Unexpected Love (2 page)

Three

She slid out of her red compact four door and retrieved her purse and cell phone.  Locking the doors, she let out yet another sigh. 
Better get this over with
, she thought to herself.  She held onto the side of the car, getting her balance.

She was stiff from sitting and her weak legs protested but she began walking up the side of the road.  She heard rustling in the fallen leaves deep in the woods to her right.  She glanced over but saw nothing.  It was eerily quiet as she trudged on.  Her imagination ran wild for a moment.  Creatures coming out of the forest and running towards her, a serial killer pulling up pretending to help her.  Silly, she told herself.

Her legs tired quickly on the slight incline and she wanted to quit.  Sit down and maybe have a nice cry? Or a scream of frustration?  No, she had to keep going.  Sitting down on the side of the road would be nice but she would not be able to get up again.  She had no choice, she told herself.  She pushed away thoughts of the quiet right before a disaster.  Like the walking dead jumping out of the woods, coming for her.  Since she couldn’t run, she would be easy prey.  Or a murderer dragging her into his car.  An overactive imagination, she chided herself.

She chanted in her mind, one step at a time, one step at time.  She was out of breath from the effort.

When she made it to her destination, it felt like it had been an eternity of eerily quiet walking.   She felt like she was going to collapse.  Her legs were so tired and she was feeling weak.  One foot in front of the other.

On the left hand side of the road she was relieved to find it was a long gravel packed driveway leading to a white house with green shutters. Cars.  Someone would be home.  She sighed, almost there.  Down the driveway towards the house, one step at a time.  She had to believe they were friendly and willing to help.

The yard looked well-manicured despite the browning grass but it would be a thick lush green in the spring.  She stepped through the gate, walked up the path, pausing at a big shiny blue pickup truck to give herself a few seconds to lean on it.  At least no alarm went off, she mused.  Two more cars and she finally reached the porch steps.  She paused and took a few deep breaths.  She was more than tired now.

When her legs started to shake violently, she realized she needed to keep going before they quit on her altogether.  She took another deep breath.  Pulling herself up with both hands by the railing, she climbed the six steps.

She was finally at the front door and on her feet, she thought jubilantly. She had done it and all by herself.  She lifted her hand to knock. 

Before she could try to get anyone’s attention, a figure backed out of the glass storm door, talking to someone in the house and pulling the door closed.  She tried to take a step back, but the person turned and collided into her.  She instinctively grabbed at the dark blue male t-shirt in front of her, hoping to catch her balance, she grabbed an arm and fell.  They both went down.

Four

They landed in a tangled heap, him on top.  Her first thoughts were that he was definitely male.  As she tried to catch her breath, she started to laugh
.  It was that or break into a torrent of tears
.  She had resolved that she would not cry on this adventure, no matter what.  She hated crying but she was a sucker for sad commercials.

She looked up into the blue eyes staring down at her with surprise and shock.  She wasn’t laughing any longer as she gazed back.  For a moment neither of them moved.  The air was suddenly heavy. 

He stared into her big caramel brown eyes.  They were almost the color of her eyes.  He cleared his throat and quickly pulled himself off her.

“I am so sorry.  Are you alright?”  His handsome face had a worried frown as he stooped next to her. 

He felt terrible for causing the lovely young woman in front of him to land on the front porch, him on top of her soft body.  The thought flitted through his mind that he had never been pulled down onto a porch on top of a beautiful woman before.  He almost grinned.  Almost. Of course, it had been his fault. 

This woman definitely had his attention, but he would have preferred it to be under different circumstances.  He reined in his thoughts and concentrated on making sure she was not hurt.  They had landed hard, but she took the brunt of it since he had a soft landing.  Besides, he reminded himself, he was not looking for a short term relationship.

