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‘Thackery Harmsworth.’
‘Seriously?’
Thackery was meandering through the waiting room, seemingly unaware of the stares of the rest of the occupants. He wore a close-fitting fake fur trimmed woman’s coat and denim flares that dated to the seventies. The coat hung open showing a patchwork vest in vibrant silks. Dark brown dreadlocks hung in frizzy coils to his shoulders and flicked with each twist as he worked his way past the seated patients. ‘He gets most of his clothes at the op-shop.’
‘Not a local?’
‘He is, kind of. You wouldn’t remember him. He wandered into town about ten years ago to start high school. He lives with his sister on the organic farm at the end of our road. Against the national park.’
‘Old Ray Harmsworth’s place? He’s related to that family?’
‘Ray’s grandkids.’
By this time, the whole of the room was focused on the young man who approached Beryl Harmsworth with a wry smile on his darkly tanned face. ‘Hello, Aunty Beryl.’
Beryl Harmsworth had lost the smug expression, her pale eyes chilly with disdain and her mouth compressed.
Thackery laughed and with a smile and wink for Becca, headed back to the reception desk, his light green eyes vivid against tanned skin as he leaned on the counter, his fatal smile focused on Laureen. ‘I have an appointment.’
Becca watched Beryl make her way out of the surgery, chin high and her eyes focused on safety. Morgan gave a soft snort of laughter and she turned in surprise, meeting his bright blue gaze.
He shrugged. ‘It’s nice to see “Aunty Beryl” lost for words for a change. How exactly are they connected? I know Ray was her brother.’
‘He’s her great-nephew. Ray’s eldest son married a Tanya Thompson from Bialga and moved away.’
‘He’s a character. I’ve never seen anyone face off to her like that.’
‘He’s a nice person too. He spends a lot of time with Dan and the children.’
‘And you?’
‘He’s a good friend. The kind you can rely on.’
Morgan stiffened and she wondered if he’d taken it as a criticism. She hadn’t meant it to be. Thackery was the best friend she had. He’d ignored her off-putting manner when the twins were small and insinuated himself into their lives with a casual ease that had disarmed her. He understood her sense of alienation from the community yet he didn’t appear to let it bother him, even as a teenager. She envied him that careless disregard for public opinion.
With a glance at his watch, Morgan seemed to collect himself, the last of his smile fading and a chill to rival Beryl’s cooling his gaze. ‘I’ll use Doctor Farrell’s office and you can send anyone through who doesn’t want to wait.’
Becca watched him go, faintly bemused by the small moment of connection. Somewhere inside, the Morgan she knew from the past was struggling to get out. Or maybe it was only with her he maintained a cold shell.
Doctor Farrell arrived back as Becca was seeing the last of the patients out the door. She flicked the switch to disarm the automatic slider and flipped the sign to closed. Morgan had gone once he dealt with all the urgent cases, leaving the vaccinations and a couple of wound treatments for Karen to take care of.
The older man flopped down on the armchair in his office with a groan, rubbing his right knee.
‘Only a couple of days to go.’
‘I thought it was two weeks?’ Becca perched on the edge of his desk.
He sighed. ‘Morgan is going to take over full-time on Monday. My surgeon wants me down there early for some tests.’
‘Morgan’s all right with starting early?’
‘He suggested it. I was going to put the tests off, but Morgan reckons he can take over no problem.’
‘Is he healthy enough?’ He’d looked tired by the time he finished up with the patients.
The doctor observed her under lowered lids. ‘He’ll be able to cope. There’ll be no elective surgery for a few weeks. I’d already organised for the visiting resident in Bialga to fill in for the time I was expecting to be away for my knee surgery. I left it at that. Morgan did a good job up at the hospital. I only had to deal with the paperwork.’
‘Who was the spinal injury?’
