Hometown Series Box Set

by Kirsten Fullmer

  She had no idea how long they stood in the kitchen with the storm raging, soaking each other up, but when Alex pulled away, she felt bereft.

  With one hand, he turned on the hot water in the kitchen sink, holding his fingers under the tap. After a moment he grinned and turned off the water. “Guess what,” he whispered, his face revealing nothing.

  She shrugged in response.

  “Your shower is ready,” he said, reaching out to take her hand to lead her forward into the bathroom. He flipped on the light, then opened the cupboard along the other wall to pull out a towel.

  She stood frozen, watching him as if he were a stranger.

  He laid the towel on the sink and nudged her aside to turn the hot shower handle, then the cold. “We’ll both get cleaned up, you in here and me out there.”

  He held one hand under the shower water, his eyes caressing her face. When he was satisfied with the water temperature, he dropped his hand. “You’ve earned this,” he said. Then he turned and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Feeling fresh and renewed from the shower, Katherine bit her bottom lip and opened the bathroom door a crack to peek into the kitchen.

  Alex had removed his shirt and torn pants, and now wore a towel draped over his ruined boxers. He leaned over the kitchen sink, scrubbing water over his beard, face, arms and torso. When he heard the door, he turned off the water and groped blindly for the towel on the counter. Water ran off his hair and beard, and dripped off his eyelashes, hands, and elbows. Finding the towel, he dried off his face, then straightened, meeting her eye as he dried off his chest and arms.

  “I hope you don’t mind that I took off my torn pants,” he motioned toward the pile of clothes on the floor with his elbow.

  Something about seeing water droplets sparkle on his skin and whiskers made her mouth go dry. The bathroom door creaked all the way open as her gaze ran the length of him, all the way to the floor, taking in his stocking clad feet, the towel draped low around his hips, his still damp chest sprinkled with hair, the towel gripped in his hands, oh those hands, then up to his beard, and lastly his eyes. She swallowed hard. Every nerve in her body tingled.

  Alex held himself back. His gaze dropped momentarily to take in the sweats and oversized T-shirt she’d chosen, and his expression grew serious. She got the impression that Alex had come to a conclusion of some kind, and it hadn’t been an easy one for him.

  Fish circled Alex’s feet, licking droplets of water off the floor.

  “Oh, honey,” Katherine crooned, “are you thirsty?” She shouldered past Alex into the small kitchen to open an upper cupboard to pull out a dish. Then, almost reverently, she turned on the tap handle, grinning in wonder as she watched the sparkling clear water fill the dish. “Isn’t it wonderful?” she whispered.

  He swallowed hard, watching as she put the dish on the floor for the puppy. Fish didn’t waste any time lapping up the water. Thunder clapped in the distance, but the dog didn’t flinch.

  “Thirsty,” Alex said, turning his gaze back to Katie, and when their eyes met, both stilled, caught up in a web of emotion and anticipation that neither could deny. He reached for her then, drawing her close.

  Her hands came up to rest on his shoulders, and the feel of his bare skin under her fingers brought back a million memories of him as an excited but tender 18-year-old boy. But as tension built within her, so did apprehension. She’d not foreseen this happening.

  Actually, some part of her may have known they were heading to this moment, but the logical part of her still resisted. She didn’t feel prepared.

  Feeling the tension in her back, Alex kissed her temple, then reached up to lift a tendril of damp hair from her cheek. “You smell delicious,” he said with a gentle smile.

  A shudder passed through her, and he ground his teeth, working to stay in control. “Katie,” he whispered in her ear. Goosebumps raced up her back when his breath caressed her ear. “Don’t worry,” he murmured, his words tender and his voice soft. “Nothing is going to happen tonight.”

  She pulled back, surprised and relieved. But then disappointment joined in the jumble of emotions flowing through her, and her face fell.

  He laughed and took her hand. “We have plenty of time.”

  Fish turned from the water dish and padded over to Alex’s feet. When he got no attention, he stood on his hind legs to paw at Alex’s legs. The towel around Alex’s hips loosened and fell to the floor.

