by Lucy Clark
He held out a hand. ‘Your bag?’
Melissa handed over her bag. Joss didn’t appear to be in a good mood at all, and she guiltily hoped she hadn’t kept him awake last night with all her to-ing and fro-ing around the apartment due to her restless excitement.
Melissa looked around her. ‘Where’s Dex?’
‘Sleeping.’ Joss stowed her bag beneath the tarp before checking everything was secure once more. Then, much to Melissa’s horror, he opened the driver’s door and climbed in behind the wheel. Her eyes widened as she opened the passenger door.
‘What are you doing?’
He looked across at her as though she were thick. ‘Getting ready to drive.’
‘But…but…where’s Dex? Why is he sleeping? You can’t…You’re not doing…’ She stopped, her brain working overtime to cope with this change. Joss was doing the house-calls? She took a breath and tried to get herself under control. ‘I thought I was doing house-calls with Dex.’
‘Something came up.’
‘He’s not coming!’ Didn’t Dex want to be with her? Spend time with her? Was this her brother’s way of telling her to stay away? That she could work here but she had to keep her distance as far as trying to have a relationship with him was concerned? Pain, hurt and rejection rose up within her.
‘That’s right. So if you get in we can get this day over and done with. And the sooner, the better.’ He mumbled the last bit to himself, but Melissa had excellent hearing.
Melissa tried to swallow back the tears. Apparently neither of her colleagues wanted to spend time with her. Anger welled up inside. ‘You don’t want to do house-calls with me?’ She stood outside the ute, stubbornly refusing to get in. ‘Well, that’s just fine. I can go out with Dex next week, and you can spare yourself from having to endure my company all day long. And if Dex doesn’t want to go out with me next week, then write me a list of what I need to do and I’ll figure it out on my own. Honestly, I’d heard all about Outback hospitality and how everyone here would make me feel welcome—well, between you and Dex I’m feeling about as welcome as a squashed bug on a windshield.’
Melissa shut the door and started walking away. Joss closed his eyes for a second, then hit the steering wheel. He climbed from the ute and hurried after her. It wasn’t her fault Dex had changed the plan, and he felt like a heel. He’d let his unwanted attraction for her get in the way of his professionalism and now he’d made her feel bad. Joss knew what he had to do. He had sisters and he knew how temperamental women could be.
‘Lis.’ He reached out a hand to stop her, but she shrugged away his touch.
‘You know, I just don’t get you. One minute you’re nice, and the next you’re all Mr Tortured Soul and clamming up tighter than a…than a clam.’ She turned to face him and pointed to the ute. ‘It’s a shame Dex doesn’t want to do the house-calls with me, but you know what? That’s OK. I can live with that. But this is part of my job and, quite frankly, I’d appreciate just a bit more professionalism on your part.’
Joss nodded. ‘You’re absolutely right, and I apologise for my behaviour.’ He shifted his feet and shoved his hands into the pockets of his khaki shorts. ‘Dex has to stay here and monitor a family who are coming to town. Two of their kids have CF and he’s the expert in that field.’
‘Oh.’ So it wasn’t just the fact that he hadn’t wanted to spend time alone with her. Melissa started to feel bad about her outburst. This would have meant that Joss would have had to do some pretty fancy footwork in rearranging schedules. Still, one of them could have let her know about the change.
She could feel her anger draining and tried to hold on to it. When she was angry with Joss she didn’t have to worry about fighting the attraction she felt for him. She wasn’t particularly looking forward to spending all day with him in the close confines of the ute. They could hardly cope within the close confines of the kitchenette. Still, she was a professional, and this was part of her job. Whether she liked it or not, she’d be spending the day with Joss.
He held out his hand, indicating the ute. ‘Shall we?’ His tone was calmer, more reasonable, and she could see the business mask he wore was back in place. ‘We have a busy day to get through, so the sooner we get rolling, the sooner we’ll be back and having a drink at the pub.’
