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'I've spoken to him, Marcus, and I've spoken to the Professor, who saw him the other day and said his condition was nothing for me to worry about.'

'You spoke to the Professor?'

'Of course I did. He's been my father's physician for years as well as his good friend. There wasn't much you or Dad could tell me of his medical condition so I called the Professor to help put my mind at rest.'

'And he did that, I suppose,' Marcus stated, and she was surprised that he sounded slightly miffed.

'Yes. I'd better go. I have an early clinic tomorrow morning and if I don't get to sleep now, I'll be late.'

'All right. I'll speak to you soon.' There was excitement in his tone now. 'And I have the most wonderful surprise planned for you. Goodnight, my dear.' And without another word, Marcus rang off.

Elizabeth stared at the receiver before she replaced it in the cradle. 'Odd,' she muttered, before going to check, on Maude. 'How's my patient tonight?' she asked as she slipped into her mother's room.

Maude was lying in bed, propped up on pillows, reading a book. 'I'm hardly your patient any more. I'm fine.' Maude brushed away her concern.

Elizabeth picked up the stethoscope which sat by the bed. 'Humour me.' She listened to her mother's breathing and nodded in satisfaction. 'Good. Nice and clear.' Elizabeth put the stethoscope back by the bed and sat next to her mother.

'Who was that on the phone? Marcus?'

'Yes. He's behaving strangely.'

'How so?'

'He seemed...I don't know...odd somehow. He appeared to be annoyed that I'd called the Professor to find out what was
really
happening with Dad.'

'Perhaps he thought he could emotionally blackmail you into coming home.'

'I think that was his plan but...' Elizabeth shrugged '...it didn't work. I'd better get to sleep. I have another busy clinic tomorrow. Fridays are usually quiet but not tomorrow.' She stood. 'And I suppose Mitch will find another half a dozen reasons not to be around me.'

'Are you
sure
you're not just imagining things?'

'I don't know, Mum,' Elizabeth wailed, and fluffed her fingers through her hair in agitation. 'All his reasons for leaving the room whenever we're alone together are quite valid so I have no real evidence.'

'Only a feeling?'

'Yes.'

'Ask him.'

'Pardon?'

'You heard me. Ask him straight out if he's avoiding you.'

'I can't do that.'

'Why not? You want to know, don't you?'

'And what if he isn't? What if this is all just in my silly imagination? Then I'll look like a complete fool.'

'Better to be thought a fool than paranoid.'

'Hmm. I think I'll sleep on it.' Elizabeth kissed her mother's cheek. 'Thanks. Sleep well, Mum.' She let herself out and walked down to her room, feeling her way along the wall. Even though there was a light on, she liked the rough texture of the walls, the feeling of history, of excitement. Now that she'd helped find opal, she was eager to give it another try. Perhaps she could ask Mitch to take her down again so she could have another go. There was no way either of them was letting Maude down there for quite a while so maybe she could offer to help them both out by lending a hand with the pick.

Perhaps that was a way she could see whether or not he was avoiding her. As she readied herself for bed, Elizabeth was more satisfied than she'd been in a long while. Coober Pedy was starting to fit her, she realised...or was it Mitch who was starting to fit?

'Marry him.' She whispered the words out loud, imagining what life would be like if she said yes. She checked that her alarm was set, turned off the light and closed her eyes, allowing herself to dream the impossible dream as she snuggled deep beneath the doona.

'Mitch, are you avoiding me?' She closed her eyes for a fraction of a second the instant the words were out of her mouth. The once-a-month afternoon hospital clinic was over and still she'd hardly spent two seconds alone with him. She
had
planned on asking him to take her down the mine but her exasperation had won out and the words had just blurted themselves out.

Mitch looked down at the papers on his desk before raking a hand through his hair. 'Avoiding you?' He said the words as though they were completely foreign but then he exhaled roughly and shook his head.

'What? What is it? What have I done wrong?'

He looked at her then, his blue gaze intense. 'Wrong? You haven't done anything wrong.'

'Then why have you hardly spent any time with me during this past week?'

