TOO LATE, BRODIE saw the beginning of the end. It was a miracle the wood had stayed atop his four-by-four this far.
“Nooooooooo!”
The planks of wood were crashing and slithering all over the place. Smack-dab in front of the clinic.
He glanced at his watch.
Kali would be there soon. No doubt expressing her despair at yet another way he’d made her time at the clinic less than straightforward.
Three days in and she seemed a more regular part of the place than he ever had. Correction. Than he had ever felt.
Big difference.
He nudged a bit of wood with his foot and shook his head.
Woodworking was a class he really should have taken when he’d had the chance. He’d scoffed at his brother’s choice at the time. Now he was beginning to see the advantages of having learned some practical skills. Or having stuck around so he could’ve built the blasted thing with his father, a man as at home with a hammer as a stethoscope.
He heard a throat clearing on the far side of his car.
Kali.
Kali trying desperately not to laugh.
She’d been keeping him at a courteous arm’s length after their strangely intimate night at the pub, so it was nice to see that smile of hers.
“New project?” she asked, barely able to contain her mirth.
“Aye. I’m sure you will have noticed just sitting round the clinic waiting for patients to magically appear hasn’t worked quite the treat I’d hoped.”
She made a noncommittal noise, turning her head this way and that, obviously trying to divine what the pile of wood in front of her—his—clinic was meant to be.
“It’s a boat.”
“Ohhhh...” She nodded. “I can see that now.”
“Ha-ha. Very funny.”
“No, I mean it.” She sidled up beside him, crossed her arms and gave the hodgepodge pile of wood a considered look before pointing to one of the shorter cuts. “That’s the pram, right?”
“The prow,” he corrected, the language of boats coming back to him as if it were genetically embedded.
“And you’re building this here because...?” Kali tactfully changed the subject.
“I was rehashing our talk the other night—about public awareness and all that—and I thought, how can I get through to everyone island-style?”
“And this is what you came up with?” Kali gave him a dubious look.
“I told you—it’s a boat.” He frowned at the pile of wood. “Or it will be once word gets out I’m trying to make one. The folk here can’t resist giving advice when it comes to building a boat.”
“And that means you’re staying?”
A jag of discord shot through him at the wary note of hope in her voice. He’d heard it often enough in his father’s voice each time he’d returned. The thought of disappointing Kali bothered him, but he wasn’t there yet. In that place where settling down—setting down here—felt right. Might not ever be. That was why he’d decided to get out of the clinic, where they had been warily circling each other after that night of so much connection. No bets taken as to why he was building the boat right next door to the clinic, though.
It was Kali. One hundred percent Kali.
He scrubbed his jaw and tried to look like a model citizen.
“I was thinking more along the lines of the public health campaign first.”
She gave him a sidelong glance. One he couldn’t read. One that made him wonder if she could see straight through his bluster.
“This is your master plan to convince people you don’t have Ebola?”
“Who could resist such a rugged, healthy-looking soul?” Brodie looked off into the middle distance supermodel-style. Sure, he was showing off, but the reward was worth it.
A shy grin.
Each of Kali’s smiles was like a little jewel—well worth earning.
He struck a bodybuilder pose to see if he could win another.
Bull’s-eye.
* * *
A fizz of warmth exploded in Kali’s belly. Then another. Would he just stop doing that?
“Well? What do you think? Irresistible or repugnant?”
Brodie’s blue eyes hit hers and another detonation of attraction hit Kali in the knees. What was she? Twelve? Regroup, girl. This man has danger written all over him.
“Well...you’re not exactly repugnant...”
Brodie threw back his head and laughed. “Touché.”
He dropped her a wink. Another knee wobbler.
“Serves me right for floating my own boat.” Brodie’s eyes scanned the higgledy-piggledy pile of wood. “Or not, as the case might be.”
Kali gave him a quick wave and hightailed it around the back of the building and into the clinic.
Despite her best efforts to keep her nose to the proverbial grindstone...to see patients and race her bicycle back home to her icy cold house...she knew she was falling for Brodie. Fast.
It scared her. But as unsettling as it felt it also felt good. A little too good.
He wasn’t hanging around. It was easy enough to see the boat was a project with a timeline and once that was done... Poof.
Goodbye, Romeo.
