Outback Doctors/Outback Engagement/Outback Marriage/Outback Encounter

by Meredith Webber

  Or a thirteen-year-old interfering in his life!

  ‘And what did you say you were doing at his house?’ Penny asked, and Anna smiled to herself. Was the child adding her to the list of women to be beaten away from her brother?

  ‘I’ve got this cat,’ she began, then decided Penny didn’t need to know all the details, so she explained about Cassie, letting Penny think that had been the reason for this morning’s visit.

  ‘No one was there, but nothing was locked—well, the surgery was, but the house was wide open.’

  ‘No one locks up in the country—it’s one of the things Tom likes about it,’ Penny explained, but it soon became obvious she hadn’t been diverted by this side issue. ‘And did you say you knew Tom?’

  This time Anna let the smile escape.

  ‘No, I didn’t say, but I only met him yesterday—about the cat—so I’d hardly say I know him. And although he must be an absolute chick magnet for you and your sister to be so concerned over him, he’s safe from me, Penny. Look!’

  She waggled her left hand in Penny’s direction.

  ‘I’ve got a man of my own waiting for me back home.’

  Penny demanded details of this man—details which Anna found surprisingly hard to provide. Words like kind, considerate, busy—‘he runs a big international company’—wouldn’t convey much to a teenager. Neither did Penny seem to understand why someone who was engaged to be married would voluntarily part from their fiancé for six months.

  Well, she wasn’t alone in that, Anna remembered as she continued answering Penny’s questions. Philip’s family, Anna’s own parents and most of her friends had been vociferous in condemning her folly. Even Philip, though he said differently, failed to fully understand her need for this period of freedom before settling down to be what everyone expected her to be—the perfect corporate wife!

  Trying to explain—‘I think it was because I’ve always done what other people wanted or expected me to do that this six months doing something different and adventurous for myself was so important’—as much to reinforce her reasons in her own head as to enlighten Penny, kept the conversation rolling until they reached Merriwee and bumped over the grid and down the dirt road leading to the vet’s place.

  ‘Gosh, look at the line up of cars. I’ve never seen the big truck and horse-float, but the dusty four-wheel-drive is Tom’s, and I guess one of the other two is the car Grace hired. But he must have someone else visiting as well.’ Penny beamed at Anna. ‘At least with three lots of visitors he won’t be able to get really angry at me, will he?’

  The trusting faith of a thirteen-year-old, Anna thought, but she did agree to accompany the child into the house just in case big brother wasn’t as welcoming as he might be. Carrying Penny’s suitcase, Anna once again ascended Tom Fleming’s front steps, but this time she followed Penny around the veranda, pulling up short behind the girl who was lurking just out of sight of anyone in the kitchen.

  But close enough to hear the conversation.

  ‘Will you get this through your admittedly attractive heads?’ The not-so-chocolaty voice reverberated through the air. ‘I definitely do not want an article written about my pitiful bachelor state, or photos taken, or an in-depth look at why women responded in droves to my berserk stepmother’s letter. And, Grace, you made your choice a year ago when you broke off our engagement, so what you think you’ll achieve by arriving here like the cavalry on a charge, I don’t know. Now, I have work to do, a house guest to feed, patients to see and a new colt to check out, so will you both, please, leave.’

  Penny pressed back against the wall, but neither woman appeared.

  ‘We should go in, not eavesdrop,’ Anna whispered, as a cajoling woman’s voice begged the man to listen for just a moment.

  ‘No, wait,’ Penny whispered back, as the second woman started to explain that she was going to do a story on him anyway, so he might as well co-operate.

  At this stage, the first woman—presumably Grace—began to argue with the second, pointing out that as Tom was still more or less engaged to her, there was no story.

  ‘I can’t believe this,’ the male voice said, the words so despairing Anna acted without thought for the consequences.

  ‘Come on,’ she muttered to Penny, grasping her by the arm so she could drag her into the kitchen if necessary. ‘We’d better break this up before they start tearing each other to pieces.’

