‘You think you don’t know how to love? From what I’ve seen, you’re spot on.’ She exuded love—to Nicholas, to Sasha, his parents, her patients. Did she have any left over for him? Because he really wanted some. Correction, he wanted lots. And what would he give her in return? Love? Full, hands-on love? Or the chilly, remote kind, like her parents’? From afar, in a city that was not conducive to raising a small boy with an apparent penchant for the outdoors.
His hands dropped away and he took that backwards step again. It was too soon to know. Did he want to know? He knew he didn’t want to hurt Jess. Don’t forget you’re heading out of here come mid-April. No way will Jessica and Nicholas be going with you.
Jess rocked sideways, regained her balance. Gave him a crooked smile. ‘Thanks. I think. Fishing after work would be lovely.’ Then she spun round and became very intent on those damned towels again, refolding already neatly folded ones. Shifting them from stack to stack.
‘Jackson.’ Sheree from Reception popped her head around the corner. ‘Mrs Harrop’s here to see you.’ Her voice dropped several octaves. ‘She’s not the most patient lady either.’
‘On my way.’ He stared at Jess’s ramrod-straight back, waited for the other woman to return to her desk out front. ‘We’ll have fish and chips for dinner on the beach. That okay with you? And Nicholas?’
‘Sounds great.’ Jess turned and he relaxed. Her grin was back. Her eyes were like fudge. ‘I’m looking forward to it.’
So was he. A lot. Too much for someone who wasn’t getting involved. Face it, taking a woman and her son to do regular stuff like fishing was a first.
‘And, Jackson?’
He turned back. ‘Yes?’
‘Mrs Harrop is a sweetie underneath that grumpy exterior.’
‘I’ll remember that.’ How come Jessica stuck up for the underdog so much? Maybe it was because she’d been the odd one out in those two years she’d been to school here. He’d had the loving, sharing family and all the friends at school, and yet he stayed away.
* * *
‘Mrs Harrop, it’s been years since I saw you. Do you even remember me?’ Jackson showed the rather large, elderly lady to a chair in the consulting room he was using while Grady was away.
‘Could hardly forget the boy who kicked his football through my front window.’
Jackson winced. That had been at least fifteen years ago. He gave Mrs Harrop a rueful smile. ‘Sorry about that.’
‘You’ve been away too long, my boy,’ she muttered, as she carefully lowered herself onto the seat. ‘But you’re here now.’
As this was about the fifth time he’d heard almost the exact words since arriving in Golden Bay Jackson didn’t react at all. He might even have been disappointed if people hadn’t commented on his return, even though it wasn’t permanent. After all, since one of his reasons for leaving was that everyone here knew everything about people’s business, he’d feel cheated if his actions were no longer justified.
‘I wasn’t going to miss the wedding. Sasha would never forgive me.’ He wouldn’t have forgiven himself. He loved his sister. ‘She’s so happy, it’s wonderful.’
‘That Grady was always meant for her.’ Mrs Harrop was pulling up her sleeve. ‘You going to take my blood pressure, or what?’
‘I sure am. But first, how’ve you been feeling?’ He’d read the patient notes before asking Mrs Harrop to come through and knew that she’d had two arterial stents put in six months ago.
‘Old, tired, and a lot better than I used to.’
‘How’s your diet been? Are you sticking to fat-free?’ Jackson saw that her last cholesterol test had been a little high but nothing dangerous.
‘Your lady makes sure of that.’
‘My lady? Mum? Or Sasha?’ He wound the cuff of the sphygmomanometer around her upper arm.
‘Pssh. I’m talking about Jessica. She’s very good to me. Always delivering healthy meals and telling me how she’s cooked too much. You’d think she’d have learned a new excuse by now. She’s the best neighbour I ever had. Very kind. She genuinely cares about people.’
Alarm bells began clattering in his head. Mrs Harrop was calling Jessica his woman and they’d only spent one night together. Wasn’t this why he left Golden Bay in the first place? ‘You live in the house next to Jess?’ Guess that explained her comment about his woman. At seventy Mrs Harrop might have old fashioned ideas about him spending a night with a lovely young woman.
Without waiting for Mrs Harrop’s answer, he stuck the earpieces in and squeezed the bulb to tighten the cuff. Then he listened to the blood pumping through her veins and noted the systolic and diastolic pressures. ‘Moderately high. Have you been taking your tablets daily?’
‘Yes, young man, I have. But I need a new prescription.’ His patient pulled her sleeve down to her wrist and buttoned it. ‘She bought both houses.’
‘I think you need a different dosage.’ Jackson began tapping the computer keyboard. ‘She what? Who bought both houses? Jessica?’
Mrs Harrop’s chin bobbed up and down, and her eyes lit up with satisfaction. ‘Of course, Jessica. She saved my bacon when she bought mine. And now she lets me rent it back for next to nothing. I know I should be paying more but I can’t.’
Jackson slumped in his chair. Jess owned both those homes? She hadn’t said. But why should she? She might’ve talked about her parents earlier but that didn’t mean she would be telling you everything. Like you, she can play things close to the chest. Another vision of that chest flickered through his brain before he had time to stamp on it. Beautiful, full breasts that filled his hands perfectly.
Apparently Mrs Harrop hadn’t finished. ‘You see, that boy of mine cleaned out my savings and left me with only the house. I wouldn’t even have had that if my lawyer hadn’t made me get a trustee to oversee any sale I might want to make.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that.’ But Jess had saved this woman from heartbreak.
‘The day Jessica decided to return to Golden Bay was my lucky day.’
‘So it would seem.’ Good for you, Jess. You’re an absolute star. Money had never been in short supply in her family, yet she drove a joke of a car and gave her neighbour cheap accommodation. ‘Now, Mrs Harrop, here’s your prescription. I’v
e upped the dosage a little and I want to see you again next week.’
‘Thank you, Doctor. I’ll make an appointment on the way out.’
Jess was taking bloods from Gary Hill when he walked back from showing Mrs Harrop out. He asked, ‘Hi, Gary. You still into motocross?’
‘Gidday, Jackson. Sure am. Though the body’s a bit stiff these days and I don’t land so easily when I come off. Break a few more bones than I used to.’ The guy appeared flushed and lethargic, but had plenty to say. Some things didn’t change.
‘Maybe it’s time to give it up.’
Jess turned to him and rolled her eyes. ‘Even when he broke his clavicle and humerus, there was no stopping Gary. You honestly think he’ll give up because his body’s getting rumpty on him?’
‘Guess not.’ Jackson was puzzled as to why Jess was taking bloods. ‘So what brings you here today? I’m seeing you next, aren’t I?’
‘I’ve got a fever. I got malaria last year when I was riding in Malaysia and this feels exactly the same as the previous two bouts.’ Gary shrugged. ‘Just hope I’m not on my back too long. I’m supposed to be heading away to the Philippines in eight days.’
‘Sorry, Jackson, but the courier’s due to pick up medical specimens and Roz suggested I take Gary’s bloods while he waited to see you.’ Jess labelled the tubes of blood for haematology and biochemistry, then made some thick blood smears. Next she stuck a tiny plaster on the needle entry site on Gary’s arm. ‘There you go. We should hear back tonight about the malaria.’
Back in his room Jackson began to read Gary’s file on the computer screen as he asked, ‘Any symptoms other than the fever?’
‘Hot and cold, hell of a headache, and I keep wanting to toss my food.’ Gary eased himself onto a chair, rubbing his left side.
‘You’re hurting?’ Was that his spleen giving him grief, engorged through trying to remove malarial parasites from his blood system?