Page 16 of If She Only Knew (The Cahills 1)

Slowly, as if with all the effort in the world, her eyes opened a crack and then wider. She stared straight at him, impaling him with huge black pupils ringed by a tiny slice of green.

His heart jolted.

She squinted, blinked, but continued to keep him in her line of vision.

“I thought you . . . I’d better call a nurse or a doctor.” His knuckles turned white as he gripped the rail.

She lifted a hand to touch his and struggled to speak, but her lips moved over teeth that were laced together with wires and the words when they came were muffled. Nonetheless they rang distinctly through his brain and touched a nerve.

“Who are you?” she demanded, eyebrows drawing down over those harsh green eyes.

So she didn’t remember. A thorn of disappointment cut through his soul but he ignored it. His gut clenched. “I’m Nick.”

She dropped her hand and gave off what he supposed was a sigh. Still no hint of recognition lighted her gaze. “Nick?” she whispered with obvious difficulty. “The . . . brother?”

So she did know. “I think you refer to me as an outlaw.”

She didn’t respond.

“You know, as opposed to in-law,” he explained, lifting a shoulder. “Your in-law.” Nothing registered in that swollen black and blue face. “It was a joke.”

“A bad one.” Her eyes began to close again. “A really bad one,” she mumbled around the wires, her voice fading.

“I’ll come up with something better next time,” he said and she didn’t respond. “Marla?” Oh, hell, she couldn’t drift off again! The last he’d heard she hadn’t woken up at all; that’s what Alex had said on the phone earlier when he’d suggested they meet here in the hospital room, which, as it turned out, hadn’t been such a hot idea.

He shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his leather jacket and walked out of the room in search of a nurse. Being alone with a woman who seemed to drift in and out of consciousness wasn’t his idea of a party. Especially when that woman was Marla Amhurst Cahill. He glanced over his shoulder to the open door and saw her lying, unmoving, on the bed. She looked real bad. But, now that she was rousing and healing, that would soon change.

No doubt she’d be beautiful again.

Not that he cared.

What was the old saying? Once burned, twice shy? Well, he’d already been burned big time. This time he’d be shy—shy as hell.

Chapter Three

“I’m telling you she woke up, stared me straight in the eye and asked me who I was,” Nick said, still unnerved. Leaning against the window casement in the sitting room of the hundred-year-old mansion where he’d grown up, he yanked at the collar of his shirt and glanced at his mother. “I was explaining what had happened to a nurse just as Alex flew in. Once I filled him in, I left. I figured he and his wife might want to be alone. They have a lot to catch up on.”

“Well, thank goodness she’s had a breakthrough,” Eugenia said from her favorite high-backed chair. “I’ve

been so worried, you don’t know. This has been a nightmare, Nick, an absolute nightmare.”

“It’s not over yet.”

“Oh, I know.” She shook her head and not one strand of apricot-colored hair moved.

The phone jangled in another part of the house, but Eugenia didn’t budge, just glanced toward the archway leading to the foyer of the house. Located on Mount Sutro, with a commanding view of the city and Bay, the gated estate with its imposing house—Craftsman rather than Victorian, he’d been reminded more than a dozen times—had been a source of pride to every member of his family. Except for him. He hated it.

The phone jangled sharply again, then became silent. “Carmen must have gotten it,” Eugenia said. “Probably reporters or the police. Ever since the accident, they haven’t left us alone. Some even camped out near the front gate for a while, until another more interesting story came along.” She rolled her eyes. “I never thought I’d see the day when I was glad there was some political scandal afoot at the governor’s office.”

“The price of fame,” he said.

“Yes, well . . .” She cleared her throat and fiddled with the strand of pearls around her neck.

Quick footsteps hurried down the hallway and within seconds a slim woman with shining black hair and almond-shaped eyes rounded the corner. Dressed in a crisp white blouse with the sleeves rolled up and narrow black skirt, she offered Nick a confident smile as she carried a cordless phone to his mother.

“It’s Mr. Cahill from the hospital.”

“Good.” Eugenia took the proffered phone and waved her fingers in Nick’s direction. “Carmen, this is my other son. Nicholas.” She looked over the top of her glasses. “Carmen just about runs this place. What with everything that’s going on, I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

---