Keeping Kate (Reunion: Hannah, Michael & Kate #3)

by Pat Warren

  Table of Contents

  Cover Page

  Excerpt

  Dear Reader

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Books by Pat Warren

  About the Author

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Epilogue

  Copyright

  Kate felt her mouth go dry.

  She saw the photo of the familiar farmhouse, her parents holding hands by the porch, and then the snapshot of the three of them taken beside the barn. Her brother, Michael, standing so tall and straight, Hannah looking more serious. And there she was, a little towhead alongside Rex, the family sheepdog. Kate blinked back a sudden rush of tears. And then she saw her….

  She was tall and slender, her dark hair worn shorter now. Her mother—older of course, but unmistakably Julia Richards. With a gasp, Kate’s hand moved to her chest to press against her thudding heart.

  “They told me you died,” she whispered.

  Dear Reader,

  Fall is in full swing and so is Special Edition, with a very special lineup!

  We begin this month with our THAT’S MY BABY! title for October. It’s a lesson in instant motherhood for our heroine in Mom for Hire, the latest story from the popular Victoria Pade.

  Three veteran authors will charm you with their miniseries this month. CUPID’S LITTLE HELPERS is the new series from Tracy Sinclair—don’t miss book one, Thank Heaven for Little Girls. For fans of Elizabeth August, October is an extraspecial month-The Husband is the latest emotional and compelling title in her popular SMYTHESHIRE, MASSACHUSETTS series. This series began in Silhouette Romance and now it is coming to Special Edition for the very first time! And Pat Warren’s REUNION series continues this month with Keeping Kate.

  Helping to round out the month is Not Before Marriage! by Sandra Steffen—a compelling novel about waiting for Mr. Right. Finally, October is premiere month, where Special Edition brings you a new author. Debut author Julia Mozingo is one of our Women To Watch, and her title is In a Family Way.

  I hope you enjoy this book, and all of the stories to come!

  Sincerely,

  Tara Gavin,

  Senior Editor

  Please address questions and book requests to:

  Silhouette Reader Service

  U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269

  Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

  Keeping Kate

  Pat Warren

  This book is dedicated to my son, Dave—

  with love, pride and affection

  Books by Pat Warren

  Silhouette Special Edition

  With This Ring #375

  Final Verdict #410

  Look Homeward, Love #442

  Summer Shadows #458

  The Evolution of Adam #480

  Build Me a Dream #514

  The Long Road Home #548

  The Lyon and the Lamb #582

  My First Love, My Last #610

  Winter Wishes #632

  Till I Loved You #659

  An Uncommon Love #678

  Under Sunny Skies #731

  That Hathaway Woman #758

  Simply Unforgettable #797

  This I Ask of You #815

  On Her Own#841

  A Bride for Hunter #893

  Nobody’s Child #974

  *A Home for Hannah #1048

  *Keeping Kate #1060

  *Reunion

  Silhouette Romance

  Season of the Heart #553

  Silhouette Intimate Moments

  Perfect Strangers #288

  Only the Lonely #605

  *Michael’s House #737

  Silhouette Books

  Montana Mavericks

  Outlaw Lovers #6

  PAT WARREN,

  mother of four, lives in Arizona with her travel-agent husband and a lazy white cat. She’s a former newspaper columnist whose lifetime dream was to become a novelist. A strong romantic streak, a sense of humor and a keen interest in developing relationships led her to try romance novels, with which she feels very much at home.

  Prologue

  Mexico—September 1978

  Finally, I find a moment to write a quick entry in this journal that I’ve carried with me these many miles. We are safe and sound in a motel in California, the ordeal in Mexico at last over. Though I tried to keep a positive attitude during those arduous weeks, inside I worried we would never complete our journey, never return.

  My beloved Sloan, however, wouldn’t let me lose heart. Every night, he would encourage me to talk about my children, Michael, Hannah and Katie. He knows that I never sleep without praying for their safety and for the day they will be reunited with me. Because of Sloan Bradford, I have a second chance at love and renewed hope that he will help me locate my three little ones now that his nightmare is over.

  It was fate, I believe, that led me to Sloan, a man who’d spent years tracking down children lost to their parents. Ironically, before he could assist me, he had a mission of his own to complete: to rescue his seven-yearold son from his ex-wife, Monica, and her lover, Al Torres. The two had kidnapped the boy from his home in Michigan and taken him deep into the Mexican hill country, demanding money for his release. In exchange for Sloan’s help, I agreed to go along with him to search for Christopher as interpreter, for I speak fluent Spanish.

  The way has not been easy, but it seems there are benefits to everything, for Sloan and I have fallen in love.

  I’ve never been so frightened as the day we reached the mountaintop cabin where we’d been told they were holding the boy. It was dusk when we arrived. A skinny cat was the only sign of life, so we dared to peek in through a dirty window.

