The knock on her door Sunday morning had Hadley burying her face in her pillow. “Go away.”

The words came out like a croak.

The pounding continued. Maybe it was in her head. She’d awakened during the night and taken a couple of Advil for the headache that had settled behind her eyes. Almost immediately, she regretted getting up as her stomach rolled.

Stumbling back to bed, she cursed herself for having that second hot dog at the baseball game. That had to be why she felt like puking.

The knock sounded again. Closer this time. On her bedroom door?

“Hadley?” It was David’s voice. Deep and filled with concern. “We need to leave for the Cherry Fun Run in fifteen. Are you still coming?”

The Cherry Fun Run. Hadley groaned. She’d forgotten that was today.

Get up, she told herself. You’ll feel better if you just get up.

“Just a minute.” Hadley pushed herself up to a sitting position, placing her hands on the mattress when the room began to spin. Once it righted itself, she stood, swayed. “I need to—”

The next thing she knew, she was on the floor with David kneeling beside her. His gray eyes searched her face.

“I don’t feel so good.” She tried for a smile, but couldn’t find the energy.

“Did you hurt yourself when you fell?” Even as he asked, his hands were on her, checking her arms and legs and head. “You’ve got a bump on your head, but it’s not bleeding. You didn’t lose consciousness.”

“My head hurts.”

Those beautiful eyes sharpened.

“Not from the fall.” She swallowed against the bile rising in her throat. “I woke up with a headache.”

Hadley swallowed again. “And lots of nausea.”

“You caught what’s going around.” Through aching eyes, she watched the tension leave his shoulders. “Those are the same symptoms Steve Bloom reported. Vanessa Eden and Izzy Deshler came down with it, too.”

“Is she going to be okay?” Brynn’s plaintive voice sounded from the doorway.

“She’ll be fine,” David answered without turning around. “Hadley has that stomach bug that’s been making the rounds. We won’t be going to the run today.”

“You can go.” Hadley tried to wave them away. “I don’t want to ruin your day. I’ll be fine. I’ll just…lay here.”

“We’re not leaving you.” David turned to his daughter. “Brynn, she’s running a fever. Could you get a washcloth, run some cold water over it, then bring it to me?”

“I’ll get it.”

“Be sure and wring it out good,” he called to her retreating back.

“I’m sorry.” Hadley’s lips trembled.

He brushed a gentle hand across her forehead. “What do you have to be sorry for?”

Hadley thought of all the lies between them, thought how he was going to feel when he learned she’d been keeping secrets. He would hate her. If she were him, she’d hate her. She couldn’t bear it if David hated her. Tears slipped down her cheeks.

“So much,” she said. “There’s so much.”

“It’s okay.” His voice soothed as much as his hand. “I’m here.”

She clutched his hand as if it was a life preserver that could keep her from going under. Though she knew there was no saving her. Not after what she’d done. “Don’t leave me.”

Hadley told herself to buck up, not to be such a baby. It was what her father the police detective had said to her when she was sick. He’d been a man’s man, uncomfortable with tears and emotions. She knew he’d loved her, thought he had, but he never told her.

Justin had known all the right words. He’d quoted poetry, told her she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. He’d been a Prince Charming come to life. Her Prince Charming. At first.

“I don’t need anyone.” Hadley put her hands against David’s chest and pushed. “I don’t need you.”

The lie of it made her want to cry some more. She was tired of all the lies. So very tired. Her throbbing head made her weepy.

“Relax.” David gently brushed her hair back from her face.

“Here it is, Daddy.” Brynn handed her father the washcloth and knelt beside him. The eyes that searched Hadley’s face seemed too large. “Are you going to be okay?”

Hadley mustered a smile. “Absolutely.”

David wiped her face with gentle hands, removing the tears and perspiration, cooling the heat.

“It feels so good.” The cooling cloth, his strong arms around her gently supporting her. David didn’t shower her with pretty words, but he cared. He was showing her he cared.

Every day, by his consideration and kindness, he showed her he cared. “You’re a good man.”

“I’m glad you think so.” His gaze searched her face. “Do you want to go back to bed? This floor can be pretty hard.”

“I’d like to sit in a chair.” The thought of lying down had her stomach churning.

“Your wish is my command.” Getting to his feet, he bent over and scooped her into his arms.

Instead of setting her down in the chair in her sitting area, he strode into the hall. “Where are we going?”

“Somewhere I can keep an eye on you.” David didn’t stop until they’d reached the living room. He had Brynn move aside a cotton throw, then deposited Hadley into an overstuffed chair, lifting her feet up on the ottoman.

Cool air had her skin turning to gooseflesh. Only then did Hadley realize she wore only a cotton sleep shirt that stopped at midthigh. If David noticed all the bare skin, he gave no indication.

He tucked the throw around her, then stepped back, his gaze sharp and assessing. “How are you feeling?”