  Katherine glanced down and at first, she was startled by Alex’s obvious amorous state, but when she caught sight of the twisted, crooked muscles and the jagged red scar and running the length of his thigh, she gasped. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth, and her eyes jumped back up to his.

  At her response, Alex’s sexual appetite died an instant death. He snatched up the towel and wrapped it back around his hips. With a sigh, he turned back to face her, seeing the pity he knew would be waiting for him there.

  His face hardened, his features turning to stone.

  Her hand dropped from her mouth, and Katherine struggled to look unaffected, but it was no use, he’d seen her reaction.

  Silence stood between them like a barricade as they searched each other’s faces, wondering how to get past the awkwardness.

  “I’m sorry—” she started, but he raised his hand to stop her.

  “I don’t want your pity.”

  Her head jerked back in surprise. “I don’t pity you!”

  “I can see it in your face,” he snapped. “In everyone’s face.”

  “I feel bad that you were hurt, but it’s not—”

  He sighed and ran one hand through his damp hair.

  “I don’t want you to be in pain, that’s all,” Katherine said, her voice shaking with emotion. “I was thinking about you a few days ago, and how it happened, and-” her words caught in her throat. “I hadn’t considered you getting—”

  His eyes came up to meet hers, but his face was unreadable.

  “I never realized that you might have been—” She stuttered, unable to speak the word. “I didn’t… I couldn’t…” tears filled her eyes, and Alex’s expression softened. She swiped at her eyes, unable to express her feelings.

  He sighed, then raised his hand, motioning her to come to him, and she fell into his arms, her tears wet on his shoulder. One hand held her lower back, while the fingers on the other wound into her wet hair, caressing the back of her head as guilt he didn’t understand flooded his heart. “It is what it is,” he said, his words flat with self-reproach and loss, but his ache to comfort her was tangible.

  Long moments passed with only the sound of rain pelting the roof and distant thunder rumbling over the mountain behind the property.

  Alex leaned back, searching her face. “You look exhausted,” he said softly.

  She nodded, sniffing, working to gain control of her tears.

  “Come on,” he said, turning toward the bedroom. He reached for her hand and tugged her along behind him. Without turning on a light, he dropped onto her bed, then pulled her down beside him.

  She tensed, waiting to see what he had in mind, but Alex wrestled with the blanket, kicking it to the end of the bed, then pulled her to his side. With one arm under her head, he rolled onto his back and propped his other hand under his head. “Try to rest,” he said, his words sad.

  Fish jumped up on the bed and nuzzled at their feet.

  Rain drummed on the metal roof, repeating Alex’s words in Katherine’s mind; try to rest, try to rest, try to rest. She turned onto her side, curling into Alex, her thoughts spinning with memories. Her hand came up to rest on his chest, and he made a noise -- part hum, part moan. The feel of his skin under her fingers, his even breathing, and the rain drumming, tapping, beating lulled her. Finally, she closed her eyes.

  Later, when lightning flashed behind the window blinds along with an instantaneous clap of thunder, Katherine roused. But a warm hand pulled the sheet up ov
er her shoulder where deliciously cool air kissed her skin. The bed bounced, but reassured by Alex’s touch, Katherine settled back into a deep sleep.

  * * *

  Moving warily, Alex crept from the bed. He lifted Fish down, then followed him out of the bedroom and closed the door, careful not to make a sound. Treading lightly, he headed into the living room in search of his clothes. Once he was dressed, he fished his phone from the pocket of his jeans and scowled down at the screen. “Shit,” he muttered, then shoved it back in his pocket and hurried to tug on his boots.

  * * *

  A strange sound woke Katherine. At first, she thought it was the commuter train outside her window, but then she realized she wasn’t in the city, she was in Smithville at her RV park.

  Sitting up in bed, her hair standing up at all angles, she listened, wondering what that noise could be. Her eyes fell to the bed beside her, rumpled and empty, and she scrambled up, overcome with apprehension. What had happened? Where was Alex? What had they done?

