Page 5 of Harbor Lights (Inishderry Island Romances #3)

THREE

Con sped up her walk as she crossed back along the beach.

She hadn’t been watching the time as she scoured the small stones and pebbles for signs of glass washed smooth by the sea.

It was a habit she’d picked up a few years ago, becoming immediately addicted.

She could lose hours on a beach, chasing the thrill that came with finding a particularly pretty piece, or an interesting color.

But when she began to struggle to see the detail of the items she picked up, she’d realized it was dusk.

She still had a way to go back across the beach, up the steps to the cliff path and home.

Typically, she’d come out with no flashlight and the light on her ancient cellphone was barely fit for the purpose, so she was racing the last of the light to the top of the steps when her phone buzzed.

She reached into the pocket of her long coat to retrieve it and smiled.

“Joey, how are you?” She was relieved she hadn’t scared her friend off with her miserable mood earlier.

“Hey, Doc, sorry to bother you. Are you at home?” The wind and engine noise in the background betrayed Joey’s location.

She pulled off her glasses with her spare hand and wiped at the sweat misting them up. “I will be shortly, why? Fancy a cup of tea?”

“No, it’s a medical thing. I’ve got someone with me…” There was a muffled exchange she couldn’t make out. “Siobhán Walsh. She’s staying on Inishderry to?—”

“I know why she’s there, Joey. What’s the problem?”

There was more muttering.

“She hurt her arm and thinks it might need stitches. Can you take a look? No bother if not, I can run her to the hospital in the city.”

“Of course. I’ll be home before you get up the hill. See you soon.”

She hurried on, wondering about the mysterious Walsh family member no one had known existed. The first thing she’d heard had been in the Emerald Bar one evening before she left for Cambridge.

She’d been sitting chatting with Joey and Tierney when Tierney’s cousin Christy had come in, ordered a pint and sat down with them.

“Guess what, cuz, the black sheep of the Walsh clan is coming to Inishderry.” He’d grinned with the anticipation of sharing his news.

“I thought I was the black sheep. Who are you talking about?” Tierney had leaned in. Autumn was drawing into winter and there wasn’t much exciting happening on the island apart from the chance for some gossip.

Christy had retrieved his pint and sat down. “Uncle Des’s oldest grandchild. The one in America. Siobhán.”

“I had other family in the US, and no one ever told me? What the hell?”

“It was a family secret.” Christy leaned in conspiratorially. “No one ever talked about her, or her mom, Marian.”

“Uncle Des has a daughter called Marian?”

Joey had stood. “This is family talk. Maybe we should leave you to discuss it alone.”

Con had pulled them back down by their sleeve. “If she’s coming to the island, it’s hardly a family secret anymore, is it?”

Christy had shared some very sketchy details about how Marian had run away to the US as a teenager and had a daughter.

Desmond had disowned them and forbidden the rest of the family to speak of them.

That was all the detail he had, apart from an extra juicy snippet that Siobhán may have recently got out of jail.

Joey had lost patience at that point. “Maybe we should let her arrive and tell us her own story. If she wants to. Come on, Doc, I’m taking you home. ”

Con had reluctantly followed and listened to Joey’s diatribe about island gossip all the way home. She agreed gossip was unethical, but she also liked to have a handle on this community and their issues.

When she reached her door, she could see the lights of what she assumed was Joey’s van approaching up the hill. She put her shoulder to the door and forced it wide. She opened the door to her surgery and switched on the lights to give the impression of a professional GP set up.

She was just hanging up her coat when Joey entered and stepped aside, revealing a diminutive figure in a worn coat. So, this was the mysterious Siobhán. Her head was dipped, and Con couldn’t see beyond the battered trucker cap.

“Come on in and let me take a look.”

The woman shuffled past and leaned on the edge of the bed. Con turned to Joey. “I’ll call for a water taxi when she’s done. Get home to your kid.” She gave them a hug, which they returned in true Joey fashion.

