Chapter Thirty-Two
Ros wasn’t used to being waited on hand and foot but she could see how a person could easily get used to it. Cameron couldn’t do enough for her, and there was a regular supply of hot and cold drinks. He was also checking her vision hourly and counting down to her next lot of medication. He’d insisted on her going to bed against her better judgement, but the doctor had said she should take it easy for a couple of days so it would have been churlish to argue.
‘I think you should have a snooze,’ he said.
‘I’m not eighty. I won’t sleep tonight if I have an afternoon nap.’
‘I thought I’d cook my paella tonight so I need to pop out to get the ingredients and I don’t like to leave you.’
‘It would still be leaving me if I was asleep,’ pointed out Ros.
‘True but I’d not feel as bad about it. Plus if you’re asleep you’re less likely to get up and injure yourself further.’
‘Cameron. I’m fine. All that you’re doing is really lovely but I’m fixed now so you don’t need to worry.’
He flopped onto the bed, making her bounce a little. ‘It scared the life out of me seeing you and all that blood. I thought...’ He swallowed and shook his head. ‘It makes you realise how fragile life can be. How one moment everything is fine and the next it’s not and you have no idea what is going to flip it.’ He was looking at her with an intensity she’d not seen from him before and it held her attention. ‘Sometimes it’s the oddest things that give you perspective.’ He took a deep breath. ‘You see it made me think that maybe—’ The entry buzzer sounded and interrupted him. ‘I’ll get that.’ He jumped to his feet and left.
Ros could only hear a muffled conversation so was more than a little startled when Alastair and Sonia walked into her bedroom. ‘Oh my word, your place is soooo fancy!’ said Sonia with a wave of her arm.
Alastair cleared his throat. ‘We heard you’d been hurt so I thought I’d better come and see how bad it was. We had a whip-round and got you these.’ He awkwardly held out a large bunch of flowers.
Ros was surprised and touched by the gesture. ‘You didn’t need to do that, but they’re beautiful and I appre-ciate it, thank you.’
Cameron hovered at the door. ‘I’ll put those in water when I get back. I just need to nip out to get the stuff for dinner. Okay?’
Ros smiled at him seizing the opportunity to not leave her alone. ‘Of course.’
Alastair handed Cameron the flowers and then shoved his hands in his pockets. ‘You look all right,’ he said.
‘Thankfully it was the back of my head.’ Ros twisted around and lifted her hair.
Sonia gasped. ‘Bloody hell. You proper cracked your head open. Shouldn’t you be in hospital?’
‘Really, I’m fine,’ said Ros, putting her hair back in place. She’d noticed that it was a lot more tender now than it had been when she’d done it. The human body had a remarkable way of managing serious pain and yet a paper cut was incredibly tender – baffling.
‘But you could have brain damage from something like that.’
Ros laughed and then realised Sonia was serious. ‘I have my skull to protect my brain. But thank you for your concern.’
‘Still, I’d be careful.’ Sonia pouted and had a look about her of someone who had seen it all before.
‘I expect your man is taking good care of you,’ said Alastair. As if on cue the front door clicked as Cameron let himself out.
‘Cameron has been great. I messaged him that someone was using threatening behaviour and that we were on the yacht and he came as fast as he could.’ Even though Patrick was a completely incompetent boat thief Ros wasn’t sure what they would have done if Cameron hadn’t arrived when he did. If Patrick had managed to reverse out of the mooring bay and sailed off with them on board it would have been an even bigger fiasco.
‘Cameron’s a proper knight in shining armour,’ said Sonia, although she was now paying more attention to the room than to Ros. ‘Do you rent this place?’
Even Alastair rolled his eyes at Sonia. ‘No, I own it,’ said Ros.
‘Must have cost a bit.’ Sonia was looking out of the window at the view of the harbour.
‘Anyway, we’re not stopping,’ said Alastair. ‘Just wanted to check you were all right.’
‘I thought we’d at least have a cuppa,’ said Sonia, looking at Ros.
‘Sorry. Did you want me to put the kettle on?’ asked Ros, sitting up.
Sonia nodded.
‘No, thanks,’ said Alastair. ‘We’re fine. You need to rest.’ He shot another disparaging glance at Sonia who shrugged her lack of comprehension at what she might have done wrong. ‘We’d best get off,’ he added.
