by Donna Fasano
Rolling over, Cassie gazed across the water. Something about the way Andy clung to his inner tube made her frown. She immediately kicked her feet underwater in order to get closer to him.
"Andy," she called, and he stopped mid-paddle to glance her way. "Can you swim?"
His face flamed, but he looked her directly in the eye. "No," he admitted. "But it's okay since I have this." He thumped the rubber tube with his fist.
"Is that really smart thinking?" she asked archly.
"Andy wouldn't be allowed to swim, anyways," Eric commented, coming to the defense of his new friend. "His dad would rather see him drown than for him to do something as fun as swim."
"Eric!" Cassie stood up in the shallow end of the pool and stared aghast at her brother. "I can't believe you would say such a horrible thing. Now, get out of the pool until you can apologize."
"Aw, Cassie. But Andy's dad isn't even here. He doesn't even know I said anything."
"Now, young man."
"He's right, Cassie," Andy said, his voice soft. "Dad doesn't let me do nothing. I never knew how much I'm not allowed to do until Eric showed me."
"Dad doesn't let me do anything," she automatically corrected, but her heart constricted at Andy's sadness. "But it's because of your asthma," she explained. "You know your father's only concerned for your health."
She turned to face Eric, who had pulled himself out of the water and was sitting on the pool's edge, his feet dangling in the water. "We talked about Andy's asthma and how he needs to stick to quiet activities." She frowned and shook her head at him. "I'm surprised at you, Eric. I'm disappointed you would hurt Andy's feelings by talking about his father like that. You know better."
"Gosh, Cassie, I'm sorry." Eric's head dipped dolefully. "I'm just used to playing ball and runnin' and sweatin'. And I've been playing card games and tiddlywinks for two days."
He made it sound like a lifetime.
"I'm not used to this stuff."
Cassie sighed hard in an effort to suppress her amusement at his description of normal play. Eric was right, though, he was used to playing like a normal eight-year-old boy, and he had been playing quiet games all weekend. She looked from Eric to Andy and felt torn over how to solve the problem.
"Well," she finally said, "how about if I speak to Andy's father when he comes home and see if maybe he'll lift some of the limits?"
"Would you?" Andy asked.
"All right!" Eric shouted.
"I'm not promising anything, now."
"Wow, Cassie, if I could just play catch with Eric, I'd be happy." Andy's tone spoke volumes on the exciting prospect of getting a ball in one hand and a mitt on the other.
Cassie shushed him with a waggling, upraised finger. "All I can do is talk to your dad, Andy. I don't want you to get your hopes up for something that will probably never happen. Do you understand?"
Andy nodded somberly.
Cassie felt badly about reining in his excitement. In an effort to make up for it, she rubbed her hands together and smiled, saying, "But there's no reason I can't teach you to swim. In fact, I think it downright necessary if we're going to be spending time in the pool."
"You mean it?" Andy asked, his smile once more beaming.
"I can help him too. Can't I, Cassie?" Eric pleaded.
"You sure can," she said. "Andy, when we're through with you, you'll be swimming like a fish."
"And," Eric piped in, "I'll show you how to dive, like this." He pushed off from poolside and ker-splashed awkwardly. When he surfaced, embarrassment turned his face as red as the belly flop had turned his stomach. Andy laughed and Cassie promised Eric that they'd work on his diving technique.
"But first, I need to show you a few safety pointers," Cassie said. "First and foremost, whatever happens when you're in the water, remember, don't panic."
Eric puffed his chest out and said, "Never swim alone."
"Good, Eric," Cassie praised her brother. "Now, Andy, tell me what you'd do if you accidentally slipped out of your inner tube."
"Well...I..." Andy's eyes brightened and he blurted, "I wouldn't panic." Cassie chuckled at his quick thinking.
"I'd grab for the tube," he tried again. "And paddle for the side."
"What if you fell into the water and didn't have the inner tube?" Cassie asked.
Andy's eyebrows raised and his mouth worked, but no words came out. He was thoroughly stumped.
Eric sniggered and gave Andy a friendly shove. "You better hope someone's around to call the rescue squad."
