Hopefully the motel would have a vacant room. Otherwise she’d sleep in the car, and as soon as Cady was well enough to travel she’d bundle him up and take him back to Sydney.

The thought was immeasurably bleak and those damned tears threatened to fall.

‘Gemma…’ The door of her bedroom swung open and Nate was there. Nate with his face wary-as if he expected the hairbrush in her hand to come whizzing across the room at him.

‘What?’ She was so angry she was almost speechless.

‘Gemma, I didn’t mean-’

‘You did mean.’

Hell!

He stared across at her, baffled in the face of her fury. She had two burning patches of colour on her cheeks, giving life to her otherwise too-pale face, and her eyes were shining. With unshed tears?

Damn, he’d made her cry. All at once he felt like a king-sized rat.

‘Gemma, I’m sorry.’

‘There’s no need to apologise. You’re right. I owe you heaps. But I won’t pay it off by taking over your responsibilities. By taking on your baby. Just add my board to Cady’s bill, charge us for what we owe you and be done with it.’

‘We won’t be billing for Cady.’

‘Of course you will. Why wouldn’t you?’

‘Because you’re a colleague. We don’t charge colleagues.’

‘Colleagues don’t babysit. Unless they offer.’

‘You’re right,’ he said gravely, watching her face.

Would she still walk? He’d messed it up, he thought. Hell, he’d nearly had another doctor for this place and he’d messed it up by pushing too hard, too fast.

But looking at her face…

The void that was threatened was more than the thought of losing a potential partner, he thought, but how much more? He didn’t know. He couldn’t really figure out what he was feeling right at this minute-except that he didn’t want her to go so badly that he’d sent Donna away.

And Donna wouldn’t return. She was furious. Babies weren’t her scene.

There’d be other Donnas, he thought. Women weren’t a problem. He hadn’t wanted a long-term relationship with Donna.

He didn’t want a long-term relationship with anyone.

But he did want another doctor in this practice. Graham couldn’t keep working for much longer and the workload was crazy. Gemma could well be the answer.

Which was why he was standing right here, apologising. It had nothing to do with the look of blind misery on her face. Nothing at all. It was the sensible, practical thing to do.

As was crossing the room in two strides and taking her shoulders in his hands. Forcing her chin up so her tear-drenched eyes met his.

‘I’m sorry.’

‘I’m not crying.’ She gave a desperate sniff. ‘I never cry. I must have hay fever or something.’

‘Of course. I can give you some pills for hay fever.’ But he felt in his pocket and brought out something that was far more useful. ‘Meanwhile, how about a handkerchief?’

‘Thank you.’ She took it and blew-hard. It was a sound never heard from the likes of Donna or Fiona. It was un-feminine, loud and almost defiant in its misery.

And it touched him as nothing else could.

‘Better?’ He smiled down at her and she glared back through unshed tears.

‘Yes. No. I told you, I have hay fever and hay fever doesn’t cure itself with one nose blow.’

‘Of course it doesn’t. But if I upset you-on top of your hay fever…’

‘You have no power to upset me.’

‘No. But if I did then I’m sorry.’

‘You don’t have to be sorry. You’re going out, remember. Just take your lady and your baby and go.’

‘I’m not going anywhere.’

‘Donna won’t take the baby?’

Donna certainly wouldn’t. ‘Um…no.’

‘Well, don’t expect me to apologise because your love life has been interrupted. It’s not my fault. Mia is your daughter and she has nothing to do with me.’

‘I know that.’

‘So I’m leaving.’

‘Gemma, I want you to stay. I really, really want you to stay.’

There was silence while she took that on board. Silence, silence and more silence.

‘I don’t want…’ she started finally, but her voice was unsure and he shook his head. Once more his hands came out to grasp her shoulders. Damn, she was so thin. There was nothing of her. She’d have to stay so Mrs McCurdle could build her up. Make her curvy…

She’d look good curvy.

She looked good now.

‘You do want,’ he said, his tone gentling. ‘You want very much to stay. From your perspective this place has everything going for it-except me. Except a doctor who’s ready to face his responsibilities.’

‘Yes, but-’

‘But if I’m prepared to try then will you give us a try? Will you give me another chance, Gemma?’

She sniffed and tried to glare but it didn’t quite come off. ‘I’m not looking after Mia.’

‘I’m not asking you to.’

‘You promise?’

‘I promise.’

She stared up into his eyes. She doesn’t believe me, Nate thought, and then decided that she had the right to have doubts. He had doubts himself.

‘I should go. I’m crazy to stay.’

