Sara came down the stairs with a firm step. Her hair clung damply to her neck and there was still some part of her, deep inside, that was shaken by the accident. But she wasn’t going to let that stop her. She had to find her helpful carpenter and face him right away, before the memory of what had just occurred, what he’d just done for her, started to eat into her self-confidence.
It took her breath away when she thought about it. There she’d been, stark naked in front of a strange and rather attractive man. What if he’d…?
Well, it didn’t help to think about what might have happened if he hadn’t turned out to be a decent guy. Which he seemed to be. She was just lucky he’d been around to pull her out of the pool. Her nakedness was inconsequential compared to that.
But if she didn’t find him, didn’t talk about what had happened, laugh about it, she knew it would stay there inside her, like a worm in an apple and she couldn’t let that happen.
She found him pacing the floor of her den and favored him with a bright smile meant to wipe away any nagging memories he might have of her unprotected body parts. “I want to thank you for what you did,” she said, reaching out to take his hand in hers and gazing up at him earnestly.
He looked uncomfortable. “There’s nothing to thank me for,” he said gruffly.
There. She could see it in his eyes, in the set of his mouth. He was thinking about her naked. This was impossible, and if she didn’t stop thinking about it herself, she was going to blush. She never blushed. She refused to blush. She had to get his mind on other things.
She hoped her laugh didn’t sound as forced to his ears as it did to her own. “Are you kidding?” she said gaily. “You may have saved my life.”
He looked startled to have her say such a thing. “I didn’t save your life. You would have jumped out on your own in a few seconds.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” she told him. “Feel this.”
She tossed her hair back and leaned her head to the side, guiding his hand to the area of her scalp where a huge goose egg was throbbing. It was strange to be inviting a perfect stranger to feel her head, but this was a strange situation, and be had probably saved her. That in itself was a fairly intimate act, wasn’t it? And intimate acts tended to form bonds. Consider one formed, she told herself soothingly. This man is now a close personal friend.
“Ouch,” he said, wincing for her as his fingers found the injury. “You hit your head, all right. You don’t remember doing it?”
She shrugged. “I guess I missed it. There was a lot going on at the time.” She shook her hair back and a slight frown formed between her brows. “I did feel like I was passing out at one point, though,” she reflected.
He nodded, watching the way her hair fell into place in crisp waves. Damp like this, it still looked blond. Interesting. He supposed that meant it wasn’t dyed but naturally light. The color of her eyebrows confirmed it. They were silky and light as the down on a peach.
She’d put on another sweater, this one a fuzzy soft baby blue. He glanced down. Sure enough, she’d put on baby blue socks to match. Concussion or not, she wasn’t going to get sloppy. Maybe he was getting to know all about her after all.
“That’s a nasty bump you’ve got,” he told her with a direct look. “It’s a good thing the doctor is on his way.”
Her eyes widened. She hadn’t wanted that. “What? You called the doctor?”
“Yes, I did.”
She stared at him, resentful of his high-handed attitude. This carpenter she’d hired didn’t seem to remember who the boss was. “I told you not to,” she reminded him.
“Sorry about that.” His dark eyes were coolly unrepentant and he went on, telling her the truth. “I very seldom do what I’m told.”
She wasn’t sure if she was angry or just amused. “What are you,” she asked him bluntly. “Some sort of control freak?”
His mouth twisted into something that could almost be called a smile. “I like to call it being forceful and farsighted.”
She was about to tell him what she called it when the doorbell chimed and she turned instead. “Oh drat, that will be the doctor.”
“I’ll get it,” he said, starting for the door. “You sit down on the couch.”
Outrage stiffened her back. It was pretty obvious this man was ready to take over everything if she let him. Cutting him off at the pass with an end run around the counter, she stood in his way, eyes narrowed.
“Excuse me,” she said icily. “I believe this is my house. I’ll get the door, thank you just the same.”
He shrugged, unconcerned, looking down at her without rancor. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked.
What was he trying to say, that he’d only been looking out for her welfare? She threw him a skeptical look and didn’t bother to answer, striding quickly into the foyer with Drey right behind her.
She opened the door to find Dr. Bracken looking in anxiously, his huge gray eyes doleful as usual.
“Sara, my dear,” he said, coming forward and taking her hand. “What happened?”
She smiled and glanced at Drey. “Nothing much, Matthew. I fell into the pool.”
His kindly face registered extreme shock and alarm. “Oh, my God.”
“No, don’t get excited. There was water in it. Very cold water. And I bumped my head, which left a lump but not much else.” She gave Drey a defiant look. “I didn’t want you bothered with this. I’m perfectly fine.”
“Well, that’s to be determined, isn’t it?” Dr. Bracken bustled in, shaking his head. “Come, my dear, you must sit down,” he urged, leading her to a seat on a damask-covered chair in the parlor. “Let me take a look at you.”
She did as he told her, displaying her goose egg bump one more time and submitting to the tiny light he shone into her eyes and to a reading of her heart rate. Matthew Bracken had been a friend and golfing partner of her ex-husband’s ever since they’d moved to Denver three years before. Though she’d never taken him up on offers to get closer to his wife, she did like him.
“Craig still in China?” he asked as he studied her eyes.
“Yes,” Sara replied.
“You know, I suddenly realized as I was driving over here that I haven’t seen him for over a year. He and I used to get together for a game of golf about once a month, weather permitting, but it has been since the fall before last that we’ve played, How does the time getaway from you like that?”
“Isn’t that the truth?” Sara said evasively. “Maybe you can get him to play when he’s here next week. We’re having a lot of old friends from out of town to a baby shower and he promised to help me with it.”
The doctor drew back and stared at her doubtfully. “So you’re going through with this adoption scheme of yours?”
“Yes.” She nodded, her eyes shining. “Yes, definitely.”
He shook his head as though he didn’t approve at all. “I don’t know, Sara. I guess I said my piece when you called me a few months ago and asked my advice. I say there’s no earthly reason you and Craig can’t have a child of your own. You’re both