‘Jessie did mention a ball earlier,’ Meagan said. ‘Thank you for the invitation, but I’m afraid I’ll have to decline. If Cameron is going—which I am sure he is—then I’ll be on call. Besides, I didn’t bring anything suitable to wear.’
‘Oh, don’t worry about dresses. I’ve got plenty. You’d be more than welcome to take your pick. Although—’ she eyed Meagan’s figure critically ‘—they might need some adjusting. Mrs MacLeod is pretty good with a needle.’
Cheek, Meagan thought furiously. Just because Rachel didn’t have an ounce of fat on her!
‘Don’t worry, Meagan, the whole practice will be there. Everyone is looking forward to it.’ Cameron spoke before Meagan could formulate another refusal.
But Rachel, considering the discussion closed, moved on. She smiled seductively up at Cameron. ‘Ian is so looking forward to spending some time with his daddy and mummy,’ Rachel said, reaching up to Cameron and touching his cheek with a long finger. ‘And so am I.’ Without waiting for a reply, she turned and sashayed back to the house.
Cameron watched her go, his expression inscrutable.
Meagan turned to Cameron. ‘I’m not really expected to go to this ball, am I?’
‘Yep, sorry. Doctor’s orders. It will give you the chance to mix with locals and dignitaries alike. Colin thinks it’s good public relations for everyone to attend—the whole practice will be there. Colin and his wife should be back for it, if it makes you feel better.’
Meagan felt annoyed at the cavalier manner with which he seemed to be arranging her social life. But was it just that? she wondered. She felt angry with him for not mentioning his marriage or child. But it wasn’t as if it was any of her business. Likewise, what she did in her spare time was her own affair.
‘What gives you the right to accept invitations on my behalf?’
‘I’m sorry. But I’m afraid you’ll just have to accept that on a small island such as this, to refuse an invitation is to give offence.’
Meagan bristled. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him to go to hell, but she swallowed her annoyance. He was her boss after all.
‘Very well,’ she conceded. ‘If you put it like that, I suppose I can’t refuse.’
‘Good, that’s settled, then. Would you like to stay for lunch?’
‘No, if I am allowed to refuse any invitations at all, I’d rather not. I’ve still to unpack.’
‘Of course you don’t have to stay for lunch. It’s perfectly understandable that you have things to do. I’ll see you tomorrow, then. Eight-thirty? I can give you a quick tour and a rundown of the patients before surgery.’ He spoke calmly, politely, as if they were perfect strangers, which Meagan supposed they were.
Before she had a chance to reply, he turned on his heel and crossed over to his son. Laughing, he swooped him into his arms and tossed him into the air. With the sound of delighted childish giggles ringing in her ears, Meagan started walking back to her house, realising as she did so that she had left her medical bag and boots at the house. Loath to face Cameron or Rachel again until she had time to get her emotions under control, she decided that she would collect them later.
Stomping down the road to her cottage, she noticed an elderly female figure dressed in a tweed suit and headscarf coming towards her.
‘Good morning!’ the woman greeted her. ‘I thought I’d look in on you on my way to getting the church ready for evening service.’ A gnarled hand was offered. ‘I’m the housekeeper—Mrs McLeod, but call me Flora. We don’t hold much with ceremony here. Welcome to Uist—I hope you’ll be happy here.’
‘Oh, Mrs McLeod—Flora. Nice to meet you. Thank you for the fire and provisions you left last night. You’ve no idea how welcome they were.’
‘Aye, I heard you’d got yourself into a bit of difficulty on the road,’ Flora said, with a suspicious gleam in her eye.
‘Oh, no!’ Meagan said, dismayed. ‘Is it all round the island already?’ So much for making a good impression, she thought, her heart sinking a little.
‘I’m afraid that everyone will be interested in the new doctor from the mainland. Apart from summer visitors, we don’t get many new faces coming to live here. It’s bound to be the main topic of conversation after church today. How the new doctor tried to kill herself and half the island and then needed to be rescued.’ Flora gave a little chuckle, clearly highly amused by the previous day’s events.
‘Yes, I realise now that it was Dr Stuart—Lord Grimsay. Although at the time he looked more like a fisherman.’ Meagan remarked unsure how she was supposed to refer to Cameron.
Flora’s mouth tightened and a coolness entered her eyes.
‘You mean you thought he looked too ordinary? Well, we don’t keep with people giving themselves airs and graces here.’
Obviously the local population thought highly of Cameron, Meagan thought, remembering the easy teasing between him and the bystanders the day before.
Realising that she might have put her foot in it and anxious to make amends, Meagan offered Flora a cup of tea.
‘No, thanks, dear, not today. But I’ll pop by tomorrow to give things in the house a bit of going over. Dr MacDonald has arranged for me to come in for a couple of hours three days a week, if that suits you?’
Meagan really didn’t want someone in the house, tidying up after her, but it would be rude and churlish to refuse. They parted, agreeing that the arrangement would continue as agreed.
Meagan spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking and settling into her new home. As she found places for her clothes and books, her thoughts kept returning to Cameron. Had he already been married that night? If so, then he had behaved unforgivably and was no better than Charlie. How old was Ian? Meagan hadn’t had much experience with children but she thought he was about five or six. It was just over six years since that night, so Rachel must have been pregnant then or at least soon after. What was it about men? Meagan thought furiously. At least the men she seemed to fall for. If she’d thought that Cameron was different, she had been badly mistaken.
Still, it was better to find out sooner rather than later. Now she knew just exactly what sort of man she was dealing with, she’d be on her guard. She had to work with Cameron, and they had to get along as colleagues, but apart from that she’d keep her distance.
The next day dawned with a change in the weather. The wind had risen, bringing with it rain that hurled itself against the windows of Meagan’s car. As she drove to the surgery, she was glad of her vehicle’s efficient heater.
She had dressed carefully in a well-cut beige linen trouser suit, ruefully aware that it was probably a tad too dressy. Just before she left the house, she removed her wedding ring and placed it safely in a drawer. As she had told Cameron, she wanted this to be a new start. It was time to break her last, final link with Charlie.
She was scheduled to help Cameron with the morning clinic and then accompany him on visits in the afternoon. If she had time, she would include a return visit to the big house to see how Effie was getting on, although she was pretty certain Jessie would have called if there hadn’t been an improvement.
As she drove, her thoughts turned to Cameron and the feelings he had stirred up. She was still attracted to him, she couldn’t deny it, and her attraction unsettled her. But looking on the bright side, maybe it meant she was getting over Charlie. Yes, she was still vulnerable and raw. Thinking of his death still pained her but no longer in the way that it had once done. She was even able to accept that some of the blame attached to the deterioration of their marriage might lie with her.
She had been an exceptionally driven medical student and junior doctor. When she hadn’t been working the long hours demanded by her training, she had been studying