Читать книгу The Rebel Doctor's Bride - Sarah Morgan - Страница 7

CHAPTER ONE

‘THE waiting room is packed and you’ve had five requests for home visits.’ Flora handed Logan a prescription to sign, thinking that he looked more tired than ever. ‘Given that they were all mobile and none of their complaints sounded life-threatening, Janet’s managed to persuade them all to come to the surgery because it just isn’t practical for you to go dashing around the island at the moment when you’re running this practice on your own. What happens if we have a genuine emergency? You can’t be in five places at once. We can’t carry on like this, Logan. You can’t carry on like this. You’re going to drop.’

Logan looked at the prescription. ‘Gentacin ear drops?’

‘Pam King has an infection. She has her ears syringed regularly, but this time the whole of the canal is looking inflamed. There didn’t seem any point in adding her to your already buckling list. I’ve taken off half your patients and if I can sort them out, I will. Otherwise I’ll have to push them back through to you.’

‘You, Flora Harris, are a miracle.’ Logan signed the prescription. ‘And persuading you to come back here as my practice nurse was the best thing I ever did. When Kyla and Ethan left, I couldn’t imagine how we were going to cope. I lost nurse and doctor in one fell swoop.’

‘Well, I’ve only solved one half of your problem. You still need to find a doctor to replace Ethan. Any progress?’

‘I think so.’

‘Seriously?’Flora picked the prescription up from his desk. ‘You’ve found someone?’

‘Ask me again at lunchtime. I’m expecting someone on the morning ferry.’

‘Oh, that’s fantastic.’ Relieved, Flora relaxed slightly. ‘Is he or she good? Well qualified?’

‘It’s a he.’ Logan turned back to his computer. ‘And, yes, he’s extremely well qualified.’

Flora stared at him expectantly. ‘And…?’

‘And what?’

‘Aren’t you going to tell me any more?’

‘No.’ He tapped a few keys and frowned at the screen. ‘How are you finding Glenmore, Flora? I haven’t really had a chance to ask you and you’ve already been here for a month. Everything going all right? Have you settled into Evanna’s cottage?’

‘Yes, thank you.’ Hadn’t they been discussing the new doctor? Why were they suddenly on the subject of her cottage? Why was he changing the subject? ‘Evanna’s cottage is beautiful. I love it.’ It was true. She’d never imagined she’d live anywhere so pretty. ‘You can see the sea from the bed…’ she blushed ‘…but, of course, you already know that, given that the two of you are married. I’m sure you spent plenty of time in her cottage.’

‘Actually, we didn’t.’ Logan glanced at her, amused. ‘We usually stayed at mine because there was more room. Are you finding the work very different from the practice in Edinburgh?’

‘Not really, but everything takes four times as long because this is Glenmore and people like to chat.’ Flora gave a helpless shrug. ‘I always seem to be running late.’

‘You need to cut them off when they gossip.’ Logan turned his attention back to the computer screen, searching for something. ‘That’s what the rest of us do.’

‘I haven’t worked out how to do that without appearing rude. I don’t want to offend them. They’re all so nice and they mean well.’ Flora picked up the prescription and moved towards the door. ‘Anyway, I’d better let you carry on. At this rate you’ll still be here at midnight. And so will I.’

As she left the room and returned to her own consulting room she suddenly remembered that Logan hadn’t given her any more clues as to the identity of the new doctor. On an island where no one kept a secret, Logan appeared to have one. Why? What possible reason could he have for being so cloak and dagger about the whole thing?

Who exactly had he appointed?

Conner parked the motorbike and dragged the helmet from his head. The rain had stopped and the sun fought a battle with the clouds, as if to remind him that the weather on Glenmore Island was as unpredictable as ever.

It was July and still the wind blew.

That same wind had almost landed him in jail at the age of sixteen.

Tucking his helmet under his arm, he strolled into the surgery. Nice job, Logan, he thought to himself as he took in his surroundings in one casual glance. Sleek, clean lines and plenty of light. Despite the early hour, the waiting room was already crowded with patients and he saw heads turn and eyes widen as he passed.

