me as a weak girl who was afraid to get dirty and work hard.
Stretching a little, my muscles began to tighten oddly, as disappointment crashed through
me. I hadn’t thought about it at the time, but I’d been putting most of my weight on my left
wrist while I pulled the carrots with my right, to shuffle forward more quickly. The more I
tried to gently stretch it loose, the more everything began to clench.
“Are you all right?” Dean asked. There was no way I could hide my discomfort, and I almost
wanted to cry for hurting myself already. Yet the obvious concern in his expressive eyes
was rather sweet.
CHAPTER FOUR
* Dean *
At first I thought that Joanna was a bit dazed from being completely zoned out, then coming
back to the world. It happened sometimes when people weren’t used to this much fresh air
and sunshine. But then I saw that she was holding her head stiffly while she tried to move
her left shoulder.
“Oh, sweetie.” I came closer, asking, “You’ve pulled something, haven’t you?”
She started to nod, but then a tiny whimper slipped out. Instantly I rushed to her side,
putting her right arm around my shoulders so that I could lead her over to a wide bench at
the side of the greenhouse.
“First we gently pull, then we wiggle. All right?”
“Okay,” she muttered without nodding.
Facing her, I took her wrists in my hands, holding tight. “Dig your heels into the dirt, and pull away from me slowly as if you’re trying to escape,” I said. “Give everything a little shake
and think about all of your muscles being long.”
Joanna did precisely as she was told, until her arms and shoulders were beautifully
stretched while I held onto her. “Wow,” she breathed. “That’s really helping.”
After a moment, I straightened her up and guided her to the bench. “Lie on your back, arms
and legs straight, feet flexed.”
I stood behind her, massaging her shoulders for a moment then very gently taking hold of
her neck and stretching her out long. By applying the tiniest amount of traction, I guided her to try to lower her shoulders, wiggling them slightly until everything fell back into place.
“Thank you so much,” she whispered. “That really scared me.”
“I know,” I said softly. “I could see it in your eyes. Don’t worry, city girl, I won’t let you get hurt on my watch.”