part of the history here for years. We’d raise a fortune. People would come from all over the hospital to finally see Lou lose the plait.’
‘Sacrilege.’ Lydia shook her head.
‘Hear, hear,’ agreed Will, suddenly warming to Lydia again.
‘Yes, I can see the signs around the hospital now. “Come see our Lou lose her plait”,’ Pete said, staring at a point in mid-air and flicking his hands to emphasise each word.
‘Are you insane?’ asked Will incredulously. How could the man even think of cutting off Lou’s gorgeous locks?
Lou listened to their conversation about herself and her hair, feeling suddenly invisible. Like a life support system for a head of hair.
‘Oh, come on, there wouldn’t be one person who hadn’t thought about snipping it off as she’s walked past all these years. And it would make such a glorious wig,’ Pete said, lifting Lou’s plait and examining the blend of colours.
‘Ah, excuse me—I am actually standing here in the same room,’ said Lou, bemused by their in-depth discussion.
‘The plait stays,’ Will said firmly.
‘Lou?’ Pete entreated, appealing to his boss one last time.
Lou opened her mouth to graciously decline.
‘No, Pete,’ said Will, even more firmly this time. ‘Absolutely not.’
Lou turned and raised her eyebrow at Will. She knew he’d always been obsessed with her hair, but this was ridiculous. He was looking at her as if he owned her hair. As if he owned her. She felt the early simmer of her blood pick up to a slow boil. Did he really think he actually had a say over what she did with her hair? Or any other part of her body? Did he think he could walk back in after a year and she’d just fall back into her old Will-worshipping ways?
If she was going to hold on to herself and her sanity now Will was back, he had to know that their old dynamic was dead. No more following meekly wherever he led. I am over you, buddy boy. Time to draw a line in the sand.
‘I’ll do it,’ she said, talking to Pete, but looking pointedly at Will.
‘Oh, no,’ gasped Kristy.
‘Lou,’ warned Lydia.
‘Yes!’ Pete rubbed his hands together with glee and picked up a pen.
‘No. Don’t put her down. I’ll do it,’ Will instructed, still holding Lou’s gaze.
Lou broke eye contact. ‘Do not listen to him. Long hair with a baby is not a good combination. I’m doing it.’
‘He doesn’t need you now,’ said Will, placing a stilling hand on Pete’s, hovering above an official form, pen poised. ‘I’ve already volunteered.’
Everyone in the nurses’ station looked at Lou. She felt as if she was in a tennis match, her colleagues looking left and right as they lobbed the bone of contention between them.
She shrugged. ‘You want to as well—fine. But I’m not changing my mind. He can have both of us,’ she said.
‘Lou,’ said Will, looking at the stubborn set of her chin, ‘you’re just trying to prove a point now. You don’t have to do this.’ Will realised his fatal error. By disagreeing, he had goaded her into it.
‘No, my mind is made up. It’s for kids with cancer. I’m the kids’ ward nurse unit manager. It’s a good cause. I normally go along, sponsor everyone, sell raffle tickets, do my bit. But this year I’m going to lead by example.’
Will shook his head, not really able to believe that she was seriously going to go through with it.
‘Are you really going bald?’ asked a mystified Kristy.
‘No.’ Lou laughed, not quite indignant enough to agree to that. ‘But shaved all over. Like Lydia’s Matt. How short does he have his?’ she asked her friend. Lydia’s ten-year-old son always got a crew cut.
‘He usually gets a number four blade,’ Lydia said, almost as horrified as Kristy.
‘Good.’ Lou nodded emphatically. ‘A number four it is.’
Will still couldn’t believe the direction of the conversation. He searched around for something to deter her, one last-ditch effort.
‘Jan will have a fit,’ he said. Lou’s sister probably coveted Lou’s hair even more than he did. Jan had always bemoaned her thin, stringy, can’t-do-anything-with-it hair, especially as Lou’s was the exact opposite.
Lou blinked, and braced herself for the inevitable pain. She heard a slight gasp come from Kristy, and felt rather than saw the sudden tension emanating from Lydia and Pete. It was suddenly deathly quiet, as if the entire ward had chosen that moment to cease all noise and activity.
‘Hardly,’ she said, keeping the gut-wrenching sorrow from her voice. ‘Jan’s dead.’ And she pushed herself off the desk and calmly walked away, before she did something awful—like burst into tears at the unexpected reminder of her sister’s tragic death.
CHAPTER TWO
WILL watched her go, completely dumbfounded. That was twice today she had utterly shocked him. His head rejected the information instantly, but one look at the faces of the others in the nurses’ station and he knew it was true.
‘Lydia?’
She nodded. ‘Jan and Martin died in a light plane crash just over five months ago.’
‘Oh, God, how terrible,’ he said, remembering all the good times he and Lou had had with Jan and Martin. Remembering how close Lou had been to her big sister. And how the couple had doted on Candy. ‘Why didn’t somebody tell me?’
‘Maybe if you’d bothered to check on her at any time during the last year you may have found out,’ Lydia chided.
He looked at Lydia and knew he deserved the criticism. He had deliberately avoided any contact, believing it was best for both of them. And poor Lou had gone through this all alone. No, not alone, he thought, as he looked at her fiercely loyal staff. But still… If he’d only known, he could have. Could have what? Rung? Sent her some flowers? A sympathy card? How trite. He could have come back and comforted her. Gone to the funeral at least.
He left the station and headed directly for her office. He knocked on her door and didn’t wait for her to reply, opening it straight away. Empty. He thumped his hand against the door in frustration. He needed to talk to her about it. To let her know how very, very sorry he was. She might have dropped the bombshell calmly, but he knew her well enough—or at least he had—to know it hid a whole heap of anguish.
He looked at his watch. He was due at Human Resources five minutes ago. But he was coming back this afternoon, for an in-service with Lynne on the computer system. He was torn between what he had to do and what he needed to do, but her disappearing act left him with little choice. Talking with Lou was just going to have to wait until then.
A couple of hours
