Part 17 (2/2)
That's nice. Now, what would you like for supper? Meatloaf or stew . . .
”I'm sorry,” she said, unable to wipe the grin from her face.
Sam's eyes sparkled as he reached up to tap the dimple in her left cheek. ”You think you're pretty smart, don't you?”
No, I think I'm in love.
”Where did you find this lucky child? Tell me about it.”
His shoulders moved against her thighs as he shrugged. ”Well, it wasn't a big deal-that was the great part. I went fis.h.i.+ng over at Gogebic, and he was sitting by the lake in a folding lawn chair, with a fis.h.i.+ng rod in his hand and a tackle box beside him. His mother was sitting a ways off, reading. He and I got to talking, and a couple of times I unhooked his line when it got hung up in the gra.s.s. We both caught a couple of pike, and I had one good size ba.s.s-” He stopped to give her a quick look. ”I've been throwing them back.”
”I figured that out.” Her finger traced a line down the front of his blue T-s.h.i.+rt. ”So, you and this boy were fis.h.i.+ng together. How old was he?”
”About ten or eleven. When it came time to leave, his mother came over, and I realized this little squirt of a woman was going to carry the boy the whole two hundred or so yards to their car, because he couldn't handle his crutches in the tall gra.s.s and soggy ground.”
”And you offered to do it for her.”
Sam's eyes closed briefly. ”It was perfect. I put him on my shoulders and held on to his legs, and . . .” His eyes opened, his mouth slanting in a crooked grin.
”And by tomorrow he'll be walking by himself,” Kate concluded.
”h.e.l.l, no. His muscles'll have to develop first.”
Her brows drew together. ”Then how do you know it worked?”
He started to answer, but hesitated.
”Don't tell me,” she said. ”You just know.”
”Right. I usually know pretty quick when I touch somebody if I can help them or not.” He gave her a wink. ”The really good part is, by the time they realize the boy's better, they'll have forgotten all about me.”
That made him happy, which made her happy. She relished those moments of happiness as he pulled her down to lie next to him, his mouth coming together with hers in a kiss that promised much more. Lying there, with her arms around him and her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and belly and thighs being pleasurably crushed by the provocative movement of his hard, muscled body, she would have given anything to let the moment end as it was meant to end. There was a small problem, however, in the area of her conscience.
”Sam, I have to tell you something.”
”Hmm?” His mouth was trailing in the wake of his fingers as they unb.u.t.toned the front of her safari-style jumpsuit. He'd gotten as far as her belt and was hooking his finger under the front clasp of her bra when her hand covered his to stop him.
”Doc knows,” she said.
Chuckling, he went for the clasp again. ”Honey, don't kid yourself-by now, the whole town knows. But we're both a little old to be sneaking in through back doors and-”
”That's not what I meant.”
She held her breath as he went utterly still. Then, slowly, he moved his hand away from her bra and lifted his head to look at her in disbelief.
”You told him?” he whispered hoa.r.s.ely.
She shook her head. ”He guessed. After phone calls from the audiologist and the surgeon who treated Ray c.o.o.ney- who both said what they saw was a miracle-he thought about my ankle and decided they were right. Three in a week was too much for him to pa.s.s off as an interesting coincidence.”
”Ah, come on!” He levered himself up on an elbow to look down at her. His face was rigid, and his body radiated tension. ”n.o.body could have guessed without-”
”Sam,” she interrupted. ”I think you've been around big-city doctors and hospitals too long. Old country doctors don't have as many ways to solve their problems, and that probably makes them more inclined to take a leap of faith when the occasion arises. Doc knew you'd been in all three places at the right time, with me, and he knew darned well that I didn't do it.”
”But still! If you'd just played dumb, he couldn't-”
”I did. He was convinced before he talked to me.” She drew a shallow breath. ”Something else happened that clinched it. Martin Anderson called, looking for you.”
The slight widening of his eyes was the only sign of shock he displayed; yet Kate saw the emotion flickering through those crystal-clear pools, and there was no mistaking it for anything but fear.
”He was worried about you, and-”
”s.h.i.+t!” Sam was off the couch before she could finish her sentence. He stood with his back to her, a hand on his hip and the other rubbing the back of his neck. ”Of all the . . . How the h.e.l.l did he find me?”
”The postmark on the letter you sent your dad last week.” She sat up, b.u.t.toning her jumpsuit. ”Sam, it's all right. Listen to me a minute.” He wasn't listening; he was pacing wildly, muttering curses under his breath, but she went on anyway. ”Anderson asked Doc to give you a message. He's worried about you. That's all. He wanted to know if you were all right. And he swore he wasn't going to tell anyone where you are.”
Sam's mouth twisted in a look of derision. ”Yeah, sure. And he said that right after he told Doc Cabot that he had the answer to all his problems living right under his nose.”
”But he didn't tell Doc,” Kate persisted. ”Doc guessed. The things Anderson said-like how he was sorry for his part in making things so bad for you in California, and how he hoped they were better now, how he didn't want you to worry about him calling or knowing where you are-those things only confirmed what Doc was already thinking. Sam, the man's your friend!”
”Yes, he's my friend. And he's done things for me no one else could do. He's also a d.a.m.ned good doctor who cares about his patients and who works like h.e.l.l twelve hours a day trying to make them well. He's a good person.” Pivoting to a stop, he leveled a look on her. ”But he's human.”
”That's right,” she returned, ”and human beings learn from their mistakes.”
Sam drew back, his look becoming suddenly, frighteningly calm. He stared at her for a moment, then, very quietly, he said, ”They sure do.” And without another word, he strode toward the bedroom.
Kate knew what she'd find before she stopped in the doorway to the smaller room. Still, seeing him haul the large duffle bag from beneath the bed, shake it out, and unzip it made every muscle in her body knot with panic.
Her heart was racing in her chest as she said, ”And this is learning from your mistakes?”
”No,” he muttered, ”this is correcting one before it's too late.”
”What mistake was that?”
The only answer she got was a harsh laugh as he dropped the bag onto the bed.
”I'd really like to know, Sam. What have you done wrong that leaving is going to fix?”
”How about everything?” He walked to the dresser and yanked open the top drawer. ”I went looking for a quiet, out-of-the-way place where n.o.body knew me. And when I found it, instead of leaving it that way, I wrecked it.”
”I see.”
s.n.a.t.c.hing a stack of T-s.h.i.+rts out of the drawer, he headed toward the bed, where he dumped it, saying, ”Everything I've done since I got here was a mistake. It was a mistake to talk to people or to try to get to know them. It was a mistake to get involved with anything or anybody. It was a mistake to pretend to myself I might be able to have something like a normal life.”
”How do you know you can't have a normal life? You haven't tried.”
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