Page 153 of The Blessings of Christmas
One ankle turned and she went down, swinging her arms out to break the fall. Somehow she managed to avoid cracking her head open, but her glasses had fallen off. Again. And her ankle was killing her. She curled it up toward her body. Circling back, Malcolm crouched beside her. “Are you all right?”
Josie managed to roll over onto her back. “I'm not sure. My ankle hurts.”Hurts?It was screaming for help.
“Hold still. I'm just going to check a few things.” Oh so gently, Malcolm's hands moved from her knees down her calves to her ankle. In any other situation, this could have been exciting. But not today. When he reached her throbbing ankle, she couldn't help her pathetic yelp.
Malcolm's head dropped closer. Although she used to kid him about his sleeveless muscle shirts, this morning he looked pretty darn good in one. The gray shirt clung damply to his heaving chest. His fingers gently probed, and she yelped again.
“Sorry.” Malcolm looked up. “Nothing seems to be broken.”
“That's a relief.” Cripes, it was Christmas. She hadn't even started her shopping. Walking around in a cast would be a problem. She had so much to do. Getting up, he scanned the road. “I don't know how much traffic this road has. We could be waiting a long time.”
Standing back he eyed her. “How much do you weigh?”
“Too much for you to carry.” Was he crazy? She was not telling him her weight. That was top-secret information. The very idea of him carrying her back to town was ridiculous, not that she wouldn’t love to be cradled in his arms. He helped her up.
“I'm sure I can walk.”
“Really?” One hand cupping her elbow, he looked doubtful.
After one tentative step, Josie knew that walking wasn't happening. She had really screwed up. Still supported by him, she struggled to balance on one foot. “I have a phone. We could call someone.” She patted the pocket that held the phone. Hopefully, the phone hadn't cracked when she fell. “I'm so sorry, Malcolm.” What started out as a great run together had turned into a big problem for him. And she had caused it.
“Don't apologize. I'm just glad I was here with you.” He frowned down on her. “Josie, this is what I was just talking about. Imagine if you'd been running alone.”
If I'd been running alone, I would've been watching my step, not thinking about you.
As they stood there facing each other, a red pickup appeared on the horizon. She turned toward it and narrowed her eyes. “Wait a minute. I think that's Jackson Hart. You know, Emily's husband.”
“That's a break.” Stepping out into the road, Malcolm waved. Jackson had already seen them and was slowing down. In no time, the two guys had bundled her into the cab of the pickup. She fought a smile as she was squished between the two on Jackson's front seat.
And then they were off. “You must have really hurt yourself,” Jackson said, shifting gears and giving her a worried look. “Have you been crying?”
“What, no?” Her hands went to her eyes and came away with Mink Brown mascara on her fingers. Mascara that was supposed to be waterproof. So much for her efforts to be more feminine. Her heart plummeted. Josie rubbed one hand on the new jogging shorts.
“I didn't want to say anything,” Malcolm murmured, stretching one arm along the seat behind her.
“Tissue under the seat,” Jackson said, his lips twitching. Josie hoped he wasn't going to mention this to Emily.
Malcolm felt around until he found the tissues and plopped the box on her lap.
Josie had never realized that looking feminine was so much work.
CHAPTER 7
After Jackson had dropped them off and Malcom helped her into her cottage, Josie had sent Malcolm away. The thought of him hovering over her when she looked a mess only made her even more upset. She could hobble around just fine by hanging onto the furniture. Being an invalid wasn't her thing.
“Call me if you need anything.” Standing in her doorway, Malcolm clearly had second thoughts about leaving.
“I'll be fine. Pick me up in an hour or so and we can head to Open Hearth.” Her words seemed to work. She watched him drive away in his jeep. Josie wished that she didn't love spending time with him like this. The situation was a double-edged sword. The more time she spent with him, the more she wanted to be with him.
When had she ever felt so cared for? His advice about not running alone had both irritated and touched her. Malcolm was concerned about her. And when she fell? Maybe she would have done it earlier just to feel his hands efficiently checking for injuries. How bad was that?
They were friends. That’s all this was. Shoulders slumping Josie limped inside. No matter what Emily said, being more than Malcolm's friend was probably never going to happen.
Looking around at all the unopened Christmas boxes in her living room, she sighed. The large green bag that held the parts of an artificial tree loomed in the corner. Now she wished she had tackled that on Thanksgiving weekend, like a lot of other people. Maybe this year their tree in the library would have to do. And then there was one at Victoria's Pantry to enjoy. The Open Hearth would have one too. How would she ever manage to decorate her tree? She was dreaming.
But now she had to do something about her ankle.
After icing her ankle, she wrapped an ace bandage around it. This wasn't the first time she’d injured herself jogging. In her closet was a pair of crutches she'd used in the past. She got them out. By the time Malcolm arrived to pick her up, she was sitting on her front porch with her crutches. Christmas carols were playing on his radio when he helped her inside.
