Hook, Line & Sinker

by Ev Bishop

  “You have a lot to live for, Steve. The kids love you. They need to know that while a person’s alive, there’s still hope.”

  “Ha!”

  Katelyn froze at the explosive bitterness in Steve’s voice like someone had just fired a gun. She couldn’t help it.

  He shook his head, his mood swinging as unpredictably and quickly as a branch caught in a river’s current. “The kids don’t love me. And they shouldn’t. They’re scared of me. They’d be better off without me. You’d all be better off without me. And that’s what you want, right?”

  Katelyn didn’t hesitate. She threw the truth like a life preserver, praying Steve would grab onto it. “They would not be better off without you. If you hurt yourself, if you . . . die . . . it will be terrible for them.”

  Silence. Silence. Silence. Only the rain beating hard. And her heart beating harder.

  Then finally, just when Katelyn feared she might scream with nerves, Steve spoke again. “But not for you. It would be good for you. You would be happy.”

  “No, it wouldn’t. It would be terrible for me—terribly, terribly, terribly sad.”

  “If I . . .” Steve lifted his foot to the railing like he was going to try to stand—but slipped and came down heavily on his tailbone. Katelyn stifled a scream and rushed forward out of reflex. The officer beside her caught her wrist in a cement grip and restrained her.

  “If I get help, if I promise to really, one hundred percent, get help, will you come back to me? Give me one more chance. Just one more. Please. I love you, Katelyn. I love you. I love you. I love you.”

  Katelyn realized she was crying and wondered if she had been ever since she stepped foot onto the bridge. “Oh, Steve . . . ” Her nose was running back into her throat and her vision misted—but even so, she saw him shake his head and wrap his arms around himself, like he was trying to hold himself together.

  “You won’t. And I knew it. It’s all over. And it’s my fault. My fault.” And just like that, without another word or sound, Steve jerked his body hard and pitched forward, falling with a wet smacking thud onto the surface of the bridge. It wasn’t far to fall and he didn’t appear badly hurt. He curled into a fetal position in the pooling rain and lay still.

  The officer was instantly gone from Katelyn’s side, joined by two others she hadn’t even been aware were on the bridge. Steve didn’t resist as the officers patted him down, checking for injuries and weapons. He didn’t resist being handcuffed either.

  When he was on his feet again, in what was probably a minute but seemed like years, he looked Katelyn’s way once more. “I really am sorry,” he said.

  She nodded. “I know.”

  “Good-bye, Kiki.”

  It was hard to believe, but she actually smiled. “Good-bye, Steve. I hope . . . you get the help you need.”

  And then it was over. Steve was gone, shuffled away in the bleak night to the backseat of a waiting squad car.

  Chapter 35

  The rain had let up and the sun was peeking out shyly from behind white fluffy clouds in a sky that looked like it had never been dark or ominous in its life. The grass was still very wet though and the kids were in slickers and boots, exploring the backyard and searching for earthworms. This was a new hobby that Katelyn had Jo to thank for. They were looking for bait.

  Brian appeared around the curve in the trail. The smile fell from Katelyn’s lips and her stomach flipped again. She was queasy with nerves now, not the happy butterflies that had danced through her just minutes earlier at the prospect of seeing him again.

  After she’d gotten back to River’s Sigh in the wee hours of the previous morning and explained everything that had gone on, they’d both agreed that he should sleep in his room at Jo and Callum’s place. Despite their longing to be together, they didn’t want to have to explain his overnight presence to the kids. They were going to have enough to adjust to in the upcoming months.

  But Brian looked so . . . serious. Had something else gone wrong? Could their fledgling relationship, so rocky from the very beginning through no fault of their own, survive having yet one more thing thrown at it?

  Maybe her eyes revealed her insecurity because as soon as Brian was near enough to do so, he reached out and stroked her cheek. “Don’t panic. It’s a good thing, I promise. Or I hope it is.”

  Katelyn bit her lip. “Should we sit down?”

