The Midwife's Little Miracle by Fiona McArthur Read Free Book Online

trip could have substance. Following Andy out here could be detrimental to her peace of mind. Then there was the fair lashing of guilt over her faithlessness to Douglas.
    To her dismay she’d begun to daydream about Andy. He appeared in her thoughts and snippets of new memories would have her drift into a reverie when she least expected it.
    Both he and Ned treated her like a princess, opened doors, pulled out her chair, stood when sheentered the room. It was totally different from her life with Douglas, who had loved her but had expected almost the opposite.
    Douglas had been the prince, the doctor and the artist, and she the person responsible for the mundane tasks of day-to-day living as well as all nurturing and household business.
    Here Louisa managed the house, Andy the hospital and Ned the clinic. Montana looked after Dawn and learnt about Lyrebird Lake.
    She knew Andy suspected she still missed the day-to-day interaction from her husband—or maybe that was what he had missed the most when his wife had died—but she wished he wouldn’t try to replace that because she found it harder to picture Douglas’s face each day and easier to conjure up Andy’s.
    She didn’t feel comfortable to lose the memory of her husband so quickly and easily, and the rising tide of guilt was the only tarnish on her peaceful life.
    What she could see even without actually spending much time with Andy was how much the town relied on him.
    Ned couldn’t suture and had difficulty when he tried to read the names on drug ampoules and bottles because of his diminishing eyesight.
    Andy slipped those tasks into his already busy schedule and Montana continued to take on what tasks she could to lighten his load.
    Andy dealt with all the hospital admissions andtransfers to the base hospital, minor surgery and emergencies, and apparently worked on the disaster rescue team when needed. She could help.
    Late in the eighth week of her stay Montana swung gently on the veranda swing with the warmth and weight of Dawn on her chest, and watched the sun set over the lake.
    She’d have to go in soon for tea but for the moment the gentle breeze and cerise reflection off the water were glorious and she felt more energised than she had since Dawn’s birth.
    The days had begun to drag and she realised she was ready to return at least to part-time work.
    The noise of the latch on the screen door behind heralded the end of her solitude and she glanced up from the water.
    ‘Hope I’m not intruding.’ Andy raised his brows as if she only had to say and he would go again.

CHAPTER FOUR
    A NDY really was the most gorgeous man and she didn’t understand why he hadn’t remarried and surrounded himself with a brood of auburn-haired children when he was so wonderful with Dawn.
    Of course, her daughter seemed as pleased as Montana that he’d joined them. She cooed and smiled at Andy’s familiar face and Montana thought at least Dawn would know a little of what a father figure was like when she could have so easily have been devoid of all male company.
    Certainly at Westside her daughter would have been in a predominately female environment.
    Montana patted the seat beside her. ‘Join me. We seem to have very little time to chat. Was there something particular you wanted to discuss with me?’
    She edged over to make room for him on the swing and then Andy’s woodsy cologne, which almost reminded her of the bottlebrush foliage she’d arranged in the vase today, was there and she realised she’d grown to not only recognise but respond to the aroma of Andy. When had that happened?
    His was nothing like the expensive cologne Douglas had preferred but was just as manly—funny how Andy’s cologne made her think of unobtrusive strength—which was as comforting as the man it belonged to.
    For Andy, he savoured her warmth against him and he realised how much he missed the little feminine aspects that Montana abounded in. She dazzled him as she sat here like the