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heathens, I end up with a woman practically dying at my feet on my only night alone.”
    I didn’t hear anything for a moment. Then , Daisy spoke in a calming voice, “Jordan, take a deep breath and tell me what happened.”
    “I’m sorry. As I was saying , I was sitting on the beach watching the sunset. Then, all of a sudden she was there.”
    “What do you mean she was there?”
    Jordan sighed.
    “I mean I was sitting there enjoying the sunset, with all the beauty and different colors. I was peacefully, listening to the waves crashing upon the shore. You know, relaxing. I dug my feet into the sand and savored the feel of it squeezing through my toes. The normal things people do on a beach.”
    His voice had taken on an edgy, irritated tone. He was talking to the woman as if she were dense.
    “I get it. You were enjoying the beach. Where did she come from?”
    “I don’t really know exactly. She did tell me she’d been hiking when she came across some men,” Jordan continued. He told her the story I’d told him , explaining how I came upon the men. Daisy was perfectly silent now as he went on.
    “I’m telling you , I think my heart stopped. I had closed my eyes and was breathing in the scent of earth, trees, water and nature, trying to do that one with nature crap Grace suggested. I didn’t hear or sense her until she was there. She must have made a sound or something. I opened my eyes and she was standing there looking at me. I blinked, wondering if I was seeing things, but she was still there.” I could hear the frustration, fear and anxiety in his voice now.
    “She was just standing there?”
    “Well actually I open my eyes and looked towards the beach where the trees and the water met. And she came stumbling out of the trees,” Jordan amended, sounding as if he were reliving the entire scene. “She was so small, dirty, and ragged looking, definitely worse for wear. Her eyes met mine and widened in alarm. I couldn’t do anything but stare back. Then, as I sat there frozen like an idiot, her eyes rolled back in her head and she crumpled right there in the shallow water. I thought she was dead.”
    “Oh, Jordan,” Daisy sighed sympathetically, “I’m sorry for teasing you. That must have been awful.”
    “Anyway, ” he grunted, “I was on my feet when she crumpled not knowing how I got there. She was filthy. I knew somehow, even under all that dirt and clothing, that this person was a she. Without making the decision to do so, I was lifting her out of the water and into my arms. What else could I do? I couldn’t just leave her there.”
    “You did the right thing, Jordan.”
    “She was totally unconscious and limp. Her head lolled around as I shifted her trying to determine if she was breathing without touching her. I put my face close to hers and miraculously felt a faint wisp of air. She was breathing. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I just knew she was dead.”
    He sounded so frazzled and tortured, I was feeling sorry for him. I was also shocked at hearing his account of what happened.
    “You didn’t try to figure out where she came from?” The Daisy woman asked.
    “How could I? She came from the trees and my main concern was to keep her from dying on me,” he said sounding irritated again. “I looked around to see if she were being followed, because it definitely appeared that she’d been running from something, or someone. I didn’t see anyone. She’d looked terrified and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw me, and she was all bloody. I figured I needed to get her inside, not only to deal with her injuries but, to get her out of the open. If she was being pursued, she wouldn’t be safe out there.”
    He explained in detail how he’d taken me to the cabin. I’d been so cold and he needed to get me warm fast. He ran a bath of tepid water and climbed in with me. He’d slowly increased the temperature of the water to increase my body temperature. Now all of