When Kate moved to Silver Bay from Boston, she’d rented a place near Maggie’s. Kate’s was a small cottage just off the cliffs overlooking the water. Maggie’s was a much bigger house, the house she’d grown up in. She and Josh now lived in it.
“Hey, you two.” Hannah sat down in the chair between Kate and Maggie. Hannah and Maggie were best friends since high school. “I’ve got about thirty minutes then I have to go get Abby. She’s with Paul, but he is showing a house so we are playing baby tag team.” She smiled, the love for her husband and baby girl apparent.
“Go get your drinks then,” Maggie suggested. “We have much to discuss.”
“Right. Going.”
Kate gave Maggie a warning look before joining Hannah at the counter, but it was pointless. Maggie would dive right into talking about her date with Jack. It was inevitable.
Armed with a large iced Americano, she returned to the table ready to face whatever questions her two closest friends would dish out. Hannah finished adding sugar to her hot tea and joined them.
Kate smiled. She couldn’t fault these two women for wanting details. She herself had hounded Maggie when she and Josh were getting back together. They’d been high school sweethearts, reunited not long ago when Maggie moved back to Silver Bay. Hannah was married to Paul, her high school sweetheart as well. Maybe there was some magical spell that happened in Silver Bay for starry-eyed teenagers.
Kate took a sip of her coffee. She was grateful for these two. They’d accepted her right away, pulling her in and befriending her when she was the new girl in town. And, in a strange twist of fate, Maggie and Kate found out they were half sisters. Kate’s mother, Rose, had Maggie when she was young and gave her to her best friend, Caroline, to raise. Through letters found in the attic, Maggie figured out she was adopted and that Rose was her birth mother. It was as crazy a story as it sounded, but one Kate was glad to be a part of. The least she could do was appease Maggie and Hannah’s, albeit understandable, nosiness about her and Jack. The truth was, there was nothing to tell.
“You’ve got that look again,” Maggie teased.
Damn. She’d have to work on that. It wouldn’t do for her to get flushed every time Jack’s name or face floated into her brain.
“What look? I missed it.” Hannah looked back and forth between her friends like watching a tennis match, her long, auburn waves floating as she moved her head.
“Kate has a date Friday night with Jack.”
“No way!” Hannah’s green eyes got huge. “That. Is. Awesome.” She did a little dance with her feet and pumped her fists. Once a cheerleader, always a cheerleader.
Kate rolled her eyes. “Okay, you two. Down. There’s really nothing to tell. He felt bad about me falling off my bike and is just trying to...be nice.” She sipped her coffee again. The comment sounded as lame as it felt coming from her mouth.
“Wait. You fell? When did that happen?” Hannah leaned forward, a genuine look of concern on her face.
Kate waved a hand. “I’m fine. I was riding my bike to work on Sunday and, well, Jack drove by on his motorcycle, I got distracted and fell off my bike.”
“I’d get distracted too, if he drove by,” Hannah said.
Maggie swatted her arm. The two friends acted more like sisters.
“Ow! What was that for?”
“You’re married.”
“Oh, please. That doesn’t mean I can’t find another guy attractive. And, come on, you gotta admit, the whole bad boy, biker thing is pretty sexy.” She wiggled her eyebrows at Kate.
Kate laughed. She couldn’t help it.
Maggie sighed. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.” She twirled a lock of brown hair around her finger. “But don’t let that fool you.”
“What do you mean?” Kate asked.
“He may look like a bad boy, but he’s a good man. He’s fought that stereotype for as long as I’ve known him.”
“Yeah, since high school,” Hannah added. “So he likes motorcycles and lives relaxed. So what?”
“He and Josh are like night and day.” Maggie smiled. “I’m madly in love with Josh, but will admit Jack is sigh-worthy.”
Kate had to agree. Josh and Jack couldn’t be more different. Josh with blond hair and blue eyes and a thick build like the former football player he was. Everything on Jack was dark. Dark hair. Dark eyes. He was muscular too, just more lean like a runner. Maybe he ran track in high school? Kate shook her head. Focus. No more daydreaming.
