All He Ever Wanted

by ALLISON LEIGH,

  Not even by her boss, who’d been dogging her heels for ten minutes. He also hadn’t made it to Thunder Canyon the previous day. But he was making up for not getting to the site of Erik’s accident now by raking her over the coals.

  “I’m serious, Faith. We don’t enter abandoned mines without backup.”

  She didn’t mind the raking when she’d earned it. But she couldn’t—wouldn’t—change the decision she’d made. “Well, as I’ve said about a dozen times now, the only backup I had handy was Cameron Stevenson. It would have taken a demo crew to get through to Erik from the mine shaft itself. Any access points had already collapsed.”

  “But you didn’t know that beforehand, did you?”

  She couldn’t deny that point, so she just stood there, eyeing her boss.

  After a moment, he sighed noisily, then looked around the hospital, with its pale walls and stark tile floors.

  “The Nugget wants an interview about the rescue.”

  “Give ’em one if you want.” Faith had already erased the message from the local reporter who’d called the previous day. “I don’t have anything to say.”

  Jim wasn’t particularly enamored with the publicity their team often garnered, but he was also aware of the fact that their salaries came from the same people who read those newspapers. “Evidently, during the cleanup, somebody found a small gold nugget.”

  Faith shrugged. “I didn’t notice any gold,” she said dryly. “I was a little busy.”

  He smiled a little. “So how’s the kid?”

  “Concussion. Dehydration.” The answer didn’t come from Faith, and she stiffened, looking past Jim to see Cameron standing there.

  Her gaze roved over him before she could stop herself. The handsome man with the broad shoulders had hauled her out of a very sticky situation, she silently defended. Of course she had some…enhanced interest in him. It was gratitude.

  Which didn’t at all explain the odd curling sensation inside her stomach. Or the reason his coat was still laying on the couch in her living room like some welcome visitor.

  His brown gaze was steady on her face and she was positively mortified to feel her cheeks warming. “Jim, this is Cameron Stevenson,” she introduced hurriedly. Anything to restore normalcy. “Mr. Stevenson, this is Jim Shepherd, my boss.”

  The two men shook hands. “Glad things worked out okay,” Jim said. He was probably ten years older than the mid-thirties in which she’d privately placed Cameron. Jim also was not as tall, nor as broad.

  And comparing her boss to Cameron’s wealth of physical attributes seemed a ridiculous waste of time. “How is Erik today? I meant to get over here yesterday.”

  “He’s terrorizing the nurses,” he said. “He’s been asking after you.”

  Her spurt of pleasure at that news dwindled quickly when Faith felt Jim’s gaze silently travel from Cameron to her and back again. She wished she didn’t know what the man was thinking. He’d been happily married for twenty years, and in the year since she’d been on the team, he’d made no secret that he figured she needed a man in her life again. Judging by his speculative expression, she could only imagine where his thoughts were going now.

  “I hope you’ve made time to get yourself treated, too,” Cameron said. “Since you didn’t do it yesterday.”

  The palm of her hand snuck across her hip where several large gauze pads lurked beneath her clothing, and the way his sharp brown gaze veered down for a fraction of a moment told her that her self-conscious movement hadn’t gone unnoticed. “How’d you know I didn’t come in?”

  “Dr. Taylor mentioned it.”

  “Treated?” Jim didn’t look pleased. “You were injured? That wasn’t in your report.”

  “A few bumps,” Faith defended evenly. “Nothing that necessitates my brother’s overdeveloped sense of protection.”

  “But since you’re here at the hospital, you might as well let him take a look at you.” Cameron’s voice was smoothly reasonable. “You were bleeding a lot when you came out of the mine.”

  “You want me to put you on inactive?” Jim asked, knowing full well that she’d go bananas without work to occupy her time.

  She really did not like feeling ganged up on. But how could she tell them just how much she loathed going to a doctor, any doctor, even for something as minor as patching up her scrapes? “I’ll go after I’ve seen Erik.” She mentally crossed her fingers. “Is he awake?”

