And the truth of the matter was that Flynn and Ellie were so damn good-looking that their wedding photos would sparkle even if they took them at the local rubbish dump. Lauren felt her long red fingernails digging into her palms and forced herself to unclench her hands.
‘Humph.’ Karina was still holding out the glass for her, but Mrs Quartermaine pushed it away and folded her arms. ‘I can see no one’s going to listen to me in all this. So let’s just go and get it over with.’
‘I’ll get the car.’ Karina gave the glass to Lucy and hurried down the aisle.
Lauren was about to ask Flynn to help her assist his grandmother up, but he got there before her. Stooping again, he slipped one hand around her back and the other beneath her legs and then lifted her into his arms as if she weighed no more than a pillow. Much the same way a groom lifted a bride to carry her over the threshold. Would he do that to Ellie? The thought sparked a new rush of jealousy and ache in Lauren’s heart. Disgusted at herself, she tried to push it aside. Not only was now not the time to be thinking such pathetic thoughts, but only minutes ago she’d resolved to move on. Surely there were other marriageable men on the planet.
Only slightly mollified by that thought—because let’s face it, she hadn’t managed to find one yet—she hurried after Flynn with Lucy and Ellie at her heels. Someone had already ushered most of the guests outside, so there was a clear run to Karina’s waiting car. Concerned locals looked on, calling out offers of support and best wishes as Flynn settled the old woman in the front seat of the four-wheel drive.
‘We’ll meet you at the hospital,’ he told his mum as he leaned on the open passenger door before stepping back and closing it. Lauren watched as Lucy climbed into the back seat, tossing her bouquet beside her.
Ellie stepped forward to take Flynn’s hand. ‘She’ll be okay,’ she said as the newlyweds exchanged a grave look and Karina drove off.
‘I know.’ Flynn grinned back. ‘She’s a tough old bird.’
Starting to turn away, Lauren decided she’d call Dr Bates to fill her in and then make a quick getaway, conveniently forgetting to return to the reception that night. No one would miss her and besides, watching these two comfort each other was about as appealing as giving herself acupuncture in the eye. With a rusty nail. She didn’t fancy tagging along to the hospital even if she had more right to be there than anyone.
‘Hey, Lauren.’
Flynn’s call jolted her, but she took a deep breath before turning back to face them.
‘Yes?’ She forced a smile, knowing it would be a long while before she banished the image of Ellie in a wedding dress from her mind. All that tanned shimmery skin and white taffeta. Ugh.
As one, Flynn and Ellie stepped forward, closing the gap between them again. ‘Are you coming to the hospital?’ Flynn offered a warm smile—sweet but totally different from the one he kept solely for Ellie. It almost felt patronising. He was so sexy and kind that she felt like punching him in the nose, which wasn’t at all fair. She was the one with the problem here. It wasn’t Flynn’s fault her damn stupid heart couldn’t let him go.
She swallowed. ‘Of course. I want to be sure your grandmother listens to the doc’s instructions.’
Flynn chuckled. ‘Good plan. Do you need a lift?’
No way did she want to play third wheel in the flash car Flynn had hired especially for the wedding and their honeymoon. Rumour had it they were driving to Eagle Bay and staying in some luxury resort for the week. How Flynn could justify getting away during harvest was beyond her, but—
‘Lauren?’ Flynn spoke again, a slight crease forming between his thick eyebrows as he waited for her answer. Like a knife twisting in her heart, his new gold wedding band glinted in the sunlight.
‘It’s fine.’ She waved a hand towards the car park, averting her gaze from the reminder her love was married. ‘I’ll drive myself. See you there.’
Then she practically fled towards her little hatchback. Without looking back, she unlocked the car and slumped into the driver’s seat, slamming the door behind her. She needed a moment to collect her thoughts and disappointments, but Hilda Quartermaine’s collapse had stolen such luxuries. If only it had been someone other than Flynn’s grandmother. It would have given her the perfect excuse to get away. But when had anything gone in Lauren’s favour recently?
Putting her phone on speaker, she dialled the hospital as she drove, alerting the agency nurses of their incoming patient. She then called Dr Bates to ask if she could meet her there.