Without adjusting his pace, he ignored the reception desk and made for the first consulting room. As he approached the door a patient walked out, clutching a prescription in her hand. She took one look at him and stopped dead, her open mouth reminding him of a baby bird waiting to be fed.

‘Conner MacNeil.’ Her voice trailed off in a strangled squeak and he lifted an eyebrow, a sardonic expression in his eyes as he observed her mounting discomfort.

If he’d been in any doubt as to the islanders’ reaction to his return, that doubt had now gone.

‘Mrs Graham.’ He was cool and polite, his neutral tone a direct contrast to her shock and consternation. He moved past her, knowing that he should cut short the encounter, but he couldn’t quite help himself and he turned, the devil dancing in his eyes. ‘I hope your beautiful garden is thriving. If I remember correctly, it’s always at its best in July.’

Her soft gasp of outrage made it obvious that her memories of their last meeting were as clear as his and a smile played around his hard mouth as he walked into the consulting room without bothering to knock.

Mrs Graham’s garden.

He still remembered the girl…

He pushed the door shut with the flat of his hand and the man at the desk looked up.

‘Conner.’ Logan rose to his feet, welcome in his eyes as he stretched out his hand. ‘It’s been too long.’

‘Not long enough for some,’ Conner murmured, thinking of Mrs Graham who, he was sure, at that precise moment was still glaring angrily at the closed door. ‘Prepare yourself for a riot. The locals will be arming themselves any minute now.’ He shook the hand of the man who had been part of his boyhood.

‘Kate Graham recognised you, then? I seem to recall that you were stark naked the last time she saw you.’

The devil was back in Conner’s eyes. ‘Mrs Graham had extremely tall delphiniums in her border,’ he recalled. ‘She only saw my face.’

Logan laughed out loud. ‘You have no idea how pleased I am to see you. You’re looking good, Conner.’

‘I wish I could return the compliment.’ Conner’s dark brows drew together in a frown as he studied his cousin, taking in the faint shadows and the lines of strain. ‘You’ve looked better. Island life obviously doesn’t suit you. You need to leave this backwater and find yourself a proper job.’ But his tone was light because he knew that the medical care that his cousin delivered on this remote Scottish island was of exceptional quality.

‘There’s nothing wrong with island life, just the lack of medical staff. To run this place effectively we need two doctors and two nurses.’ Logan rubbed his fingers over his forehead. ‘It’s been tough since Kyla and Ethan left. I lost a doctor and a nurse in one blow.’

Conner thought about his cousin. ‘I never thought Kyla would leave this place.’

‘She married an Englishman with itchy feet.’

‘There’s treatment for that.’

‘Yeah.’ Logan grinned. ‘Anyway, it’s only temporary and I’ve replaced Kyla. Now you’re here, so we’re back on track.’

‘If I were you, I’d postpone the celebrations until the whole island gets wind of your little plan. The jungle drums will start beating soon.’

‘They’re already beating.’ Logan picked up his coffee-mug and then realised that it was empty and put it down again. ‘My phone has been ringing and you’ve only been on the island for twenty minutes. You certainly know how to make a lasting impression, Conner MacNeil. What exactly did you do on that ferry?’

‘Travelled on it. Apparently that was more than enough.’ Conner stretched his legs out in front of him and put his helmet down on the floor. ‘There’s going to be a rebellion. If looks could kill, I’d be in your mortuary right now, not your consulting room. The natives will probably return to their roots and take up arms to defend themselves from the unwelcome invader. They’re preparing themselves for rape and pillage.’

‘Ignore them. You know what the islanders are like.’ Logan reached for a pack of papers. ‘They don’t like change. Can you read this lot quickly and sign? Just a formality.’

‘And you know how much I love formality,’ Connor drawled softly, but he leaned forward to take the papers, grimacing when he saw the thickness of the documentation. ‘Life’s too short to wade through that much bureaucracy. What does it say? Conner MacNeil must not steal, destroy property or otherwise harass the citizens of Glenmore?’