  “Yes, I think so. Definitely.” They headed for the weathered bench swing in the shady part of yard. When they were settled, Brian took both her hands in his. It was a gesture of either really, really good news—or really, really bad news.

  Katelyn tried not to stare at him in alarm or in desperate hope. Maybe she should interrupt him, get her words, her request, out first. Maybe it would lead the conversation to go the way she wanted it to, to talk of their future together, with no more wimpy fear-based excuses from either of them. But then again, if Brian really thought it was best for them to stop before they got started, she would let him go this time. You couldn’t force a man to love you no matter how much you loved him.

  Loved him. That did indeed sum it up—and had for some time, she realized, now that she was letting herself feel everything and hope for everything. She loved him!

  She took a deep breath, inhaling the earthy scent of warm, recently drenched, growing things all around her, and forced herself to meet Brian’s eyes. They were a sun kissed sea blue today, and they shone with . . . the same emotions she was suddenly radiating. Her next breath came easier and she rubbed her thumbs along his. It was going to be okay. No, it was going to be wonderful. She should’ve known they’d arrive at the same place at the same time. Somehow they always did.

  His words still managed to shock her though.

  “So,” he started. “I was up all night, thinking and thinking, and hoping and hoping. I must’ve told myself a dozen times what you said, to have patience, that it was enough for now to know that we were on the same page about wanting to be together, but I can’t put it off anymore. I want to buy that property and build a life and a home there, but I realized I can’t.”

  “You can’t . . . ” Wait, what? Maybe she was delusional after all—

  Brian’s hands tightened on hers, and he shook his head. “No, no. That came out all wrong. Why can I hardly talk around you sometimes? I’m usually an eloquent speaker. I mean, crap, it’s what I do for a living.”

  Katelyn let him babble, a river of warm assurance running through her. She’d been right the first time. They were at the same place.

  “What I meant to say is, I love you. I’m not joking or flirting or talking hypothetically. And I love Sawyer and Lacey. I knew there was something special about that property and house, but I didn’t realize what it was exactly until you and I were there together. It’s our home. Our safe place. And, if you’ll let me, I will choose to love you all of my days. Together we’ll make a life filled with peace and joy and fun, as much as we have any power to, for as long as we live.”

  Katelyn swallowed hard. She had words, oh so many of them, but they were lost in the tidal wave of joy overtaking her.

  Brian smudged away one of her happy tears, then rubbed his salty thumb over her bottom lip and bent to kiss her. She closed her eyes—

  “Mom? Mom? Where are you?” Lacey’s voice came from the porch on the other side of the cabin.

  “No,” Katelyn moaned. “Usually I love to see them, but seriously?”

  “They do have impeccable timing,” Brian agreed, pulling back with equal reluctance, “a lot like me, perhaps—but I need to get it all out, here and now.”

  There was more?

  He reached into his pocket. “I know we’ve only been friends for five months or so, and we never officially made our relationship anything more until very recently, but now that we know what we want, I don’t want to wait another second.”

  A simple silver band lay in his palm, glowing in a golden ray of sun that danced through the veil of branches overhead.
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br />   “Mom?” Sawyer’s voice this time.

  “Mom!” Lacey again—but at least, from the sounds of it, they were both still on the porch. It was possibly the silliest and least romantic backdrop for a proposal in the world. Katelyn adored it.

  “Yes, Brian, yes. And thank you.”

  He laughed. “Thank you?”

  She could only nod mistily. That’s how Brian Archer always made her feel: so thankful, so grateful. Because he existed. Because he was hers.

  And then he was cupping her face, pressing his lips to hers, and—

  “Oh, gross! Are you guys kissing?” The horror in Lacey’s voice made Katelyn chuckle, even as she groaned.

  The kids couldn’t have been too put off by the public display of affection, however, because they scrambled onto the swing, wedging themselves in on either side of Brian and Katelyn.

  “To be continued then?” Brian whispered against Katelyn’s hair, always such a good sport.

  “You know it,” Katelyn whispered back.

  “Continue what?” Lacey asked.