Or, more accurately, goodbye, Kali. Brodie would win the hearts of Dunregan back in no time and then there’d be no need for her here. Before she knew it, it would be time for her to begin again.
“Kali?” Ailsa called to her from the tea room as the back door shut with its satisfying click and clunk. “I’ve just put the kettle on. Milk and no sugar, isn’t it?”
“Got it in one!” She grinned despite the storm of unwelcome thoughts.
“Are we going to be blessed with my nephew’s presence today?” Ailsa popped her head round the corner and gave Kali an exasperated smile.
“He’s out front,” Kali answered. “Building a boat.”
Ailsa’s eyebrows shot up. “Aye?”
Kali nodded, keeping her own expression neutral.
“Well...”
It was a loaded word. Suspicious. Loving. Expectant. Curious.
Kali couldn’t help but smile. She might not have much time here, but at the very least she was becoming much more fluent in Scots!
“Kali! First patient’s come early!” Caitlyn called from the front office. “Will you be all right to take a look?”
“It would be my pleasure,” she replied, accepting the hot cup of tea Ailsa had just handed her. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
* * *
“Someone’s up with the lark.”
A woman in her early thirties spun round at the sound of the bell ringing above the door, her face lighting up with a smile when she saw it was Kali.
“The usual?”
Kali grinned. This was the third morning running she’d relished the warmth and sugary sweet air of the Dunregan Bakehouse. This first “thawing station” on her bicycle ride into work. It had nothing to do with the fact they also made the fluffiest scones she’d ever tasted. And with lashings of the fruitiest, raspberriest jam in the world. She’d bought treats for everyone at the clinic each day since she’d discovered the place.
“I’m Helen, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Kali—”
“O’Shea,” finished Helen with a laugh. “If you haven’t found out already, word travels fast in Dunregan. By my count, you’ve been here about a week now.”
“Only three more to go!”
The words were double-edged. She didn’t want to leave. Little bits of her heart were already plastered about the small harbor town. Once she got a chance to explore some more she was sure the rest of it would follow suit.
“I guess you’ll know my being here is actually a bit pointless. With Brodie having the all clear.” It was hardly subtle, but they’d passed that point.
“I thought he’d given up doctoring to build that boat of his?”
Kali pulled a face. To say Brodie was making a success of turning the pile of planks into a boat would be...very kind. He’d eventually brought all the wood over and laid it out in a completely indecipherable series of piles in the open shed next to the clinic. Some nails had gone in. Some nails had been pulled out. The piles remained.
“I’m no expert on boat building myself, but I get the feeling medicine is more of his forte,” she said as tactfully as she could. “But it keeps him busy while he waits for his patients to feel more comfortable about coming back to see him.”
Helen laughed conspiratorially, but Kali saw a generous dose of compassion in her brown eyes.
“I don’t think I ever saw him near the woodworking classes at school. Complete and total brainbox.” Distractedly she added a couple more scones to the box she was filling. “You know, I have an idea of someone who could lend a hand. In the meantime...” She flicked the lid shut, putting a Dunregan Bakehouse sticker in place to seal it as she did so. “I’ve got something special for you to try.”
She put up her finger to indicate that she’d be back in a second and disappeared into the back.
“Me?” Kali whispered to the empty room, a giddy twirl of anticipation giving an extra lift to her smile. She knew it was silly, but the gesture made her feel—better than welcome. As if she were part of something. A community.
“Right. Give this a taste.” A piece of toast appeared in her eyeline. Thick cut, oozing with butter and a generous smear of soft cheese. “You’re all right with goat’s cheese?”
“Absolutely. I love it.” Kali took the bread and was three bites in before she remembered Helen was expectantly waiting for a response. “This is the most delicious thing ever,” she said through another mouthful. “Ever!”
“Really?” Helen’s eyes glowed with happiness. “It’s a new bread I’ve been working on. Hazelnuts and a mix of grains for all the island’s health nuts. I’m still debating about raisins. But it’s locally produced cheese so I thought I might put it on the board as a lunch offering. What with you being an outsider, I thought you’d give an honest response.”
“It’s completely yummy.”
And thanks for the reminder that I don’t belong here. Surprising how much it stung.
“Thanks, Dr. O’Shea.”
“Kali,” she corrected firmly. They were around the same age. And on the off-chance that she were to stay...
Don’t go there. As long as your father is alive, you’ll always live a life on the run.
