Unlocking the Rebel's Heart Read online

  ‘You should put that foot up,’ Ben told her, as he struck a match and held it to the kindling already stacked in the stove. ‘Be a good idea to ice it a couple of times a day, too, until the swelling is well down.’

  Zac was nodding. ‘And remember not to overdo the weight bearing. Avoid any strenuous exercise like running or jumping, even if it is just a mild sprain.’

  ‘No problem there.’ Joy’s huff of sound was intended to be amused but she didn’t dare catch Ben’s gaze. ‘Jumping isn’t something I’m generally known for.’

  There was a moment’s awkward silence. Perhaps both these men were considering how unsuited Joy was to country life. It was Zac who broke the silence.

  ‘Don’t feel bad about any of this.’ His smile was sympathetic. ‘It’s almost a tradition around here to start out with a bit of a bang.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘The day my wife, Liv, first came to Cutler’s Creek, she had a plane crash in a field right beside her. On the same road you had your accident, in fact.’

  ‘Good grief...’ Maybe running into a sheep and writing off her car wasn’t so bad, after all. ‘How many people were involved?’

  ‘Just the pilot.’ It was Ben who answered her. ‘It was a small plane but it was a pretty exciting case.’ He blew into the stove to encourage the flames. ‘I still use it as a training exercise for our first responders. Not that I got to do much more than watch the doc and Liv in action.’

  ‘Not true,’ Zac put in. ‘You were just as much a part of saving his life as we were. It was a great job, though, wasn’t it?’

  ‘It had everything.’ Ben stayed crouched by the stove but turned to grin at Joy. ‘A trapped victim, open fracture with significant blood loss, exploding wreckage, intubation needed and the rescue helicopter called in to land right beside us.’ He sighed happily. ‘Yeah...it was a great job.’ He turned back to his job of building the fire, reaching for a larger piece of wood in the basket beside the stove.

  It was only then that Joy realised she’d been holding her breath as he’d been speaking—caught up in a story she could read between the lines of with that succinct summary. It occurred to her that the survival of the victim had been a bonus. The real satisfaction had been the excitement and adrenaline rush of what sounded like an astonishingly dangerous situation to have been working in. Exploding wreckage? A chopper coming in to land right beside you? Joy had never dealt with anything like that and she didn’t want to, either.

  Revelling in danger was another ‘bad boy’ trait, wasn’t it? Along with the better-known ones of breaking rules and breaking hearts and not giving a damn because they were just incurably reckless and overconfident, as well.

  Joy had to force herself to drag her gaze away from watching what Ben was doing. What was it about men like this that was so inappropriately attractive to women like herself, who would never dream of breaking anything like hearts or rules? Was it because another one of those traits was being passionate? A lover like no other? Joy blew out a breath, soft enough not to attract attention. Okay...maybe they’d dream about it. Just occasionally...

  She had a horrible feeling that that was exactly what she might be doing later on tonight. Joy closed her eyes for a long blink, just to make sure that neither of these men could see the slightest hint of what she needed to stop thinking about. Right now.

  Helpfully, the lamb bleated loudly at that point. Zac started talking at exactly the same time.

  ‘Speaking of Liv, I need to get going,’ he said. ‘I’m taking Milly and driving up to Dunedin so she can have a couple of hours with Mummy tonight and I can get a cuddle with the mighty Hugo.’

  ‘The mighty Hugo?’ Joy was more than willing to talk about something completely unrelated to the man she was having to fight the urge to stare at again.

  ‘Milly’s little brother that decided to arrive too early at twenty-nine weeks.’ Zac’s smile was such a mixture of happiness and worry and pride that Joy could feel the prickle of tears at the back of her eyes. ‘He’s a wee fighter and he’s doing great but he’s pretty much the reason you’re here. Life’s been chaos with the travelling between here and Dunedin and trying to keep the hospital adequately staffed. Thank goodness Liv’s dad has been able to increase his part time hours and fill the gaps.’

  He turned to Ben. ‘Don will be at the hospital to cover any inpatient concerns and I should be back by midnight. I’m hoping you’ll be in town for anything out of hospital—or is it date night tonight?’

