English Rose in the Outback

by Lucy Clark

  The lady and the surgeon!

  Lady Daisy Forsythe-York has left the army hoping for a new adventure as a doctor in the Outback. She never expects to find it by fainting into the arms of handsome surgeon Oscar Price on her first day!

  Oscar isn’t looking for love, but there’s something about Daisy! And when they spend an unexpected night together, the Outback surgeon ignites all Daisy’s desires… Could Oscar’s reawakening of buttoned-up Daisy lead to more than these two guarded hearts ever expected?

  Outback Surgeons

  These Outback heroes aren’t looking for love, but in the caring country town of Meeraji Lake…it’s catching!

  Welcome to Meeraji Lake—where Oscar Price and Felix McLaren find sharing the doctors’ quarters with ice queen Daisy Forsythe-York and überfriendly Harriette Jones is the perfect recipe for love…

  Find out what happens in Daisy and Oscar’s story

  English Rose in the Outback

  and

  Harriette and Felix’s story

  A Family for Chloe

  Don’t miss the Outback Surgeons duet from Harlequin Medical Romance author Lucy Clark

  Available May 2016!

  Dear Reader,

  I have to confess I’ve had a difficult time creating the town of Meeraji Lake. Small Outback Australian towns often contain a plethora of fun-loving characters, and to put all those eccentric secondary characters into this story would have left little room for us to really get to know Daisy and Oscar.

  So I’ll let you know that in this close country community are characters such as Erica and Glenys. These two women have been best friends since primary school. Both were raised in rural Victoria, but headed to the big city of Melbourne to do their training. Erica became a schoolteacher and Glenys became a nurse. And there’s Bazza, a typical Outback bloke who loves the dust, flies and heat, but most of all a bit of a barroom brawl on a Friday night. Needless to say, he knows Oscar quite well from all the times he’s needed stitches in his head or a bandage on his hand.

  Tori and Scott are also wonderful characters, both of them not sure whether to move forward or to call it quits. Henry, the police officer, is a quiet, unassuming sort of guy, but when it comes time for him to break up a fight or protect the people of his town, this black-belted ex-army guy takes his duties seriously. There’s Pat McGovern, too, a self-professed hypochondriac who always panics about his health. And Adonni and Bill and Sarah—excellent nurses, all of them—and of course Oscar Price, our dashing hero.

  This is the fun-loving, caring community of Meeraji Lake that Daisy Forsythe-York finds herself working in. For Daisy it’s as though a splash of color has entered her life, but for a while she isn’t quite sure how to respond. Thankfully, Oscar is there to help her navigate the vibrant personalities of this little town, and in the process both of them run the risk of losing their hearts.

  I do hope you enjoy getting to know Daisy and Oscar.

  Warmest regards,

  Lucy

  ENGLISH ROSE IN THE OUTBACK

  Lucy Clark

  Books by Lucy Clark

  Harlequin Medical Romance

  Wedding on the Baby Ward

  The Boss She Can’t Resist

  Taming the Lone Doc’s Heart

  Diamond Ring for the Ice Queen

  Falling for Dr. Fearless

  A Socialite’s Christmas Wish

  Dare She Dream of Forever?

  One Life-Changing Moment

  Resisting the New Doc In Town

  The Secret Between Them

  Her Mistletoe Wish

  His Diamond Like No Other

  Dr. Perfect on Her Doorstep

  A Child to Bind Them

  Still Married to Her Ex!

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

  Get rewarded every time you buy a Harlequin ebook!

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  For Tori and Scott

  You’ve helped me, supported me and accepted me so unconditionally that I don’t know how else to thank you. Hopefully dedicating a book to you is a small way to show my heartfelt appreciation and sincere thanks. xxx

  Phil. 2:14

  Praise for Lucy Clark

  “A good and enjoyable read. It’s a good old-fashioned romance and is everything you expect from medical romance. Recommended for medical romance lovers and Lucy Clark’s fans.”

