Summer Fling

‘Yes.’ Evanna tried not to look at the mess. ‘Typical August, really.’

‘A

nd you’ve been helping Dr MacNeil with the little one.’ Craig rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand. ‘The man needs a wife. I dare say he’ll meet someone else soon enough.’

Was it her imagination or was he giving her a funny look? ‘Very possibly, but in the meantime he’s managing perfectly well on his own.’ Evanna remembered what Logan had said about everyone telling him he’d meet someone else. ‘He’s doing fine.’

‘Still—nice of you to help him.’

‘I’ve known Logan since I was born,’ Evanna said evenly. ‘He’s one of my closest friends.’

‘Of course he is. And you and Kyla have been thick as thieves since you were both in nappies.’ Craig stared out across her garden. ‘Sometimes you don’t notice something when it’s been in your face all your life.’

Was it that obvious to everyone? ‘Craig—’

‘He’s single. You’re single. Seems perfect to me.’

Evanna stared at him with a mixture of exasperation and embarrassment. Was everyone thinking the same as Craig? ‘Anna Brice is single, too, Craig,’ she said in a tart voice. ‘Why not just pair her up with him.’

‘Possibly because she’s eighty-six on her next birthday.’ Craig scratched his arm. ‘It isn’t just because you’re both single that I think you’d be good together. You’re friends. Everyone can see that.’

‘Marriage is about far more than just friendship,’ Evanna said briskly, and Craig gave a nod.

‘Perhaps. But it’s a good start.’

Evanna thought of the passion that Kyla and Ethan shared. She thought of the looks they exchanged and the way that they touched all the time. It was as if they couldn’t be near each other and not be joined.

She wouldn’t settle for less.

‘I need to get on, Craig.’

‘Of course you do, what with a busy morning in the surgery and a busy afternoon at Dr MacNeil’s. I’ll just finish up here and get out of your way.’ He beamed at her. ‘Is seven too early to start tomorrow? I like to get the heavy stuff done before the sun comes up.’

‘Seven is fine. Thanks, Craig.’

One of the problems of living in a small community, Evanna reflected as she stepped over the rubble and walked into her kitchen, was that everyone was far too interested in everyone else.

She just hoped that no one said the same thing to Logan.

The next week passed in a blur as the surgery handled an unprecedented number of tourists.

‘I feel as though I’m running an A and E department,’ Logan grumbled as he and Evanna cleared up after stitching yet another child who had slipped on the rocks. ‘That was a nasty cut.’

‘He was rock-pooling and he should have been wearing shoes and not flip-flops. I suppose he just didn’t have any grip, which was why he slipped.’ Evanna dropped the stitch cutter into the sharps box. She’d been making a supreme effort to behave naturally with Logan and it seemed to be working. At least he’d stopped asking her if anything was wrong.

‘People leave their brains behind when they’re on holiday. I heard from the hospital today about Alison Winchester. They kept her in for a night and then followed her up before she went back down to London. She was still suffering aches and pains but no other effects that they can see. They’ve written to her GP.’

‘That will be a first for him. I bet a GP in London would know even less about an adder bite than I did.’ Evanna walked across the room and washed her hands. ‘Did they manage to find the snake, by the way?’

‘Funnily enough, yes. The park ranger rang me last week. They’ve relocated the family.’

‘Mr and Mrs Adder.’ Evanna laughed, yanking paper towels out of the holder. ‘Somewhere homely with a nice view, I hope. Hot and cold running water.’

‘Somewhere that no one is going to tread on them again, I hope,’ Logan said dryly, sitting down and hitting a key on the computer. ‘Am I finished here?’

‘For now. Janet told me that you have three house calls. Doug is feeling really dizzy and wondered if you’d call on your way home. I suspect it’s the heat or maybe his tablets, but it’s worth checking. You know how worried he’s been since they discharged him from the hospital.’

‘Patients are always worried after a heart attack and it’s still relatively early days for Doug.’ Logan picked up a set of results and scanned them. ‘How’s Sonia’s blood pressure at the moment?’