Her Guardian Angel (Fire and Snow)(11)

The smoothest voice she had ever heard pulled her out of her thoughts.

"So Adele, I noticed the Victorian plates on your car. You visiting our fair island for a holiday?"

Dominic White. The man was truly sent just to test her commitment to no men. She was going to have to be careful to keep her distance from him if she was going to stay in this part of Tassie.

"Nope, no holidaying for me. I guess you could say I'm embarking on a sea-change." As she responded she realized how quiet it suddenly was. Everyone's attention was now firmly on her. Adele lowered her eyes and stopped talking. She really didn't like being the center of attention.

Kit grabbed hold of her arm, like she thought Adele was going to run away--to be honest she had thought about it briefly.

"You looking to stay around here? You may have noticed, we're kind of short on paramedics as we only have one so whenever he's off duty, like today, us fireys get stuck with the job and I for one am getting sick of cleaning up after Jake. The damn man gets sick whenever we have to deal with blood and gore." She winked over at the captain who was shaking his head at her like he wanted to reprimand her, his sly grin and the spark of amusement in his eyes gave him away as to how much he was enjoying her ribbing. Adele really liked how they all carried on together. They were more like a big family, rather than workmates.

"Funny you should mention that Kit. I actually already know about the shortage, I knew before I even stopped at the accident today. That's why I'm here. I'm looking for work as a paramedic. I had an interview this morning in Devonport, one tomorrow in Strahan, one here on Wednesday. Then another in Hobart on Friday."

As Adele looked up she caught Dominic give the doctor a strange look. He seemed to sense she was looking at him. His expression smoothed over to a smile so quickly she couldn’t work out what he was trying to tell the doctor.

"Well Adele, we haven't officially been introduced; I'm Dr. Clint Maynard, the one you were going to meet with on Wednesday. I think I can safely say the job is all yours if you want it. You more than proved yourself out in the field and at the hospital today, I'm certainly convinced you know what you're doing, and you've struck up friendships with most of the town's emergency response teams already. We've been down to one paramedic for quite some time now, so we really do need you. How would you like to blow off those other interviews and hang around Rosebery with us?"

Adele nearly choked on her drink in shock. Clint was the Dr. Maynard she was booked in to meet on Wednesday? She planned on attending all the interviews before making a decision about which position to take. She took a sideways peek at Dominic while taking a sip from her drink. He really was handsome, not that she wanted a man, but if she did...hmmm. Dominic aside, there was something about this town that pulled at her to stay. Before she changed her mind, she put her drink down, swallowed her mouthful, looked up into Clint's face and made one of the biggest decisions of her life.

"Dr. Maynard, I think I may just do that. I'd like nothing better than to hang around here and be your paramedic. Merci beaucoup."

"The pleasure is all ours, Adele. I, too, am sick of cleaning up after Jake and his reactions." He said while flashing her a wink.

"Now, since we're going to be working together, please, call me Clint. I'm only Dr. Maynard in front of patients. Merci beaucoup is French right? Are you French? You don't speak with an accent, never would have guessed."

"My mother immigrated over when she was pregnant with me. We always spoke French to each other. It helped with her homesickness I think. But I'm as Aussie as Mick Dundee." She finished with a thick Aussie accent she hoped would cover the grief currently ripping at her from thinking of her mother. It worked. The twins took her words and ran with it. Joel and Jordan grabbed their butter knives and with his own exaggerated thick Aussie accent Joel started off "That's not a knife, this is a knife." The men all spent the next twenty minutes doing impersonations of Mick Dundee until they were all laughing so hard, tears ran down their cheeks. Adele couldn't remember a time when she'd ever laughed so vigorously.

~ * ~

Adele thought she would end up staying at Top Pub but Kit had insisted her spare room was more comfortable. Until her first pay came in she couldn't really afford to be staying at a hotel at any rate, so she had accepted Kit's offer. As Adele lay in bed drifting off to sleep, she thought back over her day. She couldn't believe all she'd accomplished in just one day.

This morning she'd been alone and homeless. Tonight, she'd sat surrounded by people she already liked. People so generous that she was starting her new job in the morning and knew where she'd be living for the foreseeable future. She couldn't wait to tell her chaton about all of it ...and about the man she was going to have to be very, very careful around, Dominic White.