Angels Landing

by Rochelle Alers

  He kissed her other cheek. “I’ll meet you here at six thirty.” His eyes met Kara’s. “I’d like you to join us.”

  Smiling, Kara nodded. “Thank you.”

  Jeff turned to leave, then stopped. “Kara, do you like dogs?”

  Her eyes lit up like a child’s on Christmas morning. “I love them. Why?” He told her about the Yorkshire puppy. “Oh, please I’d love to have it.”

  “I’ll let Mabel know. I’ll call you before I bring him over.”

  Kara and Jeannette stood together, their arms around each other’s waists, watching as Jeff drove away. “This was one time I didn’t mind you being the nosy mother,” she said softly.

  “He’s a keeper, Kara.”

  “What are you talking about, Mama?”

  “Jeff. He’s a keeper.”

  “He’s a forty-year-old confirmed bachelor,” Kara countered.

  “That’s only because he hasn’t met the right woman.”

  “And you think I’m the right one?”

  “I know you are.” Jeannette dropped her arm. “I’m going inside to take these rollers out of my hair. Are you coming in?”

  “Not yet. I’m going to look around to see where I can put in a rose garden.”

  “Wait for me to comb my hair, and I’ll join you.”

  “Okay.”

  Kara had never known her mother to be so clingy. Even when she’d moved to New York, she’d appeared resigned that her little girl had matured enough to make her way in such a big city. She was now thirty-three, living on Cavanaugh Island with a population of 2,300 instead of on Manhattan Island with a million and half, and Jeannette was freaking out.

  And if she were to ask her mother about her inconsistent behavior, Jeannette’s comeback would be “wait until you’re a mother and you’ll understand.”

  Well, she was about to become a mother of sorts, and she was looking forward to taking care of what would become her four-legged baby.

  Chapter Eleven

  Kara didn’t realize how much she’d missed her mother until she got up that Sunday morning and waited for Jeannette to join her on the front porch. Both had always been early risers, and not to have her to sit with and watch the sunrise reminded Kara of how sterile her life was. If it hadn’t been for her stressful job—a job from which she’d resigned—and Dawn, now her former roommate, her day-to-day existence would’ve been as exciting as watching paint dry.

  Aside from Dawn, she didn’t have any close friends. And if Dawn hadn’t been her roommate, she wouldn’t have had any. She’d lost touch with her childhood buddies, electing not to return to Little Rock for her tenth high school reunion because she hadn’t wanted to run into a boy she’d had an intense crush on.

  When she’d confided this to whom she’d believed was her BFF at the time, Chantal couldn’t wait to tell Chris Day. The next day Chris approached her in the cafeteria and told her he would consider taking her out, but only if she would do something for him. He then whispered in her ear that he wanted her to go down on him because every girl he went out with did; no girl was going to blame him for getting her pregnant and jeopardize his athletic scholarship. The shock and horror must have been evident when everyone at her lunch table burst into laughter. Unfortunately for Kara, she hadn’t been privy to Chris’s sexual exploits and spent the last two years of high school as a loner, finding it easier to form relationships with boys than she did girls. It had all come down to trust.

  She’d trusted her mother, and even Jeannette had deceived her when she felt she was protecting Kara. In essence, she was protecting her own reputation. Jeannette wasn’t the first and she definitely wouldn’t be the last woman to have a child and pass it off as another man’s. It was ironic that she’d become Jeannette’s and Taylor’s only child, and now that she knew the circumstances of her birth, Kara wondered if Austin had felt cheated that he hadn’t fathered a child with his wife, that their daughter was a constant reminder of his wife’s affair with another man. Jeannette had called her husband to let him know to expect her arrival in Little Rock late Sunday night and to say that she loved and missed him.

  Overhearing that conversation reminded Kara that it’d been a long time since she’d told a man that she loved and had missed him whenever they were separated. She didn’t have a husband or lover, and now she didn’t have a best girlfriend or even coworkers she could hang out with whenever they got together to celebrate someone’s birthday, promotion, wedding, or baby shower.

