A shiver went through her that had nothing to do with the weather. What if he put his mind to having her in his bed? Could she resist him? Did she want to? It was time for her to go in. “I’m getting cold so I’m going to say goodnight again. See you in the morning.”
Grant stood when she did, capturing her hand as she passed him. She looked into his angular face, made more intriguing by the shadows.
“Thanks for helping me out with Lily too. We both need you.”
“We’re helping each other out.” Her fingers slowly slipped from his hand as she walked away. For once in her life she felt as if she had left something important undone.
* * *
A few days later it was moving day for her father. He and Sara were at the new house early to meet the truck. Over the course of the morning she opened and set up the kitchen as the movers brought in the boxes. Her father spent his time helping direct the men to where the furniture should be placed.
Sara was sitting on the floor, putting cookie sheets in order, when Grant came in the back door with Lily in his arms. He looked like a family man, nothing like the self-centered transplant surgeon she’d grumbled about the first day they’d met.
He held up a couple of paper sacks from a local hamburger place. “I bought lunch. Drinks are out in the car. You take Lil and I’ll get them.”
Sara smiled. Grant had taken to calling Lily by a nickname after the day they had spent together. It was nice to see how he’d warmed up to her. The relationship seemed less about what he had to do and more about what he wanted to do. He’d fallen in love with the little girl. Sara could understand how that could happen.
Grant placed the sacks on the table and slipped Lily into Sara’s arms. He headed out the door again.
“Hey, Dad. Food’s here,” she called.
A few minutes later her father joined her. He sat in one of the kitchen chairs. “Let me see that little girl.”
Sara passed Lily to him and started removing burgers from the bags and still Grant hadn’t returned. “I’m going to see if Grant needs some help.”
Going to the open front door, she watched him walking from the street through the yard, balancing drink cups in his hand. The moving van was still parked in the drive.
He was almost to the steps of the porch when one of the movers hollered, “Hold it, Jake.”
Sara looked just in time to see a chest of drawers tip forward. One of men pushed the chest the other way, causing the dolly wheel to go over the edge of the ramp. The mover lost control and the cabinet came down, pinning the lower half of his body under the chest.
Sara squealed and rushed down the steps. Having already dropped the drinks, Grant ran to the man.
“Let’s get this off him.” Jake’s voice was filled with panic.
“I’m a doctor,” Grant said in a calm voice. “We have to do it slowly so that we don’t cause further injury.”
Sara came up beside him. Grant dug into his pocket and handed her his phone. “Call 911.”
She did as she was told, giving the dispatcher all the particulars. While she talked, Grant and the other mover worked to unstrap the chest from the dolly and raise it off the injured man. By that time her father, carrying Lily, had come looking for them. Sara handed the phone to him. “911 is still on the line. Go down by the street and make sure they know where to come. I need to help Grant.”
She didn’t give her father time to say anything before she bounded into the house and grabbed some blankets she’d left lying on a bed and her nursing bag. Back outside, she put the blankets down near the injured man as Grant and Jake removed the dolly from on top of him. As soon as it was clear she covered the man with a blanket.
“I have my nursing bag.”
“Good girl. We need to be prepared for shock.” He checked the man’s pupils. “What’s his name?”
“Rick,” Jake said.
“Rick, I want you to lie still. You may have internal injuries and we don’t want to make them worse.”
Sara handed Grant her stethoscope across the man’s chest. He took it without question. Then she searched the bag. “I’ll get his blood pressure.” She put the cuff on Rick’s arm and pumped it up. After Grant had listened to his heart he handed the stethoscope back to her. She placed it in the crook of Rick’s arm and located a pulse. It was slow. She looked up at Grant. “His blood pressure is low.”
Grant said to Rick, “I need to check your midsection. Let me know if it hurts.” He moved the blanket back and started palpating the patient’s stomach area. The man yelped when Grant touched his left side.