Unlocking the Rebel's Heart Read online

‘It’s in the ditch. Looks like it’s stuck in the mud.’

  Sure enough, when Joy stepped closer, she could see the small, woolly creature with its legs sunk into the muddy edge of the shallow creek at the bottom of this ditch. It was looking back at her, with black, button eyes and ears that were far too big for it that stuck out sideways and something just melted inside Joy’s chest.

  ‘Oh...you poor wee thing.’ She slid down the edge of the bank, taking no notice of the way her new Italian boots were disappearing into the mud. She got hold of the lamb and pulled it clear, holding it in her arms as she turned to get back up the bank.

  It was then that she realised her injured ankle was highly unlikely to be able to support her weight enough to climb out of the ditch when she couldn’t use her hands to help.

  ‘Here...’ She held the lamb up. ‘You take it.’

  Ben’s eyebrows rose enough to let Joy know that he was more than a little surprised by her bossy tone.

  ‘Please...’ she muttered as an afterthought.

  He was grinning broadly as he took the lamb from her arms. He started to turn away but his head swerved as he heard the cry of pain Joy was unable to stifle as she took her first step to climb the bank. He tucked the lamb under one arm and leaned down to offer her his hand.

  She had no choice but to take it because the bank was too steep to try and get out on her hands and knees. They both had muddy hands now, thanks to the lamb, which made their skin slippery so Joy had to hold onto Ben’s hand with both of hers even as she felt his fingers curl into a firm grip. It was a big hand. Warm. And strong. So strong, she had the impression he could have hauled her out of that ditch in the blink of an eye but he was taking his time and his movements were considered enough to feel oddly gentle.

  She had to stand on one leg when she reached level ground. How embarrassing was this? She was covered in mud and her clothes were damp enough to make her shiver in the cold gusts of wind. Far worse than that, however, was that she was going to have to admit that she hadn’t been completely honest earlier. She was injured and she was going to have to ask for help.

  Except she didn’t have to ask for anything. Ben put the lamb down on the ground where it promptly collapsed into the long grass.

  ‘Stay there,’ he ordered. ‘I’ll be back soon.’

  Stepping forward, as Joy could feel herself wobbling enough that she was about to lose her balance completely, Ben simply scooped her up into his arms and strode back along the road to where he’d parked his ambulance. If his handhold had felt strong and capable, it was nothing to how it felt being in his arms. Joy was fairly slim but she was tall enough to have never felt petite. Until now...

  She’d never been swept off her feet and carried like a child by any man. Ever. Her grandfather had had a bad back and hadn’t picked up anything heavy. Her boyfriends would have never considered a move like that because she would never have dated them if they had. She was hating this feeling of being helpless, of course, but Joy had to admit there was a rather different reaction beneath the current of what felt like humiliation. A frisson of...what was it?

  Pleasure...?

  No. That would be unacceptable. It was probably more like relief, perhaps, in that she could temporarily relinquish responsibility and let someone else make decisions and look after her?

  Fortunately, the journey was over before such an unwelcome notion could make itself any more pronounced. Ben opened the back doors of the ambulance and flipped the steps down with one hand, climbed inside and put Joy down on a stretcher that had a pristine, white sheet over it.

  ‘Where’s it hurting?’

  ‘My ankle.’

  ‘I need to get that boot off. Might need to cut it.’

  ‘No...it’s brand new.’ A hint of something like panic was enough to make her not think about what she was saying. ‘You’ll ruin the luck.’ She ignored his raised eyebrows. ‘It’s got a zip on the side. Somewhere under that mud. Here... I’ll find it.’

  ‘Uh-uh...’ Ben pointed to the pillow at the top of the stretcher. ‘Lie down. I’ve got this.’ As Joy hesitated he gave her a stern look. ‘My truck, my rules,’ he said.

