The Baby Doctor

by Fiona McArthur

  ‘We do. Lovely to hear from you, Sienna. Is everything alright?’

  Her brows knitted. ‘Just because I’ve rung you doesn’t mean there’s a problem.’

  Eve gave a small huff of amusement. ‘Seeing as it’s not my birthday, clearly something has happened.’

  That wasn’t true. She frowned and wondered for a moment. Maybe Eve did initiate the calls most of the time. ‘I’m driving out your way.’

  ‘Just passing?’ Something in Eve’s voice suggested this wasn’t the first she’d heard about it. Sienna grimaced into the phone. Eve knew. Her sister had always had been a terrible liar.

  ‘I’m not actually visiting you. Your mother-in-law has been donating again,’ she said drily. ‘Did you know?’ She listened carefully.

  There was a small pause before Eve sighed. ‘I’m not surprised. She mentioned the congenital birth issues over at Spinifex and I knew she’d think of you first.’ Then, hurriedly, she added, ‘I did not suggest you.’

  Sienna knew it. But why hadn’t Eve told her? ‘Thank you,’ she said instead. ‘Did you know Douglas is currently enforcing the law in Spinifex?’

  This time the surprise came through very clearly. ‘Reeealllly?’

  ‘I’m hoping he’ll let me stay with him.’

  Eve released a huff of disbelief. ‘You think that will happen?’

  ‘It could?’ She could hear the doubt in her own voice. She wanted definite – not doubt.

  Eve said gently, ‘Don’t tell me Douglas won’t be conscious of public opinion. He must be above reproach. You know what small towns are like, Sienna. It’s the same here.’

  ‘For goodness sake. He’s a police officer, not a priest.’

  ‘There’re more similarities between the two than you would think when you’re as remote as Spinifex. It’d be detrimental to the respect the town has for him if you moved in.’ Eve’s voice remained quiet, reasonable, and so non-judgemental Sienna couldn’t understand how anyone could be so nice yet lay down the law.

  ‘It’s a pain.’

  She darn well heard the smile in Eve’s voice this time. ‘You just have to marry him, that’s all.’

  ‘Like that’s going to happen. He’d get claustrophobia in Sydney and I’d go mad in the outback.’

  ‘At least when you visited you could have conjugal rites.’

  They both laughed. Eve being arch amused Sienna, but a sudden image of Douglas when she’d seen him last appeared, filling her doorway just before he left, his beautiful mouth tilted at one corner, that final lingering kiss. She sucked in a breath and focused on the phone in her hand. ‘He rang me first so at least I had some warning before I was shafted.’ Sienna could hear the accusation in her own voice.

  There was the unmistakable sound of Eve stifling another laugh. ‘Not shafted. Seconded. And I think you’re the perfect person for the job.’ Before Sienna could jump down her throat she said, ‘Remember, I was not the person who suggested you to Blanche.’

  Sensibly, Eve directed them away from the rest of that conversation, but Sienna knew she would revisit why her sister hadn’t mentioned it when they were face to face. ‘So when are you coming?’

  ‘I’ll leave first thing Tuesday morning and stay in Roma for an overnight break. So I should arrive in Spinifex before dark on Wednesday.’

  ‘That’s a lot of driving. Will you drop in on me or Callie?’ Eve was ever the peacemaker. Sienna admired her sister – and her half-sister. It wasn’t Callie’s fault that their father had preferred Callie’s mother to Sienna’s.

  ‘Of course.’ She’d detour on the way back. ‘I’m planning a flying visit to you both on the home run. I’ll stay one night at yours.’

  ‘I’m glad,’ Eve said, sounding relieved. ‘And you could always stay and spend another night with me.’

  If she had to go to the outback, Sienna would get home as soon as she could. ‘No. I need to be back here for interviews.’ A tinge of persuasion slid into her voice. ‘You could come and help me at Spinifex?’

  There was a short pause. ‘Lex wants me to stay home. Just until I get over this nausea.’

  Sienna’s ears pricked up. ‘Nausea? Are you pregnant?’

  ‘You’re such an obstetrician.’

