‘Come here,’ Craig said, in a low, roughened tone.

He held out his arms to her, and when she would have hesitated he reached out and drew her into his embrace, holding her close and lowering his head to hers, so that his cheek lightly grazed her face.

‘You’ve been through a hellish day,’ he said. ‘There’s no shame in feeling this way. It’s bound to have an effect on you.’

His fingers threaded through the silk of her hair, gently caressing the nape of her neck, smoothing away all the tension there. It was such a warm and lovely feeling, being held this way, and she found herself wishing that this closeness might go on for ever and ever…or at least for just a little longer.

A low sigh escaped him, and he lightly tasted the sweetness of her lips.

It was barely a whisper of a touch—not even a kiss, really—but Rebecca’s eyes closed, as she savoured the delicious thrill of that moment. Heat flooded her veins, coursing through every part of her body. She was safe, she was complete, and right now there was nothing more she wanted than to be held like this, in his arms.

When Joanna Neil discovered Mills & Boon®, her life-long addiction to reading crystallised into an exciting new career writing Medical™ Romance. Her characters are probably the outcome of her varied lifestyle, which includes working as a clerk, typist, nurse and infant teacher. She enjoys dressmaking and cooking at her Leicestershire home. Her family includes a husband, son and daughter, an exuberant yellow Labrador and two slightly crazed cockatiels. She currently works with a team of tutors at her local education centre, to provide creative writing workshops for people interested in exploring their own writing ambitions.

Recent titles by the same author:

A CONSULTANT BEYOND COMPARE

THE DOCTOR’S LONGED-FOR FAMILY

THE CONSULTANT’S SURPRISE CHILD

EMERGENCY AT RIVERSIDE HOSPITAL

PROPOSING TO THE CHILDREN’S DOCTOR

BY

JOANNA NEIL

www.millsandboon.co.uk

MILLS & BOON

Before you start reading, why not sign up?

Thank you for downloading this Mills & Boon book. If you want to hear about exclusive discounts, special offers and competitions, sign up to our email newsletter today!

SIGN ME UP!

Or simply visit

signup.millsandboon.co.uk

Mills & Boon emails are completely free to receive and you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email we send you.

CHAPTER ONE

‘THIS is all getting out of hand,’ Rebecca murmured. ‘That’s another glass that’s been smashed, and Susie already has a cut on her foot from the vase that was broken earlier.’

She knelt down to gingerly pick up the broken shards of a drinking glass, frowning as she watched a group of young men work their way through the crowded room, bumping into people and furniture as they stumbled on their way to the kitchen where the temporary bar had been set up.

She pushed the silky fall of her chestnut-coloured hair back over her shoulder so that she could concentrate better on what she was doing. Her head was throbbing, possibly something to do with the thundering sound of heavy rock music that reverberated through the ground-floor flat and made the floorboards judder in reaction.

Carefully, she dropped the jagged pieces of glass into a waste-paper basket and then stood up.

‘Who are those people, anyway?’ she asked, directing a troubled glance towards her friend, Angie. ‘Did you invite them to the party?’

Angie gave a negligent shrug. ‘Wasn’t me. I expect they’re medical students who heard about the party and decided to crash it. I wouldn’t worry too much about them. I expect they’ll sober up a bit once they get some food inside them.’

‘Hmm. Maybe.’ Rebecca’s grey eyes were troubled, but Angie wasn’t going to allow her to be concerned for long.

She angled the wine bottle she was holding out over Rebecca’s glass. ‘Have another drink, Becca…You need to chill out… This is your last night here and we mean to see you off in style.’

Rebecca gave a brief smile. Angie meant well, but the last thing Rebecca needed right now was to find herself in the middle of a surprise going-away party when she still had packing to do and last minute problems that had arisen which meant she had to go to work in the morning. As it was, all her travel plans had been thrown into disarray and she had to sort out alternative arrangements in order to transport her belongings to the old cottage up in Scotland.

What she wanted was peace and quiet so that she could wind down after her difficult day at the hospital and a clear head so that she could think for a while, and it didn’t look as though either of those scenarios was going to be available to her any time soon.

‘Perhaps we should turn the music down a little,’ she suggested, ‘before the neighbours start complaining. Did you invite any of them to join us?’

Angie made a face. ‘I thought about it, but I wasn’t sure they would be into the party scene. Next door are getting on a bit, and anyway they’ve been out all day, so I haven’t had a chance to talk to them. I wanted to invite the new tenant from upstairs, but I haven’t seen anything of him either, since he only moved in last night.’ Angie rolled her eyes. ‘Now, there’s someone I’d really, really like to have around. He’s definitely my kind of guy with those dark good looks and devil-may-care eyes that make me go hot all over, just thinking of him.’

Rebecca laughed. ‘You don’t even know the man. He could be a mass murderer for all you know.’

Angie grinned. ‘I don’t care. I’ll take my chances.’

Rebecca made a wry face. She had reservations about the new tenant. Her first impression of him hadn’t been all that great. He had arrived at the house after darkness had fallen yesterday evening, with nothing more than an overnight bag to his name, as far as she could tell. What kind of tenant had no proper luggage?

Struggling to wake up, she had come across him in the early hours of the morning as she’d left for work, putting his key into the lock of the main door of their building. At the time they had simply exchanged brief nods in greeting.

She had sent him nothing more than a hurried glance, but it had been enough for her to take in his rugged frame and the slightly crumpled appearance of his clothes, a linen shirt open at the neck and black trousers that clung to strong legs. There was a hint of dark shadow about his face, as though he had forgotten to shave.

She was used to people coming and going from the top-floor flat. The previous tenants had worked on short-term contracts and had rented the place for about six months before they’d moved on, and she guessed this man would be no different.

