by Jillian Hart
“Call me Katherine, please. I’ll have one of the coordinators call you.” She smiled, and tension drained out of her slender shoulders, squared so stubbornly under her tailored blazer.
Even though he didn’t like her, he had to admit she had class. And the smile she extended to Hayden wasn’t triumphant, but compassionate, and that impressed him, too. So he couldn’t like the woman for accusing his girl, even if she had been right, but he appreciated what she’d done. And handing him the opportunity of forcing his daughter to get involved with a youth group was just what he’d needed.
Being new to town and settling into a house and a job had taken a lot of his energy. Other priorities had been shoved aside. But no more. Resigned, he accepted the pen and notepad Katherine had taken from her pocket and handed to him.
As he jotted down his home number, he couldn’t help noticing the subtle hint of her perfume, something light and tasteful. He couldn’t say why his hand shook a little as he returned the pen and notepad.
Probably because he was working on twenty hours without sleep. That was it. “Thank you.”
Katherine wasn’t sure what to say to a father who had a big challenge on his hands. But despite her attitude, she was certain that his daughter was a good kid down deep. “Good luck.”
“You say that like you think I’m going to need it,” he said.
“I’m sure things will be smooth sailing for you from here. Hayden, you’re going to like Marin. She’s a cool youth pastor.”
“I don’t think so.” The girl rolled her eyes and gave her shank of blue hair a toss behind her shoulder and headed back through the detectors. “C’mon, Daddy, let’s get out of here.”
For an instant, Jack Munroe looked like he feared his daughter would set off the alarm again. His wide, linebacker’s shoulders looked as rigid as granite, as if he carried a heavy burden on them. Once they were through the sensors without an alarm, a visible wave of relief passed over his handsome features.
Yep, he was going to need more than good luck. She would put him on her prayer list tonight.
She turned to thank the town officers, who were already on their way out.
Kelly looked up from the book she was reading at the register. “Are you okay? You don’t look okay.”
“I’m fine. Now that it’s quieted back down, I don’t think we’re going to see a lot of business with this storm. Did you want to go home? The roads are only going to get worse.”
“But then you’ll be here alone.”
“I’m going to close down early. Don’t you worry about me. Just drive safely, okay?”
“Thanks, Katherine.” Kelly gathered up her college textbooks and headed toward the back.
Alone. Katherine wrapped her arms around her middle. She was getting real used to being alone. Lights flashed on and glared in the front window—the headlights of the state trooper’s cruiser. He was talking to the daughter. She could barely make them out through the thickly falling snow.
Maybe it was the ghosts of old memories rising up, or seeing those girls, teenage girls, and remembering what was best not thought about, but she hurt.
All it took was one wrong move, even well-intentioned, and look how far-reaching the consequences. This was her life, she thought. She turned her back on father and daughter and went back to restocking.
Turned her back on memories that, felt anew, would keep her up most of the night.
Chapter Three
“Thanks, Pastor. You have a good afternoon, now.” Jack hung up the phone in the quiet of his home office. The empty house echoed around him as he turned in his chair and stared out the window.
A cold winter’s landscape met his gaze through the picture window that faced the rugged range of the Montana Rockies, spanning the entire length of the horizon. The ice-capped peaks jutting against a white-gray sky were breathtaking and a change from Phoenix’s low camelbacks, which he’d seen all of his life. This Montana landscape wasn’t too hard on the eyes, but snow covered everything from the distant mountaintops to the shrubs outside the window. Miles and miles of snow.
Too much snow. Worse, a thick cloud layer was building across the entire dome of the sky. Just his luck that another six to eight inches were forecast to start falling by sundown. And if it did, then he could kiss his night goodbye.
He better put calling Mrs. Garcia on his to-do list. The sixty-something housekeeper stayed over in the guest room on the nights he worked in order to keep an eye on Hayden. He scribbled Mrs. Garcia on line ten, right below the reminder to call the lady from the Christian bookstore.
Miss Katherine McKaslin. He didn’t know what to think of her. He owed her. He didn’t like her, but he’d behaved badly last night. Yep, that’s the way it went. He always wound up coming across like a jerk whenever he was around a single woman. Which worked out just fine, he guessed, since he’d never been more than undecided when it came to the idea of marrying again.
This little shoplifting incident might have a serious silver lining—and that was the youth pastor he’d just spoken to. A friend of Miss McKaslin’s.
Why couldn’t he get her out of his mind? She was tall, slim, proper and lovely, definitely lovely. He didn’t want to like her. Besides, remembering how angry he’d been over her accusing Hayden—and then her being right about Hayden—was something he was never going to get past.
Not that he wanted to get past it.
Still, it wasn’t like he could forget the sympathetic look she’d given Hayden. Sympathetic, when Katherine had the right to be angry, or worse.
You owe her, man. And you know it.
His little girl could have found herself in juvenile detention if Katherine McKaslin had been unforgiving. But instead, the uptight, high-and-mighty shop lady had been nothing of the sort. Her kindness had handed him the best break he’d had in a while. The pastor he’d spoken to on the phone sounded like just the sort of help his little girl needed.
And that brand of decency was hard come by in this world.
