by James, Sandy
“Here I go.” Charlie thumped his chest again. “Geronimo!”
“Don’t do it, Charlie.” Sarah shook her head as she watched him. He must have been trying for a graceful dive, but he half stumbled, jumping more up than out. “That’s gonna hurt,” she called after him, pulling off first one shoe then the other and dropping them on the patio. He was sure to do a belly flop that would turn his stomach a nice shade of pink.
Trying to think of where they could quickly get their hands on another bottle of Asti, it took her foggy brain a moment before Sarah realized Charlie’s jump hadn’t been followed by a loud splash or a shout when the water was too cold. Shit, it was hard to think straight when she’d had that much to drink.
Feeling a bit dizzy, she finally peered over the wall. “Charlie? Hey, Sweet Prince, are you—?”
Whatever words had formed in her mind disappeared when she saw him. His body was lying like some broken doll. People couldn’t bend their backs like that. His legs and hips rested on the concrete as his head, chest, and arms dangled in the pool. “Oh, God, no. Please no.”
Sarah hurried down the stairs, tripping as her hazy mind tried to figure out what to do next. She should call for help. Where had she left her cell? She threw herself to her knees when she reached Charlie.
No. No. No. Pulling with all her might, she got his head and shoulders out of the water. He wasn’t breathing. He stared at her with dull, dead eyes. She wrapped her arms around him and rocked his limp body, crying as her heart broke. “Please don’t do this. Please, Charlie. I love you. Please don’t leave me all alone.”
* * * *
“Hey, Sarah,” Libby called, bringing Sarah back from her worst memory. “Watch me do a back flip.”
Sarah brushed away the tears on her cheeks, hoping Libby wouldn’t see. The guilt was smothering, making her feel as responsible for Charlie’s death as if she’d pushed him from the ledge. As if she’d killed him. If they hadn’t been drinking—as they always did when they were together—Charlie wouldn’t have done anything that stupid. And maybe she could have saved him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear... What did you say?”
“A flip. Watch me do a flip.”
“On that small a diving board? Miss Elizabeth, that’s not a good idea.”
Libby waved away the notion. “I do it all the time. Watch.” Taking a few running strides, she jumped from the concrete apron to the tiny diving board. Launching herself into the air, Libby tucked her knees to her chest and turned a somersault midair.
Sarah knew what would happen before it did. A shiver of déjà vu ripped through her with the startling realization that Libby couldn’t possibly clear the diving board. She’d spun more up than out. Just like Charlie. As Libby descended, the back of her head smacked the edge of the diving board with a loud thud. She splashed into the water and quickly sank like a stone.
“Libby!” Sarah scrambled from the chaise and ran to the deep end of the pool. “Libby!”
Too long. Libby had been underwater too long. Sarah’s heart seized in panic, watching Libby’s still form hovering at the bottom of the pool. Sarah leapt into the water.
Struggling through the depths, she grabbed Libby under the arms and tried to haul the girl’s unconscious body to the surface. Sarah kicked and kicked as her lungs burned for want of air. Please, God, no. Not again.
As her head broke the surface, Sarah gulped in more water than air as she tugged Libby to the wall. But Libby was heavier than Sarah, and she couldn’t get the girl out of the pool. “Joshua!” she shouted, gasping for more air. She sank below the surface and swallowed a mouthful of water. Kicking hard, she pushed herself back up. “Joshua! Help!”
Josh’s head popped up at the scream. He’d been so bored flipping burgers, he’d lost himself in thoughts of Sarah and the future he hoped to make with her. The second time he heard his name, he dropped the tongs and ran to where he’d left Sarah and Libby sitting by the swimming pool, soaking up the sun, and chatting about nothing of importance.
His heart seized in panic when he saw them. Sarah struggled to push Libby out of the pool. There wasn’t even time for his brain to process why Libby wasn’t moving. Running to the edge of the pool, Josh skidded to a halt, dropped to his knees, and reached for his daughter.
Dragging Libby out of the water, he rolled her to her back, trying to figure out what had happened. Sarah coughed and sputtered, but in his peripheral vision, he could see her haul herself out of the water. “Libby. Come on,” Josh coaxed as he tried to find some wound, anything to explain why she was so still.