“Bye, Shiv. Call me if you need anything.” They waved and the woman in the surgery raised her head.

“Thank you. For your help.” Her head lowered again.

Joey turned at the door, frowning, and leaned in close. “Will you be okay? She seems a little hostile.”

“She wouldn’t be the first angry patient I’ve had in here. Leave her with me.” Con pushed them through the door and dragged it closed after them.

Siobhán had shrugged off her coat to expose a blood-soaked towel covering her arm. She pulled off her hat, revealing a pale face with sharp features and a not overly friendly expression. She was older than Con had expected, perhaps close to Joey’s age.

Con resisted the urge to scold her for getting into this state. It wasn’t helpful. Best bedside manner!

“Now, what have we got?” She moved to the sink and washed her hands thoroughly, aware of Siobhán lifting herself onto the bed.

She turned as she dried her hands on a paper towel. “Siobhán, is it? Or do you prefer Shiv?” That was what Joey had called her.

The woman blinked. “Shiv. Either. I don’t mind.”

Con was distracted for a moment by her eyes. Amber, almost yellow, a color she’d never seen on a person before. Like ocean-smoothed glass. But all she could see in them was distrust.

“It is okay if I remove this?” She reached slowly toward the wounded arm, as if she was dealing with an easily spooked animal.

Shiv raised her arm. “Yeah, of course.” Con went to remove some sort of tape holding the towel in place. She raised an eyebrow at the makeshift dressing.

“It’s all I had.” Shiv nodded her head. “I’m an electrician.”

“It’s all starting to make perfect sense.” Con laughed, but Shiv didn’t join in.

She finally peeled the dressing off to reveal a network of cuts along the inside of Shiv’s forearm. Most were shallow but several oozed blood.

“So, what happened here? Glass?” She reached for some tweezers and extracted a sharp point of glass. She held it up in front of Shiv’s eyes. “I guessed right.”

“Yeah, I thought I got it all out, but maybe not.” Shiv chewed on the thumbnail of the other hand.

Con swung a lamp over the exam table. “Could you lie down, so I can see better, please?”

Shiv complied, swinging her legs up and leaning back with her arm raised.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?”

Silence lingered as Con concentrated on searching for splinters of glass, which she dropped into a dish beside her.

“I was trying to fix a leak in the roof. I didn’t have the right equipment, and I fell. It was a dumb thing to do.”

“Did you know you were going to be stuck up there in that ruin before you arrived? It would be difficult to plan for, if you weren’t aware.”

She stood back.

“I’m confident I’ve got all the glass out.” She dabbed the oozing blood from the largest wound. “That’s going to need a few stitches. And maybe this one here.” She indicated a smaller, but deep, incision.

Shiv remained silent as Con prepared her instruments, her good arm slung across her eyes.

She maneuvered the injured arm until it rested across Shiv’s chest. A small part of her brain acknowledged the corded muscle beneath soft skin before she switched back to professional detachment.

“It will hurt a little. Let me know if it’s too much.”

“I’ll be fine,” Shiv muttered.

Con wiped the whole area with alcohol wipes until she was sure it was sterile, then she prepared her needle for the stitches.

As she began, she considered trying to engage Shiv in conversation to distract her, but her attempts so far hadn’t proved fruitful, so maybe it was best to focus on the task at hand.

“I didn’t.” Shiv moved her arm from her face.

Con looked up briefly.

“Know the house was a wreck. It’s pretty basic.”

“I know. And about as isolated as you can get on our little island.” Con turned back to her task.

“You know the house? How?” Shiv tried to sit up and Con firmly pushed her back down.

“Stay still. I went for a picnic last summer up to the cliffs with Joey, your cousin Tierney, her partner Kasia, and the kids. Tierney wanted to have a look at the old Walsh family house. It was unlocked and we went inside. I heard Des Walsh has plans for it now, so he sent someone up to secure it.”

