This wasn"t real. He had to be dreaming. But it felt real. As real as the ache in his head.
What was she doing here like this?
Evan tried to sit up. A groan twisted from his lips. The very act of propping himself up on his elbows sapped all the available strength from his body like the last bit of liquid being sipped through a straw.
His groan woke her. Claire was on her feet instantly, crossing to him. The concern that furrowed her brow faded when she saw that his eyes were open and no longer gla.s.sy. They were focused on her.
Her smile was accompanied by a sigh of relief. He"d had her worried, even after the doctor had a.s.sured her he"d be all right.
"Hi." She banked down the desire to feather her fingers through his hair. "Welcome back."
Back? Had he been somewhere? Evan tried to think, but his head felt like a vacuum. A large, throbbing vacuum.
"What are you doing here?" Each word seemed to stick to his lips. They felt like dried sandpaper, and his voice sounded incredibly hoa.r.s.e to his ears.
Claire moved her shoulders, trying to work out the stiffness. She must have fallen asleep, she thought ruefully. It was rare that both children were down at the same time.
"Getting a crick in my neck," She rubbed it quickly, then bent over to touch her lips to his head in the age-old fashion of mothers everywhere. Satisfaction curved her mouth. "You"re cooler. Finally."
Straightening, Claire blew out a breath. It had been a long two days, and she was beginning to think she was going to have to call Dr. Richmond for a return visit. Not that he would have minded. Sometimes it paid, she mused, to be the daughter of a doctor, even though she hadn"t always thought so.
The fog in his brain refused to recede to shed any light on the situation. He was still unclear what she was doing here, although he vaguely remembered calling for her.
Or was that just a dream?
"I don"t recall getting into bed."
Claire laughed, remembering. "There"s a reason for that." She glanced at herself in the mirrored doors. She could stand a bit of tidying, she decided. All she could manage now was to run a hand through her hair. "You pa.s.sed out before I could get you into it."
She got him into bed? When had that happened?
"And the pajamas?" he questioned. Raising the covers, Evan saw that he had on the bottoms, as well as the top. The last thing he remembered was that he was wearing clothes. And feeling like h.e.l.l on a bad day.
Claire shrugged, purposely avoiding his eyes. She wasn"t altogether sure what she"d see there or how she"d react to it She was an adult she"d done what she had to do and that was that.
That wasn"t that. She"d undressed him and no matter what she told herself to the contrary, she had seen him naked. The man"s clothes, impeccably tailored or not hid a h.e.l.l of a great body.
"Your clothes were soaked clean through." There wasn"t a hint of emotion in her voice.
He still didn"t quite believe what she had done. Had he missed something? When had they gotten on this footing?
"You undressed me?" There was a hint of a smile in his voice. And on his face when she looked.
Hers was the soul of innocence. "I"d rather think of it as dressing you in pajamas." And then she smiled. "Don"t worry, I had my eyes shut the entire time."
"I wish I hadn"t." He meant that sincerely.
There had been an intimacy between them, a moment when she had placed niceties aside and had thought only of caring for him.
And he had missed it completely by being out of his head when it had happened. There was no way to make up for that.
And then, suddenly, his thoughts went beyond his own needs, to someone whose needs were greater.
"Rachel-"
It pleased Claire to see the genuine concern on Evan"s face. He wasn"t just a caretaker anymore. The little girl was actually getting to mean something to him. There was hope for him yet.
"Don"t worry, I"ve been looking after her. Libby"s with her now. Last I checked, they were both sound asleep." She laughed softly, smoothing out the blankets and sheet he had tangled. "You"re lucky Libby"s too young to understand she could be charging you for baby-sitting. She"s hardly left Rachel"s side."
He could feel his energy trickling from him, like a tap that hadn"t been properly closed. With a sigh, he lay back against his pillow, struggling to hold on to just a little of it.
Evan couldn"t remember the last time he"d been sick. "How many hours have I been out of it?"
There was an odd smile on her face when she looked at him. He wondered what it meant.
"Try "days.""
For a moment, the word didn"t fully register. "Days?"
She nodded. "Days." He really didn"t realize how sick he was, did he? "It"s Tuesday."
He"d been out only a few hours. Half a day, tops. She was pulling his leg. "That"s impossible."
Claire wondered where Evan had gotten this idea that he was nine parts invincible. "Want to see a newspaper?" she offered.
It wasn"t that he didn"t believe her; it was just that this new wrinkle made things so much more complicated. He"d just taken a week off to be with Rachel. He didn"t have time to be sick, too.
"But I"m supposed to be at work."
"Surprise." He looked so befuddled, she took pity on him. Claire perched on the edge of the bed, taking his hand the way she would Libby"s when she comforted her.
