The Bush Doctor's Challenge

‘No, I’m not,’ Abby replied hotly, and then gave him a worried look. ‘At least I hope I’m not.’

‘Well, I’ll choose to reserve judgement on that. And for your information I am a labourer and a drover, too, and a few other things in between.’

‘A real Jack of all trades?’ Abby said lightly, but her forehead creased slightly. ‘What’s a drover, by the way?’

‘A cowboy to you.’

‘Oh.’

‘Well, almost a cowboy. And while we’re making personal observations about each other, you don’t exactly look like an outback doctor.’

‘I know,’ Abby groaned, then checked herself. It wouldn’t do to voice her misgivings to a local, so instead she assumed what she hoped was a more positive tone. ‘But I’m really excited to be here.’

It didn’t fool him for a second! ‘That’s not what I heard.’ Kell grinned, topping up her glass of iced water then his own. ‘I was under the impression you were only here under sufferance.’

‘You know?’ Abby gulped. ‘But if you know, that means…’

‘It’s OK,’ Kell moved quickly to reassure her. ‘Ross only mentioned the fact you didn’t really want to come to me, no one else knows. Reece Davies is a friend of Ross’s and apparently he was singing your praises when he volunteered you for the job. Ross just told me to treat you a bit gently and make sure that people didn’t give you too much of a hard time until you’d found your feet a bit.’

‘Honestly,’ Abby checked, ‘you’re not put out that I only came because I had to?’

‘That’s the reason most doctors come.’ Kell shrugged. ‘Let’s face it—it’s a pretty weird place to be. Ross had a passion for it, but he’s the exception rather than the rule. The outback’s screaming for doctors…’

‘So you have to take what you can get?’

‘Not at all,’ Kell refuted. ‘Reece wouldn’t have recommended you if he didn’t think you were up to it, and Ross wouldn’t have taken you on just to have another name on the staff roster. The outback’s precarious enough without carrying people. You’re here because you’re wanted, Abby. The only person who’s not happy with the decision is you.’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Abby mumbled. ‘I’ve been practising medicine for nearly eight years now and this afternoon is going down on my list of top ten moments. If there’s a few more of them around then it’s been the right choice. I can see what Reece was saying more clearly now. It’s easy to get caught in all the high-tech stuff, but if this is the buzz grass roots medicine gives, then maybe these next three months won’t be so bad after all.’

‘Maybe not.’

They shared a smile, a tiny smile but it was loaded with hidden meaning. Confused, Abby stood up, and for something to do she grabbed the water jug and headed off to explore her new kitchen, her mind buzzing, every nerve in her body suddenly screaming. A couple of hours in Kell’s company and she was acting like a hormone-ravaged teenager, not a sensible thirty-something doctor.

‘What’s this?’ Abby asked, pulling open the fridge.

‘I would have thought a lady like you would know champagne when she sees it.’

‘I meant, what’s it doing in the fridge?’ Abby asked, refusing to jump.

‘Shelly would have left it there to welcome you. We could always wet the baby’s head?’

It could almost have passed as an innocent question, but there was a look in Kell’s eyes and such a heavy throb in the air that Abby knew her reserve would pop with as much oomph as the champagne cork, and that was one path she definitely wasn’t going to take.

‘We’d better get over to the pub. At this rate we won’t even make last orders.’

‘You’re joking, aren’t you? The news of the baby will have the pub pumping to the wee hours. It could be a long night.’

‘Not for me.’ Abby shook her head. ‘I’ll have a quick orange juice and say hi, and then I’m out of there. I need to be on the ball, and something tells me Ross isn’t going to be around very much over the next few days to ease me in.’

‘Then it’s just as well you’ve got me.’

Another simple statement, but again Abby felt the throb of sexual tension, the path of a conversation littered with possible innuendo, and she almost took a tentative step, almost responded with a loaded answer herself. But she pulled back in an instant, Kell’s easy smile making her wonder if her mind was playing tricks.

‘I’ll just go and get changed. You do whatever women do before they go out.’

‘But where are you going?’ Abby asked as he headed for the front door.

‘I rent the house next door.’ He either ignored or didn’t notice the shocked look on her face, carrying on chatting in his usual easy style. ‘I only use it for when I’m on call and if I’m on a late then early shift, but I guess it kind of makes us neighbours.’

She didn’t answer, Abby truly couldn’t, just stood there dumbfounded as he turned and left; the five minutes it took Kell to wash and change nowhere near enough time to get her head together.

Not only was she going to be working alongside him, he would be living next door to her as well.

Three months.

The words didn’t console Abby this time.

After only three hours in Kell’s company already Abby’s nerves were on fire…

CHAPTER THREE (#ucb9aa99a-9818-5e07-b338-45278d5bd7e7)

‘PUMPING’, was a slight exaggeration on Kell’s part, Abby decided, but the pub was certainly lively.

Walking in, Abby braced herself for a few curious stares, but the cheer that went up as they both entered almost floored her.

‘What’s all this for?’ Abby gasped as her back was slapped so vigorously that, had she been choking, her airway would undoubtedly have been cleared in two seconds flat. Jugs of beer were being held up in all directions as Kell guided her through to the bar.

‘You just delivered Tennengarrah’s newest resident, remember?’

Oh, Abby remembered. After all, how could she forget? But never in her wildest dreams had she expected this kind of reception. The births she had witnessed at the hospital had been accompanied with a certain amount of euphoria, a jubilant husband, a few relatives, but the long lonely walk back to the doctors’ mess had meant any emotions had been left in the delivery room.

But here! The whole town seemed to be out, cheering and applauding.

‘Abby, this is Jack Brown,’ Kell introduced. ‘Tennengarrah’s one and only policeman.’

Another smiling face appeared before her. ‘Glad to have you on board, Abby,’ Jack grinned, ‘playing midwife’s not my favourite pastime, you did a great job.’

Another pat on the back, another vote of confidence to make her feel as if she had done something really special. In fact, by the time the obligatory toasts had been made, and her hand shaken by every last person at the bar, Abby found herself starting to agree with them.

It really had been special.

‘They’ll settle now.’ Kell grinned, guiding her to a table. ‘A birth’s big news here, but when the cricket’s starting…’

Abby’s eyes followed his to the massive screen in the corner, every head in the place seemed to be turned to it.

‘It’s all a bit much to take in, I guess.’

Abby took a sip of her juice and gave a small shrug.