“Well, come in.” He stood back to allow her past him into the office.

The momentum of the moment carried Cate through the door and dumped her in the middle of the room. She turned to face him and realized it was a very crowded room and most of it seemed to be filled with Noah Masters.

Exasperated and half-naked, Noah glowered at her, and Cate moistened her suddenly dry lips. “The night emergency team have been involved in an accident and we need to find replacement staff for this shift…” Cate’s voice trailed off as Noah shrugged his way into his shirt.There was something disturbingly intimate in the way he was steadily arranging his clothes in front of her.

“And you want me to do what?” His words were very soft.

“Find me a doctor.”

Dear Reader,

Emergency in Maternity is set in Australia, in the Macleay Valley, in rural northern New South Wales. A beautiful river divides the valley, but in flood, the river becomes the fastest-flowing torrent in the Southern Hemisphere and all is carried before it.

This is the story of Noah and Cate, and the havoc the flood causes in their lives. Both are more accustomed to giving orders—not taking them—and the love that grows between the two is one more haven that is threatened.

Noah, the interloper, is a threat to Cate’s hometown hospital as well as to her heart, and she is fiercely protective of both. And Noah is used to winning!

I hope you enjoy Emergency in Maternity, and I’ve dedicated it to volunteers everywhere, not just those in flood time, who selflessly give their time and effort when the need arises.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the book, or perhaps you’d like to drop me a line to say hi. You can find me at my Web site: fionamcarthur.com.

Warm regards,

Fiona McArthur

Emergency in Maternity

Fiona McArthur

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CONTENTS

Cover

Dear Reader

Title Page

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

Tuesday 6 March

NOAH MASTERS pushed open the door to Riverbank Hospital and the unmistakable buzz of the internal cardiac arrest alarm sent a bolus of unwanted adrenaline through his body.

He’d sworn he would never work as a doctor in Emergency again, and he hated that staccato buzz. Finally it stopped, and Noah felt the tension ease in his neck as he approached the main office. He could see that the receptionists had returned to whatever had occupied them before the sudden rush of urgent phone calls and he didn’t have to wait for their attention.

‘My name is Noah Masters, regional CEO. I’m looking for Mr Beamish.’ He smiled at the receptionist and the woman blushed and stared up at him. Noah was used to people looking twice at his height but sometimes it irritated him.

She cleared her throat and apologised. ‘You’re the new chief executive officer? I’m sorry, Mr Masters. Mr Beamish isn’t in on Tuesdays, and Miss Glover, the nurse manager, is in a meeting. Perhaps the shift co-ordinator could help you?’

Served him right for not ringing before he came. Noah mentally shrugged and smiled at the woman again. ‘If he or she isn’t too busy, that would be fine.’

‘I’ll page her. She shouldn’t be long.’ The woman seemed to be all fingers and thumbs, so Noah turned away to survey his surroundings. A Gordon Rossiter riverscape painting took pride of place on the wall and unwillingly his eyes widened in appreciation. The foyer was furnished with a cedar china cabinet and matching chairs. He couldn’t resist a stroke of the polished wood and it passed like silk beneath his fingers—hand-turned, he guessed. You had to admit it all made the entrance foyer more warm and homey than he was used to.

Probably all donated, he thought cynically, like most of the equipment in these small country hospitals, but his irritation had eased. Community hospitals had their place, but that didn’t change the fact that the big money needed to be spent where the greater population was. He glanced at his watch and the receptionist obviously picked up his impatience.

‘Sister hasn’t answered her page, but if you’d like to continue around to the emergency department, Mr Masters, I’m sure you’ll catch her. If she rings back, I’ll tell her you’re coming.’

Noah couldn’t exactly tell the woman he hated Emergency, so he just nodded and followed the direction of her pointed arm. Just his luck.

When he pushed open the sheet-plastic doors the smells and sounds of a typical morning in Casualty crowded his senses. Before he could orientate himself, a militant Valkyrie with spiky blonde hair stopped in front of Noah and barred his way.

‘Can I help you?’ she said, but it was more of an accusation than an offer of assistance.

Suddenly the sights and sounds of Emergency receded and Noah eyed her quizzically. She must have been outside recently, because rain beaded in her hair and the corridor seemed to vibrate around her like the electricity that flashed across the heavens outside the window.

‘This is a restricted area.’ She used her well-modulated voice with authority and Noah cynically admired her technique. Perhaps because he did it all the time himself.

She squared her shoulders at him. He outweighed her in muscle by a good twenty kilos, so he wasn’t quite sure what she thought she could do if he decided to proceed past. There was something about her that made his day brighten and a smile hovered on the edge of his lips. There could be no mistake she was a hostile native! A magnificent hostile native but definitely hostile.

‘Good morning,’ he said. ‘I’m looking for the shift co-ordinator.’ Noah smiled his charming smile but the warrior maiden wasn’t like the receptionist and didn’t budge. He resisted the almost irresistible temptation to move another step forward to see what she’d do.

She raised her chin, almost as if she’d read his mind, and Noah had to bite back a smile. He returned her appraisal and gained the impression that the mind behind her really quite beautiful blue eyes was as sharp as the creases ironed into her short-sleeved shirt.

Thick lashes came down and hid her thoughts. ‘I’m the shift co-ordinator but I’ll be busy for the next half-hour. Are you connected with the hospital?’

His mouth curved a little more. She was interrogating him. He nodded and held out his hand. ‘Noah Masters, regional CEO, and you are…?’

Cate had known it! The enemy! ‘Cate Forrest, the morning shift co-ordinator.’ The suit he was wearing had warned her. But that was the only part of his appearance that tied in with her mental image. She’d known he was coming, she’d just expected a weasel with accountant’s glasses.

Unfortunately, he was nothing like she’d imagined. He had a smooth, masculine presence that radiated command and Cate had to tilt her head slightly to look up at him. She didn’t like the necessity. There weren’t that many men taller than Cate and she wasn’t used to it. His hand was out in front of her, waiting, and reluctantly Cate took it.

When his fingers closed around hers in a firm clasp, she returned the shake, frowned and then pulled free as soon as possible.

