“Sit,” he told her and gave her a hard stare before getting up from his chair to rinse his plate and stick it in the dishwasher. “I mean it, Kate. Sit the hell down. I’ve something to say.”
As she sat, he grabbed her coffee cup off the counter and set it in front of her. “Why are you shaking?”
“You’re acting like my ex.”
“This is between you and me. Kate and Colton. Leave whatever baggage you’re bringing to our conversation at the door. It’s a new day.”
Boy, there is an understatement. Kate settled down when she realized Colton handled his anger far different than Trey. She wondered if the deep, imbedded fear would ever leave.
He spread jelly across his toast and took a bite, keeping her in his sight while he chewed. “My life’s complicated. More so than yours. I’m here to recover from an injury that may have ended my career. That carpenter who came to your place. He’s a retired catcher from the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was my mentor when I was a snot-nosed kid out of college. Germaine’s a friend my brother called to come out here and help you because he does carpentry now that he’s retired.”
“The Airstream made me suspicious. Do you know what an Airstream costs?”
“A bundle. Whatever. He charged you a fair price. You paid him and you’ve a helluva good job in return. That wasn’t charity. It was me making a phone call to my brother to find a local carpenter to help you out so you could get this inn up and running.”
“Thank you.” Kate sipped her coffee and saw her appreciation caused a stutter in his brain.
He puffed out a breath and regained his thoughts. “Germaine showed me my arm’s okay if I’m smart and don’t push it. That’s what I intend to do. I mean to stay on a couple more weeks then return to the Bullets and workout with my trainer. Then I’ll see what happens.”
Millions of questions sat on the tip of Kate’s tongue. Who was the woman that took him to Knoxville? The rockers, the guitar, and his meddling by getting her dad involved in the construction pile thief. The scene at the barn that he mentioned then dropped. What about the feelings she couldn’t help attach to him? What did she do with those? She turned to him and held a long, questioning gaze and every bone in her body melted in need. She wanted to drag him upstairs and make love all day.
Colton leaned his arms on the table. “I’m a friend, Kate. Nothing more,” he said as if seeing desire in her eyes. She lowered her eyes in hopes the heat that rushed to her face didn’t show. “I’ve screwed up with women, and I’ve no intention of screwing up with you. We’re friends,” he repeated as if she didn’t understand the hurtful words the first time.
“And the barn’s safe,” he continued. “Do you really think I would take Lindsay inside a dangerous structure? I like that kid. I wanted her to see the horse stalls and the tack room. You should take a look as well. There’s furniture in there you might want to refinish for your inn.”
The lump in Kate’s throat made it impossible for her to speak. She wrapped her hands around her coffee cup and stared into its inky depth. “I don’t pick up strangers because my daughter was involved in a carjacking when she was five.” She stuttered in a breath. “We never used sitters much. Trey didn’t approve of me working in any capacity. Lindsay was my job. I tried to keep the music alive. We had a trusted teenager Trey approved of when we went to social events.”
Colton touched her arm. His warm fingers sizzled against her skin. “You don’t owe me any explanations, Kate.”
She looked into his compassionate eyes no longer filled with his earlier anger. “No, I need to tell you like you needed your say about Germaine. So you know I’m not mental. Trey was in New York at a convention. I think he was having an affair. Since other wives attended and he wouldn’t take me, I hired the sitter and went to a Nashville club to meet friends. While I was gone, the sitter took Lindsay in her car to a QuickBuy. She put her in the backseat without a booster and left her in the car while she ran inside. Two teenagers stole the car with Lindsay inside. When they discovered her, the boys abandoned the car with Lindsay safe inside but frightened. Trey blamed me.”
“He approved of the sitter.”
“Not in Trey’s logic. Things unraveled fast after that. I accused him of cheating, and he smashed my guitars. The piano had already been gifted to a church. He called me awful things in front of Lindsay. We’d had bitter fights in the past that she’d witnessed, but nothing like that night. It was a terrible blow, as I’d become over-protective of Lindsay because she was my only job. The guilt was horrible. That’s why I freaked out when I saw her in the barn. I’m sorry.”
