Chapter One

      HE MAY have been putting on a brave face all day but Rachel Mackenzie wasn’t deceived. It was no secret to those who knew him that Matthew Thompson adored his only daughter, Heather, so the fact that Heather had decided to cancel her own wedding and leave Dalverston was bound to have caused him a great deal of pain.

      Rachel sighed as she followed Matt into his house because it was painful for her too. It had been her son, Ross, who had been due to marry Matt’s daughter that day and she couldn’t begin to imagine how devastated Ross must be feeling.

      ‘I don’t know about you but I could do with a drink.’ Matt led the way into the sitting room and went straight to the table under the window that held an array of bottles. Picking up a bottle of whisky, he glanced at her. ‘Will you join me, Rachel?’

      ‘All right, but just a small one.’ Rachel grimaced as she sank down onto the sofa. ‘I’m so exhausted that even a sip of alcohol will probably send me off to sleep.’

      ‘It’s been one heck of a day,’ Matt concurred, pouring two small measures of whisky into a pair of cut-glass tumblers. He handed one of the glasses to her then sat down with a sigh that spoke volumes about how he was feeling. Rachel studied him while she sipped her drink.

      Normally, Matt was so full of energy that he appeared far younger than his actual age. He ran the busy general practice that served the people of Dalverston with a verve that few could emulate. However, today every one of his forty-eight years showed in the deep lines that were etched onto his handsome face.

      At a little under six feet tall, with a powerful physique and thick black hair that was only just starting to turn silver at the temples, Matthew Thompson was a very attractive man. Rachel knew she wasn’t alone in thinking that either. Several of her friends, the married ones as well as the single, had remarked on it. In fact, she’d had a job to convince them that she wasn’t interested in Matt that way and saw him simply as a colleague and a friend.

      It was a good job, too, she thought suddenly. Quite apart from the fact that she wasn’t interested in having a relationship with anyone at the moment, there was definitely no chance of it happening with Matt. The thought touched a nerve oddly enough and she cleared her throat, unsure why it should trouble her in any way.

      ‘I couldn’t believe it when you phoned and told me we had a major incident on our hands. I mean for it to happen today of all days…’ She tailed off, not needing to explain why today had been the worst day possible. Instead of celebrating their children’s marriage, they had spent a large part of the day dealing with the aftermath of a serious accident on the banks of the canal. Talk about bad timing wasn’t in it.

      ‘At least it provided a distraction.’ Matt grimaced when he realised how uncaring that must have sounded. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it came out. A number of people were badly injured when that crane collapsed and I certainly wouldn’t have wished that on them.’

      ‘I know you wouldn’t, but you’re right, Matt. At least while we were treating them, it took our minds off this other problem,’ Rachel said quickly, not wanting him to feel bad about what he had said.

      ‘Exactly.’

      He gave her a tight smile as he raised the glass to his lips. Rachel knew that he rarely drank