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‘That figures.’ Jack tilted his head, listening.
‘When I stepped inside the shearing shed I was thrown with the hive of activity. I’m sure I must have stood there gaping, wondering where to go or whom I should speak to. Then one of the men bellowed, “Ducks on the pond!” and suddenly there was this deathly kind of silence.’
Jack’s laughter rippled.
Darcie pressed a finger to her lips, covering an upside-down smile. ‘You know what it means, of course?’
‘Yep.’ He shot her a wry half-grin. ‘It’s simply shorthand for, “Mind your language, there’s a lady present.”’
‘I had to ask Maggie when I got back to the hospital,’ Darcie confessed. ‘But the men were very kind to me and, fortunately, the emergency was only a case of a rather deep wound that needed suturing. I stayed for morning tea in the shed. I think I managed OK,’ she added modestly.
‘From the sound of it, I’d say you managed brilliantly.’ In the moonlight, Jack’s gaze softened over her. She was gutsy and no slouch as a doctor. He already had proof of that. He wondered what her story was. And why she’d felt the need to practise her skills so far from her roots.
Leaning back in his chair, he clasped his hands behind his head. ‘I’ll cover the weekend. I want you to have a break.’
‘Oh.’ Darcie looked uncertain. ‘Shouldn’t I hand over officially?’
‘We can do that officially on Monday. Meanwhile, I’ll get a feel for things in general, talk to a few faces.’
‘I won’t know what to do with myself...’ The words were out before she could stop them.
‘Have some fun,’ Jack suggested. ‘See your friends.’
He made it sound so simple—so normal. And it would look pathetic if she hung around the house for the entire weekend. Her brain quickly sorted through the possibilities. She supposed she did have a couple of friends she could visit—Louise and Max Alderton. They lived on a property, Willow Bend, only ten miles out. Louise was on the hospital board and somehow had sensed Darcie’s need for a no-strings kind of friendship.
She could give Lou a call now. She’d still be up. See if it was OK to visit. Maybe they could go for a ride... ‘OK. I’ll do that. Thanks.’
* * *
Next morning, Darcie couldn’t believe she’d slept in. If you called seven-thirty sleeping in, she thought wryly, sitting up to look out at the new day. The sun had risen, the temperature climbing already. Blocking a yawn, she stretched and threw herself out of bed. She had a holiday.
And she’d better remember there was a man in the house. Slipping into her short dressing gown, she sprinted along the hallway to the bathroom.
As she dressed, Darcie sensed something different about the place. A feeling of the house coming alive. And there was a delicious smell of grilling bacon coming from the kitchen.
And that could mean only one thing. Jack was up and around and amazingly he must be cooking breakfast. She hoped he’d made enough for two because she intended joining him.
As she made her way along the hallway to the kitchen, her newly found confidence began faltering. Perhaps she was being presumptuous. She didn’t expect Jack to feed her. She really didn’t.
But already her preconceived ideas about him had begun falling like skittles. He wasn’t strutty—just competent. And from what she’d observed, he seemed straightforward and she liked that. If he’d only made breakfast for one, then he’d tell her so.
She paused at the kitchen door, ran her tongue around the seam of her lips and said, ‘You’re up early.’
Busy at the cooker top, Jack turned his head and gave her a casual ‘Morning. How do you like your eggs?’
‘Um...’ Darcie’s mouth opened and closed. ‘Scrambled, I think.’ She joined him at the stove. He was turning sausages and the bacon was set aside in the warming oven.
‘Me too.’ He gave her a quick smile. ‘Will you do that while I watch these guys?’
‘Yes, sure.’ She looked around and saw a pile of groceries had been unloaded onto the benchtop. ‘Have you been to the supermarket already?’
‘I was awake early,’ he said. ‘Thought I’d do a quick swoop. I borrowed your car. I hope that’s all right?’
‘Of course.’ Darcie searched for a bowl and began cracking the eggs. ‘You must let Lauren and me pay for our share of the groceries.’
‘We can talk about that later,’ Jack dismissed. ‘Tomatoes for you?’
‘Yes, please.’ Darcie’s mouth began to water. All this home cooking was beginning to heighten her taste buds. ‘And I’ll make some toast. Did you get bread?’
‘I did. The baker had his front door open a crack. I gave him a shout, introduced myself and he obligingly sold me a couple of loaves.’
‘That’ll be Jai.’ Darcie found the wholemeal loaf and hacked off a couple of slices. ‘He and his wife, Nikki, relocated from Thailand. He makes gorgeous bread.’
Jack piled the cooked sausages onto a plate. ‘Should we keep some of this food for Lauren?’
