Twice In A Lifetime. Kierney Scott

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      Thirty seconds later her phone rang. It was Leslie, the mother hen of Fresh Start. Leslie was the one who always made sure people, namely Sarah, looked after themselves, and took a tea break every once in a while.

      “Hello, lovey,” Sarah said.

      “Gillian just got your text. We thought you would be back in the office tomorrow morning.” Sarah smiled at Leslie’s gruff manner. Leslie’s nastiest tone was saved for those she loved. The meaner she appeared, the more she cared. It was just her way.

      “No, something came up. I have three intake meetings this week but Gillian or Tara can cover them. And I thought you could cover the harm-reduction seminar I have scheduled for Thursday, if you wouldn’t mind. I know it is short notice but you are the best trainer we have.” It wasn’t just flattery. Fresh Start could not function without Leslie.

      “Aye, that’s fine. We will be fine. I just wanted to let you know about your granny.”

      Sarah’s heart stopped; her chest constricted until it was painful to breathe. “Is she…did she…?” She could not get the words out. If something happened to her granny, she did not know what she would do. She was all Sarah had, the only person who had not left her.

      “She will be fine. She just broke her hip.”

      Relief washed over her. Hips mended; her heart wouldn’t if something happened to her granny and she wasn’t there. “Is she in the New Royal?”

      “Aye.”

      “Right, thanks. I am going to call now.” Sarah hung up the phone without saying goodbye. It was rude but Leslie would understand. Sarah’s heart was now pounding against her ribs. Luckily she knew the number for the Royal Infirmary by heart as not a week went by that didn’t involve a call to the hospital to check on service users.

      Her call was transferred three times before it reached the staff nurse on Granny’s ward.

      “Miss Campbell, your grandmother said you would be on the phone within twenty minutes of her getting through the doors and she was not far off.” The nurse laughed.

      “Is she all right? No, that is a silly question, of course she is not all right. She has a broken hip. I mean is she going to be all right?”

      “She will be fine. The consultant is in speaking with her right now. If there are no emergencies her surgery will be scheduled for tomorrow morning—”

      “Surgery?”

      “She is going to need a hip replacement but after that she should be right as rain.”

      “OK. I will be on the next flight.”

      “Your grandmother said you would say that. She told me to tell you, and I am quoting here, ‘Dinnae be daft, hen, I am fine. She said if you came to the hospital she would be livid, insisted you wait until she gets out of hospital because she did not want you to see her without her hair done. She also said to say hello to the prodigal son. I am not sure what she meant by that,” the nurse said.

      Sarah knew what she meant. That was what Granny called Liam. She was always adamant that Liam would come home at some point. For some reason, Granny still had a soft spot for him, even though he had done nothing to justify it. Sarah put down the phone and sat on the bed. Her pulse refused to slow. She didn’t know what she would have done if Granny had died. “She is fine,” she repeated over and over again, but it did not change the fact she was eighty-five. Sooner or later Sarah was going to have to deal with the inevitable.

      And then she would be alone.

      It was hard to breathe again. The massive room seemed too small. She concentrated on slowly filling her lungs. She was being stupid. She was nearly thirty; she was fine. When her grandma died, she would be fine. But she knew she wouldn’t. Her granny was her rock, the one person in her life that never failed her, never left her. Everyone else left, but not Granny.

      Leslie said Sarah had intimacy issues, she never let anyone in, but thank God for that, if it hurt this much, and she would much rather be alone than be dependent on someone else for her happiness.

      Sarah didn’t hear Liam come into the room. “Dinner is here.” He crossed the room to her. “Sarah, what is wrong?” He wiped away a tear from her cheek. She hadn’t even realised she was crying.

      “Nothing. I’m fine,” she said. She turned away from him so he could not see the steady stream that was running down her face. Just her luck—she couldn’t remember the last time she cried and now she couldn’t stop. Trust her to do it in front of Liam.

      “That seems to be your battle cry. You will forgive me if I don’t believe you.” He gently cupped her face in his hands.

      “No, really, I am fine. I am tired—must be jet lag.”

      “No, it’s not. Tell me what is wrong,” he commanded.

      His voice was so confident, his hands strong. It was easy to feel safe with him. Once upon a time, this was her safe place, in his arms. Nothing could touch her when he held her. He gazed at her with an intensity she could feel to the tips of her toes. His blue eyes had grown dark, almost completely engulfed by the dark pupils, leaving only a sapphire rim around the black centre. This was how he had looked right before he kissed her.

      Her lips parted. Her muscles had memory she could not fight. Her body wanted to be connected to his. He seemed to feel it too or at least understand what she did not have the words to say. His head lowered to hers.

      His mouth pressed against hers, hot and searching, his tongue teased her lips further apart, and she opened to him. She wanted to taste him and feel him. Her hands went to his sides and pulled him closer. She was desperate to close the space between them, and it had been too long. She heard a moan escape her. The dressing gown fell from around her shoulders and she did not try to pull it up. This felt right and utterly wrong: they were wrong together; she could never trust him, but their bodies fitted together as if they were made for each other.

      Suddenly Liam pulled away. His breathing was ragged; she looked at him with a combination of shock and suspicion. Her mind registered a phone ringing from the other room. She pulled frantically at the dressing gown to cover herself.

      “Shit,” she muttered to herself. Of all the stupid things she could do, kissing Liam took the cake. What was she thinking? She wanted to shout at herself. He left you when you needed him most. He was quite possibly the least emotionally available person on the planet. If she was going to work on her issues, it was best she did it with someone who would not leave as soon as things got hard.

      “That is not going to happen again.” She said it for her own benefit. “Please don’t kiss me again. I am here because I want to help Sam.”

      “Fine.” Something in Liam’s mind snapped at the mention of Sam’s name. Christ, why had he kissed her? His arms dropped to his sides, suddenly leaden. He left her sitting on his bed, and he didn’t turn back. He did not breathe until the door closed into place. Shit. He wanted to punish her, make her realise the bad choices she made, but when he saw her crying something strange happened. In that moment he did not want to hurt her; he just wanted to comfort her the only way he knew how.

      Luckily she was kind enough to remind him of the point of all this. He would make her regret what she had done. But first he had СКАЧАТЬ