  And there it was again. An invitation to let someone else look after her and...it was irresistible this time. Joy sank back against the pillow with a shiver, pulled the blanket Ben draped over her up to her shoulders and let him open the zips and ease the boots free from her feet. Her uninjured foot first but she knew he was doing that because it was important, whenever possible, to compare any injured body part with a normal side. It was ridiculous to know that her cheeks were going red because it felt as if she was being undressed for something other than a medical examination.

  At least the pain of her injured ankle, especially as he peeled off the damp sock, put this experience firmly back into a professional realm. She could even ignore the extraordinary warmth of his hands against her chilled skin.

  ‘I can’t see any obvious deformity,’ he told her. ‘You’ve got a good pedal pulse and capillary refill. Can you wiggle your toes?’

  She could.

  He held her leg with one hand and her foot with the other, putting pressure on in different directions.

  ‘Does this hurt?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘How about this?’

  ‘Ouch...’

  ‘Sorry. You’ve got some bruising coming out already there. I don’t think you’ve broken anything but we won’t know until you have an X-ray.’ A twitch of his lips suggested that he was tempted but had decided against making a comment about her visual abilities again. ‘I’ll put a compression bandage on this, elevate it and then take you into Cutler’s Creek emergency department.’

  With a groan of defeat, Joy closed her eyes. This so wasn’t the way she had intended arriving at her new position. Then her eyes snapped open again.

  ‘You’re not just going to leave that lamb all by itself, are you? With its dead mother in the ditch?’

  Ben shook his head. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said. He had ripped off the plastic covering of a crepe bandage and he held the end of it against her ankle as he started unrolling. ‘It’s all under control. I sent Bruce a message before we went on that lamb hunt.’

  ‘Bruce the...policeman?’

  ‘That’s the one.’ The bandaging that was happening was well practised and swift. It was also firm enough to already be reducing the pain Joy was aware of.

  ‘What did you mean before?’ Ben’s tone was casual, as if he was just trying to make conversation while he worked. ‘About ruining the luck if I’d cut your boot off?’

  Okay...this was embarrassing but he was going to find out before long anyway.

  ‘I always get new shoes for a new job. For luck...’

  There was a sharp focus in those blue eyes as they flicked up to meet hers.

  ‘You’re heading to Cutler’s Creek for a new job? As in...the locum that Zac’s been trying to find?’

  ‘That’s the one.’ It was only after she’d spoken that Joy realised she was echoing both the words and tone of what Ben had just said about Bruce the policeman.

  He was silent now, however, as he hooked the crocodile clips in place to fasten the bandage and then ease a pillow under her foot and ankle. It felt as if he didn’t know quite what to say about the fact that they would quite possibly be working together in the very near future. Because he wasn’t exactly thrilled by the idea?

  ‘Wonder what’s holding Bruce up...?’ Ben straightened and then turned to peer through one of the small, square windows in the back doors. ‘Ah...about time.’ He opened the door and raised his voice as he jumped out. ‘What took you so long, mate?’

  Joy could hear the response.

  ‘I was trying to find someone at home with a tractor who could tow this car off the road. Greg’ll be here in a minute but he’s not exactly thrilled about clea
ning up after another tourist.’

  ‘Ah...’ Ben poked his head through the door before pulling it closed and Joy could swear he actually winked at her. ‘Be back in a minute,’ he told her cheerfully. ‘Don’t go anywhere.’

  As if she could. Joy closed her eyes again and tried to remember why it had seemed a good idea to apply for this new job. Oh, yeah...she’d been fed up, hadn’t she? Sick of herself and bemused by yet another relationship disaster which had to win the prize for being the most humiliating.

  She was the one who ended relationships—usually because they had become so predictable and unexciting they could only be described as boring—but this time she was the one who’d been dumped. By Ian, one of the radiologists in her emergency department, in favour of a ditzy, blonde nurse who was probably ten years younger than Joy. He’d been apologetic when he’d ended things. Kind, even, but his words still rankled.

  ‘You’re a lovely woman, Joy. Gorgeous and smart and damn good at your job. But...you’ve got zero spontaneity. I don’t think you’ve ever taken a risk in your entire life, have you? I’m sorry, but do you even have any idea how...how boring that can get?’