  Date night? It certainly wasn’t a surprise to learn that Ben Marshall was not single. It shouldn’t have been a disappointment, either, and...it wasn’t, Joy told herself firmly. It just meant that she might have to step up to her new responsibilities a little earlier than planned.

  But Ben was shaking his head. ‘Ingrid’s gone back to Germany,’ he said. ‘I think she got bored with shoving tourists off a bridge.’ He caught Joy’s expression and he did that ghost of a wink thing, like he had when he’d tried to convey the message that Bruce’s comment about tourists wasn’t anything to worry about. ‘She worked in the bungy jumping business,’ he added. ‘Great fun and I’d suggest you give it go but you said that jumping isn’t your thing, didn’t you?’

  Unlike his recently departed girlfriend, apparently. Joy ignored the implied unfavourable comparison and focused on Zac.

  ‘I could go back to the hospital,’ she offered. ‘And be on call?’

  Zac shook his head. ‘You need to rest,’ he told her firmly. ‘We can get you up to speed tomorrow and plan a new routine that will take a lot of pressure off all of us.’

  The lamb was still bleating. It had managed to get up on its feet and was peering over the edge of the box.

  ‘Yeah, yeah,’ Ben said. ‘I know.’ He was following Zac towards the door. ‘I’ve got the milk powder and bottle stuff from the vet in the truck.’ He threw a smile over his shoulder. ‘I just wanted to check that you were happy to look after the little guy before I brought in all his luggage.’

  He didn’t wait for any response from Joy because Zac was calling back to him.

  ‘Can you get hold of Bruce and see what’s happened to Joy’s bags? She’ll need them tonight.’

  ‘I’ve got them in the truck.’ Ben’s voice grew fainter. ‘Anyone would think I’m a delivery service, not an ambo.’

  Joy didn’t move from her chair. She couldn’t. Not due to any pain in her ankle because that had subsided as soon as she’d taken her weight off it. No...she sat unmoving because she was feeling like a stunned mullet. A fish completely out of water. Here she was, in a tiny, isolated old house, with an orphaned lamb that she had apparently just agreed to look after. And possibly the sexiest man in the world was about to walk back through her door in a matter of seconds and they would be alone. Together. In the middle of nowhere.

  If she was that way inclined—which she wasn’t—it could be the perfect opening scene for a sexual fantasy, couldn’t it?

  Oh, help... Action of some kind was necessary here. Maybe checking for breaking news would provide some kind of global disaster that would be enough of a distraction. A volcano going off, perhaps. Or an avalanche that had buried dozens of people or an earthquake that was expected to cause a tsunami somewhere. Come to think of it, though, she hadn’t heard any ‘breaking news’ notification signals coming from her phone and a quick glance into her handbag didn’t reveal its whereabouts. This was disturbing. Joy never lost anything but was it possible that Bruce the policeman had left something important in her car that was now who knew where?

  Another rapid search past packets of tissues, sticking plasters, throat lozenges and a dozen other potentially useful items was fruitless. It was also creating enough anxiety to make Joy upend her bag to spill the contents onto the table. She needed her phone. If nothing else, it gave her a sense of connection to the rest of the world and that, in tu
rn, would give her a sense of safety when she was alone in the middle of nowhere with Ben the bad boy paramedic.

  * * *

  The new locum doctor was looking rattled.

  Ben raised an eyebrow at the mess on the kitchen table. Who would have thought that someone who looked like she could well be a neat freak would just empty her bag like that? Not that she was looking so neat right now, mind you. There were streaks of dried mud all over those fancy jeans and that expensively soft looking jumper and even on the collar of her shirt. Wisps of shorter hair had come loose from that long braid, too, to curl around the sides of her face and she had bright, pink spots on her cheeks.

  Kind of cute, really, despite the fact that she was nothing like the type of women that Ben was attracted to. No... Ingrid had been a perfect example of his type. Tall, blonde and as much of an adrenaline junkie as he was himself. The trouble with the gorgeous European girls who came to work in the adventure tourism industry here was that they were never around for long. They got homesick or their visas ran out and they went back to the other side of the world. But then again, if he was really honest, that was probably a big part of the attraction in the first place. He knew he had an extremely low boredom threshold.

