Second Chance With Her Island Doc / Taking A Chance On The Single Dad. Sue MacKay

I did lose consciousness it was only for seconds,’ she said, more surely now. Wanting to reassure herself as well as him. ‘You know split heads bleed enough to make people think you’re at death’s door.’

      ‘Blood running down faces does seem to frighten onlookers,’ he agreed, and she heard the hint of humour return. It was the laughter she’d fallen for. Oh, Leo… ‘We’ll take X-rays to be sure, though.’

      ‘You have facilities?’

      ‘Amazingly, we have.’ The laughter was still there, but underneath…the trace of bitterness she’d heard only once but would remember for ever. Old accusations flooded back. ‘Your family has sucked our country dry…’

      ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…’

      ‘Let’s take a look,’ he said, gentle again, and he moved the padded windcheater aside.

      The paramedics had moved it to do a fast check but they’d replaced it and bound it fast, thinking it was best not to disturb things until they had a doctor’s back-up. Now the bleeding had stopped, and it had become sticky. She felt the windcheater tug on the dried blood in her hair.

      She had no choice. Finally she opened her eyes.

      Leo was right there, leaning over her. His face was maybe two hand widths from hers. This was a Leo who was older, his face creased a little, with age, with weather, his eyes seemingly deeper set.

      But he was the same Leo. Those gorgeous brown eyes. The deep black, crinkly hair, a bit unkempt. The laughter lines. His mouth…

      It was as if he was about to kiss…

      Um…not. He was looking at her head, not into her eyes.

      Oh, but those eyes…

      She needed to get over herself.

      She’d never intended seeing him. Once she’d got over the shock of her inheritance, her intention had been to come here fast, put the organisation of the estate firmly back into the hands of her cousin’s agent and then retreat. She knew the country was impoverished and she had no intention of making it more so. Her uncle and then her cousin had squirrelled away rents and profits. She needed to figure a way to channel them into charities, and then go home.

      Home was in England, where she worked as a family doctor in a village a couple of hours south of London. The community was lovely and she loved her job. She had two beloved springer spaniels, dopy but fun. She’d recently broken up with a rather nice lawyer but they were still friends. She had lots of friends. Life was good.

      This inheritance had been like a bombshell. Now, looking up into Leo’s face, it seemed even more so.

      For the reason things had never progressed with her ‘rather nice lawyer’ was right here. After all this time, to have this memory messing with her life…

      This memory? Leo.

      But Leo wasn’t looking at her. His fingers—oh, she remembered those fingers—were carefully untangling the matted hair so he could see what he was dealing with.

      ‘This was some thump,’ he told her. ‘You’ll need stitches and a thorough check. Sorry, Anna, but we need to shave some of your hair.’

      ‘Nothing a scarf won’t hide,’ she said, trying for lightness. ‘It was my own fault.’

      ‘But you were down in the underground labyrinth.’

      ‘Just checking.’

      ‘Checking your inheritance.’

      ‘That’s right.’ How hard was that to say lightly?

      ‘I’m sorry about your cousin.’

      ‘Really?’ She was trying not to wince at the feel of his fingers. Not from pain, though. He was being gentle.

      He always had been gentle.

      ‘Yanni’s death was unexpected,’ he told her, still carefully probing. ‘Although with the lifestyle he led…’

      ‘Eating and hoarding money,’ she said. ‘I’ve been told. My mother said his father—Mum’s brother—was the same.’

      ‘And he died of a heart attack as well,’ Leo said. ‘Twenty years apart, both their deaths almost instant. Your cousin was only thirty-eight, but with the lifestyle he led and his family history… There was nothing we could do.’

      ‘Hey, I’m not blaming you.’ She sighed. Her head really did hurt. ‘Leo, could you find someone else to stitch my head? To be honest, having you treating me is making me feel a whole lot worse. You don’t like anything about me and my family, right?’

      ‘I treated your cousin,’ he said, without answering her question. ‘Or I tried to. He refused to listen to concerns about cholesterol or weight. But I did my best. I’ll do my best with you.’

      ‘You can’t imagine how grateful that makes me feel,’ she muttered. ‘Is there no one else?’

      ‘Not right now. Our only other doctor is in the midst of a birth.’

      ‘You only have two doctors?’

      ‘This island’s small.’

      ‘I’ve read about it. Twenty thousand people. Two doctors?’

      ‘You tell me how to get the money to train them and I’ll do something about it. We have a couple of islanders we’ve trained as nurse-practitioners. They’re good, but for a head wound you need either Carla or me.’

      She’d known the island was impoverished. Two doctors, though, for such a population… Now, though, wasn’t the time for thinking about it. ‘I’ll wait for Carla,’ she said, and she knew she sounded belligerent but she couldn’t help it. This man had hurt her in the past and hurt her badly. She didn’t want him anywhere near her.

      ‘I doubt if you can wait that long.’ He stood back a little, studying her. Like an interesting bug? Like he didn’t even know her. ‘So what were you doing climbing under the castle without a hard hat?’

      ‘A hard hat…’ she said cautiously, and thought about it. Or tried to think about it. The knock had made her feel ill, and Leo’s presence was now removing almost all the rest of her ability to think logically. ‘Maybe that would have been sensible,’ she conceded at last. ‘It wasn’t offered as an option, though, and I really wanted to see.’

      ‘So Victoir took you underground?’

      ‘He was my cousin’s agent. He knows the place.’

      ‘He also knows the rule about hard hats. He didn’t warn you?’

      ‘Of course he did. He said it’s dangerous. He said the entire underground needs to be closed off, and I guess now I agree. My inheritance states that capital must be used to improve or maintain the castle itself. That’s pretty limiting. Victoir’s idea is that I close off the underground area and divide the castle into apartments. He says with the view over the sea they’ll command exorbitant rent and provide an economic boost for the whole island.’

      ‘I imagine they will,’ Leo said dryly. ‘And an economic boost for Victoir as well. So he told you that going underground was dangerous.’

      ‘I told you.’ She sighed. ‘Leo, can we just get on with this? Fix my head, charge me what you like and let me go.’

      ‘You know I won’t keep you longer than I must,’ he said, formally now. ‘But losing consciousness… You know as well as I do that overnight obs are essential. Like it or not, you’re stuck here for the night.’

      He turned back to the nurse, switching back into Tovahnan. ‘Maria, let’s get this X-rayed before we do a proper clean-up,’ he told her. ‘Can you take her through? I’ll get some pain relief in first, though.’ He turned back to Anna. ‘Pain… One to ten?’

      She thought