Keith nodded. When they pulled the curtain back Jack was surprised to see that Joe was asleep. He frowned and raised his eyebrows at Eliza and she drew him from the room.
‘I found out today he hasn’t been taking any pain relief. He didn’t want Keith to think he was a baby,’ she said quietly, and shrugged. ‘I spoke to Joe when Keith was out of the room and we’ve come to an agreement. Since the first lot of medication he’s been asleep and Keith tells me Joe’s hardly slept.’
Jack frowned and then nodded. ‘OK. Let’s get on, then.’
They completed the round and had a quick look at Janice and her baby in less than ten minutes. There was very little conversation between them.
As he was leaving, Jack looked back and paused. He had been abrupt. ‘Matron?’
Eliza glanced up from the notes she was making. ‘Yes, Doctor?’
‘Well done with the cannula, and Joe as well. If I seem brusque, I’ve had a wild day.’
‘No problem.’ The woman seemed to be staring at some point over his left shoulder and disinclined to talk, so Jack forced himself to leave. It was surprisingly hard to take that first step away. He was more confused about her than ever and he didn’t like it. Until today his world had been pleasantly uncomplicated.
He’d put the horror of three years ago behind him and he’d immersed himself in work. He’d assumed he’d get married again someday but hadn’t dated a woman since Lydia had died.
And he wasn’t thinking of dating this one—but she certainly unsettled him.
Eliza headed back to the hotel. Except for a young blonde woman reading in the corner, the bar was quiet as she walked past the door.
‘So you’re the new matron,’ the blonde drawled, and Eliza’s step slowed to a stop.
‘Hello.’
‘Staying here will get a little noisy on a Friday night.’
‘I’ll be fine.’ Eliza smiled and crossed the room to hold out her hand. ‘I’m Eliza May.’
‘Carla.’ There was something elusively appealing about this too-thin girl-woman and then there was the ice that frosted the outside of her glass in the cloying heat.
Eliza licked dry lips and put her handbag down on the stool beside the girl. ‘It’s hot this evening.’
‘Always is this time of the year.’ Carla stood up, walked behind the bar and filled a glass with ice. Then she opened an under-bar fridge and removed a beaded bottle of lemon squash and unscrewed the lid. ‘I should ask you first.’ She grinned. ‘But you’d like a squash, wouldn’t you.’
Eliza grinned back at her. ‘Dying for one! Thank you. Do you work here?’
‘No. Rob’s gone to the loo. I’m just minding the bar for a minute.’
Carla glanced out the door and back. ‘I’m off for a swim in the river when I finish my drink. If you want, I’ll show you a spot you can swim in when the days are like this.’
‘Local knowledge.’ Eliza smiled as she put two dollars down on the bar for her drink. She remembered local knowledge as a child, it had usually got her into trouble.
‘Something like that.’ There was a hint of fun which dared Eliza to take her up on the offer. After the unease she’d felt round Jack Dancer, it would be nice to loosen up and get cool.
Eliza downed her squash. ‘I’ll slip up and grab a towel.’
The swimming hole was through two fences at the back of the pub but worth the climb down a steep bank to get to. It was under a cliff face and two large weeping willows shaded the pool. There was an aging PRIVATE PROPERTY sign, adorned with a few grass necklaces from previous floods, prominently displayed near the edge.
Carla ignored it. The water looked too good to forgo.
Eliza yanked down the sides of her bathers—they seemed to like crawling too high on her leg and up her bottom. She stood hesitantly at the edge. She hated wearing swimming costumes because they made her feel so self-conscious. Carla was already in and the water looked wonderful.
The first step wasn’t too bad and the temperature of the water grew colder the further out through the reeds Eliza walked.
‘It’s freezing,’ Eliza gasped. The shock on her face when she finally forced her whole body under the water made Carla laugh when Eliza surfaced beside her.
‘Yep.’ Carla swam languidly across the pool and Eliza watched her for a moment before she turned on her back and floated with her arms out. The icy water was gorgeous against her heated skin. This had been an excellent idea.
‘Get out of there!’
Eliza recognised that voice and the enjoyment drained out of the moment as if he’d pulled the plug.
