by Candis Terry
“Why the gloomy face?” James asked. “I’d have thought with business booming you’d be overjoyed enough to accept a date.”
Kate glanced around the bustling shop, then looked back at James. “Business has been great.”
He shrugged. “I figured it would with all the folks Ryan has been boasting to about the new menu.”
“Matt?”
“Yeah, he’s promoting this place like he owns stock or something.”
Go figure. The man wanted nothing to do with her yet he’d brag about her treats to send people to her door. It might not have been quite a shocker when he’d told her she was too late. No, make that way too effing late. If she’d figured things out and spoken up sooner, she wouldn’t have had to hear those words coming from his gorgeous mouth. Her fault. Not his.
That night after he’d taken her home, she stopped playing games with herself. She knew it didn’t matter if she walked away from her business or if someone took it away. She simply didn’t care anymore. She’d built a life here. She loved this town. She loved her cakes. And she loved Matt Ryan. Not necessarily in that order.
She knew she was a good person, most days, and she deserved to be loved as much as anybody else. It was long past time she did something about it. And for once, she planned to make her intentions perfectly clear. Scratch that. Matt didn’t like the word plan. Too iffy. She’d definitely make her intentions clear.
“Well, thank him for me, will you?” she told James.
“Sure thing.” He grinned and a dimple appeared deep in his right cheek. “Now about that date?”
“Two tuna subs, no tomato?” she asked, evading the question with a smile.
“I’ll take that as a hell no,” James said. “Sorry, Red, just one order today. Ryan took the day off. Something about an important date.”
“An important date?” Please Deputy Harley, tell me more.
“Yep.” James tucked his hands in his jacket pockets. “I drove by him earlier. He had a woman in the car. Must be serious. That boy rarely takes a day off.”
A woman? Kate’s heart climbed into her throat. Maybe that’s what he’d meant when he’d said she was way too late. He’d agreed his list was stupid, but maybe he’d found someone else. True it had only been a few days since they’d parted but . . . “Well, he is looking for the right woman to marry,” she said.
James’s dark eyes captured her gaze and held. “Yeah. And I think he found her.”
Kate swallowed the jealousy rising like acid in her throat. She grabbed a picnic roll from the tray, shoved the serrated knife through the center, and sawed away like she was Leatherface in Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
The moon floated high above Deer Lick and the Trick or Treaters were winding down their great candy caper. The line at the Grange’s annual haunted house had dwindled and Kate had to juggle her purse and her pimped-out puppy while she unlocked the bakery’s back door. In a hurry to unload the remainder of the Halloween-shaped cookies on the senior center, she’d left her coat behind. The temperature had dipped below thirty degrees and no one in their right mind would be caught outside in a tiny skirt, a thin red hood, and some severely mangled fishnet stockings. Puppy claws were deadly to a good pair of hose—which was not to say the pair on her legs were good to begin with.
She set the pup down inside, closed the door, then did a walk-through to make sure everything was locked down and turned off for the night. As she passed the lunch counter, the pastry box on the shelf below the register caught her eye. She pulled it out, set it on the counter, and lifted the lid.
Edna’s happy pumpkin brownie stared up at her.
How had she managed to screw up so badly? She’d been trying to make amends. Instead she’d sent the poor old woman scurrying away as though she’d been poked with a cattle prod.
Kate closed the lid and sighed. She ran her fingers over the imprinted Sugar Shack logo, then turned and looked down at the pup who was trying to dislodge the green feather from his purple fedora.
If she was going to make her good intentions clear, now was a good time to start.
“Feel like taking a ride?” she asked him.
He responded with a sneeze.
“You sure? We might get the door slammed in our faces.”
Another sneeze. “Okay, but if she turns a fire hose on us, it’s going to be your fault.”
Kate grabbed her coat off the hook and shoved her arms through the sleeves. Then she leaned down and removed the fedora from the pup’s head. “I’ve tortured you enough for one day, little man.” He looked up at her and his tail swept happily across the floor. “Fine, I’ll take off the jacket too. But don’t tell me you didn’t have fun playing dress-up.”
