Return to Lone Oak (Harlequin Heartwarming)

by Knupp, Amy

“Not too early,” Katie and Savannah said at the same time, then smiled at each other.

  “How are the kids?” Katie went to the fridge to find a drink.

  “Shell-shocked.” A word that did a pretty good job of describing Savannah as well, from the look of her. “Bedtime was pretty awful.”

  Katie frowned, her heart tying itself in a knot. She remembered how, after their mom had died, she’d always felt most alone at night, as she was drifting off to sleep. “Sorry I wasn’t here for that.”

  “Yeah, um—” Savannah leaned forward, elbows on the table “—where were you, exactly?”

  Katie pictured Noah swinging out over the river and smiled. “If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”

  Savannah studied her with interest and a halfhearted smile. “Well, at least one of us had a good day.”

  “Hard to call it good, after what happened here.”

  “Are you guys getting serious?”

  “No,” Katie answered without hesitation. “Definitely not. I go back to St. Louis in two more weeks.”

  “That’s a lot of protesting.”

  “I don’t do serious, remember? Frankly—” Katie leaned back and stretched her legs out on one of the empty chairs “—what you’re going through now is exactly why.”

  Savannah shut her eyes briefly, then ran her thumb and forefinger from the outer corners of her lids to the bridge of her nose. After the past couple of days, the past couple of weeks even, Katie was starting to recognize something she hadn’t understood before. Ever. Savannah had feelings that ran deep, just like everyone else, even though she spent the majority of her life hiding them. Acting invincible. And for the first time, Katie understood she wasn’t invincible. It was all just that—an act.

  “I shouldn’t have said that,” Katie said. “I’m sorry.”

  Maybe it was because Katie was the youngest sister. She’d grown up buying into the facade Savannah presented, that she was never hurt or sad or lonely. When their mom died, Lindsey had turned into a mother hen. Katie had been determined to be self-sufficient. But Savannah... She’d acted as if it didn’t bother her. She’d turned into the rebellious one, the only one who dared to fight with their dad even when he was consumed with grief.

  Katie realized now, she’d taken Savannah’s anger as invincibility. All these years.

  “I need to go to bed,” Savannah said, pulling herself to her feet.

  Katie stood, too, wrapping Savannah in a tight hug. “You’re going to get through this just fine. You’re a strong person, Van.”

  When she loosened her hold on her sister and looked into her eyes, she saw doubt, fear.

  “I don’t feel strong at all.” She swiped at a tear. “I hate this. I feel so... I’m just really tired of crying.”

  Katie nodded. “If you can’t sleep and want to talk...or not talk, come downstairs and get me.”

  Savannah nodded and they headed off in their separate directions.

  “Katie.”

  Katie paused on the landing at the top of the stairs and looked across the kitchen at Savannah.

  “I’m glad you’re here. I don’t need a babysitter, but thanks for staying.”

  Katie smiled sadly and headed downstairs, able to agree with her sister on one thing. She was glad she was here, too. Glad she could help today, even if all she’d been able to do was drive Savannah to the doctor and hold her hand when she needed it.

  She was so used to putting distance between herself, her family and her former life here in Lone Oak that the realization threw her for a loop.

  * * *

  NOAH WALKED OVER to where Katie sprawled on the couch looking prettier than ever in a little tank top and shorts, her cheeks flushed and her lips swollen from his kisses.

  The image would remain with him long after she left town.

  The thought of her leaving roused a worry he’d been shutting down for the past few days, unable to think about anything post-Katie just yet. He’d taken living in the moment to a new high—out of necessity.

  He was falling for her. Why couldn’t he just have fun, keep anything too deep out of the picture? He was frustrated with himself, as well as with the impossibility of a future with this woman.

  “Hey,” she said, looking up at him. She had a magazine opened in front of her, National Geographic, if he wasn’t mistaken. “These guys amaze me.”

  “What guys?” He sat on the edge of the couch, close to her.

  “These people who climbed Everest. Did you read this?” She tapped the magazine pages. “They had just about everything that could go wrong, go wrong, but they still made it. To the top. Totally inspiring.”

  “Sounds like a big game of chicken.”

  “And they won! Can you imagine what it must feel like to finally make it to the top, especially after all the trials?” She sat up, animated.

  “I can’t imagine why anyone would want to try.”

  “Someday I’m going to. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, ever since ninth grade, when I had to write a report about Edmund Hillary.”

  He narrowed his eyes, wondering if she was just goading him. “Why would you want to do that, Katie? Do you know how many people die trying?”

  “One in eight. The point here is to not to be that one.”

  The flippancy in her tone set his nerves on edge, made him want to shake some sense into her.

  “The body isn’t meant to undergo something like that. Anyone who tries it deserves whatever he gets.”

  “The spirit of adventure lives in Noah Fletcher,” she said dramatically.

  “What do you think their families went through while they were climbing a mountain that was never meant to be climbed?”

  “I’m sure they were worried, just like they would be if they took a plane somewhere or caught the flu.”

