by Fiona Lowe
Touché. The bald statement carried power and credence and told of a man used to getting his own way. She had a pretty good idea how he usually got what he wanted—with effortless charm and good looks—and, if that failed, he used a bulldozer.
Well, she wasn’t about to be bulldozed. Not this time.
‘Your grandmother hasn’t seen a doctor in over two years and it took me a few weeks to convince her to let me examine her. I diagnosed her hypertension a few days ago. Although there’s a slight chance that perhaps the medication lowered her blood pressure too quickly, it’s far more probable that the stroke was caused by longstanding hypertension. She has a slight weakness on her right side but I’m very confident that with rehabilitation and time, it will resolve.’
‘I’m glad you’re confident.’
The disapproval in the quietly spoken words plunged deep like the cut of cold steel. She matched his black gaze. ‘I’m very confident.’
He shrugged his broad shoulders and stared down at her, his eyes filled with condescension and backlit with righteous resolve. ‘Look, I’m sure you’ve done your best but I know you’ll understand when I say I want my nonna’s care transferred to another doctor.’
I know you’ll understand. Outrage poured through Abbie and she clenched her hands by her sides to stop herself from lunging at his gorgeous but arrogant throat. Greg had used the very same words. So had her father just before he’d left. Somehow through clenched teeth she managed to speak. ‘That’s surely up to Maria.’
His head moved almost imperceptibly, the light catching his hair, the sheen so bright it dazzled. ‘Nonna usually takes my advice.’
It was a statement of fact spoken by a successful man. A man raised in the heart of a loving Italian family where education and experience were honoured and family was everything. The polar opposite of her own family.
She’d been left with no doubt that Leo Costa would advise his grandmother against her and she knew she had scant chance against the power of his recommendation, no matter how wrong she believed it to be. He had both the money and contacts to pull strings. ‘Perhaps she might surprise you.’
Unfathomable dark eyes stared at her. ‘I doubt that.’
Abbie forced herself to smile and to behave in the proper way a doctor should—putting her patient’s needs first, irrespective of her own feelings. ‘As Maria’s asleep and her health and welfare are my paramount concerns, the decision will rest until morning.’ She extended her arm towards the exit with an in-charge sweep. ‘Good night, Mr Costa.’
He gave her a slight nod of acquiescence along with a wry smile, as if he’d just glimpsed something completely unexpected. ‘Until the morning then, Abbie.’
He turned on his heel and somehow she forced her wobbly legs to hold her up until the doors opened and he was swallowed up by the night. She sank against the wall, hating the butterflies in her stomach that floated on a current of heat, trailing through her and upending every resolution she’d made three years ago.
Leo Costa with his effortless charm, devastating good looks and single-minded purpose was her worst nightmare and she was determined not to relive bad dreams. She gulped in air and her tattered resolve slowly wove itself back together. Warrior Abbie stood firm and spoke sternly. You’ll miss Maria but you don’t need him anywhere near you.
And she couldn’t argue with that.
CHAPTER TWO
‘HAVE you lost your mind?’ Anna slid a hot and frothy breakfast cappuccino towards Leo across the large wooden kitchen table.
‘It was an unwise thing for you to do.’ Rosa, his mother, quietly rebuked him as she passed a plate of fluffy light pastries and pushed two onto his plate.
Leo clung to his temper by a thread. Coming back to Bandarra always set him on edge but if he just breathed slowly, let them have their say, then he could move forward with the day doing things his way. He’d organise Nonna’s care and then catch the afternoon flight back to the sanctuary of Melbourne. Breaking open the brioche, he slathered it with home-made raspberry jam, the sweet breakfast in stark contrast to the muesli he always ate in his Melbourne apartment. But the kitchen in Bandarra was a world away from Melbourne, despite the fact there was only a six-hundred-kilometre distance between the two places.
Rosa carefully stirred sugar into her coffee. ‘I wish you’d come home rather than going direct from the airport to the hospital, and then all this could have been avoided.’
For the second time in twenty-four hours his usual sanguine approach slipped and his voice rose sharply. ‘This is Nonna we’re talking about! Of course I went straight to the hospital, especially as I’d had both you and Anna sobbing on the phone, not to mention Bianca and Chiara’s texts.’
