A Man Apart

Heat raced through Maude Ann like a warm flood, and to her dismay, she felt her own body tighten. Even in the dim light, she could see that Matt was aware of her reaction.

Color flooded her face. She told herself to get up, but she seemed to have lost the power of movement. She could feel his heat all along her body, his breath feathering her face, warm and moist, that masculine hand kneading her buttocks ever so slightly.

Her own breathing was shallow and drew painfully through her constricted throat. With every labored breath her breasts swelled against the solid wall of his chest.

Had her life depended on it, Maude Ann could not have looked away from his hot stare. Just when she thought she would surely burst into flames, Matt broke eye contact. She experienced a momentary relief, but when his gaze slid downward over her face and zeroed in on her mouth, her heart took off at a gallop.

He stared at her lips for what seemed like forever. His eyes darkened. Maude Ann swallowed hard. Slowly, Matt tipped his head to one side and raised it closer to hers, and her heart began to boom.

Her eyes drifted shut. She felt his breath caressing her mouth and her entire body tingled with anticipation. Before contact could be made the sound of clattering feet and high-pitched chatter announced the arrival of the children in the kitchen.

Aghast, Maude Ann jerked back and tried to scramble off Matt, but at the first move he groaned. She froze.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Your wound! Did I hurt you?”

A grimace contorted his face. “I’m…okay,” he ground out through gritted teeth. “Just…take it…slow and easy.”

“Yes. Of course. I should have realized—”

“Ah, jeez! Watch that knee, will you?”

A fresh wave of color climbed Maude Ann’s face, but she bit her lower lip and eased up off him. She was acutely conscious of the open door and the children taking their places at the table in the next room, of Jane issuing orders. She prayed that no one looked this way, or if they did, that they couldn’t see anything in the fading light.

With excruciating slowness, she got to her knees beside him on the mattress, then backed off the bed and regained her feet. She smoothed her hair away from her face and brushed at her shorts, more out of nervousness than need.

Then she noticed that Matt still lay flat on his back with his eyes closed and his face contorted.

“Are you all right? Do you need help getting up?” She stepped closer and held out her hand, but he opened his eyes and gave her a baleful look.

“No, I don’t need your help,” he growled. “I’m not so pathetic that I can’t get up off the damned bed by myself.” He grabbed hold of the brass railing at the foot of the bed and tried to haul himself up, but his face clenched with pain and he couldn’t hold back a groan.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” Her patience at an end, Maude Ann bent over and slipped her arms around his chest and tugged him upward. “You men and your stubborn pride! It doesn’t make you any less of a man to need a little help now and then, you know,” she admonished as she gently assisted him to his feet.

“I don’t like to be a burden,” he gasped when he could catch his breath.

“No one does, but sometimes it can’t be helped. Although, I must say, that was foolish of you to jerk me down like that. You could have reopened your wounds.”

His gaze met hers. “If those kids hadn’t arrived when they did, I probably would have.”

Maude Ann felt a blush heat her cheeks again. She hoped it wasn’t visible in the dimness, but even if it was, she wasn’t one to back away from a challenge. Tossing her head, she gave a throaty chuckle. “In your dreams, Detective. At this point you haven’t got the strength for an amorous encounter. But since you brought it up, let me make this much clear. You are welcome to stay here and recuperate for as long as it takes, but I am not part of your physical therapy. Now, if you don’t mind, dinner is ready, and Jane and the children are waiting.”

She turned to leave the room, but he grasped her forearm and stopped her. “Just a minute, Dr. Edwards. I woke up and found someone hovering over me. Grabbing you was a perfectly natural reflex reaction.” He paused a beat, then added, “Just as what happened after that was a natural reaction when a man finds a woman lying on top of him. I don’t apologize for that.”

Pursing her lips, Maude Ann considered that. After a moment she nodded. “All right. I can accept that.”

“Good. And just to set the record straight, I wasn’t the only one on that bed who was aroused.”

Never one to play games or prevaricate, Maude Ann gave him a rueful half smile and a nod. “Fair enough. So why don’t we just chalk up what happened as a freak occurrence? Propinquity, if you will. Despite your wounds, you’re still a red-blooded male, and there hasn’t been a man in my life since Tom died.”

