The last thing he wanted her to do was run again. So he'd be patient, bide his time, and wait for his opportunity.
As they sailed back to the harbor, Ria let the boat run at full speed, and Drew reveled in the ride. All too soon, they were back at the dock.
After securing the lines, Ria held out her hand. "My necklace, please."
Drew pulled a baggie out of his pocket and handed it to her. As she took out her necklace, her eyes filled with moisture, and her hand trembled. "I never thought I'd see this again."
He was surprised by the show of emotion. "That necklace must mean a lot to you."
She nodded. "My sister gave it to me a very long time ago."
His nerves tingled. "You never mentioned a sister before."
Ria stiffened, as she realized she'd given something away. "It doesn't matter. Will you help me put it on?"
He took the necklace as she turned around and lifted her hair.
As he stepped behind her, the curve of her neck, the wisp of hairs around the sweet shell of her ear called out to him. He wanted to put his mouth on that soft skin and bury his face in her hair, and pull her body up hard against his, so she could feel how much he wanted her.
"Drew," she said. "Are you having trouble with the clasp?"
He was having trouble all right, but it had nothing to do with the clasp.
He focused on getting the necklace hooked. Then he forced himself to step away. She turned to face him.
"Thanks for bringing it back, Drew."
He stared into her eyes. "I think I was meant to see you again, Ria."
"You don't believe in fate."
"Maybe I do. Do you know the odds of me being the one to find that necklace in the water? It has to be millions to one."
She licked her lips. "I'm just glad you found it."
Her cell phone rang, and she frowned, then pulled the phone out of the pocket of her jacket. Fear ran across her face as she saw the number. "Megan? Is something wrong? Where are you?" She paused. "You have to stop crying. I can't understand you." Another beat. "Okay, I'm coming right now. I'll be there as fast as I can." She hung up the phone. "I have to go."
"What's happened?" he asked, concerned by the worried light in her eyes.
"I have to go to the hospital."
He didn't like the sound of that. "I'll take you."
"No, I can get a cab," she said, as she hopped off the boat and walked briskly down the block.
"On a Sunday—in this area? It will take you a half hour. My car is in the lot."
She hesitated, her desire to get to the hospital obviously warring with her reluctance to spend any more time with him. Finally, she nodded. "All right. Thank you."
"No problem."
As they walked toward his car, he couldn't help thinking that maybe fate wasn't ready for them to say goodbye, either.
Chapter Eight
Ria tried to stay calm on the trip to the hospital. Megan was not in the hospital because of the danger that constantly surrounded them. In between sobs, she'd mentioned something about a softball hitting her in the face. So this incident was not life-threatening, nor connected to their past. It was just an accident.
Despite the mental pep talk, her heart was still beating too fast. Megan was her responsibility. She was supposed to protect her. She never should have let Megan go to the park with her friends, or at the very least she should have told her to stay in the outfield. Megan was not the most athletic kid on the planet.
But she was always saying no to her niece, so sometimes she forced herself to say yes just to avoid complete and utter rebellion.
"Do you know what happened?" Drew asked as he stopped at a light.
She shook her head.
"Is it someone in your family?"
She nodded, hoping the questions would stop there.
"Is it serious?" he asked.
"I don't think so," she said shortly. "I don't know. I just want to get there."
"We're almost there."
A few minutes later, he pulled into the circular lot by the emergency room of San Francisco General Hospital. "I'll wait for you."
"Don't," she said, her hand on the door. "It could be hours. You know how emergency rooms are. I'll get a cab." She stepped out onto the sidewalk. "Thanks," she added. Then she shut the door and hurried through double doors of the hospital.
Ria checked in with the nurse, who quickly found Megan's name on the computer and had someone take her to examination room three. When she walked into the small room, Megan was sitting up on the table, an ice pack to her face. There was blood on her shirt and jeans, but Ria didn't see any other injuries.