She started laughing again.  It had been such a rotten day.  This was a perfect addition to the day.  Landing on her back on a stranger’s front porch with a gorgeous hunk of man on top of her. When she was finally able to sit up, she shook her head yes.  She smiled to show she was okay and gave him a thumbs up.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”  There was a look of relief and some amusement on his face.  He wasn’t sure what was so funny, but he was relieved that she was not angry or crying.

He had an accent, she mused.  Not American.   He could not have been much older than she was.  His light brown hair was short.  Muscles.  Definitely well-built.  One of those guys that exercised to keep fit, she mused.  Usually she had found that it also came with an attitude, but he didn’t seem to have one.  Unless the attitude was going to come out later.  Right now, they were both surprised at the turn of events.  Or maybe she had met the wrong good looking guys, she mused.  She looked quickly away before he realized she was taking inventory.

He reached out a hand, “Let me help you up.”

She froze. 
Get up?
  Not that simple
.  No, not when she was down.
  She wasn’t sure what to say.  She hated being weak; it was almost humiliating.  But she knew she was not capable of getting up with just a quick pull of his hand.  She would have to say something. 

She rubbed her hands on her jean clad thighs.  If she didn’t speak up she was going to have to sit on some stranger’s porch all night.  Maybe if she scooted over to the porch steps she could somehow pull herself up using the railing.  Not likely.  Her arms were not that strong yet.

Sean watched her and waited.  He was not sure what to think.  Did she not want help?  Maybe she was mad at him for knocking her down.   

There was a moment of dead silence as she looked at his outstretched hand and then up at him.  She swallowed hard and said in a low voice, “I can’t get up.”

He immediately had a puzzled look on his face.  “Are you hurt?”

She looked out across the lawn to the road and took a deep breath.  “My legs don’t work too well right now.  I can’t get up.  I was in a car accident a few months ago,” her voice trailed down into a whisper.  She was mortified.  She had a gorgeous and virile man in front of her and she had to admit how weak she was.  Great impression she was making.  Not, she quickly thought, that it mattered.

Understanding dawned on his features.  She stiffened, afraid it was going to turn into disappointment or loathing, but instead he stepped around behind her.  “Okay, I can get you up.  Just relax.”

She turned her head slightly to look at him when he put both arms around her waist and pulled her easily up into a standing position.  He smelled good.  Like a fresh spring rain. 

He still held her, “Are you good?”

She wavered as she got her balance, too embarrassed to answer.

He was reluctant to drop his arms from around her waist.  Of course, it was only because he was concerned about her, right?  He pondered his reactions.  He felt like he was under water, going down and struggling to breathe.  No, not like him at all. 

His warm breath was on her cheek and his strong arms made her feel steady and safe.  He asked her again if she was okay.  You are such a dolt, she told herself.  He was probably expecting her to drool like she guessed a lot of women would around him.  He was not going to get the satisfaction if he was expecting it.  She simply gave him a thumbs up and he dropped his arms. 

She almost shivered.  She could feel goose bumps on her arms.  He glanced down to where she was looking and saw them too.  “Are you cold?”

She shook her head no.  She immediately regretted her answer.  She should have said yes or shrugged it off.  It was chilly and her jacket was still in the car, she had on a long sleeve pullover sweater that she had pushed up to her elbows.  What was wrong with her?  She never got goose bumps because a guy touched her.  She wasn’t exactly happy with guys touching her at all.

She wanted to rub the goose bumps away or pull her sleeves down, but she kept her arms at her side.  Be casual.  She pushed the stray lock of hair that had come out of the ponytail behind her ear as she murmured, “Thank you.”

“Sure, no problem. My fault, really. I was the one who knocked you down.”

She laughed, “And I took you down with me.”  They looked at each other grinning.

“No worries, I deserved it.”  He liked her positive attitude.  He looked to the door, “Were you going in?”

She shrugged, “My car broke down, my cell phone is dead, and I’m lost.”  She said it in such a rush she wasn’t sure if he would understand everything she said.

He pushed his hand through his short hair.  “Not having a good day, I assume.”

She snickered, “You could say that.”