  In answer, Cameron pushed open the door to his son’s private room. Faith hesitated for a moment, then stepped past him. And she did not notice how good he smelled, either.

  She focused on the boy, who seemed to be nearly swallowed by the hospital bed, though she figured Erik was pretty average-size for his age. “Hey there, kiddo.”

  “Faith! You came.”

  Warmth filled her at the way Erik’s expression lit. She put Erik’s dad out of her mind as far as he would go—admittedly not very far, if she were honest—as she approached the bed and handed Erik the large box that was wrapped in bright blue paper patterned with footballs, basketballs and baseballs. “You can’t use it until your doctor gives you the say-so, though,” she warned when his hands grabbed onto the gift.

  “Can I open it now?” There was such hope in his sparkling brown eyes that if he hadn’t already charmed her, he would have done so now.

  She laughed softly. “That’s sort of the point,” she assured. “Open away.”

  “Yessss.” His fingers dragged at the wrapping, and paper flew. Then his jaw dropped a little, his eyes widening, when the neon green soft toboggan was revealed. “Kew-ell,” he dragged out the word. “I always wanted one of these, but Dad wouldn’t let me.”

  She felt a stab of guilt at that, wondering if she should have asked permission from Cameron before giving the gift to Erik. She had no nieces or nephews. Was there some sort of etiquette she should have known to follow?

  On the table beside the bed were a stack of video games, and she had a qualm that she ought to have brought something similar. And judging by Cameron’s expression, he wasn’t all that pleased with the gift.

  But all he said was, “What do you say, Erik?”

  Erik looked chagrined. “Right. Thank you, Faith.”

  “Ms. Taylor,” Cameron prompted.

  “Uh-uh,” Erik countered. “She told me I could call her Faith. Right?”

  She nodded. “Yes, I did. When are they going to spring you?”

  Erik rolled his eyes. “I just wanna leave now.”

  Behind Cameron, Jim lifted his hand in a wave, gesturing with his pager, before heading off. Cameron walked into the room, letting the door swish closed. “They told us he’ll be ready to go home by Wednesday.”

  “Maybe Faith can come over and show me how to use the toboggan, huh, Dad?”

  He didn’t approach the bed where Faith was standing, she noticed, but remained closer to the door. Almost as if he couldn’t wait to open it again and have her leave.

  “I’d love to,” she told the boy, though it seemed unfathomable to her that any child living in Thunder Canyon hadn’t already had some experience with tobogganing. There was a hill near the ice-skating rink that was perfect for sledding and snowboarding, and during snow season, it was nearly always congested with children.

  “We’ll see,” Cameron said.

  Faith eyed him for a moment, but being well aware of Erik’s avid attention, she held her tongue. Instead, she grinned at the boy. “Any word from Tommy Bodecker about ghosts?”

  Erik started to speak, but Cameron was the one who answered. “Erik won’t be hanging out with Tommy anymore.” His voice was flat.

  Faith could hardly blame the man for that. She resisted the urge to smooth the cowlick on Erik’s forehead. “Guess maybe he won’t be issuing dares anymore, eh?”

  He started to smile, but it died as he shot his dad a wary look. “No, ma’am.”

  Ma’am. Ouch. “Well, you just let me know when you’re up to trying out this puppy.�
� She tapped the colorful sled. “And I’m glad you’ll be getting out of here soon.”

  “Thanks.” Erik’s smile was ever so much easier than his father’s.

  She winked at the boy, and headed to the door. Her steps slowed, though, as she waited for Cameron to move out of the way, and when he followed her into the hall once more, she hoped the jumping in her stomach wasn’t visible on her face.

  “Did you get your truck back okay from Miss Emelda’s place?”

  He nodded once.

  She brushed her palms down her thighs. “I, um, I hope you don’t mind. You know. About the gift for Erik.”

  “It was nice of you to think of him.”

  “He’s had other visitors?” She certainly hoped so. She could only imagine how tedious it would be if he didn’t have some entertainment.

