THE TROUBLE WITH PAPER PLANES(41)

I walked along the lane towards her, expectation turning into something else. Dread, I think. Concern, definitely.

“Hey,” I said as I got closer to her. “I was just coming to see you. Have you finished work already?”

She looked up, pale and drawn. “Hi.”

She tried her best to smile but it was obviously an act. The smile wasn’t hers. It looked like it belonged to someone else.

“Are you okay?”

“Headache,” she mumbled, sitting upright. “Migraine, I think. I’ve made it this far through the day, but it’s not going away. Feels like my head’s going to explode.”

For a second, I was relieved. It wasn’t anything to do with me. Thank God. Then concern took over. I’d never had a migraine myself, but both Bridget and Em had suffered from them and I knew the pain they could cause.

“You need a quiet, dark room and lots of water. Come home with me. The last thing you need now is this sun.”

I reached out to take her hand, not expecting her to argue. She didn’t look like she had it in her anyway. She glanced back at the doorway, gesturing vaguely with her hand.

“Bridget –“

“Don’t worry, I’ll talk to her. You wait here – I’ll just be a sec.”

I didn’t hang around for an answer, jogging over to the door and finding Bridget loading the dishwasher.

“Hey, I’m just gonna take Maia home to my place to sleep it off, okay?”

Bridget looked relieved. “Oh good, you’re here – I was going to call you and get you to run her home. She looks awful, poor love.”

“The spare room’s ready and waiting. I’ll look after her, make sure she gets some sleep.”

“Perfect. Somewhere to sleep it off in peace and quiet.” She abandoned the dishes and walked outside to give Maia a brief, gentle hug. “You feel better soon, love. And if you don’t feel up to it tomorrow, don’t come in. I can call my friend’s daughter, she’s home from uni and can work the odd day here and there for extra cash. It’ll all be fine, you just rest up, okay?”

Maia didn’t argue, not that I expected she would.

“Look after her,” Bridget said to me. “And make sure she has plenty to drink.”

“I will.”

She gave my arm a squeeze on her way back into the kitchen.

“You two are something else,” Maia mumbled, squinting up at me from behind her sunglasses.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” I said, taking her by the hand and pulling her gently out of her seat. “Come on, I’ve got a cool, dark room with your name on it.”

“I don’t want to be any trouble,” she said, as we walked slowly back to my truck.

“You’re not.”

The short drive to my house was made in virtual silence. I switched off the car radio and cranked up the air-con to cool the cab down. She leant back against the head-rest and pulled the visor down to keep the sun out of her eyes. It brought back distant memories of Emily and the debilitating migraines she suffered three or four times a year.

“Here we are,” I said quietly, parking the truck in the shade of one of the overhanging trees lining my driveway.

“Thanks,” she said, climbing out and closing the door carefully behind her. “I really appreciate this. Sorry I’m not going to be very good company for the next little while.”

“That’s not why I offered you my spare room,” I said, waiting for her to come alongside me before walking with her to the front door. “You can entertain me with stories and songs some other time. For now, just relax and try to sleep it off.”

I unlocked the front door and went straight to the spare room, opening the windows in there and drawing the dark blue curtains, turning the room into a cool, dark cave. I switched the ceiling fan on to the lowest setting as Maia stood watching from the doorway.

“I’ll get you some water,” I said, walking past her. “Just make yourself at home, okay?”

“Thanks.”

I poured her a tall glass of cold water from the fridge, then went into the bathroom, digging around for some over-the-counter painkillers. When I got back to the bedroom, Maia had taken her sunglasses off and was sitting on the bed, looking lost and miserable.

I put the glass of water and the packet of pills on the bedside table. “If you take two of these, they might help.”