by Sarah Morgan
‘Don’t you believe it. Glenmore may be remote but we’ve a thriving population here. Physio is Evanna’s division. Especially massage. She’s great with crying babies and pretty good with moaning adults, too.’ She started the engine, checked her rear-view mirror and started up the coast road at a frightening pace.
‘Evanna?’ Ethan wondered how a car so small could go so fast. ‘I heard you mention her to the lady who spoke to you back on the quay. She’s the other practice nurse?’
‘That’s right. We each have different responsibilities. Evanna is a midwife as well as a practice nurse and she’s had some basic physio training. We all do a bit of everything if we can. It saves folks travelling all the way to the mainland.’
To one side of him the coast flashed past and he had a glimpse of rocky coves and sandy beaches. The island had a dramatic history, he recalled, with a good number of wrecks littering the seabed. He stared out to sea, his mind wandering. There were so many questions he wanted to ask but to do so would reveal too much so instead he turned back to look at her, studying her profile. From this angle he could see that her nose turned up slightly and that her eyelashes were long and thick. She had a sweet face, he decided. A happy face. There were no lines. No shadows. Nothing to suggest that life had sent her anything that she couldn’t handle.
‘You’re staring at me, Dr Walker, and it’s putting me off my driving.’
‘Then I’ll keep my eyes straight ahead.’ He gave a faint smile. ‘Given the proximity of this road to the edge of the cliff, I certainly wouldn’t want to put you off.’
‘I’ve lived here all my life. There’s not a kink in this road that I don’t know. And I’m a jack of all trades. I’m the dietician, the asthma specialist and the diabetes nurse. I’m trained in family planning but we’re not exactly encouraging that at the moment because the population of the island is dwindling. If anyone comes to me for contraception, I send them away to have more sex and make a baby. We need babies on the Island or the next thing you know they’ll be taking away a doctor and trying to close the school.’
Despite the dark clouds in his head, Ethan found himself laughing. ‘Well, that’s a novel approach to family planning. Are you serious? Is the school under threat of closure?’
‘No, not yet.’ She glanced towards him with a quick smile. ‘Actually, this is a thriving, busy island and we’re doing all right. But populations dwindle. It’s a fact in rural areas like this. People find the life hard and they leave for the bright lights of the big cities. And they don’t come back. They marry a mainlander like you and have their babies somewhere else.’
She changed gear and took a corner at an alarming speed.
‘Do you always drive this fast?’
‘I do everything fast. It means I can get through twice as much in the day, which is a definite advantage in a place like this. But that’s enough about me. What brings you here? What are you running from, Dr Walker?’
He felt his body tense. ‘Why would I be running from anything?’
‘Because mainlanders don’t generally choose to spend their summer up here in the wilds unless they’re running from something,’ she said cheerfully. ‘Unless they’re locals, people come here for space and to regroup. Was it work or something more personal? Love?’
His head started to throb. He’d expected questions. He just hadn’t expected them this quickly. And he hadn’t prepared his answers. ‘Are you always this direct?’
‘On an island, it’s impossible to keep secrets.’ She opened the window a crack and the breeze blew in and lifted her hair. ‘They have a habit of following you. Better to get it all out in the open.’
Ethan stared at her profile and then turned his head away to stare out of his own window. If she knew his secret, she’d probably stop the car and push him off the cliff. ‘I’m not in the habit of talking about my sex life.’
‘Right.’ She shifted her grip on the steering-wheel. ‘But I wasn’t asking about your sex life, I was asking about your love life.’
It occurred to him that she would have got on well with his last girlfriend. You don’t have a heart, Ethan. You’re not capable of intimacy.
‘I’m here because you advertised for a doctor. Logan told me he needed help.’
‘He does need help. But that wouldn’t be enough to attract a mainlander to a place like Glenmore. And Logan told me that you’re a hotshot. First in everything. Top of your class.’
‘Being a good doctor isn’t about exam results.’