He sneezed, then rubbed a paw over his nose.
“Yeah, that’s what all you dogs say. But deep inside I know you really love it.”
Kate parked her mother’s boat in front of a quaint little cabin with a jack-o-lantern grinning out from the front porch. Smoke curled from the chimney and only a single light glowed from behind the white curtain. She grabbed the box from the backseat and told the pup to stay before she closed the door. He put his paws on the window ledge and whined as she walked up the path to Edna’s front door.
She tugged down her skirt trying for a little more modesty, but nothing would make her look any less slutty in Edna’s eyes. Kate didn’t even know why she bothered. She raised her hand and rapped twice on a door that could use a good coat of wood sealer.
The door swung open and Edna stood there in a poufy pumpkin suit with her hand-dyed orange stockings. On top of her head she wore a green Leprechaun hat. At her feet a strawberry blonde Pekinese yipped and tapped its small feet. Edna held a purple and black bat-shaped bowl half full with packets of plain and peanut M&M’s. Her eyes widened.
“What the hell do you want?” she growled.
“Now is that any way for a pumpkin to talk?” Kate asked and held out the pastry box.
Edna’s faded eyes zeroed in. “What’s that?”
“This is the special treat I made for you. This is the treat I meant to hand you earlier. Not Felicity Houtman’s witch cake.”
Kate’s nerves were grinding as she waited for the door to slam in her face. Instead Edna surprised her by setting the bat bowl on a chair near the door and taking the box from Kate’s hands. Her mother’s dearest friend lifted the lid, looked inside, and for a moment was completely silent. Then she looked up into Kate’s eyes and something passed between them. It wasn’t exactly a truce, but more like someone had come along and sprinkled water on the fire that always sparked between them.
“You made this? Just for me?”
Kate nodded.
A large intake of breath lifted the eyes on Edna’s pumpkin suit. “Well . . . it looks . . .”
Delicious. Please say it looks delicious.
“It looks . . . better than anything your mom ever made for me,” she said as her face crackled with a small smile.
Kate didn’t know why but the compliment Edna Price had just bestowed on her felt better than any red carpet mention she’d ever received. “Thank you, Mrs. Price. That means a lot. I’m really very sorry about the mix-up earlier.” Kate glanced at a trio of teenaged witches skipping down the sidewalk. “Could I . . . um . . . talk to you a minute?”
“About?”
“My mother. Her heart. And a few things that might completely surprise you.”
Edna stepped back. “Why don’t you come on in and have a brownie?”
“Oh. Well . . . I’ve got the puppy in the car and—”
“Well, bring him in. I’ve got some kibble. Skipper won’t mind sharing.”
“Are you sure?”
Edna grinned. “I’ve got hot cocoa too.”
Kate smiled back. Who was she to turn down a double dose of chocolate? “I’ll be right back.”
She trotted down the path as fast as her Loubitan’s would allow her to go and opened the car door. As she reached for the pup, a
rosy glow filled the center of the backseat. Kate drew the pup into her arms and blinked. When she opened her eyes, her mother sat there in her overalls and red plaid shirt. Not a hair had gone askew in the bun on top of her head. She looked exactly the same as she had every time before.
Yet something was different.
“Mom?”
“You’re a good girl, Katherine.”
Kate’s heart skipped.
Her mother gave her a smile and reached out her hand. Kate shifted the pup into her other arm and reached out her hand too. In the center of the Buick their hands met and Kate felt a warm tingle whisper across her palm.
“Can you feel that?”
Kate nodded as tears clogged her throat and stung her eyes. “What is it?”
“A mother’s love, daughter. Even death can’t take that away.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Weeks of preparation had come down to this night. Matt had done everything he could to be successful, which included consulting with an expert on public speaking. He’d even taken a day off work—something he never did—to meet with the woman who’d come here to coach him on his presentation.
