Christmas at Coorah Creek (Choc Lit) Read Online Free Page A

at the garage was a bit disconcerting. He must have had a reason. Some secret perhaps that he didn’t want to share. There was nothing wrong with that, of course. Everyone had secrets. She certainly did.
    Scott had been there when she needed help and he seemed really nice. She wasn’t entirely comfortable alone in the car with a stranger, but she did feel a little bad about lying to him just now. Adventure had very little to do with her reasons for being here. But two accidental meetings weren’t enough to encourage the exchange of her secrets either.
    Katie’s heart shrank a little when Scott turned into a driveway next to a painted wooden sign that identified the Coorah Creek Hospital. The building ahead of them didn’t look like any hospital she had ever seen. For a start, it was built of wood. No brick or stone edifice of the type she was used to back in England, this hospital was a long low building built on wooden stumps and surrounded by a deep veranda. She had expected it to be small – but it looked barely big enough to accommodate a handful of patients.
    As Scott pulled up near the broad front stairs, a young couple emerged. The girl was carrying a toddler in her arms. She looked far too young to be its mother. Katie smiled at them as she got out of the car.
    ‘Hello,’ the young mother said. ‘I bet you’re the new nurse. Doctor Adam told us you were coming today. We’ve been waiting for you. I’m Nikki and this is my boyfriend Steve.’
    ‘Oh,’ Katie tried not to seem surprised by this. ‘Is the doctor here?’
    ‘He was,’ the young man replied. ‘He and Jess had to go. They’ve flown up to the Isa with an injured miner.’
    Katie struggled with this latest information. She knew there was an air ambulance operating out of Coorah Creek. Her new job would include flying in that air ambulance as they tended to patients on outlying stations. Perhaps Jess was the pilot. As for ‘the Isa’ … she had no idea. There were times she felt as if the Australians didn’t speak English at all, but rather some entirely different language.
    ‘Doctor Adam asked us to meet you and show you to your place,’ Nikki said.
    ‘All right.’ Katie wasn’t entirely sure that it was all right, but it appeared that once again she didn’t have a lot of choice.
    ‘Right. This way.’ Steve turned back into the hospital. Katie paused for a moment and turned back towards the car, where Scott was standing next to the open driver’s side door. Obviously he was eager to leave. She didn’t blame him. He probably had better things to do with his time than act as her chauffeur.
    ‘Scott. Thanks for rescuing me … again.’
    ‘You are very welcome.’ He mimed tipping his hat in her direction and slid back behind the wheel.
    As he drove away, Katie felt suddenly bereft. He was the closest thing she had to a friend for several thousand miles, and he was leaving her. She shook her head. Jet lag, she thought. And exhaustion. And the heat. She’d soon find her feet.
    She followed the young couple into the hospital. The moment she stepped into the shade of the veranda, she felt the temperature drop. The building was surprisingly cool, despite the lack of air conditioning.
    ‘You don’t have any bags,’ Steve said.
    ‘They’re in the back of my car,’ Katie told him. ‘It broke down just out of town. It’s at the garage getting fixed.’
    ‘I’m sure someone will run them over for you.’
    This town must be full of good Samaritans and knights in shining armour, she thought.
    ‘These used to be Doctor Adam’s rooms. Before he and Jess got married,’ Nikki said as she led the way down a hallway and opened the very last door.
    The rooms in question were near the rear of the hospital. Katie stepped into a big living room. There was a small dining table and a big armchair. Empty bookshelves lined one wall. She assumed the doors opposite led to a bedroom and bathroom – at least, she hoped that’s where they led.