  She felt the pang of another thing her sister hadn’t told her. ‘How many weeks?’

  ‘Twelve.’

  Wow. Almost a third of the way there. Eve would be an amazing parent. ‘I can so see you as a mother.’ Unlike me, Sienna thought.

  ‘And you.’ Eve said, as though she had read her thoughts. ‘You would be fine. Hard but fair.’

  They both laughed. Their mother’s favourite saying. Sienna would be like their ma. She didn’t have a maternal bone in her body. Sienna just wanted mothers and babies to have good births. She had no desire herself to take a kid home. ‘While you will spoil your children with love.’

  Eve sniffed. ‘You can’t be spoiled by love, Sienna.’

  ‘Sure you can.’ She shrugged, even though her sister couldn’t see it. ‘You could grow up expecting it everywhere. And we all know that isn’t the way it works out there in the big, wide world.’

  ‘Sienna —’ Eve started, but she cut her off.

  ‘I’ll be able to show you the new car when I see you.’

  ‘You’ve sold the sports car, haven’t you? I think Lex’s daughter had her eyes on that.’

  ‘See? Spoiling. And yes. I’ll show you the beast when I get there. See you in a couple of weeks if not before. Say hi to the hunk.’ Then she disconnected.

  Sienna was left feeling loved and strangely quiet. Eve’s warmth and serenity seemed to have become even deeper, and her marriage to Lex seemed so perfect, Sienna tamped down an insidious envy.

  She flicked the remote on the Bose sound system and the Rolling Stones crooned to her about the lack of satisfaction out there as she removed her shoes. By the end of the song, she grinned at herself in the hall mirror. She took after her mother. Stilettos and city living – and a love of Jagger.

  She turned back to her kitchen and pulled out a container of yoghurt. Sprinkled berries on top and a dollop of nuts and then dug her spoon in. As she chewed thoughtfully, she glanced around the state-of-the-art kitchen she never used. This time she would take her coffee machine. It would fit in the mid-size new blue hard-shell case. Thank goodness for the big boot because at least she knew what to expect in the coffee department.

  Still, beneath the superficial props of control, she knew that once she hit the wide, desolate distances between towns, there were a lot of things she’d have no power over.

  Chapter Three

  Maddy

  Madison Locke took a deep breath and steadied her shaking hands on the kitchen sink. And saw the bitten nail beds. This wasn’t her. She was twenty-one years old, not a child.

  The real Madison had backpacked all over Europe, had managed to disentangle herself from some sticky situations, but here, back in the country of her birth if not the state, in this dusty outback town – she’d thought she’d found love.

  If this was love, then why was she soooo sad lately? That voice in her head questioned her again.

  Trying to cook with Jacob leaning against the kitchen wall, watching, arms folded, made the nausea crawl around inside her stomach and there wasn’t any room for that.

  His hard brown eyes, eyes that had made her smile a year ago, held that distant sneer he seemed to have permanently acquired since he’d had his accident and so badly broken his leg. At first, a year ago, this built and handsome truck driver with a swooning ability to sing country songs had made her feel sexy, almost pretty, something she’d never felt before, and he’d said he was falling in love with her.

  But he hadn’t sung anything lately. Not since the accident. When he’d moved to the outback town to recover six weeks ago, because he’d inherited a ramshackle house, she’d left her friends and gone with him. To help until he could manage on his own. But it hadn’t turned out like she’d thought it wo
uld. When they’d first met, he’d been all over her, but since coming to Spinifex it seemed he couldn’t stand the sight of her. Which turned out to be lucky.

  She looked down at the pot and realised the scrambled eggs had begun to stick and then the whey began to separate.

  She panicked, lifted the cheap pot that would be a devil to scour-clean later, and the smell of burning food made her head turn sharply. ‘The toast.’

  Jacob pushed past on his crutches and violently hit the toaster eject button. Two charcoal bread relics flew up and landed with a crackle on the bench amidst curls of smoke.

  She put down the pot to grab them and he put out his hand and pushed her away from the bench. ‘Leave it. You’re useless. I’ll do it myself. Just go to work early.’

