The Rebel Who Loved Her Read online

  ‘Hello, Dad. How are you?’

  ‘All the better for seeing you, sweetheart.’ Simon Harper gave her a bear hug then bent down and chucked Millie under the chin. ‘And for seeing you, too, poppet.’

  Becky felt a lump come to her throat when she saw tears in his eyes. Her parents had been marvellous and she knew that she wouldn’t have coped without their support. No matter how difficult it was, she was going to make sure their new living arrangements worked for all of them. Perhaps it would be like stepping back in time, but that didn’t necessarily mean it was a bad thing. A lot of good things had happened in the past, like her friendship with Ewan.

  Heat rushed through her as she glanced at him. He was standing to one side, obviously giving them the chance to say their hellos in private. It was so typically considerate of him that Becky’s heartstrings twanged. Despite his playboy image, Ewan had always been incredibly thoughtful. It was one of the reasons why she’d been attracted to him, that plus the fact that he’d been so exciting and sexy, of course. She had never felt bored when she was with Ewan but wonderfully, vibrantly alive.

  She blanked out the thought as she turned to her mother again. She wouldn’t allow herself to be seduced by memories. She’d had her fill of relationships and she didn’t intend to make the mistake of getting involved again. ‘Ewan very kindly helped me with my luggage.’

  ‘Ewan?’ Ros Harper repeated uncertainly as she glanced at him. Her face suddenly cleared and she smiled in delight. ‘Ewan! What a wonderful surprise.’

  ‘It’s good to see you too, Mrs Harper.’ Ewan stepped forward and shook hands with Ros then turned to Simon. ‘And you, too, sir.’

  Simon smiled warmly as he shook the younger man’s hand. ‘Make that Simon, eh? I heard via the grapevine that you were coming back to England, although I thought you’d been working in Australia, not New Zealand.’

  ‘I was,’ Ewan agreed. ‘I did a twelve-month stint at a hospital in Sydney.’ He shrugged. ‘I did consider staying on there but in the end the lure of home was too strong. I popped over to New Zealand on my way back to visit my sister. Shona’s third child is due any day and I was hoping it would arrive while I was there, but no such luck.’

  ‘Another grandchild for your parents!’ Ros exclaimed. ‘How many is that now?’

  ‘Eight...or is it nine?’ Ewan grinned. ‘I’ve lost track. We MacLeods tend to be highly productive in the baby-making department.’

  Everyone laughed at the comment, Becky included, although there was a hollow ache inside her. She bent down, tucking a lightweight blanket around Millie so that nobody would notice how much it hurt. She still found it hard to accept that she would never have another child. She loved children and had planned to have at least four, but the accident that had cost Steve his life had robbed her of that chance. She stood up, feeling her heart lurch when she caught Ewan’s eyes and saw the concern they held. Surely, he hadn’t realised something was wrong?

  ‘Right, let’s get you two home.’

  Her father’s voice broke into her thoughts. Becky quickly settled her bag on her shoulder then took a deep breath before turning to Ewan. Maybe he did suspect that something wasn’t right but that was all it would ever be—a suspicion. She wasn’t going to tell Ewan the truth about the accident, wasn’t going to tell anyone, in fact. It was hard enough having to live with the guilt without everyone knowing what she had done.

  ‘Thank you again for all your help, Ewan. It really was kind of you.’

  ‘My pleasure.’

  He smiled but his deep blue eyes were searching as they rested on her. Becky shifted uncomfortably. Maybe she didn’t plan on telling people the truth but if anyone could get it out of her, it would be Ewan. She had told Ewan things that she’d told no one else, not even Steve. Definitely not Steve.

  He looked away and she breathed a sigh of relief, which was short-lived when she heard her father ask him if he wanted a lift. Although she knew it was selfish, she couldn’t face the thought of having to travel all the way back to Devon with Ewan in the car in her present frame of mind.

  ‘Thank you, but I’m staying in London with my brother until I can sort out my accommodation. Ryan and I plan to down a few beers and catch up on what’s been happening.’ He laughed. ‘Always assuming I manage to stay awake long enough, of course!’

