Almost Twilight

ALMOST TWILIGHT

Copyright © Teresa
McCarthy, 2012

All rights reserved

EBook, December 2012,
Teresa McCarthy

Cover Art, LFD
Designs For Authors

No part of this
publication may be reproduced, stored, copied, or transmitted without the prior
written permission of the copyright owner.

This is a work of
fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the
author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual
persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is
entirely coincidental.

It
wasn’t as if Candy Richards wanted to be stuck on top of her best friend’s roof
on a lovely summer day, but she had no intention of jumping two stories either.
In fact, she had no intention of moving at all.

“Don’t
jump,” nine-year-old Jeremy Clearbrook called up to her as he palmed the
rescued baseball in his catcher’s mitt. “You’re right. The ladder broke when it
hit the ground.”

“I
am not going to jump. Just let me think.”

Sweat
beaded along Candy’s brow as she lifted her gaze toward the horizon where a
blanket of pink ribbons settled gently over the Rocky Mountains. The scene
reminded her of the layers of pretty frosting she had seen in one of the
children’s books she read to the kids at the hospital.

Clearbrook
Valley was one of the most beautiful areas in Colorado, especially at sunset.
She could easily see why the Clearbrook ancestors had chosen this area to
settle. Yes, it was even fit for their ancestor the Duke of Elbourne. She
wondered what the Clearbrook family had been like when they had lived in
England two hundred years ago.

She
looked at the ground and groaned. At least she wasn’t stuck on the roof of some
English castle. But hey, what was the difference? Two stories or five? The drop
could kill her either way.

She
brushed a lock of chocolate brown hair from her eyes and caught Jeremy’s eye.

“You
can think while I go for help,” he shouted. “Uncle Rafe told me never to panic
in times like these.”

“Well,
don’t call him,” Candy cried, trying to figure a way down. The young, handsome
Dr. Rafe Clearbrook was the last person she wanted seeing her like this.
“Jeremy, do you hear me?” 

But
her cry fell on deaf ears as Jeremy disappeared past the front steps of the
Clearbrook mansion, the screen door slamming closed behind him.

With
a groan of despair, Candy forced herself to count to ten and relax. At
twenty-five-years old, one would think a woman her age would have thought twice
about climbing a rickety ladder to retrieve a stupid baseball.

Never
mind that she was the one who threw the ball up there in the first place, or
that she felt responsible since she was Jeremy’s babysitter for the night.
Never mind that she was a pushover for kids, always had been, always would be.
Never mind that she was stuck up on the roof, looking like a fool. Never mind,
period. She just wanted down.

It
would have been a glorious night to sit back on the Clearbrook patio, sip on a
homemade strawberry daiquiri, and take in the smells of the clean, mountain air
and fresh cut grass.

But
no, like a super hero, she had to offer to retrieve Jeremy’s baseball from the
gutter.

With
a sigh, she closed her eyes, feeling the cool breeze ripple along her T-shirt.
It was going to be dark soon. Daydreaming wasn’t going to help her here. Duke
or not, she just hoped Jeremy was calling the right Clearbrook!

The
boy’s father Tanner and step-mom Hannah, who was Candy’s best friend, had
forgotten their cell phones, both of which were still charging on the kitchen
table.

The
couple had been barely married a year and were still acting like newlyweds.
They had gone out to the movies only five minutes ago, so they wouldn’t be
coming to her rescue.

Even
Fritz, Jeremy’s grandfather who acted much younger than his sixty some years,
was out playing checkers down at Pete’s Deli. The wonderful man would help her
in a minute, and he did have a cell phone, but unless it was an emergency, he’d
told Jeremy to call Rafe. The older man was in some tournament, and he meant to
win.

This
was an emergency in a way, but Candy didn’t want anyone seeing her like this.
She knew how ridiculous she looked stuck on top of Tanner Clearbrook’s roof.
But whoever Jeremy called, there would be fireworks.

Given
a choice of rescuers, she’d prefer the fire department, or yes, even Fritz, but
not Jeremy’s uncle, Mr. Handsome-as-sin-know-it-all himself.

Steadying
herself, she spread one hand on the roof beside her. The ceramic tiles beneath
her jeans were bumpy, uncomfortable, and slightly cool. She realized she
wouldn’t be in this sorry predicament if she had just extended her lease on her
apartment like she had wanted to. Yet living with Jeremy’s parents did have its
blessings, and she would have babysat for Jeremy anyway, so what did it matter?

She
was saving money to buy the house she wanted, and at least her dream home
didn’t have a high roof like this one.

She
dropped her gaze to the neatly mowed front lawn and grimaced. Calling Fritz
wouldn’t help, she realized. There really was no one to help her but the fire
department. Then everyone in town would know what she had done. It was all so
humiliating. 

At
that moment, something flitted near her head. A bat! No, two bats! 

“Jeremy?”
Her voice was a pleading squeak. Nothing but silence, then the rumble of a car
zipping up the street.

“Jeremy,
would you come out here, please?” 

She
closed her eyes again and bit her bottom lip.

Bats.
She hated bats.

What
had she been thinking, climbing that ladder? She, a nurse of all people, should
have known better. She was lucky she hadn’t broken a leg. But the night was
young, she thought glumly. Young and filled with bats.

