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Maybe it was the moonlight that was her undoing. Or the sweet scent of the tropical flowers. It was probably inevitable that she had to revisit her past, given the shock of seeing Luke, and maybe it was a necessary step in order to get past it and move forward again. Or at least get herself together enough to make sure her mother didn’t guess the truth.
She couldn’t know, could she? If she’d had even the tiniest suspicion she would never have made that casual remark that had sliced open old wounds for her own daughter.
‘You had to rush away, though … Your wife was ill …’
It had been such a secret thing—their love affair.
How naïve had she been to think that had been because it had been so precious to them both? A private joy that might change when others knew about it?
But it had seemed like a natural progression, too, because of how it had started—as an almost telepathic conversation of glances and accidental touch as an undercurrent to the open conversations of two people getting to know each other. It had been Anahera who’d made the first move. Offering to show Luke the drama of Sunset Beach had been an invitation to let whatever had been happening between them grow and, for her, that first kiss had only confirmed that her heart had already been stolen.
And it would have changed things if others had known. Her mother would have been afraid that she would lose her. That Anahera would follow Luke back to London and forget her island heritage. Her work family would have worried about how they would replace her and she herself would have had to face the possibility of giving up so much for a new life, and she hadn’t been ready for that. She had wanted to stay in the safe bubble of no one else knowing for as long as possible. To revel in the bright colours and extraordinary happiness of being so completely in love.
How ironic was it that she’d ended up having to flee and start a new life anyway? Alone. Or so she’d thought until the disruption and heartache had settled enough for her to realise what was happening to her body.
And Luke? Well, he’d had his own reasons for wanting to keep their love affair a secret and it hadn’t had anything to do with how precious it was, had it?
Tapping into that old anger wasn’t going to help, though. She’d made a conscious decision to let it go the moment she’d first held Hana in her arms. To feel thankful that it had happened even. Oh, it had resurfaced sometimes in those first months of trying to raise her daughter alone, when the fatigue and financial pressures and homesickness had got on top of her, but coming back to Wildfire Island had fixed that. She’d been back for more than two years now and she had all the support she needed. A job that she loved and the joy of watching her daughter grow up in the same place she had. A place filled with such extraordinary beauty and countless butterflies.
Her life was exactly the way she wanted it to be.
The last thing she’d expected—or wanted—was to be reminded that something was missing. The kind of something she’d found with Luke Wilson. The one thing she had known she would never find again, especially coming back to the isolation of her childhood home, but the sacrifice had been worth it.
For Hana.
Anahera was so happy here so there was a new anger to be found that her happiness had been ambushed like this. The sooner she could get Luke and all the associated baggage out of her head, the better.
She closed her eyes on a sigh, unable to ignore it any longer—the thing she knew wasn’t going to be fixed when Luke left the island in a few days. Something that had always been there but which had suddenly become a whole lot bigger. Which might, in fact, get even worse when Luke had gone again.
The guilt that Luke had no idea he was Hana’s father …
Something unexpected was happening for Luke, quite apart from seeing Anahera Kopu again.
A unique alchemy of personalities that was creating an energy that Luke had been unsuccessfully trying to resist ever since the ‘meet and greet’ cocktail party.
He recognised it as the kind of connection he’d found with Harry over the weeks he’d treated him in London. It was more than the beginnings of a significant friendship—it was a meeting of like minds that was inspirational enough to have the possibility of achieving something amazing.
Sam Taylor might appear to be extraordinarily laid back but there was a passion for what he did running quite close to the surface and his charm was a force to be reckoned with. Add that to the more brooding intelligence and determination of Harry, along with the kind of resources he had to make things happen, and Luke was finding himself to be the meat in an increasingly interesting sandwich.
Which was why—despite thinking it wasn’t the best idea—he found himself visiting Wildfire Island’s hospital during a break on the second day of the conference, when the other attendees had been taken out to one of the outer islands to go snorkelling and visit a turtle colony.
He didn’t want it to seem like he was forcing his company on Anahera. If there was any chance of being able to talk and possibly resolve their unfinished business, it wasn’t going to happen in front of other people. It wasn’t going to happen as the result of a planned meeting either, but the hope of finding her by chance was fading after Luke’s long walk along the beaches and through the village yesterday evening.
And this was a professional visit to the hospital. He and Sam had a lot to talk about.
The only space for that discussion appeared to be the room that staff gathered in to take a break. There was a kitchenette for preparing hot drinks or food and a small fridge that Sam opened to reveal an impressive stock of cold drinks. The couch looked as though it was a comfortable space to nap on a night shift, and Luke could see a neatly folded blanket and a couple of pillows tucked neatly behind it. A couple of reclining lounge chairs and a table filled the rest of the available space and one of the lounge chairs had an occupant.
‘G’day, mate.’