When Megan saw Ria, she burst into tears. She lowered the ice pack to reveal an incredibly swollen nose and two cheeks that were purple and black.
"My life is over," Megan said dramatically.
Ria put her arm around her niece's shoulders and patted her back. "It's going to be okay."
"It's not going to be okay," Megan wailed. "I look like a freak."
Ria stepped back. "It's not so bad," she said, trying to downplay the swelling. "What happened?"
"I was playing softball and the second baseman had to leave early, and they asked if I could do it. And I said yes," Megan ended her explanation with a sob. "I tried to field a grounder but it bounced off the dirt and hit me in the face. I think my nose is broken."
"Actually, there's just a small fracture," the doctor said as he came into the room holding an x-ray. He gave Megan an encouraging smile. "There's no displacement, so while your nose will be painful and swollen for a few days, I expect you to make a full recovery."
Ria felt an enormous rush of relief. "That's good news. Can I take her home?"
"Yes. The nurse will be in soon with the discharge papers. I gave Megan some pain medication, so she should take it easy for the rest of the day."
"I'll make sure of that," Ria promised.
He paused at the door and glanced back at Megan. "Maybe stick to the outfield in the future."
"I'm never playing again," Megan vowed as the doctor left the room.
"See, it's going to be all right," Ria said.
There was nothing but disbelief in Megan's eyes. "By next Saturday night? There's no way Eric is going to want to take me to the prom looking like a hideous monster."
"You are not a monster, and you'll look a lot better by then," she said, hoping that was the truth.
"I hate my life," Megan wailed.
Ria wasn't too thrilled with their lives, either, but at least the injury wasn't serious.
The nurse came in a moment later. Ria signed the appropriate forms, knowing with each signature that she was creating a paper trail, but that trail was tied to their new identities, so hopefully it wouldn't be an issue.
"Let's get you home," she said after the nurse left.
"I can't get on the bus like this. Everyone will look at me."
"We'll take a cab," she said. But as they walked out of the examining room into the waiting room, she saw Drew standing by the door. Her step faltered. She'd hoped he'd gone home.
Drew came forward, concern in his eyes.
"Everything okay?" he asked, his glance moving from her to Megan. "Hi," he said. "I'm Drew Callaway. I'm a friend of—Tory's," he said, stumbling over her name.
Ria appreciated the effort, even though the last thing she wanted to do was introduce him to Megan.
Megan shot him a suspicious look, and why wouldn't she? Megan knew better than anyone that Ria didn't have any friends.
"He is a friend," she told Megan. "This is my sister, Megan, Drew."
"Who's this?" Megan asked, a suspicious note in her voice.
"Your sister?" Drew echoed in surprise, shooting her a quick look. "The one who gave you the necklace?"
"No," she said quickly. "I need to get Megan home."
"That's why I waited. I thought you might need a ride." He glanced at Megan. "It's nice to meet you."
"Is it?" Megan
asked grumpily. "I look like a freak."
"Can I ask what happened?" he questioned tentatively.
"Megan took a softball off her nose," Ria explained.
An understanding gleam entered his eyes. "I've been there. I took a hardball off my face in the tenth grade. Last time I was put at shortstop." He cocked his head to the right as he considered her injury. "Yours doesn't look so bad."
"How long did it take for the swelling to go down when you got hit?" Megan asked.
"About three days. I had a shiner for a while though."
"Great, that's just great," Megan said with a sigh.
"My car is not too far away," Drew said. "Shall I bring it around or—"
"We can walk," Ria said, wanting to get away from the hospital and home as quickly as possible.
She got into the front seat of Drew's SUV while Megan climbed into the back. When Drew asked for her address, Ria had another small panic attack. She would have preferred that he not know where they lived, but that was impossible now. She gave him the address and Drew started the engine.
"So you're a softball player, huh?" Drew asked Megan as he drove out of the parking lot.
