Bachelor Cure

CHAPTER SEVEN

MIKE was late for dinner, but Tess didn’t wait for him. He arrived back at the hospital to find Tess had taken dinner into her own hands. He opened his apartment door, and there she was.

‘What are you doing here?’ He stopped dead at the door, his nose wrinkling in automatic appreciation of the smells wafting toward him.

‘You asked me to dinner-remember?’ She glanced at her wrist. ‘Half an hour ago. Strop and I had the choice of sitting on the doorstep and looking bereft, or taking some action. And looking bereft isn’t our style.’

‘I can see that,’ he said faintly. Bereft? She looked anything but bereft. ‘That’s a great outfit!’

She looked down and grinned. She was wearing a soft white frock, but had covered it with a green theatre gown from the hospital linen supply.

On someone else it might have looked ridiculous. It didn’t look the least bit ridiculous on Tess.

‘You don’t have an apron,’ she said accusingly. She looked around the flat. ‘In fact, you don’t seem to have a lot, Dr Llewellyn. Do you believe in a nice, spartan existence?’

‘It’s what I like.’ Holy heck, he was out of his depth here.

‘But you like your dog?’ Someone-it must have been Tess-must have fed Strop, or maybe he’d eaten one pie too many to appreciate the smells Tess was conjuring up. He was lying full length under the table, gently snoring. Now Tess motioned out the window, towards one truly magnificent, hand-built doghouse. It was about four feet in length, painted in gold and red, with magnificent Greek lettering across the front.

“‘Stropacropolis”.’

‘You built that?’ Tess asked, awed.

‘He had a broken hip when I got him,’ Mike said weakly. ‘It was the least I could do.’

‘And, like Jacob, you always do the least you can do. I can see that about you.’ Tessa’s eyes were warm. ‘You know, Dr Llewellyn, I think I’m beginning to like you. Very, very much.’

‘Good. I mean…great.’ Mike clipped his words, desperately precluding further discussion. Domesticity was threatening to swamp him here. The feeling that this was right. That this was how it could be. That he was beginning to like this woman right back…

He walked over and scooped up a finger-load of fried onions, trying to shake off the feeling of unreality. Tess hauled the pan away with the firmness of a matriarch.

‘No, you don’t. Go and wash while I cook the steak. I’ll bet you’re all covered with patient or antiseptic or something disgusting and I won’t have my steak compromised. Do you like it medium or rare? I don’t do well done. It’s a crime to burn meat like this.’ She motioned to Mike’s steaks-two enormous T-bones. ‘We believe in steak in the US but I haven’t seen steak like this for years.’

‘Welcome to Australia, then, Dr Westcott.’ Mike smiled faintly and went obediently towards the bathroom. As ordered. He walked slowly, though, and looked back over his shoulder at the slim girl presiding over his stove in her theatre gown and vivid curls. Good grief!

Mike did more than just wash. He changed from his tailored work trousers to casual jeans and open-necked shirt, taking the time to try and calm his thoughts. He emerged to his kitchenette to find Tess, minus her theatre gown now, attractively demure in her lovely white dress. She looked every inch the hostess as she served up two laden plates, with Mike her invited guest.

And Mike’s pleasant, calm thoughts, which he’d taken such pains to achieve, got all stirred up again. He didn’t speak. Even if he could have thought of something to say, he wasn’t given the chance.

‘Sit down,’ his own personal matriarch ordered. ‘I hope you don’t mind me opening your wine. Hannah gave me the key to your apartment from the nurses’ station. She looked at me every which way when I said we were eating together. Sort of with a “you too” look in her eye. And she wasn’t very nice. Have you two had a relationship?’

Mike’s eyebrows hit his hairline.

‘No! I mean, I don’t see what business it is-’

‘So there’s never been anything between you? Don’t let your steak get cold,’ Tess added kindly, as Mike sank down at the table. ‘It’s fabulous.’

