English Rose in the Outback

by Lucy Clark

  ‘You really do seem much better,’ he remarked after a few minutes.

  ‘Like I said, I’m a fast healer.’

  ‘So I see.’ She was cracking the eggs into a bowl and sniffing them to make sure they weren’t rotten. ‘They’re fresh. Laid yesterday. So are the vegetables.’

  ‘The vegetables were laid yesterday?’

  He grinned and shook his head. ‘Pedantic this morning, are we?’

  ‘Perhaps I’m pedantic all the time.’ She fixed him with a look, her tone dry.

  His smile only increased. ‘That’ll make life more interesting.’

  ‘So I’m presuming the eggs and vegetables have come from the retirees?’ When he seemed surprised at her knowledge, she added, ‘I’ve had several visitors over the past few days and all of them love to talk about their individual projects.’

  ‘Ah. Yes. A lot of the residents of the retirement village have a hydroponics area they tend, because at times, being out in the middle of the Australian outback, it can be difficult to get fresh fruit and veggies.’

  ‘They clearly have chickens, too.’

  ‘Oh, yes. They may be “retired”, as they term it, but they work incredibly hard providing for the entire community. We have a sort of farmers’ market every week, depending on what’s in season.’

  Daisy was clearly impressed, and as she cut up the vegetables and grated a bit of cheese she could see that the ingredients were indeed fresh. She popped a bit of the tomato into her mouth and savoured the taste. ‘Delicious. Much better than getting them from a supermarket.’

  ‘We are spoiled. Of course, the plane comes in daily as well, bringing passengers—’ he gestured to her ‘—and food supplies and the mail. We used to only get deliveries twice a week until one of the local lads got his plane licence and a plane and decided to provide this much-needed service for the community.’

  Daisy poured the egg mixture into the pan, then slowly stirred it around. ‘It’s as though you have your own little army in this town, supporting each other in every way possible. Even down to the local doctor going on a hunting trip.’

  Oscar growled into his coffee and took another sip. ‘Foxes are vermin out here.’

  ‘Foxes are vermin in England as well, hence why kings and queens have taken part in fox hunts for years.’

  ‘You’re not against hunting?’

  She looked at him over her shoulder. ‘I was in the army. Of course, the fox is an incredibly beautiful animal to look at but they have a vicious personality and will rip a lamb’s head off if given the chance.’

  ‘Huh.’ He stared at her in astonishment.

  ‘You seem surprised?’

  ‘You’re just not what I expected.’

  ‘Oh? And what did you expect?’

  Oscar breathed in deeply, savouring the flavours now beginning to waft through the air. Daisy added the vegetables and the cheese and stirred the contents of the pot again. ‘I’ll make the toast,’ he said, not answering her question.

  She didn’t stop him and soon they were standing side by side in the kitchen, dishing up their first home-cooked meal together. Oscar had also laid the table and poured them both a glass of juice. ‘I could get used to this,’ he murmured after swallowing the first mouthful of savoury eggs.

  ‘The food or me cooking for you?’ There was that autocratic eyebrow of hers, raised in his direction.

  ‘Definitely the former.’ He forked another mouthful of the delicious food into his mouth, chewed and swallowed. ‘I’m very much an equal opportunities type of man. In my opinion, there is only one thing a woman can do that a man can’t.’

  ‘Give birth.’

  ‘Exactly. There is no “woman’s” work, or “men’s” work. There is just work and the person best equipped for the task should take the lead.’

  ‘Are you saying I’m a better cook than you, henceforth, I will need to do the cooking?’

  This time, he couldn’t help but laugh. ‘Perhaps.’

  ‘Well, then. I think you need to cook us dinner tonight and then we can judge who is better.’

  ‘OK. Sounds like a plan.’ He scooped up another mouthful and chewed his delicious food. When they’d finished, she stood and carried their dishes to the sink.

  ‘Leave it. You cooked, I’ll clean.’ He stood and brought their glasses over.

  She turned to face him, giving him her best ‘don’t argue with me’ look. ‘All right, but once you’ve done them you’re to have a shower and go to bed. You need sleep, Oscar.’

