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Leonie Knight
www.millsandboon.co.uk
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
About the Author
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Epilogue
Copyright
About the Author
Originally a city girl, LEONIE KNIGHT grew up in Perth, Western Australia. Several years ago, with her husband, two young sons and their Golden Retriever, she moved south to a small rural acreage located midway between dazzling white beaches and the magnificent jarrah forest of the Darling Scarp. Now her boys have grown and left home, and the demands of her day-job have lessened, she finds she has more time to devote to the things she loves—gardening, walking, cycling, reading, and of course writing. She has spent most of her adult life working in first a suburban and then a rural general medical practice—combining that with the inspiration she gets from her real-life hero, it is only natural that the stories she writes are Medical™ Romances.
This is Leonie Knight’s debut book!
Dear Reader
Inspiration for the novels I write sometimes emerges from the unlikeliest of places. The idea for the story of Sophie and Will’s bumpy journey along the road to finding love originated from a TV documentary about a rundown, inner-city suburb destined for destruction. It was saved by a courageous and spirited group of people, determined to make better lives for themselves.
To outsiders, the residents of my fictional suburb of Prevely Springs have little hope of ever achieving that elusive better life. Will Brent—an overworked, brooding but devoted GP—tries his best to help, but it takes the addition of a bubbly socialite from the other side of the country, with a mission to make a difference, Dr Sophie Carmichael, to turn his hopes and dreams into reality and release him from his tortured past.
I wanted to show a community working together to overcome serious and sensitive problems as a backdrop to the unlikely romance between my hero and heroine, and their attempt to overcome their own inner demons. I believe the more difficult the journey, the greater the satisfaction at arriving at the final destination.
I hope you enjoy reading my story about Sophie, Will and the people of Prevely Springs as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Leonie
To my unfailingly supportive husband, Colin,
and my amazing writing friends, Anna, Teena,
Lorraine, Susy and Claire.
Thank you for your faith in me.
PROLOGUE
‘YOU’RE better off without him.’
Sophie Carmichael’s body-racking sobs began to subside as her best friend Anna put her arm around her shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Sophie reached for a handful of tissues and noisily blew her nose. Venting her distress in a tearful outburst definitely helped ease the rawness she felt. She took a deep breath and managed a wilted smile.
‘I still can’t understand how he could be so cold … and two-faced,’ Sophie said. ‘He didn’t even have the courage to tell me to my face.’
‘It could have been worse. He might have broken up with you with a text message. Vanessa’s boyfriend—’
‘I know, I heard. But they’d only been together for two minutes, not nearly two years.’ Sophie wiped away the last of her tears and felt her fighting spirit begin to return. It made sense now why Jeremy had stopped pleading with her to move in with him. He apparently wanted a live-in lover, not a wife. And he’d found one—who was now pregnant with his child. She’d wondered if the two of them had planned the whole scenario.
Sophie clenched her teeth, not wanting to believe her ex was capable of such blatant and calculated cheating. She wasn’t going to let a two-timing, deceitful rat like her ex-fiancé ruin her life, though.
‘Didn’t Jeremy make it quite clear he didn’t want kids until he’d finished his training and set up in private practice?’
‘That’s right. And muggins me went along with it.’ Sophie slumped back in her seat and sighed. She tried to stand back from her churning emotions and look at the situation objectively. ‘You’re right, you know. I’m glad I found out about Jeremy’s unfaithfulness before we actually tied the knot. I am better off without him.’
The women sat in silent contemplation for a minute or two before Anna finally spoke.
‘What are you going to do now?’
Sophie had asked herself that same question a hundred times over the past weeks since she’d found out about Jeremy’s infidelity by overhearing a conversation at the hospital where he worked. She had naively believed it was purely unfounded gossip. When she’d confronted him, though, he’d not wasted words in telling her the brutal truth. It seemed everyone had known before she had. She’d never felt so humiliated in her life and was grateful the news hadn’t spread to the staff of her father’s general practice where she worked.