‘No.’ Mike chopped into his steak and took a large mouthful of meat. His eyebrows rose even further. The wine marinade Tess had used on the steak was magnificent. ‘Tessa, this is great.’

‘It is, isn’t it?’ she said warmly. ‘We do steak in the States, but you Aussies do steak!’

‘Not like this we don’t,’ Mike said warmly. The sensation of coming home to this was almost taking his breath away.

‘So tell me why Hannah Hester looked at me like she’d enjoy taking me out at dawn with a pistol apiece-with hers loaded and mine jinxed so it’d blow up in my hand.’

‘I have no idea.’

‘You haven’t gone out with her?’

‘Tessa, I don’t know what business of yours my relationships are. What have you put on this steak? It’s marvellous.’

‘Red wine, garlic, lemon juice and a few herbs. Nothing special.’ Tessa’s face was serious as she spoke and he could see her mind wasn’t on the meat. ‘Mike, Hannah says I should make arrangements for Grandpa to move into the nursing home. She says its impossible for him to stay on the farm and she says I’ll go around the twist here in a matter of months. She thinks I won’t stay.’

‘Yeah?’ Mike sliced another piece of steak and it followed its predecessor. His smile faded to match Tessa’s look of seriousness. Hannah Hester was an interfering busybody whose chief skill was upsetting relatives. If it wasn’t so hard to find good nurses he’d sack her on the spot. And she’d upset Tessa…

The silence continued, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. He watched Tessa’s face as they ate, and finally he probed. ‘Hannah’s really upset you?’

‘Worse than that,’ Tess said. She finished the last of her steak and pushed her plate away. ‘She upset Grandpa by talking right in front of him. She treated him as if he wasn’t there, and any nurse worth her salt knows better than to think stroke victims can’t hear. No matter how paralysed they are.’

He frowned. ‘Tess, Hannah’s a fine nurse.’

‘She might be fine with her clinical skills, but she’s not good with people. In fact, she’s awful.’

Mike sighed. He could only agree. ‘Tess, this place, well, it’s a closed community. I know Hannah’s not great. It’s as if she has a permanent chip on her shoulder and, try as I may, I can never seem to get her onside. I’ll speak to her, but I can’t afford to sack her and she knows it. Well-trained nurses are like hen’s teeth around here. They’re so scarce they hardly exist.’

‘I know that,’ Tess said tightly. ‘That’s the reason-the only reason-I didn’t slug her.’ She cheered up then, and smiled. Heavens, the girl was a real chameleon, changing in front of his eyes. ‘That and the fact that she’s bigger than me.’

‘I see.’ He grinned. ‘I can just see the pair of you, slugging it out in the hospital corridor. Very professional.’ His smile faded again. ‘Seriously, Tess, you need to get along with the only professional staff the valley has. You value their skills, and in time you learn to undo the damage an uncaring person can do.’

‘Yeah.’ Her smile was back again now in force. ‘I know. And I think I did. I told Grandpa he had to get better now, just to prove Hannah wrong. It’s given him another motivation-as if he didn’t have enough already.’

‘See? You’re learning.’

‘Yeah, well, as long as she’s just not being hurtful to Grandpa to get at me. Because she’s jealous.’

‘Well, that’s just plain ridiculous,’ he said firmly attacking his steak again.

‘Why is it?’ she asked slowly. ‘Why is it ridiculous for Hannah to be jealous?’

‘She has a boyfriend.’

‘Did she have one when you first came back here?’

‘No, but-’

‘Then maybe she fell for you.’

‘Women don’t fall for me.’

Tess raised her eyebrows and said nothing. She finished her steak, carried her plate and wineglass to the sink, set her plate down and then stood and eyed Mike thoughtfully as he finished.

He could sense there was something coming here. Something really important. She had that ‘major impertinence’ look in her eye he was beginning to know. This woman didn’t understand the meaning of the word personal.

And finally she said it.