‘I’m already here.’ Hannah sounded as if she were smiling. ‘Dr Lewis, our locum, just arrived, so I’m showing him around. I’ll see you in a moment.’
Lauren disconnected the call and took a deep breath. She’d forgotten Hannah was leaving tomorrow for two months travelling Europe and America and she didn’t want to meet the new doctor in a tizz. Not that it mattered—come Monday morning her resignation would be tendered. Two weeks later, she’d be gone.
Slightly lighter of heart at that thought, she arrived at the hospital, parked and rushed from the car, hoping to be inside before Ellie and Flynn arrived. The doors to Hope Junction’s small emergency department were open and the agency nurses were helping Karina get Mrs Quartermaine out of the car. Lauren rushed over to help them assist their patient into the waiting wheelchair.
‘I don’t need this,’ grumbled Flynn’s grandmother, shooting angry glares at all concerned. ‘I’m perfectly capable of walking in myself. In fact, I don’t even need to be here. You’re all wasting precious time and resources on this very important day.’
‘Mum. Just stop and let them look after you.’ Karina placed a hand on her mother-in-law’s shoulder and apologised with her eyes to the women trying to help. Lucy stood next to her looking lost and anxious.
Lauren introduced herself to the agency nurses and offered her assistance. They were happy to let her handle the disgruntled patient and she was more than willing to do so, wanting to be busy when Flynn and Ellie arrived.
‘I’ll go tell Dr Bates you’re here,’ said the shorter of the two nurses, before turning and hurrying inside. The other nurse hung back, allowing Lauren to take control.
Standing behind and taking hold of the wheelchair’s handles, Lauren bent down and whispered in Mrs Quartermaine’s ear. ‘Humouring us will get this over and done with quicker.’
An infuriated sigh wafted up from the wheelchair and Lauren smiled a little victory. Flynn and Ellie were just coming up behind as she pushed the chair into the treatment room.
‘Dr Bates,’ Mrs Quartermaine cried as Hannah entered from the main corridor. ‘I hope you’ll see sense. Everyone else seems to think I need mollycoddling but I feel fine. And I have a wedding reception to get to. Been a long while since I kicked up my heels and danced.’
Chuckling, Hannah Bates—a forty-something woman with plain brown hair that usually hung down her back in a long plait and a no-nonsense attitude to match—crossed the room to greet her patient. ‘Hello Mrs Quartermaine. I understand you’re eager to get back to the celebrations and I promise I’ll do my best to make that possible. But it would be remiss of any of us—’ she gestured to everyone else in the room ‘—to let you go without giving you a proper examination. Lauren says you fainted?’
Mrs Quartermaine snorted and gave Lauren her devil glare. A shadow fell over her before she could respond. Assuming it was Flynn, Lauren turned, preparing to usher him and Ellie out of the room during the examination, but the words died on her tongue.
Standing behind her was a tall, dark, broad-shouldered and extraordinarily handsome stranger. Next to him even Flynn looked quite ordinary. The man’s twinkling brown eyes and the sexy stubble that adorned his perfect jawline gave him the aura of a movie star. Was he an actor friend of Ellie’s come west for the wedding? If so, how had she not noticed him in the church? Not that he looked dressed for a wedding. His attire was decidedly more casual than all the other guests. This thought faded into insignificance as
his hands came down on her shoulders. She shivered at his touch and her insides turned to liquid as their eyes met. He smiled and shifted her sideways a little.
‘Anything I can do to help, Doctor?’
Lauren frowned as the movie star stepped past her, halting just before the wheelchair.
Hannah nodded. ‘Sure, that would be great.’ She glanced down at her patient. ‘Mrs Quartermaine, I’d like you to meet Dr Tom Lewis. He’s going to be looking after the town while I’m away, and with his help I’m going to get you back to the wedding as soon as possible.’
The man, apparently not a movie star despite his devastating looks, crouched down in front of the wheelchair, putting himself at eye level with the old woman. He lifted her hand and spoke softly, but Lauren couldn’t make out his words. She was too busy staring at the way his faded jeans stretched over his butt. A deliciously tight butt if the view was anything to go by. His black t-shirt popped out of his pants as he leaned forward and she almost whimpered at the slash of tanned skin suddenly visible to her susceptible eyes. Had a lower back ever looked so magnificent? Certainly not one she’d ever seen—and as a nurse, she’d seen a fair few.
