by Tara Sheets
“Excuse me.” The deep voice swept over her like a hurricane.
Kat turned to find Jordan smiling down at her. Her heart did a sudden backflip. He was gloriously handsome in his tuxedo. His normally windblown hair was swept back, but there was a slight stubble on his jaw which, paired with the silvery scar across his cheekbone, made him look just a little dangerous. Like every fantasy she’d ever dreamed up. Every dark hero she’d pined for in books. Every deep desire personified.
She took a small step back, as if that could distance her from the truth, but it was too late for pretending. She didn’t have any defenses left around this man because . . . she loved him. She’d probably started falling the day Clementine had kittens in his room and he’d lined the box with his sweatshirt. Or it could’ve been the day he’d begrudgingly fed graham crackers to Waffles. Or the day he witnessed her magical gift of communicating with animals and accepted it. Accepted her. Every time something funny happened at work, she couldn’t wait to get home and tell him. Every hour they’d spent together over the past few weeks had been leading up to this realization. She was in love with Jordan Prescott. There it was. A trickle of apprehension slid down her spine, but she straightened her back, steeling herself against doubt. Maybe this time, falling for someone didn’t have to end badly. Maybe it would work out because he loved her, too. If Opal was right all along and Jordan was happier here . . . Maybe he would stay. Kat suddenly hoped with all her heart he wouldn’t go. She held on to that hope like a lifeline.
“Do I know you?” he teased, taking her hand.
She brushed aside her whirlwind thoughts and forced herself to focus on the moment. “I think I met you in a caravan once.”
Jordan’s gaze darkened with desire, his whiskey-gold eyes sweeping over her in open appreciation. He gave her a look so charged with heat, Kat had the sudden urge to climb him like a tree, wrap her legs around his waist, and kiss him and not stop kissing him until the gala was over and the band packed up and the country club concierge kicked them out.
“La Belle Dame sans Merci.” He took her hand to kiss the tips of her fingers.
“What’s that?” Kat asked, distracted by the feel of his lips on her skin.
“A poem about an enchanting woman whose beauty captured a mortal man.”
“How very lyrical of you,” Kat said, laying a hand lightly on his chest. “What did she do with that man, after she captured him?”
“Whisked him away to paradise, for a while,” Jordan said. “Then left him on a hillside to die.”
She burst out laughing. “Be careful then. I could spell your doom.”
“I don’t want to be careful. I want to throw you over my shoulder and steal you away right now.” From the way he was looking at her, Kat believed he might just do it.
“But I haven’t even seen Opal yet,” Kat said. “And I promised her I’d come. Have you seen her?”
Jordan tilted his head in the direction of the ballroom. “She’s dancing.”
He tucked Kat’s hand on his arm and led her through the grand double doors. A sea of people dipped and swirled to a waltz in the center of the ballroom where a huge, glittering chandelier hung suspended from the coffered ceiling. Smaller chandeliers hung at varying intervals throughout the rest of the room, casting a warm glow on the party below. Those who weren’t dancing sat at round tables covered in crisp white tablecloths, and in the center of each stood vases of flowers surrounded by twinkling fairy lights.
“It’s so beautiful,” Kat said, as Jordan led her to one of the tables. “I had no idea it would be such a big deal.”
“My grandmother warned us it was going to be the event of the year,” he said. “I meant it when I said she has a bigger social life than anyone I know.”
The live orchestra began a new waltz, and Jordan held out his hand. “Dance with me?”
Now this, she’d like to see. Jordan Prescott of the beat-up truck and old-school rock music was leading her into a waltz? Inquiring minds needed to know. . . . She placed her hand in his.
They walked into the colorful swirl of dancing couples. Then he swung her toward him, placed his free hand on her lower back, and stepped easily into the waltz.
Kat didn’t know what surprised her more—the fact that he could dance, or the sudden skin-on-skin contact of his large, warm hand on her naked back.