"Not really. This was only my second time. Last time I was in the outfield. I should have stayed there," Megan said. "But Shari had to leave early and there was no one else who wanted to take her spot. I thought I could do it. Mom used to play softball, and she was really good."
Ria stiffened at the reference to Megan's mother. So far, Megan hadn't given away anything, but who knew what was coming next? The doctor had given her niece painkillers that had obviously loosened her already loose tongue. "Just rest," she told Megan. "Talking won't help the swelling."
Drew shot her a sideways glance that told her he knew exactly why she didn't want Megan to talk any more.
She ignored him and glanced out the window. It was after six now, and dusk had settled over the city, a beautiful purple pink glow along the skyline. It would be pretty out on the water now, the stillness of twilight.
But she couldn't escape to sea. She had to be a mom tonight, and even though she'd been in the role for a year and a half, it still didn't quite fit. She was only twelve years older than Megan, and sometimes it was difficult to be aunt, mom, sister and friend all at the same time, especially since Megan had started to push back. She was going through typically rebellious teenage years, which would have been hard enough to handle, but Ria had more than just Megan's hormones to worry about. She had to keep her niece alive. And whatever that required took precedent over teenage angst, at least most of the time.
"I'm hungry," Megan announced. "I didn't have lunch."
"I'll make something when we get home."
"But how am I going to eat anything? My jaw hurts, too."
"I'll make you a smoothie," she suggested.
"I already had a smoothie for breakfast. I could eat some noodles. Can we stop at the Hot Wok on the way home?"
"I'll call in an order after we get home," Ria replied.
"It will take over an hour. They're super slow for delivery," Megan reminded her.
"I'm happy to stop," Drew offered.
"I'm sure you'd like to be on your way," she said.
"I have nowhere to be, and I'm hungry, too. Sailing worked up an appetite. Where is this place?"
Deciding that an argument would take longer than stopping for food, she said, "Turn left at the next corner. It's on the right side of the street." Megan was in pain, and getting her something she could eat was the least Ria could do. "It's hard to park, so if you want to wait in the car, I can run in and order. It usually doesn't take too long to pick up. Delivery is a different story."
"No problem." Drew pulled over to the side of the road in front of a loading zone.
"Is there something you like?" she asked.
"Whatever you order is fine with me."
As Ria opened the car door, she realized she was leaving Megan alone with Drew, and that probably wasn't a good idea. But Megan wasn't going to go in with her, and Drew had to stay with the car. She just needed to make this stop as fast as possible.
"Don't worry," Drew said, catching her eye. He gave her a knowing smile. "Megan and I will get better acquainted."
That's exactly what she was afraid of.
* * *
Drew put the car into park, then turned in his seat so he could see Megan. The girl's face was swollen and bruised, but there was still beauty in her features. She had dark hair and dark eyes and an olive skin tone. She didn't look at all like Ria. Half-sister, he wondered, or maybe even step-sister? Or was she a relative at all? At this point, he wasn't sure of anything where Ria was concerned.
He had a lot of questions he wanted to ask Megan, but seeing the hazy pain in her eyes, he couldn't bring himself to take advantage of her weakened state. Well, maybe he could just a little.
"How are you doing?" he asked.
She sighed, taking the ice pack away from her face. "My life sucks."
He bit back a smile. He'd heard those exact same words come out of his sisters' mouths a million times. "You're having a rough day."
"Not just today," she muttered. Before he could question that statement, she added, "How do you know Tory?"
He wasn't sure if it was wise to mention the island to Megan, so he said, "We met a while ago, and we ran into each other by the yacht club yesterday. Today she gave me a sailing lesson."
Megan gave him a suspicious look. "She never mentioned you to me."
"She never mentioned you to me, either."
Silence fell for a moment, and then Megan said. "So do you like her?"
He smiled. "Yeah, I do."
"She's not going to date you. She doesn't go out at all."
"Why is that?" he asked curiously.
"She just doesn't," Megan said. "She works a lot."
"Maybe she should take some time for fun."
