Joanna Neil - Return of the Rebel Doctor

‘You know I love having you here. Don’t worry about it.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘Now, I must get a move on or I’ll miss the ferry.’

‘And I have to make tracks or Mum will wonder why the café hasn’t been opened up, and there’ll be a queue forming outside the gift shop.’

Katie gave her younger sister a hug. ‘Take care. I’ll be back before you know it.’ Sometimes she envied her sister her simple life, working on their parents’ country estate, a picturesque, rambling old house and gardens, nestled in a verdant stretch of forest, where people came to spend a day out while they soaked up the island’s historic heritage.

Ross had always been conscious of the wide differences in their backgrounds, but it hadn’t mattered to Katie. They’d mixed with the village children throughout their school lives, and it had seemed to her then that there were no class boundaries. They had just been children, spending their summers scrumping in the apple orchards or fishing with nets in the nearby burn.

That had been when she’d first been aware of Ross, when she’d paddled barefoot in the cool, running water and he’d shown her how to chase the fish into the shallows and then trap them in her net. He’d helped her transfer them to a jam jar filled with water, and he’d laughed when she’d insisted on tipping them back into the stream before they’d set off for home.

She shook the thoughts from her head and set off a few minutes later for the ferry port. She took the bus, looking out of the window at the beautiful wooded hills and low mountains in the distance. Soon the blue sweep of the coastline came into view, and she readied herself for the next lap of her journey.

It would be a blustery crossing, she guessed, for although the sun managed to filter through the clouds every now and again on this late August day, the wind was already stirring, lifting her hair in playful gusts.

It wasn’t too long before she was standing on the deck of the ferry at last, looking out over the water. Gulls swooped and shrieked, and she smiled, relaxing against the rail as the boat began to move slowly away from port. The light breeze danced around her, pulling at the edges of her cotton jacket, adding a chill feel to her denim-clad legs.

‘Well, there’s a welcome surprise. My dreams have started to come true.’ Out of the blue, Ross came to stand beside her, placing a hand next to hers on the rail. He smiled, looking inordinately pleased to have found her there.

‘Oh!’ She looked at him in startled wonder. ‘What are you doing here? I thought you were planning to stay on the island for a few days?’

‘I am, but I have some business on the mainland that was arranged before this happened. I was going to cancel, but Finn has perked up a bit now and his mother’s being supportive, so he insisted on me going ahead with it. He doesn’t have to go back to the station until the end of the week and I’ll be back before then.’

‘Oh, I see. Are you staying at the house with them?’

He shook his head. ‘I’m renting a room at McAskie’s for the time being. It’s comfortable there, and the food is good, so I’m well set up.’

She guessed he didn’t want to be with his father. ‘It sounds as if you’re doing all right, then.’ Jessie would be pleased about that, at any rate. She often went to McAskie’s with her friends, so she was bound to run into Ross before too long.

‘And how is it that you’re on board the ferry?’ he asked. ‘Is it a shopping trip, or are you taking a holiday?’

‘Neither of those. I’m going to Loch Cragail for a medical conference.’

‘Really?’ A smile spread across his face, crinkling the corners of his eyes and making her heart do an unexpected flip-over. She sighed inwardly at her weakness. There was no getting away from it, he was an extraordinarily good-looking man. No wonder he was so popular with all the girls. ‘I guess I get to wine and dine you after all, then,’ he murmured with satisfaction in his voice. ‘That’s where I’m headed.’

‘You’re kidding.’ Her jaw dropped momentarily, and he gave her a quizzical look before she recovered enough to clamp her mouth shut. How could fate conspire against her this way? Two whole days in his company? The irony of the situation struck her and she gave a wry smile. Jessie would never forgive her when she found out that she and Ross had been staying together at a luxury hotel.

‘Is that such a daunting prospect? You and I could get along very well, you know, Katie,’ he said in a coaxing tone, ‘if you’d only give us half a chance.’

‘I wouldn’t bank on it.’ She turned a glittering emerald gaze on him. ‘I’ve seen you in action, remember, and I know full well that you can flit from one woman to another quite easily, without so much as a backward glance. Look what happened to poor Molly Jenkins. She fell for you, hook, line and sinker, and you left her and went off with her best friend. I’ve no intention of becoming one of a long line of conquests.’

His dark brows lifted. ‘I’m shocked you think that way about me. In fact, it sounds almost like a challenge.’ His mouth tilted a fraction. ‘One I’d be more than happy to take up. But I think you’re misjudging me, Katie,’ he added with a frown. ‘I don’t set out to hurt people. Anyway, that was all a long time ago. What makes you think I’m still the same man I was then?’

‘News filters through, one way or another.’ She shivered a little as the wind buffeted her, and she paused to pull her jacket more closely around her. ‘And you’ve never settled down with a woman for any length of time, have you?’

‘I could say the same about you, regarding the men in your life. From what I’ve heard, you’re very careful about whom you date, and so far I gather no one has managed to win your heart. Except maybe for one who finally got the heave-ho.’

She looked at him from under her lashes. ‘It sounds as though you’ve been asking around.’ She didn’t want to talk about her ex. He’d been enough to put her off serious relationships ever since.

He grinned. ‘I may have just happened to catch the odd murmur here and there, you know, as you do when people have had a drink or two. I’m always interested to hear what you’ve been getting up to.’

‘Hmm.’ She looked out over the water and shivered again as the wind began to toss her hair, sweeping silky tendrils across her cheeks. In the distance, she could see the undulating, green hills of the mainland, with whitewashed houses spread out along the coastline or clustered together in small settlements in the valleys. Behind them, mountains rose majestically, their summits shrouded in mist.

Ross reached out and lightly tucked her hair back behind her ears. ‘Why don’t we go to the bar and I’ll buy you a drink,’ he suggested. ‘A brandy, perhaps, something to warm you a little?’ He wrapped an arm around her waist, drawing her close.

She nodded agreement, enjoying the instant heat that came from his warm body, and they turned away from the deck rail. He kept her by his side and said in a cheerful tone, ‘You can tell me all about what you’ve been up to these past years.’

‘I’ve been working mostly,’ she said. ‘I’ve had to study hard to pass my specialist exams, and my job means everything to me.’

He frowned. ‘So much so that you’ve missed out on a personal life?’

She shook her head and smiled. ‘I wouldn’t go as far as to say that.’

He studied her thoughtfully as they took the stairs down to the lower deck. ‘You were always the sensible daughter of the family, weren’t you, Katie?’

Sensible? She absorbed that comment with a rueful, inner twinge. She’d not had much choice in that, had she? When her father’s angina had started giving him trouble in stressful situations, she’d made up her mind that she would do her utmost to protect him.