the police.’
‘But before the police reached him, Talbot disappeared,’ Quinn said grimly. ‘I’d promised Jess she’d be safe if she let me go to the police-but that night someone fired at Jess through her bedroom window.’
‘Because she’d seen…’
‘She’s the only one who can convict Talbot,’ Quinn said heavily. ‘And he’s ruthless. So…so Jess had to hide and she had to hide well. The police arranged papers so that Jess could work under my name. The charade had to continue until Talbot was caught.
‘When you reported the gunman to the police, Sergeant Russell guessed who he was, though heaven knows how Talbot found Jess. We’ve been watching Jess like a hawk since you sighted him and I guess Talbot shot the dolphin in sheer frustration. We tried to stop Jess from going to the beach-but a wounded animal is like a homing device for her. She can no sooner refuse help than she can stop breathing. So all we could do was go with her.
‘And maybe…maybe it was for the best. At least now it’s finally over.’
It’s finally over…
The lightening of the tension was unbelievable. Jess and Quinn stood smiling down at her with hands linked and Fern blinked and blinked again.
‘You’re not…You’re not…’
‘Quinn is my very best friend,’ Jess said simply. ‘But he’s not my husband.’ She bent to kiss Fern on the cheek.
‘And he is not my love, nor will he ever be. When Quinn saw Talbot on the cliff he assumed Talbot was aiming at me. I guess he was-but he was too far away to see properly. So while Quinn was doing his cousinly best to save me, the love of his life was getting herself close to murdered.’ She twinkled up at Quinn.
‘And my dear, calm, sensible Quinn nearly went crazy.’
‘Jessie…’ Quinn’s voice was a warning.
Quinn was smiling at his cousin but his eyes were giving her an urgent message.
Jess laughed.
‘I know,’ she twinkled. ‘I can see when I’m not wanted. I’ll just get back to the loves of
And she walked out, laughing.
Fern and Quinn were left facing each other.
There was a long silence. All of a sudden Fern felt absurdly shy.
And as if nightingales were starting to sing, somewhere in the region of her heart.
‘Can you forgive me, Fern?’ Quinn asked softly. He sat down on the bed and gathered her two hands to his chest. ‘If you knew how I wanted to tell you…But it was crazy. If I broke…If I broke and told you, then I couldn’t keep appearances up with Jess-and Jessie’s life was forfeit. And I’d persuaded her to go to the police in the first place.’
‘I…There’s nothing to forgive,’ Fern whispered.
The nightingales were singing louder and louder. The dizziness was there in force, washing over her in lovely, misty waves that were all about drowning.
Drowning in Quinn’s dark eyes.
‘Then you’ll marry me, my heart?’
‘I don’t…’ Fern shook her head. This was crazy.
‘Quinn, I can’t…’
‘Can’t marry me?’ Incredibly, his eyes were
‘Can’t decide.’ Fern dredged up dignity with a superhuman effort. ‘I’m not supposed to get married.’
‘Yes, you are. You were getting married the first time I saw you, if you remember. You were just getting married to the wrong man.’
‘But not…’
‘Not to the man you loved.’ Quinn took her in his arms with a tenderness that took her breath away. ‘No, my darling. Not to the man you loved. Or the man who loved you. The man who loves you is right here, Fern, my darling girl, my crazy, crazy doctor bride.
‘And I know I shouldn’t pressure you when you’re still suffering from concussion but if I don’t then I’m afraid I’ll go away and you’ll think up all those sensible reasons why you shouldn’t marry someone who loves you more than life itself. So…’
‘So?’ Fern whispered.
He put her away from him and held her at arm’s length.
‘So if you want to put your head on the pillows then you have to do what the doctor orders.’
Fern’s lips curved into the beginnings of a smile.
‘And the prescription?’
‘One husband,’ he said solemnly. ‘Slightly used. I’ve had a practice run, you might say, but then so have you. You were a practice bride. Now it’s your turn to be a real one…’
‘Oh, Quinn…’ She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
‘That’s not what you’re supposed to say,’ he told her severely.
‘What…what am I supposed to say?’
He smiled then, his lovely, laughing smile that was a caress all by itself.
‘Just say “I will”, my lovely Fern,’ he said gently. ‘Nothing else matters.’
Nothing else matters.
And suddenly it didn’t.
Fern looked up at the man she loved and she found the answer to all her questions in his eyes.
She was loved.
She was home.
‘I will,’ she whispered, but Quinn hardly heard.
Fern’s eyes had said it all.
CHAPTER TWELVE
IT WAS four long weeks before the wedding could take place legally and then they were forced to wait another interminable two. Those six weeks were spent by Fern in Sydney, supervising her aunt’s convalescence.
Fern had promised to wed on the island but to wed without her aunt’s presence was unthinkable. Even Quinn wouldn’t think of it.
The wait did give Fern time to collect her thoughts.
Or almost.
Quinn telephoned twice a day and each time he rang Fern’s thoughts were scattered like dandelion seeds in a high wind.
Still-there was time for other things.
There was time for Bill Fennelly’s tuberculosis tests to come back positive-and for him to begin to respond to treatment. He was well enough to accept a wedding invitation.
There was time for Fern to see Sam and Lizzy and wish them well and for Sam to do the same for her. Sam and Lizzy were planning an island wedding of their own.
There was time to see Aunt Maud well on the mend and time besides…
Too much time.
Six interminable weeks…
On their wedding day the chapel was deserted.
The whole island was present to see Fern Rycroft married but bride and groom had chosen another venue. The vicar, bemused but acquiescent, carried his altar to Fern’s cove.
There was no satin.
Fern married in a white gown of fine cotton, simply cut, with a low neckline, bare sleeves and a soft, flowing skirt that fluttered lightly round her legs in the breeze.