"She's forgotten how to have fun." Megan sighed and settled back against the seat. "She used to laugh all the time. Now, I hardly ever see her smile."
"Why is that?"
Megan shrugged.
A moment of silence passed, then he said. "You two aren't very close in age. Do you have the same parents?"
Megan frowned, and then winced at the pain that followed. "That's a weird question," she said, a grumpy note in her voice. "I'm her sister. We would have the same parents, right?"
"I was thinking maybe there was a second marriage or a divorce or something."
"Oh. Well, you should ask Tory."
"She's not very talkative," Drew said.
Megan acknowledged his comment with a nod. "Trust me, I know. I talk all the time, way too much. It used to drive my mom crazy. She said I had an endless number of questions. And now it makes Tory crazy, too."
"Questions are good. It's the only way you learn anything."
"I think so, too. So what do you do?"
"I fly helicopters for the Coast Guard."
She sat up in her seat, new interest in her eyes. "Seriously? That's cool."
"It is cool," he agreed. "Have you ever been in a helicopter?"
"No, but I want to. My mom and dad took a helicopter tour in Hawaii, and they flew into a volcano. They said it was really exciting. Have you done that?"
"I haven't done that yet."
"You should," Megan said, ending her words with a yawn. "So where did you meet Tory?"
"In a bar." He figured he wasn't giving anything away with that answer.
"My mom met my dad in a bar," she said sleepily.
"Yeah?"
"My father told me that his heart literally stopped when he saw my mom; she was so beautiful. He knew right then that she was going to be his wife," Megan said, a dreamy note in her voice. "I want someone to fall in love with me like that."
Her words took him back to the island, to the moment that he'd set eyes on Ria. His heart had stopped, too. He hadn't called it love; he'd been much more comfortable with desire. Because physical attra
ction he understood and could handle. The emotional component had always eluded him.
"My mom said my dad swept her off her feet. She fell madly in love, just like they do in the fairytales." She took a breath. "But she didn't get her happily ever after."
Drew's gaze narrowed as Megan ended her words on a sniff and then quickly blinked away tears.
"Did something happen to your mom, Megan?"
"She died. So did my dad. It's just me now."
"You and Tory," he said.
"Right. It's just me and Tory, and I shouldn't talk about my parents."
Considering how many times Megan had already brought them up, Drew found her words to be a bit ironic. But he wasn't going to question a teenager about her dead parents.
After a moment of quiet, he said, "I lost my mother when I was five years old. She died of cancer. I don't have a lot of memories of her, but one that has always stuck with me is the lavender smell of her perfume. Whenever I smell lavender, I think of her."
Megan stared back at him. "My mom smelled like gardenias. She loved flowers. She'd spend hours in our greenhouse, and at night when she'd tuck me in, I'd smell gardenias in her hair." She paused, a guilty look flashing through her eyes. "Don’t tell Tory I told you that."
"I won't. But can I ask why?"
"It makes her sad."
He nodded. "I can understand that."
"I missed my mom today," Megan confessed. "When I was waiting in the hospital by myself, I really wished she was still alive so that she could hug me and tell me everything would be okay." Megan sniffed again. "I can't cry because my nose is going to get all stuffy," she added, a desperate note in her voice.
"Don't cry," he said quickly. "It's going to be okay."
"My prom is on Saturday night. And I look like a monster. How is it going to be okay?"
He didn't know the answer to that question, but he felt a little more comfortable with the change of topic. "Makeup can hide a lot."
"How do you know that?" she asked suspiciously.
He smiled. "I have three sisters. And they all seemed to have facial emergencies before the prom. I remember when Emma got a big zit in the middle of her forehead. It looked like a volcano crater. She was going to call her date and tell him that she had the flu, but my sister, Nicole, talked her into some makeup rehab. By the time Nicole was done, you could hardly see it. Emma went to the prom and had a great time."
Falling For A Stranger Page 9
