After pulling into her garage, she gathered her purse and walked upstairs to her townhouse. Letting herself in, she automatically dropped her keys on the granite countertop and put a teabag of Earl Grey in a cup, filled it with water, and placed it in the microwave. A nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc waited in the fridge for dinner and after. She kicked off her shoes, pulled her blouse from the band of her skirt, and pivoted toward the bedroom.
Repeated knocking at the door stopped her progress.
Who on earth?
Backtracking to the door, she couldn’t see a thing through the peephole. She swung open the door, looked ahead, then down.
Big blue eyes, long auburn curls, and a gap-toothed smile filled with braces greeted her.
The girl looked to be on the verge of womanhood, anywhere from ten to twelve, her smile brave, expression innocent. No uniform. Not a Girl Scout selling cookies. So…who was she, and what did she want? A tiny frown appeared between her eyes. She seemed worried.
“Hi. My name’s Suzanna, and I live next door.”
“Nice to meet you, Suzanna. My name’s Kate. Kate Sanders. I just moved in.”
“Hey, Kate.”
With the girl’s unease apparent, Kate wondered what had happened that made her knock on the door of a stranger. “Can I help you?”
The child glanced around the room, then stared up with an open gaze. “Um—I seem to be locked out of my house, and the manager’s office is closed.”
“Which apartment is yours?”
“Oh, sorry. My dad and I live next door.” Her big blue eyes grew even wider as she laced her fingers tightly together in front of her.
“Then it’s especially nice to meet my closest neighbor.” Silence. “Do you need something?”
Suzanna’s gaze fell to her feet. “I can’t get in my apartment—I think I lost my key at school,” she said in a rush. “I was just wondering if you could listen for my dad and tell him I’ll be in the clubhouse doing my homework. He’ll be home soon, and if he doesn’t find me, he’ll be worried.”
The poor kid.
She held up three fingers and crossed her heart. “Look. I don’t feel comfortable letting you wait in the clubhouse. I know you and your dad don’t know me yet, but I promise I’m trustworthy. Since this is something of an emergency, would you like to wait here? I promise you’ll be safe. You can even call him and we’ll clear it with him. Does that sound okay?”
“I don’t have a cell phone yet—dad says I’m not old enough. He thinks I’m just a little kid.”
“We’ll use mine and call him right now.” Kate stood back and waited while Suzanna stepped cautiously into her apartment. She left the door partially open and went to the kitchen to grab her phone.
Suzanna dialed the number. “Dad? Sorry, but I can’t find my key…Yeah, I’m fine. Actually, the lady who moved into the apartment next to ours is letting me use her phone.” Suzanna gazed up at Kate as she smiled at her father’s reply. “She seems really nice. I think I’ll be fine for twenty minutes…Thanks, Dad.” She ended the call.
“I gather your father’s okay with you waiting here with me?”
“Yeah—he’ll be here in twenty minutes. Thanks for your help. You made my case for me. I think he just agreed to get me my own phone. I owe you one for that.” Her grin could light up the sky.
Kate chuckled. “Yes, you will. Come into the kitchen. We can wait in there.”
The child’s smile grew wider. “Thanks.” Her head peeked curiously around Katherine’s body. “Do you have a husband? Or kids? There aren’t many families in the complex. Mostly singles like my dad.”
“Whoa! Slow down there…one question at a time. I was just about to have a cup of tea. Would you like to join me? I have cookies—that’s if you think it would be all right with your father.”
“I don’t care for tea. Do you have any milk?” Suzanna made a beeline for the table and made herself at home.
“Of course, you’re right. Milk goes better with cookies, though I do love my tea at the end of a long day.”
Kate poured the milk and set out the cookies. Helping herself to a cookie, she sat in a chair opposite Suzanna and ticked off answers with her fingers, one at the time.
