Christmas in the Outback Read online

  So why now? The question pounded at him. Why?

  On a growl of frustration, he reached out and snatched up the phone. There was only one way to find out.

  Forcing his mind into neutral, he punched out the digits she’d provided, uncertain whether it was her work or after hours number. And did it matter anyway?

  The number rang several times before it was answered. ‘Southport Clinic. May I help you?’

  Liam frowned down at the sheet of paper on his desk. ‘Dr Nicola Donovan, please.’

  There was hesitation briefly. ‘We have a Dr Nicola Barrett on staff—’

  Liam winced. Why hadn’t he realised she would have changed back to her maiden name? The reality hurt. He didn’t know why but it did. He gathered himself. ‘May I speak to her, please?’

  ‘She’s just arrived. I’ll put you through.’

  Liam took a deep breath, feeling the swirl of mixed emotions well up like a balloon inside his chest, his nerves hanging by a thread, until she answered.

  ‘Nicola Barrett.’

  ‘What are you playing at, Nikki?’

  ‘Liam—’ A ripple of uneasy laughter followed. ‘I never thought you’d call.’

  ‘Well, I have. Now, what’s going on?’

  ‘I want the job at your surgery.’

  Liam’s mouth tightened. ‘That’s a ridiculous idea. And why would you bother, Nikki?’

  ‘Perhaps I’m feeling altruistic.’

  ‘Then give a donation to Care Australia.’

  ‘I’ll do that as well.’ Nikki seemed unfazed. ‘Liam, I’ve been watching the TV news each night seeing the effects of this terrible drought. You’re obviously in desperate need of help or you wouldn’t have advertised. Let me be the one. Please…’

  Liam squeezed a hand across his eyes, already feeling his resolve weakening like ice under a blowtorch. Just the sound of her voice was turning his insides to mush… ‘It’ll be no picnic,’ he warned. ‘For starters, we’ve severe water restrictions in place.’

  ‘So, no deep bubble baths, then?’

  ‘No baths at all,’ he countered. ‘A three-minute shower is the order of the day.’

  A beat of silence.

  ‘Put you off, have I?’ Liam’s voice held the faintest thread of bitterness.

  ‘Not at all. I was merely getting a mental picture of just how bad things must be out there.’

  ‘You’d hate it,’ he said flatly.

  ‘Don’t start making assumptions on my behalf, Liam,’ she responded sharply.

  ‘It would never work—’

  ‘Why not? Unless…Are you with someone else these days?’

  He drew in his breath so deeply it hurt. ‘No. Are you?’

  ‘No. So the timing couldn’t be better, could it?’

  ‘Nikki, if you’ve ideas of some kind of passionate reunion, forget it! If you come here, you come to work. And what about your present job? Are you intending to just chuck it in?’

  ‘I’m here at Southport as a locum,’ Nikki explained patiently. ‘My contract finishes this week.’ When it seemed as though he wouldn’t be hurried into a decision, she added persuasively, ‘Have you forgotten how well we work together?’

  ‘I haven’t forgotten anything about us, Nikki,’ he answered roughly.

  ‘So, doesn’t it make sense to hire me?’ she pressed earnestly. ‘You wouldn’t have to train someone up to speed. You can throw me in at the deep end and I’ll swim.’

  ‘Life in Wirilda is light years away from what you’re used to.’

  ‘How do you know what I’m used to these days?’ snapped Nikki, stung. ‘I haven’t exactly sat on my hands since we split up. Perhaps I should fax you the entire contents of my CV!’

  ‘Calm down, Nikki. That’s not necessary.’

  ‘Well, then…?’

  Liam’s laugh was odd—a mixture of cynicism and resignation. ‘I’m just desperate enough to even consider this, and obviously mentally unsound. But all right. Consider yourself hired for the next three months and we’ll see what shape we’re in after that.’ ‘Thank you,’ came the succinct response. ‘Now, how do I get to Wirilda?’

  Nikki put the phone down and realised her hand was shaking.

  ‘I did it,’ she said to the empty room, sudden tears filling her eyes and her voice barely a whisper, distorted by the tight little knot in her throat.

  Reaction, she diagnosed, spinning off her chair and going to the water cooler in the corner. Holding the paper cup under the tap, she half filled it and then began sipping it in slow careful mouthfuls.

