Red Sand Sunrise

by Fiona McArthur

  It had been almost three months since Callie arranged the funeral of the father she loved, so the gentle passage of time would have helped with the overwhelming grief but there was something else – an excitement that Callie glowed with. Maybe she really had been throwing herself into this project?

  They hugged again and then stepped apart a little self-consciously.

  ‘How’s Sylvia?’

  Callie followed Eve around to the rear of the laden Subaru and took two of the smaller bags from her.

  ‘Determinedly bright. Likes your idea of excluding animal products from her diet. She says it’s been easy because she wasn’t eating much anyway, so now when she eats she just uses a vegan option. And it’s the only thing I’ve read that gives good scientific backup for remission.’

  Eve heard the voice of the sceptical doctor and grinned. ‘As long as she’s feeling better, that’s great.’ She looked Callie up and down. ‘And how about you? You look like you’ve been on a health kick too.’

  Callie rolled her eyes. ‘I’ve been busy. Blanche is relentless.’ She climbed the steps in front of Eve but glanced back. ‘It’s so good to see you.’

  Eve grinned to herself. ‘I’m pleased.’

  She paused at the first landing, put her suitcase down for a moment and turned to stare out over the brown paddock below and towards the scrubby creek. The red sandhills glowed in the distance.

  Callie came back and stood next to her. They turned to look the other way. The black ribbon of road cut across the red earth like an exclamation mark with blurry edges as it disappeared into the distance out of town.

  ‘It’s as beautiful as I remember.’ And as isolated, Eve thought, but she didn’t say it. She’d said it enough as she’d lain in bed the night before in the cabin in a Charleville caravan park. And again this morning as she’d driven on. Back of beyond, all right.

  In the distance a man on a horse with half a dozen dogs was rounding up some cattle in a haze of dust. What the heck had made her think she would fit in out here?

  ‘You okay?’ Callie looked worried for a moment and that was the last thing Eve wanted.

  ‘Fine. Just soaking it in.’ She couldn’t even ride a horse. ‘So it’s been fun watching the clinic take shape?’

  Callie nodded enthusiastically. ‘It surprised me how excited I am about it.’

  Eve smiled. ‘And how’s Bennet the Builder going?’ Callie had mentioned on the phone that Bennet had been her boyfriend years before.

  Callie looked away, and they picked up the bags and started up the steps again. ‘That man has serious skills, and not just as a vet. I can’t believe what he’s achieved and I can’t wait to show you.’

  Yeah, but you avoided the question. Eve didn’t say that either. ‘You do look relaxed, Callie.’

  ‘I can’t believe how good it feels to be back in Red Sand. And being with Mum.’

  Maybe it was just that. Stars in the eyes because of no horrible husband.

  ‘Away from Kurt?’

  ‘Surprisingly that too. The practice sold and all my stuff has arrived. So it’s all fading into the past already.’ She grimaced. ‘The break from work is good. I hadn’t realised I’d worked without any time off for years.’

  She pushed open the back door, and Sylvia rose carefully from her seat at the kitchen table as they walked inside.

  ‘Don’t get up.’ Eve hugged her gently. ‘You look a little rosier in the cheeks.’ But thinner. Much thinner.

  ‘Hello, darling. How lovely to see you. How are you?’

  The warmth of Sylvia’s greeting brought tears to Eve’s eyes. This woman made you feel you were just the person she’d hoped would drop in and that you were welcome to stay as long as you liked – which was lucky, because Eve had brought a car full of gear.

  ‘Great, thanks. And it’s lovely to see you too.’ Her own mum hadn’t exhibited even a quarter of the kind-heartedness and genuine pleasure Sylvia took in other people’s company. Callie must be terrified of losing her. Eve was beginning to see why her father might have felt lost with her mother and even two little girls, why he’d come back to this woman and Callie. After all, she’d just left Brisbane to do the same. What she didn’t get was why he’d left Sylvia for her mother in the first place.

  ‘We’ve given you the big room out the back, the one overlooking the river. But have a cup of tea first before you unpack.’

