by Sarah Morgan
That Conner MacNeil had seduced her and that it wouldn’t last five minutes.
She took a large slug of her drink and then realised that Conner was looking at her, his gaze curiously intent. Unable to look away, she slowly put her glass down on the table.
He gave a faint smile and something in that smile worried her. He looked…resigned? Tired?
She looked away quickly, telling herself that she was reading something into nothing. Of course he was tired. They were both tired. Neither of them slept much any more. Because they weren’t able to conduct their relationship in daylight, they’d become nocturnal.
‘I’m going to have to make a move.’ Evanna rose to her feet with difficulty, a hand on her back. ‘I never realised how uncomfortable these chairs are.’
Conner drained his glass. ‘I don’t suppose any chair is comfortable when you’re carrying an elephant around in your stomach.’
Evanna laughed good-naturedly and Flora reached for her bag, grateful for the change of subject.
Jim was back with the lads, laughing about something that had happened to the lifeboat crew, and Conner was listening to Logan talking about his plans to extend the surgery.
For now, at least, it appeared that their secret was still safe. Although how long it would take for the locals to realise that she was the girl that Conner was seeing was anyone’s guess.
And then what would happen?
* * *
Restless and angry with himself, Conner paced the length of his consulting room and back again.
Why had he ever let things go this far?
Buzzing for his first patient, he decided that he had to do something about the situation. Fast. Before it exploded in his face.
‘Dr MacNeil?’ Ann Carne stood in the doorway and Conner gave a reluctant laugh.
‘If there’s one thing I don’t need this morning, it’s an encounter with my old headmistress.’ And Flora’s aunt.
‘I don’t see why. Nothing I said ever worried you when you were young,’ Ann said crisply, closing the door behind her and making her way to the chair. ‘And I don’t suppose that’s changed just because you’ve grown up. And, anyway, it seems that no lecture is needed. You’ve made quite an impression since you returned to Glenmore, Conner.’
‘Bad, I’m sure.’
‘You know that isn’t true.’ She looked at him steadily. ‘Evidently you’re a reformed character. I’ve come to find out if you’re as good a doctor as they say you are.’
Conner sighed. ‘Is this like classroom testing?’
‘You flew through every exam you ever bothered to take, Conner MacNeil. But while we’re on that subject, there’s something I want to say, so I may as well get it out of the way before we start.’ Ann took a deep breath. ‘We didn’t help you enough. I didn’t help you. That’s been on my conscience for many years.’
Conner’s eyes narrowed. ‘I sense that this conversation is about to make both of us extremely uncomfortable so why don’t we just skip straight to the part where you tell me your symptoms?’
‘In a minute.’ Her voice was quiet and Ann shook her head slowly, a hint of sadness in her eyes. ‘You were the brightest, most able boy that ever passed through my school, Conner MacNeil.’
‘And we both know I passed through it as quickly as I could,’ Conner drawled lightly. ‘I made a point of not resting my backside on the chair long enough to get bored.’
‘You had a brilliant brain, but you were so disruptive and angry that it took me a long time to see it. Too long. By the time I realised the extent of your abilities it was too late to harness them because you were almost totally wild. You were off the rails, fighting everyone. No one could get through to you. Not the teaching staff. Not your father.’ She paused and took a deep breath. ‘We didn’t know how bad things were for you at home. You covered it up so well. We thought your father was the one struggling with you, not the other way round.’
‘I certainly didn’t make his life a picnic.’
‘He let you down. We all let you down.’
Conner kept his expression neutral. ‘This is history and you know I hated history. Science was my subject. I never saw the point of lingering in the past.’
‘There’s a point when the past is affecting the future.’
‘It isn’t.’
‘Isn’t it? Are you married, Conner MacNeil? Are you living with some warm, kind, stable woman who is carrying your child?’
Conner sat for a moment, eye to eye with his old headmistress. ‘My marital status has nothing to do with my father.’