Andy giggled nervously. "Well, you better teach me what I should do then."
As serious as water safety was, Cassie didn't reprimand the boys for their silliness. This was a scary subject, and a little humor would help Andy through it.
"You needn't worry about sinking, you know," Cassie told him. "Why does your tube float?"
"It's full of air," Andy answered with a shrug.
"And if you inhale?"
Andy's eyes lit. "Then I'm full of air!"
Cassie nodded, chuckling.
"And I won't sink?"
Again she nodded.
"Show him the dead man's float!" Eric shouted.
"Yes, yes, the dead man's float," Andy chimed in. Then he grinningly added, "I don't know what it is, but it'd be great to see a dead man float."
Both boys burst into uproarious laughter.
Andy pulled himself from the water and sat, dripping, next to Eric.
"Okay, watch closely," Cassie said. "You inhale deeply, put your face in the water, and relax your entire body."
Eric leaned toward Andy. "It's important that you inhale before putting your face in the water," he cautioned with a wry chuckle.
Cassie made a production of sucking a great deal of air into her lungs, then she relaxed into the water, stretching her arms wide. She remained in position for several seconds before standing and shaking her head, spraying the boys.
"See how easy it is?" she asked. "You want to try?"
Andy was quiet, looking at the water, and Cassie saw a spark of fear in his eyes. Eric noticed Andy's silence and quickly glanced at Cassie.
"Show us again, Cassie," Eric said. He nudged Andy. "My sister makes a great dead man, doesn't she?"
The corner of Andy's mouth ticked up, and Cassie's heart warmed to see her brother trying to stifle Andy's fear.
"Dead man's float! Dead man's float!" Eric began to chant, clapping his hands to emphasize each word. Andy quickly joined him, and Cassie laughed.
"Okay, okay, already!" she yelled over the din of their voices.
She inhaled and let her body float. Her feet lifted off the bottom of the pool. She could hear the boys' cries of encouragement, muffled by the water. Their shouts and squeals made her laugh, the air in her lungs bubbling from her mouth.
When all the air had expelled from her body, Cassie lifted her face sideways to inhale. But before she could, a great splash startled her and a weight pushed her under the water's surface. Instead of inhaling the expected air, she took in a mouthful of water and choked. She instinctively shoved herself away from whatever had her in its clutches, but it was a failed effort.
She needed oxygen. Now!
Her head flashed above the surface for an instant and, through the heavy curtain of hair plastered across her face, she quickly gulped in half a lungful of precious air before she found herself once again floundering below depths.
She opened her eyes under water and saw the sunlight glinting off a pair of shiny black dress shoes.
Chapter Three
Cassie went perfectly still in his arms and a knot of panic balled in Joshua's gut. Dear God, she'd blacked out.
Firming his grip on her warm, wet skin, he hauled her out of the water with all his might.
"Cassie?" Fear clawed his throat, making his voice tight and harsh. "Cassie!"
She stood up, sputtering and coughing.
He hauled her off her feet and staggered over to the steps with her. Water casc
aded off them both, pooling onto the concrete patio as he pulled her from the pool.
"Andrew," he barked, "bring a towel."
"Yes, sir," Andy replied, scurrying out of the pool to obey.
"Are you all right?" Joshua asked Cassie.
She nodded and swiped at the hair clinging to her cheeks as she continued to cough. Joshua wrapped the large beach towel around her shoulders and noticed that his hands were shaking.
This was a hell of an end to an already nerve-racking weekend. He'd worried about getting back into the swing of speaking before a large audience after such a long sabbatical; he'd worried about leaving his son; he'd worried about the summer graduate courses he was in the midst of teaching. But even though all these things had weighed heavily on his mind, he'd had to admit that thoughts of the new nanny he'd hired had crept into his brain more times than he could count. And images of Cassie Simmons had pushed all his worries aside often enough to become troubling. Joshua had been unable to comprehend it. His reaction to this woman, his thoughts of her, had sparked a curiosity in him, a craving to know more about her, a desire to discover why and how a woman he barely knew could stir him so deeply.