  ‘But, Daisy—’

  ‘I’ll head to the hospital,’ she continued, ignoring his protest. ‘And take care of the morning shift.’

  ‘It’s OK. I can—’

  ‘Doctor’s orders.’ With one last glare she headed to the back door, took her hat off the hat rack where she’d put it earlier, and headed out of the door, leaving him standing there, staring at her as though he wasn’t sure what had just happened. The knowledge put a spring in her step and a smile on her lips.

  She couldn’t remember the last time a man had made her feel this way. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t had relationships in the past but most of them had been well-suited matches, rather than based on attraction. During her senior years at a prestigious all-girls boarding school, she’d enjoyed flirting and laughing with the boys from the nearby prestigious all-boys boarding school. Even though the school had organised dances and other combined events, there had only been one or two of the boys who had taken her fancy.

  Michael had most definitely been her favourite and they’d dated for at least a year. She’d often fantasised about marrying Michael, about travelling with him and running his charities. Then, in her second-to-last year of school, both male and female boarders had gone on a trip to Asia, where they’d learned how to build houses for those less fortunate. It had been an eye-opening time for her but Michael, although he’d excelled at everything they’d had to do, hadn’t been affected in the same way. Daisy had wanted to do more and that was when she’d first become interested in studying medicine. Michael hadn’t felt the same way and, even though she’d tried to convince him that they all needed to do more to help, his response had been to sleep with one of her friends, telling her that he was more than happy to keep dating her, to marry her even because she came from good breeding, but that if she wasn’t happy with him living his own life, she would need to break up with him.

  He hadn’t felt at all guilty about the infidelity and it had been that attitude more than the act that had broken her heart. It was then she’d realised Michael had been cut from the same cloth as her father. From then on, she’d kept her distance from autocratic men and instead thrown herself into her studies. In her final year of medical school, she’d met Walter.

  Daisy clenched her jaw at the thought of the man, the man who had tricked her. No. She wanted to enjoy this sensation Oscar had evoked in her a little more. She didn’t want to think about Walter, or Michael, or any of the other men who had let her down in the past. Right now, Oscar was making her feel light and happy and feminine. He was making her smile, was making her start to relax, and with all the pressures she’d faced during the past few years she needed to relax. Yes, perhaps Oscar Price really was the diversion she needed…for a while.

  *

  When Oscar finally arrived at the hospital it was almost midday.

  ‘Sorry,’ he said as he walked sheepishly towards where Daisy stood chatting with Tori. ‘I didn’t mean to sleep that long.’

  ‘You obviously needed it,’ Tori remarked.

  ‘If you’d arrived here any earlier, I would have kicked you out,’ Daisy told him, her words making Tori laugh with delight.

  ‘Looks as though you’ve met your match, Oscar. She’s as bossy as you,’ the nurse joked.

  ‘Hey,’ he protested and put his arm around Tori’s neck, playfully rubbing his hand on her head, just as an older brother would. Well, Daisy’s older brother certainly wouldn’t have behaved like that—e
ver. John had been born an adult and throughout Daisy’s childhood he’d kept his distance, often complaining that she was too immature for him.

  ‘But she’s only seven years old,’ their mother had told thirteen-year-old John. ‘She’s supposed to be immature.’

  ‘No, she’s not, Mother,’ John had contradicted. ‘Father says Daisy is to attend deportment lessons so she can have that tomboy streak knocked out of her because you certainly haven’t been able to control her.’

  Daisy closed her eyes as the thought entered her mind. Why had John talked to their mother in such a way? Why hadn’t he shown her some respect? She knew the answer of course—because that was how he’d seen their father had always spoken to their mother, in front of their friends, in front of the staff, in front of their children. And her mother had allowed it because if she’d dared to tell John off, then he’d tell their father and then—

  ‘Daisy?’

  She opened her eyes and looked into Oscar’s blue ones. ‘Yes?’

  ‘Are you all right?’

  ‘I’m fine.’ She drew in a cleansing breath and smiled politely at him. ‘So, clinic this afternoon or house calls?’

