Rescued By Her Mr Right

CHAPTER TWO

FUNNY HOW MANY thoughts could flash through your brain when you were dangling in mid-air. Even when most of your concentration was so focused on keeping both yourself and the person you were holding safe.

But the thoughts were there. Drifting past like fragments of a half-forgotten dream.

Because he had dreamed of this. Once upon a time.

Holding Harriet Collins in his arms...

Part of his soul had recognised her as the perfect woman the first time he’d met her, back when they had both been new and on their very first training session for the SDR team. Everything about her had been fascinating. Those shiny, auburn curls that bounced when she moved her head. The cute freckles that dusted her milky skin. Hazel eyes with the sparkle of sheer joie de vivre. That easy smile and the contagious gurgle of her laughter. How nice she was. Warm and open and friendly.

It had taken a long time to screw up the courage to ask her out on a date. He’d had to fight the doubts about how unlikely it was that she could be as interested in him. She was years older than he was. Older and wiser and with a circle of friends that were part of a very different world but the attraction was so strong, he’d had to try.

The sheer delight that she seemed to think it was a great idea had been short-lived. She’d seen it as no more than a mate suggesting a team outing, in fact, because she’d shared the invitation with those around them, including the new guy who’d just joined the team—a good-looking firie by the name of Pete Thompson.

And it had been that very night—that had been supposed to be his first date with Harriet—that the spark had been ignited between her and Pete. Jack had felt every jolt of electricity that had passed between them and every one of them had been tipped with the flame of rejection. Of not being good enough. Of not having the kind of charisma that blokes like Pete Thompson had. He knew that that charisma often came with a price. That they were often shallow, egotistical people.

But there’d been nothing that he could do, other than watch it happen. And accelerate. And he’d got over it. So Harriet wasn’t for him? It didn’t matter. They were still friends and he’d find someone else who made him feel this way—without those doubts that he’d made the mistake of ignoring. One of these days, he would experience that ‘falling in love’ business. Preferably with someone that he knew he would want to spend the rest of his life with.

Someone like Harriet Collins maybe, but with some island blood so that she could embrace being part of an extended family that could sometimes smother you with the responsibilities of belonging but would never tolerate being shut out of any dark times in your life.

The way Harriet had shut him out.

It still hurt, Jack realised, as they got close enough to where his crewmate, Matt, was leaning out of the chopper door, ready to pull Harriet to safety and unclip the nappy harness. It was almost a relief when he couldn’t feel the shape of her body against his any longer.

He’d wanted to hold her in his arms so much, that day, when he’d gone to see her after the accident, still reeling from the shock of witnessing that rockfall on their team day out in the Blue Mountains with a day of abseiling training underway. He’d seen that rock hit Harriet and the fear that she’d been killed had made it seem like the ground had been opening up beneath him. A world without Harriet Collins could never be quite the same. He’d had to swipe tears of relief from his face when he’d heard that she’d come through the surgery and still had her leg but he’d known the moment he’d walked into her room for that first visit that even getting close enough to touch her wasn’t going to be welcomed.

She’d put up a barrier that might have been transparent but it was impenetrable. And, from what Jack had heard over the last months, he hadn’t been the only person who’d been relegated to the other side of that barrier. Harriet’s life had fallen apart after the accident but it had been deemed none of his business, however much he might have wanted to try and help.

But she had needed his help today.

Welcomed it, in fact.

And it almost felt like that barrier had somehow evaporated—on her side, anyway. Perhaps he’d put up one of his own, to protect himself from having his friendship rejected again. From the reminders of that even more painful rejection of something that he’d believed could have been a whole lot more than simply friendship.

She was watching him now, as he and Matt made sure that Eddie was as comfortable as possible, monitored his vital signs and tried to check him out for any significant injuries that might have been missed. It was only a short flight to the nearest hospital so it was a busy time but Jack’s glance caught Harriet’s on more than one occasion—like when he’d tightened the loop anchoring the nasal cannula for oxygen and moved to attach the end of the tubing to the on-board supply. And when he reached up to change the flow rate on the IV fluids they were administering to stabilise Eddie’s blood pressure.

What was so different about her?

She was a bit thinner, which was hardly surprising given the physical ordeal she’d been through. Her skin was paler. Because she wasn’t outside every free moment she could find—doing fun runs or surfing or something? Her freckles had faded too but the change he was trying to identify wasn’t anything negative. Quite the contrary. It was...a bit of a spark, that’s what it was. As if a glimmer of the woman he’d admired so much had returned. A woman who’d all but vanished within weeks of that terrible accident.

