by Leah Martyn
'I promise I won't keep you up, Abbey.' Nick fetched up one of the high-backed stools and parked himself.
She gave a weak smile. 'The coffee will probably do that anyway.'
'Do you have times when you can't sleep, however you try?' he asked, his voice low.
'Most people do, don't they?' Abbey tore open the sachets and shook the coffee grains into the two waiting cups. 'Especially people in our line of work. Sometimes, when I find it impossible to relax enough to coax sleep, I go outside and look at the stars.'
'I imagine they'd be something special out west.'
'With the sky so clear, absolutely. The stars appear like so many diamonds. Their sparkle is...well, I imagine it's like being in fairyland.' Vaguely embarrassed by her flowery speech, Abbey hastily made the coffee. She passed Nick's black brew across to him, watching as he sugared and stirred it.
'You make it sound wonderful.' His long fingers spanned his cup as he lifted it to his mouth. 'I'll come out and experience it for myself someday.'
Abbey refrained from comment. Instead, her shoulders lifted in a barely perceptible shrug. She poured milk into her own coffee and, beset by a strange unease, took the seat next to him at the counter.
'Don't believe me, do you, Abbey?'
She brought her head up, seeing the crease in his cheek as he smiled, the action activating the laughter lines around his eyes. And quickly lowered her gaze to blot out the all-male physical imprint.
But it took a while for her heart to stop beating so quickly.
Nick couldn't take his eyes off her. He felt his fingers flexing, his arms aching to draw her to him, to touch her hair, feel its silkiness glide through his fingers. The thought of something else far more urgent was enough to set his body on fire.
He raised his cup and took another mouthful of his coffee. Anything to stop the hollow, self-derisive laugh erupting from his throat, he thought ruefully. He cast about for a safer topic. 'Tell me about yourself, Abbey.'
'Oh. There's not much to tell— I'm fairly ordinary.'
'I don't believe that for a second,' he countered, hoping he'd managed to give the wry words the right touch of lightness; 'What about family? Siblings?'
She lifted one shoulder uncertainly. 'One brother, Steven. He's a GP, currently working at a health post in New Guinea.'
Nick's mouth compressed momentarily. 'So not much chance for weekend visits, then?'
'No.' Abbey shook her head. 'But we did manage to catch up last Christmas. I took a flight north and Steve flew south and we met in Darwin. It was good,' she tacked on, an odd little glitch in her voice. 'Really good. More so, because these days we only have each other...'
Nick was startled by the sudden change in her voice. She looked almost...haunted. 'Tell me,' he said quietly.
After a tense moment, she responded, 'Our parents were killed two years ago. One of those tragic road accidents. They were fulfilling their retirement dream of a motoring trip around Australia. They were somewhere west of Adelaide when a petrol tanker ran out of control in front of them and then exploded. They had no chance.'
Nick saw the heart-breaking emotion that froze her face for an instant and recalled how he'd rabbited on about his extended family. What a smug, self-satisfied clod he must have sounded.
He clenched his fists as if he wanted to pound at an unkind fate on her behalf. 'I'm so sorry, Abbey.' He shook his head. 'So sorry you had to go through that...' On an impulse he couldn't explain, he held out his hand, using the action to draw her up from her stool and into his arms.
There was a long moment when they were still. When anything was possible. Abbey took a shaken breath, tilting her face up to his, thinking she should stop this now. But the urge to touch him and to be touched in return was too great. Suddenly all her senses began to stir, unfold, waken. Her heart did a back flip in her chest. And she was waiting, expectant when Nick leaned forward to claim her mouth.
Nicholas. She said his name in her head, closing her eyes, revelling in the subtle warmth of his body as he held her closer. He made her feel wildly sensual, as if she wanted to go on tiptoe, take him to her, absorb the very essence of his maleness.
She made a little sound in her throat, waves of heat sweeping over her as she opened fully to the demanding pressure of his lips.
It was much too soon when Nick broke away from her. He turned his head a little, smudging kisses across her temple, her eyelids and into the soft curve of her throat, sending erotic visions to her mind, searing heat along each vein.
