Chapter Three
“Bunny!” Jenna shouted. “Here, girl!”
She always felt faintly ridiculous shouting that name.
“Bunny” was no bunny at all but a great big slobbery Great Dane who belonged to Mrs. Turner, Jenna’s neighbor.
Since Mrs. Turner had a hip replacement a little over a month ago, she’d been unable to walk Bunny and so Jenna had volunteered for the job.
After all the home-cooked meals and delicious cakes that Mrs. Turner had showered her with over the years, it was the least Jenna could do.
Bunny came ambling along the path, taking her own sweet time to catch up. For such a big, powerful dog, she was incredibly lazy, and Jenna was pretty sure she’d be perfectly happy snoozing on Mrs. Turner’s couch all day given the choice.
“Will you hurry up? Anyone would think you don’t want to go for a walk!”
Bunny gave a huff as if she understood every word, sniffed Jenna’s hand, and then trotted off along the path that hugged the edge of the lake.
It was a lovely spot, with the lake looking like a polished silver coin on such a sunny day as this.
The evergreens that bordered the lakeshore whispered in the light breeze and a family of geese paddled along, keeping pace with Jenna and clearly wondering if any food might be forthcoming.
Jenna breathed deeply and did her best to push her worries out of her mind and concentrate on the beautiful day.
But it was hard. So hard. No matter what she did, her thoughts kept returning to Alex’s betrayal and her money worries.
Her future, which only a week ago had seemed bright and full of promise, had turned into a murky wasteland which she could no longer see a path through.
Oh, hell. What was she going to do?
Bunny suddenly gave an excited bark and went pelting down to the water’s edge, sending mud flying. Jenna sighed. Again? Seriously?
“Bunny!” she shouted. “Are you ever going to learn? It doesn’t matter what you do, you are not going to catch one of those geese!”
But the dog ignored her, dancing around the lake’s edge like some excited puppy, tail whipping from side to side, and back end wriggling madly. She barked again, a loud yip that was entirely too high-pitched for such an enormous beast.
Jenna let out an exasperated groan. “Fine! Have it your way. You’re going back on the leash.”
She took the leash out of her pocket and marched down to the water’s edge, only to halt in surprise when she realized it wasn’t the geese that Bunny was barking at.
It was something… else. There was a strange disturbance out in the lake, perhaps thirty feet or so from where she was standing.
The water had begun to move, turning slowly like a whirlpool.
The area wasn’t large, perhaps a few feet across, and the water around the anomaly remained perfectly still and smooth.
Jenna frowned. What on earth?
As she watched, the whirlpool began to spin faster, whipping the water into a frenzy of froth and tiny white waves.
Then all of a sudden a spout erupted from it with a whoosh, only to fall back to the lake’s surface in a shower of silver droplets.
When the spout dissipated, the whirlpool was gone, but something else had been left in its place.
A man.
Jenna’s eyes widened, her jaw dropping. What the hell? Where had he come from? The man was floating on his back, arms and legs spread-eagled, with his eyes closed as though unconscious. Golden blond hair floated around his head like some sort of halo.
“Hey!” Jenna shouted. “Hey! Are you all right?”
The man’s eyes flickered open and he rolled over, sinking under the water for a moment before coming up again, gasping and spluttering.
Shit!
Jenna waded into the shallows. “Hey! This way!”
The man struggled weakly towards her. When he was close enough, she grabbed his shirt and helped to haul him into the shallows. He collapsed, half-in, half-out of the water, gasping for breath.
Jenna crouched next to him. “Are you hurt? Should I call an ambulance?”
“Not hurt,” he gasped. “Just… help me up.”
He struggled to his knees, then braced one hand against the muddy bank for leverage.
Jenna got her shoulder under his other arm and supported him as he pushed unsteadily to his feet.
God, he was heavy! It was only when he was finally standing that she realized how big he was.
Well over six feet, with wide shoulders and powerfully muscled arms, he was built like a boxer or a football player.
And what the hell was he wearing? Some kind of strange, tartan wrap thing hugged his torso and then fell in folds to his knees where it was met by knee-high boots of soft leather.
“You okay there?” she asked, looking up at him.
Startling blue eyes met hers, as bright as the summer sky above. “Aye, I’m fine now. Just a wee bit dizzy from crossing over is all.” His blond eyebrows pulled down into a frown. “She could have warned me it would near drown me.”
