by Annie O'Neil
He propped himself up on an elbow and drew a finger along her jawline, compelling her to meet his gaze. “Sweetheart...I don’t know why you don’t talk about your family, but if you ever need to talk about it—about them—we both know you’ve helped me a lot with mine...”
Kali put on an impish grin—one that didn’t make it all the way to her eyes—gave him a quick peck on the lips and then skittered out from under his arms.
“We’ve got to get a move on. I want to get the dogs walked before I go to the clinic.” She wrapped herself up in his hugely oversized dressing gown, looking like a terrycloth princess in her ceremonial robes. “Today’s the big day.”
“Ethel’s ceremony! And getting Callum back from hospital, of course. Do you think we should make up the downstairs bedroom for him or just let him bed down with the dogs?”
Kali smirked at him and pointed at the linen cupboard down the hallway.
“Well, we’d best crack on, love.” He shooed her out of the bedroom. “Hie thee to the shower, lassie. I’ll not have you entering the clinic smelling like anything less than a dewy rose.”
Brodie fell back into the pile of pillows when he heard the shower go on, glad to have put a smile back on Kali’s face. He’d let it slide this time. But now that he realized what an idiot he’d been to turn his back on his family he really hoped she would open up to him about hers. Good or bad, they were worth coming to terms with.
He’d thought he didn’t need his family. What had never occurred to him was how much they’d needed him. They hadn’t been trying to suffocate him. They’d just been trying to love him. And for the first time since his mum had passed he was beginning to believe he was worthy of their love.
Just a few days more and he would find out if he was worthy of Kali’s.
He rolled over to the far side of the bed and tugged open the drawer of the bedside table, where he’d hidden the tiny green box he’d brought back from the mainland after his last trip to see Callum. He flicked open the box and smiled...one perfect solitaire. All that was left to do now was find the perfect moment.
* * *
“Are you sure you’re comfortable?” Kali tucked an extra blanket over Callum’s knees. Tartan, of course. Over the tartan of his kilt.
“I’m not geriatric. I’m simply...transitioning to bionic. It’s a process,” Callum grumbled good-naturedly, swatting her hands away. “If that brother of mine could learn to steer this thing better I might not have shouted so loud when we hit that bump.”
“What’s that about my driving?”
Brodie sidled up, also kilted-out to the nines, slipping a warming arm across Kali’s shoulders. She loved the “everydayness” of the gesture. How protected she felt. Secure.
“Your driving is absolutely wonderful, big brother.” Callum grinned.
“That’s what I thought you were saying. How’s the leg?”
“As I was saying to the beautiful Dr. O’Shea—”
“Hey, watch it,” Brodie interrupted, his fingers protectively tucking Kali a bit more possessively under his arm. “I saw her first.”
“I know...I know!” Callum held his hands up in the surrender pose. “Seriously, though. Thanks to you two and your stellar calls on my leg, I want you to know I am feeling bionic. Even if it will take six months to test run all the new hardware inside it. You’ll get front-row seats to the inaugural run, if you can bear looking after me that long.”
“Don’t worry, Callum. We’ll be here to watch you take the first tenuous steps all the way to your first hill run.” He gave Kali’s arm a little rub. “Won’t we, love?”
Kali smiled and nodded, hiding as best she could the hint of anxiety this glimpse into their mutual future had unleashed. She had never planned for the future. Never been able to. The fact that she’d made it through medical school was little short of a miracle.
And her little-girl hopes of falling in love and marrying the man of her dreams one day... Her father had shown her just how much of a nightmare that sort of dream could become.
“Hey, you.” Brodie nestled in to give her a peck on the cheek. “Everything all right?”
“Absolutely.” She gave him a wide smile. One filled with every ounce of gratitude that she had for having him in her life at all. “I was just thinking—do we have your brother parked in the best place to give his eulogy?”
“Celebratory remembrance, Kali! Ethel would’ve hated the idea of a eulogy,” Callum cut in. “And here was me, worried you’d put me at the end of the dock so Brodie could push me off. What do you think, Kali? You’ve got to know this wayward beast over the past couple of months...are his intentions honorable?”
Her eyes widened and zipped from Callum’s to Brodie’s. One set of cornflower-blue eyes was filled with laughter, whilst Brodie’s... Was that panic she saw? Whatever it was, it sent her stomach churning.
“Relax, Kali. I’m just messing with you.” Callum laughed heartily. “Wow! Take a look at the crowds. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the beach this crowded. Do you think I’ll be needing a microphone?”
“Don’t worry, little brother. Your dulcet tones are plenty loud enough.”
* * *
Brodie would’ve punched his brother’s lights out if he hadn’t already been laid up in a wheelchair. Trust him to near enough let the cat out of the bag before he’d even had a chance to propose. It wasn’t as if Kali had professed her undying love for him or anything. Or said she wanted to stay on Dunregan forever. Something he could picture himself doing. Especially tonight.
He finally saw what his father had wanted him to see. A place where people came together to help. Yes, they knew your secrets, and whether or not your shortbread was better or worse than the woman’s next door. But they were a united front in the face of adversity and—in tonight’s case—the celebration of a life fully lived. People were absolutely flooding the broad arc of a beach.
