Chapter One

"Hey! You, there! Could you give me a hand, please?"

Wyatt Crawford halted, looking in every direction for a person belonging to the voice he heard. Seeing no one, he proceeded down the sidewalk.

"Wait! Hey! Wyatt Crawford. Is that you? Please don't go. Will you help me down, please?"

Realizing the voice was above him, he looked into the old oak tree he stood under and spotted a pair of jean clad legs with bare feet - the loveliest bare feet he'd ever seen with pink, pearly toe nails. Incredulous, he stepped closer to the legs to catch a glimpse of their owner's face.

"Oh, thank you! I was beginning to think I'd be stuck up here all day. The neighbor's dog scared my Muffin and chased him right up the tree, so of course I had to rescue the poor thing."

"Your muffin?" Wyatt peered into a face he knew, but couldn't place.

"Muffin…my kitty," she pointed to a ball wrapped inside the tail of an ice-blue t-shirt that accentuated her bright blue eyes.

"Awe…I see. And now that you have the kitten in one arm, you can't get down. I guess jumping is out of the question?"

A shadow of something Wyatt couldn't define crossed her face before she gave him an impish smile, "Ladies do not jump from tree limbs. They're supposed to wait for a knight to come to their rescue."

"Awe! Ladies can climb trees, but jumping out of them is out of the question. I see. And I suppose you expect me to be your knight," he decided to play along.

"Why, of course. Why else would God have sent you instead of…um…well, Jimmy Stickler for instance?"

"Jimmy Stickler?" he chuckled.

"Yes. Of course, if Jimmy Stickler would have passed under the tree, I wouldn't have stopped him. I would have remained as quiet as an opossum hanging from his tail." Her eyes sparkled with a mixture of mischief and sincerity. "But, when I saw it was you and not Jimmy, I breathed a prayer of relief. Jimmy would tease me mercilessly. Then, once he had me out of the tree, he'd expect a kiss or something in return." She crinkled her nose and shuttered in revulsion.

"And you think I won't?"

"Of course not. You've never been interested in me before, why would you start now?"

Her matter-of-fact nonchalance threw him for a moment before he caught up with the rest of her chatter.

"Besides, I know your mom raised you to be a perfect gentleman. You would never be as oafish as Jimmy. Now, if you'll just help me down, please, we can both get back to what we were supposed to be doing before Muffin got a life scared out of him."

"And what is it that you're supposed to be doing?" Not normally a tease, Wyatt couldn't seem to help himself with this perky little blond stranded in the tree.

"I’m supposed to be weeding the garden and if I don't hurry and get down, I'll be in a pickle for sure. Momma will be home in an hour and I haven't a moment more to waste."

"Well, when you put it that way…I'd hate to see you get into trouble."

Wyatt stepped closer and, reaching up, he wrapped his huge, dark hands around her tiny waist. Their faces came within inches of each other before her feet touched the ground and Wyatt suddenly realized who he held in his hands. Sarah, the crippled girl! How did she ever get herself up in the tree by herself?

Making sure her feet were steady on the ground, he held her a little longer than necessary. Just as he started to let go, Muffin decided he'd had enough of being wrapped up in her t-shirt and clawed her way to escape. The surprise and pain of Muffin's claws on her abdomen caused Sarah to start, knocking Wyatt off balance.

"What on earth?"

"Owe! Muffin!"

Thud! They both hit the ground in a tangle.

"Oh, no! She ran up the other tree. Whatever am I going to do with that kitten," she peered into the Maple.

"I don't give a wit about that ferocious little beast. My concern is for you. Are you ok, Sarah? Did you get hurt?"

"He's not ferocious. He's usually very gentle. He's just very scared. It's been a very upsetting day for him," her face still peering at the tree Muffin disappeared into. "And, yes, I'm fine."

"Well at least one of us is," he gritted his teeth, wondering with relief when she'd have the sense to get off of him.

Swinging her gaze to his face, he saw concern and panic flicker across her face. "I'm so sorry! Oh, Wyatt…you're hurt! How stupid of me to be more concerned over Muffin than you! What can I do to help? Is it your head?" She started examining his head for injuries.

Her face only inches from his seemed to have a mesmerizing effect on him. You could start by kissing me. He cleared his throat. "Uh…well…maybe you could start by getting off me."

Her satiny white cheeks bloomed in the most becoming fiery rose he'd ever seen. "O-of course. I'm so sorry. What must you think of me?"

Sarah rolled off him before he could blink and he felt the loss of her nearness. He watched as she struggle to her feet and held out a hand to help him up.

Waving her away, he gingerly pulled himself to his feet, "That's alright…thanks anyway." His tail bone was screaming from where he landed on a root, but he wasn't about to tell her that. "I'm more concerned about you. Did you hurt your leg?"

Peering down into her liquid pools of sky, his breath hitched in his chest. Why had he never realized Sarah Parker's beauty before? Looking at her now, he could see that her beauty wasn't just skin deep, either. In that brief moment, he saw clear through to the purity of soul. She seemed so different than the women he met in the corporate world. She was rather refreshing.

She must have sensed his scrutiny as the rose of her cheeks grew deeper. "I'm fine, thanks. Um…would you like to, uh, to sit and have a glass of sweet tea?"

"There's nothing I'd like better, Sarah, but I was just on my way to meet with a client."

Sarah's eyes grew large. "Oh, Wyatt!" Covering her face with her hands, she said, "I'm so sorry. Just look what I've done to you. You can't meet a client looking like that."

Dread crept up his spine as he looked himself over and saw stains of mud and grass all over his suit. Plastering on his most convincing smile, he said, "That's ok. I left my notes at home. I was on my way to pick them up when I heard you calling. I'll just change while I’m there."

A giggle erupted from Sarah as she stepped closer and reached to pull a leaf from his hair. "You may need a shower, while you're at it. I'm sorry to be the cause of so much trouble."

She stood so close that he caught a whiff of her powdery fresh scent, nearly undoing him. Without thinking he reached to brush a strand of hair out of her face. His voice grew low and husky. "Yes…well, I'm not. It was worth the trouble."

Heat crept up the back of his neck. He hadn't meant speak his thoughts. But rather than stepping away, Sarah froze and stared wide-eyed into his. Feeling an overwhelming desire to wrap his arms around her and kiss her until her toes curled, he cleared his throat and tapped her on the nose.

"Guess I'd better go or I'll be late for that appointment." His voice still husky, he cleared his throat. Backing away slowly, he sent her a wobbly wave, "I'll see you later, okay," he mumbled and started down the side walk.

Before crossing the street, he turned to see her watching his departure. She lifted her hand in a weak wave, her eyes sparkling and face illuminated with what he hoped to be the same attraction he felt toward her.

~Linnette R Mullin