“Hi, Abby, I’m Kell.”

A very deep, very masculine voice greeted her, and with her sun-dazed eyes making focusing impossible for a moment or two Abby’s imagination involuntarily sprang into action, images of a cool-suited sophisticate springing to mind. Perhaps there was another young doctor Ross Bodey had forgotten to tell her about!

“It’s good to have you join us.”

As the voice’s hand gripped hers, Abby couldn’t fail to be impressed by the strength of its grip, and a smile played on the edge of her lips as his image came into focus. Maybe the Outback might have some advantages after all!

Dear Reader,

With most of my books, I work out the story first with just a vague blueprint of the characters in my mind’s eye. But, with The Bush Doctor’s Challenge it was completely the other way around: Kell popped into my head one Sunday night and demanded I write a story around him. Not only that, he point-blank refused to allow me to tone him down or squeeze him into the mold of what I would normally define as a hero. Kell, with his take-it-or-leave-it attitude, assured me he was sexy enough to carry it all off, assured me that Abby would promptly fall head over heels in love with him and there was absolutely no need to change a single thing about him; he wouldn’t even let me cut his hair!

Kell, it would seem was right to stand firm because, as soon as I hit the keyboard, I promptly fell in love, and now I wouldn’t change a single thing about him.

I hope you fall in love a little, too.

Happy reading,

Carol Marinelli

The Bush Doctor’s Challenge

Carol Marinelli

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CONTENTS

Cover

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

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

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

‘WHERE’S the airport?’ Shouting her question over noise from the plane’s engine, Abby was slightly taken back by the pilot’s reaction when he started to chuckle. It hadn’t been her intention to crack a joke!

‘Show me a flat piece of land and I’ll land this little lady!’ Turning, Bruce grinned widely, showing rather too many gaps in his smile, and Abby forced a rather brittle one back, wishing he would turn his attention to the windscreen or whatever it was called on a plane and get on with flying the thing.

Her apparent aloofness for once had nothing to do with Abby’s rather formal nature, for now it was borne of pure fear! The tiny plane that had met her on the tarmac of Adelaide airport seemed woefully inadequate for this long journey, and as they zipped through the late afternoon sky, as Abby struggled to concentrate on the mountain of paperwork in front of her, for the first time in ages there were only two questions buzzing through Abby’s overactive mind. How the hell did this thing stay in the sky? And, perhaps more pointedly, how would anyone ever find them if it didn’t?

‘There’s a flight strip near the clinic, we should be there in another fifteen minutes or so, give or take a few.’

‘Thanks.’

Bruce’s time frame was hardly rigid but, as Abby was fast learning, she might just as well have tossed her watch into the quarantine buckets when she’d left Sydney. The same laid-back nature had been present in the ground staff who had greeted her when she’d landed tense and rushed at Adelaide, sure she was late for her connection. And when she’d finally located Bruce, standing by his plane, sipping on a cup of tea, he had assured Abby she had ‘no worries’. Bruce, it would seem, would have been happy to wait all day for her if he had had to.

What have I taken on?

A third question was making itself heard as Abby gave up on the paperwork she was attempting to read and leant back in her seat, gazing at the red landscape beneath her. Mile upon endless mile stared back at her, like the coloured sands in the bottle in her small city kitchen back home. The rings of time indelibly etched on the landscape gaped beneath her, leaving Abby feeling as insignificant and as meaningless as the speck in the sky she surely was.

Mind you, it wasn’t as if she’d had a choice but to take it on, Abby mused. Reece Davies, Director of Emergency, long-time colleague and supposed friend, had made his feelings on the subject pretty clear.

‘There was nothing you could have done, Abby.’

How many times had he told her that? How many times had he pulled her into his office when Abby had ordered a multitude of tests on a patient for the most simple of complaints?

‘Try telling that to the rest of the staff.’

‘There’s no need to tell them,’ Reece had insisted. ‘No one in this department thinks what happened that night was your fault.’

If only she could believe him, if only she could believe that the silence that descended every time Abby approached a clique of nurses had more to do with her seniority and less to do with David’s death.

David.

A vague attempt at a smile inched across her lips as she tried to imagine David’s take on all this. What David would say if he could see his Abby, the eternal city girl, on her way to three months in the middle of nowhere. But the start of a smile vanished as, once again, cruel realisation hit.

David was dead.

‘So we’re ordering abdominal ultrasounds on each and every abdominal pain now?’ Reece’s biting sarcasm as he’d audited her patient cards had hurt, but Abby had stood her ground, arguing it was surely far safer to err on the side of caution. To be sure, beyond any doubt, that her diagnosis was spot on.

But Reece had begged to differ.

‘You need to get your confidence back, Abby,’ he’d insisted. ‘You need to regain some perspective. No one would have guessed Dave had a drug problem, no one.’

‘Perhaps not, but if he hadn’t been a friend, hadn’t been a colleague, if David had just been a stranger wheeled through the doors, I’d have treated him differently.’

Reece had shaken his head, even offered his sympathies again for the terrible circumstances of that fateful night, but his stance had remained unchanged—if Abby wanted the upcoming consultant position in Emergency, then some grass roots medicine was the order of the day and Reece knew just the guy to teach her. And while she was at it, hell, why not go the whole hog and try making a couple of friends along the way?

‘Back to grass roots—but, what grass?’ Abby muttered to herself.

‘Sorry, love? I didn’t catch what you said.’ Bruce turned again, his open face ready to join in the first conversation Abby had initiated, and Abby’s blue eyes widened in angst, wishing Bruce would at least look as if he was controlling the plane!

‘Nothing,’ Abby shouted over the noise of the engine, embarrassed at being caught talking to herself. ‘I was just saying that the land looks very dry.’

‘Does it?’ Bruce peered out of the side window for what seemed an inordinate length of time as Abby forcibly resisted the urge to take over the controls of the plane herself. ‘No more than normal, love.’

Picking up her papers, Abby gave herself a mental shake. OK, so she was effectively out of action for three months, but you didn’t have to be on the front line to fight a war. If her plans for the department were going to take shape then there was a pile of research to get through, people to be contacted, plans to be made. Her time in Tennengarrah wasn’t going to be a total write-off.

She could still keep her promise to David…

As the very occasional buildings started to multiply, Bruce finally started to look at least a little like he was concentrating and Abby braced herself for a rather bumpy descent.

It never came. The only shudder she felt was when the plane touched down and a relieved escape of air came out of Abby’s tense lips as they hurtled along the small landing strip.

‘How was that, Doc?’

‘Excellent!’ Abby stood up, her first genuine smile of the day parting her full lips. Stretching her long legs, she plucked at some imaginary fluff on her very crisp, very white cotton shorts then ran a slightly anxious hand through her shock of long dark hair, wishing Bruce would stop grinning at her so she could touch up her lipstick.

‘Here’s Kell to meet you.’

‘Kell?’ Abby frowned as she hovered by the door. ‘I thought Ross Bodey was supposed to be here.’

‘Oh, sorry, I should have told you. Ross is on a call-out. I’ll head off and pick him up soon, once I’ve had a cuppa.’ Bruce didn’t look sorry, not even remotely, and, picking up a large stainless-steel Thermos flask, he opened the exit door and jumped out easily before gallantly offering his hand as Abby made a rather more tentative descent to the dry soil beneath her. The low glare of the sun hitting her face on forced Abby’s hand straight up to shield her eyes.