Her fingers still thrummed. She certainly couldn’t say his handshake was as furtive as his visit. The man vibrated with energy! She couldn’t stand a man with a limp handshake but that buzz between them was ridiculous. Surreptitiously she wiped her hand on the side of her skirt to remove the tingle.

They stood there and eyed each other like opposing generals, and the silence lengthened. Cate had a suspicion it was amusement she could see in his eyes and it stirred her temper, as a breeze lifted a tiny pile of leaves. Yes, he rattled her, she admitted grudgingly. She was usually the one in control. One minute in his company and she could tell he wouldn’t be as co-operative as Mr Beamish was to her plans.

She steered Noah Masters around and back out through the plastic doors to the corridor. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t have the time for a formal tour today. Perhaps you can arrange something later with Mr Beamish?’

Noah’s smile was winning but it bounced off Cate. ‘This isn’t a formal visit, Sister Forrest. I’m not inspecting Riverbank, I’m just gaining a feel for the place.’

Cate raised her eyebrows delicately. ‘How interesting.’ You can get a feel just by poking around, can you buster? She only just kept the words from her lips. The pager clipped on her belt emitted an insistent beep and she glanced down to see the phone extension displayed on the mini-screen. It was the accident and emergency main desk. ‘Excuse me. I must answer this call. The cafeteria is on this floor if you would like some lunch.’

Noah inclined his head. ‘Perhaps I’ll see you on my travels later?’

You’d better believe it. ‘We’re a small hospital. I imagine you might,’ Cate said dryly, and walked away to answer the page.

Noah watched her stride away, her straight back not apologising for her exceptional height and the gentle sway of her hips more provocative, he guessed with a grin, than she intended. She wasn’t a dainty, helpless female like Donna had been—totally the opposite, in fact—but she was arresting.

His lips twitched. She actually looked like she wanted to arrest him!

Noah turned back towards the cafeteria with the smile still tugging on his lips. This visit to Riverbank could be more interesting than he’d anticipated.

Cate’s head was high. Big city sleaze. He was a big man all over, most of it muscle. Broad-shouldered and deep-chested, and she wouldn’t like to meet him in a dark alley. Cate realised it could be a problem to keep her antipathy towards him under control. There was something about him that made her bristle, apart from his obvious threat to Riverbank. But it was a worry what the snoopy Noah Masters was really doing, and how much of a disadvantage to Riverbank it could be to leave him unsupervised. She looked at her watch and sped her footsteps. Hopefully he’d linger over his lunch and she’d be able to find someone to keep an eye on him.

As Cate entered the emergency department, the activity was centred on an elderly gentleman and her footsteps quickened in concern. Mr Beamish, the present CEO of the hospital, was lying on a trolley, obviously in a lot of pain. Judging by the splint still attached to his leg, the problem would affect the man she’d just left. Hell. When it rained it poured.

Casualty Sister Moore turned to Cate with her usual calm. ‘Well, that saves me answering the phone. Thanks for coming. Mr Beamish has just come in. He has severe hypothermia and a probable fractured femur.’

Cate nodded and smiled gently at the older man’s pale face as he almost blended in with the white pillowcase. ‘Hello, Mr Beamish. You’ve come to the right place for some tender loving care. We’ll get you fixed up as soon as we can.’ She didn’t mention Noah Masters—it was the last thing the poor man needed to know!

Stella Moore followed her out to the nurses’ station. ‘The ambulance officers just brought him in. He slipped over on his cattle-grid this morning and his wife didn’t realise he was in trouble for at least a couple of hours. Mr Beamish had to lie in the rain until she found him, and he’s pretty shocked.’

Cate’s face clouded for a moment before she said, ‘It must have been horrific. Hopefully he won’t get pneumonia.’ She picked up the phone and glanced out of the window. Water streamed off the pane as she waited for her call to be answered. ‘My dad says we’re in for a flood and I wouldn’t be surprised.’

Stella winced. ‘Don’t say that. We’ve just recarpeted our house.’ Cate nodded sympathetically. She thought of her parents’ farm and the cattle that would have to be moved if the river rose too far, then shelved that problem for after her shift. The telephone just kept ringing so she dialled the nurse manager’s number again and finally Cate’s immediate superior answered.

Cate left the notification of Mr Beamish’s accident with her, along with the news of Noah Masters’s appearance.

Miss Glover’s voice was hurried. ‘I’m in a meeting. Show Mr Masters around if you have time, Cate, please.’

Cate screwed her nose up at the phone and reluctantly agreed.

Her pager beeped and she glanced at the number on the screen. She looked at Stella. ‘Anything else you need for the moment, apart from Mr Beamish’s old medical records?’

‘No. But a lunch-break wouldn’t go amiss when you get a minute.’ Stella rubbed her hollow stomach and Cate grinned back at her.

‘No problem. I’ll get the old records, dash over to Maternity to answer this call and come back as soon as I finish there.’

By the time Cate had procured some out-of-stock drugs for Maternity and relieved emergency staff for their lunch, she was in dire need of sustenance herself.

When she entered the cafeteria Noah Masters was the only person left in the room. On the point of leaving, he hesitated, then walked towards her to refill his cup.

Some people took extended lunch-breaks. Cate chewed her lip. She wished he’d left, which was strange considering her previous decision that someone needed to keep an eye on him and she was supposed to show him around.

‘The coffee must be good if it’s kept you here this long.’ Cate snapped her mouth shut on the you-don’t-have-anything-better-to-do implication, but it was clear to both of them what she meant.

He raised his eyebrows at her comment and his smile, devastating as it was, was all on the surface. ‘The company was good. Your staff are very friendly.’ The inference was clear.

She supposed she deserved that but she didn’t trust him or his smile. She mentally shrugged. She’d never been good at dissembling so most people knew pretty quickly how she felt.

Obviously her staff hadn’t realised this man was a wolf casing the flock. She bristled. ‘The nurses who work here are wonderful and it always amazes me how they keep their spirits and standard of care up, considering such low funding and the workload expected of them.’ By number-crunchers like you, she almost said.

