on the toddler check and then come in.’
Luci was just helping Harper down from the exam table when Seb knocked on the door. She took Harper out of the room to the play area where Harper’s two-year-old brother was busy with the building blocks while Seb caught up with Melanie. When she returned Seb had been given the update on the two psychologist appointments Melanie had already had.
‘We are working on my responses so that I can try to manage the situation,’ Melanie told him. ‘And then we’re going to tackle the best way to get Brad in for a session as well.’
Milo was strapped into his pram in the corner of the room. He started to grizzle.
‘Sorry,’ Melanie apologised, ‘He’s due for a feed.’
Seb thought it was interesting that Melanie felt she needed to apologise for something that was perfectly understandable. She started to get out of her chair to attend to the baby when Luci offered her help.
‘Don’t worry about him. I’ll see if I can settle him for a bit, let you finish with Dr Hollingsworth.’ Luci lifted Milo out of the stroller. She blew a raspberry on his foot and his grizzles stopped, becoming happy chortling instead. She laid him on the exam table and distracted him with a mirror and a game of peek-a-boo, allowing Melanie to continue.
The young mother was watching Luci play with Milo while she spoke to Seb. ‘And I think I need to make an appointment to discuss a more reliable form of contraception. After this next one I reckon I’m done. Some days I feel like I’m not even managing with the three I already have.’
Seb’s antennae went up. ‘I’ll speak to the psychologist and recommend that you continue with regular visits until a few months after this next baby is born.’ He didn’t want to let Melanie slip through the cracks in the system. If she needed help and support he wanted to make sure she got it. For her sake and for her children’s sake.
‘Thank you,’ she replied with a nod as she stood up, preparing to leave. She picked Milo up from the exam table to put him back into his stroller. ‘Do you have kids, Luci?’ she asked.
Melanie was bending over, strapping Milo into his pram, and she missed Luci’s expression. But Seb didn’t. She looked like someone had slapped her.
‘No, I don’t,’ Luci replied.
‘You should. You’re a natural.’
‘Mmm-hmm.’ Luci turned away and Seb wasn’t able to see her face. He couldn’t tell if her expression had changed or not.
‘I don’t seem to have the energy,’ Melanie remarked.
‘I imagine managing them twenty-four-seven is very different from seeing them for ten minutes at a time,’ Luci said. ‘I’m not surprised you’re tired.’
‘Exhausted is the word, I think. But I’ll get through it. What other choice do I have?’ she remarked as she pushed the pram towards the door.
‘Are you okay?’ Seb asked Luci the moment Melanie left the room.
‘I’m fine.’
She didn’t look fine.
‘I’m concerned about Melanie, though,’ she said, changing the subject. ‘Do you still think the kids are safe?’
‘How was Harper’s health check?’ he asked, letting her change of topic go—for now. ‘Were there any red flags with her weight or teeth or any unexplained bruises?’
Luci shook her head. ‘Everything was within normal ranges.’
‘I’ve never seen any signs of neglect or abuse. The kids are clean and well fed. I think she’s coping. Maybe just, at times, but I don’t think the kids are in any danger.’ If he thought the children were in any danger he wouldn’t sit on his hands. ‘Her kids’ welfare comes before her own, which is part of the problem, but also why I’ll insist that she continue with regular psych reviews. If anything changes, hopefully we’ll pick up on it.’
Luci was nodding but she still looked upset. He felt that he’d learned to read her expressions in just a few days and he was still worried about her. He wanted to find out why she’d looked so shocked. He ignored his self-imposed ban. He wanted to spend time with her. ‘Have you got plans tonight?’ he asked.
‘Only to cook up a stir-fry.’
‘Would there be enough for two?’
‘You’ll be home?’
So she’d noticed that he’d been MIA. He wondered if she had missed him. He nodded and offered, ‘I’ll bring wine.’
‘Sure.’
* * *
‘Dinner smells good.’
Seb’s voice startled her and made Luci jump. She had her head over the wok and the sizzle as she fried the garlic and crushed chilli had blocked out all other sounds.
‘It’s just chicken and noodles,’ she said as she scraped the marinated chicken strips into the pan. The aroma of fried garlic always smelt good but she hadn’t really thought about the practicalities of serving up a dish laden with garlic. Oh, well, she supposed it was one way to make sure Seb didn’t kiss her again.
She glanced over her shoulder when she heard the familiar snap as Seb broke the seal on the screw top on the bottle of wine he held. He poured two glasses and handed one to her before leaning back on the kitchen bench.
Was he planning on hanging around in the kitchen while she cooked?
She’d been surprised that he was free tonight. He’d barely been home all week. She’d heard him come in late at night but he definitely hadn’t been home for a meal and she’d expected he would have other plans. She’d wondered if he had been deliberately avoiding her and had thought about shooing him out of the kitchen now, but dinner would only take five minutes so she may as well enjoy his company. Sitting home alone was no fun.
The house had been far too quiet this week without Seb. She still wasn’t used to being on her own. After her divorce she’d formed a habit of eating at her parents’ house a couple of times a week or sharing a meal with Flick. But being in Sydney, where she didn’t have a large network of friends, had made her nights long and lonely. She’d never really been on her own before and she’d discovered she didn’t like it. But that didn’t mean she was going to fall for the first guy to cross her path. She needed to develop some resistance along with her independence.
She sipped her wine, hoping it would calm her nerves. It felt like they were on a date. Not that she really knew how that felt. She and Ben had been together since high school and she couldn’t even remember their first date, but she guessed it would have been at a school friend’s birthday party. They had probably played silly party games and drunk some wine they’d pinched from a parent’s cellar.
She wished she was cooking something a bit more complicated than a stir-fry, something that required more attention. Something that would require her focus but, as it was, she could whip up a stir-fry blindfolded and that meant she had plenty of time to think about Seb.
Even though she hadn’t seen much of him that