At least she’d been able to choose the time and place to tell her parents—but it hadn’t made it any easier. Her father’s attitude had left her firstly stunned and then outraged. Ross Carmichael still thought the sun shone from Jeremy’s nostrils and seemed to believe they’d get back together again. She couldn’t believe he could be so insensitive to her feelings. Her mother had hardly disguised her disappointment. She’d often reminded Sophie of her relentlessly ticking biological clock and didn’t like the idea of the mob of grandchildren she so dearly wanted being put on hold. Of course Sophie still wanted a family but now, at thirty-one, unceremoniously dumped and unexpectedly single, she was in no hurry.
‘I really don’t know. I haven’t had a chance to think about it but one thing I do know for sure.’
‘And what’s that?’ Anna was stroking Sophie’s cat, which had jumped up on her lap, probably sensing the calmer of the two women was Anna.
‘I’m going to steer clear of men for a while.’
Anna smiled. ‘They’re not all rotten, you know.’
‘I didn’t say they were, but—’
‘You need a break. I can understand that. It’s early days.’
Max, Sophie’s Burmese bundle of masculine feline charm, gracefully stretched, began purring loudly and rubbed his chin on Anna’s thigh, as if defending the male of the species.
‘Maybe you need a holiday,’ Anna continued.
‘A permanent holiday.’ Sophie suddenly realised what she really needed was a working holiday; a complete break from her predictable life. She’d always had her father, or Jeremy, or the expectations of the high-flying social set she moved in to make the big life decisions for her. Or at least nudge her in a certain direction. It hadn’t bothered her in the past, but now … She felt manipulated, controlled and wanted a taste of freedom. If she made mistakes, at least they would be her own.
‘I might look at leaving Sydney for a while, maybe head north.’ She paused and felt her heart pumping faster. It was a lightbulb moment and made a great deal of sense. She would only stagnate in her father’s practice and was tired of listening to the woes of the affluent, worried well-to-do. She remembered when, as an enthusiastic new graduate, she’d wanted her work to make a real difference to her patients’ lives. There was little chance of that happening if she stayed where she was. Her mind started to work in overdrive.
‘Or even west. I’ve heard there’s a shortage of GPs over in Perth.’
Anna looked only mildly surprised, as if she’d been expecting it.
‘Well, good for you, Dr Sophie.’ She lifted Max from her lap and dumped the protesting cat on the floor then added, ‘How about we open that bottle of wine I brought?’
‘Great idea. And I’ll see if I can rustle up some comfort food,’ Sophie said with a grin. She felt renewed, ready to take on whatever challenges life presented.
While Anna uncorked the Chardonnay, Sophie loaded generous serves of chocolate cheesecake on plates.
When they sat down again, Anna raised her glass.
‘To your new life,’ she said as they clinked glasses.
‘Without the complication of men,’ Sophie added.
CHAPTER ONE
‘SHE’S here. Come and have a look,’ Caitlyn called from the tea room.
Dr William Brent didn’t share his young receptionist’s excitement at what he presumed was the arrival of the new doctor. It was barely twenty minutes since the last patient had left. Saturday morning clinics were supposed to finish at midday and today he’d particularly wanted to run to schedule. But it was already after two o’clock, the time he’d planned to meet Dr Sophie Carmichael.
She was late. Not an ideal start.
He was a busy man and didn’t have spare time to waste on waiting. He had a house call after the interview and a meeting with a builder scheduled for mid-afternoon.
He dismissed his annoyance in the name of an urgent need for an assistant and hoped Caitlyn was right.
Sophie Carmichael’s phone call, just over a month ago, had come at the right time and he’d invested a considerable amount of energy in getting the well-qualified Sydney doctor to relocate, even if it turned out to be for only a couple of months.
