That Unforgettable Kiss

by Tamara Ferguson

  “Whaaat...what’s going on in here?” Brian covered his face with his arm, trying to avoid the brilliant glare of the flashlight. “Kate? What in the hell are you doing here?”

  Murphy stood frozen behind the open door, hidden from Brian’s sight.

  “You know what I’m doing here, Brian.” Kate’s voice was cool and emotionless.

  “I...what do you mean, Kate?” It was apparent Brian was stumbling, searching for excuses. His tone was pleading when he finally spoke. “I’m just checking out the progress in the cabins.”

  “Brian,” Kate retorted quietly. “You damned well know, there’s nothing legitimate that needs to be checked out at 11:30 p.m. on a Friday night – especially since the power hasn’t been restored in here yet.”

  “Kate...I...”

  “Brian. I know about the lumber, there’s no use arguing about it. You’ve been caught.”

  Brian began to approach Kate. “Please, Kate. You don’t have to tell anyone. I still have all the lumber. I’ll return it, I swear – every single piece of it.”

  “Yeah, you will. But I don’t have a choice, Brian – I have to tell my father. He’s already aware of the missing lumber, so there’s no way to keep this from him.”

  Murphy heard Kate fumbling with her phone. Brian didn’t appear to be dangerous, but you could never tell how desperate he might really be. Especially after the lengths he’d gone to, stealing the lumber in the first place. Murphy couldn’t trust he wouldn’t react violently to Kate’s decision to tell Cal. The beam of the flashlight was still focused on Brian, and Murphy could see the look of desperation in his eyes when Kate keyed in Cal’s number on her phone.

  Murphy decided it might be wise to make his presence known. “Just hold it there, Lancaster.”

  Brian jerked his head around. “Murphy? I should’ve known you were in on this,” he sneered, “considering you’re Kate’s lapdog.”

  “Whoa.” Murphy shook his head with irritation. “Low blow, Lancaster – especially after everything that you’ve been up to.”

  Brian’s expression suggested he wanted to say something more. But he cowered beneath Murphy’s accusing stare. Hanging his head, Brian suddenly appeared defeated.

  “Dad will be here in a few minutes,” Kate announced quietly, disconnecting the call. “Let’s move Brian up to the trailer, Michael. Once Dad gets here, we can talk.”

  “Alright, Kate.” Still glaring at Brian, Murphy handed the baseball bat over to Kate before addressing the other man. “I presume you’re not stupid enough to try to get away?

  “No.” Brian shrugged uncomfortably. “What would be the use? I don’t have anywhere to go, anyway.”

  CHAPTER

  NINETEEN

  Kate stared at her father in astonishment. “You did what, Dad?”

  “I had him released from jail into his father’s custody.”

  “But, why, Dad?” Kate pressed. “He stole the lumber. I would’ve figured Jake Loughlin would’ve naturally wanted to press charges.”

  “Jake and I talked it over, Kate. Brian wasn’t sure he’d have even had the nerve to go through with the sale of the lumber. He’s been feeling more and more guilty about what he’s been doing since summer school came into session. He had a chance to observe some of the kids with disabilities – the ones that the school was helping out.”

  “I don’t know, Dad,” Kate said doubtfully. She thought back over the discussions she and Brian had had when they’d first begun dating. From what she could remember, Brian had never expressed an opinion about the benefits of the school, one way or another. “Are you sure you believe him?”

  “Well, that’s where we have a problem, Kate. Brian admitted he was ripping out the reclaimed lumber from the cabins, but not that he was stealing the freshly-cut lumber and supplies. And the reclaimed lumber was all we discovered in his garage.”

  “You know what, Dad? I might be prone to believe him, too. As I recall, our crew of men – who worked in the warehouse – began noticing missing materials way before Brian began working for us.”

  Cal nodded his agreement. “And that’s why I’ve finally hired an accountant to begin going over our numbers.”

  “Probably for the best,” Kate agreed. “So what’s gonna happen with Brian?”