  Watching the two of them making eyes at each other when they had all been on the same shift had sparked the disturbing thought that there were aspects of life that were passing Joy by. That, perhaps, she might never actually experience?

  Her colleagues had been so astonished when she’d announced she was taking leave because she needed a change of scene that Joy had to wonder if they all thought the same as Ian—that she was the most boring person on earth. Had Ian been right? Was she the reason her relationships had always fizzled out?

  Well...they wouldn’t think she was that boring now, would they? She was creating havoc even before she’d stepped through the door of her new job. So much for those lucky new boots. Her car was written off, she might have broken her ankle, there was a dead sheep that someone would have to deal with and...

  And she didn’t need to recall that cute little face of an orphaned lamb because the back doors of the ambulance opened again and there it was, peeping out from the crook of Ben’s elbow, with its long, skinny legs trailing below.

  ‘Can’t leave him for Greg to take back to the farmhouse.’ Ben used his free hand to scratch the lamb between those ridiculously large ears. ‘Poor little guy seems to have broken its leg.’

  The lamb bleated loudly as if to agree. There was something about this tall, capable man holding a vulnerable baby creature that was doing something odd to Joy’s gut. Something she wasn’t sure she particularly liked because it was rather too distracting but it was impossible to look away.

  ‘X-ray vision, huh?’

  Oh, yeah...his eyes were an extraordinary kind of blue. And there was a gleam in their depths that suggested that, even if he might think she was somewhat stupid, he didn’t think she was the most boring person on earth. Deep down, Joy had to admit she kind of liked that. It even occurred to her that, seeing as nobody here knew anything about her, she could choose to become a totally different person. And create a completely new, exciting kind of life to go along with that new personality?

  ‘Here, hold onto him.’ Ben shoved the lamb at her so Joy had no choice but to take hold of it in her arms. ‘I need to find something to use as a splint.’

  He was bandaging some folded cardboard around the lamb’s front leg a minute or two later when the ambulance doors were opened again. A large man leaned in and put something on the floor.

  ‘Here’s the doc’s handbag,’ he told Ben. ‘Thought she might need her phone and whatnot. I’ll get her suitcases out before the car gets towed and bring them in to the hospital.’ He caught Joy’s gaze then, and smiled at her.

  ‘Welcome to Cutler’s Creek,’ he said.

  Ben’s gaze flicked up to meet hers and she could see that he was very well aware of just how much she thought her lucky new footwear had failed to do its job.

  ‘Yeah...’ He seemed to be trying not to laugh. ‘Welcome to Cutler’s Creek, Dr Hamilton. You’re going to love it here.’

  CHAPTER TWO

  ‘SO...HERE IT IS.’ Joy’s new boss, Zac Cameron, was smiling as he pulled off the road to park in front of an ancient barn. He gestured towards the small cottage to one side. ‘I have very fond memories of living here myself, so I really hope you like it.’

  Joy took in the cute weatherboard house with a red, corrugated iron roof and a chimney that meant it had a fireplace. There was a garden bordered by a tall, green hedge between the cottage and barn, an uninterrupted view of those spectacular mountains that were still well snow-capped at the tail end of winter and she’d already noted the lack of any close neighbours.

  ‘I was looking for a change of scene,’ she told Zac. ‘And this certainly couldn’t be more different than my central city apartment in Wellington.’

  Joy was aware of a frisson of something like nervousness as she wondered what it would be like in the middle of the night, knowing that there wasn’t a single soul nearby. How was she going to cope with that when she’d often felt so lonely living in a crowded apartment block?

  Zac came round the car to open the passenger door. ‘Come on in. I’ll give you a quick guided tour and then leave you to settle in. How’s the ankle feeling?’

  ‘It’s actually feeling a lot better. Probably because I know it’s not fractured.’

  The firm bandage was a help as well, as Joy followed Zac to the back door of the cottage. ‘See—I’m not even limping that much now.’

