Sometimes temporary...

...leads to forever!

Dr. Jessica Ayers had the perfect life—until her boyfriend betrayed her. Vowing never to get close to anyone again, she decides being a locum doc suits her just fine! Until she meets dynamic, dashing Dr. Harrison Wainwright... But divorcé Harrison only has room in his life for his son. He’s clearly as wary of love as she is, yet could this guarded single dad be everything Jessica didn’t know she needed?

Married to the man she met at eighteen, SUSANNE HAMPTON is the mother of two adult daughters, Orianthi and Tina. She has enjoyed a varied career path, but finally found her way to her favourite role of all: Medical Romance author. Susanne has always read romance novels and says, ‘I love a happy-ever-after, so writing for Mills & Boon is a dream come true.’

Also by Susanne Hampton

Unlocking the Doctor’s Heart

Back in Her Husband’s Arms

Falling for Dr December

Midwife’s Baby Bump

A Baby to Bind Them

A Mummy to Make Christmas

Twin Surprise for the Single Doc

White Christmas for the Single Mum

The Doctor’s Cinderella

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

Mending the Single Dad’s Heart

Susanne Hampton

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08992-0

MENDING THE SINGLE DAD’S HEART

© 2019 Susanne Panagaris

Published in Great Britain 2019

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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To everyone who has ever had their heart broken,

only to pick themselves up, dust themselves

off and find their new happily-ever-after.

And to my amazing new editor, Victoria.

It has been a pleasure getting to know you…

and I truly love your work!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

EPILOGUE

Extract

About the Publisher

CHAPTER ONE

DR JESSICA AYERS paused for a moment to secure the weighty oversized handbag slipping from her shoulder. She needed to gain some level of composure before she stepped from the thirty-six-seat twin-propeller plane that had just endured a somewhat bumpy landing at Armidale Airport. The landing, however, was the least of her concerns, since ‘bumpy’ was on a par with the rest of her life anyway.

Drawing a deep breath to fill her lungs, she attempted to quell the rising anxiety she always felt when she arrived in unfamiliar surroundings. Constantly moving to new places was by her own design, but it still unnerved her a little and gave her an overwhelming sense of déjà-vu. One that she feared would never end. Another town. Another short-lived new beginning. In six weeks she would move on again.

Her willingness to fill in for local paediatricians on leave across the country allowed Jessica to move regularly around Australia. There was never time to plant roots or get comfortable. And that was how she wanted it to be, because neither were in her plans. Not any more. The idea of long-term in any part of her life was gone. Badly hurt, and carrying a level of shame for loving the wrong man, Jessica had decided there was no such thing as a happily-ever-after for her. She was now a rolling stone. Gathering no moss and with no ties to anyone.

And falling in love again was definitely not going to happen. It only brought heartache. And Jessica didn’t want any part of that. Not ever again.

She doubted she was strong enough to survive another disappointment, unlike her best friend, Cassey, who seemed to rush back onto the online dating scene after each failed relationship. And there had been many. Jessica wasn’t sure if that had compounded her opinion about men and love but it didn’t matter. She was over it all. She knew for certain there was no good man in her future, only heartache waiting to happen if she travelled that road again.

Jessica was not an optimist like Cassey.

She glanced up into the overcast sky. It was close to five o’clock on a June afternoon, it was blowing a gale and the cloud-covered sun was beginning to bid farewell to the cold winter day. She held onto the rain-dampened handrail with her woollen glove and quickly realised that was not the best idea. Now her glove was wet. With a sigh, she took the seven steps down to the ground, collecting more droplets of water as she held on tightly. The wind pushed and pulled at her and she struggled to keep her steps in line as she slipped off one soggy and one dry glove and made her way over to the pile of small carry-ons assembled under the wing of the plane. Space restrictions in the tiny overhead lockers meant none of the bags had been allowed in the cabin. Jessica’s was easily recognisable from the pool of small black bags and quickly she reached down and wrapped her now bare and cold fingers around the handle of the compact silver hard case that matched her other luggage. She had always liked the things she could control in her life as it helped to have a sense of order. It was a trait passed down from her father, a military man. It was a pity that was not how she lived any more. Nothing much in her personal life bore much semblance to order.

She attempted to brush away the thick wisps of her hair blowing haphazardly across her face, almost obstructing her view as she walked across the windy tarmac. Still deep in thought, Jessica put one foot in front of the other as she fought hard not to be blown away by the fierce breeze that had made their landing jerky. Her jacket had blown open and the wind cut through her thin sweater as she avoided the puddles of water. Armidale’s chill was nothing like the muggy Sydney weather she had left behind.

Silently she questioned with each of her considered steps what she was doing. Not the last hour, taking the flight, nor last month, accepting another temporary Paediatric Consultant position, ironically covering the resident paediatrician’s honeymoon, at Armidale Regional Memorial Hospital. No, instead Jessica wondered what she was doing with her life. Her lips wilted at the corners the way they always did when she allowed disappointment in herself to creep back. But a moment’s pity was all she would allow. She couldn’t afford to fall in a heap because there was no one to pick her up.

She only had herself. Her parents had both passed. Her father had died when she was sixteen and her mother three years ago. As an only child, Jessica had no siblings to turn to now, only cousins and friends, but they were all either settling down and having families or travelling the world before they settled down, married and had a family. And Jessica didn’t even have a boyfriend, nor would she ever again. Marriage wasn’t in the stars for her. She’d thought it was, she had even wandered into wedding gown boutiques to gaze at the stunning white lace and satin creations hanging in rows and pictured which one she would wear when she walked down the aisle to Tom, the man of her dreams.

She had always imagined a flower girl and a pageboy and a stunning bridal bouquet of white roses and a quaint church with the setting sun shining softly through the stained-glass windows. And her groom waiting at the altar, where they would hold hands and make a commitment to love each other for the rest of their lives. But not any more because trust was the foundation of marriage and Jessica didn’t trust men. They lied, they made promises they couldn’t keep and they broke hearts, sometimes more than one at a time, with their actions.

