“Kaleb came to you?” She chuckled. “I didn’t know he was in the construction business.”
Dorothea’s smile vanished. “He’s not. This is all volunteer work. He’s here every weekend and holiday, doing something or other around the community. Last summer, he built the town library. He’s a God send. Everyone here loves him.”
Katie stared. “He built a library?”
Dorothea laughed. “Well, not alone. But yes. He pays for everything from his own pocket, refuses to take a penny from the people.” She chuckled again. “He’s our very own Robin Hood. Minus the stealing from the rich part, of course.”
Katie looked off in the direction Kaleb had taken. “That’s amazing.”
The other woman must have seen the shock on Katie’s face, because she asked, “You really didn’t know?”
“Nope.”
A gentle hand rested on Katie’s arm. “You got yourself a keeper there. He’s a good man.”
Kaleb appeared in what would eventually be the doorway. His head was bent over some blueprint. He pointed at something and the other man nodded his head before taking the paper from Kaleb and disappearing back inside.
Kaleb started towards Katie, his hair flopping over his face with the wind. Katie found herself grinning.
“Yeah, he is.”
Kaleb reached them, caught sight of Dorothea and smiled. “Hey, didn’t I tell you to stay home and relax?”
Dorothea pursed her lips, but there was no anger in her dark eyes. “I brought lunch.” She put her hand up when Kaleb opened his mouth. “Don’t argue with me, mister. I’m older than you.”
He saluted her. “Yes ma’am.”
She patted his cheek. “That’s a good boy. Now, I’m going to leave you with your girl while I make sure Jimmy doesn’t eat all the sandwiches.”
He watched her hurry away, but Katie watched him. She couldn’t stop her eyes from tracing the sharp angles of his face, the firm curve of his mouth, and the arches of his brows. Gorgeous straight through, she though. Inside and out. How the hell did she find someone like that?
Those liquid gold eyes turned and caught hers. He tipped his head and grinned.
“What?”
She just shook her head. “Who are you?”
He laughed. “What?”
She moved around the hood to stand before him. “Seriously. Who are you? I don’t know a damn thing about you.”
His smile melted and he shifted back a step. “What do you mean?”
She looked into his eyes, eyes that had become cautious, wary and her own curiosity rose a notch.
“I want to know who you are,” she whispered.
“You know who I am,” he said almost defensively.
Katie shook her head. “No, I don’t. I know you’re in collage. I know you like sketching, but you don’t want to teach. I know you’re amazing in bed and could win gold if kissing was an Olympic sport, but that’s it. You know everything about me. You know my fears. You know my past and what I want in the future.” She sucked in a sharp inhale. “Who are you, Kaleb?”
Tension wove through every muscle as though concrete had seeped through him. His face hardened and his jaw muscles bunched.
“Why did you come here, Katie?”
Katie blinked at the abrupt tightness in his voice. “What?”
He trudged towards the trunk of his car and popped it open. He reached inside and snatched something up.
“For these, right?” He came back towards her, holding both yellow envelops.
“Yes, but—”
He shoved them towards her. “Here.”
No sooner had she taken them, when he let go and hurried away from her back to the trunk.
“Kaleb, wait!”
He slammed it shut and kept both hands planted to the metal. “I can’t do this, Katie.” He pushed away. “I need to go.”
She stood frozen as she watched him practically run away from her.
Rather than go to Ashlee’s house and let her friend soothe the hurt welling up inside her, Katie went home. She took the envelopes of pictures to her room and perched on the bed.
It didn’t surprise her when she lined up the thank you card to the notes sent to her, the graceful curves of each letter matched to an almost T. Like they had been written by the same person.
Setting everything aside, she brought her laptop to the bed and rested it in her lap as she searched the number for the Grand Majestic and did another search for Leon DuBois, the man that had declared her the winner the night of the gala. His name hit a huge list, too many to sift through alone. She turned to the number instead.
Using her cell phone, she phoned the hotel. A woman answered on the second ring.
“Grand Majestic. This is Jessica speaking. How may I help you?”
Katie stopped short of rolling her eyes. What wouldn’t she love help with?
“Hi!” Katie said. “This might seem like a strange request, but I was with you guys back in December. I stayed in your penthouse suite.” She paused, not sure why.
“Yes, of course. Was something not to your satisfaction?” Jessica asked serenely.
“No! Everything was great. Thank you. I’m not actually calling about that.” Then why are you calling! The voice in her head snapped. Get to the point. She cleared her throat. “I was actually at the gala being held in the ballroom earlier that night. I was hoping you could tell me who the coordinator was, or who I can talk to if I had a question?”
Jessica went very quiet for a long time before she spoke again. “I’m sorry, but that information goes through our event coordinator. You would need to speak to him.”
“Is he in?” Katie prodded. “Can I talk with him?”
“Of course. Only he’s on vacation until next month. I can take a message—”
Katie suppressed the urge to point out it was only January. Who went on vacation in January? She didn’t ask it. Given the chance, she would have loved a vacation from the snow, so it could be possible.
“Yes, please,” she said instead.
