on the road ahead. ‘It was no big deal. You had your friends around.’
‘You’re one of my friends,’ Harriet said. Then her voice trailed away. ‘Or...you were...’
This time Jack turned his head. ‘I still am, Harry.’ But his tone held a note of wariness. ‘If you want me to be, that is.’
For a long minute, Harriet stared, unseeing, at the industrial buildings they were passing. She could hear echoes of the laughter of shared jokes and the teasing that Jack had been such a master of. She could feel the warmth of the kindness that was so much a part of him. Like the way he would always make sure that others were being cared for during any breaks on an exhausting disaster response and getting some rest and food and water.
And it hadn’t been just his teammates or other people he cared about.
‘Do you remember that last callout we were on together?’
‘The bush fire?’ Jack blew out a breath. ‘Sure do. That was a tough one, wasn’t it? A whole town lost. So many people killed or injured.’
‘And the animals. You found that dog with burnt paws and you carried him all the way back to base.’
‘If I’d known what was going to happen, I would have made you carry him.’
Harriet grinned. ‘You mean that photograph of you that went viral?’
Jack shook his head. ‘The attention was ridiculous. I started getting emails from all over the country. Girls who’d never met me but wanted to marry me, for God’s sake.’
Harriet was still smiling. ‘Of course they did. You were a hero. Young, gorgeous and single. And you love dogs. What more could a woman want?’
Jack was concentrating on changing lanes on the motorway that was leading them out of the city. He made a sound that could have been embarrassment at her singing his praises. Or it could have been disagreement.
‘You mean you don’t like dogs? Or you’re not still single?’
‘I like dogs,’ Jack muttered. ‘And, yeah...if you must know, I’m still single.’
Weird, Harriet thought. There must be an unlimited number of gorgeous young women who would love to catch his attention.
Then she sighed into the silence. ‘Me, too...’
Jack didn’t say anything for quite a while and Harriet could feel a tension that made her wish she’d kept her mouth shut. A lot of it was probably being internally generated, mind you. The rejection of having Pete walk out on their relationship had been soul destroying. She was damaged now. Unattractive. Unlovable, even?
Yeah...she was single and that wasn’t about to change. Maybe it never would.
‘I heard that Pete transferred to a Melbourne station,’ Jack finally said. His tone was laced with disapproval.
Was that what some of the tension was about? Jack had been friends with Pete. Everybody had been.
‘Mmm...’ Harriet tried to keep her tone casual. ‘I think he wanted a fresh start. With Sharleen.’
Jack shook his head. ‘Yeah, I heard about that too. I can’t believe he walked out on you. What a moron.’
‘It’s okay,’ Harriet said. Though the aftermath of that breakup had been agonising, she’d refused to let it drag her down further. ‘Everything we’d had in common was gone and he just couldn’t handle it. And then there was Sharleen. With two good legs. A top surfer. A gym bunny. That was where they met—at the gym.’
Jack took the exit that was signposted for the Kookaburra park and walkway. ‘You’ve still got two legs,’ he said, matter-of-factly. ‘And, from what I heard, that was a pretty big deal.’
‘Yeah...’ Suddenly the fierce ache in her leg seemed much more bearable. ‘I know. I was lucky.’
‘And they must be pretty good legs if you got yourself down that cliff today. I would have thought twice about attempting that.’
‘You don’t know how dodgy it was. And I’ll probably be reminded of it for a few days now, I expect. I might have to admit defeat and use my brace again at work for a while.’
‘You didn’t even have a rope.’ Jack’s glance was one of admiration. ‘Weren’t you scared?’
‘I didn’t give myself time to think about it. I just looked one step ahead for a foothold or for the next branch that might give me a safe handhold. And then I was past the halfway point and it would have been just as hard to go back as it was to keep going.’
‘But you chose to keep going.’
‘I was worried that Eddie might start moving and roll off the ledge.’
‘So you gave yourself the biggest physical challenge you’ve had in a long time and put yourself in danger to save someone else.’
Harriet tried to smile but she could feel her lips wobble. ‘It made me feel like...like I was still part of the team.’
Jack was slowing the car now to pull into the parking area at the park, which was the entry point to the cliffside walkway. He stopped, turned off the engine and then turned to give Harriet a very direct look.
‘You are still part of the team.’
‘Don’t be daft.’ The fact that his words opened an emotional wound that had barely begun to close up made her tone sharp again. ‘That’s never going to happen and you know it.’
She could hear the edge of bitterness souring a moment that should have been a reconnection. A step back into a friendship that could be an important bridge between her old life and this new, difficult one.
‘Sorry.’ The apology came out as a sigh. ‘There I go again, being not nice to be around.’
Jack shrugged. ‘You’re allowed to be angry. I get it.’
‘I’m dealing with it. I hope... And I’ve got my next goals. Two of them, in fact.’
He nodded. ‘Like going down the cliff, huh? Just look as far as the next step or a safe handhold?’
‘Something like that.’
‘So what are they—these goals of yours?’
‘Well, you know that Blake and Sam are getting married, right?’
‘Yeah...’ Jack grinned. ‘So much for Blake’s rules about team members not hooking up. He’s changed, hasn’t he?’
‘He’s in love. They both are. Sam’s my best friend and I’m thrilled for her. I offered to take photos at their wedding but it turns out that I’m going to be her bridesmaid. So that’s my first goal. I don’t want to be taking any attention away from her by limping down the aisle.’
‘The aisle?’ Jack’s eyes widened. ‘They’re getting married in a church?’ His grin widened. ‘I don’t
