The Best Bride. Сьюзен Мэллери

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      She looked away. “Oh?”

      “How are you feeling?”

      “A little sore, but better than I was. The doctor says I’m healing nicely.” She shifted in the hospital bed. “They gave me something to make me sleep, and that helped. I never got to thank you yesterday.”

      “Just doing my job.”

      She waved at the IV still attached to her hand. “They said that if I’d waited another couple of hours, the appendix might have burst. If I’d gone to the walk-in medical clinic like I’d planned, I might have gotten to the hospital too late.”

      “So it all worked out. You’ll be released tomorrow.”

      “That’s what they told me.” She glanced at him sitting in the white plastic chair. He looked tanned and handsome and disgustingly healthy, while her insides felt as if a herd of buffalo had trampled through them.

      “Where are you going to go when they release you?” he asked.

      “Back to the motel.” It wasn’t a great solution, but it was the best one she’d been able to think of. Where else could she go?

      “And then?”

      “And then I’ll get better and go to work. That is, if I still have a job. I need to call Rebecca and tell her what happened.” She forced herself to meet his gaze, and prayed her expression looked as calm and confident as she’d made herself sound. She didn’t want to foist her troubles on anyone, especially not this handsome stranger. One rescue per weekend was quite enough.

      He folded his arms over his chest. His shirt stretched tightly across his broad shoulders. He had a solid look about him. He was the kind of man who could physically work for hours without tiring. He looked dependable. She shook her head. Looks could be deceiving.

      Then he smiled. She told herself not to notice, that he was obviously an accomplished ladies’ man, but that didn’t stop her rather battered insides from responding favorably to the flash of white teeth.

      “I have good news, bad news and good news,” he said. “Which do you want first?”

      She panicked. “Is Mandy—”

      He cut her off. “She’s fine. That’s the first good news. The bad news is there’s an outbreak of chicken pox at the children’s home. I didn’t know if Mandy’d had chicken pox, so I couldn’t leave her there last night. Rebecca figured the last thing you’d need in your condition is a sick kid.”

      Elizabeth frowned. “If she’s not at the home, where is she?”

      “Downstairs, watching a clown make balloon animals.” He shrugged. “They were having a party and she wanted to see what was going on. I thought you and I should talk first anyway.”

      “So where did Mandy spend the night?”

      “With me. I called my housekeeper, and she took care of the basics of bathing and dressing. But I fed her breakfast.” He looked sheepish and proud all at once.

      “You?” Why on earth would he volunteer to take home her daughter? “Chicken pox? I can’t believe this is all happening. Mandy hasn’t had them yet. Thank God she wasn’t exposed to them. I don’t know what to say except thank you.” She had a sudden thought. “I hope it wasn’t too inconvenient for your wife.”

      “I’m not married.”

      She told herself she wasn’t pleased by that fact. It was just a piece of information. It didn’t mean anything. The last thing she needed in her life was a man. “I don’t know how to repay you for all you’ve done.”

      “I’m responsible for the welfare of the people of this town,” he said, and grinned again. “You are our newest citizen.”

      “You’re very kind.” She relaxed. Mandy was safe. Nothing else mattered.

      The slow, sexy grin faded. “You’re going to need help when they release you. Tell me who to call, Elizabeth.”

      She turned her head and stared out the window. “There’s no one to call. I told you, my parents are on a cruise in the Orient. They’re probably halfway between Australia and Hong Kong right now.”

      She didn’t bother mentioning that she deliberately hadn’t paid attention to her parents’ travel plans. She didn’t even know the name of the ship or the cruise line. In the past six months, she’d cut herself off from her family. She couldn’t bear to tell them the ugly, disgusting truth about her life. She couldn’t bear to see the shock and the shame in their eyes and to relive it all over again. She just wanted to forget everything. And she’d been on her way to doing just that. If only she hadn’t had to have surgery.

      “Then a friend from Los Angeles.”

      “No.” All her friends knew what had happened. There’d been no way to keep it a secret. She hadn’t been able to face them, and had quickly cut all personal ties. There was no one left to call. What about tonight? Where would Mandy sleep?

      “Sheriff Haynes…”

      “Travis.”

      “Travis,” she said and paused. “I have no family, other than my parents. I know this is an imposition, but would you or your housekeeper be willing to keep Mandy tonight? I’d gladly pay you.” Her hands curled into fists. She hated asking, but what choice did she have?

      “I’ll keep her and I don’t want your money. But that only takes care of today. What happens tomorrow?”

      Tomorrow she would handle whatever she had to. She turned toward him. “I really appreciate your concern, but it’s not necessary. I’ll be fine. In the morning, I’ll get a cab. You do have cabs in Glenwood?”

      “One or two.”

      “Good. Then I’ll get a cab, collect my daughter from you and take her back to the motel. We’ll be fine.”

      He stood up and walked over to the window. The view from the back—she caught her breath—well, it was just as good as the view from the front, she thought, staring at his tight, high rear end. The pants of his uniform fit snugly at his hips, then fell loosely over his muscled thighs. A black leather belt with snapped compartments hugged his narrow waist. His dark hair fell precisely to his collar, but didn’t touch the starched material.

      It was the anesthetic, she told herself. And the fact that she’d spent the last year living like a nun. It was the tension and the strain. It was the season, or the time of month, but it was certainly not the man. She wouldn’t let it be.

      “I have a couple of problems with your plan,” he said, keeping his back to her.

      “It’s not your business.” She allowed her temper to flare and the heat of anger to burn away the other kind of warmth threatening her composure.

      “First,” he said, ignoring her statement, “you’re supposed to stay off your feet for a СКАЧАТЬ