“Your dress is going to be the death of me,” he said huskily.
“Where did you learn to dance?” Kat managed. It was difficult to concentrate on the steps when he was touching her like that.
“My mother. When I was in fourth grade she went through a ballroom dance phase. Swore that no man was complete unless he knew how to dance.”
“Did you like it?” She tried to imagine him as a little boy dancing with his mother. It wasn’t easy.
“I was okay with it.” His amber eyes lit with humor. “But her ballroom phase eventually fizzled out, which is why this is the only dance I know.”
An older couple careened toward them and Jordan pulled Kat against him, expertly spinning her in a circle to avoid them. “Where did you learn to dance?” he asked.
“I used to date a dancer,” Kat said. It seemed like a lifetime ago. She’d been barely twenty and so starry-eyed back then. She’d tried so hard to be whatever he needed, and when it didn’t work out, she’d been crushed. With Jordan, she didn’t have to try hard at all. It was the first time in her life she could just be her true self. All the more reason to want it to last. Plus, she had Emma and Juliette now. There was something so liberating about knowing you had backup—people who would be there for you if the whole world fell apart.
He spun her in another circle, shielding her from a teetering couple who’d had a few too many cocktails.
“Kat!” Opal’s sweet, warbly voice called. “Oh my dear, just look at you.”
Opal and Sam Norton weren’t moving fast across the dance floor—they were hardly moving at all—but Kat had never seen Opal look happier. She was wearing a forest green evening dress with long glittery sleeves, and someone had given her a wrist corsage with white roses.
When Sam glanced over at them, he stutter-stepped, then came to a complete stop.
Opal looked questioningly at him. “Sam?”
The old man blinked a few times, muttering under his breath.
“Sam, you remember Kat Davenport?” Opal asked.
He cleared his throat. “I do. I do. Only I didn’t quite realize the resemblance until I saw you in the dress.”
“What resemblance?” Jordan asked.
“You look exactly like Caroline Holloway,” Sam exclaimed, his voice trembling with emotion. “The older Holloway sister. You’re the spitting image of her, especially in that dress.”
Kat bit her bottom lip, hope swelling inside her. “Did you know her?”
“Not well,” Sam admitted. “She was a bit older than me, but she was the talk of the town back in the day, right before she ran off to join the circus. A young, beautiful girl with roses in her cheeks and stars in her eyes and always surrounded by animals.” He chuckled at an old memory. “Right before she left town, there was a big fancy party and she wore that dress. If I recall correctly, she had a white dove on her shoulder and it caused quite a commotion.”
“Emma and Juliette think she might have been my grandmother,” Kat said. “I never knew my parents, but I’ve always had a connection to animals. How do you know so much about the Holloways?”
“I was a friend of their grandmother’s when I was a young man,” Sam said. “Seems like another lifetime ago.” He reached out to take Opal’s hand. “Life never ceases to amaze, does it?”
“Never,” Opal said, smiling up at him.
Kat glanced away because she didn’t want to intrude on what clearly was a tender moment between the older couple. She could tell just by the way he and Opal looked at each other they were in love.
As the night carried on, Opal introduced them to all her friends from the communi
ty center, which turned out to be a group of lively older people who seemed to adopt Jordan and Kat instantly into the fold. They were already invited to bingo night, Sunday movies on the lawn, and Sam Norton’s fishing party. Jordan was asked if he played golf, if he could troubleshoot the assisted living home’s computer network, and when he and Kat were getting married. Kat was asked if she wanted to attend water aerobics, if she could bring therapy animals to visit the home, and if she and Jordan planned to have a lot of children. They’d both expertly dodged the uncomfortable questions, secretly grinning at each other.
A short while later, giggling from a bit too much champagne, Kat escaped the ballroom with Jordan to walk in the gardens and—since this was her fairy tale—hopefully find a secluded alcove to be naughty in. The air was warm and balmy, and the rich scent of jasmine floated around them. The twinkling white lights woven through the trees and shrubs made everything appear magical.
