“Come on, Grant.” Garrett leaned back in his chair and pushed his plate away. Aware that some delicious dessert would follow dinner, he wanted to leave room for whatever sweet treat Caterina created. “What needs to happen for you to take a chance on Miss Campanelli? It’s more than obvious you think she’s a good cook.”
“I will concede her ability to cook. More than ability, actually. There is something almost… ethereal about her cooking.” Grant looked at Garrett then Caterina. “However, just because she can cook doesn’t mean she can manage a business.”
“But I can, Mr. Hill. I have experience keeping books, purchasing product, managing staff,” Caterina blurted before realizing that would lead to questions about her past she wasn’t sure she wanted to answer.
“Where did you gain this experience?” Grant asked, studying her curiously. She was quite young to be such an accomplished cook and have the business experience required to make her restaurant a success.
“In a restaurant, of course,” Caterina said with a saucy grin. She batted her long lashes a few times at Grant, hoping to distract him from asking more questions about her work history.
He stared at her across the table, looking for all the world like he’d fallen under some sort of trance or spell.
Kade mumbled something that sounded like bewitched, but that couldn’t be correct and she was determined to ignore him anyway.
“Please, Mr. Hill. If you give me a loan, I promise on my Grandmother Mariella’s grave that I will pay back every cent on time.” Caterina’s big, brown eyes filled with tears as she clasped her hands under her chin in a pose just short of pleading and wholly endearing. “Please?”
“This is completely unorthodox and the investors will have my head if I tell them I was coerced into this by potato dumplings and pork, but I will grant the loan, Miss Campanelli.” Grant noticed Garrett’s attention seemed to linger on something on the counter behind him.
Caterina followed his gaze and jumped to her feet. “Let’s seal the deal with dessert.”
An hour later, after indulging in meringue nests filled with berries and freshly whipped cream, Grant was so full he briefly wondered how he would manage to mount his horse.
After giving Caterina one more interested gaze, he decided the lucky fellow who convinced her to wed would enjoy a rare beauty as well as a woman who made such delicious food, it could bring a grown man to his knees, begging for a taste.
Garrett walked him out the door to the front gate where he’d left his horse and shook his hand. “You won’t be sorry, Grant. If something happens and she can’t make the payment, I’ll cover it.”
“I figured you would, otherwise I wouldn’t have agreed to this. No matter how good she can cook, restaurants are still a risky business.” Grant tried not to groan as he swung into the saddle. “Although, I must say, the way she cooks, along with her beauty and engaging personality, gives her a very distinct advantage. I hope she can make a success of it. Have her come to the bank tomorrow and we’ll finalize the paperwork.”
“Will do.” Garrett waved as Grant rode down the lane toward the road.
Garrett returned to the kitchen and listened as Aundy and Caterina chatted excitedly about the restaurant while Kade nursed a cup of coffee.
“You working tonight?” Garrett filled a cup with the rich brew from the pot on the table and took a seat at the table. He wondered what made Kade so quiet. His friend was usually in good spirits with a stomach full of excellent food.
“Nope. I’ve got the next two days off. Thought I might do a little work around my place. Since you helped install the plumbing in this house, I may enlist you to help me install some in mine after harvest.” Kade’s eyes locked on Caterina’s back as she and Aundy washed the dishes and put away leftover food.
The peacock blue dress she wore accented the highlights in her black hair as well as her very attractive figure.
Watching the bow of her apron bob at the back of her waist, Kade’s gaze traveled downward while his temperature climbed upward.
The way she flirted with Grant, trying to get him to agree to her loan, left him unreasonably angry and jealous.
Envious of the attention she’d lavished on the banker, he frowned and started tapping the spoon sitting near his coffee cup, causing the handle to bounce loudly on the table.
“You okay?” Garrett asked, grabbing the spoon and giving Kade a concerned look.
“Fine. Just fine.” He stood and walked to the door. The more he thought about Caterina trifling with Grant, the angrier and more irrational his thoughts became. He needed to go home before he said or did something he would later regret.
