WHEN THE DOORBELL RANG, George walked through his house, a slight spring in his step. He opened the door with anticipation and smiled at Carmel. ‘I never thought I’d be happy to see you at my door,’ he stated, and Carmel laughed. ‘Come in.’ He beckoned.
‘Would it be crazy to say I’ve missed you?’ she asked as she followed him through to the dining room, which was strewn with papers. ‘I can’t believe it’s almost two whole weeks since we finished the tour.’
‘I can’t believe I’ve written so many reports and papers in those two weeks.’
‘Are they all finished?’
‘Ah...there’s that Miss Efficient Organiser tone I haven’t missed at all.’ They both laughed and sat down to chat.
‘How are you doing, George?’ She gestured to the sparse room. ‘I mean, Christmas is two days away and not a decoration in sight.’
He shrugged. ‘Not really in the Christmas spirit this year.’
‘Are you doing anything on Christmas Day? Seeing Veronique’s family?’
He shook his head. ‘I’m rostered on at the hospital.’
‘I didn’t think you were back there until the New Year.’
‘I’m just doing a few shifts over the Christmas and New Year period. The acting head of department needs to spend some time with his family.’ Even as he said the words ‘acting head of department’ his thoughts immediately went to a different acting department head, a beautiful redhead with mesmerising green eyes who had captured his heart.
Ever since leaving Sydney to complete the visiting orthopaedic specialist tour, George had been hard pressed to get Melody out of his head. Two days after they’d left he’d received an official email from her, on behalf of the rest of the department, thanking him and his staff for choosing St Aloysius as part of the VOS tour. It had been formal, official and he’d been miserable on reading it. Melody. He couldn’t go to sleep without thinking of her smile, without dreaming of being with her, laughing with her, kissing her.
‘You’re like a bear with a sore head,’ Carmel had accused him five days later. ‘For heaven’s sake, email Melody, call Melody, text her with a plethora of emojis if you’re unsure what to say, but do something, George. You’re making the rest of us miserable.’
And so he’d emailed her, an equally polite message, stating that he and his team had enjoyed their stay. He’d signed off the email asking her what her favourite part had been. He’d received a one-word reply—You. Clearly that hadn’t been an official email but the reply had made his heart soar with delight, and along with the delight had come the guilt, the guilt that he was moving on from his marriage, that he was moving away from Veronique and everything they’d shared together.
Since then, he’d taken Carmel’s advice on board and had sent Melody a text message with emojis. His usual one had been the exhausted or sleeping emoji. She would often reply with emojis of her own, all of them upbeat and encouraging, as though she was eager for him to finish this tour.
Carmel waved a hand in front of his face. ‘I know that blank look. You were thinking about Melody, weren’t you?’
George sighed, not bothering to deny it. ‘She’s constantly on my mind. I don’t know what to do.’
‘Do you love her?’
‘I...’ He shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes. ‘I don’t know. Sometimes I think yes, sometimes I think no. Sometimes I think we had such an intense time together, it must all have been an illusion. Perhaps there’s nothing more between us than infatuation?’
‘That doesn’t sound like fun.’
‘It isn’t. That’s why I was more than happy to pick up a few shifts at the hospital. Work will help.’
‘That’s what you told me after Veronique’s death. Work would help.’
‘And it did. It always does.’
‘But you also run the risk of working too much, of burying your life in work and then having nothing else to exist for.’ Carmel’s words held a hint of sadness and nothingness. It helped snap George out of his own self-pity.
‘Are you and Diana OK?’
‘We’re more than OK.’ Carmel held up her hand to reveal a lovely engagement ring.
‘Wow!’ George inspected the ring. ‘That’s beautiful.’
‘Diana chose it. I chose hers. We’re very happy, George, but I was so caught up in my work for so long that I didn’t see how happy I could be if I just let myself.’
‘Are you telling me to let myself be happy? Because if you are, I’m not sure I know how to do that.’
Carmel thought for a moment then changed the subject. ‘How’s Veronique’s family?’
‘They’re good. Great even. Her parents have travel plans, her sister’s pregnant.’
‘Good for them.’
‘Everybody’s moving on.’ He shook his head. ‘In some ways it’s as though we’re forgetting Veronique altogether.’
‘No.’ Carmel shook her head. ‘Not forgetting, George, but honouring her by not weeping or covering yourself with sackcloth and ashes for the rest of your life. You know she wouldn’t have wanted that. She would have wanted you to be happy.’
