To Thine Own Self

She gasped and released Gerald. If he hadn't grabbed her, she would have fallen for sure.

"Careful!" he warned as his hands secured her by the waist.

"I'm fine," she said as she regained her balance and stepped away from him.

He grinned. "What were you trying to do, little yellow butterfly … fly?"

She smiled up at him. "I was trying to remove that bird's nest. I've done it every year but for some reason when I tried to do it with the sling on, I lost my balance."

He leaned forward and plucked the nest from the corner, and that was when she saw Alex.

His expression was clearly bewildered. Had he seen enough to know Gerald had stopped her from falling? He took a step closer and his brows came down.

"Aren't you supposed to keep your arm in that sling?"

She slipped her arm back into the sling. "Only when I'm working. The therapist said I should take it out otherwise, so the joint doesn't freeze."

His brows resumed their natural position as he turned to Gerald. Maybe he came out after Gerald released her - or maybe he saw what happened. Whatever the case, he didn't appear upset with Gerald.

"Are you ready?" he asked as Gerald handed her the nest. His gaze went from the nest to Carmen. "Why didn't you tell me you needed help?"

She shrugged. "You were working in your office and I've done this before."

His gaze held hers for a moment, and when he spoke, his tone was injured.

"I was busy again."

Gerald cleared his throat. "I'm ready."

Alex tore his gaze from her and nodded to Gerald. As he turned to go, he spoke to Carmen over his shoulder. "We're going down to get some…" his voice was drowned out by the opening of the garage door behind her. He glanced up at her as they walked past the porch. "We'll be back as soon as we're done."

Apparently he had called Gerald and he had walked over - catching her before she fell. Good timing, but it would have been better timing if Alex had caught her - more fun too. Warmth flooded her cheeks as she remembered that she was going to kiss Alex. Wouldn't that have been a shock? Of course, it could have been worse. She could have kissed Gerald by mistake as Alex walked out on the porch.

She glanced down at the bird nest in her hand. Well, no harm done. From now on she'd use the step-stool instead of doing it the lazy way.