The last time Jack had gone to visit her in hospital, she’d been fighting an infection that had again raised the awful possibility that her lower leg might have to be amputated. She had been feeling very unwell, lying there with intravenous antibiotics dripping into her arm, and the visit had been more than awkward. Jack had felt helpless and hated it.

Harriet had looked...hopeless, which had been even worse.

She hadn’t wanted to see him. She certainly hadn’t wanted to talk about the SDR, which was pretty much the only thing they had in common. And when she’d looked directly at him—just before she’d said it might be better if he left—her eyes had been like nothing he would have ever associated with Harriet. So dark. So flat you wouldn’t know there were little golden flecks in that hazel warmth.

That was it in a nutshell. The sparkle was back. Not the way it had been but it was there in the interest she was showing in the information being recorded on the ECG monitor and the new set of limb baselines Matt was doing to check on the blood supply to Eddie’s leg below the level of the fracture.

It had been there, as part of that smile, when he’d made that lame joke about Lassie.

As they came in to land at one of Sydney’s larger hospitals, a long way from Bondi Bayside, Jack leaned close and raised his voice.

‘Stay on board when we land. I’m off duty once we get back to base and I can take you home.’

‘I left my car,’ Harriet told him. ‘Back at the cliffs.’

‘No worries. We’ll sort it. We can check that Lassie’s been rescued, too.’

Her eyes widened as if she was surprised he was worried about his patient’s pet but then her face softened as if she was remembering that it wasn’t out of character at all. It was the kind of person he’d always been.

Her smile—and her nod—told him that she liked that.

‘Sounds great.’ Harriet leaned close to Eddie as they were unhooking the stretcher ready to wheel him towards the waiting staff members on the far side of the helipad. ‘I’ll come and see you as soon as I can. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure Harry’s okay.’

She would, too, Jack thought as he bent to move under the still moving rotors of the helicopter that would take them back to base very soon. She was that kind of person as well.

And he’d always loved that about her.

* * *

It felt like the old days.

The time when life had been full of excitement and promise. Before it had all come crashing down around her in such spectacular fashion.

The climb down that cliff face. Treating someone with traumatic injuries. Being winched into a helicopter and then flying over the city she loved so much. Somehow, in recent months she’d forgotten how gorgeous it was.

Being with Jack was another link to her past life and, oddly, she didn’t have a compelling urge to push it away in order not to add weight to the miserable shroud of what she’d lost. Today, it didn’t feel quite so lost and the reminder of what it had been like was poignant but also precious.

Jack’s car was parked at the back of the air rescue base, far enough away from where they’d landed to make Harriet very aware of how far she’d pushed her new boundaries today.

‘You okay?’ Jack’s sideways glance was casual. ‘You could wait here while I get the car.’

Harriet didn’t meet his gaze. ‘I’m good. This is what I do now, Jack. I limp.’

The silence made her realise that she’d slipped back into that defensive mode that made her tone too sharp and pushed people away.

‘Sorry,’ she muttered. ‘But I think I can make it. I need to try.’

‘I’m sure you can make it. You climbed down a cliff today, didn’t you? And you don’t need to apologise. I understand...’

People said that a lot, with the best intentions, but it was never true, was it? You couldn’t really understand unless it had happened to you.

But it felt like maybe Jack did understand. More than others, anyway.

‘It will get better,’ she told him. ‘It’s just that I’ve only been out of my brace for a week or so. And I probably did more today than I should have, even before I climbed down the cliff.’

‘What were you doing up there? Testing yourself? Might be a good idea not to do stuff like that by yourself, you know.’ His smile was crooked. ‘Just sayin’...’

‘Yeah, yeah... It was a bit of a test, I guess, but the real reason was to try out my new zoom lens. I wanted some shots of surf crashing on rocks, preferably as it got close to sunset when the light gets awesome.’

‘You’ve really got into photography, haven’t you? I saw you taking all the photos at Kate and Angus’s wedding.’

She’d noticed him there as well. Not that she’d made any attempt to go and talk to him. She’d stayed behind that camera the whole time and had left as early as she could without being rude. It had been hard, being there but not being one of the team any longer.

‘I really have.’ It was a relief to reach the car and take the weight off her leg. A quick glance at her watch told Harriet that she could take some more painkillers soon. As soon as Jack wasn’t around to notice because those sharp of eyes of his didn’t miss much. Had he been aware that she’d avoided talking to him at the wedding?

‘It started because I was taking photos of my leg, actually,’ she found herself saying quietly as the car pulled out onto the road. ‘I wanted a record so that, on bad days, I could remind myself that things were improving. And then I started taking photos of other stuff and I got hooked. Not only did I have a topic of conversation that had nothing to do with my leg but I could kind of hide behind the camera when I was out with other people. Win-win.’