  Penny came willingly enough so they breezed into the kitchen together, though Anna’s heart was thudding and her knees so shaky it was a wonder they weren’t making castanet noises. She hated any kind of confrontation, and this one looked as if it could get nasty, but she couldn’t walk away.

  Summoning up her brightest smile, she bestowed it on the man she’d come to rescue and her voice, when she finally made it work, sounded calm enough.

  ‘Look, Tom, I’ve a wonderful surprise for you. Patience rang after you left to say Penny was on the plane so I whipped down to meet her.’

  Tom stared in total bemusement at the pair of them, then he caught Penny in his arms as she hurled herself at him. Shock kept him silent while Grace and the reporter woman—Anna thought she had said her name was Carrie—both demanded to know the identity of the new visitor.

  ‘Oh, allow me to introduce you,’ he said, remembering in a flash of sheer, overwhelming brilliance Anna’s solution to his mail problem. ‘This is Anna, my fiancée.’

  He set Penny aside, and reached for the tall blonde beauty, raising her left hand in the air.

  ‘See!’ he said. ‘All done properly, right down to the ring. So, Miss Reporter, you’re too late for your story on the outback’s last eligible bachelor and, Grace, I’m sorry you’ve wasted your journey but, as you see, there’s nothing here for you.’

  He hitched his arm through Anna’s then, seeing Penny’s scowl, drew her close as well.

  ‘Just play along!’ he whispered at Pen, feeling mutiny humming in her rigid body. ‘I’ll explain later.’

  Anna looked stunned, Grace looked as if she might explode, while the reporter did explode, but only into speech, not literally.

  ‘Is she one of the women who wrote after we printed the letter? How did you choose her? Did she send a photo? Did you go on looks alone? What’s your name?’ This was addressed to Anna, who was still looking so taken aback Tom had to hide a smile. ‘Where are you from, Anna? How long have you known Tom?’

  He held his breath, but his visitor rallied and soon proved she was equal to the task.

  ‘I think you’ll have to excuse us,’ she said, her accent making the words seem more an order than a request. ‘Penny’s had a long and tiring trip and she hasn’t been well, which is why her mother sent her up here, so Tom and I need to see her settled.’

  Anna took Tom’s arm, ignored the tremors touching him caused—though she and Penny had gorged on chocolate on the drive so she couldn’t blame hunger—and steered them out of the kitchen.

  ‘What do you mean, claiming me as your fiancée?’ she demanded in a fierce whisper as soon as she felt they were out of earshot.

  ‘You suggested it yourself,’ Tom shot back at her. ‘Yesterday. You offered!’

  His rebuttal was all but drowned out by Penny’s accusing words, delivered in a tone of stern recrimination to Anna. ‘You told me you didn’t know him—that you’d only met him yesterday! You told me a lie.’

  Oh, boy! Anna thought. What a mess, and where, given this man is already causing problems in your hitherto stable and reliable body, do you go from here?

  But she set aside her own problems to concentrate on Penny. Truth was important to young people, and the girl had already had an emotionally fraught day.

  ‘I didn’t lie to you, Penny, but let’s wait until we’re sure Grace and the other woman have left before I explain.’

  She then rounded on Tom, who was the cause of both her internal and now these new external hassles.

  ‘But I think you have more explaining to do than
I have. My suggestion was simply that you tell the women who wrote to you that you’d found someone, not that you claim me as a fiancée in front of your ex-fiancée and a reporter.’

  She glared at him, mainly because he didn’t seem in the least bit chastened by her scolding. In fact, if she’d known him better, she might be able to tell if the twinkle in his eyes was a trick of the light or a gleam of extremely ill-timed amusement.

  Before she had time to give further consideration to the suspicious twinkle, the unearthly clangour of the phone startled them all, and Tom disappeared to answer it.

  Leaving Anna alone with Penny, who’d stomped over to the window and was staring out of it.

  ‘They’re leaving now, though, if I know Grace, she’ll be back,’ the young girl announced, just as two car doors slammed in quick succession and the sound of engines starting eased a little of Anna’s tension.

  She crossed the room to stand beside the teenager.