“Hell, its over. Forget it. I knew how you felt about the barn and thought if you saw me take Lindsay inside you’d see firsthand it was safe. Which it is. Would you like me to show you? I do know a thing or two about carpentry.”
“Yes. I’d like that.”
Colton sat back in his chair to run a hand over his damp hair and blew out a breath. “So we’re good now?” Kate nodded. “All’s forgiven?”
“Maybe not all.” She grinned. She had enough sense to leave her questions about the woman in Knoxville alone.
“That’s a hell of a sight better than no forgiveness. Let’s take a look at the barn.”
The days flew by. Kate couldn’t believe it when she turned the calendar to June. Colton would leave in another week, and Lindsay would be out of school soon. Trey would be coming to take her to California for a month. An agreement reached in their divorce settlement. She dreaded seeing Trey almost as much as letting Lindsay leave with him.
Colton continued his daily training regiment that included using Bobby as a catcher while he slowly worked the arm. Bobby—once a catcher for the Bear Creek High School baseball team—jumped at the chance to help out.
One day while Lindsay was at school, they worked side by side to clean out the barn, burning anything they agreed was worthless.
“Colton, come look at this,” Kate called when he returned to the barn from the burn pile. “Don’t you think it would look good in the big entry? It’s that sideboard you pointed out when I first came in here to look around.”
“What the hell—heck’s a sideboard?”
Kate laughed. “At least you’re trying. A sideboard is what they used to set food on years ago. I think its solid mahogany and would be perfect for the same purpose once the inn’s up and running. What do you think?”
“Give me a hand, and we’ll move it into the light.”
After she and Colton hauled the sideboard to the front of the barn, she began sanding away layers of dirt and varnish. She had to admit she liked the barn and considered getting it fixed up. That is, if there was enough money left on her construction loan.
Unseasonably hot, Kate sweated in a tank top and didn’t blame Colton for removing his shirt. More than once she found herself sanding one spot in a slow circle to admire him as sweat glistened on his skin and muscles bunched with every move.
The rattle of heavy chains caught her attention. Bobby’s tow truck was heading for the barn with Colton’s broken down truck attached. She dropped what she was doing and walked over to Colton. “What’s going on?”
“I asked Bobby to bring Bessie up here to store in the barn. Hope you don’t mind.”
Small as the act might seem in the whole scheme of things, Kate felt like he had delivered her a sucker punch. His motive in getting the barn cleared out was entirely for his benefit. Her gullible nature made her feel stupid with his talk of a place for Lindsay to keep a horse should Kate want the responsibility one day.
Not to mention the innuendos passing between them that spoke volumes of something other than the friend status he set a week ago. Now it was obvious this was his motive. “Why didn’t you ask me? Maybe I don’t approve of you using my barn.”
“Why? I’ll pay you.”
“Oh, of course.” She lowered her voice as Bobby approached them. “Whip out your wallet and make the problem go away. You can’t buy your way thr
ough life.”
“Hey, Kate. Hey,Colton.”
“Hey, Bobby.” Kate turned tail to head for the cabin.
“What’s up with her?”
“She’s pissed I had Bessie brought out here.”
Bobby shrugged. “Women. Don’t understand a thing about a man and his truck.” He lifted his grimy orange cap and poked a finger at a spot atop his head before resettling it with his gaze on Bessie. “Done just like you said. New brakes. Radiator. Tires. Greased her up. Fluids. She don’t run, but once you git that rebuilt engine you ordered she’ll purr like a kitten. Where d’ya want her?” Bobby looked into Colton’s face with a squinty eye.
“What’s Kate got against money?”
Bobby blew out a breath and lifted his eyebrows. “I’ll tell you straight up. She’s a confusing woman. Always has been. Goes off to Nashville to become a country star and marries a rich doctor. Had one hit and quit writing. I cain’t figure it.”
“What’s the hit?”
“‘Kentucky Blue.’ Trace Patton sang it. He’s a shirttail relative of Kate’s through Davy.”