“Thanks, Kali. It means a lot. And don’t worry about Brodie’s boat. We’ll get him sorted out—island-style.”
Mysterious. But positive! Kali left the bakery with a wave, feeling a bit unsettled. Could a place do that to someone? Or, she thought, as an image of Brodie flickered through her overactive brain, was it a person that was unsettling her?
“Look who made it all the way up the hill today!” Brodie applauded as Kali dismounted from her bicycle with a flourish. “A mere week on the island and you’re a changed woman!”
Kali flushed with pleasure, glad her cheeks were already glowing with exertion.
“It has helped that the wind isn’t quite so—”
“Hostile?” offered Brodie.
“Exactly.”
Kali smiled at his choice of word, but now she officially needed to get indoors as soon as possible. No heat again in her house meant riding her bicycle and the pit stop at the bakery were the only ways she got warm in the morning. It was absolutely freezing! Which did beg the question...
“How many layers are you wearing?”
“You like?”
Brodie did a little catwalk strut for her. Man, he had a nice bum. A nice everything. Even if it was covered in a million layers of down and fleece.
“You’ll do.”
Understatement of the universe!
“So how is Operation Public Awareness going?”
“Well, in terms of gathering in the crowds, you can see how well that’s going.” He swept his arm along the length of the empty street.
“Mmm...could be the weather?”
“Or could be they just prefer you,” Brodie replied, his tone lighter than a week ago, when even mentioning the cotton bud delivery had been enough to set him off. Keeping her distance had been easier when he was all grumbly.
This Brodie... All rugged and tool wielding... Yummy.
* * *
“What’s in the magic basket today?”
Brodie leaned toward the wicker basket he had helped Kali attach to the front of her bike with a whole pack of zip ties. Suffice it to say his stitches were better than his DIY skills.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” She protectively covered the box with her hand, eyes sparkling with excitement.
For a split second Brodie envied her the purity of emotion. Every joy he experienced seemed to come with conditions. Obligation after obligation, intent on dragging him down.
Although lately...
“Don’t open it yet.” He nodded at the box. “I bet I can sniff it out. I’ve got a nose that knows...” He tapped the side of it with a sage nod.
Kali laughed, dimpling with the simple pleasure of silly banter.
“It’s definitely not bridies hiding in there.”
She shook her head, lips pushed forward in a lovely little guess again moue.
“Too early for hot cross buns...”
“Correct again.” She nodded. “That you’re wrong, that is.”
“Scones.” He took a step back. “That’s my final answer.”
“Is it, now?”
The guess again moue did a little back and forth wiggle.
Suggestive. Very, very suggestive.
She unpeeled the sticker to reveal a pile of fluffy scones. Then snapped the lid shut again before he could get his hand in there to steal one.
“Uh-uh.” She wagged a finger at him. “These are for later. For everyone.”
“You know, you’ve got to stop spoiling us like this.”
“Why?” She looked at him like he was nuts.
“We just might get used to it.”
“We?” she countered, with a flirty shift of the hips.
“Me,” he admitted, not wanting to put words to the feeling of emptiness he knew was inevitable once she left.
“Go on, now.” He shooed her off. “Run off to your lovely warm clinic whilst I freeze to death out here with my pile of wood.”
* * *
“Take your time,” Kali teased. “Gives me more time to steal all of your patients!”
Her grin disappeared instantly at the sight of Brodie’s defenses flying into place, blue eyes snapping with anger.
“I’m perfectly happy to come in and see patients. It is, after all, my name on the clinic.”
The words flew at her like sharp arrows and just as rapidly her own walls of protection slammed down.
Too soon.
She’d let herself believe in the fairy tale too soon.
“I’m perfectly aware it’s a temporary posting, all right? I just—” She looked away for a minute, trying to ward off the sting of tears.
She’d been too keen. Too enthusiastic about settling in. Brodie’s sharp reaction served her right. She’d fallen hook, line and sinker for the friendly island welcome. The frisson she’d thought existed with Brodie. Her heart had opened up to give too much faith too soon. Trusting people was always a mistake—how could she not know that by now? After everything she’d been through?
Fathers were meant to look after their daughters. Care for them. Protect them. It had never occurred to her that he would choose a man with a history of violence to be her husband. Perhaps her father had fallen for the smooth public demeanor her “intended” had down to a fine art. The one that hid the fact he saw nothing wrong with hitting her to get what he wanted. Her hand flew to her cheek as if the slap had happened yesterday.
