crowd of people that had gathered curiously at the scene of the rescue and went into the surgery. It had begun to fill up, a murmur of conversation floating across to them as patients discussed the recent excitement. Joyce looked up at they went into the office.
‘You two ought to get changed,’ she said bluntly. ‘You’ll catch your deaths. By the way, your fiancé‧s in your room, Sally. I told him you’d been involved in this rescue incident and might be some time but he insisted on waiting. Something to do with his work and the wedding.’
Joyce’s tone was slightly caustic. Sally could imagine that she would disapprove of anything she considered ‘frivolous’ being discussed in surgery hours—one’s private life should be kept until after hours was her belief! Briefly Sally also wished that Tim had waited until the evening—at the moment she was cold, wet and tired, with a roomful of patients waiting to be seen. However, that was typical of her fiancé. He was full of pent-up energy, and if he wanted to do something he was impatient to do it immediately. He wasn’t the sort of man who could defer anything or wait until a more suitable time—but that was part of his charm, Sally thought fondly: he was always filled with enthusiasm for whatever project he’d got on at the time.
He was on his mobile phone as they came into Sally’s room, talking rapidly, but he wheeled round when he heard the door open. ‘I’ll ring you back—but keep that deal on hold,’ he said briskly to the person at the other end of the line, then he snapped the phone shut and put it back in his pocket.
‘Ah! Here you are, sweetie!’ he exclaimed. ‘I’ve been trying to get hold of you for ages. Finally I got Joyce. She told me there’d been an emergency outside the practice… what happened?’
He leant forward to kiss her then drew back in a startled fashion, taking in her attire and general dampness. ‘Good God, you’re all wet, and why are you wearing this blanket? Don’t tell me you jumped into the sea as well!’ He looked at Jack standing silently by Sally, also muffled in a blanket, and raised his brows. ‘Have you both been in the water? What the hell happened?’
Sally laughed. It was typical of her fiancé to turn up unexpectedly and forget that she might be in the middle of work herself!
‘It’s a long story, Tim, but let me introduce you to Jack McLennan—my new colleague. Jack, this is my fiancé, Tim Langley.’
The two men shook hands and Sally explained rather shakily, ‘It’s been mayhem here. A man jumped into the water to rescue his dog and got into difficulties. If it hadn’t been for Jack leaping in after him, I don’t know what would have happened.’
Tim raised his brows, impressed. ‘Wow! Did he indeed? Quite a superman! You must be a strong swimmer to help someone in rough seas like this.’ He frowned, as if trying to remember something. ‘Jack McLennan, eh? Sounds rather familiar. Where have I heard that name before?’
‘Jack and I worked together at St. Mary’s many years ago…I might have mentioned it,’ she said lightly. ‘But I thought you were in Glasgow. What are you doing here at this time of the morning?’
‘I tried to get here from Glasgow early before you went to work—I wanted to surprise you.’ He looked full of suppressed excitement. ‘I’ve been up all night brokering a deal and I think I’ve managed to swing it. That means mega-bucks in the piggy bank—I couldn’t wait to tell you!’
Sally laughed. ‘That sounds exciting—we could do with mega-bucks I dare say.’
‘I want to tell you all about it of course, but there’s another thing that’s equally exciting! You won’t believe this! I’ve found a fantastic new venue for our wedding!’
Sally stared at him. ‘You’ve what? But we’ve already got a lovely place—the Old Hall just by Loch Martin. And we’ve had all the invitations printed!’
Tim laughed jovially. ‘That doesn’t matter. It won’t take long to get new ones done—and this place is much bigger than the Old Hall. I’ve thought of several other people it would be politic to invite, especially thinking of your father’s position in Glasgow. Fortunately I can get a good deal on it as the premises are owned by a guy I know.’
Sally compressed her lips. Sometimes she felt that Tim was far too impetuous, and although doing things from the best of generous motives, it was slightly unnerving and, she had to admit, rather irritating. Now she suddenly felt unutterably tired and certainly not in the mood to discuss her wedding arrangements in front of Jack.
‘I’m sorry, Tim,’ she said firmly. ‘I need to show Jack the flat above the surgery first of all. He can change there now if he wants. And of course I’ve got to put on dry clothes—we’re both really wet and cold. As you can see, there’s a big surgery to get through, and it’s Jack’s first day here. Why don’t we talk about all this tonight?’
Tim pulled a comical face of disappointment. ‘Can’t you spare ten minutes, Sally? I’ve been up all night, I’m dead beat, but I’ve been dying to talk to you about everything.’
Sally bit her lip. Surely Tim could see that it would take her at least a quarter of an hour to change her clothes and she still hadn’t put Jack in the picture regarding the computer system. As for Tim being tired, she and Jack were cold and exhausted too! But that was Tim all over, so enthusiastic and buoyed up about everything—he was like a puppy with a new toy.
She tried to mask the impatience in her voice. ‘Sorry, Tim, it’ll have to wait until later. I’ll see you back at the house this evening.’
He shrugged and smiled. ‘OK, then—of course I can see you haven’t really time for me now. I suppose we’ll just have to discuss everything when I see you later.’ He turned to Jack and said breezily, ‘Well done with the rescue.’
Then a loud jazzy tune from his jacket pocket indicated that his mobile was ringing. He put up a hand of apology and turned away to listen and answer in staccato sentences.
‘Ah, Rita! Yes. Fine, I’ll be there right away.’ He turned back to Sally and Jack. ‘Sorry about that! My secretary’s very much on the ball and when she says something needs doing, I have to take notice! I must get back to Glasgow pronto, so I’ll see you soon—ciao!’
Tim strode out, kissing Sally almost on the run, and Jack watched him through the window as he drove off. He turned round to Sally, one eyebrow raised slightly.
‘So that was your fiancé. He sounds a very busy chap. A successful businessman, I guess…’
Sally flicked a look at Jack. His expression was bland, but there was something about his tone… ‘What is it?’ she asked sharply. ‘Don’t you like him?’
Jack smiled and shrugged. ‘I don’t know him at all. He seems…very pleasant. I suppose he’s not quite the type of man I would have imagined you marrying.’
Sudden irritation flashed through Sally. How dared Jack, of all people, voice his opinion of Tim?
‘Really?’ she said sarcastically. ‘And what’s wrong with him?’
‘Nothing that I know of—it’s just that you’re more a country girl, and he seems very focussed on…well, the world of business, the city.’
Jack didn’t actually spell out the words ‘You seem ill-matched’, but that was what he’d meant, thought Sally furiously. Talk about instant assumptions!
‘So
