Touched By Angels

‘But?’ Meg laughed but there was scant amusement in the sound. She might not be able to see him clearly but she didn’t need to because she’d heard the reservation in his voice. She turned to face him, unaware of how defensive she looked as she stood there in the watery moonlight.

‘There was a definite ‘‘but’’ tagged onto that sentence, Jack, wasn’t there?’

‘Yes, I expect there was.’

He shrugged, his broad shoulders rising and falling beneath his half-buttoned shirt. He looked tired, too, Meg noticed when he stepped out from the shadows. There were deep lines bracketing his mouth and a lack of animation about his expression which made him look older than the thirty-six years she knew him to be. However, tired or not, he obviously didn’t intend to opt for the easy route. Where work was concerned, Jack would never compromise!

‘It’s fair to say that you handled yourself well tonight, Meg. However, that doesn’t change anything. I still don’t believe that this is the job for you,’ he stated flatly.

‘Because I might not pull my weight? Or because I might not be able to cope with the conditions we’re going to be working under?’ She laughed harshly. ‘Come on, Jack! You’ve just admitted that I acquitted myself well tonight so you’ll have to do better than that!’

‘Yes, you did do well tonight and I’m happy to admit it. However, one night’s work isn’t proof that you’ll be able to keep up once the pressure is on.’ His tone was unyielding. ‘It’s far more difficult trying to deal with the daily grind involved in this type of work, as you’ll soon discover for yourself.’

‘I’m sure you’re right but I know that I shall cope no matter how hard it is. So it seems that we’re at a bit of an impasse, doesn’t it?’

Meg stared back at him, wishing there was a way to make him see that he was mistaken about her. It wasn’t going to be easy, though, if Jack had made up his mind.

‘It seems like it.’ He shrugged again but she saw the irritation in his eyes. Obviously he wasn’t used to people questioning his judgement, Meg thought. Well, tough! He wasn’t going to have things all his own way if she had anything to do with it!

‘Anyway, it’s late and it’s time you got some sleep. We’ll be leaving early in the morning as we still have some distance to travel before we reach our destination.’