Kiss It Better (7 page)

‘So you’ll stick with nursing? Cassie?’

Her expression was probably scary. She could feel her emotions struggling to escape, a new wave of the confusion and despair she’d been fighting. ‘Can we go?’

‘Of course.’

He paid.

She called a goodbye to Paula and ducked outside where solitude and shadows helped her regroup.

At the car, Theo took the keys from her. ‘I’ll drive.’

She huddled in the passenger seat of her dad’s 4WD.

Instead of driving home, he parked at a lookout point. They were the only visitors. You needed daylight to see the whales on their migratory paths.

‘Just how bad is the burnout?’ he asked.

She stared in front of her at the dark ocean. She’d criticised his decision to be a CEO and not a doctor, but she was wasting her nursing experience, too. It wasn’t just Africa that frightened her. That was her secret. It wasn’t just Africa where she’d failed. Now she was scared of her own profession. Who was she if she couldn’t nurse? ‘The thought of going back into surgery makes me sick. I shake and sweat and feel like hurling.’

‘Does Mick know?’

‘No. Dad knows I had to quit the aid agency. He thinks I’m on holiday before I apply for another nursing position. I keep thinking I’ll get better. Tomorrow. The next day.’

‘You will.’ Warm, deep assurance. ‘It sounds like the panic attacks are a sign of exhaustion. You should get your doctor to give you a full physical. But basically, rest.’ He covered her hands that were twisting and tearing at each other. ‘I’m sorry I’ve added to your stress, Cassie. Let it all go. Trust your dad and I to handle it.’

‘It’s not really my business anyway, is it?’

‘You’re Mick’s kid. He loves you. So of course it is.’

‘I guess I thought that I could come home and everything would be the same. That nothing would ever change here and that I could find my way back to being me. Hell. I shouldn’t be dumping this on you.’

Her family hadn’t fussed over her because she’d always made it clear she preferred her independence. That was her. Other people could talk about the impact of her parents’ less than amicable divorce or the fact that she was an only child. It was all rubbish. She had the strength to stand up for herself, and she did so.

But now she wobbled.

Theo didn’t. ‘I’ll tell you what I’ve told athletes. Sometimes you make faster progress by doing nothing. Rest. And whatever happens with JayBay, your family will be here for you. Don’t be too proud to ask for help.’ He switched on the engine and pulled back onto the road.

‘Thank you,’ she said quietly. For his tact and compassion. ‘And for the record, no criticism meant, you must be one hell of a doctor.’

In the glow of the dashboard lights, she saw his head turn fleetingly to her. ‘I’m not so bad, for a sex god.’

She laughed. ‘I think it was the leather trousers and, you know, stress. Stress makes a woman crazy.’

‘Uh-huh. No retracting the sex god compliment.’

‘Men and their egos.’

***

Alone in the guest room at the Freedoms’ house, Theo thought back over their conversation. He’d confided more about his family’s business situation than he’d intended, but perhaps it was that show of trust that had encouraged Cassie to share the truth of her situation.

She was one brave woman.

He respected her courage and determination to carry her own troubles. Although everyone needed help now and then — he’d check that she made an appointment with her doctor. Tropical diseases couldn’t be ruled out as a contributing cause to her tiredness. As a doctor, he’d noted her exhaustion when he’d met her on the beach, but as a man, he’d responded to something more elusive, strength of character that challenged and attracted him. Cassie Freedom was rare in her willingness to take responsibility for her own life and choices.

The sliding glass door to his room faced the ocean. He pushed aside the heavy curtain and stared out at the glimmering darkness of sky and sea.

Back home in Melbourne, people who refused to take responsibility for their actions surrounded him. Hell. They refused to see that there were consequences to their stubborn insistence on — no! He banged his fist once against the glass. Rehashing the situation wouldn’t change it.

Tomorrow, he’d work out the details of JayBay’s purchase with Mick. Leighton’s fraud might have devastated the Freedom family, but from Theo’s perspective it had cut through the prolonged negotiations he’d expected to have with Mick. If they agreed terms before noon, he’d be back in Perth by evening. A late night flight and he’d be at his desk at Brigid Care in Melbourne the day after, in a position to push the lawyers to write up the contract and finalise the deal before next month’s board meeting.

