"Your sister?" Bo rose from putting on one sock to look her way, his sightless eyes searching.
"Yes, my sister." Julie stood. "Jessica was born blind. She and your brother are the main reasons I'm here right now."
"Younger or older?" Bo asked, his tone of voice totally changing, as did his features. It was like understanding the reason for her being shoved into his life made a difference to his attitude.
"I'm older by a year and a half," Julie replied. "Now, enough of that. You'll be meeting my younger sister soon enough. And you think I'm bad…."
"So you devote your time to the blind because you feel guilty she was born blind and you weren't," Bo said, his look thoughtful.
"Wow, did we just have a Dr. Phil moment?" Julie rolled her eyes, but deep inside a part of her had always wondered if that was why she fought so hard to help each and every blind person put in her path. She had watched her sister's struggle and hated every minute of her suffering. Her eyes met Clay's before quickly looking away, making sure her feelings were hidden because his probing stare saw more than she was willing to share. "I'll tell you what. You chill out, learn what you can without being a pain in the ass, and maybe we will have a come-to-Jesus moment about my life."
"That's tempting." Bo did grin this time.
Julie ignored him as she walked over to his dresser. "I'm going to organize all your clothes by color and style, so when you dress you'll be coordinated." She glanced at Clay. His probing stare was driving her insane. "I'm sure you have horse stuff to take care of. I think Bo is past the point of wanting to kill me."
"For the moment," Bo added, before lying back on the bed.
"See." Julie smiled with encouragement.
As if on cue, Clay's phone rang. He stared at her for a few moments longer as his phone continued to ring, before turning and walking out the door. A sigh slipped past her lips, indicating she had been holding her breath. The quicker she got his brother on the right track, the better for her and her heart.
Chapter Five
With Bo's boots on again, Julie tackled the stairs. She needed to map out the whole house so Bo could memorize the step count. It wasn't a foolproof way, but it would give Bo the freedom and confidence to move around more.
Making it halfway down the steps, she heard Clay's deep voice coming from the kitchen and her brain turned to mush. She really needed to get over this infatuation she had going on and do her damn job. Since high school, she had thought of Clay Marshall on and off, even to the point of measuring guys she dated against him. And every single one of them came up short.
Once, she had talked to her sister about Clay, but didn't have the courage to do anything about it. Jessica had told her to go for it. That he would be crazy not to be interested, but she was her sister. She had to say that. They were so different on so many levels, total opposites, and yet he was the only guy she'd truly crushed on during her high school days. Obviously she hadn't matured in adulthood, and was still crushing.
Cursing herself, she realized she had lost count. "Focus," she whispered to herself. Turning, she used the pencil as a pointer to count from the top step down, then turned back quickly. Her body moved faster than her booted feet and she fell down the rest of the steps.
Once her body came to a crashing halt, she squeezed her eyes shut, praying that no one had heard her embarrassing tumble. When she heard running, she moaned.
"Julie?" Clay's concerned voice yelled. "Son of a bitch."
Slowly, she opened her eyes just as Clay bent down, his large hands clasping her arms. Her body shivered at his touch. "I'm okay," she lied. She was far from okay; she felt like an idiot and knew her face was blotchy red from embarrassment.
"Are you sure?" He eased her up to a sitting position, his eyes searching her body before landing on her booted feet, or at least her booted foot. The other boot had flown off during her Funniest Home Video moment down the steps.
"Yes, I'm fine." She sighed as she put her hands on his biceps and he lifted her up. She felt his muscles flex under her hands as her legs wobbled underneath her, making her sway toward him.
"No, you're not fine." His voice turned harsh with concern. He eased her down to sit on the steps. Frowning, he let go of her to pull off Bo's other boot. "I don't want to see you in these again."
"But I have to get an accurate count of steps." Julie grabbed for the boot, but he tossed it out of her reach.
"Then use me." His face was inches from hers.
Oh, what she wouldn't give for those words to mean exactly what she wanted them to mean. "Yes, please" was what she wanted to whisper against the full lips she couldn't stop staring at. Her eyes flickered up to his, and to her surprise he was staring at her mouth. It was as if time stopped. His gaze rose to meet hers before going back to her lips, his head tilting slightly as his body shifted closer to her, leaning in until only a whisper could pass between them. This was it… what she had dreamed about…
"What in the fuck was that?" Bo's voice roared down the steps.
Julie jumped with wide guilty eyes. Clay slammed his shut in frustration, growling.
"Hey!" Bo yelled again. "Can someone please answer the blind guy? Do I need to take cover or what? Sounded like a damn bomb went off."
Yeah, that was a mood breaker and Julie's embarrassment came back full force.
"Julie had a little fall," Clay called, backing away, but staying close enough to help her stand. "You sure you're okay?"
"Holy shit!" Bo called out. "She okay? That sounded like—"
"I'm fine!" Julie yelled, wanting to shove one of Bo's boots up his ass. "I'm fine," she repeated to Clay with a sigh.
Clay eyed her before running his eyes over her body one more time. If he didn't stop doing that, Julie was going to be a puddle of goo at his feet, and this time it wouldn't be from falling down the damn stairs.
He leaned toward her and she thought, hoped, he was going to try to kiss her again, but instead he detoured to reach behind her on the steps and hand her the pad of paper she had dropped, along with the pencil at her feet. She took it with shaking hands.
"Tell me what to do?" Clay's voice was low, but as always held the authority that she seemingly was attracted to. Who would have thought? Definitely not her.
Thoughts of what she really wanted to tell him to do danced through her mind until he said her name. "Ah, I just need you to count the steps to the front door from here and then from here to the kitchen. Actually, anywhere he will go from the starting point here at the steps."