His gut clenched as a ripple of fear spread its dread again, just as it had last night when he’d stood at the end of the narrow hospital bed watching his amazing Nonna, always such a powerhouse of energy, looking so frail and tiny under crisp white sheets. He hated that feeling, that powerlessness and the way it dragged him back into the past. Back to the waterhole, back to failing Dom so badly. He abruptly rubbed his chin. ‘I wasn’t leaving until I’d spoken with her doctor, which is what I thought you wanted.’
His mother threw him a rueful smile. ‘Considering how stubborn Nonna can be, Abbie McFarlane’s been a saint. I told her how worried I was about your grandmother and she put up with all of Nonna’s tricks and made home visits until Nonna finally let her examine her.’
Anna laughed. ‘True, but not even Nonna has been able to teach Abbie to cook—she’s hopeless.’
Leo frowned against the recurring and unwanted image of tangled and tumbling cinnamon-sprinkled caramel curls framing rainforest-green eyes. Eyes that hadn’t flickered with the keen appreciation he was used to seeing when he met women’s gazes. The vision had interrupted his sleep and increased his irritation. Women like Abbie McFarlane never got picked up by his radar, let alone landed a starring role in his dreams. With the exception of his ill-conceived marriage, where he’d been faithful to Christina, he’d always had his pick of women, and all his choices came with statuesque height, haute couture and heavenly features.
Name one that has really interested you in the last year.
Not wanting to go there, he pulled his mind back to the conversation. ‘Well, I don’t care about her cooking, or the fact she doesn’t even look like a doctor. I wasn’t impressed by her medicine.’
Anna raised both of her neatly shaped brows, taking in his crisp outfit of navy knee-length shorts teamed with a short-sleeved chambray shirt. ‘Big brother, you’ve turned into a big city fashion snob. Abbie might dress like a female version of a crocodile hunter but her medicine’s spot on. She’s done more for this community in twelve months than old Doctor Renton did in his twelve years.’
Annoyance fizzed in his veins. ‘That isn’t saying much then, is it?’
His father, Stefano, who’d been silent behind the most recent edition of Vintners’ Monthly, lowered the magazine. Wise molasses-coloured eyes stared back at Leo from behind rimless lenses. ‘Your mistake is you’ve forgotten Bandarra isn’t Melbourne and the choice of doctors here is seriously limited.’
Rosa sighed. ‘Your nonna’s getting old, figlio mio.’
No. He wanted to put his hands over his ears like he’d done as a little child when he didn’t want to hear. Right now he didn’t want to hear or think about Nonna and death. Nonna was such a special part of his life. She featured in every childhood memory—always there giving hugs while his parents had been busy establishing the vineyard, clipping him around the ear when he got too cheeky and always feeding him like he was a king.
Holding him so tightly after the accident.
Right then his exasperation with his family peaked. Enough! He’d let everyone have their say and now it was his turn. ‘I’m the qualified medical practitioner in this conversation and I’ve made a decision which I intend to follow through on.’ He pushed back his chair, the red-gum scraping loud
against the polished boards.
‘You go and be the doctor but Nonna doesn’t just need that.’ Stefano rose to his feet and his quiet but determined voice stalled Leo’s departure. ‘Most of all she needs you to be a grandson and to give of your time. In fact, all of your family needs your time.’
Leo’s throat tightened and every part of him tensed, all primed and ready to flee. For years he’d flown in and flown out of Bandarra, only ever staying forty-eight hours, often less. ‘Papà, I can’t. Work is busy.’
‘Work is always busy.’ His father downed the last of his coffee. ‘You managed to arrange things so you could be here for Nonna. I’m certain you can arrange to stay longer if you choose. You haven’t been home for a vintage since you were eighteen and we’ve never asked you to come, but you’re here now. This time you need to stay for Nonna, your mother and the rest of us.’ His hand settled on Rosa’s shoulder and he gave her a gentle squeeze.
