he was. No passengers.’
‘Lucy wasn’t with him,’ he swiftly assured her. ‘Thank you for letting me know, Constable. I’ll get to the hospital as soon as I can.’
He grabbed his clothes and headed straight for the bathroom, his mind racing over which would be the fastest way to the mainland. Calling for a helicopter, getting the pilot out of bed and to the airfield—no, he couldn’t bear waiting around. Best to take the yacht back to Cairns at full throttle, be on the move. He could easily summon a car to meet him at the marina, drive him straight to the hospital, no time wasted.
You hang on, Mickey, he fiercely willed his brother.
Elizabeth had wrapped a robe around her and was pacing the bedroom floor when he emerged from the bathroom. ‘How bad is it?’ she shot at him, anguish in her eyes.
It made Harry think she still cared a hell of a lot for his brother, which put another savage twist in his heart.
Her hands lifted in urgent plea. ‘Lucy will want to know.’
Anguish for her sister or herself? He shook his head. He didn’t have time to sort this out. ‘He’s in intensive care. That’s all the cop could tell me,’ he answered. ‘I have to go now, Elizabeth. Will you hold on here until...until...’ He couldn’t bring himself to voice whatever was going to happen.
‘Of course I will,’ she cried. ‘I’ll do anything you want me to do. Just call me. I’ll stand by as long as you need me.’
Yes, Harry thought. The one who had always carried the load. Always would. The anchor.
He walked over to her, scooped her into a tight embrace, needing a brief blast of warmth to take some of the chill out of his bones. He rubbed his cheek over her silky hair and kissed the top of her head. ‘Thank you. I’ll be in touch,’ he murmured, then set her aside to go to his brother.
Elizabeth was not going to leave him any day soon.
Mickey might.
* * *
Elizabeth’s heart bled for him as she watched him make a fast exit from her apartment. To have his parents killed in an accident and now to have his brother on the danger list from another accident...it was a wickedly unkind twist of fate.
When she had thought Lucy could be involved, too... The huge relief at hearing she wasn’t made her feel guilty for being spared what Harry was going through—totally gutted with fear and anxiety. It was no empty promise that she would do anything to help. If she had the power to make everything better for him, she would. He was a good man.
So was Michael.
And Lucy would want to know that the man she loved was in hospital, possibly fighting for his life.
Where was her sister? Why hadn’t she been with Michael? Had there been a bust-up between them? Questions fired through Elizabeth’s mind as she used her mobile phone to make contact with her. The call tone went on for a long nerve-tearing time before it was finally cut off by Lucy’s voice, sounding groggy with sleep.
Of course, it was still very early in the morning—Sunday morning—but time didn’t matter. ‘Wake up, Lucy!’ she said sharply. ‘There’s been an accident.’
‘What? Is that you, Ellie?’
‘Yes. Michael was injured in a car accident early this morning. He was badly hurt.’
‘Michael...oh, no...no...’ It was a wail of anguished protest. ‘Oh, God! It’s my fault!’
‘How is it your fault?’
‘I ate something at dinner last night that upset me. He brought me home. I was vomiting and had dreadful diarrhoea. He left me to find an all-night pharmacy, get me some medicine. I was so drained I must have drifted off to sleep. He should have come back but he’s not here and... Oh, God! He went out for me, Ellie!’
‘Stop that, Lucy! You didn’t cause the accident and getting hysterical won’t help Michael,’ she said vehemently, needing to cut off the futile guilt trip. ‘I take it everything was still good between you last night?’
‘Yes...yes...he was so caring when I was sick. Oh, Ellie! I’ll die if I lose him.’
‘Then you’d better do whatever you can to make him want to live. Are you still sick? Can you get to the hospital? He’s in an intensive care unit.’
‘I’ll get there.’ Gritty determination was in her voice, hysteria gone.
‘Harry was with me on the island. He’s on his way. Be kind to him, Lucy. Remember he and Michael lost their parents in an accident. I have to stay here. Harry’s counting on me to take care of business but I think he’ll need someone there, too.’
‘I understand. You love him but you can’t be with him.’
Love? That was typical Lucy. Elizabeth cared about the man and she certainly loved aspects of him, but she mentally shied from putting a boots-and-all love tag on her feelings for Harry. However, right at this moment it was easier to just let her sister think what she wanted to think.
‘I need to know what’s happening, Lucy. Please...will you keep me informed?’
‘Sure! I’ll call you with news as soon as I have it. Moving now. Over and out. Okay?’
‘Okay.’
Elizabeth took a long deep breath, trying to settle some of her inner agitation. There was no more she could do about the situation, yet the need for some kind of action was twitching through her nerves. The office didn’t have to be opened for hours yet. It was too early for anyone on the island to require her for anything.
She showered and dressed, then walked down to the beach, dropping onto a deckchair to simply sit and watch the sunrise, wanting to feel some peace with a world that had just changed again. Nature kept rolling on, regardless of what happened to human beings. While it could be ugly, too—cyclones, floods, droughts—this morning it had a beautiful tranquillity that soothed the turmoil in her soul.
The sea was a glittering expanse of shimmering wavelets. The sky slowly turned into a pastel panorama of pinks and lemons. The sun crept up over the horizon, shooting beams of light into the tinted clouds. It was a lovely dawning of a new day—another day that she was alive.
Life was precious.
More than ever Elizabeth felt a pressing need to make the most of it.
This past week with Harry had been good.
She’d felt happy with him.
Love was a big step from there but her mind and heart were opening up to the chance that Harry Finn might be the man who could and would share her life in all the ways she’d dreamed of.
ELIZABETH was on tenterhooks all morning waiting for news of Michael. She thought it would be Lucy who called, but it was Harry, instantly assuring her that his brother’s injuries
