‘Well, let’s hope so. I won’t have him messing either of my girls around.’
His girls.
Bryony swallowed and her eyes clashed with his. Something flickered in those blue depths and she knew that he was remembering their kiss. ‘We’re not “your girls”, Jack.’
He hesitated and a strange expression crossed his handsome face as he stared down at her. Then he muttered something under his breath, jerked open the front door and left the house.
The next day the temperature dropped further still and it started to snow. Wrapped up in her MRT gear, Bryony was posting her Christmas cards when her pager went off.
Relieved that Lizzie was spending the day with her mother, she drove herself to the rescue base, which was less than five minutes’ drive from her house.
‘Two women out walking,’ Jack told her, zipping up his jacket. ‘One has cut herself and one has an ankle injury.’ He exchanged looks with Bryony. ‘What is it with women and ankles?’
‘I don’t know but at least it gives you and me an excuse to climb mountains in filthy weather,’ she said happily, and he smiled.
‘I suppose there is that.’
The rest of the team gathered, picking up equipment and listening while they were given a brief.
‘We’re not sure where they are—’ Sean, leader of the MRT, tapped a point on the map ‘—but this was where they were aiming for when it started to snow. The path is covered now and they’re totally lost.’
Bryony looked at the map. ‘It’s really easy to lose that path in bad weather,’ she said. ‘I know because I’ve done it myself.’
Jack rolled his eyes. ‘Never let a blonde loose on a mountain,’ he drawled, but his eyes gleamed wickedly and she smiled back at him.
‘At least a girl will ask for directions if she’s lost. Men never ask for directions.’
‘That’s because they don’t need to. Men don’t get lost,’ Jack returned blithely, and Sean sighed.
‘Maybe you two could argue on the way,’ he suggested mildly, pointing at the map. ‘Ben, you go with Toby up this path and hopefully we’ll come across them. Stay in touch. And watch yourselves. The weather is awful. I’ll deploy the rest of the team as they arrive.’
Toby glanced at Bryony. ‘I could go with Bryony…’
‘No, you couldn’t.’ Jack’s response was instantaneous, his blue gaze hard and uncompromising. ‘I go with Bryony.’
Toby’s eyes narrowed slightly and then he shrugged. ‘Whatever.’
Bryony followed Jack out of the rescue base and they drove a short distance and parked the four-wheel-drive in a farm near the path.
Jack hoisted the rucksack onto his back and waited while she did the same thing. ‘Come on. We need to get going before we freeze to death.’
They set off at a brisk pace and she glanced at the sky. ‘It’s going to snow again in a minute.’
‘It’s Christmas,’ Jack pointed out. ‘It’s supposed to snow.’
Bryony gave a shiver and pulled her fleece up to her chin. ‘Well, it looks nice on the Christmas cards but it’s not so great when you’re out on the mountains. Why didn’t you let me go with Toby?’
‘Because he’d be so busy staring at your legs he’d let you fall down a crevice.’
Bryony gaped at him. ‘Jack, I’m wearing fleece trousers. They’re hardly revealing!’
‘Your legs would look sexy in a bin bag.’
She stopped dead. He thought her legs were sexy? He’d never said anything like that to her before. She was staring after him in confusion, wondering why he’d said that, when he glanced back at her.
‘Why have you stopped? You needed to admire me from a distance?’
She grinned, suddenly feeling light-hearted. ‘Why are men like placemats?’ Shifting her rucksack slightly to make it more comfortable, she caught up with him. ‘Because they only show up when there’s food on the table.’
He smiled and as they continued up the path it started to snow again. ‘I hope they’ve got some form of shelter,’ Jack muttered, and Bryony nodded, her expression concerned.
‘I hope we find them soon. It’ll be dark in a couple of hours.’
They trudged on and the snow suddenly grew thicker underfoot.
‘Crampons and ice axes, I think, Blondie,’ Jack muttered, pausing by a snow-covered rock and swinging his rucksack off his back.
They stopped just long enough to equip themselves safely for the next part of the rescue and then they were off again.
Bryony stayed behind Jack, watching him place his feet firmly and confidently in the snow, the sharp points of his crampons biting into the snow.
They walked for what felt like ages and then suddenly heard shouts from above them.
‘Sounds hopeful,’ Jack said, increasing his pace and altering his direction slightly. ‘We’ll check it out and then I’ll radio in to base.’
Bryony breathed a sigh of relief when they rounded the next corner and saw two women huddled together.
‘Watch your footing here,’ Jack said, frowning slightly as he glanced to his right. ‘There’s a slope there and a sheer drop at the end of it. I know because I climbed up that rockface last summer with your brothers. This snow doesn’t feel very stable to me.’
‘Shall we rope up?’
He shook his head. ‘We’re all right for now, but we’ll rope up before we go down.’
They reached the two women and one of them immediately burst into tears.
‘Oh, thank goodness…’
Bryony dropped onto her knees beside her, aware that Jack was already on the radio, giving their exact location to the rest of the team.
‘You’re going to be fine,’ she said gently, slipping her arm around the woman’s shoulders and giving her a hug. ‘Where are you hurt?’
‘I’m not hurt,’ the woman said, but her teeth were chattering and she was obviously very cold. ‘But my sister slipped on the snow and hurt her ankle and cut her wrist. I think she must have hit a rock when she landed. It was bleeding very badly so I pressed on it hard with a spare jumper that we had in our bag and it seemed to stop.’
‘Good—you did just the right thing.’ Bryony shrugged her rucksack off her back. ‘I’m Bryony and I’m a doctor and a member of the local mountain rescue team. What’s your name?’
‘Alison Gayle.’ The woman was shivering. ‘And my sister’s name is Pamela. I feel so guilty dragging you out in this weather. We’ve put everyone in danger.’
‘Don’t feel guilty,’ Bryony said immediately, ‘and you haven’t put us in danger. It’s our job and we love it. And we have all the right equipment for this weather.’
Which was just as well, she reflected ruefully, because the weather was getting worse by the second.
The snow started to fall heavily and Bryony brushed the soft flakes away from her face with a gloved hand and looked at the sky with a frown. The visibility was reducing rapidly. She moved over to check on Pamela and Jack joined her.
‘All right, the rest of the team is on their way up.’ He dropped down next to her and smiled at Alison. ‘Lovely day for a stroll in the hills.’
Bryony moved over to Pamela and noticed that the woman looked extremely