  He smiled at them, his gaze lingering a fraction longer on Becky, but she didn’t respond. Maybe he would think she was being churlish but it was better than allowing herself to be drawn into making a confession. When he bade them farewell, she didn’t make a fuss, certainly didn’t make any attempt to arrange to see him again. Meeting him like this had been a chance encounter. It wasn’t an excuse to resume their former relationship.

  Becky knew she was doing the right thing, yet it didn’t explain the sense of loss she felt as she watched him wending his way through the crowd. Even though she knew it was foolish, she was going to miss him.

  * * *

  Ewan took a taxi to his brother’s flat and let himself in, using the key Ryan had left with a neighbour. He dumped his bag on the living room floor and flopped down onto a chair with a sigh that stemmed partly from weariness but mainly from frustration. What was wrong with Becky? Why had she behaved so warily towards him?

  Closing his eyes, he tried to conjure up her image, surprised by how easy it was. He’d not thought about her in ages and yet—hey, presto!—there she was in his head: honey-gold hair, hazel eyes, that pert little nose. She had changed, of course, but she was still incredibly pretty. Although she was a shade too thin in his opinion, she had a very feminine figure with curves in all the right places....

  He groaned as his body responded with predictable enthusiasm to that thought. He might be bone-tired but his libido was in fine fettle! Not that it should be a surprise because Becky had always had this effect on him. In fact, he couldn’t think of a single woman he’d dated in the past eight years who had aroused him the way Becky had done.

  The thought was too near the knuckle. Ewan got up and went into the kitchen. Ryan had told him to make himself at home so he took him at his word as he set to and made himself a fry-up. Eggs, bacon, sausages—the plate was heaving by the time he finished. He sat down at the table and tucked in, but after a couple of mouthfuls was forced to admit defeat. He didn’t want food. He wanted answers. He wanted to know what was wrong with Becky and he wouldn’t rest until he found out, although he refused to delve too deeply into the reason why. Suffice it to say that Becky had meant a lot to him at one point. Even though that was all in the past, he hoped they could be friends.

  He got up and scraped the uneaten food into the bin, trying to ignore the mocking little voice in his head. Friendship was all he wanted from her. Nothing more!

  * * *

  It was several days before Becky got over her jet-lag. Fortunately, Millie didn’t seem to be affected by it and soon settled down in their new home. Her parents had had her old room redecorated so it felt less like stepping back in time than it could have done. They’d also turned her brother’s room into a bright and cheerful nursery, complete with lots of colourful posters of Millie’s favourite cartoon characters.

  Becky could tell they’d gone to a great deal of trouble to make her and Millie feel welcome and she was grateful, but it still felt odd to be living under their roof again. She made up her mind that she would find a place of her own as soon as she could, and that meant finding a job. Although she scoured the local papers each day, there were very few jobs available. As a highly qualified nurse practitioner, she had a lot to offer, but cutbacks in the health service meant there were few posts being advertised. All she could hope was that something would turn up eventually.

  She was washing the breakfast dishes a week after she’d returned when her father poked his head round the kitchen door. Millie was helping her and the floor was awash with soap suds. ‘Mind you don’t slip,’ she warned him. ‘This little lady gets as much water on the floor as she gets on
the dishes.’

  ‘I wonder who she takes after,’ Simon said, drolly. He stepped over the puddles and dropped a kiss on his granddaughter’s head. ‘You are doing a wonderful job helping Mummy, poppet.’

  Millie smiled beatifically as she beat her small hands up and down in the water and Becky groaned. ‘It’ll be like Noah’s flood in here soon. We’ll need our very own ark!’

  Simon laughed. ‘It’s only water, sweetheart. It will soon mop up. Anyway, seeing as Millie is happily occupied, can I have a word?’

  ‘Of course.’ Becky dried her hands on a towel, wondering what he wanted to speak to her about. ‘Nothing’s wrong, is there?’

  ‘No, no, not at all,’ Simon assured her. ‘It’s just that I have a proposition for you but before I tell you what it is, I want you to promise me that you’ll say no if you don’t like the idea.’

  ‘That sounds very mysterious,’ Becky said, laughing.

  Simon smiled. ‘I suppose it does. It’s just that I don’t want you to feel that you’re under any sort of...well, obligation.’

  ‘Curiouser and curiouser. Come on, Dad, tell me what’s going on.’

