by Lucy Clark
This was supposed to be her time...the time in her life when she didn’t need to worry about anyone else except herself. For so long she’d given everything she had for other people and, while she didn’t regret it one little bit, she’d been holding onto the day when her time really would be her own. So the last thing she wanted was to be thinking about her new and exceedingly handsome colleague and housemate!
Naturally she appreciated his skills as a medical professional but she couldn’t say she was all that impressed with his ‘big city’ attitude towards the patients. They were just a number to him, not people with names and families and real-life problems. She’d once been told by a big-city doctor that she was a fool to pursue surgical training for that very reason. She was too emotionally involved with her patients, she couldn’t be objective, might falter and fail when it counted most because she couldn’t effectively distance herself.
‘The great surgeons, the truly great surgeons, always detach themselves from their patients. Provide first-class treatment? Of course. Be polite and understanding? Most definitely.But overly sympathetic? Empathetic? No. Not if you want to be a great surgeon.’ That was what she’d been told when she’d chosen to specialise in surgery.
If Felix McLaren continued to treat every patient in Meeraji Lake with the same professional distance he’d shown to Patrick, then she feared she might have a revolt on her hands. If patients refused to see Felix because of his standoffish attitude, that would mean more patients on her own list—both clinical and surgical—and she’d still be run off her feet. If the purpose of him coming here was to lend a hand, and if he wasn’t prepared to relax his usual policies regarding patient care, then he might as well leave because he wouldn’t be doing anyone in the town or district any good—no matter how brilliant he was.
Harriette shook her head as she brushed her teeth. There was no room for that big-city attitude out here in the middle of the Australian outback. She would never succumb to the professional distance she’d been advised to maintain but would Felix? The main flaw with the entire argument, as far as she was concerned, was that she had no desire to become a great surgeon; she just wanted to save people’s lives. What was so wrong with that? She wasn’t interested in climbing the hospital hierarchy ladder, wasn’t interested in having her accomplishments written up in medical journals. Naturally she wanted to be a good surgeon but having her opinion sought after by other doctors was not on her radar. Was Felix? Had he been on his way up the ladder? Sought after by his peers? If so, then why on earth had he chosen to come here?
Harriette knew she needed to put Felix and his professional behaviour out of her mind. She had more than enough to keep her thoughts occupied. At the end of this year, she would sit her final exam in general surgery and then she could continue to work in small communities like this one, to help out, to make a real difference where it was needed most.
She’d worked for so long, she’d worked so hard and she’d done it not only for herself but for Eddie. Her darling Eddie. How she loved him. Even at the thought of him, she felt a lightness start to settle over her, her shoulders relaxing. Harriette glanced over at her phone and when she’d finished brushing her teeth, she sent him a text message, knowing he’d just be starting work over in Paris. She finished her message with lots of lovehearts and smiley faces and kisses.
Feeling more calm and with thoughts of her new colleague replaced by thoughts of Eddie, she lay down in her bed, sighing with happiness when she received a reply message from Eddie, which consisted solely of emoticons of funny faces plus a love heart at the end. Her Eddie loved her and as far as she was concerned, it meant that everything was perfect with her little world. She didn’t need to worry about her new colleague or his daughter. It didn’t matter what sort of day she’d had at the hospital, good or bad, so long as she could rely on Eddie to always be there for her, she could cope. Harriette closed her eyes and allowed the bliss of a well-deserved sleep to settle over her.
* * *
The loud scream that pierced the air had her up and out of bed like a shot. Dressed only in a pair of cotton short pyjamas and matching T-shirt, she rushed towards where she thought the scream might have originated, her heart pounding wildly against her chest.
She heard crying, the sound of a little girl, clearly frightened. Harriette stepped into the shared lounge room of the doctors’ residence and turned on the light, intending to head to the other side of the house, which was where Felix and his daughter, Chloe, had their rooms. Harriette was on one side of the house, the two of them on the other. Separate bathrooms but shared lounge, kitchen and dining rooms.
