A Very Single Midwife

by Fiona McArthur

Scott shook his head and grinned back at her. ‘I have a cast-iron stomach. You won’t make me carsick. Do your worst.’

  Bella flicked on the indicator and they took the doughnut over the highway and sped down the tarmac towards Wauchope.

  The Torana seemed to be enjoying the outing and Bella decided that she could become addicted to rally driving.

  Half an hour later Scott pointed to a sign. ‘I see they have a picnic area down by the river, and I brought a picnic. Let’s have a break.’

  Bella nodded and turned off the road. The tarmac soon disappeared and they bumped along the dirt for what seemed like miles before coming to the river. Bella pulled up in the huge deserted parking area. ‘They must have been planning on a party for this place.’

  Scott looked around and there was no sign of life. ‘Must be an off week.’ He leaned over the back and lifted the basket and waved it at her.

  ‘Hungry?’

  Bella nodded and climbed out. She found a tarpaulin in the boot to spread on the ground.

  Scott planted the basket in the middle of the blue sheet and proceeded to stretch out on the ground and put his elbow over his eyes.

  Bella glared at him. ‘What’s this?’

  Scott didn’t move his arm and his voice was muffled. ‘Chauvinism.’ Bella bit back a smile but, truth be told, she was dying of curiosity to see what was in the basket. ‘Then you have to pack up afterwards.’ That was all she said as she flipped off the lid.

  Chicken, Camembert, avocado, what looked like shop-made potato salad, some crusty rolls and two bottles of non-alcoholic white wine. Plus a jar of sliced mango. Not a bad effort for a confirmed bachelor. ‘What? No coffee?’

  This time he did remove his arm but he put it back over his eyes when he saw she was joking. ‘Got me,’ he said.

  ‘Well, come on, look alive. I’m starving and I want to get home not too much after dark.’

  Scott sat up and edged along the tarpaulin to sit next to the basket.

  While Bella made up the plates, he opened the wine and poured it out into two plastic goblets. ‘To small cars and speed limits.’

  Bella grinned and took a sip. It wasn’t bad. She relaxed back on her elbows and breathed in the fresh air.

  ‘This is actually quite a radical thing to do on a weeknight,’ Bella mused.

  ‘Very,’ Scott agreed, and raised his glass again for another toast. ‘To radical things on weeknights,’ he toasted.

  They clinked plastic and both of them laughed at the dull clunky sound.

  Bella stared at the clouds that were turning pink in the sunset. ‘What’s the most radical thing you’ve ever done, Scott?’ The question popped out without much thought.

  CHAPTER SIX

  ‘WHAT makes you think I’ve ever done anything radical?’ Scott stared pensively into his wine and Bella glanced across at him with a frown.

  ‘Everyone has done something mad at least once in their life.’ She smiled encouragingly and then her smile faltered. ‘Tell me you have.’ There was a long pause and she stifled the disappointment that accompanied the worry Scott might never have done anything remotely mad.

  ‘You mean, apart from running off with a woman fifteen years my senior and being left soon after?’ Scott watched Bella blink and for the life of him he couldn’t think of anything radical he’d done since alienating Bella all those years ago. Suddenly he remembered the family planning seminar he’d been to last week. The company reps had been giving out freebies and he’d stuck a couple of condoms in his wallet to give to Rohan, along with a crack about spacing babies. ‘But I don’t want to talk about that radical mistake. How about something radical I have with me?’ Maybe he could make her laugh.

  She relaxed her shoulders as he teased her. ‘But I’m not sure I want to tell you and I don’t want you to get any ideas.’

  Bella bristled again and he suppressed his amusement. Here with Bella, tonight, offered a precious hour of joy from nowhere, and he was savouring it.

  Bella glared at him. The man was laughing at her. ‘You’re just saying that to whet my appetite.’ His slow smile warmed that fluttery feeling back into her stomach. She took a gulp of her drink and thanked her stars that the wine wasn’t potent. ‘So? Give!’

  He smiled again and shifted along the tarp to be closer to her. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet.

  Bella frowned. ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘I’m showing you something mad that I’ve got.’

  His hands flicked open his wallet with painful slowness and slid his fingers into the back section to pull out a small package. He placed the packet in the palm of his hand. ‘That’s it.’

