Her eyes widened. ‘That’s a fair way past my apartment.’
‘So it is.’ What would Rosie have thought of Molly? Would she have liked her? Yes, he thought, she would. Rosie had insisted he had to move on when she’d gone, wasn’t to sit around feeling sorry for himself. She’d gone as far as saying bluntly, ‘Find another woman to love, have that family you’ve always wanted. Don’t live in regret for what we’ve lost. That would make our time together worthless.’
But should he really take Molly to his home, show her the vacant flat? Should he start thinking ahead, instead of always looking over his shoulder at the past?
CHAPTER FIVE
WHY GO TO Coogee when there were plenty of cafés near the hospital? Or in Bondi Junction. Molly watched Nathan’s firm hands with their easy movements as he drove through the morning rush hour traffic. Hands that she now knew could be gentle. Shuffling further down into the luxurious leather seat, she stifled a yawn. Which was rude when Nathan was taking her out, but the night had caught up with her.
‘Have you always lived in Coogee?’ she asked, in need of a distraction to stay awake. Not that Nathan wasn’t one, but he might leave her on the side of the road if she stared at him all the way to the well-known beach.
‘Only since I bought the house. I like being near the sea, and Coogee appealed. Before that I lived on the north shore.’ His voice hitched on that last sentence.
‘The surfing?’ He’d told her he used to surf.
‘It wasn’t a priority, as I rarely rode the board at the time. Though that’s turned out to be a bonus, like a lot of things about the property. I do hit the waves these days. Besides, the house ticked a lot of boxes and had that wow factor, so I bought it.’
She’d like to see the place sometime. It would tell her a lot about Nathan. Her head nodded forward, and her eyelids drooped shut. Sitting up straighter, she forced her eyelids up and stared out at the road ahead. She’d buy her own home sometime. A small, warm house that would wrap around her; not a sterile mansion that showed off to her friends how wealthy she was. That particular house hadn’t been her choice. It’d had Paul written all over the grand frontage, the sweeping staircase, the expansive rooms. The place had felt more like a mausoleum than a home, and as though she as much as the house was on display to all and sundry. ‘Not your first property?’
‘No. The one I owned first was cosier and more family orientated.’ He paused.
Molly waited, hoping she stayed awake long enough to hear what else he had to say.
‘I was married. We were hoping to raise our children there. But four years ago it went horribly wrong.’
Wide awake now, she touched Nathan’s arm. ‘I’m sorry. Life can play nasty when it chooses.’
‘You’re not wrong there.’ Nathan flicked the indicator and pulled into the outside lane, keeping a safe distance from the truck in front, his fingers tapping impatiently on the steering wheel.
She knew the grief of losing the chance of having a family. It undermined everything she wanted for her future. Unlike her, Nathan could have children if he chose to. Molly returned to watching those fingers as they played a silent, sharp rhythm on the wheel.
‘Rosie got ALL.’
Acute lymphatic leukaemia. Molly’s heart dropped for Nathan, and his wife. What could she say? No words could help. But a hug might—except hugging Nathan while he was driving along the city highway wasn’t conducive to safety. Like her dream? She squeezed his arm softly, and remained quiet for the rest of the ride out to the beach.
Had Nathan told her about his wife in a bid to soften the blow when he asked her about her past? Or were they getting a little closer and he wanted to put it out there straight-up? Yesterday’s argument and breakfast seemed a lifetime ago. They’d been scratchy with each other, then friendly to the point he’d had a cup of tea in her apartment. At the time it had seemed a vast improvement in their relationship, and since then she’d exposed the results of her darker side, and he was still happy to spend time alone with her.
Having spent the past two years running solo, to have now shared time talking with a man was hard to take in. It excited her about the future. Seemed she was still capable of mixing and mingling, of having a laugh, of doing things outside her four walls.
‘Wakey-wakey.’
A gentle shaking of her arm had Molly sitting up and staring around. ‘Sorry.’ She never went to sleep in the company of anyone, let alone a man. Another point in Nathan’s favour. ‘This is Coogee?’ The sweeping beach with its golden sand sang to her, reminding her of beach holidays with Gran. Lowering the window, she listened to the waves smacking down on the beach beyond the steps leading down from the street.
