Storm Haven

CHAPTER SIX

BY THE time she reached the clinic, Nikki had worked herself up to anger. It was the only feeling she was capable of defining, and it covered a number of other emotions she was trying to dismiss.

Luke Marriott might have been ill but it hadn’t stopped him being autocratic. He said jump and he expected the world to jump. He should have asked- not ordered.

Maybe I should dock his wages, Nikki thought humourlessly. On the grounds of insolence.

The thought gave her a fleeting ray of comfort, putting the relationship back on a purely professional basis. She climbed out of her little car, self-consciously smoothed down the next frock from Charlotte’s neverending supply, and made her way indoors. Her receptionist met her.

‘Hi, Doctor,’ Mary said happily. ‘Wow, you look gorgeous.’ She grinned. ‘I don’t blame you. Our new locum’s worth dressing up for, isn’t he?’

‘I’m not dressing up for any locum,’ Nikki snapped, but her receptionist simply arched her eyebrows and grinned.

‘Mrs Mears is in with him now,’ she smiled. ‘The children are all over at the hospital. And I’ve cleared an hour if you need it.’ She held up her fingers, showing them crossed. ‘Good luck. Sandra’s not going to take to interference very kindly.’

‘She no longer has a choice,’ Nikki said.

Sandra was sitting in an easy-chair in the surgery. Luke had come from behind the desk and was sitting beside her. They looked up as Nikki knocked and entered, Luke giving her a small, professional smile and Sandra looking downright scared.

‘I asked Dr Russell to join us,’ Luke said gently. ‘I’m only here for another two and a half weeks and you’ll need Nikki for longer than that.’

‘Nikki’…The use of her name jolted her, and Nikki flashed Luke a look of annoyance before sitting. He didn’t seem to notice.

‘How’s Karen?’ he asked Sandra.

‘She’s fine.’ Sandra’s voice was apprehensive. ‘At least…’

‘Did you go and see her?’

‘No.’ Sandra shook her head defensively. ‘I…I went and talked to the sister in charge. She says…she says Karen’s OK.’

‘Why didn’t you go and see her?’

‘She wouldn’t want to see me.’

‘I think she would.’ Luke frowned. ‘Sandra, what do you think Karen would say to you now if you went to see her?’

‘Nothing.’

‘Nothing? You mean, she wouldn’t be upset that you hurt her?’

‘No,’ Sandra said bitterly. ‘She’ll just…she’ll just look at me…’

‘You’d like it better if she yelled at you?’

‘Well…’ Sandra’s head sank down so that she was staring at the carpet. ‘I…I hurt her.’

‘So what are you going to do about it?’ Luke’s voice was unemotional and firm. It was as if he were asking what Sandra intended to have for dinner that night. That she should have something was as inevitable as the fact that she was now forced to take action.

Sandra raised tear-filled eyes. ‘I don’t know,’ she said hopelessly. ‘I don’t…’

‘Sandra, why are you living in that dump?’ It wasn’t a criticism, just a statement of fact, and Nikki’s eyes flew to Luke. She would never have been so blunt.

‘I…I can’t afford anything else.’

‘But you’ve the supporting mother’s benefit. I’ve been on to the Department of Social Security here. They tell me what you get should cover one of the Housing Commission homes down near the river. They’re basic but they’re clean and well-kept-and with your skill as a housekeeper you’d get one looking great in no time. And they’re right in town. The children could walk to school and you could walk to the shops.’

‘But…’

‘But what?’

Sandra swallowed. ‘My husband…my husband ran up debts before he left. I’m paying them off but so far…so far I’ve done no more than cover the interest.’

‘Does your husband pay any child support?’

For the first time Sandra’s dark eyes flashed anger. It was as if something deep within her was hidden-and as though she was afraid of exposing her hatred.

‘Of course not,’ she said bitterly. ‘He and his girlfriend are further south-he’s a cane-cutter and makes a heap, but I’m left with nothing but his debts. His debts and the kids.’

Luke nodded. ‘But you’d like some help?’

‘I’ve no hope of getting it.’ Sandra’s voice flattened again. ‘He spends as fast as he earns.’