Not that she would be staying around to get to know him. After all, this was the last full day she would be spending in the area, and after her one final obligation to the hospital was fulfilled tomorrow, her work there would come to an end.

A bang distracted her just then, followed by a muttered oath, and she turned to see one of the medical students, who had lurched against a bookcase, catching his ribs on the wooden corner of the unit, books tumbling to the floor. She pulled in a deep breath.

‘Perhaps you should go and sit down over there,’ she suggested, indicating a chair with the flick of her head. She tried to steady the young man with her hand while she struggled to prevent the bookcase from falling over with the other.

‘I’ve got it,’ Angie said, coming to help, and between them they managed to gently ease him down into a chair.

Rebecca looked back at the pile of books and stifled a sigh. Even the boisterous children on the paediatric recovery ward at the hospital didn’t cause this much chaos.

Another sound stopped her in her tracks as she began to pick up the fallen items and replace them on the shelves. ‘Did you hear that?’ she asked Angie.

Angie shook her head. ‘Can’t hear anything above this din. I thought you turned the sound down a little while ago.’

‘I did.’ Someone had obviously decided that had been a bad move on her part, though, because now the noise was as loud as ever and she could barely hear herself think. Still, underneath it all she could just about make out a knocking sound. Rebecca frowned, trying to make out where the noise was coming from. ‘Someone’s at the door,’ she murmured.

It was probably one of the neighbours, coming to complain, and she steeled herself to go and pacify whoever it was. She had always got along well with the people next door, but there was a limit to what they could be expected to cope with.

Pulling open the door to the flat, an apology was already forming on her lips, but it faded rapidly as she looked out to see the man from the top-floor flat standing in the hallway.

‘Oh, it’s you,’ she said awkwardly. ‘I thought it might be someone else.’

He shook his head. ‘Did you? I’ve been banging to get your attention for a while, but I’m glad that it was you who opened the door. I was hoping that I would be able to catch up with you some time today.’

‘Were you?’ Puzzled, Rebecca pulled the door almost closed behind her in an effort to shut out some of the noise. She studied him guardedly. Why would he be trying to catch up with her? She didn’t know him, or anything about him, except what she had managed to glean last night in the few moments when their paths had crossed. ‘You’re not here to complain about the noise, then? I’ve been trying to keep it down.’

‘Have you?’ His mouth made a wry twist. ‘I suppose it all depends how you interpret keeping it down.’

She slowly absorbed the implied criticism and pushed it into the background. ‘You know how it is… People get to drinking and then they want to dance, and before you know it they’re tuned in to the beat and it all gets a bit crazy.’

‘Yes. Anyway, that’s not actually what I’m here about.’

‘Oh…I see.’ She frowned. Why on earth would he be seeking her out? He was a stranger to her. The only thing they had in common was that they both kept late hours.

Perhaps he read her thoughts because he said, ‘I’m Craig, by the way. Craig Braemar.’

‘I’m Rebecca.’ She acknowledged the introduction with a faint inclination of her head. When all was said and done, she didn’t want to appear unfriendly, even if he was there to complain about something else. It wasn’t her way, no matter how distracted she might be. ‘Of course, you could always join us, if you’d like to?’ After all, it could be a better move to pull in the opposition rather than have him create problems for her.

‘Thanks, it’s tempting, but I actually need to grab some more sleep and I want to keep a clear head for the morning. I’m expecting a call.’

‘That’s OK. It was just a thought. I wouldn’t like you to feel that we were leaving you out.’

She studied him surreptitiously. Maybe he’d been out on the town last night and was still recovering. Whatever the circumstances, he was definitely more presentable today than he had appeared to her then, and she had to admit to herself that his voice surprised her, too. There was a vibrant, deep quality to it, and it somehow managed to wrap itself around her senses in a most unexpected way.

Today he was clean-shaven, and the clothes he was wearing were considerably more respectable than those of the night before, a fresh dove-grey cotton shirt beneath a black leather jacket and black denims that followed the line of long, strong-looking legs. His hair was a crisp, midnight black, cut in a short, cropped style, and his jaw was square, as though he brooked no nonsense from anyone. His eyes were a subtle mix of blue and grey, and right now his gaze homed in on her, returning her stare with laser-like precision, making her shift uneasily.

His glance shimmered over her, taking in the feminine curves outlined by the soft fabric of the strapless dress that clung where it touched and ended in a swirl of silk that draped itself around her knees.

His gaze was dark and brooding. She had no idea what he was thinking and for some reason that she couldn’t define, that bothered her. Was he dismissing her as a feckless airhead who went in for wild shindigs and a chaotic lifestyle?

Why should his impression of her rankle, anyway? He was nothing to her, and she didn’t want to acknowledge that he had tweaked her interest in any way. She was off men. They were trouble, big time, and most likely he would prove to be no exception.

Even so, she kept up an appearance of civility. ‘Is there a problem?’ she asked. ‘I know it can’t be easy moving into a new place. If there’s anything I can do to help, you only have to ask.’

‘It’s nothing like that, but thanks all the same.’ His tone was faintly dismissive, and she stiffened, returning his look with a questioning, watchful expression.

‘It’s about a phone message that was left for you just after you went out this morning,’ he said. ‘It was obviously someone who doesn’t know you too well, because she rang the number of the communal phone. It was only by chance that I heard it as I was crossing the lobby.’

Rebecca’s eyes widened a fraction. Who would be calling her here? All her friends and family had her mobile number. Unless something had happened to—

‘It was someone who lives near to your aunt, I believe,’ he murmured. ‘At least, she said she was a neighbour, Margaret, and she told me that your aunt was unwell. Nothing too serious, she thinks, but she’s not quite herself, and she’s been feeling a little dizzy lately. She said she would keep an eye on her over the next week or so, but she wondered if you might manage to get over there to see her some time soon.’

