A Family to Call Her Own

Rebecca took several more deep breaths, then knelt beside the stranger and scanned his face. Blood was seeping from the gash, his pallor was alarming and his forehead felt clammy to her tentative touch. The man needed medical attention. Immediately. For the first time ever she regretted that she hadn’t invested in the cellular phone Brad was always badgering her to get. It would certainly come in handy tonight.

She drew a deep breath and lifted his limp arm, tucking her head underneath. As she draped his arm around her slender shoulders, his hand brushed her bruised chin and she winced. But the condition of her jaw was the least of her problems. She was more worried about getting the stranger upright. Since he probably outweighed her by a good seventy-five pounds, that wasn’t going to be easy. But she had to try. She needed to get him into her car before he passed out, which at the moment appeared to be an imminent possibility.

“Okay, can you try to get up?” she asked. “I’ll help. Just lean on me.”

Rebecca made an attempt to rise, but it was like tugging on a dead weight. He didn’t budge.

“Come on, mister, just try. Please!” she pleaded.

This time when she urged him upward he took the cue, struggling to stand as Rebecca tried to assist him. Once he was on his feet he swayed, and she planted her feet solidly, determined to maintain her own footing. She glanced up worriedly, noting the deep grooves of pain etched in his face and the thin, compressed line of his lips. Despite the chilly air there was a thin film of sweat on his brow, and his breathing was labored.

“We’re almost to the door,” she encouraged him, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. “It’s just a few steps. You can make it.”

Half dragging, half pulling, she got him into the car, expelling a shaky breath as she shut the door. She retrieved his suit jacket from the middle of the road where he’d dropped it, tossed it into the back seat, and slid behind the wheel. As she put the car in gear, she glanced over at his semisupine form. She wasn’t even sure at this point if he was conscious. But at least he was still breathing, she thought with relief, noting the even rise and fall of his broad chest.

As she drove carefully through the swirling, silent fog, she stole an occasional glance at her unexpected passenger. Although his color was ashen, his clothes stained and rumpled and his hair disheveled, she could tell that he was handsome in a rugged sort of way. His dark brown hair was full and slightly longer than stylish, almost brushing his collar in the back but neatly trimmed. Her eyes traced his strong profile and firm jaw, which seemed to speak of character and integrity. Yet there was a worn look about his face—a sort of deep weariness that had nothing to do with his injuries. For some reason she had the impression that he was a man who had seen it all and now viewed the world with skepticism and cynicism. Despite his world-weary appearance, however, there was a feeling of leashed power about him. Even in his present condition he seemed to radiate energy and vitality and…sensuousness.

Rebecca was taken aback by that impression. Yet it was true. The man exuded an almost tangible virility. She stole another glance at him, her eyes lingering for a moment on his firm, strong lips. Her breath stuck in her throat, and she swallowed convulsively, forcing her gaze away from his face and down to his hands. He had nice hands, she thought. They looked…competent. As if they could be gentle or demanding or forceful, depending on the circumstance. The kind of hands that would be equally at home chopping wood—or caressing a woman.

Rebecca’s gaze snapped back to the road. She was letting herself get way too fanciful. The man was a stranger! None of her speculations were grounded in reality. For example, just because he looked like he had character and integrity didn’t mean he did. Looks could be deceiving. She knew that from experience. Caution was more prudent than curiosity in a situation like this, she warned herself.

Yet she couldn’t help but wonder about him. Why had he been driving on this road alone so late at night? She ventured another quick glance at his left hand. No ring. That didn’t mean anything, of course. He might be one of those married men who preferred not to wear a ring. But for some reason she had a feeling he was single—and unattached. A surprising little tingle ran down her spine at that possibility.

Which was silly, she told herself sharply. In a few minutes they’d be at the hospital and, her duty done, she could finally go home and catch a few hours of much-needed sleep. She’d probably never see the man again. And that was just as well. For some reason he unnerved her, even in this semicomatose state. He was just so…male.