‘Not before I’ve used the loo. Where is it?’ asked Sonia, already leaving the room.
‘Next door on the right,’ said Ros.
Sonia disappeared and after a few moments, when Ros highly suspected Sonia was checking out the rest of the apartment, they heard the click of the bathroom door. ‘Sorry about her,’ said Alastair. ‘She insisted on coming with me. I couldn’t really say no without looking like a dick.’
‘I understand. It’s fine,’ said Ros. ‘It was very kind of you both to visit.’ It was an odd thing to be having a conversation in her bedroom with someone who not long ago had been her arch nemesis.
Alastair scratched his head. ‘I thought I should check you were okay what with you and me being mates now.’
Ros failed to hide her astonishment. ‘Oh, right. Of course. Thank you.’ She couldn’t help but feel an odd sense of achievement at Alastair classing her as a mate although she didn’t want to think too much about the implications.
There was an awkward silence, making Ros long for Sonia’s return, something she’d not ever expected to experience. Alastair jolted as if suddenly hitting on something he could say. ‘I was at the golf club a couple of nights ago trying to schmooze a head honcho from this big IT company but no dice.’ Ros wasn’t sure she was entirely following the conversation but she nodded along to show interest. ‘Anyway, he said they needed someone to head up the risk team and I recommended you.’ Alastair pulled his shoulders back, looking quite pleased with himself.
‘That was good of you to think of me, but I’m not looking to change jobs right now.’
‘Don’t be too hasty to reject it. It had international something in the title,’ he added. ‘I gave him your phone number. I hope that was okay.’
‘Not really,’ said Ros and Alastair looked confused. ‘Women don’t like strange men having their contact details.’
‘Oh, he’s a sound fella, not a perve or anything. He’s a member of the golf club.’
‘That’s all right then,’ said Ros, trying to hide her sarcasm but Alastair was smiling so hopefully he’d not noticed.
At last they heard the toilet flush and both greeted Sonia with smiles worthy of a long-absent relative. ‘Right, we’re going then,’ said Alastair. ‘Take good care of yourself.’
‘I’ll update everyone in the office,’ said Sonia.
‘I’m sure you will,’ said Ros. ‘Thank you for coming,’ she added quickly.
‘We’ll see ourselves out,’ said Alastair. He gave her an awkward wave and ushered Sonia out of the bedroom. Ros breathed a sigh of relief although she was touched by the visit. Her work colleagues were definitely better people when she took the time to get to know them.
The thought of a cup of tea was now at the forefront of Ros’s mind. It wasn’t like she lived in a house and had stairs to tackle – she was perfectly safe to move around one level unassisted. She got out of bed and carefully made her way to the kitchen. Why was she being so cautious? Cameron was lovely but he was fussing somewhat and it was rubbing off on her and making her wary. She gave herself a metaphorical shake. She had been discharged from hospital and therefore was perfectly fit. If it had happened a few months ago she would have been living there alone and would have been more than capable of getting herself a hot drink.
Ros put the kettle on and marvelled at the influence Cameron was having on her. She knew it came from the fact he was a caring individual but she did not want to generate any level of dependency on him. She got out a mug and as she turned she noticed the flowers in the sink. He had put some water in there for them but they would be far better in a vase. Ros carefully crouched down, opened the bottom cupboard and looked inside for a suitable-size vase. Too small and not all the stems would fit, too big and they would splay out and look droopy and ridiculous.
Ros found the one she wanted and pulled it towards her. She heard the apartment door open and was straightening up with the vase held firmly in her grasp when Cameron screamed at her. ‘Stop!’ She froze.
Cameron strode over and slammed shut the wall cupboard door above her. ‘What the hell are you doing? You almost stood up and whacked your head on the corner of that bloody cupboard!’ His voice was almost a shout.
Ros slowly straightened up and put the vase down carefully on the worktop. Cameron was pacing around the small kitchen space. ‘When you’ve stopped yelling I will explain.’
‘I’m not yelling,’ he said, taking his voice down a fraction, but it was still louder than his usual volume and it irked her. ‘If you’d have cracked your skull on that corner in the same place as your stitches...’ He ran his hands over his face as if trying to hide from the thought.
