A Very Single Midwife

by Fiona McArthur

  ‘I need some space.’ Time away from him to think about the ramifications of wanting to give herself to Scott and what could happen to her if he let her down again.

  ‘Be careful,’ he called after her. It was the ‘be careful’ that did it.

  The next second her foot disappeared down a rabbit hole and her ankle twisted with excruciating sharpness as her full weight came down on it. Her cry was muffled but Scott heard it. The grass and rocks were digging into her hands as she tried to keep the weight of her body off her leg, and the tears sprang to her eyes as the burning pain shot up behind her knee. Any attempt to remove her leg from the hole made her whimper with distress.

  ‘It’s OK, sweetheart.’ Scott appeared on his knees beside her and his hand ran down her calf and into the hole. ‘You’ve jammed it good and proper and your ankle is starting to swell already. We have to get it out before it gets any fatter.’

  ‘I do not have fat ankles.’ Her voice was weak and she was trying not to cry with pain.

  He patted her shoulder. ‘Ankles, no, ankle, yes.’

  The next few minutes were ones that Bella would have preferred to forget. When her foot finally came free, her head was swimming from the pain. Scott gathered her up in his arms and hugged her to him for comfort then carried her back to the fire where he propped her up against the picnic basket.

  His cool hands ran lightly over the rapidly swelling bulge above her foot. ‘We have to bind that ankle. I don’t think it’s broken, but we’ll get you X-rayed when we get back.

  ‘You need an ice-pack, which we don’t have, but I’ll nip down to the river and get some cold water.’ He left her and gathered up the empty wine bottle to fill with water.

  When he returned from the river, he’d stripped off his shirt and had it bundled, sodden in his hand, ready to wrap around her ankle. As he crouched beside her, intent on supporting the swelling, Bella diverted herself by the sight in front of her.

  She’d never seen Scott without his shirt before. Maybe that had been good for her peace of mind—because she wasn’t going to forget the sight in a hurry. His chest was deep and broad with only a fine sprinkle of dark hair across the tanned expanse, and she remembered the solid feel of the muscles in his arms when he’d carried her across to lay her down. His skin glistened in the firelight and it bronzed his tan even more.

  There wasn’t an ounce of spare fat to be seen as he knelt over her and in her dazed state she found her hand straying to trace the ridges of muscles in his abdomen. His skin was warm and firm under her fingers. She imagined him shirtless, rhythmically shaving wood in his workshop, the muscles bunching and relaxing with the sweep of the plane. Her head swam.

  ‘Did I hurt you?’ He stopped at her touch and she drew her hand back and shook her head.

  ‘No. I just felt a bit faint. I needed to hang onto something.’ She was glad the light from the fire wasn’t shining on her face.

  He smiled at her and Bella felt faint again. ‘Your bedside manner is better than it was before,’ she murmured.

  He touched her cheek and returned to his bandaging and Bella had to admit the cold cloth felt heavenly against the heat in her ankle.

  When he’d secured it as well as he could, Scott sat back on his heels and looked at her. ‘I’m guessing your ankle is throbbing like a drum full of knives. I think we need to change plans about staying until morning. How do you feel about me leaving you for a short while to try for some reception on my phone?’

  Bella looked at the darkness at the edge of the circle of light they’d created. ‘I’ll be fine as long as a cow doesn’t decide to walk all over me.’

  ‘I could squeeze you into the back seat of the car with the windows down,’ Scott offered, but she shook her head.

  Despite the throbbing in her ankle, Bella smiled. ‘Leave me a big stick and I’ll be fine out here. It’s too nice a night to be stuck in a car.’

  He nodded and returned with two sticks, one magnificent wand-like branch and the other a shorter but sturdier one. ‘One for playing with and one for business.’ He put them beside her, as well as the wine bottle full of water and the jar of mango slices. He’d stripped the lambswool seat covers off the front seats of the car and made her a soft backrest and a fleecy mound to raise her leg on.

  ‘I’ll be as quick as I can. Call out if you need me. The sound should carry and I’ll hotfoot it back to you.’

