Zeke squared his shoulders, his voice taking on the authoritative tone that had always come to naturally to him, but which felt strained right at this very moment.
‘I’m glad you came here, and we had a chance to...iron things out. Before you return to Delburn Bay, we’ll agree on our arrangements for the future.’
‘Our arrangements?’ Tia echoed warily.
‘Financial and, more importantly, access to my son.’
‘Let me get this straight...’
Staying detached was harder, much harder, than he could have imagined. He was almost grateful as two cyclists suddenly flew around the corner, causing Tia to stop abruptly and Zeke to rush ahead and scoop up Seth.
A split second later Zeke caught sight of the expression on one cyclist’s face.
‘Get off the path—’ he flung Seth to the side, before racing forward as if he could stop the cyclist from mowing down his wife and son ‘—and get Seth to safety.’
* * *
Tia watched in horror as one of the cyclists slumped forward in his saddle and tipped sideways, the bike veering mercifully away from her little boy but then plunging into the canal as the man fell.
A moment ago she’d been almost grateful to them and their breakneck speed, for appearing so abruptly and giving her a momen
t to collect her scattered thoughts. Last night she’d been angry, and humiliated. She hadn’t thought there had been a single thing Zeke would be able to say to her that would have made her feel any better.
But it was what he hadn’t said this morning that had somehow soothed her soul. He was ashamed of himself, and angry at his own actions. And he was holding back from her, as though it was him who needed protecting rather than her.
A vulnerability that he had rarely—if ever—shown throughout their marriage. But rather than making her feel safe with a strong man, as she suspected had always been Zeke’s intention, it had made her feel shut out, and held at arm’s length. He had never let her close enough to see his softer side.
And surely a man so utterly and completely alpha male as Zeke couldn’t be dauntless all of the time? Was this a chance to finally get to see the true Ezekial Jackson as he had never allowed her to before? The whole man?
Her thoughts had been spinning and whirling so fast all morning. But when he had apologised, stopped talking, she’d seen those shutters slamming down on her all over again, and she’d been powerless to stop it.
She’d grappled for something to say. Anything. But nothing had come.
Now she had a moment’s reprieve. She didn’t have to think, she simply had to react. Falling back on what she knew best.
Running up the canal path, shouting and signalling to the cyclist who was in front that something had happened to his buddy. And then Zeke sped past her, shouting at her that Seth was safe behind them and shedding his leg moments before he jumped straight into the canal, cutting quickly through the water to where the cyclist was already sinking below the surface.
Spinning around, Tia watched as her son ran up to her, fascinated and not in the least bit afraid.
‘Go on, Mummy, you’re a doctor. You and Zeke have to save that man’s life.’
With a rush of love, Tia turned to obey.
‘The walls here are too steep. There’s no way to climb out. Get a rope, or anything to help pull us up,’ Zeke yelled as he ducked down to pull the man’s head above the water.
It took Tia all of two seconds to locate the nearest moored boat and race across the uneven ground to where its owner was sunbathing, oblivious, on deck. It felt like an eternity as they located a spare rope.
And then Tia was racing back, the other cyclist now lying face down on the edge of the canal, leaning down in a futile attempt to reach his buddy and Zeke—who was doing an incredible job of treading water with the casualty—and help pull them out. But the walls of this part of the canal were too high, and it was clearly proving impossible.
‘Grab the rope,’ Tia shouted, tying one end around a tree and locking it off before looping the other end and throwing it to Zeke and commanding the second cyclist. ‘Aidez-moi...um...tirer.’
With a last, anguished look at his friend, the man jumped up and hurried over to her, taking hold of the rope between Tia and the canal. His impatience was almost palpable as they both waited for Zeke to finish dropping the loop over his casualty and tie it in place.
‘Okay,’ he signalled at length, still holding the man’s head above water as Tia and the second cyclist began to pull.
It felt like hours but was probably a minute or less before they’d successfully pulled the unresponsive casualty onto dry land, Tia’s fingers fumbling to loosen the knot and release the loop for the rope to be thrown back to Zeke.
He couldn’t tread water for ever and there was no other way out of this section, but she was going to have to trust the second cyclist to help Zeke. She needed to concentrate on her patient, who she had now ascertained was having a heart attack. There was no choice but to start chest compressions.