“Your leg is bandaged,” Maddie said, her look of wonder turning to one of horror. “What happened?”
“I dropped a weight. Lynn stitched me,” he said, his gaze locked on Maddie. “It’s okay. I’m fine. Just afraid Grant’s going to be mad. Now I have to be careful to not get it wet in the shower.”
Standing in her open doorway with Maddie behind her and Kara on her hip, Lynn said, “I told you, he’s not mad.”
“You should come in and sit down,” Maddie said, stepping forward, her focus still on the bandage wrapped around Darin’s muscled calf. She grabbed his hand and pulled him inside.
With only a moment’s hesitation, Darin stepped over the threshold and walked behind Maddie to the great room with Lynn carrying Kara behind them. As though she were a hostess in her own home, Maddie settled Darin on the sectional couch Lynn and Brandon had picked together to furnish the family room in their two-thousand-square-foot home. Before she’d gotten pregnant and Brandon had met Douglas and finally admitted to himself that he wasn’t a happily married man.
As Darin sat down, Maddie moved the ottoman under his injured leg. “Do you want water?” she asked.
“Yes, please.”
“Do you want a bottle or a glass?”
“A bottle would be fine.”
“Okay, wait a minute and I’ll be right back.”
Lynn could have gone for the water. Or offered him some juice, which would help raise blood sugar levels after his loss of blood. But Darin hadn’t lost enough blood to be a concern. And he hadn’t been showing any signs of dizziness.
Maddie’s attention to her injured friend choked her up and made her smile at the same time.
“I want wataw,” Kara said, playing with the gold ball post in Lynn’s earlobe.
“How about apples?” Lynn asked, putting the little girl down. “Darin, would you like some apple slices?”
“No, thank you,” the tall man said, sitting completely still and upright on the section of the sofa where Maddie had left him. Kara, who’d run back toward her room, came out again, hurtling toward them as fast as her little legs could go with Sammy in her hand.
“This will help you,” she told Darin as, with the stuffed toy still in her hand, she used both hands to help herself climb up on the couch.
“Be careful of Darin’s leg,” Lynn instructed. She’d have liked to have insisted on her toddler calling the older man by his respectful title, but figured she’d be fighting a losing battle on that one.
And for no real gain.
With Sammy bunched in one hand, Kara started to slip and Darin reached out, pulling the little girl up beside him.
“This is Sammy,” Kara said. “You can kiss him.” She pushed the stuffed toy up to Darin’s face.
On her way to the kitchen, Lynn heard the smacking sound the man’s lips made as he acquiesced.
* * *
GRANT KNEW LYNN’S yard. Intimately. He really, really wanted to know the woman intimately, too.
She was independent. As much in charge of her life as Grant was. With seemingly as little time to spare. Maybe they could hook up. Just for a little adult pleasure.
He walked up the couple of steps to her front door and knocked.
She was still in her scrubs—black bottoms and a peachy-colored top today. A medical professional who was helping his brother.
Maybe he’d stick to fantasizing about those adult pleasures he’d imagined.
She was smiling, and her gaze collided with his.
Maybe it wouldn’t be all fantasy….
“Come on in,” she said.
He did. And stood there in her hallway, not noticing at all the house he’d been so curious about.
“I was just going for some apples and tea. Can I get you some?”
Voices came from the distance. The words weren’t distinguishable, but the laughter that followed them was.
“He doesn’t seem to be any worse for wear.”
“All he’s talked about since I first saw him was you being angry with him. The stitches in his leg, on the other hand, don’t seem to be fazing him a bit. I asked if he wanted a cane, tried to take his arm while he was walking, but he was having none of it.”
Grant laughed. He couldn’t help himself. “I told you, my brother’s a determined man. He’s also had his share of stitches. Starting long before the diving accident.”