  “Well, Kate, I got talking to his father, and Brian was apparently getting into trouble when he was working for his father, too. Brian’s father and I’ve been friends for the last twenty years, or so.” Cal sighed, staring out through the office window. “Remember when I went to work for his company, back when you were little, Kate – when the economy was so sluggish? Matt Lancaster helped our family out of a rough patch. Your mom and I had three kids to feed and the hair salon wasn’t bringing in much business.”

  “Ah.” Kate nodded thoughtfully. “That was after Grandma had a stroke, too, and she came to live with us for a while.”

  Cal rolled his eyes. “We tried to keep our financial struggles a secret. But you kids were always so good at figuring things out. We couldn’t afford to put your grandma in Whispering Pines – not until after we sold her house. But even selling her house was difficult, with the economy as sluggish as it was here in Crystal Rock.”

  “So Mom stayed home to take care of Grandma, too?”

  “And she had to pay for an assistant to take over for her at the hair salon.”

  “So you felt like you owed Brian’s father a favor?”

  “Yeah. Matt seems to think he just needs to take Brian in hand. They’ve never been close. When Brian’s mother died, he was only thirteen. Brian started getting into trouble – stealing, overspending. Matt thinks, now, that it might’ve been Brian’s call for help – and Matt was never very good with discipline. Brian’s mother took charge of the boys when she was alive. Brian’s older brothers had the advantage, since they were already in their twenties when their mother died. They’ve both turned out very well.”

  Sighing, Kate nodded. “At least we’ve recovered all the reclaimed lumber. That should bring in a lot of extra income for the special education facility.”

  “Yeah.” Turning and searching her eyes, Cal hesitated.

  “What?”

  “I think part of the reason I let Brian off the hook too, Kate, was because you’ve dated him. You’ve always had pretty sound judgment of people.” He cleared his throat. “Although, I’ve never been happy about the number of guys there’ve been.”

  Avoiding her father’s eyes, Kate squirmed uncomfortably in her seat.

  “And, Kate?”

  “Yeah, Dad?”

  “If you ever try to do anything as stupid as you did last night – deliberately putting yourself into unnecessary danger – I don’t care how old you are – I’m bringing you home and grounding you!”

  Kate snorted in amusement, and lifted her hand to cover her mouth.

  “I’m totally serious, Kate,” Cal added grimly.

  Staring into her father’s eyes, Kate suddenly realized that, except for that traumatic period of time, immediately following Lucy’s kidnapping and disappearance – she’d never ever seen her father as serious as he was right now.

  * * *

  She should’ve been exhausted after being awake almost all night, but Kate had been restless the entire day. After she and Murphy had escorted Brian up to the trailer, her Dad had arrived with his good friend and chief of police, Sam Danielson. They’d immediately hauled Brian off to the police station for questioning. Since Saturday was usually a short day, anyway, Kate had left Gus Lembke in charge at the Ivers site, since he wanted to finish up with the plumbing.

  Jumping out of the shower, she wrapped a towel around herself and tucked it in. Deliberating on what to wear, she was startled by at a knock at the back door as she moved through the hallway on her way into the bedroom.

  “Julie?” Her friend was standing on the back step, practically in tears. “I thought you said you were going out with Greg tonight?”

  “Oh, Kate. He’s
not coming. He’s being seeing someone else, ever since he went back home.”

  “Oh, Julie.” Grabbing Julie’s hand, Kate tugged her inside. “Come on into the bedroom while I get dressed.”

  “I’m not sure what I’m mad about the most,” Julie began, “the fact that he’s seeing someone, or the fact that he’s not coming to visit. We used to have so much fun together.” Sitting on the edge of Kate’s bed, obviously frustrated, Julie flopped down across the bed.

  “What a jerk.” Kate turned to her friend. With ash-brown hair, and big brown eyes, although Julie didn’t seem aware of it herself, she was really quite lovely. But for some reason, Julie refused to do anything about taming her unmanageable hair. It was much too heavy and unflattering for her delicately featured-face, and Kate’s mother, Jenny, had been dying to get her hands on Julie’s hair for ages.

