook her head. It simply didn’t fit.
Ronald had noticed the unconscious gesture. ‘Not what you’re looking for?’
‘Not really.’
‘Right. Let’s try something else, then. There’s a house not too far from here. We might as well have a look while we’re on this side of town.’
Beth took more notice of this property but it was an isolated cottage and so rundown it would be a daunting prospect to renovate. She loved the acre of land that came with it, however, and spent some time exploring the sheds. It was Ronald who called it a day.
‘It’s getting late,’ he reminded Beth. ‘I’d like to drive you past another place while there’s still enough daylight to see. And then I’d better get you home.’
But Beth wasn’t quite ready to go back to the sterile motel unit.
‘I might walk,’ she told Ronald. ‘Can you drop me at the top of the hill?’
‘It’ll take you hours.’
‘It’s only a few kilometres. I often walk for an hour or more on my days off. I could do with the exercise.’
‘If you’re sure.’ Ronald stopped the car but looked dubious. ‘It’s going to get dark before you get home.’
‘I’m sure. Thanks very much for your time, Ronald. I’ll have a think about those houses and call you tomorrow.’
The walk would be a good time to think and Beth really did want some vigorous exercise. It wasn’t until the taillights of Ronald’s car blinked as he slowed further down the hill that she realised just where she had requested the stop. Her breath left her lungs in an incredulous huff as she saw the yellow arrow sign.
Boulder Bay.
How far would she have to walk down the road in order to see the house Luke lived in? Beth’s steps slowed but didn’t stop. No. It would be just too embarrassing if he caught her acting like some sort of stalker.
But was the beach as beautiful as Roz had told her? And what sort of house did Luke live in? Ten days ago Beth would have been quite confident that any real estate Luke purchased would have to be an architectural statement that advertised status. If it was, maybe the mystery of why Luke had compromised his career to such a degree would be solved. Had he been so successful already that he was in a kind of early retirement?
The thought was intriguing enough to make Beth stop. Just a quick look to satisfy her curiosity, she decided. With a rapid scan for traffic, Beth almost scuttled across the road and set off towards Boulder Bay at a brisk pace. Twenty minutes later she could see the outlines of a house set into the cliffside at the far end of a picture-perfect bay, despite the light fading more rapidly than she had expected. There were no lights on. Maybe Luke had been held up at work. He could be sitting on a deck, enjoying the sunset, or maybe he used this part of his day to wander on what had to be almost a private beach.
And no wonder it had been named for its boulders. The white sand of the beach gleamed in the soft light but only small pathways towards the water were visible. Enormous boulders ringed the beach and were strewn across the sand. Beth had never seen such huge, smooth black rocks. And how come they glistened as though they were wet when the conditions were far too calm to have thrown any spray that far?
Puzzled, Beth walked a little further. Then she stopped abruptly, put her hand up to shield her eyes from the last rays of sun for the day and she stared intently at the beach.
It had to have been her imagination.
But then it happened again.
One of the boulders moved.
And then a jet of spray of water coming from another of the enormous rocks caught enough light to resemble a tiny fountain and an odd, mournful sound carried clearly up the hill to where Beth finally realised what she was seeing.
Whales.
She had heard of mass strandings, of course. Had seen pictures of people fighting to save the huge mammals on more than one occasion but Beth had no idea what to do right now.
She had to call help and find someone who did know. How long would it take her to run back uphill and then find a telephone? Who would she call? The police maybe?
Beth was in the process of turning to retrace her steps when her peripheral vision caught something and she turned back and then breathed a sigh of relief.
A light had come on at Luke’s house. He was home and he would know what to do.
Keeping to the side of the gravel road where the grass verge gave more secure footing, Beth began to run downhill.
Towards Boulder Bay beach.
Towards Luke’s home.