CHAPTER NINE

KALI GAVE A loved-up sigh, forcing herself to put her mobile phone down. She and Brodie had been texting like moonstruck teens since she’d left the mainland three days ago. In spite of all the difficult moments they’d shared at the hospital, these messages were like little drops of heaven.

Ailsa knocked on her office door frame, mugs of tea in hand. “How many are you up to now? I heard Caitlyn put another call through a few minutes ago.”

“I can’t believe there hasn’t been a nationwide alert!” Kali looked at her growing list of volunteers.

“You don’t need an alarm system here on Dunregan. Telephones and a trip down to the Eagle for a pint do the trick fast enough.” Ailsa slid a mug of tea onto Kali’s desk and perched on the edge. “Here you are, dear. You’ll need this.”

Kali ran her finger along the list. “So...how do you think I should work it? Brodie’s insisting on staying for the next few days, while Callum’s still in Intensive Care.”

“He’s not in Recovery yet?” Ailsa’s eyes widened.

“No. He’s been in and out of surgery for the past two days.” She cleared her throat, trying to keep the emotional fallout at bay. “And this morning Brodie was pretty concerned about his blood pressure. Callum lost a lot of blood before they got him into hospital with the arterial bleed and they were talking about bringing him back into sur—” She choked on the word, unable to continue.

“Hey, now. Our Callum’s strong as an ox. If anyone can pull through it’s that lad.” Ailsa pulled her up and into a warm hug. “Brodie tells me you were an absolute rock. That he couldn’t have got through the past couple of days without you.”

Kali pulled back, tears streaming down her face. “He said that?”

“’Course he did, love.” Ailsa reached across the desk and tugged a tissue out of the ever-present box and handed it to her. “And if I were a betting woman I would guess things are running a bit deeper than that.”

Kali felt red blossom on her cheeks.

Ailsa laughed. “I might be well into middle age, darlin’, but do you think I haven’t seen the sparks between you two?”

“It’s not—Well, it’s...”

Of all the times to be at a loss for words!

“It is what it is,” Ailsa filled in for her. “But you be careful. This is quite a time of turmoil for Brodie, and I love my nephew to bits but I’ve never known him to be into much of anything for the long-term except for his work.”

A fresh wave of tears threatened to spill over onto Kali’s cheeks.

“Ach, away.” Ailsa pulled her in tight again for a lovely maternal hug. “I’m not saying Brodie will let you down. I’m just saying mind your heart. We’ve all really taken to you and we’ll hate to see you go.”

“Brodie’s actually asked me to stay on.”

“As a partner in the clinic? He’d been talking about it before you came, but I didn’t think he meant it.” A look of happy disbelief overtook Ailsa’s features. “Are you sure we’re talking about my Brodie? The errant nephew of mine who won’t commit to dinner in a couple of hours’ time—that Brodie?”

“The very same. But—” Kali quickly covered herself, not wanting to get too excited. “He wasn’t specific about the clinic. I presume he just meant until Callum’s out of hospital and things are back to normal.”

“There’s no such thing as ‘normal’ for Brodie, Callum or Dunregan for that matter, love.”

Kali’s brain was pinging all over the place. And her heart was thudding so loudly she was surprised it wasn’t boinging out through her jumper, cartoon-style.

“Are you saying it’s best if I leave?”

“Oh, heavens no!” Ailsa looked horrified. “Absolutely not, Kali, love. I’m just an interfering auntie. What happens between you and Brodie is none of my business. You’re about the best thing that has happened to him ever since the poor lad’s mother died. I’m only saying he’s never been settled here. Not in his heart. But these past few weeks I’ve seen you take to the community here like a duck to water.” She sighed. “I suppose I’m saying make sure you know what you want. Brodie and the island don’t necessarily come as a package.”

Kerthunk.

Could hearts defy the most intricate internal structuring and actually plummet to the pit of your stomach?

That was what it felt like. A best day and a worst day colliding midchest and sinking like a lead weight. Taking all of the air in her chest with it.