“Well, let’s see. My name is Katherine Sanders, so please call me Kate. I’ve lived in Shady Brook for several years. I don’t have a husband or children—though I hope someday to have both. I’ve met a couple of the neighbors, and I’m sure I’ll be delighted to meet more. I’ve seen several families with children here, and a girl as pretty as you must have no trouble making friends. Does that about cover it?”
Suzanna grinned through her cookies and milk as she kicked her skinny legs in tempo under the table. “Yeah, so far.” The young girl kept her gaze steady on her while she devoured the cookies and drank her milk.
Kate watched as she appeared to power up for more conversation. “What?” She laughed and leaned against the back of her chair.
“I don’t have any grown-up friends, not girls, anyway. My dad has a couple of buddies that come around. No girls. He’s not seeing anyone right now. You’re really nice…”
Kate put her mind at ease. “I’d love to be your friend, Suzanna. If you see my light on, or you want to talk, you’re welcome to come over any time.”
A relieved smile spread from ear to ear on the child’s face. “Really?”
She held up her pinky finger. “Pinky swear.”
“Pinky swear.” Suzanna grinned, her mouth full of oat-and-raisin cookie, and linked Kate’s finger with a squeeze.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Suzanna. Young ladies don’t do that,” Katherine reminded her in a gentle tone, though the girl was polite and friendly.
“Oops…sorry.” Suzanna carefully put her uneaten cookie on her plate and crossed her arms on the table in front of her.
Thin legs pumping in time to her conversation, she took a big breath. “I don’t have a mother. I mean, of course I had a mother, but now it’s just me and my dad. My mother’s dead.”
The comment dropped from the blue, no emotion, just statement of fact. Kate’s heart plummeted to her knees. Poor baby. She was so young to have lost a mother, and all that a mother would bring to her life.
She gingerly removed her steaming cup from the microwave, set it on the table, and folded her hands in her lap. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”
Suzanna stared at her for a heartbeat before taking another big breath and letting it out with a huge sigh. “Thanks. But it’s okay. It happened a long time ago, and I don’t think about her as much as I used to. I mean, I remember how she looked. She had red hair like me. And she spoke softly. She was always gentle, and when she saw my daddy come home at night, she had the biggest smile on her face. We played games, and she tucked me in bed every night, and drove me to school every day. I remember those things, but the rest…” She shrugged one bony shoulder. “The everyday stuff and the feeling of having a mom you could count on—that part gets a little fuzzy.”
“You know, I lost someone I loved very much, too.” she began, and reached across the table, palm up, inviting Suzanna to take hold if she wished.
The girl looked at it, then slowly laid her hand on top of Katherine’s, pressing lightly as her gaze lifted and she smiled. “You did?”
Kate nodded. “My mom died when I was little—about six years old, younger than you. Then it was just my dad and me. I loved him so much. He was all the family I had left, and when he passed away, it hurt more than anything except maybe losing my mom. I still miss him very much.”
“So you know how it feels.”
“I do, sweetheart.” She leaned in and caught Suzanna’s gaze. “But I like thinking about him and remembering all the good times we shared. My advice? Talk to your dad. Drag out some pictures to remind you exactly how she looked, and, above all, trust that she loved you more than anything else on earth. We always have the people we love with us.” Kate placed her hand over her heart. “Sometimes
we can’t see them or talk to them, but they’re there. Your mom would want you to know she will always be with you in your heart. That’s something that nothing—not even time—can take away.”
“I talk to her sometimes—when no one can hear. Do you think she hears me?”
“I won’t lie, Suzanna. I can’t answer that question. But I believe that the love we share with people who are precious to us goes beyond our lives on earth. What do you feel when you talk to your mom?”
“I feel her with me. Like she’s there, and hugging me.” An honest and earnest reply.
“Then you have your answer. Your mother’s love for you goes beyond all boundaries. She’ll always be with you, loving you, supporting you, cheering you on in whatever you do. That’s what love does.”
Suzanna got up and threw her arms around Kate and gave her a tight hug. She smelled like little girl and school hallways and an element of dirty tennis shoes. But it was wonderful. What she wouldn’t give to have a kid like Suzanna in her own life.