‘No.’ Luke smiled then. ‘The new rules require all employees-even casual workers-to register tax file numbers with employers wherever they work, and there’s no way your husband can be working without doing that. All we have to do is ask Social Security to place a garnishee on his wages. You’ll be paid before he is. And we’ll ask for his debts to be transferred to his name. If you’ve sole responsibility for the children there should be no problem there.’ He grinned. ‘And he’ll find his debtors have no trouble garnisheeing even more of his wages. Your husband might find himself with a little less easy money in the future, Mrs Mears. And you might find things a whole lot easier.’

Sandra stared, hope and disbelief warring visibly in her tired eyes. ‘If…if I lived in town I could sell the car…’

‘That’s right.’

‘But-’ Sandra swallowed ‘-folks around here

think I’m a tart. Because I got pregnant before I was married. They’d give me a hard time…’

Nikki moved then. She rose and walked around the table. ‘Sandra, there are lots like you in the town,’ she said gently. ‘Everyone has their ghosts. You can either move to a bigger city where you can be anonymous or stay here, look people in the eye and ride it out. You’ll find history is forgotten as long as you act as though it’s forgotten. Honest!’

Sandra looked up and smiled. ‘You had a hard time too, didn’t you, Doctor?’

‘I sure did,’ Nikki said ruefully. ‘But I still wanted to stay. A small town has some good things going for it when it comes to raising children.’ She touched Sandra’s shoulder. ‘And there are supports here that you won’t find in the city. If you accept them.’

‘I should have before this.’ Sandra hesitated, looking from Luke to Nikki. ‘If I’d admitted I was in trouble earlier, I could have got help…I wouldn’t have hurt Karen maybe…’

‘You’re asking for help now,’ Luke said gently. ‘That’s all that matters.’ He rose as well, handing Sandra a slip of paper. ‘The Housing Commission tells me there’s a house vacant at the moment. Go and have a look before you commit yourself.’

‘But…’

‘But what?’ He was smiling down at the girl, daring her with his eyes. ‘This is going to take courage, Sandra. But you have it. I know it, and so does Karen.’

‘Karen…’

He nodded. ‘Your little girl has faith in you. You’re all she has, Sandra.’

‘Can I take her home?’

Luke shook his head. ‘Not yet. You need time to sort yourself out, and Karen needs you at your best. Until you move you’ll be worried and anxious, and that’s the time when Karen is most likely to be at risk, isn’t it?’

Sandra hung her head. ‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘But I wouldn’t…’

‘We can’t risk that.’ Luke’s voice was firm. ‘Karen doesn’t need hospital but she does need care. I’m not fussed about involving community services and sending her to Cairns for foster care. I suggest that she spend the next couple of weeks with us at Whispering Palms.’

Nikki’s eyes widened. She opened her mouth to protest but Luke’s eyes were on her, hard and challenging.

‘We have a great housekeeper, a comfortable bed and a little girl who’ll enjoy your daughter’s company. You can pop in and see her once a day, but you can have two weeks’ time out from each other.’ He smiled. ‘It’ll make you realise just how much you do care for your eldest daughter, and how much you risk losing if you don’t put her first.’

‘I don’t risk losing-’

‘Yes, you do.’ Luke’s smile faded. ‘Sandra, if I reported this break to community services, they’d have no choice but to place Karen in foster care. Now, what we’re offering is an alternative. Do you accept?’

Sandra looked wildly from Nikki to Luke and back again. ‘But…but you don’t want my daughter. She’ll be a nuisance…’

‘We’d love to have your daughter as our guest,’ Luke said firmly. ‘Whispering Palms is built for children, isn’t it, Dr Russell?’

Nikki took a deep breath. She looked down at Sandra, and read the desperate need in her eyes. This woman had reaped a harvest more bitter than Nikki’s from her relationship with her man. And Nikki could help. Luke was right.

‘Whispering Palms is built for children,’ she repeated slowly. She smiled at Sandra and her voice firmed. ‘We’d love to have Karen.’

‘You could have asked me!’

Nikki barely waited until Sandra had closed the door behind her before her anger burst forth. ‘For heaven’s sake, Luke Marriott, who do you think you are? It’s my house!’