‘Hi, Abby, I’m Kell.’ A very deep, very masculine voice greeted her and with her sun-dazed eyes making focussing impossible for a moment or two, Abby’s imagination involuntarily sprang into action, images of a cool, suited sophisticate springing to mind. Perhaps there was another young doctor Ross Bodey had forgotten to tell her about! ‘It’s good to have you joining us.’ As the voice’s hand gripped hers Abby couldn’t fail to be impressed by the strength of its grip and a smile played on the edge of her lips as his image came into focus. Maybe the outback might have some advantages after all!

Wrong.

Never had a fantasy been so quickly dashed. Standing before her, smiling easily, was Mother Nature’s original version of the Neanderthal man. A hulking brute of a male, well over six feet, was grinning down at her, dark shaggy black hair that needed a good cut hanging too far down his long thick neck, and dark eyes thickly rimmed with even darker lashes were smiling quizzically at her.

He wasn’t wearing a loincloth exactly but the faded denim shorts he wore were a pretty good attempt, considering that was all he was wearing!

Even though Abby was wearing only white linen shorts and a crisp white blouse, coupled with some beige loafers, suddenly she felt terribly overdressed. ‘Pleased to meet you,’ Abby murmured, her eyes involuntarily travelling the long length of his impossibly tanned body, taking in the dark-haired legs and the chest hair, then blushing as she realised she’d been caught staring.

‘Shelly wanted to come and meet you, but I told her to stay put, she’s not feeling the best.’

‘Is that right?’ Pouring out a cup of tea from his well-loved Thermos then lighting up a cigarette, Bruce leant against the plane, obviously settling in for a chat. ‘What’s the problem?’

Abby fidgeted uncomfortably, anxious to get to the homestead, desperate to have a long cool shower as opposed to standing in forty degrees of heat for a cosy little chat.

‘She’s acting a bit strange.’ Kell shrugged. ‘So maybe you should hurry up your smoko and go and get Ross.’

Abby glanced over to Bruce, doubting anything short of a nuclear missile would hurry him up, but as Kell carried on chatting in his laid-back voice she did a double-take.

‘If the baby is coming, Ross will want to be there.’

‘She’s in labour?’ Abby gasped, but Kell just gave a vague shrug as Bruce noisily supped at his tea.

‘Well, Shelly insists she isn’t, but if you ask me she isn’t far off. She’s been cleaning like a woman possessed this morning, and now she’s pacing up and down like a tractor turning the soil.’

‘And from that you assume she’s in labour?’ There was a slightly sarcastic edge to Abby’s voice, which she quickly fought to correct. After all, it wasn’t Kell’s fault he didn’t know what he was talking about!

‘I’m just saying I’d be happier if Ross was here, and that as much as Shelly refuses to admit it, I think she’d be happier, too,’ Kell added, with all the authority of a man who’d no doubt single-handedly delivered a zillion calves! ‘She’s supposed to be flown to Adelaide in the morning.’

‘When’s she due?’ Bruce asked, slurping his drink in such a disgusting fashion Abby felt like putting her hands up to her ears.

‘Three weeks tomorrow, but they’ll take her to Adelaide in case the baby comes early.’

‘Do all pregnant women go to Adelaide?’ Abby asked, curiosity getting the better of her. Though she only half listened to the answer, sure these two bush buddies wouldn’t have a clue about maternity arrangements.

‘Just the complicated ones.’ Kell gave a knowing nod and Bruce scratched his head.

‘It’s upside down, isn’t it?’

‘Breech,’ Abby said, trying to keep the note of superiority out of her voice. ‘She probably won’t need a Caesarean section, but it’s better to be on the safe side. Breech deliveries can be complicated.’

‘Is that right? Rightio, then.’ Taking his cue, Bruce threw the dregs of his drink onto the ground and took another moment or two to replace his lid and cup. ‘I’d better step on it. Will you be all right? I mean, if Shelly really is about to have the little tacker, do you want me to give anyone a call?’

‘Good idea,’ Abby said approvingly, then snapped her mouth closed as Kell overrode her.

‘Oh, we’ll be right.’ Kell shrugged again. ‘But more to the point, Shelly will kill me if I go summoning the troops. I’ll catch you later, then, Bruce.’ As Kell turned to go Abby stood there bemused for a moment before calling him. ‘What about my luggage?’

‘Bruce will bring it in later when he drops Ross back. I’ve only got the bike.’ Gesturing to a massive brute of a motorcycle parked in the middle of nowhere, he didn’t seem to notice or, more pointedly, chose to ignore Abby’s gasp of horror.

‘But my computer…’ Her voice trailed off as Kell gave her a curious look.

‘It will be fine. Bruce will only be gone an hour or so. No one’s going to take it.’

Maybe not, but if Bruce went and fell asleep at the controls, which Abby reasoned wouldn’t exactly be far off from where he was now, not only would all her drug rehab research go up the shoot, she’d be stuck in this God-forsaken place without the internet, and heaven forbid, the chance to email every last one of her family to tell them about the worst career move in history.

‘I’d like my computer, please.’ Standing her ground, Abby watched as Kell gave her another quizzical look, combined with another brief shrug.

‘Whatever you say. Hey, Bruce!’

Ambling his way over, Abby watched as the two men exchanged a few words, no doubt moaning about the little princess who needed all her gadgets. Well, let them moan, Abby thought fiercely, she needed her computer, it wasn’t exactly a big thing to ask!

‘Here you go.’ Handing her the black bag, Abby mumbled her thanks, her eyes travelling behind him to the large white building.

‘The clinic’s bigger than I thought.’

That was the understatement of the millennium. For weeks now Abby had been having visions of a tiny tin shack, with a rickety sign bearing a red cross on the outside. Maybe it was the word ‘clinic’ that had caused her misconception, conjuring up images of a halfway house, a holding bay until real help arrived, but the very white, very large building she was looking at now looked suspiciously like a hospital.

Kell nodded as Abby carried on staring. ‘It’s getting there. Half of it is still under construction, but it’s coming along. I’d take you round for a quick tour, but Ross asked me to keep an eye on Shelly. I can take you in, though. Clara’s on duty, she’ll be only too happy to show you around.’

‘That’s fine,’ Abby said quickly, suddenly overcome with nerves at the prospect of meeting everyone. ‘I’ll wait for the doctor.’ Her words came out horribly wrong, superior and condescending, but thankfully Kell didn’t respond, just climbed on the bike. It wasn’t as if he’d be up on the intricacies of hospital hierarchy to be offended by her words, Abby consoled herself, making a mental note to be a bit more diplomatic.

‘Do you want me to hold your computer for you?’ Kell volunteered as Abby eyed the bike suspiciously and lifted one very wary leg. ‘Would that make things easier?’

‘Thanks.’ He slipped the carry strap over his shoulder and waited patiently, a slight grin on his lips as Abby struggled to mount, her cheeks still burning from the mess she had made of his polite offer to introduce her. But it wasn’t only embarrassment and the thought of climbing on the brute of a thing that was giving Abby palpitations, it was the realisation that she had no hope of getting on, straddling the thing and riding the couple of kilometres or so to the homestead without touching Kell. Or more pointedly, without touching the vast expanse of naked skin that she simply couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away from.

She wanted to ask him for a helmet, to point out the dangers of riding a bike without one. How dammed irresponsible they were being and how awful it would look in her obituary if an emergency doctor was killed riding a bike without one.

But what would be the point?

All that would achieve would be to make her look even more neurotic. Still, if this was how they got about here, she was going to make damned sure she bought one for herself, order one from the internet if she had to.

At least she had her computer.

‘Whoops.’ Midway through starting the engine, he stopped. Climbing off, Kell opened the back box Abby was leaning on and took out two of the offending objects. ‘Better to be safe. Ross would never forgive me if I killed the new doctor on her first day here.’