Kali looked down at the list of names she’d compiled on her desk, feeling genuine fatigue creeping in and replacing the positive energy that had been keeping her afloat.

Brodie had asked her to stay! Not as his wife or anything, but he’d asked her to stay. And here was a list of people all willing to help him as he transitioned from globe-trotter to islander. A list! A list in black-and-white of at least two dozen people who’d rung her up this morning, volunteering to take stints of time with Callum so Brodie could get some rest.

She pulled the papers off the desk and forced a bright smile. “I guess we’d better get cracking on putting this rota together before the patients start coming. There’s a busy day ahead.”

“That there is,” Ailsa agreed. She knocked her knuckles against the door frame, as if chiding herself. “Don’t let me get you down, Kali. I’m just an overcautious Scot. You might be pleased to hear that Johnny was looking to head over to the mainland soon, to stand in for Brodie so he can come back and get a fresh change of clothes.”

Kali’s eyes lit up, but she did her best to contain her smile as Ailsa disappeared out into the corridor.

Perhaps Ailsa was right. She wasn’t being cautious enough. Wasn’t looking after the heart she’d so hoped to set free up here on this beautiful, wild island.

She closed her eyes and there was Brodie, clear as day. All tousled hair and full lips parting in that smile that never failed to send her insides into a shimmy or seven. She guessed it was time to venture into unknown territory yet again, because closing her heart to Brodie... An impossibility.

* * *

“C’mon. Budge over. I need a bit of normal.” Brodie pulled a chair up next to Kali’s as she looked through the afternoon’s patients, wanting to make sure she’d crossed her i’s and dotted her t’s...or was it the other way round? Brodie must be just as tired as she was. It had taken four days for Callum to get out of ICU. He had been lucky, his doctors had cautioned. Very lucky.

She pulled a folder from the top of her ever-growing pile and scanned it.

“All right, then, Doctor. How’s about a ‘normal’ case of toe fungus?” She hung air quotes round the normal.

“If it’s who I think it is...” Brodie flashed her a quick smile “...it’s perfectly normal.”

She held up the file so he could see.

“Bingo! Got it in one!” Brodie clapped his hands together happily. “That chap needs to develop a better friendship with his washer-dryer.”

“Or just buy some fresh boots and start over?”

They laughed, not unkindly, while Kali made a couple of notes, then moved on to the next patient.

Together they worked through the dozen or so patient files—Brodie offering a bit of insight here, Kali making her usual meticulous notes. The atmosphere between them was perfect. Warm. Companionable. No—even better than that. Loving.

She could’ve sat there all day with him, doing her best to keep the odd hits of panic at bay. Panic that what she was feeling whenever they were together wasn’t real. Panic that she didn’t deserve such happiness.

Ailsa’s words kept echoing in her head... Brodie and the island don’t necessarily come as a package.

“When are you going to be done?” Brodie’s sotto voce tone sent shivers down her spine as his hands spread out across her back in search of her bra strap. “I want to get you up on the exam table and do some examining of my own.”

“Someone’s in a good mood.” Kali nudged him away with her elbow while she tried to input some information into the computer system.

“Someone’s too busy working to indulge me,” he teased, tickling her side to no effect.

He sat back in his chair and assessed her.

“Someone else is ignoring very important paperwork.” Kali didn’t want to be under the microscope right now. Not with the zigzags of emotions she was experiencing.

“Are you putting patient care over your—?” He stopped for a moment, his eyes flicking up to the left in the telltale sign that he was searching for the right thing to say.

“My what?” Kali asked, trying her absolute, very, very best to keep her tone light.

“Boyfriend sounds stupid, doesn’t it? And partner always sounds too clinical for me. Too businessy.”

Brodie turned her round in her wheelie chair and tugged her closer toward him so that he could lay a deeply satisfying, sexy-as-they-come kiss on her lips.

Uh-oh! Boy, was she in trouble!

He pulled back and feigned a detached inspection, silently chewing a few words round in his mouth before sounding them out into her office.

