Kate shrugged. ‘He wanted a family. I didn’t.’
And Tim had pushed and made her realise how impossible it would be to ever go there again. So she had pushed back and the distance created so swiftly had made it obvious that there hadn’t been enough there in the first place.
Bella’s bewilderment was written all over her face. ‘It’s all I want,’ she said. ‘Is that wrong – to want a husband and a bunch of kids and not be bothered about much else?’
‘It’s not wrong. It’s who you are.’ Kate smiled. ‘And I’m sure you’ll get exactly what you want. You’ll probably have three kids by the time you’re my age. Good grief, that’ll make me, what – a great-aunt?’
‘You’ll be a famous pathologist great-aunt. I’ll bring all the kids to visit and they’ll drive you crazy, making a mess all over the place.’
‘Hey, I got used to that living with you lot.’
Kate was more shocked than she was prepared to admit at the thought of being part of an older generation. It felt like something very important was passing her by. That she’d end up having regrets. She shook the thought away.
‘Why don’t we ring home?’ she suggested. ‘And see what they’re all doing?’
Bella let Kate make the call.
Clearly one of the twins was at home and answered the phone because Kate was laughing in no time flat and it was quite a while before she even got a word in edgeways.
And then it was her mother’s turn, and Kate seemed to be very interested in hearing how her brother was doing. Michael was in his third year of med school now, living a long way from home in Dunedin. Apparently he was also changing flats because Kate went hunting for a pen and paper to take down his new details. She had the phone tucked against her shoulder as she wrote.
Sipping the last of her glass of wine, Bella was content to wait for once because she had a lot to think about.
How embarrassing was it that Kate knew about those rumours? Bella had been horrified when she’d found out from her fellow theatre nurses. She’d taken a great deal of satisfaction in scorching the horrible innuendoes by announcing that her aunt was, in fact, in a relationship with Connor Matthews.
Her colleagues had been more than a bit sceptical, mind you, and Bella couldn’t blame them. She’d come to the conclusion that Kate and Connor were an impossible match herself, weeks ago. Just before the man himself had turned up on the doorstep and whisked Kate off on the back of that gorgeous bike. He hadn’t brought her home until hours later and there’d been a glow in her eyes that Bella had never seen before.
One that had been there with increasing frequency over the last few weeks, but now Kate was claiming that it was nothing more than a friendship and never would be. And she’d sounded pretty convincing.
Bella could feel herself frowning. It couldn’t be allowed to fizzle out like that. Or not get going properly or whatever the problem was. But what could she possibly do about it? She could hear an echo of her mother’s voice in her head. Or was it Kate’s?
Don’t meddle, Bella. You’ll only cause trouble.
With a sigh, she tuned back in to the phone conversation.
‘Only if he’s not busy,’ Kate was saying. There was a short silence and then Bella’s father must have been given the phone. ‘Hi, David.’
Kate was smiling into the phone. ‘Yes, I’m good, thanks. Yes…’ She was looking at Bella as she listened. ‘She’s behaving herself. Her cooking’s improving, too – when she remembers to turn the oven on.’ The chuckle was a happy sound. ‘How are things with you?’
Kate’s expression changed in the space of a heartbeat. ‘What?’ Her voice lowered. ‘When?’
She turned away, leaving Bella to stare at her back, unable to get any clues from her face as to what might be being discussed. It was something that wasn’t good, that was for sure.
‘I hope you didn’t say anything.’ Kate listened a little longer and then nodded. ‘Well, let’s hope that an end to it. Once and for all. Yes… okay… Yes, she’s right here.’
Kate was turning back as she spoke. She held the phone out.
‘What’s going on?’ Bella whispered urgently, covering the mouthpiece with her hand. ‘What was that all about?’
The head shake was definite. ‘Nothing.’
Bella uncovered the mouthpiece cautiously. ‘Hello?’
‘Bells.’ Her father sounded perfectly normal. ‘Your mum’s waving at me. She wants to know when you’re coming down for a visit.’
‘Soon. I’ll try for my next weekend off if I can get a cheap flight. I’m trying to save my money, you know.’
‘We’ll spring for the flight,’ her father promised. ‘Just give us the dates.’
