Sarah Morgan Summer Collection

‘Not at all. Very indulgent. You’ll be able to enjoy it the whole year round.’

‘It doesn’t feel indulgent at the moment when I’m stepping over dust and rubble. Still, I hope it will be finished soon.’ It didn’t matter how old you were, she reflected, your headmistress was always going to be your headmistress.

Miss Carne adjusted her glasses, as she’d always done at the beginning of every lesson. ‘Are you going to the beach barbecue on Saturday?’

Why was everyone suddenly so interested in whether she was going? ‘Yes, I think so.’ Evanna brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and tried to remind herself that she was an adult now, with a responsible job. ‘Well, I’d better go. I have afternoon clinic starting soon and I want to call in on Sonia on the way.’

Miss Carne gave an indulgent smile. ‘Little Evanna. You were always such a star at English.’

‘But hopeless at maths,’ Evanna murmured, and the other lady smiled.

‘You would have done a great deal better if that little monkey Kyla hadn’t always been talking to you instead of letting you concentrate! I always knew you’d be a wonderful nurse. If someone fell in the playground, you were always there, patching them up, delivering a hug.’

Evanna blushed. ‘Well—it’s good to see you, Miss Carne.’

‘You take care, dear. Oh, Evanna—I’ve been meaning to ask you.’ She frowned. ‘Do you know the little Price girl? Helen. She moved here in the spring with her family. She joined my reception class.’

Evanna recalled Kyla pointing out a little girl on the beach earlier in the summer. ‘Vaguely. I haven’t actually met them. Why?’

Ann Carne looked thoughtful. ‘She just seems quite a delicate child. And I noticed during sports day that she was terribly out of breath. I thought she might have asthma.’

‘Have you mentioned it to the parents?’

‘Well, the father’s hardly ever around. He’s a journalist, I think. Travels all the time. And the mother is quite shy. Not mixing that well.’

‘To my knowledge she hasn’t been to see us, but obviously I was away for a month so I can’t be sure. I’ll dig out her records and have a check. And I’ll have a word with Logan.’ Evanna dodged a group of tourists and slid into her car. ‘Bye, Miss Carne.’

‘You shouldn’t be parking there, Nurse Duncan.’ Nick Hillier, the island policeman, stuck his head through her open window. ‘I ought to book you.’

‘Now, why would you do a thing like that when you’ve so many other better things to be doing?’ She smiled at him, wishing that she could find him attractive. Kyla always said that it was because he’d tied their plaits together in school but Evanna knew that wasn’t true. At least, not for her. The reason she couldn’t find Nick Hillier attractive was because she was crazy about Logan and always had been.

‘Nick, can I ask you something? When you see Miss Carne, does she make you feel as though you’re back in primary school?’

He grinned. ‘Every time. Even when I have her in a cell in handcuffs.’

Evanna laughed at the ridiculous image that his words created. ‘I always feel very uncomfortable with her.’

‘I don’t know why because you were always her favourite. In fact, you were pretty much everyone’s favourite,’ Nick said gruffly, and Evanna looked at him, startled.

‘Nick—’

He lifted a hand and gave a rueful smile. ‘I’m not going to ask you on a date because I know you’ll only refuse me, and there’s only so much rejection a guy can take, but are you going to the beach barbecue on Saturday?’

‘Yes.’ Evanna fastened her seat belt and started the engine. ‘Although why everyone is so interested in whether or not I’m going is a mystery to me.’

‘I suppose we’re all hoping you’re going to make an extra-big batch of your double chocolate brownies.’ Nick grinned and stood up. ‘If you don’t, I just might have to give you a night in the cells handcuffed to your old headmistress.’

‘If you saw the current state of my house you’d realise that the cells are currently an attractive option. I have to go, Nick. I want to call on Sonia.’

Nick frowned. ‘I saw her earlier. She looked pale.’

‘I’m going to check on her now.’ Evanna felt a flicker of unease. ‘I really have to go. Take care of yourself and make sure you arrest anyone who isn’t using sun cream. We’re fed up with treating burns.’

He laughed and stood back so that she could pull out.

Evanna drove away from the harbour and took the turning that led inland to Sonia’s house. She should just have time to call in, reassure herself that everything was all right and that the call had been about something trivial, and still make it in time for her afternoon clinic.

And then she saw another car close behind her. An open-topped sports car with a dark-haired man at the wheel.

Logan. And he was flashing his lights.

She pulled up outside Sonia’s house and hurried out of her car. ‘What are you doing here? Sonia tried to phone me and—’

‘Her waters have broken.’ Logan’s tone was grim. ‘Steve called me five minutes ago. There’s a ferry leaving in ten minutes. Damn it, Evanna, we’d better get her on that boat because I am not delivering another baby on this island.’

‘Calm down,’ Evanna said softly, reflecting on the fact that she’d never had to use those words to Logan before. In all the years they’d worked together, she’d never seen him panic. ‘It’s her first baby so I’m sure there’s plenty of time. Given that she’s only thirty-six weeks, I agree that we should transfer her to the mainland. Is she having contractions?’

‘Not according to Steve.’

Evanna looked at his face and saw the tension. She put a steadying hand on his arm. ‘It’s going to be fine, Logan.’ And then she realised what an utterly stupid thing that was to say because it hadn’t been fine for Catherine. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Don’t be.’ His voice was harsh. ‘And I’m sure it will be OK but I’d rather it was fine on the mainland and not on this island. I’m not delivering another baby here, Evanna. Unless the head is actually showing, she’s going on that ferry. And if the head is about to be delivered, I’m calling the helicopter.’

‘Logan …’ It was so unlike him to be anything other than entirely relaxed that for a moment she didn’t know how to respond and she wasn’t given a chance to work out the right thing to say because Steve appeared in the doorway, the phone in his hand.

‘Thank goodness you’re here. She’s having contractions.’ He spoke rapidly and there was panic in his voice. ‘Strong ones. Every minute.’

Evanna grabbed her bag from the car and sprinted down the path. ‘Where is she?’

‘Up in the bedroom. She was having a lie-down when it all started. She stood up to go to the toilet and her waters broke. Then nothing for a while and then suddenly all this pain and she keeps yelling at me and telling me she feels sick.’ Steve jabbed his fingers through his hair. ‘Her bag’s packed and everything. Should I take her to the hospital?’

‘Yes. Get the car out of the garage,’ Logan said tersely, but Evanna intervened.

‘We’ll just look at her first,’ she said quickly, catching Logan’s eye to prevent him from arguing with her. It wouldn’t help Steve to know that Logan was worried. ‘Can I go up?’

‘Of course. You know where it is. First on the right.’

Evanna ran up the narrow staircase and pushed open the bedroom door. ‘Sonia?’

She was on the floor, kneeling, her elbows on the bed. Her hair was sticking to her forehead and her eyes were scared. ‘Nurse Duncan. Thank goodness. I tried to call you.’

‘I know. I had a missed call and then you didn’t answer. But I’m here now. Goodness, you look hot. Let’s get a cool flannel on your head.’ Evanna dropped her bag on the floor and knelt down next to Sonia. ‘You’re going to be fine, I promise. I just need to wash my hands and then I can take a look at you and we can decide what to do. Can I use the bathroom?’

‘Through there.’ Sonia waved a hand and then gave a howl of pain and buried her head in her arms. Steve came thundering up the stairs and slid an arm round her.

‘There, love. You’re doing well,’ he said in a bracingly cheerful tone.

Evanna emerged from the bathroom in time to hear Sonia snap, ‘Get away from me.’