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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Cheryl chuckled as she handed him the groceries she had got ready for him earlier. ‘You can’t fool me, Matt, any more than Ty Smithton or his wayward brothers can. You’re interested all right, it’s just your head hasn’t caught up with your body and your heart.’
Matt frowned as he made his way back to his car. He didn’t want to be interested but he just couldn’t help it. Kellie was like a magnet he couldn’t resist. He felt himself being drawn towards her in spite of his efforts to keep his distance. She exuded life and hope and joy. He had never met someone with such an exuberant boots-and-all mentality before. She went at everything like a bull at a gate, which made him realise how much he had shut himself away over the years. He was lonely, there was no point denying it. He craved the easy companionship of a secure relationship, having been denied it during his formative years.
Madeleine had been so stable, so dependable and reliable.
But totally predictable, a little voice piped up, seemingly from nowhere.
He got behind the wheel and gripped it with both hands until his knuckles turned white.
He liked predictable, at least in his private life. He liked knowing what was going to happen next.
Matt couldn’t imagine Kellie being predictable, or at least not from what he had seen from her so far. She was impulsive, for one thing. Her scheme to bring the single mothers together was well meaning but fraught with disaster. She was new to the community. She had no idea of how things worked out here. She would no doubt go in with all her social-conscience guns blazing and end up with some of her bullets ricocheting back to hurt her.
He gunned the engine and put the car into gear. It wasn’t his problem if she got hurt. What did he care? He had only met her a couple of days ago. She was a city chick who was here for six months and six months only.
But somehow as he drove towards his property he couldn’t quite rid himself of the image of Kellie walking alongside the spotty-faced, scowling Ty Smithton. She had taken the time to stop and speak in a respectful way to a troubled young boy who was hell bent on ruining his life. She hadn’t turned up her nose or shrunk away in fear. She had faced the young boy as an equal and asked him to help her.
The least Matt could do was support her during the time she was here, which reminded him he had promised to organise for someone to fix that sticking window.
No reason why it couldn’t be him.
Kellie couldn’t believe the chaos at the Smithtons’ house. Ruth had clearly made some headway but there was still a lot to be done. There was a roomful of clothes that had been washed and dried but not sorted. Kellie had never seen such a mould-ridden bathroom and the boys’ rooms were like war zones.
Ruth was clearly finding it harder than she had expected and communicated that once the boys had retreated to their rooms. ‘I can’t believe how messy they are,’ she said as she wiped the benchtops yet again. ‘I no sooner clean up after them and they’re at it again. And eat! I can’t believe what they can put away.’
‘They’re boys and they’re fully loaded with testosterone,’ Kellie said, ‘It’s entirely normal for them to eat like gannets, believe me.’
Ruth gave a sigh. ‘Tegan was the opposite. She hardly ate a thing, especially after I married Dirk. I often wonder if things would have been different … you know, if I hadn’t gone ahead with the marriage. Tegan missed her father—he died when she was eight. I was lonely and then Dirk came along and we got along quite well. I hadn’t worked since before Tegan was born so I think I might have been looking for security more than anything. It was a disaster from the word go.’
‘Stepparenting is a difficult task for most people,’ Kellie offered.
‘Yes,’ Ruth said, sighing again. ‘Dirk wasn’t the most patient of men and he had rather strict ideas on what girls should and shouldn’t do. There have been rumours over the years that he had something to do with her disappearance but I wouldn’t have thought him capable of something like that. But even now I lie awake at night and wonder if I missed something somewhere.’
‘I really don’t know how you’ve remained so strong,’ Kellie said.
‘The first few years were the worst,’ Ruth said. ‘Dirk passed away eighteen months after Tegan disappeared. He had a massive heart attack. I had to keep myself together in case Tegan came back. I kept thinking what if she had run away and then came back only to find her mother had given up on life? I could so easily have ended it all. I wanted to end the torture of not knowing but I think I’m finally coming to terms with the fact that I might never know the truth.’
‘I think it’s amazing how you help people in spite of your own suffering,’ Kellie said. ‘Look at what you’ve done for Julie and the boys for instance.’
‘I spoke to Julie this afternoon and her hand is recovering well,’ Ruth said. ‘She is being released the day after tomorrow.’
After she had helped Ruth bring some sort of order to the house and spent a few minutes helping the youngest boy, Cade, with his homework, Kellie asked if the three boys were interested in doing some yard work for her.
Ty, the oldest at fifteen, grunted something unintelligible but fourteen-year-old Rowan and twelve-year-old Cade showed a bit of interest, although it was somewhat guarded.
‘I thought it might be nice for when Dr and Mrs Montgomery come back if the garden was spruced up a bit.’ Kellie explained her plan. ‘I know the drought makes things difficult, but if we start now there are still things that can be done to make the place look neat and tidy by the time they return.’
‘Are you going to pay us, Dr Thorne?’ Cade asked with a wary expression.
‘Of course!’ Kellie said. ‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch, right?’
She told them how much she was prepared to pay them and arranged to meet them at the Montgomerys’ house on Saturday morning.
Driving into the Montgomerys’ driveway a few minutes later, she caught sight of a slinking shape near the rainwater tank at the side of the house. At first she thought it might have been a fox or even a dingo, but when it moved away into the shadows of the night she could see its tail was long and thin not bushy and the colour not golden but more like a patchwork of brown and black and white.
She turned on the back light once she got inside and looked out over the yard but there was no sign of any movement.
A few minutes later her mobile phone rang just as she had taken her last mouthful of her daily allowance of chocolate. ‘Hello?’ she answered from a full mouth.
‘Kellie, it’s Matt …’ He paused for moment. ‘Have I caught you having dinner?’
‘No, I had a snatch-and-grab meal with Ruth and the boys. That was my chocolate hit for the day. What can I do for you?’
There was a little silence.
She heard him draw in a deep breath before he spoke. ‘I promised to fix that window for you. When would be a convenient time?’
‘I thought you were going to get someone else to fix it. I didn’t realise you were going to do it yourself.’
‘I had to do the same to one of the windows at my place a while back,’ he said. ‘It’s no trouble really.’
‘What about tomorrow after work?’ she suggested. ‘That way I can cook you dinner in payment.’
‘I don’t expect to be paid,’ he said quickly.
‘Nevertheless, I insist on cooking you a meal. Besides, you’ll be doing me a favour by keeping me company for a few hours. I’m not used to being on my own in such a quiet house. It’s sort of creeping me out.’
‘Perhaps a dog might be a good idea after all,’ he said. ‘I’ve heard there’s one hanging about the school, looking for scraps.’