E for England (10 page)

‘Ready kids?' Leonie cried. ‘Ooh, my feet are burning. Let's go paddling.' She bounced up and down on the sun-soaked sand displaying a perfectly tanned body in a white bikini. When was Annie going to reveal her luscious curves?

‘Wait a minute.' Annie grabbed her children by an arm each as they prepared to rush away. ‘You must stay close to Leonie, and Floss, hold her hand when you're in the water. Don't wander off by yourself because we'll never find you. Remember where our umbrella is. See? We're near the Life Saving flag.' She pointed to the flag on a pole marking one edge of the safe swimming area. ‘You mustn't go outside the flags. Understand? Stay with Leonie.'

‘Yes, Mummy.' They nodded vigorously.

‘Yes, Mummy,' said Leonie with a broad grin. She held out a hand to each child and they latched on. ‘Coming, Hugh?'

‘In a minute.'

‘Okay. Last one in's a rotten egg,' she said and ran towards the water with the two giggling children in tow.

Annie spread her towel and sat down. ‘You go in, Hugh. I'll wait till they come back.'

‘Come in with me.'

‘Someone should stay with our things.'

He nodded. ‘Okay. I'll go in, then it's your turn.'

He pulled off his t-shirt, conscious of Annie's eyes behind the dark glasses watching him. His skin was pale in comparison to the bronzed bodies sprawled all around. Not very impressive but safer, the medical man in him insisted. Skin cancer was a serious issue.

‘You need sunscreen or you'll burn to a crisp.' She pulled the family-sized plastic pump bottle of sunscreen out of her bag and stood up. ‘I'll do your back.'

‘Thanks. It's easy to forget how fierce the sun is here after living in Europe.'

‘It's the hole in the ozone layer.'

Hugh turned his back, breath almost held, waiting for the touch of her fingers on his skin. First came a cool squeeze of cream high on the back of his neck then she spread her hands across his shoulders stroking firmly. A pause and more creamy coolness on his spine. More rubbing and smoothing. He exhaled and focused on the breakers tumbling in frothy green arcs to the beach, to the children skipping and jumping on the water's edge with Leonie, anything to take his attention away from those slowly circling, massaging fingers heading south to the waistband of his board shorts.

‘Do your front,' she said and shoved the bottle into his hand. ‘And don't forget your neck and ears.' Her fingers stroked his shoulders again.

‘Yes, Mum.'

‘All done.' The application stopped abruptly.

Annie sat down under the umbrella, face averted when he looked down at her in surprise. She picked up her book and opened it.

‘Thanks.'

He obediently rubbed cream onto his ears and neck then did his chest, abdomen and legs. He kicked off his sandals, glanced at Annie but received no response, so jogged down the slope to where Leonie was playing with the children in the shallow wash from the waves.

‘How's the water?'

‘Cold,' yelled Floss and bent down to splash water at him with both hands.

‘Invigorating,' said Leonie. Mattie ignored him but Leonie grabbed the little boy by the waist and swung him around until she lost her footing and they both fell into the foam. Floss squealed with laughter.

Hugh laughed and waded into deeper water until he could dive under an incoming curler. He surfaced and continued swimming away from shore then stopped and trod water, catching his breath, looking out to sea enjoying the freedom and the vastness of the ocean despite the hundreds of other swimmers sharing the beach behind him.

He turned and swam strongly towards shore with the next wave, bodysurfing in with a salty tang in his mouth and an immense exhilaration in his soul. Fabulous! This is what he'd returned to Australia for. He should come to the beach every chance he got while the weather was still warm enough. His feet touched bottom and he stood, running his hands over his face and hair. A glance about told him he'd drifted north of the umbrella. He turned and went out again.

Fifteen minutes later he surfed in for the last time. Leonie was still playing with the children in the shallows, all sitting in the water now, legs extended seaward, squealing when the waves ran up their bodies.

Annie glanced up when he joined her, expression blank, eyes hidden behind the dark glasses. Hugh grabbed his towel and dried his face.

‘You should go in now,' he said.

Annie put her book down. She'd taken off her sundress and wore a plain navy blue one-piece. Her toes had dark red polish on the ends of sexy, very shapely legs. ‘Will you stay here?'

