Kate, but that short stint of casual conversation had taken all her energy.
And although he wanted nothing more than to go back to Alice’s apartment and see Kate, he sat down again.
‘How long since you hurt your leg?’ he asked, watching her face so he could read the argument going on in her head about whether or not she would answer.
Politeness won.
‘Months now—I’ve lost count. I got a post-op infection that knocked me back, and the rehab seems to go on for ever.’
‘You’ll get there,’ he said. ‘You’ve got to keep believing that you will. Don’t give up. Giving up’s easy, it’s sticking it out that’s hard, but in the end, it’s worth it. The inner strength you gain will make you a better nurse and better SDR team member.’
‘And a better person? Did you forget that bit?’ Harriet asked, but at least she was smiling again.
‘Don’t know about that, but seeing medicine from the other side definitely improves your understanding of patients and what they are going through.’
‘Been there yourself?’
He smiled and shook his head.
‘Close enough,’ he told her, remembering the long bleak months after his last posting, part of a humanitarian response team to an overcrowded refugee camp in South-East Asia. Some of the things he’d seen—the stories he’d heard—had made him wonder if he’d ever feel normal again.
‘And Kate?’
‘Nice try,’ he said, as Harriet’s teasing smile told him he could leave with an easier conscience. He’d jolted her out of her dark mood, although for how long he didn’t know.
He said goodbye, adding that he hoped they’d meet again, and was pleased when she roused herself enough to walk to the door with him.
As he left he realised he had an excuse to talk to Kate again—he could knock on the apartment door, mention his concern about Harriet’s mental state.
It was a weak excuse and she’d see it that way, but having met up with her again he knew he—
What?
Wanted to see more of her?
Yes, there was that—definitely—but...
What he really wanted to know was what had changed her from the woman who’d smiled through the pain of the end of her relationship, who’d settled terrified guests with a warm word and a joke during the cyclone, who’d been friendly and outgoing and...
Well, fun!
Back when he’d met her, she’d have had every reason to be withdrawn. She’d discovered her best friend had been sleeping with her fiancé and had broken off the engagement, heading for the island to escape the talk.
But she’d taken one look at his pale face on the island boat and made him stay on deck, explaining it was far better to be outside than in if you felt the slightest bit queasy. So they’d clung to the rail, salt spray washing over them both, and she’d kept his mind off the journey, telling him about the little coral cay that lay ahead, and the research station on it that she’d visited each year with her great-aunt Alice, a marine biologist.
Alice!
The great-aunt!
By the time they’d reached the island he’d realised Alice probably meant more to Kate than her parents, and now here she was, living with Alice—a ‘loner’!
Because?
He realised that, in spite of all they’d been through together, he didn’t really know her.
He looked around the elevator lobby, and finally pressed the ‘down’ button.
* * *
Kate did her best to concentrate on cooking the chicken breasts in lemon and capers that was one of Alice’s favourite dinners, but she’d made it so often it couldn’t distract her enough.
Why wasn’t Angus wearing a wedding ring?
Hadn’t he gone to the island to check it out as a place for his and Michelle’s honeymoon?
They’d joked on that terribly rough boat trip that they were both on pretend honeymoons, talking to take their minds off the wild seas.
And the cyclone hadn’t even been close at that stage. It was only two days later it changed direction—as cyclones so often do—and headed straight for the island.
Maybe army personnel didn’t wear wedding rings, she decided. Some kind of safety thing? Could a light flashing off a gold or silver ring tell a sniper where to shoot?
Kate shook her head as she turned the capers in the frying pan, crisping them nicely. Think about the capers, not have ridiculous thoughts about snipers. Angus had been based in Townsville, anyway, and she doubted he’d have been bothered by snipers there.
Angus.
‘You burning those capers, Kate?’
Surely not! She looked down at the pan, forcing her mind away from the man who’d come back so unexpectedly—shockingly, really—into her life.
‘No, but you like them crisp. Nearly ready!’
She put the thin slices of chicken breast back into the pan, with the lemon juice and zest, swirled it around, then served them onto the waiting plates. The bowl of salad was already on the table, and Alice joined her there as she set down the plates.
They ate in silence for a few minutes, savouring the tasty food, but Kate could hear the wheels turning in Alice’s head as she decided how to phrase the question Kate knew she would ask.
Except she didn’t ask a question, instead issuing a statement.
‘So that was the man who caused you all the trouble!’
Kate shrugged.
‘He wasn’t to blame for anything,’ she said quietly.
‘Oh, so you got pregnant all by yourself?’
Kate pushed her plate away and looked at her aunt. Great-aunt really, but they’d never made the distinction. She’d been closer to Alice than she had to her mother, had learnt more about life and the way the world worked on those holidays on the island than she’d ever learnt at home or at school.
‘The getting-pregnant part was definitely my fault,’ Kate admitted. ‘I’d been on the Pill so didn’t give a thought to the fact that I hadn’t been in my room for three days during the height of the storm, which meant I hadn’t been taking it. Stupid, I know, but it had been a tense time with so little sleep, and the relief of finally getting the injured and the majority of the upset tourists off the island had overwhelmed us both.’
She paused, then looked up to meet Alice’s eyes.
‘It was survivor sex, if that makes sense, yet...’
‘It was more than that?’ Alice asked gently.
Kate nodded.
‘It seemed that way,’ she murmured, a little of the remembered passion sparking to life inside her. ‘We’d been through so much together, it was as if we had a...bond, I suppose, is the only way to describe it. A special bond.’
‘Didn’t you tell him you were pregnant, get in touch with him?’
Kate shuddered as she remembered the anguish of those early days.
‘How could I? I’d done exactly what my best friend had done—slept with someone else’s fiancé—and that had broken up my marriage plans. Should I break up his as well?’
She sighed.
‘In the end, I knew it wasn’t right to not tell him so I kind of left it up to him. I sent him a note, care of the base in Townsville,