JayBay was concrete proof of his strategy. That’s what the board — all family members — needed to vote on: strategy, not personalities. Because whatever way he viewed things, next month’s meeting could tear his family apart.

***

Cassie stretched luxuriously, waking from the best night’s sleep she’d had in months. Plus, her dreams had been interesting. Theo had starred in them, wearing his motorbike leathers. Her engine had definitely been revved. She laughed, and although she knew Theo was kind rather than interested in her, she took the time to dress in something other than scruffy home clothes: a black tunic patterned in blue butterflies, black leggings and ballet flats.

It was disappointing to walk into a kitchen smelling of toast and coffee, and find it lifeless. She switched off the radio that had been burbling on low and confusing her with the thought that her dad and Theo were there. In the silence, the house felt empty.

They were probably at the factory negotiating JayBay’s sale.

She waited for a pang of loss or anger and found none. Theo could be trusted to manage JayBay and her dad would be free to pursue new projects.

It felt great to see things in a sane, positive light.

In fact, since there was no one home to have breakfast with she’d go into town to have company. The bakery had a café attached and they did a fantastic French toast. Suddenly she was starving.

She nabbed the keys for her dad’s ancient, bush-bashing 4WD, leaving him the modern, comfortable vehicle. Bright spring sunshine flooded the garden, drying the dew on the leaves, while white cabbage moths fluttered in eddying, erratic patterns over the sprawling nasturtiums with their bright-orange, peppery flowers.

The hinges of the garage door shrieked as she hauled it up. Sunlight poured through gaps in the walls where the aged timber had shrunk. The extra ventilation prevented the old building from smelling musty. The garage pre-dated the house. The old fishing shack that had stood on the headland had been demolished. It was beyond salvageable. But the garage had survived. The wooden walls were warped and grey, weathered from the sea air, but solid. Grass and weeds grew along the sides and the yellow of dandelions were dotted among the green.

Cassie enjoyed it all, feeling as if her senses were coming alive again. As she climbed into the ancient 4WD she admitted to herself that maybe she should have confided in someone earlier.

She’d make an appointment with Dr Glendinning before she had breakfast.

The drive into town was short but picturesque. White lambs frisked in green paddocks and the old bridge over the Jardin River was as bumpy as ever. She bounced in the seat of the 4WD with its ruined suspension.

Thirty minutes later she was seated at a red-checked, plastic-covered table with a generous plateful of French toast in front of her.

Mmm
. Dipping the toast in its surrounding pool of maple syrup was deliciously decadent.

Locals queuing for bread and cakes knew her and asked questions about JayBay’s future, although tactfully avoiding mention of Leighton. She responded easily, mostly with ‘I don’t know, but you can trust Theo, and Dad is keen to try other things.’ They accepted that and she chatted with Amy, a friend from high school, till the other woman rounded up her two hyperactive toddlers and walked out with the bread she’d bought tucked under one arm.

‘Leighton is here,’ Maureen, the café’s waitress, whispered in passing.

‘What?’

Her cousin marched in the door. Leighton was dressed for work, even though Mick had fired him. His black trousers were meticulously creased and his white shirt spotless. ‘You lying bitch.’

The café went silent. Cassie put down her knife and fork.

‘You set me up. You and your dad and Mr Money.’ Leighton leaned over her table. ‘You can tell all the lies you want. You can drive me out of town. Hell, everyone here will believe you. Mick Freedom can do no wrong. And Saint Cassie, giving her life for starving babies in Africa. But I’m not going to wear this.’

Outrage spiked in Cassie. ‘You are such a liar. You stole from us. From family.’

The drama had everyone’s attention. The tourists were curious, the locals, riveted.

‘I did nothing of the kind.’

‘Dad has the evidence.’

Leighton swore. ‘If I did it, why isn’t Uncle Mick pressing charges?’

‘Because you’re family, you weasel. Dad’s not pressing charges for Aunt Gabby’s sake. Your mum, remember? But do you care? It’s not the money you stole from JayBay that matters, it’s that you broke everyone’s trust.’

‘Break Gabby’s heart,’ someone said at a table behind them.

Leighton swung around to glare at him. The two old codgers at the table scowled back. ‘Never liked his father either,’ said one. ‘He broke Gabby’s heart, too.’

Leighton stared around the café. People looked back with curiosity or hostility. ‘Screw you all.’ He leaned in to Cassie. ‘And you most of all, cousin. Glooming home and sucking up sympathy while you do nothing. Coming back in time to rake in the money from Uncle Mick selling JayBay.’