‘You’re sure you’re not gay, Dr Llewellyn?’ She frowned into her wineglass and then fixed him with a speculative look. ‘I know. You’ve told me you’re not gay, but you’re kind and you’re sensitive and you’re good-looking. You make good money and you drive a smashing car. So how that combination hasn’t been grabbed and held onto…’ She brought her eyebrows together and her eyes probed his-as though sticking an insect on a pin for examination. ‘Are you sure?’

He might have known. He grinned. ‘No, Dr Westcott, I am not gay,’ he said firmly. He rose and carried his plate towards her.

Instinctively Tess took a step back, putting distance between herself and Mike until she had the information she wanted.

‘Are you married, then? Divorced? Widowed? Separated?’

‘Who wants to know?’

‘Me,’ she shot back at him.

‘And what business is it of yours?’

‘None at all,’ she said calmly. ‘But you’re intending to be a working partner of mine and at least one nurse has now insinuated I’m setting my cap at you. I just want to know whether to tell her such a thing is ridiculous. And I’d really like to know that it’s not.’

That was pretty blatant.

He blinked. What was happening here? Mike stared down at Tess and she stared straight back up at him-and he could read her mind like a book. It was almost as if she was propositioning him. If she’d been a man, she’d be buying roses and chocolates and laying siege…

Grabbing!

Whoa…

‘It is ridiculous,’ he said curtly. He gave her a strained look and put his plate on the sink. How the hell was he expected to handle this?

Tessa looked just lovely. Her soft, white dress was low-cut and clinging. Her eyes were huge in her elfin face and the few freckles scattered across the bridge of her nose were immensely-incredibly-appealing. They needed to be kissed.

Whoa!

‘No, Dr Westcott,’ he managed weakly, ‘I’m not married, engaged, widowed, involved or even gay. But neither do I intend to be.’

‘Why ever not?’

‘I’m married to my work,’ he said shortly.

‘I’ve just taken a heap of your work off you. Does that mean I’ll be hauled up before the divorce courts as co-respondent?’

Her voice was gently teasing, but he hardly heard. He stood by the sink and stared at her, fighting for control.

‘There’s more than enough work to keep us both frantic,’ he told her heavily.

‘But I don’t intend to be frantic.’ She lifted her chin. ‘My medicine’s important to me, but it’s not everything. I still intend to look after my grandfather. I still intend to have a life.’

‘My life is my medicine.’

‘I can see that.’ She moistened her lips. She felt strange. As if someone else was inside her body and that someone was a woman she hardly knew. That someone was so strongly drawn to Mike that she had hardly any control at all.

‘It seems such a waste,’ she murmured.

‘A waste?’ He looked sardonically at her. ‘Waste for who?’

‘A waste for me.’

Silence. The words echoed round and round the room, astounding in their simplicity.

‘What on earth do you mean by that?’ he said at last-and then his face closed as if he regretted the question.

Tess also should have regretted her statement. His question was a question Tess shouldn’t be able to answer. She should just mumble an apology-give a silly giggle and get the hell out of here before she made a real fool of herself.

Instead, she took a long, deep breath and met his eyes with a look of pure defiance.

The woman’s role was to stay demure and shy, Mike thought wildly. That was how he could cope. But how could he cope with a woman who was coming on like Tessa was coming on? Like she found him wildly attractive and didn’t care who knew it. Especially she didn’t mind if Mike knew it. She wanted him to know exactly how she felt, and how she felt was written right across her face.

‘I mean that you’re the most attractive male I’ve ever met,’ she said softly. ‘I mean that you’re gentle and kind and caring and I just have to look at you and my knees sort of wobble underneath me. I mean that Hannah got it right when she said that one of the reasons I want to stay here is that I’d like to get to know you better.’

‘She said that?’

‘She said that. And it’s true. Oh, it’s not the only reason,’ she added hastily as his face closed. ‘Of course, I’m staying for my grandfather.’ She took a deep breath, fighting for words. ‘But if you want a partner with knees that don’t wobble, you’d better tell me now that you find red hair a real turn-off. Or that you’re into stamp collecting instead of women.’ She gave a twisted smile. ‘And I don’t believe I’m saying this.’

