The train journey from Central to Helensvale took over an hour and then there were no buses. So she took a taxi to Paradise Point and decided to walk over the bridge from there. She and Nicky had done it a few times; it was a pleasant walk. But she stopped and bought herself lunch first and ate it in the park, feeding the seagulls the scraps of her fish and chips.She stopped again at the top of the bridge and looked down at the waters swirling below.Because it was a fine Sunday there were plenty of water craft about from jet skis to houseboats. There were fishermen on the beach and picnickers in the park. Looking south towards Surfers Paradise, and west towards the hinterland, though, there were dark clouds building, giving warning that this magic day could also bring storms.Looking north, she had a view very similar to the one she’d had from her guest bedroom, a view of water and mangroves and casuarinas.She stirred and took a deep breath. Sweat was trickling down between her
She flicked through the clothes hanging up—at least half of them she’d never worn—and hesitated over the least formal outfit, the one she and Margaret Winston had decided on for the river cruise Alex had never gone on.Slim navy trousers with a sea-green blouse and matching espadrilles. Funnily enough, she reflected, it was the most colourful outfit of the lot and Margaret, she remembered, had insisted on it.Was now the time to be thinking about clothes, though? she mused as she dressed with hands that were slightly unsteady. But she had no idea what was to come, did she?Max was already in the kitchen when she came down and he’d opened a bottle of wine and poured two glasses. There was also a tray of canapés on the kitchen table that Mrs Mills must have left for him. Tiny cucumber sandwiches, cheese straws, a little bowl of olives, vol-au-vents with savoury fillings, nuts and dried fruits.He looked up as she came into the kitchen. ‘We could go through to the den.’‘Here is fin
THEY got married eight weeks later. Some cameos of those eight weeks as she prepared for her wedding, Alex knew she would never forget. Margaret Winston’s delight was one. ‘I knew you were the right one for him, Alex,’ she said joyfully when presented with the news. ‘I knew it right from the start!’ Alex blinked at her, but Max did more. ‘I thought so,’ he said. ‘I got the distinct feeling that when she turned up at the cocktail party looking so drop-dead gorgeous you might have had a hand in it, Margaret!’ ‘I did. The minute I saw those legs and that lovely figure I decided to make the best of it. Actually Alex was a bit of a hindrance there,’ she admitted. ‘But what impressed me first was the way she stood up to you at that interview.’ She hugged Alex and kissed her warmly. ‘Of course, that’s how I handle Mr Goodwin myself—I wish!’ she added humorously. ‘Mr Goodwin’ looked slightly put out. ‘I’m not that hard to handle, am I?’ ‘Yes,’ his fiancée and his principal private sec
‘HAVE you heard who your next registrar is yet?’ David Lucas asked as he came into the doctors’ room late on Tuesday afternoon.Ben Blackwood looked up from the newspaper he’d been reading. ‘No. I’ve been seeing private patients in my rooms all day. Anyone we know?’The anaesthetist gave him a glad-it’s-you-and-not-me look. ‘Professor Willoughby’s daughter,’ he said, and seeing his colleague’s grim expression added, ‘I thought that might make your day.’Ben tossed the paper to one side. ‘So Daddy’s little girl is trying her hand at neurosurgery, is she?’ he asked with a little curl of his lip.‘Looks like it,’ David answered as he poured himself a coffee. ‘You’d better behave yourself, Ben. I know you don’t like the man but his only child is on the training scheme and you have a responsibility to train her just as you would any other registrar.’Ben got to his feet and gave his workmate a confident smile. ‘You know me, Davo, I will remain professional at all times,’ he said, push
‘NOT your usual mode of transport to work,’ Rob Athol, the accident and emergency doctor, remarked dryly as Ben was unloaded from the ambulance. ‘They phoned through and told us you got knocked off your bike. How are you feeling?’Ben gave him a scowl as he ripped off the oXygen mask and collar. ‘I’m perfectly fine, thank you,’ he said. ‘Some stupid girl flung her car door open on me. I was lucky another car wasn’t coming.’‘You were lucky she was a doctor,’ Rob commented, as his gaze ran over the bandages on Ben’s arms and legs. ‘It looks like she did a pretty good job on you.’Ben gave him another furious scowl as he struggled out of the bandages, tossing them in the bin as he went. ‘I’m more than half an hour late for Theatre,’ he growled. ‘And it couldn’t have happened on a worse day. I’ve got a new registrar to train.’‘You sure you’ll be OK to operate?’ Rob asked, reaching for his ophthalmoscope.‘Don’t you start,’ Ben said. ‘Besides, I’ve got a full list today. Too many pu
‘SO HOW was your first day?’ Rhiannon asked as Georgie came home later that evening. Georgie tossed her bag on the sofa and clamped her hands to the sides of her head above her ears. ‘Arrrggghhhh!’ Rhiannon winced. ‘Oh, dear,’ she said. ‘That doesn’t sound so good.’ ‘I cannot believe everyone thinks that man is God’s gift to the public health system,’ Georgie ranted. ‘He was insufferable!’ ‘Insufferable, huh?’ Rhiannon curled up on the sofa and, tucking a cushion against her middle, waited patiently to hear the rest. ‘Yes,’ Georgie said, still pacing the floor in agitation. ‘Insufferable, arrogant, rude and … and …’ ‘Nice-looking?’ Rhiannon offered helpfully. Georgie turned to face her with an irritated expression on her face. ‘That’s completely irrelevant.’ Rhiannon’s finely arched brows lifted. ‘Is it?’ ‘Of course it is,’ Georgie said. ‘You know what we said. No dating until after Easter.’ ‘Just checking,’ Rhiannon said with a little grin. ‘So what did he do to get you so
‘SO WHERE is the registrar this morning?’ Ben asked Irene Clark, the unit head nurse on duty.‘She called the unit a few minutes ago. She’s going to be a few minutes late,’ Irene said. ‘She said something about an accident.’Ben gave a grunt and turned to the four medical students and the intern hovering in the background. ‘Just for the record if you need to make up an excuse for being absent or late, make sure it’s an original each time,’ he said. ‘I will be keeping a mental record of how many grandmothers’ funerals, toothaches or minor traffic accidents occur.’There was a snigger from the group just as Georgie burst onto the ward. ‘Sorry I’m so late,’ she said a little breathlessly. ‘I was caught up in an accident and—’Ben hooked one brow upwards. ‘Another one, Dr Willoughby?’Georgie stopped in her tracks, her eyes taking in the interested stares from the medical students and Jules Littlemore the intern. She drew her shoulders back and met Ben’s dark satirical gaze with an e
Georgie disguised a little swallow as her gaze dipped to his mouth. She was so close to him she could see the pepper of dark stubble on hisface as if he had skipped shaving that morning. It gave him an arrantly masculine look that was devastatingly attractive. She tried to edge her fingers away from his but somehow one of his hands had come down over both of hers, trapping them beneath his.‘W-what consequences?’ she croaked as her eyes returned to his. Long seconds seemed to pass before he spoke.‘I’m not going to tolerate this sort of performance, Dr Willoughby. If there is any more slacking off, you’ll be out on your ear. Understood?’‘Perfectly,’ she said through tight lips.He released her hands as he straightened, his hands going to his trouser pockets, the deep thrust of them drawing her eyes like a magnet. He had such long, strong legs, toned by hours of hard exercise, his waist lean and his stomach flat and ridged with muscle that was clearly visible through the lightwei