Biting the inside of her cheek, Jessica dragged her bag into the small terminal. With no romantic dreams, she had to make the best of what she did have and that was a six-week placement in a hospital in the middle of country New South Wales. She’d not worked in a rural city or large country town, and Armidale had been referred to as both. She tugged hard on her bag to lift it over the slight step. It wasn’t a particularly heavy bag, as her shoes, clothes and other belongings were packed into her checked luggage; she was just taking out frustration on an inanimate object and potentially using more force than was logically required. Just as the wind outside had been doing to her. Jessica Ayers was being a little unnecessarily rough. It was that simple. She wasn’t as patient as she had once been with people, and definitely not with awkward carry-on-sized suitcases.

The weather outside had made her feel as if she had flown in on a broomstick but she knew she would settle in a day or two. She always did. Adapt to her new environment but not stay long enough to get close to anyone—that had been her modus operandi for close to a year. It was getting more difficult each time and Jessica had begun to admit to herself that she was growing tired of running. Now she was facing yet another new beginning that wouldn’t change a thing or bring her close to being the person she had once been: an optimistic young doctor who loved life and thought she had found the man to love her as much as she loved him.

It had been twelve months, and her heart was still numb and her mind racked with shame for almost tearing a family apart. A family she knew nothing about. She couldn’t come to terms with what had happened, nor could she settle her feelings and, as a result, herself geographically. Was she the victim? Or the perpetrator? She still wasn’t sure. But the one thing she was sure of was the need to keep moving. Although the disappointment she felt still followed her wherever she went. Disappointment in the man who had deceived her and deceived his wife. And disappointment in herself. She no longer trusted her own judgement.

The idea that she had been the other woman tore at her core. Upsetting thoughts about herself and how she should have known better had a way of creeping into her mind and pitching a tent. She felt physically sick when images of Tom making love to her crept back into her mind. The man who, unbeknown to her, had a wife and children waiting at home for him. Each time she moved town she hoped the change of scenery and distance from Sydney, where he was still playing happy family, would hasten some level of amnesia around her actions or perhaps just help her to find acceptance that she couldn’t change what had happened and allow her to move on. But that was yet to happen.

Dr Jessica Ayers would spend the next six weeks in a country town where she knew no one and no one knew her. Armidale was not her forever. It was just another stopover, a place where she could hide from the rest of the world until she knew what she wanted to do with her life. A life that would never have the happily ever after she had once thought she had all wrapped up with a perfect bow.

Jessica accepted there was no fairy tale ending for her. She would only have herself and her regrets...and the wish that one day she could learn to trust herself again.

But she doubted that would ever happen.

* * *

‘Oh, God. Oh, no.’ Lost in her maudlin thoughts, Jessica didn’t notice, until she felt the bump of her carry-on bag landing on the ground, that she had run over the man’s foot as she had struggled to get inside the terminal building. Looking down, she noticed the highly polished leather loafer with a damp imprint of her wheels. ‘I’m so sorry—I didn’t see you.’

‘It’s fine,’ the deep voice comforted her, adding, ‘I’m pretty sure nothing’s broken.’

She looked up to see the stranger’s lips curve to a half smile. She couldn’t help but notice his vivid blue eyes harboured a smile too. Jessica doubted that her actions would have brought about his reaction. Running over someone’s foot could not ordinarily incite a happy response. No, this man looked like someone who had found a bowl of cream and had been swimming in it. His happiness was palpable but she wondered how deep it ran. A new love affair, perhaps? His looks would no doubt have most women swooning. A player with his choice of women to keep that smile firmly secured on his chiselled face, she surmised with absolutely no evidence. She didn’t need hard cold facts. Dr Jessica Ayers was ready to judge then quickly hang, draw and quarter each and every man who crossed her path. But, despite her misgivings about the male population, including this stranger, she knew he deserved an apology.

‘No, really, I’m sorry. I should’ve been more careful.’

‘Accidents happen. Honestly, don’t give it another thought,’ he told her with that same smile that once again made his blue eyes sparkle like sapphires against his lightly tanned skin. Perhaps the happiness wasn’t a mask. It was emanating from somewhere deep inside. Resonating from his core, his very being, and it was the most genuine smile that Jessica thought she had ever seen. No, not thought, knew. Jessica had never before seen a smile quite like his.

Without saying another word, he walked away, leaving her standing alone and a little stunned, breathless and wondering what on earth had just happened. Looking down at her feet, she shuffled nervously as she tried to bring herself back to reality. And gain some perspective on the situation. A man about whom she knew nothing except he was handsome and had stylish shoes, now with an unfortunate wet tyre imprint from her bag, had taken her breath away.

Why would she be reacting to a complete stranger that way? Or any way? She should have dismissed him as she did all men, but she hadn’t. It didn’t make sense. There was something different about him. Perhaps his reaction, perhaps something else. She wasn’t sure. Edging closer to the baggage carousel, Jessica was a little confused about why she was giving the man more than her usual thirty seconds of considered disdain. Her curiosity about the source of his happiness lingered in her thoughts. It didn’t seem put on; it seemed so real.

The call for passengers travelling to Sydney to make their way to the departure gate suddenly brought her back to reality with a thud. The reason for the man’s happiness wasn’t her concern. She had enough on her plate without thinking about anyone else. She needed to collect her luggage and make her way to the real estate office to collect the keys to her rental. It would be a tight timeline as the office closed at five-thirty. But she couldn’t help but watch him walk over to the other side of the small terminal along with the other passengers. She told herself it was her need to find the luggage carousel and not curiosity that had made her eyes follow him. Gingerly she made her way there too. Looking around, Jessica saw families hugging, reunited lovers kissing and a few like herself standing alone with no one to greet them.

There was no one waiting to greet him either.

That she kept noticing him was beginning to irritate her. She assumed it was because he was the first person she had spoken to since arriving at her new temporary home and the first man she had run over with a suitcase. She was definitely overthinking everything she decided and purposely looked away.

