The Outback Doctor

by Lucy Clark

  Sitting there with his eyes closed, he decided to give up fighting the inevitable and allowed different images of Rosie to drift in and out of his mind. The way she walked, with a calm confidence. The way her hips swished ever so slightly, her arms swinging loosely by her side. The way she slowly lifted her chin to meet his gaze and the way her blue eyes had looked after he’d kissed her.

  He groaned in exasperation but didn’t push the images away. He was only thinking about her—surely that couldn’t do any harm. He was the type of man to always learn from past mistakes so there was no way he’d ever need to worry about a long-term relationship with a woman like Rosie Partridge because it simply wasn’t going to happen. She wasn’t his type and that was all there was to it.

  Yet—he’d kissed her.

  He’d felt his heart leap at the wonderment and surprise in her eyes but her lips had been soft and pliant beneath his. No other woman had made his heart lurch like that before and it was a feeling he wasn’t sure he wanted repeated. He was divorced—with a child! He had responsibilities and they had nothing to do with Rosie Partridge.

  There had to be something wrong with him. Perhaps he was coming down with something or maybe it was due to the busy days he was putting in. Not only was he working at the hospital but he was also helping Mick out with the fencing which was in a bad state and desperately needed replacing.

  He allowed his thoughts to wander even more and the next thing he knew, he felt a hand on his shoulder, shaking him awake.

  ‘What are you doing, sleeping out here?’ Mick asked, a small grin on his lips.

  Dave stood and stretched. ‘Just getting some fresh air. What’s the time?’

  ‘Six.’

  Before his brother could quiz him further, Dave moved into the house, heading directly for the shower. When he was finished, he went to the kitchen to satisfy his growling stomach.

  ‘How long will you be at the hospital, Dave?’ Mick asked a few minutes later as he poured his brother a cup of coffee and handed it to him. Dave was just finishing his breakfast and was glad of the refill.

  ‘Hopefully, not too long. I should be back around ten.’

  Mick nodded but didn’t say anything else. Dave glanced up at him, sensing there was something more. ‘Spit it out.’

  Mick shrugged. ‘Just curious as to why you couldn’t sleep last night.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because the last time you couldn’t sleep and spent the night on the verandah was not long after you separated from Mags. Is everything all right? Is Mel all right?’

  Glad to have the topic off himself, Dave nodded. ‘I spoke to her yesterday and she sounded fine but, then, she’s six, Mick. How are six-year-olds supposed to sound?’

  Mick shrugged. ‘So if Mel’s all right, why couldn’t you sleep?’

  Dave groaned and sipped his coffee. ‘I just couldn’t. It’s been exhausting lately. Doing my work at the hospital and then helping you out—not that I’m complaining,’ he added quickly. ‘I’m more than happy to help out around the farm, but I’m a doctor, Mick, and a surgeon at that.’ Dave put his coffee down and held up his hands, a grin on his face. ‘I need to look after these babies.’

  Mick’s smile increased and he nodded. ‘Oh, yeah. It’s a woman, all right. So who is she?’

  ‘What? I just told you why I couldn’t sleep.’

  ‘It’s that new doc, isn’t it? Ah, what’s-her-name. You know, Reg’s daughter.’

  ‘Rosie.’ Even the way Dave said her name out loud sounded as though he were a love-struck teenager.

  ‘That’s it.’ Mick was grinning from ear to ear. ‘Woohoo. Big brother’s going down for the count yet again.’

  ‘Cut it out,’ Dave warned, laughter still lighting his eyes.

  ‘Well, if you’re not interested, why don’t you let me take a crack at her?’

  ‘No way.’ His words were vehement but he forced himself to relax. ‘Besides, you’ve already got a girlfriend.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘Mick!’ His brother knew how he felt about infidelity.

  ‘Easy on, mate. I’m only having a lend of you. It’s just she looked so gorgeous at the wedding and smiled so sweetly at me that I don’t know if I’ll be able to resist.’ Mick’s tone indicated he was teasing but Dave felt a tightening in his gut.

  ‘Keep your distance.’ Dave pointed his finger at his brother. ‘She’s not your type.’

