Chapter 28
The storm had passed by 8am the next morning and the sun peeped out from behind a bank of retreating clouds, as if surprised to see that the world was still there. Rick armed himself with a strong cup of coffee and switched his phone on, determined to ring David.
I’ve left it too long already.
What should he say? What could he say? While he dithered, the handset buzzed with an incoming call. Without thinking, he accepted it.
A stranger’s voice spoke. ‘Dr Mahon? Do you have any comment on the Dean Markwell/Cora Diamond lawsuit?’
A beat passed as Rick struggled to process the question. ‘Why can’t you bastards just leave me alone?’ He punched the red button, switched the phone off and threw it to the back of the drawer.
That was stupid. What if they recorded me?
It was exactly the sort of thing Mark Freeman had said to avoid. He should have just said no comment and hung up, or not said anything at all.
He dragged a thick fleece on and wandered out to check on the llampaccas. With any luck, the fresh air would calm his jitters. The sound of someone chucking lumps of wood around came from next door. He’d promised himself he’d stay away from Beth, but it was only neighbourly to say hi.
‘Hi. You alright?’ he called over the hedge, the sharp smell of burnt wood making him cough.
Beth looked up from yanking at a section of blackened wood sticking out from the remains of the shed. ‘Oh, Rick. Hi. Uh, yeah, I guess.’
Rick leaned over the hedge to get a closer look. ‘You don’t sound alright.’
‘I’m not. Not really.’ She brushed heavy-duty gardening-gloved palms against her jeans, leaving thick black tracks. ‘Thank you, again, for yesterday. For helping with the fire and for looking after Grace, afterwards.’ She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, unaware that she was smudging soot across her temple, and gave the burnt plank of wood another ineffectual tug.
The air of sad exhaustion that surrounded her punched Rick right in the gut. ‘Do you need a hand?’
‘I can manage.’
‘I know you can, but I’m in the mood to tear something apart right now. You might as well make the most of it.’
She looked from him to the stubborn piece of timber. ‘Uh, sure, okay. Knock yourself out.’
‘Give me a sec. I’ll just sort the llampaccas out and then I’ll be over.’
Ten minutes later, Rick arrived at Beth’s side with a pair of gloves he’d unearthed from Charlie’s tool store. He surveyed the wreckage and let out a low whistle. Charred boards poked up from the shed base like half-rotten teeth. Black ash coated everything and rivulets of a tar-like residue containing bits of unidentifiable melted stuff seeped in all directions.
‘Heck. What a mess.’ Rick wasn’t sure if he was talking about Beth’s situation or his own. At least something could be done about a wrecked shed. Broken lives were harder to fix. He bent down to grab a large lump of burned something or other. ‘Where do you want this?’
‘My basic plan is to separate things into two piles; not salvageable and possibly salvageable.’
‘Logical.’ Rick looked around him. ‘Is anything salvageable?’
‘Some of the wood – the stuff that’s not completely incinerated – can go in the log burner. I can’t afford to waste it. I’m making a pile over there.’ She indicated a small lean-to on the far side of the garden.
‘And the rest?’
‘Anything that can’t be reused is going to the tip. There’s a pile on the drive. A trailer is coming tomorrow.’
Rick nodded and set to, working all his recent frustrations out by twisting and ripping at sections of debris and hauling it away. From the corner of his eye, he watched Beth keeping pace with him. They cleared in silence, until Rick reached across for a wide upright panel of wood. Beth did the same and their hands collided. A shock wave of sensation rippled up Rick’s arm and, although the only thing he wanted was to get closer to her, he stepped back and gestured for her to go ahead. ‘Sorry.’
She tugged at the board, then grimaced. ‘Actually, it’s too big for me. Do you mind?’
He reached for the panel again.
‘Can I ask…’ She cleared her throat. ‘No, it’s… no, forget it.’
‘No, go on.’
‘I don’t want to pry, but what’s the real story behind that video? With your patient, I mean. I know what happened with the YouTuber.’
He gave the piece of wood a vicious yank. It broke away at the base.
Do I really want to go there? What will she think?
‘You don’t have to tell me. I’m not judging you. I mean, look at the total balls-up I’m making of my own life.’
He glanced over, noticing cute freckles beneath the soot smudges on her nose. ‘You look like you’re doing fine to me.’