  Bella peered at his hand. ‘What?’

  ‘It’s a glow-in-the-dark condom.’

  There was something so bizarrely out of character about Scott and his possession of a glow-in-the-dark condom that it made Bella shut her eyes and bite her lip. Serious, conservative and dignified Dr Rainford, luminescent with lust. An ordinary, flesh-coloured, non-ribbed condom discreet in his wallet perhaps, but glow-in-the-dark?

  A bubble of laughter slid its way up her throat and she tried to hold it back, but the amusement escaped in a deep-throated giggle. That chuckle was followed by several more hiccups of mirth, and before she knew it Bella was rolling around on the tarpaulin, holding her stomach. Scott watched her with pretended offence until she could control herself. She lay on her back and gasped for air, holding her aching diaphragm.

  Finally she managed, ‘What a Boy Scout.’ And wiped the tears from her eyes.

  ‘I can see you’re impressed. In fact, I’ve got two. I’ll give you one to keep. Now, tell me about something you’ve done.’

  Bella shook her head. ‘I can’t top that one.’

  Scott wasn’t taking that. ‘It’s your turn—tell me.’

  Bella leaned back and stared at the darkening sky. The silence lengthened. She’d always been a wimp. ‘I went topless in the hospital pool one night after lights-out.’ She sighed with disgust. ‘I kept my panties on because I couldn’t even do the full monty.’

  ‘That idea has potential,’ he said, and glanced suggestively towards the river.

  She shook her head. ‘I don’t think so.’ Bella finished the wine in her goblet and dropped the empty cup into the picnic basket.

  That fluttery feeling was coming back in her stomach and Scott’s glance seemed to be getting warmer. ‘Well, my compliments to the chef. It’s been very pleasant, but we should go.’

  Scott nodded without apparent reluctance and Bella assured herself she was glad.

  ‘Work tomorrow,’ he said. ‘You have a wander down to the river and I’ll do my part of the bargain and pack this away.’

  Bella stood up and brushed the last crumbs from her hands. ‘Thank you, kind sir.’ Superfluous, she wandered down towards the rocky bank of the shallow river and stood beside a huge weeping willow with all the leaves and branches eaten off to cow-neck height. She smiled at the exactness of the bovine pruning line and turned back to the car.

  Scott had folded the tarpaulin and put the basket back in the car and looked to be waiting for her to return.

  ‘Coming,’ she called as she scrambled back up the stony slope to the car. ‘Do you want to drive?’ she offered, but Scott shook his head with a smile.

  ‘I like to live dangerously—you drive.’

  ‘Well, if those are the two most radical things we’ve ever done, driving with me probably constitutes dangerous.’

  He opened her door and then walked around to the passenger side to climb in. Bella leaned forward and twisted the key in the ignition, but the only response was a thready clicking noise.

  Scott swivelled his head to look at Bella and folded his arms. ‘I hope that wasn’t what I thought it was.’

  Bella glared at him and tried again. The clicking noise returned but that was it.

  Bella inhaled slowly and then deliberately exhaled. ‘OK, Dr Mechanic Rainford, what is that nois
e?’

  ‘That, Sister Wilson, is the sound of a flat battery. Did you turn off the headlights when we stopped?’

  Bella’s gaze flew to the light switch and, sure enough, it was on. She switched it off hurriedly as if to make up for her lapse but, of course, it was too late. Bella slapped the steering-wheel and chewed her lip. ‘You told me to turn the lights on. Why didn’t you tell me to turn them off?’

  Scott smiled cynically. ‘A woman’s logic.’

  Bella glared at him and then she brightened. ‘I’m a member of NRMA Road Service.’

  Scott gave a half-laugh. ‘Not in this car, I suspect.’

  Bella frowned at him. ‘Won’t they come to me because I’m a member?’

  Scott pulled out his mobile phone and handed it to Bella. ‘Try them. But I bet you ten dollars there’s no reception down in this hollow.’

  Bella almost snatched the phone and punched in the six-digit number for Road Service, but the phone was dead. She passed the phone back carefully to Scott and then succumbed to an insane flurry of slapping hands on the steering-wheel again.

