Melting the Argentine Doctor's Heart / Small Town Marriage Miracle by Meredith Webber / Jennifer Taylor Page B

child-watching duties, and Caroline, feeling jet-lagged and heavy-eyed, had dragged herself out of bed.
    ‘The young nurse who runs the clinic comes to me if she needs medical help or will send a woman or child to me if necessary, but we have been encouraging the women to come so they and the children become usedto the place in case they have to use it in the future. I suppose it is a form of a well-women’s clinic.’
    To Caroline’s surprise, it seemed more like a play-group—a chance for the mothers to get together while the children played. The topics of conversation were mainly health-related—how to prevent infection developing from minor cuts and scratches, how to teach their children to always wash their hands after going to the toilet and before eating—but some of the women brought up personal problems as well.
    ‘It’s the same the whole world over,’ she said to Jorge later. They were back in the hut, Ella asleep after a hectic morning, the two of them stepping back from the doorway where they’d been watching their sleeping daughter. At times like this, Caroline found herself relaxing, just slightly, in Jorge’s presence, professionalism keeping her emotions in check.
    ‘Actually, I think there’s a song like that,’ she continued. ‘My grandmother used to sing it. But those women worry about making sure their children get the proper food they need to grow and while their worries are more basic—is there enough food?—mothers in the Western world are worrying that their kids might be hooked on junk food.’
    She stopped, thinking back, then frowned at Jorge.
    ‘Is
there enough food?’ she asked.
    He nodded, but so slowly she had to wonder.
    ‘Well?’ she finally demanded, and he smiled, melting her insides and showing her how thin the crust of professionalism was. She strengthened it with willpower.
    ‘There were times when a lot of the health problemsthese people had were perhaps not caused by malnutrition but lack of a balanced diet was certainly a contributing factor. It was one of the reasons so many of the Toba moved south.’
    ‘And one of the reasons you became involved with the settlement here? Because you could see more needed to be done to stabilise their lives?’
    ‘Many people have worked, and still work, to help the Toba. I am only one small cog in the wheel. Other people see different needs, some put an emphasis on accommodation, others on education. I learned that although there are plenty of excellent medical facilities in the city, these people, for a variety of reasons, didn’t like to use them, hence the clinic.’
    ‘And now you have the structure in place, you’ll move on. But will whatever you intend to do be enough of a challenge for you? ‘
    Persistent again, Jorge thought.
    But did he have to answer?
    He looked at the woman who had chased him halfway across the world. Yes, she’d had a reason, wanting her daughter—his daughter—to know her father, but it still must have taken a lot of guts to do it—even to face up to him again after he had treated her so cruelly.
    So, didn’t she deserve an answer?
    He offered a smile first, although painfully aware that smiling drew attention to his ruined face. Ruined face? That was vanity talking when it was the internal scarring—the mental scarring he’d suffered when he’d thought he’d never recover—that had really affected his life and made him deny his love for this woman.
    Not that he intended to admit it …
    ‘Don’t you think going to work in the city, working with other people, getting again used to the stares and murmurs and, yes, kindness won’t be enough of a challenge?’
    ‘Oh, Jorge,’ she whispered, but as she stepped towards him, her intention to put her arms around him and hug him quite clear, he stepped away. It broke his heart to do it—quite literally, it felt, from the pain that stabbed his chest—but he couldn’t bear her pity—couldn’t accept it—not from Caroline