  ‘I’m not engaged to Tom,’ she said quietly. ‘He just used that as a way to get rid of the two women. When I met him yesterday he was telling me about the letters, and women tracking him down to Merriwee and visiting him in person. I suggested he tell them all he’d already found someone. OK, so that was a lie but it was a kind way of putting them off without hurting their feelings. I guess he remembered that idea when we walked into the kitchen and those two were hassling him.’

  Penny turned and her face lit up as she smiled.

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Really!’ Anna confirmed, and knew they were friends again when Penny gave her a quick hug.

  ‘I don’t know what you’re looking cheerful about, kid!’ Tom’s voice broke them apart. ‘I haven’t even begun to consider your behaviour, Penny Fleming, but when I do, you mightn’t smile again for a month. Right now, I have to go out on a call, and as I don’t want to leave you here on your own on your first afternoon, you’d better get out of that skimpy dress and into some sensible gear and come with me.’

  The growled invitation must have reminded Penny she might still need support, for she turned immediately to her new friend and said, ‘You told me you don’t have to start work until Monday. Why don’t you come, too? It’s fun, going out on Tom’s calls. You get to see all kinds of interesting stuff.’

  Tom looked as if he’d just as soon take a venomous snake along for the ride, but Penny was squeezing Anna’s fingers and Anna guessed she wasn’t quite ready for the confrontation with her brother.

  ‘OK,’ she agreed, ‘but if your brother can wait another couple of minutes, you should also phone your mother. Just to let her know you’re safely here with Tom.’

  ‘And that you didn’t kidnap me,’ Penny added, grinning at Anna.

  ‘What was that kidnapping stuff all about?’ Tom demanded, as Penny skipped away. ‘And while we’re on the subject of Penny, would you mind telling me just how you happened to know Penny was arriving? Is this some plan you’ve been involved with from the start? Was yesterday’s visit, over a cat you claimed was paranoid yet seemed perfectly fine to me, just a ploy to check out the ground before dumping Penny on me?’

  No twinkle in his eyes now, and just enough recrimination in his voice to rile Anna.

  ‘You’re the paranoid one.’ She jabbed her finger in his direction. ‘Seeing conspiracies where none exist. As for dumping Penny on you, all I did was rescue the child from the airport then rescue you from a tight spot with your arguing women. And for this I’m getting accusations.’

  The accented voice bit the words off sharply, but Tom barely heard, mesmerised instead by the indignation sparking in the green eyes and the faint flush which anger had swept into her cheeks. And this time he knew it wasn’t celibacy causing the gut-clenching uneasiness inside him, but the sure knowledge that he was attracted to another man’s woman.

  The red alerts should have warned him—should have ensured he did everything in his power to avoid this woman for however long she stayed in Merriwee. But had he listened?

  No!

  He’d blamed his libido and now he’d entangled the two of them for at least as long as Grace and the reporter woman remained in town.

  ‘Well, don’t you have anything to say for yourself?’

  Her aggravated demand shook him out of his state of shock, and he looked vaguely around, wondering what she’d been saying when the lightning bolt of desire had struck him senseless.

  ‘She was saying you should be thanking her, not getting cross with her,’ Penny told him, returning to the room with the remote of the phone clutched in one hand. ‘And Mum wants to talk to you. She says you’re to put me on the next flight home, where she’ll deal with me—but you won’t, will you?’

  The plaintive plea was accompanied by a pleading look, and Tom, who’d missed his sisters more than he’d realised possible, gave in.

  ‘Hello, Pat. The brat’s safe and sound, and as far as I’m concerned it’s OK for her to stay until the holidays, if it’s all right with you. I’ll see Maureen up at the school and ask if they’ll slot her into a class there so she’s not getting away with this behaviour scot-free.’

  He heard Penny’s groan and frowned at her, daring her to argue with this plan, then cut short Pat’s apologies for the girls’ behaviour, explaining he had to go out on a call.

  ‘What’s the call?’ Penny demanded, as soon as he’d disconnected. ‘Something gruesome like the time the wild steer had torn its leg on barbed wire and you had to tranquillise him then stitch it up?’

  Tom forgot he was angry with her and grinned.