When she noticed Kade at the door, Aundy dried her hands on a dishtowel and crossed the kitchen to give him a hug. “Thank you for coming, Kade. We always enjoy having you.”
He nodded his head, finding it hard to speak with his patience spent and temper simmering. The coquettish look Caterina tossed him over her shoulder nearly pushed him beyond the edge of reason.
“Is something wrong?” Aundy whispered before she stepped back from him.
“No,” Kade answered curtly.
From the tone of his voice, along with the look in his eye, Aundy was sure something upset Kade, and the most likely culprit was their lovely houseguest.
Aundy grabbed Garrett’s hand and asked him to help her with something in the garden, wanting to give Kade a moment alone with Caterina. Garrett glanced at his friend as he escorted Aundy out the back door, leaving Kade and Caterina staring at each other.
“Do you always behave so deplorably?” Caterina asked, enjoying her turn to bait Kade. He so often said something to stir her temper. She was in such a fine mood after the banker agreed to her loan, she didn’t think there was a single thing the deputy could do or say to upset her.
“I don’t behave deplorably,” Kade grumbled, cocking a hip as he leaned against the counter. “You, however, behaved like a tavern wench, casting your wiles on Grant until he didn’t know up from down. Is that how the women in your family go about getting what they want?”
Caterina almost dropped the plate she dried on the floor and only managed to keep it from shattering by grasping the edge at the last second. Carefully setting it down on the counter, she narrowed her gaze and tightened her lips into a thin line.
“What? Don’t look at me like that when I’m only telling you what I saw. You flirted and teased, batted those long eyelashes of yours, and poured on the charm until he would have done anything you asked.” Kade wished he could reel in the words as quick as he’d said them.
Instead of apologizing and begging her forgiveness, he reverted to a tactic he’d used many times to appear aloof and disinterested. He took out his pocketknife and began picking at his fingernails. Unable to keep from further goading her, he continued his taunting while he focused on his knife blade. “Seems to me you were trying to sell more than the idea of your restaurant.”
He almost sliced through his finger when a wet dishtowel caught him in the face.
“How could you? How could you say such things to me?” Caterina stamped her foot as she glared at him, seething. Blooms of vibrant pink color filled each of her cheeks and snapping, angry sparks shot from her expressive eyes.
“You…you…bully!” Caterina looked around for something else to throw at him that wouldn’t break. She picked up a handful of the cutlery she’d just finished washing then started flinging spoons and forks his direction.
Too shocked by her actions to move immediately, a fork poked his hand before Kade shoved his knife into his pocket and lifted one of the chairs at the table. He held it in front of him trying to block the flying silverware. He was grateful Aundy had already dried the knives and put them away.
“Now, Cat, you need to calm down,” Kade said soothingly. He had plenty of practice handling hysterical females.
Only the female across the room didn’t look hysterical. Fuming and furious, definitely, but not hysterical.
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br /> “Don’t you ‘now, Cat’ me, you beast,” Caterina yelled, pointing her finger at Kade. “How dare you! How dare you speak so vilely, you disgusting, rotten…”
Kade wasn’t sure what else she called him as she launched into a string of impressive Italian words, accented by the waving of her hands and another stamping of her foot. Caterina called Kade more names in Italian while she continued to look for something else to throw at him.
She spied a cast-iron skillet, picked it up like a club, and stalked his direction.
“Caterina, be reasonable.” Kade dropped the chair and held his hands up in front of him. “Put that thing down.”
“No, you arrogant, boorish pig!” Caterina continued her advance.
“I mean it, Cat, put that down before you hurt someone.” He straightened to his full impressive height and gave her a glare that had stopped more than one hardened criminal in his tracks.
It had no affect on the incensed woman. She swung back the skillet as if she was going to hit him so he did the first thing that came to mind.