“Well,
well, well, what have we here?”

Candy’s
blood froze at the sound of Rafe Clearbrook’s amused voice. Dreading the
inevitable, she shifted her gaze to the brick driveway below.

The
sight of the dark-haired doctor stepping out of his red Porsche sent her heart
skidding to a halt. He was dressed in a blue polo shirt and a pair of ragged jeans,
not the usual attire of a millionaire doctor on his day off. He usually visited
his brother Tanner, Jeremy’s father, at least two times a week.

Why
not today and make her night complete? 

As
she continued to glare at him, his smoky gray eyes seemed to crinkle with
amusement. Even his tanned face seemed to glow with mischief at the absurdity
of her situation.

Good
job, Candy. This is all you need.

She
purposely looked over his shoulder, not caring for the warm feeling that shot
through her veins every time she met his gaze.

“I’m
taking in Clearbrook Valley’s lovely scenery,” she said, answering his absurd
question. “Just go away.”

Acting
like a cocky teenager, he leaned a pair of long legs against his car and
crossed one muscled arm over the other, resting them against his chest. “Looks
to me that you’re plain stuck up there, sweetheart. Want some help?” 

Help?
From him?

He
seemed to be enjoying this bit of revenge, and help was the last thing she’d
ask from that egomaniac. If she weren’t mistaken, the man was still upset
because she had turned him down for a date last night.

When
another bat flew by her head, she forced herself not to react like a complete
idiot and clenched her hands against her jeans. “Don’t c-call me, sweetheart.”

The
man had the audacity to laugh. “All right, Nurse Richards, don’t get your
hackles up. You jump. I’ll catch you. How about that?”

“Sounds
like some Saturday morning cartoon.” 

Her
words were cool and clipped, but inside an embarrassing heat crawled down her
spine.

Was
he kidding? Dr. Rafe Clearbrook, one of the most eligible bachelors in
Clearbrook Valley, was intelligent, shrewd, and powerful, not to mention a
millionaire who had dated every eligible nurse in the hospital but her, and
that was exactly how it was going to stay.

Just
because that come-hither-to-grin had most women falling at his feet, it wasn’t
about to change her decision to jump in the least. No falling at his feet for
this petite brunette. Nope, no, and no!

He
stared up at her, his eyes never leaving her face. “I am assuming Tanner and
his lovely bride are out tonight and you are home alone?”

“No,
I am not home alone,” she snapped. “Jeremy is home with me, so no need to
worry. We have this situation totally under control.”
What a lie that was!

His
laugh rippled along the roof. “It sure doesn’t look like you have everything
under control. That is, unless you’re a roofing contractor.”

She
glared at him. “That is not very funny, Doctor. J-just go away.” She didn’t
need him to be here when the fire truck arrived. That would be mortifying.

He
put a hand to his chin, studying the situation. “This may take some thinking.”

She
took in a shaky breath, hoping the firemen would get there soon. Her courage
was deserting her. “Would you please leave?”

“I
don’t think so. Besides, this isn’t a game of twenty questions, sweetheart. You
are bigger than a bread box, but if you hang yourself over the side, I assure
you, I
can
catch you.”

“Hey,
Uncle Rafe!”

Candy
caught sight of Jeremy vaulting onto the mansion’s manicured lawn. Hopefully
the boy had called for help because the man below sure wasn’t taking any steps
to get her down. He seemed to love every minute of her humiliation.

Rafe
stepped forward, ruffling Jeremy’s light brown hair. “Hey, buddy, looks like
this calls for some emergency thinking.”

Candy
groaned. Emergency thinking? The man was a doctor for heaven’s sake. What could
he do for her unless she fell?

“I
was calling the fire department,” Jeremy said, frowning as he glanced up at
Candy, “but when I heard your car, Uncle Rafe, I told them to forget it because
my uncle just pulled in the driveway.” The boy shifted his gaze back to Rafe.
“I would have called Grandpa, but he’s at that checkers tournament, and he
doesn’t like being bothered when he’s winning.”

Candy
moaned. No fire department. That was just great!

Rafe
raised a smiling, but arrogant brow toward the roof. “Ah, so it’s just you and
me, Jeremy. And of course, Nurse Richards.” 

He
flashed Candy a set of sparkling movie star teeth. “So, you see, sweetheart, it
looks like all there’s left is for little old me to rescue little old you.” 

His
eyes roamed over her body as if indeed she were a pintsize thing, which to her
frustration, she was, especially compared to him.

“Alas,
how inconvenient for me,” she replied icily.

She
wondered if she would get down from the roof before morning. Those bats were
bound to come back any minute, and knowing Rafe, he might use them to his
advantage.

She
narrowed her gaze toward the man below. That smirk hadn’t left his face. “Don’t
look at me as if you’re wondering how I got up here.”

Rafe
rubbed his hand across the light stubble of a five o’clock shadow. “Hmmm, and I
thought coming down from there was the problem.”

Candy
let out a frustrated sigh. Why? Why her?  

“You
fly up there?” he asked sarcastically.

Jeremy
let out a belly laugh. “That’s a good one. Fly.”