A wave washed hard against her, knocking her off balance, and Quinn’s arms steadied her. Steadied…
Claiming his own!
Her face lifted to his-driven by forces stronger than either Fern or Quinn.
Forces not to be reckoned with.
And then Quinn was kissing her as though there were no one else in sight. As though there were no Jessie…
As though there were no tomorrow…
But, of course, there was.
‘Quinn!’
The kiss ended as abruptly as it had begun.
The policeman’s yell of warning spun Quinn round like a pistol shot. Sergeant Russell was staring up at the headland and his hand was hauling out his service revolver.
Fern was released as though she burned. She fell backwards into the waves.
There was a man on the headland and he was pointing a gun.
He was pointing a gun straight at the group in the water.
Fern floundered backwards, losing her footing almost completely but still staring up at the headland in mesmerised horror.
And Quinn had deserted her.
Quinn Gallagher was launching himself at Jess as though possessed.
‘Jess…’ he yelled desperately, and his voice held all that Fern would ever need to know. ‘Jess…’
He reached the vet and grabbed her, twisting her body round so that he protected her, cradling her against hurt.
And then the morning was shattered into a million pieces.
A searing, red-hot pain cut across Fern’s head. She lifted her hand-and her fingers came away warm and red with blood.
It was the last thing she knew.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
FERN woke to despair.
She opened her eyes to find herself in a room she knew well. Jessie’s room.
She’d slept here before.
It was different from last time she’d been here. Now there was a hospital bed where the low bed-settee had been before.
Someone had wheeled a hospital bed in here-and Fern was in it.
She didn’t want to be in Jessie’s
Her head hurt.
It hurt like crazy, actually, aching with a steady, pulsing throb. She put a hand up to her hair and felt bandages.
What had happened?
She didn’t care.
Quinn had gone to Jess. There had been danger and Quinn had gone to Jess. Of course. Jess was his wife. No matter what he told Fern, when there was danger he’d turned to his wife.
The rest-whatever he professed he felt for Fern-was nonsense.
Fern moved her eyes a little and the movement brought the room into focus.
There was someone sitting by the bed.
Jess…
‘Hey, Fern.’ Jess smiled gently and Fern could see relief wash over her face. ‘Welcome back.’
She didn’t want to be back.
‘What…what happened?’ she whispered.
‘You were shot,’ Jess told her. ‘Do you remember?’ Only too well. It made her feel ill.
‘You do remember?’ Jess asked anxiously. ‘Quinn thought you’d just been concussed.’
‘I remember. The man on the headland…’ Fern winced. ‘Was anyone else…was anyone else hurt?’
‘The man doing the shooting was,’ Jess told her. ‘The sergeant had his gun-do you remember? Sergeant Russell hit him in the shoulder and he’s under police guard in the next room right now. Not that he needs to be. Quinn’s bandages look just like a strait-jacket.’
‘But…’ Fern swallowed. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘No.’ Jess smiled, and her smile was one that Fern had never seen before. She seemed young and happy and… and somehow free. As though a huge burden had been lifted from her. ‘I guess you don’t. But there’s someone who’s aching to explain the whole thing himself. He’s next door now, checking your attacker, and I bet he’s not being very gentle with the Elastoplast. I’ll call him…’
‘Quinn…No!’
It was a cry from the heart and it stopped Jess dead. Jess had risen and taken two steps toward the door. Now she turned.
‘Why not, Fern?’ she said gently.
‘Because…Because…Jess, you know why not.’
‘No, I don’t,’ Jess told her. ‘Quinn has some explaining to do, Fern Rycroft-but he’ll murder me if I do it for him.’
‘Not murder…’
It was a deep, gravelly voice from the door and it made Jess jump. The young vet swivelled to find Quinn watching.
‘Quinn…’
There was no mistaking the affection in her voice.
‘I’ll not murder you, Jess,’ Quinn said severely. ‘There’s been enough of that lately.’ He walked over to the bed and looked down at Fern. His eyes were lit by love and laughter-and, incredibly, it was all directed at Fern.
This man had dumped her…
‘You’re awake, my love,’ he said gently and bent to kiss her. ‘Thank God.’ The relief came straight from the heart.
‘N-no.’ Fern twisted her face on her pillows, trying to turn away from the kiss. There were tears coursing down her cheeks and she could do nothing to stop them.
‘Yes,’ Quinn told her. He held her face still in his hands and settled a kiss on her lips. He kissed away her tears-and then released her and held out his hand to Jess.
To his wife.
‘Fern, it’s time we told you who this is.’
‘Who…?’ Pain and weakness were making Fern feel giddy. Quinn saw it on her face and swore.
‘It’s not the time for this, sweetheart,’ he told her. ‘You’re weak as a kitten. But you need to know. Fern, this is not my wife. This is Jessica Harvey. Jess is my cousin.
‘Eight months ago she started dating someone who-well, for want of a better description-turned out to be a thief and a murderer. He’s also a highranking lawyer. She went out to dinner with him twice and on the third occasion he invited her back to his flat for a meal. He was charming and she saw no reason not to go.
‘As she arrived, so did someone else-and Jess saw the man she’d gone out with murder the new arrival in cold blood.’
‘But…but why?’ The pain in Fern’s head was receding. Only the dizziness stayed.
‘Drugs,’ Quinn said briefly. ‘John Talbot was in them up to his ears. Anyway, Jess saw him fire and John Talbot saw that Jessie had witnessed the whole thing. He beat her up, badly, and threatened her with murder if she went to the police.’
‘So I went to Quinn,’ whispered Jess. ‘Because he was like my brother. He was my friend. And Quinn went to
