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As long as it wasn’t ive He’d given his heart to Rosie, and she’d taken it to the grave with her Or so he’d believed, until—until now and the thin ray of hope beginning to pierce his long-held belief that he couldn’t be that lucky

He and Rosie had been childhood sweethearts and so in love it had been unreal at tiot in the way of their plans for a house and babies in the form of leukaey and swollen, sore glands they had been on a one-way road to hell It had been a short trip, lasting little lad for her sake it was over quickly, but for hi his dreams away for ever

The disease that had taken Rosie’s life had a lot to answer for He used to picture thereat life The past four years had been long, and lonely in a way he wouldn’t have believed before she’d died

‘Nathan?’

He pulled out of his reverie to find Vicki watching hi crinkles at the corners of her eyes ‘Yes?’

‘Lead on We’re all good to go’ Her as slow, and downright ht it was ti his elbow, Vicki strode ahead of the group, tugging hi with her

‘I’ry,’ he warned around a smile His friends cared about hi ways

Vicki only laughed ‘I heard you giving Molly a bit of a roasting thisabout the winter party One she didn’t deserve, by the way’

‘Soe around us’

Vicki jabbed him with an elbow ‘Others have told you they’ll be there and not signed the list Who needs a list anyway?’

‘I do’ He huffed a breath ‘Why did she do that pen-snatching thing and scrawl her naht be blind?’

‘To rile you? It worked, by the way’

I know that Daht’ A spurt of resented to laugh at hiot one over him Game on, Molly O’Keefe

Vicki hadn’t finished ‘I’ood for her’ Another jab froet out more’

Nathan stared at his friend ‘Since when has she talked about anything that’s not to do with patients?’ He’d never heard Molly say so as simple as she’d been to the hair salon And, yes, he knehen she went because those short, red curls would be quiet, in place, for a few days before returning to their riot of crazy colour He preferred the wild to the tamed

A tingling itch so his fingers through her hair Then he’d reo and see a patient See? Early on she had disturbed him in ways only Rosie had ever done, yet they were opposites Rosie had mostly been calm, with little that would upset her On the other hand, Miss Quiet and Mousy, red head contrasting with her teed to upset his orderly existence without even trying, especially when he was overtired or pressured by a particularly ill child As of noas going to delete mousy from the nickname

Vicki tapped hi his attention back to her ‘Molly lives in an apartment on the third floor of a block in Bondi Junction, takes the train to work, has a regular car that doesn’t stand out at the lights, and likes to watch co clothes that suggest a previous life that wasn’t so lean’

‘You two are close’