  The conversation of the last few minutes seemed suddenly unreal. And she hadn’t been ready for the way he’d sounded—so fed up, so under pressure. But he’s stubborn, she told herself. Even with the dreadful conditions his patients must be facing, Liam wouldn’t cave in.

  He’ll be fine, she told herself, and wondered why she was taking the state of Liam’s welfare so much to heart. Anybody would think she was still in love with him, for heaven’s sake! And how crazy was that? She was human enough to care—that was all…

  ‘Liam…’ She drew out her former husband’s name on a quivery little breath and tried to remember the travel directions he’d given her.

  She was to get a scheduled passenger flight from Brisbane to Longreach and then a Cessna six-seater would complete the journey to Wirilda. It flew out only once a week on a Tuesday. ‘So, don’t miss it, Nikki,’ he’d warned. ‘I’ll be there to meet you at the strip.’

  Suddenly, she felt all quivering nerve-ends as she returned to her desk and pulled the telephone directory towards her. She had flights to book. A new job to get her teeth into.

  And an ex-husband to become reacquainted with.

  CHAPTER TWO

  LIAM felt as though his heart was jostling for space inside his chest. Surely the decision he’d made to let Nikki come here had to be bordering on some kind of masochism.

  But it was too late to start having second thoughts now.

  The Cessna had landed and the small group of passengers was spilling out through the door of the aircraft and down the narrow steps onto the dusty runway.

  Liam moved closer. Where was she? Surely to heaven she’d hadn’t slept in and missed the damned flight? Then he saw her. And out of nowhere desire flared. Emotions he’d thought long buried pushed to the surface like bubbles in a whirlpool, turning him inside out.

  ‘Nikki!’

  He watched her head come up, her shoulders straightening as if to resist the impact of his voice calling her name and felt a surge of regret for all the shattered dreams.

  ‘Liam!’

  Nikki’s heart jerked alarmingly. He stood taller than anyone in the small group who’d gathered to meet the plane. And his fit, tanned leanness was apparent, emphasised by the snug-fitting white polo shirt and jungle green chinos.

  But now she was almost up to him, she could see the fatigue of his eyes, the way the fine lines under his lower lashes looked so ingrained, as if carved there by the sharp tip of a scalpel.

  The silence was absolute as they stood looking at one another. Nikki felt her composure flying every which way. Her professional detachment blown to smithereens. From beneath the cover of her eyelashes, she allowed herself a further scrutiny of the man she’d once been married to. Her throat lumped. Would he reciprocate if she gave him a hug? Probably not…

  In a second, Liam had taken the decision right out of her hands. ‘Welcome to Wirilda, Nikki,’ he said gruffly, his smile faintly mocking.

  He held out his hand towards her and slowly, reluctantly almost, she placed her palm against his. His fingers curled around the back of her hand, his gaze sliding over her like a dark velvet caress. ‘You’ve had your hair cut.’

  ‘Ages ago.’ Nikki laughed a bit stiltedly. Pulling her hand back, she lifted it in a defensive action to touch the edges of her jaunty little bob that just skimmed her ear lobes. ‘I got tired of all that combing and conditioning. This style is much more practic
al.’

  Liam was glad she hadn’t asked if he liked it, because he didn’t. He’d loved her hair long, its dark strands over the pillow or slung around her shoulder in a silken, ebony twist. But even with her chic hairstyle, she still looked impossibly young in her three-quarter pants, runners and hot pink T-shirt. He felt another glitch in his heartbeat.

  ‘Do you have much luggage?’

  Nikki slid her gaze away. ‘Two suitcases. They’re not huge.’ She blocked a yawn. ‘Sorry.’ Her laugh was a trifle embarrassed. ‘The flight left at five a.m. But we seemed to be ages getting here. I couldn’t believe the stops we made.’

  ‘It’s a bit of a milk run.’ Liam grinned but he looked guarded. ‘I should’ve warned you.’

  ‘Not to worry.’ Nikki lifted a shoulder. ‘Oh, that’s my luggage Cliff’s getting out now.’

  Liam strode towards the rear of the plane not even the tiniest bit surprised she was already on first-name terms with the pilot. Out here, no one stood on ceremony. It was the nature of things in the bush.

  He thanked Cliff Jameson and took charge of the two slightly battered suitcases. He felt vaguely surprised. In the old days Nikki would never have dreamed of owning anything but the most superior leather luggage.

