Chapter 10
10
Taking his hand off Jennifer’s belly had torn a little piece from Guy’s soul, and it bled far into the night.
Dawn found him walking in the hills, two bemused dogs trotting philosophically at his heels. Guy was saying nothing, and it was more than clear that the exercise wasn’t easing his level of stress.
He was so close to giving in. To letting his heart rule his head even though he knew it would be fatal. It was so tempting to believe her. To believe that she had found something more important in her life than her financial and professional and social success. But if he unlocked that door in his heart, he would be giving everything to Jennifer… and his child. They would become the warp and weft of his soul, and he simply couldn’t allow that to happen because it would destroy him if they left.
And they would leave. Guy took a running leap to clear the small stream and kept going, a steady and punishing pace that had the dogs panting. Sure, it could work… for a while. A honeymoon period that would suck him into believing that it really was going to be forever, and that would be enough to seduce him into giving every ounce of love he was capable of giving.
Jennifer could work with him in his practice. Hugh Patterson had said more than once recently that the workload of the emergency department at Lakeview warranted extra medical staff, so he would be delighted to make use of Jennifer’s expertise. Then she’d be busy with the baby, at least for a while, and her career would take a back seat.
But it wouldn’t last. It could never last.
At some point she would realise what she’d given up and she would resent the fact she was stuck in an isolated community, practising skills in emergency medicine on a very part-time basis. She wouldn’t be teaching anymore so she’d lose her prestigious title of professor, and having a husband and baby and a couple of dogs could never hope to fill the empty place in her life.
She’d try to hide it, of course. There’d be a gradual slide into discontent. There’d be arguments when Guy was called out and she was left to deal with some domestic crisis or chores. The kind of education available probably wouldn’t be good enough for her child, and her social life would become excruciatingly dull. Guy never wanted a repeat of what it was like to be associated with someone who used their intelligence and wit to put people down, as Shannon had done so well. She’d alienated Guy as well as herself from the community and had made both their lives a misery.
Shannon had left, as Jennifer would, too, eventually. It would break his heart but it would be so much worse than it had been with Shannon because his love for Jennifer would blow any previous relationship out of the water. Even worse than that, when she left she would be taking their child with her, and that would destroy him utterly.
He would lose not only the woman he loved but a family, and he’d be exactly where he was now but with his spirit crushed beyond repair. He was better off to stay the way he was. No matter how hard it would be to send Jennifer away now, it was a bid for survival. Just like that walk away from the crash site had been.
With a snap of his fingers to warn the dogs, Guy did an about-turn and headed for home. The decision was made and he would stick to it because he had no choice.
And this time he was going to make damn sure that Jennifer Allen wouldn’t be trailing behind him.
* * *
Despite being an early summer morning, it was cold in the empty cottage. The blackened remains of the fire in the grate offered no warmth and Jennifer had no idea how to poke up the coal range and get it started.
Guy was nowhere to be seen but she had definitely heard a door closing some time ago. Maybe he’d gone out on a call. Jennifer sat at the kitchen table and zipped up her boots. She would find a cloth and wipe the last of the mud off them later. Or maybe she wouldn’t bother. Exhaustion was pulling her into a space where she really didn’t give a damn.
She was supposed to leave today. If she wanted to catch her flight she would need to leave the cottage by noon at the latest. It was just after 7a.m. now. There would be plenty of time to talk to Guy even if the call he was on took a while, but could it make any difference?
When he had snatched his hand from her belly last night and said it was time they both got some sleep, Jennifer had known any further attempts to throw herself at this man would just be pathetic.
Soul-destroying.
Something her pride should really prevent her doing.
Except… she had seen something in his eyes when she’d confessed her love for him. A reflection, or reciprocation?
Maybe she could at least find out whether what she had glimpsed was enough to hang any hopes for a future on. Whether something might change over the coming weeks or months. If there really was no hope, then she’d be stupid not to head home and put her emotional energy into securing the position that would challenge her enough to wipe out any dissatisfaction with her surroundings and disguise the loneliness in her life. Not to mention providing financial security for herself and her child.
There was no hint of any promise on Guy’s face when he strode through the door a short time later.
‘You’re up, then.’ He nodded. ‘Sleep well?’
‘No. Did you?’
‘Guess we could both use a coffee then,’ was Guy’s only response. He busied himself getting the coal range back into action. ‘What time does your plane leave?’