  Tea! Eve knew she was back now. She was normally a chai drinker, and in the months she’d been away she surprised a few of her friends by having the occasional old-fashioned cup of tea, preparing herself for the onslaught of the Tea-Drinking Republic of Red Sand.

  ‘Callie says there have been big developments at the old saddlery.’

  Sylvia’s eyes twinkled as if at a secret joke. ‘Bennet’s been practically living there, and every time I go down there’s something new. Half the town has walked around the big container that was dropped off yesterday from the medical suppliers.’

  Callie laughed and Eve stared at her. Her new sister had a great laugh. Funny, that was the first time she’d really heard it.

  Even Sylvia was smiling fondly at Callie, who stopped and crinkled up her face at her mother. ‘What?’

  Sylvia shook her head and glanced across at Eve, who grinned back, but Callie was off and running.

  ‘We’ve got two and a bit weeks until the grand opening. Unpacking the container is our first big assignment now the inside painting has been finished. Then there’s sorting sterile supplies and medications, and unboxing the equipment and working out how to use it all.’

  Eve knew all about that. ‘I unpacked our new birth unit in Brisbane. Took us days.’

  ‘Experience I will draw on. My old practice manager is flying out to Longreach tomorrow and Bennet’s bringing her down. She’s giving me a month of her skills to get us through all the paperwork and new forms we need to keep Lex’s legal team happy.’

  Eve thought about the long streak of gorgeous misery, Lex McKay. She’d had a few daydreams about him at the Botanic Gardens, lying under her favourite tree after work. Now she wondered out loud, ‘Does Lex do happy?’

  Sylvia giggled, another sound new to Eve’s ears. She leaned back in her seat, feeling the expansion of an unfamiliar sense of belonging. It seemed the father she couldn’t remember had given her a precious gift from the grave: a new family she was growing to love very easily. She could feel the tightening in her chest and tried to understand why it affected her so much.

  She was just being a sook. Eve chose not to look at Sylvia because it would bring even more tears to her eyes.

  ‘So your Sydney manager is coming out for a month?’ she asked Callie. ‘How’d you manage that?’

  ‘She’s a friend. I’m hoping she’ll love it and stay. She’s going to train one of the women here with the medical software we’ll use. I’m hopeless at explaining software to people.’

  Thank goodness Callie was hopeless at something. ‘Me too.’

  Three days later Eve was packing the last shelf when she heard a vehicle pull up outside. She’d learned to recognise the chugging noise of diesel engines, but she’d been expecting a farm vehicle. The sudden flash of rotating beacons coming in through the window had her dropping her box of loose syringes and heading for the front door.

  ‘It’s Lex,’ she called to Callie, and that funny little excitement she’d had all day as they waited for Lex to bring the new ambulance expanded in her stomach.

  It was natural to feel a little trepidation for her additional role as emergency response worker, and when had she signed up for that? Thanks, Blanche. So this flutter of nerves was nothing to do with the ambulance’s driver, she told herself.

  The four-wheel drive Troop Carrier, compliments of the Queensland government and bloody Blanche, was apparently Eve’s responsibility. She knew the concept amused Callie but it darn well scared the pants off Eve.

  ‘Afternoon, Lex.’ Eve passed his window as she used the key to open the
double doors to the car space.

  ‘Eve.’ A nod, laconic as usual, then he was reversing smoothly into the ambulance bay. The engine wound down as he climbed out. She’d forgotten how tall and powerful he was, and being jammed together in the cramped space made her aware of that feeling in her belly again.

  Callie opened the second set of doors that led into the emergency room, and Eve backed up the ramp towards her sister and out of the confines of the bay.

  ‘How was the drive down from Longreach?’ Eve asked.

  ‘Good. It’s a beast, but you’ll manage it fine with a bit of practice.’

  Was that a tinge of scepticism in his voice?

  ‘Gotta love a beast.’ I’m not scared. She chanted the line from the bear hunt song to herself. ‘So the paramedic instructor’s arriving with the RFDS on Friday and will stay overnight.’

