Australia Outback Fantasies

by Margaret Way

  ‘I suppose that’s something.’ Maxi twirled her pen thoughtfully. ‘But it doesn’t mean we’ll get numbers, does it?’

  ‘Having the pub as the venue is a good start.’ Jake infused enthusiasm into his voice. ‘The guys who normally come into town for a drink and a game of snooker on a Friday night may just be curious enough to poke their heads in and see what’s happening. And it takes only one or two and the others will follow.’

  ‘Like sheep.’

  ‘Reluctant sheep,’ Jake countered with a wry grin.

  ‘Oh, well …’ Maxi’s mouth turned down. ‘I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. I’m so grateful you decided to give me a hand on the actual night, Jacob.’

  He lifted a shoulder in a shrug. ‘Everything deserves a second chance.’

  Even them? Maxi wondered, a tiny flicker of unease shadowing her eyes. Their relationship had come a long way but instinctively, she knew they were taking nothing for granted. They were closer than they’d ever been. Yet neither had sought commitment. She tried not to analyse that, letting what they’d rediscovered be enough to be going on with.

  Jake wished he knew what she was really thinking. He studied her mouth, unaware his eyes had darkened with need. He loved her, wanted her, wanted to build his life around her. But could she say the same about him? Or should they just keep blundering along, grateful for what they had?

  For the umpteenth time his thoughts edged towards asking her to make a formal commitment. Because otherwise what were they having here? A hot affair? Mentally, he winced at the suggestion. It was much more than that, surely? But he couldn’t rush her. Every instinct was telling him that. He’d tried that once and look where that had got them—a two-year separation that had almost killed them emotionally.

  ‘I happened to bump into Myles Carpenter at the barber shop yesterday.’ He switched his thoughts back to the present. ‘He was actually reading one of the flyers you’d left there.’

  ‘He was?’ Maxi’s vice rose in surprise. ‘So, did he mention he might come along on the night?’

  Jake’s eyes glinted with soft amusement. ‘Rural males don’t flag those kinds of decisions, Max. But I casually mentioned it should be a good night,’ he confessed a bit sheepishly. ‘If only Myles could begin to seek some help, even in this roundabout way, he could find it a jumping-off point to begin solving his family problems.’

  Maxi nodded. If, and it was a very big if, he did attend, and somehow it helped his family, it would all have been worth it.

  ‘Has anyone turned up yet?’ Maxi asked of Bron. It was Friday evening and they were at the pub, in the little annexe adjoining the room where the seminar was being held.

  ‘Couple,’ Bron said guardedly. ‘Heaps of time yet.’

  Maxi checked her watch. ‘Perhaps if we’d held it earlier, or later …’ Or not at all.

  Bron made a sound of dismissal. ‘We couldn’t have made it earlier. We had to allow the guys from the outlying districts time to get home from their farm work, shower and change and drive here. And anything later wouldn’t have worked either.’

  ‘I know, I know. We discussed it a thousand times.’ Maxi took a steadying breath and let it go. ‘Thanks for being the voice of sanity, Bron.’

  ‘Any time. I don’t charge for friends,’ she said dryly.

  ‘Where’s Jacob, though?’ Maxi was all but wringing her hands. ‘He said he’d be here.’

  ‘He’s downstairs at the bar.’

  ‘At the bar!’ Maxi could feel her control of things slipping by the second. ‘What on earth is he doing there?’

  ‘Don’t panic.’ Bron flapped a hand. ‘If I know Jake, he’ll be drowning in orange juice and networking like mad to get a decent roll-up. Can’t have all your good work going to waste, can we?’

  Maxi felt her heart squeeze tight. How generous of Jacob. And he was doing it all for her sake so that she wouldn’t be disappointed. ‘He’s a very good rural doctor, isn’t he?’

  ‘The best,’ Bron agreed quietly. ‘Totally tuned into the special needs of the folk out here.’

  Maxi’s heart began beating like a tom-tom. So, how on earth could she ask him to leave—if ever she had to?

  ‘Well, what did you think of the evening?’ Jake asked. It was several hours later and they were on their way home.

  ‘Um … I thought it turned out quite well.’

  ‘Quite well?’ Jake imitated her crisp little accent to a T. ‘Lady, you were terrific.’

