He knew damn well she went by Kate and had ever since she’d hit her teens. He just enjoyed saying “Little Katie Evans” like it was all one word, as if she were still that silly girl who’d tattled on him for putting the frogs in the pond at one of his mom’s elegant luncheons, getting him grounded for a month.
Or the girl who, along with his nosy sister, Holly, had found his porn stash under his bed at the ranch house and gotten him grounded for two months.
“Kate,” he said as if testing it out on his tongue, and she had no business melting at his voice. None. Her only excuse was that she hadn’t seen him much in the past few years. There’d been a few short visits, a little Facebook interaction, and the occasional Skype conversation if she happened to be with Holly when he called home. Those had always been with him in uniform on Holly’s computer, looking big, bad, and distracted.
He wasn’t in uniform now, but she could check off the big, bad, and distracted. The early gray dawn wasn’t doing her any favors, but he could look good under any circumstances. Even with his baseball hat, she could see that his dark hair was growing out, emphasizing his stone eyes and hard jaw covered with a five-o’clock shadow. To say that he looked good was like saying the sun might be a tad bit warm on its surface. How she’d forgotten the physical impact he exuded in person was beyond her. He was solid, sexy male to the core.
His gaze took her in as well, her now windblown hair and mud-spattered leggings stuffed into snow boots—she wasn’t exactly at her best this morning. When he stepped back to go, embarrassment squeezed deep in her gut. “Yeah,” she said, gesturing over her shoulder in the vague direction of her car. “I’ve gotta go, too—”
But Grif wasn’t leaving; he was bending over and picking up some change. “From your purse,” he said, and dropped it into her hand.
She looked down at the two quarters and a dime, and then into his face. She’d dreamed of that face. Fantasized about it. “There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar,” she said before she could bite her tongue. Dammit. She collected bachelor of science degrees. She was smart. She was good at her job. She was happy.
And ridiculously male challenged . . .
Griffin gave a playful tug on an escaped strand of her hair. “You never disappoint,” he said. “Good to see you again.”
And then he was gone.
Two
Five minutes later Kate pulled up to her dad’s place. One glance in the rearview mirror at her still flushed cheeks and bright eyes told her that she hadn’t gotten over her tumble in the parking lot.
Or the run-in with Griffin.
“You’re ridiculous,” she told her reflection. “You are not still crushing on him.”
But she so was.
With a sigh, she reached for the weekly stack of casserole dishes she’d made to get her family through the week without anyone having to actually be in charge. She got out of her car, leaving the keys in it for Ashley, who’d drive it to her private high school just outside of town.
Tommy stood in the doorway waiting. He wore a green hoodie and had a fake bow and arrow set slung over his chest and shoulder.
“Why are you all red in the face?” he asked. “Are you sick?”
She touched her still burning cheeks. The Griffin Reid Effect, she supposed. “It’s cold out here this morning.”
The seven-year-old accepted this without question. “Did you get the tape?”
“I did,” she said. “Tommy—”
“I’m not Tommy. I’m the Green Arrow.”
She nodded. “Green Arrow. Yes, I got the tape, Green Arrow.”
“I still don’t see how duct tape is going to help us make a camel,” he said, trailing her into the mudroom.
She refrained from telling him the biggest aid in making a camel for the school play would’ve been to give her more warning than a panicked five A.M. phone call. Instead she set down the casserole dishes on the bench to shrug out of her sweater as she eyed him. She could tell he’d done as she’d asked and taken a shower, because his dark hair was wet and flattened to his head, emphasizing his huge brown eyes and pale face. “Did you use soap and shampoo?”
He grimaced and turned to presumably rectify the situation, dragging his feet like she’d sent him to the guillotine.
Kate caught him by the back of his sweatshirt. “Tonight’ll do,” she said, picking back up the casseroles and stepping into the living room.
Evidence of the second-grade boy and the high school–junior girl living here was all over the place. Abandoned shoes were scattered on the floor; sweatshirts and books and various sporting equipment lay on furniture.
Her dad was in the midst of the chaos, sitting on the couch squinting at his laptop. Eddie Evans was rumpled, his glasses perched on top of his head. His khakis were worn and frayed at the edges. His feet were bare. He looked like Harry Potter at age fifty. “Stock’s down again,” he said, and sighed.
Since he said the same thing every morning, Kate moved into the kitchen. No breakfast. She went straight to the coffeemaker and got that going. Ten minutes later her dad wandered in. “You hid them again,” he said.
She handed him a cup of coffee and a plate of scrambled egg whites and wheat toast before going back to wielding the duct tape to create the damn camel. “You know what the doctor said. You can’t have them.”
His mouth tightened. “I need them.”
“Dad, I know it’s hard,” she said softly, “but you’ve been so strong. And we need you around here for a long time to come yet.”
He shoved his fingers through his hair, which only succeeded in making it stand up on end. “You’ve got that backward, don’t you?”
“Aw. Now you’re just kissing up.” She hugged him. “You’re doing great, you know. The doc said your cholesterol’s coming down already, and you’ve only been off potato chips for a month.”
