‘That’s my old injury from when I came off the bike and broke my pelvis. Still hurts on and off. Guess the arthritis is starting to set in. I was warned.’ He yawned deep. ‘Yeah, this is familiar. The bone-numbing tiredness.’
Jackson found a thermometer and slipped it under Gary’s tongue. ‘Seriously, you ever think about slowing down?’ The guy was only thirty-four but at this rate he might not make forty in reasonable working order.
Gary kept his lips sealed around the thermometer and shook his head.
‘Fair enough. Your call.’ Reading more of the file, he commented, ‘I see your malaria was diagnosed as falciparum. Common in Asia. Had you taken anti-malarials at the time?’
A nod.
Reading the thermometer, he told Gary, ‘That’s way too high. I hope you’ve been taking lots of fluids. Let’s get you up on the bed so I can check your spleen.’
Jackson gently felt Gary’s abdomen. ‘Your spleen’s definitely enlarged, which fits the diagnosis.’
‘Guess I already knew. Can’t blame me for hoping I was wrong.’
‘When did you start getting symptoms?’
‘Started feeling crook night before last, but I was working up the Cobb Valley and wanted to get the job done.’
‘You’ve got to take care of yourself, mate. This malaria can be very serious if you stall on getting treatment.’
‘I live hard,’ Gary growled. ‘With my family history of bowel cancer taking my dad and two brothers, I’m packing in as much as I can in case I’m next.’
It made sense in a way. Jackson asked, ‘You married, got kids?’
‘Kate Saunders and I got hitched ten years back. Got two youngsters. What about you?’
‘No, no kids or wife.’
‘What are you waiting for? None of us are getting any younger. You don’t want to be in your dotage, with anklebiters hanging on to you.’
‘I’ll remember you said that.’ And try not to think about Jess in the same moment. ‘I suggest we get you over the hill to hospital today. I don’t want you waiting here until we find out those results. You need intravenous fluids ASAP.’
‘Figured you’d say that. Kate’s packed my overnight bag.’
He remembered Kate from school, a quiet girl who’d followed the crowd around. After signing a referral to hospital, Jackson went with Gary out to the waiting room and explained everything to Kate. ‘It’s great to see you both again.’
‘You stopping here permanently?’ Gary asked.
‘No.’
‘Why not? I travel a lot but this is the greatest little place on earth.’
Exactly. Little. Too little for him.
Thankfully Jessica joined them and diverted Gary’s focus as she handed him a package. ‘You might as well take your bloods with you. Save time at the other end, and prevent the need to be jabbed again.’
‘Jess, line one for you,’ Sheree called. ‘It’s a Lily Carter.’
‘Cool. I hope that means good news on baby Alice Rose.’
‘Let me know,’ he called after her. That had been their first time working together and he’d enjoyed it.
So far, buster, there hasn’t been anything you haven’t enjoyed doing with Jess.
Five minutes later the woman swamping his brain popped her head around the door. ‘Lily says hi and thank you for everything we did on Sunday. Alice Rose is doing very well and we’re getting the credit.’ That smile she gave him would get her anything she wanted.
‘That’s good news. I hated seeing her pain, and I’m not just talking about the labour. She’s had more than her share of misfortune.’
‘If they have another baby, I don’t think Matthew will be taking her far from home. She hated her helicopter flight.’
‘What a waste.’ He grinned.
* * *
A light offshore breeze lifted Jess’s hair as she sat on the sand, watching Nicholas trying to fling the fishing line into the water. Unfortunately it kept getting stuck in the sand and seaweed behind him as he threw the rod tip over his shoulder. She chuckled. ‘Go slowly with that rod, Nicholas. You don’t want to break it.’
‘I’m doing what Jackson showed me.’
Right, shut up, Mum, and let the men get on with the job of fishing. ‘I guess he knows best.’
‘I’m a man, remember. We know these things from birth.’ Jackson flicked a cheeky grin her way before carefully lifting the tip of Nicholas’s rod out of the sand.