A startled look flashed in his eyes, but she ignored it. “Add to that combination a dimly lit room, a bed and close contact, and naturally one thing leads to another. We know it didn’t mean anything, so let’s just forget it happened, shall we?”

Pulling her arm free of his grasp, she smiled cordially and tipped her head toward the kitchen. “Now we really had better get out there before Jane comes looking for us.”

Without waiting for a reply, Maude Ann turned and strolled out, aware of Matt’s gaze drilling into her back.

She had already taken her seat at the head of the table when Matt emerged from his room.

Instantly the childish chatter around the table ceased and a tense silence descended. Seven pairs of wary young eyes watched Matt’s slow progress as he leaned heavily on his cane and limped to the table.

When he was seated, Maude Ann, acting as though Matt’s presence was nothing out of the ordinary, smiled at her charges and said, “Children, this is Detective Matthew Dolan. He works for the Houston Police Department and he’s going to be staying with us while he recovers from an injury.”

“You mean he gots an ouchie like me?” the tiny blond girl asked. She raised her arm and proudly displayed a wide Band-Aid on her elbow.

“Yes, Debbie. Only Detective Dolan’s ouchies are really bad ones, so he’s going to be staying with us until they get all better.”

The child turned big, pansy-blue eyes on Matt. “You needs to put a Band-Aid on ’em. I can show you where they are. Miz Maudie has all kinds of pretty ones. Some even gots flowers and fairies on ’em.”

Despite his foul mood, a smile tugged at Matt’s mouth. He resented being stuck here. He especially resented being here with a shrink and a pack of kids. However, he would have had to have a heart of iron to resist those innocent blue eyes and that face like an angel.

“Dumb girl,” Tyrone muttered. “He ain’t got that kinda ouchie. He’s prob’ly been shot.”

Gasps and frightened exclamations erupted around the table.

“That’s quite enough, Tyrone. You’re scaring the other children.”

“Yes’um, Miz Maudie,” he replied in a meek voice, ducking his head. Under his breath he added just loud enough for Matt to hear, “Fool shoulda got his head blown clean off, messing with them guys. I sure wouldn’t’a cried none if he had. Be one less pig on the streets.”

The boy cut his gaze toward Matt and stuck out his chin. Matt met the boy’s surly gaze steadily.

“What was that, Tyrone?”

He turned his head and looked at Maude Ann with an expression of wide-eyed innocence. “Nothin’, Ms. Edwards. I was just sayin’ how lucky he was.”

“Hmm.” The glint in Maude Ann’s eyes said that she did not believe him, but she let the matter slide.

“My mommy got shot,” the girl of about six or seven sitting next to Maude Ann said quietly. She sat staring at her clasped hands resting against the edge of the table. Then she turned her solemn gaze on Matt. “My daddy did it. I saw him. My mommy died.”

Matt didn’t know what to say. The blank expression in the child’s eyes was chilling. Dammit, it wasn’t right that a kid should witness such grotesque violence. “I’m…sorry.”

Maude Ann reached over and laid her hand over the child’s smaller one. “It was a horrible thing, but Jennifer is going to be okay, aren’t you, sweetheart?”

The blank look left the little girl’s eyes, replaced by trust and abject adoration as she met Maude Ann’s reassuring smile. She nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

She wasn’t a pretty child. Not like the little blond cherub, Debbie, Matt thought, but she appeared so fragile and vulnerable just looking at her made your heart contract.

Deftly, Maude Ann diverted everyone’s attention by making introductions, starting with Jane Beasley, the chunky, middle-aged woman who was her assistant, and working her way around the table.

In addition to Tyrone, Debbie and Jennifer, there was ten-year-old Marshall, his eight-year-old brother, Dennis, an eleven-year-old Mexican girl named Yolanda and five-year-old Timothy.

Matt sat through the introductions in tight-lipped silence, acknowledging the children and Jane Beasley with no more than a curt nod. He had no desire to know any of them. He may be stuck there, but he intended to keep his distance.

When dinner was over, the children cleared the table, then Maude Ann sent them off to brush their teeth, though not without protests.

“Ah, do I gotta, Miz Maudie?” Tyrone groaned.

