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‘First thing this morning,’ Helen told him, looking startled. She glanced over at a young man who was obviously waiting for her and shrugged. ‘David and I had been out at a club all night and we popped into the supermarket for some breakfast on our way home. We saw Bella at the checkout, although I don’t think she saw us.’
‘Thank you so much!’ Mac impulsively hugged her. He let her go and grinned. ‘I’ve been worried sick because she wasn’t at her apartment or answering her phone. At least I have some idea where she went now.’
‘Probably needed to stock up, from the amount of shopping she had,’ Helen said lightly.
‘Probably,’ he agreed.
He said his goodbyes and hurried over to his motorbike. Climbing astride it, he headed out of town to the supermarket, mentally crossing his fingers that he would find Bella there. He sighed. And if he didn’t find her, then what? He could hardly report her missing and call out a search party on such flimsy evidence, could he? After all, there was no proof that anything had happened to her—nothing, apart from this gut feeling he had.
He snorted in disgust. Try explaining that to the authorities. They would think he was deranged!
* * *
It must have been half an hour before a car finally appeared. Bella stepped into the middle of the road and flagged it down. There was an elderly couple inside and she could see how nervous they looked as she approached the driver’s window. Bending down, she smiled reassuringly at them.
‘Thank you for stopping. Do you have a mobile phone I can use to call the mountain rescue service? There’s been an accident, you see—a young girl has been injured and she needs help.’
The man quickly gave her his phone. Bella made the call, checking with the driver as to their location. Fortunately, he was a local man and he was able to explain exactly where they were. Bella thanked him as she handed back the phone. When the couple asked her if she would like to sit in the car while they waited for the mountain rescue team to arrive, she gratefully accepted. It would be wonderful to get out of the rain even for a short time.
The first of the rescue vehicles arrived just fifteen minutes later and was quickly followed by several others. In a very short time, Bella was leading the team back to where she had left Freya. Thankfully, her makeshift marker had survived the wind and the rain and proved a big help in locating her. Once Freya was loaded onto the stretcher, they headed back. Bella was exhausted by then and finding it difficult to keep up. Relief overwhelmed her when she saw the road up ahead. Just a few more minutes and that would be it, she thought. It was only when she spotted the motorbike parked behind the other vehicles and the man standing beside it that her heart began to pound.
What on earth was Mac doing here?
* * *
It had been pure chance that Mac had happened upon the scene. After failing to find Bella at the supermarket, he had driven around, trying to decide what to do next. Although reporting her missing might have seemed premature, that gut feeling he had that something was wrong was growing stronger by the minute. When he came across the mountain rescue vehicles parked beside the road, he could hardly contain his fear. He just knew that Bella was involved!
He climbed off the bike, his legs trembling as he went over to speak to one of the team. He was just about to ask the man if he knew the name of the casualty when a shout went up and he turned to see the rest of the group walking towards them. His heart started to pound when he saw the figure lying on the stretcher. Was it Bella? Was she badly injured? All of a sudden the strength came flooding back to his limbs and he raced towards them. It was only as he drew closer that he realised it wasn’t Bella on the stretcher but Freya Watson and he didn’t know whether to feel relieved or terrified. Where on earth was she?
‘Mac? What are you doing here?’
The sound of her voice had him spinning round. Mac just had a second to take in the fact that she was right there in front of him before instinct took over. Dragging her into his arms, he held her to him, held her as though he would never let her go again. Maybe he wouldn’t, he thought giddily. Maybe he would follow his heart and not allow his fear of being rejected, of being left, to ruin things. If he could find the courage to believe in her, to believe in them, he could have everything he wanted: Bella in his arms and in his life for ever more.
* * *
The next hour passed in a blur. Although Bella did everything that was expected of her, her mind was far removed from what was happening. She kept thinking about the expression on Mac’s face, about the way he had held her so tightly, so desperately, and it didn’t make any sense. He had behaved as though he truly cared about her but that couldn’t be true...