Of course she remembered he was a man. A perfect specimen of a man. Why else had she gone to bed with him? Because you were so attracted to him you couldn’t think straight. Yeah, well, there was that, too. Which only underlined the fact he was male. She lay back on her towel to soak up some of the end-of-day summer warmth, and glanced at Jackson again.
He was still watching her but now his gaze had dropped to cruise over her scantily clad body. She saw his chest rise and his stomach suck in.
Guess her new bikini was a hit, then. Sasha had told her she would be nuts not to buy it when they’d spent a day in Nelson shopping two weeks ago. While they’d gone for last-minute wedding accessories they’d got sidetracked with lingerie and swimwear for Sasha’s honeymoon. Bikinis all round.
Jackson croaked, ‘What did I tell you? Orange really suits you.’
‘You’re close. Burnt orange this time.’ Pulling her eyes away from that tantalising view of rock-hard muscles and sexy mouth, she tipped her head back to look up at the sky. Bright blue. The colour of love. Gulp. Her gaze dropped back to the man who’d snatched her heart. Thankfully he was now focused on fishing with Nicholas so she could study him without being caught. Tall, lean and as virile as it was possible to get. Yep, this was definitely love. How fast that had happened. So fast she couldn’t trust it. Yet.
Four days after that heady night with him she still didn’t know what to do. She’d been surprised when Jackson hadn’t taken off at the first hint of her talking about something as personal as her misguided parents. He’d even hugged her, reassured her. Yeah, he wasn’t hard to love. Too darned easy, in fact.
‘Mummy, something’s pulling my line. Look. Mummy, come here, quick. It’s jiggling.’
Jackson was holding the rod upright. ‘Wind the line in as fast as you can, Nicholas. That’s it. Keep it coming. You don’t want the fish jumping off the hook.’
‘Mummy, look. Is it a fish? Jackson?’
‘Yes, sport, you’ve caught your first fish.’ Jackson reached for the hand net on the sand and raced to scoop up the flapping trophy. ‘Look at that. Well done, Nicholas. You’re a proper fisherman now.’
‘Can I see? I want to hold it.’ Nicholas dropped the rod and ran at Jackson, who scooped him up and carried boy and net up onto the sand.
‘If we tip the fish out here, away from the sea, we won’t lose it back in the water.’ His long fingers deftly unhooked the ten-centimetre-long herring and handed it to Nicholas. ‘Put your fingers where mine are, by the gills. That’s it.’ In an undertone he added, solely for her benefit, ‘I hope you brought the camera, Mum.’
She did an exaggerated eye-roll. ‘Would I forget the most important thing?’
After at least ten photos, capturing the biggest smile she’d ever seen on her boy’s face, she made Jackson kneel down beside Nicholas and snapped a few more of the pair of happy fishermen. Those would look great in her album. Along with the wedding shots of her and Jackson standing with Sasha and Grady.
‘I want to do it again, Jackson.’
‘Like a true fisherman.’ Jackson retrieved the rod, baited the hook and handed it to Nicholas, then took the herring aside to deal with it.
‘Can we have my fish for dinner, Mummy?’
Yuk. Herring. But this was her boy’s first fish. ‘I guess, but it’s very small for three p
eople to share.’
As Nicholas’s little face puckered up, ready for an outburst, Jackson saved the moment. ‘You know, herrings are usually used for bait to catch bigger fish. Why don’t we put it in your mother’s freezer for when we go out in the boat after big fish?’
‘Okay. What’s for dinner? Fishing makes me hungry.’
‘Now, there’s a surprise.’ She blew him a kiss before glancing across to Jackson, who was smiling at Nicholas.
‘We’re having fish and chips as soon as we’ve finished fishing, sport. What do you reckon? Had enough with that rod yet?’
‘No. I’m going to get another he-herring.’
He did. Two more. Then they packed up and headed to the motor camp and the fast-food shop.
‘Fish and chips on the beach in the fading sunlight, with sand for extra texture, and lukewarm cans of soda. I can’t think of a better meal,’ Jess said an hour later, as she unlocked her front door. Behind her Jackson carried Nicholas from the car.