  Scott grinned and looked away before she could see his smile.

  Bella stopped, blew a strand of red hair out of her face and consciously relaxed her shoulders. Then she glared at him. ‘You planned this.’ Bella’s accusation made Scott’s eyebrows lift.

  ‘Now, that would be radical,’ he murmured, and Bella hung her head.

  ‘I’m sorry. That was stupid. What are we going to do?’

  Bella’s reaction to the breakdown was strangely different to his. Scott was feeling remarkably calm and not a little pleased with the thought of spending the evening with Bella in unusual circumstances. Which was strange, as he’d normally be obsessed with being at work on time tomorrow, and available should the remote possibility arise of Rohan needing him overnight. Not to mention the fear of scandalmongers.

  Scott shrugged and gestured to the darkness that was quickly falling. ‘At a guess, I’d say we’re going to sleep here tonight and walk to a phone in the morning.’

  Scott wound his window up. ‘I’d recommend winding your window up until after dusk or we’ll be fodder for the mosquitoes.’

  Bella hastily agreed and then she sat back in her seat and tried to think of a solution. They hadn’t passed a house on the way in off the highway so that made it a couple of miles’ walk at least. Then there was the dark factor.

  No car was going to stop in the dark to help them anyway. She couldn’t find an answer that improved on Scott’s suggestion. She doubted anyone would find them or even start looking until tomorrow. Even Vivie would think she’d stayed out to tea and no one would be any wiser until she didn’t turn up for work next day. She winced. The rumours would be horrendous when they did go back.

  ‘Let’s run away to Perth,’ she said half-jokingly.

  Scott smiled. ‘Thinking about the gossips, are you?’

  Bella nodded and sighed. ‘Is this a radical thing to do?’

  ‘Right up there.’ His hand came across and closed over her fingers. ‘It’s really not a tragedy. Tomorrow morning we’ll try and push the car up the slope and maybe we can clutch-start it. But it’s a bit dark to do that now.’

  ‘But when I don’t turn up for work, they’ll ring Vivie and she’ll ring Abbey and Rohan will ring you and you won’t be home…’

  ‘Shh.’ Scott squeezed her hand and Bella could hear the thread of laughter in his voice.

  ‘Look at it this way—we’re safe, and being slightly embarrassed is nothing. As for work, I’d be a little more worried if Rohan wasn’t in town, but he is. He can handle anything that needs to be handled and Sharon or whoever is on night duty will stay until you arrive.’

  Bella sighed one last time and then straightened in her seat. ‘You’re right. I won’t moan any more and I think you’ve been very good about this considering it was me that left the lights on.’ She felt very self-righteous taking the blame and she looked across to see if Scott commended her for it.

  No such luck. ‘I think so, too,’ he said, ‘but, then, I was saving recriminations in case we got bored later.’

  Bella shook her hand out of his and crossed her arms, but when she looked back he was smiling. She stared at him. Who was this man? ‘You’ve changed so much from the grumpy shirt of last week that I barely recognise you.’

  ‘Grumpy shirt?’ he repeated wonderingly, and then became more serious. ‘It’s been a big week.’

  They sat there for a while in surprisingly companionable silence. Then Scott leaned his head back, closed his eyes and started to talk. ‘Since finding out about my son…’ he grimaced ‘…and coming to terms with the fact that I didn’t have the chance to watch a child of mine grow up, something I would love to have memories of, I’ve reassessed my life.’

  She heard him sigh before he went on.

  ‘Michael’s existence and the fact that I’ve never seen him has changed my perspective. It’s made me look at other areas of my life that I should have seen to years ago.’ He smiled at a memory. ‘And Rohan gave me a serve that had me thinking as well.’

  Bella was intrigued. ‘What did Rohan say?’

  Scott opened his eyes. ‘He was fairly succinct,’ Scott said wryly. ‘That I need to raise expectations of my life goals and that I can’t just be there for the town. He also said I should take time for myself and start having fun.’ He turned to look at Bella with a grin. ‘Guess we’ve started on the last one.’

  It was dark outside the car, and a cow bellowed not far away. Scott looked at his watch. ‘It’s eight-thirty. The mosquitoes should be gone now. Do you want to stretch your legs?’ Bella nodded and Scott opened his door.