  But he gave the observation only fleeting interest and within a few minutes they were installed in his Land Rover. ‘I imagine working here will be something of a culture shock for you,’ he said with a stab of dark humour as they headed back along the ribbon of country road to the township.

  Nikki moistened her lips. She could hardly believe she was here at all, let alone that he’d allowed her to come. ‘Why would you think that?’

  ‘Come on, Nikki…’ Turning only his head, he eyed her broodingly.

  She gusted a small sigh. ‘If I say yes, will it make you happy, Liam?’

  He didn’t answer. Instead, he forced himself to concentrate on the road. His thoughts were in turmoil. For two pins he’d turn around and put her back on the plane. It was never going to work—

  ‘Where am I staying?’

  ‘With me,’ he said flatly, his jaw tightening. ‘And I don’t want an argument about it, Nikki.’

  She pulled a face. ‘I don’t either. But is it wise?’

  Liam gave a cracked laugh. ‘If you’re thinking people will gossip, forget it. At the moment everyone is just struggling to survive. The nature of our relationship will be the last thing on anyone’s mind.’

  Nikki digested that in silence and then said, ‘I intend to pull my weight, Liam. I’ll need a vehicle.’

  ‘All arranged. We can lease one from the local garage. It’ll be a smallish four-wheel-drive. Will that suit you?’

  ‘And if I said no—’ her tone was brittle ‘—what would you do?’

  A thin smile edged his mouth. ‘Don’t waste your breath trying to wind me up, Nikki. I don’t have any excess energy to fight with you.’

  She averted her eyes quickly but not before he’d seen the pain in them.

  ‘The flowering bottle-brush are really something, aren’t they?’ Nikki sent Liam a careful sideways glance, anxious to renew the conversation, to comment on anything that would help diffuse the gathering thickness of the atmosphere between them.

  ‘Most of the trees seem to be surviving the dry remarkably well.’ Liam lifted a hand from the wheel and dragged it back through his hair. ‘Even the jacarandas have come into bloom.’

  ‘You’ve jacarandas way out here?’ Surprise edged Nikki’s voice. ‘That I must see.’

  ‘You will.’ His gaze softened for a second. ‘There are a couple of old giants right in the centre of town. Someone with forethought or amazing optimism planted them years ago apparently.’

  She laughed gently. ‘Remember how they used to be in wild bloom all over the uni campus when we’d be preparing for our exams each year? And those little bell-like blossoms used to float down on us like confetti?’

  ‘Mmm. The lawns looked for all the world like a lavender carpet…’ The sudden reminiscing had made Liam’s voice a bit throaty. ‘Hell, life was simple then, wasn’t it?’

  ‘Compared with later—yes, it was.’ Nikki’s gaze became shuttered. Suddenly she sat upright in her seat. ‘Liam! Slow down! Over there to your right—something untoward…’

  ‘What the hell?’ Automatically, he cut back his speed, guiding the vehicle over a rough shoulder of the road towards an adjoining paddock. ‘Good grief—it’s a car!’ The metallic blue of the hood was now clearly visible, glinting in the hot morning sunlight. He frowned. ‘It must’ve been travelling at speed to have broken through the fence like that.’

  Nikki drew in a sharp breath. ‘Looks like the driver’s lost control and the car’s catapulted down into the gully.’

  ‘Whatever—well spotted, Nikki.’ Liam swerved a burnt-out tree stump and brought the Land Rover to a juddering halt. ‘We’ll make a rural GP out of you yet!’ He was already out of the car and pulling his bag from the back seat.

  Nikki ignored the cynical little barb and scrambled out after him. This wasn’t the time to get into word games with her ex-husband. She gritted her teeth, recalling how she’d casually mentioned something about jumping in at the deep end. Well, without doubt the deep end had materialised and she was barely off the plane.

  Amazingly, the car had landed right side up but its bodywork had taken a battering.

  ‘Oh, good Lord!’ Liam’s shocked exclamation echoed in the hazy stillness. ‘It’s Michelle Simpson’s car.’ He began sliding down to the accident scene, his feet fighting for purchase on the tacky clay surface. ‘She’s a nurse at the hospital. Ambulance, Nikki!’ Turning, Liam tossed his mobile phone up to her. ‘Tell the base it’s the road from the airfield and we’re about five K’s out of town. And make sure they know it’s one of the nurses.’