The annoying thing was, now that she’d got what she’d only seconds ago wanted, Abby had no idea what to do with the blessed thing. Oh, she could get it on, and hopefully it was the right way around, but the straps on Kell’s helmet had clipped together easily, whereas hers…

‘Here.’ He was standing next to her, clipping together the connection and tightening the straps under her chin. As unwashed and unkempt as he looked, this close up Abby realised it just wasn’t the case as she caught the faint scent of his soap mingling with a strong masculine deodorant that most definitely did the job. As he lifted his arms and fitted her helmet, pulling the straps so taut under her chin Abby was sure she might choke, the worst part of it all was that while she suffered this brief indignation there was no place else to look than at his very flat, very brown stomach.

OK, he was sexy, Abby admitted reluctantly, in a sort of overgrown, salt-of-the-earth way.

Very sexy, she conceded, eyes level with his epicentre. Even his belly button was sexy, which up to this point Abby had been sure was an impossible feat. Belly buttons were just that—belly buttons. But Kell’s, well, the hair around it circled gently, and Abby found herself momentarily mesmerised by the strange beauty of such a normally nondescript object.

‘Third time lucky.’ Kell grinned, climbing nimbly in front of her and shouting over his shoulder as the bike sprang into life between her thighs. ‘Let’s go.’

Abby had never been on a motorbike in her life. In fact, she’d barely graduated to getting the training wheels taken off her push bike before books had beckoned, or a drop of pond water placed under her father’s antiquated microscope had held more excitement than riding around the back garden in circles. And now here she was in the middle of nowhere, roaring along a dusty red road clinging on for dear life to a man she’d only just met.

It was terrifying, exhilarating and strangely…Abby’s mind clicked over, struggling against the whipping hair around her face to find the word she was looking for.

Sexy.

There it was again.

Thousands of dollars’ worth of chrome catapulting them along the rough, unsealed road, and it would be a lie by omission not to recognise the added thrill of Kell’s snaky hips beneath her hands, her fingers coiling through the loops on his shorts, and unless she wanted to fall off the palms of her hand had nowhere else to go other than resting on his warm, bronzed skin. Abby kept her body well back, though, leaning against the back box, terrified she might be catapulted forward and forced to touch more of him.

It was over too soon, and vague memories of the waltzers at the fairground surfaced as Abby took Kell’s hand and attempted to dismount with at least a shred of dignity. Her legs felt as if they didn’t quite know what to do and the ground still seemed to be moving.

‘Sorry.’ Kell grinned. ‘I didn’t realise it was your first time, you should have told me.’

‘Why?’ Abby shrugged. ‘Would you have treated me more gently?’

Ouch! The sexual connotation had never been intended, and as Kell grinned ever wider Abby followed him up the steps of a massive house, wondering where her attempt at flirting had blown in from.

Yes, he was sexy, yes, he was a fine specimen of a man and all that, but a farm labourer with a thing about bikes certainly wasn’t on Abby’s agenda.

She was here to work.

Three months of grass roots medicine and she was out of here, and if Bruce’s plane collapsed, no matter, she’d walk if she had to.

‘Abby!’ A very pregnant, very pretty, red-headed woman came out of a fly door and stood at the top of the steps, the massive laundry basket she was carrying in no way covering up the enormous swell of the baby within her. ‘I’m Shelly, we spoke briefly on the telephone. I’m so sorry Ross isn’t here to meet you.’

‘That’s no problem.’ Abby smiled in what she hoped was a friendly fashion. ‘Kell made me very welcome.’

‘Did I?’ Kell asked with a vaguely surprised grin. ‘I wasn’t even trying.’

‘I was being polite,’ Abby muttered, as Kell’s grin widened.

‘Tell you what, come to the watering hole with me tonight and meet the locals, we’ll show you a real Tennengarrah welcome. I’ll even leave the bike at home this time.’

‘I might just give it a miss, thanks.’

Even though his offer had been imparted in his usual laid-back style, Abby couldn’t help but feel a flurry of butterflies as she said no. OK, he wasn’t exactly asking her out on a date, but it was certainly the closest Abby had come in a long time.

A very long time.

‘You should go,’ Shelly pushed happily. ‘If I wasn’t the size of a baby elephant, I’d take you there myself.’ Putting the basket down, Shelly rubbed her back and gave a weary smile. ‘Come inside. We’ll have a drink and then I’ll take you over to where you’ll be staying—it’s that one.’ She pointed over to any one of about three white houses scattered on the perimeter of the property. ‘It’s all ready for you.’

Privately all Abby wanted to do was grab the keys and head off but, not wanting to be appear rude, she smiled appreciatively and followed a rather cumbersome Shelly back up the steps, hesitating slightly as she realised Kell was joining them.

‘Kell,’ Shelly said as he followed them in. ‘You don’t have to babysit me. I’ve got Abby here now, she is a doctor.’

‘I’m not babysitting,’ Kell insisted, but Shelly shook her head.

‘So why have you spent the whole afternoon painting the baby’s nursery when Ross was going to do it at the weekend?’

‘When did Ross ever get a weekend off?’ Kell said, collapsing onto the couch and placing two massive feet onto the coffee-table before him, which had Abby cringing, though Shelly didn’t seem remotely bothered. ‘Anyway, I need the cash.’

For some reason Shelly seemed to find this hilarious and picking up a T-shirt she tossed it in Kell’s vague direction. ‘Well, if you’re staying you can at least put some clothes on.

‘Kell thought I needed a rest,’ Shelly explained to a politely smiling Abby. ‘So he decided to make lunch.’

‘You don’t have to tell everyone,’ Kell grumbled, pulling a very white T-shirt over his head, much to Abby’s relief. Now at least she’d be able to look at him without blushing. ‘Trouble is he ended up wearing a bottle of mayonnaise.’

‘It’s not my fault Ross screws the lids on so tight.’ He cast a brief look to Abby. ‘I don’t usually walk around half-naked. Sorry if I scared you.’ Fortunately, Abby was saved from answering as he turned back to Shelly. ‘Look, if you really don’t want me around I’ll head off, but I think I’ve at least earned a cup of coffee.’

Which, Abby reasoned, at the rate Shelly was moving, would probably give Bruce plenty of time to have Ross safely back home. This man took his duties seriously.

‘Abby, would you like a coffee?’

‘Thanks.’ Abby smiled. ‘If you show me where things are I’ll make it. You look as if you’re a bit busy.’

‘Just a bit,’ Shelly admitted, gesturing to the mountains of laundry adorning every available surface. ‘I’ll feel so much better when all this is done.’

Abby chose to ignore Kell’s upwardly mobile right eyebrow as she fumbled around the kitchen, watching with undisguised bemusement as Shelly proceeded to tear the wrappers off a pile of new baby clothes and bundle them into yet another laundry basket.

‘So how was the journey, Abby?’

‘Long.’

Shelly laughed. ‘Tell me about it. I remember the first time I came here I thought the journey would never end. It’s like another planet, isn’t it?’

Abby nodded, her smile finally genuine as she warmed to the likable Shelly.

‘Hard to believe it’s the same country. Just wait till Ross takes you out and you see some of the homesteads, miles and miles from anywhere. They make Tennengarrah look like a thriving city—at least we’ve got a pub and a few shops, and a hairdresser’s…’

‘Since when?’ Kell asked, perking up a bit and leaning forward.

‘Well, not a hairdresser’s exactly,’ Shelly conceded. ‘But June Hegley’s niece, Anna, is staying for a few months and apparently she trained in Sydney, so she’s going to set up shop at June’s house.’

‘I must remember to make an appointment,’ Kell said, shooting a wink at Abby, who realised with a start she was again staring at him.