‘Uh-uh. She’ll sleep for ages. And she’s vegetarian anyway.’
‘Oh—OK. Good for her,’ Jack said, though he sounded doubtful. ‘We won’t have continuous tofu to look forward to, will we?’
Darcie chuckled. ‘Tofu is the new meat. But she’s more a risotto person. Although she does a great grilled halloumi and courgette salad.’
‘You mean zucchini? Well, that sounds all right, as long as there’s a nice T-bone steak to go with it,’ he said with wry humour. ‘This is about ready. Should we tuck in?’
‘I’ll get the plates.’
‘I hope it’s up to scratch,’ he said.
‘Oh, it will be.’ Darcie was adamant. ‘You seem like an amazingly good cook.’
‘I was reared on a cattle property,’ Jack said, as they settled over their meal. ‘We all had to learn to throw a meal together, especially at mustering time. If you were given kitchen duties, you had to have something ready to feed the troops or risk getting a kick up the backside. Sorry...’ His mouth pulled down. ‘That sounded a bit crass.’
‘Not at all.’ Darcie dismissed his apology. ‘So, are there a lot of you in the family?’
‘I’m the eldest of five. Two brothers, two sisters. I recall some pretty rowdy mealtimes.’
And he made it sound so warm and wonderful. Darcie felt the weight of her own solitary childhood sit heavily on her shoulders. Meals on your own didn’t have much going for them. But that was her old life. She shook her head as if to clear the debris and firmly closed the lid on that particular Pandora’s box. She drummed up a quick smile. ‘So, happy childhood, then?’
‘Mmm.’ Jack hadn’t missed the subtlety of her mood change or her quickly shuttered look. But he didn’t want to be stepping on any of her private landmines. One thing he did know, he’d shut up about his happy childhood.
‘So, what are your plans for today?’ He’d already noticed her boots, jeans and soft white shirt.
‘I’m going riding.’ She filled him in about the Aldertons and Willow Bend. ‘You’ll probably meet Lou sooner rather than later. She’s on the hospital board and a great innovator.’
‘Excellent. As the sole MOs for the entire district, we need all the help we can get.’
They batted light conversation around for the rest of the meal.
‘You’ll find a set of keys for your use at the nurses’ station,’ Darcie said, as they finished breakfast and began clearing the table. ‘Including those for your vehicle.’
‘Thanks.’ He bent and began stacking the dishwasher.
Darcie blinked a bit. Heavens, he really was house-trained. ‘Natalie Britten will be the RN on duty and with a bit of luck a couple of our ancillary staff should turn up as well. There’s a list of numbers to call if there are any staffing problems.’
‘You like all your ducks in a row, don’t you?’
Darcie’s chin came up. ‘We’re running a hospital,’ she countered. ‘We have to make some effort for things to be orderly.’
‘That wasn’t my first impression.’ He smiled then, a little half-smile that seemed to flicker on one side of his lips before settling into place.
‘A tiny glitch.’ Darcie shrugged away his comment. ‘I think you enjoyed surprising us.’
‘Perhaps I did.’ He considered her for a long moment. ‘Will you be home tonight?’ Oh, good grief! He squirmed inwardly. He’d sounded like her father!
Darcie looked up warily. Was he enquiring whether she had a boyfriend who might be wanting to keep her out all night? Well, let him wonder about that. ‘Yes, I’ll be home. But I may be late.’
Jack closed the door on the dishwasher and stood against it. ‘Have a good day, then.’
‘I shall.’ She hovered for a moment, pushing her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. ‘Thanks for this, Jack. The day off, I mean.’
He shrugged. ‘You’re probably owed a zillion.’
‘If there’s an emergency...’
He sent her a dry look. ‘If I need you, I’ll call you. Now scoot.’ He flicked his fingers in a shooing motion. ‘Before I reassign you.’
She scooted.
Jack wandered out onto the veranda, the better to take in the vibe of his new surroundings. Leaning on the timber railings, he looked down at the wildly flowering red bottlebrush. The hardiest of the natives, it simply produced more and more blossoms, regardless of the vagaries of the seasons.
Raising his gaze, he looked out towards the horizon. There was a ribbon of smoke-laden cloud along the ridge tops. So far it obviously wasn’t a cause for concern. He hoped it stayed that way...
The clip of Darcie’s footsteps along the veranda interrupted his train of thought. He swung round, a muscle tightening in his jaw, an instinct purely male sharpening every one of his senses. She’d gathered up her hair and tied it into a ponytail and she’d outlined her mouth with a sexy red lipstick.
His heart did a U-turn. His male antennae switched to high alert. Hell. This was right out of left field.
He fancied her.