‘That’s what her mother told me.’
‘It’s good advice.’
‘But how do I do that?’ He spread his arms wide, indicating the house. ‘Even this place feels like it belongs to someone else.’
‘It did. You’re a different man now, George. You’re not Veronique’s husband any more.’
‘No. I’m not that man.’
‘You’re a new man, with a new world at your command. So the big question is, what do you want? Where do you want to live? Do you want to work at Melbourne General? Who do you choose to share your life with?’
They were definite questions to think on, and after Carmel had collected all the reports and papers and said her farewells, George walked back into his quiet house and sat staring at his phone. Every question he asked himself seemed to lead to one person—and one person only. Melody. He should call her. He should—
His phone beeped. It was a message from Melody. Three emojis—a happy face, a Christmas tree and a heart. He raised his eyebrows at the heart. That was one she’d never sent him before. A heart? Did that mean she still loved him? He hadn’t quashed it by not professing his own feelings?
Was it possible that he could be twice blessed in love? First with Veronique and now with the vivacious, intelligent and heart-melting Melody Janeway?
Love? Was he in love with Melody? Even as the question crossed his mind, he couldn’t help the large smile that spread across his lips.
* * *
Melody put her phone on the table and closed her eyes. She shouldn’t have sent him the heart emoji. It was too much. They hadn’t even spoken since he’d left, just the initial emails and then text messages consisting of emojis. It was silly but it was better than nothing, and if that’s what George needed to do while he figured out what he wanted then she would wait.
It was a decision she’d come to about three days after he’d left Sydney. Her brother Ethan had come to Sydney with a patient and had insisted on having a frank discussion with his little sister.
‘You’re clearly in love with the man,’ Ethan had stated after she’d told him everything.
‘I know.’
Ethan had chuckled. ‘And yet you don’t sound too happy about it.’
‘There’s nothing I can do, Ethan, but wait. George has a lot to sort out, more emotional baggage than I have, I think. The death of his wife is a far greater loss to deal with than a broken engagement by some jerk I’m better off without.’
‘So you’re just going to wait?’
‘I’m going to hope.’
‘Hope is good but it’ll only get you so far, Mel. One day you’ll need to act because if you don’t, you risk losing everything. Believe me, I know. I was almost too stubborn to let go of my past so that I could move forward with CJ and now...’ he’d grinned ‘... I’m the happiest man on earth.’
‘That’s what I want. I want to be happy—with George.’
‘Does this mean you’re thinking about moving to Melbourne?’
She’d sighed and nodded. ‘If I have to, yes.’
‘Huh. Surprising but good. Or would you prefer George to move to Sydney?’
‘I don’t care if we both move and end up in Far North Queensland or overseas, I just want to be with him, Ethan. I love him.’ Her job was to wait and hope and pray and love George from afar, giving him the space he needed so he could sort out what he wanted. Melody hoped it was her.
* * *
Melody spent her Christmas working at the hospital and even though there weren’t too many patients in the wards and all the hospital administrative meetings had been cancelled until the new year, she was glad of the opportunity to lose herself. Thinking about George every hour she was awake and then dreaming about him all night was almost becoming exhausting. Almost...
Two days after Christmas, though, the CEO had told her to take time off work. ‘Go home, Melody. See your family. Go and see your new niece and spend some time with Ethan in the wine district. You’re starting to look as ashen as he used to.’
‘But there’s so much to do,’ she’d protested, but had been overruled.
‘And there will be plenty of time to do it,’ she’d been told in return. ‘This request is not negotiable.’
And so Melody had headed to see Ethan and CJ for the New Year, delighting in spending time with Lizzie-Jean, who was crawling all over the place and starting to pull herself up on furniture. She watched her brother and CJ together, amazed at just how happy Ethan really was, and she yearned to be equally as happy.
She’d received the usual text message emojis from George, the exhausted or sleepy one and—on Christmas Day—a Christmas tree with a smiley face. Had she been wrong to send him the heart emoji? Had she scared him off?
It was only two days into the new year when her phone rang and she quickly checked the caller identification—her heart plummeting when she realised it was only the hospital’s CEO.
‘Melody, I’m sorry to call you but we actually need you to come back to the hospital.’
‘What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing’s wrong,’ the CEO told her. ‘We’ve found the perfect candidate to take over from you as head of department. Isn’t that great news?’