He reached for the door, “Walter can call the garage and have them get your car and tow it into town.”

She stepped into the warm house as a middle aged, robust man with a smattering of gray through his hair came down the hall.  Her knock-me-down, pick-me-up, mister handsome explained things to the man as a smiling woman came down the hall.  She assumed husband and wife.

The woman clucked a couple of times, “You poor girl.  Don’t you worry, Walter and Sean will take good care of you.  Can I get you something?  A hot drink?  Water? My name is Maggie by the way.”  She pointed to the man, “This is my husband, Walter.” 

Maggie talked rapidly and she could barely keep up, but she focused on the woman and not the young man standing very close by her side.  He definitely smelled good.  She had to pull herself together.  She wasn’t going to be a giddy female over a hot guy.  She shook her head, “No, thank you, I’m fine.”

“Okay then.  I’ll be in the kitchen if you need anything.  I don’t want my water to boil over.”  Maggie turned away with a bemused grin.  Her mind was in a whirl. 

Lovely girl, handsome Sean.   About time he found himself an attractive young woman to settle down.  The right woman for him.  And this one seems very sweet.  Maybe she could help things along a bit.  There had to be something she could do to get them together, see how it went from there.  It wouldn’t hurt to encourage things along.

Maybe it would work out.  Sean seemed interested, more interested than she had ever seen him around another woman in quite a while.  Not that plenty of women in town weren’t vying for his attention.  She had seen how close he stood to her and the glances he kept giving her.  Almost protectively.  Yes, he was interested.  She could tell these things.

He looked casual but she knew Sean.  Had known him from the first week he had moved here almost four years ago.  And the very pretty young woman was pretending not to stare too.  Maggie was good at reading people, especially when romance might be in the air.  She had gotten a couple of people together that she had known were right for each other.  Walter had told her once that she was not a matchmaker, but Maggie had a good feeling about these two.  When the other couple married, Walter gave in and said she had been right.

She personally knew one woman whom Sean had dated but it had ended.  Not what the woman had wanted, she suspected, but she had not asked any details.  Sean was their friend.  She had not wanted to pry into Sean’s private life since he had made it clear he did not like talking about his personal life.  Still, Maggie had not felt like they belonged together and maybe Sean had realized that too. 

She felt like Sean was looking for something or someone special and maybe that someone, she mused, had just shown up.  He came to dinner regularly but had never brought anyone with him.  She had teased him one night about finding himself a nice young woman, but he had said nothing.   Sean generally did not share his personal thoughts and feelings, even with his friends.

Back in the living room, Sean moved to stand in front of her.  “Guess you’ve figured out I’m Sean.”

She smiled, “Yes.  I’m Taylor.”

He gave her a charming smile that sent chills down her spine.  She giggled.  So much for not being the giddy female.  This was not like her at all.  Maybe it was the stress of the day.  She was tired.  But he made her nervous and excited at the same time.

He smiled back and gave her a quizzical look, “What’s funny?”

She shrugged, “I don’t know.  Everything.  Nothing.  It’s been one of those days.” 

“You said you are lost?  Where are you trying to get too?”

“Windsor.”

Sean winced, “You really are lost.”

Her back was to the front door but she turned her head when she heard a young voice talking very fast as he breezed through, “Mr. Walter, I brought you your mail.  My mom sent me for ours.  I’ll put it here on the stand.” 

Taylor looked over her shoulder at a boy who looked to be around ten years old, spikey red hair on top, freckles across his nose.  Taylor turned her head back to face Sean, the door banging shut behind the boy, but not before a large black dog slipped through.

Unaware of the loping dog, he leaped on to her back with a happy woof and she crashed into Sean.  Her hands hit his chest hard and all of her weight was thrown against him.  It took them both by surprise.  She had no doubts if he had been prepared, they would still be standing.  This time when they both went down, she was on top.  The large dog was licking both of their faces, tailing wagging at light speed as if he just knew they were on the floor for him.