He accompanied her back to the table and on the surface he still didn’t seem particularly ruffled. ‘Hmm, maintaining a budget is always going to be difficult in a small establishment.’

As if here at Riverbank they didn’t try! Cate narrowed her eyes as she set her cup and plate carefully on the table. ‘But less important than actually continuing the service.’ She paused to let her words sink in. ‘Personally, I don’t give a hoot for your budget. My concern is maintaining the standard of care the people of this valley deserve—without having to leave the area to get it—and the sooner money is put in its proper perspective, the better.’

His face remained expressionless and she marked another point against him. The guy probably didn’t have emotions—just numbers running around inside his computer brain. And she knew he’d been a doctor before he’d taken up administration, which didn’t make any sense to her.

He waited until Cate was seated and then sat down. At least he had manners, she grudgingly acknowledged.

Noah set his cup down. ‘Unfortunately budgets are a fact of life.’

‘Or you’d be out of a job,’ she muttered. He turned his head to look at her fully and his eyes flared briefly at her comment. She became sidetracked by the realisation that his chocolate brown eyes could freeze to almost coal black when he was annoyed. The air temperature dropped about ten degrees. She blinked. ‘I’m sorry. You were saying?’

For a moment he looked to be inclined to follow up her previous comment but then, with only a brief cryogenic glare, decided against it and reverted to business mode. ‘I was saying that budgets are a fact of life and while it’s your job to maintain patient services, it’s my job to streamline the process cost effectively. The money should go where the needs are greatest. Perhaps we could agree to the necessity for the other person’s job.’

The deep timbre of his voice sent an unwelcome shiver across Cate’s shoulders. He could be persuasive and she could just see him at a boardroom table, smiling winningly at weaker individuals. She wasn’t fooled, though.

In fact, she wasn’t temperamentally suited to this conversation. She was more of an action person. Let the official party chat with him. There was no way she could carry on a rational conversation with this guy and not get indigestion. Cate pushed aside the second half of her sandwich and took a last sip of her coffee.

There were still the orders to show him around. ‘Is there any area in particular you’d like to see while I have a spare moment, Dr Masters?’

A tiny crease appeared above his right eyebrow at the title. ‘If you’ve finished…’ He glanced down at the meagre lunch left on her plate and then away. ‘I’d like to see the maternity ward.’

Grimly Cate rose and carried her crockery back to the dish trolley. ‘Do you have a special interest in Maternity, Dr Masters?’

Noah winced again at her calling him ‘Doctor’. He wished she wouldn’t do that. He was never going back to practising medicine. Then he considered the question. Despite the fact that it was the least offensive thing she’d said to him, he knew the question was loaded. He couldn’t believe this woman. He’d met people who’d disliked him before, not often, but none as aggressively against him as she was. And she did aggression well. He’d had to struggle with his temper twice already and he couldn’t remember the last time that had happened. He’d been controlled like a machine since Donna had died.

He chose his words carefully. ‘I believe Maternity can be the showcase of the hospital. Front-line public relations are an important facet of any hospital’s success.’ And the most common area of overspending. But he didn’t say it.

Public relations led back to the dollar again, Cate correctly deduced, and shrugged.

When they walked into Maternity two of the room buzzer lights were on and the nursery was lined with bassinets in which most of the tiny occupants were crying. Mothers with their babies in their arms, crowded around the sink as they waited for weighings and baths.

Noah frowned. ‘Where are all the staff?’

Cate almost snorted. ‘Both midwives are doing fifty things at once.’ She felt like saying, Can you see anywhere to save money here? But she didn’t. Well done. What control, Cate. She patted herself on the back then moved away from him to punch some numbers into the phone.

‘Hi. It’s Cate Forrest here. Can you send Trudy over to Maternity to help in the nursery for an hour, please? Yes, they’re snowed under.’ She smiled into the phone and he realised he hadn’t seen her smile before. It lit her face with a sweetness that warmed the ice around his heart. She had a smile that reached the corners of the room and shone up the walls. Noah wondered what it would feel like to have that wattage directed solely at him. It would be a smile worth waiting for. He blinked and refocused on the ward around him.

‘Thanks,’ she said to whoever was on the phone. ‘I owe you one.’

One of the midwives came out of the birthing unit and grinned at Cate. ‘Two new admissions, both in established labour, right on bathtime, and four babies are waiting for discharge weighings.’

‘Trudy is coming over for the nursery. Have you guys had lunch?’

Noah nodded at the mothers who walked past as Cate rearranged staff. He listened to her acknowledge the good job the midwives were doing with the workload and then she proceeded to address several of the mothers by their first names and enquire about their other children. She seemed to know and have one of those smiles for everyone. Except him.

But, then, he guessed she was a people person. He wondered if he still had that knack after two years in administration. Had he lost the knack of emergency surgery, too? Noah squashed that last thought down ruthlessly, and the guilt that rose with it.

Cate caught him studying her and excused herself from the mother she was speaking to. She moved across to his side with the light of battle in her eye. ‘Do you advocate breastfeeding, Dr Masters?’

Under attack, Noah looked around at the mothers watching him. ‘If at all possible, of course I do,’ he said cautiously.

‘So you’d agree it’s important that first-time mums in particular have access to help for at least the first few days after the baby is born to establish lactation? Especially if you believe that breastfeeding is best for babies.’

A glimmer of light appeared and Noah narrowed his eyes. Before he could ask if this had to do with his suggestion to shorten postnatal stays, she continued.

‘Were you aware that, unlike larger hospitals, Riverbank clients don’t have access to early discharge follow-up by midwives? Only overworked early childhood nurses?’

Her blue eyes bored into his and he had to admire her passion, if not her subtlety.

‘No, I wasn’t aware of that.’ He was going to continue but Cate cut him off.

‘Or that we have some of the best long-term breastfeeding rates in New South Wales?’ She looked justifiably proud about that.

She was like a steamroller and from one steamroller to another he couldn’t help admiring her—but a public hallway was unfair. ‘No. I wasn’t aware of that either, Sister Forrest,’ he replied sardonically. He didn’t understand why he wasn’t more annoyed with her. Perhaps it was the obvious undeniable passion she had for her work.