That shaggy dark mane that framed his face could certainly do with a cut, but on the other hand it actually suited him, Abby couldn’t quite imagine Kell with the short back and sides which was so much part of the uniform of most of her colleagues.

‘The clinic’s nice,’ Shelly chattered on, happily oblivious to the sudden crackling tension in the room. ‘It’s really come a long way since we’ve been here. I think you’ll be quite pleasantly surprised.’

‘How busy does it get?’

Her question was aimed at Shelly. From their brief chats on the telephone and a couple of longer ones with Ross, Abby had gleaned that Shelly was a nurse who until recently had been working, but Kell, who obviously thought he knew everything about anything, decided to answer for her.

‘All depends. Sometimes you can go a full day without even getting a new patient, but those days are getting few and far between now. With tourism and everything the town’s thriving.’

Sucking in her breath, Abby bit back a smart answer, her eyes pointedly trained on Shelly. ‘So, how long have you been here?’

‘Just over a year. It took me a while to settle in but I think I’m finally getting the hang of it. Matthew, on the other hand, fell in love the first day he was here.’

‘Matthew’s Shelly’s son,’ Kell interrupted needlessly, and Abby didn’t even bother to answer him, again directly addressing Shelly.

‘How old’s Matthew?’

‘Three. He’ll be up soon, he’s just having an afternoon nap, which is great for me as I finally got a parcel today. Mum sent me some baby clothes and a few odds and ends.’ Holding up a box of laundry powder, Shelly grinned. ‘You’d be surprised the things you miss.’

‘They don’t sell laundry powder here?’ Abby asked, aghast, visions of washing her shorts with a rock in the creek gushing into her mind. What on earth had she let herself in for?

‘What’s laundry powder?’

It took a second for Abby to register Kell was joking. Blushing, she took another drink as Shelly started to laugh. ‘It’s not that bad, Abby. I wanted some soap flakes, but the local shop didn’t quite stretch, so it was quicker to get Mum to send some than wait till we do our big shop in town next month. Now, if you two don’t mind, I’ll just go and throw this lot in the washing machine.’

‘Go ahead.’ Kell nodded, flicking on the television with the remote. ‘I’ll go and get the other basket pegged out for you.’

Abby tried, she really did. She tried not to roll her eyes but sitting in the middle of nowhere discussing the merits of soap flakes versus detergent was just so far removed from her normal life she couldn’t help herself.

‘Something wrong?’ Kell asked.

‘Nothing,’ Abby retorted.

‘Shelly’s great,’ Kell enthused. ‘And if the conversation’s not up to your usual standards, bear in mind the poor woman’s about to give birth.’

‘I didn’t say anything,’ Abby protested, annoyed with herself for being caught out, and also irritated with Kell for his uneducated assumptions. Shelly Bodey did not look like a woman about to give birth!

‘You didn’t have to.’

They sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment or two before Abby succumbed, curiosity finally the getting the better of her. ‘Kell, why is she washing new clothes?’

‘You’re supposed to wash them,’ Kell explained patiently, his smile back in place to show her she was forgiven, ‘before the baby wears them. It gets rid of any perfume or harsh detergents.’

To Abby’s utter surprise she found she was actually laughing.

‘What did I say?’

‘Nothing.’ Taking a sip of her coffee, Abby started to laugh again then forced herself to stop. ‘It’s just the last thing I expected to hear from a guy like you.’

‘A guy like me?’ Kell asked as he stood up and picked up the laundry basket. ‘What, do you think I’m too macho to know about washing powders and the like?’

Finally she managed to look at him. It should have been so much easier now he was wearing clothes, but even without visual access to that toned body he was still stunning, and something about the way he was looking at Abby had her stomach doing somersaults. He looked so ridiculously gorgeous, six feet five of oozing masculinity with a laundry basket tucked under his arm and a handful of pegs!

‘You’d better get on.’ Abby smiled. ‘If you want to get your washing dry.’

It was Kell laughing this time. ‘Now, what would a woman like you know about laundry?’

As the fly door slammed Abby let out a long-held breath and sank back into the deep sofa, staring out of the window, her gaze filtering out the so-called town to the view beyond which seemed to stretch on to infinity. Mile after mile of red soil, no bay view, no skyscrapers, no hum of traffic in the distance, just the aching gap of emptiness. Staring moodily out as the sun bobbed lower in the sky, Abby truly wondered how she could possibly survive.

Three months, she consoled herself.

In three short months she’d be handing her washing over at the dry-cleaners without even meriting it a thought.

In three months she’d be a consultant.

CHAPTER TWO

‘KELL!’

Shelly’s voice wasn’t particularly loud, but the note of urgency in it had Abby on her feet in less than a second.

‘Kell!’ Shelly’s voice was louder this time, more desperate. Putting down her mug, Abby cast an anxious look through the window, catching sight of an oblivious Kell, happily pegging out the washing, his mouth full with pink plastic pegs.

Unsure whether to call Kell or investigate herself, Abby tentatively followed the sound of Shelly’s increasingly urgent demands. As she pushed open the laundry door, she swallowed a gasp of shock as Shelly let out a deep guttural groan, two frightened eyes darting up to meet Abby’s as she hunched over the washing machine.

‘I want to push!’

Please, don’t. Abby didn’t say it, but she definitely thought it!

Stay calm. Abby mentally steadied herself making her way over and gently helping a groaning Shelly onto the floor. There’s a clinic two minutes away filled with nurses, equipment… Her mind flashed to her doctor’s bag winging its way across the outback, a doctor’s bag with artery forceps and umbilical clamps and, luxury of luxury, latex gloves. For that split second she could have cheerfully strangled Kell with her bare hands.

‘I’ll get Kell to ring the clinic,’ Abby said assuredly, pushing herself up from the floor, but Shelly’s hand grabbed her arm as she shook her head, her face purple as she started to bear down.

‘It’s coming now!’

‘Then we’d better get on and deliver this baby’ Abby soothed, her voice amazingly calm given her rapid heart rate. ‘We’ll manage just fine.’

Grabbing a handful of folded towels, Abby took a deep steadying breath. She hadn’t delivered a baby for years.

Years!

Even then it had only been a token attempt, with registrars and midwives beside her in a delivery room packed with equipment! Still, she reassured herself, fast labours were normally easy, just a steadying hand to help Mother Nature along. But as she examined Shelly Abby’s heart sank and Shelly’s question reiterated Abby’s findings from her brief assessment.

‘Is the baby still breech?’

‘Yes,’ Abby’s said, in what she prayed was a confident voice, as Shelly let out a moan of terror.

‘I thought it had turned. I said to Ross this morning—’

‘Shelly,’ Abby broke in firmly, ‘the baby’s going to be fine. I just need you to listen carefully to what I’m telling you to do.’ Her eyes shot up to her new patient and she forced a smile. ‘I’m going to shout for Kell. He can get someone over with a delivery pack, so try not to push just yet.’

‘What if I can’t stop myself?’

Abby took a deep steadying breath then looked up at Shelly, her smile every inch the confident emergency doctor she was. ‘Then we’ll deal with it.’

‘Kell!’

It wasn’t exactly a dulcet summons but, given that the television was still blaring and no doubt he was still playing housemaid, Abby wasn’t exactly left with much choice.

‘What’s up?’

He strolled into the laundry and to Abby’s bemusement he didn’t even look remotely fazed by the sight that greeted him.

‘Ring the clinic,’ Abby said through gritted teeth, as the baby’s buttocks descended lower in the birth canal, Shelly’s agonised screams splitting the hot afternoon air like a knife.