Within moments an array of suitcases, predominantly black with an occasional colour variation dotted among them, and oversized backpacks began to push their way through the grey rubber flaps and onto the carousel. A pushchair appeared and even a surfboard. The terminal was too small to have a separate oversized items area. Quickly her fellow passengers retrieved their bags while still chatting to their companions. One by one they began to exit the terminal. She spun around and found the handsome stranger had gone too. She wasn’t sure why, but she wished he was still there. Strangely, his disappearance made her feel alone again.

Jessica pulled her concentration back to the job at hand. Finding her bag and doing it quickly so she wasn’t homeless that night. With concern mounting, she watched as the carousel emptied one case at a time until there were none in sight. And no one still waiting empty-handed like her. Her stomach fell as she moved closer to the rubber slats. She peered through to see no more bags waiting to emerge. Anxiously her eyes darted about as she chewed the inside of her cheek again. It was becoming a habit she knew she had to shake. Looking out to the tarmac through the expanse of floor-to-ceiling windows, Jessica could see the bags for the next flight out of Armidale being loaded into the plane. The same plane in which she had arrived. It was a one plane airport. There was no more luggage being taken off. She had to accept her bags had clearly never made it onto the plane in Sydney. Or they’d made it onto another plane heading for God alone knew where, the idea of which was far too upsetting for Jessica to consider at that time.

The only possessions she had with her were the contents of her handbag, her laptop and some notebooks tucked inside her carry-on.

A rising sense of loss surged through her and almost brought her to tears. She had no belongings...not even a toothbrush...nothing and no one in the world belonging to her.

Jessica was once again reminded that she was alone. In a strange town far from the place she’d once called home.

* * *

Dr Harrison Wainwright stepped from the Armidale Airport terminal and into the now darkening car park. It was cold and crisp, the way he liked it. He had sorely missed the clean fresh country air. It was still damp from a light shower before they’d arrived and that made it even better in his mind as it more readily carried his favourite scents of hay and eucalyptus. He paused for a moment to fill his lungs like a man who had been starved of oxygen. Winter in Armidale was his favourite time of year and he didn’t try and mask his happiness. Los Angeles was not his type of town at any time of the year and six days breathing air heavy with smog was six days too many.

With the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper he had picked up at the airport that morning tucked under one arm, he steered his suitcase to the cab rank. Harrison was conscious of the lightness of his steps, despite having just had his foot run over by the pretty stranger inside the terminal. Perhaps more than merely pretty, he mused. Beautiful was closer to the mark, he decided as he allowed his mind to slip back momentarily to when he’d noticed the emerald hue of her eyes, the softness of alabaster skin and ash blonde hair that skimmed her shoulders. The windswept curls that framed her heart-shaped face.

But there was something behind her eyes that struck him and played on his mind as he waited for the cab. She was stunning in an almost hauntingly sad way. A little lost. She was not from around the town he called home. She must be travelling through or visiting.

He pushed the image of her face and the questions he had about the purpose of her travelling to Armidale from his mind. He was not going there again. Curiosity about a beautiful stranger in his town had completely changed the course of his life once before. And almost ruined it. Not to mention threatened his sanity over the years. He would never let himself travel that path again. He was finally closing that horrendous chapter and was ready to move on. It had been five years of something close to hell but he had emerged and would never let his heart rule his head again. He was finally happy... Well, his new version of happy.

With his chin jutted in defiance he waved down the cab that was approaching and banished the stunning stranger’s face from his mind. Finally, he was back home with the outcome he had so desperately wanted. And nothing and no one was going to steer him off course again.

With the custody papers in hand and the signed divorce papers on their way to him in the coming days, he would soon be officially a free man. It was as if a burden he had carried for so very long had disappeared overnight. Nothing could make him happier than the knowledge that now he could move on without the possibility of one day losing his son in a custody battle. No threat of his son living across two continents. No arranging proposed maternal visits that never eventuated. No more explaining to the five-year-old boy why his mother promised to visit and never did. He could finally look into his son’s innocent blue eyes and know Armidale would be their forever home. And Harrison Wainwright was determined to be the best single dad possible.

He pushed away the surge of anger that threatened to ruin his victory. He had what he wanted and he had to let the hurt and broken promises go. He was determined to release the sadness and disappointment that had consumed his waking moments for years. But Harrison was a realist and he knew it would take time.

Being in a relationship would never again be an option for him. From that day forward, it would just be Harrison and Bryce. There was no need and no room to invite anyone else in their lives. His house and his heart were full.

And he would never risk his son being hurt again.

CHAPTER TWO

‘EXCUSE ME, MISS. Can I help you?’

Jessica was so preoccupied she didn’t hear the male voice behind her. The empty luggage carousel mirrored her life more than she cared to acknowledge. The fact there was nothing to see consumed her attention. The sound of the aircraft engine starting finally forced her to glance over to the thirty-six-seat plane taxiing down the runway in preparation for take-off into the stormy early evening sky. Her missing bags meant she would not be sleeping in her favourite pyjamas that night. And that was assuming she was able to collect the keys to her rental property and actually had a bed for the night.

It was all a little overwhelming and she wasn’t entirely sure what she was going to do. That had been a regular state of mind for a while and completely out of character from the old Jessica. She had always known what to do, even as a teenager. Forget having a social life, she had her head in her textbooks, even on weekends. She’d excelled at school every year until the final year. Then she’d graduated top of the class with perfect end-of-year examination results that saw her in the top twenty students across the entire state of South Australia, which meant her higher education study preference of a medical degree was guaranteed along with being presented to the Premier at Government House. Straight out of school, Jessica Ayers had been on her trajectory to becoming Dr Jessica Ayers, Paediatric Consultant. She’d considered specialising in paediatric surgery and did head down that path and gained the skills but, after a year of surgical study, she’d decided that it was the interaction with children offered by the Consultant’s position that made her the happiest.