  ‘No. No. I’ll do it.’ She could feel the sting of tears. If he’d just left her alone to prepare their tea.

  Instead, he leaned on his crutch and pushed her again, harder this time, and she lost balance and fell backwards against the wall, slammed her shoulder into the corner of a cupboard, and cried out.

  His face darkened. ‘Bloody hell, Maddy. Stop making me lose my temper.’ He glared at her. Stepped closer to help her find her balance, and then losing control again he began to shake her until her teeth rattled. ‘You drive me insane. You have to stop making me mad. Doing stupid things.’

  His eyes looked different. More out of control. Scary. Her sudden fear made her rethink her situation. As if, however briefly, the cloud of uncertainty had lifted to allow her to see plainly. Terror that she could have hit her stomach during the fall cleared some of the black stickiness she’d seemed to be sinking into like treacle. Made her reconsider. Should she be looking for a time to tell Jacob their news? Or looking for a way to stop him finding out? Really contemplate getting away before . . .

  Though goodness knew where she’d run to from here.

  Jacob looked at her and then turned away in disgust, and her soul shrank a little more. He scooped the pain medication from the window sill behind the sink and swung away into the lounge with the bottle jammed in his shirt pocket. ‘Forget it. I’m not hungry. Throw it out and then go.’

  Maddy squeezed her eyes shut and breathed in slowly. Quiet. If she just stayed quiet. Silently, she began to clean up the mess. In fifteen minutes the kitchen lay immaculate. The tea towel folded so. The bench gleaming like he wanted.

  There was just the rubbish to deal with. Then the lid of the garbage bin in the kitchen clanged as she lifted out the heavy garbage bag and she sucked in a quick breath and froze.

  ‘What the hell. I was almost asleep then!’ Jacob’s voice rose along with Maddy’s pulse rate, the shout from the lounge lifting the hairs on the back of her neck. She nervously backed away from the noise she’d made and the voice from the other room. Edged towards the back door.

  ‘Come here!’

  Reluctantly, she changed direction and eased her head around the doorframe into the lounge. He’d stiffened in front of the television, his hard eyes wild, turned in her direction, long fingers gripping the edge of the lounge as if he was digging them into her arm.

  The saving grace was the plaster-covered leg that was elevated on the scratched coffee table, which had stopped him from rising.

  Tears trickled out the side of her eyes and she tried to wipe them away one-handed, but it was too late. He’d seen them.

  ‘Crying again?’ Jacob ground his teeth. ‘Stop being depressed,’ he growled. ‘It’s pathetic. Get over it.’

  She was trying. But telling him that only made him angrier. And he said he loved her. Sometimes. Nobody had said that for a long time, and she wanted someone to love her.

  Maddy pushed away the dark thoughts and lifted her head. Nervously checked that her long ponytail was secure.

  ‘I’m sorry. I’m going now,’ she whispered softly and pulled her head back, slipping away before he could call her. She escaped out of the house, closing the wooden door with exaggerated care. Then the screen. Jacob wouldn’t like it if it made that loud squeaking sound. She kept meaning to borrow some lubricating spray from work to fix the squeal of dry metal and doorframe.

  Bizarrely, when she stepped out, instead of causing discomfort the hot afternoon air seemed to protect her in its heavy dry cloak as it wrapped around her.

  It was so much easier to breathe outside the house, despite the bouncing waves of heat reflecting off the big refuse bin as she quietly deposited her load and eased the lid down silently.

  She stepped onto the concrete path towards work. How had she come to this point where she was creeping around to keep the peace?

  With another moment of clarity, Maddy saw how far she’d come down in the last three months, even before they’d come here, how on edge she’d grown whenever he was there, which, apart from her time at work, was all of the time since his accident. It had been so much better when Jacob had been driving the truck for a few days, and fun when he came home for the next couple.

  She knew it must be frustrating, the constant setbacks, delays in healing under the plaster, and she had tried to make it easier for him as time dragged on, but the longer it took the less she could do right. Or do to help. She seemed to make everything worse.

  Unconsciously, her hand slid protectively over her belly again and she cupped her secret.