  ‘Was I? Really?’ Her hand went to her throat. ‘Most of it turned out pretty good fun, didn’t it?’

  ‘It was good. In fact, I think we may have quite an increase in our list of male patients as a result.’

  ‘You might. I somehow doubt they’ll come to see me in droves.’

  ‘They might surprise you there.’

  ‘You think?’

  ‘Mmm. They like your style, Doctor. As I do.’ Jake placed his hand over hers and squeezed.

  ‘Thanks, Jake.’ Maxi spun him a soft look.

  ‘For what?’

  ‘For tonight—rallying round, getting the men to at least look in.’

  ‘And stay for the most part,’ he reminded her. ‘Even Myles Carpenter shoved his head in for a while. I hope he took something positive away with him.’

  ‘Lily’s applied for several scholarships. She’s hopeful of getting one. Just the thought of perhaps going away to school has made such a difference to her outlook.’

  ‘And it’s all down to your intervention.’ Jake brought her knuckles to his lips.

  She gurgled a laugh. ‘Now, if I could just make it rain, they’d put up a statue after I’m gone.’

  Jake felt the weight of her words knocking in his chest. What an odd thing to say. Was this her roundabout way of telling him she now saw her time here as limited? He formed the words to challenge her but his throat dried before he could get them out.

  He wouldn’t ask her. Because deep down he didn’t want to know.

  Maxi was midway through her morning surgery on Monday when Jake made a surprise announcement over their interconnecting phone. ‘I’ve just had a call from Croyden. Alex Vellacott delivered her baby by C-section this morning. A little girl. She’s small but they’re hopeful.’

  Maxi gave a delighted cry. ‘That’s wonderful news! Those extra few weeks will have been the kick-start the bub needed. Oh, Jake, let’s send some flowers—could we?’

  His chuckle was indulgent. ‘Talk to Ayleen. She’ll organise it. Uh, it’s a short list today. Why don’t we take off to Wonga Springs this afternoon? Feel like a swim?’

  In a second Maxi was contrasting the heat of the day against diving into the deliciously cool spring water. It would be heaven. ‘Um, I guess …’ She felt oddly flustered, hesitating over her reply. ‘I’ll just need time to duck home and change into my swimsuit.’

  ‘If you must.’ Jake gave a dry laugh. ‘It doesn’t mean I’ll let you keep it on, though,’ he ended throatily.

  ‘Promises, promises …’ Maxi hardly recognised her voice. She’d sounded positively giddy. Her lashes fluttered down and she felt her face heat almost as if he was watching her instead of being on the other end of the phone line. ‘See you at home a bit later, then.’ She ended the call quickly. Sitting back in her chair, she fanned the sudden heat from her face.

  He’d obviously been only teasing her, Maxi decided some time later, as they swam lazily up and down in the crystal-clear rock pool. There’d been no further hint of skinny-dipping and Jake, to her relief, was wearing a pair of baggy swim shorts.

  Suddenly, she wondered uneasily whether he thought her a bit of a prude. Surely not. Heavens, they made love often enough for him not to think that. She was just being modest, she consoled herself. But would it matter here, with only a few cows looking on, if she slipped out of her swimsuit and swam nude with him? Would he like her to? More to the point, would she like to?

  Still mulling over her options, she turned over and began to fl
oat, observing that Jake had done the same. ‘Lovely, isn’t it?’ she sighed, a feeling of pure gladness twisting inside her.

  ‘Mmm.’ Jake turned his head. She was here with him in the way he’d always dreamed about, and nothing had ever felt so right. Suddenly, he wanted to share everything with her—right down to the deep blue canopy of sky, the cool depth of the water, the sharp tang of the eucalypts and the other more elusive bush smells that charged his senses. This is my country, he wanted to shout. My country.

  ‘Max?’ Scooping a hand into the water, he scattered droplets over the creaminess of her throat and the peep of cleavage above her swimsuit. ‘Open your eyes.’

  She sent him a droll look. ‘They’re open.’

  ‘What do you see?’

  Maxi gazed upwards between the lacy pattern of overhanging branches. What on earth was she supposed to say here? Oh, well, if it meant so much to him. ‘I see leaves and sky, sky and more sky.’

  ‘And that’s it?’ Jake pretended outrage.

  She stuck out her tongue at him. ‘You want poetry?’

