LITMIR.BIZ

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was dreadfully ill,’ Kathryn said with satisfaction. ‘And then he arrested.’

      ‘You mean he died?’ Evelyn, the hostess for this evening, went a shade paler and cast an anxious glance at her other guests.

      ‘No. He’s fine now. I defibrillated him.’ Kathryn couldn’t help the note of pride in her voice. ‘We got him into hospital fast and he had an angioplasty within a couple of hours of the onset of his chest pain. He’ll be going home in a day or two.’

      Donald smiled with obvious relief. ‘Well done,’ he congratulated Kathryn. ‘That must have been rather satisfying.’

      ‘It was wicked,’ Kathryn agreed. She ignored the frown on Sean’s face that was intended as a reminder of how much he disapproved of slang.

      ‘I had to call an ambulance once.’ Dorothy’s husband Donald was nodding. ‘Had a chap who had a rather unpleasant reaction to the IV sedation I gave him.’

      ‘That’s why I never use the stuff,’ Sean declared. ‘A good local should always do the job. I use gas if I have to, but you all know my views on that.’

      The common topic of dentistry had been well aired over the main course. Donald drained his glass of red wine and stared at Kathryn as though she were a new and interesting exhibit at the art gallery.

      ‘A paramedic, hmm?’ He turned to Sean. ‘I’m amazed you’re letting your wife run around on the streets doing a dangerous job like that, old chap.’ His gaze returned to Kathryn, making her wish she hadn’t gone the extra mile to keep Sean happy that evening by wearing this particular black dress. It was cut rather too low for her comfort. ‘Don’t you have to work nights as well?’

      This wasn’t a safe topic. ‘Yes, but the hours are great, really,’ she said lightly. ‘We work four days on, including two nights, and then have four days off. It’s almost a part-time job, in fact. Not that different from what I was doing with Dr Braithwaite.’ Kathryn smiled again. ‘It’s only two days and two nights out of eight, which means I’m home for six days and six nights out of eight. Sean will probably not even notice.’

      ‘Not true,’ Sean protested. Only Kathryn heard the warning note.

      ‘How is dear old Angus Braithwaite?’ Evelyn latched onto a new conversational direction with alacrity. ‘I haven’t seen him or Mary for such a long time.’

      ‘He never changes,’ Sean told her. ‘I did some reconstruction work for him a month or two back. He claimed it made him look ten years younger.’

      ‘Wonderful man,’ Dorothy cooed. She smiled at Kathryn. ‘He was telling me about your mother the last time we met. How is she these days?’

      Kathryn tried to return the smile but failed miserably. ‘She’s very well looked after.’

      ‘There’s not much you can do for advanced multiple sclerosis other than keep the sufferer comfortable,’ Sean added.

      ‘I’ve heard that Hillsborough is the place as far as nursing homes go.’ Donald refilled his wineglass. ‘Might make a reservation for myself one of these years. Lap-of-luxury stuff, isn’t it?’ He raised the bottle. ‘A top-up, Sean?’

      ‘Just a half, thanks. I’m driving.’ Sean held out his glass. ‘You’ll need to save your pennies for Hillsborough, Don. A minimum of a thousand dollars a week isn’t cheap.’

      ‘Good heavens.’ Evelyn Gilbert looked impressed. ‘That’s twice as much as the place my father’s in.’

      ‘You get what you pay for,’ Sean said lightly. ‘And nothing’s too good for my mother-in-law.’ He had to balance his glass carefully as the liquid touched the rim. ‘That’s a generous half there, Don.’

      ‘You’re a generous man,’ his colleague responded. ‘Not many people would care for their mother-in-law like that. I’m sure you don’t get that much of a discount for being a shareholder in the place.’

      ‘I don’t take any discount.’

      More than one glance told Kathryn how lucky she was, and this time Kathryn managed to smile back. This kind of approbation would make Sean happy and the happier Sean Mercer was, the more tolerable her life became. He’d be on top of the world not to have had to engineer such a blatant reminder of why she would be unwise to ever raise the topic of a divorce again.

      ‘It’s almost as bad as having three children in private schools.’ Dennis Gilbert made one of his rare contributions to the conversation at one of his wife’s dinner parties. ‘Thank goodness we’re on the countdown to getting the last one off our hands.’

      ‘You haven’t even started on that caper, Sean.’ Donald’s smile was knowing. ‘You’ll have to step up that chair-side porcelain work to keep the bank manager happy.’

      ‘We’ll manage.’ Sean’s smile was appearing frequently enough to ease Kathryn’s familiar tension. ‘Cosmetic dentistry is booming.’

      ‘So you are planning to have children?’ Dorothy Harrison couldn’t help herself. ‘That’s wonderful, Sean.’

      ‘About time,’ Donald concurred. ‘You don’t want to be booking into Hillsborough by the time they get to university.’

      ‘Kathryn’s promised it’ll only take a year to get this new craze out of her system. Then it’ll be ‘‘bye-bye paramedic’’ and ‘‘hello parenthood’’.’

      Kathryn’s smile felt pasted into place. Of course she had made that promise. She would have made whatever promises it took, and that had been the one that had finally persuaded Sean not to make her new career an impossibility. Sheer desperation had pushed her to actually agree to undergo IVF and produce a child so that Sean would have visible evidence that success in his private life matched his considerable professional achievements.

      A lot could happen in a year, though, couldn’t it? He might even get used to her working shifts. Kathryn tried, and failed, to quell the seed of hope that had taken root over the last few months of her training. A year could give her the time and a new career could give her the base to find a way out.

      Out of her promises.

      Possibly even out of her sham of a marriage.

      Happily, Sean had no hint of the direction of Kathryn’s thoughts. He finished his wine before using a starched linen napkin to blot his lips. ‘This has been a most pleasant evening but we’d better make a move, Evelyn. Kathryn has to get up at the crack of dawn to pursue her new career and I suspect she’s falling asleep on us already.’

      ‘Oh, but you haven’t eaten your dessert, Kathryn!’

      Sean was ready to make excuses on her behalf. ‘I’ve eaten enough for both of us. It was absolutely delicious.’ He pulled Kathryn’s chair back. ‘And when you’re vertically challenged you do need to watch that the pounds don’t pile on.’

      Everyone except Kathryn laughed politely, but the party was over and the Mercers weren’t the only guests to head out into the chilly night.

      ‘We’re not through the worst of winter yet. Feels like there’s going to be a frost tonight.’

      ‘Just think of Madrid,’ Donald reminded his wife. ‘It’s not that long till October and we’ll have some autumn in Spain instead of the usual rubbish that spring throws at us in Wellington.’

      ‘I can’t wait,’ Dorothy enthused. ‘We’ll have such fun in the shops, won’t we, Kathryn?’

      ‘Kathryn won’t be going to Spain.’

      ‘What? But you’re a keynote speaker at the conference, Sean.’

      ‘I’m on a six-month probationary period with the ambulance service. I couldn’t take time off halfway through.’

      Meaningful glances were exchanged around her

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