“Dinner. Grandma sent it over.”
Kavan watched Elizabeth flare, her face reddening. “I told her that I would. . .”
“Kavan! Hello.” A hand clapped on his shoulder.
He turned to the familiar voice. “Jeff.” He extended his hand.
“How are you?” Jeff greeted him with a hearty handshake.
“Good. It’s been awhile.”
“Too long,” Jeff said. “I see you’ve met my cousin Beth.”
“No, I haven’t had the pleasure.” Kavan peered again into her jewel-like eyes.
“Well, let me do the honors. Beth Lambert, meet my old friend, Kavan Donovan. Beth is my cousin from Boston.”
Her silky hand slipped into his. “Nice to meet you, Kavan.”
The melodic sound of her voice speaking his name stunned his heart. “The pleasure is all mine, Beth.”
“Elizabeth,” she said, pointing to her name tag. “It’s Elizabeth.”
“Ah yes,” Jeff said, a lilt in his voice, “she prefers not to use her country-cousin name.”
She eyed him with ire. “Isn’t there a crime in town you need to solve?”
Kavan stifled a grin, but Jeff chuckled heartily. “Calm down, Beth; I’m going.”
“Here, take this with you.” She held out the brown paper bag. “I told Grandma I’d get something to eat, and I did.”
“She’s just watching out for you,” Jeff stated. “When I stopped by Grandpa and Grandma’s to see what Gran made for dessert, I told her about your car. She thought maybe you didn’t have time to grab that burger you mentioned.”
Kavan listened, letting his thoughts linger over the picture of family love and care Jeff’s explanation painted. His family life had been very different from that of the Lamberts. Too many lonely nights eating frozen dinners, sitcom reruns his only company.
Moving his thoughts out of the shadowy past, Kavan tuned in to Jeff’s monologue. “I got some good news and some bad news about your car.”
“My car?” Elizabeth asked while ringing up Kavan’s refund.
“The good news is I had your car towed to the garage.”
Elizabeth stopped working. “Jeff, you shouldn’t have. I can take care of my car.”
Jeff held up his hands in surrender. “I know, but I’m family, and I’m helping whether you like it or not.”
Elizabeth smiled in defeat. Kavan felt captivated by her beauty. But her precious attention centered on Jeff, not him. “What’s the bad news?”
“You need to replace all your tires. Besides the flat right front, the tread is thin on two more, and the fourth one has a nail.”
Disappointment etched the elegant planes of her face. “You’re kidding, Jeff. How much is that going to cost?”
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll take care of it.”
Elizabeth slammed her hand on the counter, startling Kavan and Jeff. “No you won’t.” She leaned toward her cousin, waving her index finger in his face. “Don’t even try to pull one of your family strings to get me some deal and leave me feeling eternally indebted.”
Amused, Kavan watched. He liked the woman’s resolve and determination. She didn’t think twice about facing down the brawny police officer. Cousin or not, it showed guts.
“All right, all right.” Jeff held up his hands. “You’re looking at about two hundred dollars.”
With a flurry, Elizabeth finished the forestry refund. Kavan engaged Jeff in casual conversation, keeping one eye on the White Birch police officer and one on Elizabeth. He’d been to Sinclair’s a thousand times and never seen her before.
When the conversation with Jeff lulled, he heard himself ask the curly-haired brunette, “How long have you worked here?”
“Two weeks.” She handed him a credit slip and a pen. “Sign here, and give a reason for the return.”
“She’s up here from Boston, fresh out of MIT.” Jeff spouted more detail. “Came to spend some time with the family. She works for Will over at Lambert’s Furniture during the day.”
Kavan whistled low and contemplated Elizabeth in a new light. “MIT, I’m impressed.”
Jeff’s radio suddenly squawked, demanding his attention. “Gotta go. Beth, what time do you get off? I’ll come by and pick you up.”
“I already told you; I don’t need a ride.”
“How are you going to get home? Jog? What time do you get off?” Jeff demanded.
“One,” she blurted out as if it were a final confession.
Jeff glanced at Kavan with a smirk, then back at his cousin. “I’ll see you at one.” Jeff headed for the door. Suddenly he stopped and pointed at Kavan. “Have Kavan tell you about the time he saved my life.”