Abbey clung to him, clung and clung, her cheek hard against the warmth of his chest, while his arms cradled her as though she was infinitely precious.
She had no clear idea how long they stood there.
Finally Nick's chest rose and fell in a long sigh and he slowly untwined the hands she'd looped around his neck and pulled back from her. 'Abbey... this is a hard call but I have to go—while I still can.'
She lifted weighted eyelids to look at him, realising he was right. If he didn't leave now, there was only one way they could go from here and she wasn't about to let that happen. She shivered when his thumb touched her full lower lip.
'Don't forget me, will you?' His voice sounded raw.
She swallowed jerkily, wondering how her legs were still holding her up.
'I...don't know where any of this is leading, Abbey.' He sent her a strained look. 'But let's not shut the door on the possibilities...please.' Then, as if he couldn't bear to leave her, he kissed her again. Just briefly but hard. 'I'm going...'
'Take care,' Abbey whispered, her eyes wide and dazed-looking.
'I'll see you.' He placed the softest kiss at the side of her mouth. 'Somehow.'
Abbey waited until she heard the throb of his car engine fade away before she trusted her legs to move. Was he saying he wanted a serious chance at some kind of relationship?
She lifted her shoulders in a shaken sigh, crossing to the bed. The idea was impractical. And totally impossible.
It took only a few minutes to pack her small suitcase for her return to Wingara in the morning.
Her head was spinning, and already there was a giant gnawing emptiness in the region of her heart.
* * *
On the other side of town, Nick sat sprawled on the old swing-seat on his grandmother's back porch, his lean fingers cradling a glass of neat bourbon. He felt dazed, as though he'd gone a round or two with a heavyweight boxer.
Hell's bells.
The ice cubes rattled as he rolled the whisky glass between the palms of his hands. Abbey Jones. A grunt of self-derision left his throat. 'Turned on like a randy adolescent, Tonnelli,' he muttered, downing the rest of his drink, feeling the spirit scorch his insides like a ridge of fire.
Impatiently, he put the glass aside and then shot out of the seat, leaving the swing rocking. Leaning against the railing, he lifted his hands, tunnelling them through his hair and linking them at the base of his neck.
His gaze narrowed on the old pear tree, his body attuned, hearing the stillness, and he faced the fact that emotionally he'd fallen headlong into the deepest water of his life.
But what to do about it?
Abbey's alarm work her at five a.m. Blinking her eyes wide open, she stared at the ceiling. 'Oh, no,' she groaned, as the events of last night enveloped her.
She felt the sudden heat in her cheeks, waiting to feel shocked at how she'd opened herself to Nick Tonnelli. But it didn't happen. Instead, she remembered the way he'd held her, the tenderness of his kisses before he'd left...
But how could they share any kind of future? she fretted, throwing herself out of bed and under the shower.
How?
Ten minutes later, dressed in the jeans she'd worn last night and a plain white shirt, Abbey swallowed a hastily made cup of tea. She'd get breakfast along the road somewhere, she decided. After she'd put some distance behind her.
Hitching up her bits and pieces, she left the motel quietly and only seconds later she'
d reversed into the forecourt and nosed her four-wheel-drive out onto the road.
After almost an hour into her journey, Abbey suddenly realised she'd completely forgotten to call Geoff Rogers, Wingara's police sergeant. Well, there was a first time for everything, she thought dryly. Slamming the Range Rover into second gear to cut back on her speed, she pulled to a stop at the edge of the road.
Picking up her mobile phone, she activated the logged-in number, her gaze thoughtfully assessing the dun-gold grass of the paddocks on each side of the road. There was still something so untouched about Australia's wide open spaces, she thought philosophically. Something fearless.
It had had the hottest kind of sun blasting down on it for thousands of years, had seen drought, bushfires and floods but, despite all that, the country still came up smilingly defiant. It didn't surprise her that its stark beauty created a kind of spiritual awakening for many of the tourists who frequented the region...
'Wingara Police.' Geoff s voice came through loud and clear.
Abbey blinked a couple of times as though she'd been in a trance. 'Geoff, it's Abbey Jones. I'm just through Jareel township.'
'Abbey! You OK?'
'Fine. Sorry, I forgot to call earlier.'