‘I don’t believe you are either,’ Mike said faintly. ‘Women don’t say these sort of things.’

‘I just did.’

‘Well, no one has before,’ he said bluntly. ‘Tess…’

‘Don’t tell me women don’t find you attractive,’ she shot at him. She took a deep breath and managed a smile. Damn, there was a glimmer behind her eyes that told Mike that a part of Tess was enjoying herself here. She was enjoying knocking his socks off.

And the rest!

Tess put her hands on the kitchen bench behind her and hitched herself up so she was sitting, her lovely stockinged legs swinging free as she watched the man before her. And he stared back at her as if she’d just crawled out of a spaceship!

‘Maybe women have,’ he admitted finally. ‘But no one’s told me.’

‘Aw, gee… Poor little you. Hasn’t anyone told you they find you very sexy?’

And Mike couldn’t help himself. He burst out laughing.

‘Tessa Westcott, you are incorrigible. I thought lady doctors-especially lady doctors trained in emergency medicine and who’ve seen everything the seamier side of life can throw at them-are supposed to be as sensible and hard-headed and as romantic as a brick.’

‘They are,’ she told him, and she grinned right back. She was crazy, but there was a very strong part of her that was enjoying being crazy. She’d just burned her bridges back to the States. In fact, she’d just abandoned a very sensible career plan and a very sensible boyfriend, albeit a very lukewarm one. If she wasn’t a little crazy tonight, then she never would be.

‘They say the only thing a sensible, committed female doctor with career ambition should love is a goldfish,’ she said blithely. ‘But I’ve thought it through, and I think you’re much better than a goldfish.’

‘Gee, thanks.’ Mike looked at her for a long moment, and then walked two steps forward and took her hands in his. He had to make her see. ‘Tess, this is crazy.’

It wasn’t crazy at all. Taking her hands was a mistake. A huge mistake! The craziness disappeared right then and there as their hands touched.

‘Crazy or not, it’s the way I feel,’ she said. Heaven knew how she kept her voice light, but somehow Tess managed it.

‘Well, stop feeling like it.’ He released her, but he didn’t move. They were only inches apart, but Tessa’s eyes were just above his from her perch on the bench. Hell, how to make her see that this link-what she said she could feel and what he could definitely feel-was totally, absolutely out of the question.

‘Tessa, what I’m saying about work is true,’ he managed. ‘That’s all I want. I have room for nothing else.’

‘I’m very small,’ Tess murmured. ‘Couldn’t you squash me in around the edges?’

‘No.’ He stopped smiling completely and took a step back. His face said the joke had gone far enough.

‘You’re not a priest,’ Tess said gently. ‘I’d love to know why you have room in your life for nothing but medicine.’

‘I’ve seen what can happen when people forget their responsibilities.’

‘I’m not asking you to forget your responsibilities.’ Tess, too, had stopped smiling now. She jumped down from her bench and stepped forward-stepped forward so she was almost touching him. Her face said she had gone this far so she might as well try the whole bit.

‘Mike, I’m not asking you to marry me,’ she said, and somehow she forced her voice to stay light. ‘What I’m saying is that there’s something between us. Something…’ She shrugged. ‘I don’t know what. It’s a feeling I can’t define. It’s a feeling I’ve never felt in my life before and I want, more than anything, to explore it. That sounds wanton, doesn’t it? As if I’m a loose woman. I’m not, Mike. I’m just… I just feel…’

And then her voice firmed, as if she was suddenly sure of her ground.

‘I feel as if you’re a part of me. That’s crazy, isn’t it? But that’s the way it is. So, tell me, Mike,’ she demanded. ‘Tell me that I’m a fool. Tell me that you feel nothing.’

‘I don’t want-’

‘I’m not asking what you want. I’m asking what you feel.’