As soon as the light illuminated the room the little girl screamed once again and it was then Harriette realised the child was standing in the middle of the room, fear filling her eyes. ‘Mummy! Mummy!’ Her cries were becoming louder, her voice strained, her beautiful British accent conveying her distress.
‘Shh, sweetie. It’s all right.’ She headed towards the child.
‘No. No.’ Chloe held up her hands towards Harriette as though fending her off. ‘Leave me alone. Leave me alone! I want my mummy!’ She actually stamped her foot and Harriette’s heart melted.
‘Of course you do, darling, but she’s not here right now.’ Harriette sat down on the floor a little way off from the child in an effort to bring herself more to Chloe’s height and to hopefully not cause any more distress. ‘I’m Harriette. Remember?’
‘I want my mu...mu...mummy.’ The words hitched in her throat and Harriette’s own emotions started to be affected by Chloe’s distress.
‘And you’re Chloe.’ She knew she needed to distract the child long enough to calm her down. Even though the child didn’t answer her, Harriette continued. ‘That’s a very pretty name. How old are you? Are you two years old?’
At this deliberate affront, Chloe’s eyes cleared for a moment and she fixed Harriette with the same glare Felix had used when they’d first met. ‘I’m not. I’m nearly four,’ she replied with firm indignation.
‘Wow. Such a big girl. I’ll bet you’re going to have a great birthday party, with presents and cakes.’ It was clearly the wrong thing to say as the vulnerability immediately returned to Chloe’s eyes, mixed with distress. ‘Do you know where you are, Chloe?’ Harriette asked softly, wanting to reach out to the little girl, but she knew if she did she risked alienating Chloe even further.
‘Where’s my mummy?’ At least this time Chloe didn’t scream the question but her lower lip began to wobble. ‘I want my mummy!’
‘I know, darling. Why don’t we go and find your daddy?’ And give him a dagger look for not waking up to his daughter’s screams.
‘Daddy?’ There was a thread of hope in her tone. If she couldn’t have her mother, then her father was the next best thing.
Harriette nodded and stood, beckoning the child to follow her. She didn’t make any effort to touch the girl, nor to wipe away the tears, nor hug her close, which was what she really wanted to do. The poor little angel was clearly frightened and yet her tears had started to subside at the thought of her father. Chloe was still watching Harriette cautiously but at least she’d stopped the loud screams and hysterical crying. How could Felix have slept through them? He was a surgeon. He was used to being woken up in the middle of the night, of sleeping deeply but waking quickly when an emergency arose.
‘Daddy’s bedroom is this way.’ Harriette took slow steps towards Felix’s part of the house, patiently waiting as Chloe slowly followed. ‘I’m surprised he didn’t wake up when he heard you crying.’ In fact, she was surprised the entire town hadn’t woken up as Chloe’s screams had been that loud...or had they? Perhaps Chloe hadn’t been crying too loudly after all and perhaps it was simply Harriette’s well-honed instincts that had instantly kicked in...or the fact that she hadn’t yet slipped into a deep sleep.
When she reached Felix’s closed door
, she listened for a moment and could hear the sounds of faint snoring on the other side. Annoyance ripped through her. Why wasn’t he looking after his daughter? Wasn’t he interested in her well-being? Not only was he distant with the patients, he was distant with his own daughter? The knowledge didn’t endear him to her one little bit. Working alongside a man who didn’t seem to have any sort of bedside manner, both in his professional and private life, would only make things more difficult.
‘Let’s go wake Daddy up so he can give you a cuddle and make you feel better. Yes?’ She waited for Chloe’s nod of approval before knocking firmly on the door and opening it.
And there he lay. Sleeping diagonally across the double bed, his hands and feet still hanging over, he was so tall. The overhead fan was whirring on low and the floral bedcovers were bunched around the centre of his body. His snoring indicated his breathing was deep and even. He was clearly in a good REM cycle and she knew, after travelling and then operating, as well as dealing with a child, it was only natural he’d be so exhausted. Still, Chloe was his daughter, not hers, and as such he should be the one to settle her down. It was the duty of a parent—no matter the circumstances.