‘All that and the fact that all single women under the age of thirty are now considered to be in danger.’ Logan’s eyes gleamed as he handed his cousin a pen. ‘The men of the island are locking up their wives and daughters as we speak and Mrs Graham is probably shovelling fertiliser on her delphiniums to increase their height and preserve her modesty and yours. Sign the back page.’

‘Single women under the age of thirty? Why thirty? That doesn’t give me nearly enough scope. I’ve always preferred experience to innocence.’ Conner flipped straight to the back of the sheaf of papers and signed with a casual flourish.

Logan lifted an eyebrow. ‘Aren’t you going to bother to read what you just signed?’

‘I’m presuming it’s a load of rules and regulations.’

‘And knowing that, you’re prepared to sign? I thought you hated rules and regulations.’

‘I do, but I trust you and I admire what you’ve built here on Glenmore.’ Conner handed the papers back to Logan, a faint smile on his mouth. ‘I promise to do my best for your patients. I’m not promising that I won’t bend the rules a little if it proves to be necessary.’

Logan reached for an envelope. ‘I bend them all the time. It’s the only way to get things done. It’s good to have you here, Conner.’

‘I don’t think everyone is going to agree with you. Judging from the shock on the faces I’ve seen so far, you didn’t warn them in advance.’

‘Do I look stupid?’ Logan slipped the papers into the envelope and dropped it into the tray on his desk. ‘I was waiting until you showed up.’

‘Did you think I wouldn’t?’

‘Reliability isn’t your middle name. I wasn’t sure you’d actually do this when the time came.’

Connor gave a humourless laugh. ‘Then that makes two of us.’

‘But you did, so now I can break the happy news to the inhabitants of Glenmore. How have you been? Tell me, honestly.’ Logan hesitated. ‘It must have been hard…’

‘Coming back? Why would you say that?’ Conner was surprised to find that his voice sounded so harsh. ‘You know how much I love this place.’

Ignoring the sarcasm, Logan watched him steadily. ‘Actually, I was talking about leaving the army.’

The army?

Conner realised that since he’d stepped off the ferry, he’d given no thought to the life he’d just left. All he could think about was Glenmore and how it felt to be back. The bad memories poured into him like some dark, insidious disease, gradually taking possession of his mind. ‘Leaving the army isn’t my problem at the moment.’ he growled. ‘And, anyway, I don’t believe in living in the past when there’s a perfectly good future to be getting on with.’

‘Are you going to sell the house?’

‘You get straight to the point, don’t you?’ Conner rose to his feet and paced across the room, keeping his back to his cousin as he rode the pain. ‘Yes.’ He turned, his eyes fierce. ‘Why would I keep it?’

‘So that you have a place on Glenmore?’

‘If I’d wanted that,’ Conner said softly, ‘why would I be renting your barn?’

‘Good point.’ Logan gave him a sympathetic look. ‘This must be hard for you, I know.’

‘Nowhere near as hard as it’s going to be for the locals.’ Conner studied a picture on the wall. ‘They’re going to think that you’ve lost your mind, appointing me as the locum.’

‘They’d be less shocked if you told them the truth about what you’ve been doing since you stormed off Glenmore all those years ago.’

‘Island gossip has never interested me.’

‘You sound like Flora. Her clinics are taking twice as long as they should because she doesn’t like to interrupt people when they’re chatting.’

‘Flora?’

‘My practice nurse. She replaced Kyla.’

‘Flora Harris?’ Conner turned, the pain inside him under control. ‘Daughter of Ian Harris, our island solicitor? Niece of our esteemed headmistresses?’

Cloudy dark hair, soft brown eyes, an impossibly shy and awkward teenager, and as innocent as the dawn…

Logan’s eyes narrowed. ‘You didn’t ever…’

‘Fortunately for her, there were enough wild teenage girls on the island who were more than happy to experiment, without me having to corrupt the saintly Flora. Anyway, she didn’t take her nose out of a book for long enough to discover the existence of sex.’

