The Doctor's Double Trouble

by Lucy Clark

  Years later, it appeared they were still squaring off against each other but whereas back then they’d perhaps not even acknowledged the depth of their true emotions, as adults it was hard not to realise what was really buzzing between them…and it wasn’t the flies.

  Joshua swallowed, his Adam’s apple working up and down his throat, drawing her gaze down for a second before she met his eyes once more. The fact that he was looking at her lips, that he was licking his own, made her wonder exactly what was happening between them. Adult or not, this still wasn’t what she wanted. To reluctantly acknowledge she found him attractive was one thing, but to stand there looking up at him, so close that his sweaty, earthy scent wound itself around her, deepening the need she felt to touch him…that was definitely something else.

  Anger disappearing, only to be replaced by awareness, was wrong. He wanted the anger back, to keep Abigail at a very long arm’s length. He didn’t want someone from his past infringing on the future he’d struggled to build for himself and his children, yet here she was, standing toe to toe with him, giving as good as she got, as she always had. The anger may have gone, the realisation that he’d always been attracted to her may have come, but getting involved with her on a personal level in any way, shape or form was completely out of the question.

  Colleagues. She was here for the next six months and to say he could do without her medical assistance would be an outright lie. Medical help was needed and PMA had sent her. He wished, though, that he’d asked for a more detailed dossier on his new locum because at least that way he could have been better prepared when he’d first seen her.

  His mind started to clear even more and he forced himself to look away from the plump, red lips that were enticing him. No doubt if he’d followed through on his impulse to clamp his mouth firmly over Abigail’s, the only flavour he would have tasted would have been smug female. If he’d given in to the impulse, surely she would have used it to her advantage, pointing out in that haughty manner of hers just what a Neanderthal he was and always had been.

  Joshua sucked in a breath and gave her sweet and luscious-looking lips one last glance before pulling superhuman strength from somewhere and taking two steps away, nonchalantly swatting at the flies around them.

  ‘Best get you out of this heat, given you’re not used to it.’ With that, he turned, picked up her suitcases and started walking.

  Abbey was stunned, to say the least. What had just happened? They’d both slipped back into their childish habit of arguing and then they’d become overwhelmingly aware of each other and now he was just…going. She knew she had to follow, that she had no idea where she was or where she was headed, but just for a moment she stood there and watched him walk away.

  He seemed taller than she recalled but it was no doubt her mind playing tricks on her. After all, his back was the same and she’d watched him turn and walk away from her enough times to know! But his shoulders were definitely broader, firmer and with more muscle. Perhaps they only appeared to be bigger, given that he was wearing a dark blue T-shirt instead of the crisp white shirt he’d worn throughout medical school. His legs were just as long as she remembered and again, with the addition of shorts rather than jeans or trousers, he looked more rugged, more toned, more handsome than ever before.

  Sighing, Abbey hefted her shoulder bag more firmly into position, pushed her hat down harder and swatted at a few more flies. The instant she stepped from the shade, she felt the heat hit her and she really wanted to know why there wasn’t a car around to drive her to wherever it was she needed to be.

  She’d tried to do some research on the small township of Yawonnadeere Creek. Most of the people who lived there worked in the LPG gas rig situated twenty kilometres away. The town had one full-time police officer, one vet and two full-time doctors. Only, as she’d been informed by her PMA contact, the old female doctor who’d been in the town for well over fifty years had recently passed away, hence the need for a replacement. Since doctors, especially those with experience in emergency medicine, rarely ventured into the outback of Australia, PMA had organised for locums to provide medical care on a six-month rotation. Abbey was, therefore, contracted for six months to be here in the middle of nowhere, with the dirt and the flies and the annoying Joshua Ackles.

  The land was by no means flat, as she’d expected it to be. Instead, it was peppered with little hills here and there and as she trudged up a small hill, feeling as insignificant as an ant in this vast area, she saw, laid about below them, the township of Yawonnadeere Creek.

  ‘Wow.’

