‘Imagine recuperating here,’ Anna said, finally speaking but talking almost to herself. ‘The island’s elderly in the nursing home part of that dump you call a hospital... Imagine them up here with the sun on their faces.’
‘We can’t do it,’ he said heavily as the hopelessness of his proposal sank home. ‘Now that I’ve seen the place again... I’m sorry I even suggested it.’
She turned away from watching the dolphins and stared at him. ‘Why not?’
‘Apart from Yanni’s apartments I haven’t been in the castle since I was a kid,’ he conceded. ‘Maybe I was looking at it through rose-coloured glasses, or maybe my memory’s played me false. I did remember the great hall. I was imagining it as a major cost, digging out a swimming pool, setting it up for rehab. I knew that was a pipe dream but the rest...a basic hospital... I thought that if your Trust could cover the capital costs we might be able to do it. But tonight... Anna, I see what Victoir means. This place is impossible. To do it up would cost a king’s ransom.’
‘I have a king’s ransom,’ she said, and for a moment he thought he’d misheard.
‘Anna...’
‘Just how much do you think I inherited?’ She leaned on the parapet. The dolphins were practically turning handstands behind her but she was focussed on him.
‘I have no idea,’ he said faintly. ‘It’s none of my business.’
‘If most of that money’s been accrued via the poverty and misery of the islanders, then it’s very much your business.’
‘That’s been going on for generations.’
‘It has,’ she agreed. ‘As far as I can see, the lords of this castle or whatever they called themselves have had Miser as a middle name for generations. Early on they apparently spent their rent roll paying mercenaries to protect their stronghold from the marauding hordes, but the hordes seem to have given up long since. But the family didn’t relax. The Castlavarans seem to have been saving as if the hordes are still about to attack again. Martin insisted we get an accounting of the entire estate and now I have a number. So...take a deep breath, Dr Aretino, and listen.’
So he took a deep breath and listened.
And the figure...
She said it once and then she had to say it again. It was too immense, too breathtaking, to respond to.
Out to sea the dolphins gave up their acrobatic display in disgust. Neither Anna or Leo noticed.
‘I can’t...’ Leo said at last, and Anna nodded.
‘Neither can I. It’s left me hornswoggled. But I didn’t think I could do much for twenty years. Restore the castle, yes. Turn it into apartments even. Anything else, no.’
‘But...’
‘But now you’ve shown me another way. The Trust is clear. I can spend anything I like on my personal use. The lawyers in Milan say if I want to collect diamonds, as long as I keep them in the castle then that’s fine by them. So if I want to create the hospital of my dreams for my personal satisfaction, what’s the difference?’ She took a deep breath. ‘The trustees seem staid, conservative but they have no interest in preventing me doing something like this. Their role is to stick to the letter of the Trust. I’ll ring Martin and—’
‘Martin...’
‘I told you. He’s a lawyer and a good one.’
Martin. His thoughts seemed to be jerked sideways.
What Anna was proposing was the stuff of dreams and why a guy called Martin should be getting in the way of his thoughts...
He wasn’t here with her. Surely if they were serious he’d be here.
Not important. Not! He fought his way back to what she was saying. What she was thinking.
‘You’d really do this,’ he said slowly.
‘I think,’ she said, just as slowly, ‘that I might have a responsibility to do it. I could set this up as a state-of-the-art hospital. More. If I really can do anything for my personal use—as long as it’s within my remit as castle resident—then my head’s starting to spin with possibilities.’
‘Anna...’
‘Don’t stop me,’ she begged. ‘This is full-on fantasy and I’m enjoying myself. What else? I like travelling to neighbouring countries but I don’t like flying. So, yes, I need a helicopter based here for when I’m in a hurry—and, incidentally, for patients who need evacuation to medical facilities even we can’t provide. But for my normal day-to-day pleasure I’d like a ferry, one big enough for me not to feel seasick. And the trustees should surely not object if I save costs by letting the locals use it as well. And visiting tourists. Day trippers from the mainland.’
She was off and running, her mind obviously tumbling with ideas. ‘The hospital staff...’ she said. ‘You say you can’t keep doctors? I like doctors and I like them living around me. They’re my friends and I don’t like living in this castle by myself. If we set up accommodation, use some of Victoir’s ideas, I could surely entice and pay for the best specialists. They could come and teach me—and, of course, anyone else who’s on my payroll...’
‘You’re making me dizzy.’
‘I’m making me dizzy,’ she conceded.
She paused. They both paused.
‘I’ve gone from thinking I can do nothing to thinking I can do everything,’ she said at last. ‘I need to talk to Martin but if I can get around the Trust...’
There he was again. Martin. Why did it shake him out of his fantasy, remind him of reality?
‘You’ll never do it,’ he said, and she blinked.
‘Why not?’
‘Because you’d have to live here.’
She turned to stare out to sea again, and he could almost see cogs whirring. He should stop her, he thought. She’d been hit on the head. She shouldn’t make any decisions yet.
She wasn’t intending to, he reminded himself. She was going to talk to a lawyer called Martin.