‘Pity!’ She’d scored her point and was ready to change the subject. ‘Seen enough?’

Before he could answer, her pager went off and she was thinking of something else. ‘I’m off to Accident and Emergency, Dr Masters.’

He knew she wanted to get rid of him but he wasn’t going to be shaken off that easily. ‘I’ll tag along, then.’

He lengthened his stride to keep up with her, which was quite a startling change from usually having to slow his pace for women. He found himself smiling again—Cate Forrest was certainly different.

Thunder rumbled outside and Noah shook his head as he glanced out of the window to see the sheets of rain falling even harder. ‘This is some storm.’

Cate paused and followed his gaze out of the window. ‘It’s more than a storm.’

Noah frowned. ‘Meaning?’

‘My father says we’re in for a flood—and when a farmer predicts a disaster, it’s a definite worry.’

Farmers predicting weather. He’d heard of that but he didn’t believe in it. ‘So how often does it flood around here?’

Cate turned from the window and started walking again. ‘Nineteen sixty-three was a big flood but 1949 was the biggest in recent history. That flood washed right through the centre of town, killed six people and left others stranded on the roofs that didn’t wash away. The locals still talk about that one.’

Her pager shrilled and she glanced down and muttered, ‘Outside call.’ Then picked up the pace again.

‘The staff with creek crossings can have problems getting in when it’s like this. That will be the first of those who can’t get in.’ She smiled sweetly at him. ‘They get flooded-in leave.’

He frowned. ‘Can’t you make them stay in town before they get flooded so the hospital will be staffed properly?’

Cate raised her own sardonic eyebrow. ‘Perhaps if that was a permanent rule, we could have our hospital staffed properly at normal times?’

He flicked a questioning glance across at her until he realised she was baiting him—again.

A small frown marred her forehead and he realised that he had only a fraction of her attention. Another thing he wasn’t used to. ‘I’ll leave you to it, Sister Forrest. I can see you have your hands full.’

For the first time she smiled at him, and he couldn’t help but smile back. As he turned down the opposite corridor towards his car, he acknowledged wryly that all he had to do was leave her and she’d smile.

CHAPTER TWO

AFTER work, Cate tried to concentrate on the road home to her parents’ farm in the torrential rain, but it required more attention than she wanted to give. She knew she needed to be less fixated on scoring against Noah Masters and more focused on the rising river and her father’s cattle.

Compartmentalising had never been a problem with men before. Even during her engagement she’d been able to parcel Brett up in to one part of her life while she carried on with something else. So why did thoughts of Noah Masters not stay where she told them to? She grimaced. Maybe he was too big.

She couldn’t help the image of Noah popping so clearly into her memory. And she couldn’t help the awareness of her attraction to him—something she’d been fighting all day—from stealing her concentration.

Cate’s utility rattled over the cattle-grid and the sheets of rain made it hard to make out the figure sitting in the wheelchair on the verandah. She waved anyway as she drove past and parked in the garage. Shaking rain off as she came, Cate hurried up the verandah steps to drop a kiss on her father’s leathery cheek. ‘Hi, Dad.’ William Forrest was another big man and her heart ached to see him confined to the wheelchair. Oddly, he’d adapted to being paralysed better than his family had.

‘Hello, love. River’s rising,’ he said, and they both turned to look towards the bottom paddock river flat. The thickened brown snake of the river was spreading slowly across the lowest areas. ‘Your mother’s trip to town yesterday was in good time. We’ve enough supplies for a month.’

‘Hopefully the rain won’t last a month.’ Cate grinned wryly at her father and laid her hand on his shoulder. ‘I’ll change after my coffee and move the cattle up to the house paddock.’

His bushy white eyebrows drew together. ‘I thought the fence had snapped up in the house paddock?’

‘I fixed it yesterday before I went to work but the gate’s only just hanging on.’

He put his hand over hers and gripped it as if to say, Hear me out. ‘The farm is too much for you and your mother. I’ve asked your brother to come home.’

Cate tried not to feel that she’d failed him. Her father shouldn’t have had to do that. ‘Oh, Dad, there’s no point worrying Ben! We can manage. I’ll fix the gate this evening.’

William was still very much the head of the family and knew how to be firm. ‘It’s too much. You’re a fine daughter and as good as any man on the farm. But you have your own life. And I’ll need him for the flood, if it comes.’ There was no doubt her father believed they were in for a big flood.

Cate turned away and tried not to think about the changes that Ben’s return would make. Her brother had left home without a backward glance as soon as he’d turned eighteen. He had chosen to work in the Northern Territory on another man’s property, leaving her parents to manage with only her. Cate was really proud that she and her mother had managed. They still could—but it was her father’s choice. This day couldn’t get worse.

‘That’s good, Dad.’ The words nearly stuck in her throat. She’d worry about Ben coming home when, and if, he actually did. For the moment there were things to do before the next two days’ shifts at the hospital and she was looking forward to some activity for the restlessness that had been eating at her since she’d driven away from the hospital. She left her father watching the rain.

‘How were your shifts, darling?’ Cate’s mother set two coffees on the kitchen table and sat down to listen. Leanore was a tall woman, though not as statuesque as her daughter, and her hair was more silver than blonde.

Cate’s thoughts flew to the regional CEO, and strangely she was reluctant to discuss Noah Masters with her mother. She stared down at the cup cradled in her hands. ‘Busy.’

Not one to avoid discussing awkward subjects, Leanore went straight to the family issues. ‘Your father and I are looking forward to Ben’s return. It will be wonderful to see him. Are you upset your father asked him to come home?’

Cate couldn’t help the tinge of censure in her voice. ‘If he stays long enough.’

‘Now, Cate. It’s been a hard couple of years but Ben is a man now and he wants to come home. He’ll be better for the time away. He was too young to take over the huge job that you’ve done and too old to take orders from his big sister.’

She patted Cate’s hand.

‘Your father rose above his disabilities and is still the man of my dreams. We have our life and you have yours. We know you’ve carried the lion’s share of the workload for a long time now. You deserve a break. Sit back and let Ben and your father do the worrying without you. Live a little.’

