The only way she could cope had been to retract, to be wary of everyone and everything, especially men. Planning for any eventuality had become her power, and she’d worked very hard to construct a carefully built, no-surprises-allowed, existence for herself.
She chewed at the corner of her lip. Maybe it hadn’t been Alex’s fault that her mom died. He’d had every right to go into the military, especially since that had been his plan well before he’d even met her. But in her idealistic girl’s heart, she’d hoped that what they shared was enough to keep him close -- or at least he’d come back to her at some point. But Alex had been against a long-distance relationship and had ended it, claiming it was better to make a clean break.
“Clean break,” she puffed, slamming her planner closed. Nothing about it had been clean, more like agonizingly jagged and gory and—
“Get a grip, Katherine,” she interrupted, planting her hands palm down on the counter. She knew from years of experience that these miserable thoughts would only make her more unhappy. “Find something to do!”
She looked toward her bedroom and then back to the front of the trailer, but all she saw was 256 square feet of spotlessly clean and meticulously organized trailer. The only thing that she could think to do was wash her hair.
Yes, that was it! Being clean would feel better.
Yanking open the cupboard under the sink, she retrieved a gallon jug of water, then headed toward the bathroom. Before she decided better of it, she knelt by the tub and tugged the rubber band from her hair. For some reason, she expected the room temperature water to be lukewarm, but instead, an icy blast took her breath away and gave her an instant headache. She gasped and clenched her teeth, but there was no turning back now.
Once the shampoo was scrubbed into her scalp, forming an aromatic, thick lather, she felt a little better. The rinse was no less painfully cold, but soon enough she was standing in front of her little bathroom mirror, towel drying her hair.
* * *
Alex leafed through his field book until he came to a clean page. Looking for a pen, he reached over the truck console to search through the miscellaneous trash and paperwork on the passenger seat. His survey job was nearly complete, now he simply needed to make a few calculations, and he could start laying out the lines.
But that wasn’t exactly true. First, he had more stakes to set and mark, then he’d need to get the mini-excavator on site to dig the trenches. RV parks had buried lines to each campsite, not power on poles, so it would take— he tapped the pen against his lip. It would probably take the better part of a week just to get all the trenches dug. The lines needed to have three feet of cover dirt, and depending on the soil, digging trenches that deep across the whole site may or may not go smooth. There could be rocks or water…
He scribbled a few notes in his book.
Then he’d have to bring in the conduit, and that would take a few loads minimum. He had better make sure his dad had plenty on hand or he might need to order more.
Separate trenches for the water pipes and sewer lines would need to be dug as well. Maybe he could offer to do that for Steve, the plumber. It would save the need to haul an excavator back on site.
This job would take longer than he’d originally thought, but he wasn’t overwhelmed. Not by the work anyway. Hell, he’d set up whole camps in Afghanistan. Compared to that, this was a cinch. No, the work wasn’t the reason his head was booming with pain. This headache was all Katie.
He glanced again at her trailer. What was she doing in there? Paperwork? Dishes? Avoiding him?
“She sure doesn’t look much different,” he muttered. The years had been kind. She did seem more uptight though, more… inaccessible. She had a different air about her now. What was it, sadness? Sternness? Coolness? Whatever it was, she used it like a buffer. He rubbed his beard, watching the trailer for any sign of movement.
Too bad her attitude didn’t put him off. She still made his mind wander to places he had no business going. Was it because of how quickly they’d fallen for each other back in the day? He’d given her his heart without a second thought … had he not learned anything?
Of course, there had been other women since—he was no monk— but it wasn’t the same. He had never felt the same open abandon with the other women as he had with Katie. Not a one of the women since had made him even consider falling in love. Maybe because the one time he had loved, it had ended so badly?
He frowned. If he were any kind of a man, he’d march right up those steps and tell her that she still made his blood boil, and then he would kiss her. That would bring things to a head, wouldn’t it! A confident man would get to work setting things right, not pussyfoot around, wondering what she was thinking, or worry about what she was going to do.
He scoffed at his thoughts and scratched more numbers into his book. What was he thinking? He had a job to do, and she probably wanted no part of him after he’d ditched her. Simple as that.
“Don’t complicate things,” he muttered, crossing out the math he’d messed up to start again. “The last thing I need right now is a woman.”
He had enough trouble taking care of himself these days.
* * *
Katherine had just pulled on a dry T-shirt when she heard a tap at the door. Her stomach jumped, and she wondered what Alex would have to say. Tugging down her shirt, she put a lid on that thought.
A quick check in the bathroom mirror assured that she looked presentable, so she headed for the door. With a calm, cool expression set on her face, she leaned out to swing the door open, only to find a young, petite woman standing at the bottom of the steps. She had lovely blond curls that bounced when she nodded a greeting, and Katherine couldn’t help but notice that her delicate hand shading her eyes, looked work-worn, covered with scratches, with short, clipped nails.
Katherine glanced toward Alex’s truck, where he sat looking at something in his lap. Hiding her unexpected discontent, she returned her attention to the woman.
“I’m so sorry to come unannounced,” the lady said, “But I didn’t have a phone number for you.”