‘Oh, I see.’ Rebecca tried to absorb the information that confirmed her worst fears. Aunt Heather was ill? That was deeply distressing news, all the more so because her aunt had been like a mother to her. She had taken Rebecca and her sister under her wing and given them all the love and care that it had been possible for her to give through a good part of their young lives. It was unthinkable that she should be virtually alone in her island home while her family was so far away.

She glanced up at the man. ‘Well, thank you for letting me know. That’s a message I definitely needed to get.’

He nodded. ‘That’s what I thought. It’s difficult when elderly relatives are left to fend for themselves.’

Was that a hint of censure she detected in his voice? Rebecca drew herself up, a spark of resentment flaring to life in her smoke-grey eyes. What did he know about the way she lived her life? Who was he to stand in judgement of her?

She opened her mouth to say something, but then clamped it shut as he went on, ‘Actually, there was something else—I found a letter addressed to you this morning.’ He reached into his inside jacket pocket and drew out an envelope, holding it out to her. ‘This is you, right—Rebecca McIntyre?’

Rebecca nodded, and he said shortly, ‘I thought so. I heard your flatmate calling out after you, this morning as you left the house. I would have given it to her to pass on to you, but I was having a bit of a lie-in, and after that I was out for some of the day, so I haven’t had the chance to catch up with either of you.’

Her glance flicked over him. Nice that he was able to grab a leisurely day for himself. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been able to do that. Her job was one of constant pressure, with lifesaving decisions to be made about her small patients and long hours when she was on call.

Still, to be fair to him, maybe he was taking a day or so to acclimatise himself to his new surroundings. At any rate, it didn’t sound as though he had anything pressing he needed to attend to right away, no job to keep him occupied.

He gave her a grimace. ‘I don’t know who picked up the letter originally, but it might be that it slipped from a pile on the hall table and somehow became wedged between the table and the wall. I caught a glimpse of the corner of the envelope. The postmark is a few days old, so I hope it wasn’t anything important.’

He handed her the envelope and she stared down at the black, handwritten address and winced. The writing style was familiar enough. She would recognise her sister Alison’s neat lettering anywhere, but why would she write and not phone? There was an overseas postmark, and that could only mean that there had been some kind of setback to her plans and she wasn’t able to come back to the UK as planned.

She released a faint sigh. All her plans for a joyful reunion were falling apart. This day was getting worse with every moment that passed, and on top of that her new neighbour must be thinking that she was careless and irresponsible along with everything else.

‘Thanks again,’ she murmured, sending the man a quick glance. ‘I do appreciate the trouble you’ve taken.’

‘You’re very welcome.’ He frowned. ‘Though I take it from your expression that it’s not likely to be good news in there?’

She gave a reluctant smile. ‘Don’t worry. I won’t shoot the messenger. All in all, it’s been a bad day for me, but things can only get better, can’t they?’

‘Let’s hope so.’ He made as though to move away from her, but in that instant a crashing sound erupted from inside the flat, followed by a loud scream.

He turned around to face her once more, his expression rueful. ‘I think perhaps you might have spoken too soon,’ he murmured.

Rebecca felt her heart sink. ‘Oh, dear. I’d better go and see what’s going on in there. Thanks again for passing on the message.’

She turned away from him and pushed open the door to the flat, standing in the doorway and scanning the room briefly. It was clear at a glance what had happened.

The heavy, glass-fronted display cabinet had fallen over, probably aided by some drunken partygoer stumbling about, and she could see that some of the contents, once beautiful glassware and delicate ornaments, were scattered in fragments about the floor.

Far worse than that, though, a man’s arm was sticking out from underneath the cabinet, and a pool of his blood was slowly seeping across the carpet. People were standing about, some in shock, some confused and most the worse for wear through drink.

‘Help me get the cabinet off him,’ she said in an urgent tone, rushing over to where the man lay and directing her words at her friends. ‘Angie, can you grab one end? Connie, will you go around the other side?’

Angie’s new flatmate hurried to position herself at a point where she could assist. ‘It’s too heavy,’ Connie said. ‘We’re not going to be able to do this on our own.’

‘You girls get ready to pull him out from underneath.’ Craig’s voice cut into their conversation, his tone clipped and decisive, and Rebecca stared up at him in shock. He must have followed her into the room. ‘I’ll ease it up from him. Just watch out for falling glass.’

‘Perhaps we should find something that we can wedge in between him and the glass doors when you lift it?’ Angie’s expression was stricken. ‘He’s already badly cut, from the look of things. Wait just a second while I go and grab something from the kitchen.’

She hurried away and came back just a moment or two later, armed with a couple of large trays. ‘I’ll try to slide these over him as you move him out of the way.’

Rebecca nodded, and glanced at Connie. ‘We need to keep his head and neck as steady as possible while we drag him out from underneath.’ She looked around for more volunteers,and a trio of men came forward. One of them went to help with the cabinet.

‘Are you ready?’ Craig asked. ‘Is everyone in position?’

‘We’re ready.’ Rebecca signalled to the others, and in a team effort they pulled the young man clear of the cabinet while Craig and his helper stood it back on its feet.

‘He’s losing an awful lot of blood,’ Angie said. ‘There are cuts to his arm and wrist. He’ll need to go to hospital.’

Rebecca nodded. ‘There’s a puncture wound to a main blood vessel. Ring for an ambulance while I try to stop the bleeding, will you?’

‘I’ve already called emergency services,’ Craig said. ‘Do you have anything you can use as a pressure pad?’

‘Yes, in the first-aid bag.’ She was already applying pressure to the injured area with her fingers, but now she looked up at Connie. ‘The bag’s in the hallway in the cupboard under the stairs. Would you go and fetch it for me?’

Connie nodded and shot off towards the hallway, while Rebecca and Angie did what they could to reassure the young man.

