Read Island Girls for Free Online

politely. “If I could just get over to a bench …”
    “Let me help.”
    She allowed herself to be ushered gently, his hand on herelbow, through the crowd to a wrought iron bench by the lily pond. She sank onto the seat. To her amazement, the man knelt down, taking her foot in his hand.
    “I think it’s swelling,” he said. “You may even get a nasty bruise.”
    His blond hair was thick. His hands were long and elegant. His Nantucket red trousers were faded from age in a way that would impress even Ralph Lauren.
    He eased her sandal off and gently touched her toes.
    In spite of herself, Arden flinched. “Ouch.”
    “Yep,” the man said. “I did a thorough job.” He looked up at her ruefully. “I am awfully sorry.”
    “Don’t worry about it,” she babbled. “Happens all the time in mobs like this. Really, it’s fine.”
    “I’ll get some ice.” Before she could object, he disappeared.
    Arden inspected her foot. It
was
swelling. What a way to start the summer! Laughter and snippets of conversation drifted her way through the warm evening to where she sat, alone and in pain. She knocked back the rest of her wine—for medicinal purposes.
    “Here we go.” Suddenly he’d returned, with ice wrapped in one of the caterer’s white napkins. “Can you hold it against your foot? That should keep the swelling down.”
    She felt like an idiot, sitting in such an unalluring position, with one leg up, knee to her chin, as she held the ice on her foot, trying to keep her dress tucked tidily beneath her thigh.
    He sat next to her. “I’m Tim Robinson, and my clumsy feet are the bane of my existence.”
    She laughed. “Arden Randall.”
    Companionably, they eyed his feet, neatly shod in tasseled leather loafers.
    “You do have big feet,” she remarked gently.
    “Size twelve. You’d think by now I’d be used to them. I’ve had them all my life.”
    Arden laughed. It seemed natural to ask, “What do you do?”
    “Computers,” he told her. “I’m ‘the computer guy.’ That’s the name of my store here on the island: The Computer Guy. I sell computers, printers, accessories, and I repair computers. I make house calls to help people when their computers are being obstinate.”
    “You must be the most popular guy on the island.”
    “I’m not sure
popular
is precisely the right word,” Tim joked. “By the time people call me, they’ve worked themselves up into a state of four-letter fury that makes them completely inarticulate. It usually takes me more time to understand what the problem is than to fix it.”
    Arden laughed. “Oh, I know.
Nothing
makes me as angry as my computer.” For some reason, she thought of Palmer White. “Well, almost nothing.”
    “When computers do work, things happen so quickly that it makes everyone short tempered when a problem isn’t fixed instantaneously.” He looked at her ice-covered toes. “How’s your foot?”
    “I think it will be okay,” she told him. “Nothing broken.”
    “That’s good. I hope you don’t have to lead a hiking tour tomorrow.”
    “I’m on vacation,” she assured him. “I’ll lie in the sun and recuperate from my terrible injury.”
    “Where do you live when you’re not here?”
    “Boston. But I’ll be on the island for the entire summer.”
    “Three months vacationing on the island? Nice.”
    She shifted to face him. He was a handsome man to face. “It’s a bit more complicated than that,” she said. “I’m actually drawing a salary while I’m vacationing, plus I’ll be doing some research for the television show I host in Boston.”
    “You host a TV show? Impressive. What is it?” Before she could reply, he hurriedly explained, “I don’t watch television much anymore. I get my news on the computer and play DVDs when I have the time.”
    “No problem, though I believe I have a universal message. My show’s called
Simplify This
.”
    He burst out into a full-bodied laugh. “Man, if only!”
    Their