  ‘Too hot in here?’ He put the sack of milk powder on the floor and a plastic jug, stirrer, bottle and teats on the bench.

  ‘No, it’s lovely. Unless it’s too warm for the lamb?’

  ‘He’ll be loving it. When he’s a bit bigger you can put him out in the barn.’

  ‘How often does he need to be fed?’

  ‘The vet reckons he’s a couple of days old, judging by how dry the umbilical cord is so that’s a good thing. He’s had some colostrum from his mum so you shouldn’t have to be up every two hours during the night or take him into work with you tomorrow to keep up with the feeds.’

  Oh...he liked that he could shock her so easily and the way her eyes widened like that. He wasn’t sure why he was deliberately making this out to be a bigger deal than it really was. Maybe because she was so obviously out of her comfort zone being in the country? Feeling guilty, he relented.

  ‘Every four to five hours should be fine.’ Ben ripped open the bag of milk powder and found the scoop. ‘Use this to measure the powder. Let’s see...’ He read the instructions on the side of the bag. ‘It’s two hundred grams per litre of water so that’s twenty grams to a hundred mils, which is pretty much what this little guy needs at the moment.’ He poured a scoop of powder into the bottle. ‘That should do the job. Use a bit of hot water to mix it and then dilute with cold so it’s about body temperature.’

  ‘Whose body temperature? Mine or the lamb’s? And is that a level scoop or a heaped one?’

  ‘Bit over a level scoop, I guess, but that’s okay because I’ll put in a bit more water. He might drink a hundred and fifty mils.’

  ‘So it’s not an exact science, then.’ Joy’s brow was furrowed, as if this was an alien concept.

  ‘The instructions are on the pack. You need to be careful not to make the milk too rich or you’ll end up with a sick lamb.’

  The look she was giving him told him that he was not setting the best example in following instructions but even that was kind of cute. It went with that librarian/school teacher vibe she’d given off right from the start. Ben screwed on a teat, shook the bottle to make sure the powder was all dissolved and then led the way to where the lamb was trying to climb out of the cardboard box. He handed the bottle to Joy.

  ‘Give it a go,’ he instructed.

  She knelt down and offered the bottle to the lamb. Milk dribbled from the teat and the lamb headbutted the bottle, which she dropped instantly.

  ‘Okay...’ Ben crouched beside her, leaned over and scooped the lamb up in one hand. ‘You behave,’ he said. He held the lamb still and, this time, when Joy put the teat near its mouth, it latched on and began sucking greedily.

  ‘Oh...’

  The wide eyes this time weren’t from shock. It was more like delight and it made Ben smile. He could remember feeding lambs when he was a kid and getting that kind of pleasure out of it.

  ‘Reckon he needs a name,’ he said. ‘How ’bout Lamb Chops? Or Christmas Dinner?’

  The new look he received was withering but it was impressive just how expressive those dark eyes were.

  ‘Shaun,’ he offered next. ‘As in, you know, the sheep got shorn?’

  He hadn’t needed to explain. He’d seen the spark of amusement in her eyes as soon as he’d suggested the name. What was entirely unexpected, however, was the soft peal of laughter. And it was a sound that created a not unfamiliar shaft of sensation deep in his gut.

  Good grief...he was attracted to this woman?

  Nah...it was easy to dismiss the thought as completely ridiculous. Even her name was old-fashioned enough to be unappealing. Hadn’t his grandmother had a friend called Joy? Oh, yeah...not a friend exactly but an old woman who’d lived down the road and been the biggest gossip in town. She’d had a bad word to say about everyone, that Joy, and a permanent frown on her face that had made the name a bit of a joke.

  ‘See if you can hold the lamb and feed it at the same time,’ he said. ‘That way you’ll know you’ll able to cope on your own. Seeing as...you know... I’m not going to be here in the middle of the night.’ He couldn’t help giving her a bit of a wink, just to tease her. Or maybe he was trying to antagonise her just enough to prove that he wasn’t attracted to her in the least. She didn’t give him another look, she just took the lamb from his hands, pulled it against the side of her body and continued the feed without missing a beat.

  So there... the action said. You’re not needed...