  ‘All right. You know that Brenda Roberts took over as practice nurse at the surgery when Emily left to get married?’

  ‘Yes. Brenda came out of retirement so she could help you.’

  ‘That’s right.’ Simon sighed. ‘I was really grateful to her, too. Although we had plenty of interest when we advertised the post, we didn’t find anyone who we felt would fit in.’

  ‘It’s difficult to find the right person,’ Becky observed.

  ‘Exactly. Anyway, Brenda’s just informed me that she would like to leave at the end of the month. Apparently, her husband, Fred, is taking early retirement and they’ve decided to go and live in their apartment in Spain.’

  ‘What a shame!’ Becky exclaimed. ‘Not for Brenda and Fred of course, but it’s going to make life difficult for you and the rest of the team.’

  ‘It is. It will mean us having to advertise again and that will take time. That’s why I was wondering if you’d consider helping out?’

  ‘You want me to cover until you find someone?’

  ‘Yes. Or, better still, maybe consider taking the job on a permanent basis,’ Simon said quietly. ‘With all the changes we’re having to make now that we’ve been awarded health centre status, I need staff I can rely on. You fit the bill perfectly, darling, although I’ll understand if you feel it’s too much, living and working with your father.’

  ‘I’d never thought about it,’ Becky said slowly. ‘But it does make sense. I mean, I need a job and if I’m working here at the surgery then I’ll be on hand for Millie. I have to admit that I was worried about leaving her for long stretches, even if she was with Mum.’

  ‘So you’ll think about it?’ Simon said hopefully.

  Becky smiled. ‘There’s nothing to think about. I’d be delighted to take the job if you think I’m suitable.’

  ‘Great!’ Simon gave her a hug then glanced at his watch. He grimaced. ‘I know this is a bit of cheek, but is there any chance that you could start right away? We’re overrun with patients needing BP checks this morning and it would really help to take the pressure off us if you would give Brenda a hand.’

  ‘Slave driver!’ Becky laughed. ‘Of course I can start immediately, so long as Mum will look after Millie.’

  ‘Oh, there’s no problem about that. Your mother is longing to have this little one all to herself for a couple of hours,’ Simon assured her. ‘I’ll just let her know what’s happening.’

  Becky cleared up after her father left, feeling her spirits lift when it struck her that she’d taken her first step towards regaining her independence. Once she was earning regular money, she could look for a place of her own, somewhere she could turn into a proper home for her and Millie. Millie needed stability after all the recent upsets and Becky was determined she was going to give her that.

  A shadow darkened her face as she lifted the little girl down from the chair and dried her hands. What had Steve said during their last fateful conversation, that he wished they’d never had a child? Her mouth compressed. No way was Millie ever going to find out that her father had wished she hadn’t been born! It had been a terrible thing to say even in the heat of anger. She couldn’t imagine Ewan even thinking such a thing, let alone saying it.

  She sighed as once again she found herself thinking about Ewan. Although she had tried to blot out all thoughts of him, she hadn’t succeeded. Their chance encounter had affected her far more than it should have done and she could only thank her lucky stars that it was unlikely they would meet again. Their paths certainly wouldn’t cross when Ewan was working in London and she was living and working here.

  * * *

  ‘Mrs Rose? I’m Ewan MacLeod, one of the registrars. I believe you took a bit of a tumble this morning.’

  Ewan smiled at the elderly lady lying on the bed. It was midday and he hadn’t stopped since he’d arrived at six that morning. The emergency department of Pinscombe General Hospital was a very busy place. It served the communities of three major towns plus a number of smaller ones like Bride’s Bay.

  His heart gave that all-too-familiar jolt it had started doing every time Bride’s Bay was mentioned, and he swallowed a sigh. He really was a sad case if the mere mention of the place where Becky lived had this effect on him. Drawing up a chair, he sat down beside the bed. It was time to concentrate on his patient.

  ‘Can you tell me what happened, Mrs Rose?’

  ‘It was so silly, really,’ the old lady replied. ‘I was carrying my washing out to peg it on the line when I tripped over Mog.’

  ‘Mog? Who’s that, then? Your dog?’