‘You’re a vicious, twisted liar.’

‘Don’t worry, St Cassie. I’ll make sure you get what you deserve.’ Spittle landed on her plate before he stormed out.

The engine of his sports car snarled as he sped off down High Street. Everyone in the café watched it go, then turned to Cassie.

She picked up her coffee cup with a steady hand that hid the shaky aftermath of anger’s adrenaline rush and her own heartbreak. While Leighton was like this, she’d lost a cousin, but the pride that had hid the worst of her burnout remained, and it helped her find the right words. ‘There’s a speed camera on the corner of Hatgold Street. I bet Leighton gets a ticket.’

***

Dr Glendinning pretty much repeated Theo’s assessment and advice. ‘Exhaustion. Sleep, eat well and don’t fight with your cousin. He’s not worth it.’

Cassie grimaced. The bush telegraph had beaten her back to the surgery, racing her down the street for the appointment Dr Glendinning’s receptionist had squeezed in.

The doctor had known Cassie and Leighton from before they were born. She was also a romantic. ‘Concentrate on the young man who took you to dinner last night. Tall, dark and handsome, I hear.’

‘He’s a doctor,’ Cassie said.

Dr G peered over the top of her glasses as she continued tapping notes into the computer. ‘A real one or a PhD?’

‘Snob.’ Cassie laughed. She recalled that Theo had accused her of the same thing. ‘A medical doctor, sports medicine.’

‘But I heard he was running Brigid Care.’

‘Family business.’

‘Ah. Like JayBay.’ A pause as Dr G tapped a final button and focussed fully on Cassie. ‘Are you okay with its sale?’

‘Yes.’ She held the doctor’s unblinking stare.

‘Good.’ Dr G nodded, satisfied. ‘I’ll phone you if the blood tests show anything important. Remember to rest. I don’t want you to do anything until you’re so bored you’re sitting on the beach counting sand grains.’

‘One trillion, two hundred and three.’

‘Get out of here, smarty pants.’

Reduced to seven-year-old status, Cassie ‘got’. She had a prescription for vitamins that she filled at the chemist’s and then she drove home.

As embarrassing as the scene with Leighton at the café had been, it showed that the town’s belief and support was with her dad and her, and not with Leighton’s wild claims of victimisation. Still, she had to tell her dad and Theo.

Feeling lazy, but remembering virtuously that Dr G had said to rest, Cassie parked at the factory rather than walking over.

Poppy was manning the shop in Aunt Gabby’s absence, and although the sculptor begrudged every word, she crossed the room to hug Cassie in a silent show of sympathy.

‘Ow,’ Cassie said.

‘Sorry.’ Working with marble had really built Poppy’s muscles.

‘Is Dad here?’

‘Office.’

They nodded at one another and Cassie left Poppy to terrorise tourists with her silence.

In the office, she found the two men kicking back, talking. Or rather, her dad was talking about his new project.

‘The Ord River region has tremendous potential. The challenge is to have the intelligence and imagination to use if effectively. We can’t farm it with the same old destructive, intensive practices. We’ll have to explore — oh, hello, Cass. Is there a problem?’

‘Nope. Just Leighton tantrumming in the bakery.’ She was not about to mention his personal threats. They’d been uttered low enough that no one else would have heard them. If she repeated them now, her dad would never forgive Leighton, and Leighton had only been venting.

‘That boy.’ Mick swung his feet off the desk. ‘What now?’

‘Same story that upset Aunt Gabby. We’re all out to get him and poor Leighton is the noble victim. All the years he worked in the city and I was studying, I’d forgotten how annoying he was as a kid; cry-baby liar. But I didn’t kick him in the ankle.’

‘Self-restraint.’ Theo smiled. He stood, offering her the sole visitor’s chair.

She grinned, liking the friendly tease, and waved him back into it. ‘I’m not staying. How are the negotiations going?’

‘Done,’ Mick said.

Cassie showed her disbelief.

‘Theo’s offered a fair deal. Everyone’s taken care of. We’ll let the lawyers put it into their jargon, but it’s done,’ her dad responded to the unspoken accusation. He had a tendency to wonder off-topic, as he’d done with his lecture on possibilities in Australia’s northwest.