‘Quick, you’ve got to see this, Dr Brent.’ Caitlyn stood in the doorway to his office with a broad grin on her face and Will couldn’t help but feel a sense of foreboding.
Why was Caitlyn so excited and, worse, why was she grinning?
He followed her down the short corridor to the tea room and peered through the small, grubby window.
‘Oh, my God!’ The words escaped before Will had time to check them and now he understood why his young receptionist was so insistent he have an advanced viewing.
Will glanced at Caitlyn, who was still grinning, but couldn’t stop his eyes returning to the new arrival. His heart dropped. She was driving a nippy little sports car. He didn’t usually trust first impressions but had the gut feeling this stern-faced young woman, whom he could see clearly in the open-topped vehicle, would be as at home in his practice as caviar at a sausage sizzle.
But he was truly desperate.
Working twelve-hour days, being on call weekends and after hours, as well as trying to find time to get his plans for the community centre off the ground was wearing him down to near breaking point. There just weren’t enough hours in the day.
He had to keep an open mind.
‘If that’s the new doc, I hope she’s better at fixing sick people than she is at parking her car,’ Caitlyn said.
Will squinted through the dirty glass, watching the wine-red cabriolet being manoeuvred into a space that was way too small.
‘Ouch.’ He felt the scrape of metal on metal as the front-end passenger side didn’t quite clear the carport post. If she was the new doctor, and Will had no reason to think otherwise, it was definitely not a good start to their working relationship.
But the show wasn’t over.
The woman seemed to be having problems unfolding the roof to secure the vehicle. She huddled over the dash and first the windscreen wipers activated then the hazard lights flashed before the roof finally jerked into place. She abandoned the car and squeezed her petite frame into the gap between her fancy sports car and Will’s elderly, slightly battered station wagon. She was in shadow so Will could no longer see her face, but her body language clearly conveyed frustration and anger. He was fascinated. Mesmerised, even.
‘Look what she’s wearing.’ Caitlyn was obviously enjoying the spectacle but her tip-off was unnecessary. How could anyone not notice the woman’s outfit? It was so out of place for a meeting, no matter how informal, with her new employer. She wouldn’t last five minutes in this neighbourhood decked out in low-slung, skin-tight black jeans with lolly-pink high-heeled sandals and a top that was body-hugging, and exposing more skin than …
‘Whoops. She’s seen us.’ The girl’s attempt to duck away from the window wasn’t quick enough, but at least she’d tried to look discreet. Will suddenly realised his jaw was gaping and he snapped his mouth shut the moment the woman’s blazing eyes met his. But he couldn’t take his eyes off her. He could see her more clearly now and there was something about the determined thrust of her jaw and the resolute expression on her fine-featured face that captivated him.
It didn’t take her long to compose herself, though. She smiled and waved as she hoisted a large bag over her shoulder and headed towards the back staff entrance.
‘I’ll put the kettle on, then?’ At least Caitlyn was thinking sensibly. He needed a coffee.
‘Good idea. I’ll go and meet her.’
He took a couple of deep breaths, ran his fingers through his too-long hair and smiled as he opened the back door.
Sophie Carmichael had finally arrived at the Prevely Springs Medical Clinic. She was tired, frustrated and wondering if she’d made a huge mistake. Not sleeping the previous night, coupled with an inconvenient run of bad luck, hadn’t helped. She felt like getting on the first flight back to Sydney.
The move to Western Australia was supposed to be about taking control of her life but obstacles had appeared at every turn. She should have arrived in Perth in plenty of time to make it to the hotel she’d booked for the night. She’d planned to at least get a few hours’ sleep and then shower and change before her interview.
But the best-laid plans …
Firstly her plane had been delayed and she’d been forced to sit in the airport lounge for most of the night. Then, on her arrival in Perth, she’d discovered her luggage had been lost. Now she was fifteen minutes late for her meeting with her future employer because the airport taxi driver had taken her to the wrong rail depot to pick up her car … the beautiful, brand-new sports car she’d bought only a week ago as a symbol of her new-found freedom. Which now had an ugly gouge down one side due to a momentary lapse of concentration.
