The Fling That Changed Everything
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Alison Roberts
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Chapter One
THE SOUND OF the telephone ringing could barely be heard over the cacophony as the Roselli family gathered in their kitchen for dinner.
It wasn’t a big room. If the whole family had been here, they would have had to use the huge, rustic table out in the courtyard, beneath the vine-smothered pergola, but it was raining today—the kind of tropical downpour that was familiar to people living in Northern Australia—and the vines weren’t enough protection from the wet.
So, here they were, piling into the kitchen that was a long room, where Adriana Roselli presided over the benchtop and oven at one end and the scrubbed pine table that could fit ten people—if they squeezed up—filled the other end of the room. Fitting a wheelchair in made it a little more complicated, of course, and that was why the noise level was so high right now.
‘Ow... You ran over my foot, Fiona. Watch where you’re going.’
‘If you didn’t have your stupid ears full of your horrible music, you would have seen us coming. Move yourself, Guy.’
‘Not until you say you’re sorry. You’ve probably broken my toe.’
‘You’re the one who should apologise. Look, you’ve made Angel cry...’
‘Look out, all of you. If I drop this lasagne, you’ll all be sorry. Mamma mia...’ Adriana held a vast steaming tray over her head as her youngest son elbowed his way past her. ‘Why don’t my children ever grow up and act their ages? What have I ever done to deserve this? Lia, why isn’t the bread on the table?’
‘I’m coming... Oh, is that the phone?’
It took a moment for the effect of her words to sink in. Adriana almost dropped the lasagne onto the centre of her table and then covered her mouth with her hands, her gaze—like that of everyone else in the room, apart from Angel—swivelling towards Nico.
Was this the call they’d all been waiting for today?
‘I’ll get it.’
‘No, I will.’
‘It’ll be for Nico. Let him get it.’
But Nico was looking like a possum caught in headlights—too scared to move.
‘I’ll get it.’ Lia shoved the long basket piled with fragrant homemade bread at her brother Guy, but he had his eyes shut, his head nodding to whatever mesmerising beat he was still listening to, and she was too late, anyway. Her younger sister, Elena, had reached the phone first.
‘Lia? It’s for you.’
‘What?’ Lia shook her head. Who would be calling her on her day off? Her life consisted of her work and her family and that was it. One glance around the room would have been more than enough to remind her of why there was no room for anything else. And she wouldn’t want it any other way, either. This was her home and her heart all wrapped up in one delicious-smelling, messy, noisy parcel. She loved every person here so much it could be a physical ache.
‘Tell them to call back, then. I’m busy.’
She put the bread on the table beside one of the salads, smiling at her father, who was already in his place at the head of the table, silently waiting for chaos to morph into a more civilised mealtime. She glanced at the place settings Elena had been put in charge of. Where was the special, modified cutlery that Angel needed if she was going to feed herself?
‘It’s Bruce,’ Elena shouted. ‘And he says it’s important.’
Bruce? Her boss at the ambulance station? More than her boss, in fact. He’d been the one to push her into her specialised training that had given her the qualifications to gain her dream job on the helicopter crew. He was her mentor and a good friend. If Bruce said something was important, it was.
Were they calling in extra crew for some major disaster?
‘Coming...’ The noise level around her was rising again but Lia was barely aware of the small spat as her mother pulled the ear buds away from Guy. Or that Fiona was berating Elena for forgetting the special cutlery. She couldn’t miss that Nico was staring into space and clearly needed some reassurance or that her father’s silence was deeper than his customary patience, but paying attention to those things would have to wait.
‘Bruce?’ Lia pushed her long, unruly curls out of the way and pressed the phone to her ear so that she could hear properly. ‘Hi. What’s up?’
The noise level was still too high to hear properly so Lia slipped out of the kitchen and into the hallway.
‘Say that again. You want me to do what...?’
* * *
The silence was one of the things Sam Taylor loved best about Wildfire Island. Especially at this time of day, when the sun was almost gone and the scent of tropical flowers grew so much stronger.
He drew in a deep breath, shutting his eyes for a moment. And then he opened them and looked out from the vantage point he had chosen to the ocean surrounding this island, which had been his home ever since he’d begun working at the hospital here several years ago.