Seafaring Lothario, main squeeze and plus one were rejected outright. “Man-friend?” he tried, to Kali’s resolute horror.

“Or...” He pulled back even farther, eyes firmly glued on hers. “You don’t look entirely happy, here. Have I jumped the gun?”

“No!” Kali all but shouted, then forced herself to turn her own volume down. “No, I think it’s sweet.”

“Sweet?” Brodie recoiled. “I thought you liked me because I was all silent and broody and muscly. A pensive Viking.”

“Oh, definitely!” Kali was giggling now, fears laid to rest. At least for now. “You’re my pensive Viking.”

“You don’t have a whole string of us out there, do you?” Brodie pulled her in again, dropping kiss after kiss on her lips. “A doctor in every port?”

“As if.”

She returned one of his kisses with the ardor of a Viking mistress whose man had only just returned from months at sea. Shirts became untucked, fingers started exploratory journeys, backs arched, soft moans unfurled out of throats receiving naughty nips and licks as hands squeezed and caressed and—

A knock sounded.

Kali and Brodie hastily tugged everything back into place that should be in place, still giggling when Ailsa opened the door with a wary expression.

“I’m not interrupting anything here, am I?”

“No, Auntie Ailsa. What can we do for you?”

“I’ve got some patients.”

“Already? I thought I had another twenty minutes.” Kali’s eyes flicked to the clock to double-check.

Ailsa stood back from the door frame and in bounded two very familiar furry beasts, one with a bright pink plaster on her leg.

“Hamish! Dougal!” Kali dropped to her knees, only to be covered in big slobbery kisses.

She’d been visiting the vet’s on a daily basis, sending photos to Brodie to show to Callum to prove that Ethel’s—now his—beloved dogs were being taken care of.

“Glad to see it’s such a happy reunion.” Ailsa smiled down at her, before squaring her gaze with Brodie’s. “Now, you’re sure you’re all right to have these two massive bear cubs running round your house until your brother is well enough to look after them?”

“Definitely.” Brodie nodded solidly whilst Ailsa’s stern expression remained unchanged.

“I know Kali’s willing to help, and we can rely on her, but the onus is on you, Master McClellan. No swanning off to Africa, or whatever exotic location takes your fancy, with these two relying on you.”

* * *

Brodie looked down at the two dogs, their big eyes now locked on him. Hopeful. Gleaming. And between them, of course, was Kali. The most beautiful face in the world. Her green eyes were filled with the same glint of hopeful anticipation. One that cemented his decision.

“Yes, Aunt Ailsa.” He nodded soberly. “You have my word.”

“Well, then...” She gave a brisk that’s done swipe of her hands. “That’s good enough for me. Now, will you be bringing them to Ethel’s funeral? I’m fairly certain Callum said she stipulated in her will that they be there.”

“That’s this Friday, isn’t it?” Kali asked, her arms still around her new furry companions.

Ailsa nodded.

“It’s a shame it’s so soon. Callum would’ve been the best one to speak.”

“Could we get him to do a video link on someone’s phone or tablet?” Kali suggested.

“That’s a good idea.” Brodie nodded as the idea took shape. “Or maybe—as we can’t do the pyre until Ethel has been cremated—we could wait until he’s back. Even if he’s on crutches or in a wheelchair we can wheel him down to the beach before we set the boat alight.”

“I’m sorry?” Kali looked like she was choking on the image he’d painted.

“Didn’t Callum tell you?”

“The last time I saw him he was so high on painkillers he mostly talked about putting Ethel in a boat and setting it on fire, then shoving it out to sea. I thought he was just away with the faeries.”

“Nope. Not in the slightest.” Brodie shook his head, and his aunt nodded along with him. It was one of the island traditions he had actually always loved. A traditional Viking funeral. “It won’t be completely traditional, because I think Health and Safety have something to do with it. But Ethel requested that her ashes be put out to sea Viking-style. I think she traced her lineage back to the Norse gods, or something mad, and she always was a bit of an old battle-ax...”

An idea shot through him like a jolt of electricity.