  “Yeah.” Julie sighed. “You’d think I’d be used to it by now.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Most of the guys I go out with start out as a friend.” Julie snorted, sitting up in the bed. “I usually seem to get the rebound guys.”

  Kate’s met Julie’s eyes in the mirror. “Rebound guys?”

  “Guys that really want to go out with someone else, but they settle for me,” Julie confirmed.

  “Why in the heck would you have to settle for anyone?”

  “You and Lucy could never see it, could you? Men are instantly drawn to the women in your family. Every single guy in our high school graduating class, used to be half in love with Lucy. And, even though you’ve never seemed to realize it, Kate, it’s always been the same way for you, too.”

  Kate was suddenly speechless as she stared at Julie with widened eyes.

  Julie started laughing. “I’m so glad I came by. Just being around you always seems to cheer me up.” Raising a questioning brow, she smiled slyly. “So, has Murphy put the moves on you yet?”

  Kate’s jaw dropped. “How’d you know?”

  “Just the way you’ve been talking about him. I’ve never seen you get so involved with a guy before – especially so quickly after meeting someone.”

  Inhaling a deep breath, Kate turned away from the mirror to face Julie. “He’s supposed to be coming over tonight. It’s his last night here in town.”

  Julie’s expression grew troubled. “Are you sure that’s wise, sweetie? Speaking as someone who definitely knows a lot about long-distance relationships, I have to warn you. This is the third time for me, you know. It’s never ended well.”

  Kate rolled her eyes. “I’ve been asking myself that same question all day.”

  Julie thought for a moment, before her brown eyes lit up with enthusiasm. “I’ve got an idea. I came by to see if you wanted to have dinner with me at The Tap tonight. Why don’t you just bring Murphy along, too? It’ll save you from getting yourself into an awkward situation here at your place.”

  “Yeah.” Kate glanced down at Julie. “That’s a great idea, Jules. I can just go to the house and ask him. If I have to sit here and wait for him for the next few hours, I’m probably gonna go crazy, anyway.”

  Julie grinned devilishly. “Well, I won’t hold my breath – if you guys don’t show up.”

  Pairing a blue silk blouse with a short denim skirt, Kate finished dressing. She slipped on a pair of tan suede boots.

  “You look really cute,” Julie announced admiringly.

  “Would you believe that these are Danielle Loughlin’s castoffs? What a wardrobe that woman has.”

  Julie smiled. “Well. She was a model. It’s pretty cool – that you happen to wear the same size.”

  “Yeah it is.” Kate frowned. “Except that I keep getting sucked into modeling for those charity fashion events she has at the Dragonfly Inn twice a year.”

  Julie rolled her eyes. “Oh, what a chore.

  Kate snorted.

  “And it must be awful to be able raise funds for Crystal Visions Charities. Those sweet, wonderful, handicapped kids never show any appreciation,” Julie continued.

  Kate grinned wryly. “Alright. You got me there.” The amusement disappeared from Kate’s face as she anxiously eyed her friend. “Are you sure you’re gonna be alright after your breakup?

  “Yeah, Kate.” With a strange look on her face, Julie sighed. Standing up, she walked over to the window to gaze at the view outside. “I’m kind of used to being abandoned.”

  “Oh, Julie.” Kate was well aware that Julie’s statement had a double meaning. Julie’s mother had completely vanished from her life when she was only five-years old. Julie’s gaze was far away as she stared through Kate’s window overlooking the lake.

  Reaching for Julie and gently pulling her into her arms, Kate patted her on her back.

  “Are you really sure that you’re okay, Jules?”

  “Yeah, Kate.” Disengaging, Julie offered Kate a feeble smile. “Don’t worry. I’m always okay.”

  Somehow, Julie’s reassurances didn’t make Kate feel any better as she watched Julie anxiously.

  Julie gave Kate a bright smile. “I’d better take off. Dad’s expecting me to help out at The Tap for a couple of hours tonight. Go – get moving.”

  Kate sighed. She knew better than to question Julie further – especially when she was in this frame of mind. Julie had never been an open book. Would she ever open up to anyone?