She tried to focus on the positives.
She’d never been a quitter.
Leaving home hadn’t been a mistake.
She wasn’t running away from her problems, just taking a break to regroup.
Her objective while in Perth was to work, and learn, and prove to herself she wasn’t afraid of leaping out of her comfort zone into the wild unknown.
She also planned to show her toad of a fiancé that she was quite capable of fulfilment … and independence … and happiness … without him.
She scowled.
Jeremy … her fiancé … Not any more.
It hadn’t taken as much courage as she’d thought to relocate to the other side of the country, even if it was only for a couple of months. The last thing she needed was a holiday with endless empty time on her hands—work was definitely the answer, and work on the other side of the country was perfect. She needed time out without having to deal with the tattered remnants of her life; without the distraction of the opposite sex; without having to get approval for everything she did from her father or Jeremy.
‘Things can’t possibly get any worse,’ she muttered as she locked the car. She glanced at the single visible window and caught a glimpse of two curious faces not quite pressed against the glass. One was a teenage girl and the other …
She instantly forgot her troubles.
The dark-haired man was half smiling, and even through the grubby glass she could see he was … absolutely gorgeous.
He waved and then ducked away from the window as if he’d been caught in the act of being nosy.
Then he reappeared.
When she saw him standing in the doorway, all mussed-up hair, baggy clothes and brooding dark, black-brown eyes, she knew she’d made the right decision in leaving Sydney.
If this man was Dr Brent, it would be no hardship to work with him but she’d have to be careful. He was too damned attractive for his own good and she’d bet her last dollar he had no idea he had all the attributes to turn women’s heads.
Slinging her bag on her shoulder, she strode towards the ramp leading up to the back entrance. She still couldn’t rationalise the preconceived image she’d conjured up of Dr Brent, with the man standing in the doorway.
On the phone he’d come across as kind, conservative, passionate about his job and desperate for a second GP to share his increasing patient load. He’d also sounded … weary.
She’d thought he’d be middle-aged and suspected he might be looking for someone young and fresh to share the patient load at the practice, if the wording in his ad in the widely read Australian General Practice magazine was anything to go by. He’d really wanted someone who was prepared to commit long term, with a view to partnership.
But it appeared that type of candidate was thin on the ground and she definitely wasn’t that person either. She had no illusions that her escape from her failed relationship and the gossip of Sydney’s heartless, egocentric socialites was anything but temporary. She just needed time to heal.
Sophie was totally realistic about her future. She had solid reasons to return to the city she loved. All her friends were in Sydney; she owned a beachside apartment at Collaroy she didn’t want to give up; and had adopted a feisty feline named Max that she couldn’t leave in her friend Anna’s care for ever. She planned to go home as soon as the fallout from her broken relationship settled, and she’d made sure Dr Brent knew she wasn’t planning on staying permanently.
And the reality of this man standing in the doorway had just made her decision to have a break much easier.
Could this seriously good-looking hunk possibly be her new boss?
She was about to find out.
For a moment Will Brent was spellbound by the woman’s penetrating china-blue eyes, fascinated by the tilt of her cute, lightly freckled nose, captivated by her hesitant smile.
‘I’m Will Brent and I assume you’re Dr Carmichael. Can I take your bag?’ he asked as he extended his hand in greeting.
She offered hers and it felt cool, soft and damp. Was she nervous?
‘Yes. Please, call me Sophie, and, no, thanks. I’ll be fine.’
‘Come in,’ he said in what he hoped was a welcoming tone.
She repositioned the bag on her shoulder as she stepped from the short ramp into the building. He suspected she could be just what the practice needed. So if her first impression of Prevely Springs Medical Clinic was to go as smoothly as he’d planned, he’d have to remain totally objective, professional … look beyond the attractively packaged woman standing on his threshold.