‘One o’clock. I’ve got a connection from Christchurch to Auckland at two-fifteen.’
‘What time is that interview?’
‘Four-thirty.’
‘Cutting things a bit fine, aren’t you? Maybe you could get an earlier flight.’
‘I don’t want an earlier flight. We still need to talk, Guy.’
‘There’s nothing left to talk about.’ Guy had the fridge open now, fishing out a carton of milk. ‘You might like to spend the extra time with some sightseeing in Queenstown, though. You didn’t get much of a chance the last time you were here.’
‘I don’t want to go sightseeing.’ Jennifer closed her eyes, but her weariness was more emotional than physical. ‘We can’t leave things like this, Guy. I meant what I said last night. I… I love you.’
It sounded desperate and pleading in the cold light of day, but she couldn’t prevent herself trying at least once more. ‘You said you had feelings for me. We’re having a baby. There has to be a way we could make this work.’
Guy abandoned his task, turning to face Jennifer. He shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, Jenna, I really am. Yes, I do have feelings for you. Strong feelings, and that’s what makes it all the more impossible. It’s because of how I feel about you that I’m doing this. So that neither of us gets hurt. It just couldn’t work. It doesn’t matter how we feel about each other because no amount of love could put us on the same planet.’
‘But I told you, I?—’
Jennifer broke off as the telephone rang and Guy raised his hand to silence her protest. She watched forlornly as he crossed the room to pick up the receiver. He thought she was the same person she had been when he’d met her. He didn’t believe she had changed, and why should he? People didn’t change something that fundamental. What he didn’t understand was that it had been there all along for her. She had just spent most of her life trying to bury it, probably thanks to the trauma of losing her mother so young.
The realisation was still fresh. It had started while picking the buttercups yesterday, strengthened when she’d seen how they had revived in their jam jar last night and had become crystal clear during the sleepless hours that had followed. Guy had lost everyone he had loved. After the disaster his marriage must have been, who could blame him for thinking she would never last the distance? The barrier he had in place seemed impenetrable and if she kept pushing, he would just fortify his defences. She would be well advised to admit defeat, at least for the moment, and try to find a different approach.
Suddenly, Guy’s voice cut through the spin of emotion governing her thoughts.
‘It’s pretty early to be visiting. He’s probably out seeing to the cattle or something first.’ He listened again.
‘If the ford’s impassable, that’ll be why he hasn’t made it. Maybe the phone lines are down.’
Jennifer watched as Guy rubbed his forehead and then squeezed his temples as though in pain. ‘Are they sure it’s a truck? How long before someone can get in the river and check it out?’
Then he was nodding. ‘I’m on my way.’ He put down the telephone and pulled a mobile phone from the charger beside it. ‘I have to go,’ he told Jennifer. ‘I have no idea what time I’ll get back. Don’t worry about locking the door.’
‘What’s happened?’
‘Phil rang Ellie after he left the pub last night. He said he’d be in first thing to visit them, but he hasn’t shown up and he’s not answering his mobile. Ellie called Maureen to see if he’d decided to stay at the pub because of the rain last night. Maureen alerted our local cop and he’s just spotted what looks like a set of tyres in the river.’
‘Oh, God!’ Jennifer breathed. ‘That ford! It was bad enough yesterday and it was raining quite hard again last night, wasn’t it?’
‘Our local search-and-rescue team has been activated. I’m the medic. We’re meeting at a point just down from the ford in fifteen minutes.’
‘I’m coming with you.’
‘You can’t. This could take hours.’
‘I don’t care.’
‘You might miss your flight.’
‘I don’t care.’ Jennifer was pulling on her coat. ‘I can get a later flight. I could ask them to postpone my interview until tomorrow.’
‘I don’t want you to come.’
‘I don’t care,’ Jennifer snapped for the third time. ‘This isn’t about you, Guy.’ She was pulling on her coat. ‘You win, okay? As soon as this is over, I’ll be out of your life. I’m not stupid enough to keep battering my head on a brick wall.’ She was at the door now, waiting for him. ‘This is about Phil , not us . I was there when his baby was born yesterday, Guy. Do you think I’m going to go home without knowing whether Isaac’s father is still alive?’
Several vehicles were already positioned at the rendezvous point near where the tributary joined the larger river. The bearded Mack was there with his tow truck.
Other locals had also gathered, but the three men dressed in overalls and heavy boots were strangers. Guy introduced them as members of the search-and-rescue team from Queenstown.
