California Girl Read Online Free Page B

out of the mover’s path,
narrowly averting the collision.
    All three newcomers turned their attention to the roof. Alys
waved. As if they’d seen countless women perched on rooftops, the policemen
shrugged and returned to examining the vintage Cadillac.
    The doc’s upturned face looked oddly agitated at the sight
of her, as if he’d lost his best friend. Alys appreciated his long-legged
stride across her brown lawn, but she didn’t think all that concern was for
her.
    What if Mame had taken a turn for the worse? Knowing she
wouldn’t be able to breathe until she knew, Alys flung her Superball at him
just to see how a renowned author played ball. “Catch!”
    Unfortunately, he didn’t wrap his fingers around the small
ball fast enough, and it bounced hard, ricocheting off his hand into the
Cadillac’s window. It was Alys’s turn to wince at the resulting cracking noise.
    Unconcerned with the window, the good doctor absently rubbed
the center of his expensive knit shirt while he watched her scoot toward the
gutter. His hair fell forward in untidy curls that made him look more human
than famous, but casualness didn’t disguise his tension.
    As she eased down the rotting trellis, Elliot stepped over a
dead holly, caught her by the waist, and helped her to the ground.
    The intimacy of a man’s heat burning through the cotton of
her dress shocked her into remembering how long it had been since any man had
held or touched her. She missed that closeness.
    Lowering her to the grass, the doc didn’t release her waist.
The intensity of his deep brown eyes held her spellbound. Or maybe it was the
subtle scent of his shaving lotion making her a little light-headed.
    “Have you seen Mame?” he demanded without preamble.
    She stared up at him, too shocked to speak. Or think.
    Apparently recognizing his forwardness, Elliot dropped his
hands and backed away. “I apologize, but this really could be a life-or-death
situation. Mame left the hospital. If you know where she is, please tell me.”
    Mame left the hospital .
For a brief moment, she felt exultation. Mame was fine.
    Then the doc’s urgency sank in. Mame wasn’t fine. Alys took
a deep breath to calm her spinning thoughts.
    Doc Nice had a radio-show voice—moderated and melodious and —Alys
wrinkled her nose and gave it some consideration—nice, she concluded. Doc Nice
spoke nicely, even under obvious stress.
    “If she’s run away, she must have been feeling better.” Alys
had spent the last few years speaking in a voice as modulated as his,
attempting to hide her heartbreak behind pleasant reassurance for Fred’s sake.
She didn’t have to do that anymore. The knowledge that she could yell and
scream and be sarcastic again was liberating.
    “Mame’s a grown woman and knows her own mind. You shouldn’t
have bothered the police.” She wanted to believe Mame was feeling fine and was
just off running a few errands to prove it.
    Elliot’s look of disbelief made her uncomfortably aware that
she wasn’t exactly a testimony to reliability. She was hot and sweaty and her
hair was probably standing on end. She’d only had the haircut to please Mame
and never remembered to keep it up. Once it had started growing out, she’d
whacked at the parts that annoyed her. Fred’s illness had eliminated any
pretense that looks mattered. She crossed her arms defiantly.
    “Mame disconnected all her monitors and stole my car. She
has no cell phone or any way of reaching me. I don’t consider that a rational
act on the part of someone in ill health.” He glanced in the direction of her
house and nodded at the two officers crossing the yard to join them.
    “May we look inside, miss?” one asked politely at Elliot’s
signal.
    Alys admired the officer’s very stern, very young face. “If
you think she’s hiding beneath my dust bunnies, be my guest. Mame may be
skinny, but she’s not that small.”
    When Elliot started to follow them, she poked him in his
taut abdomen. Abs