Australian Bachelors: Outback Heroes: Top-Notch Doc, Outback Bride / A Wedding in Warragurra / The Outback Doctor's Surprise Bride. Fiona Lowe

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      Kellie looked at the embittered set of what she could see of his features as he continued to focus fixedly on the road ahead. ‘You lost your mother when you were a kid?’ she asked, frowning.

      ‘She left when I was seven,’ he said taking the turn into the street where the Montgomerys’ cottage was situated. ‘Apart from the occasional birthday card and cheap Christmas present up until I was about ten, I haven’t seen or heard from her since.’

      ‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ she said, biting her lip as she thought of how hurt he must have felt at such a young age. Her experience with her younger brothers made her very much aware of how incredibly sensitive young boys were. They hid it to protect themselves but it didn’t mean they were incapable of deep feelings.

      ‘What about your father?’ she asked.

      ‘My father?’ His mouth twisted cynically. ‘My father still likes to think if it hadn’t been for me my mother wouldn’t have run off with another man. The burden of looking after a small child, or so he thinks, was the reason she took off for greener pastures. I see him when duty calls, which basically means when he runs short of money, but other than that I keep my distance.’

      ‘That’s so sad,’ she said with deep sincerity. ‘Do you have any siblings?’

      ‘No.’

      Soon after that he pulled into the driveway of the cottage but he didn’t kill the engine. Kellie knew he had probably regretted revealing as much as he had and was keen to get away before she got even further under his carefully guarded emotional radar.

      ‘Thank you for the lift,’ she said, opening the passenger door before he could stride around to do so.

      ‘No trouble,’ he said, not even looking her way. ‘I’ll send someone around tomorrow to fix that window for you. They’re probably all a bit stiff. It’s the heat at this time of year. It practically melts the paint.’

      ‘Thanks,’ she said with a little smile. ‘I’d really appreciate it.’

      She stood and watched as he drove away in a cloud of dust, the fine red particles his car stirred up making her eyes suddenly start to water.

      Kellie spent a restless night in the cottage. The heat, in spite of the air-conditioning, was oppressive and there were noises throughout the night that had her senses constantly on high alert. First she thought she heard footsteps on the roof, but after she heard the distinctive territorial screech of a possum she settled down again.

      A few minutes later she heard two cats spitting and yowling just outside her bedroom window. She got out of bed and, pulling aside the curtains, gritted her teeth as she opened the stiff window just enough to lean out and shoo the snarling cats away.

      She was just about to close the window when she caught sight of a shadow moving stealthily across the neighbouring vacant property. Her blood stilled in her veins, her heart missed a beat, her throat closing over with fear as she saw the figure disappear into the scrub at the back of the block.

      Sleep was almost impossible after that. The old house seemed to be full of squeaks and creaks; even the sound of the refrigerator intermittently regulating its thermostat was enough to have Kellie springing upright in bed each time in wide-eyed terror.

      She hadn’t realised living alone would be so … so … creepy.

      What if someone was inside the house right now? What if they were not aware it was currently occupied and were on their way in? Kellie had heard of intruders reacting violently when confronted by the occupant of a residence they had assumed was vacant.

      ‘I need to get myself a dog,’ she said, not even realising she had spoken out loud until she heard the eerie echo of her voice in the stillness of the darkness.

      The cats started up again outside her bedroom window and Kellie lay back on her pillow and began counting all the different breeds of dogs she could until through sheer exhaustion she finally drifted off to sleep …

      CHAPTER SIX

      THE morning sun was bright but without the sting of the day before so Kellie decided to use the cooler air to get in some exercise. Although the rolling ocean was her usual choice she was no stranger to jogging, and out here where the roads were seemingly endless and with little traffic she felt she could clear her head and prepare herself mentally for the months ahead.

      She was well on her way when she realised it might have been a good idea to bring a water bottle with her and maybe even a map of the local area. She had taken a few left and then right turns on side roads to break the monotony of the long straight road but now she wasn’t quite sure which way led back to town. The flat dry landscape all looked the same. An occasional gnarled gumtree offered a landmark now and again but as soon as she turned in another direction there was another one just like it.

      The sun was beating down with increasing force and her mouth started to feel like she had been sucking on a gym sock for hours. The thought of something wet and cold was almost enough to make her begin to hallucinate. She even thought she could hear the rattle of ice cubes in a glass and the slight tang of a twist of lemon …

      She bent down, her hands on her knees as she dragged in a couple of dry, rasping breaths. Her brand-new running shoes were no longer pristine and white. Instead, they were stained with the ochre-coloured dust of the outback.

      She gradually became aware of the sound of a motorbike on her left and she straightened to see a man approaching from behind a fenced property, where a herd of cattle was watching from the limited shade of a cluster of gumtrees, their wide eyes seeming—along with the motorbike rider and the kelpie riding on the back—to be seriously questioning her sanity.

      Matt’s first words confirmed her impression. ‘What the hell are you doing this far out here without water?’ he barked.

      Kellie hated the ditsy, helpless female role. There was no way she was going to admit she had made a mistake, even if she knew she had indeed made one and a potentially life-threatening one at that. ‘It’s barely seven in the morning,’ she said. ‘I’ve only been running for half an hour or so.’

      He frowned at her darkly. ‘Then you must be an Olympic champion because you’re at least nine kilometres from town. If you turn back now that will be a eighteen-kilometre round trip, which is just asking for muscle meltdown without adequate fluids in this sort of heat.’

      Kellie narrowed her gaze to take in the acubra hat on his head. ‘Well, now, Dr McNaught,’ she said in a pert voice. ‘Aren’t you a fine one to be preaching health and safety issues with me when you’re not wearing a helmet? You could have a fall off that bike of yours and end up concussed or brain injured.’

      His jaw clenched slightly as his dark blue eyes tussled with hers. ‘I’m on private property and driving at less than forty kilometres per hour.’

      Kellie planted her hands on her hips and continued to stare him down. ‘You could be driving at ten kilometres an hour and still come off and hit your head against a rock or something,’ she pointed out.

      He took off his hat and wiped his sweaty brow with the back of his hand. ‘Yeah, well, it’s too hot to wear one.’

      ‘I’m afraid that excuse won’t quite cut it with the cops if they pull you over on the road,’ she countered, СКАЧАТЬ