Tall torches were secured in the sand every five meters or so, the flames adding a warm glow to the scene. Up above them the stars were out in force, and even though it was freezing cold he felt warmer in his heart than he had in years. Being here with the woman he loved, his brother and his extended family—virtually the entire population of Dunregan—all gathered together to send off Ethel Glenn in about the most dramatic fashion possible. It was heaven-sent.
* * *
Kali lit the first candle on Callum’s say-so. The atmosphere was hushed, a mix of tears and laughter as everyone remembered Ethel in their own way after Callum gave a simple but loving speech in memory of the woman who had touched each of their lives—if not with her deep understanding of the island, then with her excellent command of shortbread.
Within minutes the sky was filled with scores of Chinese lanterns. Hamish and Dougal each raised their furry head to the skies and howled their farewells.
“Brodie?” Callum prompted, when a few moments had passed and another collective silence was upon them. “Will you do the honors?”
Brodie stepped forward, his eyes solidly on the boat he had built with the unfettered help of the community. Young and old had gathered to craft her, and for just an instant he felt remorse at the decision to set her alight. But there’d be time to build another one. And he couldn’t think of a more appropriate send-off for a woman who had embodied the very essence of the place he was now proud to call home.
“This boat—The Queen Ethel—she’s a project that’s been—” He stopped, feeling the choke of emotion threatening to overwhelm him.
He looked to Kali and gathered the strength he needed from her beautiful green eyes and warm smile.
“This boat was built by many hands. The wood—grown on Dunregan, ordered by my father—has been lovingly crafted—”
“You mean put together with sticky tape?” Johnny shouted from the crowd.
&nbs
p; A ripple of laughter lifted the mood, bringing a smile to Brodie’s lips.
“Near enough, mate. That and plenty of glue. A thank-you is definitely required for Johnny’s long-suffering wife, Helen, for keeping all of us chaps in bridies, scones and raspberry jam for the duration.”
He patted his air-inflated stomach, to the delight of the crowd.
“But seriously—and I do mean this from the bottom of what most of you know to be my very wayward heart—this boat would not exist without all of you.”
He reached out to Kali and gave her hand a squeeze, buying himself a moment to swallow another surge of emotion.
“We all know I couldn’t think of enough reasons to leave this island as a teen—but, having seen the world and come back home...I can assure you all that Ethel exemplified all of the reasons to stay. Will you all charge your glasses, please, as we offer up a toast and a farewell to our dear friend, Ethel Glenn?”
Callum handed Brodie the flaming torch he’d been holding throughout his brother’s speech. Brodie raised it aloft as the sound of bagpipes began. Another man untied the boat and with an almighty shove set her out to sea, with the torch Brodie flung in the very center of the craft.
Collectively everyone held their breath as a huge whoosh of flame took hold of the boat and it was transformed into an otherworldly Viking craft.
Huzzahs and shouts of delight filled the air, and for a few moments Kali stood spellbound by the sight of the boat floating out to sea. By the contrast of the billowing flames reaching up to the heavens and the foamy crash of waves against the hull of the boat.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw motion. An awful lot of motion. Her eyes shifted closer to the shore.
Was that...?
Were those...?
Had they really...?
Her fingers flew to her mouth in disbelief.
Scores of islanders were flinging off their clothes and jumping—some in old-fashioned swimsuits, others completely stark naked—into the sea! Including, she saw with complete amazement as a kilt landed in her arms, Brodie!
Kali laughed and laughed. She’d heard all sorts of people mention the Polar Bear Club, but until this very minute she’d had no idea what they were talking about. With all the white bums bobbing about in the sea, children and adults alike shrieking with delight at the frigid arctic temperatures, the scene had the undeniable feel of a party.
Ethel’s boat was quite a distance out now, the fire illuminating the effervescence of the waves with a golden tinge. Completely magical.
Kali could imagine living here until the end of time. Yes, there would always be a hole in her heart where her mother and sister had lived. Maybe over time she could make it a warmer place. A sacred place where she kept them safe, preserved in a time before she’d known the cruel twists life could sometimes take.
“Here you are, love. Mind giving me a hand?” Ailsa materialized by her side with an enormous bag overflowing with huge fluffy towels.
“Wow! Did a spa go out of business or something? These look amazing!”
“We held a charity do a couple of years back, after folk kept misplacing their towels along the beach. This way the swimmers come out, they towel off, get a warm drink—see the table set up over there by the shore?—and everything goes down to the pub for washing the next day.”
“The pub?”
“Aye, they’ve got one of those big industrial washing machines because of the rooms and the little cabins they let over the summer. That was their donation. Scrubs and suds.”
Kali grinned at the wording. If it was possible for her to like Dunregan even more, it was happening.
She stopped for a second, shifting up her chin as if it would help her hear better. Just out of earshot she heard a sharp, frightened call. A woman.
“Jack!” shouted the voice. “Jaaaack!”
Kali knew that tone.
Fear.
Complete and utter fear.