“Yes. Now shoo. All of you. And don’t think you can pull a fast one on me, either, because I’m going to inspect those teeth when you’re done.”

Muttering under his breath, Tyrone shuffled out, deliberately dragging his feet on the brick kitchen floor and trailing the other children.

Matt sipped his coffee and watched them go. When their footsteps faded away, he switched his gaze to Maude Ann. “If you’re hoping to reform that kid, you’re wasting your time. Take it from me—he’s bad news.”

“Nonsense.” Dismissing his comment, Maude Ann left the table and joined Jane at the sink, where she picked up a towel and began drying dishes.

“Do you know anything about his background?” Matt probed.

“If you mean do I know that his mother is a drug addict who never took care of him, yes.”

“Do you also know that at seven he’s already got a rap sheet? The kid’s been picked up for everything from shoplifting to acting as a lookout for a couple of thugs who robbed a liquor store. Being a minor, there’s nothing we can do to him, and he and his friends know it. Judges won’t even send him to Juvie at his tender age. That’s why the older guys like to use him.”

“So? All that proves is he’s a little boy who’s had a horrible life so far.”

“Lady, Tyrone Washington is a juvenile delinquent in the making. Six months ago I caught him acting as a numbers runner for a gang running a bookmaking operation. I grabbed the kid by the scruff of the neck and hauled him down to the station house myself.”

Maude Ann stopped drying a plate and shot him an accusing glare. “You arrested a seven-year-old boy?”

“I didn’t cuff him and throw him in a cell, if that’s what you mean. I just to tried to scare the kid. Anyway, it didn’t work. A few days later he was running errands for the same gang.”

“All the more reason for removing him from that environment. Tyrone needs love and guidance and structure in his life. He needs to be shown that someone cares and will be there for him, that life doesn’t have to be the squalid existence he’s known.”

Matt shot her a sardonic look. “Watch those rose-colored glasses, Dr. Edwards. They distort your vision.”

“Sounds pretty cynical to me,” Jane said, speaking up for the first time. “What’s the matter, Mr. Dolan—don’t you like kids?”

Matt shrugged. “I like them okay. Actually I haven’t been around children a lot, so I haven’t thought much about it one way or another.”

“Ah, I see,” Jane said as though that explained everything, and turned back to the sinkful of dishes.

“Look, this has nothing to do with me. Those kids are your problem, not mine. I just thought you ought to know Tyrone’s background.”

“Thank you, Detective. However, I assure you, I am apprised of every child’s case history before he or she ever comes here.”

“Fine. Suit yourself. It makes no difference to me.” Matt downed the last of his coffee and struggled to his feet. “It appears I’m stuck here whether I like it or not. You’re probably not any more thrilled than I am, so I just want you to know that, other than mealtimes, I’ll stay out of your way. I’d appreciate the same courtesy in return.”

Gritting his teeth against the vicious stabs of pain, he limped to the doorway that connected his room to the kitchen. There he paused and turned back to look at Maude Ann.

“As for the kid, just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Chapter Four

Matt didn’t come out of his room the rest of the evening, nor did Maude Ann catch so much as a glimpse of him during the next four days, except during meals.

At those times he was distant, speaking only when necessary. He made no effort to join in the mealtime conversations. Inexplicably, little Debbie seemed to find him fascinating, but he barely acknowledged her chatter, and he ignored Tyrone’s muttered digs. Matt simply ate his food as quickly as good manners allowed and left.

Maude Ann told herself that was fine with her. If he did not want to be sociable, then she, Jane and the children would keep their distance.

His physical condition troubled her. He was in a great deal of pain, she could tell, and it did not seem to be lessening, nor was he regaining strength as he should. However, she reminded herself repeatedly that Matthew Dolan was not her responsibility. Besides, Matt made it crystal clear with every word, look and action that he did not want her help.

It wasn’t easy for Maude Ann to remain aloof. Nurturing came as naturally to her as breathing, and no matter how antisocial his behavior or how hard she tried not to, she still worried about him. Whether or not he wanted to accept it, he did need help.

Still, Matt was a proud man, and she knew any offer of help would not be appreciated. Maude Ann promised herself that she would respect his wishes and leave him alone.

