His head snapped up, her tone clear he’d hurt her deeply.
“Kate, I just–”
She started to gather up the papers, shaking her head. “No, you’re right. It’s ridiculous. I just…” she sniffled and he felt as if someone had just kicked his nuts, the pain was deep and immediate.
“Kate,” he growled, grabbing her hands and stopping her movements. “Stop for a minute.”
“I just…” she bowed her head and her shoulders drooped. “I’d better go. I have a lot of things to do.”
“Kate!” he bellowed, not sure what else to do.
“What?!” she yelled right back at him, lifting her head to return his glare.
“Stop,” he repeated more gently, keeping his grip on her wrists. When she stopped struggling, he bent so that he could see her eyes. That’s when he realized that she was struggling to keep the tears hidden from him. “Hey!” he said softly. “Talk to me, honey.”
Kate turned as far away as she could while he continued to hold her wrists. “I just thought it would be a good idea. And,” she sniffed again, “well, it’s a way for me to…” she shrugged slightly, “be my own boss and do something to help this city come alive again.” Her eyes pleaded with him to understand. “There are so many stores that are so beautiful inside, but are standing empty. This idea would get more people down to that area. The Train Depot is just…it’s so lovely! But it’s hidden away. The whole area surrounding the depot is absolutely beautiful!”
He was stunned by the passion glowing in her eyes, but still confused. “Could you please explain all of this?” he asked, gesturing to the papers in front of him. “I don’t mean to diminish the brilliance of your idea. I’m just not sure what I’m looking at.”
Tentatively, Kate tugged at her wrist and he released her. She turned to the papers, pulling out the one that had been on top previously. It was a sketch of a street. And the street seemed vaguely familiar, but it was filled with decorations and canopies.
“I calculate that there is enough room down on Eighteenth Street to hold one hundred craft vendors and twenty food vendors.” She pulled out another sheet. It was a drawing of the space right in front of the Train Depot. “I hope to have local bands play here and,” she pulled out another sheet, “here. That will encourage people to move from one end of the craft tables to the other, getting more foot traffic throughout the festival.” She pulled out a third sheet. This one was a graph with months along the side and words like “Train” and “Christmas” under each heading. “I figure we could have a festival every month with various themes. I’d advertise in Denver, Fort Collins, Colorado, plus Lamar and other surrounding towns in Wyoming, to bring in as many people as possible. I’m sure I’m not the only one who would love to have something new and interesting to visit once a month.”
He was stunned. She’d done an amazing job of not just organizing all of the basic elements of a major event, but included drawings of the events and potential decorations. As he shuffled the papers around, she’d even included flag designs to go on the lampposts, decorations at the edge of the festival areas, and more decorations that would encourage visitors to explore the brick and mortar shops along the way. She had specialty vendors, such as hot chocolate for the train festival…he grinned, thinking of that Christmas movie that he couldn’t remember the name of. “Dean and I could build a wooden train that could be pulled by a horse for this one,” he offered, thinking out loud. “You could either charge for the rides, or just include it as a treat to lure more people to the event.”
A long silence followed. He looked up to find tears shimmering in her eyes again.
“What’s wrong? I like your idea. In fact, I think it’s brilliant!”
A tear teetered on the edge of her lashes, then slid down her cheek.
“Ah hell, Kate!” he grumbled, pulling her into his arms. Because that was all he could think to do. Kate was in pain and he had to make it better.
“You’re just saying that,” she whispered, but she snuggled up against him, hiding her face against his chest.
“I’m not, Kate. I’m sorry I didn’t react well immediately. But it wasn’t because your idea is bad. It was because…” he sighed, his fingers tangling in her long, silky hair. “I thought…” He sighed deeply.
“What?” she asked, leaning back to look up at him.
He felt like an ass now. “I was jealous,” he finally explained.
There was a moment of stunned silence, then she asked, “Jealous of what?”