  Fine. ‘I’ll get your bags out of the truck.’ Ben got to his feet. ‘It’s time I got back to the station.’

  He carried the suitcases into the cottage a minute or so later. ‘Where would you like these?’

  ‘Just leave them there. I’ll sort them later.’

  Shaun the lamb had almost finished his feed, his tummy as round as a drum, but Joy was focused on tipping the bottle so he could get the last drops. Ben put the suitcases down beside the table and, as he did so, his gaze landed on the pile of items on the table. There was the usual sort of female stuff, like a lipstick and tissues but a whole lot of foil blister packs, as well.

  ‘You carry a pharmacy in your handbag?’

  ‘I’m supposed to be taking some anti-inflammatories for my ankle. Not that it’s any of your business.’

  ‘Fair enough.’ But Ben couldn’t resist picking up another item. ‘Wow...do you need a passport to go between the north and south islands of New Zealand now?’

  The wide-eyed look he was getting now was nothing short of alarmed. ‘Put that down,’ Joy commanded. ‘It’s private...’

  But it was too late. Ben had flipped it open. ‘I’m always hoping to see that someone else’s passport photo is worse than mine,’ he told her. ‘It never is, of course, but...’

  Joy was on her feet now. She practically dumped Shaun back into his box and moved swiftly across the kitchen, despite her injured ankle, to snatch her passport out of his hands. Ben knew why she was so anxious to get it away from him and it didn’t have anything to do with a bad photo.

  ‘Journey?’

  She was silent.

  ‘Journey Joy Hamilton.’ Ben shook his head. ‘I’m not surprised that you go by your middle name, mate. What were your parents thinking? You’re far too young to have been conceived at Woodstock. Was it Glastonbury?’ He was laughing aloud now. ‘Or were they on a retro road trip around Europe in an old VW Kombi?’

  ‘Something like that,’ Joy muttered. ‘That’s how they got killed—driving off the side of a cliff in Italy. I only survived because I was strapped into the baby seat in the back.’

  Ben’s laughter died instantly. ‘Oh, God... I’m so sorry. I...um...
really put my foot in it there, didn’t I?’

  Joy had dropped her passport back into her handbag and now she was scooping up the other items, apart from a phone, and shoving them in, as well.

  ‘Doesn’t matter,’ she told him. ‘It’s my fault I’ve never got round to changing my name by deed poll. I don’t even remember them. I was brought up by my father’s parents.’

  ‘Really? Well, there you go—we’ve got something in common.’ Ben was desperate to make up for being what felt like a real jerk. ‘I got brought up by my grandmother, too. Along with my mother, when she visited. Never knew my dad.’

  Joy didn’t seem to be impressed by the connection. ‘I’d appreciate you not broadcasting my first name around the district.’

  ‘It will be our little secret,’ Ben promised. He headed for the door, needing to escape, but then he turned. ‘You know what? I’m not even going to call you by your middle name.’

  Hopefully, his smile was another apology. ‘See you around, JJ.’

  CHAPTER THREE

  ‘YOU BUSY, JOY?’

  ‘Not at all. I’ve just finished the ward round of all three of our current inpatients and I’m writing up my notes. I think Hannah and the twins are ready for discharge later today. Do you want to see them all again first?’

  ‘I’ll drop in to say goodbye and wish them luck but not just yet. We’ve got a patient coming in by ambulance.’ Zac smiled at Joy. ‘Thought you might like to test out our newly reorganised emergency department?’

  ‘Oh, absolutely...’

  Joy returned the smile, abandoning her notes to follow Zac away from the offices that were in the outpatient department, through Reception and into the more clinical areas of the small hospital. It was pleasing to note that, only a few days since her mishap in the ditch, her still-bandaged ankle was taking her weight safely with no more than moderate discomfort.

  It was less pleasing to notice a level of anticipation that she couldn’t attribute to testing the major reorganisation in the space they used to treat emergency cases that had taken most of a quiet day yesterday. It wasn’t that she would be receiving her first patient who was unwell enough to be coming in by ambulance, either. No...while she might not want to admit it, Joy was really hoping that the paramedic bringing this patient in would be Ben Marshall because she hadn’t seen him since he’d left her alone with Shaun the lamb.