Clay nodded, backed up to the last step, then headed toward the front door. He paced off all the distances, telling her the numbers, which she wrote down. They finished back at the steps. "Thank you." Julie wrote down the last set of numbers.
"You're welcome," Clay replied, his voice calm and deep while her insides quivered with awareness of him. "Anything else?"
Yes, kiss me
, her inner voice shouted. Her face began to heat, so she turned and headed quickly up the steps before she embarrassed herself further. "No, that's it," she called, then remembered Bo's boots and stopped. Turning, she hurried back down the steps to grab them without looking his way, and ran back up the steps.
The job needed to end, and soon, before she did something she'd regret. Not that being with Clay Marshall would be much of a regret. The regret would be throwing herself at him and him rejecting her. Yeah, it was time to get Bo up and moving.
Heading back into his room, she set his boots down by the bed where he sat. "Why don't you put your boots on and I'll show you how I've set up your clothes. It will take a while to remember, but you'll get it."
Julie watched as Bo took his boots and without her even having to tell him, felt each toe of the boots, finding the correct one for each foot. She felt a surge of pride for him as his face changed from one of uncertainty to pride in his feat.
★★★
Bo and Julie stood at the top of the steps. She knew Bo was apprehensive, but trying to appear brave. Stairs were always hard for the blind to conquer and it took a lot of confidence and courage to take that first step. He had learned the order of his clothes quickly, which surprised her. She even tested him on it twice and each time he nailed it.
They stood at his bedroom door, facing the true test. He was leaving a room he had hidden away in for almost two months. "Use your walking cane just in case your count gets messed up," Julie instructed as she stayed by his side, ready to assist. When he didn't move, but just stood staring ahead, she gave him a minute to get his focus. "You can do this, Bo."
After a second, he nodded and took his first step. She could tell how nervous he was by the shaking of his hand on the walking stick, but she kept her mouth shut and let him count as he concentrated.
"These are the steps?" His voice wavered slightly, but still held strong.
"You did awesome." Julie touched his arm lightly. "The railing is to your right. Use that with your right hand and tap each step with your stick as you count down. There are fifteen steps. If you ever lose focus on the count, you have the stick as your backup. Take your time."
When Bo didn't move, just stood still as stone, Julie looked up. His eyes glistened as he swallowed noticeably. "Thank you." His voice cracked as he swallowed hard again.
Now Julie had to swallow the damn lump in her throat, her eyes welling up with tears. She knew he had found his moment and dammit, every time someone she helped found their moment—and they always did—it tore her up in a good way. "Hey, you always had the tools to do this. Only now you have to do it in the dark." Julie smiled when he chuckled. "It's only been two days, Bo. Just imagine what you can do in four."
"All because of you," Bo replied, with a crooked grin. "Sorry I was so hard on you, and you're not a bitch."
This time Julie laughed outright. "Oh, I don't know about that. I can be a bitch when I need to be. And I'm sure before my time here is up you'll be taking that apology back." Hearing a noise at the bottom of the steps, she saw Clay leaning against the wall watching them. "Now, let's conquer these stairs and eat. I'm starving."
"I'm scared," Bo said after a moment of hesitation. "Not very manly, huh?"
"It takes a real man to confess his fears." Julie's eyes left Clay to stare up at Bo. "And being scared is good. It will make you more cautious. But don't worry, you'll do fine. Plus, it's not too bad if you fall from the fifth stair down. I already checked that out for you."
"Well, I appreciate that," Bo teased, his hand visibly tightening on the rail as he took his first step down.
"Never say I don't put everything into my job." She laughed, staying close enough to Bo to assist if needed, but far enough away to give him space to do it on his own. She also noticed Clay was poised at the bottom of the steps, ready if needed.
After that, all was silent as Bo made his way to the last step without mishap. Once they were at the bottom, Clay quietly left, heading toward the kitchen.
"That wasn't so bad." Bo sighed with relief. "Now where?"
"To the kitchen." Julie waited to see if he would take the initiative without her help. When he turned the correct way, using his walking stick to check his path, a large smile bloomed across her face as she looked at her pad of paper. "It's eighteen steps to the kitchen."
"Got it," Bo said as he led the way.
He had a few stumbles, but recovered quickly. Her time there was limited, that she knew for sure. It was different with each person. Some took to being blind quickly, while others lived with denial until forced to get up and live again. That was what she did with Bo, forcing him by being her irritating self to want to be the man he was before. He'd been ready, he just needed that push, and she was the best at pushing people to do what she wanted. Her eyes met Clay's as they walked into the kitchen. Well, at least pushing people who needed help. Clay Marshall wasn't a man who needed help. He was damn perfect and it depressed the hell out of her.
Chapter Six
"You're quiet," Jessica said from the passenger seat, her hands grasping a package on her lap.
Julie frowned. Dammit, even though her sister was blind she could read her like nobody else could. "I'm fine." Julie kept any emotion out of her voice so as not to give her sister ammunition to pry. "Just concentrating on the road."
"Mmmm" was all Jessica replied.
"What do you mean by that?" Julie cringed, wishing she hadn't asked that, because honestly she didn't want to know and Jessica had no problems telling her exactly what she meant.
"So is his brother Clay as cute as he was in high school?" Jessica asked, her tone curious.
Glancing at her sister quickly, Julie narrowed her eyes before looking back out the window to the road ahead. "He's okay, I guess." She tried not to choke on the lie, even adding a shrug her sister couldn't see. He was more than okay. He was in her thoughts every waking minute, and since the step incident when she'd thought he was going to kiss her two weeks ago, he had stayed clear of her. Only a hello here and there.