by Lucy Clark
‘Around Whitecorn?’ he asked, and she was surprised.
‘Yes. Pridham and Whitecorn hospitals. That’s where he now works as a general surgeon.’
‘I have friends there. Donna and Philip Spadina. Donna tutored me through medical school.’
‘What? Ethan and CJ’s wedding was at Donna and Philip’s small vineyard.’
‘Ah… I love being back in Australia,’ he sighed. ‘Everyone knows someone who knows someone else. Nice and close.’
She chuckled. ‘Have you been homesick for Australia?’
‘Just a bit.’
‘Has it been difficult, jet-setting around the world, showing off your brilliance?’ Melody couldn’t resist teasing lightly. Oh, my gosh, she thought. I’m flirting with him! George laughed and the sound washed over her with joy. She’d made him laugh. Evelyn’s words floated in the back of her mind, stating that she thought George was a widower. Was it true?
‘The beginning was difficult, getting into the swing of things, but then it evened out. Now I think this part of the tour is the most…tedious.’ He shifted in his chair, turning to face her slightly. ‘I don’t mean to imply that I don’t like being here at St Aloysius—or any other hospital, for that matter.’
‘It’s OK, George. I understood what you meant. It’s not the work, it’s the day-to-day grind, especially when the end is so close.’
‘Thank you.’ He shook his head. ‘You get it. Carmel’s fretting because she doesn’t want it to end.’
‘Perhaps she doesn’t know what she’s going to be doing when this is over.’
‘That would bring uncertainty,’ he mused, as though he hadn’t considered it.
‘What about you? What happens after you’ve written up all your reports and caught up with your friends?’
George sighed. ‘I’ll go back to my job at Melbourne General, I guess.’
‘You guess?’
He chuckled. ‘I don’t know what I’m going to feel like doing. It’s as though my life’s in limbo but it’s where I need to start in order to figure out what to do next.’ George slowly shook his head, then changed the subject, turning the spotlight on her. ‘And what about you? Are you going to apply for the job you’re doing now?’
Melody tried to focus her thoughts. ‘Probably not.’
‘You really don’t like the administration?’
‘Not particularly. How about you?’
‘It doesn’t bother me. Especially after this year.’
‘I guess you don’t get much time to relax.’
‘Not really. Depending on where we are or what we’re doing, I sometimes get a bit of free time.’ George shrugged, as though he didn’t really care one way or the other.
Melody didn’t envy him at all. For a moment she wasn’t sure what to say and the silence began to stretch. Say something, she told herself. Anything to break the awkwardness that was enveloping both of them. ‘So I guess the VOS definitely cuts into your family time.’
He glanced at her and frowned. Oops. Had she overstepped the mark?
She was just about to apologise for her statement when he said, ‘It’s not too bad. I managed to see one of my sisters when I was in New Zealand so that was a bonus.’
It was Melody’s turn to frown as she pulled into the entrance of the hotel. The fact that he hadn’t mentioned his wife made her wonder if Evelyn’s assumption was correct. George glanced her way and saw the frown.
‘Something wrong?’ he asked.
Melody instantly smiled. ‘Everything’s fine.’ She wanted to blurt out her question, to ask him about his wife, to know one way or the other whether the feelings she was having for him should be quashed or—or what? Was she planning on throwing herself at the handsome surgeon if he turned out to be single? Or was she going to be professional and remain detached? Still, the question seemed to be going round and round in her head like a broken record. Did George have a wife waiting for him in Melbourne or was she—? Melody shook her head and sighed. ‘I guess I’ll see you a bit later at the dinner.’
‘As the dinner is in my honour, you can count on it.’ He gave a playful wink as he climbed from the car and shut the door.
Melody drove to her apartment, even more confused than before. Why had he winked? That wink had caused a new wave of tingles to flood her body, had made her heart beat faster and encouraged her to hope that he was, indeed, not married. She wasn’t the type of girl to go after a married man, not after Ian. She wasn’t the type of girl to suffer from instant infatuation, or at least that’s what she’d believed this morning.