  ‘No, my cat, of course,’ Edith Rose said sharply, treating him to a frosty glare.

  Ewan grimaced. ‘My mistake. Sorry.’ He frowned. ‘But why on earth did you call your cat Mog? I thought moggies were mice.’

  ‘Hmm, it all depends which part of the country you come from,’ Mrs Rose informed him tartly. ‘Where I come from, young man, a moggy is a cat.’

  ‘I stand corrected.’ Ewan laughed, pleased to see that there was nothing wrong with her mental faculties. He had a feeling that Mrs Rose wouldn’t appreciate the usual questions used to determine an elderly patient’s mental prowess, such as the date and the name of the current prime minister. He put a tick in the relevant box on the patient’s history and heard the old lady sniff.

  ‘Convinced you that I’m compos mentis, have I?’

  ‘Absolutely.’ Ewan put the clipboard down and folded his arms. ‘There’s nothing wrong with your mind, Mrs Rose.’

  ‘I wish you’d tell that to my son. He seems to think I’m going gaga. No doubt he’ll try to use this as an excuse to put me into a nursing home.’

  Ewan frowned when he heard the tremor in the old lady’s voice. ‘I take it that it isn’t what you want?’

  ‘Certainly not. I’ve lived on my own for almost forty years now since my husband died. I couldn’t bear the thought of having to live with a group of strangers.’

  ‘There’s no reason why you should have to leave your home because of this accident,’ Ewan assured her. He picked up the tablet computer and showed her the X-ray she’d had done on admission. ‘There’s no sign of a fracture. Granted, your leg is badly bruised and the cut will need dressing to make sure it heals properly, but you’ll be back on your feet in no time.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ Relief washed over the old lady’s face when he nodded. ‘Thank heavens. Geoffrey has been going on and on about me moving into a home and I was sure this would be the excuse he needed to have me admitted.’

  Ewan shook his head. ‘No. So long as you feel that you can manage on your own, that’s fine. And even if you do have problems, there’s help available. Your GP should be able to put you in touch with social services and they can assess the level of help you need.’

  ‘That’s a weight off my mind, I can tell y
ou.’ Edith Rose smiled at him. ‘Thank you, young man. You’ve made an old lady very happy.’

  ‘Good.’ Ewan laughed as he stood up. ‘I’m just going to phone your GP and let him know what’s happened. As I said, your leg will need dressing so we need to arrange for it to be done at the surgery.’

  ‘Old flesh doesn’t heal as fast as young does,’ Mrs Rose observed wryly and he grinned.

  ‘I’m afraid not.’

  He went to the desk to make the call, unsurprised to discover that Mrs Rose was registered with Bride’s Bay Surgery. A lot of the people he’d seen since he’d started at Pinscombe General had been registered with the practice, which meant it must be a very busy place to work. He asked to speak to the practice nurse when the receptionist answered, shaking his head when one of the nurses came over to see if he could look at a patient for her.

  ‘I’m tied up at the moment,’ he began then stopped when a voice came over the line, a voice that was all too familiar.

  ‘Sister Williams speaking. How may I help you?’

  Ewan turned to face the wall, not wanting anything to distract him. The one thing he had never anticipated was that Becky would answer his call. He took a deep breath, deliberately ironing all trace of emotion from his voice. Maybe it did feel as though his head was being whirled around inside a washing machine on the spin cycle but he wasn’t going to let Becky know that.

  ‘Becky, it’s Ewan MacLeod.’ He gave a short laugh, praying that it sounded less forced to her than it did to him. ‘This is a surprise. Again!’

  CHAPTER THREE

  ‘EWAN!’

  Becky felt shock race through her when she recognised Ewan’s voice. It was all she could do to concentrate as he continued in the same teasing tone.

  ‘Of all the surgeries in all the world.... I had no idea you were working there.’

  ‘I...um...it came as a surprise to me too, actually.’ She finally managed to gather her addled wits, relieved to hear that she sounded almost normal. Maybe it had been a surprise to hear Ewan’s voice but did it really explain why it had sent her into such a spin? She blanked out the thought, not wanting to set off down a route that was guaranteed to lead to more questions. ‘Dad needed a practice nurse for the surgery and asked me if I’d consider taking the job, and I agreed.’