‘Jack—this is Luke Wilson. The encephalitis expert I was telling you all about. Luke—this is Jack Richards, our number-one helicopter pilot.’
Jack got to his feet and extended his hand. ‘It’s a privilege to meet you, Luke. You’ve certainly fired Sam up. Haven’t seen him this excited in years.’
Luke shook his hand. ‘It’s an exciting development, that’s for sure.’
‘What would you like, Luke?’ Sam still had the fridge door open. ‘Something cold or a coffee or tea?’
‘I’d love a cup of tea,’ Luke admitted. ‘Haven’t had one since I left London and it’s starting to feel a long time ago.’
‘Might have one myself.’ Sam grinned. ‘Get in touch with my English roots.’
‘Where are you from?’
‘Up north. Did my training in Birmingham.’
‘What brought you here?’
Sam shrugged. ‘I love my sailing. Brought my yacht here to do a FIFO stint a few years back and I liked it so much I never left.’
There was more to the story than that, Luke thought, but he wasn’t about to talk about it. He turned back to Jack, keen to ask what kind of challenges his job presented, but his gaze slid past the helicopter pilot as someone else entered the staffroom.
‘Sam?’ Anahera was holding a clipboard. ‘Can I get you to sign off on the antibiotics for Kalifa Lui?’ She stopped abruptly in the doorway as she spotted Luke. He could see her neck muscles moving as she swallowed and then she cleared her throat as she broke the eye contact almost instantly. ‘I think he’s going to need some more Ventolin, too. The wheezing hasn’t improved much since he came in.’
‘Sure.’ Sam paused in his task of making tea to take a pen from his shirt pocket and scribble on the clipboard. ‘Have you persuaded him to stay overnight?’
‘I’m working on it. I don’t think he understands how serious a chest infection can be on top of his chronic lung disease, though. He wants to get back to work.’
‘What work?’ Jack asked. ‘He’s a miner and the mine’s been closed. It’s not safe any more.’
‘They’re not allowed down the mine but a lot of the men are working to try and improve the safety so they can open it again. They’re desperate to get their livelihoods back.’
‘I’ll come and talk to him soon,’ Sam said. ‘And if I can’t convince him, I’ll get his wife, Nani, in here. She’ll sort him out.’
‘Okay …’ Anahera turned to leave, and Luke stared at her. Was she not even going to acknowledge him?
‘Stay for a few minutes,’ Sam said. ‘There’s something Luke and I are going to discuss and it involves you.’
‘I … I need to get back to Kalifa.’
‘He’s had his first dose of antibiotics, hasn’t he?’
‘Yes.’
‘And his first nebuliser is still going?’
‘Yes.’
‘And one of the aides is in the ward with him who can come and find us if there’s any deterioration in his condition?’
Anahera just nodded this time. Still without looking at Luke, she came and sat down on one of the kitchen chairs around the table.
Sam put down two mugs of tea and gestured to Luke to take another seat. Jack watched them.
‘Maybe I’ll leave you to it. Go and polish the red bird or something.’
‘You’re welcome to stay,’ Sam said. ‘In fact, you’ll probably be involved as much as Ana. Have a seat.’
Jack looked intrigued. Anahera was looking wary.
‘What’s going on?’ she asked.
‘You both know the really exciting news.’
‘You talked about it enough yesterday.’ Jack grinned. ‘We have a vaccination available for M’Langi encephalitis that’s been approved for clinical trials.’
‘That’s right.’
Jack’s grin faded as he looked at Luke. ‘From what Sam was saying, it was one hell of an opening address that your friend made.’ He turned to Anahera. ‘You had a day off yesterday so you weren’t here to hear that story, were you? About the sheikh and his investment?’
‘Ah … no. I did briefly see the sheikh at the conference centre and I also heard about the new vaccination. The whole island’s talking about it.’ She smiled at Luke. ‘It’s amazing news.’
‘It’s thanks to Luke that it’s happened,’ Sam said. ‘There’s already the vaccination for Japanese encephalitis but there were plenty of other varieties to choose to work on next. It was Luke’s connection to these islands that made M’Langi the lucky one.’
‘I’ve never forgotten my time here,’ Luke said quietly. ‘I think about it every day.’
A flush of colour darkened Anahera’s olive skin. The hidden message had been received loud and clear. It hadn’t been just the island that he’d thought about every day, had it? He’d been thinking about her …
‘But the thanks should go to Harry,’ he continued. ‘He’s the one who’s put an extraordinary amount of time and money into getting this vaccination developed.’
‘Which he couldn’t have done if you hadn’t saved his life.’ Sam turned his gaze to Anahera. ‘You should have heard him talking,’ he told her. ‘There wasn’t a dry eye in the house by the time he’d finished telling us how close to death he was when he got encephalitis. How Luke was there with him twenty-four seven in the ICU, fighting for his life as if it was his own. That it was that kind of devotion that made Harry determined to give something back to thank him and to try and stop other people having to go through what he went through.’