Behind him, Brynn looked like a pale, lost ghost.

“Better. Thanks.” Hadley summoned a smile. Her gaze settled on Brynn. “That cool washcloth really made a difference.”

Hadley was rewarded with a quick smile.

David stepped back. “Now that you’re settled, what can we get you?”

“I took four Advil during the night, so I can’t have any more of that for a while.” Hadley leaned her head against the back of the chair. “I’m fine for now.”

“Brynn, there are bowls in the lower cupboard to the left of the dishwasher.” David turned to his daughter. “Get the biggest one you can find and bring it, please.”

Confusion furrowed Brynn’s brow. “Why?”

“Your dad is afraid I might get sick all over his nice furniture.”

David shook his head. “Your stomach is upset. You’re unsteady on your feet. If you feel like you’re going to be sick, I don’t want you to try to get up.”

Shame washed over Hadley. “I’m sorry.”

“We’re going to take care of you.” His hand on her shoulder was as comforting as a caress. His gaze shifted to his daughter.

“Right away.” Brynn hurried from the room.

“I’m going to whip up some breakfast for Brynn.”

Hadley lifted a hand before he could ask. “Nothing for me.”

He nodded. “Later, maybe, some toast or a banana.”

Eventually, Hadley supposed, but right now the thought of eating had bile rising in her throat. “Maybe.”

“Here you go, Daddy.” Brynn handed him a large Pyrex bowl.

“Perfect size.” David placed it beside Hadley on the table next to the chair. “If you need it, it’s there.”

“Thank you.” Her lips began to tremble, then she realized it wasn’t just her lips, it was her whole body. She gave a violent shudder. “All of a sudden, I’m freezing.”

Brynn grabbed another throw and brought it to her, tucking it around Hadley with awkward movements.

The child’s gaze locked with hers. “I don’t want you to be sick.”

“Me, either. But I heal quickly. Just wait and see.”

David smiled at his daughter. “Why don’t you get a book? You can sit here and watch over Hadley while I make us breakfast.”

“I could read to her?” Brynn’s voice turned eager. “That would—”

David had started to shake his head, but Hadley answered before he could.

“I’d like that. As long as you don’t mind if I shut my eyes while you read?”

“You can even sleep if you want,” Brynn told her. “I don’t mind.”

Hadley fell asleep to the sound of Brynn reading The Secret Garden, a childhood favorite of hers.

When she awoke hours later, the fever was gone and her headache had gone from hurricane force to a minor rainstorm. Even her stomach seemed…stable.

“You’re awake.”

Very slowly, Hadley turned her head.

David was on the sofa, computer open on his lap.

“Where’s Brynn?”

Setting the laptop aside, he searched her face with his sharp-eyed gaze. “First, how are you feeling?”

“Better. I think the fever broke.”

He stood then and moved to her side, resting the back of his hand against her forehead. “I believe you’re right. How’s the stomach?”

The loud growl that answered him had even Ruckus lifting his head to stare.

“That’s better, too. In fact, I think I could try some toast.” She glanced around. “Where’s Brynn?” she asked again.

“She’s in her room making you a present.”

Hadley’s lips lifted in a slow smile. “What kind of present?”

“A secret one. She wouldn’t even tell me what it is. But she’s been working on it for nearly an hour, so…who knows.”

Hadley found she could return his smile without effort. “What were you doing?”

His gaze followed hers to the laptop. “You fell asleep while Brynn was reading. She and I had breakfast, then I settled down to work.”

Her heart became a heavy mass in her chest. “And to watch over me.”

“And to watch over you,” he conceded.

Tears filled her eyes and spilled over.

“Hey.” He crouched beside her chair and wiped them away with the pads of his thumbs. “There’s no need to cry.”

“What’s wrong?” Brynn stood in the doorway, a bunch of papers in one hand, a stricken look on her face. “Is she worse?”

“No.” Hadley took a breath and brought her emotions under control. “In fact, I feel so good, your father was just about to make me some toast.”

Brynn’s suspicious gaze shifted to her dad.

“It’s true.” David gave Hadley’s shoulder a squeeze, then straightened. “Her fever is gone, and her stomach growled so loud it woke Ruckus.”

Brynn’s giggle had everything in Hadley relaxing.

“Would you mind keeping her company while I make the toast?” David started toward the kitchen as if he already knew his daughter’s answer.

“I can show her my book.” The words spilled from Brynn’s lips. “It’s my present.”

“You wrote a book for me?” Hadley asked Brynn as she dropped down on the arm of the chair.

“It’s a book about us.” Brynn thrust the papers that had been carefully stapled together into Hadley’s hands. “It’s called The Adventures of Hadley and Brynn, Forever Friends.”

The tears wanted to come again, but Hadley blinked them back and smiled at Brynn. “I can’t wait to read it.”