‘I’m not, though. Genuinely, I’m stuffing everything up. The roof probably still leaks; I know it didn’t last night, which is a huge relief, but I’ve only patched it up temporarily. It needs a proper fix. I can’t pay the mortgage. And I’ve no idea how I’m going to feed the kids if I can’t get a job. I thought about setting up a campsite, you know, or a business of some sort. But that’s a gamble. Am I just risking what little cash we have left? I don’t know. All I do know is that I have to do something. That’s me in a nutshell, Rick. Pretty useless.’
Rick stared at her. How she wasn’t sobbing her heart out was beyond him. ‘Do you know what I see when I look at you?’
‘Oh dear. I’m not sure I want to know.’
‘I see someone strong. And really brave.’
Pink spots appeared in her cheeks. ‘I don’t know about that.’
‘It’s true. You’ve had a lot of crap thrown at you, but you’re still fighting. You said it was better to do something than sit around doing nothing. I admire that and I’m going to try and do the same. For what it’s worth, I think that you can do anything you put your mind to.’
She blew out a long breath. ‘Well, I have just escaped the whole house burning to the ground. I should probably count my blessings.’
He smiled. His warrior queen was back. Stubborn and opinionated as hell.
That husband of hers is a prize plonker for walking away.
‘So, go on, I dare you,’ she prompted. ‘Tell me what’s really going on with you. Give me you in a nutshell. What did you do that’s got the whole world on your back?’
Rick threw a chunk of blackened wood onto a pile behind him. His instinct to preserve Dean’s confidentiality had become irrelevant recently thanks to Cora’s latest media blitz revealing all pertinent details. He was amazed that Beth didn’t already know. ‘I prescribed a drug – a standard treatment for depression and anxiety.’
‘Why was that so bad?’
‘I didn’t know my patient was in the habit of scoring street drugs.’
‘Ah.’
‘Heroin added to the medication I prescribed caused acute heart arrhythmia and a massive stroke.’
‘Did he die?’
‘Not quite, but near as damn it. I’d never have given him that damn prescription if I’d had full access to his records.’
‘Why didn’t you?’
Rick sighed. ‘It’s a long story. Anyway, because he’s moderately famous, the story hit the papers and there’s been a massive pile-on on social media. I’ve been “cancelled”. Which seems to involve anyone and everyone having lots of fun ripping me and anything I’ve ever done to shreds. The upshot is I’m going to get sued for millions. And I’ll lose. They’ll take my apartment, probably the barn as well – everything. But worse than all that, I’ve lost my nerve as a doctor. The thought of seeing another patient sends me into a blind panic.’ He scratched his head. ‘Everything I’ve ever worked for is gone. And like a coward, instead of facing the music, I’ve been hiding here in the forest wondering what the hell to do.’
‘I’m so sorry.’
Rick shrugged. ‘It is what it is. Be honest, Beth. That’s a bigger nutshell than you were expecting, isn’t it?’
Beth smiled. ‘That’s the beauty of nuts. They come in all shapes and sizes. If ripping up what’s left of my shed helps take your mind off all that, I’m glad.’
Captivated by the sparkle in her eyes, Rick’s eyes drifted to her lips. All he had to do was lean in…
Beth’s mobile rang. ‘Oh! It’s Daisy. I have to take this.’
Rick straightened. That was close. Reaching for a random hunk of debris, he watched Beth wander towards the house.
She suddenly stopped. ‘Daisy, Daisy… Daisy , calm down. It’ll be fine. All you have to do is be polite and enthusiastic and – oh, hang on. Just stay where you are, I’ll be there in five minutes.’ She hung up. Worry lines furrowed her forehead. ‘Rick, I’m sorry. I have to go.’
‘Problem?’
‘It’s nothing major, but Daisy’s never actively asked for my help before and—’
‘Say no more. Go. Don’t worry about this lot, I’ll sort it.’
‘Are you sure?’
He waved her away. ‘Go. Sort your daughter out. Leave me be. I’m having fun.’
She grinned. ‘You’re mad, you are.’ The smile died on her face. ‘Oh, Rick. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. You’re not nuts. I mean…’
‘I know what you meant. Anyway, you said you like nuts. Right?’
He laughed, watching her cheeks turn pink again. Making her blush was fun.