CHAPTER TEN
FROM WHERE SHE STOOD, atop the pier, Kali quickly linked the voice with a woman, eyes frantically scanning the sea and the crowded beach, her voice growing more and more strained amidst the loud party atmosphere.
The atmosphere which had just seemed so festive turned abruptly discordant.
The sea water would be warmer than the air—which was just hovering at freezing—but Kali knew cold water like that could kill a child in seconds.
“Ailsa...” She touched her arm and whispered, “Can you go help that woman there? Search along the beach for her child. I’ll look in the water.”
Ailsa’s eyes widened with understanding and she quickly ran down to the beach, pulling people along with her as she went, somehow mysteriously silencing the bagpipes along the way.
Kali forced herself to remain steady, her eyes systematically working along the first few meters of the shoreline.
“Take the dogs.” Callum’s voice cut through her concentration.
“Sorry?”
“Ethel’s dogs,” Callum repeated, handing her the leashes. “They’re water rescue dogs.”
Of course! That would explain why Ethel had been heading to the loch in the dead of winter to “play” with her dogs.
A siren sounded, bringing the whoops and chatter to a complete halt.
Kali’s eyes flicked back to Callum.
“That’s the lifeboat rescue siren.”
“Who’s in charge?”
“Johnny. He probably set the siren off. Go.” Callum shooed her away. “I know you want to help.”
The cove abruptly became a floodlit area, with shocked faces standing out in sharp relief against the night as they regrouped, turning from revelers into a focused search party. Boats appeared, their searchlights fanning this way and that along the broad reaches of the cove.
The beach spanned a good two or three kilometers. What had seemed a cozy and protected arc shifted into a shadowy, borderless expanse.
“Kali?”
She whirled around at the sound of Brodie’s voice. A rush of emotion overwhelmed her heartbeat for an instant when he appeared—safe—towel in one hand, dry suits in the other.
“I’m going out in one of the boats.” He rapidly scrubbed the sea out of his hair. “Here’s a dry suit. I’d like to take one of the dogs out on the boat with me. The suit will be a bit big, but do you mind suiting up and going with Dougal along the shoreline?”
She nodded, slotting all the information into place. “Absolutely.”
Seconds morphed into minutes.
The calling of the little boy’s name—Jack was a mischievous four-year-old who’d slipped the protective grip of his mother’s hand—rang out again and again.
Kali was hyperaware of how precious each passing moment was. If Jack had run into the water hypothermia was a threat. Children had a higher ratio of surface area to mass than adults, causing them to cool much faster. But there was a plus side. Cold water would instantly force his body to conserve oxygen—it would slow down the heart instead of stopping it and would immediately shift blood to vital parts of the body. The brain. The heart. Particularly in children.
Kali felt a surge of energy charge her as the community turned from being mourners to a mobilized search and rescue team.
“Here. Let me make sure you’ve got these sealed up properly.”
Brodie shifted and tugged the bright orange neoprene suit she’d pulled on, sealing her into a cocoon of body heat. Something that poor little child, if he were in the sea, wouldn’t have.
Brodie locked his bright eyes to hers. “Jack’s wearing a sky blue puffer jacket. He has hair the color of your suit—all right?” He dropped a distracted kiss on her forehead. “See you soon. Be safe.”
“You, too,” she whispered to his retreating figure, extra g
lad for the company of the warm shaggy dog beside her.
“Right, Dougal.” She gave his head a good rub. “Let’s go to work.”
* * *
Kali saw him at a distance, and Dougal made the same link a lightning-fast second later. She blew on her whistle as hard as she could and ran so fast her lungs burned with the exertion.
Jack was farther down the beach than she would’ve believed possible. Whether he’d been caught in a crosscurrent or had wandered off and then been sucked under by a wave they’d probably never know. All that mattered now was getting the tiny figure out of the water.
Dougal reached Jack, instantly grabbing a hold of the hood of his coat. Kali swam as hard as she could. The tide was stronger than she’d anticipated, but she got there. Her toes were unable to touch the sea floor. Jack’s pallor was a deathly blue white. It was impossible to check his pulse, but she knew he was hovering somewhere between life and death.
She took the life ring attached to Dougal’s safety line and got it round Jack as best she could, ensuring his head was above water, blowing her whistle again and again in between choking on mouthfuls of briny seawater.
Just when her toes had managed to gain purchase on the sea floor she saw Brodie arriving, poised at the helm of a speedboat, its searchlight all but blinding her. With a Herculean effort, and a well-placed nose-nudge from Dougal, she managed to hoist the little boy out of the water and into Brodie’s waiting arms.
Someone else’s arms reached out to pull her in. She waved off the offer, needing to slosh through the water back to the shore. Just a few minutes alone, to walk off the shakes of adrenaline now shuddering through her.
The speedboat whizzed off to the pier, where a team of people were already on standby to receive the tiny patient.
Something in her gut told her the boy would live.
Something in her heart clicked into a place she’d long dreamed of.
She knew where she belonged.
She was irrevocably part of the island now. Sea, sand, sky—the entire package felt imbedded in her in a way she’d never believed possible. And she would do everything in her power to hold it tight.