Leanore pushed a plate of home-made biscuits towards her daughter. ‘So tell me some good news from the hospital.’

Cate tried to brighten up. ‘My friends Michelle and Leif had a lovely baby boy early this morning. He was nearly a Caesarean but beat the doctor to the theatre.’ A soft smile crossed her face. ‘He’s gorgeous.’

She blinked and refocused on her mother. ‘And poor Mr Beamish broke his hip on his cattle-grid and I’m dreading the new regional CEO will step into his job until they get someone else.’ She glared at the tablecloth. ‘I hope it’s soon,’ slipped out.

‘Poor Mr Beamish. I went to school with his wife.’ Leanore tilted her head. ‘A new regional CEO? What’s he like?’

Cate stirred her coffee vigorously and the coffee spun dangerously around in her cup. ‘Taller than Dad, looks like he works out, but he’s a human logarithm and very much the city boy.’ She glared at her coffee. ‘He’s domineering and annoyingly sure of himself.’

Cate’s mother took the spoon from her daughter and set it in the saucer with a clink. ‘Interesting.’ She smiled to herself. ‘He seems to have made a big impression on you. But the last part is a harsh indictment. I imagine the man would have responsibilities that call for most of those qualities. Does he have a name?’

‘Noah Masters.’ Cate shrugged and took a few sips of her drink before she set it down. ‘I don’t want to talk about that man. Thanks for the coffee, Mum. I have to fix the gate in the top paddock and move the cattle.’

‘Do you want me to come?’ Leanore started to untie her apron, still with a small smile on her face.

‘No. Thanks.’ Cate thought she may as well do this last job before Ben came home. ‘I need to get out and I’ll call if I need help.’ She slipped the family mobile phone onto her belt. It was her father’s decree that anyone in the paddocks carry it in case they needed help. Three years ago he’d lain all day with a broken back when the branch of a tree had fallen and crushed his vertebrae. With the farm work falling to Cate and Leanore now that Ben had gone, he could keep in contact with them from the house. Cate would have carried anything to get out of the house and burn off some energy.

Wednesday 7 March

When Cate arrived at work that afternoon, she’d packed a case with enough clothes for a week. Her father had predicted she wouldn’t get home for a while.

‘Noah Masters had better watch out!’ Cate dropped the report of the regional hospitals’ meeting, which she’d taken home to study, down on the desk. It hit with a clap similar to the thunder outside.

She impaled her drover’s oilskin on the old-fashioned hatstand as if she were hanging Noah Masters out to dry on it.

‘And happy Wednesday to you, too, Cate.’ Diminutive Amber Wright stood up to flick the door shut behind her friend for some privacy. The nursing supervisor of the previous shift at Riverbank Hospital shook her head. ‘You’re like a whirlwind some days, Cate. You make me dizzy.’

Cate dried her hands on the damp scarf she pulled from around her neck and hung that up, too. ‘Maybe the weather makes me mad.’

‘Yeah, right.’ Amber had her head in her hands.

Cate tucked her handbag away. ‘That good, is it?’ said Cate as Amber lifted her head. Her friend nodded.

‘Ten staff called in flood-bound and we’re still five down without replacements, but it could have been worse. Most are flooded in while some are banking on staying home so they don’t get flooded out of their own homes.’ Amber sighed.

‘Plus, I have to be at preschool in twenty minutes and barely have time to fill you in on what’s happening on the wards.’

Cate looked up quickly. ‘That’s a bit early. Cindy’s not sick or anything, is she?’

‘No. I have a meeting with the teacher.’ Amber looked at her watch and Cate interpreted her frown. Amber really couldn’t afford to upset the teacher at the preschool Cindy attended most days while her single mother worked.

Cate picked up her pen. ‘Heaven forbid that you keep the teacher waiting. Come on. Fire away and we’ll get you out of here on time.’

Amber shuffled the papers and pushed her glasses back up her nose. ‘I’ve had orders to encourage the doctors to discharge as many as they can to lighten the load, but most of the people who could go don’t have the support at home, and home care is a bit iffy should the highway be cut off.’

Cate leaned forward but her voice was soft. ‘So whose orders were they?’ As if she didn’t have an inkling.

‘Noah Masters.’

‘I’m just about sick of his directives. I found out he’s a doctor of medicine, and has only been involved in the corporate side for two years. Apparently he’s shooting up the administrative totem pole at a great rate of knots.’ She screwed up her nose. ‘How could a doctor leave medicine and become a number-cruncher?’

‘Excuse me?’ Amber pulled a face. ‘You only work half your time as a midwife and the other half in administration.’

Cate sniffed. ‘Totally different. I need the quick shifts. An afternoon shift followed by a morning shift lets me work on the farm. If there weren’t enough midwives I’d go back to full-time midwifery like a shot.’

Cate watched as Amber punched the last of the entries for staff changes into the computer. ‘The office part of this job is a pain but as for shift co-ordination…’ Cate shrugged ‘…I believe I can make a difference if I ensure that everything runs smoothly.’

‘It’s true. The place runs like a watch when you’re on shift.’ Amber shot her an urchin grin. ‘But you also like being boss. Hell, I was on your tennis team and we had to win or else. One day you’re going to meet a man that won’t let you boss him around. Maybe it’s Noah Masters.’

Cate’s laugh sounded more like a snort. ‘Somehow I don’t see that as prophetic.’ She folded her arms and glared at her friend. ‘And as for tennis, what’s wrong with being champions three years running?’

Amber laughed out loud. ‘I rest my case,’ she said. Cate acknowledged the hit with a wry smile.

Amber went on. ‘Our regional CEO is officially filling in for Mr Beamish.’ She looked at Cate. ‘He said to call him Noah, which made me laugh a bit as we’ve probably got a flood on, but he doesn’t seem too bad.’

‘The man’s a walking calculator!’ Cate stood up and paced the room.

Amber looked up with interest. ‘Then he’s a well-packaged calculator.’ She shrugged. ‘I’d almost welcome his slippers under my bed if I wasn’t off men.’ She raised a quizzical eyebrow at Cate. ‘Struck a few sparks yesterday, did you?’

