Chapter 6

‘What’s happening on Sunday? She asked warily.

‘You’re invited to lunch.’ His green gaze sparkled with amusement when she relaxed visibly. ‘ Rosalyn is in the mood to roast a leg of lamb, and we need someone to help us eat it.’

‘Rosalyn always does a marvelous roast, and nothing on this earth is going to prevent me from sharing it with you.’ Elena smiled at him and shifted her fears and problems aside for the moment. ‘Thank you for the invitation, and tell Rosalyn that I gladly accept.’

The shrill ringing of the telephone interrupted them, and Dr Cleave got up to follow Elena when she went into the waiting room to answer it.

‘It’s Roxanne from the Maternity,’ she informed him with her hand over the mouthpiece. ‘ Mrs Charlotte is in the final stages of labor.’

‘Tell her l’m on my way, ‘he said, striding briskly into his consulting room to collect his stethoscope and car keys.

Elena passed on Dr Cleave’s message, and he had already left the building when she replaced the receiver.

The rest of the day was hectic as usual. Dr Cleave delayed at the hospital, and Elena had her hands full of coping with patients who were becoming irate at having to wait beyond the specified time of their appointments. It was on days such as these that she was thankful for the ability to remain calm and unruffled, but her calmness seemed to desert her when she arrived at her cottage that evening. Alone, and with too much time on her hands, she found her disturbing thoughts returned to hurt her, and she spent another restless night wishing for the dawn when she could find forgetfulness in her work.

The Craig home was very spacious and tastefully furnished. The atmosphere was homely, and Rosalyn had prepared a magnificent Sunday lunch which had left Elena feeling lethargic when they retired to the air-conditioned living-room with their tea. The conversation was not taxing, and Dr Cleave actually nodded off in his chair until he was called out to the hospital midway through the afternoon. Elena decided it was time she left as well, but Rosalyn seemed reluctant to let her go.

‘Stay and have another cup of tea with me,’ she invited, and Elena found that she did not need to be coaxed to linger a while longer in her hostess’s charming company.

Rosalyn Craig was a few years younger than her husband, but her fair hair cleverly disguised the fact that she was greying at the temples, and her slender body still had an enviable youthfulness about it. She was also a relaxing person to be with, and her warm ,friendly manner had reached out to Elena from their very first meeting almost three years ago. Rosalyn and her husband were also the only two people in Mystic Falls who knew the reason behind Elena’s decision to start a new life away from Sea City. Elena had taken them into her confidence a long time ago and, like true friends, the subject had never been mentioned again. Until now!

‘Please don’t be offended,’ Rosalyn brought up the subject with endearing caution when they were alone drinking their tea, ‘but wherever I seem to go these days people are talking about Rose Garden’s new owner.’

‘I know,’ Elena smiled stiffly and gazed down into her teacup. ‘I’ve heard them talking and speculating in the consulting rooms.

‘How do you feel about it?’ Rosalyn asked.

Elena did not need time to consider Rosalyn’s question, and she answered her with inherent honesty, ‘ It scares me knowing that there is a possibility Stephan and I might meet again in the near future.’

Rosalyn nodded with understanding, but her brown eyes were thoughtful and intent upon Elena’s face when she asked, ‘Are you still in love with him?.