Rebecca knew that wasn’t a very articulate explanation for her reaction, but it was accurate. His mere presence seemed somehow…dangerous…and threatening. Threatening to what, she wasn’t sure. Certainly not her physical safety, not in his present condition. It was more insidious than that. It was almost as if he was a threat to her emotional safety, to her peace of mind. Which made no sense at all. She didn’t even know the man. And she never would. In a few minutes she’d leave him at the hospital, and that would be the end of this little adventure.

But oddly enough, that thought didn’t give her much comfort.

“And you didn’t see anything else?” the highway patrolman asked after Rebecca finished her statement.

She shook her head, wrinkling her nose in distaste at the antiseptic hospital smell. “No. Like I told you, he was just wandering down the road. He mumbled something about a deer and an accident. But I didn’t see a car.”

“Well, we’ll check it out.” He turned to a new page in his notebook. “Now can I get your address and phone number?”

Rebecca frowned. “Why?”

The officer gave her a quizzical look. “If we have any questions later about the statement, we may have to call you. Is that a problem?”

“I’d really rather keep my name out of this.”

“We can mark it confidential, if you prefer. But we do need it for the record.”

Rebecca bit her lip. “He doesn’t have to know, does he?” she asked, nodding toward the examining room where they’d wheeled the stranger.

“No.”

“All right.”

By the time they’d finished filling out the report, the doctor joined them in the waiting area.

“So how is he?” the officer inquired. “Can I talk to him?”

“He’s still pretty groggy. I’m not sure you’ll get much, but you can try if you want to. We’re going to keep him here overnight for observation.”

“But he’ll be okay?” Rebecca queried.

“Looks like it.”

“Is there someone you can notify?”

The doctor nodded. “He gave us the name of a friend in town.”

Rebecca sighed with relief, feeling as if a responsibility had been lifted from her shoulders. She was bone weary, and six o’clock was going to roll around way too soon. “So I can leave?” she asked hopefully.

The doctor looked at the officer, and they both nodded.

“He did ask who brought him here, though,” the doctor told her. “I guess he’d like to thank you. Do you want me to pass along your name?”

Rebecca shook her head emphatically as she reached down to retrieve her purse from the plastic chair. “No.”

The doctor gave her an understanding look. “Okay. We’ll just say it was a Good Samaritan. You’re probably wise to be cautious. You can’t be too careful these days.”

Rebecca nodded. Her earlier flights of fancy about the stranger might have been way off base, but she instinctively knew one thing. This man could disrupt her life. She sensed it with a degree of certainty that startled her. Intuitively she knew she would be a whole lot safer if she just vanished from his life.

And as she stepped outside, disappearing into the fog much as the handsome stranger had appeared out of it less than two hours before, she told herself this was the best way for this bizarre episode to end. She’d just pretend it had never happened. She would put the stranger out of her mind, forget their paths had ever crossed.

But for some reason she had a feeling that wasn’t going to be easy to do.

Chapter Two

“Hi, Ben.”

The rotund man behind the counter turned, wiped his hands on his white apron and smiled at Rebecca as she climbed onto a stool.

“Hi, there. I was beginnin’ to think you were going to skip your coffee again this morning. Missed you yesterday.”

Rebecca crossed her arms on the counter and rolled her eyes. “I barely made it to the restaurant in time to get lunch going,” she admitted ruefully. “I just don’t function well on five hours of sleep. And I don’t feel a whole lot better today.”

Ben looked at her quizzically, his bushy white eyebrows rising. “Late night Thursday?”

“Uh-huh. My brother and his wife had their baby, and I drove up to be with them. I just didn’t expect it to take so long. But babies seem to have their own schedules when it comes to making an entrance,” she noted wryly.

Ben chuckled. “That’s a fact. Everything go okay?”

“Yes. It was a great day—except for driving home in the fog.”

“I heard it was bad,” he sympathized. Suddenly he peered at her chin and leaned closer. “Say, that’s a nasty bruise,” he observed, inspecting the bluish patch of skin on her jaw, clearly visible even under makeup. “What happened?”