He returned moments later, pulling open a large leather bag, and Abby nodded her thanks as he handed her a pair of gloves and started to open a large paper-wrapped pack. ‘Did you ring?’

‘Yep, Clara’s on standby’ Kell said as Abby’s eyes widened in horror.

‘I don’t want Clara to be on standby,’ she hissed as loudly as she could without alarming Shelly. ‘I want her to send a team.’ Hell, why didn’t this Neanderthal just do as she asked? Yes, she was a doctor but this was a complicated delivery. Beads of sweat were on her brow as she struggled to stay calm. Why was Kell still here? Shouldn’t he do the polite thing and go and boil some water or something?

‘I’ve got to push,’ Shelly begged, and as the baby moved further down the birth canal Abby wasn’t sure what terrified her the most—the thought of a breech birth with no back-up or the fact Kell was pulling on a pair of gloves.

‘We are the team, Abby,’ Kell said in low tones, bending down so that only she could hear. ‘This as good as it gets here.’ His voice changed then, coming out lighter and friendly, as he looked up and smiled at Shelly. ‘The little one’s still bottoms up, Shelly, so I’m just going to move you.’

To Abby’s stunned amazement, in one quick motion he scooped Shelly up as easily as if she were a child and deposited her gently on the laundry bench. Then, pulling a basket over, he kicked it upside down and pushed Abby’s shoulders firmly down till she was sitting. As the fog cleared from her shell-shocked brain Abby realised Shelly was actually in the perfect position for a breech delivery.

‘You’re a nurse?’ Abby muttered, as the baby edged ever closer.

‘And a midwife,’ Kell whispered, guiding her hand to take the weight of the buttocks now being delivered. ‘You never said.’

‘You never asked.’

There wasn’t time for a smart reply. Shelly started to groan in earnest now, her frightened screams filling the small laundry. ‘I want Ross!’

‘He’ll be here soon, Shelly.’ Kell’s smile was far more effortless and, Abby realised, far more reassuring than hers.

‘I wanted him to be here!’ Shelly’s voice was rising as another contraction gripped her, and with a grunt that defied her tiny frame she bore down, but seemed to change her mind halfway, her arms flailing in agony, panic overwhelming her. Breech deliveries required a supreme maternal effort combined with concentration and Abby looked up anxiously, worried by Shelly’s lack of focus, knowing she needed her onside here.

‘Shelly, listen to me…’ Abby started, but a warm hand on her shoulder halted her in mid-sentence and she briefly turned her anxious eyes to Kell, who nodded assuredly.

‘She’ll be fine,’ he mouthed, then turned his attention to the restless woman. ‘Shelly, Ross is on his way, and we all know how much you need him right now, but holding back until he gets here isn’t the right thing to do. This little one isn’t waiting for anyone, so you need to do what Abby says and stay with us, OK?’

There was an air of authority in his laid-back voice, an assurity that to this point had been missing from the room, and Shelly responded to it.

‘I’m just scared.’

‘Why?’ Kell asked easily. ‘Abby’s got it all covered. You and the baby are both going to be fine.’

There was a strange pecking order in medicine. The fact Abby was a doctor supposedly overrode Kell, and, given that she had started the delivery, if Kell were to rush in and take over it could, by some, be seen as professional discourtesy. But at that moment Abby would have very happily given up her seat on the upturned basket and willingly handed the reins to a far more experienced midwife. This was not the welcome she had expected, and Abby took a deep, calming breath trying to quell the mounting panic inside her before the next contraction came and they set to work again.

‘All right?’ Kell checked, and Abby felt both embarrassed and strangely pleased that he seemed to sense her trepidation.

‘I hope so,’ Abby mouthed, and then suddenly it was her turn to benefit from his rather dazzling smile.

‘You’ll be fine, too,’ he said quietly as Shelly pushed for all she was worth as Abby and Kell shouted encouragement. With the lower trunk of the baby delivered, Shelly had a welcome break for a moment or two, but there was no time for Abby to relax. She checked a loop of the cord and nodded to Kell, the steady pulsing of the cord reassuring her that the baby wasn’t in distress, but she had the shoulders to deal with next and then the hardest part, the head.

‘OK, let’s go.’ Kell sounded as enthusiastic as he had when he’d started his bike as the next contraction started.

Abby felt a surge of confidence. Surely if Kell wasn’t worried she must be doing OK. One strong hand assisted her, gently pushing Abby’s hand, guiding her to deliver the baby’s shoulder downwards towards the floor. Suddenly Abby felt in control, the textbooks, the deliveries she had observed springing into her mind like a much-watched video. The shoulders were out now and she cast a quick glance up to Kell.

‘Hold steady a moment, Shelly.’ Coming round to Abby, he guided her arm to the infant, so that the baby was effectively straddling Abby’s forearm with its arms and legs. ‘Just let it hang for a moment,’ Kell said gently, and Abby gave a grateful nod, the weight of the baby allowing gravity to help with the delivery of its head. His hand was back on hers now, guiding her middle finger into the infant’s mouth as Abby used her other hand to increase the flexion of the head.

She drew the body of the babe first downward and then forward, the baby over Shelly’s abdomen as the last inches of the birth canal were negotiated, until finally, with a relief that literally overwhelmed Abby, the head was out, the baby was out and safe, taking a huge breath, its little eyes blinking in indignation as it was delivered. Abby placed the slippery bundle on Shelly’s stomach, whose hands moved down to scoop the babe up to her, tears streaming down her face as Kell rubbed the stunned little baby vigorously with a towel.

‘A little girl,’ she gasped. ‘I’ve got a little girl.’

‘A beautiful little girl, too.’ Kell’s words were coming out almost as choked as Shelly’s and to Abby’s amazement she watched as a sparkle of tears flashed in his dark eyes. ‘Look how blonde she is—she’s her father’s daughter all right.’

‘And she’s OK?’

Better than OK. One little girl was pinking up before their very eyes as Kell continued to rub, her dark red lips parted to allow a furious scream to escape.

As Kell dashed off to find a duvet Abby clamped and cut the cord, the placenta delivering with satisfying ease. Wrapping a bundle of towels around the baby and a large bath sheet around a shivering Shelly, she stood for a moment, just revelling in the sheer and utter miracle of birth.

‘Abby.’ Kell was at the door, only his face peering around as he pushed the duvet through the gap. ‘Cover Shelly up, I’ve got a little guy here who’s woken up with a bit of a fright.’

‘Matthew?’ Shelly gasped, tearing her eyes away from her newborn as Abby quickly tucked the duvet around the pair. ‘He must be terrified.’

‘He’ll be fine,’ Abby said assuredly, but Shelly begged to differ.

‘He won’t understand.’ Her eyes met Abby’s. ‘You don’t understand. Matthew’s got Down’s syndrome. Ross and I had planned how we were going to introduce him. I was supposed to be in bed, the baby in a crib, Ross was going to—’

‘Do you want me to help you into the bedroom, get you settled a bit before he sees you?’

Shelly shook her head. ‘He’s awake now, you’d better just tell Kell to bring him in.’

Abby nodded and, doing a quick check to make sure there was nothing that might scare Matthew, she went to open the laundry door.

‘Abby.’ Turning, Abby smiled at Shelly, her hand on the doorhandle. ‘Would you hold her for me? It might make things a bit…’ Her voice trailed off and Abby stood there, looking at the mother cradling the daughter she had just delivered, and suddenly the lump that had been missing in her throat till now was so big it threatened to choke her.

‘I’d be glad to.’

A mother’s love…

Taking the swaddled bundle, Abby stared into the most innocent of all faces. Every fibre in Shelly’s being would be telling her she should be holding her baby, and yet a deep maternal instinct also told her that a little guy needed her now. Needed his mum to hold her arms out to him, to tell him what had taken place while he’d quietly slept.

