an unreasoning dislike to people.
That thought didn’t help one bit—it simply served to make her feel even more perplexed. It was a relief when Jack announced that because of the lateness of the hour it might be better if they got straight to bed after they’d had something to eat.
It turned out that Moses lived in the village and his wife, Leah, had prepared a meal for them. Everyone sat round the fire while they ate the deliciously spicy stew the woman had made.
Meg hadn’t realised just how hungry she was until then and had a second helping when Leah shyly offered it to her. She was a beautiful young woman with smooth, ebony skin, her hair intricately beaded and braided. She was obviously heavily pregnant, her distended belly clearly visible beneath the flowing, brightly coloured robe which covered her from neck to ankle. However, she still managed to move gracefully as she served their meal.
She smiled shyly when Meg thanked her. ‘I am pleased that you enjoyed it, Doctor,’ she said in her lilting voice, before she moved away to offer Rory a second helping, which was eagerly accepted.
‘Why does she call us all ‘‘Doctor’’?’ Meg queried, spooning up another mouthful of the tasty concoction. ‘I noticed that Moses did the same before, calling me Dr Meg.’
‘Women come very low down in the pecking order in a lot of these African countries,’ Rory explained, then glanced at Jack who was sitting beside him. ‘Isn’t that right?’
‘Unfortunately, it is. We’ve found by trial and error that it’s better if all the staff are awarded doctor status as it cuts down on a lot of problems, particularly with the male patients,’ he explained, putting aside his empty plate. ‘They accept treatment from a female doctor far more readily than they would accept it from a nurse. On trips like this, our nurses are more nurse practitioners than anything else, responsible both for diagnosing and prescribing treatment in many cases.’
‘And you have no problem with that?’ Meg asked before she could think better of it. She shrugged when everyone looked at her, glad that the heat of the fire could be blamed for her suddenly heightened colour.
‘A lot of doctors don’t hold nurses in very high esteem,’ she muttered uncomfortably.
‘Not a sin that I’m guilty of, believe me. And especially not on an undertaking like this. Everyone’s input is equally important to the success of the operation, which is why everyone is expected to pull his or her weight.’
Was she the only one to feel the sting in the tail of that statement? Meg glanced round the assembled group but not one of them looked as though they suspected Jack had meant that as a warning. It was hardly surprising when it had been aimed at her, though, was it? Hadn’t he said much the same thing earlier, that she was expected to pull her weight? Maybe he was taking the opportunity to remind her?
Suddenly, Meg knew that she’d had enough for one day. She was sick and tired of being in the dog house when she hadn’t done anything to deserve it! She scrambled to her feet, avoiding Jack’s eyes as she smiled at the rest of the team.
‘I don’t know about you lot, but I’m worn out. I think I’ll call it a night if nobody minds.’
‘Well, I don’t for starters.’ Kate got up as well, groaning as she arched her aching back. She shot a wry look at Jack. ‘Yvonne was right to cry off at the last minute if you ask me. I bet she knew you were going to have us bouncing around over miles and miles of dirt tracks!’
Jack laughed deeply as he rose to his feet. In the flickering glow from the fire, his face looked almost saturnine until he smiled, and then there was such a transformation that Meg had to look away, because she didn’t like the way her heart had started to bounce up and down.
It was only a smile, for heaven’s sake! she told herself sternly. And it hadn’t even been directed at her. Yet her foolish heart was playing leap-frog with her ribs.
‘You could be right about that. I should have told her that we’d be travelling by limo and then she might have felt well enough to come along.’ He sighed as he looked at the others. ‘I’m sure we’re all going to miss her.’
Especially when he’d been saddled with a replacement he didn’t want!
Meg turned away, afraid that the hurt she felt would show on her face. Was he deliberately trying to be cruel? she wondered sickly as she hurried towards the hut she’d been allocated to sleep in.
‘Meg, wait a moment!’
She paused when she heard Jack calling her name, although she didn’t turn round because she wasn’t sure that she had her emotions in check sufficiently to face him. She kept her back towards him, staring at the inky blackness of the trees that surrounded the village, yet she knew to the second when he stopped behind her.
That inner radar again, working overtime, she thought with a surge of black humour. Maybe she should use it as an early warning system for whenever he was in the vicinity. She certainly could do with avoiding him from the look of it!
‘I didn’t mean that as it sounded.’ He got straight to the point without any preamble, surprising her enough so that she half turned. She saw the regret in his grey eyes and somehow that undid all her good work, setting free her carefully shored-up emotions. It had been a long, tiring day and Jack’s intransigent attitude hadn’t helped one bit!
She felt her lower lip quiver before she could stop it and quickly turned away, hating herself for letting him see that he had the power to upset her.
‘Oh, hell!’ He reached out, as though he was going to touch her, then let his hand fall to his side without actually making contact. ‘Look, Meg, I wasn’t trying to make you feel that I wanted Yvonne here instead of you,’ he ground out, as though the words had cost him an awful lot of effort.
Maybe they had, Meg thought with unaccustomed cynicism. It certainly couldn’t have been easy for Jack to lie for the sake of harmony within the team!
‘Don’t worry about it,’ she said with an insouciance which cost her even more. ‘I certainly shan’t!’
He didn’t actually grind his teeth but the effect was much the same. Her blue eyes widened when she saw myriad emotions cross his face at that moment. It was a measure of his strength of mind that he managed to control himself, but she was shaking in her boots.
Why in the name of all that was holy did she know that he’d been tempted…sorely tempted…to kiss her? She had no idea but the thought was enough to make her head spin.
‘I apologise, anyway. Goodnight.’
He strode away, leaving her standing there, staring after him. Meg took a tiny breath and let it trickle into her lungs. A bigger one might have helped but she didn’t seem capable of that. Breathing was an effort, thinking even more of one, but feeling…well, feeling was easy-peasy!
She shivered as a hot trickle worked its way up her spine, shuddered as a cold one flowed the other way. Hot and cold chills were suddenly racing through her body however they chose and she couldn’t stop them!
She closed her eyes and tried to subdue the little devils but that was a mistake of gigantic proportions. Jack’s face suddenly filled her mind—lean cheeks, moody grey eyes, enticingly kissable lips…
‘Oh!’ Her eyes shot open before