Sarah crawled over and tilted Libby’s head back. Pinching the girl’s nose shut, Sarah started blowing into her mouth. Josh put two shaking fingers to his daughter’s neck, looking for a pulse he somehow knew he wouldn’t find.
This was wrong. All wrong. He wasn’t supposed to lose Libby. Ever. He wasn’t supposed to choose another coffin that was more pink than bronze. He wasn’t supposed to pick up another little black stone. But the sight played out like some macabre scene from the ongoing melodrama of his life.
“Wake up, Libby,” Sarah gasped in between puffs of breath that forced Libby’s chest to rise and fall in the same rhythm. But Libby wouldn’t wake up.
“No!” With a frustrated scream, Sarah pulled the girl’s arms until she sat up. Sarah quickly embraced her. Splaying her left hand across Libby’s back and her right across the back of her head, Sarah hugged her and mumbled some words Josh’s brain was too numb to process. A prayer? Then Sarah began to rock Libby’s limp form, still muttering as tears streamed down her face.
This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening. As if acting of their own volition, Josh’s hands reached for his daughter, knowing after all Sarah had tried, there wasn’t anything he could to do bring her back. But he had to try. Before his fingers touched Libby, the girl suddenly sputtered and coughed.
“Libby!” Josh heard his own voice shout. She continued to cough, blowing globs of water out of her lungs and over Sarah’s shoulder. He would have slapped Libby’s back like she was choking on a piece of food if Sarah’s hand hadn’t been in the way. Those slender, white hands relaxed and then fell away. Libby braced her arms on either side of her legs as Sarah released her and collapsed back onto the concrete deck. Her eyes were closed, her face white as a freshly bleached sheet.
“Sarah,” Libby whispered, scrambling to Sarah’s side. “Pop, we have to help Sarah.”
Josh was already kneeling next to Sarah, reaching out with hands that still trembled. “She...she healed you.”
Libby nodded as tears began to roll down her cheeks. “I could feel her, you know, inside my head.” She coughed a few more times, bringing up more water. “I was floating up, but she wouldn’t let me go.” She smoothed away the long, wet tendrils of hair from Sarah’s cheek. “She saved my life. She...she...”
“Healed you.” He grabbed his daughter by the shoulders and turned her to face him. He was sure his quick embrace knocked the wind she’d just regained right out of her. Turning her loose, he asked, “Are you alright now?”
Libby nodded then looked back at Sarah. “Is she gonna be okay?”
Having seen Sarah collapse before, he knew he shouldn’t be so afraid for her. But he was. Not wanting to alarm Libby, Josh tried not to show the nearly crippling anxiety he felt. This woman, this selfless woman, had saved his daughter’s life, no matter what it cost her. He didn’t know what had happened. He didn’t really need to know, but one thing was crystal clear. Sarah had brought Libby back from death’s embrace.
Gathering Sarah’s still form into his arms, Josh carried her to the house. Libby scurried ahead, opening the big sliding door and then following him up the stairs to Sarah’s bedroom. “Please get some towels,” he said, sending his daughter hurrying to the bathroom. “And can you find something dry for her to wear?”
Water dripped from Sarah’s hair, shirt, and jeans as Josh stood at the threshold of her room, not knowing exactly what to
do. He couldn’t leave her in the wet clothes. If he laid her on the bed, the quilt and sheets would get soaked. Libby spared him the decision by pushing past him and spreading a big beach towel over the bed. Josh laid Sarah on the towel.
Libby handed him a couple of bath towels and a pink t-shirt that looked several sizes too big for someone as tiny as Sarah. As if to answer his unasked question, Libby said, “It’s a nightshirt. I found it in a drawer.” Her cheeks flushed red. “I couldn’t find any of her panties. Do you want me to get some of mine? I was gonna do laundry tonight, so I’m not sure I have any clean.”
“No, it’s okay. She’ll be fine in the nightshirt. I’m gonna dry her off and get her tucked in. You need to get out of that swimsuit and get dressed.” His daughter nodded and headed out of the room. “Libby?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you. I hope you know you scared a good decade off my life today.”
“Yeah? Well, I think I aged a few years too.” She shuffled a few steps then stopped. “I’m sorry, Pop. I didn’t mean to... Will Sarah be alright?”