‘But I didn’t. I am fine.’
Exasperated, he threw his hands up. ‘But you wouldn’t have been if I’d come back a couple of minutes later.’ He audibly sucked in a breath. ‘I would have found you.’ He pointed at the floor as if imagining a bloody scene.
‘Again, that did not happen. Do you think perhaps you could think rationally?’ she asked.
‘Bloody hell, Ros,’ he snapped and she recoiled slightly. ‘You promised you would stay in bed. I blame myself. I shouldn’t have left you.’
‘I’m not a child.’
‘No, they do as they’re told,’ he said, his expression almost a glare.
‘I think that’s evidence that you have very little experience of children.’
‘Not the point. What did you get up for anyway?’ he asked.
‘A cup of tea.’ Ros picked up the mug and he snatched it from her.
‘I will get you a cup of tea and I will put the flowers in water, like I said I would. Will you please go back to bed?’
Ros pursed her lips. She could do as he asked but it wasn’t in her nature to acquiesce so easily. ‘I think you are overreacting. I have been discharged from hospital. I am perfectly fine.’
Cameron did not look happy. ‘You are meant to be resting. Those were the instructions from the doctor.’
‘Making tea isn’t exactly exerting myself.’
He blinked slowly. ‘You gave me a fright. I thought you were in bed. When I walked through the door I could see what you were about to do and it scared the life out of me. Can you understand that it was a shock?’
‘I can. Now may I make my cup of—’
‘I’d be happier if you let me do it,’ he said.
There was a long pause as Ros considered whether or not to make a stand but she was feeling a little out of sorts after being upright for a while so she nodded and made her way around the kitchen counter. Somehow she managed to drag her foot where the tiles met carpet and she stumbled forward. Cameron was there in an instant and strong arms caught her. He pulled her into a hug. Ros’s heart hammered in her chest and she could feel his doing the same. Maybe it was a good thing he was there. She felt so protected from everything when he held her like that.
He slowly released his hold and checked her over. They were both breathing heavily and she wasn’t entirely sure that was all down to her nearly tripping over. Being in Cameron’s arms stirred something intense within her. His face was close to hers, his eyes searching her face as if he was awaiting a prompt. For a second she thought he was going to kiss her.
His mobile rang and the moment was gone. Cameron kept hold of Ros with one hand and pulled out his phone with the other. ‘It’s Gina,’ he said.
‘Then you’d better take her call,’ she said, unable to stop a sad sigh from escaping.
***
When the taxi finally dropped Darla back at The Brambles the sky was turning a vibrant orange. She yawned as she let herself in. The brandy and trauma of the day had taken their toll on her, but she still had the menagerie to feed.
‘Darla?’ Elliott rushed into the hallway. ‘Thank heavens you’re all right.’ He scanned her up and down. ‘You are all right, aren’t you?’ The concern on his face warmed her heart.
‘Why? What’s happened?’
‘Marc rang to tell me about his yacht being stolen.’
‘Marc?’ She screwed up her face in thought. Thinking was much harder after alcohol. ‘Oh, you mean Mr Rogers. His wife is really nice. She paid for a caxi tab.’ There was something wrong with that sentence but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was.
‘You’re drunk?’ Elliott sounded confused rather than judgemental.
‘Very, very long story. It took three large brandies to get to the end.’
‘Shall I get you a coffee?’
She shook her head and then wished she hadn’t because now the hat stand was swaying – or maybe it was her. ‘I need to feed the animals.’
‘All done. I’ve been waiting for a couple of hours. Had to keep busy somehow.’
‘Then maybe a coffee would be good please. And a large water. As long as I don’t have to go over the story again.’
Elliott smiled. ‘Not if you don’t want to. As long as you’re not hurt.’
She went to follow him through to the kitchen but the wall was bending round to the left. Funny, it had never done that before. Darla reached out to steady herself, missed and bumped into the kitchen doorframe.
‘Steady on,’ said Elliott, spinning around and grabbing hold of her. He had his arms tight around her and his face was suddenly very close to hers. He had lovely eyes. She realised they had been looking into each other’s eyes for far too long. She had two choices. Pull apart and risk falling over or make the most of the opportunity and kiss him. Darla went in for the kiss.