  ‘Both. Why don’t you help me with the ward round as well and then we can head over to the clinic and I can explain things there to you and later show you how we organise the house calls?’

  ‘OK.’

  ‘I’ll just stay here and monitor the entire hospital,’ Tori remarked, sitting down in her chair, leaning back and putting her legs up onto the desk in a relaxed position. ‘It’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it.’

  With a shake of his head at Tori’s antics, Oscar led the way to the ward. It was then Daisy realised he walked very quietly, no doubt a side effect from walking around wards at night in order to check on patients.

  It was what he’d done to her the first night he’d gone out hunting. He’d crept into her room to check on her and, although she’d heard him, she’d pretended to be asleep. He’d lifted her hand and taken her pulse before pressing the backs of his fingers to her forehead.

  ‘Good,’ he’d whispered. ‘In case you can hear me, I’m heading out on my hunting trip. I should be back around six-ish. Keep resting, Dr Daisy.’

  Had he known she’d been faking? Had he just played along because he hadn’t had the time to get into a full-on discussion with her? A few minutes later, she’d heard a car horn beep and Oscar’s quiet footsteps moving through the house. ‘I told him not to beep the horn,’ he’d muttered before the front door had closed. Then she’d been left alone in a strange house, in a strange town, in a strange country.

  Part of her had wanted to get up, to explore, to gather the lie of the land, but the other part had been far too tired. When she’d drifted off to sleep, she hadn’t had a nightmare. Instead, there had been a man in her dreams, a man with a cheeky grin, a man with dark brown hair that was slightly greying at the temples, a man with twinkling blue eyes, a man who had looked a lot like Oscar.

  After doing a ward round and being properly introduced to the ward staff, they headed back to the emergency department, half expecting to see Tori still sitting down with her feet up on the desk. Instead, they found her doing triage on two young children who had been brought in by one of the daycare workers.

  ‘What’s going on here?’ he asked.

  ‘Several of the children got into a sand-throwing fight.’

  ‘Ah. Gritty eyes,’ he remarked and picked up one of the young boys. ‘I have just the superhero solution needed to fix your problem.’ The young boy had been whinging and rubbing his eyes until Oscar spoke, but now he stared at the doctor, his little eyes red and clearly irritated by the sand and dirt.

  ‘You do? Superhero solution?’

  ‘Yes, I do,’ he remarked, carrying the boy to room one. ‘It’s called super-saline solution.’

  ‘Wow!’

  ‘He’s always been good with children,’ Tori remarked. ‘So sad it didn’t work out between him and Magda.’

  ‘Magda?’ Daisy frowned. ‘I thought his ex-fiancée’s name was Deidre?’

  ‘Oh. It was.’ Tori seemed surprised. ‘He’s told you about Deidre?’

  ‘Not much.’ Daisy picked up the notes Tori had written about the other children with sand in their eyes, checking to see whether or not they had any allergies. It was all right for Oscar, who clearly knew every child’s name and remembered their medical files off by heart, but she needed to read up on the notes first. Still, she glanced briefly at Tori, unable to stop herself from enquiring further. ‘So, who’s Magda?’ And how many women had Oscar been involved with? If it hadn’t been for Tori going on and on about how much she loved Scott, Daisy would probably have presumed that Tori was another one of Oscar’s women.

  ‘Magda was Oscar’s wife,’ Tori remarked, but that was all she said. ‘Use room two for the twins.’

  ‘They’re twins?’ Daisy remarked, looking down at the two boys who looked completely opposite. Clearly they weren’t identical. ‘Right.’ She scanned the other set of case notes. ‘No allergies, then?’

  ‘No. Both clean,’ Tori responded.

  ‘Right.’ Daisy looked down at the two boys. ‘Let’s get the two of you sorted out,’ she said, the daycare teacher escorting her and the twins to room two. By the time she’d finished flushing out their eyes, helped along by quite a few tears, Daisy returned to the nurses’ station to find Tori and Oscar chatting quietly. Clearly, from the way Oscar had his arm around Tori’s shoulders and how the nurse was looking rather downcast, the topic of conversation was Scott.