Maybe it would help him to know that things had been taken care of. "Don"t worry, I called in and explained everything to Alma. Mr. Donovan said not to come back until you"re well. He told me that he thought you"d work yourself into the ground someday."
She made it sound as if she and Donovan were old friends. Evan couldn"t remember ever having a personal conversation with the man in all the years he"d been with the corporation. Despite the fact that Donovan had taken a liking to him, all they had ever talked about was work.
"You spoke to Donovan?"
Why did he look so surprised? she wondered. "He"s a very nice man." Claire grinned, recalling the older man"s words. "He said that he"s happy you"re in such "capable hands.""
Evan looked at the hand covering his. It looked too soft and delicate to be capable. But he was beginning to appreciate, firsthand, that she was. "Would you know if-?"
Claire could tell exactly what was on his mind. It wasn"t difficult. "The takeover went through? No, it didn"t."
She"d made a point of asking and writing down the answer Donovan gave her. The fact that she had asked had prompted Donovan"s a.s.sessment of her. She decided not to mention that the man had said he"d looked forward to meeting her. That would put a definitely different spin on the relationship she and Evan had. She figured he didn"t react well to that kind of pressure.
"The figures you came up with impressed the representatives of the j.a.panese corporation so much, they decided to invest in your company. Endicott"s plans for a hostile takeover died a very grisly death, was the way Mr. Donovan saw it." She smiled, knowing Evan would be happy to hear this. "Seems you saved the day while lying flat on your back.
"Which is where you"re going to stay for the rest of today and until you"re feeling stronger," she added, negating any other ideas he might have.
That was fine with him. Right now, he had a feeling he couldn"t get up even if he wanted to. But he did have a question.
Evan held up his wrists. "What are these? They look a little droopy for bondage."
A sense of humor, she thought. This was beginning to look promising. The next thing you knew, he would even be human.
"Compresses. Handkerchiefs, actually," Claire amended. "I improvised. Dr. Richmond thought they were a good idea when he came over."
Evan"s eyebrows drew so close together, they formed one ripply dark line.
Maybe he was hallucinating again. Either that, or she was a witch. His vote was for the latter. Doctors never made house calls. "You had a doctor come over? How did you manage that?"
She decided that she liked catching him off guard like this. Liked the hint of admiration in his voice. She nodded. "Dr. David Richmond. He was my father"s best friend. I got him to make a house call." Actually, it had just taken a phone call on her part. "I think he still feels guilty about his slip, so he came right over on his lunch hour."
"Slip? You mean as in malpractice?" Just what kind of a doctor had she called?
"No, as in slip of the tongue. He once told me something about myself he didn"t realize I didn"t know." A rueful smile quirked her lips. "Something my father neglected to tell me during his confession."
Evan waited, curious what sort of an unwitting revelation would make a doctor feel guilty.
She wasn"t going to tell him, he realized, looking at her. His curiosity intensified. Evan wanted to know what sort of thing would upset her enough to make someone regret revealing it.
It was against his nature to pry. But then, it was also against his nature to be sick. "What did he tell you?"
She lifted a shoulder, then dropped it carelessly, as if she was trying to shrug off something. A weight, a feeling. Maybe she was.
Claire looked at Evan. He was a stranger. There was no reason to tell him anything.
Maybe there was no reason, but there was a need, she realized. A need to say it out loud and maybe make it finally disappear. It really wasn"t anything of major con-sequence. Except to her.
And possibly to the sister she didn"t know.
With a sigh, Claire looked out the window and "watched the rain leave patterns on the pane. The way some things left patterns on the soul. Like tears.
"His exact words were, "I wonder if your sister turned out as good as you did."" She turned, looking at Evan pointedly. "I don"t have a sister. I thought he had me confused with someone else and said so. Dr. Richmond looked very surprised. "Didn"t you know?" he asked. "Your father told me he told you.""
She knotted her fingers in her lap, something he noticed she did when she was feeling uncomfortable, defenseless.
"It seems that my father neglected to tell me everything. I had-have," she corrected, "a twin sister. My father didn"t want to adopt any children-my mother wanted to adopt immediately. They compromised and took one baby. Me." She"d lost count of the number of times she"d wondered what life would have been like for her if they"d chosen the other baby. "When my mother finally talked him into taking in the second baby, as well, my sister had already been adopted. Of course, they were never told by who." Claire clenched her hands together in frustration. The same frustration she had felt in the past month, ever since she"d found out. "There"s someone out there walking around with my face, and she probably doesn"t know it."
Surprised at her own tone, she shrugged off the mood. "How did I get started talking about this?"
Evan had studied her face while she spoke. He didn"t care for personal details. He saw them as needless, and they usually got in the way of things, of efficiency. But it was different with Claire.