Her libido had a moment and her mouth went dry as she realised this man wasn’t a friend of Ellie’s passing through for the wedding, but instead someone she’d be working with closely while seeing out her notice.
Dr Bates didn’t take many holidays, but the few times she’d done so in recent years, the locum doctors hadn’t been much to write home about. That hadn’t always stopped Lauren getting to know them—she wasn’t all about looks despite popular opinion—but this man was a refreshing change. She craned her neck a little, trying to get a look at his hand to check for a wedding band. From this vantage point, his fingers looked devoid of rings. A smile lifted her lips as the warmth of new possibility spread through her limbs—such a pleasant change from the feeling of utter desolation that had weighed her down in church. Maybe there was hope for her after all.
In the middle of a daydream about asking him over for drinks—or even better, dinner—she caught herself.
What are you doing? Her clichéd reaction to a hot new doctor made her decision of less than an hour ago all the more important. Averting her gaze, she cleared her throat and turned back to focus on the Quartermaines.
‘Karina, you can stay if you like, but I need to ask the rest of you to wait in the corridor.’
She ushered Flynn, Ellie and Lucy out into the waiting room, took a quick breath and then stepped back inside the treatment room where she vowed to be the consummate professional. Her days of throwing herself at men—even brown-eyed movie-star-lookalike doctors who were exactly her type—were done and dusted. If she felt even a whisper of lust building in his presence, she would stamp on it like it was a poisonous spider and get on with her day.
Chapter Two
Tom Lewis’ mother would be over the moon when he told her about this. He wasn’t a soap opera fan himself but you’d have had to be dead not to have heard about the nuptials of Stella Williams. What was her real name? He couldn’t believe he was standing in front of the star actress from Lake Street, the TV show his mother had watched religiously every night for as long as he could remember. Every gossip magazine in the country had run a story on her whirlwind romance, which apparently was over ten years in the making. You didn’t have to be psychic to predict what—or rather who—would be on the covers of Woman’s Day and New Idea this week. Still, although he’d made the connection when accepting a temporary position in the small Western Australian community of Hope Junction, Tom had never expected to get this close to the celebrity wedding of the year.
Grinning, he helped their elderly patient onto the examination table and said, ‘I know you’re eager to get back to your son’s wedding, so let’s—’
‘Oh, he’s not my son.’ The woman blushed like a teenager. ‘He’s my grandson.’
‘I’m sorry.’ Tom shook his head with a smile. ‘You look far too young for grandchildren. You must have been a baby when you had kids.’
‘Oh, get away with you.’ Mrs Quartermaine waved her index finger at him, but the blush spread down her neck and she beamed, years of smiles evident in the fine lines around her eyes.
As she relaxed back into the pillow, Hannah Bates raised an eyebrow in Tom’s direction, but he simply shrugged one shoulder and turned back to their patient. His deliberate mistake had worked exactly the magic he’d hoped. Mrs Quartermaine had ceased her objections and lain back to play the perfect patient.
‘You know, dear, if more doctors looked like you, I might be more inclined to get my yearly check-up. How long are you staying in Hope Junction?’ she asked as he wrapped the BP cuff around her upper arm.
If she weren’t almost three times his age, he’d have thought she was flirting with him. And likely he’d have flirted back. Life was short and unpredictable; Tom was a big believer in fun and frivolity. He smiled and glanced up at the reading on the machine. ‘For most of the summer. Got any must-see recommendations for while I’m here?’
‘Well, let’s see. A distillery and restaurant have just opened on the outskirts of town—that’s where Flynn and Ellie are having their reception. I’m told the food is fabulous. There’s the CWA craft shop of course. You can get some lovely handmade Christmas presents there…’
Inwardly laughing at the idea he might find any interest in the Country Women’s Association craft shop, Tom let their patient continue her spiel on the merits of Hope Junction while he and Dr Bates went about checking her vital signs. Her blood pressure was a little lower than normal, a good indicator of the dehydration they suspected. But other than that and the slight peeling around her lips, she seemed in quite good health. Still, he wanted to be sure.