‘She isn’t saintly. Just shy.’

‘Maybe. But definitely not the sort of girl who would skip classes in favour of a practical session on human reproduction.’ Conner rolled his shoulders to ease the tension. ‘I’m not surprised she’s a nurse. It would have been that or a librarian. Does she know I’m the new doctor?’

‘Not yet.’

‘She won’t approve.’

‘Even if she doesn’t, she would never say so. Flora is sweet, kind and incredibly civilised.’

‘Whereas I’m sharp, unkind and incredibly uncivilised. I’m willing to bet that the first thing she does, when she finds out about me, is remind you that I blew up the science lab.’

‘I’d forgotten about that.’ Momentarily distracted, Logan narrowed his eyes. ‘What did you use—potassium?’

‘Too dangerous. They didn’t keep it at school.’ Restless, Conner paced across the room again and scanned the row of textbooks on the shelf. ‘But they did keep sodium. That was good enough.’

‘It should have been in a locked cupboard.’

‘It was.’

Logan laughed. ‘I’m amazed you weren’t expelled.’

‘Me, too. Very frustrating, given how hard I applied myself to the task.’ Conner suppressed a yawn. ‘So I’m going to be working with Flora. The excitement of this place increases by the minute.’

‘She’s a brilliant nurse. She was working in Edinburgh until last month but we persuaded her to come back. And now you’ve joined us. I’ve been thinking—we should tell the islanders what you’ve been doing with your life.’

‘It’s none of their business.’

Logan sighed. ‘I don’t see why you’re so reluctant to let people know that you’re a good guy.’

‘Who says I’m a good guy? If you wanted a good guy for the job then you’ve appointed the wrong man.’ Conner turned, a ghost of a smile on his face. ‘You’ll have a hard job convincing Flora, Mrs Graham and any of that lot on the ferry that there’s a single decent bone in my body.’

‘Give them time. How soon can you start?’

‘That depends on how soon you want to clear out your surgery.’ Conner unzipped his jacket. ‘I can guarantee that they won’t be queuing up to see me. I’m assuming that, by appointing me, you want to encourage your patients to deal with their ailments at home. We both know they won’t be coming to the surgery once they know who the doctor is. Which means I get to lounge around all day with my feet up while you pay my salary.’

‘That’s rubbish. You know as well as I do that the women will be forming a disorderly queue all the way to the harbour.’ Logan’s expression was serious. ‘Tell them the truth about yourself, Con. It will help them understand you.’

‘I don’t need them to understand me. That’s always been the difference between us. You are a nice guy. I’m not. You care about them. I don’t.’

‘So why are you here?’

‘Not out of love for the islanders, that’s for sure. And I’m here because…’ Conner shrugged ‘…you rang me. I came. Let’s leave it at that.’ He didn’t want to think about the rest of it. Not yet. He frowned, his attention caught by one of the photographs on the wall. ‘Isn’t that little Evanna Duncan? Are you two together?’

‘She’s Evanna MacNeil now,’ Logan’s tone was a shade cooler as he corrected him. ‘I married her a year ago and if you so much as glance in her direction you might just discover that I’m not such a nice guy after all.’

‘Seducing married women has never been on my list of vices.’ Conner turned and looked at his cousin. ‘She always adored you. Children?’

‘Evanna is due in five weeks.’ Logan hesitated. ‘And I have a daughter from a previous marriage. Kirsty. She’s two.’

‘So, you’re a regular family man.’ Conner saw the shadows in Logan’s eyes but he knew better than to ask questions. He had plenty of shadows of his own, dark corners that he kept private.

Logan’s gaze didn’t waver. ‘What about you? Wife? Children?’

‘I’ll assume that wasn’t a serious question.’

‘I was just hoping you had a reason not to wreak havoc across the female population of Glenmore over the summer. Just don’t touch the patients, it’s strictly frowned on and definitely against the rules.’ Logan rose to his feet. ‘Use the consulting room across the corridor. Do you want to shave or change before you start?’

‘And ruin the opportunity to shock everyone? I don’t think so. I’ll stay as I am.’

