Could it be that the beauty queen was tired of cutting her own grass?
“You’re not going to go out again?” Rick’s dubious expression matched his tone.
Trent shrugged. “Nah. She seemed nice, but I’m not interested. She offered to take me out as a thank you, but I declined and split.”
“You mean you tucked your tail and ran?”
“Yep. Still not interested.” Even as he said it, part of him knew he lied.
Rick took a deep breath and sat back before he spoke. “Well, that could be seen as a shame or as a bonus depending on your take on things. I figured out how you can help.”
Dread snaked in Trent’s gut. “Shit.”
With a nod, Rick said, “To echo your words, yep. I’m taking Hill’s case, and I think there’s some benefit to having someone nose around in Kate’s world to see if we can find out why Bailey has a sudden interest in her. I want you to get a little closer to her to see if you can dig up anything. I have a guy who owes me a favor or two. I’ll have him start the background searches on Kate, Phillip and Marilyn Bailey, Todd and Preston. It’s doubtful that everything is connected, but it seems awfully coincidental to me.”
Unfortunately, Trent agreed. Phillip Bailey and Preston Hayes stank, of that, his instincts were certain. Whenever Kate MacDonald came onto his radar, the force he always listened to went screwy. Did that mean he’d be going into an unknown world with faulty radar? He sure as hell hoped not.
Rick continued, unaware of his worries. “Why don’t you give her a call tomorrow? Tell her you changed your mind, play nice and see if you can get in her good graces. You already have one foot in the door, and she can’t be that bad looking. She was a Miss Kentucky, after all.”
“Actually, she’s one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen.” To him, it seemed to be a natural beauty, not the silicone, Barbie doll type.
Clearly not understanding the problem, Rick advised, “So take her out to a fancy dinner, and put it on my tab. That should be a quick way to her heart.”
Trent shook his head. “No. I don’t think a fancy dinner will do it. I have something else in mind. But if she tries to sink a set of gold-digging claws into me, I’m siccing her on you. I’ll show her pictures of your houses and bank account.”
“You wouldn’t.”
Trent finished off his beer and smiled.
She backed her rattling and coughing truck into a parking spot at the feed and general store. In her typical routine, she parked in the spot closest to the loading door. She could carry the supplies herself, but old Mr. Peterman would insist on helping her. She knew he had a bad hip, and she hated to have him carry her order any farther than necessary.
Her father’s old truck shuddered and groaned when she turned it off in a rush. She had cold groceries behind her seat and wanted to get back to Bonnie as soon as possible. She knew she’d be fine on her own but finding the barn open the prior night had shaken her. If it hadn’t been for the simple fact that she needed food for Pudgy and Bonnie, she wouldn’t have left home.
She hopped out, and a strange presence standing across the street under a tree at the diner caught her attention. When she looked again he’d turned his back and put his phone to his ear. She didn’t have time to people watch. Brushing the odd sensation of being observed away, she hurried inside. Mr. Peterman would have her order ready, so all she’d have to do would be pay and load.
She pushed open the door and smiled at the silly mechanical “Mooooo” sound. The shopkeeper’s grandson rigged the door alarm, and the old timer liked it so much that he’d kept it.
“Have a look around, Katie Marie. I’ll be with you in just a moment. My story is almost over. Then I can help you load.”
She looked at her watch. Damn. Five minutes. Eager to get home, she’d rushed through the grocery store and had arrived too early. He watched his favorite soap opera religiously, and she’d be stuck until it ended.
She wondered through the aisles and heard the mechanical cow announce someone else’s arrival. She made it halfway through the store when she turned the corner and almost bumped into someone.
“Kate. What a pleasant surprise. How are you today?” Phillip Bailey stood before her, his business attire out of place. His dark, fervent stare and oily smile sent chills racing through her. What was he doing in the feed store, of all places?
“Hi. I’m doing just fine. You?” She heard the signature music that accompanied the closing credits to the soap opera.