Over the years there had been few boyfriends to distract her. No jam-packed social calendar to compete with her study schedule. Nothing to prevent her from achieving her lifetime goal. Including her vision, from her very first day in medical school, of one day being Head of Paediatrics at a large teaching hospital. Jessica Ayers had been an unashamed planner.

But there were some things in life she couldn’t plan. Some things had just occurred without any decision-making by Jessica. Some of them were very sad, such as losing her father while she was still in high school so he never saw her graduate from medical school, and then losing her mother when she was thirty. At least she was grateful that neither had witnessed her fall from grace in dating a married man.

Now she was flying by the seat of her pants in regard to everything and anything...and she wasn’t very good at it.

‘Miss, I asked if I can help you.’

Jessica turned her attention to the uniformed older man standing behind her; his bomber-style jacket was emblazoned with the Armidale Airport logo.

‘My name is Garry; I’m with the airport. I’m assuming you’re still waiting here because your bag, or bags, didn’t arrive?’

She feared her distracted state might have given the appearance of being dismissive. She felt sure she was on a roll in managing to offend her adopted new town’s population one person at a time. Damaging one man’s foot and being plain rude to another.

‘Bags—there’s two of them—and I’m sorry, Garry, I didn’t mean to be impolite.’

‘Think nothing of it. You seem a little frazzled. Have you been on a long haul flight and then a connection to get you here? A handful of our passengers came in today from Los Angeles. The Armidale Romance Writers group attended a conference in the US and four of them just came back. My sister-in-law is one of them, that’s why I know, and one of our doctors was over in America as well, not that he attended the romance conference,’ he said with a wry smile. He added, ‘It’s a country airport, what can I say, there’s not much gossip that gets past the ground staff here.’

‘Well, I haven’t flown too far at all. I’ve just done fifty minutes from Sydney so I definitely can’t blame my poor manners or distracted state on jet lag...’

‘You might not have done a long-haul trip but missing bags is a stress all of its own, so let’s see if I can help.’

Jessica wondered for a moment if she had entered some parallel universe. Was this town in country New South Wales the friendliest place on earth? This man was being so kind and helpful, just as the man, whose face was still etched on her mind, had been so gallant about her clumsiness. Immediately, she pushed away the image she still had of the first man, the one she’d run over, but she knew it was more than his appearance that was lingering. There was something about him that was not easy to forget, for some strange reason. But she had to do just that. She had to find her bags and get to her accommodation or face being homeless.

‘It’s been a long day and I have to get to the realtor by five-thirty to get the keys to my rental property...and I have nothing except these,’ she told him tilting her head in the direction of her carry-on and her handbag that she was holding up.

‘I must apologise that the rest of your bags didn’t arrive. It doesn’t happen too often, I must say, but that doesn’t help you. If I can have your name I’ll start the process to find them.’

‘Dr Jessica Ayers,’ she replied.

‘Nice to meet you, Dr Ayers,’ he said as he reached for the extended handle of her carry-on bag.

‘Please call me Jessica.’

‘Certainly, Jessica. Let’s get you over to check-in,’ he said, pointing to the other side of the terminal. He added, ‘I can get some more details and chase the bags up for you. If you can give me the baggage receipt that was issued with your boarding pass, I’ll call through to Sydney and make sure that your bags are sent here on the next flight, which is at eleven-thirty—’

‘That’s late but at least there’s another flight coming in tonight,’ Jessica cut in with a faint strand of renewed hope colouring her voice. Excitedly she handed over the documents he requested and then followed him from the departure and arrival lounges and in the direction of the main entrance.

The man’s brow wrinkled as he shook his head from side to side and with it swept away Jessica’s hope of a swift solution.

‘Unfortunately, your flight was the final one from Sydney today. There next one arrives at eleven-thirty tomorrow morning and I can have your bags couriered to your home,’ he said as he maintained a fast pace. He was a man on a mission and that gave Jessica some small level of comfort as she kept up with him.

‘My home? I have no idea if I’ll have one. I think my deadline to pick up the keys from the realtor is just about to pass.’

He raised his wrist and glanced at his watch as they reached the check-in counter. ‘It’s five-fifteen but a cab can have you into Armidale in ten minutes. Let me make a call to the agent and ask them to stay back in case you’re a few minutes late getting there.’

‘Do you honestly think they will?’ she asked, confident that in her home town of Sydney there would be somewhere between a fat chance and absolutely none that they would actually remain open for her. Their care factor about her having to find accommodation for a night would be around about the same—zero.

‘Do you have the business name?’

‘There’s more than one in town?’

Garry smirked and shook his head. ‘Armidale is actually a rural city and we have hot running water, traffic lights...and more than one real estate agent.’

Jessica felt quite silly. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘No need to apologise. You’re obviously a big city girl. Is this your first visit here?’

Jessica nodded sheepishly as she scrolled through her emails on her mobile phone until she found the realtor’s name. ‘Dunstan Boyd is the property manager—’ she paused as she squinted to read the fine print in the signature block on the email ‘—at...’

‘Boyd and Associates Real Estate,’ Garry finished her sentence.

Jessica dropped her chin a little and stared up at him curiously. ‘You know them?’

‘Yes,’ he told her. ‘My sister-in-law works there. Not that I thought you’d have any trouble anyway, and we do have some nice motels in town if there was a problem, but I can almost guarantee she, or one of her colleagues, will stay back and you won’t be homeless.’

Jessica drew breath and then emptied her lungs just as quickly with relief at Garry’s announcement. While she had nothing to wear and she would have to wash her underwear in the basin and dry it over the bath, she would at least have somewhere to do that.

‘Now, if you can give me your contact details, someone from the airport will call you tomorrow and arrange to have your bags sent to you when they arrive.’ He pulled a pen and paper from the pocket of his bomber jacket.

Jessica took the pen and paper and scribbled down her mobile telephone number, which he then tucked back in his jacket pocket as they walked outside to the cab rank.

‘It might be best sending them to the Armidale Regional Memorial Hospital,’ she told him as she tugged her jacket up around her neck. The air was even colder than when she’d alighted from the plane. ‘I’ll be there so they’ll be no one at home to collect them, that’s assuming you’re right and I have a home.’