‘Of course it does. Are you pretending that it didn’t affect you? Your wild behaviour was a reaction to everything that was happening at home, I see that now.’ She shook her head again. ‘I’ve been teaching for thirty-one years and you were the only child who passed through the doors of my school that I just couldn’t cope with. The island couldn’t cope with you. We all let you down and for that we owe you an apology.’
‘I don’t suppose the people whose property I destroyed would agree with you.
‘You certainly left your mark on the place. And you’re still leaving it, although this time the damage is more subtle.’ Ann straightened her shoulders. ‘My niece is in love with you. I suppose you know that?’
Conner swore softly and Ann’s mouth tightened.
‘Behave yourself! Just because you’re a grown man, it doesn’t mean that I’m prepared to accept that sort of language.’
‘What are you going to do? Put me in detention?’ Conner gave a short laugh. ‘Did she tell you that?’
‘No. In fact, I doubt she even knows herself. But I’ve heard the way she talks about you. Her eyes sparkle and every story that falls from her lips involves something you’ve done. Every other word she speaks is your name. So what are you going to do about it, Conner?’
Conner rubbed his fingers over his forehead. ‘I expect I’ll walk out and leave her crying. That’s what I usually do.’
‘Perhaps.’ Ann’s tone was calm. ‘Or perhaps you’ll see sense and realise that a warm, soft, kind woman like Flora is just what you need.’
‘It doesn’t matter what I need. I do know that whatever she needs, it isn’t me.’
Ann smiled. ‘So you’ve learned to think about someone other than yourself. That’s good, Conner. And don’t underestimate Flora. She’s shy, not weak. There’s more to her than meets the eye.’
Conner’s hand dropped. ‘So I’ve discovered.’ He thought of Flora half-naked in the sea. Flora turning up at his barn wearing only underwear under her coat. Flora riding him lightly, her brown curls tumbling over her shoulders.
Ann was giving him the look she reserved for very naughty students. ‘I just thought someone should tell you that you don’t have to live up to your reputation. From what I’ve seen, Bad Conner has a good side. Why not develop it?’
Conner gave a mock shudder. ‘That sounds like the lecture you gave me when you told me I should be interested in algebra.’ He stirred. ‘All right, enough. Is there a medical reason that you’re here?’
‘I have asthma. Or so they say. Started two years ago, out of nowhere. Completely ridiculous at my age, but there you are. Anyway, Logan started me off on an inhaler, and Dr Walker—he was your predecessor—gave me another one but they’re not working any more.’
‘And you say that because…?’
‘I’m breathless all the time. Wheezing. Tight chest.’ She sighed. ‘I tried to walk the cliff path yesterday and had to sit down and look at the view instead. You’re going to say that I shouldn’t be exercising at my age—’
‘Exercise is important at every age.’ Conner studied his computer screen and his face broke into a slow smile. ‘Well, Miss Carne, I see you were a smoker for fifteen years. I wonder how much money I could make selling that information?’
‘I haven’t touched one for sixteen years,’ she said briskly, ‘and everyone has to have a vice.’
‘I couldn’t agree mor
e. I couldn’t survive without my vices.’ Conner stood up and took a peak-flow meter out of the drawer. ‘Have you been monitoring your own peak flow?’
‘Yes. Of course. I’m a teacher. I do everything by the book.’ She delved into her bag and pulled out a chart. ‘Here.’
He scanned it. ‘This shortness of breath—is it just on exercise or when you’re doing daily tasks?’
‘Exercise. But I can’t do as much.’
‘And have you had a chest infection? Anything that might have been a trigger?’
He questioned her carefully, listened to the answers and then checked her inhaler technique. ‘You should be inhaling slowly and then holding your breath for ten seconds.’
‘That’s what I’m doing.’
Conner questioned her further and then sat back down and looked at the computer screen. ‘You’re already taking salbutamol and an inhaled steroid. I’m going to add in a long-acting drug and see if that helps. If it does, you can carry on taking it. If it doesn’t, we might increase the dose of your inhaled steroid.’
‘I’m not wild about taking yet another drug.’
‘If your symptoms stabilise, we can reassess in a few months.’
