He tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair. ‘Mike and Emily?’ he queried.
‘Mike’s one of our helicopter pilots,’ Charles supplied. ‘Also a paramedic. Emily’s an anaesthetist at our base hospital.’
‘My best friend,’ Susie put in.
‘And?’ Alex couldn’t see the relevance but he couldn’t miss the note in Susie’s voice that spoke of fierce loyalty to the people she called friends. He could approve of that.
‘And they’re coming over for tomorrow’s opening,’ Susie continued. ‘They’re going to be sharing my cabin.’
‘Already sorted,’ Charles told her. ‘Don’t worry.’
Even, white teeth appeared as Susie chewed her bottom lip. ‘But the resort’s right down at the south end of the island. It’s a long way from the kids’ camp.’
‘Precisely,’ Alex said with satisfaction. If Stella was determined to stay at the camp, it would effectively put him on a different planet, wouldn’t it? Perhaps he was already as far as his daughter was concerned. What the hell had happened on this camp so far?
‘It’s not as far as the mainland,’ Charles reminded Susie. ‘And you’ve been trekking back and forth all week. How about I organise a cart for your personal use?’
Susie flashed him a grin. ‘A bicycle would do.’
Alex let out his breath. ‘Thank you very much, Miss Jackson. I appreciate your cooperation.’
The corner of her mouth twitched but it wasn’t a real smile. Not like the one she’d given Charles. It was more like a subtle putdown of his formality.
‘Call me Susie.’
‘I will.’ He could go even further in cementing this new accord. He could offer a new beginning. Alex stood up and extended his hand. ‘Pleased to meet you, Susie.’
She followed suit, standing as she put her hand into his, but the response was tentative. As though this formality was also out of place. Her hand was warm. And soft. The grip was surprisingly firm.
Why was she still not smiling? Blue eyes were regarding him with mistrust. She may be conceding a truce but he wasn’t going to be given the benefit of a completely clean slate. He would have to earn any respect.
Alex Vavunis was not used to being mistrusted.
Quite the opposite, actually. Most women didn’t even wait for an invitation to get closer. They used whatever means they could to attract his attention.
Including, on more than one occasion, his daughter.
It should be refreshing that someone was prepared to antagonise him on Stella’s behalf, but Susie was not the only one capable of mistrust. What was it Charles had said? That Susie and Stella had made a formidable team this week? Alex had yet to gauge the strength of the relationship between this woman and his daughter and, given the unfortunate family spat on his arrival, it might be prudent to avoid any further antagonism until the emotional lie of the land became clearer.
If what Charles had been telling him was true, he owed this woman rather a lot and he was not a man to leave debts unpaid, but he would need to satisfy himself regarding motivation first. To make sure nobody was being used.
The vow may be years old now but nobody was ever going to use Stella like that again.
‘Can I leave it to you to show Alex where the cabin is?’ Charles was saying now. ‘Jill’s wanting to come over to help look after Lily. It’s too late for the usual ferry or seaplane transfers but I said I’d try and sort out some transport.’
The black suitcase had already been whisked away to the resort hotel.
‘I’ll have it sent back,’ Susie told Alex. ‘As soon as I can tear myself away for the champagne and caviar.’
He didn’t smile. He turned away, in fact, to stare at the ocean view as they began their walk towards the cabin. Did he think she was being critical of such an affluent choice of accommodation? Or, worse, that she was being serious?
Maybe the man had no sense of humour.
Not that he really needed one with his looks. Women must fall at his feet in droves, even without the additional attractions of vast wealth and an international reputation as one of the best paediatric neurosurgeons in the southern hemisphere.
Susie gave her head a tiny shake. It wouldn’t be enough for her. A large part of the sheer joy to be found in being alive came through laughter.
On the other hand… Susie stole a quick glance at the man walking alongside her. It was a little too easy to imagine the kind of female response the sight of Alex would generate. She could actually feel an odd frisson of something herself.
Something she hadn’t felt for a very long time.
Good grief!
She was attracted to him?
Susie flicked her hair back with a far more vigorous shake of her head. Not possible. Not when he had made Stella so miserable. And particularly not when she remembered that unpleasant emphasis in calling her Miss Jackson that first time. He’d been so sure she was unmarried, and why was that? Because he’d judged her appearance and personality and decided that nobody would have been interested?
At least he couldn’t possibly know how well the barb had found a target.
The faint bars of a piece of classical music came from nowhere. It wasn’t until Alex stopped that she realised the sound was coming from his pocket.
‘Excuse me for a moment,’ he said, extracting his cellphone. The phone he had said he was going to switch off. ‘I’d better take this,’ he added, after a glance at the tiny screen. ‘It’s my registrar.’
Susie took another pace or two before she stopped, and she didn’t turn around. Her back could be a silent protest that he could still allow priorities other than Stella to claim his attention.
A rapid exchange of medical terminology was easy to ignore but then the tone of the conversation suddenly changed and Susie found herself eavesdropping.
‘Do the parents want to speak to me again?’ A heavy silence as Alex listened. ‘Please, tell them how sorry I am.’
He sounded sorry.
Sincere. And caring.
Susie tried not to let her opinion of this man take a U-turn. Why hadn’t he sounded like that when he’d been speaking to his own daughter?
It was hard to ignore the heavy sigh she heard. Then a silence that seemed to speak volumes. But then Alex cleared his throat and it seemed to be business as usual.
‘Can you give me a quick update on Melanie? I’m going to be unavailable by mobile for a while. What’s the ICP looking like?’
There was another exchange of medical information, a farewell and then Susie heard the phone give a blip that suggested it was, indeed, being switched off.
‘Sorry about that,’ Alex murmured. He moved to catch up with Susie. ‘It’s been a day from hell in the unit.’
‘Has it?’
Susie was only being polite. She didn’t really expect Alex to start talking to her about his professional life. The silence around them was welcome rather than uncomfortable. Then it became too quiet. Where were all the children? All on the beach, perhaps, or rounded up to participate in some pre-dinner activity.
The shade of the patch of forest they were in had also been initially welcome but seemed to become oppressive. It was hot and there was no hint of any sea breeze reaching them now.
Or did the feeling of oppression