“Crockett? The Davy Crockett?”
“Yep. Davy’s last wife was Elizabeth Patton. Trace, he’s related to Davy through one of Elizabeth’s brothers. Like Kate is related to Davy through one of his brothers.”
“I’ll be damned.”
Colton showed Bobby the spot in the barn he’d cleared out and directed him as he jockeyed his tow truck. Bessie was lowered in front of the John Deere tractor.
Bessie felt like the return of an old friend. The barn suited her. Although he used money, not his hands to give her new life, there was plenty of work to be done. Restoring Bessie had been the farthest thing from his mind when he started out on this trip. Once the idea took hold, it wouldn’t let loose.
Colton hoped Kate would let him store Bessie in the barn so he would have an excuse to come visit. He turned toward the cabin in time to see her head over the ridge down to Cutter Lake. His stomach rumbled, hungry for lunch.
After Bobby left, he decided to make a couple of sandwiches and take them to her. A full stomach always improved his outlook. Maybe it would do the same for her.
Kate also needed to hear what he’d learned in Knoxville. News he wanted to deliver at the right moment. Especially since it would involve his confessing he had stuck his nose in her business. Interference that was meant to protect her from worry, not create friction.
If she blew up too bad, he would hop in his new truck and tow Bessie back home. Except now, he didn’t want to leave. Things were heating up with both Kate and her inn. She was making him so damned curious about what went on between her and her ex that he hadn’t thought about his own problems in days. It was Kate who filled his thoughts when he ran or worked out. Not baseball.
One thing was certain. Kate needed to be handled with kid gloves. She was more skittish than a colt breaking to a harness when it came to her personal life.
He liked Kate. Too bad she wasn’t his type. She would make a guy more deserving than Trey a good wife.
Chapter Eleven
The path Kate took spilled over the back edge of her property and weaved back and forth. Her tennis shoes gripped and slid over the downward pitch. Sun danced across the surface of the lake below.
She should be up in the kitchen making lunch. Meals and a rollaway. That was the deal. One so convoluted in their dickering and his insistence on making his own breakfast that she didn’t know what she would charge for his stay.
Her jaw tightened. Let Colton ride into town and eat lunch at Beulah’s.
She reached a large wood platform. Six steps led down to a small rickety dock in need of repair. Determined to get to the water’s edge, she made careful steps down the stairs and tested the dock with a cautious jump. Satisfied it was sturdy, she sat in the sun to remove her shoes and socks and dangle her feet in the cool, clear waters of Cutter Lake.
Technically, the water marked the end of her land. The lake was owned by the Tennessee Water Authority and under the management of the Corps of Engineers. The public access boat ramp the Corps was building a few miles up the shoreline would put non-motorized boats and canoes on the small lake. Tent camping would also be allowed. Once you set foot on the other side of Cutter Lake, it was government owned—the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.
Hot and sweaty from working in the barn most of the morning, and emotionally exhausted from fighting the stirrings Colton caused, she lay back on the heated wood dock. Closing her eyes, she let the gentle sway of the dock and rhythmic slap of water against the pilings float her cares away.
Her divorce, the childish need to please her father, the strange phone call, gave way to a pushy ballplayer with a rusted wreck of a truck named Bessie. Colton Gray was the last person she wanted to fill her thoughts and heart. She didn’t want to think about anything.
“Kate?” Colton’s voice broke into the calm of nature. No, it didn’t intrude at all. His voice sang in complete harmony with the very air, the birds chirping, the hum of insects, and the sounds and smells of the water.
She didn’t reply.
“There you are,” he said from above. She envisioned him standing at the top of the ridge.
The slipping of feet over the path told her he was coming down. Damn! She ignored him and kept her eyes shut. Thump. He was on the platform. Paper rattled. Her senses kicked into overdrive as she counted his descent. One step. Two. Three. Four. Five. No more sound.
“Is that dock safe?” he asked.
“Probably not. You best not come on.”