She stamped her feet with frustration and forced herself to look Brodie in the eye. It was what people who were in control of their lives did. Met things head-on.
They stood there like two cowboys, each weighing up whether or not it was safe to holster their weapons.
From the looks of Brodie’s expression—a virtual mirror of her own—Kali was fairly certain they were both wishing they could swallow back their words.
Had she been this touchy when she went to the Forced Marriage Protection Unit and pleaded for a new identity? She’d been so consumed with fear and a near-primal need to survive she didn’t really have a clue what sort of impression she’d given. If Brodie was feeling half the trauma she’d experienced, it was little wonder his temperament was whizzing all over the place.
“I didn’t mean to stake some sort of claim on your clinic.”
“And I didn’t mean to sound like such an ass.”
She watched as Brodie raked his long fingers through his thatch of wayward blond hair.
He met her questioning gaze head-on. “Start again...again?”
There it was. That melt-her-heart-into-a-puddle smile.
“Sounds good,” she managed, without too much of a waver in her voice.
“Shall I make you a cup of tea?”
Kali couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing. “The solution to everything? No, thanks, you’re all right. I don’t want to stand in the way of a man who’s got a boat to build!”
Brodie shook off her refusal and commandeered her bicycle, hooking his free arm through hers as he did so, turning them both toward the clinic door. A small step in the right direction to start afresh.
“Now, then, Dr. O’Shea, if I can’t make you a fresh cup of tea, I’m not going to be much good at building a boat, am I?”
“I suppose not.” Kali giggled. “But how long is this going to take? It did take you about five hours to make me one on my first day.”
“Well, lassie...” He increased his brogue, rolling his r’s to great effect, mimicking his auntie Ailsa. “Can you afford me a second chance to make you a nice cuppa tea within the hour, accompanied by a wee bit of Mrs. Glenn’s delicious shortbread?”
“That would be lovely.” Kali smiled up at him, eyes bright, cheeks flushed with the cold and the cycle ride.
* * *
Brodie found himself fighting an urge to bend down and kiss her. But getting attached to Kali when he had no idea what his own future held... Bad idea.
He unhooked his arm from hers, focusing on getting her bicycle into the stand at the back door. Wooing the locum was probably not what his father had had in mind when he’d hoped his son would fall in love with the island.
Besides, Kali wasn’t here for an island fling—she was here to do a job. His job! And it rankled. Perhaps he wouldn’t go inside with her after all.
“Right, then, here you are, Dr. O’Shea. Enjoy your day in the clinic. I’ve got a boat to build!” He gave her a silly salute he didn’t quite feel just as Ailsa poked her head through the door.
“Oh, there you both are. I’ve been wondering if it was just me who was going to run this place today. Kali, you look like you’ve just been pried out of an iceberg!”
Brodie took a closer look. “Are you shivering?”
“No. Not really.” Kali’s lips widened into a wince, only succeeding in making her shivering more obvious.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” cried Ailsa. “Come in out of the cold, would you? I’ve just put the kettle on. I’ll make us all a nice cuppa tea. And perhaps some of Mrs. Glenn’s delicious shortbread.”
Kali and Brodie shared a glance, bursting into simultaneous laughter.
Ailsa waved them off as if they’d each lost their wits. “Ach, away with the pair of you. Now, hurry up so I don’t heat up the outdoors more than the clinic.”
* * *
Kali gathered together the day’s files, tapped them on the top and sides so they all aligned, then picked them up to give them a final satisfying thunk on the desk.
There.
She’d done it.
Another full day of seeing patients—and, she thought with a grin, it had all gone rather swimmingly.
Brodie had been in and out of the tea room, reading various instruction manuals for an ever-growing array of tools. She’d chanced a glance out into the large shed when he’d come in for a cuppa and had smiled at the untouched pile of wood. But she wouldn’t have a clue how to build a boat, so she would be the last one to cast aspersions.
Her phone rang through from the reception line.
“Hello, Caitlyn, are you all ready to close up shop for the day?”
“I am, but I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind seeing one last patient. Mr. Fairways has popped in. Says his hearing aid is acting up.”
