Bride for Glenmore Read Free

so should you be, Dr Walker, because if it weren’t for my car, you’d be walking up that hill with your luggage as we speak.’
    Even on such a short acquaintance, he could see that she was a woman with a warm heart and a fiery temper. The combination was intriguing. For the first time in months he found himself fighting the desire to smile. ‘Would you believe me if I told you that lurid purple is my favourite colour?’
    ‘Very funny.’ She glared at him for a moment and then grinned. ‘All right, I’ll be honest. I got it at a knockdown price from the mainland. Apparently no one else liked the colour.’
    ‘You astonish me.’
    ‘Sarcasm doesn’t become you, Dr Walker. The boot’s open if you want to get rid of that suitcase.’ She slid into the driver’s seat and he somehow jammed his suitcase into the tiny boot and then climbed in next to her, wincing as he tried to fold his six foot three frame into the tiny vehicle.
    ‘It may be an awful colour,’ he muttered, easing the door shut, ‘but at least it’s roomy.’
    ‘Are you being rude about my car?’ She glanced towards him and burst out laughing. ‘You look ridiculous.’
    ‘It’s the car that’s ridiculous.’
    ‘The car is fine, but you’re too big for it.’
    Ethan winced and tried to ease his legs into a more comfortable position. ‘I’m aware of that fact.’ He shifted down in the seat to give himself more head room and found his knees under his chin. ‘Well, this is comfortable. Drive on. Wherever we’re going, we’d better get there quickly or I’ll need physiotherapy at the end of the journey and I don’t suppose that’s available on an island this remote.’
    ‘Don’t you believe it. Glenmore may be remote but we’ve a thriving population here. Physio is Evanna’s division. Especially massage. She’s great with crying babies and pretty good with moaning adults, too.’ She started the engine, checked her rear-view mirror and started up the coast road at a frightening pace.
    ‘Evanna?’ Ethan wondered how a car so small could go so fast. ‘I heard you mention her to the lady who spoke to you back on the quay. She’s the other practice nurse?’
    ‘That’s right. We each have different responsibilities. Evanna is a midwife as well as a practice nurse and she’s had some basic physio training. We all do a bit of everything if we can. It saves folks travelling all the way to the mainland.’
    To one side of him the coast flashed past and he had a glimpse of rocky coves and sandy beaches. The island had a dramatic history, he recalled, with a good number of wrecks littering the seabed. He stared out to sea, his mind wandering. There were so many questions he wanted to ask but to do so would reveal too much so instead he turned back to look at her, studying her profile. From this angle he could see that her nose turned up slightly and that her eyelashes were long and thick. She had a sweet face, he decided. A happy face. There were no lines. No shadows. Nothing to suggest that life had sent her anything that she couldn’t handle.
    ‘You’re staring at me, Dr Walker, and it’s putting me off my driving.’
    ‘Then I’ll keep my eyes straight ahead.’ He gave a faint smile. ‘Given the proximity of this road to the edge of the cliff, I certainly wouldn’t want to put you off.’
    ‘I’ve lived here all my life. There’s not a kink in this road that I don’t know. And I’m a jack of all trades. I’m the dietician, the asthma specialist and the diabetes nurse. I’m trained in family planning but we’re not exactly encouraging that at the moment because the population of the island is dwindling. If anyone comes to me for contraception, I send them away to have more sex and make a baby. We need babies on the Island or the next thing you know they’ll be taking away a doctor and trying to close the school.’
    Despite the dark clouds in his head, Ethan found himself laughing. ‘Well, that’s a novel approach