[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.No matter what she had accomplished, no matter how many years had passed since she was a lonely, bewildered child, the lack of her mother’s love was still an emptiness that hadn’t been filled.A mother’s love was the basis of every child’s life, and the absence of it had left her crippled inside just as surely as the accident had crippled Blake’s legs.Not surprisingly, she fell facedown on her bed and slept heavily, without dreaming, to awaken promptly when the alarm went off.She had learned, over the years, how to function even when she felt as if a part of her had been murdered, and she did so now.At first she had to force herself to go through the regular routine, but in only a moment the hard self-discipline had taken over, and she shoved the crisis of the night away.She would not let it drag her down! She had a job to do, and she’d do it.Perhaps something of her determination was written on her face when she entered Blake’s bedroom, because he promptly raised his hands and said mildly, “I surrender.”She stopped in her tracks and regarded him quizzically.He was smiling a little, his pale, thin face weary, but no longer locked in a mask of detachment.“But I haven’t even attacked yet,” she protested.“You’re taking all the fun out of it.”“I know when I’m outgunned.” He grimaced and admitted, “I don’t see how I can give up without at least trying again.You didn’t give up, and I’ve never been a man to back down from a challenge.”The hard knot of apprehension that had been tied in her stomach since he’d lapsed into depression slowly eased, then relaxed completely.Her spirits soared, and she gave him a blinding smile.With his cooperation, she felt that she could do anything.At first he was capable of very little with the weights.Even the smaller ones were too much for him, though he kept gritting his teeth and trying to continue even when she wanted him to stop.Stubborn was too mild a word to describe him.He was hell-bent and determined to push himself to the limits of his endurance, which unfortunately wasn’t far.It always took a long session in the whirlpool afterward to ease the pain from his tortured muscles, but he kept at it, even knowing that he was going to have to pay with pain.To her relief he asked no more questions and in no way referred to what she’d told him of her childhood.Because of the extra demand he was making on his body, he was always sound asleep when she checked on him at night, so there were no repeats.Over Serena’s protests Dione also began giving him therapy in the pool.Serena was terrified that he’d drown, since his legs were useless and he obviously couldn’t kick, but Blake himself overruled her objections.He’d said that he liked challenges, and he wasn’t backing off from this one.With his engineering expertise, he designed and directed the construction of a system of braces and pulleys that enabled Dione to lower him into the pool and hoist him out when the session was ended, something that he would soon be able to do for himself.One morning, after she’d been here a little over two weeks, Dione watched him as he devoured the breakfast that Alberta had prepared.Already it seemed that he was gaining weight.His face had fleshed out and wasn’t as gray as it had been.He’d burned a little during the first few days he’d been in the sun, but he hadn’t peeled, and now the light tan he’d acquired made his blue eyes seem even bluer.“What’re you staring at?” he demanded as Alberta removed the plate before him and replaced it with a bowl of fresh strawberries in cream.“You’re gaining weight,” Dione told him with immense satisfaction.“Shouldn’t wonder,” Alberta snorted as she left the room.“He’s eating like a horse.”Blake scowled at her, but dipped his spoon into the bowl and lifted a plump strawberry.His white teeth sank into the red fruit; then his tongue captured the juice that stained his lips.“That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?” he demanded grumpily.“To fatten me up?”She smiled and didn’t reply, watching as he demolished the fruit.Just as he was finishing Angela glided in with a telephone, which she placed on the table before him.After plugging it in, she gave him a shy smile and left.Blake sat there, staring at the phone.Dione hid a grin.“I think that means you have a call,” she prompted.He looked relieved.“Good.I was afraid you wanted me to eat it.”She chuckled and got to her feet.As he lifted the receiver and put it to his ear, she touched his shoulder lightly and murmured, “I’ll be in the gym; come down when you’re finished.”He met her eyes and nodded, already embroiled in conversation.She heard enough to know that he was talking to Richard, and just the thought of Richard was enough to pucker her brow in a line of worry.Serena had been very good after that first day; she’d come to see Blake only in the late afternoon, when Dione had completed her schedule for the day.She’d also learned not to wait until too late to arrive, or Blake would already be asleep.Most nights, Richard also arrived for dinner.Richard was a witty, entertaining man, with a dry sense of humor and a repertoire of jokes that often had her chuckling in her seat, but which couldn’t be repeated when Blake or Serena asked what was so funny.Dione couldn’t say that Richard had been less than a gentleman.In no way had he said or done anything that could be termed suggestive.It was just that she could read the deepening admiration in his eyes, sense the growing gentleness in the way he treated her.She wasn’t the only one who felt that perhaps Richard was becoming too fond of her; Serena was subtle, but she watched her husband sharply when he was talking with Dione.In a way, Dione was relieved; it meant that Serena was at least paying attention to her husband.But she didn’t want complications of that sort, especially when there was nothing to it [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]