That was the last thing Cate wanted Amber to think. ‘No.’ The word came out louder than she’d intended and Cate fought not to blush. ‘It’s not a matter of liking or disliking. The guy is a threat to Riverbank—and if he had his way our hospital would be downgraded to cottage hospital status.’

Amber blew a raspberry. ‘You don’t know that.’

Cate didn’t meet Amber’s eyes. ‘Well, I don’t want to find out the hard way. Can we leave Noah Masters, please?’ Cate sat down. ‘What else is happening here today?’

Cate couldn’t mind Amber’s teasing. She couldn’t remember a time when Amber hadn’t been in her life. They’d shared rag dolls and horse blankets since kindergarten. Experience told Cate that something else was bothering her friend.

Amber smiled but Cate still felt she was stalling, which wasn’t like her. ‘Let’s get you home. Is something wrong, Amber?’

All amusement left Amber’s face and she sighed. ‘I’ll start with the bad news.’ She put her hand out to cover Cate’s. ‘Iris Dwyer is our critical patient and her friends are with her in the palliative care room, but her son hasn’t arrived yet.’

Iris…Cate fought back the sudden dread and managed a professional nod to Amber. But her mind whirled. Iris, not Iris! There was only one reason a patient would be admitted to the hospital’s soothing palliative care suite with its very comfortable bed, and Cate didn’t want to think about it.

Iris was the sort of woman every girl would have loved having as a mother-in-law. She was certainly everything Cate wanted to be—independent, with a home and farm and a loving son to care for. Mr Dwyer had died some two decades earlier and, far from withering, Iris just seemed even more determined and in control.

And now that would change. Cate acknowledged the sympathetic look from Amber. Iris and Brett had been a big part of her life before the break up of their engagement.

‘Brett’s mother has terminal cancer?’ Cate shook her head in disbelief. ‘Why didn’t I know she was sick? Why wouldn’t she tell me? Maybe I could have done something…’

Amber understood. ‘Don’t feel bad she didn’t tell you. Iris has always been a self-sufficient woman. She must have preferred it that way. I don’t think she told anyone before she came in here.’ Amber shot a look at Cate to watch for her reaction to the next news. ‘Brett will be here soon.’

Cate sniffed. ‘Why isn’t he here now? He’d better get here in time…’ Cate was still reeling from the more devastating news.

Amber sighed. ‘You take too much on yourself, Cate. Nobody knew about Iris’s illness. She went to Theatre this morning for an abdominal mass and it was an open-and-shut case. Nothing they could do. She’s been running the farm up until her admission and it looks like she’s organising the way she dies just as efficiently.’

A cold lump settled in Cate’s stomach and the back of her throat scratched as she fought to control the surge of emotion that welled. Brett had better make it. While her ex-fiancé was quite capable of behaving less than responsibly, she’d always enjoyed the company of his forthright and capable mother.

Cate sometimes wondered if her fondness for Iris had been half of her attraction when Brett had come back on the scene.

Amber touched her arm. ‘How do you feel about seeing Brett again?’

Cate gave a tiny shrug—that was unimportant by comparison. ‘Like a fool for ever agreeing to marry him. But apart from that, I feel sorry that he’s going to lose his mother.’ Cate blinked away the sting in her eyes.

‘There’s a hard time ahead for him,’ Amber said with a catch in her voice, and Cate remembered that her friend had always had a soft spot for Brett. She could have him.

‘Poor Iris.’ Cate blinked the sting out of her eyes and met Amber’s sympathetic gaze. ‘You need to pick Cindy up from preschool. I’ll find the rest out when I go up and see her later on the ward.’

Amber nodded and glanced at her clipboard. ‘Iris is our most critical. The other patients in Medical are slowly improving, which means they’re pretty much the same as they were when you went off yesterday. They have two spare beds.

‘Theatres are running to time, and Theatre Sister asked, as you were doing a quick shift, if you could take Theatre call tonight as it’s her husband’s birthday.’

Cate shrugged at the chance of having her eight-hour break between shifts broken by an unexpected theatre case, as it had the last time she’d done the quick shift. ‘No problem. Have you marked it down yet?’

‘No. But I didn’t look for anyone else. Marshmallow centre—that’s you—but at least a lot of people owe you favours!’ Amber grinned and wrote down Cate’s name for the call.

‘Surgical?’ Cate took the theatre list Amber handed across and scanned the list of operations that had been that morning.

‘No spare beds so any emergency admissions or accidents will cause a reshuffle of beds or early discharge.

‘Children’s Ward has three in with gastroenteritis so don’t play with them if you want to spend time helping in Maternity,’ she teased.

‘And how is Maternity?’ Cate settled in the chair.

Amber flicked her reading glasses back up her nose. ‘Just how you like it. They have babies coming out of their ears and two more in early labour.’

Cate nodded. ‘I love it when it’s like that.’

Amber rolled her eyes. ‘Intensive Care has three in, all day-two myocardial infarcts, who are progressing well. And last, but not least, Emergency is surprisingly quiet for the moment, but we all know how that can change in the blink of an eye.’ Amber put her reading glasses in her case and handed over the clipboard and the large bunch of keys. ‘Have fun with Noah Masters. I’ll look forward to the next instalment of Cate versus Goliath.’

Amber stretched up and hugged Cate. ‘I’m sorry about Iris.’

Cate returned the pressure. ‘She’s a wonderful woman and deserves more—but thanks.’ She pushed Amber towards the door.

Cate shivered in sympathy as she watched her friend cross the car park from the office window. The rain was pelting down and Amber’s umbrella turned inside out from the wind as she struggled to get the keys into her car lock.

Cate envied Amber her beautiful daughter but not Amber’s marriage to the domineering man she’d divorced.

Cate dreamed of a home and family more than anything, and she’d thought she’d found the answer with Brett. But her great love affair hadn’t worked out either. Cate didn’t waste any sympathy on herself—she should have known better. Brett had ruled by emotional blackmail and she’d been lucky they hadn’t married. She thought of Brett’s mother and sighed. Poor Iris.