‘Yes. I need a breather.'

He sure did because when she stood up her body was breathtakingly beautiful, all smoothly curved hips and full breasts. He had to concentrate on drying his face to tear his eyes away from her delights.

‘Okay.' She walked away. Her bottom jiggled under the blue fabric. What a waist. Just the right size for a man to slip his hands around. His fingers curled with longing but he spread the towel on the sand in the shade and sat watching her approach the children and Leonie. They all looked back towards him and he waved. Floss and Leonie waved back, Annie and Mattie didn't. Annie left the little group and waded into deeper water. She dived into the next wave and disappeared amongst the foam.

Hugh checked his phone for messages. None. Nina should call in about twenty minutes to report on the effects of the medication he'd prescribed for Julian Barr. The elderly man had severe congestion following a tussle with pneumonia. His blood pressure was up and he needed constant monitoring by the nursing staff. He had a feeling there may be an underlying problem, perhaps long-term, with his lungs, but at the moment he needed to be stabilised and his blood pressure brought down. Leonie's thoughtless comment made him furious but there was no point displaying that anger, especially today with the children in the car and Annie sitting beside him looking forward to a relaxed day out.

She knew how he'd reacted, he could tell by the sudden stiffening in the angle of her head and the little glance she threw his way. Did she agree with Leonie? He hoped not. He hoped she had more compassion. Leonie was singularly self-centred. All her actions were designed to provide pleasure for herself and to achieve whatever her goal was at the time. Today he suspected she was trying another angle to seduce him, using the children and Annie as foils. She did genuinely like the children, though, that much was obvious, and vice versa, which was a good thing. Those little ones needed as much love as they could soak up.

He lay back and closed his eyes against the glare. His legs were in the sun warming nicely after the cooling effect of the water. Floss was right, it was chilly.

Lester Fuller. He was no better and no worse. Holding his own after his first night in hospital. The fever came down but spiked again in the night and the nurse said he was disoriented and complained of aching joints. Eleanor was as puzzled as Hugh.

The test results hadn't indicated anything specific but ruled out the usual suspects like typhoid, so that was something. Eleanor had ordered more tests but she was inclined towards meningitis. Hugh wasn't so sure. It didn't seem quite right.

Eleanor seemed rather distracted, but he didn't know her well enough to know whether this was her normal manner and he certainly didn't know her well enough to probe. He had to trust she knew her job, and anyway she was in charge of the patient now.

The sister hovered constantly like a thundercloud but now seemed to accept diagnosis was difficult. Not much choice when two doctors told her the same thing.

‘Hugh, Mattie wants to go to the toilet. Could you take him, please?'

Hugh opened his eyes and sat up. Leonie and the two children stood looking down at him. ‘Of course. Where are the toilets?'

‘Along to the right near the outdoor gym.'

‘I want to go too,' said Floss.

‘Hats on. Grab your sandals and we'll all go.'

Hugh collected his phone and wallet from his bag. ‘What about this?' He gestured at the bags and the picnic basket.

‘It'll be fine.' Leonie turned to the young couple lying close by, baking themselves to an even golden brown. ‘Would you mind keeping an eye on our gear for us, please? We'll be back soon.'

‘Okay.'

‘Come on.' Leonie headed for the steps leading up to the broad walkway.

Mattie and Floss followed with Hugh bringing up the rear, pulling his t-shirt over his head as he went.

Leonie slowed, letting him catch up. ‘Enjoying yourself?'

‘Absolutely. It's a magnificent beach. Thank you for inviting me.'

‘My pleasure.'

‘Like to go out tonight? It's a friend's thirtieth birthday party.'

‘Oh, I can't, I'm sorry. I'm on call so I should stay home and sober.'

‘Bummer. Never mind. Another time.' She flashed him a smile. ‘I'm glad we got Annie out of the house.'

He glanced at her, surprised. ‘Why?'

‘She needs to go out and enjoy herself. I'm worried she's becoming housebound and insular. It's not healthy.'

‘I suppose her options are rather limited having these two to care for.'

‘There are such things as babysitters but she's really picky and won't leave them with someone she doesn't know or who the kids don't like.'

‘Mmm.' Sounded reasonable to him.