❧
Elizabeth raised a brow at the broad-shouldered redhead, charmed by his gentle manners and ruddy cheeks. She wondered how he’d saved her cousin’s life and why the mere mention of the fact caused a crimson hue to wash over his face.
“You saved Jeff’s life?”
“He likes to embarrass me.” Kavan fussed with the balloons and construction paper. “I need to buy some other items for the kids, so I’ll just check out at one of the registers.”
“Have a good night.” She studied his straight back as he walked away, disappointed that he no longer stood at the service desk. She liked the ranger, drawn by the kindness and sincerity that emanated from his deep-set eyes.
Elizabeth’s musings froze at the sudden realization that Kavan intrigued her. She did not have time for romance or a summer love. Graduate school loomed on her horizon, and she was determined to see her goal to completion.
I’m not stopping five yards short of the goal line. With determination, she shoved her curiosity and attraction for the man aside.
When Joann returned to the service desk from roaming the store, Elizabeth blurted out, “I forbid you to talk about love or romance, Jo.”
“Forbid?” Joann echoed, arching a brow. “What sparked that comment?”
“Never mind.” Elizabeth exchanged money from one of the cashiers standing in front of the service desk and gave her several rolls of change.
Joann stared at her, one hand on her hip. “I make no promises.”
Elizabeth started to reply, but at that moment, eighteen-year-old Millie hurled herself against the counter and asked in a breathless murmur, “Joann, can I please go on break? Mark is meeting me—”
Joann leaned forward and asked in the same breathless whisper, “You two still an item?”
Millie blushed. Elizabeth rolled her eyes.
“Sure, go on,” Joann said with flare. “Who am I to stand in the way of true love?”
Elizabeth laughed at the melodrama. “You’re ridiculous, you know that?”
“Never,” Joann countered with a flip of her hair.
“You take the cake on romance.”
“Never mind the cake,” Joann said, picking up the clipboard and reading the schedule. “Open register ten so Millie can go on break.”
“For you, yes. For love, no,” Elizabeth answered with a light laugh and headed for the register.
❧
“So, we meet again.” Kavan steered his cart between the magazine rack and the register. He smiled and winked.
A breezy feeling fluttered across her stomach. “I think you are following me, Sir. I’ll have you know my cousin is a White Birch police officer.” Elizabeth scanned Kavan’s items and dropped them into plastic bags.
“Well then, me lady.” Kavan bowed with a large sweep of his arm, an Irish lilt to his words. “I’ll be minding me manners.”
His accent and exaggerated movements made her laugh. “You never told me how you saved Jeff’s life.”
Kavan swiped his debit card through the checkout terminal to pay for his purchase. “Well, if I told you everything about me, you’d be bored and less inclined to join me for dinner.”
Bold. Clever. But as much as the ranger fascinated her, dinner for two might spawn romantic notions, and Elizabeth refuse
d to let her heart, or anyone else’s, dictate to her head.
Nevertheless, she didn’t want to hurt or embarrass Kavan. Thankfully, she had a legitimate excuse for turning down his offer. “I work most nights.” She cashed out his purchase and passed over his receipt.
Slowly, he slipped his debit card into his wallet and reached for the bags. “I see.” He paused. “Maybe some night when you’re free.”
“Maybe.” She shrugged, knowing the chances were slim.
“Good night, Elizabeth.”
“Good night, Kavan.”
❧
On his back porch, Kavan popped the top from a cold bottle of soda. He eased down into a polished oak rocker and set it into motion. Two German shepherds, Fred and Ginger, lay at his feet.
In the distance, a glow of light from the town center burned above the treetops. And on Kavan’s kitchen windowsills, oil lamps burned against the darkness.
Overhead, the night sky glistened with starlight, and the songs of crickets filled the air.
Peaceful and reflective, Kavan relived the evening’s events. It had been good to see Jeff Simmons. Hard to imagine that they’d once been best friends. Strange how time and life’s pursuits changed relationships. He grinned thinking of Jeff’s claim that he’d saved his life. Truth of the matter, it’d been the other way around. Jeff saved his life, though it had nothing to do with life or death.