He’d taken the highest road on the island as he’d walked from the hospital and now he was on ground that was above the gold mine that had been the catalyst for so many people besides the islanders being able to call this place home. To one side he caught a glimpse of the village and the rocky promontory with the little church on top. He couldn’t see over the cliff tops to Sunset Beach on the other side, but this wasn’t an evening to chill out, watching the fiery show on the cliffs that had given the island its European name, anyway. Dense clouds were scudding sideways, intermittently hiding the sun, and it wouldn’t be long before they joined forces and unleashed the kind of tropical downpour that was a regular feature of the cyclone season.
Maybe it was that atmospheric tension that had pushed him into taking this strenuous walk after a busy day that had left him feeling physically jaded. They were short-staffed at the moment and having Jack, the helicopter pilot, take one of his nurses on a mission had made things a lot more stressful. It was a good thing that the plane was due in tomorrow, bringing in some new FIFO—fly in, fly out—personnel. And this time there would be a paramedic as well as a nurse so he would not only have extra hands in the hospital, they wouldn’t get borrowed just when they were needed in Theatre or something.
He let his breath out in a long sigh and felt more of the tension ebb. He could always find peace in this view. Excitement, even, as he looked out at the darkening shapes that were the outlying islands. The biggest one, Atangi, had been settled for the longest time and had the infrastructure of shops and schools. He could see the misty outline of islands that he knew well due to the clinics they ran on places like French Island. He could see the tiny humps of the uninhabited ones, too, and one of them was now his own.
How lucky was it that so many tradesmen had come to the islands to work on the upgrade of the laboratory and conference facilities that was now a feature of Wildfire Island? He’d been able to quietly offer some of them more work, building his dream house and the jetty for his yacht on a bush-covered island paradise that he had yet to name.
In the not-too-distant future, he wouldn’t be walking home to the accommodation provided for both the permanent and FIFO staff that kept the hospital and clinics running in this remote area. He’d take a boat and go home to picture-perfect solitude and the sheer beauty of nature. Not his yacht, of course. As much as he loved sailing, he’d have to be able to travel fast to get back here in an emergency, so he was looking at getting a new speedboat. An inflatable, probably.
For some reason, though, the prospect of that beauty and solitude wasn’t generating the excitement it usually did.
For the first time, it was actually casting a shadow of doubt on if he was doing the right thing.
Was it the remnants of a hectic day that made him think it wouldn’t be a good idea to have even a small strip of ocean between himself and the hospital? What if he hadn’t been there to deal with that anaphylaxis from a bee sting that had seen a young mother terrified that she was about to lose her child? Or if they hadn’t been able to perform that emergency appendectomy before the infected organ burst and could have caused a life-threatening sepsis?
Or was it the storm brewing? The wind picking up and those bad-tempered-looking clouds just waiting for an excuse to spark an outburst?
No. It felt deeper than anything as external as work or the weather. The shadow was more like an empty space in his soul. The alone space.
But he’d come here to this remote part of the Pacific Ocean to escape in the first place, and being alone was the ultimate escape, wasn’t it?
Turning away from the view, Sam automatically looked around, forgetting for a moment that he hadn’t brought Bugsy with him this time. The dog was a part of the hospital family here, and his care was shared amongst others, including him, when his owner was back on the mainland. One of the nurses had him today so Sam hadn’t had the pleasure of taking him out for his daily walk.
That’s what it was, he decided. That’s why he had this sudden, inexplicable sense of loneliness.
Maybe it was time he got a canine companion of his own. A Portuguese water dog, perhaps, who would love boats and fishing expeditions and swimming at the tiny, perfect beach that had been why he’d fallen in love with the island he now owned.
That way he’d have the best job in the world in a place where he could live happily ever after, and he’d have company to share it with. Company that would expect no more of him than his love.
What more could anybody want?
* * *
There was only one chair empty at the table as Lia went back into the kitchen. Plates were being passed, laden with the delicious layers of meat and cheese and pasta that had given Adriana Roselli’s lasagne its well-deserved reputation of being the best.
