He was sliding down that slope himself before he’d given it any real thought. He had to get to Olivia and make sure she was safe.
‘Don’t move,’ he said, as soon as he could touch her. ‘We don’t have any idea how high that cliff is. We need to wait for the right equipment.’
‘We can’t wait,’ Olivia said. ‘If Jamie wakes up and climbs over those roots, then he’s going to fall.’
‘I’ll go.’ Zac still hadn’t let go of Olivia. ‘This is my fault. I’m going to deal with it.’
‘Don’t be daft. How on earth is this your fault?’
‘You’re only here because of me. You said so yourself. I couldn’t live with myself if you got hurt. Please, Liv...stay here... For me...’
He didn’t give her time to argue. Carefully, he let go of both Olivia and the tree that was their anchor to let himself slide down to the next safe point he could see, which was a large rock. Another slide took him close to the tree roots and it was then that he saw Jamie move. The little boy opened his eyes just as Zac reached out to touch him.
‘Where’s Mummy?’ he asked. ‘I’m hungry.’
Zac had to swallow past the constriction in his throat to try and make his voice sound normal. ‘We’re going to go and find Mummy,’ he told Jamie. ‘Are you okay? Is there anything that hurts?’
Jamie shook his head. He held out his arms. ‘Up,’ he said. ‘My legs are tired.’
Holding Jamie tightly against his body with one arm, Zac started to climb, using his other arm to catch the branches and rocks he needed to keep them safe from sliding towards that cliff. Olivia was waiting to help as they reached the final part of the climb and she took Jamie into her own arms as they finally got back onto safe ground. It was only then that Zac realised he had tears rolling down his face.
He cleared his throat as he hit the speed-dial number on his phone.
‘We’ve found him, Bruce. He’s fine. We’re heading back...’
His voice cracked on his last word. He looked down at Olivia and Jamie and he had to put his arms around both of them.
‘It’s okay,’ Olivia said softly. ‘Everything’s going to be okay.’ Her sniff suggested that she was crying, as well. ‘And it’s true that I’m here because of you, Zac, but it’s my choice to be here and, whatever happens, it’s the only place I’m going to want to be. It’s not your fault. You’ve blamed yourself for too many things that weren’t your fault.’
And it was only then that Zac remembered what else Olivia had said.
That she loved him...
He had that strange internal cracking sensation again but this time it was the opposite side of fear and pain. This was joy.
This was love.
The door in that protective barrier was swinging wide open and the pull to step through it was too powerful to resist. This was what being alive was all about. He didn’t need to shut feelings like this away. Not when he was with the one person who had brought him back to life. Who was giving him the strength to believe in important things again. Things like life. And love...
Zac needed to hold Olivia even closer. To press his forehead against hers. He still didn’t have any words but it felt as though he could communicate anyway. Just for another heartbeat, before they took Jamie back to his family, he wanted to soak in that touch of his skin against hers. That incredible feeling of connection that was so strong you could believe that you would never feel alone again. And that you could cope with anything at all because it would be shared. He wanted to feel love—both given and received—because, in the end, that was all that really mattered, wasn’t it?
He knew Olivia didn’t want to break that connection, either, because she kept so close to him as they walked back across the paddock. Zac was carrying Jamie who had fallen asleep again in his arms. People were gathering below them and they were all watching. They knew the search was over but they wanted to witness every moment of its joyful conclusion.
‘I think we’ve got the whole of Cutler’s Creek watching us,’ Zac said.
‘I’d better stop hanging on to your arm, then.’ Olivia grinned. ‘Or the rumours will start.’
‘They already have. Everybody knows you stayed with me that night.’
‘They don’t know that anything happened.’
Zac caught Olivia’s gaze and he could see the reflection of exactly what he was acknowledging. That what had happened had been the most amazing thing possible.
‘I’m in love with you, Liv. Is that crazy when we hardly know each other?’
‘I feel like I’ve known you forever,’ she said. ‘And I’m totally in love with you. It feels like I’ve been looking for you forever.’
‘That’s it, exactly. For me, too. Even though I didn’t know I was looking for you.’
They were almost at the fence of this paddock. People were coming to join them now, needing to be close enough to see for themselves that the fear for one small boy was really over.
Zac slowed his steps so that he could have just another moment of privacy with Olivia.
‘And that’s how long I want to be with you,’ he added. ‘Forever.’
‘And a day.’ She was smiling up at him, tears of joy in her eyes. ‘Don’t forget about that extra day,’ she said. ‘There’s always an extra day.’
It took a moment before Zac could trust his voice not to crack. ‘Absolutely,’ he murmured. ‘Forever and a day.’
EPILOGUE
One year later...
