The suggestive tone of his voice sent a startled warning. No, she wouldn’t be doing that or anything else to lead him on unnecessarily. He drew her close again, and she felt a bit self-conscious as they glided toward the bank where some of their friends conversed around a big bonfire.
With ease, David jumped to the low bank and pulled her up with him. Then they tiptoed to the fire. “Hi, Lil.” Katy beamed. Lil’s hands were stuffed in her coat pockets.
“I’ll get us some hot chocolate. Want some, Lil?” David offered.
“Sure.”
“What’s wrong?” Katy demanded. “You’re looking at me like I have broccoli stuck in my teeth or something.”
“You usually do.” Lil chuckled. “Looks like you’re having a ball.”
“Why not? He’s a good skater. Want him to take you a couple spins?”
“Don’t you dare pawn off your date on me,” Lil snapped.
Katy felt her face heat when David stepped up behind them with steaming drinks in Styrofoam cups. Had he overheard Lil’s remark?
Lil thanked him and took one of the cups. “Good thing Megan’s not here to see these.”
David shrugged a brow. “Because?”
Katy explained. “These are not easily recyclable.”
“Oh. Usually we use the thick paper cups, don’t we?”
Katy frowned at Lil before she sipped the warm chocolate. “Anyway. This is good.”
As they finished drinking and mingled with the rest of the group, Katy felt self-conscious over the curious glances she and David provoked. At least he hadn’t hovered or marked his territory. Instead, he’d been considerate and chummed with some of his friends, giving her a chance to visit with Lil. When he asked if she was ready to skate again, Lil waved her away.
When they returned to the ice, he asked, “What’s up with Lil?”
“I’m not sure.” Katy glanced back at her friend and saw her tapping away at the buttons of her cell phone. Must be preoccupied over her new toy—the elder board had been divided over the issue of allowing its use. With disgust, Katy asked, “You have a cell phone?”
“Yep. Why?”
She shrugged and was saved from getting into a debate when her blade hit a root protrusion. She tripped and David caught her. But the minor incident left them skating face-to-face, with David skating backward.
“Here, put your palms flat against mine,” he urged. Then she forgot all about Lil. He even taught her to skate backward, and Katy felt more happy and carefree than she had in months. Within another half an hour, however, her ankles grew tired and her toes frigid. She glanced toward the bonfire, and David was instantly perceptive of her need. “Ready to go in?”
“I am.” She scanned the bank for Lil and found her talking to some tall, well-built guy who sent an odd flutter through her stomach. A warning flashed through her mind, and she looked closer. Her stomach clenched. Jake Byler? How on earth—at that instant, her world spun. Her skates tangled, too. David tripped and skidded on the knees of his jeans, pulling her down on top of him. With a grunt, her breath was forced from her lungs, and her elbow slammed the ice. When finally they quit sliding, she rolled over on her side with a groan.
She felt David scrambling out from beneath her, then leaning over her, his hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“I think so.” She tugged at her culottes, but only wanted to curl in a ball and escape the humiliation, escape Jake.
She stared into David’s concerned hazel eyes. He apologized, “I don’t know what happened.”
She did. She also knew she needed to get up before they drew even more attention than they already had. She saw his mouth quirk. “This isn’t funny,” she warned. “You get up first.” Surely his knees were bruised, if not cracked.
With a grimace and some clumsy movements, he was soon standing on his blades. Then he grabbed her under the arms and pulled her to her feet. All his concern was directed at her, and he even brushed awkwardly at her snowy coat.
“I’m fine,” she snapped, rubbing an aching elbow.
“Guess we should have quit sooner.” He draped a supportive arm around her waist, and they skated toward the bank.
Feeling guilty for snapping at him, she admitted, “It was my fault. I tripped you.” She drew in a quick breath. “Is he still over there talking to Lil?” As David glanced over his shoulder, she felt his body tense.
“So he’s what happened.”
“Sorry.”
“So you want to talk to them? Or shall we slink off to the car in our humiliation?”
“Definitely slink.”
