Almost Twilight (2 page)

“Jeremy,”
Candy snapped, cutting off the boy’s laughter. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to
get down from here within the next millennium.”

Jeremy’s
eyebrows rose about an inch. “Oh, yeah, sure thing. What should we do Uncle
Rafe? She broke the ladder.”

Candy
gasped, her doe brown eyes widening in outrage. “I did not break the ladder.”

Rafe
walked across the grass and inspected the loose ladder rung resting on top of
the burning bush near the bay window. After a few seconds, he shook his head in
disgust, tilting his head back to her, his mouth twitching in amusement.

“Hate
to say it, little woman, but looks broken to me.
Busted
is more like
it.” 

Candy
gritted her teeth. That man! “So help me, if you don’t stop joking and start
thinking of a way to get me down from here—”

Another
bat came whizzing by her head. She screamed. Her entire body jerked, whipping
her brown hair across her face.

“Candy!” 

Jeremy’s
shout couldn’t help her. At that moment, her feet flew out from under her. Her
sandals flipped into the air. Her arms flapped against her sides. And that’s
when she started to slide. Her heart pounded with fear a second before her body
left the roof.

“Hold
on, sweetheart. Just hold on.” 

Dr.
Rafe’s voice was as calm as a summer wind, and if Candy weren’t hanging onto
the gutter by her fingernails, she would have walloped the man.

“What
do you think I’m doing, flying?”

“Okay,”
Rafe countered, as if he were speaking to one of his patients. “You can let go
now. I’ll catch you.”

Candy
could barely see past her chest. Her fingers were slipping, scraping against
the gutter. She was about to fall one and a half stories. Not much by a
skydiver’s standards, but she could break something valuable...like her head.
“I can’t hold on much longer. I wish Jeremy had called the fire department!” 

“Trust
me, sweetheart. Just let go.”

A
lump of sheer panic lodged in her throat. “I c-can’t see you.”

Jeremy
yelled up to her. “He’s right below you, Candy. Uncle Rafe is real strong. I
saw him carry Betty Spikes from the pool last summer, and she weighs at least
as much as you.”

“Nurse
Richards, I’m ordering you to let go of that gutter.” Dr. Rafe’s tone had move
up a notch in impatience, the sweetheart pitch having disappeared completely.

If
Candy weren’t in such a precarious position, she would have enjoyed a little
bantering. Instead, she took a deep breath and let go. A few oomphs and Rafe
fell to the ground with her landing on top of him.

Jeremy
stood wide-eyed, staring at his uncle. “Gosh, he did it! My Uncle Rafe saved
you!”

Candy
swallowed hard and blinked. Rafe Clearbrook’s touch felt like fire. As he
rolled from beneath her and placed her on the ground, his hands gently cupped
her face, his breath warm against her ears.

“Candy,
sweetheart, say something.”

Kiss
me,
her heart whispered.

The
sudden admission was like a smack in the face. She shook her head, wondering
what was wrong with her. Her attraction to this man was more than disturbing,
it was downright dangerous.

Instead
of thanking him for saving her, she peered into his deep, silvery gaze and felt
her blood surge. She closed her eyes, trying to steady her breath. One look
from this man could turn her to mush.

Not
again. Never again.

Instantly,
she froze as his strong fingers skimmed her bare feet, checking for broken
bones. An unexpected jolt of electricity shot through her leg, making her
flinch.

Trouble.
His kind meant nothing but trouble. She had learned that the hard way.

“Candy?”
Jeremy called hesitantly.

She
slowly lifted her lids higher and exchanged glances between Jeremy and his
uncle. There had always been a maddening hint of arrogance about Rafe
Clearbrook that irked her to no end. But whenever their gazes met, it was that
spark of awareness between them that alarmed her the most. And that
devil-may-care lock of black hair that hung over his eyes didn’t help her case
one bit.

“Candy,”
Jeremy said again, squatting beside her, his eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry
I got you a ladder that wasn’t safe. I just wanted to have my baseball back.
Please, say something.”

Candy’s
heart turned over at the sight of regret in Jeremy’s eyes. It wasn’t his fault
she decided to save the day and retrieve the ball. It was a stupid thing to do.

“Candy?”
Rafe said, touching her forehead with a gentle hand. “I’m going to have to
bring you into the hospital and examine you there. If you can’t speak, you
might have some trauma to your head or even your neck. Possibly a concussion.
Understand? Don’t move a muscle.”

Candy
just needed another minute to catch her breath, that was all. But before she
could say a word, Rafe pulled out his cell phone and called for an ambulance.

His
hand stayed locked on her wrist, taking her pulse. Her blood was jumping like a
jackhammer and not because of the fall.

She
wasn’t hurt, just shaken, and there was no way she wanted this man examining
her...and he was a man in every sense of the word. Oh, she had some aches and
pains, and she would have some bruises tomorrow, but she didn’t think anything
was broken.

Gathering
her wits, she gave Jeremy a secret wink.

“Dr.
Rafe,” she called sweetly.

Rafe
looked down, pulled the cell phone away from his ear, relieved to see her
talking. “Don’t move, sweetheart.”

“I’m
fine. But there’s something I need to know.”

His
face turned serious. “What’s that?”

“How
much does Betty Spikes weigh?” she asked, batting her eyelids up and down like
a besotted groupie.

Jeremy’s
laughter bordered on hysterical.

Rafe
turned as red as the sunset behind him. “Very funny.”

Fifteen
minutes later, the door to the guest bedroom in the Clearbrook mansion clicked
closed, and Candy knew that Rafe was gone.

The
man had insisted on examining her in her bedroom or taking her to the hospital,
but she assured him she felt fine. Words were batted about the room like a
handball game, but in the end, she’d won.