  “Talk about a dumb, pointless endeavor that proves nothing but luck. You’re smarter than that, Katie. Tell me you’re not serious about this.”

  Katie glared at him. “Oh, I’m serious about it. Like I said, it’s one of my dreams. And I can promise you no one will stand in the way of my doing it.” She got up and started gathering her things.

  As irritated as Noah was, he didn’t want her to leave. Their time together was limited enough. “Don’t tell me you’re going home over this little dispute.”

  “Little dispute? Do you have a dream, Noah? Anything you aspire to accomplish one day? Why don’t you tell me about it so I can stomp all over it?”

  She stormed away, vanishing through the front door. Noah instantly regretted letting his fear get the better of him. Why bother fighting with her about something she might or might not do in the future? It wouldn’t be his business or his problem because he’d be long out of her life by then.

  But he’d let a knee-jerk reaction take over and push her away. Dumb move.

  * * *

  KATIE MARCHED UP Savannah’s driveway toward the back of the house. She stopped, her hand on the doorknob, reconsidering. She was in no mood to act as if nothing was wrong, so she quietly let go of the screen door and took a seat at the patio table.

  So much for a relaxing evening with Noah. She shuddered. What was with the relaxing evening stuff, anyway? That so wasn’t her. She and Noah had slipped into some kind of domestic make-believe world and Katie hadn’t even thought about it until now.

  She’d spent the past few evenings at his house, although she always came back to Savannah’s place for the night. She’d let herself get far too comfortable at Noah’s place, something she never did. In fact, she usually made sure that the time spent with a man was on her terms, in her domain. But right now, she didn’t really have a domain other than her apartment in St. Louis. And Noah’s, well... It felt like hers. His territory was her former territory and someho
w she’d let herself believe that getting comfortable there wasn’t a problem.

  Good thing he’d prompted a reality check.

  Katie heard the back door opening behind her and didn’t need to look to know who it was.

  “I thought I heard someone out here,” Savannah said as she sat down next to Katie.

  “I’m back. Sorry for being gone so much. Lapse in judgment.”

  “What’s going on? What are you doing out here?”

  “Beating myself up.”

  “Oh, can I join?”

  “Depends. Do you want to beat me up or yourself?”

  Savannah shrugged. “I’ve beat myself up plenty lately. Might be interesting to branch out a bit. So what are we beating you up for?”

  Katie snorted indelicately. “Being dumb.”

  “Can you be a little more specific?”

  “Noah and I had an argument.”

  “Not good.”

  “I told him that I want to climb Mt. Everest someday. He called it a stupid endeavor.”

  Savannah just watched Katie.

  “You don’t tell someone their dream is stupid.”

  “Interesting,” Savannah said, settling back into her patio chair.

  “What’s interesting?”

  “Why do you care what Noah thinks?”

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “You care about him more than you want to. You’re not just mad he put down something important to you. You’re mad you care so much.”

  “What he and I have is a temporary thing, just something to pass the time. We’re supposed to be having fun.”

  Except obviously they weren’t. Not tonight. That realization stung, because what if Savannah was right? Katie hadn’t set out to care deeply. That wasn’t the way she operated.

  “If I told you that climbing a mountain was a dumb idea, you’d laugh and walk away,” Savannah said.

  Katie shook her head, denying it. “I’d be mad at you, too.”

  “I don’t think so. Sure, you’d tell me off, but you wouldn’t stomp away, hurt. That’s the difference.”

  “I’m not serious about Noah. If I have to not be upset at him to prove that, then fine, I’m no longer upset.”

  “Right. Just like that.”

  “Just like that.”

  “Because you don’t do ‘getting close.’”

  “Right.”

  Her sister sat there quietly, making her fidget. “Why don’t you?” Savannah finally asked.

  “You know why I don’t.”

  “If I did, I wouldn’t ask.”

  Katie sighed and looked up at the darkening sky, debating whether she really wanted to get into this now. “It’s best to just have a fun time without getting emotions involved. Someone always gets hurt when feelings come into play.”

  “You sound like a man.”

  “You’re the perfect example of what I’m talking about,” Katie said. “You cared. Now look what you’re going through.”

  Savannah’s eyes widened. “I’m going through a divorce because I made a mess out of my marriage, Katie. It has nothing to do with caring.”

  “Come on, Van, don’t try to tell me you don’t regret the whole relationship. You’re in so much pain right now. I hate to see it. Hate that you’re hurting so much.”

  “As much as I’ve messed up, I do not regret for a minute getting involved with Michael all those years ago. You’re completely wrong about that.”

  “Seriously? Savannah, you’re miserable. You wouldn’t have that problem if you hadn’t fallen in love.”

  Savannah leaned forward, her eyes burning with feeling. “And I wouldn’t have my family. I wouldn’t be the same person. This is the craziest thing I’ve heard from you in a long time.”

  “Why does not wanting to get hurt make me crazy?”