Win or lose he was as ready as he would ever be.
With the wind biting at his back, he walked into the Grange. Folding chairs had been set up like a church service was about to commence. He made his way through an audience of a couple hundred residents to take his place at the table set up front near the podium. With the election set for January, he scanned the crowd to see who’d shown up to hear the first sheriff’s candidate debate about to take place between him and Dave Johnson.
Johnson, already seated, wore a tailored suit and a confident smile. Matt had chosen a fresh-from-the-laundry uniform. The same type of uniform he wore every day to protect those sitting in this building. No one would be elected on whether their clothes had a designer label or not. They would be elected on what they were willing and able to do for the community.
Matt noticed those in attendance were a true reflection on Deer Lick—farmers, ranchers, small business owners, parents, and other hard-working citizens interested in the future of their town. Kate’s father, in the middle of the crowd, gave him a smile and a thumb’s-up. From the front row, Buddy Hutchins glared and Matt hoped he wouldn’t have to toss Buddy and his uncle in a cell tonight. James and the rest of Matt’s coworkers who weren’t on duty sat in a group to the side. He felt their support in the collective nodding of heads as he glanced their way. Any qualms he might have had disintegrated.
He glanced over the crowd one more time but knew he was searching in vain. Chances were she’d already skipped town and was dining on champagne in merry old England.
Matt knew he was completely prepared for tonight’s debate. But he’d been completely unprepared for the ravaging ache left in his heart after he’d forced himself to walk away from the woman he loved.
Sheriff Washburn caught him halfway up the aisle and clamped his beefy hand over Matt’s shoulder. The sheriff’s belly strained against the buttons on his shirt and draped over the top of his belt. His brows were gray and bushy. And there was no question why he’d been chosen year after year to play Santa at the Christmas Eve festivities.
“You know where my loyalties lay, Matt. I know you’ve worked hard to learn the ropes.” He chuckled. “And somehow you haven’t managed to hang yourself.”
“Came close a couple of times.”
“Well, we won’t tell anyone about that.” The sheriff smiled. “Just wanted to make sure you were prepared for this. Lots of folks are going to think you’re too young. Too inexperienced.”
Not to mention too unmarried and the son of a drunk. “Don’t worry, sir.” Matt patted the sheriff’s shoulder. “This is only the first of three debates. I’ll reel them in like you did that derby winner last year. Real slow and easy.”
“Atta boy.” The sheriff took a step, then turned back. “And Ryan?”
“Yes, sir?”
“You make sure you’ve got good hooks, because I don’t want Johnson running my town.”
“Yes, sir.”
Matt continued to the podium and extended his hand to Johnson who looked up at him as if this was where the debate started—to be cordial or not. The hesitation gave Matt a burst of confidence. When Johnson finally accepted the handshake, Matt noted that it was weak.
Mayor Remington had been chosen to moderate and once he quieted the crowd, he introduced Matt’s accomplishments and endorsers. Then with a welcoming response from the crowd, the mayor called Matt to the podium.
Matt approached the microphone and knocked the butterflies swarming his stomach aside. The message he needed to deliver was more important than the fact that he had never won a single argument while on the high school debate team. As the public speaking coach had instructed him, he just needed to speak from his heart.
He pulled air into his lungs and looked up.
That’s when she walked in.
And everything turned upside down.
Her shiny hair hung straight down the back of her marshmallow parka. Her boots were silent as she took an empty seat near the back next to Edna Price. When the two women hugged, he couldn’t have been more surprised. Then again, he didn’t figure it would take long for a smart woman like Kate to figure out that Mrs. Price had one of the kindest hearts in the state of Montana. She just had a big bark to go along with it.
When Kate turned her smoky eyes on him, he could feel their intensity all the way across the room. She gave him a smile and a nod of silent encouragement.
She hadn’t run.
She was here.