“Sit down then, and let me help you with your skates.” She lowered herself to the log. With another grimace, David went down on his knees.
She placed her hand on his shoulder. “You’re in pain. I’m so sorry.”
“I’m fine. Now smile. Pretend to have fun.” He winked. “That’ll get him.”
She removed her hand. “I was having fun. Now I know why Lil was acting all weird on us. But until he ruined everything, I was having a blast.”
David grinned and squeezed her hand. “Me, too, Katy.”
A few minutes before the spill, Lil had explained to Jake Byler, “She doesn’t really like him, but David’s crazy about her.”
Burning with jealousy, Jake Byler glanced down at his cousin, then back out at the ice where David maneuvered Katy around like some ballerina. Her slim form and fine-boned features gave her a fragile appearance, but Jake knew from experience a man couldn’t force her to do anything, unless she allowed it. And it hurt to see the way she moved in sync with David. “Since when?”
“I didn’t notice until he asked her out. Now it’s obvious.”
The Miller guy was younger than Jake, and they’d never been close. They’d played some basketball and hockey together. David’s brothers were older than Jake so he’d never hung out with them, either. He didn’t know what made the guy tick. Except for Katy, that is. And why wouldn’t she?
She’d captured his own attention long before he’d acquired any skills to fend off female charms. Katy was younger than Jake, too, but at recess he let her cut in line just because he was intrigued with her bouncy ponytail. After he’d touched it, she’d reeled him in with her black flashing eyes.
Jake had always loved to watch her hands dance when she talked, admiring her tiny wrists and long feminine fingers. But her greatest asset was her face. There was an intensity in her dark eyes that could move mountains. They were deep, dark, and expressive. Her nose was thin and long, merely a gentle slope that drew the eye down to her best feature, those full, sulky lips. The combination of lethal eyes and pursed lips stopped a guy in his tracks. A man instantly sensed the stubborn spirit behind the face. Lesser men shrank back. She wielded her feminine weapons without chagrin, swathing her path through life, unawares that most people did not have such natural charms at their command. She had a hauteur about her that warned others she wasn’t used to losing. She probably didn’t realize that she could get her way without uttering a word.
As if reading his mind, she turned her brown gaze toward him. Her eyes were naturally so dark that they almost smoldered, causing a man to want to read something sexual in them, when really they were unfathomable. But it caused Jake to feel jealous now that it was David’s arms around her.
His stomach clenched when recognition hit her expression and that smoldering gaze riveted upon him. His gaze pleaded with hers. But she denied him. Her eyes glittered, and her expression darkened with repulsion. Her entire body reacted. She actually stopped skating.
David toppled forward, and Jake watched helpless as the couple wiped out on the ice, Katy tumbling on top of David.
Jake lunged forward, but Lil caught him by his coat sleeve.
She grimaced. “Ouch. That had to hurt. You see how both his knees smacked the ice? At least he cushioned Katy’s fall.”
His jealousy reared again as David untangled himself from Katy and hovered over her. “Yo
u sure this is their first date? They seem mighty cozy.”
Lil waved a glove through the air. “It’s the skating. He’s had his hands all over her. That’s why I called you. So what are you going to do?”
He knew now this group setting had been a mistake for his first encounter with Katy. He should have waited and gone with their original plan. Lil’s plan. She’d hired him to modernize the doddy house. He’d be there when Katy came over. He would apologize in privacy. Beg, if he had to, for her forgiveness.
“Well?”
“I can’t go rescue her. I didn’t bring any skates. But it looks like they’re coming in off the ice.” He glared at David. “I’ve got my work cut out for me.”
She put an elbow in his gut. “You deserve it, chump.”
“Hmph.” He glanced away from the irritating scene where David was now unlacing her skates. Lil had one glove on her hip, looking miffed. She never should have told him all those years ago that Katy meant to marry him. Maybe it wouldn’t have made him so confident she’d always be there. Maybe it wouldn’t have scared him away. But Lil had meant well. They’d always been close as if she were his sister. In fact, when the family got together, she hung out with him instead of his younger sister Erin. That’s probably how he noticed Katy. She and Lil and Megan had always been together.
