The Homecoming Read Free Page A

more compelling. “Okay. Relax. I’m sure it’ll come to you in a moment,” he said soothingly. “We’ll just stay here for a little while and when you feel better I’ll take you to my house.” He hoped Johnny would show up long before that since Danny was pretty sure his nameless guest wasn’t up to taking a stroll along the beach. “Can you look straight at me?” he asked as he moved around in front of her.
    â€œWhy?” But she did as he asked.
    â€œI want to check your pupils.”
    â€œOh.”
    They looked fine to him, and he thanked God for that. If they’d been unequal in size, he’d have known something serious was wrong.
    He glanced at his watch surreptitiously. Twenty minutes to wait. Leilani would be expecting him for breakfast around seven. When he didn’t show up and wasn’t in the house by then, she would send Johnny to look for him. And since he always ran along the beach before breakfast, the first thing Johnny would do would be to come down the cliff, and Danny would be able to send him back up the hill for something resembling a stretcher. Even though he was in the best shape of his life and the woman beside him looked slender and small-boned, he knew he couldn’t carry her along the beach and up the cliff path alone.
    His thoughts were distracted as she put her palms on the ground and prepared to shift her weight onto her feet.
    â€œYou probably shouldn’t move,” he said. “I have someone who can help me carry you up to the house in a few minutes.”
    â€œI’m too big to carry,” she said, her lips curving up as if that was extraordinarily funny. “I can walk.” She pushed herself up farther and before he could prevent it, she’d stood up.
    Danny stood up, too, fast. He grabbed for her when she started to slide sideways. She was oddly boneless and for a moment he thought she’d passed out as sheflopped against him, her head falling into the curve of his shoulder. “Whoa,” he said.
    â€œSorry.” She sounded as if she’d clenched her teeth together.
    â€œWhy don’t you sit back down?” he suggested. “It’s a long walk down the beach to the stairs, and a long, steep climb up to the house. My groundskeeper will be coming this way in a little while and he’ll be able to help.”
    She was taller than he’d expected, fitting neatly against his own six-foot frame. Felicia had been short. When they’d danced together, not that they’d ever danced much, he’d got a crick in his neck from looking down at her.
    Pain lanced through him. He hadn’t imagined he’d ever hold a woman in his arms again. He hadn’t wanted to. All he wanted was to be left alone.
    â€œâ€¦probably should sit down again. Everything’s sort of whirling around me as if I were on a merry-go-round. Sorry. I have this habit of thinking I have to do everything myself.”
    â€œIt’s all right.” He struggled to keep his tone level. This poor woman couldn’t even remember her own name. She didn’t need to be saddled with his problems. He lowered her to the boulder, alarmed again at the way her arms flopped down when he pulled them from around his neck.
    She sat very still for a moment. “Wow,” she said. “My head is killing me. I must have met a rock headfirst.”
    â€œAs soon as we get up to the house,” he said, “I’ll call a doctor.”
    â€œYou could just drop me at the nearest hospital,” she said. “I don’t want to be a burden, and I think I probably should get my head looked at.”
    He cleared his throat. “This is a private island,” he said. “There is no hospital.”
    â€œNo…? You’re kidding.” She knew better than to move her head this time. “Then how are you going to call a doctor?”
    His lips quirked but she had her eyes closed again