Loving Kate

by Lara Van Hulzen

  “Not every single thing in my life that’s wrong is Barry’s fault, Mom.”

  “True. But he dimmed a fire in you that I’d like to see lit again. And I have a feeling your motorcycle-riding friend might be just the man for the job.”

  Chapter Seven

  Kate’s mother hugged her goodbye and promised to see her later at the store. There wasn’t much for her to do anyway that morning. Kate wasn’t going to open her doors until the fire damage was cleaned up, which would be a few days of work at least.

  By the time she reached the front door of Atmosphere, her resolve was intact. Just the idea of a plan to get things back on track lifted her spirits. Seeing Jack again put a spring in her step as well, but she tamped that idea down. No men. He was a friend. That was it. Nothing more.

  “Hey.”

  Her back was to him as she stuck the key in the lock of her front door. His voice sent warmth through her like hot chocolate on a cold day.

  Jack.

  Her brain chanted, “Just a friend, just a friend,” but the rest of her smiled and patted her on the head. Right. And she’d win the lottery that afternoon.

  “Hey yourself.” She pushed open the door and let them inside. If she avoided eye contact, maybe she could stick to the no men plan better. She placed her purse and keys on the checkout counter.

  “I brought you something.”

  A bundle of wildflowers popped under her nose, the one she’d kept down in an attempt to avoid eye contact. Vibrant yellow, orange, and purple hues stared up at her, plush greenery scattered throughout.

  Her heart skipped a beat and her eyes met his of their own volition. Once again, chocolate came to mind, the decadent kind that melted on her tongue and soothed her insides. Oh, yeah, her no men plan didn’t have the strength to battle those eyes. And he brought her flowers? She might as well admit defeat. She was spiraling fast down the path of falling for Jack. If she wasn’t careful, she’d be a goner by nightfall.

  “Hey, are you okay?”

  His eyes searched hers, the twinkle in them now more a look of concern.

  She blinked. Get a grip, McIntire. “Yes. Yes. Sorry.” She took the flowers from him and smiled. “They’re beautiful. That was thoughtful of you.”

  He shrugged. “I’m a thoughtful kind of guy.”

  “Ah, and as arrogant as ever, I see,” she teased.

  He leaned onto the checkout counter, bringing his face much closer to hers. “There’s arrogance and there’s confidence. I like to believe I have more of the latter.”

  “Believe what you need to sleep at night. I’m going to go put these in a vase.”

  She turned and made her way to the kitchen area in the back, his laughter floating through the air. She stopped in the doorway though, the stench of smoke pulling her from the brief, pleasant moment with Jack and back to reality.

  “Why don’t I find a vase for you? You go back up front.”

  He’d come up behind her. He put an arm around to take the flowers, but she pulled back. “No. No. I’m okay. I need to face this at some point. I can’t live in the front of the store until this is fixed.”

  She took a deep breath and entered the room. The wall shared with the storeroom was charred black. One of the chairs that sat with her little table was half melted and distorted. The other half of the room where the sink, counter and cabinets sat was untouched. Thank God for that. A shiver ran through her as she thought of how much more damage could have been caused. She reached for a vase from one of the cupboards and filled it with water from the sink. Her mind wandered to the last time she was in this room with Jack. He was tending to her skinned-up knee. Close enough to kiss her. Making her feel things she hadn’t felt in years. Maybe ever.

  Jack stood in the doorway. The grin on his face implied his thoughts had wandered to the same place as hers.

  “Thank you again for these. They’re really lovely.”

  “I thought you could use a little ray of sunshine today.”

  She laughed. The man taking up her doorway was anything but a ray of sunshine. More like scorching heat she had to watch out for. All lean muscle and denim and leather. Trouble with a capital “T.” And trouble she was becoming more and more willing to get into.

  “Hello! You here, Kate?” Maggie called.

  “Back here!” Kate answered.