“Come in,” Katherine said, determined not to take another look at Alex. Not that she was comfortable with any stranger entering her personal space, but anyone was better than Alex.
“I’m Julia,” the lady said with a timid smile as she climbed the steps, extending a bouquet of pink roses toward Katherine. “I wanted to introduce myself and to give you these as a housewarming gift.”
She hadn’t noticed the flowers, and Katherine’s mouth fell open in surprise. She’d never received roses from anyone in her life. She reached out to take the bouquet. “Oh my…” she buried her nose in the blooms, then looked up to find Julia smiling.
“I hope you like roses, not everyone does,” Julia said shyly, still standing in the open doorway.
“They’re lovely,” Katherine croaked, her eyes misty. She cleared her throat, looking back and forth between Julia and the roses. “Where are my manners? Please sit down. I’ll find something to put these in.”
Julia closed the door behind her as she took in the interior of the trailer. Her face lit with curiosity and admiration. “This is lovely,” she whispered in awe.
In the kitchen, Katherine held the bouquet in one hand, banging cupboard doors with the other. Finally finding a quart jar, she filled it half full of bottled water and unwrapped the paper from around the roses. Casting a nervous glance toward her guest, she wondered what to say. “These look fresh,” she said, half to herself, careful to avoid thorns.
Julia wandered to the sofa in the nose of the trailer and perched on one end, smoothing her hand along the wool, turquoise fabric. “I cut them this morning.”
Katherine froze, her eyes going from the roses to Julia. “You grew these?”
Julia shrugged modestly. “I have a small flower shop,” she explained. “In all honesty, I wanted to promote my business as well, since you may need flowers for your glamping park.”
“Oh,” Katherine said, sticking the stems of the flowers into the jar. She could talk about the RV park. She had a million ideas and no one to bounce them off of, but the voice in the back of her mind told her she would be better off keeping to herself. With a stiff smile, she glanced once more at Julia and adjusted the blooms to best display the bouquet, then moved into the living room. She tossed one more look back at the flowers, awkwardly motioning with her hands. “They couldn’t be prettier, thank you.”
“I’m glad you like them,” Julia said, but she noticed Katie’s discomfort and her smile faded. She motioned toward Alex’s truck outside. “I hope this isn’t a bad time.”
“Not— no, this is fine” Katherine assured, determined to make her words the truth. If she was going to make this RV park a reality, she had to stretch outside of her comfort zone. Then again, she was uncomfortable when she was in her comfort zone, but that didn’t matter now. “Alex is here to set up the electricity for the campsites,” she said, realizing that an explanation was not necessary. Did she protest too much, making the situation even more obvious?
“Oh, right, I heard he was working with Mac,” Julia said, her expression easing back into a smile.
“How did you know I was here?” Katherine inquired, unhappy to hear that she was already a topic of gossip. “If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”
Julia reached out to touch the fabric of the matching curtains. “Oh, you’re the talk of the town—” Her gaze then came up to see Katie’s stricken expression, and she rushed to continue. “Not in a bad way. In an exciting kind of way.”
Katherine dropped onto the other end of the sofa. “I see.”
“Yeah, I had to get used to that when I first moved here too.”
“What?”
“You know,” Julia said with a wave of her hand. “Everyone knowing your business.”
“What are people saying?”
Julia’s happy expression wavered. “Oh, it’s just Becky talking about you to Tara and Winnie, a few of us, about the RV park. How excited she is to have family back in town, like that.”
Was it simply talk about her glamping business? Not everyone understood the trendy idea. Free advertising would be acceptable, but small towns were notorious for gossip of all kinds. Did they think a woman alone couldn’t run a business? Or that she personally wasn’t capable? Did they know who her father was, and did they wonder what he’d do now that she was back? Worse yet, were they talking about her and Alex? How many people in town knew that they’d been— a thing— back then? And did they know she’d left brokenhearted, embarrassed, and ashamed? “What did Becky tell you?”
“Well, Tara said that the water wasn’t hooked up yet,” she gestured with one hand then smiled reassuringly. “That you should have arrived by now, you know. Oh, and that you may need landscaping.”
Katherine cringed. Nothing was secret in Smithville. She seriously doubted that Becky had only been talking about the park and landscaping. The woman was goodhearted, but a well-known gossip.
“Anyway,” Julia continued, “We’re all dying of curiosity about your trailer, so I said I’d come out here and see if you needed anything.”
Katherine didn’t know what to say. She didn’t ask people for things.
“As a friend,” Julia added.
“Oh. I’m fine, thanks,” Katherine assured the woman, “but— I could use some landscaping help with the grounds, and I will need flower arrangements when guests start coming.”
Julia smiled, apparently relieved to have broken the ice on some level.
Katherine laced her fingers in her lap. “Would you like to see what I’m planning?”
Julia’s eyes lit up with interest. “Yes, please! And I’d love to see more of your trailer too. What year is it?”
Katherine stood, relieved to shift the conversation away from herself. “It’s a 1954, Anderson 315-TB. It was a mess when I found it online, and it took months to restore.”
