He ticked them off his fingers. ‘Respectability or at least some degree of conventionality.’ He raised his eyebrows once before going on as if to say, You may have a problem there. ‘Empathy with my clients, experience in midwifery, including antenatal and postnatal care of women and their babies, computer skills and the ability to liaise with the hospital and other medical professionals.’
‘So the job’s right up my alley.’ Ellie pinned him with a direct look. ‘What’s your major problem, Luke? What I look like or the fact it’s me?’
He didn’t answer but he knew that, except for the first point, he’d just described her. She would do the job well.
She shook her head. ‘I guess that answers it. I’m the problem.’ She stood up. ‘Thanks for the burger.’
‘Ellie, wait.’ Luke stood up as well. He sighed. ‘I’ll give you a three-month trial period—but we’re talking corporate dress code here. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday eight-thirty to five-thirty. I don’t need you on the other two days as Thursdays I’m operating all day and Friday is my gynaecological clinic at the hospital. Will the long days be all right for your son?’
Ellie smiled up at him. ‘No worries. Three long days are better than five shorter days away from him.’
She stepped closer and took his hand to shake it. ‘Thanks, Luke. You won’t regret giving me a chance.’
She felt fragile beneath his fingers and he wanted to do more than shake hands with her. He disentangled himself before he acted on that impulse, then stepped back and glanced around the empty café. Only the proprietor was watching.
‘I’ll see you Monday, then,’ he said, and walked quickly away.
CHAPTER TWO
ELLIE sat in her car and rested her head on the steering-wheel. She had a job. And the name of a place to buy a work outfit that covered her stomach.
She was exhausted and couldn’t believe how much it had affected her, just seeing Luke. Age and experience had hardened the angles of his face but his innate kindness still shone through. But she hated the way that seeing Luke had brought back the memories of the past.
Ellie’s mother had told her on her seventeenth birthday that she’d be completing her last year of high school in another town. She’d rushed off to Luke’s house but he hadn’t been there, only his mother. And the old witch had practically danced on the roof to hear that Ellie was leaving. Ellie shrugged off the pinprick of hurt from so long ago and concentrated on the present.
Well, at least for the three-month trial, she and Josh wouldn’t go hungry. Not that Josh ate much. She frowned. And even less lately. She herself could live on a lettuce leaf. Ellie started the car and pulled out behind the only other car on the road—not exactly a stream of traffic.
She’d forgotten how quiet this small seaside town had been. And it hadn’t changed much. She’d never really spent much time in the real inner Sydney, but the outer suburb where she’d spent the last year was an excited ants’ nest compared to sleepy Bell’s River.
The name Bell’s River was music to Ellie’s ears and she’d always envisaged it was because the mouth of the river was shaped like a bell as it merged with the sea. Then there was the cove. She’d loved the cove.
A few minutes later she pulled up at her rented house. It was small and quaint and in need of a birthday, but Ellie adored the disarray of it. The yard out back, with its big mulberry tree and run-down vegetable patch from previous tenants, was a wonderland for the garden enthusiast in Ellie.
But best of all was the delightful elderly couple next door who had offered to watch Josh for her any time, because they missed their own grandchildren.
When she knocked on the neighbour’s door she could hear Josh gurgling with laughter from inside. It made all the struggles and the pain worthwhile to hear that sound, and she was still smiling when Lil Judd opened the door.
‘Come in, Ellie. That boy of yours has had us in fits for the last hour.’ Her friendly face peered up at Ellie. ‘Did you get the job?’
Ellie grinned. ‘Yep. Three days a week. I start on Monday, so I’ve a few days to get myself organised and Josh into preschool. Thanks for having him.’
‘He’s a pleasure, my dear. Josh’s manners are beautiful and my man is here to help me. They’re already great mates.’
Clem Judd looked up from the game of snakes and ladders and groaned at his miniature opponent’s luck.
‘Mum.’ Josh caught sight of his favourite person and jumped up to wrap himself around his mother’s legs. She stroked his head and then bent down to drop a kiss on his thatch of thick red hair because she couldn’t help herself.