  She’d become Taylor Patton, living alone in a house that had become as sought after as a cure for a communicable disease. The Pattons wanted her to sell the land to them, and in turn they would sell it to developers.

  Things weren’t going as smoothly as she had hoped, and Kara felt inheriting Angels Landing was more a curse than a blessing. However, she still planned to turn it into a museum.

  She knew without a doubt that her decision to stay in Angels Landing had a lot to do with Jeff, but she wasn’t ready to openly admit that to anyone. Despite his military experience and extensive travels, he had the small-town sensibilities she found totally charming.

  It was now two weeks since she’d last seen Jeff. He’d come by, as promised, early Sunday morning to escort her mother to a Charleston twenty-four-hour diner for breakfast. After she was stuffed with shrimp and grits, a Lowcountry staple, Kara and Jeff waited until the taillights from Jeannette’s car disappeared from view as she headed toward the interstate; then they returned to the island on the ferry instead of taking the more direct causeway.

  Kara remembered standing at the rail next to Jeff not exchanging a word during the trip. He’d dropped her off at Angels Landing, saying he would see her around, and left with a hug and a kiss. She’d found his behavior puzzling but decided not to make too much of it. He didn’t owe her any explanation, and as sheriff of Cavanaugh Island his responsibilities went beyond his becoming her personal bodyguard.

  The news of her resignation had generated a firestorm of questions, firstly from her supervisor who wanted to know if he’d been responsible for her abrupt departure. Kara reassured him he had nothing to do with it and that she’d decided she needed a different lifestyle because she’d been close to burnout. He’d offered to cut her caseload, but Kara refused to relent and wished him the best.

  Then came the phone calls from coworkers blowing up her cell. Many wanted to know if she’d found a man in Little Rock and had decided not to come back. A few were gauche enough to ask her if she was pregnant, and that’s when she programmed her calls to go directly to voice mail.

  She’d called Dawn asking her to box up her personal items and ship them to Angels Landing. She had also invited her to come down during the spring break because Dawn never taught classes at that time. She knew Dawn was still angry with her for leaving when she said she would think about it. What was there to think about when Kara had offered to pay for the flight? Dawn’s response dampened her mood for several hours until she left the house and went to the beach. Sitting on the sand and watching the choppy waves and pounding surf wash up on the beach was soothing and hypnotic, and by the time she returned home she’d felt a gentle inner peace.

  Kara was on the computer in Taylor’s office when Mrs. Todd knocked softly on the door. “Corrine Hamilton’s grandbaby boy is here to see you. He’s waiting in the kitchen.”

  She smiled when hearing Jeff announced that way. When, she wondered, would he ever stop being Corrine’s grandbaby boy? “Thank you. Tell him I’ll be right down.”

  Kara hadn’t realized how fast her heart was beating until she went into her bedroom to exchange a pair of too-short shorts for a pair of capris. At the last possible moment she reached for a brush and put her hair up in a ponytail. She’d put off going into the Cove to have her hair styled. Most times she washed it, let it air-dry, then pulled it into a ponytail. She knew she had to snap out of the rut of not taking care of her appearance, or she would end up like many of the mothers of her former clients wh
o drifted from one day to the next, oblivious of the world going on around them.

  It was so easy to become a recluse in the large house that held good and not-so-good memories. She rarely saw Mrs. Todd, who floated in and out of rooms like a specter, leaving only the scent of lemon and gleaming surfaces behind her.

  Taking the back staircase, Kara walked into the kitchen, her heart stopping, then starting up again, when she saw Jeff. He was a visual feast in a pair of jeans; a black, waffle-weave, long-sleeved T-shirt; and shiny black leather boots. The badge pinned to his chest and the deadly-looking automatic strapped to his waist told her he was on duty. There was something poignant in seeing a man his size cradling a small puppy to his chest. She began imagining him with an infant.

  “Hello, stranger.”