‘Well, it’s good to know we agree on something.’ She shifted gear and slowed down to take a corner. ‘Anyway, we’re just pleased to have you here. It’s been a tough few months. I don’t know whether Logan mentioned it but he lost his wife almost a year ago.’
Ethan stiffened and the throb in his head intensified. ‘Yes,’ he said quietly, forcing his body to relax. ‘He mentioned it.’
‘It was a hideous time.’ Kyla’s voice was soft and her hands tight on the wheel. ‘Awful.’
Ethan felt the sickness rise inside him. ‘How did she die?’
‘Having the baby.’ Kyla shook her head slowly. ‘It seems so wrong, doesn’t it? In this day and age to die having a baby. You read about maternal mortality rates but you don’t actually think it’s going to happen to anyone you know. You think that if you monitor carefully, everything will be all right. But it wasn’t all right. And I know Logan still blames himself even though he did absolutely everything that could have been done. She had an undiagnosed cardiac condition.’
Ethan took a deep breath. ‘And how’s he managing with the little girl? It must be difficult.’
‘How did you know they had a girl?’ She shot him a surprised look, her blue eyes narrowed. ‘Did I mention it?’
‘Logan mentioned it,’ Ethan said, correcting his mistake swiftly. ‘Kirsty. Eleven months.’
‘That’s right. She’s a sweetie. She isn’t walking yet but her crawling could earn her a speeding ticket and she’s into everything. Gives us all grey hairs. And Logan manages. He’s a great father and he has a lot of help from the islanders. One of my aunts runs the café on the quay along with one of my cousins, and they often take Kirsty for him during the day.’
‘One of your aunts?’
‘My grandmother was obviously preserving the future of the island. My mother was one of six.’ She grinned at him. ‘I have five aunts and eleven first cousins. Some of them have moved away, of course, but most of them still live on the island, which is handy for Logan. He hasn’t cooked himself a meal for months, lucky creature. It’s useful to have family around, isn’t it?’
It was a concept so alien to Ethan that he found it impossible to answer. To avoid the inevitable questions, he took the conversation off on a different tangent. ‘You don’t like cooking?’
‘Not one of my skills, but I do like eating.’
‘And Logan has worked here since he finished his training?’
‘No. He worked in London for a while, gaining the experience he needed to be able to work in a place like this. Out here it’s the real thing, Dr Walker. No back-up. It takes skill and confidence to deal with that. Most islanders escape for a while just to see if the grass is greener on the other side and when they discover that it isn’t …’ She gave a slight shrug of her shoulders as she flicked the indicator and turned the car into a small car park ‘… they come back again. We’re here. This is Glenmore Medical Centre.’
It was larger than Ethan had expected, a modern building with clean lines and glass, attached to a stunning house, painted white and with several balconies that faced towards the sea. ‘Your brother lives here.’
‘Yes. The surgery is attached to the house and, of course, people take all sorts of liberties, banging on his door when he’s in the bath and that sort of thing.’ She smiled and switched off the engine. ‘But he loves it here.’
‘From what I’ve heard, your brother is well qualified. He could have worked anywhere.’
‘That’s right. He could.’ She reached into the back seat for her bag, her movements swift and decisive. ‘And he chose to work here, where he grew up—where his talents really count for something. On Glenmore you’re not one of hundreds of doctors, you’re the only one. Sometimes you’re the only person who can make a difference. You’re truly needed.’
‘And you love it.’
‘Oh, yes.’ She pulled the bag into her lap and then paused, a wistful smile on her face. ‘As it happens, I’ve tried leaving. I’ve tried living in other places but they never feel right. When I’m here on Glenmore, somehow everything falls into place and I know I’m home.’
‘It must be nice to feel that way about a place.’
‘Everyone has somewhere that feels like home,’ she said cheerfully as she opened the car door. ‘Where is it for you? London?’
Ethan sat in silence, thinking about the question. ‘That depends on your definition of home. Is it the place where you were born or the place where you grew up?’