An image of Elizabeth crept into his mind and painted warm colors over his thoughts. Growing up in White Birch, the Lambert clan was the closest thing Kavan had to a real family. But somehow, he’d never had the pleasure of meeting Elizabeth. If he had, he was sure he would have remembered.
Standing behind Sinclair’s counter, she appeared young and innocent. Jeff’s announcement that she graduated from MIT added a whole new dimension to the resolute, blue-eyed woman. He could still hear the slap of her hand on the counter, warning Jeff not to pull any favors to get new tires for her car.
Independent, he thought, a good attribute for a ranger’s wife.
Just then Fred picked up his head and bayed at the moon. Ginger echoed. Kavan stopped rocking and looked down at them with a furrowed brow. “What? It’s okay for you two to have a companion, but not your ole master?”
The shepherds tilted their heads, as if trying to understand. Kavan chuckled and scratched Fred behind the ears. Setting the rocker into motion again, he took a swig of the cola and addressed his Lord in a low, intimate voice. “Only You know what kind of wife I need. I trust You to help me find her.”
The shrill ring of the kitchen telephone ignited a barking frenzy. “Settle,” Kavan commanded the dogs. “I hear it.” He hurried through the back door and reached for the receiver on the third ring.
“Hello.” He glanced at the clock. 12:45 a.m.
“Kavan, it’s Jeff. Sorry to call so late.”
Kavan grinned. “Seems like old times.”
“Well, it’ll really seem like old times when I ask you to do me a favor.”
Kavan’s deep laugh reverberated through the kitchen. “A favor after all these years? It’ll cost you.”
“Wait ’til you hear the favor.” Merriment laced Jeff’s words.
“Proceed with caution,” Kavan retorted.
“Pick up Beth from Sinclair’s for me and take her home. She’s living with Grandpa and Grandma.”
Kavan slid the mouthpiece away from his mouth and drew a deep breath. His heart thumped in his chest. His reaction to hearing Elizabeth’s name surprised him.
“You there?” Jeff asked.
Kavan breathed out slowly. “You’re really taking us back to high school days now, old buddy. I thought you were picking her up.”
“I’m processing a domestic violence case and won’t get out of here on time. The wife is pressing charges.”
“Sad,” Kavan managed to say.
“Very. Kids involved. Makes me want to—well, never mind. You going to pick her up or not?”
“With all the Lamberts in this town, you call me?”
“I’ve never seen any of the Lamberts look at her the way you did tonight. I thought maybe the two of you—”
Kavan blurted out, “Your imagination causes you to see things that aren’t there.”
Jeff’s bass laugh rumbled through the line. “Don’t kid a kidder. Can you pick her up?”
Kavan checked the clock again. Twelve fifty. If he agreed, he needed to do so quickly. “All right, I’ll do it, but you owe me, Simmons. You owe me.”
“Thanks, Buddy.”
Hanging up, Kavan grabbed his keys and headed for his truck. He regretted not taking the time to clean it out. The seats were covered with dust and dog hair from Fred and Ginger’s last ride. Quickly he wiped them with an old but clean rag and started the engine.
Driving to Sinclair’s, he imagined what he would say to her. His invitation to dinner met with resistance and little hope for a future date. A nervous twitch ran through him. What if she refused his offer to drive her home? Surely Jeff called and warned her.
Too late now, he thought, turning into the store’s parking lot. He spied Elizabeth just inside the doors, leaning against the wall, arms folded, peering out.
“Hi,” Kavan said, slowly approaching.
Her eyes showed surprise. “Hi. Kavan, right?”
“Right.” He shuffled his feet, feeling awkward. Seven years out of high school and the sight of a pretty lady still made him feel like a clumsy ox.
“Did you forget something? Glue perhaps?” She grinned a saucy grin, exposing white, even teeth.
Kavan laughed. “No, got all the glue I need. Actually, I’m here for you.”
Elizabeth stood up straight, though her arms still crossed her petite frame. “For me? Where’s Jeff?”
“Tied up with a case. He called and asked if I’d pick you up.”