  ‘Everything all right?’ she asked as she handed the completed case notes to Tori.

  ‘I hate Scott,’ Tori remarked and took the case notes to deal with them.

  ‘What were you saying about it being interesting to be a spectator of other people’s love lives?’ He spoke quietly and shook his head. ‘All I see at the moment are two of my friends in pain.’

  ‘Do you think they’ll be able to sort it out?’ Daisy asked softly, watching as the nurse gave her complete attention to the case notes in front of her.

  ‘I hope so.’

  ‘Relationships aren’t at all easy,’ she remarked, wondering whether he’d mention his wife. Had she died? Had they divorced? Instead, he changed the subject.

  ‘We’d better get to clinic. Otherwise, we’ll be doing house calls at dinner time and we’ll have to turn down all offers of food as you’ve tasked me to make dinner this evening.’

  ‘Yes. I have, so please, lead on, Dr Oscar.’

  As the day continued Oscar and Daisy did clinic for the rest of the afternoon, then headed over to the retirement village.

  ‘How long do you usually allow for house calls?’

  ‘Sometimes it can take all day.’

  ‘All day?’ She stared at him in shock. ‘You have got to be joking! This is another one of your little Australian jokes, isn’t it? Scare the new doctor, type of thing?’

  ‘I’m afraid not. There’s at least sixty residents.’

  ‘And we have to see all of them every day? Isn’t there just a list of who might be needing medical treatment for that specific day?’

  He grinned then and she realised he was teasing her once more. ‘So this is another one of your jokes. I just want to know how giving me a heart attack counts as funny.’

  ‘It’s only because you’re so easy to rile, Daisy.’

  ‘Try and control yourself,’ she responded dryly, and was answered with another of his deep chuckles.

  ‘Sometimes house calls can take all day because we’re not only general practitioners and surgeons, we’re also occupational therapists, physiotherapists, counsellors and perhaps even a dentist. It all depends on what the issue is, how bad it is and how long it’s going to take to transfer the patient to Alice Springs, or even, in some cases, Darwin. It depends on how much it’s going to cost and—’

  ‘All right.’ She held up her hands. ‘I get the point. We’re a Jack
of all trades.’

  ‘Well, in your case, you’d be a Jill of all trades but that’s just splitting hairs.’

  ‘Yes, it is.’ Daisy took a deep breath as they walked up the footpath of the first residential unit in the retirement village. ‘Let’s get started because I have a feeling this isn’t going to be a quick introductory session.’

  Oscar grinned at her attitude. Even though it might seem a daunting task, he was impressed with the way she squared her shoulders and tackled the situation. Given that throughout the entire time she’d been in Meeraji Lake, she’d been sick, it was interesting seeing her as her normal, healthier self.

  As Glenys opened the door Oscar stepped forward and spoke near Daisy’s ear, his breath fanning her neck, making her aware of just how close he was. ‘Of course, it’ll take us a few days to get around to every resident properly. Fun times ahead.’ Then he straightened and smiled brightly at Glenys. ‘Hello there.’

  ‘Ooh, goody. Am I first on the visitation list?’ Glenys, who Daisy vaguely recognised as being one of the helpers during the emergency the other day, opened her door and ushered them both inside.

  By the end of the day, they’d only managed to get around to five of the residents and afterwards Oscar insisted on taking her to the pub for a knock-off beer.

  ‘It’s all right. I don’t need to go to the pub,’ she told him.

  ‘But it’s an Australian legend and I wouldn’t want all your prior research to go to waste. Surely you want to experience it at least once while you’re here?’

  ‘I don’t drink alcohol,’ she stated, expecting to be questioned, to have to justify herself. She stopped walking and crossed her arms over her chest. After everything her mother had been through, after everything she’d seen while growing up, Daisy was definitely a teetotaller. ‘And I’d rather not go. Legendary or not.’

  ‘You don’t have to drink alcohol. In fact, I usually prefer an icy mocktail. That’s a cocktail with no alco—’

  ‘I know what a mocktail is, Oscar.’ She started walking again, slowly at first. ‘Do you drink alcohol?’