Seeing Cassie floating in the water, still as death, had scared the hell out of him. The shouts of panic coming from the boys had only increased his alarm. Joshua hadn't thought, he'd only acted. He knew he was impulsive in emergency situations. Most often it was a trait he didn't care to have– to be unthinkingly reactionary. But in this instance, he thanked the stars for his panicky nature.
He listened intently as her choking coughs subsided. Her deep, ragged breaths were a relief to his ears. Joshua lowered his eyelids and sighed; he could feel the adrenalin that had been coursing through his body wane as his sanity slowly returned. He heaved a deep breath.
When he opened his eyes, he looked from Cassie to his son to the other boy by the pool. His gaze took in the wet towels draped over the lawn chairs and the multitude of pool toys littering the patio. More than one of the restrictions he'd given the new nanny was being broken at this very moment. The idea that Cassie Simmons had disregarded his wishes acted as a flickering match that ignited his anger.
"What the hell is going on here?" he demanded.
Cassie inhaled jaggedly and gave herself over to another fit of coughing in an effort to expel the water from her lungs.
She looked at Joshua Kingston's handsome face and the dark frown she saw there made her silently mutter a couple of four letter words. The distinctive sound spurting aerosol had her glancing at Andy, who was sucking on the inhaler that had somehow magically materialized in his hand. Where on earth had that come from? Looking back at the professor, she saw the crease in his brow deepen to a black scowl and she wondered how in the world the pleasant day had changed so suddenly.
Cassie coughed into her fist again and rubbed her throat with her other hand before beginning, "Believe it or not, Andy hasn't–"
"Don't bother trying to explain your way out of this," Joshua Kingston interrupted harshly. "I specifically instructed you that Andrew was not to be outside. I specifically instructed you that Andrew was not to play with neighborhood children. And I specifically stated on the list of restrictions that Andrew was not to use the pool."
Cassie drew her shoulders back in defense. "But–"
"No buts, Ms. Simmons," he blared at her. "How could you even think about taking these children near the water when you can't swim a stroke? Have you lost your mind?"
Realizing his misconstruction of the situation, Cassie stood and took a step toward him. "Professor Kings–"
"Do you realize that if I hadn't arrived when I did, you probably would have drowned?" Joshua Kingston tried to stuff his hands into the pockets of his sopping wet dress trousers. When he failed, he expelled an angry curse and slapped his palm against his thigh in obvious frustration. "Andrew could have drowned. Or him..." His angry eyes fastened on Eric. "Who are you, anyway?" Without waiting for an answer, Joshua snapped, "Go home, young man."
Eric glanced nervously at his sister and then back at the man who had shouted at him.
"Do as I say," Joshua demanded. "Get your things and go."
Pale with fright, Eric's eyes welled with tears, and Cassie's fierce motherly instinct roared inside her like a wild animal. What gave this man the right to think he could shout at her brother this way?
"Professor Kingston, Eric is my brother," she told him, holding tight to her simmering anger. "I tried to tell you about him Friday before you rushed off, but I didn't get the chance to explain. I'm Eric's guardian. Where I live, he lives."
Confusion passed fleetingly across Joshua's features but it was overcome finally by the deep, troubled scowl that settled in the middle of his forehead. "I see," he said, but it was evident from the tone of his voice that he didn't like it.
Cassie turned her attention to the boys, her calm exterior belying the turmoil she felt at having blurted out an explanation about her brother. "It looks as though Professor Kingston and I have some things to discuss. I'd like for you two to go upstairs and change into some dry clothes and get out a quiet game."
The boys glanced at the formidable man who stood towering a few feet from them before exchanging a look of indecision.
"It's okay," Cassie assured them. "Go on. And don't forget to hang your trunks and towels in the bathroom."
She watched the boys grab their towels and hurry into the house. She turned to Joshua. Those deep brown eyes of his bore into hers. Why did he have to be so damned good looking? It would be easier to find the words to speak if the sight of his handsome face didn't scramble up her thoughts like fluffy breakfast eggs. She didn't know whether it was his gorgeous, chiseled features or his grim countenance that started her stomach churning again. Both times she was in his presence her nerves jangled like church bells. She clenched her fists at her sides, digging her nails into the soft flesh of her palms and hoping the pain would force her to focus.
