‘Grady, this isn’t going to work,’ she said softly. ‘Not now.’ She glanced around at the mess the wave had made of the shoreline and she shuddered. ‘Look, we’re talking about the future here-and the present’s such a catastrophe that we can’t even think straight. Can we just get on with it?’

‘But you and I-’

‘There’s no you and me.’

‘There is.’

‘Grady…’

‘Morag, I was mad to ever let you go,’ he said strongly. ‘I can’t imagine why I did.’

‘I didn’t give you a choice.’

‘You’re saying you didn’t regret it?’

‘No. I…’

‘You’re saying you don’t love me?’

She stared at him. He was so…capable, she thought desperately. Strong, competent and a little bit…dangerous? Ruthless?

He had all the answers, she thought, anger surfacing as it had four years ago. He’d take over her life and he’d put it back on track. Organise. Order.

Her life would be great. Robbie’s life would be great. He’d care for them and make them laugh and make love to her and make her toes curl and the world would be a funny, happy, busy…

Her community would be without her. May. Hazel. Marcus and Judy and the kids. Angie Salmon, who’d hardly started to grieve.

‘No.’

‘Morag…’

‘Grady, please. Don’t ask.’

‘I must.’ His hands came out and caught hers. ‘Morag, what’s between us…it’s irreplaceable. Four years ago I thought it was…not all that important. I thought I’d meet someone else. But there’s only you. Morag, I can’t bear to let you go again. We’ll get the island evacuated-’

‘No!’ She was almost yelling at him now. Fear was surfacing behind the anger. Fear that she was losing control. She was losing her direction and it was desperately important that she find it again.

‘Why not?’ he said, his voice gentling.

‘I can’t. How can you not see?’

‘I see what’s between us.’

‘There’s nothing between us.’

‘Don’t be so…’

‘So what?’ She was close to tears. She was close to breaking and it must be obvious. Grady’s face changed and suddenly instead of urgency there was tenderness. Compassion.

Love.

‘Morag…’

There it was again. The way he said her name. It had the capacity to shift her off her bearings. It had the capacity to…

To weaken?

For suddenly she felt herself being drawn into him. Against her better judgement-against any sort of judgement-she was allowing those big, capable hands to pull her against him. Her breasts were pressing against the strength of him. His hand was cupping her chin and tilting her face.

And then…

He smiled down at her, a rueful, searching smile that asked more questions than it answered. And she couldn’t reply. How could she reply as his mouth lowered onto hers?

She could drown in this kiss.

Four long years…

She’d thought she was over it. No. No, she’d never thought she was over it, she thought desperately, but she’d pushed away the feel of him. The scent of him. The pure animal magnetism…

Her love for this man was so real. It was an aching need that had had her crying out in her sleep for the first twelve months of her stay on the island. Her dreams of her dead sister had been crazily mixed with her need for this man.

Loss. She’d lost so much. Her loss was real and dreadful, and the sudden lessening of it, the sudden glimmer of hope that her loss wasn’t irrevocable, had her responding now as if her body had known all along that this was her rightful place.

This was her home. This man was her man, and the only place in the world that she could ever be at peace was right here.

Within the arms of the man she truly loved.

So for one long moment she melted into his kiss. For one glorious moment she let herself surrender to the promise of his body. To the feel of his hands, pulling her into him. To the feeling that here in his arms anything was possible. With Grady beside her, she could take on the world. Save her island. Find Hamish safe and well. Care for the Kooris.

With Grady she could do anything. She could fly!

Above her head the light from the lighthouse shimmered on, automatically powered to light up with the gathering dusk. The flash of light across her face was hardly enough to haul her back from insanity-it didn’t-but it was enough to make her catch a trace of reason. To haul back. To gasp and push back with both hands. To stand and stare with eyes that were wild with want and hope and aching, tearing need.

And above all…despair?

‘Grady, don’t…’

‘You want-’ he started in a voice that was far from steady.

‘What I want doesn’t come into it,’ she whispered. ‘This is crazy. A tidal wave washes away the foundations of my community and you’re saying I should leave them? I can’t. Grady, don’t ask me.’

‘Morag-’

‘Leave it,’ she said, roughly and despairingly. ‘Go back from where you came, Grady. You’re needed in a crisis. Medical emergencies. But what I do… I don’t do emergencies, Grady. I do for ever.’

