‘HI, MUM.’ THERE was a slight delay as Eddie’s voice came down the line. ‘I’m back in Paris, safe and sound.’
She sighed with relief. ‘Good to hear.’
There was a pause on the other end of the line, then, ‘What’s wrong?’ There was no hiding anything from Eddie. He knew her far too well.
‘Oh, Eddie,’ she gasped, then blurted out the whole story of how they’d had an emergency, then they’d gone to see Felix’s father and that Felix had blamed her for everything. ‘And then...then...’ She stopped and blew her nose. ‘Then when I arrived back at Darwin hospital, it was to find that Felix had agreed to perform the surgery for the patient he’d consulted on and that he’d be doing it with loads of people watching so they could observe his technique, and that’s fine but it’s the way he spoke to me. It was as though I was a stranger, as though we hadn’t spent any time together, as though...as though...’ She stopped and sniffed.
‘Where is he now?’
‘He’s still in Darwin.’
‘Where are you?’
‘Chloe and I are back in Meeraji Lake. We managed to get a ride back in a helicopter two days ago.’
‘That would have been exciting for Chloe but... Felix left her?’
‘He calls her on the phone every day, talks to her. She thinks it’s great. Just like you and I and, besides, he did tell her he’ll be back in a few days. He’s going to stay and monitor the patient in case of complications.’
‘That’s logical.’
‘I know. I know it is but, oh, Eddie. I’ve blown it. I’ve wrecked everything by pushing Felix to see his father. Honestly, Mr McLaren was horrible to Felix. He knew exactly who he was and he said some awful things. And then...and then... Felix blamed me, then walked away. He left me there. Left me at the nursing home. Dismissed me. Looked at me as though he didn’t know me at all.’
‘Mum. Mum.’ Eddie tried to get a word in and finally succeeded. ‘I know things seem dire now but Felix will come around. He’s hurt and he has a right to be. He doesn’t have the right to take it out on my mother, though, and I’ll be making sure he apologises to you for that.’
‘It’s OK, darling.’ She sniffed then smiled, pleased her boy was protective of her. ‘But, Eddie, what if he doesn’t come around? I love him. I love the stupid, idiotic man and there’s nothing I can do about it and I have to work with him for the rest of the year and then there’s Chloe and—’
‘Mum!’ Eddie’s words cut her off and even with the delay due to the fact they were on opposite sides of the world, it still managed to silence Harriette. ‘Chillax. Take it a day at a time. Go and spend some time with Chloe. Focus on Chloe. Oh, and isn’t it Tori and Scotty’s wedding soon?’
‘Yes.’
‘Go and be girls together. Do your nails. Play with hairstyles. You’ve never had a little girl to play dress ups with.’
Harriette sniffed again then smiled. ‘True.’
‘Go and be a mum to Chloe. You already love her as though she was your own. She needs you now and if Felix needs to take a few days or a week to sort his head out, then give him the space he needs. The poor bloke’s already had quite a few hectic and confronting months.’
‘True.’ She sighed, feeling calmer than before. ‘Thank you, Eddie. Sleep sweet, darling.’ Harriette ended the call then blew her nose once more before going to the bathroom to splash water on her face. She could be there for Chloe...and Felix. Even if he ended up breaking her heart in the process, surely it was worth the pain? Wasn’t it?
* * *
Three days later, Harriette still hadn’t heard from Felix and she was doing her best to hide it from everyone—except Eddie, but at least she could face him in the privacy of her own room. Felix had called her phone and immediately asked to speak with Chloe so he could say goodnight to her, and apparently, according to Erica, he’d called the day care a few times to speak with Chloe during the day.
‘At least he’s keeping in contact with her,’ Erica had said yesterday when Harriette had gone to pick the little girl up from day care. ‘After losing her parents, he wants to make sure she knows he’s only away from her because he has to do important doctor work in Darwin.’ Erica had sighed. ‘That poor man, the one Felix stayed behind to operate on,’ she clarified. ‘He’s had several complications but last time I spoke to Felix, he felt the man was finally stabilising, so that’s good.’
In fact, it seemed Felix was keeping in contact with everyone in the town except for her. Tori had mentioned that he’d called to check on a few patients and to say he was getting a lift to Clem’s property and would pick up the ute Harriette had left there. ‘He’s going to drive it back to Meeraji Lake and said he’d try his hardest to get here in time for the wedding,’ Tori informed her.
