Sarah Morgan Summer Collection

‘That letter has tortured me. It left me with so many unanswered questions. The Catherine in that letter bore no resemblance to the Catherine of my childhood. She claimed it was this place that had changed her.’ He breathed in and looked around him. ‘She said that it was Glenmore. The sea, the ruins, the wildness. And most of all the people.’

‘She arrived on the ferry one day with a backpack and never left. Glenmore has that effect on some people.’ But not on him. The island hadn’t changed him or caused him to open up to others. He was as reserved and self-contained as ever.

‘Something in her letter affected me deeply. She described everything in such detail. Not just the scenery but the people. She talked about everyone as if she knew them. It was the first time I’d ever had the sense that she had been interested in anything other than herself. That letter showed me a completely different side of her.’

‘She fitted in very quickly.’ Kyla watched his face, trying to gauge his reaction, but as usual he gave nothing away. ‘So what made you come here? Was it just Kirsty?’

‘No. I felt as though I’d lost something. Which was ridiculous because up until that letter Catherine and I had never had anything that we could lose. We’d never shared anything. But she’d obviously discovered a different part of herself and new priorities. And maybe I had, too.’ He gave a faint smile. ‘A year working in Africa does tend to sort out your priorities. Her letter was intriguing. I suppose I wanted to see the place that had changed her so dramatically. I wanted to see Glenmore the way she would have seen it. And, of course, I wanted to meet my niece and the man who my sister fell in love with and married.’

‘And you couldn’t just have been honest with us?’ Despite what he’d told her, she was still angry with him. Angry that he hadn’t told her the truth. ‘Couldn’t you have told me?’ Her implication was clear, and he didn’t flinch from her gaze.

‘I’m used to doing things by myself. I’m used to finding my own way. That’s the person I am, Kyla.’

She refused to let him duck the issue. ‘You deceived us.’

‘Not intentionally and not in the way that you mean. I was always going to tell you. I’m just sorry you found out in the way you did.’

‘The letter fell out of your pocket. I didn’t intend to read it but then I saw Kirsty’s name.’ She took a deep breath. ‘So what happens now? Are you going back to Africa?’ Her question hovered in the air between them and for a long moment he didn’t answer.

‘Not Africa,’ he said finally. ‘I want very much to be part of Kirsty’s life, so Africa isn’t an option, but as to what else …’He shrugged and the fact that he still made no reference to what they’d shared—made no attempt to touch her—hurt more than she could have imagined possible.

‘You have to tell Logan.’

‘Of course.’ His voice was quiet. ‘I was always going to tell Logan when the time was right. I’m going now. Are you coming?’

She shook her head. She needed space. She didn’t know what she thought any more. ‘You go.’

‘I’ll see you later.’

She turned to look at him. ‘This is an island, Dr Walker. Of course you’ll see me later.’

CHAPTER TEN

‘CAN you imagine that? Being given the chance to patch up your relationship with your sister and then realising that you’re too late. How awful. Fancy having to live with that. And fancy Catherine never even mentioning that she had a brother. It was obviously such a thorny subject.’ Evanna carefully turned the chicken on the barbecue. ‘Poor Ethan. No wonder he always seemed so tense, poor thing.’

‘Poor thing?’ Kyla stared at her friend. ‘Aren’t you at all angry? Don’t you think he should have told us?’

‘I think it’s lovely that Kirsty has more family to love her. We don’t all live life by the same rules, Kyla,’ Evanna said mildly, reaching down and scooping Kirsty into her arms. ‘We don’t all behave according to one rule book. We’re all different people, looking for different things. None of us is perfect.’

Kyla scowled at her. ‘Stop being so reasonable. He took advantage of our hospitality.’

‘Over the centuries Glenmore was often a place of sanctuary for strangers,’ Evanna reminded her softly. ‘We’ve always taken a pride in our hospitality.’

‘But if we’d known who he was—’

‘Then the welcome would have been warmer still,’ Evanna said firmly, hitching Kirsty onto her hip and letting her play with a wooden spoon. ‘I think it’s very exciting for Kirsty to have someone in her life who knew her mother as a child.’

‘I can assure you that the memories aren’t good ones.’

Evanna seemed unconcerned. ‘People are all a mixture of good and bad. Perfection would be pretty hard to live with.’

‘Kirsty will get attached to him and then he’ll leave,’ Kyla predicted, and Evanna looked at her.

‘And does that matter?’

No.

Yes.

She didn’t want it to matter.

Oh, she was being so stupid. ‘No, of course not. Well, yes, it’s just that—I—’

‘This isn’t about Kirsty, it’s about you. You’re in love with him and you don’t want him to leave. Have you told him?’

Kyla stared at her friend, wanting to deny it. But her mouth wouldn’t form the necessary lie. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. This is a man who doesn’t exactly communicate his feelings, remember?’

‘That’s him. But you do communicate yours, usually pretty loudly.’ Evanna gave a grin ‘.so you should be telling him, just so that there is no doubt.’

Kyla raised an eyebrow. ‘The way you’re telling my brother that you’re in love with him?’

Evanna blushed gently. ‘That’s different. Logan doesn’t notice me and he certainly doesn’t love me. Me telling him my feelings would just embarrass both of us. But Ethan definitely has powerful feelings for you. I suspect he loves you, too, but you might need to nudge him into telling you. I’m willing to bet that he has no idea how you feel about him. At the moment all he sees is your anger.’

Kyla thought about the frantic sex they’d shared in the ruins of the castle. It had been primitive, desperate and. ‘If he’d loved me, wouldn’t he have trusted me enough to tell me the truth?’

Evanna removed the chicken from the barbecue and put it on the plate. ‘This is a man who isn’t used to sharing and trusting so, no, probably not.’

‘So perhaps he’s wrong for me.’

Evanna smiled and handed her a plate. ‘Perhaps. But isn’t it worth finding out?’

‘He isn’t like us.’

‘And isn’t that a good thing? The planet would certainly be boring if we were all the same.’ Evanna poured dressing on the salad. ‘Eat. You’re always cranky when you’re hungry. Logan will be home soon. He’s up at the surgery with Ethan.’

In the end, Kyla didn’t wait for her brother to return home. She felt restless and confused and she needed to be by herself, so she drove back to her cottage.

And then she sat for ten minutes in her kitchen, looking out at the sea. And she still felt restless and confused so she slipped her feet out of her shoes and went for a walk on the beach.

It was only when she felt a hand on her shoulder that she realised that Ethan was standing behind her.

‘I’ve come to apologise.’ His voice was deep and she turned, feeling her heart leap into her throat at the sight of him. Would she ever be able to look at him and not react like this?

‘For what?’

‘For making love to you before I told you about Catherine. I certainly intended to tell you. But this thing between us is strong—’ He broke off and she felt a twinge of disappointment.

He was talking about the sex, she reminded herself. ‘I’m sorry I shouted at you this morning but I was angry with you.’