‘The police divers will be here shortly,’ the team leader, Wayne, informed Guy. ‘Then we’ll know what we’re dealing with.’
Was there any chance Phil could have survived his vehicle being swept away and overturned by the swollen river? Catching the glances of people who had shared the celebration of Phil Henderson’s son’s arrival last night, Jennifer thought it unlikely. And incredibly sad. Hadn’t this community had enough tragedy to deal with recently?
She moved closer to a group of women who had the back of a utility vehicle covered in Thermos flasks of hot water and various containers. Maureen was using a plastic lid as a board on which she was buttering scones.
‘Can I help?’
The women made space for her, and Jennifer was handed a knife and a jar of raspberry jam.
‘They’ll need something to eat and a hot drink,’ Maureen explained. ‘Especially if they have to start searching.’
‘Do you think Phil might have got out of the truck then?’
‘Let’s hope so.’ Maureen’s expression was grim as she sliced another scone in half. ‘We’ll find out soon enough.’
But it was nearly an hour by the time the police divers arrived and got into their wetsuits and breathing apparatus. The news had spread like wildfire and more and more locals arrived to stand vigil at the riverside. The faces were all familiar but there was no hint of the camaraderie and humour of the previous evening. These people were grim. They were all somewhere no one wanted to be, but they were there together to both offer and receive support.
It was a solid thing, this feeling of community, and Jennifer felt a curious pride at being part of it as she made a strong pot of tea and then took a plate of food to offer to the official search party. Their numbers had also grown, with police, ambulance and fire service vehicles and personnel on standby. Guy was leaning over the bonnet of a police car as he and Wayne studied a detailed map of the area.
The shout from one of the divers came just as Guy raised a mug of tea to his lips.
‘Cab’s empty!’
The tea slopped onto the edge of the map. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Affirmative. The driver’s window is wound down. He must have got out.’
‘Right.’ Wayne was ready for action. ‘We’ll divide into two teams and search the banks. Maggie, you go with Pete’s team and you stay with me, Guy. That way we’ll have a medic on hand without having to wait for a boat to do a river crossing.’
‘I’m coming, too.’
The look Jennifer received was one of astonishment. Then it became patronising as Wayne’s gaze raked her from head to toe. ‘I don’t think so.’
‘Jenna’s a doctor. Specialist in emergency medicine.’ It was Guy who spoke up in her support and Jennifer flashed him a grateful glance.
‘She’s not equipped or dressed for this,’ Wayne said dismissively. ‘She’d be a liability.’
‘I’ve got a spare set of overalls in my truck.’ Jennifer recognised the young man who’d made the quip last night about Guy having to marry her. Nathan. ‘She can have those.’
‘This isn’t a Sunday stroll,’ another of the men from Queenstown was saying disparagingly. ‘She wouldn’t even keep up.’
‘Don’t you believe it.’ Guy pinned the man with his glare. ‘Jenna could give you a run for your money any day. She made it out of the Balfour Range with me after that plane crash.’
‘Oh…’ Wayne’s glance carried something more like respect now.
‘And I, for one, would prefer to have her along,’ Guy added. ‘If Phil’s in need of medical assistance, Jenna’s the person I want to have around.’
‘She saved Phil’s baby yesterday.’ The onlookers had been listening to the exchange and one now spoke up decisively. ‘She deserves a chance to help him.’
‘She should come.’ Maggie sounded unusually serious, but then she flashed Jennifer an almost imperceptible wink. ‘She’s one of us.’
‘We’re wasting time,’ one of the Queenstown men growled.
Wayne nodded. ‘Let’s move.’ He turned to Guy. ‘It’s up to you, mate. If you want Jenna, you’ll have to take responsibility for her.’
* * *
That was it in a nutshell, wasn’t it?
If he wanted Jenna.
Of course he wanted her. He’d be mad not to. She was gorgeous, intelligent, talented and kind. She was going to be the mother of his child, for heaven’s sake, but even that paled into insignificance compared to the fact that she loved him .
Guy watched as people fussed around Jennifer.
Nathan had provided the overalls. Maureen had taken off her work boots and was now zipping up Jennifer’s in their place.
‘Classy,’ she pronounced. ‘Might keep these.’
There were encouraging smiles, hands patting her back and a lot of voices wishing her luck. Something had changed. There was no way that the Professor Allen from that conference would have been treated like this. Or been such an integral part of the gathering at the Glenfalloch pub last night.