Matt realized at that moment everything he wanted was in one room. And it was all up for grabs.
“Thank you, everyone, for coming tonight,” he said, clamping his hands on the podium. “Before we get started, I want to thank the women’s auxiliary for putting this debate together and the mayor for offering to moderate. I promise to try not to bore you, but just in case, any of you who want to grab a cup of coffee first, feel free.”
The audience chuckled. Kate’s eyes remained glued on him.
For ten long minutes Matt spoke of working his way from the ground up, his tactics on the budget, and his priorities, which included education on drug and alcohol abuse and adding more patrol to the streets. “I’m very proud of the support and endorsements I’ve received from my fellow deputies as well as the volunteer firefighters. I’m hopeful that the person they choose to lead them will mean something to you. I believe Deer Lick needs a leader who will set the tone. A leader who shares your vision of what Deer Lick can be.” Matt looked over the crowd. His gaze lingered on Kate. “I, for one, know exactly what I want.” Several heartbeats later he glanced over the crowd again. “To keep Deer Lick safe. And I’ll do whatever it takes to meet that goal.”
He received a standing ovation for his efforts, but Matt knew anything could happen in the next couple of months. People were fickle. They wanted to be on the winner’s side. If the polls turned against him, the good people of Deer Lick would jump ship faster than mice with their tails on fire.
“And now,” Matt said, “I’d be happy to answer your questions.”
Audrey Lambert, the Baptist church’s organist asked about his intentions for the devil’s playground. Meaning, would he try to close down the bars? Hank Wilburn wanted to know if Matt intended to ask the mayor for tax increases. And then Buddy Hutchins stood. He gave Matt that same bully sneer he’d used all during high school. Matt hadn’t been intimidated then, nor was he now. Though Buddy despised him, Matt knew he had nothing to hide.
“I got a question for you, Deputy Ryan.”
Though the man basically spat out his name, Matt gave him a polite nod.
“That was a mighty pretty speech you gave there. Full of promises and all.” Then Buddy turned to the audience. “But how is it you plan to accomplish all that when you spend most of your time jumping from bed to bed with the women in this town?”
�
��I’m not sure what you mean, Buddy.”
“Sure you do. I’ve been watching you real close, see. And I lost count of all the women you’ve been hooking up with.”
Anger flashed through his system and Matt took a step toward his lifelong antagonist. Before he could move any further, James was there holding him back.
Buddy turned toward the audience and used that time to throw more dirt on Matt’s career aspirations. “If any of you wondered what was going on behind the papered windows during the renovations of the local bakery, I can tell you that Deputy Ryan took it upon himself to instruct a certain local pastry chef on the finer points of . . . stuffing the donut hole.”
Oh shit. James’s hands dug tighter into Matt’s shirt while Matt’s gaze shot out over the murmurs and gasps and pinpointed Kate by the flush creeping up her creamy complexion. Her eyes darted around the room as she slowly rose from her chair.
When Matt was sure she’d run, she pointed her finger at their accuser.
“Shame on you, Buddy Hutchins. Shame on you for letting your overinflated ego get in the way of common sense. Don’t you think it’s time you moved past a silly high school grudge to what’s really important? Deputy Ryan is willing to put everything on the line to protect the people in this town. What are you doing, Buddy? Drinking the bars dry?”
Buddy’s face turned three angry shades of pink and it took Matt a moment to realize Kate was defending him.
“I know some of you might not think very highly of me,” she said to the crowd, “and that’s okay. But please don’t hold my bad behavior against Deputy Ryan. What can I say? He’s an incredible, healthy, single man who has the right to date or sleep with whom he desires.”
She turned that smoky gaze on Matt and he felt it all the way to the soles of his feet. Then she addressed the housewives and farmers and humble citizens surrounding her. “There shouldn’t be a question in your mind on what’s most important to Matt Ryan—to protect this town and the people in it. The same way he protected my parents when I didn’t have the courage to stay. And I never even thanked him.”
