LITMIR.BIZ

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grin spread. “Are you trying to say that you think I’m handsome, Allie Matthews?”

      “Facts are facts,” she said, as if she were stating no more than that. She hardly wanted him to know that he was capable of making her blood sizzle with little more than a glance. “Back to your sisters. Tell me about them.”

      He settled into the room’s one chair. “Let’s see, then. Maria is the oldest. She’s thirty-six and has four children—all boys, all holy terrors. Each of them is fascinated by bugs and snakes and chameleons. To her horror, they’re constantly bringing their finds home and letting them loose in the house. I told her it’s penance for all the rotten things she ever did to me as a kid.”

      Allie laughed, sympathizing with the other woman’s dismay. “How does she handle it?”

      “She gives her husband and the boys exactly five minutes to find the missing creature and get rid of it.”

      “And if they fail?”

      “She leaves and goes shopping. She can buy herself a lot of perfume and lingerie in a very short period of time. She claims her skill with a credit card is excellent motivation for her husband.”

      “I don’t know,” Allie said doubtfully. “Some husbands might consider the prospect of a little sexy lingerie as a benefit, rather than a threat.”

      Ricky grinned. “I know. I don’t think she’s figured that out yet.” His expression sobered. “Then again, maybe she has. Maria is a very sneaky woman.”

      “And the others?” Allie prodded.

      “Elena is next. She’s thirty-five and is married to a doctor. They have only one child so far, because they waited until her husband’s medical practice was well established before starting a family. My mother prayed for her every day. She will not be happy until there are enough grandchildren to start their own school.”

      “Are the other two sisters cooperating?” Allie asked eagerly, already able to envision the noisy family gatherings.

      “Daniela and Margarita are twins. My mother despaired of ever getting them both married, because they took their own sweet time about it. Neither married until they turned thirty and had their own careers. Daniela is a stockbroker. Margarita is a teacher. Daniela has two daughters and insists that she’s through. Margarita has a son and a daughter, but she’s expecting again and the doctor thinks it might be twins. Needless to say, my mother is ecstatic.”

      “I think I would love your mother,” Allie said wistfully. “And your sisters. I love my parents dearly, but they never anticipated having children at all. They’re both college professors and loved the quiet world of academia. I came as a total shock to them. Not that they didn’t adore me and give me everything a child could possibly want, but I always knew that I was a disruption in their lives. They would be horrified if they knew that I’d sensed that.”

      Ricky’s gaze narrowed. “Do they know you’re in the hospital?”

      “Yes, and before you judge them, they did offer to fly down, but it’s the beginning of the fall semester.”

      “So what?”

      “I couldn’t ask them to do that. It would disrupt their classes.”

      Ricky stared at her incredulously. “You can’t be serious. That’s why they’re not here?”

      “They’re not here because I told them not to come,” Allie said defensively. “We would have ended up in a hotel, anyway. It just didn’t make sense.”

      “You’ve just been through a terrible storm,” he said indignantly. “Your house was destroyed. You’re in the hospital. They should have been on the next plane, no matter what you said.”

      Allie refused to admit that a part of her had hoped they would do exactly that, but she had known better. They had taken her at her word, because it had suited them. It didn’t mean they didn’t love her. They were just practical, and they’d never been especially demonstrative except for those weeks after she’d lost her hearing. That it had taken such a thing to get their attention had grated terribly.

      “I won’t defend my parents to you,” she said stiffly.

      He seemed about to say something more but fell silent instead, his expression troubled.

      Allie waited, and eventually he met her gaze.

      “What will you do?” he asked.

      “Stay here a day or two longer, I imagine. Then the insurance company will no doubt insist the hospital kick me out no matter what. Or I suppose they could send me to an intermediate treatment center of some kind for rehab if the insurance would cover it.”

      “A nursing home? At your age?”

      “There aren’t a lot of options,” Allie said. “Besides, I don’t think it will come to that. I’m getting stronger every minute.”

      “I saw you limping when I came in here. You’re probably not even supposed to be on your feet, are you?”

      The doctors had insisted on a few days of bed rest for her ankle and knee, but she didn’t have the luxury of waiting. She had to prove she was capable of managing on her own. “It’s nothing,” she insisted.

      “I could ask your doctors about that,” he challenged. “Would they agree?”

      She frowned at him. “Really, you don’t need to worry about it. You did your job. I’ll manage.”

      “Allie—”

      “Really,” she said, cutting off his protest. “It’s not your concern. The social worker is looking into some possibilities.”

      “I can just imagine,” he said dryly. He stood up, then moved to the window to stare outside as if something out there fascinated him.

      Allie used the time to study him. Even if he hadn’t been the one to rescue her and carry her out of the rubble, she would have recognized his strength. He was slender, but the muscles in his arms, legs and shoulders were unmistakable in the snug-fitting jeans and T-shirt he wore.

      More important, there was strength of character in that handsome face.

      As she watched, it was evident that he was mentally struggling with himself over something. She didn’t doubt that it had to do with her. He seemed to be feeling some misplaced sense of responsibility for her predicament and nothing she’d said thus far seemed to have lessened it.

      Finally he faced her and spoke very deliberately. “I have a solution.”

      “To what?”

      “Your situation,” he said with a touch of impatience.

      “Which is?”

      “You need a place to stay.”

      She told him the same thing she’d said to Jane earlier and to him repeatedly. “It’s not your problem. I’ll work it out.”

      “I’m sure you will, eventually, but you’d like to get out of here now, right?”

      She couldn’t deny it. “Of course.”

      “Okay, then. You could come home with me.”

      She wasn’t sure which of them was more startled by the invitation. He looked as if he wanted to retract it the instant the words left his mouth. If she wouldn’t impose on her friends, she surely wasn’t about to impose on this man whose duty to her had ended when he saved her life.

      “That’s very kind of you, but—” she began, intending to reassure him.

      “It’s not like I’m there a lot,” he said hurriedly, cutting off her automatic protest. “But I’d be there enough to satisfy the doctors, and it would be a roof over your head till you figure out what you want to do.”

      Before she could follow her

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