Dittrich.’ Melissa opened the door for her patient.
‘I’m just a bit worried. This is my third baby, and the pregnancy is completely different from the others.’
‘You’ve done the right thing by coming to see me.’
Mrs Dittrich stopped at the door and placed her hand on Melissa’s shoulder. ‘You have no idea how great it is to have a female doctor here. It’s as though a collective feminine sigh has spread through the entire district. Finally we have someone who really understands us.’
‘That’s nice. Thank you.’
‘Uhh…not that I’m suggesting that Dr Lawson or Dr Crawford are bad doctors. I’m not. It’s just that—’
‘It’s fine,’ Melissa interrupted with a warm smile. ‘I understand completely. You take care, now.’
As Mrs Dittrich walked out of the consulting room Melissa saw Joss, standing on the other side of the corridor. She smiled, and he motioned a signal for drinking. She nodded and he headed off towards the kitchen.
Quickly she returned to her desk, scribbled a few notes in Mrs Dittrich’s file and wrote out the official request for the blood test. When that was done she straightened the paperson her desk so it was nice and neat before heading to have a quick cuppa with Joss. Curiosity was coursing through her at the prospect of just being in the same room as him, and she dampened it down.
She needed to be careful, because she knew if she threw herself into life here in Didja, if she became too close to Joss too quickly, then she was bound to get hurt again. It was what had happened with her fiancé. They’d met, started dating, announced their engagement and called the wedding off all within six months. Moving fast hadn’t worked. Trying to fill the void in her life with people simply for the sake of it hadn’t worked either.
That was when she’d realised that, no matter what, she’d needed to find Dex. She’d needed to seek him out and have him in her life—because he wasn’t just anyone…he was her brother. So she’d written to him, asking him to reconsider meeting her. It had taken a while, but she’d received a reply telling her if she wanted to come all this way to meet him, he wasn’t going to stop her. Of course it wasn’t exactly the reception she’d been hoping for, but the fact that he hadn’t snubbed her completely was a good sign.
It appeared that the entire town was watching them—or at least watching her , at any rate. They were interested in how she and Dex were getting on. They were interested in the kiss she’d shared with Joss. And a few men had almost begged her to reconsider the kissing booth idea.
‘So, how are things going with you and Dex? Any progress?’ Bub had asked on New Year’s Day, when Melissa had gone to the hospital to check on the three inpatients.
‘Not really.’
‘Did you know you were adopted?’
‘I did. My parents never hid it from me.’
‘That would have made things easy for you. Well…easier,at any rate. Did they know you wanted to find your birth mother?’
‘I didn’t start searching for her until after both my adoptive parents had passed away. Although they wouldn’t have stopped me if I’d tried any earlier.’
‘Dex, as you may have guessed, hasn’t taken the news of a new sister all that well. Josiah’s been the one holding him together.’
‘They’re close?’
‘Like brothers.’ Bub grinned as she spoke. ‘Closer than brothers. They’ve been through a lot together, and it was Josiah who convinced Dex to meet you.’
‘It was?’
‘Yep. Said that despite the past it wasn’t your fault he’d been adopted, and that getting to know you would be a good thing.’
Melissa blew her fringe off her forehead. ‘Well, Dex’s done a great job of that so far. He’s said hello and allowed me to treat him for a bump to the head. Real heart-warming stuff.’
‘He needs lots of time.’
‘And I’ve got twelve months of it to give.’
‘Go to the pub at night. Dex’s