“Okay, you two. That wasn’t why I fell off my bike. I fell because the sound of that horrid beast of a thing he rides that he likes to call a motorcycle scared the crap out of me and I lost control of my bike. I ran straight into a parking meter and fell to the sidewalk.”
“Oh, my gosh! Are you sure you’re okay?” Hannah reached out and touched Kate’s arm.
“I’m totally fine. My pride was hurt more than anything else. I scraped my knee. And ruined a sweater. That upset me the most.”
“I heard you were pretty ruffled about Jack helping you patch up your knee.”
There was that grin again from Maggie.
“Good Lord! How much did Jack share with you?”
Maggie lifted one shoulder then let it fall. “Nothing. I sort of...eavesdropped.” Her eyes wandered to the ceiling.
“You are so bad!” Hannah leaned closer to her friend. “Tell us everything you heard.”
Kate laughed. “Oh, my gosh. You two are like middle schoolers. Stop.” Although, everything in her truly wanted Maggie to tell them what Jack had said. If he was talking to Josh about her that meant something, right? No. No, she didn’t need or want to mean anything to him. Or any man. She was over that. Confident, self-sufficient. Working on her own. That was her now. She took another sip of coffee and lifted her chin. She absolutely did not need to know what Jack Harden thought of her.
“He told Josh you were uptight and rigid.”
Kate’s chin dropped, her confidence turning to indignation. “He said what?” Ugh! The nerve of that man! How dare he...?
“And that it made him want to get you to let your hair down, let loose a little,” Maggie interrupted.
“Ooohh, I like the sound of that.” This from Hannah, now holding her hot tea mug in her hands and grinning like a schoolgirl.
Kate didn’t like the sound of it at all. She glared at Maggie, the words popping into her head entirely inappropriate to allow out of her mouth.
“Hey! Don’t look at me like that,” Maggie said. “I didn’t say anything about you.”
Kate took a deep breath and let it out, her gaze turning towards the window. A couple strolled by hand in hand. Was the entire world in love? It was beginning to get annoying.
“I’m just the messenger. Don’t shoot me,” Maggie continued.
Kate faced her friend again and crossed her arms. “Yeah, well, what if I don’t like the message.”
“Oh, lighten up, would you?” Maggie winked at her, softening Kate’s anger. A little.
“He’s not exactly...wrong, either,” Hannah ventured.
Kate turned her ire towards her other friend. What was this? Roast Kate day?
Hannah reached out a hand and placed it on Kate’s arm. “Hear me out, sweetie. I’m just saying that you work so hard and maybe it would be good for you to let your hair down and have some fun. And Jack seems like the perfect guy to have a little fun with.”
Maggie giggled and sipped her coffee.
“Good Lord. You all are giggling now. This has gotten out of hand.”
“I know! Let’s talk instead about what you’re going to wear on your date Friday.” Hannah clapped her hands. The woman seriously needed to go to decaf tea.
“It’s only Tuesday. I really don’t think I need to think about my outfit just yet.” Kate said before taking a big sip of her iced coffee via a straw the length of her arm. Of course, she’d already thought about what outfit she would wear about a thousand times between when Jack asked her out and the current moment, but she’d
dance naked in the street before she’d admit that to these two.
“Right. We should come over then on Friday a few hours before and help you.” Hannah nodded towards Maggie and looked back at Kate. “I have total closet envy. Your stuff is so gorgeous.”
“Now you sound like I’m getting ready for the prom. It’s just a date.”
“That’s not what you said to me when Josh asked me out the first time. You came over and made me try on eighteen things before I left the house.”
Crud! Of course that would come back to bite her. Kate sighed. Then laughed. It was hard not to love these two. With one older and one younger brother, Kate had always wanted a sister. Now she had one. Two, really, with how close she and Hannah were. Annoying sometimes? Yes. But they made her feel loved and catered to her girly side, which she truly cherished.