‘Can you hear me, James?’ Rebecca queried gently, recognizing the young medical student. ‘Do you know what happened to you?’

James mumbled a reply and Rebecca guessed that a combination of alcohol and blood loss was causing him difficulty in responding. She said in a soothing voice, ‘I want you to lie still while I try to control the bleeding. I’m going to raise your arm for a while to slow things down a bit, and then I’m going to bind a pressure pad in place on your arm. We need to get you to hospital so that your cuts can be stitched.’

By the time the paramedics arrived, she had things more or less under control. She made James as comfortable as possible and watched over his transfer to the ambulance, and it was only when the vehicle had moved off along the road that she made her way back inside the building.

She expected to find chaos still reigning, but most of the revellers were winding down and making ready to leave. Angie and Connie were making inroads on the clearing-up, and Craig was seeing to it that the remaining guests found safe transport home.

‘I’ll give you a hand in a minute or two,’ she said to the girls. ‘I just need to freshen up first.’

Rebecca went into the bathroom and rinsed her hands under the tap, then pulled a brush through the long swathe of her hair, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She gave a soft sigh. There were faint shadows beneath her eyes and her skin had a pale, translucent gleam. Would this day ever end? Her aunt was ill, her sister was still overseas, and her own carefully made travel plans had fallen apart when her little patient at the hospital had been too poorly to be transferred by ambulance to his original hospital. So far, it had turned out to be a kind of postscript to all that was going wrong in her life. None of her dreams had come to fruition in this place.

Her boyfriend, who had persuaded her to come here in the first instance, had cheated on her, and the work that she had believed would be so fulfilling, using her skills as a doctor to tend to desperately ill young patients on the paediatric ward, had brought her torment and sadness along with its rewards.

All in all, she would be glad to be away from here, to leave the hectic rush of the city behind her.

She started to exit the bathroom, pulling open the door, but before she made her way back to the living room she took a moment to lean back against the tiled wall, closing her eyes and pulling in a deep, calming breath. Was there any way this day could disintegrate any further?

‘Are you all right?’

Craig’s deep voice cut into her thoughts, eddying around her, coaxing a response, and she quickly opened her eyes. ‘I’m fine,’ she said.

His gaze was watchful. ‘I thought you handled everything that happened back there really well.’ There was a faint inflection in his voice as he added, ‘You seemed to know what you were doing, and because of you your friend James will probably come through this all right.’

She looked at him. ‘You sound as though you’re surprised by that. It’s not so incredible, is it?’ She smiled lightly. ‘I know it must have appeared to you as if things have been wildly out of control around here, but we all have to accept that there are times when everything that can go wrong does go wrong. It’s just been one of those days where you get out of bed and wish you could have stayed under the covers.’

He nodded. His smoke grey glance travelled over her, sliding over the creamy slope of her bare shoulders and moving down to linger on the soft swell of her hips. ‘I can see occasions when that might be an inviting prospect,’ he said in a husky, amused drawl.

Rebecca pulled in a quick breath. She felt a rush of warm colour run along her cheekbones. Was he actually propositioning her? The way he was looking at her could hardly be misinterpreted, could it? And yet just a short time ago he had been treating her almost as though she was someone he would only have dealings with if he couldn’t avoid it.

‘Dream on,’ she murmured, her mouth making a taut line. ‘I may have been enjoying the party but I haven’t had that much to drink.’

He laughed, a low rumbling sound that started in the back of his throat. ‘Perhaps that’s just as well,’ he said. ‘Your friend tells me you have to be at work early in the morning. Perhaps we’d both do best to keep a clear head.’

‘You’re probably right.’ Rebecca pushed herself away from the wall. ‘I’d better go and give Angie a hand with the clearing-up.’ She sent him a quick glance. ‘I should thank you for helping us out. We would have struggled without you.’

‘I was glad to be able to do something.’ He returned her gaze with a look that she couldn’t quite interpret. Perhaps it was a mix between a threat and a promise because he added in a soft tone, ‘Maybe I’ll drop by in the morning and see if you’re doing all right. You seem to have had a pretty traumatic day, one way and another.’

‘I’ll be fine,’ she told him as she started towards the living room. ‘I’ll see you out. I expect you have things of your own that you need to be doing.’

He wasn’t likely to find her at home by the time he surfaced, judging from his efforts this morning. She would be up and away first thing, ready to make the move to her Scottish island home. As far as she was concerned it couldn’t come a minute too soon.

CHAPTER TWO

‘I’LL miss you so much, Rebecca.’ Angie put aside her coffee-cup and came across the kitchen to give her a hug. ‘You have to promise me that you’ll phone and let me know how you’re getting on. You will, won’t you? And maybe we could meet up again from time to time?’

‘On high days and holidays? Of course…I’m not going to be all that far away—at least, not as the crow flies.’ Rebecca smiled. After a few snatched hours of sleep, she was on much better form today. ‘And I’ll phone you as soon as I’m settled back in Scotland.’

‘That’s good. You’ll have to let me know how you’re getting on.’ Angie’s expression was wistful. ‘I’ll be thinking of you when you’re on your island, looking out over the sea or walking along the beach. You’re so lucky, being offered the chance to work there.’

‘It sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Of course, the job isn’t cut and dried yet, so I might have to look around for something temporary to tide me over. It all depends on whether the doctor at the centre changes her mind and decides that she might want to go back to work after her maternity leave—or whether I’ll find it’s not really what I’m looking for. At the moment, though, the prospect of working with mothers and babies in an island community seems ideal.’

‘Just as long as it doesn’t make you feel broody.’ Angie grinned. ‘All those babies would be bound to set me off… It’s just a question of finding the right man…’

Rebecca wrinkled her nose. ‘You’ll manage that all right, but I don’t think that’s going to happen for me any time soon. I’ve already had my fingers burned and I’m not looking to get involved with anyone.’