Had she missed him? His heart leapt at the notion and he couldn't believe how sappy he felt, hearing those words from her. He cleared his throat and tried to clear his brain from being in one fuzzy, Lizzie-focused mush. 'Things are hectic, that's all. You haven't experienced the clinics when all the visiting consultants have been here so I guess it may seem a little odd.' He picked up the papers from his desk and shoved them into his briefcase.

'What about now? Do you have anything planned now?'

'I'm heading out to the mine. Sorry.'

'That's fine. I'll go with you.'

'Down the mine?' He sounded incredulous.

'Yes. Is there a problem?'

'But you've already been down.'

'That's right, and as I recall I found it exciting and invigorating.'

'I probably won't find opal today so it will be really boring. Besides, it's almost five o'clock so it will be dark by the time I've finished. You need to check on Maude.'

Elizabeth forced a smile and nodded sadly. 'All right.'

Mitch's heart lurched at the thought he might have offended her and he immediately felt bad. Man, this love thing was turning him into a sap! Mitch stared at her across the room—the desk firmly between them—yet his entire body ached to hold her in his arms.

He stepped out from behind the desk, his gaze fixed on hers. He watched as her expression turned from one of disappointment to one of awareness. Her pink lips parted slightly, her tongue slipping out to wet them in anticipation of the kiss they both knew was only moments away. He looked back into her deep green eyes which seemed to be screaming for him to hurry up.

Both had been too long without water—at least that was the way he felt and he was positive she felt the same way. Why else would she care that he'd been avoiding her? He willed his feet to move faster but his body seemed intent on doing things slowly and carefully. He reached out a hand, hoping to draw her closer as she appeared to be glued to the spot. She held out her hand, their fingers almost touching.

The brisk knock at the door had them both jumping like startled wallabies. Their arms dropped back to their sides and both took a step away before turning towards the door. Teena opened it, glanced briefly at them both before stepping aside.

'Found another patient out there?' Mitch asked, and then cleared his throat as his words had come out deep and uneven.

'Er...no. No.' Teena said, her gaze slightly concerned as she looked at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth looked past the nurse to the person behind and her jaw dropped open in astonishment. A man stepped into the room, dressed in a three-piece, pinstriped suit. He couldn't have looked more (jut of place if he'd tried.

'Marcus!' The whispered word was wrenched from Elizabeth with total shock and horror.

She realised she was gaping and quickly closed her mouth. She swallowed and then closed her eyes tight before opening them again. Yes—he was really here!

'Is that any way to greet your fiancé?' he asked, crossing to her side.

'Uh...well...' She faltered and then realised he planned to kiss her. That was odd because Marcus usually didn't like affection in public. He placed his hand on her shoulder and she quickly turned her head so his kiss landed on her cheek.

'I did say I had a surprise for you, my dear. I was calling from Adelaide last night.'

'Wh-what?'

Marcus beamed down at her and then looked at Mitch. 'Oh, sorry, old bean. Shouldn't have barged in on you like that. I do apologise.' He held out his hand. 'Marcus Wetherby. Elizabeth's fiancé. And you are...?'

Mitch stood stock still and Elizabeth saw his eyes glaze over with repressed pain. He glanced at her, then back to his brother and shook his head sadly. 'Lizzie's colleague.' He didn't bother to shake Marcus's hand but instead pushed past and stormed out of the room.

'Odd fellow. Is he always like that?' Marcus asked, returning his attention to Elizabeth. Teena had left as well so it was just the two of them, and Elizabeth simply couldn't believe what was happening.

'I need to sit down,' she whispered, and slumped into the nearest chair. She glanced at the open doorway, wanting to go after Mitch but also wanting to understand why Marcus was here. In Coober Pedy of all places!

'What a surprise. I knew it would work. I thought perhaps you'd cottoned on last night but obviously not.' He chortled. 'Jolly good show.'

'What... are... you...
doing..
. here?' Elizabeth said each word clearly and with utter disbelief.

'Elizabeth?' Marcus frowned. 'Aren't you pleased to see me? Of course you are. I'm your fiancé and all engaged women are happy to see their fiancés after they've been apart.'

