Claire, of course, had picked up on that instantly the day before. Given how their friendship had begun, Claire could honestly say she knew more about Nolie than anyone, and shed seen that betraying flush. Claire had insisted that Gabe felt something, too, claiming she could always tell.
Well, certainly Claire dated more than she did, but that didnt make her an authority on someone like Gabe Flanagan. A lot of emotions welled up when an active, driven man like Gabe had to confront a life-changing injury. That didnt mean any of those emotions had to do with attraction.
She hadnt felt anything, and neither had he. That was what she told Claire, and what she kept telling herself. Unfortunately Claire hadnt believed it.
And as for herwell, if she believed herself, why then was she wearing a knit sweater with her jeans instead of her usual T-shirt? And why had she bothered touching up her lips with lip gloss and letting her hair swing loose on her shoulders?
Claires acid comments about her everyday attire came back to her, making her smile.
If you wont dress a little better for Flanagan, then at least have pity on those poor chickens. Its a wonder theyll lay a single egg, having to look at you in that ragged T-shirt every day.
Well, she hoped the chickens were happy. When Claire called later for a report on the day, she could at least say shed taken her fashion advice.
Nolie? Danny tugged on her arm. Do you think I could meet him?
I dont see why not. She waved at Dannys mother, who waited by her van, then wheeled him toward Gabe.
He leaned against the car door, apparently talking to his sister, but he straightened at their approach.
Nothing. You feel nothing, remember?
Hi. I have someone here who wants to meet you.
Gabes eyes seemed to darken, and she remembered too late his reaction when shed suggested he talk to Danny about his seizure disorder.
Danny, this is Gabriel Flanagan.
Hi, Danny. Its nice to meet you. Whatever he felt, he masked it as he held out his hand.
It was a long moment until Danny got his muscles to cooperate so that he could extend his hand. To his credit, Gabe didnt show by the smallest flicker that he noticed that. Gabe made some comment about Lady, and they talked dogs as she bent to the car window to greet Terry.
Gabes sister was on the cell phone, but she smiled and waved.
By the time Nolie had straightened, Dannys mother was wheeling the boy away. She could tell by the boys beaming face that it had gone well.
Terry leaned across the front seat to get Gabes attention. Im sorry, but Ive been called in to work. Ill try and reach Mom to pick you up.
Moms going out this afternoon. Gabes mouth tightened in annoyance, she suspected, that he had to depend on others for something as simple as a ride. Dont worry about it. Ill manage.
You have to have a ride. Terry obviously felt torn.
I have to go into town later anyway, Nolie said. I can easily drop you off.
She didnt want to make the offer, and he probably didnt want to accept it. Spending more time in the mans company was hardly the best way to get over the random attraction shed imagined she felt. But she couldnt very well do anything else.
Thanks, Nolie. Thats great. Terry seemed to take her brothers acceptance for granted. Gotta go. She barely waited until Nolie stepped back before she gunned the motor and went spinning out of the lane.
Sorry. Gabe waved goodbye to Danny as they drove by more sedately. My sister seems to have left her manners at home.
Its fine. Im happy to run you by the house when weve finished.
Another half hour in his company. Well, shed figure out a way to deal with it. Maybe being around him would inoculate her against all that masculine energy.
Thanks.
The word came out reluctantly, and she thought she knew why. Gabe didnt want to feel indebted to her for anything.
She started walking toward the training center, and he fell into step beside her. That faint limp was still there, audible if not visible to anyone who knew enough to pay attention to the rhythm of his steps.
I hope you dont mind my introducing you to Danny. He asked to meet you.
No problem. But why did he want to meet me? He frowned. You didnt tell him
I didnt tell him about your seizure disorder. She used the words deliberately, hoping frequent use might rob them of some of their sting.
Then why?
Surely youve run into that before. To a little kid, especially one like Danny who cant get around much, a firefighter is someone to look up to. Im afraid he has a bad case of hero-worship.