  Joshua was about a metre in front of her and he paused for a moment to turn back and look at Abigail standing there looking down at the place he called home. She had a look of happiness and wonderment, mixed with a little awe. Did she really like it or was she just trying to be polite? Her hat and sunglasses shielded her eyes but as she stood there, pausing for a moment, the apprehension he’d seen in her face when she’d stepped from the plane disappeared.

  ‘It’s…amazing. Just right out in the middle of nowhere and, boom, there it is.’

  ‘Wait until you see the rig,’ he commented. Her slim figure, dressed in beige linen trousers and a pale blue cotton shirt, was outlined to perfection. He decided he’d better not look at her any more. Turning, he started on the last few metres that would bring them to the township, recalling how, when they’d been toe to toe, he’d noticed the presence of only a few wrinkles around her eyes. He’d call them laughter lines rather than wrinkles and realised that the years had been kind to her.

  Had she seen many differences in him? Did he look older to her? He certainly felt it but, then, when a man loses his wife in childbirth and ends up a single parent to two adorable but energetic almost three-year-olds, he was bound to feel older…wasn’t he? Besides, what did he care what Abigail thought of him? So long as she was a good doctor, so long as she was interested in caring for this community, it didn’t matter what she thought of him.

  Still, a part of him really wanted to know and that, in itself, disturbed him more than he liked to admit.

  Chapter Two

  ‘AH…HERE you are, ma chérie,’ a woman standing behind the bar at the Yawonnadeere pub called, her French accent unmistakable. ‘Joshua, you bring her right over here. I will get her a drink. Ooh-la-la. You poor chérie.’ The petite Frenchwoman fussed behind the bar, calling something else in French into a room behind her, and a moment later a blond-haired man appeared, dressed in comfortable clothes with an apron tied around his waist.

  ‘You little beauty, Josh. You said you’d get us a female doc to take over from old Doc Turner and you’ve done it.’ He came around the counter of the bar and shook Joshua’s hand warmly. Abbey raised an eyebrow at her medical colleague.

  ‘I’m guessing it’s more like pure luck that you actually ended up with a female doctor. PMA will provide who they can, when they can,’ Abbey couldn’t resist pointing out.

  ‘Ouch,’ the man said, looking at her. ‘She’s got ya there, Josh. Hi. I’m Mark.’

  ‘Abbey.’

  He shook her hand then jerked a thumb over his shoulder. ‘That’s Giselle, my wife. We’re both nurses here.’

  Abbey was surprised and surveyed her surroundings. ‘I was under the impression this was the pub.’

  Mark laughed as Joshua walked over to the bar and leaned one arm on the counter, accepting a long cool drink from Giselle. There wasn’t anyone else in the pub at this time of the day but Abbey could hear the sounds of children coming from the back somewhere. She presumed Mark and Giselle had a little brood of their own.

  ‘Of course it’s the pub, Abbey,’ Mark continued. ‘The surgery’s next door but when things are quiet, Giselle and I work here.’

  ‘And I suppose Joshua’s the cook?’ Her words were supposed to be facetious.

  ‘Actually, he is a very good cook.’ Giselle leaned over and pressed a kiss to Joshua’s cheek. ‘I like the nights when he cooks because then I can get a re
al meal, not a pub-style meal. He is such a gourmet.’

  Abbey shook her head, unable to believe this strange and completely off-world place she’d arrived at. When she’d signed with PMA, she’d expected a different country with different ways of doing things, but this was still part of Australia and these people were outback Australians. Yet they made her feel as though she came from a completely different planet with the way they ran things. Nurses and doctors working at the pub when it was quiet?

  ‘Are things usually quiet?’ Abbey asked as she walked to the bar, keeping a good distance between herself and the ever-present and annoying Joshua, and gratefully accepted the drink Giselle gave her.

  ‘With the pub or the nursing?’ Giselle asked. ‘The pub is always busy. There will be more people here in about twenty minutes and then we will be busy again.’

  ‘With the nursing, out here, it’s either dead as a crocodile’s party or all guns blazing,’ Mark offered as he joined his wife behind the bar.