  Following Julie, Kate walked through the hallway and into the kitchen. Kate watched from the kitchen door as Julie waved and offered her a final, rueful smile. Starting the engine and cranking the speedboat into gear, she slowly maneuvered away from the pier.

  * * *

  Kate pulled her truck into the driveway of her family home and parked alongside Murphy’s. All of a sudden, she was really nervous.

  Odd, considering all the men she’d dated in the past.

  Slipping in through the side door of the house, Kate could hear Murphy’s voice in the kitchen as he talked to someone on the phone.

  And then Kate stilled. Sara? Picking up bits and pieces of his conversation, Kate stepped away from the entrance that led into the kitchen. She’d assumed Murphy had finally broken up with his girlfriend. Otherwise, how could he be coming on to her?

  And, immediately, every doubt she’d experienced since her first meeting with Murphy came rushing back through her mind. How would a long-distance relationship between them even work? He’d be hours away. How often would she really get the chance to see him?

  Not to mention, he’d have a slew of women at college to choose from.

  And Kate wouldn’t be there. How could she even compete?

  God, how stupid she’d been. And suddenly the tears came rushing to her eyes. How would it ever work between her and Murphy? If they made love, that would be the end of it, for sure. Definitely for her.

  Because, she was just beginning to realize, she was falling in love with him.

  Damn. Closing her eyes, Kate took in a deep, unsteady breath. She was only nineteen-years old. She just wasn’t ready for this, yet.

  She knew what she had to do. She rushed out through the door and got back into her truck. With the keys in the ignition, Kate hesitated for a moment when Lucy pulled up into the driveway beside her.

  Lucy rolled down the window of her car. “There you are, Kate. Hold on a sec, will ya?” Scrambling out of her car, she quickly approached Kate’s truck. “I’ve been looking all over for you. Have you got plans for tonight?”

  “I...” Kate stared at her sister. This would be the perfect solution. If she went home to her cabin, Murphy would eventually show up. In a normal situation, she’d never stand up a date. But this was different. Once Murphy appeared, she knew she wouldn’t be able to find the strength to resist him. “No, Luce,” she answered softly.

  “Would you be willing to take on Izzy for the night? Gabe made surprise reservations for us at this lovely new hotel in Eau Claire. But he forgot to consider Izzy. Her regular sitter has plans with her boyfriend, and Mom and Dad already have somethin
g going on too. The twins are even staying at their friend’s houses, so Dan won’t be home either.”

  “What time do you need me there, Luce?”

  Visibly relieved, Lucy glanced at her watch. “Whenever, Kate. Maybe in a couple of hours? I owe you one for this.”

  Kate sighed. She’d go spend some time with Julie for the next few hours before heading over to Lucy’s. It’d be better not to take any chances.

  Tonight, she’d do everything she could to avoid going home.

  CHAPTER

  TWENTY

  Sara was really upset. Despite Murphy’s numerous warnings about wanting to end their relationship over these past few weeks, apparently, Sara hadn’t taken him seriously.

  But it was done. Murphy ended the call and slipped his phone back into his pocket. He’d still have to confront her face to face when he returned to Chicago. But he’d felt guilty about beginning a new relationship with Kate while Sara was still hanging on by a thread.

  It was time to finish packing up Kate’s tables into his truck. He’d been right – his mom had fallen in love with her designs when he’d e-mailed the photos.

  As he carried Kate’s mantelpiece out to the truck, Murphy’s thoughts turned to his dad, and he smiled. Even though Dad complained about always being the one stuck with loading up his Mom’s truck, it was obvious he was proud of his wife and everything she’d achieved since opening up her vintage resale business.

  Murphy hoped he could be so lucky – to have a relationship as strong as his parent’s.

  Or as strong as Jenny and Mike Callahan’s.

  Speaking of which...

  Simultaneously, Jenny and Mike pulled up in their vehicles, on either side of his. Finished loading up his truck, Murphy had stuffed a couple of blankets here and there between the pieces of furniture before covering them tightly with a tarp.

  “All packed up, Murph?”

  “Yeah, Cal. I’ll just have to throw in my overnight bag and drafting table.”