By the time the first airy flakes of snow began to fall, he knew what he had to do.
In the quiet of the bookstore, Katherine leaned against the doorjamb to her brother’s office and tried to make sense of the male brain. “The dangerous winter storm warning isn’t just speculation. It’s fact. Have you looked out the window?”
“It’s a few flakes. Big deal.”
“It’s a perfect time to close the store, before the blizzard hits. Right?”
“What do we do about the customers who stop by later, depending on us to be open for them? I can’t be here. I’ve got a meeting at the church.” Decked out in his best suit, white shirt and tie, Spence gave his computer keyboard a few more taps. The printer in the corner started spitting and clattering. “We can’t disappoint our customers. It’s not good for business.”
“Fine, I’ll send everyone home and I’ll stay.”
“Alone? Like you did last night? You know I don’t approve of that. It’s not a safe world.”
“True, but I’m a capable adult who can take care of herself.” Really, she knew her brother cared, but there was only one harder-headed man on this earth, and that was their father, of course. Both of them could test a girl’s patience without the slightest effort. “Go to your meeting.”
“I can’t go if you’re going to be here alone.”
“Then we close now.” Katherine watched her big brother wrestle with that. “I’m going to go out onto the floor. Do you need anything before I go?”
“No. This spreadsheet you did for me is great.” Spence straightened his paisley tie as he rose from his leather chair. “I think they’ll be pleased.”
“Good.” She figured that was as close to an okay on closing the store early as she would get. “Drive carefully out there.”
She left her brother stewing over his financial worries and the lost revenue of closing early—as if anyone would be out shopping with the current weather warnings. Poor Spence. He took his responsibili
ties so seriously. Too seriously.
“Hey, kiddo.” She cornered the fiction aisle, where her younger sister was shelving books. “You need help with that cart?”
“Sure. You know what the Bible says, two can accomplish more than twice as much as one.” Ava straightened from her work with a wink. “You don’t look busy.”
“You know me, I never work.”
“I know. It’s terrible. You know what everyone says? That lazy Katherine. Next they’ll be commenting on that wild outfit.” Ava laughed, a light, easy trill.
“Aren’t you funny?” Okay, so she wasn’t a fashion plate. Katherine glanced at the black cable turtleneck sweater and her favorite pair of black wool trousers. Sensible, as always. “There’s a minus-ten-degree wind chill outside.”
“Hey, I know.” Ava chose a volume from the cart and turned to study the shelves. Her outfit of choice today was a smart safari jacket, a lace-edged purple Henley and a pair of jeans tucked into suede boots. She looked like she’d walked off a fashion magazine. “I heard you had a little incident last night.”
“The shoplifting? Yeah, but we got the figurines back.”
“I wasn’t talking about that. I heard a rumor that you caught a certain state trooper’s attention.”
“It’s ridiculous. Who did you hear that from?”
“Nobody. Well, Aubrey and me, we felt compelled to review the security tape. Then Aubrey bumped into Dean getting coffee this morning, you know, one of the responding officers last night?”
“Yeah, yeah.” It was a small city. Sometimes hardly more than a small town. “You and that sister of yours—”
“She’s your sister, too—”
“—have the wrong idea.”
“Which is?”
“Trust me. That man can’t stand me.” That had come across pretty clearly last night. “I don’t believe you got that from the tape. He was horrible. He—”
“Yeah, so you didn’t really notice him at all, huh?”
“Not at all.” Katherine grabbed a half dozen books from the cart and moved down the aisle. “I know what you’re doing. You’re trying to distract me from the fact that you left the crystals case unlocked.”
“My bad.” Ava didn’t look a bit remorseful, and she wasn’t doing a whole lot of shelving either. “So, back to the state trooper. Was his name Jack? Do I have that right?”
Yeah, she had the name right. But she was hard-pressed to explain why it felt like the lining of her rib cage contracted painfully whenever she thought of him. “It isn’t like that. He’s married, I’m sure. And why aren’t you shelving?”
“I’ll get to it.” Ava sidled close. “I happened to notice he wasn’t wearing a wedding ring.”
“And this is important because…?”
“I don’t want you to give up hope.”
Why did that make her ache inside, all the way down to her soul?
Because she had lost hope. Hope of ever finding the right man.
“He’s out there, I know it.” Ava slid a book into place. “I pray for you finding him every night.”
Her soul ached a little more. “I’m afraid you’re wasting your prayers. A lot of men just wouldn’t understand….”
There was the past left unsaid between them.
Ava’s hand found Katherine’s and gently squeezed. “You only need the right man to understand. To see what a great woman you are.” Her gaze shot over Katherine’s shoulder for a brief moment. “I bet he’s on his way to you right now. Maybe, so you won’t miss him, the Good Lord will send a sign. You know, like a handsome man bringing white roses.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Just telling you I think my prayers are going to be answered. I’m lucky that way, you know.” Ava snatched another book from the cart. “I pray, it happens. Right?”
“Almost always. You have a serious gift with prayer. But you have to accept that some things aren’t meant to be. I have.” And talking about it was painful. She slipped a historical romance into place on the middle shelf and straightened the books around it. She liked tidy shelves. Keeping the shelves tidy was something she made a difference at.