‘Ah, but Ben was a mistake. He seemed perfect for you to begin with, until he revealed his true colours, the ratfink. But there’ll be someone out there, waiting for you, I’m sure of it.’

‘Not if I see him first.’ The words came out with a little more vehemence than Rebecca had intended, but she wasn’t going to back down. ‘I’m a long way from trusting any man ever again.’

Even her parents had managed to mess up their relationship, with consequences that had been devastating for Rebecca and her sister, Alison. Neither of them was going to recover easily from the distress of living through the break-up of their parents’marriage and the trauma of coming to terms with the chaos and uncertainty of a broken home.

She didn’t have any faith that there was someone out there with whom she could find lasting happiness. No, she would definitely be better off keeping clear of the opposite sex while she licked her wounds.

‘You’re out of your mind.’ Angie laughed. ‘Everybody needs someone.’ She rinsed her cup under the tap. ‘I have to go. I have to review patients with the consultant before he does his ward round, and he’s always there bright and early before the patients have even had their early morning cuppa.’

‘That’s because he likes to take breakfast with Sister Hennessy first thing. She keeps a stack of pancakes in the fridge and he’s very partial to a toasted pancake with a drizzle of honey on it.’

‘Really?’ Angie’s eyes widened. ‘So that’s why I see him coming out of her office most mornings. And there was me thinking they were sitting together having a case conference. Well, you live and learn, don’t you?’

‘You certainly do.’ Rebecca gave her a hug and saw her out of the flat a few minutes later, waving as Angie turned at the door. ‘I’ll call you,’ she said.

Once Angie had gone, Rebecca zipped up her suitcases and then walked desultorily around the flat, checking each of the rooms for any belongings that she might have missed. Just a few minutes from now she would be on her way, too.

The doorbell rang, and she went out into the lobby to answer it, wheeling her cases along with her. It would be the carrier, arriving to take her luggage to the depot, ready to be sent along to her new home.

‘Are you off on a journey of some sort?’ Craig Braemar was walking across the hallway as she headed for the door, and now he stopped and frowned, his gaze tracking her movements.

She stood very still. So he was still around, up and about early in the day, exactly as he had said he would be. Somehow she had expected him to be lying around, easing himself into the day. ‘Just the cases, for the moment,’ she said. ‘I’ll be following on later.’

He raised a dark brow. ‘That sounds intriguing.’

‘Maybe.’ She saw that he had his overnight bag with him, and it prompted her to ask, ‘And while we’re on the subject, what about you? Are you leaving already? I’ve heard of people doing a moonlight flit, but the rent isn’t that steep, is it?’

He appeared to be thinking about that. ‘I wouldn’t know,’ he murmured. ‘I haven’t paid any.’

Rebecca gave him a long look. Why was it she could never tell whether he was joking or being serious?

So far, he wasn’t turning out to be at all what he’d seemed, and it bothered her that she couldn’t work him out. She decided to give up the attempt and concentrate her attention instead on the man who had come to collect her luggage.

She signed his paperwork, and checked that the destination was written clearly on his sheet. ‘It’s to go to Islay… you know that, right? I’d hate to get there and find everything has been mislaid.’

‘Islay, madam. Yes, that’s definitely what it says.’

‘Hmm.’ She looked at him and wondered whether she ought to hand him a tip. Perhaps to be on the safe side…

The man acknowledged her offering and retreated to his van.

Turning back into the hallway, she saw that Craig was watching her thoughtfully. ‘Does this mean that you’re off to see your aunt—the lady who was feeling unwell?’

‘That’s right. I rang her this morning and she said that she was fine and that everyone is making a fuss over nothing, but that’s my Aunt Heather all over. She’s always been an independent soul. I’ve been reluctant to interfere, but it will be just as well for me to go and keep an eye on her for a while.’

‘I think that’s a good idea. Down here, you’re a long way from being able to do anything to help. That’s the trouble with old folk, isn’t it? They say they’re all right because they’re afraid of being a burden, but sometimes you have to read between the lines, don’t you?’

A small spark of irritation flared in her eyes. Was he implying that she hadn’t been able to do that? What was it to do with him, anyway?

‘My aunt isn’t all that old. At least, she doesn’t seem to be. She’s always been active and energetic.’ Why was he so intent on wrongfooting her? She loved her aunt dearly, but he didn’t seem to be taking that on board.

She had to admit that he’d hit a sore spot, though. Right from the start she’d had misgivings about leaving her home to go and work in Northumberland with her boyfriend. It had only been Ben’s enthusiasm and gentle insistence that had convinced her it had been the thing to do.

‘It’ll be wonderful,’ he had said. ‘You’ll be able to work in paediatrics, and I’ll take on the research fellowship. We could buy a house close to the hospital, and it’ll be great for both of us.’

The doubts had stayed with her, firstly because she had been worried about leaving Aunt Heather behind, despite the fact that her sister was going to be staying around to watch over her for some of the time, and secondly because she had been uncertain about moving in with Ben.

She’d thought he had been the one for her, but after all was said and done, he hadn’t offered her total commitment, had he? Just an arrangement that had been convenient. And so she had resisted the temptation to move in with him, and that had proved to be a wise decision, hadn’t it, given the way things had turned out?

‘I’ve kept in touch with my aunt while I’ve been away,’ she said now. ‘And I’ve been home to see her a few times. It’s not as though she’s been abandoned.’

Craig studied her, a flicker of scepticism in his expression. ‘You don’t have to convince me,’ he said. ‘She’s not my aunt, so it hardly matters to me. I just happened to remark that it looks as though you must have decided to go back to her.’

‘Yes, well, that’s true, I have.’ She frowned. ‘There are actually lots of things that I need to do, and I ought to leave right now,’ she told him. ‘I’m due at the hospital in twenty minutes.’

