Dreaming of You and Me

by Kristy Tate

  Table of Contents

  Dreaming of You and Me | By Kristy Tate | When you find the man of your dreams...

  Dreaming of You and Me

  Chapter 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  The Tick-tock | Between | You and Me | By Kristy Tate | Copyright 2018

  CHAPTER 1

  Dreaming of You and Me

  By Kristy Tate

  When you find the man of your dreams...

  Nora Tomas’s search for her birth mother brings her to Canterbury Academy. Getting a job is easy. Confiding in the school’s owner, Irena Rowlings, is not. Once Nora meets Irena’s son, Cole, the decision becomes even more complicated. Cole is literally the man of Nora’s nightly dreams, but dating him could bring disaster. She struggles to remain friendly yet distant until she can uncover the mystery of her birth.

  Cole is drawn to Nora even though he’s certain she harbors secrets. What he fails to understand is how those secrets will change his world, for better or for worse.

  USA Today bestselling author Kristy Tate returns with another clean and wholesome romance that will be sure to warm the hearts of Hallmark movie fans. If you like sweet romances with a touch of magical realism, be sure and pick up your copy of Dreaming of You and Me today.

  Dreaming of You and Me is the second book in the Canterbury Romance Series, but all books in the series can be read independently.

  Dreaming of You and Me

  Copyright 2018 Kristy Tate

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

  I CAN'T REMEMBER THE first time I had this dream. So long ago, it seems a part of me, or a part of my collective history, more memory than dream. The interesting thing is I know I was a child when the visions first began, and I must have been a child, but the starring roles, myself and an unknown boy, aged as I grew in my real life. There we are on the same river bank, the shimmery sun—as eternal as the earth—buttercups and daffodils dot the lawn beneath our feet. A fluffy, black and white dog sits beside us. We talk about the adventure before us. "What if I get lost?" I ask the boy. "I'll find you," he replies, and I'm comforted because I believe him. He is incapable of lying. He is to leave before me but takes nothing with him. I watch him cross the river. He disappears before he reaches the other side, and other than the dog, I am alone, already lost, even though I have yet to start my own adventure.

  From Nora's Dream Journal

  Chapter 1

  Nora had known this day would be hard, but she hadn’t thought it would be this hard. She stepped out onto the patio, away from the noisy party, to watch the gulls wheel and cry over the harbor. Boats bobbed against the moorings. Her parents’ newly purchased yacht, The Dream Catcher, floated nearby.

  This was supposed to be a happy occasion for them—her dad’s retirement. She couldn’t ruin it for them, could she? But she had to know. She couldn’t just let them sail away for six months while curiosity burned in her belly like cheap whiskey. Could she?

  “What are you doing out here, sweetie?” Crystal Menlow, her mom’s best friend, stepped through the French doors that separated Nora from the party’s laughter and music. “Hiding?”

  Yes, but probably not for the reason Crystal suspected. Nora gave Crystal a bleak smile.

  Crystal wrapped her arm around Nora’s waist and pulled her into a sideways hug. The older woman felt small and brittle like a collection of dry bones. Her lacquered hair smelled of chemicals and a hint of alcohol clung to her breath.

  “It was hard for me to attend social gatherings after Clyde and I split up, but—” she sighed and brushed a loose curl off Nora’s forehead— “you’ll get used to it, I promise. Do you miss the dirty little rat fink?” Crystal’s smile softened her words.

  Nora nodded. “I do. I’m trying to be understanding, but...”

  “Where is he now?”

  “San Francisco, with Teddy... That’s his lover’s name.”

  “Sounds like a bear.”

  “And he totally fits his name, too.” Nora still couldn’t believe that Blake had left her...and for a man who looked like he’d just lumbered out of the woods in search of a picnic basket. Nora sniffed, wiped her hand under her nose, and looked back out at the boats. “Crystal, you’ve been friends with my mom for a really long time.”

  “Nearly thirty years.”

  Ah, then she would know...

  “And your father for even longer. We worked at the same firm back when I thought I was a hot shot in a power suit.”

  Nora grinned. “You’re still a hot shot.”

  It still surprised Nora that loud, forceful Crystal and her quiet, reserved mom were acquaintances, let alone best friends. How had that happened? But at the moment, she was wondering how a lot of things had ever happened.

  “It’s not Blake, is it?” Crystal studied Nora, giving Nora her uncomfortable feeling of being read like a laundry list.

