Free The Midwife's Little Miracle by Fiona McArthur

can’t get any stayers then I’ll just have to pull a few favours and think in short-term appointments until we do find someone.’
    He took one hand off the steering-wheel where it rested and gestured to the rolling hills in the distance. ‘This place has grown to mean a lot to me and I want to see it work for a lot of reasons.’
    ‘I begin to see why you suggested I come here.’
    He turned his head and looked at her. He could feel his lips twitch at the corners. ‘Do you?’
    He gestured to the grassy verged picnic spot andturned to face her. ‘Do you want to get out and sit at the table for a while? Dawn can lie on the rug and watch the leaves, maybe.’
    There he was again. Thinking ahead and including Dawn. How many men would do that as well as Andy did? she thought. ‘Sure.’
    The conversation faltered while they settled themselves and Dawn to face the lake. The soft breeze was warm but pleasant. Birds swooped and dived into the lake and further out a dinghy with two young boys drifted as they fished.
    ‘All this organising at the hospital.’ She watched one of the boys reel in a fish. ‘It’s a big job to liaise on your own.’
    He thought about that and then shook his head. ‘I’m not really on my own. The mayor is supportive and happy to mediate with state government for the funding and building upgrades we need.’ He ticked them off on his fingers.
    ‘The project officer at the mine is an old school friend and she’s promised to push for support from the company for capital works and cheap rent for hospital employees when the houses are built.’
    ‘You’ve already done a lot, then.’
    ‘I’m stuck a little at the hospital. The current matron is not interested in midwifery and she has enough on her plate with the changes. She’s threatened to leave as soon as we find a replacement but she’d hate it if I did because she’s not really in a hurry to sever all ties.’
    ‘And you’re telling me this because…?’
    He grinned again. ‘I wondered if you’d be up to that sort of commitment some time in the future?’
    Montana shook her head. ‘Not in full-time work.’
    He wasn’t daunted. He could work with that. ‘What about three days a week and we’d get you a trainee administrative assistant as well so you could still be hands on in the midwifery clinic when it opens?’
    He watched her consider it and his pulse rate picked up again. ‘That’s more attractive,’ she said slowly. ‘What about Dawn?’
    Hell, he’d arrange what ever she wanted. ‘We’re still a country hospital. Louisa is there but we could set up a nursery in your office if you wanted or on the ward and even find a young woman to help you as a nanny-cum-receptionist.’
    Montana looked at him as he demolished problems with a one-track mind. His green eyes blazed with determination to build up the hospital services and she could only admire his tenacity, but he was pushing her.
    She had other things to think about. ‘You’ve put a lot of thought into this.’
    ‘I’ll admit I hoped you might be interested. I think you could bring a lot to the hospital and the town.’
    Her brow crinkled. ‘I don’t understand why you have such faith in me.’ She didn’t think that anybody had ever seen such potential as Andy haddecided she had. It was an odd feeling and one that left her strangely warmed at his confidence, but it was not something she was accustomed to.
    He shrugged. ‘I do have faith in you. Plus our current matron, Joan, is not enjoying the administrative tasks that are mounting up and she’d flip if I mentioned the birth centre as well. The hospital needs someone who would relish that challenge.’
    Would she relish the challenge? In all honesty, probably, yes. ‘And you think I’m that person?’
    She watched his face and there was no doubt there. How did he really see her?
    He said, ‘I would highly recommend you to the board without a qualm.’
    What if she let him down? Moved on? ‘You’ve