“Okay. Come over Friday afternoon. We’ll go through my closet.”
Hannah clapped again and sipped her tea. Maggie nodded in agreement.
Kate shook her head and smiled. It was one date. That was all. Then she’d move on with her life without Jack, or any other man, in it.
Jack took a step back and eyed the canvas. The piece he’d been working on wasn’t turning out quite the way he expected, although each art piece rarely did. That was one of the things he loved about it. Whether painting or sculpting or woodworking – no matter what material he was using – he’d start with an image in his head; then, once he got going, the art would take on a life of its own and work with him until it was finished. Sometimes Jack decided when that was, other times the art did.
He and Josh owned their own architectural firm together. He was grateful he got to do something he loved for a living. And working with Josh wasn’t a bad gig either. The two of them were so different it worked. They complemented each other. Josh being more math minded and linear, did all of the drafting and architectural drawings, where Jack would get a sense of what the client wanted in terms of their personality and style. Jack also liked to be hands-on as much as he could on a project as well, but the bigger the projects got, the less that happened.
No matter. He had plenty to keep him busy at home in his art studio. And he still talked with clients throughout a project start to finish. He’d spent part of the morning on the phone with one, discussing a change to an office building entryway. The client wanted more of a modern design. Jack understood. Knew just how to tell Josh to make changes.
Although he’d grown up in Silver Bay, he’d lived in Portland for a few years running the office there. But he missed home. Family. People always told him his personality was made for the city but they couldn’t be more wrong. He was a small town boy, through and through. Open spaces. He enjoyed adventure as much as the next guy, but appreciated things he could count on. The city was fine, just not his first choice.
When Josh told him he was marrying Maggie and moving into her house, Jack jumped at the chance to come home. They’d hired someone to run the Portland office, giving Jack the opportunity to move back and use his brother’s place, one Josh had designed himself, of course. Being a quasi master chef in his spare time, Josh had built a full functioning kitchen that unfortunately was collecting dust now that Jack lived there, but he and his brother knew it was a temporary situation. They’d find a buyer for it that would utilize the space. For Jack, the best part of the property was the separate structure in back, perfect for his art studio. Josh had used it as a garage, but Jack turned it into what he needed in no time.
Jack had plans of his own. He’d always wanted to buy a place that needed work and fix it himself. He just hadn’t found the right property yet. But he would.
He tilted his head and eyed the canvas sitting before him on a large easel. He’d been working on recreating the shop fronts on Seapoint Boulevard, each one with its own sense of character and style. However, he was struggling to keep his mind off one storefront in particular. And one feisty, brunette store owner to be exact.
Kate’s shop was an extension of her. The windows were trimmed in white while the door was glass with painted black, wooden trim. The word Atmosphere was painted on the glass in black. A black and white striped awning sat above the doorway with two large planter boxes on each side that added to the charm. Most of the buildings on Seapoint Boulevard were brick, a detail Jack loved, making the storefront both stand out and blend in at the same time. It was a work of art, in his opinion. Like the store’s owner, it lured him in with its simple beauty, then surprised him with its complexity.
Jack shook his head. Untying his work apron from his waist, he wiped his hands on it then tossed it on a stool nearby. He’d asked Kate to dinner on a whim. One look into those hazel eyes and he was sucked in. He wanted to see her again. Friday wasn’t soon enough but that was what he’d blurted out before his brain caught up with his mouth. The fact that she’d agreed to it boggled his mind. Even more so, the fact that it was Thursday and she hadn’t backed out yet.
Since Sunday, he’d thought about how fun it was going to be to work on getting this woman to relax a bit. Most of the women he’d dated were like him. Laid back. Up for anything. And he had a feeling there was a side to Kate that wanted to let go, live a little. But something, or someone, had knocked that out of her. Something kept her so intent on staying in control and focused and he wanted to know why.
There was a crazy girl in there somewhere that drew him to her. Kate was a challenge. One he’d never ventured after before. His past relationships were easy. Kate made him want more. Someone who would always keep him on his toes. Exciting. His opposite. It wasn’t as if he wanted to change her. It was more a gut feeling that the real Kate was in there somewhere, behind all the fuss, and he wanted to find her.