“I’m good. You’re looking…well. How are your animals?” He looked down at her old jeans as if they might contaminate him with some imaginary infection spread by only the lower class. Then he pasted on a plastic smile, and she knew smiles. There was something off about his.
“They’re good. Uhm…do you have any animals? I mean you’re in a feed store, so that must be a silly question. What do you have?”
His pretended embarrassment fell flat, miles away from sincere. “You caught me, my dear. I was across the street and saw you come in here. I wondered if you might do me the honor of dining with me?”
“Ah. No. I’m sorry. I’m flattered, truly, but I can’t. Thank you. I need to be going.” She walked around him quickly. At the counter, Mr. Peterman stood beaming, his round cheeks bright. All the cheer in the county couldn’t banish the feeling of having holes drilled into her back by Bailey’s eyes.
“Thank you. I can get this, really.” It was their routine. Always she made an attempt at carrying her order out on her own, but he always refused. She’d even taken to buying more of the smaller bags instead of the larger, more economical ones because she didn’t want him carrying them. It would take them more trips, but at least she wouldn’t worry quite as much.
“Kate, you know my policy.” Policy-shmolicy. Every man that came into the store carried their own purchases out. “Besides, your father was my friend. I can’t allow you to carry so much. He’d turn over in his grave.” Again, that wasn’t necessarily true. Her father prided himself on his work ethic and taught her to do the same. He’d be proud to know that she could take care of herself and her animals. But there was no point in arguing. He simply wanted to do what he thought was the right thing.
“I appreciate it. I’ve got cold groceries waiting on me, and I need to get back to Bonnie.” They walked in and out several times, loading the mountain of bags into her truck and talking about her new baby. The entire time, Phillip Bailey stood in the same spot, staring.
She waved Mr. Peterman off and closed the tailgate with a forceful shove. She looked down at the uneven pavement as she walked to her door and dug her keys from her pocket.
“Kate. Or is it Katherine? We’ll use Katherine, that’s much more fitting. I really need to discuss a few things with you.” His too-perfect, too-handsome face beamed at her, but his eyes were just…wrong as he stood beside her truck, blocking her door.
“No. It’s just Kate. I’m sorry, but I have to be going. I have animals to care for and groceries to put away before they melt. Another time.” Or not. Her gut instincts overrode even Aunt Jeannie’s lectures on manners.
“That’s a shame. You deserve a more refined name, not a nickname.” Had he not heard her or was he crazy? She was betting on the latter. And she was done.
“It’s not a nickname. It’s the name my father gave me, and I like it just fine. I don’t know what you’re after or what Preston has told you, but I’m not interested. Goodbye.”
His smile disappeared as his features hardened. Anger flushed his cheeks.
“Katherine, if you would listen I can get you out of here. This place is beneath us. We were meant for bigger and better things.”
“I’ll repeat myself one last time, and if you don’t listen, I’m calling Joe. He drives a shiny black and white police car and, if I tell him you’re harassing me, he won’t care who you are. I am not interested. I’m sorry if Preston sold you on some grand scheme. He’s good at that. I’m happy here, and I’m not interes
ted. At all. Goodbye.” Something in her tone must have got through because his eyes widened and he backed up a step. She snagged the opportunity to open her door and climb in.
Just like it knew she needed a hand, her truck started on the first turn of the key.
What was wrong with him? Would Preston ever quit causing her trouble? If her ice cream became soup by the time she got home, she would not be happy.
Damn it.
The tension in her shoulders didn’t ease until she gotten home, checked on Bonnie and basked in the warm sun for a few short moments before unloading.
She’d just put away the last bag when her cell rang.
“So, finally I get a few minutes to ask about your date. How did it go?” Leigh hadn’t bothered with a single hi, hello, or even a what’s up? in years.
“Okay.” Even as she gave the one-word answer, she knew Leigh would want more information.
As expected, Leigh said, “Honey, okay’s not going to cut it. I demand details. All the details.”