Leo’s breath stuck in his chest as he tried to think of a way out, a way to avoid having to stay. Excuses rose to his lips but his father’s implacable stance and knowing expression silenced them. His father would see them for what they were—excuses. The ties of family tightened around him, pulling him back to a place he didn’t want to be.
Anna winked at him. ‘Come on, big brother, stay a while. It’ll be just like the old days, lots of fun.’
But fun was the last thing a holiday in Bandarra could ever be.
Bubbling frustration tinged with fury ate at Leo as he shifted in the car seat, unable to get comfortable. Bandarra Car Rentals didn’t run to a Ferrari Spider and he was stuck in a small car which wasn’t designed for men who were five foot six, let alone six foot one.
Although not even nine a.m., heat poured through the untinted windows, declaring that the day would be a scorcher. He pulled on his aviator sunglasses and slammed down the visor. His father hadn’t pulled rank like that in seventeen years. On top of that, he couldn’t get over his family’s attitude towards Nonna’s medical care. Didn’t they want the best for her?
Perhaps she already has the best with Abbie McFarlane.
No, he couldn’t believe that. The woman had disaster written all over her, from the rent in her khaki trousers to the burnt-red ochre smear on her freckle-dusted cheeks. Smooth, soft cheeks. He shook away the image and focused on his concerns. She looked about twenty-one, although he knew she had to be older than that, but still, she had the chaotic look of someone who could hardly look after herself, let alone patients. Nonna needed someone with solid experience—years and years of experience. Not someone with the bare basics of a couple of intern years, who still held a textbook in one hand and a prayer in the other.
It was well known that the further a person lived from a major capital city the more their health was compromised by their lack of access to state-of-the-art health care. That was a given in Bandarra, but at least it still had a small hospital which meant it attracted more doctors than other outback towns. He intended to talk to the senior practice partner—that was the doctor who should be looking after Nonna, not the trainee GP.
Vineyards and orchards flashed past as he headed into town, the rich red loamy river soil contrasting intensely with the grape-green foliage of the ‘close-to-harvest’ vines. The familiar clutch of unease tightened another notch and his chest hurt the way it always did when he found himself back under Bandarra’s endless outback sky. His fingers whitened as he gripped the steering wheel overly hard and he concentrated on forcing away the demons that threatened to suffocate him. Pulling hard left, he deliberately avoided the river road, taking a longer route, a route that he could navigate with his eyes closed despite the fact he’d lived in Melbourne a very long time. Avoiding the river was the only way he was going to survive three to four weeks in Bandarra.
Visitors to the district were always amazed at how the pioneers had harnessed the power of the great Murray River and turned what should have been an arid and harsh land into the luxuriant and premier fruit basket of Australia. But back then the river had run with a lot more water and the current irrigators now faced a new set of problems that the pioneers had probably never envisaged.
Ten minutes later, Leo walked into the hospital and caught sight of the broad back of a male standing at the nurses’ station. He was wearing a white coat. Leo smiled—now that was more like it.
‘Excuse me.’
The doctor raised his head from the chart and turned his shirt-and-tie-covered torso towards him. ‘May I help you?’
The English accent surprised Leo but this doctor had a gravitas that Abbie McFarlane lacked, despite the Star Trek tie. He extended his hand. ‘Leo Costa, surgeon. Are you the Senior Medical Officer?’
‘No, but I’d be happy to introduce you.’ He shot out his hand. ‘Justin Willoughby. It’s brilliant that you’re going to be working here.’
‘No!’ Hell would freeze over before he’d work in Bandarra.
Justin started with surprise at his emphatic tone and Leo sucked in a calming breath. In Melbourne he was known for high standards but with an easy-going approach. He wouldn’t let a short time in Bandarra steal that from him. ‘Sorry, what I meant to say is, I’m Maria Rossi’s grandson and I’m just up here for a few weeks until things are sorted out with my grandmother. Then it’s straight back to Melbourne.’
‘Ah.’ Justin nodded but his expression remained disappointed. ‘Pity. Bandarra could do with a visiting surgeon. The SMO’s caught up in ED. This way.’ He inclined his head and started walking down the corridor.
