‘I’ll...uh...’ He pointed towards the door. ‘I’ll go get the car ready.’ With that, he gave her a wide berth before exiting through the front door. As he walked out, he heard Tania come back into the waiting room and realised how close they’d come to having their kiss witnessed.
What on earth had he been thinking? He hadn’t. That was the answer. He hadn’t been thinking. He’d allowed himself to get sidetracked, to relax, to let his guard down. ‘This is what happens when you don’t keep focused, when you listen to others and start to interact with the world.’ Ethan continued to mutter to himself as he walked across the road to CJ’s garage and unlocked the outer door.
His car. His beauty of a car. It had always been able to relax his stress. He glanced over to the workbench in the corner and saw a container of polishing cloths. Without further thought, he grabbed a cloth and began to rub it gently over the car’s body, as though wiping away his turbulent thoughts and re-setting his mind to exhibit a more professional demeanour.
He was here to do a job. He was here to look after the patients until CJ’s maternity leave finished. Where he’d been looking forward to spending time with her doing house calls this afternoon, he now longed for the time when he could do the house calls on his own. She would be at home, looking after her baby, and he would be either stuck in the consulting room or his bedroom, not daring to engage with her lest she should once again capture his attention with her dreamy green eyes and luscious smile.
‘I’m sorry, Abigail,’ he remarked as he threw the cloth back into the container and pulled the keys from his pocket. Yet as he slipped behind the wheel of the car, all he could think about was how much his wife had loathed the vehicle. She’d been angry about the time he’d spent with the car, calling herself a restoration widow. It had been an escape for him when their problems had become insurmountable. If he’d known how much she’d been suffering, would he have spent more time with her? And would it have made a difference?
He shook his head slowly as he buckled his seat belt and started the engine. He wondered if Abigail would be happy he’d kissed another woman, that he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about another woman, that he was eager to spend time with another woman? He really hoped so. But she’d probably be annoyed that he still loved the car. He loved to polish it, to tinker with the engine and to feel his tension decrease as he went on long drives.
As he reversed the car to the front of the clinic, he saw CJ come out, a medical treatment bag in her hands. Leaving the engine idling, he quickly climbed from the car and took the bag from her, placing it securely on the small back seat. Then he held her door and helped her into the car, clenching his jaw and doing his best to ignore the powerful surge of awareness that spread from his hands and up his arms, before entering his bloodstream.
She thanked him for his help and once they were both buckled in, he waited for directions. CJ provided them whilst tying a scarf around her hair and slipping her sunglasses into place. After that, they drove along in silence and apart from the occasional ‘Turn left at the next T-intersection,’ and other navigational instructions, they both seemed quite content to absorb the serenity of the drive.
When they finally arrived at their first patient’s house, Ethan stopped the car and turned the key to cut the ignition. The silence enveloped them but neither of them moved. CJ breathed deeply, then slipped off her scarf and sunglasses.
‘It really is an incredible machine.’ She stroked the dashboard. ‘Thank you for the relaxing drive,’ she told the car, then undid her seat belt and turned to look at Ethan. ‘And thank you for doing the steering part.’
His smile was instant and she felt the earlier tension that had surrounded them begin to abate. He’d brushed a kiss to her lips. It wasn’t as though he’d been making a pass at her but rather openly acknowledging that there were high levels of awareness pulsing between them. For CJ, that acknowledgement, that she wasn’t the only one experiencing those sensations, was enough...for now. Her focus needed to be elsewhere, especially after today’s ultrasound. The baby’s head was engaged, and could be born at any point within the next week.
‘Who’s first on the list?’ Ethan asked as he climbed from the car, quickly coming around to help her out.
‘Thanks. I’m looking forward to the day when I can get in and out of a car without such a hassle.’ He let go of her hand the instant she was standing and steady on her feet. Her smile faded and she glanced at him from beneath her lashes as he retrieved her bag. She needed to remain focused and professional so CJ cleared her throat and answered his question. ‘Molly Leighton. She’s almost sixty-two and she’s been suffering badly from stress. She’s been the manager of one of the larger vineyards for the past forty years. I keep suggesting she retire but she won’t hear it. She’s had high blood pressure, chest pain and a spate of mouth ulcers but—oh, you met her husband the other day. Toby—the cleaner. The one swinging the floor polisher at Whitecorn District.
He nodded. ‘Manuka honey?’
‘Correct. Molly needs to slow down and smell the roses but instead she works herself into a frenzy. She almost didn’t speak to me again when I prescribed four weeks off work.’ CJ shook her head. ‘What that woman needs are some grandchildren to help her unwind but there’s no chance of that on the horizon.’
‘Let me guess. You’re going to let
