where he was coming from, when you agonised that perhaps you could have listened more closely, done more…
‘It was a friend, a local grazier.’ Jake scrubbed his hand across his cheekbones and went on, ‘When he was in town we’d usually make time for a beer and a chat. I knew he was concerned about the future. The bank was squeezing him and his property had generated little income with the prolonged dry.’
‘So, awfully difficult times,’ Maxi commented thoughtfully.
‘Yes.’ His moody gaze raked her face. ‘And it didn’t help that he was the fourth generation to inherit the property and felt an enormous burden to try to keep it in the family. But I guess things finally folded in on him. One morning he just upped and wrapped himself and his motorbike around a tree.’
‘Oh, lord…’ Maxi’s hand flew to her throat.
‘He should have come to see me,’ Jake emphasised tightly. ‘Maybe we could have talked things through. I’d encouraged him often enough…’
‘But he never came?’
‘No.’ In the brittleness of the silence that followed, Jake said hollowly, ‘This is no place for you to be, Max.’
She brought her chin up. ‘On the contrary. I’m a doctor. At a rough guess I’d say you could do with an extra pair of trained hands. And so could the people of Tangaratta, by all accounts. And I’m accredited to work here. I arranged all that before I left the UK. Put me on the staff and let me help.’
‘No.’
She hesitated infinitesimally. Jake was not a man you could bulldoze. She knew that. But there were other ways. More subtle ways… Closing the small gap between them, she went on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. ‘OK, then,’ she murmured. ‘If that’s what you truly want.’
Jake took a shaken breath as her hair fluttered a lacy pattern against his skin and he found himself surrounded by the delicate floral scent of her. God, it was magic to be this close to her again.
And in a rush all the old disconcerting feelings of his feet not seeming to quite touch the ground when she was this close were back, engulfing him.
He stepped away, breaking the mood quickly, before it turned into something wild and bitter-sweet. Sweeping down to collect his medical case from the floor beside his desk, he said briskly, ‘Let’s get you settled in, then, shall we?’
They arrived outside Jake’s place which Maxi observed was a big old sprawling timber home with verandahs all round.
‘Here, let me help you with that,’ he said gruffly when she opened the boot of her hire car and dragged out an overstuffed backpack. ‘Is this all you’ve got?’
She wrinkled her nose at him. ‘You expected seven suitcases, didn’t you?’
‘Probably.’ His mouth twisted wryly. ‘I thought you might have even brought your feather-down quilt as well.’
Maxi chuckled. He’d always taken the mick. She’d finally got immune to it after being tetchy at first. ‘I’ve brought everything I’ll need and this thing has a thousand pockets.’
‘Hmm. Is that it, then?’
‘That’s it,’ she confirmed. ‘I have all my really important stuff in here.’ She tapped the large leather satchel she’d swung over her shoulder. ‘Oh—who’s this, then?’ she laughed as a black Staffordshire terrier tore from the region of the back yard to wait inside the gate, thumping his tail on the cement path.
Jake opened the gate. ‘Get down, boy.’ He shooed the dog away with a nudge of his knee. ‘This is Chalky. He came with the practice so I’m stuck with him.’
Maxi bent and fondled the Staffy’s blunt head. ‘Chalky? Oh, I see.’ She gusted a laugh. ‘Upside-down logic—Chalky because he’s black.’
‘I didn’t name him so don’t blame me.’ With the dog glued hopefully to his side, Jake led her up onto the verandah and produced a key to the front door.
‘Do you take him for walks?’ she asked, as Chalky followed them inside, his claws clipping across the polished floor.
Jake snorted. ‘Of course I don’t take him for walks. ‘He’s got a huge back yard to run in. And when would I get the time?’
‘I suppose… It’s a nice house,’ Maxi changed tack, her gaze flying over the simple furnishings.
‘It comes with the job. You’d better have this room,’ he said abruptly. ‘It has its own en suite bathroom.’
‘Oh, lovely.’ She lifted a hand to tug off her cap and shake out her tangle of hair. ‘I’d kill for a bath.’
‘No baths.’ Jake went into the bedroom and dumped her backpack on the end table. ‘Three-minute showers are all that’s allowed.’
‘Oh, of course.’ She frowned a bit. ‘I imagine it’s imperative to use the least amount of water as possible.’
‘You’re going to hate it,’ He said flatly.
‘Don’t go making assumptions on my behalf, Jacob,’ she responded sharply. ‘Now, do you have spare linen? I’ll need to make up the bed.’
Jake’s eyes glazed over and he took a deep, very deep breath. This was never going to work. ‘Sheets and towels in the built-in cupboard in the hallway. Help yourself. Marie Olsen is employed by the hospital to come in once a week and keep the place clean and aired so you should find everything else is OK.’
‘Fine, thanks. Um, you mentioned a hospital.’ Maxi’s curiosity was piqued. ‘What’s the bed capacity?’
‘These days, ten,’ he replied, a slight edge to his voice almost as though he thought it was none of her business. ‘Four are designated nursing-home beds. We’re funded differently for those.’
‘The same the world over, then. Doctors being slaves to management number-crunchers wherever they work.’
Jake gave a noncommittal grunt and glanced at his watch. ‘Speaking of the hospital, I have to make a quick round. Couple of patients to check.’
Maxi’s eyes brightened. ‘I need to stretch my legs,’ she said. ‘Give me a minute to freshen up and I’ll come with you.’
Jake sensed he was never going to win here so he’d better just go with the flow. Or go nuts. ‘Whatever makes you happy.’ Shaking his head, he turned and left her to it.
Maxi spritzed water on her face and then ran a brush through her hair. It needed cutting and shaping again, she thought ruefully, disentangling a couple of strands until her brush ran smoothly.
She looked in the mirror, feeling an expectant throb in her veins as she twisted her hair up into a presentable knot. She’d found him again. Now, somehow, some way she had to make him want to reclaim all they’d had.
Impossible as it appeared on the surface, she had to get Jake to tap into his feelings again. Realise that what they’d shared together in England they could have again here on the other