  Her hands came to her chest and stomach, groping, as her eyes searched her person. In relief, she realized she was still wearing her pajamas. She’d slept. He’d slept. That was all.

  Puffing out a long sigh of relief, the noise once again grabbed her attention. The roaring sounded a little like a train without the clanking rattle, but there were no trains here. Fear prickled along her scalp. Was it a tornado? She’d heard that a tornado sounded like a train, but they were unlikely in Pennsylvania.

  Maybe Alex would know. He hadn’t said he was leaving; he hadn’t said anything.

  Jerking open her bedroom door, hopeful that she’d find him in the living room sipping coffee, her face fell as she hurried through the half-lit, empty rooms. Even Fish was gone.

  So that’s how it works.

  She hadn’t felt comfortable about fooling around, and he’d left. Or had he been offended by her reaction to his scar? He’d been offended all right, but enough to just take off without a word? Would he come back?

  Did she want him to?

  Katherine dropped onto the sofa. She’d done it again. She’d worked herself right back into the same hell she’d spent years trying to escape.

  The roaring sound outside the trailer mingled with a clap of thunder, echoing through her hollow soul. What was she going to do now? She needed Alex’s help to finish the trailers. Her website was filling up with reservations, and opening day was approaching far too fast. Now, due to her stupid infatuation with Alex, she was exhausted, overwhelmed, and alone.

  Lightning flashed and thunder boomed, jarring her from her misery, causing her to jump up from the sofa, her face a blank mask in the dim light. The river. That sound was the river! The rumbling snarl of the water wasn’t even recognizable.

  With her heart pounding, she hurried to shrug into a jacket, then jammed her feet into her boots. Wasting no time, she hurried down the steps into the howling wind, her jacket whipping around her. She fought to close her door behind her. Ducking into the gale, she clutched her jacket closed and slogged through knee-deep mud toward the back of the property. But before she even got close to the tree line, she knew she was in trouble.

  Filled with dread, she turned to hurry back toward the trailer. The mud sucked at her boots and the wind tore at her jacket and her hair, threatening to knock her down, but panic drove her forward. What was she going to do? The river was flooding, and before long the whole site would be underwater. All her work on the trailers, the RV park, her home -- it was all in danger of being lost.

  Berating herself as an idiot, hot tears stung at her eyes. Why hadn’t she stayed where she belonged? She should be back in the city, riding the subway to her safe, secure library, not here -- heartbroken, scared, and alone. She was the worst kind of fool.

  In desperation she clung to the door handle of her trailer, struggling against the wind. About the time she managed to heave it open, she noticed a strange bobbing light across the field. Squinting through the rain, she watched as another light appeared, bounding up and down, then another set of lights behind that. Headlights!

  Relieved but unsure who it was, or even how anyone could help, she pushed the trailer door closed and stood on the steps, hunching deeper into her soaked jacket. The lights materialized into a line of pick-up trucks, moving across the property. The truck in the front stopped at the end of the gravel road through the park, and the others pulled to a stop behind it.

  Heading back out into the rain, thankful that at least she wasn’t alone, Katherine realized that the lead truck belonged to Alex. She lurched to a halt, watching as he threw open the driver side door and jumped into the mud at a flat-out, lopsided run. He didn’t give her so much as a glance, just headed around the back of the truck to open the tailgate. The passenger door opened and a man in a raincoat climbed out. He lifted his hand in greeting, then headed her way.

  Katherine met the man halfway to the truck, slogging through the downpour, and was surprised to find an older version of Alex. With his drooping grey mustache, the man couldn’t possibly be anyone other than Alex’s father, and she stared, completely confused as to what was happening.

  “You okay, honey?” the man called, reaching out to give her a one arm hug.

  As Mac’s big arm enveloped her, Katherine knew she would be safe, even if her park was lost. She nodded, unable to speak.

  Mac motioned behind him. “Alex has roused the whole damn town, so don’t you worry.”

