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right in front of Emily. He had told this Pippa person that he loved her.
    Emily didn’t have a chance to question Gareth about his phone call, because just as he disconnected from it the nurse came to take her to her father.

Chapter Five
     
     
     
    Gareth had completely forgotten about training until Pippa had called, and honestly, he wouldn’t have left Emily even if he had remembered. He was more than likely facing some sort of disciplinary action, probably a fine, but he didn’t care. Any fine would be worth it. Hearing Mac was going to be fine had been such a relief, and just the memory of Emily in his arms, the feel of her in his lap as he’d watched her sleep, was worth any monetary fine coming his way. Gareth was amazed that even with his continued tormented memories of Emily, he had forgotten how good it was to hold her, how perfect she felt and how just having her in his arms brought him such peace. Even with the unsettling events unfolding around them.
    The relief on Emily’s face had been unmistakeable at the doctor’s assurances that Mac would pull through the surgery, and even though she had still looked a little shell-shocked and upset as the nurse took her in to see her father, Gareth was sure that just the sight of Mac would settle her fears. Waiting was such a hard task, and imagining the worst was easy to do. Gareth had started to feel a bit panicked at the length of time Mac had been in surgery, as well. The man had been like an uncle to him, and the thought of Emily losing her father was just impossible to imagine. Emily…alone.
    I wonder if Dylan knows. Gareth pondered the question for a while, but with no answer. He didn’t have Emily’s brother’s contact details, had not seen Dylan Mackenzie in over a year. The last time had been at a Jets game, when Dyl had contacted him to hook him and a few of his army buddies up with tickets to the game. Their conversation had been tense back then. Neither of them had wanted to mention Emily, or the fact Gareth had left her at home while he had headed off to the city. Dyl had probably had his own guilt at leaving the family to run the farm alone.
    It had been a rough couple of years for the Mackenzies, what with Emily’s mum passing away suddenly. An aneurism or something had just exploded in Sally Mackenzie’s brain, and she had fallen dead to the floor in the middle of the family kitchen—no warning, just dead. It had been, at the time, the worst moment of Gareth’s life. Emily had been shattered, as could be expected, and she had turned to him in her time of grief. He’d been so helpless, unable to make her better. He had only been able to hold her and console her, just as he had done tonight.
    He made a few calls while he was waiting for Emily to return. He rang Brodie and apologised for his no-show at training, explaining the situation to his sympathetic coach. Brodie had given Gareth a few days leave from the training paddock, but wanted his assurance that Gareth would be available for the next game. Thankfully, that was not until Sunday afternoon and was a home game, so there’d be no travelling. That gave Gareth the rest of the week to care for Emily and Mac.
    Gareth also rang his mum to update her on Mac’s condition, repeating what the doctor had told him. He could hear the weariness in his mother’s voice—the worry was taking its toll on everyone. She promised to try to find Dylan Mackenzie’s contact number for him, not able to confirm either way if Emily’s brother had been informed of his father’s accident.
    Gareth tried to think of all the details that might need to be taken care of so he could assist Emily in any way. All the while, he waited for her to reappear through the doors the nurse had led her past. Quite a length of time had gone by since Emily had left to check on her father, and Gareth was beginning to worry that Mac might have taken a turn for the worse.
    Hospitals truly sucked—the smell, the sense of