Almost Twilight (12 page)

She
nodded yes, not feeling better at all.

“You
had food poisoning,” he said softly, stroking her forehead.

Food
poisoning? Head poisoning, if you asked her. He looked truly concerned for her.
When his fingers fell across her eyes, her heart began to soften in ways she
never wanted it to ever again.

Maybe
he wasn’t as hard as he appeared to be. Maybe he was arrogant and proud because
it was a front. Maybe he needed to act tough to get through the pain of seeing
patients dying on him.

She
closed her eyes and sighed, feeling his gaze burning into her blood. The
insight was all too revealing for this man who seemed to guard himself with an
iron-like shield of cool reserve.

“I
don’t think it was anything fatal, but you’ll be out of commission for a few
more days.”

Candy
groaned. Wonderful. She would be stuck here, with her life spinning out of
control, because she was falling for the infamous Dr. Clearbrook.

“Everything
else seems to be fine.”

Candy
stared at him and wondered how much of her he had checked. He seemed to read
her mind.

He
gave her that devastating dimpled smile and shrugged. “Hey, I’m a doctor.”

Her
brows narrowed. “I know that,” she snapped. “Just what kind of doctor goes
kissing his patients?”

Rafe
rubbed a hand over his chin. “If I recollect, you weren’t my patient
yesterday.”

“For
your information, I’m not your patient now.” She tried to sit up and instantly
regretted the decision. Everything turned upside down and sideways, including
that boyish grin pasted on Rafe’s face.

He
eased her back down and put a cool rag to her face. “I’m afraid you have no
choice. I’m your doctor, and you will stay in bed and follow my orders. You’re
obviously dehydrated. We’ll push the fluids. Soon, you’ll be feeling much
better.”

Candy
turned her head to her side, wishing she could escape his disturbing presence. This
entire vacation was a nightmare.

Why
had she let Fritz talk her into this mess in the first place? She had refused
to accept money from him when he had wanted to help her out with her down
payment, so why hadn’t she enough nerve to refuse him about this? 

But
down deep she knew why. After buying the house, she would be so strapped for
cash, a vacation to anywhere beyond fifty miles of Clearbrook Valley would be
impossible for a very long, long time. It was an impulse move, and she wasn’t
an impulse sort of girl. She usually planned out everything.

Her
brother Alex had asked to help with the house, but she had refused his money.
She wanted to do everything by herself. How stupid was that, she thought. Perhaps
this vacation would make her rethink her brother’s help. Her pride seemed to be
getting her into a lot of trouble lately.

“You’ll
be fine, little lady. Selena will take good care of you.”

Candy
jerked her eyes open at the sound of the female voice whispering beside her. She
almost laughed out loud when Rafe was pushed aside by a robust woman with a
purple turban on her head. So this was Selena.

Rafe
complained, but Selena waved her hand in the air. “Okay pretty boy, time to
leave.”

“I’m
not leaving until I’m good and ready.”

Selena
rested her hand on Candy’s forehead. “Your lady is going to be all right.”

Rafe
stiffened. “If I told you once, I’ve told you twice, she’s not my lady.”

Candy’s
heart squeezed with pain. He had teased her last night with that kiss. Now, he
was discarding her as if she were a flea in his armpit.

Selena
shouted something to Rafe in with what Candy though was some kind of French
dialect, but she wasn’t sure. Rafe’s eyes widened, and he stomped out of the
room in a huff.

Candy
ran her tongue across her chapped lips and turned to stare at the warm chestnut
eyes gazing down at her. “What did you say to him?”

Selena’s
laugh sounded delightful. “I told him that if he doesn’t want to be my helper
and give you a sponge bath, he better go into town and find something to do.”

Candy
giggled. “I’ve never seen that man move to anyone’s orders.”

Selena
started stripping the soaked T-shirt off Candy’s body and over her head. “He
moves when his father has that mountain stick in his hands, and he moves when Selena
gets mad.”

Candy
smiled at the thought. She turned over as Selena gently scrubbed her back with
a cool sponge.

“You
like my Rafe, no?”

Candy
closed her eyes and pretended she didn’t hear the question. She was usually the
one giving sponge baths to her patients, and it actually felt quite nice being
taken care of for a change.

Selena
sighed. “Rafe has never been in love.”

Candy
hated to admit how much those words cheered her. “Never?”

“You
love Rafe then, yes?”

Candy
frowned. “No.”

“But
you like Rafe? He’s a pretty boy, yes? He’s good man. He likes you. I can see
it in his eyes. He thinks about you all night.”

The
cold water dripped on Candy’s forehead and neck as the lady continued to wipe
her down.

“I’ll
bet he thought about me all night. He probably was thinking about how he could
get rid of me.”

Selena
shook her head. “You’re a stubborn lady. If you like Rafe, you must go after
him like a pirate on the high seas. You must take what you want, or it will be
taken by other pirates.”

Selena
hastened across the room and grabbed a clean shirt from Candy’s bag. When Candy
realized that other pirates meant other woman, her stomach coiled in dread. She
realized that she didn’t want other women running after Rafe.

“Are
you thinking about what I said? Do you want Rafe all to yourself?”

Candy
reddened. “We don’t get along. We fight all the time. He doesn’t like me. His
father set this up. I’m going to a hotel as soon as I feel better.”

Selena
slipped the shirt over Candy’s body. Candy felt weak, but refreshed. “Thank
you.”

“You’re
not going anywhere,” Selena commanded.

Candy
swallowed past her dry throat, and the woman gave her a sip of some lemony
drink.