  “What— What are they doing?” she called above the roar of the storm, squinting into the rain.

  “Sandbags,” he yelled. Then he motioned for her to follow him.

  A line formed at the back of Alex’s pickup truck and Katherine could see Becky wearing a bright yellow rain slicker, hat, and matching boots while tugging stacks of empty bags from the back of Chad’s truck.

  “Honey! You there!” Becky hollered toward the group of men. “Bring your handsome self over here and help me.”

  For a moment the group tramped aimlessly through the mud, adjusting to the rain and wind, assessing the situation, but then Alex reappeared, yelling concise directions and motioning with his hands. Before long, three efficient lines formed at the back of each truck.

  At the back of one truck, Tara tugged out a bag and held it open for a man, the one who’d been with her at Hershel’s funeral. He shoveled dirt into the bag and when it was full, Marge, wearing a plastic bonnet of some sort tied over her bouffant hairdo, hooked a zip tie around the top.

  Julia stood at another truck, handing bags to Bobby who bent under the weight of the sandbag as Chad shoveled dirt into it like a madman.

  Katherine scanned the crowd. She recognized the hardware store manager, the man who worked at the gas station, a Sheriff deputy, and many more people, men, women, and teenagers she didn’t know, all working in unison. The group filled sandbags, then passed them down the line of waiting town folk, to the tree line, where Alex directed more men where to place them. His commands boomed across the group, and each person knew exactly what to do.

  Jumping into line, Katherine strained under the weight of the first heavy sandbag, then turned and hefted it on to the stranger next to her. Once she got into the rhythm of the conveyor line, she tugged and tossed bags along with her hometown to save her park.

  Chapter Nineteen

  By the time the storm ebbed, allowing weak morning sun to peep through the dispersing clouds, a solid line of sandbags two feet high had been built along the tree line of Katherine’s property. Holes dotted the park where pits had been dug to fill sandbags, adding to the general chaos of the site, and puddles lay deep and sloppy, reflecting like mirrors of muted sunlight.

  The mood slowed and chatter picked up as men leaned on their shovel handles in exhaustion.

  Katherine bent to rest her hands on her knees, breathing hard and watched as Alex and Chad paced up and down the wall of sandbags, checking for leaks, pointing and discussing the swollen river. Feeling numb and surreal, she straightened a
nd headed in their direction.

  When she reached Alex’s side, she stood staring at the angry rushing water, now dark with mud, as it swirled between and around the tree trunks lining the park. The sight was too much, and her shoulders sagged. Tears filled her eyes, and she didn’t have the energy to swipe them away.

  Alex pulled her close with one arm and offered her a grim smile. “You okay?”

  “I think so,” she lied.

  “You’ll be fine now,” Chad assured his friends. “This wall will hold until you can come up with a better solution.

  She pushed wet tendrils of hair up off her forehead. “I don’t even—” but she couldn’t continue, her voice cracked, her words lost.

  Alex took her in his arms, and she buried her face in his neck, crying brokenheartedly into his sodden jacket.

  “It’s okay, Katie. You’re safe. Your trailers are safe,” Alex assured as he patted her back. He’d been through plenty of disasters while deployed, but none of his buddies had cried like this afterward. He glanced at Chad for help.

  Chad cleared his throat. “You’re a lucky girl, Katie,” he said, causing Katherine to pull away and gape at him in question as she wiped at her tears with the back of her hand.

  “You have Alex here,” Chad continued. “He knows his stuff. You couldn’t ask for a better field engineer.”

  Her tear-stained face turned to Alex, then back to Chad. “Field engineer?”

  “Well, y— yeah,” Chad stuttered, not wanting to make her feel worse. A worry line creased his forehead, unsure if he was repeating gossip. He motioned toward his friend. “This is what he did in the military -- build sites, reroute floods, set up camps in the wilderness.” It was no secret that Alex had been a field engineer.

  “You did?” she asked, as she searched Alex’s face for answers.