  Bella looked up at him. He’d already come to her rescue once today. The image of Scott rushing to save her like a shirtless hero on a safari made her smile. ‘I’d like to see that.’

  Scott tapped her nose. ‘Do not cry wolf,’ he warned, but there was a smile behind his eyes. ‘I’m looking for the rise we came over before the parking area. I shouldn’t be long.’

  Bella twisted her neck to watch him disappear with long strides and he was beyond the light within seconds. The moon was slowly rising and it wasn’t as dark as it had been. She looked in the direction of the river and the sound of frogs and crickets seemed louder now that she was on her own. All this because she hadn’t wanted Scott to kiss her. Actually, because she’d really wanted Scott to kiss her too much.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  ON HIS return, Bella heard Scott’s footsteps crunching on the gravel before she saw him. He loomed tall above her and his face was very dear and welcome as he stepped into the light.

  ‘How did you go?’ They said it at the same time and both smiled.

  ‘I was fine.’ Bella went first. ‘Did you manage to speak to Rohan?’

  He nodded as he crouched down beside her to look at her ankle. ‘I had to go a bit further than I’d hoped to find reception, but he should be here in about an hour.’

  He studied her face. ‘How’s the pain?’

  ‘As long as I don’t move my ankle—bearable. Thank you for taking such good care of me, Scott.’ She looked away from his searching gaze.

  His voice was gentle. ‘If I hadn’t frightened you, you wouldn’t be in this predicament.’

  She felt the blush in her cheeks and kept her head down. ‘I overreacted. And was clumsy.’ She plastered a smile on her face and looked up at him. ‘Let’s not talk about it any more. What did Rohan say?’

  ‘Lots of things I’m not going to tell you.’ He shook his head with a grin and looked across at the fire. ‘I’d better build this fire up a bit so they can find us, then start collecting water so we can put it out when we go.’

  Later, when Rohan’s Range Rover nosed next to the bonnet of the Torana, they could see there were two occupants in the car. Scott scowled when he recognised the young man from Bella’s house.

  ‘I’ve brought Blake to be the mechanic because it’s his car.’ Rohan raised an eyebrow at Scott. ‘I would have brought a shirt for you if I’d known you’d lost yours.’ Rohan’s eyes twinkled in the glare of the headlights and he ignored the frown on Scott’s face.

  He smiled at Bella as she waved from her seat on the tarpaulin. ‘Hi, there, Bella. I’ve brought you some painkillers.’ Rohan came and sat down beside her and handed the tablets over. ‘What was that you were saying today about starting a rumour?’

  She ignored her brother-in-law’s question as she swallowed the pills. She wasn’t looking forward to the moving bit to come. ‘Thanks for these and for coming, Rohan.’ She smiled weakly across at Rohan’s companion. ‘You, too, Blake.’

  Blake leaned through the driver’s window of the Torana and popped the bonnet before turning back to her. ‘Vivie was beside herself, thought you’d had a crash,’ he said, and grinned as he raised the red bonnet.

  Bella shook her head. ‘Poor Vivie. No. I just left the headlights on when we stopped and flattened the battery, then I fell down a rabbit hole.’

  ‘One of those day’s, eh?’ Blake said with another grin. ‘I’ll leave the medical stuff to these guys and jump-start the car.’ Blake walked around and leaned into the front seat of Rohan’s car and pulled out the jumper leads. Efficiently he connected the two car
s and started Rohan’s car then climbed into the Torana and turned the engine over. It roared into life and Blake hopped out and disconnected the cars.

  Scott knelt down beside Bella. ‘Rohan and I will carry you together but I’m afraid this is going to be a little uncomfortable.’

  ‘Typical doctor’s understatement,’ Bella mumbled under her breath.

  ‘Put your arms around my neck and we’ll be as gentle as we can.’ Bella reached up and Scott’s hands went beneath her and suddenly she was up against his chest again. His warmth surrounded her and she’d never felt so safe.

  Strangely her ankle hardly hurt at all but maybe that was because Rohan supported it in the sheepskin and they eased her into the car with as little jerking as possible.