He’d seen that heart to heart she’d been having with Maureen at one point when the two women had been leaning towards each other over the bar as though sharing something very private.
He’d seen her dancing with Mack, of all people, her cheeks reddened by the vigorous activity and her head thrown back in laughter at her own lack of expertise.
He’d even seen that impromptu examination of old Mrs O’Donell’s bunions in a quiet corner. How could she have gone on to stuff herself with chocolate eclairs after that ?
Maggie had been so right. She – and the others – sensed something he had refused to allow himself to believe. Deep down, where it really mattered, Jennifer was one of them. She wasn’t – could never be – an outsider, the way Shannon had been.
Guy’s mind was only half on what he was doing as they started the search down the riverbank. Jennifer was a little ahead of him, keeping pace with Wayne. He hadn’t seen her walking from this perspective before. She’d been trailing after him for that whole walk out of the mountains.
It seemed unbelievable now that his choice would have been to leave her behind. He actually had left her behind, hadn’t he? For a moment the wash of shame was enough to make Guy forget that he was on a mission to try and help someone else survive.
The reason he’d tried to leave Jennifer at the crash site and go on alone had been because it had been the easy way out. And wasn’t that precisely what he was doing again now? Pretending he was doing what was best for both of them when, in actual fact, he was opting out. Refusing to go with Jennifer on a journey that had the potential to lead him away from the wreckage this time. The wreckage of his past marriage and the rubble of other relationships he’d lost with those he’d loved.
* * *
The river was wide at this point with several channels divided by shingle banks. Some channels were shallow enough to simply walk across, but the central flow was far too deep and swift to negotiate. Huge tree branches had been swept down to clutter the banks. Some had tangled to present dams that only increased the speed of the deep water. It would be so easy for someone to have become entangled in such obstacles and then drowned. Every area needed searching, which included poking below the water surface with long branches.
‘Oh… God !’
Adrenaline flowed at Jennifer’s groan of despair.
‘Have you found something?’ Guy stepped over boulders and snapped small branches in the few steps it took to catch up with her.
‘It’s one of the presents Phil collected last night. Look!’
The sodden teddy bear had been wedged in the fork of a tree branch. Jennifer pulled it free and Guy could see the control she was exerting not to cry.
‘He’ll be okay after a wash,’ he told her. ‘We’ll take him home with us.’
‘It’s not that…’ Jennifer gulped in a breath and turned away from Guy. ‘This is just all so sad,’ she said brokenly. ‘There’s not really much hope, is there?’
‘There’s always hope, Jenna. Don’t give up.’
But Jennifer was moving again. Guy saw her scrub the tears from her face, resolutely square her shoulders and move on, with her bowed head the only evidence of how bleak she realised this situation was and how little hope any of them had of finding Phil alive.
She was hanging in there till the bitter end, though, wasn’t she?
Jennifer Allen would never take the easy way out.
She had considered staying with that plane wreckage the safer option, but she had still been prepared to follow him and risk the journey. He’d tried so hard to push her away. To cut her out of sharing any of his grief for Digger. To avoid having to care for her as well as himself. How had she felt, being left alone like that? She must have known there had been a possibility that rescue would never come. That she could have been left to die alone.
She hadn’t wanted to die alone and she’d been brave enough to do something about it.
Guy didn’t want to die alone either, dammit, but was he brave enough to follow her example and do something about it?
All it would take would be for him to summon the courage to follow Jennifer’s lead this time. And maybe this was the real bid for survival in his life. Because if he was with Jennifer, he would be really living and not simply existing.
Jennifer was ahead of him and she wasn’t looking back. Just as he had when she’d set out to follow him. But she wasn’t going to be waiting on a rock for him to catch up. She’d told him he’d won. She would be out of his life as soon as this was over.
But he hadn’t won, had he? He was losing here – big time, and as the minutes passed, the more he could see just how much he was losing.
The teams kept in touch by portable radios. After an hour’s searching they took a break. Wayne decided to split the searchers into smaller groups. Some would keep going downriver but the others would move back and search the pockets of bush and the paddocks nearby.
‘He may have got himself out of the river and tried to head for home,’ Wayne decided. ‘I’ll get the helicopter in to have a look as well.’
* * *
Another thirty minutes passed. And then another. The helicopter was hovering overhead, but they could still hear the radio Guy was carrying as it crackled to announce a call.
