Читать книгу Australian Bachelors: Outback Heroes: Top-Notch Doc, Outback Bride / A Wedding in Warragurra / The Outback Doctor's Surprise Bride - Fiona Lowe - Страница 18

KELLIE was putting the last-minute touches to her make-up when she heard the sound of Matt knocking on the front door. She put the pot of lipgloss down and quickly slipped on her high heels and click-clacked her way down the hall.

She opened the door wide and smiled. ‘Hi.’

Matt felt as if he had been zapped with a stun gun. He stood there for several seconds, trying to keep his jaw from dropping at the vision of loveliness in front of him. She was wearing a red-and-white sundress with shoestring straps, nipped in at the waist with a shiny patent-leather belt, emphasising her trim body. Her hair was loose about her shoulders; she had done something to enhance the slight wave in it, the cascade of bouncy curls framing her heart-shaped face giving her a casual but elegant look. She smelt of summer, the delicate notes of honeysuckle—or was it orange blossom?—danced around his nostrils like invisible sprites.

‘Um … won’t you come in?’ she asked.

‘Er … right,’ he said, stepping over the threshold and thrusting a bottle of wine at her. ‘I don’t know if you like red or white but this is from the Roma vineyard. I thought you might like to try it. It’s the oldest vineyard in Queensland. It began in 1863.’

‘I’ve heard of it,’ she said, and closed the door. ‘I’ll open the wine while you play handyman with the window. I got the bedroom one open the other night but it’s still a little stiff.’

Yeah, well, it’s not the only thing feeling that way, Matt thought as she brushed past him. He was glad he was holding his toolkit so he could hide his physical reaction to her.

He went through the house and checked each window, listening to her singing along to the CD player. She had a nice voice, light and pure and enthusiastic as she was about seemingly everything.

I wonder what she’s like in bed.

The thought was like an intruder inside his head. He tried to evict it but it wouldn’t leave. It made it even worse when the last window he had to check was in her bedroom. The intoxicating fragrance of her permeated everything. Even the lightweight curtains smelt of her as he pulled them aside to work the latch.

‘How’s it going?’ she asked from just behind him.

Matt hadn’t heard her approach and nicked his finger on the blade of the chisel. ‘Er … fine,’ he said. ‘I’m just about done.’

Kellie frowned when he turned around and began to wind his finger around his handkerchief. ‘Have you cut yourself?’ she asked.

‘It’s just a scratch.’

‘Let me see.’

‘It’s nothing,’ he said. ‘I told you, it’s just a little scratch. It will stop bleeding in a second.’

Kellie gave him a reproving look as she reached for his hand. ‘You don’t need to go all macho on me, Matt,’ she said. ‘If I can handle what Julie Smithton did to her finger, I think I’ll cope with what you’ve done with yours.’

She unpeeled the handkerchief and inspected the flesh wound. ‘Mmm,’ she said. ‘It looks like it needs some pressure for a bit longer. I’ll cleanse it for you and put on a sticky plaster.’

‘There’s really no need …’

Her eyes met his. ‘Why are you being so stubborn about such a little thing?’ she asked. ‘When was the last time you allowed someone to help you for a change?’

He held her gaze for a moment or two. ‘All right,’ he said, blowing out of sigh of resignation. ‘Do what you need to do. I won’t put up a struggle.’

Kellie led him by the hand to the bathroom and making him sit on a small stool, attended to his finger with meticulous care. She was acutely aware of his long legs, she had to step around them a couple of times to reach the first-aid cupboard. She was also intensely aware of his hand in hers as she cleansed and dressed the wound. She imagined how it would feel to have those strong, long-fingered hands on her body, touching her face, tilting her head to claim her mouth with his own …

Matt met her brown gaze on a level. She was wearing mascara, which made her long eyelashes even more lustrous. His eyes went to her mouth. This close he could see the tiny sparkles in her lipgloss, making her lips all the more tempting to taste. He watched as the point of her tongue sneaked out to paste a film of moisture on top of the gloss and his insides gave a sudden kick of reaction. It would be so easy to lean forward and—

‘There,’ she said briskly, scrunching up the wrapping of the sticky plaster. ‘I’m all done.’