She painfully rolled her shoulder. She’d pulled a muscle yesterday trying to straighten the top paddock gate. Served her right for being too stubborn to call her mother for help.

And now it looked like Noah Masters had moved into Mr Beamish’s office indefinitely. Life was suddenly too much.

She didn’t feel like being cooped up in the office. She needed to be busy and if they were short-staffed, there would be plenty of work to do.

By late afternoon, Cate had secured relief for extra-busy wards from the less frantic ones, helped with the birth of a baby in Maternity, arranged casual staff who lived in town to replace those flooded in for the next shift, and updated the computer with the latest staffing statistics. She’d briefly spoken to every patient and a host of their relatives, and everything was under control. This was what she loved—having her finger on the pulse of the hospital.

By five o’clock she’d made several visits to Mrs Dwyer in her darkened room, and she decided to pop in for a moment before tea. When Cate entered the room the old lady lay so still and quiet that for a moment Cate thought Brett had left it too late. Then she noticed the gentle rise and fall of the sheet covering the frail body and she bit her lip. Iris had only been deeply asleep. The old lady stirred and opened her eyes.

Brett’s mother looked frail and it was as if the light had been turned out in her usually sparkling blue eyes. Cate could see that time was short and she felt useless as she stared down at the woman she’d grown to love. ‘Can I get you anything, Iris?’

Iris smiled. ‘No, darling.’ The skin on the older woman’s hand was callused from hard work and yellow-tinged with jaundice. But her grip was still strong. ‘I’m quite comfortable. Even the dawn chorus of coughing and urinals is different to the birds at home but quite amusing.’

Cate couldn’t help smiling, which was what Iris wanted. ‘Would you like some music to drown out the ward clatter? I could bring my CD player in.’

Iris shook her head. ‘You do too much as it is and I don’t need to add to your load. There’ll be plenty of time for music in heaven.’ Cate winced and Iris frowned. ‘Stop it. I’ve had a good life and at the moment I’m enjoying the sound of humanity. It’s like a radio show and guess-the-secret-sound as I try to recognise a noise. Don’t worry about me.’

Iris closed her eyes but she was still smiling and Cate wondered if she’d fallen asleep again. Cate could see from whom Brett had inherited his eyebrows and nose. A shame he hadn’t inherited his mother’s determined chin. Almost as if she’d caught Cate’s thoughts, Iris opened her eyes.

‘I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you and Brett, for his sake.’ Her eyes twinkled briefly. ‘As much as I love him, I know he probably would have driven you mad. I’ve come to think he needs someone to lean on him to bring out his best. But I would have known he was OK with you.’ The frail hand tightened in Cate’s. ‘Look after yourself, Cate. You need to find a strong man to depend on. Sharing the load brings its own strength so if the chance comes, don’t fight it too much.’

Cate dropped a kiss on the wrinkled cheek. ‘How like you to try and tie up my loose ends as well. Think about yourself for a change. I’d better get on with my work. You rest and mind you tell Sister if the pain gets worse.’ Iris shut her eyes and she was asleep before Cate turned away.

Cate tried to regain her composure. Sometimes life was very unfair. She couldn’t believe Brett hadn’t arrived yet. She’d kill him if he didn’t get here in time. She pushed herself off the wall she’d leant her head on and hurried out of the room with her emotions a jumble, and pushed her sore shoulder straight into a solid wall of muscle. Two strong hands steadied her until she regained her physical balance and her traitorous body relaxed for a moment against the man. Her emotional equilibrium was harder to recapture.

‘Sister Forrest. We meet again.’ Noah’s hands loosened as she stepped away a pace but he could still feel the aftershock of her surprisingly luscious body against him.

Noah redirected his gaze from the vulnerable line of Cate’s neck to her face as she straightened herself to look at him.

‘I’m sorry. I wasn’t looking.’ The slight catch in her voice sounded strange, coming from the tough cookie of yesterday. In fact, she looked like she was in some pain.

‘Did I hurt you?’ Noah tilted his head and then reached out to touch her shoulder. She winced and his brows drew together.

She brushed his hand away. ‘It’s an old bruise and I’ve just given it a reminder. I’m fine. Was there something I can do for you?’

She didn’t look as together today, but she certainly wasn’t any friendlier. It had been amazing how many little things he’d remembered about her. Like the way her blue eyes narrowed and then seemed to glow like flashing blue sirens when she was annoyed with him. And how the expressions on her face seemed to shift and change like the sea.

Enough. Noah compressed his lips. He’d spent too much time thinking about her last night and he wasn’t going to get bogged down today. But she was a challenge. He refocused on her question.

‘I’ve come up to see how the medical resident went with discharging non-critical patients. I assumed there would have been more clients able to go than we’ve managed to discharge.’

He watched her close her eyes for a minute to marshal her thoughts. When she opened them he was staring quite openly at her and she glared at him. He’d bet she couldn’t help herself. She’d be a dreadful poker player, he thought as he watched more emotions flash across her face when she spoke. ‘Those that are still here would be at risk if they were discharged. Until the rain stops we can’t guarantee that the community nurses will be able to take them on or that relatives will be able to get to them if they’re needed.’

There was that fire and passion for the patients again. He had to harden his heart. ‘So what you’re saying is that if it wasn’t raining you’d be happy to send them home?’ She would fight him all the way, but that wasn’t a problem. He felt more alive than he had for years—perhaps it was the country air he hadn’t looked forward to.

She did look determined, though. ‘What I’m saying, Dr Masters, is that an early discharge for these clients would most probably result in readmissions—which cost more money by the way—so nothing would be gained by putting them at risk.’ She folded her arms across her chest.

‘What about the risk here if you have an influx of sick patients and minimum staff to care for everybody? I’ll have a list of other possibles anyway, please, Sister Forrest.’

He watched her shrug and realised she probably thought he hadn’t heard a word she’d said.

Cate tilted her chin. ‘Then it’s on your head.’

‘That’s what my head is here for.’ His attempt at humour failed to draw a smile and she stared stonily back at him. He shrugged. He had other things to worry about. ‘I assume you’re aware that I’ve taken over from Mr Beamish in the interim as this hospital’s CEO?’