Carefully holding the baby close, Abby pulled open the laundry door.

Two blue eyes met hers, two blue bewildered little eyes in a sleep-crumpled face.

‘This is Abby, Matty,’ Kell crooned gently. ‘She’s Tennengarrah’s new doctor.’ Wisely Kell didn’t acknowledge the baby Abby was holding, leaving that introduction to Shelly.

‘Matthew.’ Shelly’s arms were outstretched, her tired face managing a bright smile, her voice, her attention, all focussed on her son. ‘Did you get a fright, sweetheart?’

He didn’t say anything, just nodded seriously as Kell carefully passed him to his mother. ‘There’s nothing to be scared of Matthew. Abby and Kell have been looking after Mummy, and look who’s finally here.’

Taking her cue, Abby stepped forward, holding the infant where her big brother could get a proper look, and the lump in her throat swelled like bread in water as Matthew peered into the swaddle of towel.

‘Baby.’ His little face broke into a smile that met each ear and the whole room seemed to relax a notch, the tension seeping out as two inquisitive eyes searched his new sister’s face. ‘My baby!’ Matthew squealed excitedly.

‘That’s right big guy, it’s your baby sister.’ Kell laughed, one eye on Matthew, the other on a wilting Shelly. Scooping Matthew out of a tired Shelly’s arms, he held the little boy closer, allowing him to touch the tiny face. ‘That’s right, don’t touch her eyes, and just give her little cheek a stroke. I’ll bet she can’t wait for you to give her a big cuddle, but do you know what, little guy? First we have to get Mummy into bed, and I’m gonna need a hand. Do you think you can help me?’

Put like that, how could Matthew refuse?

Somehow, in a matter of minutes Kell had them organised. A now over-excited Matthew turned back the sheets on the bed and plumped pillows as Kell guided a very wobbly Shelly to the main bedroom. Abby followed, carrying the newborn as carefully as if she were the crown jewels, staring down into that tiny wide-eyed face, unable to believe the feelings this ten-minute-old baby was unleashing.

Oh, Abby had held babies before, well, sort of. She’d examined more tiny chests than most people had had cooked dinners, probed more little abdomens than she cared to remember, even bounced the odd baby or two on her knee during her time on the children’s ward.

But to hold one so new, so close and for so long was doing the strangest things to her.

To know that unaided by a huge team, she had brought this wanted, precious life into the world suddenly made that medical degree seem a touch more personal.

‘You were great.’ Kell was sitting on the bed and Abby did a double take when she stepped in the bedroom. ‘Shelly’s just in the loo,’ he explained, patting the bed beside him.

‘I only did great thanks to you,’ Abby admitted, not even bothering to look up. The face of the baby held far too much appeal.

But then again…her eyes flicked up and they were met by Kell’s black, coal chips.

‘I was just giving myself a big pat on the back about how well I’d done, but I’m the first to admit that I nearly had a full-scale panic attack when I saw the baby was breech. Heaven only knows what would have happened if you hadn’t been there.’

‘It would have been exactly the same,’ Kell said with the same assurance he had used with Shelly. ‘A couple of minutes of internal panic and it would have all clicked. You know that as well as I do.’

‘I hope so. Were you even a little bit worried?’

‘No, I never worry.’ Abby gave him a disbelieving look but Kell just stood up and rapped on the en suite door. ‘Are you all right, Shelly?’

‘A couple more minutes,’ came the distant reply, and Kell frowned.

‘Don’t you go fainting on me now, Shelly. Two more minutes or I’ll come in and fetch you myself.’ Smiling, he came back from the door. ‘Hey, Matty, why don’t you go and get a toy for the baby to put in her cot?’ As Matthew scampered off, Kell sat back down. ‘I hope she’s all right in there.’

‘This is the man who less than a minute ago told me he never worried.’

Kell laughed, but just as he opened his mouth to speak the bedroom door was flung open and they both turned as a tall blond man burst in.

‘Where’s Shelly?’

It was a strange way to meet your new colleague, strange but definitely not awkward or difficult. As Abby stood up Ross Bodey’s jaw literally dropped, an incredulous look on his face as his eyes locked on the baby Abby held.

‘Who’s this?’ he choked, as Abby stood there, speechless.

‘Are you talking about the gorgeous raven, or the ravishing redhead?’ Kell quipped, but his voice was thick with emotion as the bathroom door opened and a pale-looking Shelly tentatively stepped out.

‘I’m talking about the blonde,’ Ross said slowly, one arm pulling his wife towards him as he shakingly took the baby from Abby.

‘I’m sorry,’ Shelly sobbed, the emotion of the evening finally catching up. ‘I tried to hold on.’

‘There’s absolutely nothing to be sorry for.’ His eyes never left his daughter as he gently led his wife to the bed. ‘This is the best homecoming I’ve ever had.’

‘Wun.’ Matthew was at the door now. Charging in, he placed a battered book in the crib, his face splitting in two as he saw Ross sitting on the bed.

‘Hey, buddy, don’t I get a kiss?’

‘Daddy!’

‘I think we might have outstayed our welcome,’ Kell whispered to Abby. ‘How about you let me buy you that drink now?’

‘How about you show me where I can have a shower?’

They said their goodbyes, an engrossed Ross attempting to apologise for landing Abby in it, but his mind was clearly on the latest addition to his family.

‘Abby will be fine.’ Kell grinned. ‘I’ll bring her luggage over and show her around. Don’t worry about a thing, just enjoy tonight.’

‘No problem there,’ Ross said, then turned to Abby. ‘Look, thank you, I really mean that.’

‘It was a pleasure,’ Abby said warmly. Stepping out into the now dark sky, a billion stars twinkling down, the warm hand of Kell guiding her along the dusty red soil, it hit her, a heady mixture of relief at what had transpired and utter fear at how different the scenario could have been.

‘You’re crying?’ His voice was questioning, concerned, but not for a second mocking.

‘I know.’ Abby sniffed loudly as she fished in her pockets for a handkerchief. ‘It’s never got to me like that—a birth, I mean. It’s always been nice, special.’ The words were buzzing in her head as Abby attempted to articulate the strange emotions that were assailing her. ‘But at the end of the day it’s been a job well done. Tonight it just got to me. Seeing Matthew, he was so cute, bringing the baby his book, and then Ross…’ Another tear splashed down her cheek and Abby wiped it away then gave in as a few more followed. ‘He was so thrilled, so delighted with his new daughter, yet he still managed to make Matthew feel number one.’

As Abby started to walk again, Kell pulled her back. ‘You think that’s a tear-jerker?’ His eyes were searching hers as Abby’s returned his stare. ‘Wait till you hear this—Matthew isn’t Ross’s son.’

He watched as Abby’s lips parted, as the tears started spilling again.

‘They’ve only been married a year, and you know what? He loves that little guy as if he was his own. That’s love for you.’

‘She’s a lucky woman,’ Abby said slowly, but Kell shook his head.

‘They’re all lucky.’ Taking her hand, he led her along the pathway. ‘They found each other.’

‘This is you.’

Pushing open the unlocked door, Kell stood back and let Abby into her new home.

Her luggage lay higgledy-piggledy on the dark wooden floor, no doubt courtesy of Bruce, and Abby stood a moment as Kell flicked on the light.

‘It’s pretty basic. Kitchen.’ He gestured ahead. ‘Lounge.’ Stomping along the hallway, he flicked on another light and Abby was somewhat surprised to find herself standing in a beautifully furnished room. A large wooden fan whirred away overhead bouncing a shadow off the white walls, broken by vast Aboriginal paintings, the native art so much more appropriate in its own setting than the museums Abby was used to seeing it in. The soft-cushioned cane furnishing looked inviting and the huge low table in the middle of the large room would be the perfect spot for her computer.