Kavan saw the muscles of her face tighten. And her eyes narrowed. “What is it with this family of mine? They hover and watch. . .” Elizabeth paused, wriggling her fingers in the air as if kneading dough. “I’m sorry Jeff brought you out here at one o’clock in the morning for nothing.” With that, she turned and walked back into the store.
Kavan followed her. A tall blond woman behind the counter glanced at him, then at Elizabeth. A mischievous grin spread across her face.
“Joann, can you give me a ride home?” Elizabeth asked.
“Ah, Honey, I live all the way across town. What about your friend here? Hi, I’m Joann Floyd.”
“Kavan Donovan.” He shook her hand.
Elizabeth protested, motioning to Kavan. “He’s a stranger.”
Joann winked at him. “But I have plans.”
Elizabeth cocked her head to one side and narrowed her eyes. “Sure you do. At one in the morning?”
“My husband rented a movie. Besides, you don’t want to make Kavan come all the way out here for nothing.”
“I didn’t ask him to come out here.”
Joann answered with a shrug. She picked up the cash drawer she’d been counting and ducked into the back office.
Elizabeth stared at Kavan, one hand on her hip. With resignation, she said, “Guess you’re my ride.”
“Jeff should have called to tell you.” Certain he saw a sparkle in her blue eyes, he continued. “My truck is right outside. Curbside service.”
They walked in silence. Kavan held the passenger door open for her. As she climbed in, she said, “I overreacted. Seeing you here on Jeff’s behalf, well, embarrassed me.”
Kavan paused, his hand on the door. “Embarrassed you?”
“Yes, where I come from, one doesn’t pick up a stranger from work in the wee hours of the morning.”
Kavan pushed the door shut and peered through the open window. “Well,” he said, “in White Birch, we do.”
Three
Elizabeth stretched, stifling a yawn. Flopping against the customer service counter, she faced another mindless night at Sinclair’s. Working days at Lambert’s Furnitur
e, then evenings and weekends at the super store left her exhausted. And the summer had barely begun.
She glanced up to see Kavan Donovan standing at the service counter, off to one side, watching her. He flashed his lopsided, yet rakish smile.
Instantly, she shot upright and smoothed her hands over her wrinkled smock. Was it her imagination, or were her hands trembling?
Over the past two weeks, Kavan dropped by the store almost every evening. If he didn’t, Elizabeth noted his absence with a sharp pang of longing.
“Hi,” he said, moving closer.
Elizabeth smiled easily. “What did you forget this time?”
He held up a slender, narrow package, and Elizabeth recognized the familiar toothbrush casing.
“Fred ate mine,” Kavan explained.
She gaped at him. “Who’s Fred?”
With a deadpan expression, he said, “My dog.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Is that anything like ‘my dog ate my homework’?” The warmth of his presence wrapped around her heart.
“No, completely different. Not even in the same ‘dog eating my stuff’ category.” Kavan whipped a mangled toothbrush from the pocket of his green khakis.
She inspected the damaged toothbrush. “Hmm.”
“Hmm? What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, raising one eyebrow. He placed the new toothbrush on the counter for Elizabeth to scan. “You doubt my story.”
“Oh no.” She stifled a chuckle. “Sounds perfectly plausible to me. That’ll be two fifty-six.”
Kavan handed over three ones. “Are you busy tomorrow night?”
“Working again.”
“No rest for the weary, eh? Don’t they ever give you a night off?”
“Yes, but people call me to work for them, so I do.”
“What are you doing with all the money you’re making?”
“Spending it on new tires,” Elizabeth said with a quick wink, referencing the night they met.
Kavan nodded with a grin.
“Other than that, I’m saving it for my parents,” she added.
He furrowed his brow. “You’re giving money to your parents?”
“No, I’m proving to them I know the value of a hard-earned dollar. It was my dad’s idea, mainly. Send his overachieving daughter back to the family roots, work hard, and take a break from school. I think Dad’s afraid I’ll turn into an academic with no grasp of day-to-day life. So, I’m. . .” Elizabeth stopped midsentence. She said too much. How did the forthright yet humble ranger rouse her to speak her inner thoughts?
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