To Conrad, negotiation meant the other party or parties backing down and seeing it his way. Negotiation meant different things to each of them, a bit like the worddivorce.
Conrad’s gaze snapped up and when Maya turned to see where he was looking, it was at Noah emerging from the building. ‘He looks like he’s had a shit day too.’
Maya didn’t miss the look Noah and Conrad exchanged, as if something might be bubbling between them, but she knew better than to prod and ask either of them right now.
Conrad turned his attention back to her. ‘You two always seem chatty every time you’re together.’
She bristled. ‘You’ve only seen us once outside the pharmacy.’
He deflected by asking, ‘Are you and he involved?’ His demeanour had the hard edge she was all too familiar with and it stayed until Noah began to reverse out of his parking space.
‘Not really any of your business, is it?’
‘Maya, Maya, why so defensive?’ He had that tone she hated, the tone that meant he was in for a round of mind games.
‘I’m not defensive. And I do need to go.’
‘All right, calm down.’
Who in the history of the world had ever successfully managed to calm down when they were instructed to? If anything, the phrase made a situation worse.
‘I’ll see you soon, Maya.’ And the way he said it left her in no doubt what he was thinking. He was thinking that if she didn’t stay on his right side then all it would take was one move on his part and her position as a well-respected member of the Whistlestop River Air Ambulance team and loveable girl in this town would be ruined.
29
As the crew arrived for the start of their late shift the following day, even Bess noticed that Noah wasn’t his usual self around Maya.
‘Mate, what did you do?’ Bess whispered in her ear as they left the locker room. ‘I’m intrigued.’
‘Well, as far as I know, nothing.’ And it rankled her. She’d thought they were friends at least, perhaps something more, but it was as though he’d withdrawn from any temptation. She tried to tell herself it was because he had so much on his mind but she was done being a sucker when it came to men and their neurosis. Was that unfair? Maybe, but she’d been burned before, she wasn’t about to let it happen again.
Maya did a ground run for the helicopter. She started the engines and the rotors and all the systems on board and tested everything thoroughly. In the meantime, Bess and Noah were ensuring the medical equipment and drugs were as they should be.
After the crew briefing, during which Noah still wouldn’t look her in the eye, Maya went to find Frank to tee up the date the helicopter would have its full service and maintenanceinspection by the company he worked for. Frank did a lot of it – Hilda was subject to maintenance and checks after a certain number of flying hours or calendar days but every few months, she got the full works from the team.
But Maya didn’t find Frank in the kitchen where she’d expected him to be talking with Nadia as before. Instead, he was in the hangar talking to a tall man with grey hair. And as she got closer, she realised who the man was.
‘Here she is…’ Frank nodded in her direction. ‘I’ll leave you to it.’
‘Dad, what are you doing here?’ She hooked the clipboard with her checklist back in its rightful place, having done all the checks on Hilda that she needed to do.
‘I know you’re busy…’
‘I’m at work, so yes, that’s generally how it goes.’ She suddenly thought why he might have turned up. ‘Is Julie okay?’
‘Julie’s fine.’ He shifted awkwardly. Dressed in a suit and likely having come from a meeting in the office near Bridport, he looked out of place here where they all wore heavy-duty uniforms, not a tie in sight.
‘Then what can I do for you?’
He hesitated. ‘I hate that we’re like this. We struggle to even have a civil conversation.’
‘Dad—’
‘I know, I know…’ He held up the hand that wasn’t in his pocket. ‘Now’s not the time to get into it.’
Bess came into the hangar and spotted Nigel and gave him a chirpy hello, but didn’t hang around. She knew the score.
‘Dad, if you need me for something, you’re going to have to spit it out before we get a call.’
