wouldn’t find the local hospital lacking in good spirits and meaningful intentions. There was a brilliant crew up there.
Did the deep sadness darkening the doc’s eyes have anything to do with choosing such a remote part of the world to move to? Probably. That sadness made him yearn to reach out to her, pull her close in a hug. He wanted to banish that sorrow and bring laughter and light to her face. Hell, man, she didn’t come all this way to have you interfere in her life. You spend your time avoiding other people’s pain—why do you want to know about the doc’s problems?
Suddenly light-headed, he leaned against the wall, drew in deep breaths and gave vent to some silent oaths. As he calmed down, the sound of murmuring voices registered in his brain. In the lounge he could see the doc kneeling, gently applying iodine to Effie’s bruised and scratched face. His housekeeper winced and the doc instantly apologised.
‘So sorry. I’m being as careful as I can. We might see about a scan for that eye tomorrow.’ Dr Simmonds sat back on her haunches and reached for another piece of clean cotton wool, dunked it in antiseptic. That’s when she saw him, those blue pools blinking.
‘No CT equipment on the island.’ She wouldn’t fit in if she was expecting fancy gear.
Her eyes widened, sending an odd thrill of excitement deep into his gut. ‘Really? Then how do I find out what’s going on with patients who need scans?’
‘Serious cases are flown to Auckland. The rest are up to you.’ Ben snapped his lips together. If she hadn’t been informed about the basic facilities on the island, it wasn’t his place to warn her. Hadn’t Lissie told her the situation?
‘Guess I’ll have to adjust rather quickly to my new surroundings, then.’ She didn’t seem overly perturbed by his news, instead changing the subject. ‘Did Riley settle all right?’
‘Yes.’ Out like a light.
‘Thank you. It’s been an exciting day for him, playing with his friends and going to the beach. He’s exhausted.’ She stifled a yawn and reached to wipe a blot of blood off Effie’s chin.
‘So are you.’ The words were out of his mouth before he’d barely thought them. Getting far too chatty with her. Time to get out of here. Go home and crack the top on an ice-cold beer.
Her hand stilled on Effie’s arm. ‘Nothing a good night’s sleep won’t fix.’ She swallowed another yawn, shook her head as though refocusing. ‘I’m about to clean and stitch these wounds now the local anaesthetic has started working.’
He didn’t think. Instead he reacted. ‘Want a hand?’
‘What?’ Astonishment lit up her face.
She looked delightful when she forgot to be resolute. ‘I’ll help.’ Where had his brain gone tonight? Hadn’t he already decided not to help her in any way, shape or form? Offering to assist in a medical situation was not a smart move. If he wasn’t careful he’d be telling her his life story. But it was too late to back out. He’d say nothing and act like the cop he’d become. Dropping to his haunches, he pulled her bag towards him and took out some latex gloves that were in a pouch near the top.
Shoving his large hands into the small gloves that barely covered his fingers, he grimaced. ‘Should be safe to pass you things.’
The doc was still staring at him. ‘I can manage.’
‘Want needle and thread?’
Her sigh fell between them. She was about to argue. He could see the gathering words storming across her face. Then Effie groaned, and thankfully the doc’s attention shifted to her patient.
He poked around in the kit for the cotton wool and antiseptic liquid, suddenly aware of the scent of lavender. Was that the doc’s perfume?
‘Thank you.’ She whipped everything out of his fingers.
Ben found suture thread and the needle container. He snapped the plastic vial holding a single needle, pushed the end of the thread through the eyelet and handed it over to the doc. Then he watched as her long, elegant hands expertly pulled the two edges of the first, deeper wound together, stitching internally, then externally down Effie’s leg.
‘Want to give her a tetanus shot?’ he asked thoughtlessly.
Those hands stilled for a brief moment. He’d gone too far. Now the questions really would start. He was way out of line, but the unexpected sense of ease that the familiar items in a simple medical bag gave him had made him careless with what he said.
The doc pulled the thread tight, tied off. ‘Yes, Effie will need immunising when I’ve finished stitching.’
Silence fell in the room, broken only by his quiet search of the kit for the tetanus vial and a syringe, which took a while as he studied familiar tools and vials. Until now he’d have said he never missed his old career. Until now.
The doc asked, ‘Effie, have you got someone to keep an eye on you overnight?’
Effie rolled her head to one side, winced with pain and whispered, ‘My husband and my daughter are away.’
‘Can she stay at your house?’ Rachel asked him directly. ‘She might be concussed.’
‘In principle that would be fine, but Effie’s a married woman, and people might get the wrong idea.’ The islanders might misinterpret his motives. ‘But she could stay with you.’
‘Effie, would you be all right with staying with me here? I’m afraid I haven’t got a spare bed yet.’
‘That would be fine, Doctor.’
The doc stood, stretching up onto her toes as she arched her back. Her hands gripped her hips, and her breasts pushed the fabric of her skimpy blue singlet top upwards. Her slim thighs were taut under the knee-length shorts she wore.
Ben’s mouth fell open. Snapped shut. Hell. He grappled for the very last threads of common sense still available in his skull. ‘Thanks for everything, Doc. Effie, I hope you feel better soon.’ And he almost ran for the front door and the familiar heavy night air where sanity prevailed.
CHAPTER TWO
RACHEL groaned and rolled over to see what the time was.
Four twenty-five. She gave another, louder groan. Those blasted roosters. Her head flopped back on the pillow and she absorbed all the foreign sounds of this tiny nation waking up. Birds she didn’t recognise were also making their morning calls. An occasional motor scooter chugged past her front lawn. A cow mooed from somewhere on the hill behind the house.
She stretched and grinned. It was kind of exciting being in such a different environment. She couldn’t be further from the chilly grey of London with the millions of people and the relentless traffic. And her parents. Her grin slipped.
Mum had been devastated when she’d heard Rachel’s plans but had also been encouraging about taking a chance on a new life. If only Dad had shown signs of opening up to Riley she mightn’t have come. But … she shrugged … dreams were free, and here she was, following one a very long way from her messed-up family.
Yesterday, as she’d watched Riley excitedly
