Because of Him: A Christian Romance (New Hope Falls Book 2)

by Kimberly Rae Jordan

  It was ridiculous, she knew that. There were plenty of other cameras whose views would make up for the two cameras that had been moved, and really, the new views weren’t bad. They broadened what she could see, but still, it felt wrong after having had the same views for so long.

  To many people—and apparently to the police chief, as well—the number of security cameras she had was overkill. She had no idea what he would have thought if he’d seen the hand and optical scanner she had at the back of the building. Thankfully, they were set up in such a way that the average person wouldn’t even notice them. Not that Kieran was in any way average, but he also probably hadn’t thought to look for them.

  She had a valid reason for cooperating with Kieran. Not cooperating would have raised even more red flags than were likely already flying in the man’s mind. As a cop, being suspicious of things like her excessive security would be second nature. If she’d resisted helping him, he might have been even more suspicious.

  Hopefully it would be a while before she’d see him again. He’d probably be back if there was another break-in that her cameras might provide help with, but otherwise, there was no reason for him to return to the studio.

  She reached for the container Kieran had brought her and opened it. Normally, she ate a salad or maybe avocado toast for lunch. A sandwich from Norma’s was a treat

  Before picking up the sandwich, Cara bowed her head and prayed for her father then after a brief hesitation, she thanked God for the lunch Kieran had brought her. In the midst of the negativity swirling through her life, she tried to be thankful for the bright spots—large or small. And while she wasn’t sure that Kieran was a bright spot necessarily, a lunch of her favorite sandwich certainly was.

  If she’d thought she’d seen the last of New Hope’s police chief, the next day, Cara discovered she was wrong.

  “Has there been another break-in?” she asked when he walked into the waiting area as her mom and baby stretch class let out.

  “Nope. Just brought some lunch.” He lifted the bag he held. A paper bag with Norma’s logo on it.

  “You do realize that I have food, don’t you?” she asked. “You don’t have to keep buying me lunch.”

  He shrugged, and it was then that Cara realized he wasn’t wearing his uniform. Instead, he wore a pair of faded jeans and a gray turtleneck sweater under a black leather jacket. It was odd to see him out of uniform, and perhaps a bit more dangerous. She’d always thought he was an attractive man, and without the reminder of his occupation, he was even more attractive.

  “Um, go ahead and put it in the office. I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”

  Kieran looked a little surprised that she was acquiescing so easily. “Sounds good.”

  After the last of the women had left the studio, Cara hurried up to her apartment and pulled on a large sweatshirt then tugged on a pair of sweats. It was one thing to be in a leotard and leggings with the women, but she felt a bit awkward to be dressed like that around Kieran.

  When she joined him again in the office, Kieran had set out the food he’d brought. She eyed it as she sat down across from him.

  “I asked Missy what you ordered when you go in there for lunch, and she said that you usually got a salad with grilled chicken. Was she right?”

  Cara nodded. “But I don’t go in there that often. Maybe just once a week.”

  Kieran grinned, the skin at the corners of his eyes crinkling. “That’s all it takes at Norma’s. They remember their regulars.”

  The idea that Norma remembered that about her, even though she didn’t go in there all that frequently, warmed Cara in a way she hadn’t expected. Pulling the container closer, she said, “Well, thank you.”

  “You’re very welcome.”

  “Has there been another break-in?” Cara asked as she opened her lunch. She emptied the salad dressing container over the salad.

  “No. There’s been nothing reported.”

  Cara paused in the process of lifting her fork to her mouth. So what was he doing there? She didn’t ask him, though. Instead, she focused on the salad, even though Kieran’s burger smelled divine and made her almost wish she had one.

  “So where did you live before you moved here?” Kieran asked.

  Cara was glad she’d had lots of practice in schooling her expression, so she didn’t react to his question. Ignoring the knot in her stomach, she took another bite of her salad then said, “I’m a Midwest girl.”

  “Chicago?”

  She gave a short nod, unable to lie to him, but not wanting to make a big deal out of it. “How about you? Have you lived here your whole life?”

  “No. I was born here but moved to New York with my folks when I was ten. I just moved back here a few years ago.”

  “Were you a cop in New York, too?”

  “Yep. I was a detective there. I joined the Sheriff’s Department for the county when I came back to New Hope Falls. After my uncle passed away, they offered me the position of police chief for the substation here.”

  “Did you come back…on your own?”

  Kieran shook his head. “My mom came back with me. Her family is here. Her brother—my uncle—was the previous police chief.”

  Cara found it curious that he didn’t mention his father, but she didn’t feel she had any right to ask. The last thing she needed was for him to turn the tables on her and begin to ask questions of her. And if there was one person she didn’t want to talk to about her father, it was a cop. Not to mention having to explain how her mother had died.

  She didn’t like to lie to people, but there were certain things she just couldn’t share. It was another reason why she didn’t let people get too close. Explaining how she had no family…well, that wasn’t entirely true. She had three half-brothers that she’d never met—and never would—because she’d heard her father telling someone that he thought a couple of them may have been behind the car bomb that killed her mom and should have killed Cara as well.

