‘I’ll say you are. This is my A and E department and if you can’t play nicely together I’ll just separate you. Kristie? I hope you like kids. We’ve got a few in the room down the corridor who all need some kind of treatment—I’ve checked with the parents and you can film. Rhuaridh, I’ve got a potential case of appendicitis I need you to review and a couple of X-rays for you to look at.’ She looked at them both. ‘Now, hop to it. I’ve got a department to run.’ June turned on her heel and strode back out the door.
For a few seconds there was silence—as if both of them were getting over their outbursts. Rhuaridh spoke first. ‘You wouldn’t guess she was the mother of twins, would you?’
It was so not what she’d expected to hear, and unexpected laughter bubbled at the back of her throat.
It broke the tension in the room between them.
‘I’m sorry,’ he continued. ‘I haven’t been so hospitable and I know that. I guess I felt backed into a corner. This show isn’t something I would have agreed to—certainly never have volunteered for. But I can’t say no. The hospital needs the new X-ray machine. You can tell that alone just by the waiting room today.’ He gave a slow shake of his head as the corners of his lips actually turned upwards. ‘And you seem to have really bad timing.’
She let out a laugh. ‘What?’
He kept shaking his head. ‘I’m beginning to wonder if you’re a jinx. First the thing with John Henderson, then the thing with Magda. You always seem to be around when there’s a crisis.’
‘You mean you never had any crises on Arran until we started filming?’ She deliberately phrased the question so he’d realise he was being ridiculous.
He sighed. ‘Of course we did. But believe it or not, lots of days are just normal stuff. Nothing that dramatic or exciting, and to be honest...?’ He looked away. ‘I kind of like those days.’
Now she was curious. She’d done a little more research on Rhuaridh Gillespie since the last time she’d been here. She knew he’d taken over at his father’s surgery when they couldn’t recruit anyone to the post.
‘I’m surprised to hear you say that. I thought you only came here because you had to.’
He looked up sharply, as if he hadn’t expected her to know that. ‘Recruitment is an issue right across the whole of Scotland. It used to be that for every GP vacancy there would be fifty applicants. Now young doctors just don’t want to go into general practice. They don’t want to have to own a business—run a business, and take on the huge financial debt of buying into a practice. If they even train to work as a general practitioner, they can make more money working as a locum. Then there’s less pressure, less responsibility and...’ he shook his head ‘...absolutely no continuity of care for patients.’
Kristie leaned back against the wall. ‘But you trained as a general practitioner. Did you just want to work as a locum?’
He met her gaze with a thoughtful expression, as if he hadn’t expected her to ask this many questions. ‘I had alternative plans. At my practice in Glasgow I also worked a few days in one of the city hospitals in Dermatology. I covered outlying clinics across Glasgow, doing lots of minor surgery.’
Her mouth quirked upwards. ‘You’re a skin guy?’
He held out his hands. ‘Biggest organ of the body. Why not?’
‘And you can’t do that here?’
He shrugged. ‘Not as much. Sure, I can do biopsies, freeze moles with liquid nitrogen, or surgically remove anything small and suspicious. But when your population is usually around five thousand, that’s not really enough people to only specialise in dermatology.’
She waited a few moments. ‘So why didn’t you just stay in Glasgow? Couldn’t you just have left the practice here with only one doctor?’
Rhuaridh took a step back and leaned on the opposite wall. ‘And leave Magda here on her own, covering the hospital and the GP practice? Leaving the community I grew up in and loved with no real service provision? What kind of person would that make me?’
It was like a bright light shining in her eyes. She could feel tiny pieces of the jigsaw puzzle slot into place.
Guilt. He’d felt responsible, and had come back to his home without really wanting to. This had a strange air of déjà vu about it. Wasn’t this what had just happened with the TV series? He hadn’t chosen to do this either, instead he was taking the place of his colleague unwillingly because he didn’t want to let her, or the community, down. Kristie didn’t doubt for one second that if he’d reneged on the contract, Arran would never get a new X-ray machine.
No wonder the guy was grumpy. Did he get to make any choices in this life?
She looked across the room into those weary blue eyes and said words she’d never have imagined herself saying. ‘I guess it makes you a good person, Rhuaridh Gillespie.’
CHAPTER FOUR
August
MAC WAS LOOKING at him with an expression only a dog could give.
Rhuaridh bent down and rubbed his head. ‘I’m sorry.’ He meant it. He’d been neglectful. August was part of the summer season on Arran. From the end of June until the middle of August, Arran was full of Scottish, and lots of international, tourists. But come mid-August in Scotland the schools started again. Usually that would mean that things would quieten down.
But, in the UK, the English schools were still out. So, Arran was currently filled with lots of English holidaymakers. The beach had been packed all day. It seemed that croup was doing the rounds and between the surgery and the A and E department, he’d seen five toddlers with the nasty barking cough today alone. Chicken pox also seemed to be rearing its head again. Five members of one poor family were currently covered in the itchy spots.
He glanced at his watch. Kristie was due to arrive at some point and he was feeling quite...awkward.
