Emergency In Maternity. Fiona McArthur
rumbled outside and Noah shook his head as he glanced out of the window to see the sheets of rain falling even harder. ‘This is some storm.’
Cate paused and followed his gaze out of the window. ‘It’s more than a storm.’
Noah frowned. ‘Meaning?’
‘My father says we’re in for a flood—and when a farmer predicts a disaster, it’s a definite worry.’
Farmers predicting weather. He’d heard of that but he didn’t believe in it. ‘So how often does it flood around here?’
Cate turned from the window and started walking again. ‘Nineteen sixty-three was a big flood but 1949 was the biggest in recent history. That flood washed right through the centre of town, killed six people and left others stranded on the roofs that didn’t wash away. The locals still talk about that one.’
Her pager shrilled and she glanced down and muttered, ‘Outside call.’ Then picked up the pace again.
‘The staff with creek crossings can have problems getting in when it’s like this. That will be the first of those who can’t get in.’ She smiled sweetly at him. ‘They get flooded-in leave.’
He frowned. ‘Can’t you make them stay in town before they get flooded so the hospital will be staffed properly?’
Cate raised her own sardonic eyebrow. ‘Perhaps if that was a permanent rule, we could have our hospital staffed properly at normal times?’
He flicked a questioning glance across at her until he realised she was baiting him—again.
A small frown marred her forehead and he realised that he had only a fraction of her attention. Another thing he wasn’t used to. ‘I’ll leave you to it, Sister Forrest. I can see you have your hands full.’
For the first time she smiled at him, and he couldn’t help but smile back. As he turned down the opposite corridor towards his car, he acknowledged wryly that all he had to do was leave her and she’d smile.
AFTER work, Cate tried to concentrate on the road home to her parents’ farm in the torrential rain, but it required more attention than she wanted to give. She knew she needed to be less fixated on scoring against Noah Masters and more focused on the rising river and her father’s cattle.
Compartmentalising had never been a problem with men before. Even during her engagement she’d been able to parcel Brett up in to one part of her life while she carried on with something else. So why did thoughts of Noah Masters not stay where she told them to? She grimaced. Maybe he was too big.
She couldn’t help the image of Noah popping so clearly into her memory. And she couldn’t help the awareness of her attraction to him—something she’d been fighting all day—from stealing her concentration.
Cate’s utility rattled over the cattle-grid and the sheets of rain made it hard to make out the figure sitting in the wheelchair on the verandah. She waved anyway as she drove past and parked in the garage. Shaking rain off as she came, Cate hurried up the verandah steps to drop a kiss on her father’s leathery cheek. ‘Hi, Dad.’ William Forrest was another big man and her heart ached to see him confined to the wheelchair. Oddly, he’d adapted to being paralysed better than his family had.
‘Hello, love. River’s rising,’ he said, and they both turned to look towards the bottom paddock river flat. The thickened brown snake of the river was spreading slowly across the lowest areas. ‘Your mother’s trip to town yesterday was in good time. We’ve enough supplies for a month.’
‘Hopefully the rain won’t last a month.’ Cate grinned wryly at her father and laid her hand on his shoulder. ‘I’ll change after my coffee and move the cattle up to the house paddock.’
His bushy white eyebrows drew together. ‘I thought the fence had snapped up in the house paddock?’
‘I fixed it yesterday before I went to work but the gate’s only just hanging on.’
He put his hand over hers and gripped it as if to say, Hear me out. ‘The farm is too much for you and your mother. I’ve asked your brother to come home.’
Cate tried not to feel that she’d failed him. Her father shouldn’t have had to do that. ‘Oh, Dad, there’s no point worrying Ben! We can manage. I’ll fix the gate this evening.’
William was still very much the head of the family and knew how to be firm. ‘It’s too much. You’re a fine daughter and as good as any man on the farm. But you have your own life. And I’ll need him for the flood, if it comes.’ There was no doubt her father believed they were in for a big flood.
Cate turned away and tried not to think about the changes that Ben’s return would make. Her brother had left home without a backward glance as soon as he’d turned eighteen. He had chosen to work in the Northern Territory on another man’s property, leaving her parents to manage with only her. Cate was really proud that she and her mother had managed. They still could—but it was her father’s choice. This day couldn’t get worse.
‘That’s good, Dad.’ The words nearly stuck in her throat. She’d worry about Ben coming home when, and if, he actually did. For the moment there were things to do before the next two days’ shifts at the hospital and she was looking forward to some activity for the restlessness that had been eating at her since she’d driven away from the hospital. She left her father watching the rain.
‘How were your shifts, darling?’ Cate’s mother set two coffees on the kitchen table and sat down to listen. Leanore was a tall woman, though not as statuesque as her daughter, and her hair was more silver than blonde.
Cate’s thoughts flew to the regional CEO, and strangely she was reluctant to discuss Noah Masters with her mother. She stared down at the cup cradled in her hands. ‘Busy.’
Not one to avoid discussing awkward subjects, Leanore went straight to the family issues. ‘Your father and I are looking forward to Ben’s return. It will be wonderful to see him. Are you upset your father asked him to come home?’
Cate couldn’t help the tinge of censure in her voice. ‘If he stays long enough.’
‘Now, Cate. It’s been a hard couple of years but Ben is a man now and he wants to come home. He’ll be better for the time away. He was too young to take over the huge job that you’ve done and too old to take orders from his big sister.’
She patted Cate’s hand.
‘Your father rose above his disabilities and is still the man of my dreams. We have our life and you have yours. We know you’ve carried the lion’s share of the workload for a long time now. You deserve a break. Sit back and let Ben and your father do the worrying without you. Live a little.’
Leanore pushed a plate of home-made biscuits towards her daughter. ‘So tell me some good news from the hospital.’
Cate tried to brighten up. ‘My friends Michelle and Leif had a lovely baby boy early this morning. He was nearly a Caesarean but beat the doctor to the theatre.’ A soft smile crossed her face. ‘He’s gorgeous.’
She blinked and refocused on her mother. ‘And poor Mr Beamish broke his hip on his cattle-grid and I’m dreading the new regional CEO will step into his job until they get someone else.’ She glared at the tablecloth. ‘I hope it’s soon,’ slipped out.
‘Poor Mr Beamish. I went to school with his wife.’ Leanore tilted her head. ‘A new regional CEO? What’s he like?’
Cate stirred her coffee vigorously and the coffee spun dangerously around in her cup. ‘Taller than Dad, looks like he works out, but he’s a human logarithm and very much the city boy.’ She glared at her coffee. ‘He’s domineering and annoyingly sure of himself.’
Cate’s