Even in the pub where she and Chloe had eaten dinner the other night she hadn’t been safe from talk of Felix. Patrick had been showing off his appendectomy scar.
‘Just look at that neat scar. Perfect stitching, from Doc McLaren. Did you know he’s a famous surgeon, published in journals and sought after by doctors all over the world? And he operated on me. Me!’
By the time the day of the wedding arrived, the whole town was buzzing. Tori and Scotty were getting married in a large marquee next to the community centre. Chloe woke up in a bad mood and had a tantrum when it was time to put on her pretty dress.
‘I don’t want to wear a dress to the wedding and Uncle Felix said he would be here to get dressed up with me and he’s not.’ The child stamped her foot and crossed her arms huffily, pursing her lips together in a pout. ‘I want Uncle Felix. I don’t want you, Harriette.’
‘Not you, too, Chloe.’ Harriette sighed and left the child alone to calm down while she finished getting ready. She’d chosen to wear a lovely floral dress with ribbons for shoulder straps, a fitted bodice and a flared skirt. Eddie had brought it over from Paris on his last trip, knowing that Tori and Scotty would soon be getting married.
So now, as she dressed in her pretty outfit and slipped on her shoes, which had a small heel so she wouldn’t sink into the grass, she reminded herself to take a photo and send it to Eddie. She’d just finished piling her hair on top of her head and was about to start putting her make-up on when Chloe came into her room, still with her arms crossed, still huffing and still not in her pretty dress.
‘I want Uncle Felix!’ she demanded.
‘Would you like to put some make-up on for the wedding?’ Harriette asked, trying to distract the child by holding out a lip gloss. ‘I have a purplish one in here which will look lovely on you.’
‘I don’t want make-up!’ Again the little foot stamped in protest. ‘I. Want. Uncle. Felix.’ She yelled his name throughout the house and Harriette didn’t blame her. She wanted Felix here too and, although she’d already tried to explain to Chloe just why Uncle Felix wasn’t here, she didn’t have the energy to go through it all again.
‘Me, too.’ Harriette put the lip gloss down and sat on her bed. What was the use of looking this pretty if Felix wasn’t here to admire her? To compliment her? To share the event with her? For the past few nights, ever since he’d been so dismissive, she’d ended up crying herself to sleep, her heart breaking in the worst way possible. It was far more painful than the broken heart she’d had at sixteen when Eddie’s father had dismissed her. It was worse than when Mark had abandoned her for his career.
Seeing Harriette so despondent seemed to somehow snap Chloe out of her tantrum and she quickly climbed onto the bed beside Harriette.
‘I like Uncle Felix. He’s funny,’ Chloe stated.
‘Yes, he is.’
‘He’s really good to me and he gives me tea sets.’
Harriette smiled and kissed the little girl’s head. ‘Yes, he does.’ In the end, it didn’t matter if Chloe attended the wedding in her grubby shorts and T-shirt with her purple shoes on her feet and purple hat on her head. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered because Felix wasn’t here to share it with them.
‘I miss him.’ Harriette sighed.
‘Me, too,’ Chloe agreed, mimicking Harriette’s previous tone exactly. They both sat there for a while, content just to be. When the screen door to the house opened, neither of them moved, Harriette expecting whoever it was to call out a greeting, but nothing happened. Perhaps it was the wind that had banged the door...but there was no wind today.
Frowning, she stood and headed out into the lounge room and stopped still when she saw Felix standing there, his back to her as he peered into his part of the house, clearly looking for Chloe.
‘She’s in my room.’ Harriette’s tone was firm and impersonal even though her heart was pounding with delight. He was here. He’d come back for Chloe and that really was all that mattered. His relationship with the little girl was paramount and although she’d convinced herself that that was all she cared about, she knew as soon as he looked at her that she’d been lying to herself.
‘Harriette—’ He stared at her for a moment, as though drinking her in, as though needing to have his fill. The look in his eyes, one of desire and need, sparked a small light of hope within her.
‘Uncle Felix!’ Chloe had clearly heard his voice and came hurtling through the house, her arms open wide. Felix quickly bent down, his own arms open wide, before he scooped her up and held her close, breathing in the little girl’s scent and kissing her cheek. ‘I missed you, Uncle Felix,’ she told him.
‘I missed you, too, gorgeous girl,’ he remarked, then, when she pulled back, she reached out a hand and touched the three-day-old growth of whiskers covering his face.
‘You look different.’
‘Sorry, princess. I haven’t had time to shave.’ He shifted Chloe in his arms and looked across at Harriette. ‘I drove straight through after picking up the ute from Clem’s. I wanted to be here.’
