‘It’s all in her head?’
‘No. But she uses it-’
‘As a tool. I guessed that. But what have you done about it?’
‘Nothing,’ he said more sharply than he’d intended. ‘It’s none of my business.’
‘Yes, it is. Louise is depressed and I’ll bet Louise is your patient, too.’
‘Yes, but-’
‘You don’t have time to look after the psychological well-being of all your patients.’ Tess nodded sympathetically and studied her toes. ‘You know, I think Louise could do with gold stars. I think I’ll suggest it. And tomorrow…’
‘Tomorrow?’ He was listening in trepidation. What next?
‘Harvey Begg has asked Louise to go to the shire ball with him tomorrow night. Is Harvey an eligible young man?’
Mike blinked. Harvey… Conversation with Tessa was like holding onto an octopus, he thought, confused. You never knew which hand would grab you next. Or where you’d be led. Harvey Begg…
‘I guess you could say Harvey Begg’s eligible.’ He managed a smile. ‘Harvey’s our local accountant. He’s very solid, in every sense of the word. Balding. Mid-thirties. Drives a Volvo and plays cribbage.’
‘Ugh.’ Tessa’s nose wrinkled. ‘Not my cup of tea. Still…’ She smiled. ‘Louise seems smitten. Each to his own, I say, and maybe there’s passion in cribbage that I haven’t seen before. And the back seats of Volvos are huge!’
‘Tess!’
She chuckled. ‘Oh, well, maybe not. But Louise is getting her chance to find out tomorrow. I’ve arranged to mom-sit.’
‘You…’
‘Grandpa will be still in hospital.’ Her face grew serious for a moment. ‘I can’t keep staying here, taking up a hospital room. I know that. So tomorrow night I’ll stay at Louise’s place-Louise’s mom can think it’s because Louise is doing me a favour, offering me accommodation-but it’ll let Louise go to her ball. And after that…’
‘After that?’ Mike was eating but he was eating on automatic pilot. He felt as if he were being pushed along by a tidal wave.
‘After that I’ll go back out to the farm and stay there until Grandpa comes home.’
‘You really are serious about staying?’
‘I really am.’
Mike hesitated, not sure where to take it from here.
‘And…you seriously would like a job?’ he asked slowly.
Her face brightened.
‘Absolutely.’ Her eyes met his and there was determination behind her gaze. ‘Mike, I do want to stay, but Grandpa’s going to feel too guilty if I stay just to look after him. It would be much better if I could combine my medicine with his care.’
‘For how long?’
‘For however long it takes.’
‘Tess, we could be talking years here. There’s no guarantees Henry will be fit enough to look after the farm on his own again. Ever.’
‘I know that.’
‘So what will you do, then?’
‘If you’re agreeable, I’ll take him back to his farm and keep him as happy as I can for the rest of his life,’ she said simply. ‘If I can practise medicine here, then everything falls into place. If Grandpa needs extra help, I’ll be able to afford it.’ She hesitated and her tongue flicked out to moisten her lips. It was a gesture of uncertainty-her first. ‘If…if you’ll have me.’
If he’d have her… He stared across the table at this extraordinary woman while he tried to figure out what to say. She’d burst into his life like a flash of flame and he’d felt breathless ever since. As if his world were being turned upside down.
He didn’t want this girl. He didn’t. In less than two days she’d destroyed the even tempo of his existence. For Mike Llewellyn, life was work. Life was medicine and dedication and caring. Life had nothing to do with painting gold stars on your toenails.
But…
But the valley was grossly medically understaffed. Maureen had been right when she’d said he was overworked. There had been times of late when Mike had been forced to cut corners-to not question as closely as he should during an examination, or to make do with changing a dressing three times a week rather than daily. And a vaccination programme should be started in earnest, and a health programme for the elderly and…
And the town needed another doctor. But not this…flibbertigibbet.
‘Why don’t you want me?’ she asked curiously, watching his face. ‘Louise tells me you need a doctor. Every nurse in this hospital- Every person I’ve met says the valley needs an extra doctor. Is it because I’m US- trained?’
‘No.’
‘Is it because I’m a woman, then?’
‘No!’
‘Look, I’m serious about working here,’ she said firmly, her smile fading. She put her hands flat on the table and met his look. ‘Mike, I’m a good doctor,’ she told him. ‘I know I’m trained in city medicine and there’s a heap here I need to learn, but I’m willing and I want to try.’
‘But…why do you want to leave the States?’
‘I don’t,’ she said flatly. ‘But, well, Mom and I have always felt dreadful about Grandpa. We felt bad that Dad wouldn’t come home. Mom’s always brought me up to think I was half-Australian. And this way…’
She sighed, her voice now serious. ‘Mike, I’ve told you I’m interested in family medicine,’ she said. ‘That’s not a lie. But in the States, well, more and more, medicine’s being taken over by the specialists. As an internist I won’t get to see kids or trauma or heart attacks or surgery. Family doctors can’t do anything hands-on without getting sued.
‘Here…here I can deliver babies and help with road trauma and counsel Louise about her love life and help old men with prostate problems. I won’t just be sitting behind a desk, handing out pills and referrals.’
‘But-’
‘And Mom’s behind me on this,’ she said solidly. ‘A hundred per cent. She was an only child and her parents are dead. She’s always felt like Grandpa was our family and we shouldn’t be so far apart. It’s my guess that if I stay then she’ll be over here in a flash, and that’s a worry because she’s bossier than me. But I do want to stay. I do. So employ me.’
‘Tess…’
‘Now-tomorrow morning,’ she said softly, brooking no interruption. ‘Louise says you have Saturday morning clinic. How about if I run it-with you watching?’ Then, as he opened his mouth to protest, she held up her hands to silence him.
‘No. Don’t refuse. I know I won’t be able to do heaps of things. I haven’t a clue as to Australian rules and regulations. But I’m a fast learner, and if we give each patient the choice when they come in as to whether I can practise on them… We’ll tell them my registration isn’t through yet, so anything I say has to be backed up by you…’
‘You have it all worked out, then.’
‘Yes.’ She tilted her chin, a trace of defiance colouring her voice. ‘I do. Anything wrong with that?’
What could be wrong?
If someone had asked him a month ago-or even a week ago-whether he’d like a partner, he’d have jumped at the chance like a shot. He was tired past the point of exhaustion.
But a partner had always seemed an impossibility. No doctor in their right mind would practise here. The doctor who’d been here when Mike’s mother died had been an alcoholic and that’s why he’d ended up in such a remote place. Nowhere decent would have him.
To work here meant practising medicine at its most basic. There was no specialist back-up available. At worst, a helicopter could come in and evacuate but there was no landing strip for a light plane and in rough weather even