He wasn’t quite sure what had come over him last time around, and he had apologised to her, but they still had nine months of filming left. He counted in days. Twenty-seven more days around Kristie Nelson.
There was something about her. At first he’d thought it was the accent and the confidence. But he’d seen her waver on a few occasions. Her confidence was only skin deep. And that was another thing. To others, she may look like a typical anchor woman for an American TV show. Blonde, perfect teeth, hint of a tan and good figure. And somehow he couldn’t help watching the way she flicked her thumb off her forefinger, or made that little clicking noise when she was thinking. It was weird. Even though he told himself she was the most annoying female on the planet, he couldn’t help the way his mind would frequently drift back to something she’d said or done.
Mac nuzzled around his ankles. It snapped him back from the Kristie fog and he picked up Mac’s lead and grabbed his sweater. ‘Let’s go, boy.’ He opened the main door of his cottage and Mac bounded out towards the beach. He’d adjusted well to the move, and after a few short months it actually felt like Mac had always been there. He’d even employed a dog walker to take Mac out during the day when he was working.
The sun was dipping in the sky, leaving the beach scattered with violet evening hues. There were a few other people walking dogs, someone on a horse and a couple strolling along hand in hand.
The breeze tonight wasn’t quite as brisk as it normally was. Laughter carried along the beach in the air. A group of teenagers was trying to set up a campfire.
Rhuaridh moved down closer to the firmer sand at the sea’s edge. The beach ran for a few miles and Mac had got used to a long walk in the evening.
They’d only been walking for about ten minutes when he heard thudding feet behind him. He turned to take a step one way or the other and Kristie ran straight into him.
‘Oh! Wow.’ She stepped back and rubbed her nose.
He laughed and shook his head. ‘Where did you come from?’
She was still rubbing her nose. ‘I came by your house. I wanted to chat
to you about the schedule tomorrow.’
‘You came by my house? I wasn’t expecting to see you until tomorrow.’ He was surprised. He hadn’t known Kristie knew where he lived—and after their last meeting, he was even more surprised she wanted to turn up at his door.
She nodded. ‘We ended up swapping flights and coming a day early.’
‘Does that mean you’re going home a day early?’
She let out a laugh. ‘Don’t even try to pretend you want me around, then.’
‘No.’ He cringed. ‘I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just wondering if you wanted to swap things around.’
She stopped for a second, bending down to pat Mac, who’d bounded back to see why Rhuaridh had stopped walking. ‘Hey, guy, nice to see you.’
Mac jumped up, putting two wet sandy pawprints on her jeans. He would have expected her to squirm but Kristie didn’t seem bothered at all. She crouched down, letting Mac lick her hands. Kristie looked up at him. ‘I thought we should maybe have a chat,’ she said, biting her bottom lip.
A heavy feeling settled in his stomach. ‘About last time? Yeah, we probably should.’
Her nose wrinkled. ‘Not about last time,’ she said. ‘I thought we sorted that.’
Now he was really confused. ‘Well, yeah, we sort of did, but...’ He wasn’t quite sure what to say next.
She straightened up, wiping her wet hands on her jeans. ‘I wanted to talk to you about something else.’
‘Okay.’ He wasn’t quite sure where this was going.
She sucked in a breath, not quite meeting his gaze. ‘Let’s walk.’ She turned and started in the same direction he’d been headed.
‘Okay,’ he said again, wondering what he was getting himself into.
‘You said you hadn’t watched the show.’
He shook his head. ‘Not my thing—no offence.’
She gave a smile, then stuck her hands in her pockets and turned to face him again. The setting sun outlined her silhouette and streaked her blonde hair with violet and pink light—like some kind of ethereal hue.
‘None taken.’ She cleared her throat. ‘I thought I should probably let you know something.’
‘What?’
‘I watched the third episode before I came here. It goes out in two weeks’ time.’
‘And...?’ He knew there must be something, why else would they be having this conversation?
She reached up and tugged at her earlobe. A sign she was nervous. He was noticing all these little things about her. Now he knew when she was angry, when she was thinking, and when she was nervous. How many other women did he know those things about?
Had he known them about his ex, Zoe? He couldn’t even remember. All his memories of her had just seemed to fade into the past.
Her words came out rushed, as if she was trying to say them all before she could stop herself. ‘The show’s been really popular. Really popular. Partly because in the first episode it covered John Henderson’s death, and in the second it introduced a beautiful baby into the world.’
He wrinkled his nose. He was thinking back to the last time she’d been here. No major events had happened.
‘So what’s wrong with the third episode? Not enough drama?’
She looked distinctly uncomfortable and fixed her gaze on the teenagers further down the beach. ‘Nothing’s wrong with it exactly. It’s just changed focus a little.’
‘Changed focus to what?’ He was getting tired with this tiptoeing around. ‘Why don’t you just say what you need to?’
She pressed her lips together for a second. ‘The fight we had? Gerry filmed it. He’d already captured us sparring a little in the episodes before and people had been commenting on social media about it.’
Rhuaridh’s brain flashed back to the woman in the surgery, telling him he had to be nicer to Kristie. He groaned. ‘Oh, no. I look like a complete and utter—’
She held up her hand and stopped him. ‘My producer says it’s dynamite. He says everyone is going to love it.’