  Brian pushed the ground with one of his long legs and the swing swayed to life, fast enough to be fun, smooth enough to not be scary. “Continue . . . everything!” he said.

  For some reason his silly answer delighted Sawyer and Lacey as much as it did Katelyn. She and her—their—kids giggled and cheered, and Katelyn wondered, half seriously, if a person’s heart could explode with joy.

  Epilogue

  Katelyn stepped out of Spring cabin, leaving the door ajar so she would hear Sawyer and Lacey if they stirred. She looked up at the skinny building that had been her sanctuary for all these months, her own lighthouse. Then she strolled the narrow deck, inhaling fully, deeply.

  The air was already warm, despite the early hour, and the sky was the kind of blue that made you feel like only good things were possible. And though Katelyn knew she was only minutes away from the other cabins, she still felt like the sole inhabitant of an enchanted world.

  Spring was long, long gone and summer was in its full glory. Everywhere she looked there were bright, beautiful blooms and verdant testaments to life, growth, and change.

  From the wooden bench beside her cabin’s door, overflowing with the kids’ damp, stinky sneakers and fishing rods they’d cajoled her to buy, to the waxy leafed, red berried holly bushes beside the porch, to the fairy carpet of impossible to keep down pansies, everything whispered that life was beautiful—or could be.

  Katelyn descended the three steps from the porch to the ground, savoring the warm sunshine on her bare limbs. It felt full of the promise that no matter what happened, how cold a winter was or how much rain poured down, eventually the sun would reign in full force again.

  A now familiar feeling welled up in her. Hope. She walked a few more steps, still in awe of the massive cedar trees nearby, standing tall and strong, as if bearing witness to her new life. She was going to miss this place, and she was beyond excited that her, their, new home was just a meandering trail away.

  Knowing she was safe from view, she dropped the notebook she had jotted her most recent checklist into, lifted her arms and spun in a slow joyous circle.

  Steve wasn’t her direct problem anymore; he had received significant jail time. Her car, not that it was as big a worry now anyway, had merely needed to have its injectors cleaned. Since Callum had kindly helped Brian do that, she’d had no more problems starting it or keeping it going. Jayda had apologized, saying she overreacted because of the fright and knew full well that Steve’s attack wasn’t Katelyn’s fault. She’d pleaded for her to return to work, and Katelyn had agreed, but only to part-time. She wanted to do her own sewing and have lots of time to nest. She would keep persevering. But best of all, so best of all she could hardly take it in sometimes, she, Brian, Sawyer, and Lacey would be a family. Together they’d create a safe, joy filled home, a place to live and grow and love—

  Two muscular arms wrapped around her from behind and pulled her against a firm chest.

  Katelyn shrieked. “You’re not supposed to see me yet! It’s bad luck.”

  Brian nuzzled her neck. “I had to. I couldn’t wait until the ceremony. It’s hours away. And I promise there will be no bad luck, only fun and adventure and trails we tackle together.”

  Katelyn turned into Brian’s embrace, so she could look him in the face. As ever, his closeness made her heart race. Would she ever stop responding to him this way? She doubted it.

  “You make it awfully hard not to be madly in love with you,” she said.

  He winked. “Ah, good. My malevolent plan is working.”

  “Oh, it is, is it?”

  “Yes—and lest you have any thoughts to the contrary, I have a few strategies to keep it iron clad from here to eternity.”

  “Strategies, hey?”

  Brian didn’t answer with words. Instead he lowered his head and took her mouth in a soft, then deepening, increasingly passionate kiss. His fingers played beneath the hem of her shirt, tracing slow sensuous patterns across the sensitive skin of her lower back. She was breathless when they broke apart.

  “Hm,” she said. “I think your, er, strategies will be very effective.”

  Brian grinned. “If you like my strategies, just wait till you see my techniques.”

  Katelyn laughed, but felt almost weepy with happiness. How could this—how could he—be real? She smiled up at him. “Thank you.”

  “No,” he replied seriously, “thank you.”

  Hand in hand, they headed back to Spring cabin to wake the kids and start the day that would kick off the rest of their run together.