Crossing over? What was he talking about?
“Are you sure you don’t want me to call an ambulance? You don’t look so good.”
“I am well, lass,” he rumbled. “But I thank ye for yer help.”
He had a deep, rolling burr to his accent and she guessed he must be Scottish.
The tartan was a bit of a giveaway too, of course.
He laid a big hand on her shoulder and then pushed away from her support.
But he’d not taken more than two steps when he staggered suddenly.
Jenna darted forward and got her shoulder under his arm again to steady him.
“All right, big man,” she said. “If you won’t let me call you an ambulance, you’ll at least come home with me and let me take a look at you. You clearly aren’t fine and no wonder either. Come on. It’s not far.”
He didn’t protest as she began walking back towards her house, and leaned heavily on her for support. Bunny trotted along at Jenna’s side, tongue lolling and head tilted to the side, clearly intrigued by this newcomer into her world.
By the time they reached the back door of her house, Jenna was breathing heavily and sweating. It had been hard work getting him here despite his protests that he could walk unaided, thank you very much. Yeah, right. If she’d stopped supporting him she suspected he’d have fallen flat on his face.
She kicked the back door open and managed to bundle him through into the kitchen and help him to one of the chairs at the table.
He slumped down heavily, the chair creaking alarmingly under his weight, and leaned forward, bracing his elbows on the table.
Bunny seated herself in front of him, tail wagging from side to side.
“My thanks, lass,” he rumbled. “It seems I’m weaker than I thought.”
“Really?” Jenna replied, crossing to the sink. “You don’t say. Here, drink this.”
She held out a glass of water which he took in shaking hands and began to sip. Slowly, he began to look a little better. His lips were no longer blue, and a blush was starting to creep across his cheeks. But still, perhaps she ought to just take a look—
No! she told herself fiercely. I’m not doing that. Never again, remember? If he needs healing, he can see a doctor like everyone else.
The man finished the glass of water and placed it on the table. He looked over at her with a wry smile. “I dinna suppose ye have anything stronger? Whisky, perhaps?”
“You supposed right.” She filled the kettle and put it on the stove. “I’ll make us some coffee. Although, I think I might have some tea around here if you’d prefer?” He was British, after all.
“Tea?” he asked, in his rumbling voice. “What is this thing?”
She snorted. “Oh, right. You don’t have it in Scotland, I suppose?”
“Not where I’m from, lass.”
“Fine. Whatever. Coffee it is then.”
She didn’t have the energy or inclination to argue. She would make him a coffee, let him dry off, and then send him on his way. She would have done her good deed for the day, and what happened to him after that was none of her concern.
He watched her as she worked. He was, she noticed, shockingly attractive with his sculpted features, wide blue eyes, and blond hair. She scowled. So what? In her experience good-looking men were not to be trusted, Alex being the perfect example of that.
She turned around and focused on the coffee while he started petting Bunny. The big dog seemed to have taken a liking to him and rolled onto her back for a belly rub.
“How did you end up in the lake?” she asked without turning around. “Were you kayaking? Fishing? If you’ve capsized your boat, there’s a guy who looks after the place who I can call to go salvage it for you.”
“Nay lass, I dinna have a boat.”
“Then, what? You were just out there swimming?”
She remembered the strange whirlpool she’d seen and then that huge spout of water. It had almost been as though… as though the water had coughed him out from somewhere.
“Something like that,” he muttered.
She finished making the drinks and pushed his mug across the table towards him.
He took a sip, making a face that told her exactly what he thought of it.
She didn’t sit but leaned against the kitchen counter, fingers curled around her own mug as she watched him rubbing Bunny’s belly.
He was so big that he seemed to dwarf her tiny kitchen and despite herself, she couldn’t stop her eyes from tracking along the contours of his well-defined body, so obvious beneath the wet clothes clinging to his skin.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “But I don’t have a change of clothes to lend to you.” Aunt Rose had taken Alex’s clothes away and even if she hadn’t, there wouldn’t have been anything to fit this guy.
He waved her apology away. “Ye have already done more for me than I could have wished for. Ye have my gratitude, lass.”
His blue eyes met hers, and Jenna felt a faint flush creep up her cheeks. She took a sip of coffee to cover it. “It’s nothing. I wasn’t about to let you drown, was I?”