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'No! Please, Liz, tell me what you were going to say.'

She pushed the food around on her plate. 'No. It's wrong to dump my troubles onto other people.'

'I am
not
"other people". I'm your mother. I may not have been there while you were growing up but I'm your flesh and blood. You were a part of me once and I desperately want to be a part of you now. Let me inside, Liz. Please?'

Tears welled in Elizabeth's eyes as she reached out to grasp her mother's hand. 'I feel as though Dad and Marcus are just planning out my entire life without even asking me.' Maude squeezed her hand in sympathy. 'I like Marcus, I really do, but...'

'Something's missing?'

'Yes. For example, when he kisses me...' Elizabeth shook her head. 'I don't feel...anything much and I try, I really do, Mum, but...' She shrugged sadly.

'And Mitch?' Maude asked the question quietly.

Elizabeth put her fork down, realising she wasn't hungry any more. Mitch? How did she feel about Mitch? She bit her lip and lowered her gaze. 'He...he's all wrong for me.'

Her mother chuckled. 'Oh, I know that feeling,'

Elizabeth looked up quickly. 'You do?'

'Oh, yes. The first time Stu kissed me I knew I'd come home.'

'But you said he was your soul mate.'

'Yes.'

'But he was all wrong for you? Is that what you're saying?'

'Stu was loud and obnoxious at times and energetic and fun. The typical Aussie bloke—at least he was to me. He made me
feel things I never thought I'd ever feel and it was...liberating. I
thought
he was all wrong for me.'

'So you're saying that Mitch might not be wrong for me?'

'I'm saying you need to figure this one out on your own, darling, but, please, use me as a sounding board if you need to. Tell me more about Marcus. How did you meet?'

'Dad introduced us. He was a junior partner with Dad's law firm.'

'So he obviously has your father's blessing.'

'Yes, which really takes a weight off my mind. I didn't think there was anyone Dad would approve of for me. Marcus is very kind, a gentleman. Knows the right people, says the right things and is always attentive to me when we go out. He respects the fact that I like my work and doesn't hold it against me if I have to work long, strange hours.'

'He sounds perfect.'

'Sometimes I think he is and that...well, that scares me a little because I'm not. I feel as though he puts up with my flaws because he's not quite sure how to fix them. It's nothing bad but sometimes I feel as though I'm working to please him and then I'm working to please Dad and then I'm working to please my bosses at work. I always do what's expected of me and now I don't know if I have the courage to do anything else.'

'You're here, aren't you?'

Elizabeth smiled. 'Yes. Yes, I am.'

'That took a lot of courage.'

'Not really. It was an opportunity to work in a different country as well as see you. It's not as though I'm here all by myself, doing something pointless, spontaneous—reckless.'

'Is that important to you? To do something like that?'

'I think it might be. I still feel a little out of my depth.'

'Is that why you kissed Mitch today? Something reckless?'

'A little.'

'Don't use him, Elizabeth. He's not some toy for you to experiment on.'

'It's not like that.'

'Then you like him.'

'I hardly know him.'

'Yet you know him well enough to kiss him?'

Elizabeth let go of her mother's hand and stood to pace the room, 'I'm...attracted to him. He appears to be attracted to me. A...moment happened between us today and I wanted to kiss him—so I did.'

Maude smiled and clapped her hands together. 'Good for you! And how did you feel?'

'Oh, Mum, it was amazing.' She slid back onto her seat. 'Not only Mitch but the feeling of letting go and doing something for me.'

'So what are you going to do about it?'

'Do about what?' She frowned a little.

'Do about Mitch.'

'Mitch? Do I need to do something?'

'Yes. You need to make up your mind what you're going to do about this attraction you feel for Mitch.'

'Nothing.'

'Nothing?'

'No. Nothing. Today was a once-off. A momentary giving in to the urge type thing.'

'And if the urge strikes in the future?'

'Then I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.'

Maude watched her carefully for a moment. 'OK. If that's the way you're playing it.' She started to finish her dinner.

'Am I supposed to wonder what that cryptic comment means?'

