Sally didn’t object when she was wrapped in a space blanket with its layers of heat-reflecting material. She felt exhausted and her whole body shivered. Jack came up to her, also enveloped in a blanket.
‘That was a narrow squeak,’ he remarked.
Relief at their safety made her sound waspish. ‘You shouldn’t have gone in until we’d got you a rope,’ she said brusquely to Jack. ‘And you’re to go in the ambulance to be checked out at the Rannoch Hospital.’
Jack laughed. ‘Certainly not! I’m a bit chilled, but I’ll get warm in the surgery and my clothes are dry.’
‘But you ought to—’
‘No “ought to” about it. I’ve come to start work today, and that’s what I’m going to do.’
The paramedics had loaded Callum Brody into the ambulance and came forward to try and persuade Jack and Des, the van driver, to come with them to be checked over, but they both refused, Des saying he preferred to go home and get warm. Sally was left alone with Jack.
‘You should have gone for a check-up—you were in the water for ages,’ she said brusquely.
‘You’re a doctor—you can check me over,’ he replied cheekily with a grin.
She couldn’t help smiling back at him and briefly there was a tremor between them of…what? A slight rapport, a ripple of the old attraction? Perhaps it was just relief. The incident had had a happy conclusion—with-out Jack’s quick intervention Callum and the dog would probably have drowned. It had been foolhardy of Jack, but courageous to say the least. He hadn’t stopped to think of his own safety, she had to acknowledge that.
‘You…you were very impetuous, but very brave,’ she murmured. ‘You must be freezing.’
He turned to look at her, eyes steely blue through dripping dark hair. ‘You can’t be too warm yourself. Look at you—you’re shivering despite that heat blanket.’ Someone had handed him a towel from the practice and he put it round her head, rubbing her hair to dry it. ‘You must get those wet things off. Go inside like the paramedic said,’ he remarked.
Of course she should go inside, thought Sally, but for a few seconds she stood absolutely still, bowing her head as Jack’s strong hands massaged her head and neck with the towel. God, that felt good. She almost forgot she was out on the pavement on a cold and windy day. It was wonderfully relaxing after the tension of the last quarter of an hour. Her body still shook slightly. Perhaps it was a reactive response to the situation they’d been through; perhaps it was because he’d pulled her against his shoulders, hugging her comfortingly.
For a brief second time went backwards and she was supported against Jack’s familiar hard-muscled body once again. A funny mixture of longing mixed with loss went fleetingly through her. This was how it had once been between them—she leaning against his chest, solid and dependable. She bit her lip, reminding herself that he hadn’t been dependable at all. He’d told her he loved her, but that had been a lie. She pulled roughly back from him in embarrassment, flicking her damp hair back from her face. Why the hell had she allowed herself to loll against him in that ridiculous manner? she thought angrily. He mustn’t get the impression that he still had any place in her heart. That was in the past now, and her life had turned in a different direction with Tim.
Jack put his hands on her shoulders and smiled down at her. ‘Go inside and get warm,’ he said gently, not giving any sign he was aware of her reaction.
‘Of course,’ she said lightly. ‘We should both go and get ready to start seeing patients.’
They made their way through the small crowd of people that had gathered curiously at the scene of the rescue and went into the surgery. It had begun to fill up, a murmur of conversation floating across to them as patients discussed the recent excitement. Joyce looked up at they went into the office.
‘You two ought to get changed,’ she said bluntly. ‘You’ll catch your deaths. By the way, your fiancé‧s in your room, Sally. I told him you’d been involved in this rescue incident and might be some time but he insisted on waiting. Something to do with his work and the wedding.’
Joyce’s tone was slightly caustic. Sally could imagine that she would disapprove of anything she considered ‘frivolous’ being discussed in surgery hours—one’s private life should be kept until after hours was her belief! Briefly Sally also wished that Tim had waited until the evening—at the moment she was cold, wet and tired, with a roomful of patients waiting to be seen. However, that was typical of her fiancé. He was full of pent-up energy, and if he wanted to do something he was impatient to do it immediately. He wasn’t the sort of man who could defer anything or wait until a more suitable time—but that was part of his charm, Sally thought fondly: he was always filled with enthusiasm for whatever project he’d got on at the time.
He was on his mobile phone as they came into Sally’s room, talking rapidly, but he wheeled round when he heard the door open. ‘I’ll ring you back—but keep that deal on hold,’ he said briskly to the person at the other end of the line, then he snapped the phone shut and put it back in his pocket.
‘Ah! Here you are, sweetie!’ he exclaimed. ‘I’ve been trying to get hold of you for ages. Finally I got Joyce. She told me there’d been an emergency outside the practice… what happened?’
He leant forward to kiss her then drew back in a startled fashion, taking in her attire and general dampness. ‘Good God, you’re all wet, and why are you wearing this blanket? Don’t tell me you jumped into the sea as well!’ He looked at Jack standing silently by Sally, also muffled in a blanket, and raised his brows. ‘Have you both been in the water? What the hell happened?’
Sally laughed. It was typical of her fiancé to turn up unexpectedly and forget that she might be in the middle of work herself!
‘It’s a long story, Tim, but let me introduce you to Jack McLennan—my new colleague. Jack, this is my fiancé, Tim Langley.’
The two men shook hands and Sally explained rather shakily, ‘It’s been mayhem here. A man jumped into the water to rescue his dog and got into difficulties. If it hadn’t been for Jack leaping in after him, I don’t know what would have happened.’
Tim raised his brows, impressed. ‘Wow! Did he indeed? Quite a superman! You must be a strong swimmer to help someone in rough seas like this.’ He frowned, as if trying to remember something. ‘Jack McLennan, eh? Sounds rather familiar. Where have I heard that name before?’
‘Jack and I worked together at St. Mary’s many years ago…I might have mentioned it,’ she said lightly. ‘But I thought you were in Glasgow. What are you doing here at this time of the morning?’
‘I tried to get here from Glasgow early before you went to work—I wanted to surprise you.’ He looked full of suppressed excitement. ‘I’ve been up all night brokering a deal and I think I’ve managed to swing it. That means mega-bucks in the piggy bank—I couldn’t wait to tell you!’
Sally laughed. ‘That sounds exciting—we could do with mega-bucks I dare say.’
‘I want to tell you all about it of course, but there’s another thing that’s equally exciting! You won’t believe this! I’ve found a fantastic new venue for our wedding!’
Sally stared at him. ‘You’ve what? But we’ve already got a lovely place—the Old Hall just by Loch Martin. And we’ve had all the invitations printed!’
Tim laughed jovially. ‘That doesn’t matter. It won’t take long to get new ones done—and this place is much bigger than the Old Hall. I’ve thought of several other people it would be politic to invite, especially thinking of your father’s position in Glasgow. Fortunately I can get a good deal on it as the premises are owned by a guy I know.’
Sally compressed her lips. Sometimes she felt that Tim was far too impetuous, and although doing things from the best of