A Nurse's Search and Rescue. Alison Roberts

good friends, huh?’

      * * *

      ‘We’re just good friends,’ Tori said again later that night when Sarah rang from London. ‘He’s such a nice guy, Sas. Maybe you should reconsider.’

      ‘When I’ve got Ben? Not in this lifetime, kid!’

      Tori suppressed the pang of totally unreasonable envy that Sarah had found ‘the real thing’. It wasn’t even on her own agenda, was it? Not for years and years, anyway. Good grief, she was only twenty-five and she intended to have as much fun as possible before she settled down to the kind of bliss Sarah was experiencing.

      ‘How’s Phoebe?’ she asked hurriedly. ‘Is she still doing well after the surgery?’

      ‘It’s amazing,’ Sarah said. ‘The tissue expansion created all this perfectly normal skin and they’ve managed to get rid of all the scar tissue on her face. She’s going to look absolutely gorgeous once the swelling’s gone down a bit more.’

      ‘That’s wonderful.’ Tori knew she wasn’t sounding as enthusiastic as the news warranted. ‘I miss you, Sas.’

      ‘It’s not long till the wedding and our plans to emigrate to New Zealand are really taking shape. I’ve persuaded Ben that living north of Auckland will be perfect. He can commute into the city to work. You’d better start keeping an eye out for properties near you.’

      ‘Maybe you should have this house. It’s too big and spooky for just me.’

      ‘Yeah…’ Sarah was laughing. ‘You could fit Matthew and all his kids in there.’

      ‘Don’t joke! The thought of taking on someone else’s family is a recurring nightmare. You know I had quite enough of foster-children when I was growing up.’

      ‘Hey—I was one of those foster-kids.’

      ‘You were different.’ Tori had to swallow a lump in her throat. ‘It’s so good to talk to you, Sas.’

      ‘Are you all right, Tori? You sound…I don’t know…lonely.’

      ‘Who, me? The ‘‘out on the town’’ party girl flitting from one romantic adventure to the next? Lonely? Hello-o-o!’

      ‘So what romantic adventures have you not been telling me about, then? The last one I knew about was Robert, and that was a disaster!’

      ‘He was the last one,’ Tori admitted. ‘How sad is that?’

      ‘So get out there and find someone new,’ Sarah ordered. ‘You obviously like Matt.’

      ‘Matt’s out of the question.’

      ‘Why?’

      ‘You know why. He’s got four children and no life!’

      ‘You don’t have to marry him.’

      ‘He doesn’t seem the type to do anything less than serious. And he’s too nice for me to want to make his life any more complicated. Besides, I don’t want to spend my time off with a bunch of kids.’

      ‘He must escape occasionally.’

      ‘Only to work, from what I can make out.’

      ‘So maybe he needs a chance to have some fun.’

      Tori was silent. That thought wasn’t totally original, was it?

      ‘And at least he’s been upfront about the kids, which is more than Robert was. And he doesn’t have a wife tucked away either.’

      ‘Hmm. He’s too ugly.’

      ‘I’ve seen him, remember?’

      ‘Oh…so you have.’

      ‘When are you seeing him again?’

      ‘I’m not seeing him. We’re—’

      ‘Just good friends,’ Sarah interrupted. ‘You already said that. So when are you going out on the road with him again?’

      ‘Tomorrow, actually.’

      ‘A night shift?’

      ‘Yeah.’

      ‘Have fun.’

      ‘I’ll do my best.’ Tori was still smiling well after the phone call had ended. She wouldn’t have to try hard. The easy conversation, the humour and the growing friendship made her look forward to his company to the extent that Sarah’s suggestion appeared to have some merit.

      Later, turning yet again on her pillow as she tried to settle into sleep, Tori decided against offering anything more than friendship, however. There was just something too inherently decent about Matt to contemplate an affair with no strings. Or maybe she just liked him too much.

      She had never had a really close male friend without a physical relationship or the desire for one interfering with the friendship on one or both sides. Adding sex to their relationship would be the fastest way to ruin what was promising to be the best friendship Tori had ever had with a man. No matter how attractive Matthew Buchanan was, it wasn’t worth the risk.

      ‘And that,’ Tori whispered aloud to herself, ‘is that. End of story.’