'No and it wasn't cryptic. Eat up, darling. I bought a tub of decadent ice cream to share for dessert to celebrate your first day at work.'

'That's awfully nice of you. Yummy.' Elizabeth looked down at her food before saying rather apologetically, 'Would you mind if I went straight for dessert without finishing my first course?'

Maude laughed. 'You have got it bad. Of course you don t have to finish your meal. You're not a child any more.

'No. I'm twenty-nine, but sometimes it doesn't feel that way.'

'Let's both go for dessert.' Maude cleared the plates and returned with the carton of ice cream and two spoons. 'Here's to your first day working in outback Australia.'

'Here's to forging a true and lasting relationship with my mother.' They clicked their spoons together before diving into the delicious chocolate and honeycomb dessert. 'Dessert in the desert. I could get used to this.' Elizabeth laughed.

'Set your alarm early. Mitch said he'd pick you up at seven.'

Those had been her mother's final words before calling goodnight. Now Elizabeth sat outside her mother's front door again, watching the sunrise, blanket tucked around her legs. She was showered, dressed and ready to go whenever Mitch arrived but still, she couldn't relax. She finished her coffee and put the cup on the ground, lest she should break another one.

She'd been thinking about what her mother had said. What was she going to do about Mitch? It was true. She never should have kissed him the way she had yesterday. She shouldn't have even let him kiss her in the first place. It wouldn't work. She could see that now, regardless of how attracted she was to him.

The last thing she wanted to do was to use him and she'd been flabbergasted when Maude had warned her against hurting Mitch. Although, if she was truthful with herself, she could see how she might be tempted to do that. Mitch
was
spontaneous and reckless—otherwise, why would he have kissed her in the bar the other night? He'd been dared to kiss someone. They'd had a bet on it. She'd never bet on anything in her life.

'Is that frown for me?'

The deep, masculine tones startled her beyond belief and she sat there for a whole minute, pressing a hand to her chest hoping it might calm her heart rate down, while Mitch apologised profusely.

'I thought you'd heard me pull into the driveway. Open, close the door, that type of thing.'

'No. I was...um...thinking.'
About you,
she almost confessed. 'Which direction did you come from?' He pointed the opposite way from where she sat. 'No wonder I didn't see you.'

Mitch pulled up a chair close beside her. 'No problem. So long as you're all right now. Can't have our new doctor suffering from heart palpitations all day long.'

'No.'

'Has Maude got any coffee going?'

'She's still asleep. The coffee's made, though.'

'Beauty.' He disappeared and Elizabeth quickly checked her hair, making sure it was tidy and that no wisps had escaped from her ponytail. She wished she could be one of those women who didn't care about how she looked but she'd been raised to always look her best, regardless of where she was. She checked her watch, noting he was fifteen minutes early.

Mitch reappeared a moment or two later and sank down into a chair, holding a warm cup of coffee between his hands. 'Chilly out this morning, isn't it?' he said by way of conversation.

'It's a little brisk but still very nice.'

'I guess you're used to cooler weather but wait until summer—woo-ee, is it hot here!'

'Something I'm not looking forward to.'

'Ah, never mind, you'll adjust. You'll live underground like the rest of us where it's a lovely constant temperature. Then you go from the cool dugout to an air-conditioned car, then to the air-conditioned hospital and so on. Actually, you've picked a good time to come here and acclimatise yourself.'

'Yes.' Elizabeth glanced down at her hands, knowing she needed to talk about the kiss they'd shared yesterday but not quite able to get up the courage. 'Yes, it's quite, nice here, although the flies in the middle of the day are a bit annoying.'

Mitch smiled at her over his coffee-cup. 'They're ten times worse in summer.'

Elizabeth groaned. 'Don't tell me that.'

Mitch chuckled. 'Look on the bright side, at least you get to exercise your arm muscles by doing the Australian salute.'

'Australian salute? What do you mean?'

Mitch moved his arm as though swatting a fly. 'That's the outback Australian salute and everyone who comes to Coober Pedy becomes an expert at it, whether they like it or not.'

