“Hello, Dr. Hope. Nancy said to come on down.” Ivy Bloom stood at the door, peering in.
“Come in, Ivy, come in. Dr. Davidson was just leaving.” He held open the door so Liam could slip past the elderly lady leaning on her cane.
“Talk before you go home, then.”
“Sure thing.” He smiled at one of his favorite patients. “Come on in, Ivy. Always ready to see my best girl. What can I do for you today?”
* * *
“You should have told me you were coming back, April.”
The hurt in her best friend’s voice hit home almost as much as the look of shock on Drew’s face when he saw who had the job as nurse in his practice. Today was a day of causing quite a stir with everyone. “I know, but it all happened a lot faster than I anticipated, Aggie. You know I’d never normally do this kind of thing to you, but it was a weird situation and I didn’t have time to think.”
She hadn’t made a mistake bringing the children back home. It was impossible to stay in the city after the funeral and the court case. Too many memories to haunt her, too many things that could go wrong. But it was the sightings of Rob’s parents hanging around the school yard that had been the catalyst for her sudden move. Who’d have thought the freedom of being back scared her more than being in the city had?
“So you just packed the kids in the car and ran?” Agnes Hope was nothing if not straight forward. It was a family trait. One that April didn’t always appreciate, but her friend had always had her best interests at heart so she was forgiven more often than not. It’s what besties did for each other.
“Yeah, that’s it exactly. I contacted an agency and they pointed me to this job, said my hours could work around the children’s schooling so long as I committed to the same hours every week. I couldn’t afford to turn it down, even if it was working for your brother.” April stood and looked out over the harbor, breathing in the cool sea air and hoping the salty scent would help keep her calm. She’d called her friend as soon as she’d got back from her job interview and half an hour later, Aggie had turned up demanding answers, her anger palpable at being left out of the loop. “I needed the job, Aggie, and I think you’ll understand when I tell you everything that happened leading up to it. So please, give me a break.”
“So, tell me then.” Aggie dropped her aggressive stance and put her arms around April. “You know I love you, and if anyone understands your situation, it will be me. But, April, you have a habit of running before you think, and sometimes for not very good reasons.”
“You only say that because you have no idea what made me leave. There are some things I couldn’t tell you. Some things that will never see the light of day.” Deep breathes, it can’t hurt you unless you let it.
Aggie reached for her, looking into her eyes. “Now you’re starting to scare me. If you’re in trouble, you’d tell me, right?”
April glanced up, hating the worry in the pale blue eyes. It would be so easy to unburden herself, but she couldn’t do it. Not yet. Not while things were still so up in the air. The last thing she needed was Aggie to look at her with judgement instead. “Right.”
“Why don’t I believe you?” Aggie dropped her hands and turned to watch the children running after the seagulls along the beach across the road. The scent of the ocean mingled with the perfume of the late summer blooms in Matt’s cheerful gardens.
“Is this secret of yours going to get those two babies hurt?”
“I don’t think so.” She couldn’t be sure, but God willing, it would all sort itself out in the next few weeks.
“Don’t think so isn’t good enough. They’re my godchildren. If anyone harms a single hair on their precious heads, I’ll personally take them on, and tear them from limb to limb.”
April gave a nervous laugh. “Thank you, but I promise, the kids are going to be fine now we’re here.”
Aggie leaned her head against April’s. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”
“I can’t, it’s too raw. Not yet, but I will soon. Promise.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing, honey.”
She wrapped an arm around Aggie’s waist and hugged her tight, loving that they still had the close bond that they’d shared since they were little kids running wild along the shore without a care in the world. “Yeah, me too.”
Squeals of laughter coming from her children on the sand encouraged her to keep positive. If they could keep under the radar for a few weeks until everything was finalized she would breathe easy. That was all she could ask for.
“Drew didn’t take seeing you well, I take it?” Aggie slipped her hand through April’s arm and led her up to the porch where Matt had a jug of sweet tea and glasses set on a small table on the side veranda for them. They could sit here out of the breeze and watch the children playing.
Drew would have moved on by now, not that she’d asked directly in her conversations with Aggie. By all accounts though, he was a very popular man. He always had been, even as a teenager. “Not really. He was shocked