Josh nodded. “She’ll be fine. This always happens after she heals someone.”
“You really believe her now, don’t you?”
“I’ve believed her since the day I went to get her. She’s the genuine article.” He started to rub Sarah’s damp hair with a towel.
Libby came back into the room and hovered over her father as he tended to Sarah. “You love her?”
He didn’t even hesitate. “Yes, I do. And I’m trying to get her to love me in return.”
“She does.”
Josh turned to stare up at his daughter.
“I know she does. She was...you know...in my head. I could hear her thoughts. She saved me because she loves me, and because she loves you, too. A lot.”
Wanting desperately to believe her, Josh had to squelch the skeptical reporter who wanted to scoff at Libby’s pronouncement.
Libby fisted her hands against her hips, looking exactly like Miranda when she’d been annoyed at him. “I’m not kidding.”
Josh sighed. “I don’t doubt you, Miss Elizabeth. It’s just...strange.”
Libby’s demeanor changed in an instant. Suddenly, she was nibbling on her bottom lip, just like she always did when she’d been a little girl and she’d done something wrong. “Pop?”
He stopped drying Sarah’s hair and arched an eyebrow at his daughter.
“Before we left, I... Well, you got this call, and I...” Libby stopped talking and chewed that lip hard enough he was amazed she didn’t draw blood.
“I need to get Sarah out of these clothes. What is it, Libby?”
“Nothing. I’ll...I’ll tell you... Never mind.” She ran out of the room like her swimsuit had suddenly burst into flames.
“Teenagers,” he said to a sleeping Sarah.
Lifting her shoulders from the bed, Josh leaned her against his chest and pulled the wet shirt from her body. Her skin was too pale and very cold. Feeling guilty for the invasion of her privacy, he popped the front clasp of her bra, slid it off her arms, and then cast it aside. Try as he might, he couldn’t stop staring at those perfect breasts. Full, firm, with pink nipples that begged him to taste them again.
Laying her back against the pillows, he worked to peel the wet jeans off her hips and down her legs. The task proved daunting, not only because the wet cloth clung like flypaper, but because each new patch of skin he revealed branded itself on his brain. All he had left to remove were her panties. White and dotted with little rosebuds. Just looking at them plastered to Sarah’s body made him fear he was drooling. Somehow he worked them off.
What kind of pervert was he? Sitting there, drying her, Josh had to take deep breaths to control his physical response. He’d never wanted a woman as badly as he wanted Sarah Reid. The whole week had been nothing but an extended session of foreplay. He was hard as steel as he dried her skin and worked the enormous nightshirt over her head to shield her beauty from his gaze.
Entirely grateful she was finally covered, he lifted Sarah’s shoulders and cradled her against his chest as he pulled back the quilt. Although he’d intended to set her back in bed and cover her up, Josh had a hard time letting her leave his embrace. He finally grabbed the crocheted afghan from the foot of the bed and scooped her into his arms. Taking a seat in the rocking chair, he settled her in his lap. Spreading the afghan over her, he told himself he was sharing his warmth with her, but he recognized that notion for the lie it was. Sarah felt right in his arms.
If he hadn’t already realized how deeply in love with her he was, what she’d done for Libby today would have tipped the scale. He kissed Sarah’s forehead and cradled her a little closer. Her skin felt cool beneath his lips. Rocking in a slow rhythm, Josh willed some of his strength and warmth into her fragile body.
“I love you, Sarah,” he whispered against her hair. “And I’m never going to let you go.”
Chapter 14
Josh awakened to the clap of thunder. It came as a blessing. The noise interrupted a vivid nightmare he was having about losing Libby. He’d been back on the pool deck with Libby still as a statue, just lying on the concrete, not breathing. And Sarah hadn’t been there this time. She hadn’t been there to bring his precious daughter back from the brink of death. Shivering as his skin, coated in a light sheen of perspiration, reacted to the cooling air, he glanced at the red glow of the bedside clock. 3 AM.
Thank God, Libby was fine. His mind just needed to be reminded of that another million times. Or more. He’d gone in to check on his daughter after she’d finally headed to bed. Once she was playing Spider Solitaire on her laptop, her face glowing ethereal in the eerie light of the monitor. And once she’d been sleeping like a baby. Libby’s fine, Josh reminded himself. But he still trembled when he thought of what could have happened, what probably would have happened if Sarah hadn’t been there.
