Read Online The Girl He'd Overlooked by Cathy Williams - Free Book Online Page B

pulled a muscle! I don’t need the blankets and a makeshift stretcher, although I’m very grateful for the suggestion. I just need a helping hand.’
    ‘Your voice sounds strong. Another good sign.’
    ‘Jennifer!’
    ‘Okay, but
I’m still not sure…
’
    ‘I can live with that.’
    He slung his arm around her neck and she felt the heavy, muscled weight of him as he levered himself up, with her help. The snow was thick and their feet sank into its depth, making it very difficult to balance and walk. It was little wonder that he hadn’t been able to prise himself up. Evenwith her help, she could tell that he was in pain, unable to stand erect, his hand pressed to the base of his back.
    They struggled back to the cottage. She had draped the tablecloths around him, even though he had done his best to resist and the torch cast a wavering light directly ahead, illuminating the snow and turning the spectral scenery into a winter wonderland.
    ‘I could try and get hold of an ambulance service…’ she suggested, out of breath because even though he was obviously doing his best to spare her his full weight, he was still six feet three inches of packed muscle.
    ‘I never knew you were such a worrier.’
    ‘What do you expect?’ she demanded hotly. ‘You were supposed to stroll over for dinner…’
    ‘Didn’t I tell you that it’s impossible to stroll in snow this deep?’
    ‘Stop trying to be funny! You were supposed to come to the cottage for dinner and the next time I hear from you, you’re calling to tell me that you decided to chop down a tree and you’re lying on the ground with a possible broken back!’
    ‘I’m sorry if I worried you…’
    ‘Yes,’ Jennifer muttered, still angry with him for having sent her into a panic, still deathly worried that he was putting on a brave face because that was just the sort of man he was, ‘well, you
should
be.’
    ‘Have you cooked something delicious?’
    ‘You shouldn’t talk. You should conserve your energy.’
    ‘Is that something else you picked up on the first-aid course you never went to?’
    She felt her lips twitch and suppressed a desire to laugh. She got the feeling that he was doing his utmost to distract her from her worry, even though he would have been in a lot of discomfort and surely worried about himself. Thatsimple generosity of spirit brought a lump of emotion to her throat and she stopped talking, for fear of bursting into tears.
    Ahead of them the well-lit cottage beckoned like a port in a storm.
    ‘Here at last.’ She nudged open the door and deposited him on the sofa in the sitting room, where he collapsed with a groan.
    He didn’t have a broken spine. Nor was anything fractured. That much she had figured out on the walk back. He had pulled a muscle. Painful but not terminal.
    She stood back, arms folded, and looked at him with jaundiced eyes.
    ‘Now, admit it, James. It was very silly of you to think you could sort out that tree, wasn’t it?’
    ‘I managed to do what needed doing,’ he countered. ‘I fought the tree and the tree lost. The pulled muscle in my back is just collateral damage.’
    Jennifer snorted in response. ‘You’ll have to get out of those clothes. They’re soaking wet. I’m going to bring down some of Dad’s. They won’t be a terrific fit, but you’ll have to work with it. Tomorrow I’ll fetch some from your house.’ She was resigned to the fact that they would now be stranded together, under the same roof.
    James, eyes closed, grunted.
    ‘But first, I’ll go get you some painkillers. Dad keeps them in bulk supply for a rainy day. Or an emergency like this.’
    ‘I don’t do painkillers.’
    ‘Too bad.’
    Her father was shorter than James and thinner. She had no idea how his clothes would stretch to accommodate James’s more muscular frame, but she chose the biggest of the tee shirts, a jumper and a pair of jogging bottomswith an elasticated waist, which were a five-year-old legacy from her