She stared at him for one long moment, as though taking in everything she could about him. One long, last look…

‘I need to go home,’ she whispered. ‘I’m sorry, Grady. I have to go back to Robbie.’

And before he could say another word she’d turned and fled, back to where the track started its winding way up toward Hubert’s cottage.

Back to the community where she belonged.

CHAPTER TEN

GRADY walked back to the hospital and met Jaqui about to organise a search party. He’d turned his radio off during the conversation with William and hadn’t turned it on again-a transgression that had every member of their team concerned. Briefly he outlined what had happened, but halfway through she interrupted.

‘You mean he jumped?’

‘No.’

Her eyes narrowed. ‘But you look like something dreadful’s happened.’

‘It hasn’t.’ He gave a rueful smile. ‘Morag wouldn’t let him jump. She’s better than any psychiatrist.’

‘She’s a damned fine doctor,’ Jaqui told him. ‘The islanders think the world of her.’ She hesitated, and eyed him sideways. He knew she could see there was still something badly askew in his world-but she didn’t press further.

‘The reason we were trying to find you was that the politicians want to fly in tomorrow for a public announcement.’

‘That the island’s to be evacuated?’

‘You helped Doug make his report.’

‘I did,’ he said heavily.

‘There’s health risks in not doing it fast,’ Jaqui told him. ‘You know it. The water source is contaminated. If we’re not careful we could have a great little epidemic of typhoid. Just what we all need-I don’t think.’

‘If we could get the resources-’

‘They aren’t available.’ She hesitated, and gave him that questioning look again. And obviously decided to push it. ‘And, besides, this way you’ll get your girl.’

‘What the hell is that supposed to mean?’

‘I mean you’re nuts on your Dr Morag,’ she told him bluntly. ‘Any fool can see that. If the island’s evacuated, it means she’ll have to leave, too.’

‘She won’t have to do anything.’

‘Is that what you were doing?’ Jaqui asked slowly. ‘Is that why you look like you do? Because you were asking?’

‘Jaqui…’

‘Just enquiring,’ she said thoughtfully, throwing her hands up in defence. ‘OK, moving right on…’ She gave him a grin that contained real affection. ‘Do you have time to assist in removing an appendix?’

‘An appendix?’ He stared.

‘You wouldn’t read about it.’ Her grin widened. ‘After all we’ve gone through. Mary Garidon is fifteen years old, and she’s been clutching her stomach since the wave hit. Her parents assumed it was stress and maybe I’d have agreed with them if I’d seen her earlier. But her mum came in to get the haematoma on her thigh checked. She was caught by the end of the wave. Anyway, Mary was waiting with her father, and her dad was telling her to pull herself together. But she looked sweaty and was clutching her stomach so I checked. She’s got rebound, Grady.’

‘Rebound…’ He stared. ‘You mean the appendix has ruptured?’

‘That’s what it looks like. I think we should go in now. Can you help?’

‘Of course.’ If the appendix really had burst, the time taken to evacuate her to Sydney could well mean the infection would be much worse.

‘I was hoping you’d be back,’ she confessed. ‘You’ve got the best fingers I know.’

‘Gee, thanks.’

‘You don’t want to call Morag? She’s Morag’s patient.’

‘The whole island is Morag’s patient,’ Grady growled. ‘Everyone needs her.’

‘Including you?’

‘Butt out, Ford.’

She grinned. ‘When have I ever? But we don’t contact Morag?’

‘She’s had a hell of a day. She’s just talked someone out of jumping, and her kid must be going nuts without her. Let her be.’

‘There’s a real load on her shoulders,’ Jaqui said seriously. ‘Do you think she’ll be happier without it?’

‘When it’s hauled out from under her?’ Grady grimaced. ‘No.’

‘Even with you?’

‘I said butt out. Her future’s none of our concern.’

But as they scrubbed and prepared the teenager for surgery-as Grady reassured the frightened parents and promised them Morag would come if there was the slightest hint of trouble-as he performed the procedure with his trained anaesthetist and his two trained nursing staff and thought how Morag would have had to do this alone-somehow-if he and his team hadn’t been here-he thought, How could her future be none of his concern?

He was going to worry about her for ever.


Morag made her way slowly up the scree. She flicked her radio transmitter back on to check in with Jaqui, who briefly outlined what was happening to Mary.

‘Do you want me to come?’ Morag had paused at a bend in the track and was involuntarily turning.