She paused with her on the door as she considered the question. ‘It’s not necessarily either. Home is the place where you feel completely comfortable. You arrive there and suddenly you can’t remember why you ever left because it’s the only place you really want to be.’
Ethan studied her face for a moment. ‘Then I don’t think I have a home,’ he said quietly, ‘because I’ve never felt that way about anywhere.’
CHAPTER TWO
KYLA opened the boot and removed the box, trying not to stare as Ethan Walker uncurled his powerful body from the front seat of her car and stretched.
All the way in the car she’d been aware of him. Aware of the shadow of stubble darkening his jaw, of long, masculine leg brushing against hers and the long, searching looks he kept casting in her direction. She’d felt those looks—felt him looking at her—and something about the burning intensity of his gaze had disturbed her so badly that she’d driven fast to keep the journey as short as possible.
Her nerve endings had snapped tight and she’d been breathlessly conscious of every movement he’d made during the short journey.
She knew everyone who lived on the island. She was used to men who were safe and predictable. And she sensed that Ethan Walker was neither.
When her brother had given her the lowdown on the new island doctor, she’d conjured up a vision of a bespectacled, wiry academic who’d spent his life looking down a microscope and seeing patients from the other side of a large desk.
She hadn’t expected to be knocked off her feet by the sight of him.
It wasn’t just the handsome face and the athletic body that made it hard not to stare at him. It was the air of quiet confidence and the dark, almost brooding quality that surrounded him. She sensed that his emotions were buried deep inside him. Were those emotions responsible for the hard, cynical gleam in his eyes?
And what was he doing up here in the wilds of Scotland?
He’d evaded her question but she wasn’t a fool. If Logan was right, then Ethan had been on the fast track. Hadn’t he said that Ethan had been the youngest consultant they’d ever had in the hospital? A single-minded, ambitious over-achiever? Why would a man with that sort of career ahead of him suddenly leave it to work in a backwater?
It had to be something to do with his love life.
Hadn’t he ignored the question when she’d asked it? Which was entirely typical of a man, she thought to herself, because since when did men ever talk about their feelings? They were all completely hopeless.
She slammed the boot shut, deciding that it would be interesting to get some answers. And interesting to spend some time with him.
The thought surprised her because it had been a long time since she’d found herself wanting to spend time with a man.
The problem with island life, she reflected as she slipped the postbag onto her shoulder, was that she knew absolutely everyone. There were no surprises. She wasn’t suddenly going to look at Nick Hillier, the island policeman, and feel a hot flush coming on. She wasn’t going to go to bed dreaming of Alastair and his fishing boat. She knew everyone on the island as well as she knew her family.
But Ethan—Ethan was a surprise. A surprise that promised to make the long days of summer more interesting than usual.
Her mouth curved into a smile as she anticipated the days ahead.
It would be interesting, she decided, to find out more about him.
She pushed open the surgery door.
Her brother was sprawled in a chair at the reception desk, hitting keys on the computer. ‘I’ve a full list here, Kyla. Did you book these in?’
‘And good morning to you, too.’ Her eyes scanned her brother’s face, looking for signs of strain. Tiredness. Logan was the toughest person she knew but all the same she worried about him. He was doing all right, she decided. She was proud of him. ‘Have you been here all night?’
‘It certainly feels like it.’ He pushed the chair away from the computer and stretched. His hair was dark and touched the edge of his collar, but his eyes were as blue as hers. ‘I need every second of the day to see these patients. We have to stop booking them in.’
Kyla threw him an exasperated look. ‘Well what do you expect me to do, you idiot? Tell them to go away and pick another day to be ill?’
‘Nice to get some proper respect around here,’ Logan drawled, but there was a twinkle in his eyes. ‘I’m just pointing out that there’s only one of me and at the moment I’m spread rather thinly.’