“What if I got some of the lads to help me finish my boat and we used that instead of one of those smaller model-types? It would take a couple of weeks, and that would hopefully buy Callum the time to get out of hospital.”

“Oh, no—Brodie. Not that one.” Ailsa shook her head disapprovingly.

“Why not?” He looked between the two astonished women as if it was perfectly obvious that he should send his handcrafted boat out in a burning pyre of flames.

“Don’t worry, ladies. Leave it with me. Ethel will go out in style!”

* * *

“Mmm...this is my favorite part of the day.” Kali stretched luxuriously, using Brodie as ballast for her small frame as she twisted and wiggled herself from early-morning sleepy to fresh-faced awake.

“And why’s that, my sweet little raven-haired minx?” Brodie had a pretty good idea why, but he wanted to hear Kali say it anyhow.

“Calm before the storm.”

“Which storm is that? The patients who can’t get enough of you? The boatbuilding brigade? The two larger-than-life dogs we’ve been looking after until my softie of a brother can walk again? Do you want me to keep going?” he asked when she started giggling.

“I don’t see them as storms—they’re just...life.”

“You’re my calm.” Brodie tugged her in so he could give her a smooch on the forehead.

“Hardly!” Kali protested, accepting the kiss anyway, tiptoeing her fingers up along his stomach until they came to rest on his chest. “Does that make you the storm?”

“It’s not as if I’ve brought much tranquility into your life.”

They both laughed as Brodie began to tick off the number of things that had happened since his return to Dunregan, and Kali dismissed each of them as insignificant.

“If you’d actually had Ebola this would’ve been a very short-lived romance.”

“That’s true. And you’d have had to die as well, since we’ve been snogging ourselves silly.”

“How very Romeo and Juliet of us!”

“Except my family doesn’t hate your family because you keep them all secret and locked up in your little Kali hideaway,” Brodie teased.

He felt Kali instantly stiffen beside him. Bull’s-eye on the sore subject, and he hadn’t even been trying!

He propped himself up on an elbow and drew a finger along her jawline, compelling her to meet his gaze. “Sweetheart...I don’t know why you don’t talk about your family, but if you ever need to talk about it—about them—we both know you’ve helped me a lot with mine...”

Kali put on an impish grin—one that didn’t make it all the way to her eyes—gave him a quick peck on the lips and then skittered out from under his arms.

“We’ve got to get a move on. I want to get the dogs walked before I go to the clinic.” She wrapped herself up in his hugely oversized dressing gown, looking like a terrycloth princess in her ceremonial robes. “Today’s the big day.”

“Ethel’s ceremony! And getting Callum back from hospital, of course. Do you think we should make up the downstairs bedroom for him or just let him bed down with the dogs?”

Kali smirked at him and pointed at the linen cupboard down the hallway.

“Well, we’d best crack on, love.” He shooed her out of the bedroom. “Hie thee to the shower, lassie. I’ll not have you entering the clinic smelling like anything less than a dewy rose.”

Brodie fell back into the pile of pillows when he heard the shower go on, glad to have put a smile back on Kali’s face. He’d let it slide this time. But now that he realized what an idiot he’d been to turn his back on his family he really hoped she would open up to him about hers. Good or bad, they were worth coming to terms with.

He’d thought he didn’t need his family. What had never occurred to him was how much they’d needed him. They hadn’t been trying to suffocate him. They’d just been trying to love him. And for the first time since his mum had passed he was beginning to believe he was worthy of their love.

Just a few days more and he would find out if he was worthy of Kali’s.

He rolled over to the far side of the bed and tugged open the drawer of the bedside table, where he’d hidden the tiny green box he’d brought back from the mainland after his last trip to see Callum. He flicked open the box and smiled...one perfect solitaire. All that was left to do now was find the perfect moment.

* * *

“Are you sure you’re comfortable?” Kali tucked an extra blanket over Callum’s knees. Tartan, of course. Over the tartan of his kilt.

“I’m not geriatric. I’m simply...transitioning to bionic. It’s a process,” Callum grumbled good-naturedly, swatting her hands away. “If that brother of mine could learn to steer this thing better I might not have shouted so loud when we hit that bump.”