Sighing, Kate brushed her hands off on her jeans with the phone tucked between her shoulder and face. “There’s not much to tell. I have to install a new lock on the barn this evening and don’t have a lot of time.”
“Why does the barn need a new lock?” Both a blessing and a curse, Leigh never missed a thing.
“The door was standing open when Trent and I got back from the lake last night, and it has me worried. I—” The hole she’d fallen into only grew deeper as she spoke. There’d be no escaping Leigh now.
“The lake? I thought you went to the symphony. And what do you mean the door was open? You’d never leave it open and leave. I’m coming over tonight.” Her determined tone left no room for argument.
“Leigh,” she began.
“I’ll be over in about an hour. Get your chores done.” Leigh disconnected the phone before Kate could argue.
True to her word, she pulled up just under an hour later as Kate brought in a load of laundry.
She set the basket on the couch and opened the front door while Leigh carried in a couple of large paper bags.
“Did you buy out the store? What do you have in there?”
“After we hung up, it hit me that we haven’t had a true girl’s night in forever. We’re past due for takeout and strawberry wine. We should have done it when you first came home or shortly after, but you weren’t in a good place. It’s been almost a year since you left that no good loser. It’s past time we celebrate.”
She had to admit that her cousin’s plan was a damn fine one. “Okay. I’m in. So what did you bring? Something smells good.”
“Chinese takeout, Myer’s double-chocolate brownies and cheap-ass strawberry wine.”
Kate opened a cabinet in the kitchen only to have Leigh look at her as if she’d gone crazy. “Don’t bother. We can eat out of the cartons and I have a bottle for each of us. It’ll be like old times. We can gorge on junk, get drunk, sick and you can tell me all about Mr. Trent Dawson from Bourbon County.”
Oh boy. Where should she start? There was so much and so little to tell. She opened the carton that Leigh handed over.
“What did you wear? Something appropriately sexy? I know it was classy. You don’t know any other way.”
“Sexy and classy? I don’t know about that. I wore the black and white sheath and the matching heels.”
Leigh spoke around a mouthful of food. “Yes, you, my dear, define the words sexy and classy. It is possible to be both, and you rock it like granny with a newborn.”
She turned her head and just missed spraying Leigh when wine erupted from her mouth followed by choking laughter.
“So the wine’s that good, huh?” Leigh winked at her.
God, why had she tolerated her ex’s bullshit for so long? She’d wasted years of her life.
“The wine is wretched.” And it was, the same brand they’d drank before they were legally allowed to purchase it. On her nineteenth birthday, she’d sweet-talked Joe into buying it for them because he’d only laughed in Leigh’s face when she’d asked. On one of her rare free weekends, they’d built a bonfire out back, drank and talked boys. She suspected her father knew what they’d been doing, but allowed it. Between college and pageant prep with Aunt Jeanie, she’d been so busy. She took another bite and then washed it down with another swig of the vile stuff.
She loved it.
“So, continue. Is Trent a stud or a dud?” Leigh waved her own bottle, encouraging her to get on with the details as she used the phrase from their years in high school.
“Definitely not a dud. He showed on time, showered and dressed to kill. His suit probably cost more than my old truck is worth.” She threw in the showered bit to reference one of Leigh’s worst dates.
“So he has at least one more point than Dirty Harry. God, that boy stank. That was the first and last time I let Shirley set me up on a blind date. She married Dirty Harry’s brother, you know?”
“No. I didn’t. At least one good thing came out of that disaster, then.”
Leigh’s raised eyebrows let Kate know that she didn’t think sitting beside Dirty Harry for a double feature at the drive-in had been worth Shirley’s good fortune.
“What kind of rust bucket did he pick you up in?”
“His truck. He said a friend had borrowed his car.” Before Leigh could reply with a sarcastic dig, she held up a hand and clarified. “His truck was nearly new, a smart choice for a horse farmer, and mostly clean. And I believed him about the car. I think he’s an honest guy. He tolerated me hijacking the date really well.”
