He blinked and dragged his gaze back to hers. She stepped away, unruffled by their contact except for a tell-tale wariness in her eyes. ‘It’s Terri Mitchell these days.’
‘Yes, of course.’ He had so many questions but he felt oddly tongue-tied. His body’s unexpected response to her, that hot fizz of recognition, left him unbalanced.
His memory tripped in with details supplied over the years by his mother and Theresa’s brother, Ryan. Theresa was widowed, her husband killed when they’d been working with an aid organisation in Africa. An explosion. She’d been injured, too.
He cleared his throat before speaking into the lengthening silence. ‘Theresa, I was sorry to—’
‘No harm done.’ She cut him off quickly, a tiny flare of dismay in her dark chocolate eyes. The smile on her lips looked stiff, unnatural and he realised her misunderstanding had been deliberate. Theresa didn’t want to hear his words of condolence.
She glanced behind him, her smile warming. ‘You must be Alexis. Your grandmother’s told me all about you.’
‘Alexis, this is an old friend of the family.’ Luke drew his daughter forward, leaving his arm across her shoulders as he made the introductions. He was pleasantly surprised when she leaned into his side instead of shrugging him off.
She glowed under Theresa’s attention. Gone was the surly, uncooperative child of mere minutes ago.
Theresa’s serene surface was so firmly in place, the moment of panic seemed as though it was a figment of his imagination. Still, there was something…a hint of sadness shadowing her eyes and smile. With her attention on Allie, he could see it much more clearly.
After a few minutes, Theresa said, ‘I’ll leave you all to catch up properly.’
‘Mum said for you to come to tea tonight, Terri,’ Megan said.
‘Oh. Thank your mum for me, Megan, but I have some paperwork to do before tomorrow. See you later, Alexis.’ Her friendly smile faded as she raised her eyes to his. ‘Luke.’
He wondered if her refusal of the dinner invitation was because of his arrival or if the paperwork excuse was genuine.
She mounted the bike, slid the helmet over her luxurious hair. Her long slender fingers worked quickly to buckle the strap beneath her chin before she reached out to turn the key in the ignition. The machine throbbed to life.
Much to Luke’s surprise, she rode down the extended driveway beside his parents’ house.
‘So, I guess that means I can keep riding with Terri,’ Megan said.
He sent her a noncommittal look. ‘We’ll see.’
‘Luke!’
He grinned at her wailed protest and slid his question in casually. ‘Is Theresa staying in the beach cottage?’
‘Terri. She prefers Terri.’
‘Terri, then.’ He raised an eyebrow.
‘Uh-huh. She’s been renting it since she came back.’
He wondered why his mother hadn’t told him when she’d been giving him updates on the latest Port Cavill gossip.
‘And that was, what, six months ago?’
‘About.’ Megan shrugged.
‘It’s a hovel.’
‘That’s when you used to live there, Luke. Terri’s done it up.’
‘Really.’ Perhaps he might find an opportunity to wander down for a visit, see how his old bachelor pad had scrubbed up. Learn more about the intriguing tenant…
Or perhaps not.
He was here for a year and would have his hands full with the hospital, his father and Allie. Meeting Terri again like this had tipped him out of kilter, that was all. He was tired, maybe even a little jet-lagged. Not thinking straight.
The last thing he needed was to complicate his life. Especially with someone who must thrive on excitement if the bike and her previous job were anything to judge by.
Seeing her had plunged him into an odd time warp where he relived their kiss on the beach. Could it really have been twelve years ago? He hadn’t treated her particularly well that night, rejecting her soft sympathy, allowing his bitterness and guilt over his cousin’s death to colour the things he’d said.
Still, she was obviously made of stern stuff. She’d gone on to do her medical training.
He’d had no interest in women during the two and a half years since Sue-Ellen’s death. How damned inconvenient that the sexual spark missing in his life since then should choose to wake up now.
In Port Cavill. Of all places.
With a colleague. Someone he needed to work with for the next year. The time and place and person couldn’t be worse.
Terri parked the bike beside the cottage, thankful to have made the short journey without disgracing herself by stalling or missing a gear. Or dropping the bike. She huffed out a long breath before putting down the stand and dismounting on shaky legs.
Luke was back.
Helmet tucked under one arm, she collected her handbag from the top box. She’d known he was coming home, of course. Most of the Daniels family had been in a happy buzz of anticipation for the last couple of weeks.
Except for Will Daniels. He’d been upset that, despite his recommendation, the board had appointed Luke to the position of hospital director. A position she’d been acting in since Will’s myocardial infarct. Worse was that the notification had only come yesterday.
Terri had stifled her disappointment so she could reassure her convalescing boss that it didn’t matter.
But it did matter. She’d been relishing the responsibility. It was good for her, challenging, restoring her sense of self. Giving her a much-needed focus for her shattered life.
She sighed. Perhaps even more distressing was her ridiculous fluttery reaction to Luke. How long had it been since she’d felt that disturbing feminine awareness of a man? Such lightness had had no place in her life for so many years. To have it now felt wrong, frivolous.
She crossed to the door and let herself into the cottage. Her hand lingered on her helmet for a moment after she’d placed it on the hall-stand. When Luke had confronted her and Megan, the temptation to stay inside the fibreglass dome and hide behind the smoky Perspex visor had been overwhelming. Behaviour much more in keeping with the starry-eyed teenager she’d been last time they’d met.
Why couldn’t she have been caught on the ward, performing some marvellously complex medical procedure? Saving lives, saving the world, she mocked herself silently. That would have been too perfect.
She slipped off her jacket and hung it on the peg by the door. Naturally, Luke had to arrive a day early, catch her kitted out in motorcycle leathers and then mistake her for Megan’s boyfriend.