‘So I should come back and see you in a few weeks?’
‘Yes, or sooner if things don’t settle.’ He handed her the prescription and she took it with a smile of thanks.
‘You’ve done well with your life, Conner.’ She walked towards the door and paused. ‘Do the right thing by my niece.’
The right thing.
Conner watched as she left the room and closed the door behind her.
What exactly was the right thing?
* * *
The rumours grew from soft whispers to blatant speculation until all the inhabitants of Glenmore had the same question on their lips.
Who was the woman that Conner MacNeil was seeing?
‘She lives up your way,’ Meg told Flora as she sprinkled chocolate onto a cappuccino. ‘People have heard his motorbike roaring down the lanes late at night. Do you want anything to eat with this? Croissant? Chocolate muffin?’
‘No, thanks.’ Flora handed over the money and took the coffee, just wanting to escape before the conversation could progress any further.
‘I mean, who lives near you? Who is likely to catch our Conner’s eye? Tilly Andrews? No, it couldn’t possibly be her.’ Meg frowned as she rang up the amount on the till. ‘I just can’t imagine.’
‘Me neither. Thanks for this, Meg.’ Almost stumbling in her haste to make her exit, Flora backed towards the door while Meg pondered.
‘I don’t see why everyone is so interested anyway. This is Conner we’re talking about. He’ll have left the island or moved on to the next woman before we’ve identified the current one.’ She wiped the side with some kitchen paper. ‘You be careful out there today. There’s a storm brewing. Jim reckons it’s going to be a big one.’
‘Is that right?’ Not wanting to think about Conner leaving the island, Flora backed out of the door and took her coffee to the quay, where she sipped it slowly, watching the tourists pick their way off the ferry, most of them a pale shade of green after a rough sea crossing. Beyond them, the sea lashed angrily at the harbour walls and the sky turned ominously dark, despite the fact it was only lunchtime.
Flora sighed. Wild summer storms were a feature of Glenmore but that didn’t mean that they welcomed it. If the ferry stopped running then the tourists didn’t come, and if the tourists stopped then so did the money that contributed so much to the island economy. They were already in August and the summer months would soon be over.
And then Conner would be gone.
And she’d always known that, hadn’t she? She’d always known that his presence on the island was only temporary.
Determined not to think about that, Flora finished her coffee and threw the empty container in the bin. She was not going to ruin the present by worrying about the future.
They still had the rest of summer together.
Climbing into her car, she drove back to the surgery, knowing that she was facing a full clinic now that Evanna had finally stopped work.
She worked through without a break and was just tidying up after her last patient when Conner walked into the room.
As usual her heart jumped and her mood lifted. Just seeing him made her want to smile. ‘The weather’s awful. There’s a strong chance you’re going to be trapped indoors tonight, Dr MacNeil.’
‘Is that right?’
‘Do you fancy being trapped indoors with me?’
‘I might.’ He pulled her against him and kissed her hungrily. ‘As long as you promise to put your book away for half an hour.’
‘That depends…’ she curled her arms round his neck. ‘…on whether there is something more exciting to do than read.’
‘Is that a challenge?’
‘Do you need one?’
His answer was to kiss her again and she sank against him, her body erupting in a storm of excitement. They were lost in each other, absorbed, transported, and neither of them heard the click of the door behind them.
‘What the—?’ Logan’s voice penetrated the fog of excitement that had anaesthetised her brain, and Flora opened her eyes dizzily, trying to remember where she was.
‘Logan.’ She said his name breathlessly and snatched her hands guiltily away from Conner’s chest.
Logan gave a low growl of anger. ‘Damn you, Conner, what the hell do you think you’re doing?’
‘Kissing your practice nurse.’ Conner’s tone was cool, almost bored. But he released his grip on her bottom and shrugged. ‘Caught red-handed.’ His gaze slid to Flora and he gave a faint smile. ‘Or perhaps I should say red-faced.’
Flora froze as Logan turned his disbelieving gaze on her.
‘Flora?’
