There was a moment of silence and then the old lady gave a chuckle. ‘Capable of standing up for yourself, are you? I like that. You’re obviously a bright girl. Why have you moved all the way up here? You could be in some leading city practice. Or are you running away?’

Jenna sensed that whatever she told this woman would be all over the island by lunchtime, so she delivered an edited version of the truth. ‘My marriage ended. I needed a change. And this place has a good reputation. Logan McNeil has built a good practice.’ She didn’t add that she would have taken the job regardless, because it was as far from Clive and her parents as it was possible to get without leaving the country.

‘Logan is a good doctor. So’s Ryan McKinley, of course. But we all know he won’t be around for long. He’s a real high-flier. Used to work as one of those emergency doctors.’

Emergency doctor?

Confused, Jenna paused. ‘How long has he lived here?’

‘Came here two years ago and bought the old abandoned lighthouse that Ewan Kinaird had given up hope of selling. Too isolated for everyone. But not for Dr McKinley. Apparently isolation was what he wanted, and he paid a fair price for it. Didn’t see him for most of that first year. Turned up occasionally in the village to buy supplies. Kept himself to himself. Never smiled. Some thought he was antisocial. Others thought he was recovering from some trauma or other. Certainly looked grim-faced whenever I glimpsed him.’

Jenna felt guilty for listening. Part of her wanted to cover her ears but she didn’t want to be rude. And she was intrigued by Ryan McKinley. When she’d met him he hadn’t seemed antisocial. Nor had he shown signs of trauma. He’d talked. Smiled. But she knew a smile often hid a secret. ‘So how does he come to be working as a GP?’

‘That was Evanna’s doing. Won’t let anyone be, that girl—especially not if they’re in trouble. She coaxed him into helping out after the last locum left them in the lurch. She had baby Charlie, and Logan was managing the practice on his own. When he was needed, Ryan stepped up. But we all know he won’t stick. He’ll be off to some high-flying job before the tide has turned.’ Mrs Parker took a closer look at her leg. ‘What’s your professional opinion of this, then?’

‘I’m just taking a look now.’ Jenna wondered what trauma had made a doctor qualified in emergency medicine buy a secluded lighthouse on an isolated island. ‘How did you find out he was a doctor?’