Jack was slowing the car now to pull into the parking area at the park, which was the entry point to the cliffside walkway. He stopped, turned off the engine and then turned to give Harriet a very direct look.
‘You are still part of the team.’
‘Don’t be daft.’ The fact that his words opened an emotional wound that had barely begun to close up made her tone sharp again. ‘That’s never going to happen and you know it.’
She could hear the edge of bitterness souring a moment that should have been a reconnection. A step back into a friendship that could be an important bridge between her old life and this new, difficult one.
‘Sorry.’ The apology came out as a sigh. ‘There I go again, being not nice to be around.’
Jack shrugged. ‘You’re allowed to be angry. I get it.’
‘I’m dealing with it. I hope... And I’ve got my next goals. Two of them, in fact.’
He nodded. ‘Like going down the cliff, huh? Just look as far as the next step or a safe handhold?’
‘Something like that.’
‘So what are they—these goals of yours?’
‘Well, you know that Blake and Sam are getting married, right?’
‘Yeah...’ Jack grinned. ‘So much for Blake’s rules about team members not hooking up. He’s changed, hasn’t he?’
‘He’s in love. They both are. Sam’s my best friend and I’m thrilled for her. I offered to take photos at their wedding but it turns out that I’m going to be her bridesmaid. So that’s my first goal. I don’t want to be taking any attention away from her by limping down the aisle.’
‘The aisle?’ Jack’s eyes widened. ‘They’re getting married in a church?’ His grin widened. ‘I don’t believe it. Our maverick ED consultant who wears cowboy boots and a ponytail to work is going to do something as conventional as getting married in a church?’
‘They haven’t decided where yet. It was a figure of speech. It might happen on a beach and sand is even harder to walk on.’
‘How long have you got to train for it?’
‘I don’t know that either.’ The parking area around them was dark now but Harriet could see some people moving off to one side. ‘You’ll be coming to the wedding, won’t you?’
‘If I get an invitation, sure.’ Jack had turned to look in the same direction as Harriet. ‘So what’s your other goal? You said you had two.’
‘I want to get back to my old job. In intensive care.’
‘Where are you now?’
‘Geriatrics.’ Harriet screwed up her nose. ‘I mean, I love the oldies. I hear the most amazing stories every day but I really miss the ICU.’
‘Why can’t you work there again now?’
‘My leg’s not strong enough. Imagine if there was an emergency and I turned to grab a defibrillator or something and I ended up falling over.’
‘Hmm...’ But Jack seemed distracted. ‘There are cops over there. With a dog...’
‘Oh...’ Harriet wrenched at her door handle. ‘It must be Harry the dog. Let’s go and check that he’s okay.’
The two police officers were about to load Harry the dog into their car but were happy enough to stop and chat when they learned of Jack and Harry’s connection to the unusual job they’d been dispatched to.
‘You never know what’s going to happen on a shift,’ the young officer said. ‘We get a good hike up a hill in a glorious sunset and we’re getting paid for it. How great is that?’
‘Was he hard to find?’
‘No. He was just lying there, with his nose on his paws, right on the edge of the cliff.’
‘Oh...poor Harry.’ Harriet crouched down to hug the dog. ‘It’ll be okay,’ she told him. ‘Someone’s going to look after you.’
‘He’s going to the pound,’ the older officer told them. ‘We’ve tried to find a family member to take him but there doesn’t seem to be anybody.’
Harriet felt the nudge of a cold, damp nose against her hand. He was good at communicating, this dog.
‘I’ll take him,’ she heard herself saying. ‘I don’t want him to go to the pound. How scary would that be? He’d think he was being totally abandoned.’
‘If you want to.’ The police officers exchanged a glance. ‘Can’t see a problem with that as long as we get all your details.’
‘Are you sure?’ Jack sounded concerned. ‘He’s a big dog. He’ll need a lot of exercise.’
Harriet straightened. ‘A lot of exercise is exactly what I need, too, if I’m going to get to where I want to be.’
‘Are you allowed dogs in your apartment?’
She shrugged. ‘Sometimes it’s better to apologise later than ask for permission first. I think this is one of those times.’
Jack’s gaze was thoughtful. ‘I could help, maybe. With the exercising?’
‘Sure.’ This time, Harriet wasn’t going to brush off Jack’s offer to help. It was like another peace offering. ‘That’d be great.’
A few minutes later, Harry the dog was installed on the back seat of Harriet’s car and she was ready to drive home as soon as Jack let go of her door so that she could close it.
‘I’ll be in touch,’ he said. ‘We can make up a roster and I can give him a good run on the beach or something.’
‘Okay. I’d better get going, though. I need to get to the supermarket and stock up on some dog food and stuff.’
Jack closed her door but he was still standing there so Harriet rolled the window down.
‘What?’
He shrugged. ‘Nothing. Just that I reckon you could add a third goal to that list.’
‘Oh?’
‘Yeah...’ He threw a smile over his shoulder as he walked away. ‘Getting back on the team for real. Reckon you could do it if you really wanted to.’
‘SAM...WHAT ARE you doing here?’
‘I had to come and find you. They told me on the ward that you’d brought someone to X-Ray.’
‘Yes.’ Harriet glanced sideways to where the patient she was accompanying was already snoring gently. ‘Poor old May fell out of bed during the night. She’s not complaining but it looks like she’s fractured her neck of femur. We’ve got a bit of a wait, though.’ She raised her eyebrows at her friend. ‘Why did you have to come and find me? Have you set a date for the wedding or something?’
Sam shook her head, flopping into the seat beside Harriet. ‘No...it was too late to ring you by the time I got home last night. There was an SDR meeting and I heard all about your cliff rescue. Oh, my God, Harry...what did you think you were doing?’
There was only one person who could have been spreading that news but Harriet wasn’t entirely sure whether she was disappointed in Jack for talking about her behind her back or quietly pleased that the team now knew all about it.
‘Jack said it would have been an astonishing thing