  Abbey threw Joshua a disbelieving look but there was fear in her eyes. ‘Crocodiles have parties?’

  He couldn’t help but smile and Abbey was glad she was close enough to the bar so she didn’t fall down. The action changed his face completely, his blue eyes sparkling instead of shooting daggers at her, his curved mouth showing straight, white teeth instead of surly lips pressed firmly together. Even the laughter lines softened his usual stern expression when he was dealing with her.

  ‘It’s just an expression but an odd one at that. Mark just means that no one would go to a crocodile’s party, and therefore it—’

  ‘Would be rather dull,’ Abbey finished, nodding her head.

  ‘These boys in this town, chérie, they do like the joke so don’t let yourself be fooled by them, Okayee?’ Giselle came around the bar as she spoke. ‘Come. I show you to your room and you can freshen up. You will be staying in the old doctor’s place but the ceiling fans have needed the fixing so you stay here for two nights. Okayee? When you come down, I shall make you the most perfect salade you’ve ever had. You like the salade? But of course, you are a petite woman,’ Giselle continued, answering her own question as they headed up the wooden stairs off to the side of the room. ‘Joshua,’ she called from the balcony. ‘You go get started on the salade Niçoise for Abbey. She is hungry and she needs food.’

  ‘Right you are, Giselle.’ Joshua nodded and headed around the bar, disappearing through the door into what Abbey presumed was the kitchen. She followed Giselle in wonder. Joshua could really cook? Had he been able to cook back in medical school? It was then that she realised just how little she really knew of the man. They’d been exhausted students competing to get the best marks for their subjects. They’d been so intent in feeding off each other’s successes, egging each other on, badgering each other, that it wasn’t until this very moment that she realised she hardly knew him at all. The memory of his smiling face and the way it appeared to have affected her, her knees weakening, her nerves tensing, her gaze drawn to that gorgeous mouth of his…that same gorgeous mouth which had been so close to her own only fifteen minutes ago. The thought that she would have gladly received a kiss from him still rocked her foundations.

  No. She was here to do a job, not to explore her confusing emotions where the annoying Joshua Ackles was concerned. The people out here needed her and, more importantly, she needed them. If she was going to find herself, find her place, find what it was she was now meant to do with her life after three years of upheaval, she needed to put her frustrating but gorgeous medical partner out of her mind and focus.

  Twenty minutes later, Abbey was feeling far more like a human being. She descended the stairs after having a glorious but quick shower—a necessity given the strict water restrictions the town was under—her still damp hair billowing softly around her shoulders. She was looking forward to having something to eat and then getting to work. She was under no illusions that coming here meant it was time to slacken off and even though it appeared the medical staff in Yawonnadeere Creek preferred to fill their hours playing housekeepers at the pub, it didn’t mean she had to.

  As Giselle had predicted, where the pub had been empty before, it was now filled. There wasn’t a bar stool left free, and the tables were slowly filling up with people as they came in for a midday drink and something to eat.

  ‘Ah, here she is,’ Joshua remarked as she walked towards the counter. He was standing behind the bar, tossing a cocktail shaker with such flourish and flair it was clear he’d done it many times before. ‘Make room for the new doctor, Dustin,’ he said to a tall man in his early twenties who was sitting on the end bar stool.

  Dustin gladly moved, shaking hands with Abbey as he vacated his stool. ‘Oh, no. You don’t have to,’ she quickly protested, shooting Joshua a look that said he didn’t have to boot the poor guy off his perch. Joshua merely grinned maddeningly at her but said nothing.

  ‘It’s no trouble, Doc,’ Dustin replied politely, his American accent surprising her. ‘I’ve got to get to work, at any rate.’ He turned and headed over to one of the tables to talk to his friends. Abbey decided not to argue any further and slid onto the stool, leaning her elbows on the bar, her feet dangling like a child’s. It made her feel lighter than she’d felt for some time. Maybe coming here had been a good decision.