‘What did Bruce want?’ Elena reached for a thick, warm slice of bread and added it to her plate. ‘Was he asking you out for a date?’
‘Bruce is old enough to be my father,’ Lia said sternly. ‘And I’m old enough to know how ridiculous that would be.’
‘Oh, give it a rest,’ Elena snapped. ‘Mike’s only thirty-nine.’
‘And you’re only twenty-six. Thirteen years, Lena. Count them. It’s almost a generation.’
‘At least I’ve got a boyfriend. You’re turning into an old maid, Lia.’
‘That’s enough,’ Adriana ordered. ‘Sit down, Lia. Eat. You’re far too skinny these days. I can see your bones from here.’
Lia ignored the comments from both her mother and her sister. She slid into the seat beside Angel’s wheelchair.
‘Look at the way you’re holding your spoon, darling. Good girl... Don’t forget to blow on it. That lasagne looks hot.’ She leaned sideways to demonstrate but Angel giggled and tipped her spoon and the food fell off to land on her lap.
‘Thanks for that, Lia.’ But Angel’s mother, her sister Fiona, was smiling as she wiped up the small accident. ‘Let’s try that again, shall we, Angel?’
‘So what did Bruce want?’ Nico was picking at his food and clearly hoping for a distraction from his own thoughts.
‘He offered me a job for two weeks. On a helicopter crew on an island about two hundred miles northwest of Cairns. It’s called Wildfire.’
‘An island?’ Adriana shook her head. ‘Pff...what for? A holiday?’
‘There’s a hospital there, Mamma. It looks after a big population of people over a huge area. Bruce said it would be great experience for me. I’d have to do things I’d probably never get the chance to do here. And, if I liked it, I could go onto a regular roster to fly in for two-week stints.’
‘You can’t go,’ Elena declared. ‘Nico’s going to be going into hospital for his surgery any day now and you know what Mamma’s like around hospitals. You’re the only one who can explain things properly and stop her crying. And even if you’re here for the operation, what about the chemo? It’ll be horrendous.’
‘No, it won’t.’ Lia sent her sister a warning glance before turning to smile at her brother. ‘You’re going to fly through this, Nico. I know it’s scary but testicular cancer has a really high cure rate and you’re going to be one of those success stories. It’ll be okay.’
‘Promise?’ Nico, like the rest of the family, looked to Lia as his medical expert.
Lia’s smile was one of genuine reassurance. ‘Promise.’ Even if the treatment didn’t go as well as hoped, she would make it okay. Somehow.
‘Do you want to go?’ Fiona’s query was sceptical.
‘It would be exciting,’ Lia admitted. ‘Even the name of the island is cool. Wildfire...’
‘They have fires?’ Adriana shook her head. ‘You don’t want to go somewhere that has fires.’
‘Wildfire Island? Wasn’t that in the news not long ago?’ Guy put down his fork to fish his phone out of his pocket. ‘I’m sure I heard something about a mine exploding or something.’
‘Well, that’s that.’ The spoon clanked against the crockery dish as if Adriana’s statement was final. ‘I’m not having you going off into exploding mines.’
‘No, it didn’t explode.’ Guy sounded disappointed. ‘Just collapsed. People got hurt and there was a big rescue mission but it’s okay now. And why would Lia be going down a mine, anyway?’
‘I wouldn’t,’ Lia said reassuringly. ‘And what makes it really attractive is what they pay. I’d earn three times what I usually do in a fortnight. Imagine how far that would get us in buying those new walking aids for Angel.’
‘No...’ Adriana handed a laden plate to Lia. ‘It still sounds dangerous. Flying helicopters around islands miles from anywhere? What if you crash?’
‘It’s no different from what I do here. Apparently the head pilot is someone Bruce knows and he’s top of his game. It’s my job, Mamma—you know that. And I love it.’
‘It’s not natural,’ Adriana sighed. ‘You’re thirty-two, Lia. You should be married and having bambinos by now. Look at your sister. She was a mamma already by your age.’
‘Mmm.’ Lia and Fiona shared a rueful glance that took in how well that had worked out. Angel had been born prematurely and the lack of oxygen during a difficult birth had been responsible for her cerebral palsy. Her father had walked out of their lives as soon as he’d learned of her disability.
