Midwife's Christmas Proposal. Fiona McArthur

to run the show. Wanted to listen to her body without interference, if he’d listened at all to the arguments they’d had over the last couple of weeks, and he had no doubt young Tara was holistic enough for his sister to be able to do that.

      Normally he would be right there with a woman, cheering her on, but he was having serious personal issues doing that with the sister he had felt most protective of all his life. Not that he’d actually be there, of course. But he was darned sure he’d be outside the door, pacing.

      So maybe Mia was right. It could be harder for Maeve to relax with the connection so strong between her brother and his stepmother.

      He found the words out in the air in front of him before he realised. ‘We’ll see what she says.’

      He reassured himself that if Mia didn’t have faith in Tara, she wouldn’t have suggested it. And despite the mixed feelings he was starting to have about this intriguing young woman he really did feel a natural confidence in her passion for her work.

      He’d seen it before. How Lyrebird Lake could bring out the best in all of them. Maybe he had lost that since he’d been so immersed in the high-tech, high-risk arena of obstetrics he studied now.

      He’d even seen it with his own father. From hotshot international evacuation medic to relaxed country GP.

      Maeve and Tara did have a lot in common and would get on well, the dry voice in his head agreed—all the way to dropkicking past boyfriends!

      No. It would be good. This was all going to turn out even better than he’d hoped.