She stood, trapped in the headlights of his disapproval. This was it, then. The moment that had been inevitable.
The moment of discovery.
She waited to feel embarrassed, but nothing happened. Tentatively, she examined the way she felt. Did she want the floor to open up and swallow her? No, she didn’t. Did she wish she could turn the clock back? Absolutely not.
Flora frowned slightly, wondering why Logan’s incredulous glance had so little effect on her. And then she looked at Conner—at the hard lines of his handsome face—and everything inside her disintegrated. Everything she’d thought she was, everything she’d thought she wanted—it all descended into rubble and she realised that the reason she wasn’t embarrassed was because she didn’t care what Logan thought. And the reason she didn’t care what Logan thought was because she loved Conner.
She loved him.
Even though it was foolish and she was going to end up in tears, she was completely and utterly crazy about Conner.
She stood for a moment, shocked, exhilarated and absolutely terrified.
Then she turned to Logan, about to tell him that she didn’t care what he thought, but something in his expression caught her attention. ‘Logan? Is something wrong?’
Logan was glaring at Conner. ‘You just can’t help it, can you? You have to cause trouble. I ought to punch your lights out.’
‘You’re right,’ Conner drawled, ‘you probably should.’
‘Stop it, both of you.’ Flora was staring at Logan, her concern mounting as she noticed the unnatural pallor of his skin. ‘Something has happened, hasn’t it? Is it Kirsty? For goodness’ sake, say something! You’re scaring me.’
‘Kirsty’s fine.’ Logan’s voice was harsh. ‘But Evanna’s waters have broken.’
‘Oh…’ Flora immediately stepped forward and closed her fingers over his arm, her grip offering reassurance and support. ‘It will be fine, Logan. Where is she?’
‘In the car. I’m taking her to the ferry.’ His breathing unsteady, Logan looked at Conner. ‘I just came to tell you that the two of you are in charge. And then you—’
‘Forget that,’ Flora interr
upted him. ‘What’s happening to Kirsty?’
‘Meg is having her, but if she needs any help—’
‘That’s fine,’ Flora said quickly. ‘Of course.’
‘You’re taking Evanna to the ferry?’ Conner frowned. ‘The last thing I heard, the ferry wasn’t going to run. There’s a storm brewing, Logan.’
‘I know there’s a storm. And that’s why we’re getting off this island while we still can. I’ve already left it too late. We should have gone last weekend but Evanna is so damn stubborn.’
‘But—’
‘I know what I’m doing,’ Logan said harshly, yanking open the door. ‘Just keep an eye on the place while I’m gone.’ He glared angrily at Conner. ‘And try not to kiss anybody else.’
Janet appeared in the doorway, her face white. ‘Logan, you have to come. Evanna says she wants to push. I’ve helped her out of the car and back into the house.’
‘No!’ Logan raked a hand through his hair, his voice sharp with panic. ‘That isn’t right. I don’t want Evanna in the house. I want her on the ferry. And if the ferry isn’t running, we’ll call the air ambulance—’
Flora took control. ‘If she wants to push, Conner should take a look at her.’
‘I don’t want him anywhere near my wife!’ Logan rounded on him like a wounded animal and Conner’s eyes narrowed.
‘Relax. My taste has never run to heavily pregnant women.’
Flora sighed with exasperation and waved Janet away. ‘Get me a delivery pack, Janet. Evanna’s room. Tall cupboard on the right, top shelf. You two…’ She turned to Logan and Conner, her eyes flashing with exasperation. ‘Enough. All this testosterone is starting to get on my nerves and I can’t concentrate. Logan, listen to me.’ Stepping forward, she closed her hand over his wrist, her voice crisp. ‘You are in no fit state to assess your wife’s progress in labour. Conner and I will do that.’ She could feel his pulse thundering under her fingers. ‘We’ll do that now. If Evanna is going to have this baby imminently, we need to be prepared.’
Conner looked as though he was about to speak and Flora silenced him with a glare, her instincts warning her that he was about to say something Logan didn’t need to hear.