‘Oh.’

‘What’s wrong?’

‘I left my computer back at Ross and Shelly’s.’

‘Well, I’m not going back to get it,’ Kell said quickly. ‘That’s one little party I’m not breaking up.’

‘Of course not,’ Abby snapped, kicking herself for even mentioning it. ‘I was just saying.’

‘So we’re back where we started?’ Kell turned to her. ‘Arguing about a computer.’

‘Nobody’s arguing,’ Abby said defensively, but the closeness that had overtaken them since the delivery seemed to have gone, and to her surprise she missed it. ‘I was just…’ Her voice trailed off and after a reluctant pause she finally spoke. ‘I was just moaning…’ A smile wobbled on the edge of her lips as Kell waited for her to finish.

‘Again.’

‘Ready to see the rest of your place?’ His smile returned as Abby nodded. ‘Bathroom.’ Flinging open the door, Kell carried on walking as Abby poked her head in briefly. ‘Laundry.’ Opening a cupboard, he gave a wicked smile. ‘Washing powder. And if I’m not mistaken, there’s even an iron. All mod cons here.’

‘Very funny,’ Abby retorted, following a very broad back along a very narrow corridor.

‘Bedroom.’

Suddenly, Kell’s voice sounded thick as if he had a cold or had suddenly developed hay fever, but with a notable absence of flowers and not a sneeze in sight Abby could only assume that the sight of the vast queen-size bed was having a similar effect on Kell as it was on her.

A flimsy mosquito net dusted over the bed, the whirring fan billowing the voile gently against the crisp white sheets, emitting a low throbbing hum in the semi-darkened room, and for an inexplicable moment, never had a bed looked more tempting.

‘I think we’ve earned a drink,’ Kell said gruffly. ‘And if I know Shelly, there’ll be a few in the fridge.’

Eternally grateful he wasn’t suggesting the pub, Abby’s answer was for once positive. ‘Help yourself. I’m going to make my acquaintance with the shower.’

‘Better?’

Rubbing her hair with a large towel, Abby stepped into what was supposed to be her lounge and amazingly didn’t feel like a total stranger. She hadn’t known what to wear, but a pair of too new jeans seemed about right and a black sleeveless T-shirt was surely casual enough.

‘Much.’

‘I made some supper.’ The table had been haphazardly laid, and a slab of cheese surrounded by crackers beckoned her. ‘But we could head down to the pub now if you’re starving, or there are a couple of steaks in the fridge.’

‘This will be fine.’

Better than fine actually. Loading her knife with soft Camembert, Abby scraped it along a cracker before biting in. Never had cheese and crackers tasted so good, and as Kell poured iced water into two glasses Abby rallied at the prospect of more time with him.

‘We’ll have to go over soon,’ Kell added. ‘The locals will never forgive me if we don’t go and fill them in.’

‘What’s with the we?’ Abby questioned, nervous at the prospect of facing everyone, far happier to keep a professional distance. ‘It won’t take both of us to deliver the news.’

‘It took both of us to deliver the baby,’ Kell pointed out. ‘Don’t miss your pats on the back, Abby, it’s one of the perks of the job.’

‘So, are you always so laid back?’ Abby asked, resuming the conversation that had taken place in the warm euphoric glow of the baby’s birth.

‘Yep,’ Kell said simply, before elaborating. ‘The only trouble is that it doesn’t last. Me, I worry after the event. Give me a drama and I cope. Honestly, Abby, I don’t know why, but you can throw anything at me and I’m like a textbook, I just see what needs to be done and do my best to get on with it, I don’t even break a sweat. But afterwards…’ Kell let out a breath. ‘I’ll lie awake tonight imagining every possible thing that could have gone wrong. What if I’d still been waiting for your plane to come in? What if the head hadn’t delivered easily? What if—’

‘I get the picture,’ Abby moaned. ‘Unfortunately it hits me there and then. I’m constantly picturing the worst-case scenario.’

‘It’s just the way you work.’ Kell shrugged. ‘And it probably makes you a great emergency doctor. Hell, if I’m in trouble I want a doctor worried on my behalf.’

‘And I want a nurse who’s calm and efficient.’

‘Hey, maybe we’ll make the perfect team.’ Those dark eyes were smiling and that brittle exterior Abby normally so effortlessly portrayed seemed to be crashing down around her as she smiled back at the man beside her.

‘Maybe we will,’ she said softly. ‘Maybe we will.’

Everything about him screamed contradiction.

Everything about him had Abby entranced.

‘You don’t look like a nurse,’ Abby ventured, plunging her knife back into the cheese, flustered by her own rather personal observation.

‘You mean I don’t look gay?’ Kell laughed at her rather shocked features, but Abby quickly recovered.

‘Actually, add a handlebar moustache to those boots and skimpy shorts and you’d be a wow at the Sydney Mardi Gras!’

‘I was decorating!’ Kell laughed. ‘Anyway, in case you were wondering, no, I’m not gay.’

It had never even entered Abby’s head that he might be. Not for the briefest second. Some men might throw up that question every now and then, and a male midwife, oozing compassion and in tune with a laboring woman, might bring about one of those occasions, but somehow Kell wore it all well. ‘I wasn’t,’ Abby said quickly. ‘You just look more like a—’

‘Labourer,’ Kell suggested, totally unabashed. ‘Hell, you’re a snob, Abby.’

‘No, I’m not,’ Abby replied hotly, and then gave him a worried look. ‘At least I hope I’m not.’

‘Well, I’ll choose to reserve judgement on that. And for your information I am a labourer and a drover, too, and a few other things in between.’

‘A real Jack of all trades?’ Abby said lightly, but her forehead creased slightly. ‘What’s a drover, by the way?’

‘A cowboy to you.’

‘Oh.’

‘Well, almost a cowboy. And while we’re making personal observations about each other, you don’t exactly look like an outback doctor.’

‘I know,’ Abby groaned, then checked herself. It wouldn’t do to voice her misgivings to a local, so instead she assumed what she hoped was a more positive tone. ‘But I’m really excited to be here.’

It didn’t fool him for a second! ‘That’s not what I heard.’ Kell grinned, topping up her glass of iced water then his own. ‘I was under the impression you were only here under sufferance.’

‘You know?’ Abby gulped. ‘But if you know, that means…’

‘It’s OK,’ Kell moved quickly to reassure her. ‘Ross only mentioned the fact you didn’t really want to come to me, no one else knows. Reece Davies is a friend of Ross’s and apparently he was singing your praises when he volunteered you for the job. Ross just told me to treat you a bit gently and make sure that people didn’t give you too much of a hard time until you’d found your feet a bit.’

‘Honestly,’ Abby checked, ‘you’re not put out that I only came because I had to?’

‘That’s the reason most doctors come.’ Kell shrugged. ‘Let’s face it—it’s a pretty weird place to be. Ross had a passion for it, but he’s the exception rather than the rule. The outback’s screaming for doctors…’

‘So you have to take what you can get?’

‘Not at all,’ Kell refuted. ‘Reece wouldn’t have recommended you if he didn’t think you were up to it, and Ross wouldn’t have taken you on just to have another name on the staff roster. The outback’s precarious enough without carrying people. You’re here because you’re wanted, Abby. The only person who’s not happy with the decision is you.’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Abby mumbled. ‘I’ve been practising medicine for nearly eight years now and this afternoon is going down on my list of top ten moments. If there’s a few more of them around then it’s been the right choice. I can see what Reece was saying more clearly now. It’s easy to get caught in all the high-tech stuff, but if this is the buzz grass roots medicine gives, then maybe these next three months won’t be so bad after all.’