‘I’ve just broken the news of your arrival to Janet, our receptionist. She’s already lined up some patients. Is there anything you need to know before you start?’

‘Yes.’ Conner paused, his hand on the door. ‘If I’m not allowed to seduce the patients, how am I supposed to relieve the boredom of being trapped on Glenmore?’

‘I don’t suppose you’d consider a round of golf?’

‘No.’

‘I didn’t think you would. Well, I’m confident you’ll find something or someone to distract you.’ Logan gave a resigned laugh. ‘Just steer clear of Mrs Graham’s garden, that’s all I ask.’

She needed to talk to Logan quickly.

Flora nipped across the corridor and tapped lightly on the door. Without waiting for an answer, she walked into his consulting room and immediately collided with a tall, dark-haired man whose body seemed to be made of nothing but rock-hard muscle. She stumbled slightly but his hands came out and steadied her, his strong fingers digging into her arms as he held her.

‘I’m terribly sorry,’ she apologised breathlessly, catching her glasses before they could slide down her nose, ‘I had no idea Logan had a patient with him.’

‘Hello, Flora.’ His lazy, masculine drawl was alarmingly familiar and her eyes flew wide as she tilted her head back to take a proper look at him.

‘Oh!’ Her heart started to beat in double time and she felt decidedly faint. Her knees weakened and from a distance she heard Logan’s voice.

‘Flora, you remember my cousin Conner?’

Remember? Remember? Well, of course she remembered! She might be short-sighted, but she was still a woman! And it didn’t matter how many rules or hearts he’d broken, there wasn’t a woman alive who would forget Conner MacNeil once she’d met him.

Especially not her.

And he would have known how she’d felt because arrogance and Conner had gone hand in hand. Even as a young boy he’d known exactly what effect he had on the girls and had used it to his advantage.

But it wasn’t a boy who was standing in front of her now. It was a man. And his effect on the opposite sex had grown proportionately.

Determined not to boost his ego by revealing her thoughts, Flora screwed up her face and adopted what she hoped was a puzzled expression. ‘Conner…Conner… The name is familiar—were you below me at school? Or were you above me?’

His blue eyes glinted with wicked humour. ‘I don’t recall ever being above or below you, Flora,’ he murmured softly, ‘but that may be my defective memory.’

She felt the heat flare in her cheeks and remembered, too late, that anyone trying to play word games with Conner was always going to lose. His brain and his tongue worked in perfect unison whereas hers had always been slightly disconnected. Without fail she thought of the perfect thing to say about two days after the opportunity to say it had passed.

‘Well, you do look vaguely familiar,’ she said quickly, stepping back and concentrating her attention on Logan to cover up how unsettled she felt. A moment ago she’d been happily existing in the present, enjoying her life. The next she’d been transported back to her childhood and it was a lonely, uncomfortable place. If this was time travel, then she wanted none of it.

She’d had such a desperate, agonising crush on Conner. A crush that had been intensified by the fact that her father had forbidden her to mix with him. ‘Sorry to disturb your reunion, but Amy Price just rang me. Heather has chickenpox.’

‘And?’ Logan frowned. ‘Tell her to buy some paracetamol and chlorpheniramine from the pharmacy.’

‘I’m not worried about Heather. I’m worried about your wife. Evanna saw the child in clinic yesterday.’

‘And the child would have been infectious.’ Understanding dawned and Logan cursed softly. ‘Has Evanna had chickenpox?’

‘I don’t think so. That’s why I thought you ought to know straight away. I remember talking about it with her a few months ago. She was telling me that her mother sent her off to play with everyone who had chickenpox, but she never caught it.’

‘Chickenpox is a disease that you don’t want to catch in the third trimester of pregnancy.’

‘That’s what I thought.’

Somehow she was managing to have a normal conversation with Logan, but her head and senses were filled with Conner. In some ways he’d changed, she mused, and yet in others he hadn’t. The muscular physique was the reward of manhood but other things—the air of supreme indifference and the ice-blue eyes—had been part of the boy.