She felt his steps halt, saw the tension drive lines deeper in his face. He shouldnt, he said shortly.
Hed reacted before to that word. Maybe shed better bring this out into the open. If they were to have any sort of a working relationship, she didnt want to keep tripping over things that bothered him.
Ive obviously said the wrong thing. Is it some sort of faux pas to refer to a firefighter as a heroone of those things every firefighter knows?
No. His eyes had gone so dark they were almost black. But if you want to call someone a hero, make it one of the firefighters who died in that warehouse fire. They were the heroes, not me.
Her breath caught at the pain etched into his words. Hed known those men who died, obviously. Still grieved for them. She reached toward him almost involuntarily, wanting to comfort him, not knowing how.
Im sorry. Her throat went tight on the words. Sorry. I didnt mean to hurt you.
He shook his head, as if to shake off her sympathy. Not your fault. He grasped her hands in both of his suddenly, and the sensation of his touch traveled straight up her arms in a warming wave, wiping out all the rational things shed been saying to herself about the attraction she felt.
Still, I Whatever she might have intended to say seemed to get lost in a welter of reaction.
Look, Im no hero. Im just a man with a job to do. If you want to help me, make sure I go back to work. Im over this seizure thing. Im ready.
Her mind started to function again. He wanted her help, but not the help she was qualified to give.
Im sorry. She pulled her hands free. Its not up to me. You know that.
It could be. He didnt attempt to touch her again, but the intensity of his gaze nailed her to the spot. The chief might listen to you if you told him Im okay. That Im ready to go back on the line.
He was grasping at straws, but she doubted he was ready to hear that.
First things first. She tried to manage a cool smile. Were here to do a job. Lets get on with that and put going back to work on the back burner for a while.
She thought he wanted to flare out at her, but he didnt. Instead he gave her a look she couldnt interpret. I understand. Youre right. Lets get started.
He turned toward the training center. She had to hurry to keep up, because her mind was spinning with possibilities.
What if Gabe was right about himself? If his seizures really were a thing of the past, he was no good to her as a test case. She had to get a handle on his physical condition, and soon.
And then there was the personal problem. What on earth was she going to do with this totally inappropriate attraction she felt every time she was near the man?
Hed blown it. Gabe was still berating himself as Nolie put him and Max through a series of obedience exercises in the training center shed set up in a converted garage. Her voice echoed through the wide space as she gave him directions. A barn swallow, apparently nesting in the rafters, swooped out the open door at the sound.
He shouldnt have rushed into telling her what he wanted. He should have taken it easy, let her warm up to him. Rationally presented his arguments.
Instead hed blurted it out, making it almost inevitable that shed say no.
He didnt intend to take Ryans advice and try to charm the woman. Still, it wouldnt hurt to be friendly. Let her feel she was getting to know him. Get her on his side.
As for what he was going to do with that totally inappropriate blast of attraction hed felt when hed held her handswell, that was probably a good thing to ignore. She wasnt his type. And at the moment, she was a very effective barrier to his getting what he wanted most in the world.
He and Max reached the end of the obstacle course. He waited for her to tell him what totally useless thing she wanted him to do next.
Reward your dog, she reminded him in the same detached, calm tone shed used the first four times shed had to tell him that.
Yes. Right. He gave the dog one of the treats Nolie had provided and patted him.
Nolie crossed the concrete floor to join them, frowning slightly.
What? She obviously thought hed done something wrong. Im sorry I didnt remember.
Its not that. She fondled Maxs ears, and the dog looked up at her with a totally besotted expression of adoration. Do you understand why Im having you do obedience exercises with Max?
He shrugged. He could hardly tell her again that he thought the whole thing was useless.
He thought she suppressed a sigh.
Lets go out in the sun and take a break. There are some things you need to understand about the training.
Max stuck to Nolies heels as if he were attached. He followed woman and dog outside.
An old-fashioned porch swing hung from the branch of an oak tree at the corner of the training center. Nolie sat and waited until he took the seat next to her. The swing creaked gently, swaying a little.