“Yeah, he’s got a power connection set up and he’s sent me—” Shiv sucked in her breath as the needle pierced her skin. “To rewire the place.”

“Sorry, I’ve got some anesthetic gel I should’ve used. Shall I find it?”

“Nope. Carry on.”

Con raised an eyebrow and continued her work. Shiv wasn’t the politest person she’d ever met.

“I’m sorry. It is painful, but I can cope. Thank you for asking.” The words were a little forced, but at least she’d said them.

“I won’t be long now and then I’ll find you some painkillers. This smaller one just needs a couple of stitches and I’ll be done. Tell me more about the house, if it helps distract you.”

“I’m quickly learning that there aren’t many secrets here.”

“It’s a small community and people are open with each other. But there are always some secrets. I think you may be somewhat of an enigma to your cousins.”

“I’m not planning on having much to do with them, so they don’t need to worry about me being here.”

So defensive. Con finished the suture and neatly knotted the thread. “You’ll need to come back in five to seven days. I’ll dress it, but you have to keep it clean and dry for a few days.”

Standing, Con stretched her back out before she went in search of the large dressing she needed. “I don’t think they’re worried, more that they’d be interested in getting to know you better.”

She rummaged through an old wooden cabinet. She really did need a better system in the surgery. “Now, here we are.” She opened a box and removed a large dressing pack.

“I’m not here to socialize. I came to get away from people.”

Con turned from washing her hands. “And a stay in an isolated cottage sounded perfect.” She raised an eyebrow. “But now you’re surrounded by friendly locals and inquisitive family?”

She held out the dressing and Shiv sat and extended her arm. “Hardly surrounded. I’ll be spending most of my time working on the cabin.”

Con applied antiseptic spray and placed the dressing firmly over the wounds. Shiv jumped down from the bed with an audible gasp that drew her attention.

“Are you injured elsewhere?” She looked Shiv over closely.

She couldn’t be more than five feet tall.

Her height and slight build, along with her casual clothing, gave the impression of a younger person.

Her ears were pierced multiple times, and a matching silver hoop pierced her eyebrow.

And she had an unusual hairstyle: cut blunt at the front and shaved on the sides, the back grazed her collar.

But her face had a hardness that betrayed her age, and her small body was all wiry muscle.

Con hadn’t seen any obvious signs of other injuries, but she wasn’t doing her job if she didn’t check.

Shiv squirmed a little under her most authoritative stare. “I uh… hit my ribs, too, but they’re just bruised.”

“Can I ask where you gained your medical qualification?”

“I’ve broken ribs a bunch of times. I know what it feels like.

” Shiv stood her ground, but Con didn’t break her stare.

Shiv rolled her eyes and pulled up her bloodstained tank top on one side.

The skin between the low waistband of her sweatpants and the bottom of a worn-out looking sports bra was reddened and beginning to turn an angry purple.

“Oh, that looks painful.” Con reached out and Shiv stepped back.

Con held up her hands. “I’m a doctor. Just let me reassure myself nothing’s broken and I’ll let you be.”

When Shiv gave a small nod, Con began her assessment of the injury. She wasn’t sure how much Shiv was playing it down, but she did appear to be correct that nothing was broken. It was going to be one hell of a bruise, though.

As she ran her fingers across Shiv’s skin, she couldn’t fail to notice the many scars on her pale body. It was no surprise she was taking her injury so lightly. She wondered what sort of life Shiv had lived, and whether there were scars on the inside to match.

Shiv pulled away. “Are we done? I want to get home.”

Con straightened. “How long are you planning to make that cabin your home?”

Shiv’s expression gave away nothing. “I truly don’t know. The job shouldn’t take more than a few weeks, but I may look around for more work. I’m in no hurry to leave. Perhaps I’ll see the winter out here.”

“Winters here are harsh and lonely.” Con wondered if Shiv had any idea what a winter in the clifftop cabin would be like.

Shiv smiled for the first time since she’d arrived. “Sounds perfect.”