  ‘And I suppose she’s yours?’ Mick laughed. ‘Just wait till I tell—’

  ‘Don’t you breathe a word of this to anyone,’ Dave interrupted, his mirth instantly gone. ‘Promise me, Mick. Besides, there’s nothing really to gossip about. Understand?’

  ‘Hey, you know I was only foolin’ around.’ He crossed his heart, the way they had when they’d been kids. ‘You have my word,’ Mick promised as he headed for the door. Before pushing open the screen door, he turned and added, ‘For the moment.’

  ‘Get out of here,’ Dave growled, and sipped at his coffee. And you, he told himself sternly, get a hold of yourself. If he didn’t, soon the whole town would be gossiping.

  CHAPTER THREE

  ROSE woke up late on Sunday morning, finally having given in to her body’s need to sleep. She was glad the spare room, where she was sleeping, had its own en suite, complete with a bath. Her room also had a separate entry and exit. That way, when her father and Beverley returned from their honeymoon, she wouldn’t wake them if she came in late from the hospital.

  She wandered through to the kitchen in search of food and a hot cup of coffee. To her disgust, she only found a piece of stale bread and instant coffee. Ugh. She needed to get all of her things unpacked. Even so, she hadn’t bothered to pack any special coffee because she’d presumed her father would have some. Amazingly, for someone who was a chef, her father’s kitchen was basically bare. Then again, both he and Beverley had had other things on their mind than doing the grocery shopping before they’d left for their honeymoon.

  Rose shuffled back to her bedroom and decided on a shower, especially as it seemed she needed to go to the shops. She took her time beneath the spray, enjoying the luxury of not rushing. That’s the way her life had been for the past eighteen years since she’d started med school. Always rushing here or there. Lectures, exams, clinical sessions, operations. If it hadn’t been one thing, it had been another. Now she was here she intended to relax a little.

  The hospital was a whole seven-minute drive away from her father’s house—rather than a forty-minute drive through peak-hour traffic, as the hospital she’d worked at in Sydney had been.

  Here, in dusty, hot Broken Hill, she could relax. She took a deep breath as though to prove it to herself and closed her eyes beneath the warm spray.

  Then a vision of Dave appeared in her mind, making her tense. ‘No. Relax,’ she said firmly. ‘Let the thoughts flow.’ It was what a psychologist friend had told her before she’d left. Letting the thoughts flow would help her accept the break-up with Julian more easily. Repressing was bad. So why couldn’t that work for Dave as well?

  She took another breath and let the thoughts flow. He was very good-looking—tall, too. She liked tall men. Julian hadn’t been as tall as Dave, she was sure of that. Last night, when Dave had brushed that brief kiss across her lips, he’d had to bend a lot further and her head had been at a different angle.

  The feather-light touch of that kiss still seemed to burn on her lips and she raised her fingers to her mouth, expecting to find them hot—but they weren’t. She opened her eyes and looked at the shower wall. How could one tiny kiss have such an incredible effect on her? Julian certainly hadn’t affected her in this way and they’d been engaged!

  ‘Men!’ Would she ever understand them? She turned the taps off and focused her thoughts on something more practical, like what food she needed to buy. She dressed quickly and headed out to her car. It had been parked in the driveway as her father’s car was in the garage, and the heat was stifling. She started the eng
ine to get the air-conditioner working while she checked the local map Beverley had left for her, marked with places to eat, where the shopping centres were and some interesting sculptures she might want to see. Broken Hill supported a great artistic community, with outback painters capturing their own interpretation of nature’s delights.

  Rose glanced at the car clock and was surprised to find it was almost midday. Her stomach growled, making its sentiments known. ‘Lunch, or rather brunch first, I think,’ she remarked as she checked the map again, deciding on a location at which to eat.

  When she pulled into the car park, she realised the place Beverley had marked was nothing more than a pub. An outback pub, she thought as she climbed from the car, her sunglasses still shielding her eyes. The food must be good—after all, her father’s tastebuds were quite finicky. Determined to persevere, Rose walked up to the door, automatically swatting flies as she went.