  Lex lifted his hand and rubbed his neck, flexing the muscles in his shoulders as if he’d been a little tense driving the vehicle. Eve tried not to watch.

  ‘Yep. She’ll explain all the mod cons of the intensive-care side of it. But the mechanics are great.’ For Lex that was enthusiasm.

  ‘Boys’ toys.’

  He raised his brows at that. ‘Girls’ toys, apparently. If I’d said “boys’ toys” I’d be called a chauvinist.’

  She felt so small beside him when he loomed over her. She had to admit she did enjoy the fact she felt more ‘womanly’ around Lex. Why was that?

  Eve’s glance was drawn back to the red and white vehicle. It looked so big and technical; she didn’t even want to picture herself pulling up beside an accident scene and jumping out. And if it had made Lex tense there was a possibility it wasn’t as easy to maneuver as her little all-wheel drive.

  ‘I’m a big girl. I’ll be fine.’

  ‘I noticed that.’ That came with a smile and a brief glance that made her aware another button of her shirt had come undone. Then he turned all serious again. ‘I’m sure you’ll manage.’ But he didn’t sound any more convinced than she felt, and in a strange way that stiffened her spine.

  She needed to learn how the equipment worked, and Blanche had arranged for Eve to go away after that to a two-day Advanced Emergency Life Support workshop, and then to a heavy-terrain driving course. Apparently after that she’d be fine. Bloody hell.

  To be fair, apart from close-to-town accidents, the vehicle’s main purpose was to transfer patients in reasonable comfort to the airstrip a kilometre down the road. That and to traverse creeks if needed, to get to homesteads for outreach visits.

  ‘I think we should ask around and maybe find a volunteer driver. That way you could stay in the back with the patients.’

  ‘I’ll sort it out.’

  Lex just raised his brows.

  ‘Or June will.’ Callie, always the sensible one, reappeared and saved Eve from the brain freeze, and an argument she and Lex seemed to be tumbling into for some reason. ‘Come in, June’s made a pot of tea and put out some of Mrs Saul’s boiled fruitcake.’

  But the whole time Lex was there Eve felt strangely combative, on edge, and the amused glances Lex cast her just made her feel more awkward.

  ELEVEN

  The first Friday of June was the opening day of the Red Sand Medical Centre. Eve could imagine a disastrous financial expenditure year was drawing to a close for Lex McKay. Blanche could be one expensive mother. The thought made her smile.

  They’d chosen a Friday because it meant more people would be able to come to the opening – those who came to town could stay overnight if they wanted – and any hiccups could be fixed by Monday for the fresh new week.

  Dawn broke still and cool. Eve had noticed the drop in temperature in the mornings, though it was still warm in the middle of the day. She’d been writing in her diary for the past few weeks, keen to record the people she met, the gecko in her room, the snake beside the water tank. She was already aware she could grow to love it out here, and when she looked up she’d lost an hour. Oops. Running late again. She dived out of bed.

  She still couldn’t believe how much Callie had achieved in a few months, especially as it had taken Eve and her boss, Chippie, twelve months to replace something as simple as a bath in their hospital in Brisbane.

  Apparently Bennet had worked at a steady pace, but Eve reckoned he must have worked night and day, judging by the photos Callie had taken of the stages of work.

  The building was slap-bang in the middle of town, and had been painted heritage colours. Somehow Eve had imagined they would have painted it white with a big red cross, but it was muted, tasteful and much bigger than she’d thought it would be.

  Blanche had flown in a plumber and an electrician from Brisbane, and June, Callie’s practice manager, looked like she could organise a small country. She was already talking about staying and opening up a local business, and she wanted to start an exercise class too. Eve wondered if they could make a group with the Country Women’s Association. Sienna would crack up laughing at the thought.

  Callie and Eve had spent several days unpacking the enormous container filled with medical equipment and supplies that the semitrailer had dropped off out the front. Handily, every time they’d needed a new shelf or cupboard, Bennet the Builder had zipped in and created it.