‘Which means just about everyone except me and you.' She laughed and held out her hand to Floss. ‘Come on, lovely. This way.'

Hugh ushered Mattie into the crowded Men's while Leonie disappeared into the Ladies with Floss. Was Leonie genuinely caring or being subtly bitchy? It was very hard to tell. Women and their politics were a mystery. Especially Annie. Wanting to stay home in the evenings wasn't a bad thing as far as he was concerned. Annie went out to work every day so she was probably too tired to go socialising as well care for the children. They were a fulltime occupation.

‘I want to go in there,' Mattie said, pointing to an empty cubicle.

‘All right. I'll wait right here for you.'

Hugh stood near the door. Men streamed in and out. The toilet flushed, Mattie reappeared and strode across to wash his hands. He flashed Hugh a tiny smile from under the brim of his sunhat.

‘My mum makes me go in the Ladies usually.'

‘But you're a bit big now, aren't you?'

Mattie nodded. ‘I'm six and three quarters.'

Hugh nodded. ‘Growing up.'

Judging by the number of women heading into the Ladies, the girls would be quite a while.

‘Let's wait over there.' Hugh pointed across the wide walkway to the shallow steps leading down to the sand. Mattie followed and they sat down to wait. In the outdoor gym area, men with oiled bronzed bodies pumped iron and eyed each other. Gay. Not his cup of tea, but to each his own.

Hugh cast about for something entertaining to say. Mattie sat silently beside him, twisting around to search for Leonie and Floss in the throng of people traversing the walkway behind them.

‘Like to go to the park next weekend and kick your football around?' Not much chance of a yes to that, judging by his demeanour.

‘I have to ask my mum.' He folded his arms firmly across his chest.

‘Of course.' Not a complete denial so maybe he was accepting Hugh as a non-threatening male. More silence but it was relatively comfortable.

‘They're taking ages,' Mattie said eventually.

‘Girls always take longer in the toilets than men,' Hugh said.

Mattie squinted up at him, wrinkling his face against the sun. ‘Why?'

‘They just do, plus they have to queue for the cubicles.'

‘And they're always doing things to their hair and putting on make-up, too,' Mattie said with disdain.

‘That's right. Although Floss won't be putting on make-up.' Hugh grinned.

‘No.' Mattie gave a grudging little smile in return.

Hugh's phone chirruped.
Nina calling
. ‘Sorry, Mattie. Excuse me.' He stood up to answer.

Nina launched into her report on Julian. Things weren't looking good. Hugh grimaced and walked a few paces out of earshot of Mattie. He faced the ocean and listened as she explained further.

‘And Doctor Stradbroke has asked that you stop by and see her in regard to Lester Fuller. He's worse today.'

‘There's Leonie,' Mattie said.

Hugh half turned and glanced at the toilet block. Leonie was bending down talking to Floss by the doorway to the Ladies.

‘Can I go over?' Mattie was already edging towards the girls.

Hugh nodded. Mattie darted away, dodging between dawdling strollers. A group of Japanese tourists wandered by and stopped, chattering and taking photographs.

‘What do you want me to do, Doctor?' Nina said.

‘I'll come in but it'll take me at least half an hour or forty minutes. I'm at Bondi.' Hugh stared north along the concourse towards the headland. People everywhere. He wiped a hand across his brow and it came away sticky with salt.

‘All right. I'm not sure you need to though. We're managing so far. Doctor Seddon is here. Why don't I call you again in half an hour?'

‘If Doctor Seddon thinks you can cope. I'd prefer to go home and change first. Is Doctor Stradbroke there?'

‘Yes. All right. Thank you, Doctor.'

‘Thank you, Nurse. Goodbye.' He slipped the phone into his pocket. He should go right now. Home first for a quick shower. Julian should be all right for another hour with Dave Seddon and the staff keeping a close watch on him. As for Lester…he was a worry.

Leonie with Floss by her side appeared, smiling. ‘Sorry we took so long.'

‘That's okay. Mattie and I were discussing why girls always take longer than men in the toilet.'

‘Where is he?'

Hugh frowned. ‘With you, isn't he? He saw you and went over to join you just a minute ago. Didn't you see him?'