  The first thing that hit her as she walked in was the smell of beer, and stale beer at that. The second was the cool breeze from the air-conditioner. The third was the noise. It was as though the place were filled with rowdy school-children, such was the volume level. Rose frowned as her gaze adjusted to the artificial lighting.

  She scanned the room, seeing big sweaty men, dressed in some sort of sports uniform, teasing and laughing with each other. Then she spotted Dave. Her lips burned again with the memory of the way he’d made her feel last night, and she shook her thoughts clear. She should have known he’d be the type of larikin to be involved in something as noisy as this. He was sitting on a chair, his elbow up on a table, his palm open in challenge. Seconds later, a victim, who had a shock of red hair, was found and mirrored Dave’s position.

  ‘Three, two, one—go!’ someone shouted, and the wild cheering began again. Rose stood, mesmerised by the sight of Dave’s bulging biceps and his stern concentration as the ridiculous and uncivilised contest continued. Slowly, she lifted her sunglasses from her eyes and held them loosely in her hand, now openly staring at the men and their antics. Dave was putting up a good fight and almost had his opponent’s arm down.

  Rose’s sunglasses slipped from her fingers, bringing her back to reality. Shaking her head at being drawn under his spell, she sighed heavily and bent to pick them up.

  Hoots of laughter had her straightening quickly and glancing over at the table. Dave’s blue gaze scorched right through her and for a moment she felt like a roo trapped in the headlights of an oncoming car. She held her breath before looking away.

  ‘How could you lose?’ one of the men wailed. ‘You never lose.’

  She risked a surreptitious glance at Dave, only to see him smiling good-naturedly at his friends as they teased him mercilessly. Dave had lost? Apparently so. She smiled to herself as she headed to the bar, glad that he wasn’t so perfect.

  Dave watched as Rose sat down on a bar stool. Never had he lost an arm wrestling match to a more stunning distraction. She was dressed in a flowing summer dress, the same reddish-orange colour of Uluru, which buttoned up the front and had revealed a good portion of her long legs when she’d bent to retrieve the sunglasses. It had been those long legs which had cost him his concentration.

  ‘Dave?’

  At the sound of Mick’s voice, Dave quickly turned his attention back to his brother.

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘Bit distracted, eh, mate?’ his brother asked, his eyebrows raised suggestively. ‘And I can see why.’ Mick’s voice was low but Dave still glared at him.

  ‘Who is that?’ one of the blokes asked, angling his head in Rose’s direction.

  Mick ruffled his friend’s shock of red hair. ‘She’s too sophisticated for you, mate.’

  ‘Hey. I like socistifated women,’ the bloke retorted.

  ‘Yeah, right,’ one of the others chided. ‘You can’t even say the word right.’

  ‘So who is she?’

  ‘Reg Partridge’s daughter.’ Dave cleared his throat and looked away. ‘She’s the new anaesthetist at the hospital.’

  ‘Take me in for surgery, mate. If I get to lie on that operating table and gaze up at her, I’d be a happy man,’ one of them said.

  ‘Yeah—before she knocks you unconscious with the drugs,’ Dave added. There was a round of hearty laughter.

  ‘Dave always gets the good-lookin’ ones. Mags was a definite looker,’ another bloke added.

  ‘Who slept with any bloke she met,’ Mick added in defence of his brother.

  ‘Rose is just my colleague.’ Dave took a sip of his soft drink.

  ‘Besides, she’s a city slicker,’ Mick stated, and some of the men nodded. In the outback, the locals stuck together, always polite but never getting too close to those who came and went with the seasons.

  ‘How long is she here for, Dave?’

  ‘Six months.’ Dave finished off his drink. ‘Well, it was a great practice game today,’ he praised as he stood. ‘But I’ve gotta get going.’

  ‘What? You’re not staying for lunch?’

  ‘Not today.’

  ‘But, Dave…’

  ‘Ah, leave him,’ Mick said as he slapped his brother heartily on the shoulder. ‘He was up helping me with the fencing this morning before our hockey game, and he’s had a few emergencies in the last few days.’ Mick lowered his voice and spoke in a stage whisper. ‘Besides, he’s getting old now. Almost forty.’