  Jeff stared numbly at Kara, unable to believe that after two weeks he still could recall everything about her. He’d deliberately stayed away from Angels Landing because of gossip, no doubt spread by Harlan, that he was sleeping with Taylor’s impostor daughter. It had been his grandmother who’d warned him about ruining Kara’s reputation. He reminded her that it was the twenty-first century and Kara was an independent woman, but his explanation did not sit well with her. Corrine had countered with “If you don’t plan to do right by Kara, then stay away from her.” He wasn’t certain what his grandmother meant, but he had no intention of hurting Kara—directly or indirectly. All he wanted to do was protect and care for her.

  And he wasn’t about to argue with his grandmother that there wasn’t anything going on between him and Kara, but took her advice and had stayed away. Until now. He’d had his deputies stop by to check on her and had got up before the sun came up to run along the beach. It was only when he went to bed that the images of the horrors of war were replaced with her face and the sound of her voice. And when Mabel called for him to pick up the dog, Jeff knew he had to see Kara again.

  “It’s been a while. I was down one deputy, so I wasn’t able to take off,” he said truthfully, “but hopefully that’s going to change with a new hire.”

  “Who are you considering?”

  He told her about Marine Reserve Sergeant Nelson Lambert who had returned from Iraq and had come to Jeff to apply for the vacant deputy position. As soon as he received approval of Nelson’s background check, he would be added to the payroll. Nelson still would have to attend classes at the Charleston police academy during his probationary period.

  “With Nelson’s hire we’ll have deputies living in each of the towns. Kenny will still cover Angels Landing, and Nelson will move from the Cove to Haven Creek. I would love to have a third deputy, but there isn’t enough money in the budget.”

  “Are they part-time or full-time?”

  “They’re part-time. I’m the only one that’s full-time. There was a time when each town had a full-time sheriff, but that wasn’t cost-effective. Once I was hired to replace the Cove’s sheriff, the mayors decided I would police the entire island, and deputies from the Landing and the Creek would provide part-time oversight in their towns.”

  “Can they make ends meet on a part-time salary?”

  Jeff angled his head. “Always the social worker, aren’t you?”

  She gave him a wide smile. “I’m not going to apologize.”

  “And I don’t want you to. Kenny is a retired correction officer, and my former deputy was a probation officer. They take on the position to supplement their pensions.” He watched Kara approach, her gaze fixed on the terrier. “Don’t you want to take him?”

  “Will he come to me?” she asked. There was a slight tremor in her voice.

  “Hold out your arms.” Jeff placed the puppy in her arms, then stepped back. The terrier had whined incessantly when Mabel had placed him in a crate but soon had settled down during the drive. He refused to come out of the crate until Jeff reached in to carry him out, the tiny canine shaking uncontrollably.

  Kara smiled when the dog yawned. “What’s his name?”

  “Oliver.”

  Her eyebrows lifted. “For Oliver Twist?” ’

  “I don’t know. If it were me I’d call him Killer or Bruiser.”

  Kara gave him an incredulous stare. “You can’t be serious. This little thing probably doesn’t weigh more than three pounds.”

  “Two and a half. I have his papers in the car with his breed and the date of vaccinations. Mabel also gave me a crate, wee-wee pads, food, and a bag of doggy-grooming supplies.”

  Burying her face in the soft fur, Kara pressed a kiss on the puppy’s head. Oliver was gold and gray with round brown eyes and a black dot for a nose. “Why are you shaking, baby? Mama’s going to take care good of you.”

  “I take it you’ve had dogs before.”

  Kara nodded. “I’ve had dogs, cats, birds, fish, rabbits, and guinea pigs.”

  Jeff crossed his arms over his chest. “It looks as if Oliver is going to have a good home.”

  “Thank you for thinking of me. This little guy and I are going to have a lot of fun together. I must admit this is the first time I’ve ever had a dog this small. Most of my other dogs were hounds, and they stayed outdoors. The exception was when temperatures were close to freezing; then my mother would let them in.”

  “How is your mother?”

  “She’s good. In fact, she asked about you, and I told her I hadn’t seen you in a while.”

  “Tell her that’s going to change.”

  Kara gave him a blank stare. “What are you talking about?”