Hurriedly, she gave the girl her name and number and a very short message for the coordinator to phone her back.
“Is there anything else I can help you with?”
It was a long shot, but Katie asked, “Would you happen to know who Leon DuBois is?”
Another long pause before Jessica replied, “No. I’m sorry. The name doesn’t ring a bell.”
“Okay, thank you. That’s all.”
They said their goodbyes and Katie hung up.
After stowing everything between her mattress and box spring, Katie got to her feet and ventured downstairs to see if there was anything she could help her aunt with.
There were three customers in the shop. She left them to their browsing and did a round of the store, picking up articles of clothes off the floor and rearranging the throw pillows back into the bin. The place hadn’t been ransacked, but most customers just left things where they fell. Katie didn’t mind cleaning up after them.
“Katie?” Her aunt waved her to the front.
Katie considered ignoring her, but opted against it. She wasn’t a teenager anymore. Playing the ignore game was only efficient for so long when you lived with the person. Besides, she knew she had to face her aunt sooner or later.
She went to the counter and smiled at the woman her aunt was checking out, before turning her attention on the woman on the other side of the table.
“Yes?”
Aunt Hannah reached under the counter and brought up a yellow envelope. She glanced at it a moment before holding it out to Katie.
“This was dropped off for you while you were out.”
Katie took it quickly from her aunt. She snapped it around, checking for a sticky. There wasn’t one. But her name was burned into the front with that same fluid script.
“Who dropped it off?” she asked. “Did you see their face?”
Her aunt eyed her. “It was a courier. A boy, I think. I was very busy,”
she said the last part with a smile that was probably meant to make Katie happy.
Katie wasn’t in the smiling mood. “There’s no address on here,” she said. “Wouldn’t a courier need an address?”
Her aunt’s smile faded and she frowned. “I don’t—”
“Never mind,” Katie muttered. “It’s nothing. Thank you.”
She took the package upstairs. Her fingers shook as she tore the top open and fished inside. Her fingers touched paper. Regular paper. No photos. She hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath until it rushed out in relief, only to be clutched again when she tugged the paper free and read the first line.
Chapter Fifteen
Dearest Katie,
You’re probably wondering who I am and what it is that I want, well the answer is very simple; like you, I want answers. Fickle things, we humans. We are forever searching for truths and knowledge. When that knowledge threatens us, we tend to forget everything else. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
I know you have spent a great deal of time and effort trying to locate me and unveil my identity, but I assure you, unless I wish it, that will never happen. And as I have already proven in our earlier correspondences I am everywhere and I see everything. There is not a move you can make without my knowledge, which is why I strongly advise you not to do anything stupid, like go to the police. I will know and I will stop you in ways you won’t like.
You belong to me, Katie.
For how long, you ask? That is entirely up to your friend. As soon as he complies with my wishes, the less time I will take out of your life. After all, it’s not you I want. I simply want answers and the longer I am forced to wait for them, the more I will be forced to act. I assure you, you won’t like the things I can do to you if I am displeased. Please let him know to consider that, will you?
Until we chat again, in best regards,
X
Her first instinct was to call Kaleb. She even lifted her phone and found his number. Her thumb had hovered over the send button for nearly a minute before she thought better of it and set the device aside.
Kaleb had made it perfectly clear that she was not to bother him. Also, she wasn’t sure she wanted to be with a guy that kept so much of himself hidden.
Probably for the best. With the difficulties at the shop, her problems at school and her mystery stalker, the last thing she needed was boyfriend drama. She didn’t have time for more on her plate. Whatever secrets Kaleb had, they were clearly something he was unwilling to share with anyone and that didn’t suit her. For all she knew, he was married and had nine children somewhere that he didn’t want to talk about, or worse, he really was a drug dealer. How else did he pay for all the work he did building homes and libraries? The last time she checked, college students could barely afford Mac ‘n Cheese.
She sighed and tried to ignore the dull ache in her chest. She hated that it hurt and she couldn’t do a damn thing about it. She hated that it seemed to be just one more cinderblock crushing in her ribcage. She tried to breathe, to suck in air. She couldn’t.
Putting away her laptop and hanging up her jacket, Katie paced her room, too restless to sit still, too anxious to sleep. She tried to think back on the last time she actually felt carefree and happy and drew a blank.
She thought about calling Ashlee. The distraction would be enough to get her mind off her problems. Only she was in no mood for company. She wanted to sleep, but her mind wouldn’t gear down. All she could think about was the letter.
Who was he? And why did this X person think she would know anything?
She ground the tips of her fingers into her brow, trying desperately to think.
There were only two he’s that Katie knew, Larson and Kaleb, and she couldn’t imagine what either of them knew that would have X so tightly wound.
She thought about Larson and his strange group of friends she’d sometimes see him hanging out with in the school parking lot, heads shaved, faces pierced. She wondered if it could be one of them, but why target her? That only left one other explanation, Kaleb. It had to be Kaleb. There was something he knew that X wanted. But what did Kaleb know?