‘I’ll need my dogs,’ she said at last.
‘Would you need Martin?’
That hauled her out of her train of thoughts. She turned to him, eyes flashing sudden anger. ‘Butt out of that, right now.’
‘Anna...’
‘What happens here, the plans for this castle, this hospital, this island... I’ll need advice and collaboration. But the personal stuff... You lost the right when you walked away ten years ago.’
‘I’ve said—’
‘You’re sorry. And that’s fine. I’m over a teenaged romance and you should be, too.’
But he had to say it. The night... This woman... ‘Anna, the way I feel—’
‘Don’t you dare,’ she snapped. ‘Finish that train of thought right now. Moving on. Do you want to be in charge of setting up a hospital to tick the boxes of every islander’s basic needs?’
‘You wouldn’t want me in charge.’
‘I’m not a fool, Leo.’ Her voice was still cold. ‘Basic as it is, from what I’ve seen, you run your current hospital well. You know the islanders’ needs so I’ll need your help. I imagine we’ll need expert assistance, advice from people who know how to set up the kind of state-of-the-art medical facilities we’re talking about. Architects. Heritage advisors too, because my head’s starting to think beyond medicine. The tunnels Victoir wants me to close... If they were open to the public...made safe, and with guided tours... We could charge entrance fees to mainlanders coming over on my new ferry. The trustees surely would see the sense in that—spending money to make money. We could even set this up as a hub for international visitors...’
‘You think you might be getting carried away?’
‘I definitely am,’ she said, and she smiled, and suddenly the coldness was gone. This was a great, warm, happy smile, a smile he hadn’t seen for...ten years?
A smile that was no longer aimed at him but at a project that was obviously entrancing her.
Entrancing. It was a good word. No, it was a great word.
She still had freckles. He wanted to touch those freckles.
‘We’re running away with ourselves,’ he managed, struggling to take the personal out of a situation that held the fate of practically the entire island in its grasp. ‘The lawyers in Milan...’
‘I’ll have Martin speak to them. I can’t imagine why I haven’t thought of this before.’
‘It’s only weeks since Yanni died,’ he said. ‘I imagine you’ve been in shock.’
‘I have,’ she admitted. ‘One minute I was a nice normal family doctor in a nice normal English village—and suddenly I was an heiress responsible for...’ She shrugged. ‘Okay, I wasn’t sure what I was responsible for until I came here, and Victoir’s attempt to make me see the place was dangerous led to a split head. Which led to you.’ She hesitated. ‘So I guess the split head’s lucky. Because it led to you, it led to me thinking outside the box.’ But then, as if events had suddenly overwhelmed her, she put her hand to her head and her smile faded.
And instantly he turned back into what he should have been all along. Anna’s doctor. Nothing else.
‘You need to be back in bed.’
‘How can I sleep?’
‘I guess you can’t. I surely won’t be able to. But you need to rest. Anna, this is all supposition until you run it past the trustees. And to stay here... It’s a big decision. You’ll need to run it past... Martin?’
‘And the trustees,’ she agreed. ‘Mostly the trustees. But also my dogs. My dogs are very fussy about where they live.’
‘And Martin?’
‘Butt out, Leo.’
He held his hands up. ‘Consider me butted. Sorry.’
‘But you keep butting in again.’ She gazed at him for a long moment, appearing to consider. ‘Okay, if we’re butting...tell me about you.’
‘It’s...’
‘If you tell me it’s none of my business I’ll call Victoir.’
‘What do you want to know?’
‘Like, do you live alone? You say you haven’t had time for a relationship. None at all? I find that hard to believe.’
‘I live with my mother and her canary called Pepe.’
‘Your mother...’
‘She’s ill. She’s been ill for a long time.’ Why had he told her that?
‘I’m sorry.’ A furrow appeared on her forehead. He remembered that furrow. He liked that furrow. ‘Is that another reason you look so strained? Is there anything I can do?’
It took only that. He’d treated her appallingly and here she was, saying maybe she could spend her inheritance giving Tovahna a medical service that made his eyes water just to think about it. And now she was offering to help with his mother’s care?
‘She has multiple sclerosis,’ he said simply. ‘My aunt helps me with her care. Anna, it’s me who should be sorry. The way I acted—’
‘Was too long ago to be dredged up again and again. Moving on, Leo... Yes, I need to rest. Tomorrow I’ll think again.’ Her hand went back to her head. ‘I ache,’ she said simply. ‘I need to lie down.’
‘Of course you do.’ She turned toward the stairs down from the parapets. The stone here was crumbling. He couldn’t help himself—or more probably it was the sensible thing to do. He caught her arm and held, supporting her.
He half expected her to pull away. That she didn’t...
Why did it make him feel light?
They reached the top of the stairs. Beneath them was gloom. His hold on her arm tightened.
But she paused. Once again he thought she’d pull away, but instead she turned and gazed back over the stonework, over the moonlit sea. An old man was fishing on a low stone jetty jutting out from just in front of the castle walls. While they watched, the line bent. He reeled it in, held it up for a moment.