And then, before he could answer, she took one more step forward, put her arms up around his neck, stood on tiptoe-and she kissed him for all she was worth. And it was done so suddenly that there was nothing he could do to stop it.

It was some kiss.

It was a kiss of pure bravado, but it was more than that. It was a kiss that was full of questions, and it was a kiss full of wonder.

Tess had never done such a thing in her life before. Her act might have seemed wanton-forward-but there was nothing of that in her kiss. Her lips were gentle, sweet and unsure, as if she really wanted to touch him. It was as if her body was drawn to him like a bee to honey, and she was half expecting to be drawn so far into the sweetness that she’d drown.

And he…

The last thing he wanted to do was to kiss this woman. He didn’t. And yet her lips were touching his and her body was soft and yielding and…and so lovely!

When her mouth touched his, the kiss slammed home the knowledge that this was something outside his ken. She was so desirable…

Sure, he’d kissed other women. Hell, he’d made a vow, but that vow hadn’t been one of chastity. His vow had been one of emotional detachment. He’d made love to women before, but they’d always known the rules. No involvement. There had never been any promises of tomorrow. There was only passion on his terms.

But this…this wasn’t on his terms. This was on no one’s terms because, as their lips met, it was like two pieces of a shattered whole being joined. More, it was like tinder to fuel. Apart they were nothing-cold and useless. Together they were fire.

Mike’s body stilled in shock, but Tessa’s arms came around him again, soft and yet urgent, pulling him against her, and suddenly nothing in his life had ever felt so right, so complete. There were forces working here that were beyond his control, he thought wildly. This was beyond anything he’d ever known before. The desire to respond to this lovely thing…this woman who was so unknown…was almost overwhelming.

Her lips were soft and warm and urgent. She smelt of flowers, of sunshine and of warmth, and he could no more resist her loveliness than he could stop himself breathing.

He wasn’t breathing. He wasn’t sure what he was doing.

He couldn’t help himself. He must respond. His hands fell to hold Tessa against him, glorying in the way her breasts pressed against his chest. His mouth responded to her kiss, tasting her…wanting her.

And wanting more…

Dear God, what could he do with this? He’d never known he could feel this way. His vow had been made without knowing this wonder, and if he’d known… If he’d known he had this need-that somewhere in the world was a woman like this-could he have made his vow? But he’d made the vow, and the vow still stood.

Somehow he managed to pull back. Somehow he managed to put her away from him and hold her at arm’s length, and he stared down at her with eyes that were confused and desperate.

‘Tess, no…’

‘Well, now I know,’ Tess managed, in a voice that was barely above a whisper and held an obvious tremor.

‘Know what?’

‘You’re certainly not gay.’ She tried to smile but it didn’t quite come off. ‘Wow!’

‘Wow’ was right. And where to go from here?

The phone. Glory be, the phone. Its shrill ring sounded from the living room and Mike headed there like a drowning man headed for a life-raft.

‘Hello?’

‘Dr Llewellyn?’ It was Mavis, at Reception. ‘Is that you?’ It obviously didn’t sound like him.

‘Yes.’ Mike cleared his throat, and with a superhuman effort managed not to look back to where Tess was standing, watching from the doorway. ‘Of course. Mavis, what is it?’

‘I’ve just had a call from Kylie Wisen,’ Mavis told him and her voice was apologetic. It was as though she knew she was interrupting something, and she’d just love to know what. ‘You know Kylie?’

Mike’s head clicked into medical mode with a visible effort and he gave his mental case file a quick search. ‘Kylie. That’s Bill and Claire Wisen’s kid. Seventeen years old. Peroxided hair and half a dozen earrings.’

‘That’s the one.’ Mavis sighed. ‘She’s looking after her sister’s two-year-old while her sister and her husband go out to dinner and then go on to the shire ball. But…’

‘But?’

‘But the little one-Sally McPherson-has stuck her big toe in the bath outlet.’ Mavis sighed again. ‘I’m really sorry, Doctor, but they’ve tried everything to get it out and I think you’ll have to go.’