‘Guy? Are you receiving?’
‘Roger.’
‘The chopper’s spotted something. There’s a water race at the far end of the paddock to your right where the chopper is. Can you check it out?’
‘On our way.’
Guy had taken hold of her hand to help her over a post and wire fence. Maybe he didn’t notice he was still gripping it tightly as they ran towards the area beneath the hovering helicopter.
Jennifer noticed. So did Wayne and the other members of their team who were following. The physical connection was broken only when they reached the ditch, skidding to a halt to peer over the long grass at the shape half in and half out of the shallow stream of water at the bottom.
‘Hey!’ The voice was as weak as the smile but, amazingly, the humour was still apparent. ‘You’re a bit slow doing the rescue bit, aren’t you?’
‘ Phil! ’ Jennifer scrambled down the sloping side of the ditch. ‘My God, you’re alive !’
Guy was grinning from ear to ear as he turned to Wayne. ‘Told you she was the best, didn’t I, mate?’
Phil looked as though he wanted to laugh but groaned instead.
‘What hurts?’ Jennifer demanded. The fact that Phil could talk and even attempt humour was a good indication that his airway and level of consciousness weren’t badly affected.
‘It’s my leg.’ Phil groaned again. ‘I got out of the river just before the truck got washed away and decided to take a short cut home. Then I fell into this damn ditch in the dark and I think I’ve broken my leg. Hurts like hell and I can’t move.’
Jennifer didn’t need to cut any clothing away to see the twist in Phil’s right leg.
‘Fractured femur,’ Guy confirmed, having climbed down the other side of the ditch.
‘You feel like a block of ice.’ Jennifer let go of Phil’s wrist. ‘We need to get you out of here and start warming you up.’
The helicopter had landed in the paddock now and a stream of people were arriving, having heard the good news being relayed by radio. There were plenty of willing helpers to get Phil out of the ditch. Guy, Jennifer and Maggie worked together, wrapping Phil in foil sheets, putting a traction splint on his leg, giving him pain relief and IV fluids that Maggie had managed to keep warm in an insulated holder. Within a short time Phil was quite stable and relatively comfortable, ready for transport to hospital.
‘Are you going to travel with him, Maggie?’
‘Could do. I should stay with my ambulance, though. I am on duty.’
‘There’s only room for one extra.’ Guy frowned as he turned to Jennifer. ‘Maybe you should go,’ he said quietly. ‘That way you’ll have time to get cleaned up and you could still make your flight. I can send your other stuff on later.’
Maggie’s face fell. ‘Are you leaving already? But I thought you and Guy…’ Her gaze flicked from Maureen, who gave a warning headshake, back to Jennifer and Guy and she fell silent. So did all the other people who were eagerly eavesdropping.
Jennifer’s throat tightened painfully. So this was it? A public farewell? Then she looked up to catch Guy’s expression and suddenly it was hard to breathe, let alone try to swallow.
The barrier had dropped. The clouds of doubt she was so used to seeing had vanished. What Jennifer was seeing now was a totally unguarded piece of Guy Knight’s soul. And he wasn’t trying to push her away. He wanted her to stay.
He wanted her .
‘I don’t have to catch that flight,’ she said.
A glow of what looked like hope burned in the depths of those dark eyes. ‘But if you miss that interview, you might lose your chance to be head of department.’
‘I guess so.’ Jennifer couldn’t have cared less. She wasn’t at all sure she had any interest in that job now. The life she would be returning to would be empty and meaningless without Guy. Shallow, even. But she had worked her whole life towards this goal, hadn’t she?
‘Maybe I don’t want to be head of department anymore.’
Saying it aloud made the relinquishment of a long-held goal seem more acceptable somehow. Especially when Maureen was nodding so approvingly.
‘’Course you don’t, love,’ she encouraged. ‘There’s more to life than just working hard.’
‘You’ve worked so hard to get this opportunity.’ Guy’s eyes were searching hers. ‘You wouldn’t really give it up completely , would you? Just like that?’
Jennifer almost smiled reassuringly, but she didn’t want to make this too easy for Guy. The harder he was finding it, the more courage and commitment he was revealing. It was an opportunity to find out whether Guy felt the same way she did – that any option that didn’t keep them together for the rest of their lives simply wasn’t an option.
‘I would if there was something better on offer,’ she said.
‘Such as?’
