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‘Fresh is the word you’re looking for,’ Kyla yelled, splashing Ethan and finding herself ducked as a result.
Smiling at the two of them, Evanna gingerly eased herself into the water.
She swam with them for about ten minutes and the cold water was deliciously refreshing against her hot skin. Despite the fact that it was late afternoon, the heat of the sun was relentless.
‘All right. That’s quite enough exercise. I’m starving.’ Kyla rubbed a hand over her face to clear her vision and squinted towards the shore. ‘Do you think the food is ready yet?’
‘I expect there will be sausages because they always feed the children first.’ Evanna dived under the water again, enjoying the cool rush of water through her hair. When she emerged, dripping, Logan was standing in front of her.
Instantly her legs weakened. ‘Logan!’ Her voice was a shocked squeak. She hadn’t expected to see him. Not yet.
More beach bum than doctor, she thought to herself, trying to catch her breath. He was wearing a pair of blue surf shorts and his shoulders were bare.
‘Hi, Evanna.’ His voice sounded unusually strained and she wiped the water from her eyes and studied him closely.
Something was wrong, she could sense it.
‘I—Is everything all right? Where’s Kirsty?’
‘One of the cousins offered to babysit. I decided to take your advice and have a night out.’
‘Oh. Great idea.’ He was staring at her. Why was he staring at her? Feeling self-conscious under his steady blue gaze, Evanna lifted a hand and squeezed the water out of her hair. It trailed over her shoulder in a thick, wet rope. ‘I tried to call you this morning.’
‘You did?’ His eyes were on her hair. ‘Why?’
She felt hideously flustered, not least because Kyla gave her a wink and started to swim towards shore, leaving her alone with Logan. ‘Why did I call you?’ She turned away from Kyla, found herself looking at his chest and backed away, flustered. ‘Because I wanted to ask about Helen Price. Do you know if she saw the cardiologist?’
‘Yes. He confirmed my suspicions. She has an atrial septal defect.’
‘Oh, poor thing.’ Evanna took another step backwards. ‘So what happens now? Open-heart surgery?’
He shook his head. ‘They’re going to have her in as a day case and operate using a catheter. It should be relatively straightforward.’
‘Well, that’s progress for you,’ Evanna croaked.
He watched her for a long moment and then his eyes slid to her mouth. ‘Evanna—’ He broke off and lifted his gaze to hers.
For a long moment they stared at each other and she felt her heart hammering rapidly against her chest. There was something in the atmosphere. Something—
No.
She was doing it again! She wasn’t going to start imagining something that wasn’t there! She wasn’t going to start dreaming again!
Anxious to get away from him, she turned towards the shore, her voice bright and breezy as she spoke. ‘Well, I’ve finished my swim so I think I’ll go and eat something.’
There was a long, aching silence and then he cleared his throat. ‘Go ahead. If you’re hungry.’
See? She spoke firmly to herself as she waded to shore. He hadn’t even tried to detain her. And what had they spoken about? Work. As usual. It didn’t matter whether they were in uniform or swimming gear, their relationship was the same as ever. Professional friendship.
Determined not to wallow, she pulled the blue sundress on top of her damp bikini and left her hair loose. And tonight she wasn’t going to spend her evening staring at Logan. She was going to socialise. Mingle. Allow him the space to find the woman he wanted to move on with.
Determined to enjoy herself, she talked to everyone she knew and at least a dozen people who she’d never met before. She spoke at length with Janet Price who was there with Helen, she helped Meg serve the food, she laughed with Kyla as they shared a delicious hamburger, trying not to drip ketchup on their clothes. Then the music started and she kicked off her flip-flops and danced barefoot in the sand with Ethan and then with Nick.
But no matter how much she talked, laughed or danced, she was always aware of Logan standing in the shadows. He danced with no one. Occasionally he exchanged a few words with someone but only when they’d made the effort to approach him. Other than that he stood alone. Apart.
And as midnight approached and lots of families started gathering their things together, Evanna couldn’t stand it any longer.
He’d said that he’d forgotten how to approach a woman but surely that couldn’t really be the case? Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Polly from the café, laughing at one of Nick’s terrible jokes.