She wasn’t all buttoned up and no-nonsense. He thought of the shoes she’d been wearing when she crashed on her bike. Pink and black leopard-print flats. They stuck in his brain for two reasons. One, his initial thought had been thank God she wasn’t wearing those super high heels he’d seen her in at various times, and two, he wondered what else in her prim and proper wardrobe held animal print.
She was control personified with a dash of spice. And he had every intention of getting to know the spicy side much better.
Chapter Three
Kate eyed the pile of clothes on her bed and with hands on her hips, let out a deep breath and a groan. She hadn’t tried this hard to impress a man since...well, she wasn’t going there. Not tonight anyway.
As if on cue, her phone dinged and lit up with a text message from just the person she was trying to avoid. Mentally and physically. She picked her phone up off the bed and read the text.
“Hey Babe. Can we talk?”
She typed back a quick, “Not now, Barry. I have plans for the evening.”
Maggie and Hannah would be at her place any minute to help her pick an outfit. Half her closet was on her bed and she still had no clue what to wear. Maybe it was a good idea they were coming to help her.
The phone dinged again.
“Ha, yeah right.”
Kate read the text and cringed. Even from thousands of miles away, her ex could poke at her. And with three words. It was uncanny how his sarcastic, demeaning tone came through even via text message.
She turned her phone off and tossed it into her purse that sat on her dresser.
“That will be enough of out you tonight.” She swiped her hands together as if literally washing them of the situation.
Anyone in her life who truly cared about her knew she was going out with Jack tonight. Sheesh, the entire town of Silver Bay knew about it. Her mother had moved to town not long ago and called her earlier in the week. Kate didn’t want to get into details with her until after the date so they were having coffee tomorrow.
She eyed her purse again. Marriage was sacred to her and she’d fought hard to mend hers, but to no avail. For whatever reason, Barry still tried to talk to her, text her, most likely when he didn’t have a flavor of the month on his arm.
&nb
sp; She shook her head to clear her thoughts. No. No one would call or text her. And Barry could just sit in frustration all evening wondering why she didn’t answer. That thought perked her back up as she walked once again to her closet and surveyed her choices. Not that there were many left.
Why was she trying so hard? She’d already decided to not lead Jack on. Let him know right up front tonight where they stood. A nice dinner between friends, then done. Maybe if she looked horrid for the evening she’d chase him off that way. No, Maggie and Hannah would never let her do that and, quite frankly, the thought made her wince. She was always put together. Always. If she were put together in appearance, life would stay together. Right? Yep. She nodded at the clothes in her closet.
A knock at the door pulled her from her thoughts. She’d initially dreaded the girls coming over, but now she was excited. She did love clothes and shoes and handbags. She always had. As a little girl, she’d clomp around the house in her mother’s heels with an oversized purse dangling from her tiny shoulder. At least the dressing up part of the evening would be fun. She couldn’t say how the rest of it would turn out. But, damn it, she’d look good no matter what.
She let Maggie and Hannah in and they all crowded into her tiny bedroom. Her friends surveyed the damage.
“It’s like a tornado hit,” Maggie said, her eyes wide.
Hannah was already nosing through what was still hanging in Kate’s closet. “You truly have such gorgeous clothes. I could shop in here.”
Maggie rolled her eyes at her lifelong friend. “Oh, please. You have the same incredible taste in clothing.” She turned her attention to Kate. “In high school she was known as the girl who never wore the same outfit twice.”
Hannah spun to face them. “Well, that’s true. But here’s the trick.” She waved a finger at Kate. “It’s not about wearing an entirely different piece of clothing each time, it’s about how you mix and match.”
“You should have your own TV show.” Kate teased.
The three women started working their way through the clothing piles and within thirty minutes came up with black pants, high heeled boots, and a green blouse that made Kate’s eyes stand out.
Loving Kate Page 2