Page 87 of Reluctant Chemistry

CeCe and her mother shared a knowing smile. Her dad could be a loose cannon,but she still loved him to pieces. Being the youngest, she’d always been his little girl. When she was in her early teens, she had followed him all over the orchard, fascinated by the growing process and eager to learn the ropes.

As was the case in many father-daughter relationships, they’d often butted heads during her teenage years, especially when it came to her riding around in fast cars with boys. But despite this, he’d always been there: playing taxi driver, slipping her extra pocket money when she needed it, and helping to pick up the pieces of her grieving heart when she’d lost her best friend.

After Anna died, they’d sometimes swapped rooms—Frank in hers and CeCe tucked up next to her mother in the master bedroom’s king-size bed,sobbing herself to sleep.

“What’s taking them so long?” Her father’s question intruded into CeCe’s thoughts. She wished Luka were still there, holding her hand, telling her everything would be all right.

“Why don’t you get yourself a coffee and something to eat?” Andrea repeated. “I’ll text you if the doctor comes.”

“Yeah, okay.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Hospitals do my damn head in. The entire health system needs a serious overhaul.”

As they watched her father walk away, CeCe managed a small chuckle. “How do you live with him?”

Her mother winked. “He’s a cuddly kitty when we’re alone.” She raised a brow. “Romantic, too.”

“Okay, Mum. TMI. Let’s keep things PG, shall we?”

“We do have a love life, you know.” Her mother chuckled as she stood. “Right, I’m going to stretch my legs and get some chocolate from the vending machine. I’ll be back in a sec.”

As her mother left the cubicle, CeCe closed her eyes, and memories of the night in the hut flooded her thoughts. The biting cold, the eerie silence, and the shadows in the darkness. It was one of those ‘if only’ situations that return to haunt you whenever you’re alone after making a foolish mistake. While it would have been so easy to blame Nick, CeCe had no interest in playing the blame game. She’d chosen to go with him, even if it had been under persuasion.

After a day filled with examinations and X-rays, they transferred CeCe to a ward for overnight observation, the suspected fracture to her collarbone confirmed, and the thigh laceration stitched and dressed again.

CeCe was drifting off for a late afternoon nap when she heard, “What on earth have you been up to now?”

She opened her eyes to see her cousin standing before her, sporting a wide grin and a beautiful baby-blue cashmere sweater. “Molly! What are you doing here?”

“I heard you went for a stroll in the national park and ended up in a dead-end gully.” Molly kissed her on the cheek. “You okay?”

“Yeah. But I lost my new backpack—it cost me over three hundred dollars.”

“I’d say that’s the least of your worries. What were you guys thinking, out in that atrocious weather? You could have got yourself killed.”

“I know. It was all kinds of stupid. But I’m fine. And guess who rescued me?”

Molly pulled up a seat and flicked her hair back over her shoulder. She thought for a moment until it dawned on her. “No way! Hot Chopper Guy?”

“It was like the rabbit-hole incident all over again, but on steroids.”

“This is just too good. Tell me everything.”

* * *

They discharged CeCe the following morning. Back at her parents’ house, her mother couldn’t stop fussing, and as CeCe lay on the sofa in the sunroom that afternoon—full of a home-cooked lunch—the events of the weekend seemed somehow less significant.

Nick had arrived at the hospital before she’d even seen the doctor, offering apologies and bearing gifts. She’d assured him he had nothing to apologize for but was thankful his comment about the archaeologist meant she could gracefully bow out of their platonic relationship. Nick was a nice guy, full of enthusiasm and with a genuine interest in the world around him, but he wasn’t the guy for her.

CeCe picked up the paperback Luka gave her all those years before and opened it to the first chapter. Despite reading it the week after he’d left Tulloch Point, she wanted to read it again. It still surprised her that he’d read the one she’d given him, even if he had made light of it the morning after they last slept together.

Judging a book by its first line had long been a habit of CeCe’s. When she worked at the library, she’d often opened books at random to peek at chapter one. First lines fascinated her, and David Baldacci had some great first liners. It was time to lose herself in the pages once again.

Turned out, her body had other ideas.

CeCe stirred at the sound of a vehicle in the driveway. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, then glanced out the window.

Luka.

While butterflies danced to some brassy tune in her stomach, she ran her fingers through her hair, a natural reaction to the anticipation of his presence. She heard her mother welcome him into the kitchen, then chit-chat back and forth, his deep voice planted in memories from her past.

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