  Jack moved from the doorway to let her pass. They went back to the checkout counter where Kate set down the vase of flowers. They were a ray of sunshine in a dismal day. She looked at Jack. He smiled at her. Gorgeous and sweet, not to mention playful. Well, unpredictable was more like it. Such a dangerous, yet tempting, combination.

  Josh cleared his throat. “We can come back later if we’re interrupting something.”

  Jack shot his brother a look, but that only caused Josh to smile wide. Well, until his wife elbowed him. “What?” he said as he rubbed his side.

  “You know what.” Maggie laughed and shook her head. “Okay, focus. We need to get going here.” She rubbed her hands together.

  Kate smiled at her sister. She found the legal pad in her bag that she and Maggie had already started making a list on the day before.

  The four of them spent the rest of the morning adding to the list until it was a few pages long. Instead of being encouraged, Kate feared she might drown from the weight of it all. She couldn’t possibly get this all done herself in the next couple of weeks. And she couldn’t afford to be only half of a shop any longer than that.

  Josh and Maggie had moved to the back of the store where the damage was. Josh wanted to take some measurements and since Maggie had already helped Kate by working in the store a few days a week, she had a good grasp on what was needed to restock the storeroom.

  Kate stared down at the list on the counter in front of her and fought back tears.

  “It’s going to all get done, Kate.”

  She shook her head. How did he do that? The man read her mind. And had this annoying habit of always reassuring her things would be okay. How? Did he have a crystal ball?

  He stood across the counter from her. “Hey. Look at me.” A calloused hand with a gentle touch cradled her cheek and lifted her head until their eyes met. “You’re overwhelmed. I get it. Anyone would be. But don’t try to do this alone.”

  Oh, how she wanted to lean into his hand, rest her head there. Embrace what it felt like to have a man’s support. But she couldn’t. She had to prove herself. Had to prove...

  “What exactly are you trying to prove here, Kate?”

  And there he went again with the mind reading. She shook her head loose from his hand. “Nothing. I just don’t like to... owe people anything.”

  Jack pulled back, put his hands in his front pockets. “Owe us anything? Why would you think that? We’re your friends. You’re family.” He looked towards the back room in the direction of her sister and brother-in-law. “Who hurt you, Kate? Was it Barry?”

  Her gut churned. Oh no. She wasn’t going there with him. Barry invaded too many other parts of her life, he wasn’t allowed between her and Jack. He was old news. Her problem. Not something she’d ever need to share with anyone. Reason number four hundred thirty-six she didn’t need a man in her life.

  The bell over the front door chimed, saving her from having to answer. Praise God for small miracles.

  “Hi, sweetie!” Her mother’s voice sing-songed through the quiet, tension-filled room. “We’re here and we’re ready to get to work!”

  Kate broke eye contact with Jack and moved towards her mother who was carrying a broom and dustpan in one hand and a box of large trash bags in the other.

  “Mom, what are you talking about?”

  Her mother turned and behind her walked in five other people from their church. Pastor Jake and his wife, Anne, followed by Gwen, her mother’s close friend, and two other women from her bible study. Each one armed with cleaning supplies.

  “We came to help,” Gwen said. She moved past Rose and gave Kate a big hug. “
Where shall we start?”

  Dumbfounded, Kate had no idea how to answer.

  Her mother placed a gentle hand on her arm. “We’ll start in the kitchen. Join us when you can.” She looked at Jack then back at Kate with a grin.

  And with that, the little posse moved through the store and disappeared into the back, each person giving a wave and hello to Jack as they passed.

  Jack watched as Kate escaped their conversation. Her mother and friends might have saved her from having to answer his questions, but he wasn’t giving up. Her eyes said it all when he asked who Barry was. This guy was an important part of her past and somehow still messed with her present life as well. Jack didn’t like that. He didn’t like it one bit.

  He greeted Rose and crew as they passed, grateful to Kate’s mother for taking charge and just showing up to help, not giving Kate a chance to say no. The woman was stubborn as hell about being independent, a trait he found attractive in a women, quite frankly, but not to the extent where Kate tried to function as an island. No one could live like that.