‘And Karen needs it.’

‘And you need it. And so does half the population of North Queensland, as far as I know. And you intend inviting them home. Home! My home. Not your home, Luke Marriott, my home!’

‘Nikki Russell, do you know how extraordinarily beautiful you are when you’re angry?’

Nikki slumped back into her chair and gazed up at the man before her in fulminating fury. ‘If you think you can worm your way around me with your insincere compliments to get you what you want…You don’t care, do you?’

‘For your privacy?’ He smiled. ‘Not a lot. It seems you’re taking enough care of that for both of us.’

‘Just because I like keeping to myself-’

‘And blocking the world out.’ He shook his head. ‘Nikki, Amy needs the rest of the world, even if you don’t.’

‘Luke Marriott, I am not your patient.’

‘No?’

‘No!’

‘Well, then.’ His smile deepened and he pulled his white coat from his shoulders, hanging it behind the door. ‘If you’re not my patient, then you can come to lunch with me. Hungry, Dr Russell?’

‘No.’

‘Liar,’ he said equitably. ‘Coming, or do I have to sling you over my shoulder and take you by force?’

‘You wouldn’t dare!’

Once more the irrepressible smile.

‘Try me, Dr Russell. Maybe we’d both enjoy it.’

Nikki glared. Luke’s smile didn’t slip. She placed one foot tentatively forward and Luke’s smile deepened even further. He would enjoy it, Nikki realised. He’d enjoy carrying her past her patients and receptionist with no thought at all for her dignity…with no thought for the fact that she was here forever in this town and had her reputation to consider.

‘I’m going back to Whispering Palms for lunch,’ she said half-heartedly, but he simply shook his head and took her hand.

‘Beattie packed me enough lunch for three,’ he told her. ‘I want sea, sun, sandwiches and swim in that order. Let’s go, Dr Russell.’

‘I don’t-’

‘If you’re worried about your precious virtue, you needn’t worry,’ he smiled. ‘We’re taking Karen.’

‘Karen?’ Nikki said blankly. ‘But she’s in hospital.’

‘For the next three minutes,’ he agreed. ‘We’re taking her to the beach for lunch and then you’re taking her home to Whispering Palms.’

‘Luke Marriott, do you have any idea what you’re doing to me?’ Regardless of listening ears on the other side of the door, Nikki’s voice rose hysterically. ‘I have exams in two and a half weeks. My house is filling with strangers. I never allow my work to impinge on my private life. To take a child home…’

‘So what would you do, Dr Russell?’ The hand holding Nikki’s suddenly tightened, and Luke’s smile slipped. ‘Would you send Karen home to her mother before Sandra’s been given a chance to sort her life out? Or would you put her on a plane to Cairns to be put into a foster home there? She knows you and she trusts you. Sandra can pop in and see her when she feels like it…’

‘More people in my home!’

‘Yes.’ The smile crept back. ‘With any luck, by the time I leave that place will start feeling like a home. Let’s go, Dr Russell.’

Karen was still in bed when they reached the hospital, propped up by so many pillows that her wan little face all but disappeared. She didn’t smile as they approached-just watched them gravely.

‘How’s my girl?’ Luke smiled as he reached his small patient. His hand came down and ruffled the short, cropped hair. ‘Feeling better?’

‘Can I go home?’ Karen’s voice was lifeless and uninterested. Her eyes flicked over to the door as though she was expecting someone else to come.

‘Karen, we’re going to hold on to you a while longer.’ Luke sank down to sit on the bed. He took Karen’s small hand in his and his body blocked her view of the door. He looked down, silent until he was sure he had her full attention. ‘Karen, your mum broke your arm, didn’t she?’

The child stared up, silent, and Luke nodded.

‘You don’t have to tell us,’ he said. ‘But it’s not you who needs the treatment-it’s your mum.’

‘You’re taking her away…’

‘No.’ Luke’s hands came up to grip Karen’s slight shoulders. ‘Karen, you’ve seen a balloon burst, haven’t you? What’s happening to your mother at the moment is very much like what happens when you blow a balloon up too far. She has so many worries-and each one is like a puff into a balloon. The worries build up and build up, until the last little puff makes her explode. That little puff might be just a child coughing at the wrong moment-or tea burning-or even just a draught from an open door. It’s not the person who caused the tiny puff who’s at fault, but the explosion comes just the same.’