  “A few of his school friends have come by. Adele Douglas came by yesterday, too. Said she wanted to see for her own eyes that he was going to be fine.” It was Adele and Caleb Douglas who owned the mine.

  Faith listened with half an ear. She noticed that Cameron didn’t move out of the doorway to Erik’s room. He was obviously keeping an eye on his son, inside.

  “He’s not going to disappear from the hospital room,” she said softly. Did he think the boy was going to dash out the window and try out the unwelcome toboggan?

  “First you think I don’t watch him closely enough, and now you think I watch him too closely?” His voice was audible only to her ears.

  Since his assessment was fairly accurate, she wasn’t sure how to respond. And then there was the bungee jumping her stomach was doing. A decidedly unfamiliar sensation, but not one that she couldn’t pinpoint to a very specific source—namely one six-foot-plus man. “It’s none of my business,” she finally settled on, which was also true enough.

  Some of the lines had left his face, and his square jaw was again smooth-shaven and far too masculine and appealing.

  She shifted, pushing her hands in the front pockets of her khakis. Learning that her libido was evidently alive and well wasn’t necessarily a particularly welcome thing. “I, um, really should be going.” She’d told Tanya that she’d help out at the sporting goods store that afternoon. “I’d like to come by and see Erik again.” When he didn’t tell her to stay away, she took it as a good sign. Nodding again, feeling awkward and not liking it one bit, she turned to go.

  “The Bodeckers came by and apologized.” His voice forestalled her. “Apparently, they didn’t realize Tommy was missing at all from the reception, because he was back at The Hall before they even left.”

  She halted and looked back. It had to be her imagination that he was deliberately delaying her departure. “And when word got out that Erik was missing? Why didn’t Tommy speak up then?”

  Cam shook his head, keeping his fists from curling. But it took an effort. Just as it took an effort not to stare at her face—so female, so golden—as she looked up at him. “Evidently, he’d been grounded for a few weeks. No television. No radio. When his folks went to the wedding, they dragged him along with him.” Same as he’d dragged Erik.

  “Well.” Faith’s eyes didn’t meet his. “This is one of those times to concentrate on the fact that everything turned out all right.”

  He made a noncommittal noise and then her gaze did lift to his, and it felt as if the collision jolted the ground right under him.

  Dammit.

  “Is it all right?” She lowered her voice even more. “If Erik’s so fine, why does he have to stay two more days in the hospital?”

  “Precaution. He had a pretty good concussion going.”

  Her lips pressed softly together. “But he’ll be fine?”

  How many times had Cam, himself, fired that question at Erik’s doctor? He nodded, and there was no denying the relief that softened those brownish-green eyes of hers.

  “Well, for once the rumor mill of Thunder Canyon General is on the mark. Heard you’d stepped foot on our holy grounds.”

  Faith’s expression tightened a little as she turned to see her brother striding in their direction.

  “Don’t you have duties in the E.R.?” she asked pointedly.

  Dr. Taylor grinned, but his blue eyes, when he glanced at Cam, were serious. “More patients than Carter’s got pills,” he agreed. “Your boss stopped by. Heard you’re going on inactive until we give you a medical clearance.”

  “I came to see Erik, not get poked at by a sadist in a white lab coat.”

  “Hey. I resent that remark.”

  Judging by her expression, Cam figured she wasn’t amused. “Chris—”

  “Just a once-over,” the doctor interrupted. “We’ve got a new crop of residents. You can take your pick of ’em.”

  The look she sent her brother was killing. “Fine.” She nodded at Cam and strode off down the hall.

  Realizing the doctor was watching him, Cam dragged his attention away from the impeccable fit of Faith’s khaki pants. There was an unholy gleam in Christopher Taylor’s eyes now, though, that told Cam the other man knew exactly what Cam had been eyeing.

  And why.

  “Town’s buzzing about Friday’s game,” was all the other man said. “People wanting to know when you’re gonna put Romance back on the court.”

  “When he’s not failing every class but PE,” Cam said evenly. He’d taken plenty of heat about the decision to bench the boy.

