Free Almost Twilight by Teresa McCarthy Page A

door, the one he used for guests, was not available. It was
undergoing a total redo. Lucky him. He had totally forgotten about it.
    The
entire situation was unbelievable.
    “Rafe,
you there, son?”
    “Why,
Dad? Just tell me why you did this to me?”
    There
was a long pause before Fritz spoke. “I wanted Candy to have a vacation. Is
that so hard to understand?”
    Rafe
curled his hands into two tight fists. “You sent her to my condo, on my flight,
on my vacation. And now that my mind has had a few minutes to digest this
entire situation, I seem to recall, it was you who cajoled me into refinishing
the second condo. Have you no decency at all?”
    “Speaking
of decency, I had a little chat with Ed Riley, the realtor for the Banter
place.”
    “Don’t
go off on another tangent, Dad. I’m talking about Nurse Richards.”
    “She
is pretty, ain’t she?” 
    “I’m
not going there.”
    But
she was pretty all right. However, there was no way Rafe was about to answer
that question with a yes. A pretty woman was one thing, marriage was quite
another.
     “Well,
then,” Fritz continued, “as I was saying, I was speaking to Ed about the Old
Banter house, and he said that you were looking at it. Listen, you might as
well put that notion out of your mind, because you can’t have it.”
    “I
already gave the man a down payment. It’s basically a done deal.”
    “Well,
you can undo it.”
    “Why?”
    “Because
you stole that house right from under Candy’s feet. Dang it, Rafe! That was the
only thing she wanted on God’s green earth, that’s why!”
    “Oh,
for crying out loud. That’s preposterous.”
    “I
ain’t caring what you think. You let that gal have her vacation free and clear,
and you give her back her house. When I told you old Banter was selling his
home, I never dreamed you’d go looking for a house like that. Dang it, Rafe. I
told Candy all about it, hoping she would buy it and stay in town. But if you
want to give it to her for a wedding present, well, that’s another thing all
together.”
    Rafe
hit his head against a nearby palm tree. “I’ll let her stay for free, and eat
my food for free, but on the point about the house, the answer is no. I have my
own plans.”
    “Plans
scams. You do what your father tells you to do.”
    “Not
on this one. And another thing, as a doctor, I’m telling you that you should
never have sent that woman on a plane by herself. She was petrified to be in
that enclosed space, not to mention a bit crazy.”
    “I
didn’t send her by herself. I knew you would be there, Rafe. I didn’t pay
medical school bills for nothing!” 
    Fritz’s
voice was rising, and Rafe had about all he could take. It was obvious his
father wasn’t going to admit doing anything wrong. Rafe didn’t even know why he
had called in the first place. The entire phone call was useless.
    “All
right, Dad. You won this round. But if you ever try to pass a woman off on me
again, let alone a woman who has claustrophobia and can’t handle her liquor,
I’m going to—”
    The dead
sound of the cell phone echoed in Rafe’s ear. With an oath trembling on his
lips, he dug his feet into the sand and spun around to head back to his condo.
    “Don’t
worry, Dr. Clearbrook, I’m never one to be passed on to any man, especially
you.”
    Rafe
froze. Candy Richards was holding on to the frame of the screen door, looking
so small and helpless in her wrinkled skirt and rumpled sweater that Rafe felt
like the worst fiend in the world.
    “Candy,
I can explain.”
    She
stepped into the sand, dragging her suitcase behind her. “I can find a place to
stay without your help, Doctor.”
    She
could barely stand and wouldn’t find a suitable car within a mile.
    “You’re
not going anywhere, Miss Richards.” 
    “You
just try to stop me, Doctor.”
    Rafe
smiled and leaned against the palm tree, watching as the lady hauled her
suitcase across the sand about fifteen feet, then stopped.
    The
sound of the