Abby rubbed her eyes, conscious of the obvious subject change. ‘It’s our “something special”. Reuben adds everything he likes from the fridge and the pantry.’ She leaned over and gave it a stir with a wooden spoon before shrugging her shoulders. ‘Usually it’s not too bad—some chicken, potatoes, carrot, turnip and some kind of stock. But today Reuben decided his magic ingredient was a can of baked beans.’ She gave a little shiver. ‘Needless to say, you’ll be getting the biggest portion.’
Luke leaned back against the worktop, a grimace on his face. ‘I’m sure it’ll be delicious.’ He wrinkled his nose. ‘What else can I smell?’ He bent downwards and peered through the oven door. ‘What’s that?’
‘Marshmallow and chocolate loaf.’
He raised his eyebrow at her. ‘That sounds healthy.’
She snapped her tea towel at him. ‘Shut up. It’s comfort food for me. I need it.’
Luke gave a little nod and folded his arms across his chest. ‘I know someone else who could use a little comfort food.’
‘Who?’
‘Jennifer Taylor. She’s climbing the walls in there.’ He nodded his head up towards the hospital. ‘She asked if you would drop in and see her later.’ His voice dropped slightly, ‘Obviously I never told her anything about Reuben.’
Abby’s head turned towards the living room where Reuben was sitting. ‘But I can’t. I need to—’
He placed his hand on her shoulder. ‘You need to take a break and go eat your comfort food with someone else. I’ll watch Reuben. Why don’t you go along after dinner and take your mind off things?’
She shot him a look of exasperation.
‘I know, I know, but a change of scene might do you some good.’
A loud, belly laugh came from next door. Something in the cartoon had caught Reuben’s imagination and filled the house with little-boy laughter. The sound twisted in her gut, bringing yet another tear to her eye. How much longer would she be able to hear it? Maybe Luke was right. Maybe she did need a break—even if it was only for half an hour.
She sighed. ‘Are you sure you don’t mind?’ She looked towards the front door. ‘A walk along the path might clear my head a little. And it might be nice to offer Jennifer some support. I don’t suppose James Turner is a bundle of laughs.’
It only took her five minutes to wander back along the coastal path to the hospital. She could probably have been quicker if she hadn’t stopped to pick some flowers from her garden for Jennifer.
The hospital seemed pretty quiet, with only the black sporadically placed mumbling men giving any hint that anything out the ordinary was happening.
The man at the door gave her a little nod and moved to the side as she entered. Jennifer was lying on her side, watching television, still attached to the drip and looking bored to tears.
‘Abby!’ she said, sitting up in bed and reaching for the remote control.
‘Hi, Jennifer. Luke said you were a little bored, so I thought I’d come and see you.’ Abby sat down on the bed beside her and glanced at the pile of books and DVDs on the bedside table. ‘How many of these have you read?’
Jennifer gave a guilty smile, as if she were a teenager caught out misbehaving. ‘I’ve watched all the DVDs but don’t take them away—I’ll watch them again. And I’ve only got one book left to read. I’m a sucker for romance novels.’
Abby ran her eyes up the pile of books then looked at her in amazement. ‘You’ve read all those books already?’
Jennifer shrugged. ‘Reading is my passion. I just never normally get the time to do it.’ She shuffled some of the books out of the way to make room for Abby’s package. ‘What’s this?’ She inhaled deeply, catching the whiff of melted chocolate and marshmallows. ‘It smells gorgeous.’ She unwrapped the tea towel surrounding it, letting the aroma fill the room. ‘Whoa!’
Abby gave her a little smile. ‘Comfort food. Thought you might want to eat it with me.’ She lifted the bunch of flowers in her hand. ‘I brought you some flowers too, but I see that everyone else had the same idea.’
Every available space in the room was filled with exuberant displays of multicoloured flowers. Jennifer waved her hand at them. ‘They look gorgeous, but most of them have no perfume.’ She took the bunch from Abby’s hand. ‘Now, these …’ she inhaled ‘…smell wonderful.’ She lay back against her pillows, a tiny little crease forming across her forehead. ‘So what do you need comfort food for, Abby Tyler?’
Abby bit her bottom lip and rolled her eyes. She couldn’t possibly tell her the real reason. She couldn’t even get her head around the thought that Reuben might be unwell again, so the last thing she wanted to do was speculate. Not when there was another, easier answer she could give Jennifer. She gave her a little smile. ‘It’s not easy, living under the same roof as your ex again.’