Kat held Jordan’s hand as they strolled. She felt as if they were in a dream. Everything about the moment felt perfect, and she suddenly wanted to tell him she loved him. It could work between them, she decided. He just had to want it as much as she did. She stole a glance at him from beneath her lashes.
Jordan’s expression startled her. He looked so serious, she felt a tiny prickle of anxiety. She stopped walking. “What’s wrong?”
He pulled her to a secluded spot beside a fountain. “Nothing’s wrong. I want everything to be right.” But his face was so solemn, her anxiety began to escalate.
“Everything is right,” she said carefully. “Isn’t it?”
He took both her hands. “You grew up differently than me, but I think we both had to become survivors, in our own way.”
Now she was really worried. “Okay.”
“We adapt easily, don’t we?”
“Sure.” Kat couldn’t read his expression. What was he getting at?
“I want us to be together,” he said firmly. “I don’t want to lose you.”
Kat felt a tidal wave of relief. If a choir of angels had sung the words, they couldn’t have sounded better. She was so filled with warmth and happiness, she might’ve lit up the sky like a firework. “I feel the same way, Jordan. I want us to be together, too.” It felt good to finally say it out loud.
Jordan looked like he wanted to say more, but a group of people walked up to the fountain.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said suddenly.
“Where do you want to go?” Kat asked.
He didn’t even hesitate. “Home.”
Home. Yes. She’d go anywhere with this man, but home sounded like the best place in the world.
Chapter Thirty-One
On Sunday morning, Kat woke to the sound of rain outside. Thunder rumbled in the distance, which yanked her right out of a delicious dream she’d been having. She shifted onto her side, coming face-to-face with the dream.
Jordan was still fast asleep. Waking up with him seemed like the most natural thing in the world. She rose carefully, padding over to the window to look outside. The summer rain made the yard look like a faded watercolor painting. Still, the farm had gone through remarkable changes in the few weeks since she’d been there. Jordan had fixed the front yard, reseeding the grass and trimming the overgrown hedges. He’d even planted a row of bright flowers underneath the farmhouse porch. As for the porch itself, he’d fixed the sagging steps and repainted everything—even the front door had a fresh coat of bright turquoise paint. The red rosebushes along the fence were still overgrown, but it did nothing to mar the quaint beauty of the property. Now, through the gauzy haze of rain, it almost looked like the ideal farmhouse she’d expected when she’d first answered the ad.
She boiled water in an electric teapot on her table, then pulled out a canister of English Breakfast tea. So much had changed since she’d arrived on Pine Cove Island. She’d made friends. She’d found a connection to family, and she’d found him.
After making tea, Kat stood at the window watching the rain. A blue jay landed on the windowsill outside.
“Hey there,” Kat whispered. “What’s your name?”
A soft chuckle from the bed. “Talking to the birds again?”
She propped her hip on the windowsill. “Just making new friends.”
Jordan rose to a sitting position and leaned against the headboard, his broad shoulders taking up most of the space. “We need to do something about this bed. It’s barely big enough to roll over in.”
“I’m perfectly comfortable with it. But that’s only when a certain beast isn’t hogging all the space.”
“Tonight you need to come to my bed,” he said.
“Oh, is that how it’s going to be now?”
“Yes, my bed is huge. It’s big enough for me and you and the cats, if they decide to invade.”
Kat flushed with pleasure. He’d included the cats, which meant he’d accepted them as part of his life. It was as if he was accepting everything about her, and it made her love him even more. Somehow over the course of the past few weeks, the animals had wound their way into his life too. Even Hank had become part of their family. He’d spent the night curled up on the sofa with Lucky in the main house.
“Come back to bed,” Jordan said sleepily. “Let’s pretend we have nothing to do all day except lounge, even though it isn’t true.”
“Why? What do you have going on today?” She set her teacup down and moved to the bed.