  There never seemed to be a good time to tell Jacob. She hoped he wouldn’t be too angry. Hoped she said it right when the time came. She felt the self-blame and self-loathing trickle over her at the fragility of that hope.

  And why hadn’t she told Jacob that they were pregnant? Seriously pregnant. Like almost ready to have the baby pregnant. Maybe a week or two to go? And she couldn’t tell anyone else until she told him.

  So it wasn’t just Jacob. She’d dug such a deep hole for herself in leaving it this long, she hadn’t told anyone when she’d grasped how blind she’d been not to know. Just nodded, agreed with Jacob when he’d told her she was getting fat. Not that there was anyone else to tell, with the last of her family across in Perth, except maybe her new boss.

  But she might lose her job if she told Alma. And she didn’t want Alma to think badly of her as well.

  In the last month, since she’d realised her stupidity about her pregnancy, her time at home had become steadily more fraught, Jacob’s temper rising more quickly every day, and now he bruised her when he held her. Shook her violently when he was angry. She felt like she’d go mad with the humiliation and confusion.

  The confusion that hadn’t been a part of her life before the accident. Before her happy world had turned into cloying suffocation that swirled and made the tears sting.

  She brushed away the new tears. She’d never been a weeper. She quickened her pace. Work always made her feel better. Made her feel stronger. Safe. Which was funny considering she worked in a pub. A job Jacob didn’t like her having, but someone had to bring home money.

  Thank goodness for the Desert Rose Hotel.

  Chapter Four

  Sienna

  Late Monday night, in her eyrie of an apartment after a twelve-hour day, Sienna had successfully rescheduled her commitments at the hospital into Cilla’s hopefully capable hands.

  She probably should have waited a day or two more and had less of a rush, but the faster she left the faster she’d be back. Or at least that was what she told everyone else. It had absolutely nothing to do with the man she was about to call.

  Now for the tricky part. Funny how tackling Douglas had her behaving like a pubescent kid in a teen movie.

  Her mind trekked to the most recent time he’d arrived at her apartment. Just after she’d come down with that revolting flu, and though recovering, she’d had that flat, miserable feeling of self-pity that could come after a particularly debilitating virus. He’d phoned. Asked her what she’d been doing for Valentine’s Day. If she hadn’t been so sick she would have laughed.

  Douglas had been on the other side of the city for a conference, and later that night the hero h
ad appeared at her door and proceeded to look after her like her own private nurse. With benefits.

  He had also brought that most delightfully quirky metal emu for her. Emus were one of the few things that had endeared the outback to her. She looked across now to the white marble mantle and she smiled at the odd little figure perched jauntily on the cold marble.

  Douglas had even scrambled her eggs, bubbled her bath, and ever so gently washed her hair. Then taken advantage of her very sweetly until she had decided that being sick wasn’t so bad after all. Her mouth curved at the memory. Nobody had ever nurtured her like that. Then again, she’d never allowed anyone to.

  Of course, after, he’d driven away and she’d returned to the maelstrom that was work with only the occasional reminiscent smile to the north.

  That must have been just before Douglas started the new position, which she realised now would be the one at Spinifex. It must have been no simple drive for an outback policeman to travel from the extreme western edge of the city, navigating the one-way streets and entry and exit motorways, to care for her. For one night. But what a night. She fanned herself at the images flitting through her mind’s eye.

  Her chest tightened as she picked up the phone. Good things happened when Douglas came to her town. Hopefully she could do the same for him.

  But Sienna in Douglas’s town sat in a totally different universe and she knew it. She’d needed that Pinot Noir of Dutch courage and a big breath before she’d hit the ‘call’ button. Her stomach fluttered like a girl’s as she waited for him to pick up.

  ‘Spinifex Police Station. Sergeant McCabe.’ The rough timbre of masculine certainty and steady reassurance came over the phone, and Sienna could remember clearly the depth of his compassion for those he helped. Oh my, she loved his voice. Those shoulders. The sexiness. The way he held her. And the way he cared for her.

  ‘I’m looking for the Spinifex Brothel?’ Her voice took on a low vibrancy she didn’t know she had.