‘Maybe not.’

They shared a smile, a tiny smile but it was loaded with hidden meaning. Confused, Abby stood up, and for something to do she grabbed the water jug and headed off to explore her new kitchen, her mind buzzing, every nerve in her body suddenly screaming. A couple of hours in Kell’s company and she was acting like a hormone-ravaged teenager, not a sensible thirty-something doctor.

‘What’s this?’ Abby asked, pulling open the fridge.

‘I would have thought a lady like you would know champagne when she sees it.’

‘I meant, what’s it doing in the fridge?’ Abby asked, refusing to jump.

‘Shelly would have left it there to welcome you. We could always wet the baby’s head?’

It could almost have passed as an innocent question, but there was a look in Kell’s eyes and such a heavy throb in the air that Abby knew her reserve would pop with as much oomph as the champagne cork, and that was one path she definitely wasn’t going to take.

‘We’d better get over to the pub. At this rate we won’t even make last orders.’

‘You’re joking, aren’t you? The news of the baby will have the pub pumping to the wee hours. It could be a long night.’

‘Not for me.’ Abby shook her head. ‘I’ll have a quick orange juice and say hi, and then I’m out of there. I need to be on the ball, and something tells me Ross isn’t going to be around very much over the next few days to ease me in.’

‘Then it’s just as well you’ve got me.’

Another simple statement, but again Abby felt the throb of sexual tension, the path of a conversation littered with possible innuendo, and she almost took a tentative step, almost responded with a loaded answer herself. But she pulled back in an instant, Kell’s easy smile making her wonder if her mind was playing tricks.

‘I’ll just go and get changed. You do whatever women do before they go out.’

‘But where are you going?’ Abby asked as he headed for the front door.

‘I rent the house next door.’ He either ignored or didn’t notice the shocked look on her face, carrying on chatting in his usual easy style. ‘I only use it for when I’m on call and if I’m on a late then early shift, but I guess it kind of makes us neighbours.’

She didn’t answer, Abby truly couldn’t, just stood there dumbfounded as he turned and left; the five minutes it took Kell to wash and change nowhere near enough time to get her head together.

Not only was she going to be working alongside him, he would be living next door to her as well.

Three months.

The words didn’t console Abby this time.

After only three hours in Kell’s company already Abby’s nerves were on fire…

CHAPTER THREE

‘PUMPING’, was a slight exaggeration on Kell’s part, Abby decided, but the pub was certainly lively.

Walking in, Abby braced herself for a few curious stares, but the cheer that went up as they both entered almost floored her.

‘What’s all this for?’ Abby gasped as her back was slapped so vigorously that, had she been choking, her airway would undoubtedly have been cleared in two seconds flat. Jugs of beer were being held up in all directions as Kell guided her through to the bar.

‘You just delivered Tennengarrah’s newest resident, remember?’

Oh, Abby remembered. After all, how could she forget? But never in her wildest dreams had she expected this kind of reception. The births she had witnessed at the hospital had been accompanied with a certain amount of euphoria, a jubilant husband, a few relatives, but the long lonely walk back to the doctors’ mess had meant any emotions had been left in the delivery room.

But here! The whole town seemed to be out, cheering and applauding.

‘Abby, this is Jack Brown,’ Kell introduced. ‘Tennengarrah’s one and only policeman.’

Another smiling face appeared before her. ‘Glad to have you on board, Abby,’ Jack grinned, ‘playing midwife’s not my favourite pastime, you did a great job.’

Another pat on the back, another vote of confidence to make her feel as if she had done something really special. In fact, by the time the obligatory toasts had been made, and her hand shaken by every last person at the bar, Abby found herself starting to agree with them.

It really had been special.

‘They’ll settle now.’ Kell grinned, guiding her to a table. ‘A birth’s big news here, but when the cricket’s starting…’

Abby’s eyes followed his to the massive screen in the corner, every head in the place seemed to be turned to it.

‘It’s all a bit much to take in, I guess.’

Abby took a sip of her juice and gave a small shrug.

‘Or perhaps there’s not enough to take in?’ Kell asked perceptively. ‘It must seem a bit of a small world here to you.’

‘It’s just not what I’m used to,’ Abby admitted. ‘I’m not saying my way’s better than yours or anything, it’s just different, that’s all.’ Taking a breath, Abby decided to deal with a niggle that had been bothering her. ‘I’m sorry if I came over as snobby or superior when we first met. It was just nerves, I guess.’

‘I was just teasing when I said you were a snob.’ Kell was smiling at her. Even though Abby still couldn’t look, she could almost feel the warmth of it, almost see the wide dark lips breaking apart in an easy smile.

‘I know, and no doubt I’m going to have to get used to it. I’m quite sure there’ll be more than a few embarrassing moments. To date I’ve always lived in the city, always worked in big teaching hospitals, where I just blended in.’

‘I doubt that.’ The beer glass in his large hand seemed tiny, and Abby found herself staring at it as Kell carried on talking. ‘I can’t imagine a woman like you ever blending in.’

She chose to ignore that little gem, casting her mind around frantically for something to say. ‘Do you ever get fed up?’

Kell shook his head. ‘I don’t get the time to get fed up.’

‘And you’ve never thought of working in a city?’

Again Kell shook his head. ‘I did some of my course units there, but it wasn’t where I wanted to be, I was always more than happy to come home.’

‘So you’ve never thought about…’ Taking a nervous sip of her drink, even Abby herself could barely believe the personal nature of her question. ‘About moving away?’

‘Why would I?’ Kell shrugged. ‘I’ve got everything I need here. A great job, my family nearby. They run a large cattle station out of town,’ he explained, ‘so there’s never a chance of being bored, and though there are relatively few people here, at least I know most of them. I could never leave this place, Abby. Tennengarrah isn’t just a town in the middle of nowhere to me, it’s home.’

‘So what made you choose to do nursing?’ Abby couldn’t stop herself. Undoubtedly he was a great nurse, she’d witnessed it for herself today after all, but it just seemed such a strange career choice for a man so in tune with the land, for an almost cowboy!

He didn’t answer straight away. From the cheers and ‘Howzats’ flying around the pub, Australia had obviously taken a wicket and Kell stood up to watch the replay as Abby sat there, feigning interest.

‘Golden duck,’ Kell said, sitting back down with a grin.

‘Sorry?’

‘You’ve no idea what I’m talking about, have you?’ He grinned as Abby shook her head, then leant forward a touch. ‘Mum had cancer.’ His voice was still light, but Abby saw the pain behind the frown that flittered across his face. ‘Every few weeks we headed off to Adelaide for her chemo. I used to go with her and I guess that’s how it started. I’d never even given nursing a thought before, still didn’t then really, but later…’ Abby watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat, and Kell took a drink before he carried on talking. ‘When it became terminal Mum wanted to be at home, and why shouldn’t she be? The whole town loved her, wanted to help look after her, be with her…’

‘But there wasn’t anyone?’ Abby ventured.

‘Oh, no, we had the clinic. It was tiny then, one doctor and one nurse, Clara. You’ll meet her tomorrow, she’s great. She made all the difference in the world. Sure, Mum had more friends and neighbours than you could count, all willing to help, but it was Clara who came at two in the morning to up her morphine infusion, Clara who turned her, worked out the meds with the doctor, Clara who made all the difference. I went out on a couple of her clinics, saw the work she was doing and I knew then I’d found what I wanted to do with my life.’

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