‘Damn, this is the last thing I need,’ he muttered. He tried again with the same result, wondering if his usually reliable car had been interfered with. ‘The last thing I need …’ he muttered again, trying one more time to fire up the engine.

He phoned his roadside call-out service and was given the number of a local auto repair shop. When the mechanic arrived the news was not good.

During Tara’s busy afternoon every patient seemed to take longer than their allotted time, and at the end of her list she was running nearly an hour late. It was well past five o’clock. If she was running too late her parents worried. She understood why. The accident had fuelled what had become their almost obsessive concern about the safety of their only child, their precious, perfect, beautiful daughter—but it didn’t make her life any easier. No matter how many times she’d tried to persuade them she was capable of looking after herself they still waited up for her when she had the occasional date or night out with her friends. And she had to tell them where she was going, especially if she was driving on her own.

Right now she had to live with it. Tara owed her parents big-time and she didn’t want to cause them any more stress than they already had.

She packed her things in readiness to leave and headed to Reception. When she was barely out of her room Ryan burst through the outside door as if he was being pursued by a pack of rabid dogs. He’d certainly found a novel way of attracting attention.

‘Is there a taxi service in this town?’ he said in a voice laced with frustration and impatience.

Tara wheeled slowly closer, but Ryan hadn’t noticed her and went on without waiting for a reply.

‘My car won’t start. There’s something wrong with the ignition system and it needs to be towed to the local garage to be repaired—’

‘I’ve got some jump leads in my car if that’s any help,’ Jenny offered.

Ryan sighed. ‘I wish … Apparently the computer and security system is so complicated you need an auto electrician to reset and reconnect it, even if it’s simply a flat battery. Which won’t happen until tomorrow.’

Some of the edginess had gone from Ryan’s voice and he looked worn out. He’d obviously had a busy day and it appeared it wasn’t going to get any better.

Tara was at the counter now.

‘I’m just leaving and can drop you off. Taxis here are notoriously unreliable unless you make an advance booking. Where are you staying?’

Ryan looked stunned, as if Tara was the last person he’d expected to see, let alone offer a simple solution to his predicament.

‘Ahh …’

Three sets of eyes were fixed on him, waiting for a reply, and Tara began to wonder if her offer was a mistake.

‘You could help me with my chair.’ Tara was the one to break the uncomfortable silence.

‘I’m at the Riverside. I could probably walk, but I have a lot of gear to transport.’ He hesitated. ‘And it would just be for tonight. A hire car is being delivered to the motel in a couple of hours.’ His expression softened. ‘Thanks, Dr Fielding.’

When they reached her car Tara couldn’t help noticing Ryan’s gaze drift to her legs and then to the hand controls of the car. Suddenly she felt she had something to prove to Ryan—that she could manage perfectly without him. She didn’t want pity, or sympathy, or even admiration. She just wanted her ex-husband to accept her for who she was.

‘What do I need to do to get your chair into the car?’ he said, after he’d moved a couple of plastic crates, his medical case and two supermarket carry-bags from the boot of his now useless car to the back seat of her vehicle.

Good. The practicality of the transfer from chair to car was the perfect diversion from thoughts of Ryan encroaching on her personal space. She wheeled close to the driver’s door, opened it and lifted herself into the seat.

‘When you open the back you’ll see the platform. The controls are hooked onto the driver side just below the window.’

Ryan was already at the rear of the vehicle. He opened the door.

‘Is this it?’ He waved the handpiece.

‘Yes. All you have to do now is press the down arrow button and the platform is programmed to slide out and down to the ground. Simply strap the chair in and press the up button.

‘Ah, yes, I can see it.’

A few seconds later he was at her side. ‘Is there anything else I can do?’

‘Thanks, but I can manage now.’

Tara felt her jaw tighten, and her words did little to disguise her feelings, which were churning around like a newspaper caught in a whirlwind. She’d had no idea being in close proximity to Ryan—alone—would have such an unsettling effect on her. She’d programmed herself to keep him at a distance and now he was sitting a handspan away from her.

At that moment she wondered if she’d made a mistake. She wished she could drive straight home.

But she couldn’t.

Though Ryan was grateful for Tara’s offer to help him out, he got the impression she wished she was anywhere but sitting next to him in her car.

What could he do to help her relax? After all it wasn’t his fault his car had broken down and she’d offered him the lift. She might be taking him back to his motel, but it wasn’t as if he then expected her to sleep with him.

Where had that come from?

The thought did hold some attraction, though. He glanced in her direction and dismissed the idea from his mind. The scowl on Tara’s face suggested she’d more likely suffer being thrown into a pit of deadly snakes than have the slightest physical contact with him.

But why?

He’d been pleasant and polite without being over-friendly. He’d made no demands on her, and he hoped he’d dealt with his ex-wife in a non-confrontational way.

But she’d changed. The openness they’d always shared in their relationship had been replaced by a cautious hesitancy; the love of life she’d had in bucketloads seemed to have dried up; taking risks and trying new things had been supplanted by the rigid routine enforced by her disability. And she certainly wasn’t to blame. No one was to blame. Ryan repeated the words that had become a mantra in the months following the accident.

No one was to blame.

Did Tara believe that?

He truly wanted to find out and, if the barriers were still up, shielding the intimacy they’d had in the past, then maybe he should just try for friendship. Now he had seen her again he knew he at least needed to talk to her. And perhaps he had the ideal opportunity tonight. After all, the worst that could happen was that she’d simply refuse, and he could live with that.

They were pulling into the driveway of the motel so he didn’t have much time.

‘I really appreciate you helping me out, Tara. Can I repay you for the lift?’

‘Pardon?’ She glanced briefly in his direction before bringing the car to a halt in front of the office.

‘I want to repay you.’

‘What do you mean?’ Her stare was ice-cool.

‘Liz gave me some leftovers from lunch and I have way too much to eat myself. Would you like to share them with me?’

The stare turned into a frown and then she looked straight ahead, moving the gearstick from ‘Park’ to ‘Reverse’.

‘Which unit is yours?’

Any kind of thaw seemed a long way away, and Ryan accepted the fact he’d just been handed a refusal. Nothing lost, nothing gained.

But then her expression changed. Still cool but the ice was melting.

‘Okay. I have that patient I mentioned earlier I wanted to discuss with you. Would you mind—?’

‘Of course not.’ Ryan had the feeling he had nudged a little closer to first base.

And what could be more innocent than two colleagues discussing a patient over a bite to eat? Tara shouldn’t feel threatened by that. Ryan’s face broke into a smile as he realised what he’d thought was going to be a gloomy end to his long day had the potential to shine.