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‘You should get some rest. You look tired.’
He nodded. ‘Yes, I am. And so are you. But I’m taking a leaf out of your book and mucking in to get things that need doing done.’
‘Okay. I have no problem with that.’ She picked up the sheaf of papers that contained an entry for every box in the stockroom, ready for the results of the check to be entered. ‘Here’s what I’ve done so far.’
* * *
Jaye had been prepared to grovel if that was what it took. But Megan had refused to allow him to, and had made it very clear that she wanted more from him than just an apology.
This was what he’d wanted all along, someone to question the things he took for granted, and challenge him. They’d drawn and redrawn the lines and finally this was something that they could both live with. All that he could feel, knowing she wasn’t going to give up on him entirely, was a sense of profound relief.
They worked steadily, opening each box and noting down the end dates of every packet of drugs inside. Turn and turn about. Megan called out the dates and Jaye noted them down on the chart, and then they broke for a cup of tea and something to eat. Then he passed the chart over to her and set about opening the next box.
‘I think we should call it a day.’ It wasn’t all that late but fatigue was finally catching up with Jaye, and Megan had suppressed a yawn.
She stood up, slipping the chart in her pocket. ‘Okay. I can’t actually think of any good reasons to disagree with you on that one.’
‘Sure? We could argue about it if you wanted.’ The hours of quiet, steady work had slowly dispersed any lingering awkwardness, and the joke seemed like no risk at all.
‘Quite sure. I’ll get back to you if I reconsider.’
He chuckled. ‘Too late. The decision’s made now.’ He got to his feet, waiting for Megan to follow him out of the stockroom.
She locked the door carefully, checking that it was secure. Then she twisted another key off her key ring, putting it into his hand.
‘That’s the third key. I have one and Ranjini has the other.’
‘So if anything else goes missing we’ll know exactly who to blame.’
Megan laughed. ‘Yes. You or Ranjini. Because I’ll know it isn’t me.’
Jaye nodded, trying to hide his smile. He held the door of the main clinic building open for her, drinking in the cool scents of the evening as they stepped outside.
‘I always know I’m home when I smell cinnamon bark.’
‘Home?’ She looked up at him in the darkness.
‘This is my second home. England’s home too.’
‘It must be nice. Having two homes.’ There was a trace of sadness in Megan’s voice, and Jaye realised he’d never heard her say the word before. She talked about ‘her flat’ and ‘her mother’s house’, but never home. Perhaps that was one more thing that her father had deprived Megan of. There was nowhere that she felt she had a right to be.
‘So where do you call home?’
There was a short silence and then she laughed. ‘It’s a bit too late in the evening for that kind of question. Right now, home is wherever I can get some sleep.’
Clearly she didn’t know where home was, without thinking about it, and his question was a step too far. He’d touched the limit of what Megan was prepared to share with him, and it was time to back off.
‘I can identify with needing sleep.’ He slowed next to one of the bungalows that housed the staff who lived on site. ‘This is me, I think.’
‘Goodnight, then.’ Megan turned abruptly, clearly determined that he shouldn’t walk her to her door. Hurrying to the next bungalow, she opened the door and went inside, not looking back.
He’d watched her to her door instead. So what? That was the very lea
st that could be expected of a man when he’d spent the evening with a woman, even if it had been in a store cupboard. Not ready to sleep just yet, Jaye sat down on the top step of the porch, listening to the night.
* * *
Megan had slept soundly for the first time in a week. And she awoke in a haze of well-being that belied all her fears from last night. Her asleep brain had told her that everything was all right, and that she was a superwoman. Fire-breathing dragons, sheer cliff faces, bosses and gunfights at the OK Corral. No problem.