“Wouldn’t he be—” Kali was going to ask if he’d be better off seeing a hearing specialist, but remembered there was no hospital. “Absolutely.” It wasn’t as if she had anything else to do. “I’ll come out and get him.”
She pushed through the door into the waiting room, where a wiry gentleman—an indeterminate fiftysomething, wearing a wax jacket and moleskin trousers—was leaning on the counter, speaking with Caitlyn. He looked familiar to her, but that was hardly likely seeing as she’d only been on the island for a week.
“Mr. Fairways?”
He continued to regale Caitlyn with a blow-by-blow account of the weather. Was that feedback she was hearing? She walked toward him. Yes. There was definitely feedback coming from one of his hearing aids.
“Mr. Fairways?” She touched his shoulder.
“Ah, hello there.” He turned to reveal a pair of deep brown eyes and the most wonderful mustache Kali had ever seen outside of a nineteenth-century photo. Or...had she seen him before? There was something familiar about him she couldn’t put a finger on.
“So you’re the mad spirit who’s come up to join us on our fair isle?”
Kali smiled. “Something like that. I understand you’re having a problem with your hearing aid?”
A screech of feedback filled the small waiting room.
“What was that, dear?”
Caitlyn stifled a giggle. Kali shot her a horrified look. She couldn’t laugh at the patients!
“I said, I understand you’re here about your hearing aid?”
“I can’t quite understand your accent, dear. I’m here about my hearing aid.” He glanced at the window facing the street. “I see Young Dr. McClellan is taking a hand to building that boat.”
“That’s what he says.” Kali smiled, then hid her flinch at another piercing hit of feedback.
“What volume do you have your hearing aid on, Mr. Fairways?”
“Eh?”
“The volume?” Kali turned an invisible volume control near her ear.
“Oh, it’s up as high as it’ll go! It was getting harder to hear so I ramped it right on up.”
“That might be your problem.”
“Eh?”
Caitlyn out-and-out laughed. Kali hushed her, but not in time for Mr. Fairways not to take notice.
“Oh, you’ll want to watch it, lassie.” He teasingly waggled a finger in front of the receptionist’s eyes. “You might be bonny now, but soon enough you’ll be all old and wrinkly like me—eyes not working so well, ears packed up and wondering what on earth people are talking about.”
“Ach, away.” Caitlyn waved off his comment with a youthful grin. “You’re hardly an old codger, Mr. Fairways. My great-gran’s about twice your age. You’re obviously doing something funny to those hearing aids of yours, though, with the amount of bother they’re giving you.”
“Since the day I was born, lassie. Since the day I was born.”
“So you’ve always had hearing aids?” Kali asked.
“Aye, well...”
Kali smiled. She was getting used to the Scots’ all-purpose response. Never giving more information than absolutely necessary. She was hardly one to quibble with the tactic.
“Why don’t you come down to my office and we’ll take a look?”
A few minutes later Kali had eased down the volume on her patient’s hearing aids, syringed his ears and clipped away the long hairs that had accrued outside his ear canal. Once he had the hearing aids safely back in place Kali spoke at a normal volume.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with the hearing aids so far as I can tell, Mr. Fairways, but it’s a good idea to keep your ears as clear of hair and wax as you can.”
“I know, dearie, but with no one to keep myself dapper for I sometimes forget.”
“Well, you’re always welcome to come along and see me.” As the words came out of her mouth she realized they weren’t true. This was temporary. Just like so much in her life had been. Temporarily safe. Temporarily happy. Temporarily a normal woman doing her dream job with a hot Viking building...something or other just outside.
“Aye, well...” Mr. Fairways’s brow crinkled with concern.
“Let’s make you an appointment with the audiologists next time they’re on the island. Unless you usually go to the mainland for this sort of thing?”
“Oh, no. I stay here. I’m the honorary mayor of Dunregan, and it wouldn’t do for me to be leaving willy-nilly. I’m happy here. On the island,” he qualified, as if that weren’t obvious.
“Right, then, so I’ll check with Dr. McClellan about the audiologists and we’ll get in touch.”
“Fine.” Mr. Fairways gave a satisfied nod, but made no move to leave.
“Is there anything else you want to talk about?”
“No, no...not really—it’s just that...”
“Mmm...?” Kali nodded that he should feel free to speak.