  Bella caught Rohan’s eyes as he watched Scott arrange her on the seat and she rushed into speech. ‘That was pretty good. You guys should have been paramedics, though I probably could have walked.’ It was all bravado because she wouldn’t have been able to put her foot to the ground, but she hoped it would divert the knowing looks she was receiving from both Rohan and Blake.

  Scott ignored the other two. ‘I don’t think so,’ he said as he eased the other sheepskin behind her leg to wedge it from moving. ‘Stop making a fuss.’

  Bella’s eyes widened at the unfairness of the comment. ‘I did not make a fuss.’

  ‘I know. I was teasing you. You’ve been very brave and I’ll be pleased when they’ve X-rayed that ankle. I’ll just go and make sure the fire’s out.’ He backed out of the car and Bella watched him go. He was so tall and efficient and he’d cared for her with kindness and compassion. She didn’t notice that she sighed as he walked away. Rohan did.

  Scott had actually been very calm about the whole cascade of events, she thought. If she had to be marooned with someone again, not that she was planning to be, she wouldn’t mind if it was Scott. Of course, there wasn’t much chance of that happening. The day had been a fiasco from start to finish. She’d be lucky if Scott wanted to talk to her after this night was over.

  The click of seat belts from the front meant they were on their way and Bella gazed wistfully out of the window as the headlights made one final sweep of the area before pointing back to the road. Blake honked his horn as he overtook them in his car and his taillights gradually disappeared.

  ‘Young fool,’ Scott growled.

  ‘Just young,’ Rohan disagreed. Bella’s ankle was too painful for her to enter the conversation. Thankfully Scott didn’t pursue his vendetta against Blake and the conversation died a natural death.

  When they arrived at the hospital, Scott seemed oblivious to the fact that he was shirtless and Bella was in his arms. Bella held herself stiffly although she felt like burying her face in his chest. To bury her face in his bare chest would actually be even nicer than burying it in his shirt, but she restrained herself.

  The last thing she wanted was that feeling of being the subject of the hastily terminated conversations she’d gone through last year. Hopefully any rumours would blow over before she came back to work.

  After an hour’s wait for X-ray results, the emergency doctor agreed with Scott and Rohan and pronounced her ankle bruised and strained but not broken.

  When Scott carried her back to the car, most of the staff of Outpatients were there to wave them off. Bella could feel the heat of embarrassment all the way to the tops of her ears. Considering how seriously Scott had always taken public opinion, he seemed unfazed. It was another puzzling facet of his recent behaviour.

  Rohan assured Scott that he could manage to get his sister-in-law to her room without Scott’s help and dropped him at his house. Scott leaned through the window before they could drive away. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow morning before work, Bella. Keep that leg elevated.’

  Rohan was remarkably restrained for the rest of the drive home and Bella sighed with relief. But she knew her sister would be given a full account of his suspicions. Bella didn’t want to think about that upcoming conversation because she wasn’t ready to examine her feelings for Scott Rainford on her own—let alone with anyone else.

  Wednesday

  The next morning, Bella’s ankle was less swollen but just as painful. Vivie brought her breakfast in bed and even Aunt Sophie had made it up the stairs to see the invalid.

  ‘The whole trip sounds like a disaster,’ Sophie pronounced. ‘It’s hard to look attractive when you’ve sprained your ankle.’

  ‘At least he took his shirt off to wrap around my ankle.’ Bella couldn’t resist the opportunity to shock Aunt Sophie, but she was dreaming.

  A snort indicated that Sophie was unimpressed. ‘If he took his trousers off, that would be something to write home about.’

  ‘Aunt Sophie!’ Typically her aunt had come out on top. ‘Scott was a complete gentleman after I was injured.’

  ‘And what about before?’ Sophie shot back. Bella blushed and Sophie cackled. ‘You’ve made my day. You wait till I see him.’

  ‘Aunt Sophie, don’t you dare say anything to Scott or I’ll never talk to you again.’

  ‘Eh?’ Sophie said as she heaved herself to her feet and cupped a hand over her ear. ‘What did you say? Can’t hear you.’

  Bella shook her head as she listened to her aunt chuckling and wheezing as she went down the stairs.