Maggie gave Guy’s arm a shove in the short silence. ‘ You , you idiot. Can’t you see it’s you that Jenna wants more than any job?’
Nathan hooted with glee somewhere behind Jenna. ‘He is going to make her a Knight. What did I say? Man, am I good!’
The helicopter rotors were turning slowly now as the pilot warmed up to take off with Phil. Their patient might be quite comfortable, and appearing to enjoy the drama going on right beside his stretcher, but it was high time he was transported. A decision had to be made.
‘I’ll go in the chopper,’ Maggie offered. ‘You two can go and canoodle in the ambulance for a bit while you sort yourselves out.’
‘I’m not going anywhere,’ Phil declared. ‘Ellie will kill me if I can’t tell her how this works out.’
‘A wedding’s just what we need around here.’ Maureen sighed happily. ‘I haven’t done a reception for ages.’
‘Hang on!’ Jennifer was horrified. However well-meaning these people were, pushing Guy Knight in a direction he was possibly only beginning to accept as an option could spell disaster. ‘We’re not talking weddings , here.’
‘ I am,’ Guy contradicted her.
‘Get on with it, then,’ Phil groaned in frustration. ‘The suspense is killing us.’
Guy caught Jennifer’s hands. ‘I tried to survive once without you, Jenna. I thought walking off that mountain by myself was the only way I’d make it, and I was wrong. We made it together.’
Jennifer nodded and then her lips curved softly. ‘We did.’
‘And… and I thought keeping my heart safe was the only way I’d make it through the rest of my life. I was wrong there, too. Very wrong.’
‘You’re a man,’ Maureen said kindly. ‘You’re allowed to get it wrong sometimes, love.’
Mack scratched his beard. ‘You’d better get it right this time, lad, hadn’t you?’
Guy was apparently more successful at ignoring the helpful input than Jennifer was. She was trying not to smile again because Guy was looking so very, very serious. But then he spoke again and any inclination to smile faded.
‘I can’t survive without you,’ Guy said simply. ‘And I don’t want to try. I want to share my life with you because without you it wouldn’t really be a life.’
‘Say yes ,’ someone shouted.
‘He hasn’t done it yet,’ Phil growled. ‘You have to ask her to marry you, mate.’
The roar of the helicopter had been steadily increasing and Guy had to raise his voice to be heard.
‘I love you,’ he shouted. ‘Will you marry me, Jenna? Please ?’
There was no need to make Guy work any harder at this. The truth was there in his eyes, and the happiness infusing Jennifer made this the most magic moment of her life… so far.
‘ Yes ,’ she shouted back. ‘I love you, too, Guy.’
The cheer that went up as their lips touched was loud enough to compete with the helicopter, now more than ready to take off. The copilot was waving furiously in the background, trying to hurry up the stretcher-bearers.
‘We’d better go,’ Maggie yelled.
‘No way.’ Phil’s headshake was decisive. ‘They haven’t finished their snog yet.’
Jennifer was laughing. She couldn’t help it. It was so unromantic doing this in front of all these people, and yet it was so appropriate. There would be plenty of private time later. Time to say all the things they needed to say. A chance to touch more than their lips and to cement the promises that kiss and now Guy’s hand was making as it held hers so tightly.
The copilot ran towards them. ‘What’s the hold-up here? You coming with us, Guy?’
‘He can’t,’ someone shouted. ‘He’s busy getting engaged.’
The helmeted figure looked at Guy and then at Jenna. Then his gaze travelled down to where their hands were locked. He shook his head.
‘I don’t suppose she’s about to let you go in a hurry, is she?’
‘Not if I can help it.’ Guy grinned.
‘Guess we can squeeze an extra one in this time, then. Can we go now? Are you all sorted?’
Jennifer felt the grip on her hand tighten and looked up to catch a glimpse of her future in Guy’s dark eyes.
He was nodding. ‘We’re all sorted, aren’t we, Jenna?’
‘We’ve done the most important sorting,’ she agreed. ‘There might be a few minor details to work on.’
‘How long is that going to take?’ The copilot had already taken hold of one end of Phil’s stretcher.
‘Don’t worry, mate.’ Guy reached for the other end of the stretcher. ‘We won’t start now. I expect it’s going to take a fair while.’
Jennifer was grinning as she followed the men towards the rear of the helicopter, but her eyes had misted with tears of pure joy. It was going to take a fair while all right.
She was going to make sure it took the rest of their lives.
* * *