Geoff chuckled. 'You're forgiven. Wild night out, was it?'
More like a wild night in. Abbey pursed her lips and scrubbed a pattern on the steering wheel with her thumb. 'I should be home by eight, Geoff.'
'OK, Doc. It'll be good to have you back. Ah...how's young Todd? Did you manage to see him?'
'Yes, I did.' Abbey hesitated. Literally everyone in Wingara was going to ask about Todd. 'There may be some better news about his progress in the not- too-distant future, Geoff. I can't say any more just now.'
'Understood. You always give us your best shot, Abbey. And it's not just me reckons that.'
Abbey closed off her mobile, Geoff s remarks warming her through and through.
It was a few minutes to eight when she coasted down a slight incline and glided into the township. But this time the familiar skip in her heart as the quaint wooden shopfronts with their old-fashioned awnings came into view was missing.
Why did she feel she'd left a part of herself back in Hopeton? The question buzzed around in her head and she bit off a huff of impatience at her crazy thinking.
Deciding she'd get herself sorted out before she went into the surgery, she took a side street to the rambling old house she called home. The place was far too big for her needs and she used only a tenth of its space, but it came with the job so the matter of where she lived had been largely taken out of her hands.
Almost absent-mindedly, she hauled her luggage out of the boot and made her way inside. For some reason, today the house seemed almost eerily quiet. How odd, she thought, catching the edge of her lip uncertainly. It had never seemed that way before.
A curious, unsettled feeling swamped her as she pulled stuff from her suitcase and piled her used clothing into the hamper in the laundry. 'For heaven's sake!' she muttered. You'd better get your mind back on your practice, Abbey, she told herself silently. Nick Tonnelli and his kisses are history!
But her body still tingled in memory.
Half an hour later, she'd freshened up and changed into a longish dark green skirt and pinstriped shirt. Stifling a sigh, she left the house quickly. Her surgery list was probably a kilometre long and she'd never felt less like work.
'You're back nice and early.' Meri Landsdowne, the practice manager-cum-everything greeted Abbey warmly. 'Good trip home?'
That word again. Abbey sent the other a wry smile. 'No dramas.' She took the few steps and joined Meri behind Reception. 'How have things been here?' Abbey pulled the desk diary towards her.
'Fairly quiet, actually. Wolf even managed to get his mid-week game of bowls in.' Meri made a small grimace. 'Frankly, I think everyone's been holding off until you were back. Ed Carmichael for starters.'
'Again!'
'First cab off the rank,' Meri commiserated. She gave a snip of laughter. 'Perhaps we could get a moat built around the surgery to keep him out.'
'He can probably swim like a fish,' Abbey surmised dryly. 'But he's a lonely man, Meri. He misses his days as a shearers' cook. We shouldn't be too hard on him.'
'Oh, Abbey, we both know half the time he only comes in for a yarn. And there are plenty of things he could be involved in. For heaven's sake, he's barely sixty!'
'I've had lengthy chats with him about what he could do to fill in his time.' Abbey flicked through the list of appointments. 'But nothing seemed to appeal to him. He reckons he's read every book in the library.'
'Oh, please!' Meri turned away to activate the answering-machine. 'Come on, let's have a cuppa before the hordes arrive. Did you get breakfast somewhere?'
Abbey gave a rueful grin. 'I meant to...'
'So, what distracted you, Doctor?' Meri sent her a laughing look as they made their way along the corridor to the kitchen. 'Or, should I say, who?' The practice manager cocked her auburn head at a questioning angle. 'You look...different, somehow.'
'New shirt,' Abbey dismissed, feeling her cheeks warm. Meri's green eyes were filled with curiosity.
A few minutes later, they were settled companionably over a pot of tea and the still-warm banana bread Meri had brought in. 'Heaven,' Abbey sighed, as she took a slice and bit into it with obvious enjoyment. 'Much nicer than anything I could've eaten at some greasy-spoon cafe along the highway.'
Meri raised an eyebrow. 'You never skip breakfast, Abbey. How come?'