  The guys all laughed and Dave grinned at them. ‘Two more years,’ he told his friends. ‘I need to get to the hospital and check on Bob again.’

  ‘When are you gonna let us come and see him?’

  ‘Maybe tomorrow.’

  ‘Everything all right, Dave?’ Mick asked, concerned.

  ‘I’m not sure.’ Dave glanced over at Rose as he spoke. She was sitting up at the bar, studying the menu. He really should mention that he might be taking Bob back to Theatre. ‘I just need to check on him again. I’ll see you guys later.’ With that, Dave headed over to where Rose sat at the bar, trying to block out the whistles and taunts from his mates.

  ‘Hi,’ he said quietly as he leaned on the bar.

  ‘Hello.’

  He saw her nose twitch and realised he probably smelt like a wombat. He took a small step to the side, away from her. ‘Can I have your mobile phone number?’

  ‘Why?’ She turned to look at him, a suspicious glint in her eyes.

  ‘Because I’m heading to the hospital to check on Bob.’ At the mention of their patient, the suspicion left her gaze. ‘When I saw him this morning, he still wasn’t right. One of the drains might be blocked.’

  ‘You want to take him back to Theatre?’

  ‘Possibility. I wanted to let you know.’

  ‘I appreciate it.’ She turned her attention back to the menu. ‘I’d better decide what to order, then.’

  ‘The hamburger is good,’ he offered. ‘Unlike those fast-food restaurants, this hamburger is healthy. Or, if you want something light, try their breakfast omelette. It’s delicious.’

  ‘Thanks.’ When he didn’t move she looked at him again. ‘Something else?’

  ‘Your mobile number?’

  ‘The hospital has it.’

  Dave pulled his mobile phone from his shorts pocket. ‘I’d like it just the same. In case I need to call you away from the hospital.’

  The thought of the brief kiss they’d shared jumped into her head. ‘W-why?’ she asked, clearing her throat, cross with herself for stuttering.

  ‘In case there’s an emergency and I’m not at the hospital,’ he stated matter-of-factly.

  ‘Oh.’ She felt foolish and switched her anger towards him. How dared he make her feel this way? She rattled off her number and watched him programme it into his phone before the bartender came up to take her order.

  ‘I’ll have the fish, thank you,’ she stated.

  ‘Don’t make it too big a serve,’ Dave butted in. ‘I might need her in Theatre soon.’

  ‘Right you are, Dave,’ was the man’s reply, and
Rose felt like knocking both of their heads together. Arrogant pigs.

  Rose was determined to put him in his place. She might be physically attracted to him, she might have to work with him, but she didn’t have to bow to his every whim. ‘Was that all you wanted, Dr…?’ She stopped. He’d done it again. Because she didn’t know his last name, she wasn’t able to put him in his place.

  ‘What? Is there something wrong?’ Dave stared at her with concern.

  ‘No. Go see your patient and leave me to eat as much of my lunch as I have time to.’ When in doubt, go for the direct dismissal. She was proud of herself for regrouping and after a few heart-stopping seconds, when she thought Dave was going to say something else, he finally turned and left her in peace, waving to his friends as he went.

  She was halfway through her lunch, grudgingly acknowledging that Dave had been right to suggest a smallish portion because she was almost full, when she realised someone was standing beside her.

  ‘G’day. I’m Mick. We met at the wedding yesterday.’

  Rose forced a smile. She’d met so many people yesterday and she knew she wouldn’t remember them all.

  ‘Thought I’d give you some time to eat before coming to say g’day. Dave said he might need you at the hospital.’

  ‘Yes,’ Rose replied as she forked in another mouthful of the delicious steamed fish fillet.

  Another man joined him—the one with the red hair who’d been arm-wrestling with Dave. ‘G’day. I just wanted to say thanks for walking in when ya did.’

  Rose frowned at him. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You distracted Dave.’ He laughed. ‘He was so busy ogling you that I managed to beat him at arm-wrestling.’ He shook his head in bemusement. ‘First time for everything.’

  Rose wasn’t quite sure how to receive this information. Surely that wasn’t the way it had happened, was it? Had Dave been ogling her? She knew he must find her attractive at least, otherwise how could she explain that brief kiss last night?