Behind him, Lindsay wiggled her eyebrows questioningly and grinned. Like everyone else who knew about Ian, she was always telling Georgie it was time to date again.
‘Have a coffee with me if you have time?’ Lindsay said before she disappeared.
Logan got to his feet and held out his hand. ‘I just came to tell Jack about his mum,’ he said. ‘But I’m pleased to meet you properly.’ He shot another devastating smile in her direction and Georgie almost reeled from the force of it. Without his helmet she could see him properly, and if it were possible he was even more attractive than she had thought at first. Although not conventionally good-looking—his features were too rugged for a start—he had a charisma and easy confidence about him that suggested he was used to women finding him attractive. His hair was cropped short, military style, and his face was sculpted over high cheekbones. Only a scar, running from just underneath his cheekbone to the corner of his mouth, marred his good looks, but in some obscure way it only made him more attractive in Georgie’s eyes. Add a six-foot-something frame and a dose of sex appeal Georgie had only ever associated with film stars and it all added up to a mind-blowing package. All of this didn’t tie in with a man who would take the time out to stay with a frightened boy. Georgie was intrigued. And how on earth had he got back here from Glasgow? If he’d driven he must have raced along the roads at breakneck speed.
Long fingers grasped her hand in a firm grip, and sparks shot up Georgie’s arms.
‘Georgie McArthur,’ she said faintly. She dragged her eyes away from him and turned to Jack.
‘Hey. How’re you doing?’
‘Dr Harris says Mum’s awake, but still in Intensive Care in Glasgow. He says she’s going to have to stay in hospital for a day or two, but she’s going to be okay.’
The terrified little boy of earlier was gone. Now he knew his mum was going to be all right, excitement had taken over.
‘What about your dad?’ Georgie asked. ‘Wasn’t he with you?’ The light went out of Jack’s eyes.
‘He lives in Edinburgh. Mum and him aren’t living together right now. They say they’re having a little break from each other. But I don’t believe them. I think they’re getting a divorce. Mum’s been crying all the time. I made her come up here to try and get her mind off it and look what happened. If I hadn’t done what she told me not to, she wouldn’t have tried to come after me and fallen.’ His lips trembled as he remembered his terror.
‘Hey,’ Georgie said soothingly, ‘accidents happen. Your mum will be proud of how brave you were—I promise.’
‘Anyway, Dad’s with her now. He came from Edinburgh as soon as he heard she was hurt. He can’t come and see me ‘cos he doesn’t want to leave Mum on her own.’
Georgie read the hope in his eyes. It didn’t take a mind reader to know his nine-year-old mind already had his parents back together. Georgie prayed he wasn’t going to be disappointed.
‘The hospital says I have to stay in tonight. But Dr Harris says he’s going back to Glasgow tomorrow, so he’ll go with me in the ambulance car if I want.’
Georgie shot a surprised look at Logan. Surely such thoughtfulness was beyond what was required?
‘His mum was taken directly to the head injuries unit at Glasgow City. It seemed sensible. If we’d stopped here and she’d ended up having to be transferred there anyway…’ He lifted an eyebrow slightly, not wanting to complete the sentence in front of Jack.
‘I really, really want to see my mum—and dad.’ Jack’s lip trembled and Georgie’s heart went out to him. She knew he wouldn’t believe his mum was okay until he saw her for himself.
Georgie smiled reassuringly. ‘The Glasgow City just happens to be the best hospital in Scotland for people who have hurt their heads,’ she said. ‘I work there. So I know your mum is in very good hands.’
Logan looked surprised. ‘You do? Work there, I mean?’ He eyed her speculatively. ‘I assumed you were a nurse here.’
‘I used to be, until a few years ago. I’m just here on holiday. I’d take Jack myself but I’m not going back to Glasgow until Sunday night.’
‘I’ve got to go back there tomorrow anyway,’ Logan continued. ‘So it makes sense for me to go with Jack. It would save his father from making the three-hundred-mile round trip. I spoke to him on the phone and he’s relieved to have that taken care of.’
‘Don’t you have to go back with your crew?’ she asked. ‘To HMS Gannet? Isn’t that where the RAF is based? Aren’t you with them?’ A sticker on his T-shirt bore the name Major Harris.
‘I’m not actually with the RAF. I just happened to be visiting their base when the call came through and I was happy to volunteer my services.’
‘So how come you’re here? Didn’t you go with Jack’s mother to the Glasgow City General?’
‘We were heading in that direction when the Fort William General radioed to let us know they had a visiting neurologist from Glasgow who was spending the day teaching some junior doctors here. It made more sense for her to go with Jack’s mother and there are people I need to talk to here. So the helicopter picked her up and dropped me off. She phoned a few minutes ago to give us an update. That’s how we know she’s doing okay.’ He winked at Jack.
Georgie was more and more curious. She waited for him to continue.
‘And, since you are obviously interested, it so happens that the Glasgow City General is going to be my home for the next three months.’
Georgie’s cheeks grew warm. It was a Highland habit she hadn’t ever really managed to lose—this interest in other people. City people thought it was nosy to ask questions, Highlanders knew it was only polite interest—or at least that’s what they told themselves and each other.
Logan slid her a look and the wheels clicked into place. There had been talk in the A and E department of a consultant from one of the forces coming on loan for three months to look into setting up an emergency medical retrieval team similar to the one the army had perfected. Could it be this man? Georgie had expected someone a lot older for some reason. Someone closer to retirement age. Not this hunk.
‘Are you the doctor who is coming to set up the new emergency service?’ she asked bluntly, ignoring the way her heart was doing a little dance behind her ribs.
‘Got it in one.’ He moved his hand in a mock salute. ‘Major Harris at your service. How did you know?’
‘As one of the A and E nurses at the Glasgow City General, I’d heard the rumours, but I don’t make it to the inter-departmental meetings as often as I should so I’ve only gathered bits and pieces.’ She blew out her cheeks. ‘I’ve been on holiday here for the last couple of weeks, so I must have missed the latest.’
He grinned back and her heart did that complicated manoeuvre inside her chest again. ‘I’ll be there on Monday,’ he said. ‘I’ve a bit of information gathering still to do, including forming links with the other emergency services in the area. Which reminds me, I don’t suppose you have a number where I can get hold of the mountain rescue team leader, do you?’
She raised an eyebrow.
‘We’ll be working with them at some point, so I want to talk to them. I might as well do it now, seeing as I’m here for the night. No point in wasting an opportunity.’
Georgie thought for a moment. Jess would be fast asleep and likely to remain so for the remainder of the night. Kirk and the rest of the team would still be hanging out at the inn where they met most evenings to dissect the day’s climbing and the rescue. She could just give Logan Kirk’s telephone number and leave him to make his own arrangements. But that would be churlish. She made up her mind.
‘You