Go? Of course he had to go. Thanks be…

‘I’ll be there in five minutes,’ Mike said strongly, still not looking at Tess. ‘Mavis, ring Kylie back and tell her I’m coming. Tell her the most important thing is not to let Sally pull. If the toe gets swollen from tugging then we’ll be in all sorts of trouble.’

He replaced the receiver and finally turned to face Tess again.

‘I need to go,’ he said.

‘I know.’ Her eyes didn’t leave his face. ‘I heard. Can I come?’

‘Tess…’

‘The sooner I get to know the people of this town, the better it’ll be for both of us.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘I have an hour before I promised Louise I’d mom-sit, and you have an hour before you need to go your ball. Strop’s not much company-so let’s go unstick toes.’

‘I-’

‘Don’t you want me?’ She let her face fall, like a child deprived of a lolly.

Hell, he couldn’t work with her, he thought desperately, watching her face and trying to figure out whether to laugh or to groan. He couldn’t!

But he sure as hell couldn’t tell her he didn’t want her.

‘Fine, then,’ he said in a voice that indicated he’d been goaded beyond belief. ‘Fine. Let’s go do some medicine. It might get your mind off sex.’

‘Hey, my mind’s not on sex,’ she teased gently, her eyes laughing up at him. And then the smile died a little. ‘My mind doesn’t get past your face.’ Then she gave an honest little shrug and her smile came back in full. ‘Well…for the moment.’

Sally was still attached to her bath. They arrived to find neighbours, two members of the fire brigade, a mechanic and a hefty plumber complete with dangerous-looking tool set, all trying to wedge into one small farmhouse bathroom. Mike had obviously been the last of a long line of people appealed to.

Sally McPherson was two years old and in deep distress. She was huddled naked and sobbing in the empty bath, and her sobs were those of a child who’d gone past expecting help. The noise in the little room was overwhelming.

‘Let’s clear this room,’ Tess suggested firmly, as Mike went straight to the little girl. He saw her need. The child was sitting alone in the empty bathtub, and why the hell wasn’t anyone in there holding her?

‘Right.’ Mike reached in and held the little girl’s shoulders, gripping her tight. ‘OK, Sally. We’ll get you out of here soon, but first let’s get you warm.’

‘We need Sally’s parents and the plumber,’ Tessa said brusquely, and Mike gave her a wondering glance. She’d snapped straight back into medical mode. What had taken place between them belonged somewhere else. She was now crisp, decisive and every inch a doctor trained to cope with trauma. ‘The rest of you, I’d like you to stay outside until you’re needed. Now, who’s Sally’s mom?’

‘She’s not here,’ a girl with peroxided blonde hair and too much make-up told her. ‘I’m Kylie, the kid’s aunty. My sister and her husband have gone out to dinner and I don’t know where they’ve gone. It was supposed to be the pub but it’s burned down so they went somewhere else.’ She glared aggressively, as though expecting Tess to turn on her and say it was all her fault.

‘One of the neighbours is doing a ring-round of their friends to try and find them,’ the plumber volunteered. He turned to Mike who was lifting the child forward to take the strain from the toe.

‘Doc, I’ve been thinking,’ he said. ‘The hassle with the outlet on old baths is that the outlets don’t screw. Usually it’s a cinch if a kid gets stuck because you just turn the whole outlet around while someone turns the kid at the same time-so they both come out together and at least you can work on getting the thing off when they’re out of the bath. This is an old type, though. It’s a permanent fixture-glued fast.’

‘Then we’ll have to chip it out,’ Mike said. He was practically in the bath now, gathering the child to him. ‘She’s freezing. I want blankets and hot-water bottles. Fast.’