“They’re leaving. I can’t believe she’s not even going to say good-bye,” Lil huffed.
A hand clamped Jake’s shoulder, and he turned. “Hey, how’s it going?”
“Good to see you, man.” Chad Penner held out his hand. Though they had once been best of friends, their relationship had become estranged when Jake had left the church.
Grasping it, Jake replied, “Better get used to it. I’m back to stay.”
Chad swung an arm over Jake’s shoulder. “I knew you’d be back.”
With relief, Jake allowed himself to be drawn into the group of skaters warming up at the bonfire. Everyone seemed happy to see him, forgiving of his sudden absence and eager to accept him back into the group. Meanwhile, he glimpsed Katy and David disappearing into a stand of box elders. But as the group enveloped him, some of his heaviness fled. He roasted a hot dog and caught up with Chad.
Jake wished he’d never left, but all he could do now was prove how he’d changed. He was earnest in his desire to fit back in with his old friends.
When the group began to disperse, Jake walked Lil to her car then squeezed her shoulder. “Maybe this was for the best. It’ll give Katy time to digest the idea that I’m back. We’ll have to trust God with this, okay?”
“I’ve been praying for you for a long time, chump.”
“I know. Thanks.”
Head bent in thought, he strode to his truck and climbed in. Although he’d jumped his first hurdle, facing the group again, he knew the worst was still ahead of him. He’d never forget the incident, the night when he’d been drunk. Furious, Katy had hissed that she wanted him to go away and stay away. But this afternoon, when their gazes latched, he’d felt hopeful for an instant. Then when she’d left without even saying good-bye to Lil, he’d gotten the impression she loathed him.
He drove out onto the gravel road. Nobody had ever loathed him. Wait, hadn’t he once heard that love and hate were closely related? For his sake, he hoped so. His mind traveled back to the time before he’d grown restless. He flicked on his headlights and started toward home, involuntarily scanning the snowy ditches and fields for deer and other wild animals that sometimes leapt in front of vehicles.
The farm made him restless. Jake’s dad had died years earlier. His mom still lived in his childhood home, but his uncle and brother Cal managed the farm. Jake had never been interested in that, though he’d helped his uncle a lot over the years. He had been interested in construction, seeing buildings erected, swinging a hammer. He didn’t regret his vocation decision, but he regretted losing Katy.
Suddenly his vision caught something that made his pulse race. Was God answering his prayer so quickly? There alongside the road was David Miller’s disgustingly shiny car. A grin spread over Jake’s face; then a chuckle erupted in his throat. A flat tire. Just what the woman-stealer deserved. Trying to tamp down his delight, he pulled in behind the stranded vehicle. Maybe he was going to be able to rescue her after all.
He opened the door and jumped down, leaving his headlights on for Miller. “Hey, got a problem?” David looked up. Even in the dim light, Jake could see the guy’s embarrassment. “Need a hand with that?”
“Nope.” David jerked the wrench, twisting the lug nuts of the left rear wheel. “Got it under control.”
Jake stuffed his hands in his pockets and gazed at the car, where he could see Katy’s dark silhouette.
“Don’t need your help,” David repeated sharply.
“Think I’ll just say hi to Katy.” Jake strode past his angry opponent and around the back of the car right up to Katy’s door. Her face was looking straight ahead. He knocked on her window and startled her. She hit the window’s inoperative button. He took that as an invitation and opened her door. It hurt to see her inside another man’s car, but he gave her what he hoped looked like a contrite smile. “Hi Katy.”
Her chin jutted upward. “What do you want?”
Her face was so lovely, flushed and pink, her hair messy under the white knitted beanie. But her gaze smoldered. He’d learned that her gaze could be dark or cool, but one thing it never did was shrink back. Still, he yearned to scoop her into his arms until she no longer despised him. “Need a ride?”
“Not hardly.”
“You look kinda lonely and cold.”