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you so much for spending time with Brian and Katelyn. I hoped you enjoyed Hook, Line & Sinker immensely and that you’ll visit River’s Sigh B & B again soon. If the series is new to you, please check out the other books, Wedding Bands, Hooked, One to Keep, and Spoons.

  I’d love to connect with you, so please visit www.evbishop.com, sign up for my newsletter, find me on Facebook or follow my Tweets (Ev_Bishop). On a similar note, reviews really help authors. If you’d be so kind as to leave a rating and a few words on GoodReads, your blog, Facebook, or anywhere else you hang out when your nose isn’t in a book, I’d be thrilled! Thank you.

  Wishing you love, laughter and great reads,

  Need another River’s Sigh B & B getaway right away? Read on for a sneak preview of SILVER BELLS, available now!

  Chapter 1

  Bryn checked the road behind her in both side mirrors, then glanced in her rearview. Nothing but darkness beneath a churning blizzard of white. The view ahead was similarly void, but instead of streaming away from her in frantic billowing swirls, the heavy snow pushed toward her windshield in precise, mesmerizing lines. It reminded her of the opening crawl in the original Star Wars movie. She half-expected yellow lettering to appear. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

  Bryn’s head bobbed—and the movement jolted her awake. She blinked hard and jerked the wheel, pulling her car back into what she hoped was her lane, though the centerline was impossible to see. Shoot. This was no good. Steve, who was curled into a ball on the passenger seat, lifted his head and whined.

  “I know, baby, I know. We’re almost there.” She wanted to give the little terrier’s ears a reassuring scratch, but couldn’t risk taking her concentration off the road again.

  The problem was, they weren’t close enough to there yet. She hadn’t made a hotel booking for Greenridge because she’d originally planned to push straight through, but even if she had, the small town was thirty to forty minutes away. Rupert, her destination, was three hours. The weather and road conditions had seriously slowed her progress.

  Her Corolla’s belly caught a thick ridge of ice and careened toward the snowbank on the highway’s shoulder. Bryn fought the natural impulse to hit the brakes, knowing that would make the slide worse. In the nick of time, her wheels found purchase on the nearly indiscernible road. There was no good ch
oice. She couldn’t go any faster; the roads were too treacherous—but she couldn’t go much slower either or her vehicle wouldn’t have the power needed to push through the ever-deepening snow.

  She turned off the old CD of Christmas tunes that had been crooning away the past hour and clicked the radio on, letting it search for the local station. A croak of broken voices and static met her ear. Rats. She was still out of the radio station’s range.

  A blast of wind slammed the side of her car and the whole vehicle shuddered. A snow-covered sign, marking what looked like a small rest area, appeared briefly, then was lost to the whirling white and deep shadows. It was increasingly impossible to see her surroundings. The clock on her dashboard read 8:14 p.m., but the sky was so dark and the traffic so sparse it seemed more like 2:00 a.m.

  If her car kept high-centering on the unplowed highway—and if another vehicle happened by when she was out of control—it would spell disaster. Bryn decided to take the sign as a sign and turned on her signal light.

  The rest area was to her immediate left now. She shoulder-checked yet again and pulled over as far as she could, noting with mild curiosity that the small clearing seemed to narrow at one end and become a one-lane road that wound away into nothingness.

  She debated turning her four-way flashers on, but decided against it. She didn’t want to attract attention to herself alone in the night. This way, if anyone passing by on the highway did happen to spot her dark vehicle, they’d just think some smart person had abandoned his or her car until the roads cleared.

  She unclicked her seatbelt and reached into the backseat to retrieve her bulky winter coat from where it lay covering a pile of wrapped Christmas gifts and seasonal goodies. She also had a blanket, a candle and a lighter, water and nuts, and dog food. She’d wait until the storm lightened, dawn arrived and/or a plow truck came by, whichever came first. You can never be too prepared was her motto—something she found ironic, seeing as despite all her preparations for life, the things she wanted most seemed to allude her.