“You did such a lovely job,” Julia gushed, reaching out to touch a shiny wood panel on the wall.
“Thanks, but really, I— I had a lot of help.”
Content to take in the details of the trailer, Julia didn’t speak and Katherine panicked at the stretch of silence. “Want to see the kitchen?” she asked, then blushed, knowing Julia could see practically every inch of the kitchen from the sofa.
Julia stood, anticipation on her face. “Yes, please.”
Katherine stretched out her arm to self-consciously indicate that her guest should go first. Julia moved into the small kitchen, but before Katherine could say more, there was a knock at the door. She grimaced, knowing it must be Alex this time.
When she swung the door open, Alex opened his mouth to speak, then saw the flowers on the counter over Katie’s shoulder. His eyes widened, then came back to her. “Sorry, I— I just wanted to let you know I’m done for today. I’ll be back in the morning.”
She hesitated, unsure what the proper response to his statement should be. “Is there anything I need to do?”
Alex glanced over his shoulder at Julia’s flower shop truck, then back. “No, I’ve got it.”
“Okay, I guess I’ll see you then,” Katherine said, pulling the door closed in his face. She puffed out a long breath, unsure if she was happy or sad that Alex was leaving.
Utilizing her best bland, librarian expression, she turned back to Julia, ready to continue the house tour.
Julia, however, had her head cocked to one side for a better view, far more fascinated by the exchange between Katie and Alex.
* * *
As Alex trudged back to his truck, all he could think about was the flowers on Katie’s counter. How had he missed flowers being delivered? Was he that addled? He glared at the ‘57 Chevy truck, with the flower shop logo on the door. Jerking open his truck door, he berated himself for being an idiot. If Katie had someone to send her flowers, good for her! What difference did it make to him? He was here to hook up the power, nothing else.
His engine roared to life, and the truck tires spun in the mud as he pulled away.
Chapter Seven
As Alex backed the excavator off the trailer the next morning, he caught a glimpse of Katie watching him from the steps of her trailer. “Let her watch,” he grumbled, still out of sorts from the day before. So what if she had a man, made no never-mind to him.
Once he had the little track hoe on solid ground, he set the brake, and got off to circle the rig, going through a visual checklist. All appeared to be in order, so he climbed back on. Bumping across the uneven ground toward his stake markers, he reviewed his plan in his mind. First, he’d dig the trench for the line that would feed power to the trailer lots at the back of the park, including Katie’s, then he’d tackle the more complicated circular ring configuration.
He had to wonder what old Hershel would think of him digging the field up for an RV park. Would he be happy that Katie had accepted the property and was putting it to good use? Or would he be upset about them tearing up one of the prettiest spots on his land? Did it matter either way? Did anything matter to people who were gone? He geared up the excavator and lifted the bucket. Thinking about lost friends and what they’d have wanted would get him nowhere fast.
One by one, buckets of dirt lined up beside his stake markers, and a trench began to take shape. About the time he needed to check the depth of his ditch, Katie headed across the field toward him, so he pulled on the brake and climbed off. Tugging his tape measure from his belt, he leaned over the trench and extended the yellow steel tape down into the hole.
“Good morning,” Katherine said, her words clipped and businesslike as she shaded her eyes with one hand.
Alex answered with a nod, then returned to his work. Katherine followed him along the ditch in silence, watching. “How deep does it need to be?” she asked, leaning over the ditch to peer at the end of the tape measure.
The tape snapped back up into the reel, and Katherine jumped.
Al
ex tilted his head to one side, watching her fidget as he clipped the tape onto his tool belt. A self-assured grin bloomed under his beard. “Three feet, why? Wanna grab a shovel?”
Katie’s eyes came up to meet his, and he could see that his smart-aleck answer had offended her. He remembered now that she didn’t like wisecracks. She’d told him that she thought that smarting off was a way to hide your feelings.
The thought didn’t sit well; he’d never hidden from anything in his life.
She seemed to rally. “No, I just want to be aware of where the power lines are located in my park.”
Made sense, but why did she have to come out here and bother him? It was hard enough to keep her off his mind when she was inside, and she obviously had somebody else on her mind if the damn flowers were any indication. “The depth is on the drawings.” He motioned back toward his truck connected to the empty excavator trailer.
“Oh, right. I should have realized that.”
It appeared she had more to say, since she stood waiting, so he turned to her and raised his eyebrows in question.
She shuffled her feet. “I uh…” she said, then gazed off into the trees. She looked back, with an essence of determination about her. “I wanted to apologize.” She motioned with one hand. “For being emotional. Yesterday morning, I mean. It’s not like me.”
“Since when?” he asked. She frowned, and again Alex felt bad for being a jerk. He’d been plenty emotional himself, so he couldn’t fault her for that. “It’s all good,” he said, shrugging off the whole situation, then headed back to get into the cab of the excavator. She followed, much to his chagrin.
“I’m glad to hear you say that,” she said, as she stubbed her toe on a rut but caught her balance as she skipped along, hurrying to catch up. “Because there’s no reason we can’t work together, like adults, right?”
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