Return of the Maverick

‘The townhouse at the bottom of David’s driveway. Two years ago I came to Blenheim looking for a job and wanting to buy my own place. I went to an open home and David was there, trying to sell this wonderful brand-new home. We got talking and by the time I went back to my motel that night I had a house and a job. Amazing how things work out sometimes.’ Those two pieces of good fortune had made her think the move to Blenheim was meant to be.

‘Best thing you ever did, my girl. For me anyway.’ David stood up. ‘Anyone for coffee?’

‘No, thanks.’ Erin leaned over the back of her chair to dig inside the fridge for a can of soda she’d put there earlier. The snap of the tab was loud in the sudden silence.

Brad was watching her, a thoughtful expression clouding his face. ‘Where did you move from?’

He was full of questions.

‘I was of no fixed abode. An army brat who grew up and then joined the very service I’d hated all my childhood.’ Always shifting from one base to the next, new schools and new kids to get on side with. The only constant had been Jonathon. For some bizarre reason, more often than not they found themselves living at the same base and going to the same school. He’d been her best friend who became her husband. The services had been the only life she’d known. She’d panicked when the time had come to choose a career and a town to live in. The services had been a safe option.

‘So you left the army to do your nursing training?’ Brad sounded genuinely interested.

‘No, I took three years’ leave when I turned twenty. Then once I’d qualified I transferred from the signals corps to the medical unit.’ She got up and shoved a window open. Brad seemed to consume all the air, leaving none for her. ‘It’s hot in here,’ she said lamely, then glanced at her watch. ‘Oops, I’ve got a patient coming in for her hep. A shot. Lucky girl’s off to Tanzania next month.’

At the door she stopped, remembering Katie Bryant. ‘Brad, I’ve made an appointment for you to see Katie Bryant. She came in for her immunisation shots this morning. I tried to get her mother to stay on this morning but she already had another appointment at the dentist.’

Erin paused, thought about the unease she’d felt when she’d seen Katie. ‘I would’ve talked to either of you first but you were both busy at the time. I think there’s something wrong with Katie but I don’t know what. Just a gut feeling. She’s pale, underweight, sleeps a lot.’

‘When’s her mother bringing her back?’ Brad asked, wariness edging his voice. The same caution she’d noted in Alison’s voice when they’d talked about Katie.

‘Wednesday morning. I tried to persuade her to bring Katie before then but with nothing specific to go on I didn’t succeed.’

Brad turned to David. ‘Are Katie and her mother related to Joey Bryant?’

‘Wife and daughter.’

Brad’s Adam’s apple bobbed. ‘Maybe you should see them.’

David caught Brad’s eye. ‘No. You’ve got to start somewhere and Joey’s family is perfect.’

Brad stared at David for a long moment before turning to Erin and asking, ‘Does the mother think there was anything out of the ordinary with her daughter?’

What was going on here? Something had just gone down between David and Brad that she couldn’t understand. Erin focussed on the question Brad had asked. She’d think about the rest later. ‘Not at all. Said it was nice that Katie had begun sleeping so well. Sleeping has always been a problem with her, driving her parents to despair at times.’ She sipped her soda. ‘I’m probably wasting everyone’s time but I want to be sure.’

Erin Foley. Brad hadn’t managed to dispel her image from his mind all day. Not even his trepidation about seeing Joey’s wife had wiped his mind clear of the nurse. Which said a lot because he was as nervous as hell about talking to Alison. Maybe when Alison told Joey who their new GP was, their appointment would be cancelled. That would not be good for little Katie and more than anything Brad wanted to do what was best for his patients. Erin was concerned about the girl so he must see her.

Erin. His brain always switched back to her. When she’d arrived at the medical centre in such a damned hurry that morning and he’d seen that mass of shining black curls tumbling down her back, he’d have fallen flat on his face if he hadn’t grabbed the filing cabinet. She was a knockout.

She’d flustered him, her laughter echoing through the building when she’d been with those children first thing. She certainly had a way with her that had made each one of them giggle and talk non-stop, forgetting about the needle about to stab their thigh. She’d make a great mother, if that was anything to go by.

An unbidden thought, an unwanted one, entered his head. Did she have a partner? David had said she lived alone, which surely meant no partner, no children? But a beautiful woman like Erin would never be completely single. There had to be a man somewhere in her life.