‘Squid,’ Leo said softly. ‘Luigi and Sondra will have calamari for dinner.’
‘You know all the islanders?’
‘Pretty much. I’m their doctor. My father was a fisherman and I have relatives all over the island. They trust me.’
There was another admission. Personal.
They trust me.
Why had he said it? Because it was important, he thought. Trust was the reason he’d had to come home. It was the reason he couldn’t ever have stayed with this woman.
But now she was here...
It was just as impossible, he thought. The heiress to the Castlavaran fortune? No and no and no.
‘Leo...’
‘Hmm...?’ He was still watching Luigi. The fisherman had caught what he needed. He was now packing up his ancient fishing gear, heading home.
He needed to head home, too. Check on his mother. Head back to the hospital.
‘It was good between us, wasn’t it?’
That was a blindsider. What had she just said? What had been between them was too long ago to be dredged up again, but here she was...dredging?
Or simply putting it out there?
‘It was,’ he admitted. ‘And I’m sorry it had to end like it did.’
‘I still don’t get it,’ she admitted. ‘But I’m starting to think...people can change. You’ve changed.’
‘I don’t think I have.’
‘You care.’
‘I always cared.’
‘Not for me, you didn’t.’
‘I did care, Anna.’ And suddenly it was too much. She was gazing at him as if she wanted to see inside; as if she wanted to read his mind. Once upon a time he’d thought she could. ‘Hell, I cared. I still care.’
‘Leo...’
And what happened next he could never afterwards explain. He was tired. Stressed. The sudden appearance of Anna out of his past had jolted him. The crisis with Carla had shaken him even more. And now...the prospect of doing something amazing with this castle, the vista of a future he’d never dreamed might be possible... Yeah, they were all excuses but they weren’t reasons. The reason was that Anna was standing on the castle steps and she was looking at him as he remembered her looking up at him ten years ago.
She’d changed. This was a mature version of the Anna he’d known and loved. She still had her glorious hair and her freckles. Her nose was still snub but the changes were subtle. Her eyes had laughter lines etched at the corners. She hadn’t grieved for him too much, then, he thought, and then he thought, how arrogant was that?
But there was that something about her that said she didn’t always smile. There was a maturity, a softness, a gentle sense of wisdom.
He remembered thinking all those years ago that she’d make a great family doctor and now he was sure of it.
He was also sure that she was just...great.
She was still looking at him. Asking unspoken questions.
Just looking.
She had a...what? Boyfriend? Partner? Where was this phantom Martin now?
Not here when he should be here.
So where was sense?
He should propel her gently down the stairs, send her back to bed. He knew it. He should become her doctor again.
But her eyes were holding his.
The warmth. The soft wash of the waves beneath the castle. The night.
This was madness.
But, madness or not, it was as if the world held its breath, asking a question...
And the question had only one answer.
He kissed her.
* * *
One minute she was hesitating on the stairs, looking back at Leo, feeling confused.
More than confused. Disoriented. Discombobulated. Was there a bigger word? The way this man made her feel...
She’d put thoughts of him away, had
made a life for herself, proved without a doubt that there had been a life after Leo.
But he was watching her now, his eyes troubled, his gaze acknowledging there was unfinished business.
If it was unfinished then she had to finish it. She had to turn away and make her way down the stairs to her ridiculous apartment. She had to close the door behind her, raise the drawbridge, pull in every defence at her disposal.
His hand was still on her arm.
She glanced down at it and then back to his face. His dark, questioning eyes. The look of...trouble?
She couldn’t help herself. She raised her hand to his face and traced the harsh line of cheekbone. The touch made her feel...
She couldn’t think how she felt.
He was so close.
Did she draw his face down to hers? She didn’t know. All she knew was that her world seemed to empty of everything except the sight, the feel, the touch of this man.
And then he kissed her, and her world shorted.
Or that’s what it felt like. An electric shock seemed to jar her entire system and then simply shut it down. It left room for nothing. Not one of the five senses was operating—or maybe they all were.
Taste... The way his mouth fused with hers. Glorious memories flooding back.
Smell... The faint smell of disinfectant, the smell every doctor knew so well. But more. He smelt of himself, a waft of arrant male testosterone.
Hearing... She could hear his breath. It was almost as if it was as one with hers.
Sight. Her eyes were filled with the vision of Leo, here, now.
Touch.
And there was the biggie, overriding all. The warmth of his hold, his strength, his tenderness... He was taking what he needed but giving back in spades.
Oh, this kiss... She had no defences from this kiss. The feel of him...the way her body moulded to his...
Somewhere, maybe in church, maybe in some long-forgotten romance novel, she’d read or she’d heard the words describing marriage as two becoming one. Ten years ago, aged all of nineteen, she’d fallen into this man’s arms and had thought, yes. That’s what this was.
Only of course it hadn’t been that. They’d never been one. Over the years she’d reminded herself of the naïve kid she’d been. She’d told herself that marriage was for the long haul. It wasn’t a romantic slogan. It was something you entered with your head as well as your heart.
Second Chance with Her Island Doc Page 9