‘You know better, Carla.’ Jack Dancer was cross, there was no doubt about that, Eliza thought, and her heart pumped as if she were a ten-year-old again caught crossing a forbidden field.
‘You’re such a sourpuss, Dr Jack,’ Carla said as she drifted languidly to the shallow water.
‘It would serve you right if you got bitten by a bullrout. Smithy was stung here yesterday and you wouldn’t be so relaxed if you’d seen his face as I filled him up with morphine. But you shouldn’t have put Eliza at risk—she’d from the city and probably doesn’t know what a bullrout is.’
‘I know what a bullrout is,’ Eliza said quietly. The camouflaged fresh-water fish could look like a rock and wore three venom pouches on its spines. Its sting was excruciating. She glanced warily at the reeds as she followed Carla out of the water. The spot was lovely but not worth those kinds of stings. Eliza wrapped her arms around her blatant nipples. Well, the water had been cold, for crikey’s sake. Now she had to get out of here, wet, bathers glued to her too-generous curves, and all under the gaze of that man. The day just kept getting better and better. Eliza compressed her lips.
Finally both women stood at the edge of the innocent-looking water wrapped in towels. They both glared across at the man on the opposite bank.
Carla tossed her hair and turned her back on Jack. ‘You can go home happy, now, you grump. You’ve spoiled our swim so you can relax.’
Jack didn’t say anything or seem perturbed by Carla’s rudeness, and Eliza stood indecisively. She resisted her own impulse to emulate Carla but had the maturity to realise it was a response to being caught in the wrong. Even worse, she hated being caught in her bathers. It was too late to worry now. She half waved to a still waiting Jack and followed Carla up the bank.
When they got to the top, Eliza was almost as hot as when she’d started and not all of it from the sun. She should have gone with her instincts and avoided the local knowledge.
‘Sorry about that.’ Carla held up her hands in an I-didn’t-mean-for-that-to-happen gesture. ‘No one’s been stung there for two years. I didn’t know about Smithy. It’s such a top spot if Dr Jack doesn’t catch you.’
‘So Jack polices the waterholes as well as does the doctoring?’ Eliza could see the amusing part of being caught by Jack—just.
‘He owns the land on both sides of the river,’ Carla said as she headed back to the pub. She glanced over her shoulder to Eliza. ‘But nobody owns the river.’
The next day every person Eliza met in the hospital mentioned her being caught by Jack down at the rout waterhole. She knew there was a reason she’d avoided returning to the country.
Apparently Carla’s friend Rob from the pub thought it a hilarious story and had mentioned it to everyone who’d come into the hotel. They’d passed it on to anyone they’d seen in the next twelve hours and by the time Eliza came to work the story had been embellished to include her and Carla topless with a few men from the pub watching.
‘Spare me.’ Eliza closed her eyes and shook her head. Janice tried to stifle her giggle so as not to wake her baby but she was having a hard time of it.
‘The topless bit was from old Pat, and nobody really believes him, but it seems you’ve made a name for yourself as a good sport already.’
‘Well, I hope nobody believes “Old Pat”. If I meet that delightful old gentleman for a tetanus shot, he’s in for a l
arger-than-normal-gauge needle.’
Janice dissolved into giggles again and Eliza had to smile at her, but the smile disappeared when Jack Dancer walked into the room.
The memory of him watching her as she’d left the water yesterday warmed her cheeks and she fought the sudden urge to fold her arms again. She was too darned aware of this guy and survival meant he wasn’t to know.
‘All well in here, ladies?’ Jack’s face was expressionless but Eliza suspected a twinkle behind those pseudo black eyes of his. The swine.
‘Eliza was just saying how hot it was yesterday,’ Janice said cheekily, but Jack wasn’t playing.
‘Yes, it was. How’s Newman this morning, Janice?’
Eliza tried to let her relieved breath out unobtrusively as Jack concentrated on his patient.
Janice went on. ‘Fine. We’re both fine. My mum arrives from Melbourne today so he’s going to meet his nana when she comes in to visit.’
