Free Temporary Fiancée by Judy Rogers

Rand said calmly. “Call 911 while I go take a look.”
    Haley had already slipped back into her nightshirt and was attempting to dial the emergency number when Angela snatched the phone out of her hand. “Give me that. Little fluff dolls like you are useless in emergencies.”
    Haley didn’t react to the fluff doll comment. Angela was obviously distraught. Leaving her to the phone, she raced down the hall to George Blakely’s bedroom. George, wearing gray striped cotton pajamas, was laying on the bed, groaning pitifully, one arm clutched to his stomach.
    Rand stood to one side, holding the other arm, taking his pulse. He looked up as Haley entered the room. “His pulse is steady. He says the pains seem to be more in his stomach than his chest, and he’s had diarrhea.”
    Haley suddenly felt sick herself. The salmon. George could have food poisoning from the salmon. He had eaten more than anyone else, and she had worried about leaving it in the car in the hot sun.
    “He may have food poisoning,” Haley said nervously.
    “Food poisoning!” Angela’s horrified voice echoed behind her.
    “How could he get food poisoning?” Rand leveled a hard stare at her. “Was something wrong with the dinner you served?”
    Haley looked at the floor. “There may have been a problem with the salmon.”
    “You bitch!” Angela yelled. “You tried to poison my father with bad salmon. As soon as the paramedics come, I’m calling the police.”
    Haley’s head came up and she stared at Angela. She felt badly about the salmon, but it was an accident. No one could possibly construe bad salmon as an attempted murder. Could they? Actually, Angela seemed quite capable of doing just that.
    Haley threw a helpless glance at Rand, then shuddered. He was glaring at her as if he would sign any charges Angela might bring against her, and he might add a few of his own for good measure.
    Angela threw herself into Rand’s arms. “I don’t know what I’ll do if Daddy dies,” she sobbed.
    The sobs sounded a little forced to Haley. “Food poisoning is not usually fatal. If it is food poisoning. No one else is sick, and we all ate the salmon.”
    Angela turned on her in a rage. Towering over Haley, she grabbed her shoulders and shook her. “Don’t try to pretend that you’re not responsible for...”
    There was a low growl from the corner of the room, and suddenly a twenty-five pound missile sailed through the air straight at Angela, who screamed and stumbled backwards out of the way. Delphine had launched her attack in Haley’s defense, and when Angela ducked out of her way, the dog continued sailing straight into the wall. With a loud thud, the cocker spaniel fell in a heap on the floor. After a moment of stunned silence, the dog began whimpering.
    Simultaneously Haley and Rand moved toward her, but Rand reached her first. He gently moved his hands over the dog, frowning when Delphine licked his fingers. “She’s okay. I think she’s just stunned.”
    Haley knelt beside Rand and patted Delphine’s head. The dog rolled onto her back, offering her stomach, and they both chuckled.
    “How dare you act as if that dog is more important than my father?” Angela railed from the other side of the room.
    Rand and Haley looked guiltily at each other. As Rand moved to stand up, the doorbell pealed, accompanied by a loud knocking. “Sounds like the paramedics are here.”
    “I’ll let them in,” Haley offered, realizing that Rand was wincing with every step he took. He’d been putting weight on the broken leg all evening.
    The paramedics checked George’s vital signs, acknowledged that it didn’t look like a heart attack, but they hooked him up to a monitor and loaded him into the ambulance just to be on the safe side. Angela and Rand hurriedly changed clothes. When Rand tried to pull his car out of the garage to follow the emergency vehicle, Angela, with one hand clenched on the stretcher, begged him to go with her in the