You, Me and a Family
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Sitting opposite her, one long leg crossed over the other, his intent gaze disconcerted her, as if he saw right through all her carefully erected barriers. Yet at the same time he warmed her from the inside out, reminding her body of its sensuality.
Putting the envelope down Alex reached for the piping hot coffee Averill had just brought them. Then, pulling her shoulders back, she asked, ‘What happened to John Campbell? He was meant to be here until the end of this week.’
Mario’s mouth twisted left, then right. ‘He was a no-show. Apparently he got a better offer in Perth where he stopped over on his way out to New Zealand.’
‘The rotten so-and-so.’ Anger gripped Alex as she recalled that Skype interview and how convincing Campbell had been. ‘He sounded so excited to be coming here. Kept on about how New Zealand had been one of his dream destinations for most of his life and to work here would be wonderful.’ He’d played her for a fool. ‘Do you think he’d arranged an interview in Perth before leaving London?’
‘Who would know? But I suspect so. He’s never explained his actions to the board.’
Had she wanted the man to cover for her so badly that she’d overlooked something? It had been hectic back in those weeks leading up to her departure. The department had been undergoing renovations, patient numbers were way up. She’d been afraid she’d have to cancel her trip. Then Campbell made enquiries about a short-term position in Nelson. He had excellent credentials. It had been a no-brainer to take him on. ‘Guess I didn’t read him as well as I’d thought.’
Mario shrugged. ‘Fairly hard to do in one interview, especially when it’s done from opposite sides of the world.’
‘So how did you come on the scene?’ As she asked, more questions were popping up in her mind. Personal questions that had nothing to do with him working here. Nor were they any of her business. But for some inexplicable reason her interest was piqued.
Mario’s gaze dropped briefly to the envelope on her desk before he answered. ‘I walked into the department to speak to the HOD about the possibility of getting a position in the near future. Liz literally grabbed my arm and dragged me up to see the board chairman who all but locked me up until I signed a contract covering your leave.’ He gave a wry laugh. ‘He was frantic. I could’ve come with a kindergarten pass and got the job.’
She rolled her eyes. ‘Sure. I’m supposed to believe that?’
Mario grinned with all the confidence of a man who knows his worth, then turned serious. ‘About Liz.’
‘How’s she keeping? Her baby bump must be getting quite big now. Nearly seven months along, isn’t she?’ Lucky girl. A wee flare of envy twisted through her. The older she got, the harder her decision never to have a family was to accept. Her body clock ticking louder than her common sense? But one reminder of what had happened nine years earlier and the clock quietened.
‘She’s having problems with her pregnancy.’
‘Ouch.’ Alex winced. Guilt at her brief moment of envy was pushed aside by concern for Liz. ‘That’s so unfair after all the trouble it took for her to get pregnant.’ Liz and her husband had taken more than a year for her to conceive. ‘She must be really worried.’
Mario cleared his throat. ‘She’s beside herself with worry, which isn’t helping. Her blood pressure is far too high, especially for twenty-nine weeks. And she’s got mild oedema. Three weeks ago she was ordered to take complete bed rest for the remainder of her term.’
Alex felt her jaw drop. ‘Is the baby going to be all right? How’s Liz dealing with this? Why wasn’t I told about this straightaway? It’s not as though Kay and others didn’t regularly keep in touch with me.’
‘It was deliberate that you weren’t told. When Liz first started having difficulties she didn’t want you told, believing you’d be on the first plane home. Then when she had to stop working I had a talk with Jackson, Mathew and Linley. We agreed we could manage for three weeks. I’m sorry if you feel left out of the loop but we were backed by all the staff. Everyone said you should finish your time away. It might be hard to accept but your staff thinks the world of you and wanted to do the right thing by you, even if you’d have wished to be here.’
The understanding gleaming out at her from those pewter eyes stopped any retort she may have uttered. ‘It must’ve been hard, one person down.’
‘We coped,’ he said, covering a yawn with one large hand.
‘I can imagine how hard that was.’ Studying him while trying to grapple with Liz’s news she suddenly noticed dark shadows below his eyes, strain lines at the corners of that beautiful mouth. Exhaustion came off him in waves. ‘Looks like you’ve worn yourself out.’
‘Ahh, I can’t blame Liz for that. I have a four-year-old who doesn’t know the meaning of sleeping at night.’ Worry clouded his eyes, darkened the pewter to charcoal. ‘Too many shadows in the night even for me to vanquish.’
Alex felt her heart squeeze for this unknown little girl. To be afraid of anything was awful, and sad, especially for such a young child. ‘Kiddy monsters.’
‘Something like that, yes.’ Uncrossing his legs he sat up straighter. End of that line of talk.
That was okay. She still had plenty of other questions. ‘Where have you been working before turning up on our doorstep? Did you train in New Zealand?’
Around another yawn he told her, ‘I did my medical degree in Christchurch, specialised in London with paediatric surgery being my area of expertise. After that I moved to Florence where I ran the paediatric department in one of their hospitals for four years.’
‘Florence?’ Mario was Italian? ‘That explains the cadence in your voice.’ When his eyes widened heat shimmered in her cheeks. She’d just given herself away. Big-time. So what? The guy had a sexy accent. She wouldn’t have been the first to notice or comment. It didn’t mean she wanted to climb into bed with him. Did it? Shifting in her chair she looked everywhere but at the disturbing Mario, waiting impatiently for the colour to fade from her face.
Thankfully he chose not to pick up on her blunder, instead explaining, ‘I’m a born and bred Kiwi, went to the boys’ college across the road.’ He nodded towards her window. ‘My parents grew tomatoes in the Wood, along with other Italian families in the district.’
‘So why Italy?’ As long as he wanted to talk about himself she was ready to listen.
‘My grandparents came out here from Florence when they were first married. All my life I’ve wanted to know my relatives over there so the job was perfectly placed.’
‘You’ve still got family here?’ Italians had large families, didn’t they? Lots of siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, to have fun with, to support one another, to share life’s ups and downs. Family. The one thing lacking in her life. The one huge thing. But she didn’t deserve family, especially children. No, even her dogs were fictitious, bounding across the pages of the children’s books she wrote and illustrated. She focused on Mario, away from her own problems.