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‘I said that tattoos were for adults. If she wanted one when she was eighteen…’
‘You’d still say no.’
‘Yeah. Something like that.’
‘I think that’s really sweet of you. Any girl would love a gesture like that. Where’s the other one?’
He ran his finger across the top of the design, birds twisted together in flight, and Thea caught her breath. ‘That part’s separate?’
Lucas nodded, watching her face.
‘They look like swifts.’
He grinned. ‘Remember lying on our backs in that field in France, watching them fly?’
That had been when they’d had plans and dreams. When reaching for the freedom of the sky hadn’t seemed impossible. ‘I haven’t thought about that in years.’
‘It’s a reminder. Of that time. Of you.’
She stared at him. On one level this was the sweetest, nicest gesture she could think of. On another it meant the ultimate sadness. There was a sort of finality about it, as if what they’d had only existed in a past that was locked away now. Something dead that could only be commemorated.
‘What would you do if…?’ Suddenly the thought of another woman seeing that tattoo made her want to cry. ‘What happens if someone else sees it there?’
‘Lots of people have seen it.’ His gaze found hers and he gave up the pretence of not knowing what she was talking about. ‘Not in the way you mean. Are you going to tell me to have it lasered off?’
‘It would serve you right if I did.’ She couldn’t. Whatever it meant, it was still something that remained of a past that both hurt and was precious to her, and Thea couldn’t bear to just rub it out. ‘Keep it.’
He nodded, smiling as he rolled his sleeve back down. ‘What are you doing today?’
‘I thought I might go in to work at some point.’
‘Stay. Ava’s having lunch over at my parents’ place today and I said I’d join them if I wasn’t working. You’re welcome to come along too.’
It was tempting. But tattoos and trees were one thing. At some point they had to get back to the real world. ‘No. Thanks, but I really need to get going. I was going to go into work today, there are some things I need to catch up on.’
‘Okay. Do you want a bit of company? I’ll drop by my parents’ place for a couple of hours and then come to the hospital. I can be there at twelve.’
‘That would be good. Maybe we can work something out about any connections to this new case.’ Slowly, word by word, the magic was dissolving. Like a night mist that couldn’t withstand the sunshine.
‘Yeah.’ He lay on his back, still staring at the canopy above their heads. ‘No need to move just yet, though.’
‘No. Not just yet.’
* * *
Thea was at the hospital by eleven, checking through progress reports from the TB nurses and signing off treatment schedules. Half an hour later her phone rang, an unknown number coming up on the display.
‘Thea Coleman.’
‘Thea?’
‘Ava? Is everything all right?’ Thea hadn’t given Ava her mobile number, but she supposed that Lucas might have. The thought occurred to her that maybe he wouldn’t be coming, and she realised just how much she’d been looking forward to seeing him again.
‘Yes. Can I talk to you?’
‘Of course you can. What’s on your mind?’
‘I can’t talk now. Lucas is on his way to the hospital, and he’ll be there soon.’
