Ross and his estranged wife, Flora, had proved to be really nice people. And, of course, as soon as she’d sussed out the real situation, Lois had managed to find some hidden depths of pride and resolution. Just enough to enable her, however shakily, to retire from the field with her head held high.
In fact, she wasn’t at all sure that it hadn’t been her best performance: acting the part of a woman with clearly not a care in the world—and blithely wishing the two of them the very best of luck—before returning to the sanctuary of her own home and giving way to deep misery as she tried to mend her fragile, broken heart.
Still...no matter how hard she’d tried, and the many strict lectures she’d given herself, Lois had found it almost impossible to put Ross out of her mind—and her heart. Which was why this vacation had seemed such a very good idea. And. of course, that old proverb ‘time is the best healer’ had eventually proved to be true.
Somewhere...somehow, between viewing the Aztec ruins in Mexico and exploring the old city of Delhi, she’d managed to pull herself together. By the time she was recovering from a nasty dose of food poisoning—and being so kindly nursed back to health in that wonderfully luxurious hotel in Jaipur—Lois had woken up one morning to discover, to her complete astonishment, that she was no longer totally and irrevocably in love with Ross Whitney.
He would always have a special place in her heart, of course,. But now she felt confident of being able to take that flight home to America tomorrow—quite safe in the knowledge that she was now ready to start a new life.
All the same...just make sure that in future you stay well away from any tall, dark and ruthlessly attractive Englishmen! she warned herself grimly, before turning to swim slowly back to the shore.
‘That’s odd...’ Ace muttered, frowning as he glanced down at his wristwatch. It was the first time, during the past four days, when the weirdly dressed woman had not kept to her rigid timetable.
Not that it was anything to do with him, of course. Absolutely not! In fact, it was definitely about time he learnt to mind his own business.
However, some ten minutes later he was still feeling slightly uneasy. He didn’t want to make a nuisance of himself, of course. But perhaps it might be a good idea to take a stroll along the beach? Just to make sure that the woman really was all right... ?
Rising from his seat behind the desk, he walked slowly down to the water’s edge. And then, just as he was taking himself to task for being a fool, and about to return to his own casita, he heard a faint cry in the distance.
‘Are you all right?’ he called out some moments later as he ran swiftly towards the crumpled figure sitting hunched on the sand beside the ocean.
‘No...I guess I’ve got myself into some...some sort of mess,’ the woman replied, her American-accented voice sounding muffled beneath the hat and the voluminous gauzy outfit. She appeared to be concentrating on gripping hold of her foot with both hands.
It was only as he approached her and bent down that Ace was able to see blood seeping from between the fingers of the hands clasped so tightly about her ankle.
‘Good Lord! What’s happened?’
‘I don’t know how I could have been such an idiot.’ The woman’s voice was stronger now, and heavy with self-disgust. ‘I didn’t look where I was going. And I forgot just how sharp the coral can be.’ She nodded towards the ocean, where the line of her footsteps, intermingled with some spots of blood, was clearly visible on the white sand.
‘I think...well, I’ve got a horrid feeling that I may have cut into a vein, or something,’ she continued with a slight wobble in her voice. ‘Because, however hard I try, I can’t seem to stop it bleeding.’
‘There’s no need to panic. Just try and stay calm,’ Ace told her, swiftly assessing the situation. ‘However, it’s important to maintain pressure on the wound. So, keep holding on while I fix some bandages to tie around your ankle. OK?’
‘OK.’ She nodded. And then, as he quickly seized hold of some of the thin material swathed about her body, and began tearing it into strips, she cried, ‘Hey—don’t do that! I’ve got to keep out of the sun. Otherwise I’ll burn to a crisp.’
‘God preserve me from damn stupid women!’ he muttered grimly. ‘Do you want to get slightly burnt—or do you want to bleed to death?’ he added, taking no notice of her protests as he carefully removed her fingers before binding the gauze ‘bandages’ tightly about her ankle.
‘OK—OK...’ she sighed. ‘I guess I’ve been a bit of a fool. And I really ought to thank you for coming so promptly to my rescue.’
‘That might not be a bad idea,’ he agreed, with a sharp bark of sardonic laughter.
‘I’m sure I’ll be all right now,’ she said as he rose to his feet, frowning anxiously down at his amateur handiwork, not at all sure how long it would hold the wound together.
‘No. I think you’re very far from “all right”,’ he told her firmly. ‘You’re going to need some professional help—and as soon as possible. Have you got a first aid kit in your bungalow?’
‘I...I don’t think so,’ she muttered, burying her face in her bloodstained hands for a moment.
Ace’s mouth tightened grimly. It was difficult to see anything under that damned hat. But, from what little he could see of her face, it was obvious that the woman’s cheeks were deathly pale. Clearly there was no time to be lost in getting her some serious medical attention.
‘Well, there’s no point in hanging around here,’ he told her firmly, before quickly bending down and scooping her up into his arms.
‘Hey—what do you think you’re doing?’ she shrieked in a much stronger voice, the heavy voluminous garments hampering her movements as she tried to wriggle out of his grip. ‘Put me down at once!’
Ignoring the frantic twisting and turning of the lightweight figure in his arms, Ace began striding rapidly back up the beach.
‘I take it that you’re not entirely stupid? So, don’t you think it’s time you started using your brain?’ he demanded curtly.
When her only reply was a short, startled intake of breath, he continued grimly, ‘That’s only a temporary bandage which I’ve placed around your ankle. I don’t expect it will hold the bleeding for very long. And especially not if you try to walk back up the beach to your bungalow. Got the message?’
‘Oh, sure, I’ve got the message—you bully!’ she retorted with a shaky laugh, before muttering something else under her breath.
‘I’m sorry...I didn’t quite catch what you said.’
‘You weren’t meant to!’ she retorted. ‘But if you must know I was reminding myself that I’d vowed to stay well away from tall, dark-haired Englishmen. And especially ones who are clearly hard, tough and very bossy!’
He glanced down at the girl in his arms. Somewhere along the line, possibly due to her frantic struggling, she seemed to have lost her wide-brimmed hat. However, it wasn’t possible to tell the colour of her hair, since it was totally covered by a thick black scarf, knotted at the back of her head. Her face didn’t look