  Forcing herself to keep steady and focus, Nikki punched out the triple zero number. Her request for an ambulance delivered, she closed off the mobile and shoved it into her back pocket. ‘They’ll get one to us as soon as they can,’ she called to Liam. ‘I’m coming down.’

  ‘Mind how you go, then. The surface is like butter.’ With a final heave, Liam succeeded in wrenching the driver’s door open.

  ‘Michelle…’ He carefully released the seat belt, addressing the slumped form of his patient. ‘Can you hear me? It’s Liam Donovan. You’ll be OK. We’ll have you out of here in no time.’

  The young woman moaned.

  Nikki crawled in from the passenger side. ‘She’s taken a heck of a whack to her temple.’ She began smoothing Michelle’s fair hair back from her forehead, while Liam checked her vital signs. ‘How’s it looking?’

  ‘BP a hundred and ten over sixty, pulse a hundred.’ His mouth drew in. ‘Doesn’t indicate bleeding, thank heavens. But she’s got to be suffering from shock.’

  Nikki brought her gaze up. ‘Do you have normal saline with you?’

  ‘Yep. But I’m a bit pushed for space here. Think you could get an IV in from your side?’

  Their movements began dovetailing and soon they were working together as seamlessly as they always had. ‘IV’s in and holding,’ Nikki said crisply. ‘And that’s the ambulance by the sound of it.’

  The ambulance bumped across the paddock to the accident scene, the two officers alighting and jogging across to the gully to peer down.

  ‘Hey, Doc.’ It was the senior officer, Baz Inall. He frowned. ‘That’s Michelle Simpson’s car, isn’t it? The base just said it was one of the nurses. I never thought it’d be Michelle. She’s been driving around the farm since she was a nipper. What do you reckon happened?’

  ‘We’ll have to wait until she comes round to ascertain that, mate.’ Liam was brief. ‘Meanwhile, I suggest we treat her as a potential spinal injury.’

  ‘Understood.’ Baz knew the voice of authority when he heard it. ‘We’ll assemble the spinal stretcher and be right back.’

  Nikki pulled her head out of the car, calling, ‘We’ll need a h
ard collar as well, please.’

  ‘Any sign of her coming round?’ Liam’s face appeared back inside the car on the driver’s side.

  ‘She’s floating in and out.’ Nikki’s heart went out to the young woman. She looked so pale. ‘Do you have any idea what might have happened, Liam?’

  ‘Can’t say for sure.’ Liam rubbed a finger across the bridge of his nose.

  ‘She wouldn’t have had a seizure of some kind?’

  ‘Unlikely. I’ve never treated her for anything along those lines. She works a permanent night duty roster. Perhaps she fell asleep at the wheel.’

  ‘That’s awful.’ Nikki shook her head. ‘Sounds like she’s exhausted. Is it necessary for her to work nights?’

  Liam looked grim. ‘Obviously, at the moment it is. Like so many others, Michelle, and her husband Danny are trying to keep their property going. He’s away sinking bores most of the day so Michelle has to do the feed drop for the cattle on the tractor. And when you’ve got four hundred head or more, the process takes a while.’

  A small frown knotted Nikki’s forehead. There were obviously going to be problems ahead for the Simpsons if Michelle was going to be incapacitated for a time.

  The ambulance officers were back quickly with the stretcher and Liam took the opportunity to make swift introductions. ‘Janelle Murphy and Baz Inall, meet Nicola Barrett. Nikki’s just flown in this morning,’ he elaborated. ‘She’s joining me at the practice.’

  ‘G’day, Doc.’ There was a smile in Baz’s voice as he shook Nikki’s hand. ‘The boss got you to work already, has he?’

  ‘I’ve not so much as signed a contract,’ Nikki joked. ‘Anyway, pleased to meet you both.’

  ‘Do you play sport at all?’ Janelle’s keen blue gaze flew over Nikki’s neat figure and unfussy clothes. ‘We desperately need players for our netball team.’

  Nikki responded to the younger woman’s candour and obvious enthusiasm with a smile. ‘Sorry, I don’t play netball but I enjoy the odd game of tennis—’

  ‘Could we get on, please?’ Liam broke in, his dark brows flexing in faint irritation.