Kyla slammed the post down on the reception desk. ‘Well, despite what you may think, I don’t spend my time going round the Island drumming up business for your surgeries. Can I help it if people think you’re the answer to their problems? Anyway, there isn’t just one of you any more.’ She turned with a wave of her hand. ‘I brought you reinforcements from the ferry, Dr Ethan Walker. I expect you already know that because he’s the only stranger that stepped off the ferry this morning so I dare say the jungle drums have been beating for the last half an hour. Treat him well and perhaps he’ll help you with your surgery.’
‘Ethan—pleased to meet you.’ Logan straightened and the two men shook hands while Kyla tilted her head to one side and studied them both. They had a similar physique and yet they were entirely different. Both dark, both tall, both broad-shouldered, but the resemblance ended there. While her brother looked rough and rugged, as though he’d just strode off the hills, Ethan was smooth and slick. City slick, Kyla thought as she turned away and started stacking the post neatly for Janet, their receptionist, to open later. He was a man who looked … she searched for the right term … expensive.
And he probably wasn’t going to last five minutes in a place like Glenmore.
The two men were deep in conversation when the phone rang. Reaching over the desk, Kyla lifted the receiver, her hair falling forward.
‘Glenmore Medical Centre.’ Her voice was bright and friendly and she ignored a look from Logan that warned her that trying to cram another patient onto his morning list would put her life at risk. ‘Hello, Janet! How are you doing?’ She straightened and pulled a face. ‘Oh, no—that’s awful! I’m so sorry to hear that. Don’t move her. Logan will be right over.’
She replaced the receiver to find Logan gazing at her in disbelief. ‘Remind me to fire you and replace you with a moody, scary battleaxe who frightens away patients. If you’ve booked me a house call two minutes before my morning surgery starts then I’m going to strangle you with my bare hands,’ he growled. ‘What do you think I am? Superhuman?’
‘A good doctor.’ Kyla scribbled the details on a scrap of paper and then walked across and gave him a swift kiss on the cheek. ‘A good but exceptionally moody doctor. That was our Janet. She popped round to check on her mum this morning and found her collapsed on the floor.’
‘Gladys?’ Logan’s frown changed to a look of concern and Kyla thrust a piece of paper into his hands.
‘You see? You care really, you know you do. You ju
st hide it well. This isn’t going to wait, Logan. She needs to be seen right away.’
‘I have surgery—I can’t be in two places at once.’
‘Well, I think the place you need to be is with Mrs Taylor. Janet thinks she’s broken her leg. You go. I’ll keep the patients happy. Evanna and I will see the ones that we can and the others will just have to wait.’ Kyla waved a hand towards the door. ‘Go forth and heal, oh great one. I can sing and dance and generally entertain them while you swan off like a knight in shining armour.’
‘I’ll start your surgery.’ Ethan stepped forward, cool and unflustered, watching the exchange between them with puzzled curiosity. ‘Why not?’
Logan ran a hand over the back of his neck. ‘Because you’ve been travelling all night? Because you must need a shower and a rest? Because you don’t know the patients or the island? How many more reasons do you need?’
Ethan gave a faint smile. ‘I’m used to travelling and the shower and the rest can wait. As for not knowing the patients or the island … ‘he gave a dismissive shrug of his broad shoulders ‘… I don’t see why that should that be a problem. Presumably Kyla’s on hand if I need help. Keep your mobile on. If I have any questions, I’ll call you.’
‘All right, then. If you’re sure.’ Without further argument Logan reached for his bag. ‘If she’s fractured her hip, I’m going to need the air ambulance, Kyla. I’ll call you.’
‘You do that.’ Kyla watched her brother stride through the door and then picked up a set of keys. ‘All right, Dr Walker. Looks like you’re on duty. I’ll show you your room then I’ll fetch you a cup of coffee. Hopefully that will see you through until we have time for something more—’ She didn’t finish her sentence because the surgery door crashed open and a large man staggered in. His face was pale and shone with sweat, his hand pressed against his chest.