Melissa nodded, and the two of them returned to the waiting vehicle and climbed in, buckling their seat-belts. ‘So, boss. Where’s our first port of call?’
‘Interesting that you should use a sailing metaphor out here, where there is barely any water at all.’ Joss was driving the ute onto the main road of the town. ‘Our first “port of call”, as you term it, is the mine headquarters site office. It’s only fitting that you get to meet the head honchos in their official capacity, even though you’ve probably seen them around the town, and you also need to get a glimpse of what the mine is all about.’
‘Looking forward to it.’ As they drove, the buildings of the town became few and far between. It was as though there was an invisible line and houses couldn’t be built beyond it, because suddenly Melissa looked around and there were only small green shrubs mixing with the red-orange dirt at the side of the road.
After a while Joss turned right and headed down another seemingly endless road, and soon, as the signage depicted, they were upon the mine’s security gate. After signing in, Joss parked next to a few other cars. As a way of making up for his bad behaviour earlier, Joss came around the car to open Melissa’s door, but she beat him to it.
‘Problem?’ she asked, seeing him round her side of the car.
‘Uh…no.’ He felt self-conscious. ‘I was just going to open your door for you.’
‘Really?’ Her eyebrows hit her hairline in surprise. ‘Do you mean to tell me that chivalry isn’t dead? Even out here in the middle of nowhere?’
‘That’s exactly it.’ His expression was deadpan, but she thought she detected a slight twinkling of laughter in his eyes.
‘In that case, then, I’ll let you make it up to me by allowing you to open the door to the building.’
‘Oh, thank you, Dr Clarkson. You’re too kind.’
‘And, should it ever rain here, make sure you have your coat handy. I loathe standing in puddles.’
He dutifully held the door open, waiting for her to precede him. ‘Duly noted, Dr Clarkson,’ he murmured as they headed towards the reception desk.
The area was still half-decked in tinsel and baubles as the woman behind the desk was in the process of taking them down.
‘Hello, Joss,’ she said over her shoulder as she came down off a stepladder. ‘Happy New Year to you.’ She was bright and bubbly, her yellow badge declaring her name was Veronica. She wore a floral dress, had short grey hair and had a pen pushed behind her ear. ‘And to you as well…Melissa, isn’t it?’
‘It is.’ They both returned her greeting.
‘There hasn’t been an emergency, has there? I haven’t been notified of one.’ She walked to her desk and shuffled a few pieces of paper around.
‘No, Veronica. No emergency. I’ve brought Dr Clarkson here to introduce her around and to help give her a bit of a bird’s eye view of the mine.’
‘Good idea. Well, it’s lovely to see you again, Melissa.’
‘Again?’
‘We met on New Year’s Eve. You probably don’t remember. It’s difficult when you’re the new girl in town.’ The phone on the desk started ringing. ‘Go on through. Both Jeff and Scott are in there somewhere.’ Veronica answered the phone as Joss led Melissa through a door and down a corridor.
‘Have I met Jeff and Scott? Can you remember? It’s really quite disconcerting when people know you but you don’t have a clue who they are.’
Joss shrugged. ‘I’m not sure.’ Although he was sure she would have remembered meeting Scott. If Dex was the charming rogue in their community, Scott was most definitely the womaniser. If Scott had tried to sleaze Melissa at New Year’s, the woman would have remembered.
; They went through into a different office, Joss not bothering to knock as he opened the door. Two men were sitting at a large conference table, papers strewn before them.
‘Joss.’ One of them looked up.
‘G’day, fellas. Just wanted to officially introduce you to our new doctor.’
‘Excellent.’ The two men came over and shook her hand warmly. Scott, however, held on to Melissa’s hand for a bit longer than was necessary.
‘When Jeff told me how incredibly beautiful you were I was immensely sorry I hadn’t stayed in Didja for New Year. I’ve been in Perth,’ he volunteered. ‘Still, it’s a real pleasure to have you join our little community, Melissa. A real pleasure.’ He shook her hand slowly as he said the last few words, and then with a great reluctance let her go.