Now, after meeting George Wilmont and spending so much time with him today, she knew that if the right man came along, she was definitely prone to instant attraction because that’s exactly what she felt for George!
CHAPTER FOUR
GEORGE SCANNED THE crowded outer room that was starting to fill up. When he’d first started on the VOS tour, he’d been astounded at the number of dinners he needed to attend. Now, though, he was an expert at them. At least in his medical lecturing he’d been able to write new lectures, sharing information he’d garnered throughout the tour.
His gaze scanned the room as people started making their way through to the ballroom. He checked his watch. Five minutes over time already. Carmel would become agitated soon. Where was Melody? They couldn’t start without her. She was the MC.
He looked around again and realised he’d been unconsciously searching for her the entire time. Someone came up, introduced themselves and shook hands with him. George listened to the questions being asked of him and gave the usual replies, all the while allowing his gaze to flick to the door every few seconds.
‘Excuse me.’ Carmel politely interrupted his conversation, drawing him to one side. ‘It’s time to begin.’
‘Melody’s not here yet,’ George pointed out.
‘If we wait any longer, we’ll be getting to bed after midnight.’
‘We’ll be getting to bed after midnight anyway.’ He smiled wryly at his friend, his eyes pleading. ‘We can wait for her, right?’
‘Ah…so you do like her.’ Carmel’s tone changed to one of delight. ‘I knew it.’
‘She’s nice. Everyone likes her,’ George felt compelled to point out.
‘It’s OK to like someone, George.’ Carmel’s words were soft and encouraging. ‘You’re not meant to spend the rest of your life alone, you know.’
George shrugged a shoulder at his friend’s words because he wasn’t sure how to respond. He wasn’t used to having these sorts of feelings, especially when he carried the memory of his wife with him wherever he went.
Carmel glanced at her phone to check the time. ‘We can give her another five minutes and I’m only acquiescing this once because it’s great to see you taking a chance to move forward.’
‘But I’m not.’
‘Lie to me, George, but don’t lie to yourself.’ She fixed him with a firm stare before heading off.
George exhaled harshly and ran a finger around the collar of his shirt. The room was becoming too stuffy and he sneaked out the door, heading towards the lobby. Was Carmel right? Was he lying to himself? It was true that ever since meeting Melody Janeway that morning, he’d had a difficult time removing her from his thoughts. She was beautiful, intelligent and funny. What a lethal combination!
He checked his watch again. Ten minutes late. Was she lost? Was she at the wrong hotel? Why was she late? Veronique had been three hours late and he’d been telling himself back then not to worry. Yet all the time she’d been—He stopped his train of thought. This was no time to be thinking about Veronique.
As soon as he saw Rick enter the hotel, he almost pounced on him. ‘Where’s Melody?’
‘She’s not here yet?’ Rick asked in surprise, immediately pulling out his phone.
‘No.’
‘It’s gone straight to voice mail. She’s probably at the hospital. I’ll ring the ward.’
‘Thanks.’ George started to rela
x. At least Melody hadn’t been involved in an accident.
‘She’s just left?’ Rick said into the receiver. ‘Good. Thanks.’ He disconnected the call. ‘She left the hospital five minutes ago so she shouldn’t be long now. She’s a great doctor.’ Rick grinned, then shook his head mockingly. ‘Pathetic head of department but a great doctor.’
‘I guess that’s what’s important.’ George smiled, feeling more at ease. ‘Why don’t you go and tell Carmel what’s happening?’ he suggested. ‘I’ll wait here for Melody.’
‘You just don’t want to face Carmel,’ Rick stated with a knowing nod, and George laughed.
‘Caught me out.’ As he watched Rick go, he knew that wasn’t the reason he didn’t want to go in. He wanted to see Melody with his own eyes. To make sure she was OK. There were still other people trickling in so she wasn’t all that late, even though his aide would disagree. George walked over to the wall and looked unseeingly at a painting. Why? Why was he so anxious to see Melody?