Elizabeth smiled. 'Gosh, I can hardly wait.'

Mitch looked at her and slowly shook his head. 'You can't help it, can you?'

The smile slipped from her face as she noticed the intensity in his eyes. 'Help what?'

'Being irresistible.' He leaned closer and she could smell the freshness from his morning shower. She closed her eyes for a moment and felt him move closer. No. She couldn't do this. It was wrong to want him to kiss her when she knew basically nothing about the man. Although he made her feel recklessly alive, she knew it wouldn't work out between them. They came from two very different worlds.

Elizabeth opened her eyes, looking directly into his. She held up her hand and placed it gently on his shoulder. 'Mitch...' Her voice faltered and she quickly cleared her throat. 'Stop. We can't.'

There was confusion and agony in her gaze and it was that which stopped him from taking what they both so desperately wanted. He'd thought about her all the way home last night, he'd formed a thousand or
two questions he wanted to ask her and he'd dreamt about her...yet he, too, knew it was crazy.

'Moving too fast?' he asked as he slowly drew away.

'Way too fast,' she replied as she shook her head. 'I...I can't get involved with you, Mitch. My life is too... complicated now as it is.'

'There's someone else,' he stated.

'No. Well, yes but no.'

'Which one is it?'

'I
had
a...a boyfriend before I left England.'

'What happened?'

'He wanted to take things to the next level and I—'

'You didn't want to.'

'That's just the point. I don't
know
what I want. I feel like an actress in a play who has been fed her lines all her life and now...here...I have the opportunity to write my own words, to improvise a little, but I'm not quite sure how to do that.'

He opened his mouth to speak but once more, she held up her hand to stop him. 'Please. I've been trying to figure out how to tell you this all night.' She slowly let out a breath,
trying to steady her pounding heart. 'There's...something between us. Both of us feel it but...' She sighed and searched again for the right words.

'But we don't know each other.'

'There is that but...' She paused and took another breath. 'I don't want to use you.'

'Use me? How?'

She smiled at his confusion. 'You're...different. You're wild and reckless and kiss strange women when they walk into a pub.'

'Now, that was an isolated incident. I've never done that before and it was also circumstantial. The guys were ribbing me about not having gone out with anyone since I came to Coober Pedy. They said I was biased against the local girls, which I naturally denied. From there the discussion ended with a bet that I wouldn't kiss the next woman who walked in the door. Well...a bet's a bet, especially when I know I can win it.' He grinned at her. 'You just happened to be the girl.'

'You see. That's what I'm talking about You
...do
things. I don't. I never have. With you...' She laughed, a little embarrassed. 'You...make me
want
to do things.'

'Isn't that good?'

'I guess so but I'd still be following your lead and...' Elizabeth covered her face with her hands and sighed. She looked at him again. 'I don't want to end up using you while I find out who I am.'

'You're talking about that kiss yesterday.'

'Yes. I knew it was wrong but I wanted it.'

'Hey. So did I.' His tone was soft, gentle and she tried hard not to respond to it.

Elizabeth shook her head. 'It won't work, Mitch.'

He thought about it for a moment. 'I'm happy to help you, you know. I'm happy to help you step outside those chains which have been holding you captive. I'm happy to suggest things, to be the leader of the "help
Lizzie
become more spontaneous" club—if that's what you want. We'll be working together for the next six months and we're already starting to become friends. If the kissing or intimate side of things bothers you, let's not do that. Let's be friends.'

'Friends?' she asked sceptically.

'Yes. Men and women
can
be friends, Lizzie.'

'Can they? I don't think I've ever had a real friend who was a man.'

'What about your work colleagues? At the hospital?'

'That's all they are—colleagues. We work together but I don't socialise with them.'

Mitch nodded. Her words had come out in her usual haughty manner but he was beginning to realise that was not how she'd intended them. It was more that she was uncertain, out of her depth and shy.

'Well, I have plenty of women who are just friends. Your mother is one of them.'

'Yes, but you're not attracted to my mother.' She looked at him with raised eyebrows as though her statement was also a question.