‘No. You’re sensible.’

‘There’s not a single thing sensible about it.’

‘You want me to list all the very sensible reasons why you should stay?’

‘No.’ Gemma backed away from him and her scowl returned. ‘You could talk your way out of an iron lung.’

‘I bet I couldn’t.’

‘I bet you could. There’s nothing I wouldn’t put past you.’

‘No.’ That was enough. It was time he called a halt. ‘Gemma, what have I ever done to you to make you distrust me?’

‘You made my sister pregnant.’

But Nate wasn’t buying into that one. ‘Gemma, if your sister wanted to get pregnant then she was going to get pregnant, whether it was with me or with someone else. You’re right in thinking I was a fool to let myself be used, but she’d decided to self-destruct anyway. She used me just as she used you. You’ve been more deeply hurt than I have but I won’t add to that hurt. For what it’s worth, you can trust me.’

Now, why had he said that? Why had he suddenly made the conversation so deadly serious?

It was the way she was looking, he thought-as if the bottom had dropped out of her world. And why?

It was because he’d offered her a way out, he thought bitterly. He’d offered her a life here as a country doctor and a future for herself and her nephew-and then he’d hauled it away again with one stupid, senseless act. Assuming she’d look after Mia.

‘I won’t try to palm the baby off on you again,’

‘The baby…’ she repeated, and she winced.

He thought it through and heard where she was coming from. Maybe it did sound a bit harsh. The baby… He tried again. ‘Mia.’

‘No.’ She fixed him with a look. ‘No. She’s not “the baby”. She’s not Mia. She’s your daughter. Say it, Nate.’

And he tried. ‘My daughter.’ Hell. It was harder to say it than he would have thought possible. My daughter. It sounded really, really strange.

‘Right. Your daughter.’

OK, he’d got over that hurdle. Now the next. ‘You wouldn’t want to unpack your bag and stay?’

‘What? Take my hairbrush out of my handbag?’

‘That’s the one.’ He frowned. She couldn’t keep wearing the one pair of jeans for ever. ‘We really need to do something about your wardrobe. How about a shopping trip tomorrow?’

‘Thanks but I don’t need it. I rang a friend in Sydney before I went to sleep this morning. Her apartment’s next to mine at Sydney Central. She agreed to gather a few things together and she’ll put a suitcase on the train today.’

‘Then that’s another reason why you can’t leave,’ he said triumphantly. ‘Your clothes will pass you as you speed up the highway-and we’ll be stuck here with clothes for a complete doctor but no doctor to put them on.’

‘Don’t push your luck.’

‘No. Right.’ He ventured a lopsided grin. He was in complete agreement. A wise man knew when to shut up. ‘So now what? I’m not going out and neither are you. How about a game of Scrabble?’

‘Scrabble? Instead of a pre-wedding party?’

‘I think maybe going to the pre-wedding party was a bad idea.’

She eyed him doubtfully. Did he mean it? ‘You know, you could take Mia with you.’

‘It wouldn’t be the same,’ he told her, not without a tinge of regret. ‘I’d arrive with the…with my daughter and my nappy bag and my bottle of milk instead of a bottle of wine and Donna would stalk in a hundred yards behind and bad-mouth me for the rest of the evening. And the gossip would be astonishing.’

‘So you’d prefer Scrabble?’

‘I’m a whizz at Scrabble,’ he said modestly-but he didn’t look the least bit modest. ‘I always win.’

Gemma stared up at him for a long moment and Nate gazed back. There it was again-that lurking twinkle that had the capacity to make her heart do handstands. But…he was staying home. He was trying.

Finally she let herself relax. Just a fraction. ‘I’m not bad myself.’

‘That sounds like a challenge.’ His twinkle became a grin. ‘And I’m a man who always meets a challenge. So what about it, Dr Campbell? Do you want to play?’

Did she want to play?

Play. It was a word that hadn’t been in her vocabulary for a very long time.

But he was smiling down at her and his gorgeous eyes were filled with lurking laughter. And more. They held a hint of caring. She stared up at him. The future of the medical practice of the town hung on this very moment and Nate found he was holding his breath. Would she?

And then, suddenly, she was smiling back at him and it was as if the sun had come out. More. It was a wonderful, wonderful smile.

‘OK, Dr Ethan. Bring out your Scrabble board. I’m about to let you know exactly who’s boss around here.’


It was a very silly game of Scrabble.

‘Piffle!’

‘Piffle’s a word.’ Nate looked wounded to the core that she should suggest otherwise. ‘How can you query piffle?’