He nodded. ‘Me, too. We could walk there together, if you like.’

She frowned, taken aback by what he had just said. He’d only stayed here for two nights, and now he was off to the hospital with his overnight bag. Was it possible that she had added two and two together and come up with the wrong answer? Was he ill? Had she completely misjudged him?

She looked again at the bag he was holding. ‘Are you going to be staying at the hospital?’ she asked. He looked as though he was in perfect health, in the prime of his life, in fact, a thirtysomething example of vigorous masculinity, but that didn’t necessarily have to mean that he didn’t need treatment of some kind, did it? A warm flood of guilt raced through her from head to toe.

‘No,’ he answered slowly. ‘I wouldn’t have thought I would be there for too long. Just the time it takes to sort things out.’

‘I’m sorry—of course it’s none of my business.’ It was dreadful to think that she might have been imagining him as some kind of drifter when all the time he was ill and preparing for a stay in hospital.

He looked at her in a slightly perplexed fashion for a moment or two and then opened his mouth as though he was about to say something, but she swivelled around and headed for the door of her flat, saying hurriedly, ‘I’ll just go and check that everything’s in order before I lock the place up. Then I’ll be ready to walk with you.’

She was back by his side within a moment or two, and they left the building together.

The block of flats was a ten-minute walk away from the hospital where she had worked for the last couple of years, and now, as she shut the main door behind her for the last time, she looked back with a feeling of sadness mingled with expectation. The island home of her youth beckoned her, but at the same time she was leaving behind friends and colleagues, and that was a painful experience.

‘How is it that you have to go in to work if you’re all set to leave here?’ he asked as they set out along the street. ‘Presumably you’re travelling later today? I dare say there aren’t many people who would be able to cope without their luggage for very long.’

‘I have to transport an eight-year-old patient back home to Scotland. He was brought down here to Northumberland for specialist treatment after he was badly injured in a road accident, but now he’s well enough to be transferred back to his local hospital. He was supposed to have gone yesterday by ambulance, but we were concerned about his condition and so we delayed things for a while.’

‘So it wasn’t necessary for you to wait to go with him? You could have left it to someone else to escort him?’

She made a face. ‘I suppose that’s true, but I’ve been looking after him for a while now, overseeing his care, and he wanted me to stay with him. It’s been a difficult time for Connor, because his parents were injured in the crash as well and they had to stay behind in Scotland. I think that’s why he took to depending on me, because he was so vulnerable. The poor child had no one and he was lost and alone.’

‘Then I expect you must feel that you made the right choice.’ He sent her an oblique glance. ‘So, what do you do at the hospital? Are you a nurse, or a doctor perhaps?’

‘A doctor. I specialised in paediatrics, and mostly I work with seriously ill children on the surgical ward.’

‘That must be rewarding.’ His blue-grey gaze moved over her fleetingly.

‘It can be. There are times when it’s difficult to handle, though, like when the child has a serious heart condition or worse. You want so much to help them, but sometimes there’s a limit to what you can do. I find that heartbreaking.’

He nodded. ‘I can see how that might affect you. For myself, I tend to think that children are resilient for the most part. They cope with problems in a way that puts adults to shame.’

Rebecca smiled. ‘Yes, they do.’ She sent him a thoughtful glance. She knew next to nothing about this man, and yet he already had the lowdown on her lifestyle, her work and her plans for the future. Well, maybe not all of them, but a good part. How had he managed to glean so much about her in such a short space of time?

‘Here we are already,’ he said as the glass doors to the main entrance of the hospital swished open before them. ‘That was quick. You certainly landed a prime position, with your flat being just a hop and a skip away from here.’

‘I suppose I did.’ Rebecca hesitated, and then started to move away from him in the direction of the stairs. ‘I have to go to the surgical ward to collect my patient,’ she told him. ‘Do you know your way about, or do you need directions?’

‘I’ll manage,’ he murmured. ‘I’ll take the lift.’

‘OK.’

He inclined his head towards her and she returned the gesture with a brief ‘Goodbye,’ before going on her way.

She didn’t turn back to watch him take the lift. She wouldn’t be seeing him again and that was perhaps just as well, because he seemed to have a very strange effect on her. In the few hours she had known him, he had managed somehow to put her on the defensive and caused her to examine her reasons for doing things, and she was tired of all that uncertainty.

What she needed now was a fresh start, a chance to go home to her island roots and find peace within herself once again.

Pushing all thoughts of him out of her mind, she tapped in the security code at the door of the children’s ward and then made her way over to the nurses’ station.

‘How’s everybody doing?’ she asked, looking at the women who had been her colleagues over the last couple of years. ‘Has everything been peaceful overnight?’

‘More peaceful than your going-away party.’ Connie laughed. ‘Have you heard any news about James?’

Rebecca nodded. ‘I checked up on him by phone before I came here. He’s doing all right… He had several deep cuts that needed stitching, but he’s recovering well, and they’re thinking of sending him home later today.’

‘That’s a relief.’ Connie smiled. ‘As to your little patient, he’s just about ready for the journey home. He’s a bit pale and anxious-looking, but his temperature is OK and his heart rate and oxygen levels are satisfactory, so he should be clear to travel.’

‘That’s good news. I’ll go and have a word with him and get him ready for the journey. Do we have any idea what time the ambulance will be arriving?’

Connie glanced at the nurse who was standing by the phone. ‘Do we?’

‘I’m not sure. I think we have to check with the transport services. There was a query over what was happening, and I was told to ring again in a few minutes to check.’

‘That’s all right. I’ll go and talk to Connor while you do that.’

Eight-year-old Connor was overjoyed to see her. ‘Becca, you came back!’ Her young patient’s face lit up. ‘I know you said you were going to stay with me, but they told me you weren’t going to work at the hospital any more. I didn’t think I would see you again.’