  “I now have time to fulfill my promise to take you to the movies. And there’s still the Sunday dinner you owe me.”

  “I’m always here, Jeff. You know where to find me.”

  “You and Oliver.”

  She pressed another kiss to the dog’s silky hair. “Me and Oliver. By the way, did you find out anything about Porter Caldwell?”

  “We’re still checking.”

  “Will you let me know what you uncover?”

  “I will, but only if it doesn’t entail police business. And pouting will not get me to change my mind,” he added when she pushed out her lips.

  “Fine. Be like that, Jeff.”

  He smiled in spite of the potential seriousness of the situation. “The developers are getting bolder and more aggressive,” he said, suddenly sobering. “Millicent Baily, who’s a Haven Creek sweet-grass weaving instructor, called me to say someone had come to her, asking whether she was willing to sell her late father’s house and farm. When she told him no, he’d asked whether she’d ever seen The Godfather when Don Corleone said to make him an offer he can’t refuse. She interpreted it as a veiled threat and felt compelled to call and report it.”

  Kara whistled softly. “That’s scary.”

  Jeff nodded. “My men are on full alert when it comes to strangers hanging around.” Having Nelson policing the Creek would make it possible for the recent war combatant to closely monitor what was going on in the smallest and least populated of the three towns.

  “How’s Miss Corrine?”

  Jeff smiled thinking of his grandmother. “She’s doing quite well. She just joined a book club discussion group at the bookstore and is talking about coming to the Haven to join a quilting club.”

  “Good for her. Please let her know I asked about her.”

  “I will. Let me go and get Mr. O’s things.” Jeff returned to the Jeep and managed to bring in the crate and a large plastic bag with the supplies. Mabel had vacillated between wanting to keep the terrier and giving him up but in the end decided giving him up was in the canine’s best interest. Oliver, bored at being left alone all day, had begun gnawing on furniture and soiling the carpet whenever she came home.

  Kara examined the contents of the bag. “Did he have any chew toys?”

  Jeff stared down into the eyes that made him feel as if he were drowning in pools of green and gold. “That’s all Mabel gave me.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I’ll buy him some.”

  He took a step to
ward her, bringing them inches apart. “I have to get back so my clerk can go to lunch. I have your numbers. I’ll call you and we’ll go out.”

  “I’d like that,” Kara said softly.

  Placing an arm around her waist, he dipped his head and kissed her. It had been so long since he’d tasted her mouth that he had almost forgotten how sweet she was. “I promise I won’t stay away so long again.”

  “Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” she whispered against his mouth.

  “I never break a promise, baby.” Jeff kissed her again, wishing for the first time in his life that he didn’t have to go back to work. But he’d never been one to shirk his duties or disobey an order.

  Kara patted his chest. “Go before your boss fires you for theft of services.”

  Jeff laughed loudly, startling Oliver who let out a yelp. “Sorry about that Mr. O. I happen to think I have a rather nice boss.”

  “Who’s that?”

  “Me.”

  “Aren’t you appointed by the mayor?” Kara asked.

  “No, baby. My position is an elected one. Only the people can vote me in or out. I served several months of my predecessor’s term, then ran unopposed a month later. I’m up for reelection in thirty-three months.”

  “Do you plan on running again?”

  “Probably. I’d thought it would be difficult adjusting to small-town life again, but so far it’s been good.”

  A beat passed before Kara asked, “If your grandmother wasn’t still living here, would you have come back?”

  There came another pause as Jeff replayed Kara’s question in his head. “Yes. I’ve traveled all over the world, and I’ve never felt the connection with those places that I feel here. This is home, Kara.” An expression he could only interpret as indecision filled Kara’s eyes. “What’s the matter?”

  She lowered her gaze. “I keep telling myself this is home when it really doesn’t feel like it. Maybe that’s because I’m only staying here temporarily.”

  Pressing his mouth to her forehead, Jeff said, “Don’t rush it, Kara. First you were only staying a week, then it became three weeks, and now it’s five years. A lot can happen in five years.”