  Kate stood by the front door and fidgeted with her sweater. “Well, that was sure nice of them. I think I’ll go help.”

  To get to the back of the store, she had to move past Jack. She tried to scoot by him, but he caught her arm, putting a gentle but firm hold on her.

  “Not so fast, princess. We aren’t finished.”

  She looked up at him, desperation in her eyes. “Jack, please...” She sounded so defeated. And tired.

  He dropped his hand. “Who’s Barry?”

  Her shoulders slumped and she let out a breath. She covered her face with her hands then dropped them. Turning to face him, she leaned back against the counter, her arms crossed in front of her. A defeated demeanor he’d never seen from her.

  “Barry is my ex-husband, okay? There’s no big story there. Just a failed marriage.”

  Jack searched Kate’s eyes. She was subdued just talking about the guy. Barry was climbing higher and higher on his “want to meet and throttle” list.

  Kate sniffed and wiped her cheek. “Look. If you want to walk, not be...friends with me anymore, I understand.”

  Wait. What did she say? Her comment drew him away from his daydream of throttling Barry. “What? Why would you even say that?”

  She shrugged. “I’m divorced.”

  “So what? Who gives a flying crap about that?”

  “You’d be surprised.” With her head down, her words came out a whisper.

  He lifted her chin, careful to move slow and easy. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes, tearing up his insides. “Who’s given you a hard time for being divorced?”

  A lone tear fell as she blinked. “Let’s just say people weren’t too accepting of my...situation when I left Barry. It’s one of the main reasons I moved here. I wanted a fresh start. No one here knows my history. And I want to keep it that way.”

  She took his hand in hers and moved it from her chin. They stay clasped together between them though. A detail not lost on Jack. Bonus.

  “What people say or think is irrelevant, Kate. I’ve fought that for years. So I wear torn jeans and like motorcycles. So what? That might make me a stereotype to the world, but it’s not who I am.” He lifted a shoulder and let it fall. “It’s what I’m comfortable with. What I enjoy. You can’t change people’s opinions. It’s a waste of energy to even try. And I would never tell a story that isn’t mine to tell, Kate.” He meant it, too. But man, she honestly went around worried what people would think of her because of that?

  “I mean it, Jack. Josh and Maggie know about Barry but no one else. I need him to stay in my past.”

  “Are you sure he’s only in the past?”

  Her eyes flashed at his question. “Yes.” Her answer came a bit too quickly for his comfort.

  She pushed away from the counter and moved to the other side, letting go of his hand and putting distance, and a block of wood between them. “Look, Barry is...tough to deal with. But I can handle him.”

  Her tough girl wall was building up again. And what did she mean by handle him? What was this guy up to? “Why do you think you have to handle him alone?”

  “He’s my problem. No one else’s.”

  “Just how much of a problem is he, exactly?” Jack was beginning to loath the guy more and more by the minute.

  He didn’t buy into her attempt to shrug it off. Her shoulders were tense, her eyes cautious. “He just texts and calls sometimes, usually when he’s between girlfriends.” She was straightening up the counter now, putting small items away, clearing it off from their little meeting earlier.

  As she talked, it hit him. Her need for order, structure had to do with this Barry character. She needed control. Or at least to feel in control anyway. Good to know.

  He stopped her fluttering hands by taking them in his own. “Hey, princess, I have an idea.”

  No longer in motion, she looked at him. Her eyes a little less sad and a small smile trying to peek its way through her pain. “Oh, yeah. What’s that?”

  “Let’s take one day at a time? First we focus on getting Atmosphere cleaned up. Then we have some fun rebuilding your storeroom.”

  She laughed at that. “You have a weird sense of what is fun.”

  “Maybe.” He lifted her hands to his lips and kissed each one soft and slow. “But I guarantee you won’t ever be bored with me.”

  Her face flushed and she laughed again. “Of that I have no doubt.”