‘For the wedding?’
‘Not particularly, but don’t tell Tori that. No. I just wanted to be here...with you two.’
That spark of hope grew bigger but Harriette still stood her ground. ‘You can’t treat people that way,’ she told him, knowing he knew full well what she was talking about.
‘I know. I’m sorry.’ He held her gaze for a long and intense moment but Harriette needed more. As though he could read her mind, he turned to Chloe. ‘Why aren’t you wearing your pretty dress?’
‘You promised that you would get dressed up and we could go together, remember?’
‘Well, I’m going to talk to Harriette and then go and get ready so we can go to this wedding together.’
‘Like we planned?’
‘Like we planned,’ he confirmed. With that, he put the little girl down and she ran to her room to get changed. ‘Just as well the dress is one she can pull on over her head and doesn’t need help from us,’ he stated as he quickly crossed the distance between himself and Harriette. She’d thought, with the way he’d walked, that he was going to scoop her up into his arms and kiss her full on the mouth but he didn’t. Instead, he kept his hands by his sides and lowered his head for a moment before meeting her gaze.
‘Harriette, I’m sorry. I was wrong to treat you the way I did because, stupidly, I let that cranky old man who called himself my father get to me. Just as he always used to.’ He paused. ‘As you may have gathered, my mother took her own life, unable to live with him...or indeed the rest of us.’
‘Oh, Felix.’ Her heart broke for him. ‘That would have been devastating for you.’
‘I was already at medical school but David went off the rails. Naturally, Dad couldn’t take responsibility for anything and so blamed the two of us. Then I had David blaming me because I’d left home. He kept saying that if I’d been there, Mum would have been able to cope.’
‘Is that why you didn’t speak for so long?’
‘Yes, but thankfully, as we grew older, we realised it wasn’t our fault. Poor Mum. She simply couldn’t see any other way out of the mess which had become her life. For so long, I thought if I let people get close to me, too close, that I would end up being pushed over the edge like her or losing my mind like him.’
‘And now?’
‘Now I realise I’m my own man. My circumstances are different from theirs and I don’t have to run from the past any more. Seeing the old man helped me realise that. I can write my own future.’
‘Oh, Felix.’
‘You keep saying that,’ he remarked, looking at her. He held his hand out to her and she immediately took it, Felix sighing with relief that she hadn’t rejected him.
‘That’s because your pain is my pain. Can’t you see that? When you hurt, I hurt, which is why I’m so sorry I forced you to see your father.’
‘It wasn’t your fault, Harriette.’
‘But you said—’
‘I know what I said and I’m ashamed of my behaviour, the way I spoke to you, the way I left you. Harriette...’ He linked their fingers together and drew her closer, looking down into her upturned face. ‘Can you ever forgive me?’
She reached out and touched his cheek, delighted when he leaned closer, coveting her touch. ‘Of course I can. I already have.’ And she had. ‘You see, Felix...’ She took a deep breath, surprised at the nervousness she felt. She knew it was the right time for a declaration of her feelings, she needed to tell him, but how would he respond? ‘I...um...’
‘Love me?’ he prompted when she had difficulty continuing.
Harriette met his gaze and saw the question there, as though he was desperate for her to confirm it. ‘Uh...yes. How did you know?’
‘I didn’t. I could only hope because I love you back. I love you so very much, my sweet Harriette.’
Now he drew her close and pressed his mouth to hers as though saying the words wasn’t enough, he needed to show her as well. ‘No woman—no person,’ he clarified, ‘has ever made me feel the way you do.’
‘And what way is that?’ she fished.
He grinned and kissed her once more. ‘You make me feel as though I’m capable of so much more. You make me see myself in a different light. You make me want to be a better man, a better parent to Chloe, a better...partner for you.’
‘Oh.’
‘Don’t be alarmed. We don’t have to rush, don’t have to decide on anything right now, but I’ve had a lot of time to think over the past few days. I’m not sure I have it all figured out but that doesn’t matter because we need to figure it out together. We can live near Darwin or another small town where there’s a decent-sized hospital for me to work in. I don’t need accolades for my work but I do need you and Chloe. We need to discuss our future, the three of us. Chloe needs to add her own opinion.’
‘Because children have opinions. Maybe not fully formed but they have opinions nevertheless.’ Harriette kissed him.
He returned the kiss, then looked at her again. ‘Does this mean you’re happy to become Chloe’s mother?’