“You’re
staying right here where Selena can keep an eye on you. Too many pirates out
there of another kind.” She nodded her head emphatically, and a sudden twinkle
came to her eyes. “But maybe that’s what a  pretty lady like you needs.”

Candy
liked this happy lady. “I need another pirate?” she said with a tired smile.

Selena
fluffed the pillow behind Candy’s head and brought up the covers. “Ring the bell
if you need Selena.” 

The
lady lifted a copper bell from the end table. “I’ll stay all day today and keep
the doctor out of your room.” 

The
lady walked toward the window and opened it. “You can listen to the beautiful
waves. They will make you sleepy and think about my Rafe.”

If
Candy was hot, her cheeks warmed even more at the mention of Rafe.

His
powerful silhouette stood out in her mind, his wide shoulders stretching taut
against his blue golf shirt, his gray eyes simmering like a summer barbecue,
his tanned face squinting with lines of determination.

And
she had to admit, for all his hard-headedness, he was a great doctor. Maybe
somewhere beneath that tough shell existed a softness that very few were able
to touch.

Selena’s
darks brows rose. “Yes, he likes you too much. I will stay as your guard.”

Candy
let out a hesitant laugh, and her eyes closed as she heard the lady shuffle out
of the room, singing some island song about love.

Rafe
paced back and forth in the sand. He heard Selena singing. Finally, she was
done giving Candy a bath.

Turning,
he started back toward the house, telling himself he had to check on his
patient to see if she needed anything else. He was responsible for her now. It wasn’t
as if his father was telling him what to do. This was his job as a
professional.

“You
are not to bother the pretty lady.” Selena’s command came from the open kitchen
window.

Lifting
his head, Rafe stopped in front of a low hanging palm tree. “What did you say?”
he asked in disbelief.

“You
are not to go into that room.”

He
ate up the distance to the condo and faced Selena at the door. “I’m a doctor.”

Her
large form blocked him from entering. “Yes, and you are a man.”

Rafe
dumped his coffee in the flower bed. This was getting ridiculous. “So?”

Selena
let out a loud, “Hmphh.” 

Some
sixth sense told Rafe this was war.

“You
are a doctor, you figure it out,” she said and turned around, slamming the
screen door in his face.

Rafe’s
nostrils flared with fury. But he knew if he stepped into that condo and
disobeyed Selena’s orders, there would be hell to pay. “For crying out loud, Selena,
is nothing sacred anymore? Not even my own home?”

Mumbling
to himself, he stepped around back and walked down the trail to the small shed
located about two hundred feet from his condo. Once inside, he fired up his truck.

“You
want anything while I go into town,” he cried to Selena as he pulled in front
of the condo.

Her
purple turban popped in front of the screen door. “Tell Joe, I won’t be home
tonight. Tell him not to pick me up. I’ll stay with the pretty lady.”

“Joe
won’t like that.”

Selena
shrugged and disappeared from sight.

Joe
was Selena’s husband, a beanpole of a man who was the only male on the island
who didn’t cater to Selena’s commands. But the man loved her more than the
ocean was blue, and being as it was, Joe liked his wife by his side every night.

No,
thought Rafe as he pressed his foot to the gas, Joe wouldn’t be happy to know
that his wife was staying the night. And Rafe wasn’t happy that Candy was
staying the night.

Rafe
swerved out of the way of a man on his bicycle and realized Candy Richards was
becoming more to him than what Selena called
a pretty lady
.

And
it was his father’s fault, every single solitary problem with Candy. She was
seeping into his blood like a disease.

He
had to hold fast to his cold bedside manner with that lady. Candy was
everything he wanted in a wife, spunk, kindness, and a lust for life. But he
could never have that, because when he had seen her rolling on the floor in
pain, his heart had stopped dead.

Dead
like Tanner’s first wife, a beautiful woman whom he had tried to help, but
couldn’t. Dead like his mother whom he loved and lost.

No,
patient mortality was about all he could deal with as a doctor. Falling in love
right now would destroy everything he had worked for.

Candy
Richards touched parts of his heart and soul that he thought were never there. But
he was a doctor, and as such, his patients came first. If that meant not having
a wife to worry over, then so be it.

Candy
listened intently to the exchange of snapping voices outside and stifled a
laugh. Selena was not one to lose a fight. Rafe would never win anything with
that lady.

Grinning
up at the ceiling fan, Candy thought for an absurd moment that maybe Selena was
right. Maybe Rafe did like her more than just a little bit.

She
was turning her head toward the window when the sound of an engine roared in
her ears. She stilled as Rafe’s voice floated above the low hum of the vehicle.
He had a car!

“He
lied to me!”

Candy
threw the covers off the bed.
That man lied to me about getting a ride to
town? 

Fury
rippled through her. Rafe had distinctly told her there was no way to get back
to town until later, but he seemed to have transportation now. It couldn’t have
been Selena’s car, because the lady had just asked Rafe to tell her husband not
to pick her up.

“Why,
that rat!” 

Candy
sank her head against her pillow and clenched her hands in rage, too tired to
confront the man now.

The
chirp of the island birds floated through the air, lulling her to a much needed
nap, but not before she vowed to leave her bed the very next day and see if the
airlines would move up her departure date to the earliest time possible.

By
the time Rafe finally made it to Candy’s door, a hint of pink swirled along the
horizon. He held a glass of cold lemonade in his hand, hoping he could bribe
his way into the patient’s room if he was refused by Candy’s so-called
guardian.

He
let out a sigh of relief when he saw Selena out back, hanging clothes on the
line, airing sheets and singing to her heart’s content. Rafe figured it would
take a good hour for the lady to finish that job, plenty of time for Rafe to
check on Candy.