Nolie rubbed Maxs head. Max has already gone through obedience training. Havent you, Maxie?
He gave her a wide doggy grin.
So the obedience training is for me. He said the obvious. She probably thought he needed a little obedience training.
A smile touched her face, softening it. The eyes hed thought a pale, nondescript blue the day before had been turned to aqua by the sweater she had on.
Not exactly. The training is for both of you. Its to allow the two of you to get used to working together. More importantly, to let you bond with Max.
He didnt need to bond with the dog, because they werent going to be together that long. But now was probably not the time to say that. He ruffled the dogs fur, and Max leaned against his knee.
Hes a good-looking animal. Purebred? Hed show interest, not agreement.
Max is mostly yellow lab, but I wouldnt venture a guess as to what the other part is. All my service dogs come from the humane society. Theyre abandoned animals who need a chance to prove they can be useful.
She said that with a passion he didnt quite understand. There was a lot he didnt understand about Nolie, come to think of it.
So, once Max and I have bonded to your satisfaction, what comes next? Supposing he had to stick around that long. Whats your time frame?
Worry lines creased her forehead. We only have a month. Still, Im usually working with children, and it should go faster with an adult. Id suggest that this week and next week we do obedience work and then put in two weeks of intensive live-in training.
Live-in? Not in the cottage?
He glanced toward the cottage shed shown him the day before. White frame with black shutters like the house. It had rosebushes on either side of the black front door. A yellow rambler rose was already coming into bloom on a trellis over the walk. It looked like a kids playhouse.
Yes, I know its small, but Im sure youll do fine. The brisk assurance in her voice said that this was non-negotiable. You and the dog have to live together during the intensive training. That twenty-four-hour-a-day experience is crucial to the whole process.
He got what she meant then, and he didnt like it. You mean youre hoping Ill have a seizure during that time, dont you?
Not hoping, no. Her brows furrowed, and she seemed to choose her words carefully. I hope you never have another one. But if you do, thats the test of whether Max will live up to my belief in him.
Theres no guarantee, in other words, he said flatly. This could all be useless.
Its not useless. I can guarantee you that when weve finished training together, Max will do his job in protecting you should a seizure occur. The question is whether hell know the seizure is coming and warn you.
Passion for her work filled her as she said the words, so strong he almost felt its heat. The face hed thought plain was alive with enthusiasm. He wanted to tell her again that he wasnt going to have another seizure, but she swept on.
The foundation wanted scientific proof, and there isnt any. But it happens. Ive seen it happen. When the bond between dog and client is strong enough, the dog knows when a seizure is coming.
He couldnt help being moved by the strength of her conviction. No one could. He leaned toward her, his hand on her shoulder, feeling the passion that flooded through her for her cause.
Nolie wanted to be sure a bond formed between him and the dog, so that she could prove her theories to the foundation. He wanted to create a bond between himself and Nolie, so that he could get her on his side.
The trouble was that if he sat this close to her for another moment, hed probably kiss her. What would that do to either of their plans?
Chapter Four
Nolie walked through the chrome-and-glass doors of the fire-department administrative offices the next morning, trying to concentrate on the mission that had brought her here. Unfortunately her wayward imagination kept transporting her back to those moments on the swing with Gabe.
Shed given away too much of herself to him. She didnt do that with anyone except Claire, and that was only because she and Claire had found each other in a support group for abuse survivors.
The support group hadnt wiped away the dark shadows of her past, but it had given her an amazing friend. She was constantly grateful for that.
Claire was safe. She could tell Claire anything and know that it would never be used against her. But Gabe
Gabe was so intent on his passion to return to fire fighting that she didnt think hed stop at much to get there. Including using her, if he thought it would be to his advantage.
Had he seen, when shed talked about the stray animals she trained, that she equated herself with those abandoned creatures? She had to find a way to keep her guard up with him, or hed trample over her on his way back to the life he wanted.