She’d never admitted that to anyone. She’d kept people at a distance by being distant herself with a forced cheerfulness or, shamefully more often, a bad-tempered snappiness. Jack hadn’t seen the worst of it but she knew she’d hurt him by rejecting his support early on. Opening up, just a little, was a kind of peace offering and, judging by the intensity of the swift glance he gave her, he realised that it was a big thing.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said softly. ‘I can only imagine how rough it’s been for you.’

‘Actually, I think it’s me that should be apologising.’

‘What on earth for?’

‘I was horrible to you. When you came to visit. You didn’t deserve that.’

Jack shrugged. He seemed to be concentrating on the road ahead. ‘It was no big deal. You had your friends around.’

‘You’re one of my friends,’ Harriet said. Then her voice trailed away. ‘Or...you were...’

This time Jack turned his head. ‘I still am, Harry.’ But his tone held a note of wariness. ‘If you want me to be, that is.’

For a long minute, Harriet stared, unseeing, at the industrial buildings they were passing. She could hear echoes of the laughter of shared jokes and the teasing that Jack had been such a master of. She could feel the warmth of the kindness that was so much a part of him. Like the way he would always make sure that others were being cared for during any breaks on an exhausting disaster response and getting some rest and food and water.

And it hadn’t been just his teammates or other people he cared about.

‘Do you remember that last callout we were on together?’

‘The bush fire?’ Jack blew out a breath. ‘Sure do. That was a tough one, wasn’t it? A whole town lost. So many people killed or injured.’

‘And the animals. You found that dog with burnt paws and you carried him all the way back to base.’

‘If I’d known what was going to happen, I would have made you carry him.’

Harriet grinned. ‘You mean that photograph of you that went viral?’

Jack shook his head. ‘The attention was ridiculous. I started getting emails from all over the country. Girls who’d never met me but wanted to marry me, for God’s sake.’

Harriet was still smiling. ‘Of course they did. You were a hero. Young, gorgeous and single. And you love dogs. What more could a woman want?’

Jack was concentrating on changing lanes on the motorway that was leading them out of the city. He made a sound that could have been embarrassment at her singing his praises. Or it could have been disagreement.

‘You mean you don’t like dogs? Or you’re not still single?’

‘I like dogs,’ Jack muttered. ‘And, yeah...if you must know, I’m still single.’

Weird, Harriet thought. There must be an unlimited number of gorgeous young women who would love to catch his attention.

Then she sighed into the silence. ‘Me, too...’

Jack didn’t say anything for quite a while and Harriet could feel a tension that made her wish she’d kept her mouth shut. A lot of it was probably being internally generated, mind you. The rejection of having Pete walk out on their relationship had been soul destroying. She was damaged now. Unattractive. Unlovable, even?

Yeah...she was single and that wasn’t about to change. Maybe it never would.

‘I heard that Pete transferred to a Melbourne station,’ Jack finally said. His tone was laced with disapproval.

Was that what some of the tension was about? Jack had been friends with Pete. Everybody had been.

‘Mmm...’ Harriet tried to keep her tone casual. ‘I think he wanted a fresh start. With Sharleen.’

Jack shook his head. ‘Yeah, I heard about that too. I can’t believe he walked out on you. What a moron.’

‘It’s okay,’ Harriet said. Though the aftermath of that breakup had been agonising, she’d refused to let it drag her down further. ‘Everything we’d had in common was gone and he just couldn’t handle it. And then there was Sharleen. With two good legs. A top surfer. A gym bunny. That was where they met—at the gym.’

Jack took the exit that was signposted for the Kookaburra park and walkway. ‘You’ve still got two legs,’ he said, matter-of-factly. ‘And, from what I heard, that was a pretty big deal.’

‘Yeah...’ Suddenly the fierce ache in her leg seemed much more bearable. ‘I know. I was lucky.’

‘And they must be pretty good legs if you got yourself down that cliff today. I would have thought twice about attempting that.’

‘You don’t know how dodgy it was. And I’ll probably be reminded of it for a few days now, I expect. I might have to admit defeat and use my brace again at work for a while.’

‘You didn’t even have a rope.’ Jack’s glance was one of admiration. ‘Weren’t you scared?’

‘I didn’t give myself time to think about it. I just looked one step ahead for a foothold or for the next branch that might give me a safe handhold. And then I was past the halfway point and it would have been just as hard to go back as it was to keep going.’

‘But you chose to keep going.’

‘I was worried that Eddie might start moving and roll off the ledge.’

‘So you gave yourself the biggest physical challenge you’ve had in a long time and put yourself in danger to save someone else.’

Harriet tried to smile but she could feel her lips wobble. ‘It made me feel like...like I was still part of the team.’

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.’