‘The money’s amazing.’ Guy spoke with his mouth full. ‘I’d do it if I were you. Hey...you could get the roof fixed and I wouldn’t have to trip over that bucket in my bedroom every time it rains.’
Her father had been silent throughout the discussion, his gaze on his plate, but he looked up as Guy spoke and Lia could see the shame in his eyes.
It’s not your fault, she told him silently, her heart breaking. And you’ll get another job before the redundancy money runs out.
The words she spoke aloud were very different. A daughter asking her father’s advice.
‘What do you reckon, Dad? Should I go?’
He returned her smile and the warmth in his eyes told her that her reassurance had been received and appreciated.
‘If you want to do it, cara, you should.’
Lia nodded slowly. ‘I think I do.’
‘Mamma mia.’ Adriana crossed herself as she closed her eyes. ‘When would you leave?’
‘Um...tomorrow. It seems like the person who was going to go has had an accident at the last minute, which is why Bruce was asked to find someone else. He’s happy to give me leave.’
The reality of the offer was sinking in around the table and everyone was staring at Lia with a mix of admiration and trepidation.
‘I said I’d call him back as soon as I’d discussed it with the family. Nico? You get to have the final vote. If you want me to be here for your surgery, I’ll say no.’
‘Go,’ Nico said. ‘I’ll have more than enough family fussing over me. I’m only going to be in hospital for a couple of days. You can send me some cool pictures and I can boast about my fabulous sister who’s off doing brave stuff and saving the world.’
Lia grinned. ‘You’re on. Right...’ She scooped in a hurried mouthful of her dinner. ‘I’d better go and ring Bruce back and start packing. I’ll have to be at the airport at five-thirty in the morning.’
‘I’ll drive you.’
Her father smiled as he spoke but her mother burst into tears. For a moment Lia considered changing her mind but then she glanced at Angel and remembered what that extra money could mean.
Swallowing hard, she pushed back her chair and went to make the phone call.
* * *
‘Whoa...’ Jack Richards, Wildfire Island’s head helicopter pilot, pushed his sunglasses down his nose to peer over the top of them. ‘You seeing what I’m seeing, Sam?’
Two young people had climbed out of the small plane and were heading across the tarmac to where they were waiting in the shade. The man had to be the paramedic, Sam decided, so no wonder Jack had elbowed him in the ribs. The new FIFO nurse was a stunner, all right. Tall and lean, she had a mane of curly dark hair that the wind was playing havoc with and legs that seemed to go on forever beneath the short shorts she was wearing. Huge sunglasses were hiding half her face but even from this distance you could see a generous mouth that was clearly designed for laughing.
Or kissing, perhaps...?
Maybe it was just as well she’d be safely confined to the hospital during working hours and not floating around remote islands with a good-looking young helicopter pilot. Romantic liaisons with FIFO staff happened—of course they did—and Jack was not shy about enjoying the opportunities, but for Sam it was a no-no. He’d always kept any such casual hook-ups to the times when he was on a break a long way away from here. This was his home and, as such, it was too important to mess with by indulging in something that he’d seen lead to long-lasting negative fallouts in others.
He didn’t need the clipboard he was holding to remind him that this was work time. Supplies were being unloaded from the small plane that was their regular link with the mainland of Australia and, amongst them would be the important medical packs containing drugs and all the other items Sam had ordered. They’d run low on dressings and suture packs after an unusually high number of minor trauma incidents in the past couple of weeks.
‘Let’s check that everything we ordered has come in,’ he said to Jack. ‘We don’t want to hold up the pilot in this weather.’
The wind had picked up even as they walked towards the plane.
‘G’day, mate.’ Sam extended a hand towards the male newcomer. ‘I’m Sam Taylor—one of the permanent doctors at the hospital here.’
‘Good to meet you. I’m Matt.’
‘Welcome to Wildfire Island. Is this your first FIFO experience?’
‘Sure is.’ Matt’s smile was rueful. ‘Might be the last, too, after that flight.’
‘Oh, come on, Matt.’ The girl was now restraining her hair with both hands to keep it from covering her face. ‘It was fun.’