“What’s that about my driving?”

Brodie sidled up, also kilted-out to the nines, slipping a warming arm across Kali’s shoulders. She loved the “everydayness” of the gesture. How protected she felt. Secure.

“Your driving is absolutely wonderful, big brother.” Callum grinned.

“That’s what I thought you were saying. How’s the leg?”

“As I was saying to the beautiful Dr. O’Shea—”

“Hey, watch it,” Brodie interrupted, his fingers protectively tucking Kali a bit more possessively under his arm. “I saw her first.”

“I know...I know!” Callum held his hands up in the surrender pose. “Seriously, though. Thanks to you two and your stellar calls on my leg, I want you to know I am feeling bionic. Even if it will take six months to test run all the new hardware inside it. You’ll get front-row seats to the inaugural run, if you can bear looking after me that long.”

“Don’t worry, Callum. We’ll be here to watch you take the first tenuous steps all the way to your first hill run.” He gave Kali’s arm a little rub. “Won’t we, love?”

Kali smiled and nodded, hiding as best she could the hint of anxiety this glimpse into their mutual future had unleashed. She had never planned for the future. Never been able to. The fact that she’d made it through medical school was little short of a miracle.

And her little-girl hopes of falling in love and marrying the man of her dreams one day... Her father had shown her just how much of a nightmare that sort of dream could become.

“Hey, you.” Brodie nestled in to give her a peck on the cheek. “Everything all right?”

“Absolutely.” She gave him a wide smile. One filled with every ounce of gratitude that she had for having him in her life at all. “I was just thinking—do we have your brother parked in the best place to give his eulogy?”

“Celebratory remembrance, Kali! Ethel would’ve hated the idea of a eulogy,” Callum cut in. “And here was me, worried you’d put me at the end of the dock so Brodie could push me off. What do you think, Kali? You’ve got to know this wayward beast over the past couple of months...are his intentions honorable?”

Her eyes widened and zipped from Callum’s to Brodie’s. One set of cornflower-blue eyes was filled with laughter, whilst Brodie’s... Was that panic she saw? Whatever it was, it sent her stomach churning.

“Relax, Kali. I’m just messing with you.” Callum laughed heartily. “Wow! Take a look at the crowds. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the beach this crowded. Do you think I’ll be needing a microphone?”

“Don’t worry, little brother. Your dulcet tones are plenty loud enough.”

* * *

Brodie would’ve punched his brother’s lights out if he hadn’t already been laid up in a wheelchair. Trust him to near enough let the cat out of the bag before he’d even had a chance to propose. It wasn’t as if Kali had professed her undying love for him or anything. Or said she wanted to stay on Dunregan forever. Something he could picture himself doing. Especially tonight.

He finally saw what his father had wanted him to see. A place where people came together to help. Yes, they knew your secrets, and whether or not your shortbread was better or worse than the woman’s next door. But they were a united front in the face of adversity and—in tonight’s case—the celebration of a life fully lived. People were absolutely flooding the broad arc of a beach.

Tall torches were secured in the sand every five meters or so, the flames adding a warm glow to the scene. Up above them the stars were out in force, and even though it was freezing cold he felt warmer in his heart than he had in years. Being here with the woman he loved, his brother and his extended family—virtually the entire population of Dunregan—all gathered together to send off Ethel Glenn in about the most dramatic fashion possible. It was heaven-sent.

* * *

Kali lit the first candle on Callum’s say-so. The atmosphere was hushed, a mix of tears and laughter as everyone remembered Ethel in their own way after Callum gave a simple but loving speech in memory of the woman who had touched each of their lives—if not with her deep understanding of the island, then with her excellent command of shortbread.

Within minutes the sky was filled with scores of Chinese lanterns. Hamish and Dougal each raised their furry head to the skies and howled their farewells.

“Brodie?” Callum prompted, when a few moments had passed and another collective silence was upon them. “Will you do the honors?”