A gleam appeared in Jennifer’s eyes. ‘Oh, do tell. This place has been mind-numbingly boring today.’
Abby unpacked a blunt knife and started cutting the marshmallow and chocolate loaf. She pointed to Jennifer’s belly. ‘You tell first. Any sign of Junior making an appearance yet?’
Jennifer swung her legs off the bed and switched on a latte machine in the corner of the room. She laughed at Abby’s raised eyebrows. ‘It’s the only perk I’ve got, okay?’ She gave her hip a little rub. ‘Nothing’s happening at all. Nothing. Nada. They gave me some steroids today to help mature Junior’s lungs.’ She pointed a finger at Abby. ‘And you’re in big trouble, Dr Tyler, for not telling me how much that would sting!’
Abby laughed. ‘Oops, sorry, I might have forgotten to mention that.’
Jennifer shook her head in disgust. ‘Sure you did. They gave me some more antibiotics as well.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘And there’s only been the tiniest trickle today, so I guess that must be good.’ She pressed a few buttons on the machine as Abby put the loaf onto some plates.
A few seconds later Jennifer handed a steaming mug to her. ‘Don’t get too excited. It’s a caffeine-free latte.’ A smile crept across her face as she eyed the gooey melted marshmallows and chocolate. ‘Now, this is what I call comfort food.’ She took a big bite. ‘Yum.’
Abby nodded as she took a sip of the coffee. ‘I agree. So what can I do to liven this place up for you?’ She nodded at all the flowers. ‘Does anyone know that you’re here? I haven’t seen any reporters or television crews about.’
‘No, no. They’re just from my husband and his few “closest” aides. Hopefully we’ll get this baby safely out before the newshounds get wind of it.’ She settled back against her pillows again. ‘What’s the story with Lincoln Adams? He’s a friend of yours, isn’t he?’
‘Yes, he is.’ The oozing, warm marshmallow melted in her mouth. Yup. Luke had been right, this was definitely making her feel better.
‘How come a man as handsome as that looks so incredibly sad? Have I dragged him away from his wife and children? Is he unhappy about looking after me?’ Her brow was furrowed.
Abby shrugged her shoulders. ‘To be honest, Linc hasn’t said much since he’s been here. But his mood …it’s been like that for a while. I’m not sure what’s going on with him.’ And she hadn’t asked him either. What with the First Lady being in her hospital, her ex appearing and now Reuben’s bruising, she hadn’t even thought to ask Linc what was wrong. Some friend she was. Maybe it was time she sat him down for a chat? She made a mental note to do that and changed the subj
ect rapidly, ‘What do you think of David Fairgreaves?’
Jennifer broke into a big smile. ‘Oh, I love him! He’s just like a grumpy old man. You should hear the way he talks to James Turner. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone be so indifferent towards him. Sometimes he just completely ignores him.’ She took another bite from her loaf. ‘You know what? I’m going to pack him up in a big box and take him back to Washington with me.’
‘It’s going to have to be a pretty big box.’
‘How come?’
‘He doesn’t go anywhere without that fishing boat.’
The door was pushed open and James Turner stuck his head inside, to be met by instant laughter from the two women. ‘Just checking on you, Mrs Taylor.’ He caught sight of the sticky mess on the plates and rolled his eyes at Abby. ‘But I see that Dr Bad Influence has already got things under control.’
‘She certainly has, Mr Turner.’ Jennifer licked her fingers. ‘Best medicine I’ve had since I got here, Abby.’ She glanced over to the windows, her gaze settling on the ocean view. ‘You know, Pelican Cove’s not too shabby. I get so swept up in living in a big city that I forget about the small-town stuff. I think this has done me the world of good.’
‘How so?’
She dropped her hands down on the bed. ‘Well, it’s certainly been restful.’ She rolled her eyes at Abby. ‘I probably wasn’t resting the way I should have been.’ Her hands lay on top of her stomach. ‘Now, seriously, I need to ask you something.’
Abby lifted her head. ‘What is it?’
Jennifer’s brow wrinkled. ‘Well, actually, David Fairgreaves told me to speak to you. I asked him about umbilical stem cells. He told me a little but he said to ask you. How come? I thought he was the world-renowned expert on it all.’
Abby gave a slow smile. ‘He is. But it’s his “baby”. He knows so much about it all he tends to get all technical when he talks about it. He wouldn’t want to get carried away and blind you with science. Plus, he’d be worried that you wouldn’t consider him to be impartial. And because he’s so enthusiastic about the subject, it’s easy to see why. Were you thinking about collecting the cells?’