  —Harlequin Junkie on Resisting the New Doc In Town

  “I really enjoyed this book—well written, a lovely romance story about giving love a second chance!”

  —Goodreads on Dare She Dream of Forever?

  Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  EPILOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  DAISY FORSYTHE-YORK PEERED out of the window of the small Cessna plane, which was coming in for landing. From what she could see of the patchwork ground below, it was generally different shades of brown with the odd spate of green here and there. They were passing over the small township of Meeraji Lake, although from where she sat there was definitely no lake anywhere to be seen. What she could see, however, were a few buildings, some made of brick, others were weatherboard huts and there were even a few just made of tin.

  She gripped the edge of her seat as they seemed to be zooming rather too close for her liking to the buildings. Were they landing in the centre of the town? That was all right with her if that was the case as it would mean she wouldn’t have far to go in order to find the hospital. Besides, she’d been in a variety of planes and transport carriers last year when she’d worked with the military and even though the pilot didn’t even look old enough to drive, she had to put her trust in him.

  Coming to Meeraji Lake hadn’t been in her plan but, with the way things were with her family back in the UK, she was more than happy to be on the other side of the world for a while. A six-month respite would do her good.

  ‘Go,’ her mother had urged her just a week ago.

  Daisy had been in two minds whether to accept the position in the Australian outback especially given her mother’s health at the moment. ‘Mother, I won’t leave you.’

  ‘You have to leave, Daisy. I need to learn to fight my own battles.’

  ‘But Father is—’

  Her mother had held up her hand, stopping Daisy’s words. ‘Your father is your father and always will be. He’ll never change.’

  ‘Come with me, then. Just leave him.’

  Her mother had laughed without humour. ‘Could you imagine me? In the Australian outback? I don’t think my nerves could stand it.’

  ‘But they can stand remaining here? He riles you up every single day, Mother. At least consider going back to Spain for a month or two. The winter here is going to be horrendous this year.’

  But Cecilia Forsythe-York had shaken her head. ‘I made vows, Daisy. To honour and obey your father. He has a busy few months coming up and needs me around to host his work events.’

  ‘Mother—’ Daisy had started to protest but once more her mother had stopped her.

  ‘He wasn’t always like this, Daisy. In the beginning, he was charming and loving and caring.’

  ‘Father?’ Daisy had looked at her mother in disbelief
, but the reflective smile on her mother’s lips had made Daisy wonder if somewhere, deep down inside, her mother was still in love with the man who had swept her off her feet.

  Cecilia had taken her daughter’s hands in hers. ‘Go, Daisy. Have an adventure then come back and tell me all about it.’ Then she’d let go and reached for a bottle of paracetamol.

  Daisy had poured her a glass of water. ‘Do you promise to call me if you need me?’

  ‘I promise.’

  ‘I’ve also set up that separate email account so I can email you without him knowing. Do you remember how to access the emails?’

  ‘You’ve written down the instructions. I shall follow them.’

  ‘Keep the instructions where Father can’t find them. Put them somewhere he’d never look.’

  ‘He’d never look in my bedroom.’ Cecilia’s voice had been filled with sadness and she’d lain back after swallowing the tablets and closed her eyes. ‘He hasn’t been interested in me in that way for many years now.’

  ‘Oh, Mother.’

  Cecilia had kept her eyes closed but reached out a hand to her daughter. Daisy had instantly accepted it. ‘I’ll be fine, dear, especially if I know you’re not putting your life on hold for me. Go to Australia. Find yourself a nice man.’

  Daisy had laughed and kissed her mother’s cheek. ‘That’s hardly my main motivation for going, Mother.’

  ‘I worry about you. You’re thirty-eight, Daisy. Don’t let the past dictate your future.’

  ‘There’s more to life than getting married, Mother.’