‘I’d like to do a quick ECG, take some bloods and also get a urine sample, Mrs Quartermaine.’ He looked to Hannah as he said this and she nodded her agreement. Anticipating the old woman’s reaction, he added, ‘We’ll be as quick as we can, promise. You look pretty healthy to me and as long as Dr Bates agrees, I think we can discharge you soon. Humour us on this one.’
‘Do you medical types have a language you reserve for old biddies?’ Mrs Quartermaine pursed her lips and gestured behind him. ‘She said almost the exact same thing to get me in here.’
Tom turned, expecting the accused to be one of the nurses, but he found the room vacant except for two women, presumably relatives of their patient. The first lady looked to be around fifty—maybe the daughter? The worry lines around her face indicated so and her perfectly set bob looked as if it had been recently dyed to cover incoming grey. She wore a classic mother-of-the-bride-or-groom silky-type pale peach suit, but it was the second woman who grabbed his attention. Air rushed from his lungs as his gaze snagged on her.
His first thought was how much he’d like to run his hands through that long curtain of silky blonde hair. It fell in waves almost down to her bum, and although he couldn’t see it from this angle, he knew it would be the perfect size and shape to curl his hands around. Much like her breasts, which were nicely accentuated by the tight, deep blue dress she wore. His imagination took a detour as he contemplated the legs beneath the satiny skirt and he forced his gaze upwards to look into her face.
She smiled tentatively at him from beneath long, dark lashes but the twinkle in her eyes told him he’d been caught.
Dammit. He didn’t want Hannah Bates to think he was some kind of flake who’d be cracking onto the locals the moment she drove out of town. Not that this woman was a patient, but still, gawking at anyone while on duty was not on his agenda. Not his style.
Tom wasn’t a saint by any means—a few women had been pleased to scratch his itch since he’d been on the road—but he hadn’t felt such an instant attraction to someone since Lisa. Lisa, with whom he’d been fully prepared to spend the rest of his life.
‘Would you like me to do the bloods?’ The beauty in the blue broke his gaze and looked past him to Hannah.
He frowned, trying to put the pieces together. Then it hit him. She must be the off-duty nurse who’d called from the wedding.
‘Thanks Lauren, but we’re not busy here today, I’ll get one of the duty nurses.’ Hannah smiled and then made shooing motions with her hands. ‘Go. It’s your weekend off. You should be enjoying yourself.’
Lauren? Frank’s sister? He took a moment to scrutinise her, making sure he was less obvious about it this time. Unlikely there were two nurses called Lauren in a place the size of Hope Junction, and now he thought about it, his friend’s eyes were the same green, and his blonde hair was the same shade as this woman’s, but not as glossy. Tom had never had the urge to run his fingers through Frank’s hair though, not even after a few too many beers...
Well, well, well, maybe his stay in Hope would be more interesting than he’d imagined.
‘If you’re sure.’ Lauren glanced back towards the door that led to the waiting room. He got the distinct impression she’d rather change bedpans than leave.
‘You’ll be at the reception, won’t you?’ Hannah asked her. ‘If we can let Mrs Quartermaine go, it’ll be good to know there’s someone there to keep an eye her, just in case.’
‘What do you mean if? I’m not staying here and missing the party. And just in case what?’ The old woman snapped her head to glare at Hannah. ‘Do you think I might just drop off the perch or something?’
Neither Lauren nor Hannah braved a reply.
‘I wouldn’t be anywhere but.’ Lauren nodded and smiled at Hannah, and although he didn’t know her at all, Tom swore her grin was forced.
The other woman, the one in the MOB suit—as one of his sisters, a wedding planner, would call it—reached out and patted the side of Lauren’s arm. ‘Thanks for everything.’
Lauren shrugged the hand off and her fake smile spread so wide it looked as though it might crack her gorgeous face in two. ‘Honestly, it was nothing. I’ll see you later.’ She fled before he got the chance to speak to her.
The Road to Hope Page 2