In a flash, he was back, rubbing his hair with a towel, his lean and muscular chest covered by a T-shirt with an eagle on it.
‘A run?’ she said, trying to cover her embarrassment with humour. ‘At this time of night?’
‘Aye, it’s still light up here until well after midnight.’
‘Oh, of course.’
He sat on the bed, and she could see the bedside lamp behind him, with books piled up on the table. ‘So, if you’re OK, what can I do for you?’
‘Well, I have bad news.’
His lips parted in shock. ‘It’s not Nate, is it?’
‘No.’ Jenna was surprised that had been Cam’s first thought. ‘Why would it be Nate?’
He grimaced. ‘Erm. I dunno. Ignore me.’
‘It’s not personal. It’s work. There’s been a disaster with the Kilt Challenge. They tried you and when they couldn’t get through they called me.’
Jenna relayed the phone call she’d had from Sholto’s support team.
‘It’s awful and horribly ironic. He wasn’t even on his bike. He was playing football ... he went in for a tackle, fell over awkwardly and broke his leg.’
‘Oh my God.’ Cam covered his face with his hands. ‘The poor guy. That sounds horrific.’
‘It was. Sholto and his mates knew straight away it was bad. Obviously, all their concern is for Sholto and the team leader asked me to speak to everyone at your end and mine to say that the challenge is off.’
He shook his head in dismay. ‘I still cannae believe it. How is Sholto?’
‘In a lot of pain, but he’s more upset about not being able to ride for the challenge. Obviously his team have told him he can do it another time, but he’s absolutely gutted. Can you deal with the media and everything else your end?’
‘Yeah. Of course. I know how much this meant to him. We both did. We can rearrange, but it will take time and then only if he recovers fully.’
‘I know,’ Jenna said and, to her horror, tears welled up and she had to reach for a tissue to wipe her eyes. ‘Sorry, it’s er – I suppose I’ve become far too personally invested in this one. Because of my brother and er – this is embarrassing. Again. Calling you ridiculously late when Icould have messaged first thing and really, I don’t know why I’ve bothered you now ...’
‘Jenna, Jenna. It’s fine.’ His voice was gorgeous, like soft rain falling on her overheated mind. ‘Honestly. You know we’re friends and I’m always here for you. This – blow – setback – is bound to be disappointing, especially for you. It’s been a stressful time.’
‘Yeah. It’s been quite the week. This and all the wed-min. All a bit of a rush.’
‘I bet.’ He stared at her. ‘Nate’s not there now, then?’
‘No. He’s gone to Bristol to see his mum. Have a catch-up with her and some mates.’ Truth was, they’d had a bit of a row about the wedding. It was all such a rush, with everything needing to be decided and booked at the double. She was finding it very stressful – while Nate seemed to relish the challenge. The atmosphere in the cottage had been tense, to say the least.
Jenna had been relieved when Nate testily declared he was ‘going home’ for a few days. She looked around at Cam’s room. There was no sign of him sharing it with anyone, not that there needed to be. She just felt there might have been clothes on the chair, make-up by the bed, a pink sparkly toothbrush lying around.
That was ridiculous and sexist and anyway, she couldn’t imagine sensible Iona with a pink sparkly anything but ... the room felt very sparse and neat and masculine.
‘How’s Iona – and Lachlan?’ she asked, calming herself.
‘They’re both doing great. Lachlan’s off school and needing to be entertained. But the nights are light so when I’ve finished work or I’m at lunch, we go out. It’s a bonny time of year: lots of seals and dolphins in the bay and puffins nesting on the cliffs.’
‘It sounds stunning. I really must get up there one day.’
He smiled and her heart seemed to skip a beat. ‘One day.’
‘But I’ll see you first, of course. We ought to meet up before my actual wedding, so if you can get down here a couple of days before, it would be great. Otherwise, you’ll have come all this way and we’ll only get five minutes together. That seems wrong.’
‘You can talk to me any time, for as long as you like. You know that.’