Sarah. What exactly was he going to do about Sarah? He knew he’d been winning her over, but he feared when she’d healed Libby, she would remember her mission—her quest to save the world at the cost of herself.
The last time he’d checked on her, Sarah had been as still as a corpse. He had seen her like that before—back in Indianapolis when she’d healed Shelly. And according to her husband’s email, Shelly had been healed. There were no remaining signs of her ovarian cancer.
Josh tried not to be afraid for Sarah, knowing she would probably be better as soon as she had some rest. He only hoped she hadn’t put herself back a step or more after having taken several forward on the road to getting healthy again. For almost an hour, he’d sat in the ancient wicker rocking chair with her resting in his arms as she slept.
She amazed him with her selflessness, how easily she allowed herself to suffer in return for helping others. Sarah had saved Libby’s life. He owed her more than he could ever repay. And he loved her more than she could possibly know.
A bolt of lightning. Another clap of thunder, so loud this time it rattled the ranch house windows. Josh loved summer storms. He loved the cleansing of the air. He loved the pitter-pat of the rain on the roof and the echo of the thunder. Rolling to his side, he watched nature’s light show in the window. This thunderstorm would be a good one, judging from the frequency of lightning and the increasingly small amounts of time separating the light from the sound.
“Joshua?”
Turning to the whispered plea, Josh stared at his now open bedroom door. Silhouetted in the doorway, Sarah hugged herself and stared at him wide-eyed. Her arms and legs glowed alabaster in the faint light. She looked like some porcelain doll—beautiful yet fragile.
Another streak of lightning, followed almost immediately by a deafening clap of thunder. She turned, closed the door, and leaned back against it, holding her hands over her ears. As she bowed her head, her hair formed a curtain, hiding her face from him.
She was shaking. Throwing aside the covers, he stretched his legs over the side of the bed. “Sarah? What’s wr
ong?”
Another lightning strike hit so close he couldn’t even count to two before it was followed by a roar of thunder loud enough the pictures on the wall shook in response. Sarah bolted from the door. Josh stood up just as she threw herself at him.
Quickly wrapping his arms around her, he held her close. She trembled in his embrace, hard enough he was surprised he didn’t hear her teeth chattering. Another flash of light, and she pressed her face in his chest, clenched her fists against his skin, and cried out.
“It’s just a thunderstorm, honey.” She sniffled, and Josh realized she’d been crying. He rubbed her back. “Are you afraid of storms?” Sarah nodded, still keeping her face pressed against his skin.
The next time thunder rumbled, she gasped. Putting his hand on the back of her head and splaying the fingers of the other over her back, Josh held her tighter. “It’s just a thunder—” He didn’t even finish the last word before he realized what an idiot he was. If he hadn’t been occupied soothing Sarah, he would have slapped his own forehead with the heel of his hand. “I’m so sorry. I forgot, honey. Shh. You’re safe here. Lightning can’t find you here.”
A shuddering sigh escaped her. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m being...silly.” But she still trembled against him.
“It’s okay. You’re not being silly.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’ll keep you safe, Sarah.”
“I know.” A little feminine hiccup followed the words.
Josh put his hand under her chin and gently forced her to look up at him. “Thank you.” Tears glistened on her cheek, but she knit her brows in clear confusion at his words. “For your trust. Thank you for your trust.”
Sarah stared up into his eyes, and he saw the fear, saw the need for comfort. Before he could talk himself out of it, he lowered his head and settled his mouth on hers. Sweet soft lips greeted him. She tasted of salty tears.
It seemed to him there had always been an element of the woman who was Sarah Reid he couldn’t reach. She’d still held a small part of herself back, even since coming to Montana. But she wasn’t holding anything back now, and Josh reveled in her response. Pressing her body hard against his, Sarah looped her arms around his neck and returned his kiss with an intensity he’d never have expected from such a small, fragile woman. Her tongue sought his, making him growl low in his throat. Waves of warmth and longing swept through him. While he’d only hoped to offer her comfort from the storm, he hadn’t expected nor dreamed of the passionate response she offered. He drank her in like a fine wine, wanting nothing more than to hold her forever.