Libby’s stomach sank at the bubble of excitement in Jess’s voice. She’d had no idea Jess was so close to pulling together a deposit, let alone such a large one, and she hated she was about to pop her joy. “The thing is, Nick’s not just thinking about buying. I’m sorry, but it’s a done deal. He and Sulli have agreed on a price.”
Silence oozed through the speakers long enough for Libby to wonder if she’d hit a cell phone dead zone. “Jess? You still there?”
“Yeah. I’m here.” The words dripped with disappointment.
Libby opened her mouth to say sorry again when a brilliant idea struck. “I know! Why don’t you and Will rent Sulli’s place? Settlement’s in June and that gives us time to paint and do any repairs. It would be amazing having you living next door.”
Again, silence lingered for a few beats. “Thing is, Lib, I don’t want to rent anymore.”
“But we’d be much better landlords than the Giannopoulos brothers.” Libby was determined to make Jess see this was a great idea. “Think how much fun we can have choosing colors and—”
“Before you go renting out your new investment property, you should probably discuss it with your husband.”
Libby snorted. “You’re hilarious. Like Nick’s going to object to having his best mate and my best friend next door. He’ll be thrilled to have tenants we trust.”
Leo squealed and Jess said, “I have to go. You call daycare and school and I’ll call Nick now about dinner.”
“Thanks. I hope he’s better company for you tonight than he’s been for me.”
“If he’s not, there’s always wine!”
Text message from Jess Dekic to Nick Pirelli Thursday 4:40 PM
Surprise! I’m cooking dinner for us tonight
Text message from Nick Pirelli to Jess Dekic Thursday 4:41 PM
No need. I’ve got dinner sorted
Text message from Jess Dekic to Nick Pirelli Thursday 4:42 PM
Liar! I’m standing in your kitchen right now looking inside your fridge. You and Libby really need to shop. There’s nothing here to eat although the bottle of Veuve is tempting
Jess smiled when her phone rang and Nick’s name lit up on the screen. “Hi.”
“What the hell are you doing alone in my house?”
His angry voice was so loud she instinctively held the phone away from her ear. “Take a chill pill, Nick. It’s not like I’m boiling rabbits. Libby said you’ve been a bit tense and she thought it would be a treat for you if I picked up the kids and cooked dinner.”
“I don’t need your help. I’ve got everything sorted. I’m leaving work now to pick up the kids.”
“Too late. Indi and Leo are playing happily and Lucy’s practiced her spelling. We’re about to jump in the pool and I promised we’d take them out for ice cream after tea.”
“You shouldn’t have done that without asking me.” The words shot out tight and hard as if being forced through clenched teeth.
Jess sighed at his overreaction. Why did he always make everything harder than it needed to be? “It’s ice cream, Nick, not a PG-rated movie.”
“I’m not talking about the freaking ice cream!”
“You should be. It’s a celebration.”
He was silent for a moment and she imagined his hand tugging at a curl behind his ear. “What celebration?” he asked cautiously as if the answer might bite him.
“Your deal with Harry Sullivan.”
The line went dead.
The twilight symposium was living up to Libby’s expectations. It not only kicked goals for medical content, it also gave her the freedom to only be a doctor for a few hours rather than juggling it with being a wife, mother, twin and daughter—or as she often joked, the director of Homeland Security. Jess, bless her, had sent a Snapchat of the girls and Leo splashing in the pool with the caption, Homework sorted. Happy kids. All Good.
Sometimes, Indi could be cranky and headstrong after daycare and Lucy always worried the night before a spelling test, but as expected, Jess had it all under control. Libby hoped Nick appreciated the unexpected treat of walking into a calm house.
During the dinner break she chatted with her colleagues, enjoying the opportunity to talk shop, although she noticed many of the blokes talked about their golf handicap or their upcoming vacation. Then again, unlike her, most of them worked in larger practices and had other doctors on site to discuss tricky cases.
The last presentation of the evening was a professor from Melbourne University. He was talking about his study on the SMOC1 protein and if it could play a role in treating type two diabetes, when her phone vibrated. She immediately recognized the practice’s number and hit the decline button. Ramesh was on-call with Penny and whatever the issue, they could handle it. She’d just pulled her concentration back to how the protein responded to glucose and insulin, when her phone rang again. This time she didn’t recognize the number and she let it go through to voicemail.
Then a text pinged in. Please contact Bairnsdale Regional Health Services Emergency Department as soon as possible.
Libby sighed. Perhaps Ramesh had sent one of her sickies to the hospital and they wanted to talk to her. She picked up her bag and, murmuring her apologies, shuffled past her colleagues before making her way to the emergency department. The place was buzzing, with at least a dozen people waiting in chairs, so that meant a lot was happening on the other side of the locked doors. Using her lanyard, she buzzed herself in.
She didn’t recognize the nurse at the desk. “Hi, I’m Dr. Hunter. I just got a text. I think you’ve got a patient of mine here.”
His fingers hovered over a keyboard. “What’s the name?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’ve sent us a patient but you don’t know their name?”
Libby ignored the man’s incredulous tone and showed him her phone. “I just got this message.”
He frowned as he peered at the screen. “Are you Libby Hunter?”
“Yes.”
“Ah.” He stood and gave her a rueful smile. “Sorry for the