What was he doing here, anyway? Like everyone else, she’d assumed he’d never show his face on the island again.

Logan walked to his desk. ‘I’ll call Evanna now.’

‘I’ve already done it. She’s about to start her clinic, but she’ll come and talk to you first. I thought you might want to delay your first patient or pass him across to the new doctor when he arrives.’

‘Relax. She’s probably immune.’ Conner leaned his broad shoulders against the doorframe, watching them both with an expression that could have been amusement or boredom. ‘Do a blood test and check her antibody status.’

She was wrong, Flora realised with a flash of disquiet. There was nothing of the boy left. There were more changes than she’d thought, and some were so subtle that they weren’t immediately obvious. Those ice-blue eyes were sharper and more cynical, and his arrogance had clearly developed along with his muscles. What did he know about antibody status? Or was he one of those people who watched all the medical soaps on television and then assumed they were qualified to diagnose?

To make matters worse, Logan was nodding, encouraging him. ‘Yes—yes, I’ll do that, but if she’s not immune…’

‘Then you just give her zoster immunoglobulin. What’s the matter with you?’ Conner’s brows drew into a frown as he looked at his cousin. ‘This is why I’m careful not to fall in love. It fries your brain cells and obliterates your judgement.’

‘There’s nothing wrong with Logan’s judgement.’ Fiercely loyal, Flora immediately flew to Logan’s defence and then wished she hadn’t because Conner switched his gaze from Logan to her and his attention was unsettling, to say the least.

Apparently unaware of the change in the atmosphere, Logan rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. ‘When you love someone, Conner,’ he said, ‘you lose perspective.’

Conner’s eyes held Flora’s. ‘I wouldn’t know. That’s one mistake I’ve never made.’

She swallowed, every bit as uncomfortable as he’d clearly intended her to be. Was he trying to shock her? He’d had women, she knew that. Probably many. Was she surprised that he’d never found love? That he considered love a mistake?

‘True love is a gift, given to few,’ she murmured, and Conner’s mouth tilted and his blue eyes glinted with sardonic humour.

‘True love is a curse, bestowed on the unlucky. Love brings weakness and vulnerability. How can that be a gift?’

Flustered, she cleared her throat and looked away. What was he doing here? Why had he returned to Glenmore with no warning, looking like the bad guy out of a Hollywood movie? His hair was dark and cropped short and his jaw was dark with stubble. He was indecently handsome and the only thing that marred the otherwise faultless symmetry of his features was the slight bump in his nose, an imperfection which she assumed to be the legacy of a fight. He looked tough and dangerous and the impression of virile manhood was further intensified by the width and power of his shoulders under the black leather jacket.

He wasn’t attractive, Flora told herself desperately. How could he possibly be attractive? He looked…rough. Rough and a little menacing. She thought of the conventional, bespectacled lawyer she’d dated for a while in Edinburgh. He’d always let her through doors first and had been completely charming. His hair had always been neat and tidy and she’d never, ever seen him anything other than clean-shaven. He’d almost always worn a suit when they’d dated and his legs hadn’t filled his trousers the way that Conner’s did. And then there had been his smile. His cheeks had dimpled slightly and his eyes had been kind. Nothing like Conner’s eyes. Conner’s eyes were fierce and hard, as if he was just waiting for someone to pick a fight so that he could work off some pent-up energy.

Her heart thudded hard against her chest. Conner MacNeil wasn’t charming or kind. He was—He was…unsuitable. Dangerous. A woman had to be mad to look twice at a man like him.

Why, she wondered helplessly, was the unsuitable and the dangerous always so much more appealing than the suitable?

‘We need to get on.’ With a huge effort of will, she broke the connection and turned her attention back to Logan. ‘We’ve a busy surgery this morning. What happened to the new doctor? Did he show up? You didn’t tell me who he is or when he or she can start.’

‘You heard the woman.’ Logan turned to Conner. ‘Go and do your job.’

Conner shrugged and a slight smile touched his mouth. ‘Prepare for chaos.’