‘Well, there you are, you see,’ she said on a cheerful note. ‘I’m here, and I’m going with you all the way back to Scotland. I shan’t leave you until I hand you over, safe and sound, to your mum and dad.’

He gave her a blissful smile. ‘I can’t wait to see them again.’ He sank back against his pillows as though the effort of talking had taken a lot out of him. Even so, he shot her a troubled glance. ‘Do you think they’re all right? Are they still in hospital?’

She nodded. ‘They’re both still in hospital, but they’re getting better every day.’ His mother had leg and arm injuries, and his father was suffering from whiplash and a dislocated knee, but Connor was the one who had come close to death because of internal injuries.

She looked at him now, noting the dark shadows beneath his eyes, made all the more noticeable by his pale features and the contrasting colour of his brown hair. He had lost a lot of blood in the car accident, and had almost died from injuries to his chest and abdomen. It was only because of the skill of the surgeons who had operated on him within the golden hour, from the time of the accident to admission to hospital, that he stood a good chance of recovery without suffering too many after-effects. In fact, all going well, he would probably be released from hospital in a few days.

‘We need to concentrate on you right now,’ she murmured. ‘We have to make sure that you’re well enough to manage the journey, and that you stay on good form. That means you need to get some rest and allow your body to heal. We still need to keep an eye on you to make sure that everything gets back to normal.’

‘I’m better than I was yesterday.’ Connor gave her a wide-eyed glance. ‘And I ate all my breakfast, even the yucky porridge the nurse gave me.’

Rebecca laughed. ‘That’s good. It’s a start, at any rate.’ She surreptitiously checked the readings on the monitors by his bedside. ‘I’ll have a quick listen to your chest, and then perhaps we can get ready to go on our way.’

She gently laid her stethoscope over his rib cage and listened to the sounds coming from his lungs. There was a slight wheeziness, but all in all things appeared to be good. Since the drainage tubes had been removed from his chest a couple of days ago with no ill-effects, it looked as though she could give the all-clear for the transport to go ahead.

‘You’re doing all right,’ she told him with a smile, ‘so I’ll go and have a word with the nurse and see if we can be on our way.’

‘Yeah!’ Connor whooped, and then coughed, clutching his chest as his body responded to the exertion. ‘Ouch!’ he said. ‘That hurt.’

Rebecca made a wry face. ‘I guess we’d better top up your painkillers before we go.’ She reached into her pocket and pulled out an electronic computer game. ‘Here, you can amuse yourself with this for a while, if you think you’re up to it.’

‘Oh, wow.’ His eyes shone as he looked up at her. ‘Where did you get this from?’

‘I borrowed it from the play leader. She didn’t want you to be bored on the journey.’

He was already thumbing the buttons on the device, absorbed in checking out the game she had slotted in place. ‘This is great.’

Rebecca grinned, and went off to talk to the nurse. ‘How are things coming along with the transport?’ she asked.

‘You’re all set to go,’ the nurse told her. ‘Only there won’t be a paramedic travelling along with you this time. There will be another doctor on board.’

‘That’s unusual, isn’t it?’ Rebecca murmured. ‘How did that come about?’

‘I think it was because—Oh, hang on, here he is now…’ The nurse broke off and looked towards the door. ‘He’ll be able to fill you in on the details himself.’ She shielded her face with her hand in a covert fashion as she turned back to Rebecca. ‘Lucky you! I wish I were the one who was going along with him. He’s gorgeous.’

Rebecca’s stare flicked across the room and she gazed in open-mouthed wonder at the man who was walking towards them. She blinked in disbelief. Surely there was some mistake? What was Craig doing there? How was it possible that the nurse was pointing him out as though he was the doctor who was to accompany her on the journey?

Craig’s dark brows lifted. ‘Are you all right?’ He came to join them at the nurses’station, sending Rebecca a swift, assessing glance. ‘You look as though you’re in shock.’

‘I think that’s because I am.’ Rebecca floundered. ‘I mean, I had no idea that you were anything other than a stranger passing through. How was I to know that you were a doctor? You didn’t tell me.’

His gaze was steady. ‘You didn’t ask.’

‘Yes, but even so…’ Rebecca shook her head. All her preconceived ideas about him had dissolved in an instant. To think that she had even been feeling some degree of sympathy towards him…and now it turned out that she had everything wrong and she felt utterly foolish.

‘I had no idea that you would be going back with me to Scotland,’ she said. ‘You must have known all along, but you said nothing at all.’

‘That’s because I didn’t know for certain,’ he murmured. ‘I had a shrewd idea, I’ll grant you, but I knew nothing for sure until I checked with the transport services a few minutes ago.’

He looked across at the nurse. ‘So we’re cleared to go, I take it? Where is the little fellow?’

‘Bay three.’ The nurse pointed in the direction of the side ward, an amused smile playing around her lips. ‘I have his paperwork here, all ready for Dr McIntyre. I hope you both have a good journey.’

Rebecca drew in a swift breath and put out a hand for the paperwork. She would at least put up a semblance of normality and pretend that none of this was happening. ‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘I’ll make sure it’s handed over to the receiving hospital. It’s been good working with you, Libby.’

‘And you.’

Rebecca started towards the bay where Connor was waiting. ‘I’ll show you to our patient,’ she told Craig. Perhaps the best thing she could do was to relate to him in a purely professional capacity. That way, she would be able to stay calm and do her job. ‘He’s doing all right,’ she said. ‘It’s just a question of waiting for him to heal and for him to build up his strength once more. All this has taken a lot out of him.’

‘I can imagine.’

He was still carrying the overnight bag with him, and she said briskly as they approached Connor’s trolley bed, ‘Perhaps you should slide that onto the rack underneath. It’ll be out of the way as we wheel him out to the ambulance bay.’