* * *

Hadley’s illness derailed plans to visit the beach on Monday. But Tuesday afternoon found the three of them soaking in the vitamin D. Too late, Hadley realized the only bathing suit she’d packed when she left her apartment was her bikini. The momentary thought of stopping by construction zone central to retrieve her one-piece struck her as ridiculous.

Before the towels were even on the sand, Brynn had shed the clothes she’d worn over her suit and turned toward the water.

“Wait.” Hadley reached into the brightly striped beach bag and pulled out the sunscreen. “You need to put this on first.”

After casting a longing glance at the water, where her friend Lia splashed, Brynn took the tube from Hadley’s hand and slathered on the lotion.

“I’m coming,” Brynn called to Lia.

“One more second.” Hadley took the sunscreen and applied it to Brynn’s back, then gave the child a friendly shove. “Have fun.”

Long legs kicking up sand on the way, Brynn joined her friend in the water.

Hadley’s heart gave a ping. “She looks so grown-up.”

“She’s still a child.” David gestured to the beach toys. “She insisted I bring these with us.”

Hadley lifted a bright orange plastic shovel from the mesh bag. “I like digging in the sand. I especially like building castles.”

“I do, too.” David gave her a lopsided grin. “I thought that was the architect in me.”

“No.” Hadley kept her voice matter-of-fact and her gaze averted as she casually peeled off her shirt and stepped out of her shorts. “That’s the boy in you.”

Her skin heated beneath his assessing gaze. Brynn wasn’t the only one yearning for cold water. “I think I’ll join Brynn and Lia.”

“Not so fast.”

The touch of his hand on her arm had her turning.

At her questioning glance, he held up the tube she’d dropped on one of the towels. “Sunscreen?”

She’d made such a big deal with Brynn, she could hardly tell him it wasn’t necessary.

“Almost forgot.” Hadley shot him a sunny smile, trying not to stare at his broad chest covered with a light dusting of dark hair. The sunscreen went on in record time, and she shifted to head toward the water.

“Not so fast.” David stepped close. “Can’t forget your back.”

Hadley’s breath caught as his skilled fingers skimmed across the skin of her upper back before moving lower. She tried to concentrate on the white sand, on the other families who’d come out on this weekday afternoon to enjoy the unusually warm August day.

But the feel of David’s fingers on her flesh had her desperately wanting to turn around, wrap her hands around his neck and give him a ferocious kiss.

“All done.”

His husky voice reminded her of how he’d sounded the last time she’d been in his arms. When had that been? Too long. Way too long.

When he pressed the tube into her hand and turned, Hadley realized the sweet torture hadn’t ended. This time, it was her turn to touch him.

* * *

“I must be weaker than I think.” Hadley’s glance drifted toward shore. “Or more out of shape.”

“From what I can see, you’re in excellent shape.” David grinned and continued to tread water.

He and Hadley had spent time playing in the water with Lia and Brynn before swimming farther out. The sun was warm, okay, hot, but the cold water offset the rays.

This was the first time this summer he’d taken Brynn to the beach. What had been so doggone important that he’d denied both of them this simple pleasure until now? Of course, it wouldn’t have been nearly so fun without Hadley.

“Let’s swim back. Build a sand castle. Chill for a while.”

Seeing the fatigue on her face, David cursed himself for his insensitivity.

“Come closer. I’ll hold you and you can rest for a few minutes. Then we’ll swim back.” This was meant to be a kind offer, not a self-serving one. They were, after all, far from shore.

But when Hadley obligingly wrapped her arms and legs around him while he continued to tread water, David was unprepared for the jolt of lust. For the first time, he wished the water was ten degrees colder.

Though his hands were busy with the water, her mouth was incredibly close. He forced his attention to her eyes. Her beautiful blue eyes held flecks of gold, just like Brynn’s.

Despite David’s resolve, his gaze refused to linger there, dropping instead to her full mouth. He knew how good it felt, how right it felt, to press his lips to hers…

“Thanks for the break.” Hadley unfastened her hands and legs and pushed back from him. Color rode high in her cheeks from the sun. “Race you back to shore.”

David caught up with her and grabbed her foot just as she reached the sand. Hadley gave a little scream and collapsed as if she could make it no farther. With her lower legs and feet still in the water, she rolled over, her body covered in sand.

Leaning over, David bracketed her upper body between his arms. “I’ve got you now.”

She laughed up at him, blue eyes dancing. “Now that you’ve got me, what are you going to do with me?”

He knew what he wanted to do, what he’d longed to do since they were interrupted before, but before he could kiss her, Brynn and Lia pounced, laughing like hyenas.

“Play shark with us, too, Daddy. Please?”

Hadley raised a brow. “Shark?”

David grinned when the girls continued to plead. “Duty calls.”

With an overly dramatic growl, he dove underwater and went after his prey.