since that night.
They’d been so close. With only eleven months between them they’d been more like twins—inseparable. And when Grace had made the heart-wrenching break to Brisbane to finish her medical degree she’d missed her sister almost as much as she had Brent.
‘She threw up for a day,’ Grace murmured. ‘I had to come up with that elaborate lie for Mum and Dad.’
Brent chuckled. So the kids were her sister’s. It certainly made a lot more sense. The notion of Grace having kids had been completely foreign to him and he’d spent a lot of time in the last weeks trying to wrap his head around it.
But that didn’t explain why she hadn’t set him straight from the beginning. Had she wanted him to think they were hers as some kind of proof that she’d been fine without him?
‘So … you let me believe they were your kids because …?’
Grace cleared her throat of the huge lump that had suddenly taken up residence. ‘Because they are. Mine. That is. Julie and Doug were killed in a car accident eighteen months ago. I’m …’ She drew in a shaky breath. ‘I’m their legal guardian.’
Brent felt his gut twist at the huskily imparted news. He sat very still for a moment, watching Grace fight to stay contained, observing the thick mist of grief clouding her grey gaze.
‘Oh, no, Gracie …’ He reached for her across the table, his hand squeezing her forearm. He knew how close they’d been. ‘I’m so sorry.’
His touch and the way he said her name, like he could see deep inside her bruised heart with just one glance, nearly brought her undone and she snatched her arm back. She would not break down in front of Brent.
In a public cafeteria.
For God’s sake, she hadn’t seen him in two decades!
It was ridiculous.
And if she started to cry now, she didn’t know if she could stop. And then he would haul her into his arms and the way she was feeling right now, she’d go willingly.
Absurdly, he’d been the one she’d secretly craved most after Julie’s death. Having him so near now was dangerous. Her life was complicated. Chaotic.
There wasn’t room for any more.
‘Thank you,’ she said stiffly, refusing to acknowledge the flash of emotion she saw in his hazel eyes at her rejection of his touch.
‘What happened?’
Grace filled him in briefly on the accident. ‘Doug died instantly,’ she concluded. ‘Julie was cut free but died shortly after arriving at the Royal.’
Brent frowned. ‘I must have been on holidays when it happened.’ He thought back. Yes, he had been. He’d gone skiing in France with friends. ‘I wish I’d been there when she came in.’
Grace sucked in a husky breath. She wished he had too. It would have made it somehow easier to bear to know that Julie had had a familiar face with her that night. To know that maybe she might not have been so frightened.
It should have been her.
If she’d been there, maybe she could have saved her sister. Maybe Brent could have.
‘Me too.’
Brent nodded. She was hugging herself now, so removed, so shut down. It was clear she was hurting and it killed him. He’d do anything to take her pain from her. But she was as closed off, as forbidding as that day she’d told him she was leaving and excised him from her life.
And it hit him—any thoughts he’d been harbouring deep down that they might have a chance at rekindling their relationship were utter fancy.
She was no closer to committing now than she had been back then.
And he was no sadist. In the aftermath of their devastating break-up and two failed marriages he’d hardened his heart to relationships and happily settled into a life of playing the field.
After a childhood of being pushed from pillar to post, Brent knew all about loving the one you were with.
He wasn’t about to lose his head to her a second time. She’d walked away last time. And he was damned if he was going to allow nostalgia open the door to her again.
‘I wish I’d known,’ he said, falling back on polite socially acceptable conversation. ‘I know it’s probably too late but is there anything I can do …’
Grace shook her head. ‘You already have. I’m very thankful that you offered me this job when I didn’t get yours. Not many places offer part-time work at my level and I really appreciate it.’
Grace had been devastated when she’d been informed she hadn’t been successful. And had rejected Brent’s job offer that had come soon after. But then Tash had gone AWOL after school a few days later, scaring the absolute daylights out of her, and as much as she knew it would be challenging for them to work together again, she’d known she needed to come home.
So she’d swallowed her pride and emailed him.
He shrugged. ‘I want the Central’s emergency department to be the best. It makes sense to hire the best.’
Grace paused, trying to decide whether to mention the elephant in the room or not. But she’d always believed in tackling things head on. ‘I appreciate that it’s not easy, given our history. I know it’ll be awkward to start with.’
Brent nodded. Then he held out his hand. If they set the boundaries at the beginning, they’d both be on the same page. ‘So let’s make a pact. The past is the past. Today is a new page. Friends?’
Grace’s heart thunked in her chest as her hand slid into his and his warmth flowed up her arm and through her body. ‘Friends.’
Brent felt it too and quickly withdrew his hand. ‘We kinda skipped that part, didn’t we?’
Grace gave a half-smile. They certainly had.
She suddenly felt on steadier emotional ground. She looked at her watch. ‘Gosh. I have to go.’ She stood. ‘Thank you. For … being so understanding.’
He shrugged. ‘What are friends for?’
Grace smiled, picked up her tray and departed. Brent watched her walk away. The sway of her hips drew his gaze to their hourglass curve and her cute bottom and he had to remind himself of the pact he’d made just a few seconds before.
Friends.
CHAPTER FOUR
GRACE was pleased to get her first day in the actual department started. She loved emergency medicine and even a few weeks away from it had left her yearning for the hustle and bustle.
It was the sort of work that was completely absorbing, leaving no time to worry about anything in the outside world. And now she and Brent had agreed to be friends, there