‘Hello, my love. We have to go shopping. Have you had a good time?’
He nodded enthusiastically, grabbed his mother’s hand and waved a cheery goodbye to the older couple.
Ellie managed to enrol Josh into a progressive preschool with long day care to cover her work hours. She left Josh there for an hour to see if he liked it while she went uniform hunting.
Deciding on uniforms was a little harder. Luke Farrell must have forewarned the shop owner because there was a collection of skirts and tops waiting in the cubicle when she said who she was.
She hated all of them. Beige shirts, bottle green, fawn, pastel green, pastel yellow and pink. They were not Ellie’s colours!
Ellie glanced at the woman’s name badge. ‘Susan, I can handle the bottle-green skirt but the beige shirt sucks. What else can we do?’ She grinned down at the tiny saleswoman and the serious expression on the woman’s face melted into a smile.
‘I’ve a bright button-through top that would look lovely, and even a floral bottle green that would just stretch to sit over the waist of the skirt—but it’s a bit see-through and you’d have to wear a flesh-coloured bra underneath. They’re different but you’d still get away with looking corporate. They’re only a little dearer but I’m sure Luke won’t mind.’
The smile on Ellie’s face faltered. ‘Aren’t I paying for these?’
Susan’s eyes widened. ‘Luke said to bill the surgery. I thought they were uniforms and I know the hospital supplies the uniforms there.’
Ellie wasn’t sure what it was that made her uneasy but figuring out how to pay this off her credit card now wasn’t a problem. She shrugged. ‘You’re a lifesaver, Susan. In that case, I’ll take them both and go look for some “corporate” shoes.’
‘And stockings?’ Susan was looking at her under her brows as if she were a recalcitrant child. Ellie burst out laughing and when she had herself back under control she murmured, ‘In this heat? I don’t think so.’ She grinned again. ‘Maybe those little sock things that sit inside your shoes.’
Susan shook her head and suggested the shoe store two doors down.
Back at the preschool to pick up Josh, Ellie smiled. ‘You are amazing, Mr Diamond.’ The stiffness in her neck eased when she saw how settled Josh was. The school was close to her work, which meant she could even walk to visit him in her lunch-hour. She hugged him and silently hoped that she would fit as well into her new job.
By the time Ellie had finished all her errands, Josh was wilting. ‘Hungry, honey?’ Josh shook his head. ‘You’ve been such a good boy. Let’s grab some take-aways to celebrate Mummy’s new job.’ She’d budget tomorrow. Monday would come around soon enough.
* * *
When Ellie walked into the surgery on Monday morning, recognition slid like a stiletto under Luke’s ribs and made him wish he’d never hired her.
She looked fabulous. Different to the Ellie he remembered—but fabulous. The calf-length skirt showed her trim ankles to perfection and her stockings seemed the same colour as her skin. His eyes widened at the soft material of her bright orange shirt because it outlined her pert breasts in startling detail. She was corporate but with a wolf-whistle attached.
She’d thinned the silverware around her neck down to one big crucifix, and the large hoops in her ears had been replaced by tiny studs. Luke sighed with relief. ‘Good morning, Ellen.’
‘Good morning, Luke. And it’s still Ellie.’ He couldn’t help smiling back at her when she grinned, and suddenly his choice didn’t seem so bad.
In the fifteen minutes before the first patient was due, Luke showed her how to open client files on the computer and record information in the database. The nurse’s room, which would be hers to do her observations like blood pressures and weights, was small but workable. Then he formally introduced her to the unflappable June at the front desk explaining that June had been the practice receptionist in his father’s day, too. The two women bared teeth at each other and Luke tried not to notice.
Ellie turned back to face him. ‘I’ve typed out an introduction to give to your clients. Is that OK?’
She handed him an A4 sheet folded in two and his eyes were drawn to her beautiful hands. She had long, slender fingers and he could imagine how healing they would feel against a patient’s skin—anyone’s skin, in fact. He slid his finger under his collar and suddenly wondered if the air-conditioner was working. He reached across to dial the temperature down another degree.
