The Australian's Proposal. Alison Roberts

wake me?’

      ‘Promise!’ Gina said, then she took the lead from Kate. ‘Cal and I have a kind of flat on the hospital side of the house,’ she explained. ‘There are two of them—ours is two-bedroom and the other is a one-bedroom. Mike and Emily are using the other one, though not for long. Mike’s parents are building a place for them beside their house and restaurant on the other side of the cove.’

      ‘You and Cal, Mike and Emily—is this pairing off to do with the love epidemic Hamish said was happening in Crocodile Creek?’

      Gina laughed.

      ‘I guess you could call it that. You’re lucky Christina and Joe are over in New Zealand, or you’d have three pairs of lovebirds under your feet.’

      Kate looked at the still smiling woman, seeing the translucence of love in her eyes and the sheer delight of it in her smile. Gina might be worried about her son settling into the child-care centre, but there was no doubt the rest of her life was richly rewarding right now.

      ‘See you later,’ Gina added, leading Rudolph away along the veranda.

      Kate stayed where she was for a little longer, then decided she really, really needed a shower, and if she didn’t get up and have one right now, she’d fall asleep on the settee and be there until nightfall.

      She found the room she’d been allotted, and was surprised to see her case had been unpacked, her clothes hung in the wardrobe and her toiletries set out on a small dressing-table. A plastic folder on the bed held a plan of the house, the rooms or suites marked with the occupants’ names, while the kitchen had a note beside it, giving the times breakfast and dinner were served at the staff dining room at the hospital should the tenants not want to cook.

      A second sheet of paper showed a plan of the downstairs area of the old house. This was obviously the rec room—with a bar, pool table and a big-screen TV marked. Below that was a note explaining when and where laundry could be left, and a phone number for her to contact someone called Dora Grubb, should she need any more information.

      A place like this, she realised, with resident doctors and nurses working irregular hours, would need someone to keep it running, and from the look of the spotless room Kate had been given, Mrs Grubb did a wonderful job.

      Kate set the folder aside, noting as she did so that the closest bathroom was two doors down the central passageway. Gathering up what she needed, she headed straight there. Suddenly a shower seemed infinitely appealing, but she’d get dressed again after it and sleep in her clothes, knowing Gina could return to wake her any time.

      Hamish knocked, then opened the door very quietly. Kate was sleeping soundly, fully clothed but with a throw across her legs. He’d called in at the hospital after dropping CJ back at the child-care centre, and Gina, after thanking him for his help, had asked him to wake Kate and tell her Jack was about to be shifted to Recovery.

      She couldn’t have been asleep very long, he knew that, but he also knew she’d want to keep her promise to Jack.

      ‘Kate!’

      Not wanting to enter her room, he called her name from the doorway, but when she didn’t stir he ventured inside, telling himself that looking at a sleeping woman wasn’t really voyeurism. Yet looking at her disturbed him and he finally nailed the reason. It was something to do with the total vulnerability of a sleeping woman—anyone asleep, he supposed, though he doubted he’d get knots in his stomach watching Cal sleep.

      ‘Kate! Wake up.’

      He put his hand on her shoulder and shook her gently, watching her eyes snap open, her expression confused at first then clearing as the dark brown irises focussed on him. Her full lips curved into a smile.

      ‘Jack’s awake?’

      She sat up, dropped her legs off the side of the bed and thrust her feet into the flowery purple sandals. ‘Thanks for waking me.’

      That was it? Thanks for waking me? Well, what had he expected? Sleeping Beauty after the Prince’s kiss?

      Weird thoughts were still muddling around in his head while Kate pulled a brush through her loose curls, dropped it back on the dressing-table then left the room, poking her head back inside a moment later.

      ‘I think you’ve done enough good deeds for the day, Dr McGregor. Go have a sleep.’

      Hamish looked down at Kate’s bed, still with the indentation of her body on it, and thought of his own bed awaiting him next door. An urge to lie on her bed—feel the warmth of where she’d been—was so strong he very nearly gave in to it. After all, he’d heard her sandals tap-tap-tap their way along the hall and through the kitchen to the back steps. She’d be well on her way to the hospital by now.

      Then, shaking his head at the folly of his thoughts, he left the room. A shower and a sleep would surely sort him out. Tiredness, that was all it was, not love at all.

       CHAPTER FOUR

      A TALL POLICEMAN with cool grey eyes and floppy black hair was leaning against the wall in the ED when Kate entered it, looking for someone to give her directions to Recovery. He smiled at her and she found herself returning the smile, though this probably wasn’t an occasion to ask a policeman for directions.

      A nurse with a badge that said her name was Grace appeared from inside a cubicle, and flashed another smile in Kate’s direction.

      ‘Recovery is through that door, down the corridor, turn left and it’s the first door on your right,’ she said.

      ‘Am I the only stranger in town, that everyone seems to know who I am?’ Kate asked.

      ‘The only small, dark curly-haired stranger at the hospital,’ Grace told her, then she introduced herself. ‘Actually, Harry here is waiting to see Jack as well. You could take him with you if you like.’

      Kate looked up at the policeman. He was no longer smiling but neither was she.

      ‘You want to see him right now? He’ll be in terrible shape, just out of an op. Is that fair, talking to him when he’ll be woozy as all get out?’

      ‘Probably not,’ the policeman called Harry said. ‘But there’s someone out there with a gun and, as far as we can tell, he’s not too fussy about where, when or at whom he points and fires it. The sooner we have information about him, the safer it will be for anyone in his vicinity.’

      Kate couldn’t argue with the theory, but in practice, if this man tried to badger Jack …

      She followed Grace’s directions, very aware of the man walking beside her. A local policeman—if he was a local—could be very useful in her search for information about her birth parents, so perhaps she shouldn’t antagonise him.

      Like hell she shouldn’t. Jack was her patient—kind of—and she wasn’t about to allow this policeman to bother him.

      ‘Are you a local?’ she asked, as they turned the corner and she saw the recovery room in front of them.

      ‘Born and bred,’ he said, pushing open the door and holding it for her. ‘My family have owned the sugar mill here for generations.’

      So he would be useful.

      But Jack wasn’t only physically unwell, he was emotionally upset. He was also awake, and looking around. A pretty woman with honey blonde hair and grey-blue eyes was on the other side of the bed, studying the monitors to which Jack was still attached.

      ‘Hi, I’m Emily,’ she said, barely turning her attention from the screen in front of her.

      Kate nodded in response then hurried forward, taking Jack’s hand and holding it in both of hers.

      ‘I thought you weren’t coming,’ he said, and Kate saw the tears in his eyes.

      ‘You