‘IT STILL FITS.’
The dress Olivia was wearing was the same one she’d worn to Mabel Donaldson’s fifties-themed ninetieth birthday party a year ago. It was a plain dark blue with gores in the skirt that had tiny white polka dots on the blue background and the same spotted fabric peeped out from beneath the heart-shaped neckline. She had left her hair loose but had a silk scarf in a matching blue that she wound around her head and tied in a bow at one side, pulling out enough hair at the front to give herself a boofy fringe, and she was smiling widely as she did a twirl in front of her husband.
‘It’s not going to fit for much longer. You’ll start showing soon.’ The smile they shared acknowledged the secret they’d been keeping for quite a few weeks now. It also acknowledged that life was about to change again in the not-too-distant future but they were more than ready for the coming changes. They couldn’t wait, in fact. They’d only waited this long to start a family because Olivia had wanted to get her new postgraduate courses finished and then to settle into her new position as the next generation Dr Donaldson at Cutler’s Creek Community Hospital.
Oh, yeah...there’d been the small matter of that glorious summer wedding that they’d held outside with the backdrop of the mountains she now loved so much. The whole town had been invited and the celebration in the community hall afterwards had rivalled Mabel’s birthday party as one to remember.
Olivia wanted to do another little twirl to let her skirts billow. She had never dreamed that she would ever be this happy but maybe it took knowing that you were finally living in the place you truly belonged. No, it was more about the people you belonged with than a place, wasn’t it? Or one person in particular. She had her soulmate right beside her and she had more family and a whole community around her, as well. It was home and family and forever, all wrapped up together, and it felt just as solid as those mountains she got to admire every day. Blinking back happy tears, she held her hand out to Zac in an invitation to dance with her.
He was wearing faded denim jeans and a close-fitting white T-shirt under a leather jacket. His hair was slicked back, although his curls were already trying to break free of the product and he looked just as gorgeous as he had the first time Olivia had ever set eyes on him. No... More gorgeous, she decided as he caught her in his arms and twirled her around in the kitchen. Then he stopped, pulled her closer and kissed her. Olivia wound her arms around his
neck and kissed him back. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she realised that this was exactly the same place they’d shared their very first kiss. They owned this cottage now and the biggest horse in the world still lived in the paddock they could see from the kitchen window, along with her baby, who was doing his best to grow just as tall.
Finally, they had to break their kiss and come up for air. Reluctantly, Olivia pulled out of Zac’s arms, as well.
‘I’d better get those sausage rolls out of the oven before that flaky pastry burns to a crisp.’ Putting oven gloves on, she pulled out the savoury rolls and wrapped foil and then a towel around the oven tray so they could carry it out to the car. ‘Don’t forget the tomato sauce,’ she reminded Zac.
‘Will they have those square cakes again this time? The pink ones with the coconut on the outside?’
‘Lamingtons? Of course. It has to be a classic Kiwi supper.’ Olivia smiled. ‘I’m so glad Gran decided to have another fifties party this year. It was all a bit of a blur last time, what with so much happening in such a short space of time. And it was all so new for me.’
‘You’ll get used to it. Mabel told me the other day that she was going to have this party again every year from now on,’ Zac told her. ‘That every year after ninety was a bonus that needs celebrating and you can’t beat the fifties for a party.’
‘At least this year Dad will be well enough to dance.’
‘He’ll be showing us all up on the dance floor, from what I’ve heard.’
‘I know. He and Jill have been going to rock ’n’ roll dance classes for months now.’
‘Do you think there’s something going on there?’
‘I hope so.’
‘Maybe they’ll announce something at the party tonight.’
‘Maybe we should announce something.’
They shared another smile. ‘Maybe we should.’
* * *
It was time that Mabel Donaldson stopped dancing.
Just long enough to catch her breath, mind you. And to find where she’d left her glass of champagne.
She paused for a moment beside a stack of hay bales and looked around her party. The music was loud and almost everyone was still on the dance floor. She could see Don and that lovely Jill, who was about to take over Mabel’s presidency of the Women’s Institute. My word, those two could dance now. And Don looked so happy. Happier than he had ever looked. Mabel knew that had a lot to do with his daughter coming back into his life. Into all their lives.
Including that lovely young man Isaac Cameron, who was not only going to stay in Cutler’s Creek forever but was also now part of her very own family. Married to her gorgeous granddaughter. They were dancing, too, and they looked for all the world as if they were on their very own dance floor. Staring into each other’s eyes as if they were even more in love than ever.
Last year’s birthday, when she’d turned ninety, had been very special, of course. The surprise that Olivia had come back in time for her party had been the best gift possible. But this year’s surprise—learning that she would be meeting her first great-grandchild in about six months’ time—well...could life get any better?