He muttered something about where his cholesterol could shove it, but he sat down to eat his eggs. “What is that?” he asked, gesturing to the lump on the table in front of him.
“A camel.” It had taken her two pillows, a brown faux pashmina and a couple of stuffed animals tied together with twine, but she actually had what she thought was a passable camel-shaped lump.
Ashley burst into the kitchen wearing a way-too-short skirt, a skimpy camisole top, and enough makeup to qualify for pole dancing. In direct opposition to this image, she was sweetly carrying Channing Tatum, the bedraggled black-and-white stray kitty she’d recently adopted from the animal center where she volunteered after school. Contradiction, meet thy queen.
Channing took one look at the “camel” and hissed.
“What the hell is that?” Ashley asked of the makeshift prop, looking horrified as she cuddled Channing.
“Don’t swear,” Kate said. “And it’s a camel. And also, you’re going out in that outfit over my dead body.”
Ashley looked down at herself. “What’s wrong with it?”
“First of all, you’ll get hypothermia. And second of all, no way in hell.”
Ashley narrowed her overdone eyes. “Why do you get to swear and I don’t?”
“Because I earned the right with age and wisdom.”
“You’re twenty-eight,” Ashley said, and shrugged. “Yeah, you’re right. You’re old. Did you find my cheerleading top?”
Kate tossed it to her.
Ashley turned up her nose at the scrambled eggs, though she fed Channing a piece of turkey bacon before thrusting a piece of paper at Kate. “You can sign it or I can forge dad’s signature.”
“Hey,” Eddie said from the table. He pushed his glasses farther up on his nose. “I’m right here.”
Kate grabbed the paper from Ashley and skimmed it. Permission slip to . . . skip state testing. “No.” Skipping testing was the last thing the too-smart, underachieving, overly dramatic teen needed to d
o.
“Dad,” Ashley said, going for an appeal.
“Whatever Kate says,” Eddie said.
“You can’t skip testing,” Kate said. “Consider it practice for your SATs for college. You want to get the heck out of here and far away from all of us, right? This is step one.”
Ashley rolled her eyes so hard that Kate was surprised they didn’t roll right out of her head.
Tommy bounced into the room. He took one look at the camel and hugged it close. “It’s perfect,” he declared. Then he promptly inhaled up every crumb on his plate. He smiled at Kate as he pushed his little black-rimmed glasses farther up on his nose, looking so much like a younger, happier version of their dad that it tightened her throat.
A car horn sounded from out front. Kate glanced at the clock and rushed Tommy and Ashley out the door. Ashley got into Kate’s car and turned left, heading toward her high school. Tommy and Kate got into the waiting car, which turned right to head to the elementary school.
Their driver was Ryan Stafford, Kate’s second-best friend and the principal of the elementary school.
And her ex.
He must have had a district meeting scheduled because he was in a suit today, complete with tie, which she knew he hated. With his dark blond hair, dark brown eyes, and lingering tan from his last fishing getaway, he looked like Barbie’s Ken, the boardroom version. He watched as Kate got herself situated and handed him a to-go mug of coffee.
“What?” she said when he just continued to look at her.
“You know what.” He gestured a chin toward the cup she’d handed him. “You’re adding me to your little kingdom again.”
“My kingdom? You wish. And the coffee’s a ‘thanks for the ride,’ not an ‘I don’t think you can take care of yourself,’” she said.
Ryan glanced at Tommy in the rearview mirror. “Hey, Green Arrow. Seat belt on, right?”
“Right,” Tommy said, and put on his headphones. He was listening to an Avenger’s audiobook for what had to be the hundredth time, his lips moving along with the narrator.
Ryan looked at Kate. “Thought you were going to talk to him.”
She and Ryan had once dated for four months, during which time they’d decided that if they didn’t go back to being just friends, they’d have to kill each other. Since Kate was opposed to wearing an orange jumpsuit, this arrangement had suited her. “I did talk to him,” she said. “I told him reading was a good thing.”
“How about talking to himself and dressing like superheroes?”
Kate looked at Tommy. He was slouched in the seat, still mouthing along to his book, paying them no mind whatsoever. “He’s fine.” She took back Ryan’s coffee, unscrewed the top on the mug, blew away the escaping steam, and handed it back to him.
“You going to drink it for me, too?” he asked. He laughed. “Just admit it. You can’t help yourself.”
“Maybe I like taking care of all of you. You ever think of that?”
“Tell me this, then—when was the last time you did something for yourself, something entirely selfish?”
“Ryan, I barely have time to go to the bathroom by myself.”
“Exactly,” he said.
“Exactly what?”
Now she laughed. Ryan shook his head and kept driving. They passed the lake just before the bridge into town. The water was still and flat in the low light. On the far side was the dam that held back the snowmelt, controlling the volume feeding into the river so that Sunshine didn’t flood. Along the very top of the dam was a trail, which Kate sometimes ran on the days that she wanted to be able to fit into her skinny jeans. Up there, at the highest pool was an old fallen Jeffrey Pine. On its side, battered smooth by the elements, it made a perfect bench.
It was her spot.
She went there to think or when she needed a time-out from the rest of the world, which happened a lot.
“You get a date for the wedding yet?” Ryan asked.
