LITMIR.BIZ

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      CHAPTER TWO

      THE road clung to the coast, winding high above tiny bays that were accessible only by foot, bays that had once been fiercely defended against Viking invasion. Evanna drove carefully, alert for tourists too busy admiring the view to watch the road. To her right she could see the ruins of the castle where young Fraser had found himself trapped earlier in the summer. To her left was the sparkling ocean, waves crashing onto jagged rocks and, in the distance, the outline of the mainland.

      There was nowhere like Glenmore, but today the excitement of being home was missing and she felt frustrated and cross with herself. And disappointed. She’d spent a month lecturing herself about the futility of being in love with Dr Logan MacNeil and she’d genuinely thought that finally she had her feelings under control, so the intensity of her reaction in the café was disheartening.

      She’d wanted so badly to feel indifferent.

      Her spirits lifted slightly as she parked outside her little white cottage with its blue shutters and views of the sea. Buying it had stretched her budget to snapping point but there was never a single moment when she regretted the extravagance. As a child she’d walked past the same cottage with her parents and had stared in wonder. To her it had always looked like the gingerbread house from the fairy tale. Roses clustered around the door and snaked under the windows. It was a friendly house and the fact that it was small had never bothered her. It was hers. And she’d made it her home.

      She’d thrown cheerful rugs onto the polished wooden floors, hung filmy white curtains from the windows and filled tall vases with flowers from the garden and glass bowls with shells that she’d found on the beach. And if the second bedroom was so tiny there was barely room for a bed, did it really matter? All the people she knew lived on the island anyway, so she rarely had to find room for overnight guests. Her own bedroom was large enough, and that was what counted. Light streamed through the window and she’d placed the bed so that the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was the sea. It was a perfect place to sleep, dream and wake up. A room built for lovers.

       It was just a shame that she didn’t have a lover.

      Letting herself into her cottage, Evanna picked up a pile of post and walked into the sunny yellow kitchen that she’d painted herself over a gloomy February weekend earlier in the year. Usually the view from the window across the cliffs cheered her up but today she found it hard to smile.

      Telling herself off for being pathetic, she sifted through her post, binning all the junk mail and putting the bills neatly to one side. Then she opened a white envelope and found a quote for redoing her bathroom.

      Suddenly resolute, she picked up the phone. ‘Craig? Evanna here. About your quote.’

      Five minutes later she’d confirmed it all and written out a cheque for the down payment. It would be wonderfully indulgent to have a new bathroom and it was long overdue. The bathroom was the only room that hadn’t been touched since she’d bought the cottage three years earlier. It would use the last of her savings but she decided that it was worth it.

      Resolving to throw open all the doors and windows at the weekend to freshen the place, Evanna showered, changed and then climbed back into her little car and made her way to the surgery in time for her afternoon surgery.

      ‘I gather you had a drama on the beach. You’ve a big list, Evanna.’ Janet, the receptionist, handed her a computer printout and a pile of letters. ‘Plenty of people have been holding on, waiting to see you. And Lucy wanted to know if you could call on your way home to check on the baby because the cord is looking a bit sticky and she’s worried. You can tell it’s her first. Every time the little one blinks, she rings Logan. He’s incredibly patient with her.’

      Logan was patient with everyone. ‘I’ll call, of course I will. I was going to anyway.’

      ‘Who do I have first?

      ‘Sandra King. She’s sitting in the waiting room with a dopey look on her face so I think we all know the reason for her appointment.’ Janet winked and Evanna thought back to Kyla’s comment.

      ‘Let’s hope so. Is she first?’

      ‘Yes.’ Janet leaned forward and lowered her voice. ‘I made it a double appointment, just to be on the safe side. I had one of my feelings. If I’m wrong, you can use the time to catch up on some of the paperwork that your replacement didn’t touch.’

      ‘Good thinking.’ Evanna walked through to her room and sat down at her desk. It felt good to be back. She turned her head and glanced around the room. In the corner was a basket stuffed with toys that she’d selected herself and the walls were covered in posters that she’d chosen from the wide selection available to her. Everything was just as she’d left it. The heaviness that had settled inside her lifted and she switched on her computer and pressed the buzzer.

      Sandra tapped on the door a few seconds later, her husband by her side. ‘I’m pregnant, Nurse Duncan.’ She was bursting to tell the news, her smile dominating her pretty face. ‘I missed a period and I did the test yesterday and it was positive.’

      Full marks to Kyla for observation, then. ‘That’s great, Sandra. Congratulations.’

      ‘I couldn’t sleep at all last night, just thinking about it. I want to have it here, on the Island, and I want you to deliver it,’ Sandra blurted out, and Evanna gave a careful smile.

      ‘Why would you want to have him, or her, at home?’

      ‘Because I was born on Glenmore and I want the same for my children.’

      ‘You were the third child,’ Evanna said evenly, opening her drawer and pulling out the appropriate forms. ‘First babies are better born in hospital, Sandra. I can quite understand your wish for the delivery to be as natural as possible, but we can achieve that in hospital.’

      ‘But I’m young and healthy. Is it because it makes more work for you?’

      ‘It isn’t the work for me that’s a problem. I love the home deliveries. But having a baby at home does come with risks,’ Evanna said, her voice level. ‘No obstetrician would ever advise a woman to have her first baby at home. And the other problem is that Glenmore is quite remote. No matter how carefully we monitor you, things can change very quickly in childbirth. Emergencies do happen and when they do, you want to be within easy reach of a specialist unit.’

      ‘But there’s the helicopter.’

      The memories came rushing back. The evil weather. Catherine critically ill. ‘If the weather is bad, it can’t fly,’ Evanna reminded her gruffly, and Sandra was silent for a moment.

      ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t think. You’re thinking about what happened to Dr MacNeil’s wife, aren’t you? When Catherine became ill they wanted to fly her to the mainland but the helicopter couldn’t get here. She died because of it.’

      And Logan, griefstricken and racked by guilt, had made a heroic effort to save the baby.

      His daughter. Little Kirsty, now a bouncy, healthy one-year-old.

      Evanna felt sadness swamp her but kept her expression neutral. This wasn’t the time to think about Logan. ‘Catherine MacNeil was an extremely unusual case. It’s unlikely that the outcome would have been different, even if she’d been in a consultant unit on the mainland.’

      ‘But we all know that’s why Dr MacNeil won’t consider home births.’ Sandra sighed and glanced at her husband. ‘I hadn’t really thought about it properly. Perhaps it would be more sensible to have it in hospital. What do you think?’

      Her husband nodded, visibly relieved by her change of heart. ‘Definitely. You know that was always my preference.’

      ‘The community unit is lovely. I just spent a week there as part of my

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