‘You’ll have a home, Jessica. Don’t worry.’

There was an empty cab already there and no one else waiting. Garry opened the rear door of the cab for Jessica and she quickly climbed in the back as he leant in the open front window and spoke to the driver.

‘Can you please take this young lady to Boyd and Associates Real Estate, Twenty-nine Marsh Street.’

‘Sure.’

Flooded with a relief she’d thought impossible ten minutes previously, Jessica put the window down. ‘Thank you so much,’ she said as the cab pulled away from the kerb.

‘You’re very welcome.’

* * *

Garry was right; his sister-in-law’s colleague didn’t mind staying back and the cab driver waited while she rushed inside. The young man asked her for identification, had her sign two documents and then gave her the house keys and the keys to the rental car that had been left that morning in her driveway. Jessica had arranged for everything to be in the one place, and it was a glimpse of her previous attention to detail. Although twelve months ago she would have shipped clothes ahead and arranged for the local dry-cleaner to press and hang them in her closet and have the pantry and refrigerator stocked with low-fat food. The kind that Tom liked. Tom, the womanising, cheating bastard whose cholesterol levels she had worried about for the better part of a year.

But, thanks to said two-timing low-life, the Jessica of late was nowhere near that organised when it came to her personal needs. On the job, though, she hadn’t changed. She was as dedicated and focused with her patients as she had ever been.

‘Call me on my mobile if you have any questions. It’s a nice little house, clean, tidy and fully furnished, as you saw in the photos. I think you’ll like the street.’

Jessica was not about to be fussy. A bed and bath was all she needed right now, and a car for the morning to get her to the hospital.

‘I’m sure it will be great and thank you again for staying back for me,’ she said as she held on tight to both sets of keys as if they were her lifeline.

‘Not a problem, happy to help.’

* * *

Half an hour later, with two bags of groceries on the back seat, the cab pulled up in the front of the darkened house. The amiable cab driver from the airport pick-up had kept the meter running while Jessica had signed the lease and picked up the keys, then stopped for milk, bread, oatmeal, fresh fruit and other staples, including bubble bath, a toothbrush and toothpaste from the small grocery store that stayed open until ten o’clock every night.

Her new role began bright and early the next day so she wanted to have a nice home-cooked dinner and an early night, followed by a reasonable breakfast. She knew that she would hit the ground running and had no idea if she would get a lunch break so needed to be prepared for a long day on her feet on the wards and potentially even in surgery if required. In a smaller hospital the roles and duties were sometimes less defined and far broader in nature than in the city hospitals and she had the surgical experience if called upon.

* * *

Jessica took a brief study of the street as the cab turned in. It was tree-lined and had a simple prettiness about it. Very country, she mused silently as she noticed the houses either side of the one she would call hers for the next six weeks were softly lit from the inside. Lights and probably open fires, she thought. Curtains were drawn but the glow could be seen from the street.

Jessica’s new temporary home had nothing to signify life at all. She wasn’t surprised. She couldn’t expect anything more than that. It wasn’t as if she knew anyone in town; there would be no one there to welcome her to the new house. It had been the same wherever she had been posted but generally she chose apartments close to the city hospitals to avoid the harsh reminder every night that she was arriving home to an empty place.

She still had her terrace home in Surry Hills, an eastern suburb of Sydney, that she kept as a base but, since Tom had spent two or three nights a week there during their year-long relationship, she chose not to actually live there any more. She would fly in and out and collect her belongings between assignments. One day she would sell it but she hadn’t set a time frame for anything much in life.

Jessica was just glad that she had a key to her rental home and would soon be soaking in a hot tub. The thought of steaming bubbles infused with lavender brought a much-needed calm to her.

The cab driver pulled the carry-on from the boot of the car as Jessica made her way up the driveway, pulling her coat up around her ears against the bitterly cold air. The sensor light switched on as she approached the front porch, showing her the facade of her accommodation. It was very homely and looked freshly painted. It was grey with white shutters and a red wooden front door. Either side of the red door was a topiary tree in a square cement pot and in front of the door was a mat emblazoned with Welcome. She was relieved to see the small hatchback rental car was parked under the carport, as she had requested. The colour matched the front door. The garden was simple but sparse with mostly lawn and an edge of low native bushes. There was nothing that looked demanding of her time and that also made her smile. Jessica was not a green thumb so took comfort in the fact she could just engage with a mowing service a few times during her stay and leave the rest to Mother Nature.

‘I can take it from here. Thank you,’ Jessica said as she put the key in the door. Turning back to the cab driver, she gave him cash to cover the fare and a little extra.

‘Are you sure you don’t need me to help you get everything inside? You have shopping too.’

‘No, I’m fine to do it myself but thank you for offering.’ Her response was genuine and ingrained. She could manage on her own. She didn’t need a man to help her. Jessica Ayers was more than capable of taking care of herself, despite everyone being so kind since she’d arrived. The friendliness of the locals was almost making her feel at home. Under different circumstances, in another lifetime, she might have even thought it would be a lovely place to live. But everywhere was temporary to Jessica now.

The driver nodded, put the fare in his pocket and, blowing warm breath on his cupped hands, walked briskly back to the cab. Along with not needing his help, Jessica hadn’t wanted to delay him any longer. They had chatted during the brief trip and she had discovered it was the end of his shift. He was heading home to his wife and newborn baby boy after he dropped her off and she appreciated he had already waited for her to do the shopping.

With the front door open, the light from the porch illuminated the interior of the house enough for Jessica to find the inside light switch. She quickly found out the freshly renovated house was as simple and tidy inside as it was out. And there was a faint hint of fresh paint and furniture polish but neither were overpowering.

‘New start for us both, hey,’ she muttered as she carried the shopping bags inside and closed the door on the cold night air and went in search of a heater, a bath and her bed.