“Katie?” A light knock interrupted her spiraling and forced her to slip back into her other skin, the one that was better at pretending everything was okay.
Katie threw open the door to reveal her aunt’s face. “Yeah?”
Her aunt smiled, barely. It was forced, hesitant. Like she was expecting a beating. It was nearly enough to break her.
“I was hoping you’d join me for supper tonight.”
Self-loathing wasn’t enough of a word to describe the bitter tang burning the back of Katie’s throat. It went so beyond that. There was guilt and shame. Shop or not, her aunt was family. The only one she had. The only one that had always been there for her.
“Yeah, supper’d be great,” she said, willing her mouth to curve. “I’ll help.”
They made chicken parmesan and ate together like they used to. The conversation was slow going at first, but neither seemed to mind. It was good to at least get one thing back.
“Katie?” In the midst of passing Katie a dish to dry, her aunt hesitated.
Katie took it anyway. “Yeah?”
Her aunt sighed. “I really hate to ruin this, but I think we should talk. Really talk.”
As much as she hated to admit it, Katie had to agree. “Yeah, we should.”
Once the dishes were washed and the kitchen was returned to its usual tidiness, Katie followed her aunt upstairs to the sitting area. Her aunt fidgeted a moment, but was the first to break the silence.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I did this all wrong. You know I would never intentionally hurt you, Katie.”
Katie sighed and flopped back. “I’m sorry I jumped down your throat. I should have at least tried to be more understanding. I just hate the thought of not being here.”
Her aunt chuckled. “I know what you mean. That’s exactly how I felt when I bought the place. It feels like home.”
Katie nodded. “If you want to sell … I don’t like it, but I … I guess I…” she trailed off, unable to bring herself to voice such a dreaded fate.
Her aunt laughed. She placed a hand on Katie’s knee. “I’m not selling. I already phoned the gentleman with the offer and told him we weren’t interested.”
“You …. What?” Katie’s jaw slackened. Her heart jumped in her chest a full second before she pummeled her aunt in a fierce embrace, laughing and shrieking.
Her aunt hugged her back, laughing and kissing Katie’s cheek. “We’re stuck here for good,” she said.
“I can totally live with that!” Katie decided, squeezing her aunt.
“God my brain hurts,” Ashlee moaned that coming Monday as they made their hike to school. “I spent the entire weekend studying for my History test.”
Katie chuckled even if she didn’t feel it. “Think you’re prepared?”
“Nope. Not even a little.” Ashlee exhaled a plum of white cloud that washed back into her face. “Napoléon is the dude that invented ice cream, right?”
Her laugh was less forced the second time. “You’ll be fine. Just read the questions carefully.”
“Can’t I just go on living with my parents for the rest of my life?”
Holding tight to her coffee with one hand, Katie looped her other one through Ashlee’s. “Nope. The world needs you to be smart and successful.”
“Stupid world.” Ashlee sighed again. “So, what did you do this weekend? Did you spend it cuddled with Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Sexy?”
Katie looked down. “Uh, no. I did shop stuff.”
“Boo,” Ashlee muttered. “Lame.”
“Yeah, well, he didn’t exactly call either, so…”
Ashlee stopped walking and faced her. “Did we scare him off? Was he upset, because it sounded like he was cool with us knowing about you guys?”
“No, it had nothing to do with you guys.” Katie shrugged. “I don’t know what his
deal is.” A frown drew her brows together as she tugged Ashlee forward. “How am I not getting the third degree right now about not telling you about us in the first place?”
With a dramatic flick of her wrist, Ashlee flung back a coil of hair off her shoulder. “Girl, please. I’ve known about you guys for ages.”
She shook her head. “You knew?”
“Of course I knew!” Ashlee snorted. “You two are not exactly subtle, okay? You’d have to be pretty stupid, blind, and dumb not to have seen the way you undress each other in class. It’s beyond inappropriate and extremely hot.”
Heat crept into Katie’s cheeks. “We do not.”
“Do,” Ashlee said definitely. “And when he walks by you, I swear the temperature jumps up by like three hundred degrees.”
The blush darkened. “Why did you never say anything?”
“Why didn’t you? I figured you would eventually tell me when something happened.” Ashlee’s grin was mischievous. “So have you finally lured him into your bed, huh?”
Katie winced. “Uh, actually…” She took a deep breath. “Do you remember the night of the gala? When I won that penthouse stay? Well, I may have … you know, asked Kaleb to stay with me.”
Ashlee stumbled. She would have faceplanted had Katie not caught her.
“What?” She whirled on Katie. “You did what?” Her eyes narrowed. “You’ve been with him since December and you never told me?”
“You said you knew!” Katie exclaimed.
“About the come-hump-me looks!” She threw up the hand not holding coffee. “You never … wait, you said you spent the night alone. You lied to me?”
“He’s a teacher, Ash,” Katie reminded her. “I didn’t know where we stood, or what was going to happen next, if anything. I thought it was a one night thing. I was just getting used to the idea myself. Plus…” She toed the snow with her boot. “I thought you would think horribly of me for it.”
My Soul For You Page 20