He shrugged and smiled. ‘OK, then—of course I can see you haven’t really time for me now. I suppose we’ll just have to discuss everything when I see you later.’ He turned to Jack and said breezily, ‘Well done with the rescue.’
Then a loud jazzy tune from his jacket pocket indicated that his mobile was ringing. He put up a hand of apology and turned away to listen and answer in staccato sentences.
‘Ah, Rita! Yes. Fine, I’ll be there right away.’ He turned back to Sally and Jack. ‘Sorry about that! My secretary’s very much on the ball and when she says something needs doing, I have to take notice! I must get back to Glasgow pronto, so I’ll see you soon—ciao!’
Tim strode out, kissing Sally almost on the run, and Jack watched him through the window as he drove off. He turned round to Sally, one eyebrow raised slightly.
‘So that was your fiancé. He sounds a very busy chap. A successful businessman, I guess…’
Sally flicked a look at Jack. His expression was bland, but there was something about his tone… ‘What is it?’ she asked sharply. ‘Don’t you like him?’
Jack smiled and shrugged. ‘I don’t know him at all. He seems…very pleasant. I suppose he’s not quite the type of man I would have imagined you marrying.’
Sudden irritation flashed through Sally. How dared Jack, of all people, voice his opinion of Tim?
‘Really?’ she said sarcastically. ‘And what’s wrong with him?’
‘Nothing that I know of—it’s just that you’re more a country girl, and he seems very focussed on…well, the world of business, the city.’
Jack didn’t actually spell out the words ‘You seem ill-matched’, but that was what he’d meant, thought Sally furiously. Talk about instant assumptions!
‘So he’s focussed. I like to see enthusiasm in one’s work,’ she snapped, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at him. ‘Just what are you implying?’
Steady eyes looked at her. ‘I’m not implying anything, Sally, but will he settle down in this small community?’
‘You don’t know him. He’s an extremely generous man, quite happy to live in the country when we’re married.’
Her cheeks were flushed, large grey eyes sparking with anger, her hair damp and tousled as she raked her hand through it crossly. She looks gorgeous when she’s angry, reflected Jack wistfully. It reminded him of times past when they would have a minor tiff and then make it up passionately later. He pushed that thought away savagely—that damn Tim Langley didn’t know how lucky he was.
He put up his hands as if in surrender, and said lightly, ‘I’m sure he’s everything you say he is. You did ask me if I liked him and I’m only voicing my opinion, Sally. No criticism implied, just that he’s not what I expected. Perhaps I thought you’d go for someone more—’
‘Well, that’s neither here nor there, is it?’ she cut in bitingly. ‘It’s nothing to do with you who I marry.’
There was an unreadable expression in Jack’s eyes as his glance met hers. He murmured, ‘I suppose you think I’ve forfeited any right to be interested in your future?’
‘As a matter of fact, yes, I do think that,’ said Sally forcefully. What right had an ex-boyfriend to tell her the sort of man she should be marrying? She bit her lip. Perhaps she was being over-aggressive about the matter—after all, she didn’t give a damn what Jack thought of Tim, did she? But the warm feelings she’d had for Jack since he’d rescued Callum Brody faded, and she glanced pointedly at her watch.
‘We’d better get on,’ she said coldly. ‘Joyce will show you the flat and you can get dressed there. I’ll run through some of the procedures in twenty minutes when I’m changed. Luckily, I’ve got some spare clothes I keep in the cupboard here.’
Half an hour later Sally sat down at her desk with a steaming cup of coffee and one of Joyce’s home-made biscuits in front of her. Joyce had managed to get hold of Callum Brody’s wife to come and pick up their little granddaughter Susy and the dog so it seemed as if the dramatic episode at the start of the day had been resolved satisfactorily. And yet, instead of feeling relieved, Sally was unsettled, and Jack’s words about Tim seemed to repeat themselves in her mind.
She had to admit that on the face of it she and Tim didn’t have much in common. To be honest, there had been niggling doubts when he’d first asked her to marry him. His world was so different from hers—a commercial world with hard-headed executives who lived and played hard. Although her father worked in Glasgow, they had always lived in the countryside outside the city and hers had been a privileged childhood where she’d ridden ponies, kept dogs and even sheep as pets.
But the dazzling and glamorous life Tim offered her was such a complete contrast to the past lonely six years, so full of fun—theatre first nights and dances, even flying off to France for two days. It was hard to resist such a generous and lively man. So what if neither of them felt dizzy with passion when they saw each other? They were great friends, weren’t they, and that was a very important thing in relationships, wasn’t it?
Tim hadn’t given Sally much time to ponder on their differences. After a whirlwind courtship, they had become engaged and he’d agreed quite happily to start off their married life in Crannoch. After all, he felt he’d got a prize with Sally—he wasn’t going to let a beautiful young doctor slip out of his hands!
Sally sipped her coffee absent-mindedly. A thought crossed her mind—would Tim have another spur-of-the-moment decision like he had done with the wedding venue and decide he wanted to move somewhere more cosmopolitan? She shrugged her shoulders irritably and put her mug down so firmly on the desk that coffee spilt over onto some papers. Damn Jack McLennan and his observations for putting such a thought into her head!
She cared very much about Tim and, of course, he cared equally for her. That was all that mattered. The main thing in married life was to be together, to support each other…and if occasionally she missed the fireworks and heart-stopping thrill of attraction she’d once felt for Jack, that didn’t matter, did it?
She clicked one of the icons on the screen, bringing up the list for the morning’s surgery. She would not discuss her fiancé with Jack again—he had lost the right to comment on her private life a long time ago.
CHAPTER THREE
JACK tapped his pencil morosely on the desk, scowling unseeingly at the screen showing the list of patients he was to see that morning. What the hell did Sally see in Tim Langley? How could she have become engaged to him? Oh, he was probably a decent man, but he was at heart obviously someone mainly interested in business and commercial deals—did Sally really want to live in that sort of city world, where her husband’s consuming interest was financial matters? Someone whose first concern was the deal he’d just pulled off and not concern for his fiancée’s physical well-being after getting soaking wet in freezing waters?
A rueful grin lifted Jack’s expression for a second. He’d certainly hit a nerve with Sally when he’d dared to hint that Tim Langley was less than perfect! He’d quite enjoyed doing that! But he realised that that sort of little episode wasn’t going to make for a good working relationship with Sally, and whatever he felt about her fiancé he ought to keep his mouth shut in future. It was, Jack reflected wryly, the little green monster of jealousy that was getting to him. Sally had every right to choose who she wanted to get married to.
He sighed. This job was going to be a bitter-sweet experience, for even if they had no future together, being near Sally made him feel more vitally alive than he had for six years.
He pressed the button to admit the first patient. If he was going to do this job properly he had to bury his personal feelings.