  “Do you have siblings?” Kieran asked.

  Given what she knew, Cara would never claim her father’s other children as siblings, so she had no problem with that answer. “I’m an only child. You?”

  “I have a brother.” Kieran’s gaze dropped to his sandwich, and he took another bite, looking as if he regretted having said that. Maybe she wasn’t the only one reluctant to discuss certain things. “Have you always been a dancer? I saw the posters in the hallway. Were you a ballerina?”

  And yet another touchy subject. It dawned on her then just how full of minefields her life was. Though the subject of dancing was complicated and nuanced, at least she could discuss some of it without revealing too much about the parts of her life she didn’t want to discuss.

  “I started taking ballet lessons when I was four and continued dancing until I was twenty-three. I mean, I’m still dancing, but not like I did then as part of a company.”

  Kieran regarded her for a moment then asked, “What made you stop?”

  “The pressure.” She jabbed at her salad with her fork, remembering when even a lunch like that would have caused her stress.

  And pressure truly encompassed every reason she stopped dancing professionally. Pressure from being part of a particularly competitive dance company. Pressure from herself to always be her best. Internal pressure to conform to the physical standards of what she should look like as a ballet dancer. And finally, pressure from her father to remove herself from the public eye once he realized that she had also been a target of the car bomb. Not that she had really had any other options at that point.

  The story had been planted that she’d been admitted to hospital only to die from her wounds. It bought them enough time for her father to get them both into hiding, and then he’d called the DA to make a deal that hopefully guaranteed them both safety in the years to come.

  But there was no way she was going to tell Kieran that. Especially since she wasn’t sure about his motives in coming back there that day. If it wa
s because he was curious, the less info she gave him, the better. He hadn’t gotten to where he was without being able to learn how to ask the right questions and get the information he wanted.

  “Do you miss it?”

  “Not really. I mean, I’m still dancing, and though I don’t focus as much on ballet here, I do enough of it with teaching the little ones.”

  “Training the next generation of ballet dancers?”

  Cara shrugged as she thought of the joy on the little faces of the kids in the classes she taught, and she kind of hoped they would never end up like she had. At this age, they seemed more interested in wearing cute leotards and skirts and spinning around with each other. The carefree abandon with which they approached the classes was perfectly fine as far as she was concerned.

  “Do you miss New York?”

  Kieran stared at her for a moment, then he shrugged. “Parts of it, I suppose, but this is where I needed to be.”

  That was how Cara felt about Chicago, though realistically, the death of her mother had not afforded her the option of staying there, or even going back. She had good memories of the city, but sadly, they were all eclipsed by what had happened to her mom.

  I wish I could tell him everything.

  Cara paused mid-chew, taken off-guard by the sudden thought that had careened through her mind. There had been plenty of times she’d wished she had a different life. One where her father hadn’t been a mob boss and had been married to her mother. A life where her mom hadn’t been killed by a car bomb planted by her half-brothers, who were bent on avenging their mother’s honor. One where she could have handled the pressures better so she could have had the career she’d dreamed of since she’d been a young girl.

  This was the first time she’d ever felt a desire to be able to tell someone all about her past—the good and the bad. Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to happen. Because of the promises she’d made her father, it wasn’t going to happen with anyone, but most especially not with a cop.

  All it would take for her life to be over, was for someone to realize what they could gain by revealing where she was to certain people. Not that she’d necessarily end up dead, but she’d most certainly end up on the run, regretting her decision to confide in someone.

  “So you said your mom lived here before?” Kieran asked.

  Before Cara could respond, his phone rang, drawing his attention away from her. Setting his burger down, he pulled his phone out and glanced at the screen before answering it.

  “Hi, Lisa. What’s up?” Kieran leaned back in his seat, his gaze lowered as he listened to whoever was on the other end of the line. “Okay. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  After he hung up, he returned his phone to his pocket. He glanced at her as he began to gather up his lunch. “I apologize, but I’m going to have to run. Someone needs to talk to me.”

  “That’s okay.” Cara got to her feet when Kieran did. “Thank you for bringing me lunch.”

  She followed him to the front door and held it open as he stepped through it.

  “I’ll see you again soon.” It sounded like a promise, but there was a small part of her that took it as a threat. Like he was telling her that he wasn’t done with his questions.

  With a sigh, she let the door swing shut after he left, watching as he headed toward the police station. And then came the longing that she’d experienced earlier. The longing to just be normal. To allow herself to embrace the fact that she found Kieran Sutherland attractive. To embrace that reality and possibly do something about it.

  Unfortunately, like with staying in Chicago, that didn’t seem like an option for her. It was necessary for her to remember who she was and who Kieran was. No more giving information about herself and her family, no matter how innocent the questions he had for her appeared to be. And no matter how many meals from Norma’s he brought her.

  Still, as she sat back down at her desk and stared at the salad, Cara couldn’t escape the feeling of how nice it was to have someone thinking about her and then doing something for her. Her mom had always been good about that, and her father, too, when he’d been around. It seemed like it had been an eternity since she had felt that sense of caring, no matter what the motives behind it might actually be.