‘I figured you’d say chip it,’ the plumber said in satisfaction. ‘I’ve got the tools here ready. I would have done it before but I didn’t like to when the kiddy was so distressed and thrashing about, like. I reckon, though, what’s best’d be if I get underneath the house and cut through the pipe. Then if I chip it from underneath I won’t upset the kid as much. With luck the whole thing will lift up. It’ll just be a matter of supporting the kid while we do it.’

‘Do it,’ Mike said, his eyes on the little girl’s face. They needed to get her out of there fast. She was showing signs of going into shock.

‘Could you hop in the bath and cuddle her?’ Tess asked Kylie. She cast a quick glance at Mike, and Mike nodded his agreement. Warmth and reassurance were what this child needed more than anything.

‘What…hop in?’ The teenage babysitter was clearly horrified.

‘Do as she says, Kylie,’ Mike ordered, and Tess almost grinned as the teenager gazed at Mike in dismay but then did what she was told. Mike had some authority in this town. There weren’t many people who could tell a teenager to sit in a bath in front of witnesses and be obeyed.

In two minutes they had the sulky teenager sitting right in the bath, with the child lying back on her lap. Without her mum to comfort the child, it was the best they could hope for. While Mike examined the toe, Tess sent a couple of the women to find hot-water bottles, and she replaced the single towel around the child’s body with a big fluffy blanket.

‘She’s been pulling,’ Mike said softly, looking from the swollen toe to the white, drained face of the little girl. The fact that the child was now silent was ominous. The old medical adage was, ‘Never worry too much about a child who’s screaming. If a child’s quiet, then worry.’

‘I think we might administer some pethidine, Dr Westcott,’ Mike said, and Tess nodded. She retrieved what he needed from his bag and prepared it.

‘There’s no way we’ll get the toe out by pulling.’ Mike’s fingers were carefully probing the little foot. ‘The whole foot’s swollen now. Our best chance is to manoeuvre it free once we have both sides exposed.’

There was a thumping under the house and the sound of men’s voices. The plumber obviously had back-up. The child started whimpering again, and Kylie put her face in the child’s hair.

‘Hey, hush, Sally, Sally,’ Kylie said softly. ‘We’ve got two doctors on top and a big plumber underneath, cutting your toe out. We’ll be able to take the pipe to playschool for show and tell, and if we’re lucky the fireman might give you a ride in the fire engine.’

‘Good girl,’ Tess said warmly. Underneath the make-up and the earrings and the bravado, there was a good kid. Kylie must have been almost as scared as Sally, facing this on her own.

The change in Kylie seemed to affect Sally-or maybe it was the pethidine kicking in. The little girl lay slumped on Kylie’s lap and let them do as they willed, and five minutes later the whole bath outlet and three inches of outlet pipe lifted upwards and the little foot was free.

Free from the bath, but not from the pipe.

‘Now what?’ Kylie said uneasily, gathering the little girl closer, pipe and all.

‘We get her to the hospital,’ Mike said. He could see the tip of the toe now and he wasn’t happy. It had no colour at all. There wasn’t time to immobilise it and wait for the swelling to settle before they tried to free it.

‘I want my mummy,’ the child whimpered and buried her head in Kylie’s breast.

‘Yeah, well, I ought to have found out where they were going,’ Kylie muttered, close to tears herself, and Mike put his hand on her shoulder.

‘They should have told you. Let’s not blame yourself here, Kylie. You’re doing a great job.’ Then he looked at Tess, his mind working over options. ‘How do you feel about giving an anaesthetic, Dr Westcott? Under supervision, of course.’

Tess met his look, and bit her lip.

She knew what he was asking here. Mike Llewellyn was asking an unregistered doctor to give a general anaesthetic to a child without her parents’ consent.

If she didn’t, the child would lose her big toe. And if she did…the legal ramifications were vast.

‘Tess, there’s no choice,’ Mike said heavily. ‘I know it’s a lot to ask but I’ll take all legal responsibility. I’ll put it in writing if you like.’

‘You trust me?’