‘You mean…you mean when she gets angry…’

‘I mean that’s what happens when your mum hurts you.’ Luke’s eyes didn’t leave the child. ‘Your dad isn’t giving your mum the money she needs to support you. She can’t afford to buy the food you need. The littlies are causing her too much work. She’s lonely and she’s worried and all these things are just building up and building up to the point where she hurts you. She feels dreadful about it, Karen.’

‘But…’

‘I know. She doesn’t come. It’s because she’s ashamed, Karen. Can you understand that?’

Karen’s big eyes filled with tears. She looked wildly up at Nikki, the doctor she knew and trusted. ‘She doesn’t have to be ashamed. And she shouldn’t be worried. I can look after her. I try…’

‘I know you do.’ Nikki moved swiftly to give the little girl a hard hug. ‘But you’ve been trying on your own for long enough. Now it’s time for Dr Marriott and me to take a turn. What your mum needs now is a rest and a chance to sort herself out. So while she does that she’s agreed to let you come to stay with us for a holiday.’

‘Us?’ Karen looked through her tears from Nikki to Luke and then back again.

‘Yes.’ Nikki’s voice firmed. She didn’t look at Luke. OK. He was right. This little girl needed Whispering Palms more than Nikki needed her privacy. ‘You know Amy-my little girl-and Mrs Gilchrist. We’ve a swimming-pool and lots of toys and books. Your arm can heal while your mum finds a new place for you to live.’

‘A new place…?’

‘Yes.’ Luke grinned and pulled back Karen’s covers. ‘A perfectly splendid new home where you and your mum and brothers and sister can all live happily ever after. Now, Miss Mears, we have a picnic lunch to eat and a quick swim before Dr Russell takes you to your temporary accommodation.’

‘But-’ Karen looked up wildly ‘-I won’t be able to swim. I haven’t got my bathers and…and you said I mustn’t get my plaster wet.’

Luke shook his head solemnly. ‘No problem.’ He glanced around to the ward nurse. ‘Sister here will provide us with a large plastic bag and a rubber band for your arm, and as for the rest-well, if you’re wearing a plastic bag you can’t be accused of skinnydipping, can you?’

Karen looked from one doctor to another. Her tear-drenched eyes widened. And then, very softly, she giggled.

So what was happening to her nice, quiet study period? Nikki sat in her study and gazed out over the pool. Amy and Karen were sitting under the vast grape-vine discussing the merits of alternative ways of dressing Barbie dolls. It was evidently a very solemn topic-both little girls were taking the matter very seriously. Despite herself, Nikki smiled. It hadn’t occurred to her to have children here to play with Amy, and now-now she saw how much pleasure Amy could get from it.

And Karen too. Karen had enjoyed her picnic to the full, laughing at Luke’s silly jokes and thoroughly enjoying frolicking in the shallows with him. Later, though, as Nikki had tucked her into bed for an afternoon sleep, the shadows had come back over her face. ‘I want to go home,’ she’d whispered.

‘Not yet, sweetheart,’ Nikki had told her. How to tell a child that her mother was still so tense that she might strike her again? They couldn’t risk it. Then, as tired tears had welled in Karen’s eyes, Amy had appeared clutching her teddy and a battered stuffed monkey.

‘I have to have an afternoon sleep too,’ she’d announced. ‘And I thought I could sleep with Karen if…if I let her use Monkey.’

It was the perfect solution. Karen had moved over in the big bed and the two little girls cuddled down together. They were asleep in minutes.

So Luke was right. Luke Marriott was always right, Nikki had thought bitterly. He could organise everyone’s life except his own.

She had picked up her-abandoned text and stared at it uselessly. She’d still been staring two hours later when the sounds through the house had announced that the girls were awake and ready for fun.

The exam was starting to seem irrelevant. So what if I fail it? she’d asked herself, and then blinked. What had she just said? She looked out of the window as the two little girls emerged to the poolside. As she watched, Beattie brought out a tray of lemonade and biscuits. Nikki saw her glance doubtfully across to Nikki’s window. She’d be wondering whether to disturb her, Nikki knew, and suddenly Nikki threw her text aside. It was time for a few minutes with the children, she decided. Some things were more important than exams.