"Professor Kingston," she said, leveling her gaze on him, "I want you to know right up front that I didn't break any rules, spoken or written."
"Really? You didn't break any rules?" His voice was full of incredulity. "Andrew was outside. Andrew was in the pool. Andrew had a playmate." One eyebrow raised mockingly as he asked, "Did you, or did you not, see Andrew take a dose of his asthma medication just two seconds ago?"
Cassie pressed her lips tightly together. This man would never believe her if she told him Andy hadn't used his inhaler all weekend. She had no desire to be called a liar on top of everything else.
"Yes, Andy was outside," she said, determined to remain composed. "But the list of restrictions did not stipulate that he was never allowed outside." Her voice became tighter. "Yes, Andy was in the pool. But swimming was not restricted."
He looked as though he were about to speak, but she shot him a look that told him she wasn't finished, and although his jaw muscle worked in agitation, he waited. Astonishingly, Cassie found the tiny movement extremely sexy and she had to concentrate on what it was she had meant to say.
"Um, and yes, Andy had a playmate," she went on. "But Eric is not one of the neighborhood children. He's my brother. And you did give your permission for him to visit."
"That is the operative word here," he said. "Visit. I gave my permission for your brother to visit, not move in." He tilted his chin abruptly and asked, "Just how old are you, anyway? Your brother looks about Andrew's age. You look awfully old to have a brother so young."
"Why, thank you very much, Professor Kingston," Cassie said caustically.
"No, no–" He reddened, apparently realizing too late how offensive his words sounded. "I didn't mean to say you look old, only that you seem too old... only that your brother is..." His voice trailed off in hopeless frustration and he shook his head.
Cassie looked away. When she turned back to face him, she had the well-practiced explanation on the tip of her tongue. "I'm twenty-four years old. My mother became pregnant late in her life
. She died two years ago when Eric was six, leaving me Eric's guardian."
Her chin lowered a fraction, but her eyes remained focused on his. "So, you see, Professor Kingston, if I keep this job, and I realize that it's a very big if, then Eric must stay with me."
Joshua Kingston nodded slowly. "I agree with you."
Cassie couldn't hide her surprise. "That Eric should stay with me?"
"That your keeping this job is a very big if."
Her spirit plummeted.
Finally, he said, "I really have to question your judgment. Taking those boys into that pool when none of you can swim was dangerous, and it was stupid."
Although Cassie bristled at his choice of words, she willed herself not to respond. Her extreme sensitivity to derogatory remarks made about her intelligence was her problem, not his.
"You don't understand–" she began.
"It was more than stupid," he continued heedlessly. "It was asinine."
"But I can swim."
His lips twisted derisively and he nodded. "Sure, you can."
Cassie clamped her jaw shut and ground her teeth together to keep from spitting some horrible rejoinder at him.
Anger smoldered in her chest. She knew he had no idea of what was happening here; that she was an excellent swimmer, that Andy and Eric had been perfectly safe, that Andy hadn't needed or used his medicine in two days. But she couldn't help feeling damned offended by this man's presumptuous manner. She'd thought intelligent, deep-thinking men such as Professor Joshua Kingston were supposed to be open-minded. That they were supposed to gather all available information before making a definite decision about things.
Her eyes narrowed as she gathered her wits about her. It wouldn't do for her to tell the man off. She wanted to suggest he take a long walk off a short diving board. But he was Mary's nephew, if nothing else. She was about to lose this job, she was certain of it. So she quickly made her own decision; she'd quit before he had the chance to fire her. At least that way she could salvage some of her dignity.
"Professor Kingston, I understand that you wouldn't want to leave your son under the care of someone whose judgment you can't trust." She picked up the worn terry robe she'd brought down to the pool with her and slipped her arms into it. "I'll pack up our things, and Eric and I will be out of your way as quickly as we can." Pulling the ends of her belt, she made a tight knot. "I'll call Mary about moving back into my old apartment."