  “It’s Blake,” Nora lied.

  “But there’s something else, isn’t there?”

  Nora glanced at her parents through the window. The dying sun reflected off the glass, making the party look shimmery but blurry. It seemed apt. Her parents had often seemed glittery but insubstantial. Not quite real.

  Everyone’s been lying to me, Nora thought. Anger stiffened her spine. “Tell me about 1991.”

  Crystal looked surprised. “What do you want to know? You were there, weren’t you? Big hair? Shoulder pads? A bunch of Madonna wannabes?”

  “I was born in 1991.” The hardness in Nora’s voice surprised even herself.

  She watched the comprehension dawn on Crystal’s face. The older woman took Nora’s arm in a gentle but firm grasp. “Maybe we should go for a walk.”

  Neither of them was wearing walking shoes, but Crystal led the way down the steps of the Shore Cliff Country Club’s patio to the marina’s floating dock.

  “What do you want to know about 1991?” Crystal asked when they were safely away from the party and any of its revelers.

  “I want to know why there’re photographs of my mother looking—as always—rail thin, days before my birth.”

  Crystal sniffed and rubbed her nose. “And where did you see those?”

  “Tom Thacker brought an album.”

  “And do your parents know?”

  “Know what?” Nora practically exploded. Her curiosity had turned into a raging animal t
hat demanded satisfaction.

  “For the record, I never agreed with your parents’ decision,” Crystal said.

  “To do what?”

  Crystal slid her a glance. “To keep your birth mother a secret.”

  “Birth mother?” Nora leaned against the rail as her knees gave. “My whole life is a lie,” she breathed. First her husband and now her parents? Fantastic.

  “Not everything, no,” Crystal said, worry etching the lines around her eyes. “Your parents adore you.”

  “I’m adopted...?”

  “Well, sort of,” Crystal said.

  “What does that mean? Either I’m adopted or I’m not.” Nora’s thoughts spun. Everyone told her she looked just like her dad because she did. They were both tall and blond, with fair skin and pale blue eyes, while her mother was small, dark, and impish. Her family consisted of just the three of them. No grandparents, aunts, uncles or cousins. The three musketeers, her mom called them...and now she didn’t even have them. Or did she? “What happened?” Nora demanded.

  “Sweetie, this is a conversation you should have with your parents.”

  Nora pointed a trembling finger at The Dream Catcher. “You know as well as I do that at any moment the people I thought were my mom and dad are about to sail away! For six months!”

  “Darling, don’t,” Crystal said in her courtroom voice. “You’re upsetting yourself, and you’d undoubtedly cause your parents an enormous amount of embarrassment and pain if anyone overheard you.”

  “And my failed marriage has already embarrassed them,” Nora said bitterly.

  “No one’s blaming you for Blake’s...change of heart.”

  Nora swallowed and tried to tamp down her anger. “What happened?” she repeated.

  Crystal pinched her lips together and met Nora’s glare.

  Nora pointed her finger at Crystal’s bony chest. “If you don’t tell me right now, I’m going to go in there and confront my—”

  “Just stop.” Crystal took Nora’s hand and interlaced their fingers. “I’ll try to tell you what I know. But keep in mind, I don’t know everything.”

  And for Crystal to admit that she didn’t know everything so surprised Nora and that she fell silent. For a moment, the sound of the waves lapping the moorings and the cry of seagulls filled the air. “You are not your mother’s child.”

  “What?” That didn’t even make sense. And yet, given her relationship with her mom, it sort of did.

  Crystal nodded and gazed out over the water. “Your father had an affair, and you are the result.”

  “I don’t believe you.” The words choked in the back of Nora’s throat.

  Crystal pinned her with a steely gaze. “Really?”

  Nora flinched. “So, do you know who my birth mother is?” The words came out as a whisper.

  “No, but I have an idea,” Crystal said with a speculative glint in her eye. “Let me do some subtle investigating, and I’ll get back to you.” Her eyes narrowed. “You know, if I were you, I would be dying to confront your parents, but I really don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  On a distant pier, the cheer of a small crowd rose as The Dream Catcher pulled into the harbor.

  Ignoring Crystal’s warning, Nora ran. After a few faltering steps in her high heels, she pulled off her shoes. “Mom! Dad! Don’t go!”

  Her parents, too far away to hear, waved.

  Nora cupped her hands and shouted, “Stop! Wait!”