A few minutes? An hour and a half later Nikki was still by the poolside. Amy’s entire collection of dolls was dressed to the young ladies’ satisfaction and the young ladies themselves were clothed in a variety of evening wear supplied by Nikki. They looked amazing. Both had high heels, stockings down around their ankles, mock pearls and diamonds and enough makeup to supply an entire chorus line. Luke arrived home just as Nikki was lining up the giggling girls and assorted dolls to be photographed for posterity.

‘Wow,’ he said reverently, emerging from the French doors to the astounding sight. ‘A real bevy of beauties.’

‘We’re gorgeous, Dr Luke,’ Amy announced importantly. ‘Aren’t we?’

‘You certainly are,’ Luke grinned. He picked Amy up and swung her high, causing her stockings to fall down around his face. ‘Ugh. What are these?’

‘They’re my pantyhose,’ Amy said indignantly, making a futile clutch as they fell. ‘I don’t know how Mummy keeps ‘em up.’

‘Mummy has hips,’ Luke said, grinning wickedly across at Nikki. ‘Ample hips is what you need, my girl.’

‘Are Mummy’s ample?’

‘They certainly are.’

Nikki gasped. Without thinking she abandoned her camera, scooped down and brought up a huge handful of pool water, directing it straight at Luke. It hit him full in the face.

Karen’s jaw dropped but Amy crowed in delight. ‘Yay, Mum,’ she yelled. ‘Do it again.’

‘I’m not sure I could,’ Nikki said nervously, backing away from the pool.

Luke grinned. He picked up a towel and carefully wiped his face. His shirt-front and tie were sodden.

‘Mummy growls at me when I get my clothes wet,’ Amy giggled. ‘Are you going to growl at Mummy?’

‘Of course I am,’ Luke said severely. He frowned direfully down at the two children. ‘What do you think I should do to her?’

‘Nothing,’ Karen said nervously, but Amy was made of sterner stuff.

‘I think she should be spiff…spifflicated,’ she pronounced.

‘Oh, yes?’ Luke’s straight face broke. ‘And what exactly is spifflication?’

‘I’m not sure,’ Amy confessed. ‘I think…I think it’s sort of like tickling.’

Luke grinned. ‘I can do that,’ he agreed. He turned back to Nikki. ‘Prepare to be spifflicated, Dr Russell.’

‘Don’t you touch me-’

‘In front of the children,’ Luke finished for her smoothly. ‘Of course not. You have your dignity to maintain. I only ever spifflicate in private. Beattie!’

The housekeeper appeared from nowhere. She had obviously missed nothing of the proceedings. ‘Yes?’ Beattie Gilchrist was close to laughter, fighting to keep a straight face.

‘Is dinner something that will spoil?’

‘It’s casserole, Dr Luke.’

‘Would it ruin your day if I told you I was taking Dr Russell off to dinner and hence to a fate of spifflication?’

Beattie chuckled delightedly. ‘Of course not,’ she beamed. ‘The casserole will taste better than ever tomorrow night, and me and the girls will cook ourselves hamburgers. You won’t mind, will you, girls?’

‘No way,’ Amy shouted, but Karen looked troubled. Luke crossed to the little girl and knelt down.

‘What is it, Karen?’ he asked gently.

‘You won’t…you won’t hurt Dr Russell, will you?’ the child asked tremulously. ‘She didn’t mean to get you wet.’

‘Don’t you believe it. Our Dr Russell did so mean to get me wet.’ Luke took Karen’s hands in his and gave them a reassuring squeeze. ‘But no, Karen. I may tickle Dr Russell until she screams for mercy but I won’t hurt her. Not now. Not ever. I don’t hurt people. That’s a promise.’

The laughter had gone from his voice. He met the little girl’s eyes, and what she read in his seemed to reassure her. The corners of her mouth struggled to smile. ‘I like hamburgers,’ she said simply.