‘It is. Do you need me to come back and do a handover?’
‘That’s exactly what we need. If you can have one week with the new head, handing things over while the operating lists and patient numbers are low, that would be helpful. Then, when clinics start up in another week, he’ll be ready to take on the full duties and you’ll be free to return to your position as resident orthopaedic surgeon and devote as much time to your research project as you’d like.’
Melody breathed in a cleansing breath. It also meant she’d be able to move to Melbourne if she needed to.
‘Who’s the new head, then?’ Ethan asked, as he watched his sister pack.
‘I didn’t ask and I don’t really care.’ She laughed with delight. ‘I’m free, Ethan. I don’t have to worry about letting everyone down and I can move to Melbourne to be near George and—’
‘What happened to giving him space?’
‘I think he’s had enough space. I’m through marking time. I’m going to find that man and make him see sense. I’m going to let him know that I love him and I’ll wait for as long as I need to until he can tell me he loves me, too because I’m pretty sure he does...’ She frowned. ‘At least, I hope he does.’
‘Don’t go second-guessing yourself,’ Ethan encouraged as he zipped up her bag and carried it out to her car. ‘It’s not that I want you to leave, sis, but, seriously, go and get this whole thing sorted out so I can see you being happy instead of being as miserable as a wet week.’
Melody laughed, not taking offence at her brother’s words. It was because he loved her, because he wanted the best for his sister that he was all but pushing her out of his home.
The drive back to Sydney was refreshing as she started making plans for her new future.
She hadn’t realised how much of a weight the head of department job had been around her neck until it had been lifted. When she arrived at her apartment, it was to find George standing there, knocking on her door.
Melody closed her eyes and blinked one very long blink as she continued to stare at him. Was she seeing things?
‘George?’
He turned to look at her, taking in the bag in her hand and the sunglasses on her head. ‘You weren’t home.’
‘No. I was at Ethan’s.’
‘Oh. I didn’t know.’
‘How could you?’
They stood there, so close to each other and yet so far apart, both of them having the most ridiculous conversation as they drank in the sight of each other. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I—uh—sent you a text message.’
‘You did?’ She dug in her bag for her phone. ‘I have it off when I drive so I’m not tempted to answer any calls or messages.’
‘Good. Safe driving practice,’ he stated. ‘That’s good.’
She found her phone and switched it on, waiting impatiently for the message light to blink so she could look at it. When she opened the text message from George it was to find one single emoji—a red heart.
Melody stared at the emoji, then looked at George, hope filling her heart. ‘Really?’
He nodded, then as though the admission had given them both wings they were in each other’s arms, their mouths meeting and melding with perfect synchronicity. She kissed him with all the love in her heart, wanting him to feel just how wonderful he made her feel. In return, she felt his own need, his desire and his acceptance of their mutual love.
When one of her neighbours came out into the corridor, seeing the two of them kissing, Melody belatedly realised where they were. She’d been so caught up in everything about him that she hadn’t even opened the door to her apartment. She quickly unlocked her door and beckoned him inside. It was then she realised that he, too, had a bag beside him—a large bag.
‘You’re staying in Sydney?’
‘I’m staying wherever you are,’ he told her as he gathered her close again, kicking the door shut to the apartment to ensure they had all the privacy they needed.
‘I was going to do the same thing. I told Ethan I wanted to be wherever you were and that if you didn’t love me I would give you all the time you needed to come to the sane and rational conclusion that we belong together.’
‘You were going to leave Sydney?’
‘I got a call from the CEO—they’ve found a new head of department so I’m free, George. I’m free to move to Melbourne or to Timbuktu—I don’t care, so long as I’m with you.’ She pressed a kiss to his lips then shook her head. ‘I know we only had one week together but these past ten weeks apart have been absolute torture.’ She kissed him again. ‘I missed being able to talk to you, to share things with you, to just sit and spend time with you.’
‘You could have called me,’ he ventured, but she shook her head.
‘I knew I had to be patient and to trust you, two things I needed to have more practice with.’ She broke free from him for a moment and took his hand, leading him over to the lounge, where they sat down together. ‘You needed to sort things out in your own way, in your own time.’