His feet hit the dock. He jumped up and down a couple of times, giving her body a good shake. She didn’t protest. Let the whole dock dump into the lake for all she cared. She’d told him it wasn’t safe.
His body heat enveloped her as he sat and swung his legs over the edge. Must he always sit so close? His feet splashed in the water and sent small droplets of cool water in random spots on her hot skin. She cracked her eyes open enough to see he was using his sandals as paddles. She knew Colton’s games and intended to ignore him.
When his appreciative murmur at the cooling of his hot feet brought him the same welcome relief her feet were experiencing, she almost smiled. Water swirled her ankles as he moved his feet around. The dock rocked.
“Man this is nice. Real nice. Damned pretty too.”
Oh, how she wanted to correct his swear but kept her eyes and mouth shut. She swore, true, but usually in her mind not out loud.
Sweat earned from his tireless labor to haul and burn trash wafted whenever a breeze caught hold. It was, well, not bad. It was Colton. The rattle of paper and her curiosity made it near impossible to keep her eyes shut.
“I know you’re faking sleep,” he said. “Want a sandwich? I raided the refrigerator.”
Her mouth twitched in an effort not to snip at him. Ask if he intended to take over lunch duties as well as breakfast. Unable to resist another second, she cracked one eye open to peer his direction and saw a paper grocery bag on the dock between them. “What kind?”
“Turkey.” Colton reached into the bag to pull out a can covered in sweat. He popped the tab. “Cola?”
She considered refusing except she was starved and thirsty. They had worked together in good spirits throughout the morning right up until Bobby appeared. Unable to ignore her need to see in the bag, she sat up sure he would beam a triumphant cocky grin her way. She was surprised to see him dead serious. He held out a roughly wrapped sandwich in wax paper. She took it along with the soft drink.
They didn’t talk. Just sat there eating—turkey on white bread with mayo. No lettuce or tomato or a diagonal cut across the bread like she made. The thoughtful gesture chipped away some of her anger. Had Trey ever made such a gesture? Nope. He hired a cook so she need not be bothered with the mundane. She’d learned a lot as she cooked alongside Gladys for companionship when Trey was quick to become an absent husband and father. Those cooking sessions gave birth to her f
irst thoughts of opening an inn.
“Thank you.” She slid a glance his way and lifted the sandwich. “This is nice.”
He hesitated and let his hand come to rest on his thigh. “I meant to ask you about storing Bessie. It slipped my mind. I can’t believe a damned barn has me so excited.” He shook his head.
“You’re a cowboy at heart.”
“Maybe. My grandparents had a small ranch in Wyoming. Granddad never had fewer than six horses. Rodeo was as natural to my dad as baseball to me. He rode bronco then moved to bulls.”
“Did you ride?”
“I’m respectable. We moved to Illinois when I entered junior high so Dad could find carpentry work. Life pretty much changed from that time on. Baseball took over.” Taking time to inhale the first sandwich, he reached inside the bag and pulled out a second. “I know I’m not supposed to go in your place without permission, but I’ve eaten a lot of meals in your kitchen. It didn’t seem like a huge offense.”
“You’re right. Guess I don’t know how to run an inn. I’ve turned you into a laborer who I feed, not a boarder.”
He stopped chewing. Swallowed and took a drink. “Why would you say that? This is the best time I’ve had in ages, and I’ve stayed in a lot of five-star places.”
“You are so full of it. A rollaway?”
“Okay, it’s a different experience. My being here is an unusual circumstance. Nonetheless, it’s been a good one. I think once everything’s set up and ready to go, anyone who comes here will think so too.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I’m not feeling too cheerful at the moment. The furniture is due to arrive, my construction loan starts up this month, and I’m still waiting for the phone to ring with someone named Bennett Field telling how he intends to take my property away.”
“It will work out. You’ll see.”
“You sound like my cousin. Right before he drove off and left me swinging in the breeze with an unfinished inn.”
“He sent me.” Colton slanted his head her way with a dimpled grin.
“Ha, ha.”
Cutter Mountain Rendezvous Page 9