Sweet, innocent, open. Loveable. A girl on the verge of womanhood, filled with promise and a future to share with her family. Kate’s heart fisted in her chest, and tears of compassion burned her eyes, but she blinked them back.
“Do you remember your dad? What it felt like when he was here?” Suzanna asked, without letting go of her hand.
“Yeah, but my loss is more recent than yours, and I knew my father longer than the time you shared with your mother.”
“I suppose. Sometimes I feel bad I can’t picture her or hear the sound of her voice in my head. It just seems like it’s always been just my dad and me.” Suzanna paused and pulled back to stare in Kate’s eyes. “Have I made you sad? You look sad. I didn’t mean to make you sad.”
“Stop.” She patted the girl’s back. “There’s nothing wrong with feeling sad. When you lose someone you love, you’re entitled to feel whatever you feel. It means you cared. Have you told your father about not remembering details about your mother?”
“Yeah. But…” Suzanna’s eyes grew big as saucers. “I don’t want to worry him. My dad’s a hero,” she blurted. “When my mom died, he was going to quit being a soldier to come home to take care of me. The last mission before he left, he got shot. It took him a long time to recover. Now, he’s almost as good as before, but he worries about me, and I don’t want to make him worry more.”
“He’s a good dad?” Katherine asked.
“The best. I love him more than anything.” Suzanna gave her a big smile.
She possessed an amazing depth for one so young. Her father must have done something right. From everything Suzanna said, the two loved each other a lot. That kind of love was special. Revealing. A good man; a good daughter.
“You said he’s almost as good as before?” Katherine asked.
“Yeah. He’s legally blind. He can see a lot, just not fine details, and not well enough to drive. He walks or takes the bus. It’s no big deal.”
Legally blind? How odd. An image of Cash Montgomery sprung to her mind, and with it, guilt over having ditched him so rudely the weekend before. If only she could have a do-over, have a chance to apologize. See if it even made a difference.
Suzanna had dealt with a lot in her few short years. A mother who died. A father struggling to care for his child and himself.
Puts my problems in perspective.
It shamed her that she battled with self-image. She was alive, healthy; she had a future. For the first time in a long time, she began to understand, to look beyond herself.
As she reached out to this motherless child, it occurred to her that everyone was broken in some way. It wasn’t the experience that mattered; the important thing was how it was dealt with and what was learned along the way.
Katherine shook herself and grinned to lighten the mood. She offered Suzanna another cookie. “I’m really glad we met.”
“Me, too.” Again, with a mouthful of cookie. “You sure you don’t have a boyfriend, Kate?” Her pretty face scrunched as if she didn’t care for the idea.
“No. And not looking, so don’t get any ideas,” she warned as she leaned her forearms on the table, her hair swinging forward over one eye. She impatiently tucked it behind her ear, and stared into her new little friend’s eyes.
A look of studied innocence passed over the child’s face. “No. No ideas. Just asking.” Then the innocent expression morphed into a speculative one.
The two grinned at each other.
Uh-huh. Just asking, my foot.
Her questions were patently transparent. Single father. Single new friend. Loved her father. Liked her friend. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on in her young mind.
She’d need to squelch any matchmaking ideas immediately. Still, she didn’t want to hurt Suzanna’s feelings. The trust of a child was a fragile and precious thing. A gift. And she’d shared some deep thoughts about missing her mom and life after death and love.
A knock sounded at the door, and Kate rose to answer it.
“That’s probably my dad.”
She walked with Suzanna to the door, opened it, and froze.
Oh. My. God.
Cash.
Cash Montgomery, in the flesh.
Chapter Five
Heart in her throat, Kate traveled her gaze north to south, east to west, while Cash stood there smiling. Looking good enough to eat.
Faded jeans hugging all the right places. Worn henley stretched tight over muscles his clothing from the other night had kept hidden. Slack-jawed, she stared. Shocked. Speechless. Unable to grasp the fact that the man who’d starred in her guilty dreams had just rung her doorbell.
