‘Babysitter issues?’ Bess asked.
‘Something like that.’ Noah smiled at them both, picked up his things and said goodbye.
Bess came inside, scooped her riot of curls up into a ponytail and deftly tied it with the band that had been on her wrist. ‘What’s the story there?’
‘How would I know?’ Maya picked up her bag.
‘You know he has a kid, right?’
‘I know.’
‘It’s his niece, apparently.’
That had Maya’s attention. But not for long – she had enough going on in her own life right now to worry about someone else’s.
‘Do you think he has a wife or a girlfriend?’ Bess pondered out loud.
‘I’ve no idea.’
Bess pulled a wrapped-up portion of flapjack from her bag. ‘Doesn’t it bug you?’
‘He’s only just joined us; maybe let him take a breath before you find out his life story.’ But Bess was the most inquisitive person she knew; she’d want to know all of it, right now. ‘You do like to get to know people, don’t you?’
‘Nothing wrong with that. I like openness, to know what’s going on. I lay all my cards on the table. I know not everyone does…’ She sighed. ‘And that frustrates the hell out of me.’
‘Don’t I know it,’ Maya laughed.
Bess let the subject of Noah and his personal life drop. ‘So, pub for you?’
‘Can’t, it’s Conrad’s discharge today and I’m picking him up. What? Don’t give me that look.’
‘I’m not giving you any look.’ To Maya’s frown, she paused before she took another bite of her flapjack. ‘All right, I am. I get that he has nobody else – although a force of police officers could offer up some options.’ She held up her hand. ‘I’m only saying, it’s not like he’d be stranded.’
‘The doctor doesn’t want him home alone for the first few days; if he is, they’ll keep him in. The sooner he’s out, the sooner he’ll recover and not need me around and I can get on with my own life.’
Bess fixed Maya with her stare. ‘Do not tell me you’re his nurse until he sees fit to dismiss you.’
Unfortunately, that was going to be the case. But Maya wanted to deflect away from it and so she said, ‘You make him sound worse than he is.’ Actually, Bess had him pretty much pegged, but Maya had to toe the line, at least for the time being.
‘He likes to have you at his beck and call, that’s all.’
‘I will be at first but I won’t do it for long. And I didn’t visit him last night; I was firm about that.’ She couldn’t look like a complete pushover; Bess would never let her be that. She was a good friend. But she also knew Maya’s feelings about Isaac and her desire to see him and his father at least try to work things out. ‘He knows I have a life outside of what was once our marriage.’
‘Does he, really?’
‘Okay, so he’s taking a while to accept it. But Bess, this is temporary.’
Bess chewed thoughtfully. ‘You’re too nice, that’s your problem.’ She had the last morsel of flapjack ready to pop into her mouth. ‘Be careful, Maya. I can’t help thinking he’s playing you. He might not have planned this, but you have to admit it’s kind of working out well for him. He never wanted to let you go.’
She looked at Bess as she picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. ‘Try not to worry; I’m not getting sucked back in to being with him.’
Bess was right. Conrad hadn’t ever wanted to let her go. But what Bess didn’t know was that even if Maya wanted to, she couldn’t simply walk away, not with the things he knew about her, things she never wanted to share.
As the girls left the locker room, they bumped into Frank. ‘Maya, how are you doing?’ His moustache covered his top lip and then some, and his skin was weathered with a tan that never faded from a life outdoors sailing boats before he’d become an engineer.
‘Not too bad, thanks, Frank. And it’s always good to be back at work doing what I love.’
He winked at her. ‘That’s our girl, isn’t it, Bess?’