Mack pulled away, feeling like a complete fool. He moved to the windows, running his hands up his face and over his head. When he turned back to face her, he accepted that he’d have to explain his whole thought process. It was the only way to make her pain go away. “I saw you around town with all of those men, Kate. And I…I hated seeing other men touch you like that.”
“Like what?”
He threw his hands up in the air. “Chief Madsen kissed you!”
“On the cheek,” she clarified, still looking confused. “He’s a sweet old man and he showed me pictures of his grandchildren. He loved the idea of the train festival and told me about the guys in his train club. He has a model train in his basement that his grandkids love to play with.”
He pressed his forehead against hers. “When it comes to you, I don’t think rationally, Kate.”
She swallowed, then pulled back slightly. “Why is that?” she asked, an odd tone to her voice.
Her eyes were hopeful now. For a brief moment, he considered shaking his head and backing up, not saying anything. “I’m worried I’m going to mess this up again.”
“Again?”
He sighed, closing his eyes as he leaned his head back. “When you went off to college, I was…” he hesitated, swallowed hard, and tried again. “I was devastated.”
She blinked, her mouth dropping open. “Devastated?”
His lips quirked into an almost smile. “Yeah. I couldn’t handle being without you. You’d left me. So, I left too.”
She inched closer, so she pressed her face to his chest again and listened his heart beat. “You joined the army because you thought…?”
“I figured you’d find someone in college, then come back here, and…” he shook his head and tightened his arms around her. “I couldn’t handle seeing you with someone else, Kate. So I did the only thing I could. I got out of here so that I didn’t have to lose you.”
She stared up at him, stunned. “Are you telling me that we’ve wasted the past twelve years trying to prove to each other that we’re fine even though neither of us were fine?! We both ran away from Cheyenne because we couldn’t handle the thought of seeing the other person with someone else?”
He stared. “You…?”
“I moved to Miami to get away from you! I was so hurt when you joined the Army. But I knew you, Mack. I knew that you’d come back here. This is your home and…” she pulled out of his arms, pacing back and forth, shaking her head. “Mack, I didn’t want to come back because I couldn’t handle you finding someone here and marrying them, being happy with someone else!”
He blinked, then threw back his head and laughed. “And I joined the Army to get away from you coming home from college with a boyfriend.”
She turned, crossing her arms over her chest so that she could mock glare at him. “You are an ass!”
“Yeah, but you love me.” He pulled her into his arms even when she tried to step out of reach. His reflexes were too fast for that. Plus, he knew exactly how her mind worked.
“I don’t love you!” she snapped, even as her hands braced against his shoulders. “You’re an ass!”
He laughed again. “Yeah, but I’m the ass that you love.”
She shrugged, pouting ever so slightly. “I do love your ass,” she told him, then glanced up at him through her lashes, pretending to be coy.
He pulled back, looking down at her with severity. “Is that all you love about me?”
She looked
at him sideways. “You love me too.”
He sighed, then pulled her gently into his arms. “Yeah. I do.”
Mack felt better when he felt her cheek press against his chest. All was right with the world as long as Kate was in his arms. “So, this is what you’ve been hiding for the past few weeks?”
She nodded, rubbing her cheek against his chest. “Yeah. I wanted to have the details worked out before I showed you. Just in case it was rejected by the powers-that-be here in the city.”
“But they are all on board?”
She pulled back, but kept her arms tightly around him. “Yes,” she replied, her eyes glowing. “Everyone loves the idea! The mayor asked me to make sure that the police and fire department didn’t have any safety concerns, which is why I was speaking with the chief of police and fire chief. He also wanted to ensure that you guys could handle the additional traffic.”
He rolled his eyes at her, but tightened his arms around her waist. “You know I’m not a traffic cop, right?”
She grinned. “Yeah, I know you’re a bad-ass detective. But I love the grouchy look you give me every time I call you an officer.”
He grumbled again, and she laughed and hugged him closer. “That’s the look I love.”
“So, it is more than just my ass?”