  Cecilia had opened her eyes then, her voice small. ‘I wish there had been in my day. Still, if things had turned out different, I never would have had you and John.’ She had forced a smile. ‘Well, enough of all this. You’ve had your Internet interview and the hospital in that small district sounds as though they need some class and distinction, so go and email that doctor back and tell him you’ll take the job.’ And because her mother had insisted—and because Daisy had really wanted to go—she’d done exactly that.

  ‘Well, Mother, I’m here,’ she said softly to herself as her thoughts were jolted back to the present as the plane’s wheels made contact with the ground.

  There was only one other passenger on the plane and he disembarked as soon as the door was opened. Daisy watched as he walked to a nearby tin shed and disappeared inside. Was that the airport terminal? She picked up her hand luggage and then climbed down the small flight of stairs onto the dirt airstrip, the heat almost swamping her.

  She breathed in, the hot air seeming to singe her nostrils. Flies instantly started to gather around her and beads of perspiration started to form on her brow and down her back. She’d been warned that it was hot, often reaching in excess of forty degrees Celsius for months on end, but she hadn’t expected it to be such a dry, burning heat.

  She started to feel dizzy but forced herself to take a few more breaths, trying not to grimace as the hot air filled her lungs. ‘I’ll wait in the airport terminal while you collect my luggage,’ she told the pilot and, without waiting for an answer, she mustered her dignity, stood up straight and headed for the tin shed.

  The instant she stepped inside, she realised it had been a mistake. Where it was hot outside, it was sweltering in the shed. There was no one around, not even the other passenger on the plane. The shed contained a desk with an old landline phone, a thick book and pedestal fan next to the desk. Daisy instantly went over and pressed the buttons on the fan but it didn’t work. She was just checking to see whether it was plugged in when the pilot walked into the shed.

  ‘Power’s off outside,’ he stated, dumping his logbook onto the desk. ‘I’ll go turn it on for ya.’

  He disappeared, but a moment later the fan in front of Daisy started whirring. She stood in front of it and closed her eyes, allowing the air to caress her sticky skin. The clothes she was wearing were completely inappropriate for this weather but it had been freezing when she’d left London and she’d chosen this outfit because it didn’t crease when she travelled. Off came her jacket and she unbuttoned the top of her embroidered shirt, holding it away from her skin in order to circulate the cooler air.

  ‘Better?’ The pilot’s words jolted her and she quickly dropped her hands back to her sides and straightened her shoulders.

  ‘Much. Thank you.’

  ‘Is someone picking you up? It’s a fair hike into town.’

  ‘Yes. Yes, I think someone is picking me up. Uh…one of the doctors.’

  ‘The only doctor. That’d be Oscar.’

  ‘Yes.’ Daisy fanned at her face, her mind exhausted, not only from the travelling, but the intensity of the heat. ‘Do you…uh…have any water?’

  The pilot shook his head. ‘Sorry. Not in here and even if there was any water, it’d be boiling by now.’ He swatted at a fly, then picked up his logbook. ‘All righty, then. I’ve gotta refuel the plane and get it ready to return to Darwin.’ The pilot indicated the shed. ‘I wouldn’t stay in here too long. You’ll dehydrate and if you can just get Oscar to flick the switch on the power when you leave, that’d be beaut.’

  ‘Thank you.’ All she wanted was for him to leave so that she could continue to cool herself down. What she wouldn’t give for a cold shower and a change of clothes. As soon as the pilot left, she returned her full attention to the fan before her. Surely her new colleague, Oscar Price, would be here soon. They’d flown quite low over the town so no doubt he was aware the plane carrying his newest member of staff had landed.

  Fifteen minutes later, she was a bit cooler but her mouth was starting to get very dry. She thought about changing her clothes but right now the ones she was wearing were sticking to her almost like a second skin and would be impossible to get out of.

  ‘He’ll be here, soon.’ Comforting words. That was all she needed. The fact that she was starting to get annoyed wouldn’t help her overheating problem. ‘He’d better be here soon,’ she growled between clenched teeth five minutes later. ‘Or I may just get back on the plane and leave.’

