Vivienne nodded. ‘Thank you very much, Mr Fraser.’
‘Right now,’ he said gently, ‘it probably feels like the end of the world and you’re worrying that you’re going to lose so much ground against everyone else.’
She bit her lip. ‘That’s exactly how it feels.’
‘So you need to take it one day at a time, and find someone you can talk to—someone who won’t let you pity yourself, but will make you be sensible and get the right balance between doing enough work to strengthen your knee, but not so much that you damage it again and end up back at square one,’ Jared said.
‘That’s good advice,’ Mr Kaine agreed. ‘I’ll always listen, Vivi, but he’s right—you do need someone else to talk to.’
‘I was lucky,’ Jared said. ‘I had a great coach. And he made me see that although my knee wouldn’t hold up enough for me to play at international level again, I had other options. I could learn to coach, or I could do what I ended up doing—I trained as a doctor, and I’m still part of the sport because nowadays I work with the youth team of a premiership division club. So even if there are complications in the future and you don’t end up playing at this level again, you’ll still have options—you can still be part of tennis.’
‘I don’t mean to be rude,’ Vivienne said, ‘but I don’t want to be a coach or a doctor. I just want to play tennis. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.’
‘And you will play again,’ Bailey said. ‘But, as Dr Fraser said, you need to follow your rehab programme.’
‘Waiting is the worst bit,’ Jared said. ‘You’ll want to push yourself too hard. But don’t. Use that time to study instead. Look at different techniques, look at the way your opponents play and use that to hone your strategy. To really succeed at a top level in sport you need just as much up here …’ he tapped his head ‘… as you need the physical skills.’
‘Vivi picked up a racket practically as soon as she could walk,’ Mr Kaine said. ‘I used to play—nothing like at her level—just at a club on Sunday afternoons, and her mum would bring her to watch. And she ended up joining in.’ He ruffled her hair. ‘When she started beating us hollow and she wasn’t even ten years old, we knew we were seeing something special in the making. And you’ll get that back, love. We just have to make sure we do everything the doctors tell us, OK?’
‘OK,’ Vivienne said.
Bailey smiled at them both. ‘And I’ll do my very best to help you get that knee back to how it was, so you can go and get those grand slams.’
‘Can I be rude and ask, Mr Fraser, do you miss playing?’ Vivienne asked.
‘Sometimes,’ Jared said. ‘But I’m thirty-five now, so I’d be near the end of my professional playing career in any case. And I’m lucky because I really enjoy my job. It means I get the chance to help players fulfil their potential. If someone had told me that when I was your age, I would have laughed at them—but I really do feel I’ve achieved something when I see them grow and improve. So don’t rule it out as something you might do when you’re ready to retire from playing.’
Vivienne looked thoughtful, and Bailey could see that Jared’s words had given her a different perspective—something that would make all the waiting during her rehab a lot easier. ‘Thank you, Mr F—Dr Fraser,’ she amended.
When the Kaines had left, Jared was about to follow them out when Bailey stopped him. ‘Thanks for doing that, Jared—you’ve made a real difference to her.’
‘No worries.’
‘If I wasn’t up to my eyes in paperwork and appointments,’ she said, ‘I’d offer to take you for lunch to thank you properly. Or dinner—but I’m doing bridesmaid stuff for Joni tonight. So please consider this a kind of rain check.’ She took a plain white patisserie box from her desk drawer and handed it to him.
‘What’s this?’ he asked.
She smiled. ‘A little slice of heaven. Don’t open it now. Tell me what you think later.’
‘OK.’ He looked intrigued. ‘I’ll text you. Good luck for tonight.’
‘Thanks.’
Later that evening, she had a text that made her laugh.
Best chocolate cake in the universe. Would very much like to help with more patients. Quite happy to be paid in cake.
I’ll see what I can do, she texted back.
Funny, when she’d first met Jared, she’d thought him grumpy and surly and a pain in the neck. Now she rather liked his dry sense of humour and the quiet, sensible way he went about things.
But she’d better not let herself get too close. After the way her marriage to Ed had splintered, she just didn’t trust herself to get it right next time. It was best to stick to being colleagues. Friends, too, maybe; but she’d have to dampen down the attraction that sparkled through her veins every time she saw him. To keep her heart safe.
‘JONI, YOU LOOK BEAUTIFUL,’ Bailey said, surveying her best friend.
‘So do you.’ But Joni also looked worried. ‘Bailey, are you sure you’re OK?’
‘Of course I am—why wouldn’t I be?’
‘Because I remember the last time that one of us was in a bridesmaid’s dress and the other was the bride,’ Joni said softly.
Bailey’s wedding day. A day so full of promise. A day when she’d thought she couldn’t be happier … And then, two short years later, she’d discovered that she couldn’t be any more unhappy when her whole world crashed down around her. ‘I’m fine. More than fine. Don’t give it another moment’s thought,’ she said brightly. Even if she hadn’t been fine, no way would Bailey rain on her best friend’s parade on her wedding day.
‘I can’t believe you’re actually bringing Herod as your plus-one.’
Bailey groaned. ‘Please don’t call him that when you meet him—he’ll be mortified.’
‘You’ve been very cagey about him. So you’re getting on OK together now?’
‘We’ve reached an understanding.’
Joni raised an eyebrow. ‘That sort of understanding?’
‘Absolutely not. Even if I was looking for someone, Jared Fraser wouldn’t make my list of potentials.’ That was a big fat lie—Jared Fraser was one of the most attractive men she’d met, particularly when he smiled—but hopefully Joni would be too distracted by all the bridal stuff going on to call her on it. Bailey hoped. ‘No, he’s just doing me a favour and taking a bit of heat off me where my family’s concerned.’
‘As long as you’re OK.’
‘Of