An hour later Jessica emerged from the bathroom with her freshly washed hair piled inside a makeshift white towel turban. The central heating had warmed up the house while she had been under the shower. She had decided a soak in a bubble bath could wait as she saw there was a hairdryer in the first drawer, along with samples of shampoo and conditioner, and clean hair might distract from the clothes she would be wearing on her first day on the job. And, much to her joy, she had found a thick white bathrobe folded on her bed. Nice touches, she thought, and decided to make good use of all of them.

If at least her hair looked clean and tidy she hoped everyone might overlook the fact she was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. Thank goodness it wasn’t summer as the T-shirt she wore underneath was a gift from the plumbing service that replaced her hot water tank and their marketing slogan—If you want clean pipes, look no further—would not have been well received. Ordinarily she would never have travelled in such casual clothes, let alone considered going to work in them, but she had been pushed for time to get to the airport that afternoon and decided to stay in the clothes she had been wearing to run errands in the morning. And with the missing suitcases and no shops open, other than the grocery store, she now had no choice.

Jessica walked around the house and found it was clean, tidy and had a nice ambience to it. The furniture had character, as opposed to some of her previous rentals that had generic flat-pack-style furniture that had an impersonal motel feel. This house was homely and had recently undergone a freshen-up. All the furniture was in good condition but eclectic in style and age and she suspected it had belonged to others before it came to rest there, and that felt nice. A country home filled with furniture that came with history. One that she assumed would be country-style sweet, not sordid, as she considered her history to be.

Brushing aside thoughts of her past, Jessica made herself dinner and washed the dishes by hand. There was a dishwasher but it would have been a waste to turn it on for one dish, one glass, a knife and fork and two small pans. Besides, she had nothing much to do other than dry her hair and head to bed. She didn’t have to spend any time at all deciding what to wear on the first day of her new job—missing luggage had seen to that.

* * *

‘Are you going away again, Daddy?’

Harrison closed the story book and gently put it on the nightstand beside the bed as he looked down lovingly at his son snuggled next to him. ‘No, Bryce. Daddy’s not going anywhere.’

‘So, when I wake up you’ll be here? You won’t get on a plane and go away again?’

The innocent questions tugged at Harrison’s heart and he knew immediately he’d done the right thing in fighting for custody. For the right to keep his son safe in Armidale with those who loved him. Those who had since the day he was born. And always would.

‘I’ll be right here when you wake up and then I’ll take you over to Granny and Grandpa’s house.’

‘For breakfast?’

‘For a second breakfast, as Granny always likes to make something special for you before school,’ Harrison said as he edged off the bed and, pulling the covers up to Bryce’s ears, he ruffled his thick black hair.

Bryce giggled. ‘I hope she cooks pancakes.’

‘I do too,’ Harrison said as he kissed his son’s forehead, turned off the light and walked quietly from the room, safe in the knowledge that Bryce was right where he needed to be...and nothing and no one would ever put that at risk again.

* * *

The alarm clock ensured Jessica woke on time and found her underwear had dried on the coat hanger she had hung on the shower rail. The house had remained toasty warm overnight and she felt unusually relaxed as she lay under the warm covers surveying the room in the daylight that was creeping through the gaps in the heavy curtains. The walls were a very pale blush, so pale that she hadn’t even noticed the night before and had thought it to be cream, but now she could see the hint of colour. It was also in the bedspread and the throw cushions that Jessica had placed on the armchair the night before. There were two framed prints, both of birds, and the furniture was made of oak, including the bedhead.

For a rental, it was quite lovely, she thought as she climbed from under the covers. She could have slept in a little longer as she had over an hour before she was due at the hospital but, as always, she wanted to arrive early. She also wanted to call the airport and remind them to send her bags to the hospital the moment the plane touched down, so she could change into something more suitable as soon as possible.

A quick shower and an equally quick breakfast of oats with blue gum honey and a cup of tea followed by an equally quick phone call to the airport saw Jessica lock the front door of her home thirty minutes later. She had checked directions on her phone the night before. When she rented the house, she was made aware that it was less than ten minutes from the hospital. But then in a town the size of Armidale most homes were only that distance from where the hospital was located.

As she stepped outside into the cold morning she couldn’t help but notice the scent of the country air envelop her. It stopped her in her tracks for the briefest moment. The perfume from the large eucalyptus tree in the neighbouring yard travelled on the chilly breeze. There was no smog, no smell of heavy early morning traffic or industry. The fresh, naturally scented air was one of life’s simple pleasures that she hadn’t realised she had been missing.

Until that moment.

She wondered if there was anything else that this country town might remind her that she had been missing. A year of relatively short-term placements arranged by a national medical locum agency was beginning to grow old for Jessica, but she was scared to stop. Scared to consider other options. A sense of safety came from having the decision of what to do next made by a third party. And the security that came from not forming relationships, other than with colleagues, sat well with Jessica. While there was a sense of emptiness that couldn’t be ignored, she decided that was better than the pain of heartache that came from getting close and having it fall apart.

Moments later as she drove along, with a little nervousness stirring in her stomach as it tended to on the first day in a new role, she tried to avoid looking down at her clothes. She cringed as she caught sight of her jeans, sweater and grey and lime-green runners and prayed her bags would arrive from Sydney that morning as promised.

* * *

‘I’m Errol Langridge. It’s so lovely to meet you, Dr Ayers, and, speaking on behalf of the Board of the Armidale Regional Memorial Hospital, we’re thrilled to have you on staff, albeit for a short time.’ The older, impeccably dressed man shook Jessica’s hand gently but for the longest time. His clothing had a country feel in the blue and white check shirt and chambray trousers but the quality of both was evident. And the sincerity of his words shone through the smile in his pale blue eyes. ‘Quite a coup for us, if I do say so myself. Not often that we have a temporary position filled by someone as experienced as yourself. Short contracts are usually taken up by those straight out of medical school.’

‘I’m very happy to be here, Professor Langridge,’ Jessica replied, well aware of the status of the older doctor. She had noted his title on the letter he had sent to her when she’d accepted the role. ‘And please, Jessica is fine by me.’