  ‘At least there weren’t any cowpats near the car,’ Bella said brightly.

  ‘And it’s not raining, Pollyanna.’ Scott was rummaging in the glovebox for anything else useful. ‘Tada.’ He brandished a box of matches. ‘I shall build a campfire, and with a bit of luck someone will come to tell us to put it out.’

  ‘I’ll help gather wood.’ The idea of a campfire shining benevolent light was very appealing and Bella tried to remember if she’d seen any broken branches on her short walk. It wasn’t ink black yet and she could see outlines of obstacles in front of her.

  After half an hour of hard work they had a reasonable-sized firewood pile in the middle of the parking area.

  Bella had brought the tarpaulin from the boot again and spread it out on the ground. The first flickers of flame seemed to spread light in gradually increasing circles and by the time the fire was well established, the whole parking area appeared friendlier. They stood together and admired Scott’s handiwork.

  ‘Well done, fire king,’ Bella said. ‘Now what do we do?’

  Scott took Bella’s hand and pulled her sideways in front of him then gently back so he could encircle her with his arms as they faced the fire. ‘Are you one of these people who have to be amused all the time?’

  Bella could feel the hardness of his body against her back and buttocks, and the warmth of his arms felt right, and not something she wanted to fight against.

  ‘No,’ she said in a voice half the volume of what she’d intended. She felt his chin rest gently in her hair and then the movement of his lips as he dropped a kiss on the top of her head. Bella closed her eyes. This wasn’t what she’d imagined when she’d started this trip today but it felt so good she couldn’t help sighing. But she needed to be careful. There was a fine line between special moments and those she’d live to regret.

  They stood there for a long time and the silence between them was tranquil as they soaked up the unexpected solitude.

  For Scott it was wonderful. Bella in his arms, relaxed and happy with his prowess as the fire provider, they had food and water at the river and a long night ahead to establish the beginnings of what could be the relationship he’d never allowed himself to dream of. ‘Well, this is better than reruns of Bonanza on television,’ he said with a smile in his voice.


  Bella tilted her head. ‘What’s Bonanza?’

  Scott shut and opened his eyes. Apart from the fact that it was an asinine thing to have said to a young and beautiful woman in his arms, her response was not surprising. She was too young to have ever seen Bonanza and he’d grown up with the show. What was he thinking of? He was a fool to think this relationship was going to work. His arms dropped.

  ‘Reality check,’ he murmured. ‘It’s an old TV show that was on before you were born.’ And he walked over to throw another stick on the fire.

  Bella bunched her fists against her sides. ‘Now, that response was more like the angst-ridden Dr Rainford of last week,’ she snapped, and Scott threw his head up and glared at her.

  The words hung in the air between them. Suddenly the little picnic area wasn’t as friendly any more. He took several large strides and before she knew it he was right beside her again.

  He wasn’t the one who was going to lose out by being with someone old and crotchety. He was trying to protect her and didn’t she realise it was killing him?

  ‘And which Dr Rainford do you prefer?’ His voice was soft but that dangerous quality was back, the one from the kitchen when she’d asked about his marriage. Bella could feel the acceleration in her heart rate but she wasn’t going to back down.

  ‘I like the one in the car from an hour ago and the one from five minutes ago.’

  Scott caught a thick strand of her hair between his fingers and used it to turn her head until there was barely an inch between their faces. ‘What about the one in my workshop? Because I’m damned if I can get that Bella out of my mind.’

  His lips came down on hers and Bella knew this was not a good idea, alone in the bush in the dark, and the hunger in his voice matched the hunger deep inside herself and she wanted to lean into him but she just wasn’t ready for this. The warning she’d given herself was too recent.

  Bella pulled away and slid out from under his arms and walked out of the circle of light towards the river.

  ‘Where are you going?’ he asked, and she turned back to look at him. The light from the fire was behind him and his face was shadowed yet surrounded by a fiery halo. He was everything she wanted in a man. It wasn’t Scott she was afraid of, it was herself and the fragility of her own self-esteem if she ended in his arms tonight. She wasn’t ready to risk everything she’d worked for in the last year because it felt good at the time.