“I just noticed Brodie doesnae have a proper base set up for his A-frames. He won’t be getting the right sort of balance on the skiff if he’s doing it that way.”
Kali’s grin widened. “Mr. Fairways, I am afraid everything you just said flew straight over my head. I’m about as landlubbery as a girl can get!”
“Well, if you could let Brodie know—”
Kali put up a hand. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to stop you there. I am quite certain anything you tell me would be lost in translation. How about you tell him yourself on your way out?”
She watched him consider the idea. Neutral territory... A way to tease away the groundless fears...
“Oh, I wouldnae want to get in his way or anything.”
“You wouldn’t be,” she assured him. “I think he’d quite like it. Especially since you’d be doing him a double favor.”
“How’s that, then?”
“Well...” She leaned forward conspiratorially. “So many people don’t seem to understand he’s been given the all clear as far as his health and his time in Africa are concerned.”
“Oh?” Mr. Fairways’ fingers twiddled with the end of his handlebar mustache. “Is that right?”
“Absolutely.” She crossed her heart and held up two fingers. “Girl Scouts’ honor.”
“Aye...there was some talk about it at the Eagle and Ram.”
Kali checked a broad grin. That was where she’d seen him before. The pub!
“Given that you’re the mayor of the island—”
“Oh...” Mr. Fairways tutted, a modest smile on his lips. “Only honorary, dear. We don’t go for too much pomp and ceremony up here.”
“Well, even so, it seems to me you have the islanders’ respect, so if you were to be seen speaking with Brodie...you know, just giving him a few pointers...it might put a lot of people’s minds at ease.” She paused while he took in the information. “I’ve seen Brodie’s medical paperwork myself. If you like, I can show you.”
“No, dear, no. That won’t be necessary. I saw him at his father’s funeral. Didn’t want to interfere, is all.” He pushed himself up to stand. “I think I might head on out and have a word with Brodie now. No need to take up any more of your time.”
“It was my pleasure, Mr. Fairways.”
He gave her a nod and a smile as he tugged on his overcoat. “You’ll do well here, lassie—with a smile like that. And sensible, too. Who knows? We might make an islander of you yet?”
From your lips, Mr. Fairways...
* * *
“You take care of yourself, then, Mr. Fairways.” Brodie gave a wave as the sprightly fellow headed off down the road toward the pub for his evening pint, flat cap firmly in place.
Would wonders never cease?
Mr. Fairways...standing right out there in the middle of the street...chatting with him about boat mechanics. He’d been the first one to cancel his appointment when Brodie had returned to Dunregan. It had felt like being struck by a battering ram. Only to be hit again and again as one by one his patients had dropped off the appointment list like flies.
Had it been the Ebola or had it been an unofficial mourning period?
It had been easier to blame the nonexistent contagion rather than face up to years of pushing people away. With his father gone, he might have finally succeeded in pushing near enough everyone away.
Except his auntie. Stoic Ailsa. Unflappable at the worst of times. She was the only one who could tease Callum out of the mountains. Something he needed to put a bit more energy into, with all this unexpected free time.
“Did you get your advice, then?”
“Kali!” Brodie turned abruptly. “Sorry, I was miles away. What was that?”
“Mr. Fairways was saying something about props or frames—”
“Kali O’Shea...” He took a step toward her. “You didn’t have anything to do with Mr. Fairways suddenly turning into a chatterbox, did you?”
“Oh, no. Nothing like that. He was just interested in your project, and I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about, so I thought—”
“Kali,” Brodie interrupted with a knowing smile, “you are about as transparent as a glass of water.”
She grinned, the smile lighting up her eyes. Was that a dimple on her cheek?
“Well, whatever you did or didn’t say...thank you.” He pulled a tarp over the pile of wood and began to organize his tools into some newly purchased boxes. “I’m not going to hold my breath for everyone to come back tomorrow demanding an appointment with me, though.”
“Well, isn’t that the mad thing about life? You just never know.” She raised her eyebrows and tacked on, “Do you?” for added emphasis.
“I suppose.”
If he could get back to work at the clinic then the ticker would start on his promise to his father, he could wipe his hands clean of his past, move on with the future and...and Kali would be gone.
He wasn’t quite ready to give her up just yet.
“Don’t you worry, Kali. Things work at a glacial pace up here. Besides, what would you do if I were hogging all the patients? Your contract is for a month, and if you weren’t busy at the clinic—”
“I’m sure I could think of a load of things to keep me occupied.”