‘Then that’s settled.’ Luke turned to Nikki. ‘Go and get yourself into a pretty dress, Dr Russell. I’ll take off one sodden shirt and then…then prepare to meet your doom!’

‘But I like hamburgers too,’ Nikki said weakly. This was going too fast for her. She had no intention of going out to dinner with this man.

‘Beattie, if you were doomed to spifflication, where would you want to eat your last meal?’ Luke demanded, ignoring Nikki’s protest and turning to the housekeeper.

Beattie chuckled. ‘Only one place to eat out hereabouts,’ she told him. ‘The fishing co-op runs a club. The dining-room looks out over the harbour. It’s real pretty and the food’s not bad either.’

‘It sounds just what the doctor ordered,’ Luke smiled. ‘OK, Dr Russell. You have ten minutes to prepare yourself. Let’s go.’

The man was like a bulldozer, Nikki thought grimly. She stood in her bedroom and gazed helplessly at the mirror. A meal out…To be taken out by a man…

To be taken out by Luke Marriott! Nikki closed her eyes as a wave of confusion ran through her. What was happening? She should be staying at home studying. She should put her hands on her not so ample hips and tell Luke Marriott exactly what she thought of him.

If he hadn’t been ill, she would do, she decided, but it was hardly fair when he’d been through such a bad time.

‘That’s not the reason and you know it,’ she told her reflection out loud. ‘You want to go out.’ No, you don’t, a little voice inside her protested.

‘Yes, you do.’

Nikki thought back to Luke Marriott kneeling before the troubled Karen, and a feeling of warmth flooded over her. This man was kind and caring and…

This man was trouble. Capital T. Trouble.

He would be gone in a couple of weeks. He was transient-a transient presence in a life which so far hadn’t been all that much fun.

‘Why shouldn’t I go out, then?’ Nikki demanded of her reflection. ‘Seize the day. Live for the moment.’

You’re talking rubbish! that inner voice asserted.

‘Oh, leave me alone!’ Nikki turned her back on her wiser self and stared into the wardrobe. She had hung the clothes Charlotte had sent her and then ignored all that she could. Now she crossed to pull the racks apart.

Charlotte was never a girl to do things by halves. She had taken Nikki’s wardrobe as a personal challenge, omitting nothing.

And there was something just right for tonight. Something just right for a first and last date. A night to forget she was Dr Nikki Russell who took the world seriously. A night to forget the loneliness of the rest of her life…Taking a deep breath, Nikki slipped the fabric over her shoulders.

The dress was soft white silk, loose-fitting but clinging with the sheerness of the fabric. It hung low across her breasts, the soft sleeves cut away so that they exposed her slender arms. The dress fell in delicate folds around her thighs and down to swirl around her long legs. A ribbon of palest green looped around the waist and down to hint at its presence among the folds as she moved.

The dress turned her into someone she wasn’t. Or someone she had once been but had forgotten existed. Nikki stood before the mirror and stared. Unconsciously she brought her hand up to gather her hair into a loose, curling knot of flame. The action made her seem younger, and more vulnerable. She let it fall, and then in swift decision put it up again. Before she had time to change her mind she pinned it and turned from the mirror. She had done it. She was ready.

‘Wow!’ It was Amy, bursting through the door, her new friend tagging behind. ‘Wow, Mummy, you’re beautiful. Isn’t she beautiful, Karen?’

‘My mum’s prettier,’ Karen said stoutly. ‘But…but you’re really pretty, Dr Russell.’

‘Is she ever!’ Luke Marriott was standing in the passage. He too had changed, into a dark suit which made Nikki see just why he had caused so many problems among the nursing staff in the city. Drop-dead handsome, the man was. She looked up, blushed and looked away again. What on earth was she doing?

‘Have a really good time, now,’ Amy ordered them. ‘What time will you be home?’

‘By midnight, Mother,’ Nikki laughed, swooping her small daughter up to give her a kiss. ‘Don’t wait up for me.’

‘Don’t spifflicate her too hard, will you, Dr Luke?’ Amy warned.

‘I make no promises,’ Luke grinned. His arm came around Nikki in a proprietorial gesture. ‘Vengeance is mine, Dr Russell. For tonight, you’re at my mercy.’