‘Say hello to your mum for me if I don’t see her.’ He stepped back from the cot. ‘I’ve a lot on this morning so I’ll leave you in Matron’s capable hands.’
Eliza followed him out of the room. She hoped he didn’t think she’d been discussing yesterday. ‘I didn’t tell her. Apparently it’s all over town that you chased us out of the river.’
Jack glanced up from the notes he carried. ‘Bellbrook is a small town. People find out and embellish all the time.’ He looked at her fully and she saw the wicked twinkle in his eyes. ‘I particularly enjoyed the naked version, with me throwing you a towel.’
Eliza rested her hand over her mouth as she felt the heat rise again in her face. Then she surprised herself with a tiny gurgle of laughter as the funny side of the situation tickled her again.
Just when he thought he had her on the back foot she surprised him again. Jack had spent most of the night trying to rid himself of delightful memories of Eliza, tiny but perfectly packaged, as she’d stepped from the water.
Intriguingly, her breasts had been stunningly full and globular beneath the wet one-piece costume as she’d bent to pick up the towel. Even now that day-old snapshot in his mind made his mouth dry.
Her breasts hadn’t jumped out at him yesterday morning, he mused, and then his own sense of humour caught up with him. Impossible fantasy. He pulled himself back under control and tried to quieten the sudden increase in his heart rate. Now she was giving him palpitations. What on earth was the matter with him?
‘Most people from the city would have a problem with being the object of small-town gossip,’ Jack said without looking at her.
‘I’m not “most people”,’ she replied calmly, and began to talk about Keith, but he didn’t believe her. Her cheeks were just a little too rosy.
By the end of the round Jack was again impressed with Eliza’s ability to manage situations. She’d steered him back onto the job, calmed Keith despite the older man being bitterly disappointed he’d be laid up for probably another week, managed the most painless removal of Joe’s dressing they’d had yet, and was obviously a favourite with the seniors on the wing.
‘You’re doing a great job, Matron. It feels like you’ve been here for much longer than a day and a half.’
‘It feels like that to me, too,’ Eliza said dryly.
Jack wondered at her parting comment as he walked around the side of the hospital to his surgery. The woman intrigued him far too much and he didn’t think she was immune to him either.
CHAPTER THREE
THE next day Jack had meetings in Armidale after the morning round and wouldn’t be back until late. The day was uneventful for Eliza and she felt unsettled after the shift had finished. So much so that she decided to go for a drive.
Eliza glanced down at the directions Mary had pressed on her and judged she was nearly there. The powerful vehicle purred along the dirt road and hugged the uneven surface with ease.
The Mustang was almost forty years old and a classic. With the top down she could blow all her worries into tomorrow. She loved this car. It had been her father’s pride and joy and she’d taken it to Sydney with her when she’d moved there.
She refused to think about Jack Dancer because she’d spent the last hour beating herself up over wondering if he’d make it for the last round after all. He had.
She wasn’t sure if visiting Mary was the most sensible thing to do if she wanted to stay immune to involvement in this town. Though Mary seemed to be one of the few people who wasn’t related to Dr Jack. And Eliza had promised an update of her first few days.
The Mustang pulled up outside the McGuiness property and Mary was at the door before Eliza could walk halfway to the front steps.
Mary’s smile was almost as big as her pregnant tummy. ‘How are you? Is everything going smoothly? How are you coping with Jack?’
Eliza stood there, felt her face freeze and wished she hadn’t come. And the worst thing was, Mary picked it up immediately. Her grin faltered. ‘I’m sorry, Eliza. Come in and I promise I won’t ask about anything else. I was just so excited about getting a visitor.’
Eliza had to smile. ‘So you’ve had thirty-six hours of maternity leave and already you’re feeling socially isolated?’
‘Pathetic isn’t it?’ Mary led them into a sunny room that faced west. There was a long purple mountain range in the distance and Mary’s house perched on a rise overlooking a huge dam. Most of the sprawling garden comprised hardy native plants and birds darted in and out of the low foliage.
‘It’s beautiful here.’
‘Yes, it is. But now that I’m having a baby I wish we were closer to town.’ Mary showed her to a rose-patterned lounge suite and they both sat down.