‘Felix? Felix?’ She called his name as she walked closer to the bed. ‘Felix? Wake up!’ She turned and looked over her shoulder, surprised to find Chloe sill standing in the doorway, shaking her head vigorously from side to side.
‘That’s not my daddy.’
‘Felix?’ Harriette spoke a little louder, hearing the hysteria beginning to rise in Chloe’s tone. She walked to the head of the bed and put her hand on his shoulder, surprised to find his skin quite cool. She flatly ignored the way her fingers were tingling from where they’d made contact with his flesh. Annoyed with her own reaction, she shook his arm more firmly. ‘Felix. Wake up.’ Her voice was insistent. ‘Chloe needs you.’
‘That’s not my daddy. My daddy is called David. That’s not my daddy!’ With that, Chloe turned and ran away, her crying starting all over again.
‘What?’ Harriette was now thoroughly confused, so she shook Felix even harder, calling to him. ‘Wake up, Felix. There’s an emergency.’
As though she’d said the magic words, Felix shifted and sat up so suddenly, he fell out of the bed, knocking Harriette over in the process and landing on top of her. She felt instant pain in her back and left arm but it quickly began to subside. She dragged a breath in, belatedly realising her mistake. That thing the world did, of standing still whenever she was within close proximity to Felix, happened again and her mind seemed to be gathering as many details about the firmness of his body, of his crazy, gorgeous scent and of the way her hands felt on his smooth, bare shoulders as she tried to shift him off her.
It was ludicrous of course. There was no way she could be physically attracted to a man she wasn’t even sure she liked. In fact, during their short acquaintance, Felix McLaren had annoyed her far more than any other emotion and if she was mildly attracted to him, it was simply physical. The fact that she hadn’t been this close to a semi-naked man in a rather long time meant it was her libido she had to control and nothing else. Her head was far stronger than the weaknesses of her body. She could and would control herself.
‘What? What? Where am I?’
‘Meeraji Lake,’ she squeezed out. ‘Chloe. Chloe woke up. She’s upset.’
‘She’s awake?’ There was almost the sound of dread in his voice. Was he scared of his daughter? He scrambled to his feet but not before he’d accidentally head-butted Harriette in the process.
‘Ow.’ She rubbed her head. ‘What is it with you?’
‘Sorry. Discombobulated.’ He stood and it was then she realised why all she’d been able to feel when she’d been trying to extricate herself from beneath him was hard, male flesh. Felix McLaren was dressed only in a pair of boxer shorts, his perfectly broad shoulders appearing much broader from where she sat on the floor, looking at him silhouetted against the light that was coming in from the lounge room.
Control. Self-control. That was all she needed...and not to keep staring at his gorgeous...firm... Harriette forced herself to look away and cleared her throat. So Felix was a perfect male specimen. She’d seen several, more than several in fact, during her time. She was a doctor. She was used to seeing the male form and... Harriette tried a few deep breaths to bring herself better under control. If she didn’t look at him, then that should work. Instead, she rubbed her head once more and tried to focus on what he was saying.
‘Where did she go?’
‘I don’t know,’ Harriette grumbled as she rubbed her head and slowly stood to her feet. ‘She ran away, saying you weren’t her daddy. Her daddy’s name is David.’
‘Her father’s name is David,’ Felix stated as he reached for a T-shirt and headed out towards the lounge room.
‘She’s probably hiding somewhere.’
‘Chloe? Chloe? It’s all right. I’m here to help you.’
Harriette followed him but when she reached the lounge room, it was to find no trace of the child. ‘Where is she? Chloe?’ she called. Felix was now starting to search behind curtains, under tables.
‘Can you check your part of the house, please? She has the tendency to either hide or run away when things go wrong but thankfully, as the doors to the house are locked, she can’t have got far.’