Matt got to his feet. ‘Thank you, but it was totally unnecessary to go to all that fuss over nothing.’

‘It wasn’t nothing and, besides, I didn’t want you to bleed all over the place. Imagine if Tim and Claire come back to find bloodstains all over their bedroom carpet?’

‘Good point.’

She turned from the basin, where she had been washing her hands. ‘Ready for dinner now?’

‘Sure.’

Kellie led the way to the kitchen where she had an Italian chicken dish simmering. She poured two glasses of wine and handed him one. ‘Thanks for fixing the windows. I really appreciate it. I’m hopeless at household maintenance. I guess it comes from living with six men. They did that sort of stuff while Mum and I got on with the cooking and housework.’

He took the glass with a brief brush of his fingers against hers. ‘Did you resent having to do that?’

She cradled her glass in her hands. ‘Not at first. I took over the cooking when Mum got sick. It was hard once she’d gone to stop doing it. Dad and the boys were devastated. The last thing they needed was a huge shopping list and a week’s menu thrust in their hands.’

Matt thought about how caring she was, how she had put her needs aside for the sake of her father and younger brothers. ‘All the same, it must have been hard, not having a life of your own,’ he said. ‘What about boyfriends and so on? How did you juggle your professional and social life with your family taking up so much of your time?’

Her smooth brow furrowed slightly. ‘It wasn’t easy. I’m nearly thirty years old and I’ve only had one lover. I guess you think that’s pretty pathetic, huh?’

He felt his mouth tip upwards in a rueful smile. ‘I’m hardly one to criticise. I haven’t exactly been out there sowing my wild oats.’

She smiled back at him but he noticed her cheeks were a little pink. ‘I guess I should check on dinner …’

Matt watched as she deftly sorted out plates and garnishes and steamed vegetables as if it was second nature to her. He couldn’t help wondering what she would think of his micro-waved single-serve meals or his two-recipe repertoire of macaroni cheese or savory mince on toast. ‘You obviously enjoy cooking,’ he said into the silence.

‘I love it,’ she said handing him a plate loaded with food.

‘Was your mother a good cook?’ he asked once they were both seated at the small pine table.

‘She was fabulous,’ she said, passing him the pepper grinder. ‘I stood on a step-stool by her side for as long as I can remember. I think she would have loved to have been a chef but she didn’t get the opportunity. She got pregnant with me while she was at college so that put an end to that.’

‘Was she bitter about it?’

She met his gaze across the table. ‘No, of course not. She loved being a mother.’

He looked into the contents of his glass. ‘My mother was the opposite. She also fell pregnant by mistake but it was made very clear to my father and me that it had ruined her life.’

Kellie felt her heart contract. ‘Did she tell you that?’

He forked up some of the casserole. ‘I seem to remember it was a recurrent theme before she finally left.’

‘You must have been so hurt.’

He gave an indifferent shrug. ‘I don’t dwell on it much. It happened and I can’t change it. My father, on the other hand, lets it eat away at him even now. He hasn’t moved on. He talks about nothing else whenever I call him, which isn’t often. He can’t seem to accept that she’s not coming back.’

‘And you don’t think you’re a little bit like him in that regard?’

He frowned as he met the challenge of her gaze. ‘What are you saying?’

She put down her fork and picked up her wineglass. ‘If you can’t see it, I’m not going to hit you over the head with it.’

His frown deepened. ‘I suppose by that you mean Madeleine.’

‘You’re still carrying a photo of her in your wallet,’ Kellie said. ‘You have a shrine built to her in your home. You visit her parents every year on her birthday. If that doesn’t demonstrate how stuck you are then what will?’

‘I can hardly wipe her from my memory as if she never was a part of my life,’ he bit out.