Ellie rolled her eyes and he wrenched his mind back to the job on hand. ‘I’d like you to read it,’ she said. She didn’t quite put her hands on her hips and Luke’s lips twitched at her impatience.
She went on. ‘If you’re happy with it, perhaps June could photocopy some and give them out to the ladies as they come in.’ He nodded and glanced down at the sheet, but she was still speaking.
‘Otherwise your clients won’t understand why they don’t see you first. I’d hate to be thought of as a necessary evil they had to pass to get to you.’
‘Call them patients—I hate the word client,’ Luke said absently. He didn’t see her grimace as he took the paper and scanned the friendly message she’d prepared. It was good, concise yet informative, and she had a few things on there that he hadn’t thought of as part of her role.
Her interests were listed: Birth plan discussion; questions from previous labours; natural remedies, and options in natural pain relief. He couldn’t find fault with the paper even though it made him a little uneasy. He’d have to keep an eye on her but he had a suspicion the women would love it. It was a shame he had this crawling feeling of impending doom.
‘I’d like to discuss some of these ideas as we get time through the day.’ He looked at her from under his brows. ‘You will remember this is my practice, won’t you? Most of this seems fine. We’ll see how it goes.’ He smiled his killer smile as his first patient came through the front door.
‘Good morning, Mrs Reece. I’ll be with you in a couple of minutes.’ He turned to introduce Ellie. ‘This is Ellie. She’s a midwife and is going to be adding a midwife’s perspective along with mine for your antenatal care. Ellie’s available for any questions and you’ll see her first then I’ll call you through for your usual visit.’
Ellie and Mrs Reece found themselves ushered towards the two chairs in the nurse’s consulting room, and then Luke was gone. The two women looked at each other and Ellie grinned. ‘Hi.’ Mrs Reece smiled shyly back and Ellie knew it was going to OK.
By lunchtime, Ellie was exhausted, mostly from promoting herself and the benefits the women should expect by spending some time antenatally with a midwife. The actual work Luke wanted her to do while she was there was constant but easy. But the most draining part was an awareness of her ridiculous attraction to Luke Farrell which kept her on edge. The morning passed quickly and they never did get time to talk about her ideas.
Luckily, by the time she’d shared her lunch with Josh at his preschool, she was ready to face the afternoon appointments again. She clicked opened the appointment list on the screen and the next name jumped out at her. Belinda Farrell.
Maybe it was a coincidence but Farrell wasn’t a common name. Ellie called up the pregnancy list and checked the due date, patient’s age and present gestation of pregnancy.
From something her neighbour Lil Judd had said, Ellie now knew that while Luke had never been married, he was engaged to a midwife from the hospital. That was a different story to the one Luke’s mother had told Ellie in that shattering phone call five years ago. Ellie shook off the disturbing memories and subsequent turn her life had taken, and tried to concentrate.
So Belinda Farrell would most likely be a relative of Luke’s.
Ellie vaguely remembered Luke had a younger brother but old Mrs Farrell had hated Ellie so much, Ellie hadn’t spent much time at the Farrell house. She shrugged. It was all history.
Belinda Farrell was only five years younger than Ellie, but when she walked in, she looked more eighteen than the twenty-two the computer said she was. And Belinda wasn’t happy about seeing Ellie.
It was a shame, because Ellie loved Belinda’s tiny silver crocodile that hung from the hoop in her belly button, so they had something in common. Below Belinda’s rounded abdomen, the little crocodile’s ruby-chip eyes seemed to wink.
But Belinda scowled. ‘I’m fine. Why can’t I just see Luke and get out of here?’ She sat reluctantly in the chair in Ellie’s tiny room and crossed her arms over her stomach.
Ellie sat on the other chair and glanced pointedly out the door to the reception room. ‘There’s still another lady in front of you, so why don’t I take your blood pressure and weigh you now? I can write it on your card and then you’ll be quicker out when Luke is ready for you.’
Belinda shrugged and uncrossed one arm to allow Ellie to wrap the black cuff around her upper arm.