Joss was trying not to seethe at the lecherous way Scott was looking at Melissa. If he needed to appoint himself her official protector then so be it. All for the good of the clinic, of course.
‘Well…thank you.’ Melissa stepped back, wanting to put a bit of distance between herself and Scott and accidentally bumped into Joss. He steadied her with a hand at her waist, letting it linger for a desperate moment before he dropped it back to his side.
As Jeff talked, telling her about the mining operation and pointing to the photographs on the wall which showed her exactly what the open cut mine looked like, Melissa was only conscious of the fact that Joss was still quite close to her.
That brief touch of his hand on her back had left a heated imprint, and the spicy scent he wore was starting to drive her to distraction. Why was she so interested in him? How did this attraction, which seemed to have come from nowhere, consume her so much?
Even when they headed out of the office so she could see the actual mine itself, she was highly conscious of every move Joss made. They went outside and walked down a set of stairs to the viewing platform, all of them standing there doing the time-honoured Australian salute of swatting flies, looking over the mining operation. Jeff and Scott pointed out the different aspects of the job, but all Melissa was conscious of was the nearness of her colleague. The platform was quite small, and therefore he couldn’t really keep his distance. The heat from his torso was more prominent than the hot sun shining down on them, and it was affecting her equilibrium in ways the sun never could.
Melissa hoped to goodness that she nodded and murmured in the correct places, but knew she would probably have to research the entire mining operation on line, when Joss wasn’t around to distract her.
They didn’t spend too much time watching the enormous trucks—one or two of them with tinsel still wrapped around their antennae from Christmas—carting the mined rock up and down incredibly steep slopes which led in and out of the earth. Instead they headed back inside, away from the heat and the flies.
‘Would you both like to stay for a drink?’ Scott asked when they were back in the conference room. ‘It’s a bit of a scorcher out there at the moment.’
Melissa looked to Joss, unsure what their next move was. He was the boss, and today she was dancing to his tune.
‘Sorry,’ Joss replied a moment later, wanting to get Melissa as far away from Scott as possible. Honestly, the man had been giving Melissa such a come-on the entire time they’d been out on that platform. Joss hadn’t liked it one bit. ‘We need to get going. Have to get out to the Etheringtons, with quite a few stops to make along the way.’
‘That’s a lot of ground to cover,’ Jeff remarked.
‘His missus about ready to pop yet?’ Scott asked.
Joss’s smile was tight. ‘Not yet, but that’s one reason why I needed Melissa here to come along. Given that she’s a qualified obstetrician, she’ll be able to make sure everything is progressing well as far as mother and baby are concerned.’ Joss turned to Melissa. ‘Ready?’
It was strange, but even when he looked at her like that, one simple word coming from his lips, all she was aware of were his blue eyes, and the way they seemed to convey a multitude of unspoken words—especially when he lifted his eyebrows in such a cute and inquisitive manner. Talk about mixed signals and total confusion!
‘Ready,’ she confirmed.
They said their goodbyes and as they drove away from the open cut mine the atmosphere in the car descended into an uncomfortable silence. He wasn’t at all sure what to say or do. He wanted to know if she’d been attracted to Sleazy Scott or whether she really hadn’t given him a second glance. Only the last time they’d talked on personal topics he’d ended up caressing her cheek—a soft, gentle touch which still tortured him late at night. He had to come up with some sort of conversation—after all they had a good long drive to their next house-call, and that was a lot of time to fill with just silence.
It had been an age since he’d last been out with a woman, and even then it had been a double date which Dex had basically forced him to attend. It was then he’d realised it would be extremely difficult to date seriously when you were a doctor in a small community. If the relationship didn’t go right, then everyone in the community had an opinion on it. Add to all of that the fact that he’d never met anyone in Didja who affected him the way Melissa did—never had he felt such an instant attraction as he did with his new female colleague.
