She fit against his side perfectly, her slight frame hiding a strength he couldn’t help but admire. Her ankle looked terrible, but she didn’t whine or complain. In fact, if he hadn’t offered to help her, he knew she would have continued on her way without asking for assistance.

He had to remind himself for the tenth time that she was an ER nurse, which meant she was off-limits. Permanently.

Knowing that Tommy Hinkle was the one who’d run her off the trail made him grit his teeth in anger. Larissa was right, the kid was a menace, but he suspected that there wouldn’t be much the police could do about it now.

“Gabe? Is something wrong?” Larissa asked.

He glanced down in surprise. “No, why?”

“Your arm around my waist is getting tighter and tighter,” she admitted. “You might want to lighten up a bit.”

He mentally smacked himself. “Sorry about that,” he said, relaxing his grip. “I was getting mad thinking about Tommy. How’s your ankle holding up?”

“Just peachy,” she said in a wry tone. “I’m trying to take heart in the fact that your house is slowly getting closer.”

“We’ll be there soon, and then you can relax,” he promised. His modest, wood-sided A-frame overlooking the lake was his private sanctuary, and while he wasn’t accustomed to having women over, it wasn’t as if he could drag Larissa all the way to town on foot. He knew she lived in the same apartment complex that Merry Haines and several of the other staff lived in because he’d overheard the nurses comparing notes one day about an exceptionally noisy neighbor.

“Your home looks very rustic,” she said as they finally approached the driveway. Only ninety more feet to go. “Somehow I expected something more...flashy.”

“Flashy?” He grasped his chest as if wounded. “Do I really look like the type that goes for flashy?”

She chuckled. “No, but doctors generally live a much higher lifestyle than the rest of us.”

He hid a stab of disappointment regarding her observation. Was she like so many of the other nurses? The ones who set their sights on marrying a doctor? And when they didn’t get what they wanted, stooped so low as to tell lies, not caring that they destroyed a man’s reputation?

“It’s so beautiful,” she murmured. “You must love the peace and quiet.”

“I do,” he agreed, refusing to waste any time thinking about Rebecca. She was out of his life, for good. Three more feet and they were up to his front stoop. “Can you navigate the step all right? Or should I carry you?”

“I can do it,” she responded quickly.

He held the door open for her, and she limped inside, heading for the closest chair. “Thanks,” she said with a sigh. “Feels good to sit down for a moment. I hate to ask for any more favors, but I’d appreciate a ride home.”

“I’ll drive you home as soon as we clean up those wounds.” Didn’t she realize there was blood oozing out from the dirt filled abrasions? “Sit tight, I’ll be right back.”

“Wait, you don’t have to—” she began, but he ignored her. He went to rummage through his bathroom cabinet, finding everything he needed: dressings, tape, antibiotic ointment. When he returned, he discovered she’d made her way into the kitchen.

“I don’t want to bleed on your carpet,” she said with a hint of defensiveness. “And I washed the scrapes on my hands with soap and water.”

He set the supplies on the table and then went over to fill up a bowl with soapy water. He brought it over and knelt beside her. “This might hurt,” he warned as he took a soft washcloth and began cleaning her knees.

The abrasions weren’t too bad, and she didn’t say a word as he cleaned them up. “What’s the matter?” he asked when he finished putting fresh dressings in place. “Did you think a measly doctor wouldn’t know how to dress a wound?”

“No, you did a fine job,” she said in a low voice. She avoided his gaze. “Thanks so much. It’s a good thing I’m off work for the next two days. A bit of rest and I’ll be as good as new.”

“You might want to see your doctor. He’ll write you an excuse to stay off work longer if needed.”

“I’ll be fine,” she repeated. “I’m sure you want to get back to your run, so if you could just drive me home, I’ll get out of your hair.”

She was acting a bit strange, and he thought she might be having more pain than she’d let on. He loosened her running shoe. “First, let’s wrap up this ankle.” The swelling hadn’t gotten too much worse, which was a good sign since she’d been walking on it for the past twenty minutes. Maybe there wasn’t any ligament damage. “Better?” he asked when he’d finished wrapping it snuggly.

“Much.” Her voice sounded strained. “Thanks. Again.”

He stared at her for a moment, trying to gauge her mood. He rose to his feet and crossed over to the fridge. He pulled out a bottle of water and handed it to her. After taking a swig of his own water, he took a bag of frozen peas out of the freezer. “Here, use this as an ice pack,” he said, draping the bag over her ankle.

She let out an unexpected chuckle. “Too funny. I have a bag of frozen peas that I use as an ice pack, too.”

He couldn’t help but return her smile. “I bet every runner has a bag of peas in their freezer.”

“Maybe,” she agreed. She took a long drink of water before recapping the bottle. “So, is there anything else you think you need to fix, Dr. Allen? Or should we get going?”

He had the insane urge to offer to make her dinner but stopped himself just in time. “I’ll drive you home. Here, lean on me. My car is in the garage.”

“No problem.” She held on to the peas and the water bottle with one hand and held him around the waist with the other. It was a short distance, but he found he missed her touch once she was safely tucked into the passenger seat.

Larissa kept glancing out her window on the ride home, and he got the sense she was avoiding him for some reason. After about ten minutes, he pulled up to her apartment complex.

He insisted on helping her up to her apartment despite her protests that she’d be fine. “Do you need anything else?” he asked after she unlocked the door.

“Nope, but thanks again. See you later,” she barely got out before she shut the door firmly between them.

He stared at the closed door for several long seconds before turning to make his way back outside to his car. The thought that she’d been so anxious to get rid of him didn’t sit well.

And much like the way she’d interrupted his run—granted, through no fault of her own—she annoyingly infiltrated his thoughts for the remainder of the day.

Chapter Three

Larissa slid behind the wheel of her car, intending to attend Sunday morning church services. However using her right foot to drive proved nearly impossible. After several jerky attempts at driving with her left foot, she let out a frustrated groan, turned off the car, and awkwardly climbed back out from behind the wheel. No way was that going to work. She was more likely to hit something than not.

She stared up at the cloudless sky, fighting a wave of helplessness. This stupid ankle was going to ruin her few days off work if she couldn’t manage to drive a car. She propped herself against the vehicle, enjoying the cool breeze as she tried to figure out what to do next.

Less than one day and she was already heartily sick of being stuck in her apartment. Maybe she could manage to hobble down to Rose’s Café? Josie would keep her company at least for a while. There was nothing the café owner liked more than gossip.

“Larissa!”

She turned when she heard her name, surprise widening her eyes when she caught sight of Gabe Allen walking toward her. He’d parked his car a few spaces down from hers.

“Hi, Gabe.” She was glad that this time she didn’t smell like sweat and was dressed in a flowery skirt and a matching pink, short-sleeved top. She tried not to fidget with her clothing. “What are you doing here?”

“I brought over a pair of crutches in case you needed some help getting around.” He gazed at her attire and lifted his brow. “Are you headed somewhere special?”

She blushed and wished she could stop this ridiculous reaction to him. “I planned on attending church services, but driving is apparently not an option.” Had he mentioned crutches? She brightened with the possibility. “I bet I could walk to church, though, if you’re serious about allowing me to borrow those crutches.” Church and then Rose’s café. Much better than sitting around and staring at the four walls of her apartment.

“I think it would be better if I drove you to church,” Gabe said slowly. “Crutch walking isn’t easy for long distances.”

“Oh.” She was flabbergasted by his willingness to take her to church because she’d never seen him attend services in the past. “That’s very kind, but I don’t want to take you out of your way.”

“It’s no problem. Here, lean on me, and we’ll get you over to my car.”