‘They’ll love you.’ Rhuaridh shook his head. ‘I’m the villain. I’m the one who lost his patience.’
He could see her biting the inside of her lip.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said quickly.
‘Don’t be,’ she said, equally quickly. ‘The last few shows I’ve worked on have all been cancelled. I was beginning to be a bit of bad luck charm. In TV, that kind of reputation doesn’t do you any favours.’
He stuck his hands into his pockets. ‘So, you want to fight with me? Is that what you’re saying?’
She pulled a face and gave a little shrug. ‘Well...yes and no. It seems that a bit of tension is good for viewing—alongside all the medical stuff, of course.’
‘I’m not sure fighting on screen does much for me as a doctor. I’m not normally like that.’
She gave a weak smile. ‘So it’s just me that drives you nuts?’
He looked out over the sea. This was the first time they’d really talked. How did he explain she might be right, without offending her—because if he couldn’t understand it, how could she?
‘I guess I still need to get used to someone following me around,’ he said carefully. ‘What are the other shows in the series?’ It was a blatant attempt at changing the subject. But he was beginning to think he should have paid more attention to all the TV stuff.
‘There’s a museum curator in Egypt—apparently she practically doesn’t let them into any room that hosts an “artefact”, and the guy who is training to be an astronaut is said to be a major jerk. After the first shows they brought in someone new to follow—a guy who’s trying to make his name as a country and western singer. I’m reliably informed that his singing is the worst ever heard.’
He couldn’t help but laugh again. His foot traced a line in the sand. Mac had long since tired of waiting around for them both and was now chasing the tide, getting his white and black coat well and truly soaked. The smell of wet dog was going to drift all the way through the house.
‘I can’t imagine what they find so exciting about a doctor on an island in Scotland.’
‘Maybe it’s the exotic. Half the world just wants to visit Scotland and this makes them feel like they’ve been there.’ She gave him a sideways glance. ‘Or maybe they just like the grumpy doc.’
The grumpy doc. Was that what she’d nicknamed him? It wasn’t the most flattering description in the world. His stomach twisted a little. He should be worrying about his reputation. He should be worrying about what people might think of him. But, strangely, the only person’s opinion he was worried about right now was Kristie’s. ‘Why are you telling me all this?’
‘I know you don’t watch the series. But I thought I should forewarn you—in case, once the next episode hits, you start to get some press.’
‘Bad press, you mean.’
She gave him a smile. ‘Actually, no. I’ve told you. They love you. I was thinking more along the lines that you might get weird internet proposals, or your dating profile might explode.’
‘My dating profile? You honestly think I’ve got a dating profile?’
She held out her hands and gave him a mischievous smile. ‘Who knows?’
He shook his head as they started back down the beach. ‘On an island this small I pretty much know everyone. If I had a dating profile, the whole island would know it, and anyway it’s a bit hard to meet for dates when you rely on a ferry to the mainland.’
He looked at her curiously. ‘Do you have one—a dating profile?’
She threw back her head and laughed. ‘Are you joking? I was on TV for about ten seconds before I started getting weird emails. It seems that being on a TV show makes you fair game. Nope. I just try to meet guys the old-fashioned way.’
He looked down at her as they walked side by side. ‘And how’s that working o
ut for you?’ He couldn’t pretend he wasn’t curious.
She gave him an oblique glance. She knew. She knew the question he was asking. She held out her hand and wiggled it. ‘Hmm...’
What did that mean?
She didn’t say anything else so he was kind of left hanging.
‘So, is everything okay for tomorrow, then?’
He nodded. ‘Sure.’ At that moment Mac ran up and decided to shake half of the Firth of Clyde all over them.
‘Whoa!’ Both of them jumped back, laughing, Kristie wiping the huge drops of water from her face and neck.
Rhuaridh took a step closer. ‘Sorry.’ He looked towards Mac. ‘Occupational hazard, I guess.’
He reached forward without thinking. Part of her mascara had smudged just under her lower eyelid. He lifted his thumb to her cheekbone and wiped it away. Her laughter stopped as she looked up, her gaze connecting with his.
His hand froze. It was like all the breath had just been sucked from his lungs. He was so conscious of the feel of her smooth skin beneath his thumb pad. He could almost swear a tiny little zing shot down his arm.
She wasn’t moving either. Her pupils dilated as he watched.
It was like every sense inside him switched on. He hadn’t been paying attention. He’d been so focused on his work he’d forgotten to see what was right beside him. When was the last time he’d actually dated? Maybe once in the ten months since he’d got here. He couldn’t even remember.
He couldn’t remember what it was like to let a woman’s scent drift around him like it was now. To look into a pair of eyes that were looking right back at him.
There was a shout behind them and both of them jumped back. It was only one of the teenagers carrying on.
But the moment was gone. Kristie looked a little embarrassed and wiped her hands down on her jeans. ‘I’d better get back,’ she said quickly. ‘Gerry and I need to chat about the filming tomorrow.’ She started to walk quickly down the beach, then turned once to look at him. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’
Tempted by the Hot Highland Doc Page 7