A prickle of apprehension washed over her and she slowly shook her head. ‘The doors aren’t locked,’ Harriette stated slowly, then, as though the reality of the situation dawned clearly on both of them, she rushed into her part of her house and started to search, calling the little girl’s name as she went.
‘What do you mean they’re not locked? Didn’t you lock them when you came back from the hospital?’ She could hear the censure in his tone and she didn’t appreciate it one little bit. How dared he imply that this was her fault? How was she to know that Chloe had a tendency to run away? How was she to know the child would wake in the middle of the night, crying for her parents who clearly weren’t anywhere to be found? And more to the point, if Felix wasn’t Chloe’s father, then who was he and why did he have charge of the little girl? No wonder the child was distressed.
Gritting her teeth once more, Harriette pushed the questions aside and focused on the more important task at hand—finding Chloe as quickly as possible. She checked in every small space where a child could hide, in the closets, beneath the bed, in the spare room, the bathroom—everywhere—but Chloe wasn’t to be found. Harriette grabbed her mobile phone from the bedside table. If Chloe wasn’t in the house, it meant she was outside and for that they would need help.
She returned to the lounge room where, for some reason, Felix was lifting the cushions on the chairs as though desperate to find Chloe beneath there. ‘You haven’t lost your car keys,’ she stated. ‘You’ve lost a child.’
‘I’ve lost a child? How could you not lock the doors?’ He spread his arms wide with astonishment, his voice indicating she was a prime imbecile for not doing such a simple, mundane task.
‘We live in the middle of nowhere, Felix. Crime is basically non-existent. No one locks their doors and I had no idea Chloe was the type of child to run away!’ Tensions were increasing to the point where soon they would be embroiled in a slanging match, rather than focusing on finding the girl.
As though Felix realised this as well, he rubbed both hands over his face before pushing them through his hair, causing the follicles to stand on end, making him look vulnerable, confused and incredibly sexy. Harriette actually shook her head, pushing the thoughts away. Focus. They needed to focus.
Felix strode to the back door, which was in the kitchen, and pointed. ‘Did you leave the door like this? The main door open and the screen door closed?’
‘No. I shut the main door.’
‘But you didn’t lock it.’ Again, there was that tone of his, calling her stupid w
ithout actually saying so.
Harriette didn’t bother replying. Instead, she grabbed the emergency torches from the cupboard and slipped on a pair of flip-flops. ‘Here. Start looking. I’ll call Henry.’
‘Henry?’
‘The town’s police officer. He can help organise a search.’
‘Search?’ The word stopped Felix in his tracks for a split second and Harriette saw deep fear and concern flash across his face. ‘Surely we won’t need to go that far? Surely you and I can find her? I mean, it’s far too late to wake the entire town in order to find a stubborn three-year-old, right?’
‘This is the outback, Felix. Things can turn from bad to worse in a split second.’ Before he could say another word, she punched a pre-set number into her phone and put it on speaker phone.
‘This is Henry,’ a sleepy male voice said a moment later.
‘It’s Harriette, mate. The new doctor’s daughter...’ She paused on the word but shook her head and continued as Felix headed past her, his torch on, looking around the back of the house. There wasn’t much grass, nor were there fences between the properties. ‘She’s upset and confused and she’s gone out of the house. We’re not sure where she is but she can’t have gone far.’
Felix listened with half an ear as Harriette spoke to the local cop, all the while flashing his torch around the area, calling for Chloe. She really couldn’t have gone too far, right? She was confused, frightened and upset as well as being forthright, determined and stubborn. The problem was he had no idea what was going through her head and even if he hadn’t been still groggy from jet lag, he still wouldn’t have been able to predict where she might go. He felt so helpless. He didn’t know Chloe. She didn’t know him. It was why he’d come here in the first place, to try and be a father to the little girl, but as he had no idea how to be a father and as she clearly didn’t want him in the role it was making life incredibly complicated.