  Sloan tensed as he saw Christopher looking listless and pale, lying on a filthy cot. Al was nowhere to be seen in the one room visible, but Monica was seated at a wooden table drinking, an open bottle nearby. Sloan had bought guns from a man we’d run across the second day, with me negotiating the sale in Spanish, and later he taught me the basics of how to shoot. But, as it turned out, we didn’t need to use them, thank God. Armed, we rushed in and saw right away that Monica was drunk and her boyfriend not at home. Sloan tied her up as she howled protests, then we scooped up the boy and left hurriedly.

  Even now, we don’t know where Al had gone, though Monica screamed that he’d be right back. We never ran across him on our rush back down the mountain. Christopher rallied as soon as he saw his father. By the time we cleaned him up in a stream and got some food and water into him, he appeared fine, though Sloan wants an American doctor to check him over.

  The race back to the border was frantic, but having Christopher safe lightened our steps. He is a sweet child, the image of his father, whose love and protection for both of us is evident in everything he does. The boy’s gentle ways remind me of my Michael at that age, and my heart yearns for my own son, my firstborn, and his two sisters. Finally, I believe that soon I will hold all three in my arms again, for Sloan promised he would find them no matter how long it took, and he is a man of his word.

  Although I’m exhausted, I sit here watching the man I’ve come to love with all my heart and his brave little son sleep, so grateful that things turned out all right.

  Now at last, the search for my three children will begi
n as soon as we’re settled back in Michigan. May God grant us the same sweet success in this, our second mission.

  Chapter One

  St. Clair, Michigan—December 1995

  Putting the children to bed was something Kate always enjoyed. Just one more drink of water, one last story, a final hug and kiss. Smiling, she skipped downstairs just as the phone began jingling, and picked it up on the second ring.

  “Are you watching television?” Pam asked.

  Always glad to hear from her cousin, Kate flopped onto the family-room couch. “No, just finished the bathand-bedtime routine. Why? Should I be?”

  “Yes. Turn it on right away. Channel 7. Call me later.” Pam hung up.

  Puzzled at the abrupt call, Kate reached for the remote and clicked on the set across the room, tuning in the channel as directed. It had to be something important, since Pam wasn’t one to order anyone around.

  Kate recognized the television show immediately, a weekly program she often watched, called “Solutions.” It was one of those programs that encouraged the viewing audience to call in if they had any information on the reenacted crimes that were presented or if they could help reunite families torn apart by a variety of circumstances. This evening’s segment was just beginning, the handsome host talking about a search for three siblings who’d been separated over twenty years ago.

  Her curiosity aroused, Kate leaned forward as the man went on to inform the audience that the Child Protective Services had taken the children from their farm home in Frankenmuth, Michigan, after their father had been killed in an accident and their mother had to be hospitalized due to a life-threatening illness. Her eyes growing wider, Kate felt her mouth go dry.

  She saw the photo of the familiar farmhouse, her parents holding hands by the porch, and then the snapshot taken by the barn of the three of them, her brother, Michael, standing so tall and straight, Hannah looking more serious. And there she was, a little towhead alongside Rex, the family sheepdog. In her dresser in the bedroom, she had copies of both pictures, treasures she’d kept all these years as the only tangible evidence of her early life. Blinking back a sudden rush of tears, Kate wondered who had brought these photos to the attention of the show’s producers.

  Then she saw her, tall and slender, her dark hair worn shorter now and those deep dimples. Her mother—older, of course—but unmistakably Julia Richards. With a gasp, Kate moved her hand to her chest to press against her thudding heart. “They told me you died,” she whispered aloud to the empty room.

  She listened as the woman she’d cried out for so many long years ago told how she’d been searching for her children ever since she’d been released from the hospital two years after the separation. The still-attractive woman’s dark eyes were shiny with unshed tears as the host implored the viewing audience to call the number at the bottom of the screen if they knew the whereabouts of any of the three Richards children, which he went on to name, listing the ages they would be now. Next followed a computerized rendition of how the three might look today, and Kate was shocked to see how accurate her picture was.

  With trembling hands, Kate reached for a pad and pencil, jotted down the station’s phone number, then leaned back into the soft comfort of the couch, feeling numb. She kept staring at the screen as the segment ended and they shifted to a commercial, then she clicked off the television.

  Her mother, Julia Richards, alive. How could that be? Why had the authorities, and everyone else she knew, lied to her? Where were Hannah and Michael after all these years, and had they, too, seen the show tonight? She’d cried for them, too, until she’d finally given up the dream of ever finding them. It had all happened so long ago. She’d been only six that fateful summer day. So much had happened since.

  Closing her eyes, Kate let herself remember.

  St. Clair, Michigan—September, two years earlier

  Fog. Kate had always loved walking in the fog along the boardwalk that trailed the edge of the St. Clair River. She liked it best in the early-morning hours, when the area was generally deserted. She enjoyed the swirling mist that hovered, eerie and mystical, winding and twisting itself around her, head to ankles. The gossamer haze lent itself to romantic imaginings and foolish fantasies. How often Dad had smiled at her fanciful strolls when, as a young girl, she’d sworn she’d seen ghosts and vampires and mythological heroes on horseback wandering the murky riverside.