Roughly yanking her to him, he pinned her arms to her sides. Adrenaline pumped through his veins in a wild, overwhelming rush when her chest heaved against his. Not stopping to think about what he did, he took her mouth in a kiss that was anything but tender.
Caterina struggled against him, kicking his shin and narrowly missing his foot as she dropped the skillet to the floor. Her fists beat against his chest in a futile effort then stopped.
Kade was uncertain if the sound she made was a whimper of protest or a moan of pleasure until her fingers trailed up his arms. He lifted her off the floor, holding her closer as her hands encircled the back of his neck and she melded their lips together.
As quickly as she surrendered, she jerked away, out of the circle of his arms. Mustering all her strength, she gave him a shove that sent him staggering backward into the counter.
She stepped back and grasped the edge of the sink for support as tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. Kade insulted her, treated her as though she was the type of woman he’d accused her of being.
“I thought you were my friend. Apparently, I mean nothing more to you than…” Her voice caught on her tears and she swallowed twice before she could speak. “Don’t you ever, ever kiss me again!”
Stunned by both her words and tears, Kade regretted allowing his jealousy to overtake his good sense. He knew Caterina had done nothing wrong. It wasn’t her fault Grant practically licked his plate and drooled over his dinner. What pushed him beyond the point of reason was the way Grant looked at her when he left, as if she was one more delectable morsel he’d like to devour.
“I am your friend.” Kade wished he could take back the words spoken in anger, the kiss taken in desperation. The hurt in her eyes made his chest constrict with pain.
“Beh,” she said, flicking her fingers dismissively while glaring at him contemptuously. “I thought much better of you, but you are no different than all the rest.”
“The rest? Of who?”
“Never mind, you… you… despicable skunk.” Caterina turned around so he wouldn’t see the torrent of tears she couldn’t stop. She’d never felt so betrayed or alone, even after what Luigi had done to her. She knew what Luigi was but Kade had been so nice and charming, so kind and fun, she never expected him to say the things he’d just said, to treat her like a… loose woman. “If you set out to make me feel stupid and… and wanton, then you’ve more than accomplished your objective.”
Sobs wracked over her shoulders and anger mixed with humiliation coursed through her. She tensed as Kade pulled her back against his solid chest. She wanted to hurt him as deeply as he’d just hurt her.
Instead, she stood stiff and tormented by her longing for his affection as he kissed the top of her head, her temple, her wet cheek, while rubbing his hands soothingly up and down her arms.
He placed his lips near her ear and a shiver raced through her. What he would have said was lost when a blur of blond fury grabbed his arm and shoved him away from Caterina.
He’d seen Aundy angry a few times, but tonight she looked like a mama bear protecting a cub.
“Kade Rawlings, I do believe you’ve overstayed your visit tonight. Get out of my kitchen and don’t come back until you can keep a civil tongue in your head and apologize to Caterina for whatever it is you’ve done.” Aundy wrapped one arm around the sobbing girl while using the other to point in the direction of the door.
“But, Aundy, I…”
“Out! Before I take that skillet to you myself.” Aundy glanced down to where the skillet lay on the floor among the scattered forks and spoons.
Kade tipped his head at Aundy, clenched his jaw, and strode out the door. Garrett called to him from near the barn. Rather than going to visit with his friend before heading home, as he normally would do, he jumped on Pete and raced down the lane toward the road.
On the edge of town, he passed Grant, kicking a cloud of dust into the banker’s face with a great deal more satisfaction than he should have felt. He didn’t see the confused look on Grant’s face or hear the friendly greeting the man called out to him.
Unfit company for anyone, he went home and brushed his horse before turning him out to pasture.
Ike leaned against him, wanting food and attention, and Kade realized he’d forgotten to bring the dog a bone.
That feisty sharp-tongued girl had him so rattled, he couldn’t even think straight.
As he dug through his cupboards and the icebox, he found some dry biscuits he covered in leftover gravy and potatoes to feed Ike.
Kade sank down onto a kitchen chair, removed his hat then rested his head on his crossed arms at the table.