‘Sure thing.’ He deposited the bag and sent a cheery smile towards Connor, who was looking at him with a guarded expression. ‘Hello, young man,’ Craig said. ‘I’m Dr Braemar. I’ll be going along with you on the journey home.’

Connor sent him a suspicious look. ‘I want Becca to go with me.’

‘Yes, she’ll be coming along, too.’

‘Really?’ Connor lay back and tried to absorb that. ‘So I get to have two doctors? Why?’

‘That’s a good question,’ Craig said. ‘The reason is, I came down here with a patient, but there were problems with the transport, and I had to stay over until they were fixed. So now I get to travel home with you and your delicious Dr McIntyre.’ He leaned forward and gave the boy a clandestine, questioning look. ‘You weren’t hoping to keep her all to yourself, were you?’ Cos if you were, that means I’m stranded here, and I won’t get back to Scotland in time to walk my dog.’

‘You have a dog?’

Craig made a face. ‘Actually, no. You found me out. I made it up, because I just wanted to make sure I get to go with you.’

Connor chuckled. ‘You’re crackers.’

Craig grinned. ‘Yeah. So they keep telling me.’

Rebecca could think of a few more adjectives to describe him. Words like underhand, annoying and in your face all sprang to mind.

‘Are you all set to go?’ she asked Connor, and the boy nodded. ‘Good. Then we’ll move you out to the lift and take you down to the ambulance bay.’

‘Um…’ Craig looked as though he was about to say something, but Rebecca was already releasing the brake on the bed and he nimbly stepped to one side as she set the bed in motion. ‘Was there something you wanted to say?’ she queried, shooting him a quick glance.

‘It’ll wait,’ he said, grimacing as she set off towards the exit door. ‘Far be it from me to disturb a woman while she’s driving.’

Connor giggled, and Rebecca sent Craig a warning glare. Was he looking for trouble?

She waved goodbye to her friends as she left, and then, when she was outside in the main corridor, she headed for the lifts. She steered the boy through the open lift doors and put a hand out to press the button to send them on their way. ‘Going down,’ she told Connor, but just as she was about to choose the ground-floor switch, Craig intervened.

‘In fact,’ he said, ‘we need to go up…to the top floor.’ He pressed the button for the roof area and the doors silently closed on them.

She stared at him. ‘Why on earth would we need to do that?’

‘Because that’s where the helipad is.’

‘Oh, fantastic,’ Connor said. ‘Do we really get to go in a helicopter?’

‘That’s right. It’s the only way to travel.’

‘Excuse me?’ Rebecca was still trying to absorb the shock. She half turned so that Connor would not be able to see or hear what she was about to say, and Craig must have read the warning signals in her expression because he gave her his full attention.

‘This can’t be right,’ she said in a low tone. ‘No one said anything to me about a helicopter.’ She felt the colour wash out of her face.

‘It was just how things turned out, that’s all. I have to go back up north, and so do you and Connor, so it makes sense for us all to travel together, doesn’t it?’ He stopped suddenly, taking in her pale features. ‘Why, is there a problem?’

‘No, of course not,’ she lied through her teeth. How could she possibly voice her true thoughts with Connor beside her? ‘Why would there be?’

Craig put his head to one side as though he was trying to assess what was going through her mind. ‘You’re used to flying, aren’t you? Living on Islay, I dare say you would find it the best way to travel.’

The lift came to a halt before she had time to answer, and the doors opened out on to the roof space, so that a gust of fresh air met them. Rebecca looked out to see the brightly painted helicopter, ready and waiting on the helipad, its rotors turning.

She patted the blankets in place around Connor to make him snug, but after that she stayed rooted to the spot, so Craig took over the handling of the trolley bed and someone who introduced himself as the copilot came over to greet them.

‘I’ll give you a hand getting the patient on board,’ he told Craig, stopping for a moment to greet Connor. ‘We’ll soon have you tucked up cosy as you like.’

Connor nodded, and turned his head to look at Rebecca. ‘You’re coming, aren’t you, Becca? You said you would.’ His face was pale, and she realised that even this small excitement had been enough to tire him out.

‘Yes, I did. Of course I did.’ She ventured forward a few steps to give him encouragement and then stood still. ‘I’ll just wait here for a moment while they get you on board.’

Craig came to find her when the child was settled inside the cabin. ‘Are you ready?’ he asked.

‘No, I don’t think so,’ she said. She looked at him. ‘I don’t do helicopter rides. I tried one once and told myself never again. You should have warned me. Someone should have told me.’

‘There’s nothing to it,’ he said. ‘Helicopters take off day in, day out. The sky is clear, and we’re all set to go. What could go wrong?’

‘You tell me,’ she said abruptly. ‘You were the one who said you had to stay over while your transport was fixed.’ She looked him in the eye. ‘That means there was a problem, right?’

His shoulders lifted in a negligent shrug. ‘It was nothing. Just a faint judder in the engine. But they’ve checked it out and everything’s fine.’

‘No, I don’t think it is. Everything is not fine, far from it. No one told me about this and I’m finding it hard to take in.’

‘You’ll only be up there for half an hour…an hour at the most,’ he said. He moved closer to her and placed an arm around her shoulders, drawing her against his chest. ‘I’ll sit with you and hold your hand if you like.’ He pulled an exaggeratedly fiendish face, halfway between a leer and a smile, and Rebecca balled her hand into a fist and thumped him lightly in the arm.

‘This is not funny. It’s not at all funny.’ She was battling with herself, trying to shake off the nerves that threatened to overwhelm her. At the same time she was trying not to think about the way it felt to have his arm draped about her, drawing her into the warmth and shelter of his body. She would not be enticed by the comfort of that embrace.

It was a sham, a pretence set up to fool her into complying with what he wanted her to do.

Like Angie had said of her ex-boyfriend, he was a ratfink. None of them were to be trusted.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.