  ‘You bet I do.’

  Laughing, she made a lunge at him but he was too quick. He ducked her and she came up slicked with water, her hands clasped around his neck. They pressed foreheads, touched noses and kissed playfully once, twice.

  Just when it changed into something else, Maxi wasn’t sure. She heard her name on his deep exhalation of breath and then he was reclaiming her mouth in a searing kiss, stripping away the top of her swimsuit in one swift movement. The rest followed and she wriggled her hips as though she couldn’t wait to be free of the restricting garment.

  And, oh, it was heaven. As the water welcomed her nakedness in its cool embrace, she wondered why on earth she had ever hesitated.

  Jake noted her wonderment with a touch of arrogant male satisfaction. In a second he’d discarded his swim shorts, sending them in an overhead arc towards the bank. ‘Good?’ He turned back to her.

  ‘Magic.’ She went into his arms, loving the feel of his maleness, of skin against skin, the soft caress of the water and the whisper of the trees above them. She made a husky whimper in her throat as he kissed her sweetly. And slowly, as if prolonging the pleasure, she let him part her lips, allowing his insistent tongue to enter. He tasted of the outdoors, cool and fresh and something else … something of the drowsing late afternoon and the mood.

  And the essence of hard-muscled masculinity.

  ‘Maxi …’ Jake’s hands fell to the round curves of her backside, pulling her in to feel his maleness, moulding her body to his.

  She shuddered, her senses spinning her off-centre.

  Jake groaned her name hoarsely, lowering his head to kiss her, lifting her, joining her body to his. He could feel her tighten around him, heard her moan as though poised on the edge of her release.

  Jake’s response was electric. In an instant, pulses began rocking his body from head to toe as he became lost in the taste and texture of her, his passion climbing to fever pitch, fuelled by her guttural little cry and then shattering as she arched back, exposing her throat, white, like the finest porcelain.

  At some point they eased apart but only enough to hold each other. Maxi felt her feet touch the sandy bottom of the pool as he lowered her.

  ‘Could it ever get any better than this, Max?’ Jake hooked his chin across the top of her head and wrapped her more closely.

  ‘I wouldn’t think so.’ She pulled back and smiled shakily up at him, the breath catching in her throat as he parted her hair a little to kiss just behind her ear. She looked around dazedly. The sun had shifted. ‘How long have we been here?’

  He grinned. ‘A couple of lifetimes? Want to get out?’

  She nodded quickly, suddenly conscious of her nakedness, her vulnerability. At Jake’s invitation, she locked her arms around his waist, allowing him to tow her up the steep incline to the grassy bank above.

  Maxi made a beeline for her towel. With her back to him, she wrapped herself firmly into its folds, tucking the end into the hollow between her breasts. That felt better.

  ‘Don’t tell me you’re still shy!’ Jake’s disbelieving bark of laughter rang out.

  ‘I was cold,’ she defended, refusing to look at him, scuttling off behind the vehicle to get dressed.

  Jake was still chuckling when she emerged a few minutes later, dressed in her jeans and T-shirt and towelling her hair dry. ‘What?’ she sent him a haughty glance.

  ‘Nothing,’ he countered, laughter still in his throat as he gathered up their wet swimmers and stuffed them into a sports bag. ‘You about ready to hit the road?’

  ‘Sure.’ Maxi shook her hair out, finger-combing it into a semblance of order. When his mobile phone rang, she looked at him with a sense of resignation.

  ‘I’d say that’s the end of our perfect afternoon.’ Jake’s smile was rueful as he whipped the phone from his back pocket and held it to his ear.

  Watching him, Maxi felt the thread of resentment. For a couple of hours they’d been able to forget the responsibilities that went with being outback doctors. But then, whatever way you looked at it, they were never really off duty.

  Never.

  And what kind of emergency were they facing now? she fretted, settling herself quickly into the passenger seat of the Land Rover while Jake finished his call.

  Seconds later, he threw himself into the driver’s seat and started the engine. ‘Young Nathan Goode’s gone missing,’ he said, his voice clipped as he reversed in a swift arc and took off back towards the main road.

  Maxi felt the tentacles of an unknown kind of fear grip her insides. ‘How long has he been gone?’