On the drive from the hospital to the hotel, he’d been happy in her company, chatting and getting to know her. With the schedule he’d maintained throughout the tour, he’d rarely had the opportunity to get to know the people he’d worked alongside. Every week it was somewhere new, every week it was giving the same information to a different group of faces. He’d met some lovely people, some overly academic professionals, and some people with no sense of humour whatsoever.
Yet from the moment he’d shaken hands with Melody Janeway, experiencing that instant jolt of awareness, he’d been captivated by her. Her twinkling green eyes, her unruly auburn hair with the odd curl that didn’t seem to want to do as it was told. He liked her laugh, he liked the sound of her voice and he liked her intelligence. Never in his life had been so instantly drawn to someone. Was it wrong to want to know her better, or was it foolish not to? As Carmel had said, he wasn’t meant to live the rest of his life alone.
‘George?’
At the sound of her voice, he spun on his heel and gazed at her. There it was again, that instant jolt of awareness.
‘What are you doing out here? I thought you were supposed to have started by now.’
George felt as though he’d just been slugged in the solar plexus. She looked…stunning. Wearing an off-the-shoulder, black beaded dress that shimmered when she walked, Melody was a vision of loveliness. The dress was expertly cut, falling to mid-calf, and moulded superbly to her shape. Her auburn tresses had been wound on top of her head with a few loose tendrils springing down. She wore a necklace with a small square-cut diamond pendant and matching diamond studs in her ears.
‘I wanted to wait for you.’ His tone was thick with desire. ‘I’m glad I did. You look…breath-taking.’
His words were sincere and the way he was looking at her made her feel light-headed. George really thought she was breath-taking? She took a small step closer, her gaze never leaving his. ‘Thank you, George. That’s a lovely thing to say.’
‘And I mean it.’
She smiled brightly, still trying to come to terms with how incredible he looked in his black tuxedo, white shirt and bow-tie. When she’d walked in and seen him, her knees had almost given way and as she was wearing three-inch heels, the result would have been disastrous. Thankfully, she’d been able to hold onto a vestige of control.
George cleared his throat and pasted on a polite smile, crooking his elbow towards her. ‘Shall we?’
They headed towards the ballroom and as they headed towards the top table, several people stopped George to ask questions or shake his hand. Melody walked ahead of him and George realised her dress had a split at the back, revealing a generous amount of her legs. Her shapely calves, the indentations of the backs of her knees and a brief glimpse of her thighs.
He swallowed and forced himself to look away, concentrating on the carpet, but once he reached the table, he couldn’t help but sneak one last glance at her sexy legs. A few minutes later Melody was at the podium, apologising for the delay as she’d been called to the ward. She spoke so naturally, so confidently and looked so exquisite that afterwards he couldn’t remember a word she’d actually said.
Once she’d finished her introduction, George stood and thanked her, pulling his professionalism from thin air so he could concentrate on what he needed to say, rather than on the woman whose floral scent was winding its way around him, creating havoc with his senses.
As he spoke, commanding the attention of the two hundred or so people gathered tonight, Melody began to relax, enjoying listening to his deep, melodious voice. She admired the way he threw in little anecdotes, working his way through his speech without the prompting of notes.
‘You didn’t do too badly,’ Rick later commented, as he crouched by her chair.
‘I could say the same thing for your bow-tie. How long did it take you to do that?’
‘Ages. I only arrived a few minutes before you and I didn’t even have the excuse of having stopping by the hospital.’
Melody raised her eyebrows. ‘Checking up on me?’ She took a sip from her water glass.
‘George was concerned,’ Rick told her with a shrug, and pointed to her glass. ‘Not drinking tonight?’
She shook her head. ‘The patient I saw in the ward may need surgery later.’