Her grin suggested that a bumpy ride had been a bonus and Sam couldn’t help grinning back. A young woman who was gutsy as well as gorgeous? What man wouldn’t appreciate that combination of attributes?
‘I’m Lia Roselli.’ She had to let go of her hair with one hand as she extended it to shake Sam’s. The wind snatched the tumble of dark curls and plastered it across her face and she was laughing as she scraped it free.
The sound was as attractive as the rest of her. No wonder Jack was grinning like an idiot. It was only then that he realised that his own mouth was still widely stretched. It was an effort, in fact, to pull his lips back into line.
‘I’ve got a hair tie somewhere.’ Lia delved into the soft leather shoulder bag she was carrying. ‘Sorry, I should have tried to arrive looking a bit more professional, shouldn’t have I?’
‘You weren’t to know there’s a cyclone brewing.’ Jack turned to her after shaking Matt’s hand. ‘I’m Jack Richards.’
‘Oh...you’re my pilot.’ The search for the hair tie was abandoned as Lia took his hand. ‘Awesome. I’m looking forward to working with you.’
‘You’re the paramedic?’
Sam didn’t mean to sound so astonished. He deserved the look he got from both the newcomers. Even Jack’s eyebrows shot up. In just a few words he’d managed to make it sound like he not only had a prejudice against male nurses but that he didn’t think females were up to the kind of dangerous work that helicopter paramedicine could throw at them. He didn’t think either of those things. If he was really honest, the tone had probably come from disappointment more than surprise, and what was that about? Even the nurses tucked safely away in the hospital were not immune to Jack’s charm, so what chance did Lia have?
Good grief... Was that oddly unsettling flash something other than disappointment? Jealousy, even?
‘Sam didn’t get the memo.’ Jack was trying to rescue him. ‘And, I have to admit, it’s the first time we’ve had a female paramedic as a FIFO.’
‘First time for a male nurse, too?’ Matt was smiling. ‘Good thing we’ve come, then, isn’t it, Lia? Time the glass ceilings were broken around here.’
They all laughed, which broke the awkwardness. The distraction of having to check the delivered supplies off against the order form took a few more minutes and by the time the FIFOs’ luggage was brought out from the back of the compartment, Sam was ready to make amends for his faux pas.
‘It is a good thing,’ he told Matt as the new nurse retrieved his backpack. ‘We’re trying to encourage more islanders to train as nurses and you’ll be a role model that might open a few eyes. How would you feel about dropping into the high school over on Atangi and giving a bit of a career talk?’
‘I’m up for anything,’ Matt said. ‘I love my job and I’d be only too happy to encourage the lads.’
‘Hey...I love my job, too.’ Lia was beaming at Sam. ‘Maybe I could come and inspire the girls?’
Jack was grinning again. ‘You up for anything, too, huh?’
The flirting was unmistakeable. The flick of the long braid Lia now had her hair confined to was also an obvious message. And she could deal with more than the weather.
‘Anything professional.’ Her tone was a warning. Romance had been the last thing on her mind when she’d decided to take this job. It was the last thing on her mind any time these days, thanks to the time and emotional energy her family required. And even if she had been interested in meeting someone, it wouldn’t be Jack. She’d met his type too many times before. Dated them. Been dumped and hurt when they moved on—as they always did if it looked like the girl was getting serious.
Had she been too abrupt? Lia softened her tone. ‘I’m up for the new experience and if I like it I’ll come back next time. Sounds like the guy I’m replacing got a nasty leg fracture and won’t be back for a while.’
‘I told him paragliding was a dodgy hobby.’ Jack reached out as if he was going to offer to carry Lia’s pack but then changed his mind and adjusted his sunglasses instead.
Sam hid a smile. So Lia could look after herself.
‘Not that he wasn’t good at it.’ Jack seemed to be scanning the clouds now. ‘Just got unlucky, I guess.’
‘Lucky for me...’ Lia hoisted her backpack as if it weighed nothing. ‘Especially the timing. Who knew they paid so much more for coming here in the cyclone season?’