“In Dunregan? You must be joking!” Then again...he could think of a number of things to do with Kali to keep her occupied.
Uh...where did that come from?
“Of course Dunregan,” Kali replied emphatically, blissfully unaware of his internal monologue.
What would she want with someone who hauled around baggage as oversized as his anyway?
“There’s this Polar Bear Club I still have to find out about,” Kali continued enthusiastically, “and I’ve discovered there’s no need to go to the tourist office. The patients have told me about so much more. There’s the cake-baking club, hiking up in the mountains, fell running—”
“You’re a runner?”
Kali nodded, his question jolting her back to another time and place. She’d never give up running. It was her escape.
“Good call.” Brodie interrupted her silent musings. “Running is one thing I missed about being here. The mountain tracks are out of this world. Just the views alone are worth the burn.”
“Finally!” She forced on a cheery smile. “Something you like about the island.”
“Ach...” He waved away her playful gibe. “There’s plenty I like about the old lump of rock. Doesn’t mean I have to stay here till my bones are creaking, does it?” He gave her a sly grin. “So...given that we’ve established neither of us are going to be here forever...maybe you and I could go for a run sometime before you go back?”
“That’d be great!” Her smile faltered a bit.
“Or not. If you prefer running alone.”
“No, no. A run together would be great.”
There was something in her response Brodie couldn’t put a finger on. She wanted to stay? She didn’t like running with other people? She didn’t like being with him? None of the puzzle pieces fit quite right.
She leaned her bicycle on her hip and rubbed her hands together, blowing on them even though they were kitted out in a new pair of mittens.
“I see you’ve been to the shops for a bit of warm-weather gear.”
“Yes!” She nodded with a self-effacing laugh. “I think I must’ve spent my entire month’s salary on a Dunregan wardrobe, but I’ll finally be warm tonight.”
“You’re joking, right?”
She shook her head.
“Doesn’t the heating work where you are?”
“Um...not really. But it’s fine. Although my fire-making skills could do with a bit of improvement.”
“I could show you. I’m all wrapped up here.” Brodie gave the shed a final scan and flicked off the overhead lighting. “Where is it you’re staying again?”
“Oh, it’s fine. Honestly. It’s just a small cottage, and I’ve got loads of warm clothes now. As long as I wear all of them I’m cozy as a teapot.”
“Kali. Which cottage?” he pressed.
“It’s fine—honestly.”
He wagged a finger at her. “I think you’ve been in Dunregan long enough to know it doesn’t take a man long to figure out every single thing there is to know about a person if he sets his mind to it. I can have a word with your landlord, if you like. Who is it you’re renting your cottage from?”
“Seriously...” Her voice went up a notch. “I’m absolutely fine!”
Kali looked anything but fine. There was near panic in her voice, and even through the descending murk of the early evening it was more than apparent that any happiness had drained away from her eyes. A need to protect her overrode his instinct to back away.
“Hey, you’re all right,” he said gently.
He checked an impulse to pull her in for a hug when her body language all but shouted, Back off!
“I’m not trying to pry, Kali. I’m just trying to help you. Make sure you don’t freeze to death while you’re busy covering my back.”
“So which is it, then? I’m covering your back or taking over?”
“Easy there, tiger! What’s going on? This isn’t just about dodgy heating, is it?”
“Sorry, sorry. It’s just been...” Her voice trailed off.
“A long day. I know. A long week. And you’ve done well.” Again he fought an impulse to tug her in for a protective hug.
She grabbed the handlebars of her bicycle. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
“No, sorry... Kali, I can’t let you go back to a house with no heating. Let’s get your bike atop the four-by-four, then I’ll get you home and we’ll build you a fire.”
Kali eyed him warily, then shook her head. “Sorry, I don’t mean to make such a fuss.” She held her bike out for him to put on top of the four-by-four.
“Too many boyfriends chasing you round London?”
“Something like that.”
Even in the dark he saw her lips tighten. There had been something. He was sure of that now. Something that made her wary of letting people know where she lived. Letting a man know where she lived?
Whatever it was, he wasn’t going to pry it out of her tonight. He’d build her a fire and leave her to it. He, of all people, should understand a person’s desire to keep things close to their chest.