Free A Special Kind of Family by Marion Lennox

seeing you’re male, might be difficult but if you try hard I’m thinking you might come round.’
    She smiled.
    Her smile was extraordinary.
    This woman’s life, whichever way he looked at it, was in turmoil. In the last twelve hours she’d almost died, she’d been thrown into someone else’s Easter, she’d gained a dog and she seemed to have lost a perfectly good boyfriend. And yet she could still smile.
    He was feeling…stunned, he thought. He was feeling like the wisest course was to get her out of here fast.
    ‘You have a house in Melbourne?’
    ‘I have a hospital apartment. On the fourth floor.’
    ‘So that means…’
    ‘I guess I have to find another place to live.’
    ‘You’re swapping Charles for Marilyn?’
    ‘Hey, I’m not living with Charles,’ she said. ‘I’m not evensleeping with him. He’s just assumed all sorts of things I wasn’t assuming. You know, I suspect my life’s been leading up to this moment for years. I’ve spent my life pleasing my parents, pleasing my family, pleasing Charles. Then, this week, two shocks. A proposal of marriage. A near-death car crash. It’s enough to give any girl an epiphany.’
    ‘An epiphany,’ he said faintly.
    ‘Yep. Um…You know that painkiller?’
    ‘Your foot really does hurt?’
    ‘My foot really does hurt.’
    Excellent. When in doubt, revert to priorities. Triage. Sore foot.
    ‘Okay, painkillers,’ he said, rising. ‘You want me to carry you to the surgery?’
    ‘Nope,’ she said. ‘No more of that, thank you very much. If I’m to be stuck here for Easter, I intend to be independent.’
    ‘Fine,’ he said, and had to suppress a jab of disappointment. Lifting Erin last night had been…an epiphany?
    It wasn’t anything of the sort, he told himself. It was simply because he was a male and she was a female and he’d been alone too damned long. Of course his body would react like…like it really wanted to get to know Erin better.
    ‘No,’ she said, and he blinked.
    ‘Pardon?’
    ‘Um…’ She blushed suddenly and he stared down at her, fascinated.
    ‘No, what?’ he repeated, and she blushed some more.
    ‘I didn’t…I mean I was probably mistaken in what you were thinking. But if I’m not…’ she said, fighting for recovery and becoming suddenly astringent. ‘If I’m not then definitely no. Let’s get back to basics. Do you want me?’
    Did he want her? Yes and yes and yes.
    ‘And enough of that, too,’ she said astringently. ‘You know very well what I meant. Do you want me as kid sitter, dog minder and medical associate over Easter?’‘Yes,’ he said. And he wasn’t saying a word more. This woman saw too much.
    ‘Then painkillers followed by lunch,’ she said. ‘And then the boys and I might like to try making another batch of hot cross buns. This time with yeast. While you go and do your doctoring, wherever you do your doctoring.’
    ‘I’ve told the locals I can’t come out at Easter.’
    ‘Then do your doctoring in your surgery,’ she told him. ‘Or paperwork or something. The boys and I will be in the kitchen. You’re free to do as you like.’
    ‘And if I want to be in the kitchen?’
    ‘That’s your choice,’ she said, suddenly prim. ‘But I’m offering you freedom to get your work done. It’s my thanks for having me and Marilyn to stay. If you want to throw a gift horse in the mouth…’
    ‘I believe that’s look.’
    ‘Sorry?’
    ‘You don’t throw gift horses,’ he said, and suddenly she was pink again. He liked it, he decided. He really, really liked it.
    ‘Whatever,’ she said, sounding suddenly breathless. ‘Same difference. All I’m saying, Dr Spencer, is that you’re free to do what you want. Treat me as your cook and child companion for Easter and get on with your life.’
    ‘Yes, ma’am,’ he managed, and put a hand down to help her up.
    She stared at it, appearing to consider. Then she slowly shook her head.
    ‘Nope,’ she said. ‘While we’re on