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more. They had done a little more than just sit in the sun. He had kissed her once or twice already. But then he had…and with her definite compliance… It had been only a childish fumble but it had been exciting and frightening and so good. A different age! In London she had dealt with girls of that age who were now having their second child.
    Glancing sideways at him, she saw the set face. Obviously he remembered too. But he wasn’t going to remember it with the same joy as she did. Why not? After a while he said, ‘They were good times, but we were young then. We have more sense now.’
    ‘It would be nice to think so,’ she said.
    Then there was silence as they drove the rest of the way into town.
    On the outskirts of town they passed a large old house that had been home to Ben and his father. A surgery had been built onto the side of it. But now the house had been extended even further, the garden had been converted into a car park and there was a sign that said ‘Mountain View Hotel’.
    ‘Your old house is a hotel?’ Alice queried.
    Ben laughed. ‘We have to move with the times. You’ll find the new surgery much more convenient.’ And, ten minutes later, she did.
    They drove into the forecourt of a set of buildings that were obviously new, but faced with the local grey stone. Alice looked on approvingly. ‘Welcome to Soalay Medical Centre,’ Ben said. ‘That entrance is to my little kingdom—the surgery. Over there is your entrance and your part. There’s the clinic, and next to it your new birthing unit, with your flat built over the top. So we’re together but separate. We even have separate receptionists—though you will share yours with the district nurse.’
    ‘Together but separate,’ she echoed. ‘Right.’ She wondered if he was talking about their relationship as well as their places of work. She didn’t know.
    ‘I’ll take you in and introduce you to Morag Watson, she’s the district nurse here. She’ll show you around. Then I’ll leave you with her because I’ve got morning surgery. Meet for a coffee at lunchtime?’
    ‘I certainly won’t need any lunch after that breakfast,’ she said.
    * * *
    Ben had a ritual at work. He arrived early, said hello to his receptionist and picked up any messages. Then he sat alone in his room, drank a large coffee, read his mail and thought about the day ahead. Although he was always busy he gave himself just fifteen minutes—and usually found it fifteen minutes well spent. And today he had more to think about than usual.
    He had to think about Alice. When he had first seen her yesterday, windblown on the deck of the ferry, he had been amazed at how memories of the past had come hurtling back. He had not seen her for fifteen years, she had slowly passed out of his memory. His life had been full, he’d had other things to think about. But suddenly it had all come back. He remembered her as a schoolgirl and him as a schoolboy. They had worked together on their science homework. They had quartered the island on their bikes. And then he remembered their youthful fumblings. A voyage of exploration that now came back to life with a force that was almost painful. A kiss then had been so sweet! When she had talked about mending the puncture he had known that the puncture had not been the thing uppermost in her mind. That had been the first occasion he had slid his hand under her shirt and… What would that be like now? He mustn’t think that way!
    He drank his coffee, tried to calm himself. Alice was different now. He could still see the schoolgirl she had been, but she had changed. Some of the gawkiness had gone, her curves had matured, she was now a woman, not a girl. He suspected that the haircut that looked so simple and artless was quite expensive. It was quite differentfrom the close crop she’d had when younger. Her face too had changed. He suspected there was sadness there—or perhaps just experience. Then it struck him. Her face had