'You are
not
my fiancé, Marcus,' she said, her disbelief turning to anger. 'Do you have any idea what you've done?' She stood, beginning to feel her mind click over once more. Before he could answer, she said, 'Stay here,' before rushing out of the room. She headed to the hospital and went to the nurses' desk.

'Imogen, have you seen Mitch?'

She pointed to a doorway. 'Took off faster than a brush-tailed possum with its tail on fire.'

Elizabeth raced outside but his ute was gone by the time she got there. Frustration welled up inside her and for the first time in her life she
had
to follow through with her emotions. Bending down, she picked up a large rock and threw it with all her might. Never before had she ever thrown anything in anger and now that she had...she couldn't believe how good she felt.

Straightening her shoulders, she marched back to the nurses' desk. 'Call him on the sat phone, please.'

'Of course,' Imogen said, and immediately placed the call. 'I don't know if he'll answer.'

'He has to and you know it,' Elizabeth stated. She was right. A moment later, Imogen spoke.

'Hi, Mitch. Elizabeth wants a word with you.' Elizabeth held out her hand for the phone, but Imogen only looked at her in surprise. 'He says he doesn't want to talk to you right now.'

Once more Elizabeth took decisive action and took the phone from Imogen. 'Mitch, I just want to know that you're all right.'

'How can you even ask that?'

'Where are you?'

'I don't want to talk to you right now, Lizzie. I need some space so if you don't need me for a medical emergency, I'm going to hang up.'

Elizabeth sighed with relief. He'd called her Lizzie. 'All right. Just drive carefully.' The phone clicked dead in her ear and she gave the receiver back to Imogen. 'How am I going to sort out this mess?'

Elizabeth
headed back to the clinic where, thankfully, Marcus had stayed put.

'Elizabeth, what on earth is going on?'

She walked in and sat down, urging him to do the same. 'Marcus, why are you here?'

'That's it? That's all the greeting I'm to expect?'

'I've had a busy day. I told you that last night. Why are you here?'

'In Australia?'

'Yes, but more to the point in Coober Pedy!'

'I missed you,' he said softly, and reached out to take her hand in his.

Elizabeth pulled away. She stood and started to pace, shaking her head slightly as her brain tried to process everything that was happening. 'You've come all the way out here just because you
missed
me?'

'That was one of the reasons, yes.'

She turned and faced him. 'And the other?'

'Elizabeth, dear. Really? Is this questioning necessary?' He paused and looked at her more closely. 'Is there something going on here that you don't want either me or your father to discover?'

'Just tell me why you're here,' she demanded, raising her voice slightly. Honestly, one brother was as exasperating as the other!

'I'm primarily here to see you but I also have to locate a star witness in a case your father and I are working on back home. A man by the name of Pierre Knowles. Do you know him?'

'Uh...yes.'

'Terrific. We need to take him back to England so he can testify, but every time we've tried to contact him, he disappears. I've been trying to discover his whereabouts for some time now and was completely astonished when our Australian private investigator informed us that Mr Knowles had turned up here—in the exact place you are.'

'It's a
very
small world.'

'That it is. Anyway, your father suggested I come out personally to speak to Mr Knowles and hopefully this time he won't try to run away and change his identity once more.'

'You mean Pierre's not his real name?'

'I'm not sure what it is, my dear. He's quite harmless but I'll admit I would feel better if you didn't go near him. If he needs medical attention, let your colleague deal with him. It's better for a man to deal with things like this.'

'I'm a
doctor
,' Elizabeth sighed, definitely not in the mood for one of Marcus's 'little women' speeches. The woman's place was in the home. Well,
her
place was with her patients, regardless of her gender. 'And Pierre is harmless.'

'I have a lead on where I can find Mr Knowles, but it would be good to know if he has medical records here. I presume he does. I may need to subpoena them for the trial.' He took out his personal digital assistant and made a note. 'Perhaps it might be good if you came with me when I go to see Mr Knowles. He may be more receptive to me if you're there. Yes.' He thought the idea through some more. 'Yes.' He nodded.