He knew she’d come to town to get to know Dex, but Dex hadn’t been as receptive as she’d hoped. Was she therefore using him as a stop-gap until she could get attention from her brother? There had to be a hidden agenda somewhere. Christina had taught him that much at least.
Joss glanced again at Melissa. There was no denying the attraction he felt for her—as unexpected as it was—but could he risk taking a chance on a relationship? How would she react when she learned about his past? Would she reject and betray him as Christina had? He shook his head, forcing the thoughts away, and reminded himself that perhaps he was misreading the signals from Melissa. When he’d touched his hand to the small of her back, purely in order to steady her, he’d felt such a strong warmth course up his arm and explode throughout his body. Why did he have to be so attracted to her?
He decided some conversation had to be better than the present path his thoughts were taking.
‘So…’
Melissa broke the silence before he could get a chance. Darn it. Was this yet more evidence that they were on the same wavelength? Joss had just decided to start a conversation about the weather, because the weather was definitely a safe topic.
‘Tell me,’ Melissa continued. ‘What are your future plans for the clinic?’
‘The clinic?’ That was a safe topic too. He could do that one.
‘You know? The place we work at? The one you’ve built from scratch?’
‘Oh. That clinic.’ Yes, talking about work was a very safe topic indeed. ‘Plans. Hmm…Well, we have three doctors here now. That’s a start. I do the odd surgical case—just small things. Dex does the anaesthetics, and now that you’re here you’ll be taking over the delivery of babies.’
‘All you need is a paediatrician and you’ll have a full house. That should round the team off nicely.’
‘Do you honestly think we could get a paediatrician to come all the way out here? On a permanent basis?’ He spoke as though she’d asked him to capture the moon. ‘It was difficult enough trying to coax a female doctor out. We’d advertised for well over a year before we received your application.’
‘Oh, great,’ she joked. ‘You’re telling me I only got the job because I was the only applicant?’
‘That’s not what I’m saying,’ Joss remarked. ‘If your credentials hadn’t been up to scratch the clinic wouldn’t have employed you.’
‘I see.’
‘Honestly, Lis.’ He looked across at her. ‘You were hired strictly on your merits, I assure you. The fact that you wanted to come to town anyway to get to know Dex was simply a bonus.’
‘And you knew I wanted to spend longer than three to six months in Didja because of Dex?’
‘I did. You can’t blame a guy f
or using it to his own advantage.’
‘And I don’t.’
She watched him surreptitiously as he drove, admiring his strong profile. He was so different from Renulf, especially in looks. Renulf was fair, yet Joss was dark. Renulf hadn’t been able to make her knees turn to mush with just one look, yet Joss could. Renulf had never made her swoon with the merest brush of his lips across hers, and Joss had.
She knew it wasn’t right to compare them but she couldn’t help it. The man sitting next to her was well-liked and respected in the community, and he was most certainly good with the patients. Joss was so vibrant, so powerful and so incredibly handsome. She couldn’t help the way he made her feel, but she could control her own reaction. Couldn’t she?
‘We’re all motivated in different ways, and sometimes circumstances are the biggest dictators in our lives.’
He glanced at her. ‘A deep comment.’
‘You’d expect it from a woman who’s watched everyone she ever really loved die.’ Melissa swallowed over the lump which had immediately appeared in her throat.
‘It must have been really difficult for you.’
‘It was. Still is in a lot of ways.’ She shook her head quietly. ‘It’s not easy being alone.’
‘Why didn’t it work out with your fiancé?’ The instant the question was out of his mouth he wondered if he’d pushed a little too far, too fast. But if he wanted to get to know her faults and flaws it meant he had to dig a little deeper beneath the surface, and surely that meant getting a little bit more personal.
‘Many reasons. I think it all boiled down to the fact that we didn’t really have a strong foundation. Everything sort of happened rather quickly.’ She took a deep breath, glad she had herself more under control now. ‘How about you? There must have been something big happen in your life to make you settle in Didja.’
‘I thought you weren’t all that interested? At least, that’s what you told me on your first day in town.’