The Doctor's Mistress by Lilian Darcy

Author:Lilian Darcy [Lilian Darcy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781460378014
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

‘LISTEN, are you busy this morning?’ Byron said quietly to Hayley on Thursday morning. There was a little burr in his voice that she found delicious with its suggestion of a shared secret.

They were both kneeling on the floor of the preschool, surrounded by four-year-olds, parents and puzzles, and both were casually dressed. Hayley wore jeans and a buttoned cotton cardigan, while Byron was dressed in navy canvas trousers and a grey-blue shirt.

‘No, I’m not busy,’ she answered. She knew at once what he meant. She’d thought of it as soon as she’d seen him come in, holding Tori’s hand. Not Monica. Not Tori’s day-care mother, Robyn. Byron himself. If that meant he wasn’t working this morning... ‘But what about Monica?’

‘She left yesterday. I, uh, swapped rosters with someone else, on the off chance, hoping I’d worked out where you were up to in your shift rotation.’

‘On the off chance?’ she echoed, before she could stop herself.

‘I know. Sounds a bit desperate, doesn’t it?’

The easy admission from him made her laugh, and did something to her insides at the same time.

‘I’m not busy,’ she said, her voice breathy and low.

‘Good. Meet me, then?’

‘Your place?’

‘Sounds good.’

‘Mummy, you’re not helping!’ Max protested. For a child who usually preferred to do everything himself, this was uncharacteristic.

He’s picked up a vibe, Hayley realised.

Had Karen, too? She came over and bent down to them. ‘Tim says you’re the ones I should thank for our beautiful furniture and garden. It’s disappointing we didn’t get a better turn-out at the Working Bee on Friday.’

‘We enjoyed it more than we expected to,’ Byron answered very seriously. ‘Didn’t we, Hayley?’

She fought a terrible urge to giggle, and managed to affirm, ‘Yes, it was fun, in the end. Neither of us had anything else planned for the evening.’

Neither of us would have dared to plan what had actually happened...

‘Well, thanks anyway,’ Karen said. ‘I’m afraid it always tends to be the same few parents who do all the work.’

She moved away to speak to another mother, and Tori grabbed her father’s arm. ‘You can go now, Daddy. See? The other parents are.’

‘Right, yes,’ he answered gravely.

‘You’re not supposed to stay past puzzle time unless you’re on roster.’

‘OK. You’ve got the timetable all worked out, haven’t you?’

‘It’s easy,’ she said airily. ‘We have group time now, then activities.’

‘Have fun. Do me a painting.’

‘No, I’m doing a painting for Granny Black today.’

Max wasn’t as loquacious in saying goodbye, so Hayley and Byron walked out of the preschool together, rather self-conscious in their avoidance of conversation and positioned well apart. They reached his place in five minutes.

‘Um,’ Byron said as he unlocked the front door. ‘Does it feel different in the daylight? The other night was—’

‘The other night was everything we said it was at the time,’ she answered, not as calm as she was pretending to be. ‘It’s fine. This is going to be different, but just as good.’

‘We’ve got about three hours.’

‘We should have asked Tori to give us a timetable.

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