Abbey felt goose-bumps break out all over her. 'Just preoccupied, I guess. Um...there may be some changes with Todd Jensen's rehab coming up,' she deflected quickly, and then stopped. There was no getting away from it. She'd have to fill Meri in to some degree about Nick Tonnelli's involvement. Meri was the first point of contact at the surgery and would need to be put in the picture when Nick began liaising about Todd. But her manager would be discreet. And in a small-town medical practice, that was always a great bonus.
'That's fantastic,' Meri responded softly, after she'd heard what Abbey had to say about the surgeon and the Dennison clinic. 'Audrey and Keith will need careful handling though,' she added thoughtfully, referring to Todd's rather fearful parents. 'They won't want him moved to Sydney.'
Abbey lifted a shoulder. 'That'll be up to Dr Tonnelli. And I don't imagine he'll have much trouble convincing them if he decides the Dennison is the place for Todd.'
'Charmer, is he?'
Abbey felt the flush creep up her throat. 'Not bad...' She hiccuped a laugh, her embarrassed gaze going to the floor. 'For a surgeon.'
CHAPTER FOUR
As Meri had indicated, Abbey's first patient for the day was Ed Carmichael.
'What can I do for you today, Ed?' Abbey looked up expectantly as her patient made himself comfortable, stretching out his legs and folding his arms across his chest. Abbey noticed that as usual he was dressed very neatly in a bush shirt and jeans and the inevitable riding boots.
'It's my right eye, Doc. Just noticed it getting dry and a bit uncomfortable, like.'
Abbey nodded. 'How long since you've had your eyes properly checked?'
'Earlier this year. I got new specs, bifocals this time.'
'No problems with them?'
Ed shook his head and then asked gruffly, 'Could it be a cataract?'
'That would have been picked up when you had your eyes examined. And cataracts don't just happen, Ed. You'd be noticing a clouding of your vision over many months or even years.'
'So I'm not likely to be going blind, then?'
'No, Ed. I think that's very unlikely.' Abbey blocked a smile, but really it wasn't a smiling matter. She sobered. Her patient's real problem was having so much time on his hands that he'd begun to imagine that every twinge signalled a medical crisis of some kind. She got to her feet. 'Pop over here to the couch now, and I'll have a look under some light. Just to make sure there's no infection that could be causing the dry
ness.'
Ed Carmichael obliged and, with as little fuss as possible, Abbey settled him under the examination light. 'Your eye looks fine,' she said, scanning the eyeball for anything untoward. 'Some dryness is fairly common as we age, though, but drops can help with that.
'Now, these will just help to make tears.' Back at her desk, Abbey scribbled the brand names of several appropriate eyedrops. 'Any one of these will be suitable and they don't contain an antibiotic so you can get them over the counter without a prescription. Use the drops several times a day if you need to.'
'And that'll help, will it, Doc?' Ed's pale blue eyes regarded her seriously. 'Not that I'm doubting you,' he added hastily, taking the folded piece of paper and shoving it into his shirt pocket.
Abbey smiled. 'It should. And as I said, this kind of thing is usually age-related. But as well as the drops, you could try holding a warm flannel briefly against your eye, say, three times a day. The gentle heat will give all those little nerves and blood vessels a wake-up call and a reminder to make some moisture.'
'Thanks, Doc.' Ed pulled himself up from the chair. 'I'll give it a go.'
Abbey worked conscientiously through her patient list, but felt somewhat relieved when Meri popped her head in to announce, 'Last one. Natalie Wilson, new patient with a bub.'
'Which one is the patient?' Abbey threw her pen down and stretched, rotating her head to ease the muscles at the back of her neck.
Meri placed the new file on the desk. 'Mrs Wilson didn't make that clear, actually. Just said she's recently moved to the district and wondered whether she could have a word with the doctor.'
'Better trot her along, then.' Abbey flashed a faintly weary smile at the practice manager.
'After that, I'll lock the door and put the kettle on,' Meri announced firmly.
'Come in, Natalie, and have a seat,' Abbey invited warmly, as the young mother stood uncertainly in the doorway.
'Thanks.' Natalie Wilson dipped her fair head and took the chair beside Abbey's desk. 'This is Chloe,' she said proudly, her arms tightening around the pink- clad chubby infant on her lap.