  ‘That’s great. Back in the day, we’d probably have given you crutches for a while but it’s been proven that a low grade sprain will heal faster with early weight bearing. As long as you don’t overdo it, of course.’

  He lifted a small garden gnome beside the step to reveal a key. ‘Not that there’s any need to lock up here but you might feel safer at night.’

  Zac opened the door that appeared to lead straight into the kitchen. ‘Betty, who runs our hospital kitchen and laundry, got the bed made up and she’s stocked your fridge with a few essentials.’

  ‘That’s very kind of her.’

  ‘And Jill, who’s one of our receptionists and is also Doc Donaldson’s wife, has been on the phone and found someone who can lend you a car until you get your insurance sorted and a replacement delivered. They’ll drop it off tomorrow morning.’

  ‘Wow...’ Joy blinked in surprise. ‘If I was doing a locum in a city, I expect I’d be lucky to get a hotel recommendation.’

  ‘Small communities have an amazing ability to come together to deal with a crisis of any kind. On the downside, everybody knows everybody else’s business but I wouldn’t live anywhere else.’

  ‘It’s a bonus having accommodation provided. I think that was what persuaded me to take the job.’

  ‘That was the plan.’ Zac’s nod was satisfied. ‘It’s hard enough to get anyone to come to a rural hospital for a locum position, let alone consider it as a permanent proposition. We’ll have trouble persuading my father-in-law to retire if I don’t find someone else.’

  ‘Oh...’

  Joy caught her bottom lip between her teeth and took a moment to look around as Zac opened the fridge, perhaps checking on the supplies Betty had provided? There was a black, pot belly stove inside a brick chimney at the end of the room with what was presumably a rack for drying washing hanging above it, a window above the kitchen sink that framed the view of the mountains, well-used-looking pots hanging under a high shelf and an old wooden table and chairs. Realising that this was the absolute opposite of the sleek, modern kitchen in her apartment made it look even more homely. Welcoming, even, but she had to be honest with her new employer.

  ‘I’m not really thinking in terms of a permanent position,’ she confessed. ‘As I said—I’m just looking for a change of scene, a bit of time out from both where I live and work. I can’t co
mmit to longer than the three months we agreed on last week.’

  Zac nodded. ‘I understand completely.’ He pushed the fridge door closed. ‘It’s not as if Don has any plans to retire any time soon, anyway. I think he’s loving going back to full time, to be honest. But you never know. You might just fall in love with—’

  He stopped mid-sentence as the back door opened to reveal a large cardboard box being carried inside. Even though the box was hiding the face of whoever was carrying it at that moment, Joy knew who it was as soon as she saw those arms. Ben might have disappeared as soon as he’d delivered her into the care of the Cutler’s Creek Hospital staff but he’d left a lasting impression. It was, in fact, disturbingly easy to conjure up the feeling of what it had been like being held in those arms as she’d been carried back to the ambulance. Of having those damp socks peeled off her feet with such care...

  Zac was laughing. ‘...with country life,’ he added, quickly to finish his interrupted sentence. ‘Hey, Ben. What’s in the box? A housewarming present for our new staff member?’

  ‘Something like that.’

  The kitchen felt a whole lot smaller all of a sudden. Ben put the box down beside the pot belly stove and it was then that Joy could see what was inside. Curled up on a bed of straw, with its front leg wrapped in one of those sticky firm elastic bandages, was the orphaned lamb she’d pulled out of that muddy ditch.

  ‘Thought you might like some company,’ Ben said. ‘And that you might like to be the one to look after it seeing as...well...’

  ‘Seeing as I’m the one who murdered its mother?’

  Ben’s grin widened. ‘Let me get this fire going for you. Feels like it could be a frosty night.’

  Was he referring to the weather or her tone of voice? And how on earth was she supposed to know how to look after a newborn lamb? For heaven’s sake, Ben knew she was a city girl. Was he doing this to wind her up? Maybe coming here had been a big mistake. And maybe it was that negative thought that made her aware that her ankle was aching again. She pulled out one of the chairs and sat down slowly, all too aware that both men were watching her.