Attractive didn’t mean dependable. It meant the pain of betrayal; it meant shallow; it meant priorities very different from his. What twisted lapse of judgement had let him fall in love all those years ago?
Will did a quick reality check.
He had no right to prejudge or compare.
Sophie Carmichael was simply a colleague, who happened to be beautiful.
And he mustn’t think of her in any other way.
There was no way he could burden any woman with his problems. He still felt the hurt and disappointment of his past and the weight of the emotional debt he was struggling to pay. He had chosen to lead a solitary life in the rough inner-city suburb he’d grown up in. And he’d made a promise, nearly twenty years ago, to stay and in some way give back to this community.
Love, marriage, children … The fantasy just didn’t fit with the dark reality of his life.
He’d caused the two people he’d loved most in the world so much anguish. There wasn’t a day went by when his heart didn’t fill with regret for those angry, irresponsible teenage years that had shaped his future. His devotion to his practice and the salt-of-the-earth people in the Springs was the only way he knew to repay his grandparents, and he often lamented that they weren’t alive to witness his achievements.
He’d only recently admitted, though, that he needed help to keep going. The long hours he worked, being on call weekends and after hours, was wearing him down to near breaking point. He had high hopes for the woman standing in front of him.
Releasing Sophie’s fingers from his grip, he did a lightning rethink of where he could conduct the interview but came to the conclusion every room in the building was in a similar state of disarray to his own.
Better the mess you know …
Usually it wouldn’t bother him but he felt an unsettling compulsion to make a good impression and wished he’d chosen something more stylish to wear than his crumpled khaki chinos and faded short-sleeved checked shirt. But she’d find out soon enough that tidiness and fashion weren’t high on his priority list.
He cleared his throat in an attempt to take his mind off Sophie Carmichael’s creamy smooth shoulders and the soft curve of her neck. Somehow the inappropriateness of her attire didn’t seem so important any more.
‘We’ll go down to my consulting room. It’s the second door on the right,’ Will said in a voice he hardly recognised.
She followed him down to his room and he stepped back to let her in first. Glancing around the cluttered office, he wondered if the hint of a frown on her face was due to disapproval. She was probably used to working in much more luxurious surroundings and he hoped she wouldn’t be put off.
‘Please, sit down.’
She sat in one of the patient chairs, legs crossed, hands resting in her lap, and he wondered what she was thinking. He’d done his best to prepare her.
The couple of times he’d talked to her on the phone he’d been totally honest with her, revealing Prevely Springs was an underprivileged area. But he’d told her the work was challenging and potentially rewarding. To her credit, she’d still seemed keen. Her agreement to commit to even a few weeks with him had rekindled a light at the end of what had recently become a very long, dark tunnel.
He didn’t want her to change her mind.
‘I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. Your CV was impressive, your references excellent.’ He sent her what he hoped was an encouraging smile.
‘Thanks,’ she said.
Her credentials were almost too good to be true. But the phone conversation he’d had with her two days ago had allayed his concerns that the inevitable culture shock would be an obstacle for her.
She cleared her throat and Will wondered if the colour in her previously pale cheeks was a reaction to his praise.
‘I … er …’ She looked away as if composing her thoughts. Was she having second thoughts?
He knew she had a privileged background. She’d been educated at one of the most expensive ladies’ colleges and graduated from medical school with top marks. He suspected her life choices had been easy and uncomplicated. He had wondered at her motivation in wanting to work in a practice so different to what she was used to.
She came from a medical family. Her father was a well-known and highly regarded GP in Sydney and Sophie had worked in his practice for the past two years. It had surprised Will that Dr Ross Carmichael had telephoned him a week ago and, in a roundabout way, had seemed to be checking his credentials. Will, in fact, had been annoyed at some of his questions and the cross-examination had struck him as being a little beyond normal protective paternal behaviour. Sophie seemed like someone who could look after herself quite capably.