  Ten minutes later there was another knock and Scott opened the door. ‘Good morning, Bella. How’s your leg this morning?’

  He looked very handsome and Bella couldn’t help the tide of colour that rose in her cheeks as she worried if Sophie had seen him come in.

  ‘I’m fine. I think it’s a little better,’ she said.

  Scott sat down on the edge of the bed. ‘Sophie said it was still painful.’ Bella’s cheeks burned hotter. ‘Can I check it or would you rather someone else looked after you?’

  Bella frowned at his diffidence. ‘Now, why would I want that?’

  He shrugged and she pulled back the sheets to expose her legs. The bandages were still intact from the treatment in the emergency department and he nodded with approval at the pillow under her leg. He gently ran his fingers over the bandage. ‘The swelling’s gone down quicker than I thought it would.’ He undid the bandage and his cool fingers ran gently over her swollen skin. ‘It looks much better.’

  Bella had been rehearsing what to say to Scott all night. She bit her lip. ‘Scott?’

  He looked up. ‘Yes, Bella?’ There was amusement behind his eyes as if he knew what she was going to say.

  ‘I’m sorry for the inconvenience yesterday.’

  His eyes twinkled and she realised again how different he looked when he wasn’t being stern. ‘Why? I invited myself and dared you to say no.’

  Bella smiled. ‘Yes, you did.’ She decided on complete honesty. ‘Well, truth be told, I wasn’t really going until you invited yourself and then I couldn’t get out of it.’

  Scott laughed out loud and Bella thought how few times she’d seen him really laugh over the last month. He should do it more often—it made him look more like someone else she knew but she couldn’t place the resemblance. It also made him even more gorgeous.

  ‘I’d say we’re equally to blame,’ he said. ‘Next time we’ll take my car. The Volvo beeps when I leave the lights on.’

  Bella bit her lip at the thought of more day trips with Scott. She didn’t know how she felt about that idea. She left it at a noncommittal, ‘We’ll see.’ Luckily Scott didn’t pursue the conversation.

  ‘Keep that foot elevated today. How’s the pain, really?’ he asked.

  ‘A little easier and those pills Rohan gave me help, but they make me vague.’

  ‘Keep taking them today. If you rest properly you might be able to get up tomorrow.’ He glanced at his watch and stood up. ‘By the way, I rang the local bus service and they’ll donate a driver for your youth bus this week.’

  She felt like bursting into tears that he’d thought to do that for her, which was ridiculous. It was probably those st
upid pills that made her emotions so fragile. Bella bit her lip and looked up at him. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘Rest,’ he said, and left. Bella stared at the spot where he’d disappeared and then glanced at the clock to see how many hours until he came back. When she realised what she’d done she closed her eyes and called herself all kinds of fool.

  There was another knock on the door and she opened her eyes. She wouldn’t be lonely, she thought, and straightened her blankets and called for whoever it was to come in. Blake poked his head around the door but didn’t enter the room.

  ‘Hi, Bella.’ He smiled and Bella couldn’t help the feeling of déjà vu that trickled down her spine. He’d taken the eyebrow stud out, shaved and cut his hair, and it made him look older and infinitely more wholesome. ‘Who is this gorgeous young man at my door?’ she teased.

  ‘It was Vivie’s idea,’ Blake said, and he ran his hand through the short brown spikes on his head. ‘What do you think?’

  ‘You’ll get a swollen head if I tell you what I think.’

  Blake blushed. ‘I just wanted to know if you needed anything in town today.’ He shrugged. ‘Books, magazines, fruit?’

  Bella indicated the chair beside the bed. ‘Thanks for the offer, Blake. How about a conversation instead?’ Anything to get her mind away from her last visitor. ‘Can you spare me ten minutes?’

  Blake shrugged again and walked across the room. He spun the chair backwards to straddle it. ‘Sure.’

  Bella watched him sit and his boyish enthusiasm made her feel old. ‘I’m always rushing about and I haven’t had a chance to ask you how you’re settling in. So, tell me, how do you find living in a house full of women?’

  Blake laughed. ‘Actually, it’s fun. I always wanted a sister, and it’s like having six of them.’