He found himself wanting to know things about her. Little things, intimate things. For the first time in his life, he understood what motivated his brother"s spark of curiosity.
"Dr. Richmond," he prompted gently.
"Right, Dr. Richmond." Feeling slightly embarra.s.sed, Claire rose to her feet. She had to get back to the girls. Nap time was undoubtedly over. "Anyway, he came by, gave you a shot to lower your fever-it was pretty high by the time I called him." She"d debated calling an ambulance and decided to give the doctor a try first, knowing that Evan would have hated the fuss of being taken to the hospital emergency room. "And told me to watch you. So I did," she concluded brightly, trying to negate the somber moment she had just shared with him. "You didn"t do any tricks."
Her playful tone didn"t fool him. She had completely put herself out for him without being asked. "You stayed here all that time?"
She wasn"t quite sure if he would mind the invasion, but there was really no other choice. "Libby and I moved in. It seemed easier than dragging you over to my place." That had never even been a consideration. "You are one heavy man when you"re limp."
Bits and pieces were coming back to him. He vaguely remembered the sound of her voice in his ear as he was stumbling up the stairs.
And there was more. "Wasn"t the nanny supposed to start yesterday?"
He wasn"t going to like this. "It"s been postponed- indefinitely." She saw the confusion that creased his brow. "She wouldn"t set one foot into the house when I said you were sick," Claire explained. "Didn"t even let me explain. She was gone in a flash, saying you weren"t paying her enough to risk getting sick. Personally, I didn"t like her," Claire confided as she made her way to the door. "I think you should have been a little choosier."
She began to open the door, then remembered something else. So much had gone on while he was unconscious, it was hard to keep it all in order.
"Oh, and your brother called." She thought a moment, determined to get the message right. "He told me to tell you that he"s still trying to locate Marilyn."
"Marilyn?" The name meant nothing to him. Should it? "Who"s Marilyn?"
"Marilyn Schaffer." He still looked blank. Maybe his brain wasn"t focusing yet "That"s what the cruise entertainer"s name really was." She could see he still didn"t understand. "Siren. Rachel"s alleged mother?"
And then it dawned on him. The woman who had turned his life upside down. The woman whose face he barely remembered. The only woman whose face he could see clearly in his mind"s eye was Claire. "Oh."
The word gave her no clue. She wished she knew what he was thinking. Was he disappointed Devin couldn"t find her, or relieved? And which did she want him to be?
It didn"t matter what she wanted, she reminded herself. It was what was best for the baby that counted.
"Anyway, she quit her job. The cruise line"s personnel director doesn"t know where she went, and she moved out of the apartment she was leasing," Claire told him. "But Devin"s got a list of people she knew and he"s working on that." Finished with her recitation, she blew out a breath, then smiled. "He"s got a nice voice."
Evan accepted the compliment for his brother with a nod, absently wondering if Devin had flirted with her. That he might have flirted stirred something within Evan that went beyond the rivalry he"d initiated between them so many years ago. There was an uneasiness he didn"t quite understand.
"Some people say we sound alike on the phone." He dismissed the comment as petty. "Actually, they don"t." Evan looked at Claire, at a loss. "You know, I don"t know what to say."
Didn"t he realize that she didn"t want a profusion of words? That a simple thank-you would have been enough? And what was that comment about their voices all about? Was that a trace of jealousy? Claire shrugged; she"d probably just imagined it.
"Don"t say anything, just go back to sleep," she instructed, then glanced at her watch. She"d dozed for only fifteen minutes. "The kids were both napping when I came in, and now that I know you"re not going to slip into a coma, I"m going to get back to my own work."
Hesitating, Claire debated telling him, then decided she should. He might find out anyway if Libby got into his room. So far, she"d impressed her daughter with the need to keep her distance. She didn"t want Libby getting sick, as well.
"I"m using your computer. Don"t worry," she a.s.sured him quickly, antic.i.p.ating his protest. "I won"t destroy anything. I"ll even uninstall my program when I"m finished. But since I can"t be two places at once and I have to finish this presentation, I decided to commandeer your computer."
He didn"t care about the computer. Right now, he felt too weak to make use of it anyway. And it was an easy matter to replace it if something fatal actually did occur.
"I wasn"t going to say anything, except for thanks." His expression was rueful. "Doesn"t seem nearly good enough."
She smiled at him just before she shut the door. "It"s a start."
Evan didn"t remember falling asleep. But the next time he woke up, the rain had stopped. And something else had started.
The rhythmic, soothing sound had been replaced by Libby"s voice coming from right outside his door. She was begging Claire for a chance to come in. Evan was surprised at how firm Claire sounded, turning her down. It gave him the feeling that Claire really couldn"t be budged once she made up her mind about something.
He couldn"t help but admire that, even though he had a feeling it could be at his expense.