Stevie turned his head to look at her. “Brave like Dr. Leon?”
Oh, sweet heaven. Was she going to do this? She was homeless, frightened, and exhausted. So, yes, if this was what it took, she would use emotional blackmail to get her kids into daycare. She could feel Daisy’s eyes on her face.
Don’t judge me. You have no idea what’s going on in my life.
“Yes. Dr. Leon wants you to be a brave boy. Then tonight, we can tell him all about it over dinner.”
The words acted like a magic spell. Stevie gave a decisive nod. Squaring his shoulders, he took his twin by the hand. “Come on, Frankie. Be brave like Dr. Leon.”
Flora watched with a lump in her throat as her little pajama-clad warriors marched toward the sand tray.
“So...um...you and Dr. Sinclair?” Daisy’s eyes were bright with curiosity. “The man half the women in Stillwater would vote the nicest doctor in the world?”
Flora got to her feet. “We’re friends. That’s all.”
She liked Daisy a lot, but Flora hadn’t been in town long before she’d figured out how things worked. “In confidence” meant something very different in Stillwater. You told one person a secret. With the best of intentions, they would share it with a few more people. Before long, the whole place knew your business.
Her message to Daisy was clear. Nothing to see here. Was that true about her and Leon? If it wasn’t, she didn’t want the town gossips to be the first to know.
When she arrived at the Ryerson Center, she went straight to her locker, where she kept a change of clothes. Donning a navy skirt suit, white blouse, and heels, she felt herself slipping into her professional persona. After securing her hair into a chignon, she went into the morning briefing with her doctor colleagues feeling almost restored to her old self.
Like Flora, Rajiv Laxman and Vivien McAuley were new in town, having been recruited when the center opened. The Ryerson Center had a unique remit. It provided all the services of a family medical practice, but with ground-breaking laboratories and equipment, its doctors shared their facilities and expertise with others in the wider area.
Although it was early days, there was a vague sense among the trio that things were not moving forward as planned. Maybe that was because the proposed merger with the Main Street Clinic hadn’t gone ahead and their workload was heavier than anticipated. Whatever the reason, if they were to open up their resources to other medical professionals in the area, someone needed to be able to get out there and lay the groundwork that was needed for a merger. None of them had the time.
Flora told Rajiv and Vivien of the events of the previous night and explained that she would need to liaise with the police and take care of some personal business during the day. They were shocked and immediately offered to help in any way they could.
Rajiv opened his laptop and accessed the morning’s appointments. “We can re-schedule some of these to free up your time.”
“I’d appreciate it,” Flora said. “I have another important job to do today.” She told them about Cameron’s approval of her plan to give Eve Sloane a job. “But I’ve tried calling her and I can’t get an answer. She lives out on the Elmville road, close to Eternal Springs. I thought I’d stop by her place—”
“That settles it.” Vivien picked Flora’s jacket up from the back of her chair and held it out to her. “Raj and I will cover all your appointments today. Don’t come back here until we have a new receptionist. If you also need to do some shopping for you and the twins while you are out, that’s fine by us.”
As Flora headed out to the parking lot, she reflected on how complicated her emotional life was getting just lately. A simple gesture from Vivien had almost tipped Flora right over into wild sobs. The situation must be getting to her, as was her hunger, coupled with exhaustion. Although why everything made her long to have Leon’s strong arms wrapped around her again was a real mystery.
Heading out of town toward Elmville, taking a road that ran parallel to the Ryerson River, she reflected on Eve’s choice of location. Although the area around the waterfall, known as Eternal Springs, was beautiful, Flora didn’t think there were any other houses in that remote region. Surrounded by rolling hills and forest, it must be a lonely place to live.
As she approached the left turn that would take her to Eve’s house, a silver SUV drew level with her car. Flora spared a glance in the direction of the other vehicle and her heart skipped a beat. Maybe her suspicions were working overtime right now, but the blacked-out windows made her nervous. So did the way the driver was keeping pace with her. The highway was quiet, there was plenty of room to pass. Its presence was like a message...or a warning.
What had she been thinking of, coming out here alone when she knew someone was out to get her? She didn’t even have a cell phone. That had been in her bag, the one that had been in the porch closet when her house had been set on fire.
Those thoughts were whirling through her head as she tried to out-maneuver the other car. She tried speeding up to get past it, then dropping back to let it go by. Neither tactic worked. The SUV remained stubbornly at her side. Then, when no other vehicles were around, the driver swung sharply toward her. It was a calculated move. The other car clipped her left front wing and sent her veering toward the edge of the highway.
Flora fought hard to keep control of her vehicle. If she was forced