Her resolve held only until his fourth night at the lodge.

That evening, after cleaning the kitchen and supervising baths and teeth brushing, Maude Ann, Jane and the pajamaclad children settled down in the huge living room as they did every night. While the younger ones watched an animated movie on television, Maude Ann and the older boys and girls played a board game. Jane sat in a rocking chair by the massive stone fireplace, contentedly crocheting an afghan.

Maude Ann was feeling smug and proud of herself for the self-restraint she had shown. Not only had she resisted the urge to aid Matt in any way, she had behaved as though she wasn’t even aware of his struggles.

However, as had happened every night since he’d been there, while she laughed and talked with the children, she found that she was also keeping one ear cocked for sounds of distress from Matt’s room.

Between chores and play and picking berries in the woods, the children had worn themselves out that day. When all her exhausted charges were settled in for the night, Maude Ann went from room to room for one last peek, pausing in each to gaze at the sleeping children snuggled in their beds, their young faces slack and vulnerable and so heartbreakingly innocent. As she studied them, her chest swelled with emotion.

Henley Haven was an enormous responsibility that required long hours of hard work, patience and sacrifice. Many people thought she was crazy for taking on such a burden, and there were times when she questioned her own sanity. Yet, as always at night during this quiet time, she knew a sense of peace and fulfillment that erased all doubt and made it all worthwhile.

Maude Ann closed the door on the last pair of sleeping children and made her way down the hall to her own quarters.

There she filled the tub and treated herself to a long hot soak. Afterward, she showered and shampooed her hair, then crawled into bed, sighing with pleasure. Though only a little after ten, it had been a busy day and she was exhausted.

The clean smell of soap and bath talc clung to her skin and mingled with the fresh, outdoorsy scent of cool cotton sheets that had been dried in the sunshine. Smiling, she closed her eyes and snuggled her face into the down-filled pillow and waited for sleep to claim her.

An hour later she was still waiting. Finally, thoroughly irritated, she threw back the covers donned her robe and stomped, barefoot, out of the room. She loped down the stairs, her clean hair dancing around her shoulders with each impatient step, and her long batiste gown and robe fluttering out behind her.

In the kitchen she started to flip on the overhead light, but thought better of it after a glance at the closed door of Matt’s room. She had forgotten about him.

A line of light shone from under the door, and she heard the faint sound of the shower running. She wasn’t going to wake him, at least. However, neither was she anxious to have any contact with him. Forcing herself to move with more caution, she crossed the room and turned on the dim light above the kitchen stove.

A few minutes later she had just removed a mug of warm milk from the microwave when she heard a thud from Matt’s room, followed immediately by a groan.

Acting on instinct, without stopping to think of what Matt’s reaction might be, she put the mug down, dashed to the door of his room and burst inside.

“Detective Dolan? Are you all right?” she called, darting a quick look around.

The bedspread was turned down, but the bed was empty. The lamp on the nightstand gave off a pale glow that barely illuminated the room, but the door to the en suite bathroom stood ajar, and a narrow rectangle of bright light spilled out. Maude Ann headed in that direction. Halfway there another groan sounded.

“Detective, are you—” She gasped and jerked to a halt in the bathroom doorway.

Matt lay sprawled facedown on the shower floor, struggling to climb to his hands and knees. Overhead the steaming spray beat down on him full force. Every time he tried to gain purchase on the slick tile, he slipped and fell flat again, with painful results.

The shower stall had been built to accommodate John Werner’s massive proportions, making it bigger than many small bathrooms. Prone in the middle of the floor, Matt could not reach the sides or anything else on which to brace himself.

Recovering her senses, Maude Ann rushed forward and snatched open the shower door. “For heaven’s sake, wait! Don’t try to get up by yourself!”

“Hey! What’re you…doing in here?” Matt groaned. “Get the hell out. I’m naked.”

“Most people are when they shower.”

“Funny. Now, will you leave? I can…manage on my own.”

“Oh, yes, I can see that,” she replied, giving him a dry look. “Really, Detective, you’re being foolish. I am a doctor, after all. I have seen naked men before.”

“You’re a head doctor. And you haven’t seen me.”

