Free Stranger on the Shore by Carol Duncan Perry Page A

involvement with her grandparents' out-of-town family guests, for Sarah the weekend dragged. She moved automatically through the days, helping her grandmother prepare meals for their visitors, but isolated by the endless churning of her thoughts.
    She had to meet Jordan Matthias on Monday. She'd promised. Why did she find him so attractive? The answer came as swiftly as a summer thunderstorm rolling across the valley. She found him attractive because he made her feel desirable.
    It had been so long since she'd allowed herself to be Sarah, the woman. She was Jimmy Joe's playmate, T.J.'s cousin, Aunt Cinda's niece, and daughter to her grandparents. She was friend and prodigy to Sam Bascomb, neighbor to the population of Mountain Springs and teacher to classrooms full of students. She was all those things, but to Jordan Matthias she was simply a woman, a woman he found attractive.
    Saturday dragged into Sunday. The house remained filled with relatives. She participated automatically, a part of the activity around her, yet separate. Even as she prepared a tub of potato salad, Jordan continued to invade her thoughts. She knew he'd be gone soon. The leaving was inherent with the coming. He would collect the material he needed for his article, then go without making a ripple in the placid life of Mountain Springs.
    Would it make a difference in the scheme of things if she stepped beyond the limits of her life in the valley? No. This one time she could pretend to be just Sarah, a woman no different from any other. This once she would be a woman like any other. A woman in body and soul. What harm could it do? Certainly none to him.
    Besides, she had promised to meet him. She wanted to meet him. She wanted to be in his arms one more time before he disappeared. She wanted to experience what other women, those not so guarded, did. She wanted to feel her body sing.

 
     
     
    Chapter 5

     
    Jordan smiled in satisfaction as his eyes strayed to the woman seated beside him. He'd been right. Sarah Wilson had arrived at the fishing camp at exactly ten o'clock. Despite her promise, he'd felt a rush of relief when he caught sight of her through the windshield of her dusty vehicle. During the three days since she'd left him behind in the clearing, he'd thought of almost nothing else. Jordan couldn't remember when he'd felt such an instant attraction to a woman. And he knew she felt it too. They were like a pair of magnets. However, he couldn't remember when attraction had been less convenient. Wrong place. Wrong woman. Somehow, he had to ignore the spell she cast with those mystic eyes, the feel of her gently rounded—
    No, Jordan! He had to focus on his reason for being here.
    As she'd suggested, he had spent most of Friday and part of Saturday checking area sources for information on Monte Ne. He found the old resort a fascinating subject. Sarah was right. It did deserve recognition for its place in history. He would do an article on Monte Ne, but he still wanted the story on Sarah. She certainly didn't fit the usual psychic subject profile. That gave him hope that this time, maybe he had found the magic.
    Jordan ignored a nagging twinge of guilt. After all, he only intended to tell the truth. If she proved to be psychic, she should have no objection to that. That she seemed to avoid publicity was certainly an anomaly when compared to his previous investigations. It could be a point in her favor. But, if she turned out to be another fake, well, she deserved no sympathy.
    He cast another quick glance in her direction. She'd already thrown him one curve this morning. After that interlude on the bluff he'd expected her to show up wearing her guarded reserve like a shield. Instead, she'd bounced out of the car, eyes shining, like a child anticipating a special treat.
    "The missing boy, Jake said he was safe and sound." Jordan disciplined the tone of his voice to reflect casual interest. He didn't want her suspecting he'd guessed the reason she'd