Eliza sank into the cushions and sighed as she felt the tension from Jack’s latest hospital round ease away into the soft upholstery.
She looked across at Mary perched on the adjacent chair, a little forlorn-looking. ‘Can’t your husband come home earlier?’
‘He could but then he’d have to travel sooner after our baby is born and we want as much time as a family in the early months as we can.’
‘That makes sense. I think. So what are you going to do with your bundle of joy when you go back to work?’
Mary smiled. ‘That’s what’s so special about Bellbrook. I’ll take my baby with me. The hospital isn’t really much more than a large family home and there’re always plenty of hands ready to help if I need.’ They both laughed and Eliza began to enjoy herself.
‘Come for a walk in the garden,’ Mary said, ‘before the sun goes down. It’s a lovely time of the evening.’
Eliza followed Mary out onto the patio and the scent of bush roses drifted up from the path. She’d often enjoyed long walks with her father around the farm.
Three black cockatoos took off from a gum tree and their raucous cries almost drowned Mary out as they flew away.
Eliza said ‘Three days’ rain’ at the same time as Mary, and then laughed. ‘So you’re superstitious, too?’
‘Aren’t we all?’ Mary sidestepped a ladder against the wall and they both had the giggles again.
‘I always thought country people seem more prone to superstitions than city folk,’ Eliza mused.
Mary looked up with interest. ‘So are you really a country girl at heart?’
‘My dad loved the country. I didn’t mind it.’
‘And your mother?’
Eliza shrugged. ‘She left because of it. And the gossip, my dad said.’
Mary nodded. ‘This place thrives on gossip.’
‘Then I supposed you heard about Carla and I being hunted out of the river by Jack?’
Mary’s eyes twinkled. ‘I was hoping you’d mention that!’
Eliza held up both hands and shook her head. ‘I’m innocent, I swear.’ And then she started to laugh at the memory of herself cowering in the river. ‘People even said I was naked and Jack threw me a towel.’
‘You mean that didn’t happen?’ Mary looked crestfallen but couldn’t hold th
e expression long enough for Eliza to believe she was serious. They both laughed again.
‘Gossip comes because a lot of people are related in small towns—even if only by marriage.’
Eliza remembered the speed of the informants. ‘So how many people are related to Jack Dancer?’
The question seemed to come from nowhere but it was too late for Eliza to call it back. She hoped Mary wouldn’t assume she was becoming interested in Jack because she had the feeling matchmaking was a latent facet of Mary’s personality.
Mary shrugged. ‘Most of us are related in some way.’
Eliza nodded and rolled her eyes. ‘So I’ve noticed. Does that mean you’re a part of Jack’s enormous family circle?’
Mary sighed. ‘I’m not really. Originally, I was from Sydney.’ There was sadness in Mary’s voice and Eliza refrained from asking the obvious question.
‘Jack’s great-grandparents started it all when they had ten kids and most of them settled here. Jack has more cousins than a dog has fleas.’
Eliza had a sudden vision of a giant Jack with cousins crawling all over him, and she smiled. ‘So why isn’t Jack married with ten kids?’
‘That’s the crux of his problem. He was. Jack married my sister. She died three years ago.’ Mary trailed off for a moment then shook her head to jolt herself out of the melancholy.
‘Lydia didn’t like the life in Bellbrook and went back to Sydney. She and their unborn baby boy were killed in a car crash a month later.’
Eliza felt the breath catch in her throat. Poor Jack. ‘That’s sad for everyone. It must have been hard for both you and Jack.’
Mary gazed in the direction of the distant hills. ‘Jack looked after me. My husband, Mick, hadn’t really liked Lydia, and when she left Jack, Mick washed his hands of her. Jack always has had that caring quality that forgives and shoulders responsibility, and I guess that was some of what my sister saw when she married him.’
Mary went on slowly. ‘Lydia was different from me. Beautiful, spoiled by my parents, a talented arts major. And she hated Bellbrook. Then she hated being pregnant. In the end, she hated Jack.’
The Doctor's Surprise Bride Page 3