  Eve could have fallen for Bennet, except that he was shorter than her, and Callie obviously fancied him. She was pretty sure Bennet fancied Callie too, if those searing glances between them she kept catching said anything. Sadly, even Eve could see that Bennet hadn’t only built a few walls for their mini hospital, he’d built a few between him and Callie as well.

  But it was a big day, and she wasn’t worrying about stuff she couldn’t fix. And half a dozen CWA ladies had been baking furiously for the supporters who were flying and driving in.

  ‘Eve, the McKays are here,’ Callie called through her door, and Eve swiped on some purple lipstick, matching her new purple shirt. It was time. All their work would be on display, and she was proud of the centre, incredibly proud of her sister, and proud to be part of the concept.

  The most exciting part was that after the opening she was going to hold their first antenatal clinic; they had six pregnant women booked in already. This was what she was here for.

  Two minutes later Eve entered the kitchen but there didn’t seem to be room for her. She’d forgotten that three McKays in one place took up an awful lot of emotional space, as well as physically diminishing the room. Talk about a larger-than-life family.

  Lex, tall and handsome in his collared blue shirt, jeans and immaculate elastic-sided boots, looked like something out of an R. M. Williams catalogue. He nodded at her with a slight smile, which was an improvement on the way they’d parted on ambulance day. She’d seen him a couple of times in town this past week on errands for Blanche, and sometimes she thought he liked her and other times she felt it was all on her side. She nodded back and tried to keep the confused thoughts off her face but the guy made her more aware of little things.

  Blanche vibrated with excitement and shook Eve’s hand cordially, so she’d obviously moved up to actual contact with Blanche. And of course Henry crossed to her side and lifted her fingers to his lips with impeccable grace.

  ‘Ah. The divine Miss Wilson.’

  Oh, Lordy. ‘Nice to see you again, Henry.’

  ‘I absolutely agree.’ The twinkle in his eyes was so obvious she laughed out loud.

  ‘You crack me up.’

  Lex muttered something that sounded like, ‘At least someone’s amused by Henry,’ and Blanche turned to Callie.

  ‘I’d like to walk through the building one more time before the ceremony, if you would like to accompany us?’

  As usual it was an order not a request, but Eve strongly suspected Blanche might be physically missing a diplomatic bone and her similarity to Chippie actually endeared the McKay matriarch to her. So she crossed to her side.

  ‘You’ve been amazing, Blanche. Everything is perfect and I can’t believe how qui
ckly you can make things happen. You should be in government.’

  ‘Government is far too slow-moving for me, dear.’ She glanced back at Callie and Lex, who were still in discussion, and frowned.

  ‘Follow me. I have a feeling you are a woman after my own heart. Can’t abide this standing around. Perhaps it will encourage them to stop considering things and get them done.’

  Eve shook her head. ‘Disagree there, Blanche. Callie’s worked like a Trojan.’ God, she was mimicking Blanche now. It was a bad habit. But she would not have Callie picked on. Funny how she could be brave for other people but not herself.

  Blanche paused, taken aback. She blinked like a dazed kangaroo, then stared at Eve. ‘As you say. I’m not used to people correcting me, though.’

  Then it was Blanche’s turn to laugh. It was a short, sharp trumpet of a noise but enough for both of her sons to stop and turn with disbelief, making Eve wonder how often their mother laughed.

  Once they reached the busy end of the street there were a few early arrivals milling outside the centre and Blanche nodded regally as she passed them to enter the building with her entourage in formation behind her.

  Sylvia had declined to go on tour. She would come for the opening ceremony, and Callie had promised to collect her mother before the official business began.

  Inside, the gloom and dust had been replaced with air-conditioned, airy light, and the walls, eggshell blue at Eve’s suggestion, calmed and soothed.

  A glorious print of a blue-skied sunrise over the red sandhills outside town made first impressions welcoming and warm, and the wooden floors shone brightly beneath two ochre-swirled rugs that led to the reception desk and through to the two consulting rooms.

  Each room held a large wooden desk with a laptop computer, a group of three chairs, an examination couch, scales and basic observation tools. There was a soothing print of the ocean in Eve’s office, and of the outback in Callie’s.