Jordan pulled back the quilt, and she snuggled in beside him.
“I’ve got to start emptying out the red barn today,” he said. “It’s going to be a hell of a lot of work. My parents stored decades worth of junk in there. There’s a truck arriving this afternoon to haul stuff away.”
“I can help,” Kat said. “I mean, I was planning to lie here all day and listen to the rain, but if you need me . . .”
He drew her up against him. “I definitely need you. But I’m not going to make you dig through all that junk. It’s a safety hazard.”
He kissed the top of her head, and once again she was overcome with the intense rightness of the two of them together. It was time to tell him her true feelings. He’d told her last night he didn’t want to lose her. Kat started to gather her courage, but Jordan’s phone rang.
He picked it up off the nightstand and checked it, then set it aside.
She snuggled closer. “Who was it?”
“My business partner, Chad. He called three times last night. I should call him back.”
“Mmm.” She yawned and stretched like a cat, sliding her bare legs over his.
He watched her through half-closed eyes, but she wasn’t fooled. She knew that look on him by now. Jordan wasn’t sleepy at all. He had other plans.
“You have the softest skin.” He lowered his head to kiss the hollow at the base of her throat, making her pulse race.
“What about your business partner?” she whispered.
“No idea.” Jordan slid over her. “Not really interested in his skin.”
It was hard to kiss while laughing, but somehow they muddled through.
* * *
Later that morning, Kat finished taking care of the animals while Jordan went to make phone calls. Lulabelle and Waffles seemed restless because of the rain, so she spent extra time with them, talking and singing as she fed the chickens.
She stopped and leaned against the fence to watch the goat and donkey together. They were practically inseparable now that they’d become friends.
Lucky came ambling over to the fence, his three-legged gait not stopping him from making a beeline toward her with a ratty tennis ball. He dropped it at her feet, tongue lolling happily, head cocked to one side.
“You don’t mind the rain, huh?” Kat asked.
Lucky gave an excited yip, and Kat laughed. “There’ll be plenty of mud puddles around here, so you’re in luck.”
She picked up the muddy ball and tossed it across the yard.
He bounded after it, splashing thr
ough a puddle, then backtracking to splash through it again, doing a quick roll through the mud. It was clear that Lucky was one of those dogs who lived for water. Hank, on the other hand, wasn’t thrilled with it. He dozed comfortably on the front porch, which made Kat happy. All in all, things were looking up and life was good. Really good.
She put her hands on her hips and surveyed the yard, the farmhouse, and the fields beyond. The air smelled of damp earth and fresh rain and new beginnings. She couldn’t think of a single thing she’d want to change, now that Jordan felt the same way she did. If he truly meant what he’d said last night—that he didn’t want to lose her—then they could actually have a life together here. Warmth flooded through her, filling her with a giddy sense of optimism she’d never felt before. Things were finally falling into place.
Her phone rang, and she pulled it from her pocket. “Hey, Juliette.”
“Hey, yourself.” Juliette’s voice bubbled over with excitement. Kat could hear Emma in the background talking to someone. “Can you come to the house? Like, right now? Hunter called Emma from Seattle. Apparently, he met up with his friend who specializes in missing persons, and he got some information about Evangeline!”
Yes, things were falling into place. “I’ll be right over.”
Fifteen minutes later, Kat had changed into clean clothes and made her way to Emma’s house. She parked her car and jumped out, eager to see her friends and find out what Hunter knew about the mysterious Evangeline.
The house’s lights glowed just a tad brighter in greeting, and the door swung wide.
“We’re in here,” Emma called from the living room.
Kat hung her rain jacket on a peg as the front door closed behind her. In the living room, Emma was sprawled on the couch, and Juliette was on the floor with Buddy. She sprang up when Kat entered.
“Here,” Juliette said excitedly, leading Kat to the overstuffed chair. “You’ll want to sit down for this.”