The praise had been embarrassing yesterday. He’d only been doing his job after all, but watching Anahera’s reaction to the story made it feel very different. There was something in her eyes that was making him feel proud instead of embarrassed. There was respect there. And something warmer—as if she was feeling proud of him, too?
‘I always knew you’d go on to do great things,’ she said softly. ‘It’s a great story.’
‘Sounds like you have, too. Paramedic and ICU qualifications? An expert in difficult airway management? How long did you stay in Brisbane?’
‘About two years.’ Anahera’s glance flicked away the moment Brisbane was mentioned, and Luke could almost feel a change in temperature around him as any perceived warmth got sucked out.
She really didn’t want to talk to him about Brisbane, did she?
Why? Had the opportunity for postgraduate training been compelling for more than professional reasons? Because it had meant a fresh start—away from the place she had met him?
No. He was reading too much into it. She hadn’t cared that much or she wouldn’t have dismissed him with such devastating effect after all the effort he’d made to track her down. She’d moved on with her life, that was all. And what she’d done with it was none of his business.
Fine. He could move on, too. He could start with this conversation.
‘Harry has plans for some research projects that can only happen here,’ he said. ‘One of them involves travel to some of the outer islands, which is where you come in, Jack. He’s only just heard about this M’Langi tea and he thinks it could be important.’
‘Why?’ Anahera was frowning. ‘It only has insect repellent qualities, doesn’t it?’
‘Exactly,’ Sam said with satisfaction. ‘Controlling the mosquito population by reducing habitats that support breeding and personal protection by clothing and repellents are the mainstay of prevention of mosquito-borne disease. Repellents are only ever applied externally. It could be a real breakthrough to discover something effective that can be taken systemically. Did you know that there were an estimated seventy-seven thousand deaths worldwide in 2013 from encephalitis?’
‘You’ve got some data on which islands have the lowest incidence of encephalitis, haven’t you?’ Luke asked. ‘That’s where we’ll need to go to collect samples and find out exactly how they brew that tea.’
Sam nodded. ‘From memory, I’m pretty sure it’s French Island, and that’s where the particular hibiscus bushes that they make the tea from grow, but I’ll check.’
‘French Island?’
‘Apparently there was a shipwreck there long ago. A French square-rigged sailing vessel. The crew survived and so we have a fair bit of French blood mingling with the islanders’. We still get some French sailors turning up, intrigued by the historic link.’
Curiously, Anahera didn’t seem to want to be hearing any of this. She got to her feet.
‘I really need to get back to my patients. I can’t see how any of this involves me.’
‘You’re due to do the clinic on French Island in the next couple of days, aren’t you?’
‘Oh … you want me to collect some tea-leaves? Talk to the locals?’
‘No. I want you to take Luke with you.’
That shocked her enough to freeze her movements, except for the direction of her gaze, which flew to Luke in alarm. ‘But the conference finishes today, doesn’t it? Don’t you have to get back to London?’
There was that fear again. It was just a bit over the top, wasn’t it? He’d been keeping his distance and it had to be obvious he wasn’t going to force his company—or anything else—on her.
‘Harry’s persuaded me to stay on for a bit. To set up the research projects and get the protocols in place for a clinical trial of the vaccination.’
Anahera turned to Sam. ‘Maybe you should do the clinic instead of me, then. I don’t have anything to do with research and you love it.’
She was trying to avoid him again. Luke could feel himself frowning and barely registered Sam’s smile as he spoke.
‘Don’t worry, we’ll sort out the logistics. Why don’t I give you a tour of the hospital while we talk? You’ll be wanting to get back for the last session of the conference.’
Jack got to his feet as well. ‘Time I did some work, too. Nice to meet you, Luke. I look forward to transporting you around the islands very soon.’
Anahera was leading the way as they all left the staffroom. The layout of the hospital still felt familiar to Luke. The U-shaped building with small wards on one side, Outpatients, kitchens and the staffroom in the middle and the ED, ICU and Radiography—that now, apparently, had gone high-tech with CT and ultrasound equipment available—on the other side. The wide covered walkway linking the wings surrounded a lush tropical garden that boasted a pretty pond in its centre.
The walkway was as spacious as he remembered and the overhead fans kept everything deliciously cool as they added to a sea breeze coming in from the garden.
There was more than a breeze coming in from the garden at the moment, though. An older woman who was carrying a small child could be seen ahead of them.
And, again, Anahera froze.
‘Bessie … what are you doing here? What’s happened?’
Luke could see that the child—a tiny girl—had been crying. Her hand was wrapped in what looked like a bloodstained tea towel.
‘It’s nothing to worry about,’ the woman said. ‘Just a little cut but it took a while to stop the bleeding and Hana got upset. I said we’d come and find Dr Sam and Mummy.’