  She managed to finish the salad without allowing those thoughts to weigh her down. Instead, she focused on the less fun part of her business—her bookkeeping. So while she didn’t exactly enjoy that part of her studio’s operation, it was always good at holding her attention.

  More enjoyable distractions were her afternoon stretching and strengthening classes. She ran six of them a week. Three afternoon sessions and three evening sessions.

  There was a good mix of young and older women, which Cara really appreciated since the class was adaptable to all levels of fitness. That meant she didn’t have to teach a bunch of different level classes. She enjoyed helping the women learn to properly stretch and strengthen their bodies in order to maximize their ability to move through their lives and accomplish what they needed to each day.

  “Hey there, Cara,” Sarah McNamara called out as she walked into the room. She wore a cheery smile and was dressed in a pair of leggings and a long-sleeve T-shirt.

  “Hi.” Cara smiled back at her, feeling the last of the heavy emotions that had come over her at lunch fade away. These women might not be her best friends, but they treated her like they were more than just mere acquaintances.

  “This is Anna Carrington,” Sarah said, motioning to the woman at her side. “She’s been staying at the lodge, and somehow ended up as Eli’s girlfriend.”

  Anna laughed and smiled at Cara. “Somehow.”

  “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Anna. I’m Cara.”

  Anna took the hand Cara held out to her. “It’s nice to meet you too. Are you sure it’s okay for me to join the class?”

  “The more, the merrier,” Cara assured her.

  “Just give me a spot in the back, so when I have to stop for a break because I’ve been eating too much of Nadine and Norma’s wonderful food, I don’t embarrass myself.”

  “You don’t have to worry about that,” Sarah said. “Cara lets us all proceed at our own pace. Believe me, the first few classes, we were all dying. I didn’t know how difficult stretching and strengthening could be.”

  Anna turned to look at Sarah. “Did you actually want me to stay for this class? Because I’m having second, third, and fourth thoughts when you say stuff like that.”

  “Oh, you’ll be fine,” Cara told her. “Sarah’s still coming, so obviously it does get easier.”

  “Does Leah come?” Anna asked Sarah.

  The other woman laughed. “Yeah. That would be a big no.”

  Cara had seen Leah a lot over the course of the four years she’d lived in New Hope, but Leah seemed to avoid interacting with people with the same level of intensity that her twin sister sought them out. Both Norma and Nadine, Sarah’s mom and Norma’s twin sister, had popped into her classes. They weren’t regulars, but they showed up every few weeks. She would have liked to see them there more frequently, but she knew they were busy.

  Once the time for the start of class approached, Cara went to the front of the room and called for attention. The women quickly found spots and faced the front, smiling at her in a way that elevated that feeling of having connections in her life, regardless of how shallow they were.

  She just had to remind herself—on a daily or hourly basis, if needed—that that could…would be enough.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “I hear you’ve been by the dance studio.”

  Kieran looked up from the roast chicken he was carving. “Where did you hear that?”

  His mom hesitated, her gaze sliding away for a moment. “Uh. Mary?”

  “Let me guess. She was at Norma’s and saw me or something.”

  His mom shrugged. “Were you there?”

  “Yep.” He put pieces of chicken on the platter that his mom had set next to him on the
counter. “I was asking her about something pertaining to the break-ins in town.”

  “Two days in a row?”

  Kieran sighed. “Yes. Two days in a row.”

  “For lunch each day?”

  “Yes, Mom, for lunch.” He carried the roast over to the small table that was set for their dinner. “It was a good time to catch her since she has classes at other times during the day.”

  His mom sat down in her usual spot. “That’s Cara, right?”

  “Yes, her name is Cara.”

  “Mary said she’s nice. Is she?”

  “I haven’t spent much time with her,” Kieran said as he poured water into each of their glasses. “But she seems nice. I would imagine she wouldn’t have much of a business if she wasn’t.”

  His mom stopped her questioning long enough to say thanks for the food, but Kieran knew better than to assume she was done. She was the human equivalent of a dog they’d had when he was growing up. Whenever their little Bichon, Rosabelle, brought her ball and dropped it at their feet, they knew they were in for an endless round of fetch. And there was no sense in trying to stop the game because it wasn’t over until Rosabelle sank down on her bed and conked out.

  It was the same with his mom. She wouldn’t drop the subject until she was good and ready to. And that was especially true when it came to a woman. She was bound and determined to see him married with children. It wasn’t that Kieran was averse to the idea, but since his engagement had ended before his return to New Hope Falls, he was a bit gun shy.

  Plus, he’d been focused on the job since coming back, not on finding a wife. No woman he’d met during his time back in New Hope Falls had been interesting enough to distract him from work. Until Cara.

  “So do you think you might ask her out on a date?”

  Kieran knew better than to give his mom even an ounce of hope. She had taken his broken engagement almost as hard as he had. She’d loved his fiancée and had had great hopes of them marrying and having children. In the space of six months, she’d lost her youngest son, her husband, and then her dreams of having a daughter-in-law and grandchildren.