Realization settled in the pit of her stomach. An idiot could have made the connection.
Surprised? Yes.
Shocked? Yes.
Kate was no idiot. She was astounded to realize Cash was most probably Suzanna’s father. And she wasn’t at all displeased to find he was living right next door.
Amazing.
The angel on her shoulder tee-hee’d in her ear. Now you can apologize and make things right. You wished for a second chance—now you’ve got one.
A devil tugged on her opposite earlobe. You want to make a fool of yourself a second time? Go for it. When he realizes who you are, he’ll grab his daughter and run.
He held out his hand. “Cash Montgomery, Suzanna’s dad.”
That song called “This is the Moment” played by symphonic strings accompanied her drop in blood pressure. She lifted her hand toward his and could almost see sparks of electric current zing from the tips of her fingers to his.
The minute they touched, it happened. His body straightened, eyebrows went up, a wide smile encompassed his entire face. With head partially cocked, dimples on full display, he slowly shook his head and grinned like the cat that caught the canary.
Butterflies took flight in her tummy.
“Well, well, well,” he said, drawing out the words. “Katherine Sanders, I presume. Just the woman I’ve been wanting to see. How fortuitous that you now live right next door. Saves me time and energy trying to find you in case you try to run away from me again.”
“Dad?” his daughter interrupted, a puzzled expression on her face.
He spared Suzanna a quick smile. “Suze, why don’t you head home and get a start on your homework. Door’s open…I’ll be along in a minute.”
Suzanna glanced uncertainly from one to the other and then started backing toward the door. “Sure…Bye, Kate. Thanks for the cookies.”
“B-bye, Suzanna, you’re welcome,” she stuttered, and tried to pull her hand out of his grasp.
She heard the door close behind his daughter. Saw his face crease in amusement. “So, Cinderella fleeing from the ball.”
“Prince Charming, I presume.”
His grip tightened as she tried to remove her hand from his. “Nah-ah-ah. I’m not letting you escape again.”
“Cash, I…”
He stepped int
o her space, heat emanating from his body. So close she could smell an afternoon coffee on his breath as it caressed her face and teased tendrils of her hair along her cheek. A shiver ran down her spine.
Yum.
Her eyes closed. “I’m so sorry I ran,” she offered, softly. “It’s hard to explain. It’s just… I mean… Dancing with you, talking with you—I began to feel things I hadn’t felt in a very long time. It scared me—and I ran away.”
“Clock struck midnight, huh?” His unseeing eyes, that amazing blue that took her breath away, bored into hers. “It’s okay.”
He gave her hands a little squeeze. “But I’m not letting you go a second time. There’s this ‘thing’—for want of a better term—between us. I felt it—you felt it. A connection, a charge or a spark. Hell, I can’t explain it. I’m a guy.” He drew her softly into his chest. “Best I can say is that there’s something that happens when we’re together, and it’s great. We don’t know each other very well, but I want us to. I want to know everything about you, and I want you to know everything about me.”
“Does anyone ever know ‘everything’?”
He reared back. “Don’t prevaricate. I’m being serious. So you’re scared—that’s okay. To some extent, so am I. Meeting someone, stepping out on unfamiliar ground, it’s a scary thing. So we both have a past, carry some baggage. Who doesn’t? I can promise you this. There’s no way I’d intentionally hurt you or take advantage of you. That’s not the kind of man I am. So if you could trust me—just a little—I want us to spend some time together. I…am extremely attracted to you. I think you feel the same about me.”
The quiver that shook her body was a dead giveaway. “I think that’s safe to assume.”
“What do you say?”
What could she say?
A simple, “Yes.” All she could manage.
“Then no more running. Let’s just agree that we like each other, want to get to know each other, take our time, and explore where this connection will take us.”
His thumb drew circles on the top of her hand. A slight, sweet caress that sensitized the nerve endings in her entire body.
A Little Night Music Page 5