  She felt a tug at her heart as she thought of Dad, gone too soon, and Mother, too. Just a month ago, she’d seen them off on vacation, one of the few they’d taken, for George Spencer had been a busy surgeon and Carol had owned a successful real-estate agency in Grosse Pointe. Days later, the call had come, informing the Spencers’ adopted daughter that there’d been a boating accident and both her parents had been killed.

  And now she’d never see them again.

  Kate strolled along the railed walkway, her eyes on the horizon where a weak sun was trying to break through the morning cloud cover. Indian summer, a lovely time in Michigan. Remnants of heat competed with an autumn breeze, often creating the fog that lingered over the lake until midmorning. But this year, everything looked sad and lonely to her, bittersweet memories of summers spent at the cottage causing her throat to clog with grief.

  Coming to a lamppost casting an amber glow, Kate paused, wrapping her arms around herself against the slight chill that seeped through her heavy sweater. It was hard to imagine that she’d never see Dad’s warm smile again or Mom’s blond beauty. Finding a tissue in the pocket of her wool slacks, she dabbed at her eyes, wondering how long before these unexpected emotional rushes would end.

  She had to make a plan, Kate decided, to take her mind off her loss. She had to determine what to do next. She couldn’t stay in the summer cottage much longer. She needed to fill her hours, to get a job, to get on with her life.

  By most people’s standards, the life she’d lived thus far had been charmed—until a month ago, when everything had fallen apart. She’d been raised in a lovely home, graduated from her mother’s alma mater, the University of Michigan, and traveled in Europe for two years afterward. She’d had all the creature comforts and many of life’s advantages.

  Yet today, she felt as if she had nothing, and this wasn’t the first time she’d experienced such a wrenching feeling.

  A capricious wind rearranged Kate’s shoulder-length blond hair as she stood lost in thought, listening to the foghorn of a distant freighter making its way south from Lake Huron. It was time to go back, to get herself moving. There was no point in dwelling on the might-havebeens or indulging in wishful thinking. She’d faced difficult times before and somehow she’d survive this, too.

  Determination had Kate lifting her chin a notch and turning. It was then that she noticed the man.

  He stood about thirty feet from her, his dark hair ruffled, a frown on his face as he studied her. He was tall, well dressed, his expression intense. Without speaking, he started out, heading straight for her.

  Groaning inwardly, Kate turned away and began walking. The last thing she needed right now in her particular state of mind was to encounter a stranger who looked as if he intended to start a conversation. She wasn’t afraid, for St. Clair was hardly a high-crime area. She’d strolled this same shoreline dozens of times and felt no danger.

  The sky was lightening, and North Riverside Avenue, which paralleled the walkway, was in plain view with traffic moving steadily. Still, she picked up her pace.

  “Wait!” the man called out. “I need to talk with you.”

  A chill raced down Kate’s spine. She didn’t stop but glanced over her shoulder, trying to determine if they’d met and she’d forgotten. The past few weeks seemed something of a blur. But no, she was certain she’d never seen the man before today. She kept on going.

  His legs were long, and he was soon much closer. “Miss Spencer, wait, please,” he said, his voice deep but nonthreatening.

  He knew her name. Perhaps he was one of Dad’s friends or p
atients. Kate stopped, turning to face him as she slipped her hands into her pants pockets, her fingers curling around the Mace attached to her key chain. A little caution was called for. “Do I know you?” she asked as he came to a halt a few feet away.

  “No. I apologize if I frightened you. My name’s Aaron Carver.” With a nod of his head, he indicated a large brick home across Riverside up on the hill. “I live just over there.”

  Kate waited, uncertain why he’d called out to her. She was in no mood to make new friends just now.

  Aaron wasn’t used to feeling awkward. As a rule, he was always in control—of his office, his staff, his life. But the past six months had taught him that control was a nebulous thing, elusive and as hazy as the morning fog slowly burning off. “I learned from Henry Hull at Riverview Drugs that your parents recently died.” Who knew better than he about grief, the soul-shattering kind that eats away at the very fabric of your existence? He’d sensed that same emotion in her as he’d stood watching her stroll along the boardwalk. “I’m so sorry.”

  Kate swallowed down the lump that seemed to arise at each and every new offer of sympathy. “Thank you. Did you know them for long?” She still couldn’t place his face or his name.

  Aaron ran a hand through his hair, again feeling clumsy with the task he knew he had to complete. He hated being at the mercy of the fates. “Actually, I didn’t know them at all, although my father might have. But Henry tells me they were wonderful people. He also told me that you might be at loose ends, perhaps thinking of relocating.” The pharmacist had mentioned that Kate Spencer lived in Grosse Pointe, about an hour’s drive south of St. Clair.