Leo fell into step with Justin and followed him through double perspex doors into a compact emergency department. Screens were drawn around cubicles and a pretty nurse walked towards them.
‘Where’s the boss, Lisa?’ Justin asked.
‘Not far away.’
‘Leo, you stay here and I’ll bring the boss to you. Back in a mo.’
Justin disappeared, leaving Leo with the nurse, who gave him a none too subtle look of curiosity which finished with smouldering interest. ‘Hello. New to Bandarra?’
‘I grew up here.’ The words came out stark and brusque and he immediately forced himself to return her friendly look with a flash of his trademark smile. A smile he used many times a day without even thinking because it was never wise to burn bridges. His smile had gained him all sorts of things and had got him out of a few nasty situations. Except for yesterday.
Yesterday had been an aberration. His cool had slipped slightly with Abbie McFarlane and he’d chalked it up to his shock about Nonna and being back in a town he tried very hard to avoid. But everyone made mistakes and thankfully no real harm had been done.
‘Were you a blockie?’ Lisa used the local term to describe people who grew fruit on land with irrigation rights.
‘My grandfather was.’
‘Oh, are you related to the Italians out by Wadjera billabong?’
The name plunged into Leo like a knife to the heart and he stiffened. Thankfully, Justin’s return ended the conversation.
‘Leo, I’d like to introduce you to our SMO.’
Leo turned with a welcoming smile on his face. A pair of questioning moss-green eyes hit him with a clear and uncompromising gaze. Eyes that slanted seductively at the corners. A burst of unexpected heat fired low in his belly, disconcerting him for a second before reality crashed in, wiping out all other feeling. Our SMO. Damn it, how could she possibly be the senior doctor?
You’ve forgotten Bandarra isn’t Melbourne. His father’s voice rang loud in his head and the full ramifications of what he’d done last night hit him like a king punch. He’d let the Bandarra demons get to him and had made an ill-judged call.
He pulled himself together and, with aching cheeks, smiled. ‘Abbie.’
Her mouth flattened. ‘Leo.’
A startled expression crossed Justin’s face. ‘So you two have met before?’
‘We met last night.’ Abbie tugged at the edges of a clean starched white coat which cov
ered a plain round-neck T-shirt and a straight no-frills navy skirt. The hiking boots had been replaced by flat utilitarian sandals of nondescript brown.
Not a trace of make-up touched her face but, despite that, her lips had a luminous sheen that pulled Leo’s gaze and held it fast. What the hell was wrong with him? But he didn’t have time to second-guess his reaction—the moment had come for damage control. He forced a self-deprecating quirk to his lips and gave a European shrug of his shoulders. ‘I didn’t realise Abbie was the SMO. A major error on my part.’
Justin laughed, giving his boss a cheeky grin. ‘Poor Abs, if you were a bloke you could grow a beard to look older.’ He winked at Leo. ‘She might forgive you in time.’
Going by the implacable set of her face and the tight pull of skin over her cheekbones, Leo wasn’t so sure. Still, that didn’t matter because he’d pull in a favour and ask the doctor from Naroopna to take over. ‘May we speak in private?’
She matched his shrug and rolled her hands palm up. ‘Is there anything left to say? You made your position quite clear last night.’ Turning on her heel, she headed towards the perspex doors and thumped them open.
Ignoring the intrigued looks of the other staff, he walked with her. ‘I do have something to say.’
‘You surprise me.’ Her sarcasm radiated from her like heat haze. She unexpectedly turned left into an empty ward and then spun back, crossing her arms hard against her chest, pushing her breasts upward. ‘Look, Leo, I don’t have time for this; I have patients waiting. Are you flying in a private doctor or transferring Maria to Mildura or Melbourne?’
He found it hard to resist sneaking a look at her surprising cleavage. ‘Neither one of those options is my choice.’ No matter how persuasive he knew he could be, there was no way he’d be able to convince Nonna to leave Bandarra. She’d lived here since arriving as a bride from Italy back in the fifties. Perhaps there’d been times in the past when she might have toyed with the idea of leaving but, since the accident, she’d refused even visits to Melbourne. She wouldn’t leave Dominico. Leo alone had been the one to run.