  The younger man just nodded, though. “Fair decision. You’ve got eyes for my sister?”

  He figured it was his own preoccupation over Erik’s safety that Cam hadn’t seen that one coming. “She saved my son’s life,” he hedged.

  “Mmm. True enough.” The doctor suddenly reached for his hip and the pager that hung on the waist of his scrubs. “Duty calls.” He lifted his hand and waved at Erik inside the room, then strode away.

  Cam wasn’t sure quite what to make of either one of the blond Taylors.

  He went back into Erik’s room, resigned to an afternoon of his son’s chatter about his favorite new toy…Faith Taylor.

  Faith winced when the resident—a young guy who looked as if he were all of twelve years old—finished cleaning the worst of her cuts and spread antibiotic ointment over them, followed by fresh gauze pads.

  The rattle of the blue-and-white striped curtain partitioning off the bed from the others in the E.R. gave her little warning before her brother appeared. She gave him a baleful look as he eyed the bandages covering most of her hip and nearly all of her abdomen, and deliberately pulled her shirt down before zipping up her loosened pants.

  Chris, with his typical equanimity, ignored her and simply took the chart from the child-doctor, glancing over it. He scribbled his pen across it after a moment, and handed back the chart.

  “Go,” he said humorously, when the boy still hovered there.

  The resident went.

  Chris rolled his eyes. “Seems like they’re getting younger every year,” he murmured.

  “Only because you’re getting older,” Faith pointed out a trifle wickedly. At thirty-two, Chris was the eldest of the four Taylor children.

  Chris merely lifted an eyebrow. “Someone looking thirty in the face ought to know enough to respect her elders,” he pointed out. “So what’s the deal with the Stevenson duo?”

  Faith frowned and slid off the examining table. “Nothing.”

  “Right. Nothing got you past the cafeteria in this place.”

  “I just wanted to make sure he was doing all right.” She fussed with the sleeves of her cotton shirt, folding them up her arms, then back down again.

  “Which he?”

  “Erik, of course.” She hoped her cheeks weren’t as fiery looking as they felt. “He’s a cute boy. How, um, how long have they been in Thunder Canyon? Do you know?”

  “Since the kid was an infant, I think.” He thought about it a moment. “Cam didn’t start teaching at the high school until after his wife died, though. He was some sort of financial whiz from Denver.”<
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  “I didn’t ask for details.”

  “No. But you wanted to.”

  Faith snorted softly. “You’re into reading minds now?”

  “It’s a big brother thing,” he assured blandly. “If you’d come in yesterday when I wanted you to, we could have stitched up the worst of those cuts of yours. You’ll probably have a helluva scar.”

  “It won’t be the first one,” she muttered. She had an assortment of old, fading scars on her elbows, her knees. All courtesy of never quite being the girly-girl daughter her mother had wanted. Fortunately, her two younger sisters, Hope and Jill, had been more than feminine enough to make up for Faith’s failings.

  They’d be the ones to provide the next generation of Taylors, too. Unless Chris ever got off his duff and got serious about a woman himself.

  She realized she was still fiddling with her sleeves and made herself stop. “I need to get over to Extension Sports. I promised Tanya I’d help out this afternoon.”

  “As long as you’re sitting on a stool behind the counter, and not teaching climbing in the rock gym.”

  “Trust me,” she assured as she stepped out of the curtained area, “I have no desire to get close to a rope right now.” She sketched a wave and started to leave, but decided to swing by the cafeteria to grab a coffee on her way.

  She was just fitting the lid on the tall cup when Cameron strode inside, heading straight for the hot-sandwich station. She hung back, not entirely certain why she didn’t want to be noticed, but knowing that if she left now, he’d be sure to see her.

  She cautiously sipped the strong brew, watching him over the top of the oversize cup.

  The man did have a way of making plain blue jeans and an off-white fisherman’s sweater look…extraordinary. And Faith knew she wasn’t the only one who thought so, because there were plenty of female faces turning to watch Cameron’s progress.