  ‘Nothing so exciting. We’re going out to Bob Filmer’s stables. He’s got a young filly he wants branded and blood-typed and a hair sample taken for DNA for the stud record books.’

  ‘Branding—I don’t think I want to watch that,’ his other visitor said, so quickly Tom guessed she’d been searching for an opportunity to escape the outing.

  Or his company?

  That thought niggled him but, really, he could hardly blame her. The poor woman had been thrust into the Fleming family problems—though she’d coped admirably with the engagement announcement and he’d be eternally grateful to her for rescuing Penny from the airport. But wasn’t it better if she didn’t come with them?

  Wasn’t it better for him to see less of her, rather than more?

  Of course, while all these thoughts were flashing through his head, Penny had taken over again, forestalling any attempt on Anna’s part to escape the outing.

  ‘Oh, branding’s OK now,’ she was saying. ‘Tom heats the brand with liquid nitrogen, like doctors use to burn lumpy bits of people’s skins. Then he just presses it on. It hardly hurts the horse at all.’

  Tom watched as Anna responded to this explanation with a laugh that lit her face to a luminous beauty. His guts knotted even tighter.

  Definitely should see less of her…

  ‘I’ve had one of those lumpy things—usually keratoses caused by sun damage—burnt off the back of my hand,’ she said, but she slung her arm around Penny’s shoulders as if she meant to accompany them. ‘And while it might not hurt at the time, the wound can be sore afterwards, so have some pity for the little filly.’

  ‘Not me!’ Penny argued. ‘I’m going to be a vet like Tom, and Tom says vets can’t be ruled by maudlin pity or try to put human feelings onto animals.’

  The green eyes slanted his way, as if the woman was reassessing him. But if she made something of Penny’s remark, he couldn’t tell. Her face was as inscrutable as an oriental mask.

  A very beautiful oriental mask.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  ANNA accompanied the pair out to the car, though she knew she should be making some excuse and escaping the immediate vicinity of the good-looking vet. But if she did that, she’d be letting Penny down, and she couldn’t bring herself to face the hurt in those huge blue eyes.

  Perhaps if she concentrated on the technical aspects of the call, she’d be sufficiently distracted to not notice Tom as a man.


  And she’d sit in the back seat, so she could avoid looking at his strong, well-muscled body.

  ‘No, you sit in the front,’ Penny insisted, foiling the first of Anna’s plans.

  She concentrated on the other.

  ‘This call—to brand a horse, take blood and hair—doesn’t seem urgent. Why do it on a Saturday afternoon?’

  She glanced Tom’s way but managed to stay focussed on his left ear—a relatively safe choice seeing she’d never found ears particularly sexy!

  But she didn’t turn away quickly enough to miss the sideways look he flicked in her direction, his blue eyes smiling in such a bone-melting manner she was glad she was sitting down.

  ‘Bob’s the local chemist and a good friend. He works during the week and opens the shop on Saturday mornings as well. He does get up at some ungodly hour every morning to train his horses before he goes to work, so I suppose I could have done it then, but Saturday afternoon is the best time for him, and I wasn’t doing anything else, so why not do it now?’

  It was the kind of question to which there was no answer, but Anna found the silence uncomfortable and silently blessed Penny when she broke it.

  ‘Before DNA, how did they keep records of horses?’

  ‘With what they call a passport, Pen,’ Tom answered, swinging the car across the railway line then turning in a direction that was new to Anna. ‘Racehorses in particular still have them, but with the DNA included. The passport has things like markings, hair whorls—’

  ‘Hair whorls?’ Anna queried, caught up now in the discussion for its own sake.

  ‘Like a human’s cow-lick,’ Tom explained. ‘Horses tend to have at least one somewhere on their body, though clever tricksters could use a razor to manufacture one if necessary.’

  ‘Manufacture a cow-lick?’ Penny’s disbelief reverberated through the car. ‘Whatever for?’

  Anna wondered as well and waited for a reply, forgetting that she didn’t want to look at the man and studying his strong, straight profile and the way his eyebrows twitched slightly as he considered his answer.