Marion Lennox - Wildfire Island Docs - The Man She Could Never Forget / The Nurse Who Stole His Heart / Saving Maddie's Baby / A Sheikh to Capture Her Heart / The Fling That Changed Everything / A Child to Open Their Hearts

It felt more like overwhelming sadness.

Luke set the child down on his feet and he ran off to join his friends. Luke was still grinning and he wiped dusty hands on his already smeared white shirt and then he looked around and caught sight of Anahera and the grin faded. He looked wary rather than happy now.

As if his change in mood was contagious, the game broke up. Anahera had to blink back tears. The happiness had been snuffed out and it felt like it was her fault.

‘Alika? Can you come inside now, please? It’s your turn …’

Finally, the clinic was over.

Luke watched as Anahera locked the door of the simple hut. Jack picked up the supply bin, which was almost empty, in one hand. He had the chilli bin that had held the sandwiches and cold drinks they’d had for lunch in the other.

‘I’m going to drop these back to the chopper and then have a swim,’ he said. ‘Luke’s already had a dip but I’m still filthy from that game of footy. Take your time in the village, Ana, but it’d be nice to get back to Wildfire before dark.’

‘I thought you were going to come with us. Didn’t you want to show Luke the shipwreck?’

‘You know where it is.’ Jack began to walk away. ‘Have fun.’

Luke eyed Anahera. She met his gaze but neither of them smiled.

‘Let’s go, then,’ he said. ‘I’ve got all the snap-lock bags I need for samples and a notebook for recording information about the tea brewing.’

‘Okay.’ Anahera’s nod was brisk. ‘It’s not too far to the village but we’d need to take a slightly longer route if you want to see the shipwreck.’

Did he want more time with Anahera?

This was an unexpected opportunity as he’d also thought that Jack would be joining them for the visit to the village. And it could well be the only chance he was going to get to have a private conversation with her.

‘Yes.’ His hesitation had been brief. ‘I would like that. Very much.’

Their path took them uphill along a forest track, and Luke wasn’t bothered by the silence between them because it added to the magic of the rainforest. It had been so long since he’d walked a track like this and he’d forgotten how intricately intertwined the plant life was. Spaces between the tall, smooth trunks of the trees that stretched to form the canopy were crowded with tree ferns and palms and ginger plants. There were dense tangles of vines that were a startling contrast to spectacular bursts of colour from orchids. Overhead branches had epiphytes and aerial moss competing for room. The raucous screech of parrots and a hum of insects were the only sounds other than twigs breaking beneath their feet.

They emerged from the forest into an area that had been cleared enough for grass to grow. There were some goats farther up the hill but Anahera led him towards a rocky patch that looked disconcertingly close to where the ground fell away steeply.

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