Everlasting Love. Carole Mortimer

quickened as she studied the young girl, the stubborn chin, the determined mouth, and those shockingly familiar grey eyes. ‘Sally …?’

      ‘Yes!’ the young girl cried excitedly. ‘How are you? You look well. What are you doing now? Oh, of course, you came with Rick, so you must be the nurse he talks so highly of. Are you—Did I say something funny?’ she frowned as Olivia began to smile.

      Olivia’s smile deepened. ‘Well, so far you’ve answered every question you’ve asked.’ Added to which, if she didn’t smile she might cry! She had thought the Hamilton family were well out of her life, and to see Sally again, after all this time, was startling to say the least.

      ‘Sorry,’ Sally gave a rueful grimace. ‘It’s just such a surprise to see you like this.’

      That had to be the understatement of the year! ‘How have you been?’ Olivia asked politely.

      ‘Fine,’ the young girl nodded.

      ‘And your father?’ her voice cooled somewhat.

      Sally anxiously searched the bland expression on her face. ‘He’s well too. Working too hard!’

      ‘He always did.’ Olivia sounded brittle, fighting images of Marcus from her mind. She hadn’t thought of him for weeks, and she wouldn’t think of him now, wouldn’t allow this chance meeting with Sally Hamilton to disrupt the even tenor of her life.

      ‘You haven’t seen him since—–’

      ‘Not for some time, no,’ she cut in sharply. ‘You mentioned something about sun-tan lotion just now,’ she abruptly changed the subject.

      ‘Oh—of course,’ the young girl flushed, handing her the plastic bottle containing the brown lotion, watching as Olivia began to smooth it on her creamy skin. ‘Don’t you want to talk about Daddy?’ she finally probed after several silent minutes.

      Olivia didn’t look up, her breathing becoming shallow. ‘Is there anything to say?’ She knew the question was put in such a way that it was a complete contradiction of itself, that she very much wanted to hear about Marcus, would accept any little crumb of information she could get about him. And as his daughter, Sally was guaranteed to know plenty about Marcus.

      ‘I somehow thought—I just never expected you and Daddy to break up like you did. You seemed—well, he really liked you,’ Sally finished awkwardly, her gaze questioning.

      ‘I’m sure he did,’ Olivia agreed with some bitterness. ‘But there was you—and your mother.’

      ‘Oh yes—Mummy,’ Sally grimaced.

      Olivia’s eyes widened at this reaction. ‘You never used to feel that way about her,’ she frowned, remembering well how Sally had cavaliered her mother.

      ‘People change,’ the girl shrugged. ‘It was six years ago, I was only twelve, still a child really.’

      And yet that child had helped to push the wedge between Marcus and herself, Sally’s obvious aversion to any female but her mother in her father’s life making Olivia’s relationship with Marcus impossible. And that was before Ruth came back!

      ‘I didn’t understand the situation,’ Sally added lamely.

      ‘Of course you didn’t,’ Olivia agreed brightly. ‘I’m not really sure that I did. I was only eighteen myself then.’

      ‘But you loved Daddy!’

      ‘I may have thought I did—–’

      ‘I’m sure you did,’ Sally insisted vehemently.

      ‘Maybe for a time,’ Olivia acknowledged tightly. ‘But a man in your father’s position couldn’t afford to be involved with an eighteen-year-old. After all,’ she added tautly, ‘he was Chief Surgeon even then.’

      ‘He still is,’ Sally nodded. ‘At a different hospital—bigger.’

      ‘Yes.’ It had to be. Marcus would be thirty-nine now, and he had always been destined to be at the top of his profession; it sounded as if he had made it. ‘And your mother, how is she?’ she heard herself ask, her breath held in her throat as she waited for the younger girl to tell her how happy her parents were together, that they perhaps even had more children.

      ‘Mummy?’ Sally gave her a startled look. ‘But don’t you know?’ She sounded puzzled.

      Olivia frowned. ‘Know what?’

      ‘My mother died three years ago.’

      She swallowed hard, shocked in spite of her usual calm composure. ‘I—I had no idea,’ she shook her head. ‘I’m sorry,’ she added dully.

      Ruth Hamilton had been dead for three years, and she hadn’t even known about it! That meant that Marcus had been on his own for all that time—or did it? Marcus was hardly the type to be alone for any amount of time, hadn’t the two of them met during a temporary separation from his wife Ruth. And hadn’t she been discarded just as quickly as soon as Ruth decided to come back! No, whatever hopes she might have had about Marcus for all these years, there had never been a chance of the two of them ever getting back together again. Although she felt sure there would be a woman in his life.

      ‘Your father’s married again?’ she queried softly.

      ‘Only to his work,’ Sally replied dryly. ‘He’ll always be married to that.’

      ‘Yes.’ Olivia stood up with jerky movements. ‘I think I’ll go in for a swim,’ she told the girl brightly. ‘It’s been nice seeing you again. ‘Bye!’ and she ran to the edge of the pool.

      ‘Oh, but—–’

      Olivia didn’t wait to hear any more, but dived smoothly into the clear blue water, welcoming its coldness, doing several laps of the pool before she even dared to look up again. Sally had gone from the adjoining loungers and was listening rather absently to a young man as he talked to her at the other end of the pool. Olivia levered herself out on to the side of the pool before hurrying to the changing-rooms, anxious that Sally shouldn’t speak to her again.

      Sally seemed to have matured into a very nice young lady, and yet six years ago she had been totally spoilt, and completely possessive of her father. Marcus had responded to that possessiveness with gentleness and understanding, but Olivia hadn’t been able to cope with the young girl’s rudeness quite so calmly. And even that hadn’t been all Sally’s fault; Olivia knew she had been too unsure of Marcus and his interest in her to defend herself against any barbs she might receive, too vulnerable and uncertain in her youthful love of him.

      ‘Ah, good, you’re ready to leave.’ Natalie met her outside the changing-rooms. ‘I hope you don’t mind, but Rick has had enough for one day.’

      All Olivia’s concern was instantly for her patient, her own troubled thoughts forgotten. ‘I should have thought of that——’

      ‘Of course you shouldn’t,’ Natalie laughingly dismissed. ‘He’s an adult, he should know when it’s time to go. And luckily he does. If you want to stay on I’m sure I could get someone to drive you back later—–’

      ‘No, I’m ready to go.’ Her voice was sharper than usual, and she sensed Natalie’s questioning look. ‘I—The sun is very tiring,’ she invented.

      ‘Of course,’ Natalie agreed sceptically. ‘None of our friends were making nuisances of themselves, were they? I know some of the boys—–’

      ‘No, no, it isn’t that.’ Olivia assured hastily. ‘It really is just tiredness.’

      ‘You seem—upset about something?’ the other girl persisted.

      Was she so transparent? She hadn’t thought she was, had thought she had built up a protective shell these last few days. A few minutes’ conversation with Sally Hamilton, unwilling thoughts of Marcus thrust upon her, and her carefully controlled veneer had