Sam’s inner smile vanished without a trace. The disconcerted look on Lia’s face made him realise that something of what he was feeling must be showing but he didn’t care. He had better reason than most not to care about someone to whom money was all-important, hadn’t he? He turned away.
‘Let’s go,’ he told Matt. ‘I’ll show you your accommodation and then give you a tour of the hospital.’
* * *
What had just happened there?
Lia had her backpack settled onto her shoulders and she was ready to go. Didn’t she have accommodation to see? Wouldn’t a tour of at least the emergency department of the hospital be appropriate for someone who could be delivering seriously unwell people to a place that might be short on staff experienced in dealing with resuscitation?
Maybe it had something to do with that very unsubtle attempt at flirting that had come from Jack. Of course she’d knocked him back. She was about to spend two weeks working with the man and the only relationship she wanted was a professional one, hopefully based on mutual respect and trust.
And what about that reaction to Matt being the nurse?
Lia’s high spirits dimmed a little. Was it expected to be part of the deal? Did FIFOs get paid so well because it was assumed they would provide a bonus service to men working in isolated places?
They probably did when they were working with Sam Taylor—if he was single, that was, which seemed unlikely. How many men who were that good-looking were still unattached in their midthirties, as he looked to be?
Mind you, there was something unusual about him. Something that didn’t quite fit the picture she might have expected. Something that made him look almost as if he was here by mistake.
Not like Jack, who had the rugged good looks of a pirate and a cheekiness that suggested he liked to live on the edge, which made wanting to live in an isolated place like this quite plausible. But Sam? He looked like he was playing a role—that was it. With his sun-streaked, floppy dark blond hair and blue-grey eyes, he could easily be a film star cast as a doctor in a tropical paradise.
Intriguing.
She wasn’t interested in meeting someone, she reminded herself.
But if she was, there would have been no contest between Sam and Jack, so it was probably just as well Sam hadn’t shown even a glimmer of interest in her. Quite the opposite, in fact, judging by the way he’d turned his back and walked away.
‘Looks like we’ve been abandoned.’ Jack shrugged. ‘Want to have a look at the helicopter before I give you the grand tour of everything else?’
‘Sure.’ Lia turned her head, her smile polite. ‘It’s a BK117, isn’t it? Fully specced?’
‘We’ve got everything your paramedic heart could desire. Even a portable ventilator and ultrasound.’
‘Awesome. The only other thing I need is a pilot with exceptional skill.’
‘At your service.’ Jack tugged at his fringe. ‘I might push the boundaries but I’m not about to risk killing myself or any of my crew.’ He returned her smile. ‘And, judging from your CV they sent through, you’re going to be one of the best I’ve worked with. And...um...sorry about, you know... I’m not usually a jerk. This job is my life. Maybe I got a bit overexcited about meeting someone who has the same passion.’
He wouldn’t be trying it on again, either. This time her smile was genuine. ‘We’re going to get along just fine, Jack.’ She couldn’t help turning her head to where a golf cart was sending up a cloud of dust as it carried Sam and Matt away from the airstrip. The question of how well she might be going to get on with the medical staff here was an entirely different matter.
‘Are we...um...going to have a look around the hospital some time, too?’
‘It’s our base.’ Jack nodded. ‘We hang out in the staffroom on our downtime so that we’re within coo-ee of the radio. You’ll probably get roped in to help with some of the medical stuff, I expect. We always seem to be a bit short-staffed.’
So she’d be seeing Sam again. Probably quite a lot of him.
Not that it should matter. If anything, it should be something that could be seen as a potential conflict, given the odd vibe he’d put out.
So why were her spirits lifting again?
Because she couldn’t resist a challenge? It was intriguing, that was all. She wouldn’t mind finding out how he’d ended up here and why he’d stayed.
And she’d definitely like to rub his nose in that attitude to how capable a female paramedic could be.
Yep. That would be a bonus.
And Lia was very good at rising to any challenge to prove herself.
She followed Jack towards the helicopter, which was well anchored to cope with the rising wind gusts. Not that they were likely to be flying anytime soon in these conditions, but the sooner the better, as far as she was concerned.
She could feel her fingers curling into fists.
Bring it on...