Leigh’s brows went up. “Exactly how did you hijack the date? You couldn’t hurt a fly. You didn’t use tears, did you? I’ve done that before. It works, but as expected, is a total buzz kill.”
“No.” She’d learned her lesson and waited until after Leigh spoke before putting anything in her mouth. When the coast was clear, she fortified herself with another bite and drink, then she finished the tale.
The look on her cousin’s face scared her.
“Katie, you do realize that you may have met your perfect match, right?”
“No. Absolutely not.” Leigh was totally mistaken.
Snagging her arm, Leigh squeezed it before continuing. “He must have a good heart somewhere beneath the gruff exterior or else he wouldn’t have bid on you in the first place.”
With a shake of her head, Kate discarded the idea. “Not necessarily true. Senator Phillip Bailey bid on me repeatedly, and something tells me he wasn’t doing it because of a kind heart. I saw him today, by the way.”
“Trent? Or the senator? Here in BFE, Potter County? I heard through the work grapevine that he’s looking to open up an office of some sort here, but something stinks. I’d stay away from him if I were you.”
“I plan to. He came into Peterman’s to find me. Of all the places, that’s the last place I would have expected to find him.” Though she could easily picture Trent in a place like Peterman’s loading heavy bags of feed into his truck with those broad shoulders of his. “He looked down on me like he might catch a disease from my clothes.”
“What’s wrong with them?”
“Nothing at all.” Kate looked down to her faded jeans and old tee. Yes, they were old, but they were clean and comfortable. She couldn’t be expected to feed her animals in pearls and heels, could she?
She was fed up with being looked down on by those from her old life who seemed to think that because she preferred animals to jewelry and cowboy boots to heels that she was beneath them.
“It’s your life to do what you want with. I may give you a hard time, but if you don’t want to do something, you need to speak up and tell me, or whoever, to stuff it up their asses. If you never want to wear a fancy dress again, then don’t.”
“You’re right.” And at the heart of it, Leigh would support her. Kate could cuss her up one side and down the other and her cousin would likely laugh it off or think she’d lost her mind. Likely the latter, bu
t she would always be family.
“What’s next on the agenda?” Leigh asked.
“I need to take care of some things. I’ll be right back.” Deep inside her, a flame of resolve sparked. She may have taken a huge step in leaving her ex, but it had only been the first step in getting her life back. She’d been content to sit idle and tinker around her the farm. Yes, she’d needed some time to heal and get her head straight, but that didn’t give her the right to simply float along aimlessly and not participate in life.
Her father wouldn’t do such a thing. No matter how big or small, he’d always had a plan or a goal. If he wasn’t working at his job or on their little farm, he was often at a neighbor’s helping them build something or tear something down.
It was past time she took her life back.
She rose, went to her old bedroom and looked around. She hadn’t been in the small space often since she’d moved back. She given it a quick cleaning but then shut the door and left her old life in the dark. She moved the few things she’d brought with her into her father’s old room, since it had a small attached bathroom.
Where was it? She knew she had some ages ago. Faded carpet in mixed shades of blue met her feet as she looked around, thinking. Above her bed hung shelves that her father made to display her crowns, but a layer of dust had stolen their sparkle. Posters of her favorite country musicians still covered the walls. Heroes with long hair, tight jeans and guitars looked down from above.
She looked in her old dresser drawer and thumbed through stacks of old faded tees. Several of them bore images of those guitar-wielding knights. At the drawer’s bottom, she found what she wanted and pocketed the small box, hoping the matches still worked.
Her father had left everything exactly the way she’d left it when she’d moved out. She wondered if…of course it was. There on the top shelf sat her old hat. She pulled it down and looked it over.
He’d given it to her for her fifteenth birthday. Mostly cream, with a little chocolate brown around the band and the edges, he said it matched her freckles and she’d better wear it whenever she worked with him outdoors or Aunt Jeannie would skin them both alive.
Protecting Kate: Dark Horse, Inc: Book 1 Page 8