Ellie glanced across at the young woman’s face. ‘So, how have you been feeling since you last came and saw Luke?’ Ellie noted that Belinda’s blood pressure was slightly elevated and her ankles mildly swollen. Hypertensive disease of pregnancy was most common in young first-time mothers.
‘Fine!’ The young woman dared Ellie to say different and Ellie bit her lip as she looked away.
She finished her observations and tried again. ‘Have you thought much about your labour?’
‘Nope. I’m not worried.’ This time Belinda avoided Ellie’s eyes and the answer was less emphatic.
‘That’s great.’ Ellie took the yellow antenatal card to record the blood pressure on and then stood up to pull out the scales for Belinda to stand on. The card showed that Belinda hadn’t been for a visit for nearly five weeks. What was Luke doing? That wasn’t good enough, especially at Belinda’s late stage of pregnancy.
She carried on conversationally, ‘When I was due to have my baby, I was a bit nervous. Have you managed to attend antenatal classes at all? Or do any reading about labour?’
‘No. I didn’t want to go to classes on my own! And I haven’t read the book thing that Luke gave me. It’s too big. Can I go now?’ Belinda remained standing after she’d stepped off the scales.
‘Sure. You can sit back out in the waiting room or I could grab some quick stuff to read about labour off the internet if you like—just while you’re waiting for Luke to finish with the lady in front of you.’
The girl hesitated and then sat down. ‘That would be OK.’
Ellie almost sighed with relief. There was something really strange going on here but she tried to figure out how she could help Belinda the most. Ellie’s fingers flew over the keyboard as she searched the Web for her favourite pages on birth and birth education. She looked for one with lots of pictures and very little medical jargon.
Ellie glanced over her shoulder. ‘So who’s going to be with you when you have your baby?’
When Belinda shrugged, Ellie pressed the ‘print’ key for the pages she’d found and turned back properly to face the young woman.
‘What about your partner or your mother?’ Ellie firmly believed in the advantages of a caring support person for a labouring woman.
‘My husband is dead. So is my mother. Didn’t Luke tell you?’ Belinda shrugged. ‘Travis was Luke’s brother and their mother can’t stand me.’ Belinda stood up and Ellie quickly grabbed the papers out of the printer and handed them to her. Déjà vu
. Poor Belinda. The witch strikes again.
‘I’m really sorry to hear that. Take these and have a read. We should have around four weeks before your baby is due so come in a little earlier next week and I’ll go through some labour stuff with you.’ She looked directly at Belinda. ‘My baby’s father died before Josh was born, too, and I’d like to help you.’
Belinda stared back and absently rubbed her stomach protectively. ‘I might do that.’ It wasn’t much of an overture but perhaps Belinda had decided she wasn’t a threat. Then Luke appeared at her shoulder and any stiffness that had eased in the young woman returned full force as Belinda turned awkwardly away towards his room.
‘Hi, Belinda. It’s good to see you,’ he said. He shot a glance at Ellie as if to say, I hope you did better with her than I usually do. Ellie nodded reassuringly and he turned away to follow his sister-in-law.
Five-thirty arrived out of nowhere. June locked the front door after the last patient and then left—without saying goodnight. Ellie tidied her room and closed down her computer.
‘So how was your first day?’ Luke appeared at her door and the tiny room shrank to a shoebox. It really wasn’t fair for one man to be so attractive and Ellie stamped down a sudden ridiculous urge to lay her head on his chest.
‘Sometimes busy—sometimes slow. Very different to working in an obstetric ward but I can see it could be satisfying.’ Ellie smoothed her skirt. Luke looked as pristine as he had this morning but she felt a little worse for wear after the hectic day.
‘You did well with Belinda,’ Luke said. ‘She’s half promised to come back next week. I’ve been trying to get her to attend more often, without much success.’
‘So I noticed on the card.’ Ellie glanced up and her voice gentled. ‘How long ago did your brother die?’ She hoped he didn’t mind talking about his brother but she needed to know.
Luke’s face tightened. ‘Six months. They’d been married for less than two years when he went for a swim one day and never came back. They never found Travis’s body and it’s been hard for all of us.’
Delivering Secrets Page 2