“Oh, please.” She made an exasperated sound and rolled her eyes. She reached in and turned off the shower, wetting the front of her gown and robe in the process, and stepped inside. Immediately she skidded and almost fell. “Whoops! Good grief, this thing is slick as goose grease on glass. Why didn’t you tell me? I’m surprised you haven’t already broken your neck.”

“It wasn’t important. Now will you…get out of here?” he gasped.

“No. I’m not going anywhere until we get you on your feet and out of this skating rink, so you’re just going to have to deal with it.”

Holding on to the built-in towel rack, she leaned down and hooked her other hand under his arm. “C’mon, now, just hang on and let me do the lifting. Will you stop pulling away! You’re just making it more difficult.”

“Dammit, at least get me a towel before you haul me up.”

“Oh, honestly!” Releasing his arm, Maude Ann eased out of the shower and snatched a wine-colored towel off the rack, then quickly climbed back inside and dropped the cloth over his bare backside. “There, that should protect your modesty. Now can I have a little cooperation here?”

Groaning, Matt rolled first to one side, then the other and after several tries finally managed to knot the towel around his lean middle.

“Ready now?” She hooked her hand under his arm again and tugged with all her might, hauling him to his knees, but not without causing him to wince and suck in his breath.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m…okay. Just give me a minute.” He closed his eyes and breathed hard for several seconds, then he grasped her arm. “Okay, I’m ready. Let’s go.”

As Maude Ann pulled, Matt braced his other hand on her hip and strained to lever himself up. The agony in his face was awful to see, and her heart squeezed in sympathy.

“Easy, easy. Don’t put any weight on that wounded leg.”

Matt shot her a blistering look. “You just hold on to that rack and let me worry about my leg. Jeez, are you always this bossy?”

“Sorry.” She gave him an abashed grin. “Comes from dealing with children all day, I guess.”

“Well, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not ten years old.”

Oh, she’d noticed, all right. It was difficult not to, under the circumstances. Still fresh in her mind’s eye was the sight of those tight buns of his.

Despite his recent weight loss, Matt’s broad shoulders and arms were corded with muscle. So was his impressive chest and flat abdomen and long, powerful legs. Water-beaded tanned, glistening skin and more droplets clung to the jagged piece of silver he wore on a chain around his neck and the mat of dark curls that covered his chest. She could not help but notice how the silky hair arrowed downward to swirl around his navel, then narrow into a thin line that disappeared beneath the maroon terry cloth slung low around his hips.

She was seeing much more of Matt Dolan than she had ever expected to see, and he was most definitely not a boy but an adult male. A very attractive, well-built, virile adult male.

It wasn’t easy, but after a lot of struggle and slipping and sliding, she finally managed to pull him to his feet. “Here, just hang on to me,” she instructed. Looping his arm over her shoulder and wrapping her free arm around his waist, she carefully stepped out of the shower with him.

The instant his feet touched the bathmat, he released her and grabbed the edge of the basin for support. Stiff-armed, he braced himself against the sink and hung his head, clenching his jaw. Beneath the tanned skin, his face was pale, and his muscles quivered with fatigue.

Without a word, Maude Ann grabbed another towel and began to pat his torso dry, working so briskly she was almost finished before he could protest.

“Hey! Stop that! Look, I can manage from here okay.”

“Nonsense. You’re so exhausted you can barely stand. You need to lie down before you fall down. Again.” Squatting beside him, she ran the towel down one of his legs and up the other before he could dodge her hands, then she tossed the towel onto the rack and grasped him around the waist again.

“Come along, let’s get you to bed.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his jaw set, but this time he didn’t argue. Beneath her encircling arm, she felt his muscles tremble, and she knew by the way he leaned against her that his strength had reached low ebb. She also knew that a man like Matt Dolan would hate for anyone, especially a woman, to see him in such a weakened state.

His cane was propped against the wall, and she grabbed it and hooked it over her arm as they passed by.

Their progress across the large bedroom was slow and painful, but finally they made it.

“There, you go,” she said brightly, lowering him onto the side of the bed.

While Maude Ann lifted his feet onto the mattress, Matt gave a sigh, closed his eyes and collapsed on his back with one arm crooked over his head and the other flung wide.