Grant was a good man, an honest banker, and someone Kade had always considered a friend. After spending one evening watching him around Caterina, Kade now wanted to beat the stuffing out of him. For no reason.
It wasn’t the banker’s fault he couldn’t stop staring at Caterina. Between her enchanting beauty, seductive voice, and ability to work magic and love into her food, he couldn’t blame the man if he was half in love with the woman.
He wanted to tell Grant to leave her alone, that she was his, and no one else would be sampling her mouth-watering food or her teasing smiles.
Only she could never be his, never belong to him, no matter how much he was beginning to wish it could be so.
Angry and jealous, Kade recalled every mean, unkind thing he said to Caterina. He swiped a hand over his face, trying to blot out the memory. She’d be angry with him for the rest of forever, and had every right to feel that way.
The thought of never again tasting her kisses, inhaling her exotic scent, or hearing the sound of her voice say his name made him groan in agony. He felt Ike bump his leg and raised his head to look at the dog staring at him with sad, soulful eyes.
“Yeah, boy, I’ve done it this time, for sure.”
The dog woofed and shook his head.
If Kade didn’t know better, he’d think Ike was disappointed in him, too.
Chapter Ten
Standing on Garrett and Aundy’s front porch, Kade knocked again and waited. Listening, he didn’t hear the sound of footsteps or the chatter of Aundy and Caterina filling the house.
Odd that he would find no one home, he wondered if the girls visited Nora at the ranch house. Perhaps he’d missed seeing them in town.
Walking around to the kitchen door, he knocked and stuck his head inside. The kitchen, like the rest of the house was quiet. Blue curtains fluttered over the sink in the air stirred from the open window and the scent of roses drifted to him from a bowl of flowers on the table.
He left the telegram he’d delivered for Aundy next to the flowers, went back outside, and started in the direction of the bunkhouse to see if Li Hong knew where he Aundy had gone.
Partway across the barnyard, the breeze carried feminine voices his direction. Deliberately blocking out the other sounds around him, he list
ened for the soft, womanly tones and heard them again, toward the creek. Kade followed the light sound of girlish laughter and spied the two women picking cherries in a tree loaded with ripe fruit.
So engrossed in their labors and visiting, neither Aundy or Caterina heard him approach until he stood at the base of the tree they had somehow managed to climb to reach the juiciest fruit that couldn’t be taken from the ground. He observed there didn’t seem to be a ladder around and wondered how they managed to climb so high in the tree.
“I’ve never seen two such lovely birds in a cherry tree before,” Kade teased, looking upward with a roguish grin on his tan face.
Both girls glanced down at him and while Caterina frowned, Aundy smiled.
“Kade! How nice to see you. It’s been a while since you’ve been around.” Aundy started her descent from the tree. When she got close enough he could reach her, Kade held out a steadying hand as she jumped to the ground.
“It’s nice to see you, too.” He offered her a cautious hug, mindful of her juice stained hands and apron, and the fact he was probably still in trouble for his bad behavior.
He hadn’t been back since the night she chased him out of the house last week. Instead of immediately apologizing to Caterina, like he knew he should have, he’d tried to ignore the situation, stewing in his anger and jealousy.
Garrett stopped by the sheriff’s office to talk to him a few days ago, saying Caterina was still hopping mad. Any mention of his name sent her off in a torrent of Italian while she flung her hands around and stamped her foot irately. His friend suggested he might want to make things right with the girl sooner rather than later. Garrett encouraged him to quit sulking and beg for her forgiveness.
Kade missed his friends, the good food he ate at their table, and the opportunity to see Caterina. He made plans to visit Nash’s Folly and apologize. He’d let the situation fester far too long as it was.
On his way to the ranch through town to head out to the ranch, the telegraph operator flagged him down with a telegram for Aundy and asked if he would deliver it.
Caterina: A Sweet Western Historical Romance Pendleton Petyticoats Book 2 Page 12