‘When I returned to Melbourne—’ George stopped and shook his head. ‘It was as though I was having an out-of-body experience. I could walk around my house, the place I’d lived with Veronique, and it was as though I was intruding on someone else’s life. It wasn’t mine. It wasn’t where I belonged any more. I felt the same way at the hospital. I did a few shifts over Christmas and New Year, and although everything was familiar it was...out of balance with the man I’d become.’
George shook his head and held her hands in his. ‘I’m not the same man I used to be and that’s all because of you, Melody.’ He held her gaze as he spoke, his tone intense and filled with repressed desire. ‘Our week together helped me realise that I’d merely been existing, going through my days one at a time but not really taking anything in. In the beginning the travelling had been good for my grief but it wasn’t until I arrived back in Melbourne that I realised I was done.’
‘Done with grieving?’
He shook his head. ‘Done with the guilt from wanting to move forward.’
‘Good, because I don’t think you’re ever done with grieving. It just...changes.’
‘It does, and Veronique’s mother told me herself that Veronique wouldn’t be happy if I was always looking backwards. My wife would want me to be happy and you...’ He lifted her hands to his lips and pressed soft kisses to her knuckles. ‘You make me happy, Melody. Being with you, laughing with you, working with you.’
‘Working with me?’
George gave her a lopsided smile and shrugged one shoulder. ‘Didn’t you mention St Aloysius had found a new head of the department? That you were now free to do whatever you wanted?’
Melody frowned at him for a moment before dawning realisation crossed her face. ‘You’re the new head of department?’
‘There was nothing for me in Melbourne any more and everything here in Sydney because Sydney is where you are.’
‘You took the head of department position?’ She laughed with rising incredulity.
‘Is that OK?’
‘Uh...yeah.’ She nodded her head for emphasis. ‘Of course it is, but are you sure you’ll be happy here?’
‘Yes. I like the hospital. I like Rick, who I’ve insisted remain as my PA, and I like the resident orthopaedic surgeon...very much.’ He leaned forward as he said the last few words then captured her lips with his. ‘Very much,’ he reiterated a few moments later after delighting in the way Melody kissed him back with such uninhibited abandon.
‘I love you, George.’
‘I love you, too, Melody.’
‘You do?’ She smiled as though she was still unable to believe it.
‘I do, so very much. My life was...incomplete without you.’
‘Mine, too.’
‘Then be with me for ever, Melody. You complete me and I want to feel like that for ever. Marry me?’
She gasped at his words but before she could answer, he continued.
‘Let me show you I’m not like the other dead-heads who broke your heart. I love your intellect, the way we can talk about operating techniques, share the highs and the lows of our jobs. I’ve never had that with anyone before but when I found it with you it was as though a part of me became complete. Then another part and then another. Be my wife,’ he urged. ‘Complete me.’
‘And children?’ she asked hesitantly. ‘Do you want children?’
‘With you? Absolutely.’ His kissed her once more, a kiss that was filled with passion and promise—the promise of a long and devoted life together. ‘Say yes,’ he ground out as he nibbled his way to her ear lobe. ‘Say yes.’
‘I will.’ She laughed, happier than she’d ever been in her life. ‘If you’d give me half a chance.’ Goose-bumps shivered down her body as he continued his assault. Giggling, she planted her hand in his hair and gently tugged his head away. ‘George!’
‘Sorry. It’s been so long since I’ve been able to kiss you like this and all I’ve dreamed about every day we were apart.’
‘Well, we’re not apart now.’ Her words were filled with love, love for the man who was her soul mate, her other half. ‘I’ll agree to complete you if you complete me. George, you don’t need to show or prove anything to me—because you’ve already done it. I’m not talking about moving to Sydney but the fact that you accept me just as I am. No man has ever done that before. You’re the first—and the last.’ She brushed her lips across his. ‘Marry me quickly.’
‘As you wish.’ His mouth met hers in a mutual declaration of love, one they were both willing to contribute to and work at. ‘How am I going to be able to keep my hands off you?’ he groaned as he buried his face in her neck, unable to resist kissing the soft skin. ‘Working with you every day. Sitting next to you in departmental meetings. I don’t know if my self-control can take it.’
George raised his head to look at the woman he loved. The woman who had made him the happiest man on the face of the earth. He smiled at her.
‘I guess we’d better work out some...’ she paused and raised her eyebrows suggestively ‘...guidelines, then.’
His gaze darkened with desire. ‘I look forward to it, Dr Janeway.’
‘So do I, Professor!’