‘Yes,’ he said, and he did. He met her look and he nodded. Yes, he was sure. Tess might be flirtatious and frivolous, but he had the gut feeling that, whatever else she was, she was a damned fine doctor.

‘OK, let’s do it,’ Tess said softly. She smiled at Kylie, a big, cheery smile that was meant to totally reassure her. ‘Isn’t it lucky that I came all the way from the States?’ she said. ‘I must have just known that Dr Llewellyn couldn’t manage even a stuck toe without me.’

Much to Mike’s relief, they got the toe out without sawing the bath pipe right back to the skin.

Tessa’s anaesthetic procedure was extremely competent, as Mike had guessed it would be, and once he’d reassured himself that she knew exactly what she was doing he was free to deal with the toe.

Their friendly plumber, looking like a big green bear with his overalls covered by a theatre gown, cut the pipe again, this time half an inch from the toe. That meant Mike could work on the toe from both sides.

He applied cold compresses to the toe. The nurse-the horrible Hannah who was so nice in Mike’s presence-applied warm cloths to the metal to get maximum expansion, while Mike carefully applied lubricant to the toe. Then, with gentle pressure from the front of the toe, he was able to finally push from one side and pull from the other.

The toe came free with a pop, and Tess looked up from her dials to see colour seeping back into it almost instantaneously.

‘Oh, well done,’ she said, and she started reversal straight away. There was no point keeping Sally asleep a moment longer than needed, and there was now no drama.

‘Well done to you, Tess,’ Mike said softly, looking along the table to where she was carefully monitoring Sally’s breathing. He hadn’t been in the least concerned about the anaesthetic, he realised as he gently massaged the little toe. One look at Tessa’s confident preparation had put his mind at ease. The lady knew her job.

So now what? he thought. Now what?

It was almost unbelievable. Out of the blue he’d been granted one fine doctor-a doctor with skills in anaesthetics and trauma medicine. If he’d hunted Australia for a new partner, he couldn’t have found anyone better.

Once she was registered there was nothing they couldn’t do, he thought suddenly-jubilantly. All the minor surgery that he currently sent away…the road accidents that he couldn’t cope with on his own…the urgent stuff. He’d lost patients in the past because there’d been only one of him when he’d needed two.

If she really was willing to stay…

She was, he knew she was, but there were strings. Or rather, there was a string. One string-and that string was emotional involvement. Hell, he could have this girl as a partner and keep his distance. He must! He couldn’t think clearly when she was near. His mind felt weird now-fuzzed at the edges. It was the way he’d always known he’d feel if ever he let go.

‘There’s no need for you to stay now,’ he told Tess brusquely, and even Hannah threw him a curious glance. He sounded strained and angry-not as if he’d just performed a successful operation. ‘If you’re supposed to be looking after Louise’s mum…’

‘Mmm.’ Tess glanced at her watch and then back to Mike, her face expressionless. ‘The ball starts at nine. That’s twenty minutes ago. Aren’t you due to be there?’

‘I’m meeting Liz inside.’

‘Liz?’

‘My date.’

‘Oh, right. Of course. Your date.’ Tessa’s eyes twinkled a little. ‘Not your lover?’

‘Tess…’

‘OK, OK.’ She held up her hands in mock defeat and looked down at the pathetic little bundle coming into life on the table. ‘I’m off. You take care good of Sally.’ There had been no need to say that-she knew he would. ‘I’ll tell Kylie that she can come in now, shall I? And her parents? Are they here yet?’

‘If they’re not, I’ll stay here until they come,’ he said heavily. ‘And until Sally’s fully out of the anaesthetic. Liz won’t mind if I’m late.’

‘I’ll bet she will,’ Tess said softly, thoughtfully. ‘I’ll just bet she will mind, Mike Llewellyn, but she won’t say so. It seems to me that you have the ladies in the valley too well trained for their own good.’

‘I’d drink to that,’ Hannah retorted before she could stop herself, and Tess grinned.

So did Hannah, which left Mike feeling…

Stupid?