Just then David jerked the driver’s door open and slid in. “Not lonely.” He started the engine.
“And warm as toast,” Katy added with a shiver.
Jake gave her a salute and eased the door closed, backing away from the car just before it spit gravel in his face.
CHAPTER 5
On Monday morning, Katy took her normal route to work, using routine maneuvers to blend in with the freeway traffic that skirted the west side of Columbus. As she drove, she puzzled over the mystery of Jake’s unexpected appearance at Sunday’s skating party. It didn’t surprise her that he’d come home for the holidays, since like Megan he was probably on break. But why had he come to the river when he hadn’t mingled with church friends for over a year now—ever since the incident between them in the church parking lot?
She probed at the matter, furious at herself for gawking at Jake like a lovesick fool. In that one weak moment, his features, wind-ruffled hair, and masculine physique had been burned into her memory all anew, more vivid and arresting than ever. She felt as if months of working to get over him had been destroyed in an instant. He’d stood on the icy riverbank and beckoned her with dark, hooded eyes so scorching and brooding and out of place in that winter playground. It had been all she could do to pull her gaze away. No wonder she’d faltered.
She reached out and flipped the car’s heater off. With a glance at the green, overhead sign, she changed into the exit lane. And when David’s tire had gone flat, the rat had the gall to butt in where he wasn’t wanted. While David had worked on the tire, her nemesis had stepped out of her imagination and appeared in flesh and blood outside her window, wearing a crooked smile and a smug expression.
David had handled the evening’s humiliation with more grace than she would have imagined possible, coming to her rescue. Twice.
Leave it to Katy to trip up the best skater at the party. But David had been a great sport—given that Jake had knocked her off her feet, David had played the hero by whisking her away to safety. Only, poor guy, his efforts had backfired.
With the pride he took in the care of his car, she knew that its flat tire probably embarrassed him the most. The tension that sizzled when David slid into his driver’s side and glared at Jake would have been intense enough to ignite a forest fire in the dead of winter. Thankfully, Jake had backed away.
After all the drama Jake
had caused, she hadn’t wanted to humiliate David further by bringing up her dad’s stipulations. Her mom had been right. He was a great guy, and she’d had a lot of fun with him, too. Although with the aggravation he’d suffered on their date, including a set of bruised knees, he probably wouldn’t ask her out again.
Just when she had started to entertain thoughts of David as a real boyfriend, Jake had returned, sending her heart, mind, and body into a crazy spin. He still wielded tremendous power over her. And she resented him for it. Even if he slipped back into oblivion, his brief appearance had caused her irreparable damage.
Lil could probably explain why Jake had shown up at the party, but Katy hadn’t been able to ask her yet with the way their schedules clashed.
As she pulled into the driveway of the Brooks’ residence, Katy cringed. She hoped Lil hadn’t told Jake about the three-date stipulation. She certainly didn’t want him to think she had to buy her dates. Sometimes when it came to Jake, Katy wasn’t sure whose side Lil was on. Flipping down her visor, she checked to see that her covering was straight. When she saw her grim lips, she wet them and forced herself to relax.
Moments later, she used her key to enter the house, taking a quick scope of its usual disarray. By the time she hit the kitchen, she’d already scooped up two sets of newspapers and several pink glittery items of clothing.
In the kitchen, her steps faltered. “Oh. Hi, Tammy. I didn’t realize you were here, or I would have knocked.”
Tammy Brooks snapped her briefcase closed and slipped into its shoulder strap. “No problem.” She grabbed a designer purse off a bar stool. “I’m glad I can at least count on you.”
Katy took the newspapers to the recycle bin and set Addison’s clothing on a bar stool. Her slim, high-heeled employer made a turn toward the door, and Katy knew that she couldn’t waste such an opportunity. “Do you have a moment?”
“Sure. I’m already late so what’s a few more minutes?” Katy felt her face heat, but before she could reply, Tammy asked, “You aren’t going to quit on me, are you?”
Plain City Bridesmaids Page 5