The Doctor's Society Sweetheart Read Online Free PDF Page B

she, too, removed her gown. Dart pointed to the door and it wasn’t until she’d opened the door that she realised night had fallen.
    Outside, the centre of the village had undergone a transformation. Gone were the clinic tents, packed away until they were next needed. The ground had been swept with a stiff broom made of sticks, the area free of twigs and leaves. Food was being prepared, the enticing aromas filling the air, and a large bonfire was being stacked.
    Everywhere people were working, busy either stringing flowers to make garlands or rolling some sort of tree sap which Emmy realised were being turned into candles. Some patients had stayed, others had returned to their own villages. She spied her own crew, taking footage of everything.
    ‘A welcome-to-the-jungle party.’ She shook her head and turned to look at Dart. ‘This is all for us?’
    ‘For you and your crew? Yes.’ He’d watched her closely as she’d taken in the hub of activity before them. Where he’d thought she would expect such preferential treatment, she’d surprised him instead by appearing quite moved.
    She clutched her hands to her chest and slowly exhaled. ‘Never have I felt so welcomed anywhere in my life as I dohere.’ The words were softly spoken and Dart realised the emotions she was displaying weren’t at all artificial.
    She swallowed over the lump in her throat and looked at him again, her eyes brimming with tears. ‘This place is…magical.’
    Dart frowned and forced himself to look away from the enticing picture she made. There weren’t many people who came here and saw this country, this village, these people in the same way he did, and now it appeared that Ms Emerson-Rose Jofille was one of them.

Chapter Three
    E MMY smothered a yawn, trying to be discreet in case anyone thought she was being rude or that she was bored. She most certainly wasn’t the latter, especially as the village had held a campfire banquet in their honour. She and her crew of two, consisting of Mike, her sound man and Neal, her cameraman, had been made to feel like royalty, everyone in the village welcoming them with open arms.
    Everyone, that was, except for Dart Freeman.
    The man had been brisk and standoffish, especially during the past few hours since the festivities had begun. Emmy was still trying to rack her brains to figure out what she might have done wrong.
    Hunklu had stayed for the campfire celebrations, continually offering her the lovely fruits and vegetables they grew in the village as well as pieces of a corn-type bread she’d seen some of the ladies making earlier.
    Hunklu had been highly attentive and even though they didn’t speak the same language, with a lot of gesturing they’d been able to communicate quite effectively. Dart, on the other hand, had kept his distance and even now Emmy could see him on the other side of the fire where he sat surrounded by children, talking to Jalak. The children clearly adored him and it made Emmy realise that there was something about the man that was good and proper because children wereoften quite good judges of character, able to pick a phoney a mile away.
    ‘He is a quiet man,’ Meeree said as she came and sat on the log next to Emmy.
    ‘Huh? Pardon?’ Emmy dragged her gaze away from the enigmatic Dart and smiled warmly at the woman beside her.
    ‘He does what needs to be done with no fuss.’
    Emmy nodded. ‘A quiet achiever.’ That label seemed to fit him perfectly somehow.
    ‘You are most perceptive, Emmy. Even today he has done much for so many people.’
    ‘He didn’t go out to the other village with the rest of his medical team.’ Emmy allowed her gaze to stray back to where Dart sat. ‘Why not?’
    Meeree smiled. ‘He was the only one who could do the clinic today on his own. He has the experience. He is also PMA leader and must be here to meet you first.’
    It was food for thought. He’d had to stay behind because of her. Was that why he’d been standoffish? All