Midwives On-Call At Christmas. Tina Beckett
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stood up and flicked on the light, flooding the room with a bright white glare and dousing the flames in an instant.
It was time to pretend this had never happened.
‘WOW, WHAT’S GOING on with Jacob Layton?’ Kerry came through the theatre doors and walked to the sink, scrubbing her hands post-surgery.
Bonnie glanced over her shoulder as Isabel walked out of the theatre doors too, ripping off her gloves and gown and joining Kerry at the sink. ‘I know.’ The two of them exchanged glances and smiled at each other. ‘I wonder what’s changed his mood.’
Isabel’s eyes met Bonnie’s and an uncomfortable shiver went down her spine. ‘What are you talking about?’ she asked.
Kerry rolled her eyes. ‘I dropped an instrument tray in Theatre. Usually, Jacob would have gone nuts and I’d have been flung out of Theatre.’
‘Really?’ Bonnie frowned. She’d heard of surgeons being extreme in Theatre. But she’d never experienced it herself. She certainly didn’t like the thought of one of the obstetricians she worked with behaving like that. She wouldn’t stand for it.
But Isabel and Kerry were still smiling at her as they finished drying their hands. ‘What’s that Scottish word you use to describe people who are grumpy or miserable?’
Bonnie was a bit unsure where this was going. ‘Crabbit.’ She used it quite a lot, along with a whole host of other Scottish words that were second nature to her, but seemed to leave the staff baffled.
Isabel and Kerry exchanged smiles again. Isabel deposited her paper towels in the bin. ‘It’s a good word. A very descriptive word.’ She turned to her colleague. ‘Kerry, would you say that Jacob’s been crabbit lately?’
Kerry crossed the room. ‘Nope. I’d say Jacob’s had a whole new personality transplant. He didn’t shout at all today. He just looked up and asked me to get him a new set of instruments. The whole Theatre was shocked.’
Bonnie frowned. ‘Jacob normally behaved like that in Theatre?’
Isabel laughed. ‘Not just Theatre. Labour suite, wards, clinics, the neonatal unit.’ She held up her hand. ‘Don’t get me wrong, he would always switch on the charm for the patients, but for the staff?’ She shook her head. ‘Oh, no.’
Kerry put her hands on her hips. ‘And both of you ladies haven’t been here that long. A few years ago, Jacob was always Doctor Charming. But then just over a year ago he changed—practically overnight. He’s been like a bear with a sore head ever since. Or he had been...’ she turned to face Bonnie ‘...until a few weeks ago.’
Bonnie shifted uncomfortably on her feet. Two pairs of eyes were staring at her, smiling. ‘I have no idea what you mean.’
Isabel walked past and tapped her on the shoulder. ‘I don’t know what it is you’re doing. But all I can say is—keep doing it.’
Kerry nodded in agreement as the doors swung open again. It was Sean, the new obstetrician who’d arrived from Melbourne just a few weeks before Bonnie. ‘Hi, ladies, sorry to interrupt. Isabel, can we talk?’
Something flickered across Isabel’s face. It was the strangest look Bonnie had seen in a while. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Something between complete avoidance and dread. It seemed that Jess Black had been right.
Isabel was super friendly and completely confident about the work she did. This was the first time that Bonnie had seen her look neither.
‘It will only take a few minutes, Isabel.’ Sean looked tired, but it seemed he wasn’t going to be put off.
Her eyes flitted over to Bonnie. ‘Didn’t you want me to see a patient on the labour suite?’
‘Eh...yes.’ Bonnie knew avoidance tactics when she saw them. And there was no way she wasn’t going to help out a colleague. Particularly when this might take the heat off her.
In a way it was good that people thought Jacob was more amenable. The question was—what had been wrong with him before? She had no idea. She and her daughter were living with a guy they hardly knew. She’d almost kissed him the other night! If Freya hadn’t shouted...
She was crazy. She was plainly crazy. Jacob was her boss. Her brand-new boss. The last thing she should be doing on this planet was kissing the boss—no matter how much she’d wanted to.
She bit her lip. She was new here. She hadn’t even had time to find her feet yet. Her new job was a big responsibility. That was where she should be focusing her attention.
She had Freya to think about. Her little girl had already been exposed to one disastrous relationship—there was no way she wanted to expose her to another. It was too soon. Far too soon.
It was time to focus on work—and only work. She wouldn’t allow thoughts of Jacob to distract her from her job.
Sean disappeared back out of the doors, sighing loudly. Isabel’s eyes flickered towards Bonnie. ‘Thanks,’ she said before putting her head down and disappearing out of another door.
Kerry folded her arms across her chest. ‘This place just gets more interesting by the second.’
Bonnie gave a little smile and shake of her head as she headed to the door. ‘Kerry, you have no idea.’
* * *
Jacob was feeling strangely nervous. One of the other obstetricians had been off sick for a few days and he’d covered their on-call rota. It meant that he and Bonnie hadn’t really been alone together for the last few days.
The front room was back to normal. The walls freshly painted and bright white again. Except, the room wasn’t back to normal. The room had changed. And the mood of the house had changed with it.
The temperature seemed to have dropped permanently in the last few days. It meant that every time he walked through the front door of his house, his feet turned automatically to the fireplace in the front room.
Bonnie was right. There was something about a fireplace. He was drawn to it like the proverbial moth to a flame. Last night he’d even contemplated buying a rug to put in front of it. He’d never really thought about soft furnishings before. He wasn’t that kind of guy. He was all about the basics. The functional stuff.
Except that last night he’d spent an hour on the Internet wondering what colour rug to buy.
Now his fingers hovered over something else. Freya had been really excited the other night when she’d seen the advert for the latest kids’ Christmas film. It had been years since Jacob had gone to the movies. He’d still been in his early twenties.
He glanced at the film times before clicking to buy tickets. It was Tuesday night. Freya and Bonnie didn’t do anything on a Tuesday. Monday was dancing, Wednesday was Rainbow Brownies. He couldn’t believe that after a few weeks he actually knew this kind of stuff. It was all so alien to him.
Once he’d bought the tickets he looked for a restaurant. For the first time in his life, Jacob Layton picked up the phone to ask if his favourite place to eat had a children’s menu. It had never crossed his mind before.
It was odd. This wasn’t a date. This wasn’t anything like that.
He just wanted to have some time away from the hospital, away from the house, and to spend a little time with Bonnie and Freya.
He was planning. He was being rational. But little voices in his brain were screaming at him. He didn’t do this kind of stuff. Well, of course, he’d taken a woman to dinner before. The truth was he’d done that on lots of occasions. But incorporating a child into his plans? This was a whole new concept for him.
Bonnie appeared at the door. ‘Jacob? Outpatients just phoned. Lisa Brennan, a thirty-three-year-old