‘The news had made it to my desk, yes.’ She glanced at her watch.

Noah could feel his temper rise. So he was holding her up, was he? ‘I hope I can rely on your support during this unsettled time, then.’

‘Of course,’ she said. So why did he feel that her fingers must be crossed behind her back?

Then she said, ‘I always have the hospital’s best interests at heart.’ This time her voice wasn’t so meek. Her pager sounded and she tilted her chin before moving away.

Noah shook his head. Right. He’d have her support as long as she totally agreed with his plans, and he watched her turn the corner towards Intensive Care without looking back. But she didn’t know whom she was up against. He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully at the spot where she’d disappeared from view.

Cate couldn’t get away fast enough. Bumping into Noah Masters straight after seeing Iris had left her in turmoil. She’d actually felt comforted by his strong grip on her arms and her step back had been a defence against the inexplicable desire to stay and lean on him for a moment.

Of all the people to feel like leaning on! She needed to get a grip on things. Why hadn’t Brett come so she could stop worrying about it hanging over her head? She hoped it wasn’t going to be awkward to see Brett but it was the first time face to face since they’d broken their engagement.

Luckily she was busy. The rain continued and the calls from marooned staff members also flooded in. Cate glanced out of the corridor window as she made another trip to Maternity and realised that if the rain kept up she’d be one more person blocked by rising waters from going home. Though after her phone call to her parents earlier, she knew her brother was at home now. They said they’d manage fine without her. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

Cate pulled open the door to Maternity. Michelle and Leif were going home a day early with baby Lachlan and they were waiting to say goodbye. Early on Tuesday morning, Cate’s sleep in the nurses’ quarters had been interrupted to set up for an emergency Caesarean section when baby Lachlan’s descent through his mother’s pelvis had apparently stopped.

To everyone’s relief, he’d made his precipitous arrival in the normal way in the operating theatres before the surgeon had scrubbed his hands.

‘Lachlan looks much better this morning, Michelle. And so do you.’ The new parents looked up and smiled, and Cate’s day brightened to see the baby feed contentedly at his mother’s breast.

Michelle was small-boned and blonde, and she stroked her son’s thick crop of black hair. ‘Thanks, Cate. It’s amazing how much they change in just two days. He was so blue and his head was such a strange shape when he was born.’

Cate grinned as she remembered the marked moulding of Lachlan’s head caused by his squeeze through his mother’s pelvis. ‘I remember. Thank goodness babies’ skull bones are designed to do it. If he’d just tucked his chin in he would have made it much easier on both of you.’

Leif laughed. ‘And your sleep. He was such a cone head. When I asked if his head would change shape, the doctor said if newborn heads didn’t there’d be a lot of funny looking people walking around town. That’s when I knew he was going to be all right.’ They all laughed at the mental picture of a town full of people with misshapen heads. ‘Everyone has taken such good care of us.’

‘And so we should.’ Cate had gone to school with Michelle’s older sister. The beauty of working in a small town hospital was that she knew most of the patients or at least one of their relatives.

The new parents wanted to make sure they could make it home before their road was cut off.

‘Now, you’re sure you have enough supplies?’ Cate stroked Lachlan’s tiny hand as he lay in his mother’s arms.

Michelle reached up and kissed Cate’s cheek. ‘Leif’s picked up everything on the list this morning and we have enough stuff to last us a couple of weeks. Hopefully the flood won’t linger, but luckily our house is on a hill. At worst we’ll be on an island, but I want to be home if that happens.’

‘Of course you do. Good luck and hopefully the roads won’t be shut long. Remember to ring the ward if you’re unsure about anything to do with you, breastfeeding or Lachlan.’

Cate left them to pack the car in dashes through the rain, and got on with her own work, but she couldn’t help comparing her life to that of Michelle.

Michelle was five years younger than Cate’s thirty years. She already had a husband who adored her and a new son and her own tiny farmhouse on the outskirts of town. It sounded idyllic and Cate sighed.

Something was missing in her life and she could almost see herself ending up alone, with nothing but patients and cows to look after, when all she had ever wanted had been a home and family. Even Iris had had a child and Cate was beginning to wonder if she’d ever have a baby of her own.

Perhaps that fear had been a factor in allowing her relationship with Brett to grow. She’d grown up with the local boys as friends. As casual boyfriends they hadn’t seemed to mind the fact that she was better at most things than they had been, but Cate had never found any reason to become heavily involved with someone she’d known.

Until Brett had returned from medical school to complete his residency in Emergency at Riverbank. He’d stormed her citadel with flowers and pretty words and hadn’t been intimidated by Cate being in charge—quite the opposite. Their pairing had seemed to suit all round.

Early on he hadn’t seemed so self-centred and perhaps she’d encouraged him to expect her to look after him. Iris’s comment that Brett needed someone to lean on him to bring out his best could be very true. She’d thought that together they could have made a good life, although to be honest she’d seen herself as the stronger of the two. To achieve a love affair like her parents’ might have been stretching the fantasy, but her dream of a caring husband and a home and family had seemed within her grasp.

And Cate had always admired Iris. Over the course of her twelve-month engagement with Brett, she’d stifled the doubts that had crept in occasionally because of that. She wasn’t proud of almost marrying a man she hadn’t loved. She should really thank her brother Ben for making it impossible for her to follow Brett to Sydney like he’d wanted. With the choice between leaving her parents to manage on their own and her loyalties to Brett, who had wanted Cate to himself, Brett had come a poor second.

But now her future alone seemed to stretch ahead of her. It would be better once Brett was here and she could stop worrying that he might expect to take up where he’d left off—or that she might be tempted…

Speaking of temptation, there had been that feeling of Noah Masters’s hands not so long ago, resting gentle but strong on her shoulders. Cate shrugged her shoulders and stormed to her office. Of course the phone was ringing and Cate reminded herself that there was no time for temptation when there was work to be done.

She reached across the desk to lift the phone to her ear just as a shadow darkened her doorway. Noah Masters blew into the room like a hail-filled cloud and seemed to shrink her office to half its size.

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