‘Yes, it sure is.’ He glanced along the street, then back at her. ‘And, Molly?’
Uh-oh. What had she done? She’d been asleep, couldn’t be too serious. ‘Yes?’
‘Stop saying sorry all the time. Falling asleep isn’t a crime. It’d been coming ever since you dropped Burgess in ED. Shock or an adrenaline high does that.’
‘I won’t get into trouble for throwing him on the floor, will I?’ It had only just occurred to her it might be seen as a bad move, she could have endangered others. Not that there’d been any chance of stopping her reaction.
‘I’d like to see anyone try to make you out to be the villain. If you hadn’t stopped him, Hazel would now have a badly beaten face, at the very least. Believe me, everyone’s on your side. The word was going round the hospital within minutes that you stepped up and the question’s being asked—where was Security at the time he walked through the doors into the department?’
‘He could’ve gained access by asking to see his wife. He didn’t need to get all uptight and angry.’ That still would have upset Kath, though.
‘Unfortunately you’re right. Kath hadn’t said she wouldn’t see him, and I doubt she would’ve if asked.’ He pushed open his door and unwound his long body to stand upright.
Before Molly had gathered her bag, or her wits, Nathan was opening her door. ‘Come on. Let’s go and eat.’
She grinned. ‘Now you mention it, I’m starving.’
‘There’s a surprise.’ Nathan laughed, and held out a hand to take hers, which he didn’t drop as they began walking along the footpath.
For once she didn’t try and pull away, or start filling in the sudden shyness swamping her by talking a load of drivel. Instead she looked around at the massive hotel built against the hill, and the row of small shops lining the street heading up the valley. She enjoyed the sense of freedom at being able to hold a man’s hand without being frightened, or wary. A warm, strong hand belonging to a caring, exciting guy who was starting to get under her skin in ways she’d long believed wouldn’t happen in this lifetime.
Then she let out a sigh. There was no getting away from telling him the bare facts about her past. Nathan had guessed the basics so to go all quiet on him when he was being so darned kind and friendly wasn’t right, even when she hadn’t told anyone the sordid details since she’d left Perth two years ago. She’d give him an abridged version. Bare facts, and move on.
After they’d eaten.
‘Hello, Nathan.’ The waitress placed menus before them. ‘How’s your week been?’
‘Hectic, as per usual. Eva, let me introduce Molly O’Keefe. She’s a nurse in the department.’
‘Hey, Molly, nice to meet you. Are you living around here?’
The girl looked vaguely familiar, which didn’t make sense. Unless she lived in the same apartment block as Molly did, but what were the odds? ‘Over in Bondi Junction, unfortunately.’ She’d love to have an apartment with those views to wake up to every day. It wasn’t happening any time soon. Her bank balance couldn’t cope. The money from her half of the marital property was locked in an investment, where it was staying until she decided what to do with it. The money was tain
ted, as far as she was concerned. Though there was her inheritance from Gran. Hmm. Possibilities started popping up. Her mother would be quick to offer assistance to make up for letting her down in the past, but she’d never ask.
‘I know what you mean. It’s beautiful around here.’ Eva looked at Nathan. ‘The usual?’
‘You’ve got steak on the menu?’ Molly laughed.
Eva gaped at her. ‘Steak? No. The full Aussie breakfast.’
Molly’s laugh got louder. ‘Do you ever cook your own breakfast?’
‘Cook it? Hell, no. Do I tip something out of a cardboard box into a bowl and add milk? Yes, more often than you seem to think.’ He grinned before nodding to the waitress. ‘Definitely, the works. Molly might take time deciding so can we have a flat white and a long black in the meantime?’
‘Coming up.’
As Eva headed across to the barista coffee machine, Molly began scanning the menu. ‘I feel I know Eva from somewhere.’
‘ED. She came in with burns to her legs after a cook knocked boiling water off the stovetop and onto her.’
‘She was in agony. The head chef came with her, and was so upset you had to calm him down as well.’ It had happened during her first week in the department, and she’d been impressed with Nathan’s handling of the chef’s stress when it was Eva who had needed his attention. ‘You helped them both.’