The Perfect Moment by Alix Kelso

Author:Alix Kelso [Kelso, Alix]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lake Falls Publishing
Published: 2019-02-27T16:00:00+00:00

Laura woke, although it was more like surfacing after being trapped below ground. Groaning, she screwed her eyes against the light. Although every muscle still ached, they didn’t ache quite as badly as before, and for that she could only be grateful.

Opening her eyes, she shifted and heard heavy rain lashing against the windows. As she looked to the dark, gloomy skies outside, she saw a figure sitting in her father’s old armchair, and once her vision adjusted she realised it was Bruce.

“What are you still doing here?”

He closed the book he’d been reading. “I didn’t want to leave you alone, in case you needed something.”

Swinging her legs off the sofa, she grimaced at the sharp spears of stiffness in her calves and thighs.

Bruce studied her for a few seconds. “How do you feel?”

“Like I’ve been run over by a twenty-tonne truck.” Rising, she waited until the room stopped whirling around her before testing one foot in front of the other. “I need some water.”

“I’ll get it. How about tea, too?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

Heading for the door, he paused. “Natalie brought you some soup from the restaurant. Chicken and lentil, Tanya’s speciality, apparently. Want some?”

“What a lovely thing to do. But I didn’t hear anyone at the door.”

“You were out for the count. You have been for the last three hours.”

“Three hours?” Her gaze darted towards the clock, and she saw it was the middle of the afternoon. “God, I’ve slept most of the day.”

“You needed to sleep. And now that you’re awake, just take it easy while you get your bearings.”

In the bathroom, she looked at her reflection in the mirror and groaned. After splashing cold water on her face and brushing her teeth, she felt a little better although her reflection looked just as awful.

As she walked into the kitchen, drawn by the smell of warm soup, she heard Bruce talking on the phone cradled at his ear while he stirred the pot on the hob.

“Tell the girls I’m sorry, and I’ll see them during the week,” he said, pouring soup into bowls. “Yeah ... yeah, I know ... yes, I do understand about fluid intake requirements for sick people, I’m not a moron. In fact, I’m heating soup right now ... Okay, have fun, and don’t set your hair on fire with that barbeque.” He hung up and shifted his attention to the soup-pouring.

“You had plans today,” Laura said.

He turned and smiled when he saw her in the doorway. “Just a visit to my brother and his family, no big deal.”

“I feel terrible.”

He set the pot in the sink and hurried over. “I’ll help you back to the sofa—”

“No, I don’t mean that. I mean I feel terrible you’ve stayed with me instead of visiting your family.”

He looked at her, his gaze level. “There’s nothing for you to feel terrible about. You didn’t ask me to stay, I chose to. Anyway, Jack just wants to show off his new shiny barbeque.”

She turned to the rain-spattered kitchen window and the leaden skies beyond.

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