‘No, of course not, but I’m sure she wouldn’t have wanted you to live the way you are doing,’ Kellie argued.

‘You know nothing of how I live my life.’ Or how I’m about to change it, he added silently.

She gave him a wry look. ‘Going on what I’ve seen so far, I think I’ve got a pretty clear idea.’

He put down his knife and fork, his top lip lifting mockingly. ‘So you think you can do something about my sad and sorry situation, do you, Dr Thorne?’

Kellie kept her eyes trained on his. ‘I don’t see anything wrong in you getting out a bit more, having some fun, dating now and again. What harm would it do?’

He leaned back in his chair, still with his mouth tilted. ‘So is this what this is all about?’ He waved his hand over the meal between them. ‘Is this yet another one of your do-good missions to achieve while you’re here?’

Kellie frowned at the veiled insult he had thrown at her. ‘I know you think I’m wasting my time with Angie and Gracie but it’s not just the young mums around here that need help. Julie’s boys do, too. They’re bored and restless, that’s why they’re in trouble all the time. They have low self-esteem and the only way they can get attention is to do something bad. I’ve arranged for them to do something good for a change. They’re coming to help me here on Saturday to clean up the yard a bit. Who knows? It might inspire them to do the same at their house or others in the area.’

Matt looked at the bright sparks of enthusiasm in her eyes and wondered when the last time had been that he had been passionate about anything, truly passionate. For most of his life he had taken a back seat when it had come to eagerness. Every time he had been excited about something he had been let down. He remembered one time, not long after his mother had left, he’d thought he’d seen her coming up the front path. He had dashed downstairs, his heart beating like a bass drum in his chest, only to throw open the door to see it was a complete stranger, selling raffle tickets for a charity. The disappointment had been totally devastating. He hadn’t realised until then how much he had hoped his life would go back to what it had been. But it was never going to go back and it was up to him now to move forward.

‘You think I’m wasting my time, don’t you?’ she asked.

Matt picked up his wineglass and twirled the contents. ‘I think you mean well but you’re likely to get swamped with the endless needs of people you can’t help in any significant way.’

‘I don’t care about the destination as much as the journey,’ she said. ‘I know I haven’t got long here but just the fact that someone is taking the time and making the effort to make a difference in someone’s life is surely a worthwhile enterprise.’

He put his glass down and met her brown eyes. ‘Even if you get hurt in the process?’

‘I’d rather get hurt trying. At least it proves I care, and it could make a difference, maybe in just one life but it’s still worth it.’

A warm feeling spread like heated honey through Matt’s chest as he held her gaze. ‘Do you make it a habit to nurture absolutely everyone who crosses your path?’ he asked.

She gave him a self-conscious smile. ‘It’s my mother complex. It’s showing, isn’t it? I just can’t seem to help it. I pick up every lame duck or stray. I’ve been doing it since I was a little kid.’

‘Speaking of strays, I thought I saw that dog you were talking about on my way to the front door,’ Matt said. ‘It was sniffing around the tank stand. I forgot to tell you earlier.’ Only because I was completely taken aback by your amazingly sexy appearance, he tacked on mentally.

‘I left some food and water out at the bottom of the back veranda,’ she said. ‘I hope it hangs around now. That way I can gradually teach it to trust me.’

‘My dog Spike was from the dogs’ home,’ he said. ‘He had been treated cruelly by some idiot who thought a working dog should be confined to a small back yard in the city. The guy had him tied up day in, day out and whenever Spike made a sound he would get whipped with whatever was handy.’

‘Oh that’s terrible,’ Kellie gasped. ‘How can people be so cruel?’

He gave her a grim look. ‘I don’t know, but animal cruelty is one thing that truly sickens me.’

‘Me, too,’ she said with fervour. ‘And children. I hate the thought of little kids being hurt. There are so many people who are desperate to have kids and yet others treat their children like punching bags. Why have kids if you can’t be patient and loving towards them?’

‘Do you want kids?’ Matt asked, surprising himself at asking such a candid question.