That idea made Brad’s good mood evaporate in an instant. Which was plain silly. He did not want to get involved with any female. Been there, done the time. A fling might be all right but he wasn’t having one with Erin Foley. A bad idea in the circumstances.

‘Goodnight, Dr Perano,’ Marilyn called from behind her desk.

He paused. ‘What would it take to get you to call me Brad?’ Marilyn appeared to be in her late fifties, and seemed a stickler for protocol. So far she’d refused to budge on using his first name, but he was determined to win. Judging by the set of her jaw, it might take a while.

‘I’m sizing you up, young man. Give me time.’

Did she know of him from the past? He didn’t recall her at all, but the stories about him might have coloured her perception of him even before they’d met.

‘Young man?’ Brad muttered. ‘I’m thirty-four.’

‘And I’m sixty-four, so be patient.’ She stood and pushed her chair under her desk, then leaned down to retrieve her handbag from the floor. Then she looked him in the eye. ‘Just be good to our David and you’ll have me calling you any damned thing you like.’

So he was on notice from the office staff. But the fact that David’s staff cared so much for the older man actually made Brad hum as he opened the door to the car park. He might’ve been slow in getting here but others had stepped up to the mark. Guilt caught him. David had shown no censure towards him. Which only said how big-hearted the man was and how much further indebted he had become.

Outside David called to him from beside his car. ‘You on your way home, too? Want me to pick up anything from the supermarket?’

‘No, I’ve got all I need to cook tonight’s dinner.’ Brad scratched his chin thoughtfully. ‘So Erin lives down the bottom of our drive. That’s kind of handy for you.’

‘Perfect situation.’ David raised pale blue eyes to him. ‘Don’t tell me you’re bothered by it? Why would you be?’

Because she’d be too close to him. There’d be no getting away from her. It was one thing that they’d be working together. He could probably manage to keep her at arm’s length here, but to have her practically living on his doorstep meant he’d never have peace of mind. He slapped his hands on his hips and stared across at David, suddenly cross. ‘I don’t like it.’

‘Erin’s been very helpful and always there if I’ve needed anything.’ David talked as though he hadn’t seen Brad’s angst, but Brad knew better. David missed nothing, and now his eyes twinkled suspiciously. ‘I think you two will get along very well.’

‘You are so wrong.’ They’d light up like flames with petrol added. Something indefinable and hot already sat between them, something he wasn’t prepared to explore.

‘Give her a chance. Get to know her. You’ll like her.’

I already like her. A lot. Too much. But bitter experience had taught him people weren’t always what they first seemed to be. ‘You could be wrong.’

‘Bradley, you give her a chance. I’ll not have you upsetting the cosy set-up we’ve got at work or anywhere else.’

David only called him Bradley when he wanted to make a point, but that didn’t stop Brad arguing. ‘It’s not wise to socialise with staff.’

David chuckled. ‘You can’t expect me to agree with that. Not when my Mary was a nurse on my surgical ward when I was an intern.’

‘There are always exceptions.’ Was the old boy matchmaking?

How much worse could this get?

CHAPTER THREE

‘WHAT a day I’ve had, Lucky.’ Erin chattered to her cat as she drove carefully through the streets towards home. ‘First day back and already I feel like my holiday is so long ago it didn’t happen.’

Lucky was unusually silent, sitting in the cage staring straight ahead, ignoring Erin entirely.

‘Come on, stop sulking. It’s not as though I left you incarcerated in some dire cat hostel with no one to care for you. I know for a fact you’ve been pampered beyond your wildest dreams.’ The fees had been horrendous, but well worth it. The Paws Cattery came highly recommended.

‘We’ve got a new neighbour.’ Her mouth turned up into a reluctant smile. ‘He’s gorgeous.’ An image of Brad on his Harley-Davidson made her mouth water. She’d been putting drugs away in the clinic’s fridge when the bike had roared to life outside. Discreetly nudging aside the curtain a tad, she’d studied the man who’d had her heart rate rising and falling alarmingly throughout the day. The Harley belonged with him, balanced perfectly between those muscular thighs, adding to his sexiness. Brad intrigued her, confused her, and had her wondering what it would be like to get to know him.

To have an affair with him? The steering-wheel flicked sideways. She straightened the car, her heart pounding in her throat. Just thinking about Brad was dangerous.

‘Definitely no affair,’ she reassured Lucky. Brad would be used to experienced women, not someone who’d only ever known one man intimately. Anyway, she liked her life where no man told her how to live, where to work, when to cook dinner.