Every evening he arrived at her cottage and spent time with her until the early hours. They ate, talked and made love, but he never stayed the whole night and Flora didn’t know whether she felt frustrated by that or grateful.

On the one hand she was slightly relieved not to be the subject of local gossip, but on the other hand she was greedy for time with him. She loved the fact that he talked to her and sensed that he said things to her that he’d never said to anyone else.

Occasionally the conversation turned to the topic of his father. ‘It’s hardly any wonder you virtually lived wild,’ she murmured one night as she lay with her head on his shoulder. ‘I don’t suppose there was much to go home to.’

‘It wasn’t exactly a laugh a minute.’ He stroked a hand over her hair. ‘After my mother left, he was pretty much drunk from the moment he woke up in the morning to the moment he keeled over at night. I stayed out of his way. Half the time I didn’t even go home. I slept on the beach or borrowed the MacDonalds’ barn. That was fine until the night I lit a fire to keep warm and the wind changed.’

Flora’s heart twisted. ‘I guessed things were bad. I went up there once, to look for you. And he yelled at me so violently that my legs shook for days.’

His arms tightened around her. ‘Why were you looking for me?’

‘After your mother left, I was worried about you. And I thought I understood what you were going through. How arrogant was that?’ She sighed and kissed him gently. ‘I suppose because I’d lost my mother, too, I thought I might be able to help you. But of course our situations were entirely different because I still had my dad.’

‘I didn’t want to be helped. I just wanted to be angry.’

‘I don’t blame you for being angry.’ She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. ‘Was it the army that stopped you being angry?’

‘They taught me to channel my aggression. Running thirty miles with a pack on your back pretty much wipes it out of you.’

‘So they helped you?’

‘Yes, I suppose they did.’ He kissed the top of her head. ‘You’re such a gentle person, I don’t suppose you’ve ever been angry.’

‘Of course I have. Anger is a human emotion. But I didn’t have reason to be angry—not like you. I feel so bad for you. The locals should have done something.’

‘What could they have done? And, anyway, I didn’t exactly invite assistance.’

‘You basically grew up without parents.’ She raised herself on one elbow, her expression soft as she looked down at him. ‘Why did you become a doctor?’