Australian Bachelors: Outback Heroes: Top-Notch Doc, Outback Bride / A Wedding in Warragurra / The Outback Doctor's Surprise Bride. Fiona Lowe
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to the door. ‘Everything’s there on the bench near the kettle. I’m just going to have a quick shower before we head into town.’
‘Thanks,’ she said and once he had left the room she quickly refilled her glass and drank deeply.
Kellie heard the sound of water being lapped thirstily outside. She looked out of the window and was pleased to see Spike had made his way back and after his drink was making himself comfortable in the shade of the rainwater tank.
She wandered from the kitchen to the comfortable-looking sitting room across the hall, the sound of an ancient grandfather clock ticking yet again reminding her of how many generations of farmers had lived here.
Her gaze went to the mantel above the fireplace where there was a photograph of a young woman, the same woman she had caught a glimpse of in Matt’s wallet the day before. She picked up the frame and looked into the features of his late fiancée, her long ash-blonde hair, almond-shaped green eyes and wide happy smile marking her as a stunningly beautiful woman.
The floorboards creaked as Matt stepped into the room and Kellie turned around, suddenly feeling like a child who had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. ‘I was just … um … having a look around,’ she said, still holding the photograph.
He walked across the room, took the frame from her hands and looked down at it for an infinitesimal moment, before turning and carefully setting it back on the mantel in exactly the same position. Kellie got the impression he thought she had deliberately desecrated his shrine for his fiancée. She could see the tension in his shoulders as he stood with his back to her, still looking at the photograph.
‘What was her name?’ she found herself asking.
‘Madeleine,’ he answered after a slight pause.
‘She was very beautiful,’ Kellie said, not sure what else to say to fill the awkward silence.
‘Yes …’ He turned around to look at her, his expression showing none of the emotion she could hear in his voice. ‘Yes, she was …’
The grandfather clock timed the next silence.
Kellie breathed in the clean scent of Matt, the tantalising combination of citrus-based shampoo and soap and aftershave activating all her senses. His dark brown hair was still wet, although it looked as if he had used his fingers rather than a comb to push it into place. His jaw was cleanly shaven now but it looked as if the razor had nicked him just below his chin on his neck. She could see the pinkish graze and she felt an almost uncontrollable urge to close the small distance between their bodies and salve the tiny wound with the tip of her tongue.
She ran her tongue over her parched lips instead, more than a little shocked at how she was reacting to him. She couldn’t remember a time when she had felt so physically aware of a man. Her whole body was on high alert, her skin tingling to feel more of his touch. She could still feel the warm imprint of his hands where they had rested on her waist earlier, the nerve endings still fizzing like thousands of champagne bubbles under her skin.
‘Matt, I was—Oh, sorry,’ a gruff male voice said from the door. ‘I didn’t know you had company.’
‘It’s all right, Bob,’ Matt said, turning to face the man. ‘This is Kellie Thorne, the new GP filling in for Tim Montgomery. Kellie, this is Bob Gardner, my manager.’
Kellie smiled and took the older man’s heavily calloused hand in hers. ‘I’m very pleased to meet you, Bob,’ she said with a bright and friendly smile.
‘Nice to meet you, Dr Thorne,’ Bob said. ‘My wife Eunice would like to meet you some time. She’s away at the moment, visiting our daughter in Cairns, but when she gets back I’m sure she’ll invite you over for a meal or something.’
‘I’ll look forward to it,’ Kellie said still smiling.
‘What did you want to talk to me about, Bob?’ Matt asked.
‘That heifer we were worried about has delivered her twin calves without any dramas,’ Bob said. ‘But I thought we should still get a couple of antibiotic injections from Jim Webber just in case she comes down with milk fever.’
‘Good idea,’ Matt said. ‘I’ll drop in on my way home from the clinic, unless you’re going to town.’
‘I’ve got to see about that pump part so I can get them then,’ Bob said. He turned again to Kellie and smiled. ‘I hope you settle in quickly, Dr Thorne, and enjoy your time with us. Lord knows, Matt here could do with the back-up. He works too hard but that’s life in the bush, I guess.’
‘I’m looking forward to helping out in any way I can,’ she said. ‘In fact, the sooner the better.’
‘Well … be seeing you,’ Bob said, and, brushing off his hat, stepped out of the room.
Matt pushed back his partially dry hair with one hand. ‘Wouldn’t you like a couple more days to look around a bit first?’ he asked. ‘To settle in and find your way around?’
She shook her head, making her glossy chestnut ponytail swing from side to side. ‘No, I’ve seen enough. I more or less know what I’m in for. I’m itching to get started.’
Matt felt a tiny wry smile lift one corner of his mouth. ‘You really like diving into things boots and all, don’t you?’
She gave him one of her high-wattage smiles in return. ‘No point in living life unless you live it to the full, right?’
Matt had to force himself not to glance back at Madeleine perched on the mantel in her silver frame, but he felt her rainforest-green eyes watching him all the same. He had been promising himself he would put her away … well, not exactly in that sense. But he had come to realise recently there would always be a part of him that would think of Madeleine with deep affection. What? Not
love? That tiny voice of conscience spoke inside his head, louder than it had in years.
Matt had thought he had loved Madeleine. They had been together for so long it was hard to say when the feelings he had assumed were love had started. As a young couple together for such a long time they had sort of gradually drifted into a deeper and deeper relationship. One thing had followed another and before he’d known it they’d been having an engagement party, and then a little while after that they had started planning a wedding …
He gave an inward grimace. Perhaps it was well and truly time to send Madeleine’s photograph back to her parents. No doubt they would find a space for it among the unopened wedding presents and uncut wedding cake.
He gave himself a mental shake and reached for his keys. ‘Let’s get moving,’ he said, and led the way out to his car.
CHAPTER SEVEN
THEY had barely travelled a kilometre or two on the way into town when Matt got a call on his mobile. Because he used his hands-free device to answer while he was driving, Kellie heard every word of the exchange.
‘Matt, there’s been an incident at Coolaroo Downs,’ a female voice said. ‘Apparently one of the jackaroos had some sort of altercation with a bull. I’m not sure how serious it is. You know what Joan Dennis is like these days—she panics if someone falls off a fence. It might be just a graze for all we know. The volunteer ambos are on their way but I thought you should see what gives before we call in the flying doctor.’
‘Thanks, Trish,’ Matt said. ‘I’ll head back that way now. I have the new GP with me but rather than drop her in to the clinic I think she’d better come with me just in case this is serious. Can you let the clinic patients know I might be half an hour or so late?’
‘Sure,’ Trish said. ‘So …’ An element of feminine intrigue entered her voice. ‘What’s she like?’
Matt tried to ignore the way Kellie’s toffee-brown gaze turned towards him. He couldn’t see it but he sure as hell could feel it. ‘She’s … er … with