Now...where had she left that glass of champagne?
* * *
If you enjoyed this story, check out these other great reads from Alison Roberts
Dr. Right for the Single Mom
Pregnant with Her Best Friend’s Baby
Resisting Her Rescue Doc
Twins on Her Doorstep
All available now!
Keep reading for an excerpt from His Surgeon Under the Southern Lights by Robin Gianna.
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His Surgeon Under the Southern Lights
by Robin Gianna
CHAPTER ONE
WITH THE SHIP pitching from side to side and up and down like a stomach-churning roller coaster, trying to get any sleep felt impossible. Normally Dr. Jordan Flynn could sleep anywhere, anytime, as long as she wore her eye mask, had earplugs stuffed into her ears and soothing sounds were coming from the white-noise machine by her side. This time, though, none of it helped one bit.
Maybe it was because the top bunk of her cabin seemed to threaten to toss her out of it with every swell of the ship as it crossed the infamous Drake Passage on their way to Antarctica. Or because the noise machine’s nature sounds were completely drowned out by real ones—the shrieking wind that she suspected no earplugs were heavy-duty enough to truly muffle.
She rolled to her side and it seemed the ship rolled along with her. Some people might pay big money to go on a crazy ride like this one at an amusement park, but at that moment, she’d pay even bigger money to get off it, if she could.
She squeezed her eyes closed behind the mask, then laughed at herself a little. Early October might be closer to bringing all-day sunlight to Antarctica, but she knew the low glow coming from a small window above her head wasn’t what was keeping her awake. Trying to somehow force her mind away from the uncomfortable rolling sensations, she tried to think about the plus side of the adventure she was embarking on. And working as a doctor at an Antarctic science station would definitely be an adventure.
Fletcher Station was brand-new, and despite her current discomfort, she was still thankful she’d been chosen to work there as a surgeon and general practitioner for six months. Not only work there, but be the very first person to set up the medical clinic and hospital and get it ready for the thousand or so crew members who’d be arriving in a week or so. Plus, they’d seemed to love the idea of having the marine biologists test her parents’ diving invention while they were underwater gathering samples, which was equally exciting.
Right now, only about seventy-five people were crossing the Drake Passage on this ship, getting things set up just like she was. Chefs and others prepping the kitchen and food, engineers getting machinery and equipment ready, and other support staff of all kinds. And, of course, a few scientists, with more on the way. Because scientific explorations, studies and discovery were the whole reason Fletcher Station existed.
Jordan thought about her little flat in London, her steady surgery job and her predictable life, which was exactly what she’d wanted when she’d decided to set down roots for the first time ever. Living all over the world with her doctor parents had been a great way to grow up, but she wanted something different for her adult life, and was happy with her choices.
She’d had to think hard about taking on this six-month stint in Antarctica. Then had decided, why not? One of these days, she expected that her roots would deepen and grow to inc
lude a husband and family, living in the same house together forever and ever. Until then, though, she’d enjoy this adventure, take care of patients and get further testing of her parents’ diving invention, one that would hopefully solve the problem of barotrauma. Doing a trial on how well it worked in Antarctica’s extremely cold water as compared to other places would be another strong step toward getting it on the market.
The boat tossed hard, and to focus on something besides the rough ride, she tried to visualize what the medical center would look like, and how much would be involved in getting the equipment set up. Then, inexplicably, that picture was interrupted by an absurdly handsome face floating in her mind’s eye. A face that belonged to the man in the cabin next door.
She’d been trying to get her door unlocked, hanging on to the doorjamb with one hand so she could stay upright, when he’d rounded a corner and strode down the hallway toward the door next to hers. He’d paused, with the key in his hand, to send her a charming smile and ask if she needed help. She’d given him a quick smile back and a “No, thanks” before she finally got the door unlocked and opened. She’d stepped inside and bolted it, relieved to climb up on the bunk and not have to wonder if she’d fall down before she got there.
Making small talk with anyone while working to keep her balance and swallow down a slight queasiness hadn’t seemed very appealing. But now, in the rolling darkness of her cabin, his tall, muscular body, dark skin and deep brown eyes seemed to float in front of her. Eyes that held humor and intelligence, and a hint of a twinkle that had drawn her in the second she’d looked at him. Had even sent her heart into a ridiculous and unwelcome flutter.
She frowned, wondering why in the world she was thinking about a guy she didn’t know. The deepening pitch of the boat had her grabbing the metal rungs at the top of the bed and holding on. Good thing she wasn’t prone to full-on seasickness, or she’d probably be crawling her way to the bathroom by now.
Melting the Trauma Doc's Heart Page 15