  ‘Karryn’s not sure.’ Frustration sounded in Jake’s voice. ‘Usually Nate and Belinda have some outdoors playtime in the late afternoon when it’s cooler, but apparently today Belinda left Nate to his own devices and came inside to play with the baby.’

  ‘And she didn’t tell her mother?’

  Jake shook his head. ‘Karryn was busy in the kitchen. When she went to call the kids for their bath, Nathan was gone. And it seems the dog’s gone with him.’

  Maxi looked uncertain. ‘Is that good or bad?’

  ‘Could work either way.’ They’d reached the junction and Jake took the main road out of town, aiming the Land Rover in the direction of Westwood. ‘The most logical scenario is that the dog will be apt to just run and run, looking for adventure, and Nate will try to keep up with him.’

  ‘So, you’re saying they could already be miles away by now?’

  Jake frowned. ‘It looks that way.’

  ‘But Nathan’s only four. Surely his little legs will give up and he’ll simply plonk himself down somewhere. And wait to be found.’

  ‘He won’t realise he’s lost,’ Jake said heavily. ‘And if the dog scents cattle, he’ll be gone like the wind, and Nate with him.’

  ‘But if he’s a good dog, he’ll protect Nathan.’ Maxi tried to bolster her hopes.

  ‘Stay with him? Maybe.’ Jake’s mouth tightened. ‘But parts of the property are steep and scrubby. Nathan could take a bad tumble and we’d be ages trying to find him. And we’ve barely an hour of daylight left to search.’

  Maxi cast her fears aside. ‘On the other hand, if that’s what happened, the dog could alert the search party by barking—couldn’t he?’

  ‘There is that,’ Jake agreed. He didn’t want to play devil’s advocate but he had to prepare her for the seriousness of the situation. The Outback was no place for a small child. There were waterholes and dams all over the property. And even though they were drying up, there’d still be enough water to entice an adventurous little boy like Nate. He could be out of his depth in seconds. And unfortunately accidental deaths by drowning on farms were still too numerous for Jake not to feel a measure of unease. He took a steadying breath. He wouldn’t allow himself to go there. Not yet.

  Maxi knitted her fingers together across her chest. ‘So, as doctors, what exactly is our role he
re, Jacob?’

  ‘To help where we can. I’ll go out with the search party, of course—it’s just a precaution in case Nathan has sustained an injury.’

  Or worse. Maxi felt her stomach churn. ‘Ok—I’ll stay with Karryn at Westwood, shall I?’

  ‘That’s the general idea. The homestead will be the headquarters for the search. People will turn up from everywhere to help. The CWA will be there very quickly to support Karryn and get food and hot drinks laid on for the search parties.’

  ‘Have you been involved in searches before, then?’

  ‘Plenty of times. Usually it’s a foolhardy tourist who’s gone missing. It can be a pretty daunting experience being lost in this kind of country.’

  ‘I can imagine …’ Maxi’s voice faltered.

  Looking at the group already assembling around the Goodes’, outbuildings, Maxi felt tentacles of fear grip her insides. Somewhere in the back of her mind she’d cherished a hope that by the time she and Jake arrived, Nathan would have been found.

  But the stark reality was all there before her eyes. The search was about to get under way. Somewhere out there in the vastness of the outback there was a lost little boy. She turned to Jake as he brought his vehicle to a stop beside a farm utility. ‘If Nathan hasn’t been found by dark, what will you do—abandon the search and wait till morning?’

  ‘No way. The team will have equipment that seeks out body heat. If we get within cooee of Nate or the dog, it will go off and alert us.’

  ‘Will you please be careful?’

  ‘I’m not the one you have to worry about.’ In one fluid movement Jake threw open the car door, his impatience to be gone evident. ‘Just keep a friendly eye on Karryn and Belinda. That’s all you have to do.’

  ‘Good luck!’ Maxi called out to him, but he was already out of earshot, jogging across to where the first party of searchers was about to head out.

  Maxi’s feelings were very mixed as she alighted slowly from the four-by-four. She lifted a hand, batting away several persistent bush flies, the heat of the early evening pressing down on her. She brought her gaze up, suddenly conscious of the backdrop of scenery. There were no two ways about it. This was harsh country. Unforgiving country. A man’s world. And Jake slotted into it like a hand into a well-fitting glove. The thought gave her no comfort.