No
way was he putting another finger on her. Her blood pressure would have skyrocketed
with just one more touch from the man. It was a miracle she hadn’t been badly
hurt. Still, if she decided she needed to go to the hospital, she would drive herself
or wait until Hannah came home.

Sighing,
she turned her head to the smell of the soap that lingered by the door. Dr.
Rafe had washed his hands and arms after the mishap, and the clean, fresh
fragrance filled her senses.

She
frowned as she removed the cold compress from her head and leaned toward her
nightstand, pulling open the top drawer. She drew out the photograph of her
dream house and placed it on her heart.

The
quaint yellow house wasn’t much, but it would be hers, and no one could take it
away from her. But where the house was small, it made up for in land. She could
have a magnificent garden with a comfy little home. The whole package was
perfect for her.

And
nothing would keep her from her goal of securing her future. Nothing and no
one, especially a handsome doctor like Dr. Rafe Clearbrook who could shatter
her heart into a million pieces and not think anything about it at all.

Two
weeks later Candy stood at the end of the hallway in Clearbrook Valley’s only
hospital, feeling the warmth of the late summer sun as she tilted her head
toward the window beside her. A clear, blue sky hung over the Rocky Mountains,
beckoning her to enjoy the beautiful Saturday morning.

The
clatter of footsteps, the smell of breakfast, the cluster of people working at
the nurses’ station, gave Candy a peaceful feeling.

This
is what she loved. This is where she belonged.

Though
she was an employee at the hospital and usually worked six days a week, today
was the first day of her vacation.

And
she was solely here to visit a patient.

Her
usual nurse’s attire of lavender smock top and white pants had been replaced by
a pair of pink overall shorts and a white T-shirt.

“Morning,
Nurse Richards.”

The
cool baritone voice broke into Candy’s thoughts. She turned abruptly. Why was
it that Dr. Rafe Clearbrook’s face always sent her heart thumping? 

Though
the man’s unyielding six-foot-three-inch stance was intimidating to her
five-foot two-inch frame, she would not give him the satisfaction of knowing
how much he affected her, or for that matter, knowing anything else about her
life in general.

“Morning,
Doctor.”

“Thought
you were on vacation,” he said casually, looking up from his portable computer
pad.

He
was dressed in pale green scrubs, making him appear more adorable than he
should be, and for a spilt second, she had to look away.

Now
that her lease had ended, and she had moved out of her apartment and was
staying with Hannah and Tanner Clearbrook until she could make the down payment
on her house, it was hard to avoid the man since he often visited his older
brother and the family.

But
to her surprise, the doctor hadn’t mentioned one word about that little mishap
on his brother’s roof that ill-fated night, and that had suited her just fine. Even
Jeremy had been silent about the incident.

“You’re
right, Doctor. I’m on vacation,” she said more harshly than she intended.

Vacation?
What was that anymore? Rest and relaxation were out of the question. For the
next few weeks she would be spending her free days taking care of old lady
Hayden whose private nurse would be gallivanting about Paris with some
orthopedic surgeon.

The
doctor raised a dark brow as if to ask why she was wandering the halls of the
hospital if she were on vacation.

Candy
lifted her chin, answering before he asked. “Had to see a friend before I
left.”      

“A
friend or a patient?” he asked, tapping his fingers onto the computer screen,
looking more tired than usual.

He
tilted his head and studied her then, staring at her as if she had a wart on
her nose. What did she do now? Last time he looked at her like that she had
turned him down for a date.

Dr.
Rafe Clearbrook would probably never ask her again and good riddance. After
that roof incident, she was certain he’d filed her name under
I
for
idiot
.

Anyway,
it didn’t bother her at all. She had no intention of falling under his spell,
or any doctor’s for that matter. There had been a few sparks between them at
Tanner’s wedding to Hannah less than a year ago, and some definite flirting at
the Clearbrook parties, but the doctor hadn’t really pursued her until the
other day. After such a long wait, she figured she was just next in line. She
didn’t need another doctor like that in her life.

“Susie
Blarkins is a patient and a sick one at that,” he said suddenly, his lips
taking on an unpleasant twist. “The girl needs the truth, not fairy tales,
Nurse
Richards
.”

Candy’s
muscles tensed at the sarcastic tone in his voice. “Have you heard of hope, Dr.
Clearbrook? Or is that something foreign to you?”

He
leaned toward her, lowering his voice to a growling whisper. “Hope and truth
are two different things,
Nurse Richards.”

Nurse
Richards. Blah. Blah. Blah.

Candy
had enough of his arrogance and met his steely gaze with one of her own. Her
voice was calm, but beneath it, she was ready to blow her top.

“Did
you ever think that maybe a little girl needs hope and dreams, because
sometimes life is so cruel she can’t stand it anymore?” 

“I’m
a doctor. Doctors can’t rely on hopes and dreams. We have to rely on the
truth.”

Not
so, Candy wanted to say. Hopes and dreams were what had kept her going when her
parents were lost in a boating accident when she was a child. Hopes and dreams
were the only things that had kept her going after her grandparents died, and
she was left with a string of foster homes and lonely nights.

She
slipped her fingers around the photograph in her pocket, feeling for the
picture of the yellow house on Main Street. The idea of owning a home, her
home, was like heaven on earth. Hopes and dreams were everything to her.

“The
truth may be important, but life is more than truth,” she went on. “It’s about
caring and sharing, loving and being loved—” 

Her
mouth immediately went dry when she realized the doctor was gazing at her with
that pretty boy smile again.

He
had instantly changed tactics, flirting with her and doing a bang up job of it.
She looked down the hall, her face heating with embarrassment as she fell back
a step. The cool wall pushed up against her spine.