‘And you must use Errol. Equality for both sexes, plus it makes me feel less than my sixty-eight years if you use my first name.’

‘Then Errol it is.’

The Professor smiled a half smile before his expression became serious with the sudden sound of an impending ambulance. The main doors of the hospital opened just as the vehicle pulled into the bay and the sound carried into the foyer. He motioned for Jessica to follow him down the corridor. His steps were fast and purposeful as he turned his head slightly to speak over his shoulder to her.

‘I think now is as good a time as any to visit the ER. You’ll see our staff doing what they do best. And, once the commotion subsides, I’ll introduce you to our Head of ER, Harrison Wainwright. You’ll be working closely with him, no doubt, as many of our paediatric patients are admitted from there. He’s been at the hospital for so long he’s almost an institution, although he’s still the good side of forty, unlike most of us in senior roles. He’s a tough taskmaster but it works for most; besides, we can’t seem to get rid of him anyway.’

Jessica’s eyes widened and her mouth drew tight as she quickly caught up with the older man. She hoped it would work for her too. Working alongside a man with an attitude was not on her wish list, particularly one they couldn’t get rid of, perhaps due to his connections or watertight contract. She suddenly felt her stomach churn again. Paediatrics was a long way from ER and hopefully their paths would not cross too often during the six weeks.

Without taking a breath, the Professor continued as his eyes wrinkled in laughter, ‘You must forgive my sense of humour or, as my wife says, my bad taste in jokes. We are eternally grateful that he’s never indicated he wants to leave us. He actually grew up around this part of the world and we’re glad he returned. The hospital couldn’t function without him. He’s brilliant and I can’t praise him enough and the medical students and patients love him. The nurses do too, but for very different reasons, I’m sure.’

Jessica wasn’t quite sure how to take the Professor’s conflicting character reference for her colleague as she followed him into the Emergency Department. While he’d quelled her concerns on one hand, she certainly didn’t want to go near the reason the nurses loved the man.

A stretcher suddenly rushed past them, making Jessica draw in her breath as if that would give them more room. It was a silly reaction and made no sense to her, particularly as a doctor accustomed to the Emergency Department of a great number of hospitals, but not much had made sense in the last few days. The first patient, a young woman, had been immobilised with a cervical collar, so a neck injury had clearly been suspected by the paramedics, and her right leg was in a splint; by her appearance, Jessica assumed she was a teenager. She stepped back again quickly as a second barouche approached them.

‘Motor vehicle accident,’ the paramedic began as they wheeled the patients into bays opposite each other as directed by the nursing staff. ‘Two passengers. Female suspected spinal cord injury, broken ankle and minor lacerations. Male with lacerations to hand and forehead. No other visible or apparent injury.’

The second accompanying young male patient had a bandage to his head but he was alert and firing questions at everyone. His hand was also bandaged but other than that he appeared unscathed by whatever incident had occurred. A female paramedic attempted to calm and comfort him but it appeared to be to no avail. Quickly the medical team approached and an immediate handover ensued. The second patient was assigned two nurses and a young doctor, whom she suspected was an intern, while the first with the serious injuries had the attention of many more of the ER staff. The alert patient was distressed but appeared under control.

Suddenly another stretcher entered the ER with two paramedics in tow. ‘Hit and run on Mundy Street. Suspected fractured femur. Female, seventy-three years of age.’

‘Dr Steele, once you assess your patient, if there’s no immediate risk, please leave him with the nurses and attend to our elderly patient,’ a deep voice called out from beside the young female patient in the adjacent bay. Jessica could see the back of a tall man in a white consultant’s coat. He stood over six foot, close to six foot two, she guessed. The deepest brown, almost black hair and a commanding presence by the way everyone looked to him for instruction. She suspected he was the Head of ER about whom Errol had been speaking only moments earlier.

Jessica watched the young doctor speak briefly with the two nurses and then, as instructed, head over to the paramedics and the new arrival.

It certainly was a busy Emergency Department, just as Errol had told her only minutes before, but it was running smoothly and that was no easy task as there were already patients in another two bays being attended by staff. Jessica couldn’t help but agree the department was a well-oiled machine. No one hesitated or appeared to be second-guessing. The Head of ER was, in Jessica’s mind, to be admired. It took a high level of calm, an ability to triage patients and manage staff with a good understanding of their strengths and their skills to maintain a calm environment for the patients.

Jessica watched on in silence as the empty bay was filled with another patient, transferred from the stretcher onto the hospital gurney. That level of synergy and professionalism was exactly what she hoped to maintain in Paediatrics during her time at the hospital.

But within moments that very calm began to dissipate.

The young man left in the nurses’ care suddenly tugged his arm away from the petite nurse and attempted to climb down from the bed. His feet were almost on the ground.

‘It’s all my fault...it’s all my fault,’ he repeated loudly, the words spurred by unbridled emotion. ‘I need to see her. I need to say sorry and see she’s okay.’

Jessica was aware the young nurse was struggling to contain the situation and the ER did not need an overly emotional patient breaking free and interfering with another patient’s treatment in order to purge his guilt.

Jessica spun around to the dispenser behind her and donned a pair of disposable gloves and a disposable gown from the top of a nearby pile. ‘Excuse me, Professor. I’d like to start my shift now, if that’s all right with you.’

Errol looked a little confused but nodded as Jessica headed over to the bay where the ruckus was taking place.

‘I’m Dr Ayers and I’d like to help you,’ she announced as she firmly placed her hand on his legs and then lifted them back onto the gurney.

The nurses both looked at Jessica in surprise and she picked up on their confusion.

‘I thought you could use some assistance. I’m locum Paediatric Consultant. I commenced at the hospital this morning and must apologise that I’ve not been issued with my ID yet,’ she told them as she motioned towards Errol, aware her current clothing, still visible under the thin blue gown, made her look anything but a medical professional. ‘Professor Langridge can vouch for me.’

The older nurse glanced over at Errol, who was nodding his consent, while the younger one took Jessica at face value and together they attempted to control the situation.

