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but then reluctantly let
it go. It wasn’t his place to force her. They hadn’t seen each
other for a decade; though he’d thought about her every day. He was
like a stranger to her and had no right to expect her confidence or
trust.
    “The University of Queensland in Brisbane,”
he finally answered and couldn’t help but notice her relief that
he’d dropped the other topic.
    She pursed her lips. “A fair way from home
and a move interstate. What made you choose UQ?”
    Mason shrugged. “I have family who live in
Brisbane. An aunt and an uncle on my father’s side. They have a
bunch of kids—cousins I spent a fair bit of time with when we were
young. One of my cousins, Jake, went to med school with me.”
    She nodded and her smile seemed to come a
little easier. “That’s nice. Family’s good. I’m glad you had
someone to help you through it. When Nigel was at college, he had
no one—no one but me. I was his study buddy, his take-out girl and
everything else he needed. It was lucky I was studying nursing. At
least I had some idea what he was trying to learn. Some of that
biology…” She shook her head and this time, her grin seemed real.
“It nearly did my head in.”
    He smiled back at her, relieved that her sad
mood had lifted. “Oh, yeah! You and me, both.”
    “How are the rest of your family? Your
parents and brothers?”
    “They’re all good. My brothers are spread
around the state, doing what they do. Mom and Dad retired awhile
ago. They moved to far North Queensland. They spend a fair amount
of their time on a yacht.”
    “Sounds like a nice way to pass the
time.”
    “Yes, it does, doesn’t it? Maybe some day,
I’ll earn enough to buy one of my own. Do you like to sail? Maybe
we could go out on the harbor some time? With Nigel and the kids,
of course,” he added hurriedly, his face aflame.
    Her withdrawal was immediate. The soft smile
disappeared; the easy air between them suddenly became tense and
her gaze remained fixed on the floor. He didn’t know what had done
it, but the mood was well and truly gone.
    “I’m sorry, Belle, I didn’t mean to upset
you.”
    She brushed him off. “It’s fine, Mason. I’m
fine. I… I have to get back to work. I’ll see you later.” She
turned and walked away.
    * * *
    Isobel gripped the sides of the kitchen
counter and forced herself to breathe. Nigel had been in a mood all
evening. First he’d complained that the children were spending too
much time in daycare because she’d accepted extra shifts.
    “Why the hell can’t they call someone else?”
he’d yelled. “Why is it always you?”
    “There’s a flu bug going around, Nigel.
There is no one else. I’m surprised the surgical staff
haven’t been affected. It seems like every other department in the
hospital has.”
    Then it was the dinner she served. She’d
worked until four that afternoon, and by the time she collected Ben
and Sophie there hadn’t been enough time to prepare the usual fancy
meal. She’d ducked into the shops and bought a pre-prepared
stir-fry and had microwaved a dish of rice. She should have known
it wouldn’t be good enough for Nigel.
    “What do you call this crap?” he’d snarled
when she set it down in front of him. Ben looked up from his spot
at the table, his body tense. Sophie fell quiet.
    “It’s beef and garlic stir-fry.”
    “It’s premade crap from the supermarket. How
the hell do you expect me to eat this?” He shoved it to one side
and turned his back on her.
    “I-I’ll see what else I can find,” she said
and pushed away from the table.
    Now, she drew in another deep breath and
slowly counted to ten. With a huge effort, she pushed her
exhaustion aside, relaxed her fingers and stepped away from the
counter. Pulling open the door to the freezer, she searched for
something else to cook. It wasn’t easy. The extra shifts had meant
that she hadn’t had time to go to the supermarket. The freezer was
almost bare. She spied a steak toward the