She laughed, but when she looked up at him this time, her amusement faded and her eyes turned serious. “Yeah. I love you, Mack.” She looked at him. “It’s the reason I came back. I just couldn’t stay away any longer.”
“I thought you came back to pack up your mom’s house and get it ready to sell?’
“That was the excuse. I could have done all that in a week if that was what I wanted to happen.”
“So, it was more?”
She smiled. “Yeah, as soon as I saw this house, I knew I wanted more. But until I saw you again, I didn’t know what ‘more’ entailed.”
“I’m more?”
“Yeah,” she replied, going up on her toes to kiss him. He met her halfway. “I love you, Mack.”
“I love you, Kate. And if you ever leave me again, I’m going to find you.”
She grinned, his lips hovering about an inch above hers. “Promise?”
“Yeah.” He claimed her mouth with his own. When he straightened up, she saw the light sparkling in those dark eyes of his. “So,” he nodded toward the papers on the counter, “does this mean you’re going to stick around?”
She leaned into him, her smile widening. “Depends.”
His hands tightened on her waist. “On what?”
“On whether you’ll let me have the front room as my home office.”
He stared at her for a long moment, then threw his head back, pulling her in for a kiss. “Yes! That room is all yours under one condition.”
She slid her hands into his hair. “What’s that?”
“That you marry me,” he replied. “And help me fill up the empty bedrooms with kids.”
Kate’s heart warmed with his words. “Yeah,” she said softly. “I think I can do that.”
He asked, “Does that mean that we’re engaged?”
There was a moment’s pause before Kate replied. “I think so,” she whispered.
And with that, he lowered his head and kissed her ever so softly. “Finally!”
Epilogue
“No, you can’t have more hot chocolate,” Mack replied, ignoring the pleading eyes of his dark haired daughter.
“But Momma said–”
“Momma isn’t here,” Mack interrupted Lucy. “And you know good and well that Momma wouldn’t let you have more hot chocolate either. Especially since you didn’t eat your peas last night.”
Lucy squinched up her nose in disgust. “I hate peas.”
Mack leaned closer, kissing Lucy’s chubby cheek. “I do to!” he whispered. “I threw out the bag of peas.”
Lucy looked excited for a moment, then sighed. “She’ll just buy more.”
He squeezed her slightly. “The only reason she got the peas last time is because I wasn’t able to do the shopping, honey. I was working that big case, remember?”
Lucy leaned her head against her daddy’s shoulder. “I don’t like it when you work late, Daddy.”
Mack looked around, searching the crowds for Kate. She shouldn’t be hard to find. All he needed to do was look for a waddling energizer bunny. Kate was six month’s pregnant with their second child, but refused to give up the running of the monthly festivals. Eventually, she’d have to allow one of her two assistants to step in, but Kate loved her job and was going to hold onto control of these weekend festivals until the last possible moment! Even after Lucy was born, she still checked in with her staff every other day until Lucy started day care.
“Do you see your Momma?” he asked.
Lucy looked around, keeping her chubby arm wrapped around Mack’s neck
“She’s over there!” Lucy said, pointing towards the fried pickle stand. “She’s doing that gross ketchup thing again.”
“Oh no,” Mack groaned.
“Yeah,” Lucy sighed, putting her hands on each of his cheeks and looking into his eyes. “Be nice!” she said, mimicking her mother.
Mack chuckled, because it was a refrain that Kate used several times a week. “I’ll be nice,” he promised, carrying her over to where Kate stood, clipboard tucked under her arm while she ate fried pickles with ketchup.
“Aren’t you being just a little bit cliché?” he asked, leaning forward to kiss her.
Kate paused long enough on her salty-sweet binge to return his kiss, then snuggled with Lucy. “How are you, sweetie?”
“Daddy won’t let me have any hot chocolate,” she said in a long-suffering voice. Lucy knew better than to use a whiny tone with her parents. That tone didn’t get her anywhere.
Kate didn’t even look at Mack as she cooed, “What a horrible, mean Daddy!” she laughed, wiping away the remnants of the last cup of hot chocolate from Lucy’s mouth. “He’s still pretty cute though, isn’t he?”