‘Can you please give me your name?’ Jessica asked the young patient while she assessed the proximity of the medical equipment within the bay. A stethoscope lay on the portable trolley nearby so she scooped it up and popped it around her neck. The young man began to calm slightly as if he knew fighting was futile as the nurse attached the monitors to him to record his heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen saturation.

‘I want to help you while the medical team in the bay opposite help the young woman who came in with you. Her injuries clearly appear more serious but we will be undertaking a medical examination of you to ensure that yours are in fact only superficial. In motor vehicle accidents you can sustain internal injuries that are not instantly apparent. Before I begin, can I have please have your full name and age?’

‘Cody Smith, and that’s my girlfriend over there,’ he said as he raised his hand and pointed to the other bay.

‘Can you please give me her name and age?’ the young nurse asked. ‘So I can pass that information onto the ER team looking after her.’

‘Let me tell them,’ he said, trying to pull away from the nurses again. ‘I just want to say I’m sorry to her.’

‘That won’t be happening. Please remain still; I need to check your eyes.’ Jessica’s words were firm and to the point as she held his chin and shone the light into the young man’s left eye and then the right one.

‘My eyes are fine. They’re not bleedin’ or nothing.’

‘Cody, as I said before, some injuries are not obvious so there won’t necessarily be bleeding, but a mild head injury can still be sustained from a car accident. You may have suffered whiplash and it can result in impaired vision or other problems and symptoms are varied. Do you have trouble focusing your eyes when switching your gaze between near and far objects?’

‘Nah, I’m good,’ he replied. ‘I can read the exit sign and her name thing.’ He pointed to the nurse’s identification tag.

‘Do you feel nauseous, as if you are going to vomit when you look around?’

‘Nah, I’m all good, I told you already. It’s me girlfriend I’m worried about.’

‘No, Cody. That is not an option,’ she continued. ‘Even if you are fine, you need to understand that if you were to rush over there to help her, you would in fact be doing just the opposite. You could get in the way of the medical team and put your girlfriend at risk.’

‘I don’t wanna do nothing but help her.’

‘Then, as the nurse said, you can help her by giving us her name and age.’

‘Ginny Randolf. She’s seventeen.’

‘Thank you,’ Jessica said as she continued the examination and noted his response to the light stimulation was within normal limits.

‘I’ll pass on her details and come right back,’ the younger nurse said as she headed over to the other patient.

‘And how old are you?’ Jessica enquired while checking the young man’s pupils for dilation.

‘I’m sixteen.’

‘Okay, Cody, we are going to have to take some blood samples and check your alcohol level. Have you been drinking?’

‘No. I’m on my probationary licence. That’s not why we crashed. Is that what you think happened? Do you think I was drink-driving?’ His voice was shrill and once again Jessica needed to placate him.

‘I’m not assuming anything.’ Her voice was low and calm as she met his eyes. ‘This is routine and not because I suspect anything, Cody. It’s just that with any motor vehicle accident a blood test for alcohol and other drugs is mandatory.’

‘I can’t drink on a probationary licence. I’m an apprentice chippy. I’m not looking to lose my job with a baby on the way. Ginny’s nine weeks pregnant.’

Jessica and the nurse immediately looked at each other and, without a word exchanged, the second nurse disappeared to pass on the crucial information. Pregnancy would certainly complicate the situation if there were suspected internal injuries and the chance of miscarriage was a concern.

‘We found out a few weeks ago.’

He rested back down on his elbows, not taking his eyes off the opposite bay but seemingly finally accepting the need to comply—and the fact a towering male nurse had just approached to assist would not allow him to do otherwise.

‘We were arguing about when she would tell her parents. They don’t like me. I wanted her to hold off a bit longer so they didn’t try to force her to get rid of the baby. She told me she was gonna tell them tonight and I got scared and distracted and I didn’t see the merging lane. We went off the road and hit the fence.’

A nurse suddenly pulled a curtain around the young man’s girlfriend.

‘What’s happening? Why are they doing that? Is she okay?’ Cody’s questions came flying at Jessica and the nurse as he sat bolt upright again.

‘Your girlfriend is in good hands,’ Jessica told him. ‘And, thanks to you, the team know there’s another tiny life growing inside of her so they will be doing everything possible to treat them both.’

‘Please can you go and check? I need to know what’s happening. I’m freaking out here. She’s gotta be okay.’

Jessica reluctantly agreed. She wasn’t even officially on staff yet so not keen to overstep protocols further than she already had but she knew Cody’s anxious state was escalating by the minute with the curtain obscuring his view and it wouldn’t end well if he raced over there. The young man was physically fine and the other nurses had returned to monitor his observations so she headed over to enquire about the status of his partner—the mother of his unborn child.

With each step she took, she prayed fate would not change the course of their young lives.

She quietly and tentatively parted the curtain and peered inside the bay to see the back of the doctor undertaking an ultrasound examination of the young woman. He had been informed of her pregnancy and was obviously prioritising the baby. It all seemed calm so she didn’t feel the need to interrupt.

‘The baby is fine; there’s a strong heartbeat and no obvious signs of distress, Ginny,’ she heard him say. ‘I’m sorry you can’t see the screen that I am looking at right now. I can share those images later with you. But for the time being we need to keep you flat until we can properly assess the damage to your neck and back. I believe it is muscular as you do not have any of the symptoms I would expect to see with a spinal injury. I need to send you for an MRI—it’s not an X-ray so it’s perfectly safe for your baby and it will allow us to assess any neck, spinal or ankle injuries. You and your baby are both paramount to anything we do.’

Jessica agreed with his treatment plan and she thought he had a lovely bedside manner and comforting voice. Deep, masculine but still warm. It sounded familiar but she knew that couldn’t be the case. She didn’t know anyone in town.

She raised her hand to close the curtain and caught sight of his profile and all but gasped. Her heart took a leap as she recognised him. She did know him. But the last time she’d seen him he wasn’t wearing a white consultant’s coat. Instead he was wearing the wet imprint of her carry-on luggage on his shoe.

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