‘Oh, yeah, you doctors have all the fun.’ He glanced over to where one particular nurse had caught his attention. ‘Er—I’ll catch up with you later.’ He straightened his bow-tie. ‘There are a few nurses I want to impress while I’m dressed like this.’
Melody chuckled as he headed off but his words stayed with her. George had been concerned about her? She sneaked a glance at him as he spoke to someone. Had he really been worried about her, or the dinner starting on time?
Melody’s head was starting to spin. She needed some space. She picked up her clutch purse and stood.
*
George watched Melody walk away from the table, his gaze drawn to the sway of her hips and her gorgeous legs. Why was she so captivating? He forced himself to look away, returning his attention to Carmel, only to realise his aide was watching Melody as well.
In fact, all the men at the table were watching her. ‘Wow!’ one of them remarked. ‘Melody looks—’
‘Like a woman,’ one of the other men finished, and they all laughed.
George felt his hackles begin to rise. ‘Problem?’
‘This is the first time Melody’s worn a dress to an official departmental function,’ someone told him. ‘So it’s the first opportunity we’ve had to see her in anything other than business clothes.’
‘She sure looks different. If being head of department means Melody dresses like that, she has my support for the job.’
‘She’s also a colleague of yours.’ George’s tone was clipped, disgusted by their chauvinism. ‘An intellectual woman who is a brilliant surgeon. Please provide her with the respect she deserves.’ He knew his tone sounded pompous and arrogant but he didn’t care. Women had to work twice as hard as men in this world and Melody had done just that. What she needed was to be respected for that, not for what she chose to wear. ‘You were saying, Carmel?’ George turned his attention to his aide.
He still found it hard to concentrate on what Carmel was saying, his thoughts caught up with Melody and the fact that she wasn’t beside him. He was astonished how much he felt her absence, given that when he’d woken up this morning he hadn’t even met her! When she returned, he immediately stood and held the chair for her as she sat.
‘Thank you.’ She smiled at him and again he felt his gut tighten. Clearing his throat, he included her in the conversation with Carmel, valuing her opinion. Ten minutes later, Melody’s phone rang.
‘Excuse me.’ She fished it from her purse. George was aware of her quiet voice as she spoke and moments later she ended the call. ‘It looks as though I’ll have to pass on coffee,’ she told everyone at the table.
‘Emergency?’ George asked.
‘Yes.’ At
the interested glances she received, she elaborated. ‘Fractured olecranon, radius and ulna. My registrar says the patient is showing signs of compartment syndrome.’
‘Can’t your registrar deal with it?’ Carmel asked hopefully. ‘You are the MC, after all.’
‘Sorry, but it’s a private patient,’ Melody explained as she picked up her bag.
‘I think she’s fulfilled her MC duties for the night,’ George told his aide.
When she stood, all the men rose to their feet. ‘Oh, please, sit down,’ she said with a smile, before turning to George. ‘Sorry to run out on your welcome dinner but these things can’t be helped.’
George remained standing. ‘No need to apologise. Besides, we’re almost done.’ They shook hands and again Melody felt that warm buzz of excitement spread up her arm. She nodded politely before dropping his hand and walking away from the table. She was stopped a few times on her way out but as the room was filled with people linked to the medical profession, they all understood when she said she had an emergency.
She took the lift down to the ground floor, and while waiting for the valet to collect her car she fought for self control. In less than twenty-four hours she’d met a man who affected her like no one else ever had, and she was having difficulty getting him out of her mind. She drove carefully to the hospital, heading straight for the emergency theatres. She changed into theatre clothes and went in search of her registrar.
‘Nice hairdo,’ Andy, her registrar, teased, and she laughed.
‘How’s Mr Potter?’
‘Coping well. I’ve explained what’s happening to him and he’s signed the consent form. The instruments and theatre are ready. We’re just waiting on the all-clear from the anaesthetist.’
‘Excellent.’ Melody went to see her patient and have a word with the anaesthetist before checking the notes Andy had taken during the evening. When everything was organised, they started to scrub.