  ‘What can I get you, Abigail?’ Joshua said, still shaking the cocktail shaker. Giselle was also behind the bar, pulling beers and talking to other patrons. There were glorious scents of mouth-watering food coming from the direction of the kitchen.

  ‘Uh…something long and cool.’

  ‘Coming right up.’

  ‘Oh, and as we’ll be working together for the next six months, why not call me Abbey?’

  Joshua’s lips twitched and she knew exactly where his thoughts had gone. ‘I remember you telling me that only your friends called you Abbey.’ As he spoke, he took a Martini glass from the glass-rack above the bar, coated the rim with red-coloured sugar and poured the contents of the shaker into the glass. ‘You then pointed out quite clearly that as you and I would never be friends, if I had to refer to you by name, you much preferred it was Abigail.’

  Abbey closed her eyes as he spoke, shaking her head in regret. When she opened her eyes, she found he’d added a cherry and slice of orange to the side of the glass and had even poked a little umbrella through the cherry. She looked at him, feeling slightly ashamed of her younger self. ‘I’m sorry, Joshua. What can I say? I was horrible.’

  He chuckled. ‘Yes, you were.’

  ‘Hey.’ She sat up straighter on the bar stool, indignation in her tone. ‘I’m trying to be nice here.’

  ‘I know. I was only laughing because I think I was just as bad as you.’ He leaned on the bar and added a straw to the glass. ‘Try this.’

  ‘Aren’t we supposed to be on duty? Having a cocktail for lunch isn’t part of my usual routine.’

  ‘Well, you’re in the outback now, honey,’ he drawled. ‘So your routine is going to have to change.’ As he spoke Mark came out, carrying a huge bowl which she discovered was filled with her salade Niçoise. ‘Besides, it’s a mocktail. Non-alcoholic,’ he pointed out when she frowned in confusion. ‘Now, get eating, Abbey, because we need to get out to the rig within the hour.’

  ‘Did you want to share this with me?’ she asked, looking down at the enormous dish of salad with all its trimmings. ‘Here, pass me another plate and let me scoop some on for you because there’s no way I’m going to be able to eat it all.’

  Joshua struggled to hide his surprise at her attitude and passed her another plate without question. He hadn’t expected Abigail to share and he hadn’t expected her to let him call her Abbey. During their time at med school they hadn’t really mixed in the same circles, not until their final two years when they’d been forced to be lab partners for a term. Even then, Joshua had been very happy to keep his distance from the prickly Ms Bateman but it just so happened that his best friend and her best friend h
ad started to date, which had meant they had sometimes been thrown together at small social gatherings.

  Where she’d always been pleasant and polite with a lot of their set, she’d seen him as an outright rival. Academia had been important to both of them, the competition even more fierce during that final year. Their tutors had suggested that they study together but even that had been out of the question as far as Abbey was concerned. He hadn’t been too thrilled at the idea either. How could he possibly beat her marks if they were studying together, sharing techniques and information?

  Remembering that, he realised he still needed to keep a professional and personal distance between himself and his new colleague. She was strong willed and competitive, and while he still thought her beautiful and smart, she was here for the community and all he had to do was show her the ropes and work alongside her for six months. Nothing more. She was part of his past, his past long before he’d met Miriam, back before his children had been born and back before…

  He pushed the thoughts away. Now was not the time. Needless to say, when his world had been shaken around and turned inside out, he’d realised the best place for him to be was here, in Yawonnadeere Creek. Here, he could raise his children in a loving and supportive environment and his medical duties weren’t heavy. Old Dr Turner had shared the load. Would Abbey?

  He glanced surreptitiously at her as they sat in silence, eating their lunch. How would she react if he told her what had happened, and what it meant for him now? Would she lord it over him, letting him know that she was far superior, or would she understand?

  She’d mentioned earlier that she’d had a terrible few years. Had those years changed her from the gung-ho academic he’d known and loathed? She’d already admitted that she’d been horrible back then and they were now sitting quite amicably, eating lunch together without either one starting a fight.