It took Flora a moment to understand the implications of their conversation. ‘You can’t—Conner?’ Her voice cracked. ‘But Conner isn’t—’ She broke off and Conner lifted an eyebrow.

‘Don’t stop there,’ he prompted softly. ‘I’m keen to hear all the things I’m not.’

Not suitable. Not safe. Not conventional. Not responsible… She could have drawn up a never-ending list of things he was not. ‘I—You’re not a doctor. You can’t be a doctor.’

He smiled. ‘Why? Because I didn’t hand in my homework on time?’

‘You didn’t hand in your homework at all. You were hardly ever at school!’

‘I’m flattered that you noticed.’ His soft observation was a humiliating reminder that she’d always been aware of him and he’d never even noticed her.

She was probably the only girl on Glenmore who hadn’t been kissed by Conner MacNeil.

She turned away, horrified that after all this time she still cared that she’d been invisible to him. ‘You’re forgetting that my aunt was the headmistress.’

‘I’ve forgotten nothing.’ There was something in his tone that made her glance at him and speculate. There was resentment there and—anger?

He’d always seemed angry, she remembered. Angry, moody and wild.

Was that why he was back? Was he seeking revenge on the people who had disapproved and eventually despaired of him?

‘Ann runs a wonderful school.’ She felt compelled to defend her family. ‘The children all adore her and they get a fantastic education.’

‘There’s more to education than sitting in rows in a classroom with a book in front of you.’ Conner leaned nonchalantly against the table, his glance speculative. ‘Still the same Flora. Conventional. Playing everything by the rules. I presume that all your affairs are still with books?’

His comment stung. He made her feel so—so—boring. Plain, boring Flora. And that was what they’d called her at school, of course. Boring Flora. Hurt, she clawed back. ‘Rules are there for a reason and if you’re really a doctor then I hope you’ve read a few books yourself along the way, otherwise I pity your patients.’ She stopped, shocked at herself and aware that Logan was gaping at her in amazement.

‘Flora! I’ve never heard you speak to anyone like that before. Usually I have to drag a response from you. What is the matter with you?’

‘I don’t know. I—Nothing.’ Flora’s cheeks were scarlet and she blinked several times and adjusted her glasses. She didn’t know what was the matter. She didn’t know what had come over her. She didn’t know why she felt so hot and bothered. ‘Sorry. I apologise.’

She felt miserably uncomfortable and mortified that she’d embarrassed Logan. The only person who didn’t seem remotely embarrassed was Conner himself. He simply laughed.

‘Don’t apologise. I much prefer to be around people who say what they think. I’m sure most of the inhabitants of Glenmore will share your sentiments and express them far more vociferously.’ He turned to Logan. ‘I did warn you that this wouldn’t work. It isn’t too late to change your mind.’

‘Of course I’m not going to change my mind.’ Logan sounded exasperated. ‘Flora, Conner’s credentials are—’

‘Irrelevant,’ Conner interrupted smoothly, and Flora bit her lip.

She knew she ought to say something nice and welcoming, but her brain just didn’t seem to be working with its normal efficiency. Seeing Conner again without warning was shocking, confusing and—thrilling?

Horrified, she quickly dismissed that last emotion and pressed her fingers to her chest, wishing that her heart would slow down. It was not, definitely not, thrilling that he was back on the island. If she’d been asked to choose the least suitable man to be a doctor on Glenmore, it would have been Conner MacNeil.

Over the years, she’d thought of him often.

Too often.

She’d wondered where he was and what he was doing. She’d imagined him languishing in some jail, maybe in a foreign country; she’d imagined him sitting by a pool in a tax haven, having made piles of money by some unspeakably dubious means.

Never, in her most extravagant fantasies, had she imagined him training as a doctor and never, in those same dreams, had she imagined him returning to Glenmore.

One thing she knew for sure; the calm, tranquil routine of Glenmore Island was about to be overturned.

She didn’t know what sort of doctor Conner was going to prove to be, but she knew it wasn’t the sort that the islanders were used to seeing.