“I am not cute!” he growled, looking around to make sure no one else overheard his wife maligning his masculinity.
“I think you’re cute,” Dean announced, slapping his partner on the back. “Hey Lucy. You think your Daddy is cute, don’t you?’
Mack turned to glare at his partner, who was holding both of his sons in his arms. They must have been doing something naughty since both of them were upside down at the moment.
“Yes. Daddy is cute!” Lucy chimed in. “And you’re cute too,” she added to Michael and Martin, or Mayhem and Manic, as Sylvie and Dean called their two boys.
Both of them stopped their squirming to stare at Lucy with horror. Then the boys began the gagging sounds they always made whenever a girl said something nice to them. Or if they saw their parents kissing. Or just because they enjoyed barfing sounds. That recently happened at two thirty in the morning. For some reason, the boys woke up and decided to have a barfing-noise contest. Freaked Dean and Sylvie right out of their beds, thinking that their children were sick only to discover them laughing.
“Who’s cute?” Sage asked, joining the group. She bent over to tickle Michael and Martin, both of whom stopped fake barfing and started giggling again.
“Where’s Arik?” Dean asked, shifting his hold on his sons’ ankles for a better grip.
Sage turned slowly, her eight month pregnant body not as spry as it was prior to pregnancy. “I think he ran back to the truck to get a chair for me.” She sighed, resting her hands on her enormous belly. “He’s always trying to get me to sit down, when walking is actually better for me at this point.”
The men looked dubious. Kate turned and offered her pregnant friend a fried pickle with ketchup. “They’re delicious!” she said around a mouthful of the foul concoction.
“Oh yeah!” Sage said, taking a fried pickle but shaking her head at the offer of ketchup. “Just plain works for me.”
“Sage!” Arik admonished, carrying one of the camp c
hairs over his shoulder. “You need to sit down, honey,” he said. “Tell me where you want to be and I’ll get you something to eat and drink.”
Sage turned, beaming up at her worried husband. “I’m fine, Arik.”
He leaned against her lightly. “Just…sit down for me, then, okay?” he asked softly.
Sage cupped his cheek gently. “Fine. Let’s find a place in the shade and I’ll sit with you.”
“I’ll join you,” Kate announced.
Mack glanced down at Lucy. She’d stopped wiggling and he realized that she was sound asleep. Amazing how kids could fall asleep literally anywhere, he thought.
Mack looked at Kate and said, “I set up a chair next to our cooler. There are bottles of water in it, iced down with fruit and snacks.”
“You’re awesome,” Sage said, waddling along the sidewalk next to Kate. They sat under the tree and sighed with relief. “Okay, I might have walked a bit too much,” she admitted.
Suddenly, a woman that looked astonishingly similar to Sage sprinted by the group. Jade raced after Peter, her son. He might be only two years old with tiny legs, but that little guy could run. And he loved running. Or more specifically, he loved being chased!
Simon knew his son. While Jade had taken Peter into the festival, Simon had circled back for chairs and a sleeping pad. Because they knew from experience that Peter would crash into sleep and would just tip over wherever he happened to be. It was best to have a soft spot for him to sleep in those situations. But that also meant that Simon came around from the other side of the line of tents. Seeing his son sprinting on his wobbly legs, Simon scooped him up. “Gotcha!” he announced, standing up as Peter laughed, enjoying his game.
Jade stopped, taking in a deep breath with her hands on her hips. “Thanks,” she gasped, shaking her head. “You’re a little devil, you know that?” she told her son.
“Come on,” Simon said soothingly. “The others are over there.”
Moments later, water and soft drinks were handed around. Kate looked around, thinking about that first night when she’d driven up to her mother’s house after her stroke. Coming back had felt right. Now, sitting here with her friends, her daughter, and Mack, the world felt…perfect!
Winter Awakening (Wyoming Fever Book 4) Page 7