  *

  ‘Tori! I need another bag of plasma in here.’ Oscar Price pushed past two other patients who had come into Meeraji Lake District Hospital, pointing to some nearby chairs. One was cradling her right arm to her chest, the other had a nasty gash on his left leg. ‘Sit down. We’ll be with you as soon as we can.’ There were so many people in the small emergency department it was difficult to get through to the treatment rooms.

  ‘Tori?’ His voice was louder, not because he was annoyed he couldn’t find Tori, but because there was just so much noise. When he reached the triage sister’s desk, he found seventy-one-year-old Glenys, writing down people’s names and other medical information. ‘Where’s Tori?’

  Glenys glanced up at Oscar. ‘Hello, love. Tori’s off with a patient in room two. She asked if you could help her as soon as you were ready.’

  Oscar closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. One doctor, five nurses and an ED filled with patients due to an explosion at an unauthorised distillery was not the afternoon he’d planned.

  ‘It’s all right, love. Lots of the able residents are on their way to help marshal the masses. Erica’s making sandwiches and Ella is making the teas and coffees. We may be retired but we’re not useless.’

  ‘I appreciate that.’ Oscar’s smile was tight-lipped. He did appreciate it, but what he needed now was trained medical staff, yet getting doctors and nurses to agree to come and work in the Australian outback was almost impossible. Almost. ‘I wish that new doctor was arriving today instead of tomorrow,’ he muttered under his breath.

  ‘Did I hear you yelling for plasma?’ Oscar turned to see one of the maternity nurses who had come off the ward to help, holding out a bag of plasma to him.

  ‘Yes. Room five. Can you deal with the patient?’

  ‘I’m on it,’ the midwife replied and headed off to room five.

  Oscar pivoted on his
heel and headed through the throng towards room two, but when he opened the curtain it was to find Tori giving cardio-pulmonary resuscitation to a patient who had a newly bandaged arm and leg.

  ‘He just went into shock and decided to stop breathing.’ She kept up the rhythm as she spoke. ‘As if we’re not busy enough. When’s that new doctor getting here?’

  Oscar was already grabbing the portable defibrillator before attaching the pads to the patient’s chest. ‘Tomorrow.’

  ‘Darn.’

  ‘Charging.’ Tori kept her CPR going until the paddles were ready. ‘Clear!’

  The triage sister stepped back as Oscar put the paddles onto the pads and delivered the charge. Tori immediately checked the pulse. ‘It’s there but not strong.’

  Oscar hooked a stethoscope into his ears and listened to the man’s chest. ‘Push fluids. Oxygen.’ He checked the man’s pupils as Tori gave a quick recap of the man’s injuries. With the increased oxygen and fluids, their patient began to respond well. ‘Get him to the medical ward. Tell Bill to keep a close eye on him.’ Oscar knew he could trust Bill, as the other man was one of the best ward sisters the hospital had ever had.

  ‘Oscar!’ Someone shouted his name but the shout was filled with urgency. ‘Treatment room one. Stat.’

  Oscar looked to Tori. ‘Get someone to take this fellow to Bill then help me in treatment room one. I’ll go see what all the fuss is about.’ He was pleased that the emergency department was now a little better under control, the volunteers doing an excellent job, but there were still so many patients who required attention. In treatment room one, he found a twenty-ish young dark-skinned woman who lay very still on the bed, eyes closed, a fresh padded gauze bandage on her head.

  ‘She was hit by flying debris.’ The woman who spoke stood by the bed. ‘Unconscious for approximately twenty minutes, maybe more.’ The woman’s words were crisp and very British. Oscar knew a lot of people in this district but he most certainly didn’t know her. She looked utterly exhausted and incredibly hot. Then again, she was wearing a navy blue trouser suit, which seemed to be sticking to her. He focused his attention on the patient.