‘Happy? Being a mother was the best thing that had ever happened to me and now that Eddie’s off overseas, living his own life, I tried, I tried so hard not to be lonely, to focus on my career, on moving on with my life, but I was failing miserably...until you and Chloe burst into my life and filled it with sunshine once again. So of course I want to be a mother to Chloe. I already love her as though she were my own because she is just so loveable.’
‘Are you sure?’ His tone was earnest. ‘Because...because you said you didn’t want to have any more children.’
Harriette chuckled. ‘No. I meant I didn’t want to give birth to any more children, but if you’re happy with just Chloe or you may want to adopt in the future, I’m fine with that.’
‘Really?’ He eased back a little and looked deeply into her eyes as though he needed to see the truth of her words reflected there. Then, as though he finally realised she wasn’t dressed in her usual scrubs and that her hair wasn’t falling about all over the place, his gaze drank her in. ‘Wow. Dr Jones. Wherever did you get such a dress? You look absolutely stunning.’
‘Paris, mon cheri.’
‘Eddie. I should have known.’ Felix kissed her neck, enjoying the way her hair was piled on top of her head, providing plenty of easy access for him.
‘By the way, he’s mad at you for upsetting his mother.’
‘I figured as much.’ He drew back and looked into her eyes. ‘I’ll speak to him later.’
‘But he also told me that you didn’t mean to hurt me and that you’d come to your senses eventually.’
‘Hmm. That boy of yours is smart.’
‘Yes, he is.’
‘Just like his mother,’ Felix whispered and kissed her once more. ‘So what do you say, Harriette? Let’s forget the past of our upbringings and forge ahead together with our future.’
‘So long as you promise never to dismiss me again, because that’s what hurt the most, Felix. I’ve been dismissed by everyone I’ve ever loved, except Eddie, and I didn’t care for it.’
Felix shook his head in shame. ‘I will spend copious amounts of time making it up to you.’
‘Good. I’m looking forward to it.’ With that, she wound her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly, glad she hadn’t put her make-up on yet.
‘You’re not changed!’ Chloe’s voice stopped them in mid embrace and they both froze, wondering how the child would react to the two of them kissing in front of her. Felix was the first to speak, reluctantly slipping his arms from Harriette but reaching for her hand, as though he needed to be touching her.
‘I’m sorry, princess. I’ll get changed in just a moment but first, can you come here? Because Harriette and I want to ask you something very important.’
Chloe frowned at him but gave in and walked towards him, still a bit huffy. She was wearing her pretty dress but she’d put it on backwards and Harriette couldn’t help but smile at the child as Felix bent to scoop her up. Then he placed his free arm around Harriette, drawing the three of them together.
‘Chloe, I know your mummy and your daddy have gone to heaven but what do you think about having a new mummy and daddy?’
‘A new one? You can do that?’
‘Yes. Yes, you can.’ He kissed her cheek, delighted at her response.
‘Then I want you to be the daddy and Harriette to be the mummy. Now can you get changed?’
‘So simple,’ Harriette whispered as Felix dipped his head and kissed her.
‘Yes, it is. Harriette Jones—’ He stopped and let Chloe down as she was wriggling so much he was afraid he might drop her. ‘Harriette Jones,’ he began again. ‘Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife and Chloe’s mother?’
‘I will. And will you, Felix McLaren, do me the honour of becoming my husband and Eddie’s father?’
He grinned at that and nodded. ‘I’d be delighted because that boy could surely use some discipline.’ Both of them laughed, but stopped when Chloe huffed and whinged again. ‘All right. All right, I’ll get dressed.’
‘Come on, Chloe. Let’s go put our make-up on.’ And that was what they did, Harriette even managing to get Chloe’s dress on the right way before they left the house.
Chloe walked in the middle of them, holding their hands. ‘Family, family,’ she sang as she wiggled her way up the path towards the large marquee. ‘Come on, Mummy.’ She giggled at the word and smiled up at Harriette. ‘And come on, Daddy.’ She looked up at Felix and laughed some more, as though her words were the best in the world.
And they were.
* * * * *
If you missed the first story in Lucy Clarke’s OUTBACK SURGEONS check out
ENGLISH ROSE IN THE OUTBACK
And if you enjoyed this story, check out these other great reads from Lucy Clark
STILL MARRIED TO HER EX!
A CHILD TO BIND THEM
DR PERFECT ON HER DOORSTEP
HIS DIAMOND LIKE NO OTHER
All available now!
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