Repairing the damage done to her life almost fifteen years ago was something that could never be done. Not even God could change what was past.
The bell over the door chimed. A customer, she wondered, or Spence back from the meeting that was probably cancelled?
“You’d better go see who that is,” Ava commented as she laboriously struggled to slip a paperback book onto the shelf, obviously too busy to check on the possible customer.
What was up with her? Katherine glanced around the aisle and the book she held slid from her fingers. As the book hit the floor, the thud sounded just like her heart stuttering in shock. There was Jack Munroe, broad-shouldered and substantial, with a vase of white rosebuds cradled in his big, capable-looking hands.
That Ava. She must have spotted him getting out of his car. Really. “Hello, there. How are things working out with your daughter?”
“Better. She’ll be grounded for about the next decade or so. Nothing major.” He handed over the roses along with a striking half grin. “These are for you, to say thank you. I owe you an apology. I’m sorry I was such a…well, I can’t say it in polite company.”
“Please, don’t worry. It was understandable given the circumstances.”
“You’re generous to say that. Needless to say, I don’t take criticism of my daughter very well.”
“I wasn’t criticizing her. Just trying to set things right.”
“I know that.”
She had to move closer to accept the bouquet, close enough to notice that Ava was right. No wedding ring. She also noticed how the green and gold threads in his dark-brown irises softened the gaze that had seemed so imposing last night. Laugh lines added character to his face.
Not that she should be noticing. Not that she wanted to.
Katherine breathed in the sweet old-fashioned roses’ scent. It was hard to dislike a man bearing flowers—from both him and Hayden, obviously. “Thank you. This was thoughtful of you.”
He smiled, a full-fledged one that made those threads in his eyes glint. Very nice. She snapped away, focusing her energy on setting the vase on the front counter instead of feeling the effects of that smile.
Where was Ava? Katherine had the feeling that her sister, with her matchmaking thoughts, was spying through the book stacks. Really.
Katherine did her best to appear unaffected, because of course, she was. “How is Hayden doing?”
“Mad at me. Mad at you. But I think that’s a teenage thing. She’s probably angriest at herself.”
“Probably.”
“I got a hold of your pastor friend this afternoon. She said you’d already called and told her about Hayden wanting to join the youth group’s project at the shelter. She didn’t know anything about the shoplifting problem.”
“I didn’t feel like it was my place to tell her. Everyone makes mistakes, especially teenagers.”
Her words of compassion struck him like a sucker punch to the chest. His first impression of this woman had been way off base. Out in left field. He didn’t know how to tell her that. Didn’t know if he should.
“I’ve been friends with Marin forever. She has all kinds of youth-group activities and projects going on all the time, not just with the shelter. Hayden will love her, I promise.”
“I believe you.” How had she gotten past his defenses so easily? Jack rubbed the back of his neck, puzzled and, he had to admit, intrigued. “You’ve done a good thing for my girl. I know you’re thinking, That man and his kid are a mess. But I’ve been trying to right this boat for a while. Hayden’s a good kid.”
“I saw that in her. That she’s good, without a doubt.”
There it was again, that compassion, lovely and kind. Katherine was a striking woman, but with her heart gentle in her eyes, he felt captivated. A strange emotion dazzled through him, and it felt li
ke first light on a bleak winter’s morning, changing everything.
Remember, Jack, you don’t like this woman. Correction: you don’t want to like this woman. He scrubbed his hand over his eyes. What had they been talking about? That’s right, Hayden. “She’s a real good kid. Used to be. Is. Things haven’t been smooth for a long time, but this—this shoplifting thing—is the first serious problem we’ve had. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”
“Believe me, I’m not casting stones.”
“It’s a little hard for you not to. She stole from you.”
“True. But she wouldn’t be the first shoplifting teenager in this store. She won’t be the last.”
How could he have gotten it so wrong? This woman wasn’t high and mighty, she wasn’t righteous and judgmental. She was amazing. And if he stood here one second longer and kept this conversation going, then he was going to make a huge mistake. She’d done it again, gotten beneath his defenses. He was just about to open up and talk about his life and the part of himself he kept under tight lock and key.
But opening up just made a man vulnerable. So he had one option, and one option only. Time to get out of Dodge while he could. Time to escape before he started thinking that if and when he tried dating again, he’d look for a woman like this one.
Maybe this one.
Nope, he just couldn’t see Katherine saying yes to a date with him. She’d turn him down flat. His life was a mess; he knew it. He was no prize, plenty of women he’d dated had said it.
To save what dignity he had left, he headed out into the wind and storm. It was abrupt, probably came across as rude, but he’d done the best he could.
Once inside his cruiser, as he let the engine warm and the fog clear from the windshield, he could see her inside the store, going about her work. There was something about the way she moved with unconscious grace. The way she stopped to tuck a strand of her light blond hair behind one ear, and it was an utterly feminine gesture.
He missed the gentleness of a woman in his life. Katherine McKaslin made him remember a time when he hadn’t been so isolated. When he’d been a man unjaded by life and believing in love’s illusions.