and gave a faint smile and a nod.
‘OK.’
‘OK,’ Evanna agreed quietly, as she clamped the cord. ‘A perfectly straightforward delivery. Thank you, Dr MacNeil.’
‘I didn’t—’
‘You were great. Sonia, I think you’d be more comfortable up on the bed now. You can have a proper cuddle with her.’
Kyla appeared in the doorway. ‘I gather we’re having a drama. The helicopter is here. Oh, my goodness, they’re obviously a bit late.’ She watched as Evanna delivered the placenta and then she grinned at Sonia. ‘You were always determined to have your home birth, weren’t you?’
Sonia shook her head, her eyes misty. ‘It was perfect. I wouldn’t have missed a moment of it.’
‘Perfect? Are you kidding?’ Steve stared at her in confusion. ‘You were yelling like a madwoman. And telling me we were never having any more children. And swearing.’
‘Was I?’ Placid and calm now, Sonia gently stroked the baby’s head. ‘She needs a bath. And so do I. It’s so hot in here. Why did I have to have a baby in August? Next time I’m going for January.’
Quietly, and with a minimum of fuss, Evanna helped Sonia attach the baby to the breast, skin to skin, and then covered her. ‘It will help your uterus contract,’ she explained, ‘and also keep the baby warm.’ She looked at Logan. Saw the lines of strain around his eyes. ‘She needs to go to the hospital anyway, given that her blood pressure was up and the baby is four weeks early. We may as well use your helicopter.’
He nodded agreement. ‘I’ll go and speak to them. Will you get her ready?’
‘She’s a month early.’ Sonia was watching the feeding baby with wonder and awe. ‘Will she be all right?’
‘Well, if her appetite is anything to go by, she’s going to fit right into this island. We’ll have her gorging herself at Meg’s in no time,’ Kyla said with a grin, helping Evanna to clear up. ‘What are you calling her?’
‘Oh …’ Sonia glanced at Steve, her eyes shining. ‘We couldn’t agree, could we? It was a battle between Emma and Rachel.’
‘You wanted Rachel and I think she looks like a Rachel,’ Steve murmured, his voice gruff. ‘What do you think of Rachel Evanna?’
Touched, Evanna glanced up from her preparations. ‘You don’t have to do that.’
‘We want to.’ Sonia smiled at her husband and then looked at Evanna, gratitude in her eyes. ‘We’re so grateful to you and Dr MacNeil. You were both amazing.’
‘Just don’t call her Logan,’ Kyla advised cheerfully, folding a towel neatly. ‘One of those is more than enough on an island this size. I’ll go and tell the helicopter lads what’s happening. Which one of you is going with her?’
‘Me,’ Evanna said immediately. ‘Logan has to get back to surgery and then there’s Kirsty to think of. Can you cover my clinic, Kyla? Ask some of them to come back tomorrow.’
‘I don’t think they’ll mind doing that, given the reason.’ Kyla took a last peep at the baby and sighed. ‘Maybe I’m broody after all.’
Evanna laughed and ignored the painful twist of her heart. ‘I’d better warn Ethan.’
CHAPTER EIGHT
LOGAN’S house was in darkness.
Could he already be in bed? She was later than she’d planned, but by the time she’d sorted Sonia out and completed all the paperwork, several hours had passed. Reluctant to knock on the front door in case she woke Kirsty, Evanna walked round the back of the house and opened the garden gate.
She’d just take a look. If there were no lights on then she’d give up and go home. But she wasn’t comfortable about just going home.
Not until she’d checked on Logan. The whole experience must have been completely harrowing for him and she wanted to give him a chance to talk about it. But there was no sign of life in the house. Just one small light burning in the hall.
Could he be out?
Perhaps he’d found a babysitter and gone down to the pub to celebrate the birth of Rachel Evanna, along with the rest of the locals.
She walked into his garden, intending to look through the back door, but then she spotted him sprawled in the hammock at the end of the garden. The moon provided just enough light for her to see that he was holding a bottle of beer in his hand.
‘Logan?’ Perhaps he didn’t want to be disturbed. It was a stiflingly warm summer’s evening, but his garden was cooled by a breeze drifting in from the sea. It was peaceful and tranquil and the perfect setting for quiet contemplation. And she was fairly sure that she knew what he was thinking about. Or who.
Catherine.
Feeling like an intruder and wishing she’d never come, Evanna was just wondering whether to melt back through the garden gate and into her car when he spoke.
‘I thought you’d be in the pub with the others.’ His voice was low and impossibly sexy and she walked across to him on shaking legs, wondering why she continued to torture herself like this.
‘I wasn’t in the mood for celebrations.’
‘Why not?’ He lifted the bottle and drank. ‘You did a good job.’
‘So did you.’
‘Me?’ His mouth twisted into a smile and his blue eyes glittered with an emotion that she didn’t recognise. ‘You did all the work, Evanna.’
‘I’m the midwife. I’m supposed to do all the work. If you’d taken over, I would have resigned on the spot. Goodness knows, I get little enough opportunity to deliver babies on this island—that’s why I go to the mainland once a year. Otherwise I’d forget how to do it.’ She kept her tone light and then sighed. ‘All right, let’s stop being tactful and be honest. I was worried about you. That’s why I’m here. It must have been completely hideous to have to cope with that. I can’t even begin to imagine—and I wasn’t able to give you any support because of Sonia, and all the time I knew that you were in agony and I just wanted to give you a hug. So I’m here to check you’re all right.’ The words tumbled out of her and she felt horribly self-conscious. They hadn’t had a proper talk since he’d caught her coming out of the shower and their whole relationship seemed to have changed since then. What if he didn’t want to talk to her any more?
What if things were different?
He stirred and the hammock swung gently. ‘I’m sorry if I gave you a fright back there. You needed support and I wasn’t any help at all.’
‘That’s not true,’ Evanna said quickly. ‘You were great.’
He gave a twisted smile that was loaded with derision. ‘I froze.