  “Good. Let’s go help your mother’s motley crew in there. Soak in and embrace what it’s like to have people help you. It’s not as scary as you think.”

  He pulled her around the counter and into a hug. Not sure of how she’d react, he was both surprised and relieved when she hugged him back. She even let herself sink into his arms for a moment before pulling back.

  With soft eyes she looked up at him. “I think it’s pretty scary.”

  He’d had the wind knocked out of him a few times in his life playing sports. But now, holding this mysterious storm of a woman in his arms, he couldn’t breathe. The wall she’d built had come down just enough for her to trust him a little. And he would treat it as the precious gift it was. He held her face in his hands and kissed her forehead. “Ah, but you aren’t alone anymore. Remember that.”

  Before she could respond or fight him on that point, he took her hand in his and led her to the storeroom to help the others.

  For whatever reason, Kate thought he’d take off on her, knowing about her past. He could tell her until he was breathless that he wouldn’t leave. But Kate was special on many levels. He’d have to show her. Win her over. And his heart kicked into gear at the thought of just how much fun that was going to be.

  Chapter Eight

  Kate questioned her sanity the next day as she parked her car in front of Baylee’s Bakery. She’d gone to church that morning but had agreed to have a cookie filled pity party with Baylee afterwards.

  She needed it. She also needed a swift kick to the head. What had made her spill her guts to Jack yesterday? Sure, she hadn’t told him her entire history with Barry but she’d said enough. More than enough. Ugh! Needing a moment to gather her thoughts before going inside, she placed her forehead on the steering wheel.

  Maybe her mom was right. Not every man was going to be like Barry. It wasn’t fair of her to compare Jack, or anyone else for that matter, to her ex-husband. And yet, her heart was still bruised in spots. It might heal someday, but it certainly wasn’t in any shape to give to someone else. Not now anyway.

  She checked her reflection in the rearview mirror and got out of her car. Meeting with Baylee was just what she needed. She’d intended to connect more with her business neighbor but never got around to it. Sad that a fire had to be what sparked them having coffee and cookies together, but...so be it.

  The door to Baylee’s Bakery was locked so Kate knocked. Through the glass she saw Baylee move from around the main counter and head for the door. She was a peti
te, curvy thing with blonde curls, round blue eyes and a friendly smile. Not knowing too much about her other than she as a single mom and business owner, trying to do things on her own like Kate, Kate looked forward to having a new friend.

  The bell above the door tinkled as Baylee opened it.

  “Hey. Come on in.”

  Kate moved inside as Baylee closed and locked the door behind her.

  “I’m so glad you could come by. I just made a fresh batch of cookies. I’ll go get them and some coffee. How do you like it?”

  “Black is perfect. Thanks.”

  “Sure thing. Make yourself at home.”

  Baylee went through a door that led to the back while Kate surveyed the bakery. A white L-shaped counter stood off to the left. A glass case set up to hold multiple types of yummy goodness inside sat next to it, although it was empty now. Shelves lined the wall behind it that held boxed sets, large sugar and flour containers, as well as baking tools used for decoration.

  The entire store was white, dots of color around in the décor. Tables lined the opposite wall, cloth chairs at each with different fabrics on each one. The decorator in Kate marveled at how inviting Baylee had made the space. She wanted nothing more than to sit in one of those chairs with a sugary treat and enjoy.

  She didn’t realize she was still standing in the same spot as before until Baylee came back, a plate of cookies in one hand and two mugs of coffee in the other.

  “Please, take a seat.” She motioned to one of the tables and set down the mugs, their handles linked through her finger. The plate held five different sugar cookies, each one a different flower, decorated so ornately Kate was afraid to touch them. She imagined them displayed in the glass case, adding yet more color and life to the place.

  She set her purse down next to a chair and took a seat. “Your bakery is gorgeous!”

  Baylee blushed and handed Kate a napkin from her back pocket before she took the seat across the table. “Thank you. It’s been a dream of mine for a long time to do this.”