Sarah Morgan Summer Collection

Evanna managed a smile. ‘I’m relieved he doesn’t know. Can you imagine how awkward it would be if he found out how I felt?’ She gave a shudder and Kyla looked at her thoughtfully.

‘Maybe it would just be a relief.’

‘I don’t think public rejection could ever be a relief,’ Evanna said flatly. ‘It’s bad enough loving him, without him knowing. At least spare me that.’

‘But if he knew, maybe he’d—’

‘Don’t.’ Evanna interrupted her with a lift of her hand. ‘Just don’t even go there! You can’t change a man’s feelings. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

She let herself through the door that connected with Logan’s house and relieved Meg, who had been looking after Kirsty all morning.

The weather was stifling and Kirsty hot and short tempered and they spent the afternoon playing and reading books under the shade of the weeping willow.

Once Logan arrived home, Evanna made for the door, ruthlessly squashing the temptation to linger and chat. And be with him.

‘Craig is tearing my bathroom to pieces so I need to go and scowl at him just to be sure he doesn’t get too carried away. Looking at the mess at the moment, I can’t believe it’s ever going to look even half-decent.’

She arrived home to find her cottage in chaos. The front door was open and half her old bathroom was lying in the front garden.

‘Remind me never to contemplate having anything more adventurous than the bathroom done.’ She picked her way through a pile of dust and rubble. ‘Craig, tell me that this is going to look good when you’ve finished. Please, tell me that.’

He pushed his hair out of his eyes with a grubby hand and grinned. ‘It’s going to be stunning. The taps arrived today. They’re great. You’ve got good taste, Nurse Duncan.’

Evanna sighed and tried not to look at the mess. ‘So how long am I going to be without a bath?’

‘A few days. I hear the helicopter was out twice on Sunday.’

‘Yes.’ Evanna tried not to look at the mess. ‘Typical August, really.’

‘And you’ve been helping Dr MacNeil with the little one.’ Craig rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand. ‘The man needs a wife. I dare say he’ll meet someone else soon enough.’

Was it her imagination or was he giving her a funny look? ‘Very possibly, but in the meantime he’s managing perfectly well on his own.’ Evanna remembered what Logan had said about everyone telling him he’d meet someone else. ‘He’s doing fine.’

‘Still—nice of you to help him.’

‘I’ve known Logan since I was born,’ Evanna said evenly. ‘He’s one of my closest friends.’

‘Of course he is. And you and Kyla have been thick as thieves since you were both in nappies.’ Craig stared out across her garden. ‘Sometimes you don’t notice something when it’s been in your face all your life.’

Was it that obvious to everyone? ‘Craig—’

‘He’s single. You’re single. Seems perfect to me.’

Evanna stared at him with a mixture of exasperation and embarrassment. Was everyone thinking the same as Craig? ‘Anna Brice is single, too, Craig,’ she said in a tart voice. ‘Why not just pair her up with him.’

‘Possibly because she’s eighty-six on her next birthday.’ Craig scratched his arm. ‘It isn’t just because you’re both single that I think you’d be good together. You’re friends. Everyone can see that.’

‘Marriage is about far more than just friendship,’ Evanna said briskly, and Craig gave a nod.

‘Perhaps. But it’s a good start.’

Evanna thought of the passion that Kyla and Ethan shared. She thought of the looks they exchanged and the way that they touched all the time. It was as if they couldn’t be near each other and not be joined.

She wouldn’t settle for less.

‘I need to get on, Craig.’

‘Of course you do, what with a busy morning in the surgery and a busy afternoon at Dr MacNeil’s. I’ll just finish up here and get out of your way.’ He beamed at her. ‘Is seven too early to start tomorrow? I like to get the heavy stuff done before the sun comes up.’

‘Seven is fine. Thanks, Craig.’

One of the problems of living in a small community, Evanna reflected as she stepped over the rubble and walked into her kitchen, was that everyone was far too interested in everyone else.

She just hoped that no one said the same thing to Logan.

The next week passed in a blur as the surgery handled an unprecedented number of tourists.

‘I feel as though I’m running an A and E department,’ Logan grumbled as he and Evanna cleared up after stitching yet another child who had slipped on the rocks. ‘That was a nasty cut.’

‘He was rock-pooling and he should have been wearing shoes and not flip-flops. I suppose he just didn’t have any grip, which was why he slipped.’ Evanna dropped the stitch cutter into the sharps box. She’d been making a supreme effort to behave naturally with Logan and it seemed to be working. At least he’d stopped asking her if anything was wrong.

‘People leave their brains behind when they’re on holiday. I heard from the hospital today about Alison Winchester. They kept her in for a night and then followed her up before she went back down to London. She was still suffering aches and pains but no other effects that they can see. They’ve written to her GP.’

‘That will be a first for him. I bet a GP in London would know even less about an adder bite than I did.’ Evanna walked across the room and washed her hands. ‘Did they manage to find the snake, by the way?’

‘Funnily enough, yes. The park ranger rang me last week. They’ve relocated the family.’

‘Mr and Mrs Adder.’ Evanna laughed, yanking paper towels out of the holder. ‘Somewhere homely with a nice view, I hope. Hot and cold running water.’

‘Somewhere that no one is going to tread on them again, I hope,’ Logan said dryly, sitting down and hitting a key on the computer. ‘Am I finished here?’

‘For now. Janet told me that you have three house calls. Doug is feeling really dizzy and wondered if you’d call on your way home. I suspect it’s the heat or maybe his tablets, but it’s worth checking. You know how worried he’s been since they discharged him from the hospital.’

‘Patients are always worried after a heart attack and it’s still relatively early days for Doug.’ Logan picked up a set of results and scanned them. ‘How’s Sonia’s blood pressure at the moment?’

‘It’s still on the high side but her urine is fine and she has no swelling.’

Logan pulled a face and leaned back in his chair. ‘I still feel uneasy about her, Evanna. I’d rather she was in hospital.’

Evanna felt a twist of sympathy. ‘It’s natural that you’d worry after what happened with Catherine, but so far there isn’t an indication to admit her. I’m calling on her every day and if there’s any change, we’ll transfer her to the mainland in plenty of time.’ Her eyes met his and she knew what he was thinking. That night, the horrible storm, losing Catherine because the helicopter hadn’t been able to reach the island.

‘Logan …’ She hesitated, unsure whether to speak or not. ‘You know that there was nothing else you could have done, don’t you?’

‘Yes.’ His voice was harsh. ‘But knowing that doesn’t make it any easier to live with.’

‘I know that. I was there, too.’ Evanna swallowed, remembering the night with a shudder of cold panic. ‘And I ask myself every day whether I could have done something different. Whether I should have spotted something.’

He ran a hand over his face and let out a long breath. ‘There was nothing, we both know that. Catherine had an undiagnosed cardiac problem. Even if she’d been in hospital, the outcome would have been the same.’