touch of his hand had been enough, but skin on skin contact, no matter how accidental, had made goose-bumps rise on her arms and neck as her nerve endings battled with the notion that this was Keanu—just a friend!
They reached the lagoon, and trod carefully around its rocky edge towards the small opening through which the water tumbled its way down a rocky path to the flat land below.
And there was their rock. Caroline hurried on, anxious to be there as if sitting in such a familiar place would protect her from all the unfamiliar reactions she was getting from being around her old friend.
But once he’d joined her she realised the rock had shrunk.
Ridiculous, they had grown, so now they sat, close together, feet flat, knees raised, hands looped around their legs.
Very close together!
And in spite of the moonlight, the lagoon looked dark and mysterious, the surface silvered, but with a sense of hidden depths lurking beneath that shining skin.
Hidden depths …
The man beside her would have those too, not deliberately hidden but ideas, emotions, even ethics and beliefs that developed with maturity so for all she thought she knew him, she really didn’t.
‘I have got one idea to get the money,’ she said tentatively, as the side of her body closest to Keanu heated towards fever level. ‘Do you remember Dad explaining to us—well, to me, I suppose, but I’m sure you were there—that my mother’s parents had left their house in Sydney jointly to Christopher and me? They’d also left most of their money, which was apparently considerable, in trust for Christopher and the interest on that pays for his full-time carers and the housekeeper and upkeep on the house.’
She leant forward so a curtain of hair saved her from looking at Keanu’s face. Studying it in the moonlight that picked out the strong bones of his cheeks and jaw, the straight line of his nose was just too distracting.
‘I vaguely remember, but is this story going somewhere?’ Keanu replied, moving slightly and tucking her protective curtain back behind her ears, presumably so he could see her face, for he’d turned to study her at the same time.
She felt the brush of his fingers as he moved her hair, could feel his eyes on her skin—soft eyes, gentle, understanding, like a caress …
‘Well, it might be—it could be a solution,’ she said, her voice wavering as her body reacted to his gaze, and realised just how stupid this was all going to sound. ‘I thought if I could borrow enough money by mortgaging my half of the house, we might just be able to get the mine working again and eventually there’d be money over and above what it pays to the hospital for me to repay the loan.’
He hesitated for a moment, then slipped his arm around her shoulders, as if preparing her for a hug when he disappointed her with his reply.
‘Caro …’ His voice was deep and husky and his arm tightened around her shoulders. ‘I know you said it was your first idea, but if you don’t mind my saying so, it isn’t the best idea you’ve ever had. What if we can’t get the mine going again, and the bank forecloses and Christopher loses his home?’
‘But surely they’d …’ Caroline protested, so flustered by Keanu’s touch she’d forgotten what she’d meant to say.
‘Only take half a house?’ Keanu finished for her, showing just how ridiculous the idea had been.
Had she looked so disappointed that Keanu used the arm around her shoulders to pull her closer? A comforting hug, nothing more, but given where her comforting hug to him had led earlier, she really should pull away.
Except it was comforting.
Too comforting …
For Keanu too, as he suddenly let his arm slip and got back to practicalities?
‘Now, as you were right about knowing a ballpark figure for the amount of money we need,’ he said, ‘let’s go back to your notes and see what we can come up with.’
He stood up, reaching down to help her to her feet, then keeping her hand in his, not exactly imprisoned because she knew she could pull hers out but firmly, as if he wanted it there.
Here she went again, feeling things between her and Keanu when in reality it was nothing more than their old friendship.
Back in the house, she made tea, and put out biscuits Bessie had cooked that day, carrying them through to the dining room where Keanu was already going through her figures.
Or would have been if he hadn’t been holding the old notebook she’d pulled out of her room to use the blank pages in it, running his fingers over the hearts and flowers she’d drawn on the cover—the hearts with the arrow running through them, linking her initials to his.
She snatched it out of his fingers.
‘It’s the first thing I could find to write on,’ she muttered. ‘But to get back to the mine, the closest I’ve got to a total is the wages owed and the full wages for running the mine—from figures back when Peter was here. I just need weekly or monthly running costs from Reuben and we’ll have some idea of what’s needed.
‘We can get them later,’ Keanu assured her, taking the book from her but flipping back to the cover of the book and smiling at her. The teasing warmth of that smile sent ripples of what felt very like desire downwards through her body.
‘I was ten, just look at the figures!’ she snapped, but he kept smiling.
Damn the man. It was just so much easier being near him when he wasn’t smiling.
But they stood up together, the air between them dense with tension.
In the end it was he who broke the spell, stepping back, so they stood, a foot apart, still looking into each other’s eyes.
Then Keanu smiled, and she regretted the foot of space between them, because right then there’d be nothing she’d have liked more than to be locked in his arms.
Locked in his arms?
As in romance?
‘You loved me when you were ten,’ he reminded her, before turning and walking quietly out of the room, down the hall, across the veranda and down the steps.
Gone …
As HE’D MENTIONED, Keanu was off duty, and Anahera and an aide Caroline didn’t know were working in the hospital when Caroline arrived the next morning.
‘Sam’s in his office,’ Anahera told her. ‘And Hettie says she’s taking a day off, which she should, but I bet she’s doing paperwork in her little villa—she finds it hard to stop, although she does love exploring the island, swimming in the lagoon and climbing around the waterfall. She has a true passion for this place.’
‘And you?’ Caroline asked, glad to have an opportunity to chat with Anahera even if they were only