  “No one wants to get hurt, Katie. No one.”

  “Right. So it makes sense to play it smarter, does it not?”

  “Have you never been in love?”

  “I’ve never been in love.” Katie rolled the chain of her heart necklace between her fingers and stared back at Savannah, challenging her to prove otherwise.

  “No one? You get so much male attention. You really never have been?”

  “I don’t want to be. Therefore I haven’t. Simple as that.”

  “Methinks the mighty may be falling, Katie.”

  “Not me.” She stood and went inside, dismissing any notion of falling.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  NOAH PICKED UP the patient file from the box outside Exam Room Three and paused when he saw her name on it. He’d known Katie had an appointment today to have her cast removed. Suspecting she was due, he’d pored over the schedule book till he found her listed at eleven o’clock.

  He hadn’t seen her since she’d left his house, angry, two nights earlier. Yesterday had been a very long Sunday, but he’d fought the urge to chase her down and apologize. When she left town, he’d have to get used to not having her there. He’d told himself all day that this was good practice. A much needed reality check.

  Yet he couldn’t deny how relieved he was to be able to see her today. Even if she was still spitting nails about their last encounter.

  He knocked lightly on the door and pushed it open.

  Katie sat on the counter next to the sink. She watched him enter the room and he couldn’t read her expression, wasn’t sure what to expect from her.

  “My favorite patient,” he said. “You realize most people sit on the exam table instead of the counter?”

  “I’m not most people.”

  He couldn’t detect anger in her voice, but he wasn’t about to assume that he was in the clear.

  “I owe you an apology,” he said, standing far closer to her than he would any other patient. She wasn’t his patient right now, not until he said what he had to say in order to make peace. “I’m sorry I was a jerk Saturday evening.”

  “It’s okay. I’m over it.”

  He examined her face for any sign to the contrary, but found none. Her lips inched into a slow, warm smile.

  “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “Because I don’t deserve to get off so easily. I was pretty harsh. I’m sorry I said what I did about your dreams.”

  She shrugged. “No biggie. In fact, it’s so not a big deal that I’m calling you on what you promised me.”

  “Which is?”

  “A visit to the river swing, once I’m free of this thing.” She held up her arm and flicked the cast.

  “You really want to do that? It’s not actually all that great.”

  “I haven’t done anything fun like that for five weeks. Trust me, the swing’s a start.”

  He couldn’t help feeling as if he was getting off surprisingly easy here, but he wasn’t about to question it. “Meet me here after work and we can go swing.”

  She nodded, satisfied.

  “Now are you going to move to the table so I can get that cast off you?”

  “I think the counter will work just fine,” she said, pulling him closer for a kiss.

  * * *

  KATIE MET NOAH at the office again after his shift. They decided to use the Tahoe and pick up Katie’s Jeep later. He drove to the park.

  “I thought we were going to the swing,” she asked, confused.

  “We are. The back way.”

  She looked at him thoughtfully, waiting for an explanation.

  “I don’t feel like making small talk with my parents.”

  “Fair enough.” She didn’t, either, considering she’d been looking forward to spending time with Noah all day.

  They got out of the vehicle and walked down the
jogging trail in the opposite direction from their usual route. The trail ended fairly soon and Noah took Katie’s hand to lead her down the overgrown dirt path.

  “You have to promise me something,” he said. “If I let you try the swing, you mustn’t support your weight with your left hand yet.”

  “You said it’s healed.”

  “It is. And I’d like to keep it that way.”

  “Me, too. My big day at the event-that-shall-not-be-spoken-of is coming up soon.”

  He turned around and frowned at her, so she blew him a kiss.

  They emerged from the underbrush to grounds that had been neatly mowed. Noah’s parents’ house was visible through the clearing. Katie eyed the swing, tied to the tree once more, and sped toward it, dropping her towel on the way. “I’m first!”

  Noah helped her untie the restraining rope and held on to the swing as Katie stripped down to her hot pink bikini.

  “How deep is the water out there?” she asked, playing with all kinds of cool ideas.

  “Twelve to twenty feet in most places. What are you plotting?”

  She climbed onto the swing, careful not to let her left hand support all her weight, just as Noah had advised. “I told you, I’m jumping off.”

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

  “It’s deep enough.”

  “What if you hit the dock?”

  “The dock is twenty feet away.”

  “What if you get tangled up in the rope?”

  “What if the tree gives out and falls on me?” she retorted. “Noah, relax!”

  “I’m not watching.”

  She rolled her eyes and pushed off with her feet, leaning back to increase her speed. The sensation of flying made her let out a happy yell. She’d been earthbound for far too long.

  “Have you ever gone double?” she asked as the swing lost momentum in his direction and began its descent back over the water.

  “I am not getting on that thing with you.”

  “Killjoy!”

  He sat down and leaned against the tree the swing was suspended from and Katie could see his eyes were closed. Was he seriously afraid of a rope swing?

  She whooped again and Noah’s eyes popped open. He was not smiling, either.