Brodie stepped forward, his eyes solidly on the boat he had built with the unfettered help of the community. Young and old had gathered to craft her, and for just an instant he felt remorse at the decision to set her alight. But there’d be time to build another one. And he couldn’t think of a more appropriate send-off for a woman who had embodied the very essence of the place he was now proud to call home.

“This boat—The Queen Ethel—she’s a project that’s been—” He stopped, feeling the choke of emotion threatening to overwhelm him.

He looked to Kali and gathered the strength he needed from her beautiful green eyes and warm smile.

“This boat was built by many hands. The wood—grown on Dunregan, ordered by my father—has been lovingly crafted—”

“You mean put together with sticky tape?” Johnny shouted from the crowd.

A ripple of laughter lifted the mood, bringing a smile to Brodie’s lips.

“Near enough, mate. That and plenty of glue. A thank-you is definitely required for Johnny’s long-suffering wife, Helen, for keeping all of us chaps in bridies, scones and raspberry jam for the duration.”

He patted his air-inflated stomach, to the delight of the crowd.

“But seriously—and I do mean this from the bottom of what most of you know to be my very wayward heart—this boat would not exist without all of you.”

He reached out to Kali and gave her hand a squeeze, buying himself a moment to swallow another surge of emotion.

“We all know I couldn’t think of enough reasons to leave this island as a teen—but, having seen the world and come back home...I can assure you all that Ethel exemplified all of the reasons to stay. Will you all charge your glasses, please, as we offer up a toast and a farewell to our dear friend, Ethel Glenn?”

Callum handed Brodie the flaming torch he’d been holding throughout his brother’s speech. Brodie raised it aloft as the sound of bagpipes began. Another man untied the boat and with an almighty shove set her out to sea, with the torch Brodie flung in the very center of the craft.

Collectively everyone held their breath as a huge whoosh of flame took hold of the boat and it was transformed into an otherworldly Viking craft.

Huzzahs and shouts of delight filled the air, and for a few moments Kali stood spellbound by the sight of the boat floating out to sea. By the contrast of the billowing flames reaching up to the heavens and the foamy crash of waves against the hull of the boat.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw motion. An awful lot of motion. Her eyes shifted closer to the shore.

Was that...?

Were those...?

Had they really...?

Her fingers flew to her mouth in disbelief.

Scores of islanders were flinging off their clothes and jumping—some in old-fashioned swimsuits, others completely stark naked—into the sea! Including, she saw with complete amazement as a kilt landed in her arms, Brodie!

Kali laughed and laughed. She’d heard all sorts of people mention the Polar Bear Club, but until this very minute she’d had no idea what they were talking about. With all the white bums bobbing about in the sea, children and adults alike shrieking with delight at the frigid arctic temperatures, the scene had the undeniable feel of a party.

Ethel’s boat was quite a distance out now, the fire illuminating the effervescence of the waves with a golden tinge. Completely magical.

Kali could imagine living here until the end of time. Yes, there would always be a hole in her heart where her mother and sister had lived. Maybe over time she could make it a warmer place. A sacred place where she kept them safe, preserved in a time before she’d known the cruel twists life could sometimes take.

“Here you are, love. Mind giving me a hand?” Ailsa materialized by her side with an enormous bag overflowing with huge fluffy towels.

“Wow! Did a spa go out of business or something? These look amazing!”

“We held a charity do a couple of years back, after folk kept misplacing their towels along the beach. This way the swimmers come out, they towel off, get a warm drink—see the table set up over there by the shore?—and everything goes down to the pub for washing the next day.”

“The pub?”

“Aye, they’ve got one of those big industrial washing machines because of the rooms and the little cabins they let over the summer. That was their donation. Scrubs and suds.”

Kali grinned at the wording. If it was possible for her to like Dunregan even more, it was happening.

She stopped for a second, shifting up her chin as if it would help her hear better. Just out of earshot she heard a sharp, frightened call. A woman.

“Jack!” shouted the voice. “Jaaaack!”

Kali knew that tone.

Fear.

Complete and utter fear.