Darcie stopped beside him, dangling her Akubra hat loosely between her fingers. ‘Taking in the scenery?’ Her quick smile sparkled white against the red lipstick.
‘Just getting acquainted with the possibilities.’ And wasn’t that the truth.
‘Good,’ she said lightly, and proceeded down the steps. At the bottom she turned and looked back. ‘Don’t wait up.’
Cheeky monkey. Jack dipped his head to hide a burgeoning grin and countered, ‘Don’t fall off.’
Then, with something like wistfulness in his gaze, he watched as she reversed out of the driveway and took off.
His hands tightened their grip on the railings, some part of him wanting to rush after her, flag her down.
And spend the entire day with her.
CHAPTER FOUR
DARCIE HALF WOKE to the sound of knocking on her bedroom door. For a few seconds she struggled to open her eyes, calling groggily, ‘Who is it?’
‘It’s Jack. Can you come to the door, please? We have an emergency.’
Jack? Jack...? Darcie closed her eyes again.
Hell, what was she doing? Jack glanced at his watch. He rapped on the door again. ‘Wake up, Darcie! I need to speak to you!’
Jack! Oh, good grief! Darcie sat bolt upright as reality struck. Throwing herself out of bed, she padded over to the door. ‘What time is it?’ She blinked up at him.
‘Five o’clock—’ He stopped abruptly. She was pulling on a gown over a short ruby-red nightie, her breasts moving gently beneath the silk. Hell. His breath jagged in his throat. He stepped back and blinked. ‘Uh—we have an emergency out where some kind of film is being shot. Do you know about it?’
‘Not really. Lauren mentioned it. What’s happened?’
‘Apparently two of the actors have fallen into a disused well. The message the ambulance got was pretty garbled. But they’ve asked for medical backup. I’m sorry to disrupt your sleep-in but I think this needs both of us.’
‘OK...’ Darcie pushed the heavy fall of hair back from her cheek. ‘Give me a few minutes.’
‘I’ll meet you out front. Don’t mess about.’
Darcie made a face at the closing door. She pulled on jeans and T-shirt and pushing her feet into sturdy trainers she sprinted to the bathroom.
* * *
Armed with a couple of trauma kits from the hospital, they travelled in Jack’s Land Rover. ‘I’ve spoken to Mal Duffy, the police sergeant,’ Jack said. ‘He’s given me directions to the site. It’s about forty Ks.’
‘So, apart from the ambulance, who’s in on this jaunt?’
‘The state emergency service.’
Darcie nodded. She was well acquainted with the SES and their dedicated volunteers. ‘Mal heads up the local SES. Their vehicle with the rescue gear is kept at the police station but he’ll have to try to get a team together. At this early hour on a Sunday, it could be difficult.’
Jack raised an eyebrow, seeming impressed with her local knowledge. ‘In that case, we’ll just have to wing it until they get there.’
‘Why on earth would they be filming so early?’ she wondered aloud.
‘Maybe they wanted to catch a special effect with the light.’
She glanced at him sharply. ‘You know something about making films, then?’
‘Oh, yeah.’ He gave a hard, discordant laugh. ‘My ex is an actress.’
For a moment his words formed an uncomfortable silence between them. Darcie glanced at his profile but it told her nothing. Was he sad or mad or both? ‘Ex-wife?’
‘No.’ He paused infinitesimally. ‘We didn’t get that far. We’d been together for three years. But our jobs took us in different directions. In the end, the relationship proved unworkable.’
Of course, it hadn’t helped that when he’d got to England, where Zoe had been filming, she’d found someone else. He swallowed the residue of bitterness. His ego had taken a hard kick, but life moved on. And thank heaven for that.
‘I guess relationships are tricky at the best of times,’ Darcie responded quietly. ‘Do you have any idea what size this well might be?’ She changed conversation lines tactfully.
‘Going by my acquaintance with wells, I’d guess six by six in the old measurements.’
‘So—the size of a small room,’ she said consideringly.
Jack took his eyes off the road for a second to look at her. ‘Any problems with confined spaces?’
‘I’ve done a little caving...’ Darcie recognised the flutter of uncertainty in her stomach. ‘I don’t know how that equates with going down into a well.’
‘Only one way to find out,’ Jack said. ‘It’ll be dark inside and there’ll probably be rubble at the bottom. And I mean anything from rocks to old furniture. Usually, when a well is closed, some effort is extended to part fill the hole to make it less of a hazard. We’ll need to look out for rats as well.’
‘Rats?’ Darcie suppressed a shudder. ‘I hope they’re dead ones and long gone.’ A frown touched her forehead. ‘It’s daylight pretty early these days—how come they wouldn’t have known the well was there?’
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