No. She’d put that particular task off, and now, with the wedding only two days away, there was only one man who’d made her even think about dating. But tall, dark, and far-too-hot Griffin Reid was way out of her league. In fact, he was so far out of her league, she couldn’t even see the league. “Working on it.”
Ryan made a sound of annoyance. “You’ve been saying that for months.” He glanced at her over the top of his sunglasses. “Tell me it’s not going to be me.”
“Hey, I’m not that bad of a date.”
He slid her another look. “You going to put out afterward?”
Kate whipped around to look at Tommy, but the kid was still listening intently to his book. “No,” she hissed, and smacked him. “You know I’m not going to put out. We didn’t . . . suit that way.”
“Well, I’m hoping to . . . ‘suit’ with one of the bridesmaids.” He glanced at her again. “You ought to try it.”
“Sorry. The bridesmaids don’t do it for me.”
He smiled.
“Stop picturing it!”
Ryan’s smile widened, the big male jerk, and she smacked him again.
“All I’m saying,” he said, “is that you should stop treading water and try for some fun. Live a little.”
“You think I have no life.”
Ryan blew out a sigh. They’d been down this road before. “You know what I think. I think you do everything for everyone except yourself. Look at your track record. You’ve had exactly one boyfriend in five years, and you’re still making him coffee every morning.”
“And you’re still driving me to work so I can fill you in on the school gossip without you having to actually pay attention in the staff room,” Kate said more mildly than she felt. Maybe because she heard the underlying worry in Ryan’s voice, and she didn’t want anyone to worry about her. She was fine. She was great. “We use each other. And we’re both fine with that.”
Ryan reached over and pulled out the fancy, thick white envelope with the gold embossing sticking out of her purse. “Fourteen more days.”
“Hey,” she said, trying to grab it back.
He waved it under her nose. “Treading water, Kate. And the proof’s right here. Just like it was at this same time last year. And the year before that.”
Again she tried to grab back the envelope.
“Why do you carry the offer around with you when you know damn well you aren’t going to go?”
She wanted to go. But . . . “It means a whole year away from here.”
“And?”
She blew out a breath.
“It’s a dream come true for you,” he said quietly.
It was. Being offered a full scholarship to the graduate program for science education at the University of San Diego—a world away from Sunshine, Idaho—was her dream. It would take a year to complete, an entire, glorious, science-filled year. With the degree—and the grant that Ryan promised to get her if she finished—she could bring a new and exciting science program to the county’s school district. It was something she’d wanted for a long time. Some women wanted a spa week. Kate wanted to go dissect animals and work with scientists whose work she’d admired for a long time. Yes, it would be great for the school, but the truth was that Kate wanted it for herself.
Badly.
“I was thinking maybe I’d accept and go this time,” she said.
“But?” he asked.
“But,” she said. “Next year is crucial for Ashley. We have colleges to decide upon . . .”
“Uh-huh,” Ryan said. “And last year it was Tommy’s health.”
“He had pneumonia.” Snatching back the envelope, she shoved it in her purse.
And they didn’t speak again for the rest of the ride.
Three
Grif drove through town, attempting to keep the memories at bay. He’d been gone a long time, and the places he’
d been in the military were just about as far from Idaho as one could get.
He’d once hated Sunshine, but that’d been from a wild teen’s perspective, one who’d grown up chafing at the bit. To that kid, the small ranching community had felt like iron bars. Being destined to run his dad’s ranching empire had been a death knell; one Grif had gotten away from by running off and joining the army.
His father still hadn’t forgiven him, though their problems had started far before that. With the dubious years of maturity now on Grif’s side, he hoped to change that. But it wasn’t his dad he was thinking about now.
That honor went to Kate, in a prim blouse and cardigan sweater, a cargo skirt with lots of pockets, and thick tights. The capper had been her snow boots, untied as if she’d just shoved them on in a hurry. She was a five-foot-four bombshell with showstopping curves stuffed into an elementary teacher’s wardrobe, and she’d effectively done what nothing else could—she’d taken his mind off the discomfort of being home. She was a paradox, Little Katie Evans. An adorably sexy, tousled, slightly repressed hot mess of a paradox.
And she wanted to be called Kate. Kate was a woman’s name, and she most definitely fit the bill there. She had all those soft flyaway strawberry blond waves layered around her face, highlighting mossy green eyes, and the sweetest mouth known to mankind. He wasn’t sure exactly when his perception of her had changed or when he’d become so aware of his need to touch. But the sensible attire on that heart attack inducing bod combined with the one-hundred-mile-per-hour brain and sweet disposition was sexy as hell. And irresistible.
Not good, because his sister, Holly, was extremely protective of her best friend. And although Grif had all the muscle in the family, muscle meant nothing when butting up against the sheer brick wall of his sister’s stubborn will.
Holly wanted him safe and happy, but she absolutely did not want him within twenty feet of Kate.
Hell no.
And Holly had a way of getting what she wanted, which was why he was still awake after a red-eye flight and too many sleepless nights in a row now. She’d wanted to meet for breakfast, away from the family ranch, presumably to get a good look at him before anyone else. That was what nosy sisters did.
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