  Her dad lifted his hand to his forehead and gave her a salute.

  Nora fumbled for her purse, but then remembered she had left it in the club. With tears streaming down her face, she pounded down the boardwalk, skittering around the others on the dock. Inside the club, she scanned the tables, looking for her purse. Where had she left it? How could she have been so careless? She’d been so shaken and confused when she’d seen the photographs... She spotted the offending albums on the table next to the partially eaten sheet cake, half-empty wine bottles, and goblets smudged with lipstick. Beside the album lay her purse.

  Relief whooshed through her. She scooped up her bag and knew immediately something was wrong. It was too light. Even before opening it, she knew it would be empty. Her money, her credit cards, her phone...like her parents and Blake, they were all gone.

  SHE FELT HIS GAZE UPON her. Slowly, she turned, and quickly her heart accelerated. Tall, blue-eyed, sun-kissed blond, he looked like he should be carrying a surfboard instead of a stethoscope. He strode toward her, and she backed away—

  Cole Rowling tore himself away from his tablet when his phone buzzed with an incoming call. He smiled as he answered. “Hey, Mom, where are you today?”

  “Mexico—so much adventure! I can’t wait to tell you about it, but that’s not why I called.”

  Only his mom would spend her much-deserved vacations rebuilding houses in earthquake-ravaged countries.

  “We have a new applicant for the English position,” she began.

  “I’m reading her novel now. Did you know that she self-published?” Cole stole another glance at his tablet.

  “What do you think?”

  “Why? I thought we’d settled on Turner Lawson.” Cole longed to end the conversation so he could return to the novel.

  “I’ve had a change of heart.”

  “What? Why? This applicant...she has an impressive academic and career background but absolutely no teaching experience.”

  “Are there other applicants?”

  “Well, yes. But none of them can match Lawson.”

  “Forget Lawson. Tell me about Nora Tomas.”

  Cole shuffled through the pile of resumes and pulled out Nora’s. Just this morning, he had thought he should cancel the interview, but then he’d ended up buying her book instead. He didn’t have any regrets. “Maybe you should come home,” Cole said. “I thought it was decided...”

  “Lawson is no longer a consideration.” She sounded surprisingly firm.

  “Okay,” he said slowly. “You want to tell me about what’s going on?”

  His mom cleared her throat and launched into a description of her work with Habitat Rescue. Cole listened, but after a while, his thoughts drifted back to the novel on his tablet. He had only an hour until his interview with Nora Tomas. He hoped she was as adorable as her book.

  COLE ROWLING GAZED at the pale blonde sitting across from him. She looked nothing like any president of a multi-million-dollar company he’d ever met. “Tell me, Ms. Tomas, why would you leave your position at Apex to teach at Canterbury?”

  She blinked. She had amazing light blue eyes, so translucent they reminded him of opals. “I studied English literature in college.”

  Cole tore his gaze from hers to glance back at her resume. “I see that. But then you went to Horn for your MBA.”

  “Yes, but that was my parents’ idea. Literature was my first love.” She twisted her hands in her lap. A pink flush stained her cheeks. She looked nervous but excited.

  “We’re a small, private school. You must understand we can’t even come close to matching your previous salary.”

  Ms. Tomas nodded. “I didn’t expect you to.”

  He frowned at her and tapped his fingers on his desk. “You self-published romance novels a few years ago.”

  She looked pleased and for just a moment, she stopped twisting her hands. “Yes. It was...fun.”

  “Fun?”

  “I was bored.”

  “You find running a multi-million-dollar company boring?”

  She rolled her eyes. “You have no idea. All those suits and ties worrying about falling profit margins.”

  He laughed. “A lot of powerful suits and ties send their daughters to Canterbury.”

  “I know. But I also know you take a handful of scholarship children as well...girls who are deserving of a second chance, a new start.” Her voice warmed with passion. “I admire that.” She recited the school’s mission statement. “Compassion coupled with edification. Canterbury cares.”
/>
  Cole flushed with her words. He stared at her as if seeing her for the first time. She wasn’t just an applicant for a job. She was something more. Something integral...but to what?

  “I want to be a part of that,” she added.

  Flustered more by his reaction than by her, Cole stood and held out his hand. “I h-have more candidates,” he stuttered.

  “I understand,” she said, taking his hand.

  “I’ll get back to you.” Her hand felt small and soft in his own. Heat radiated up his arm.

  “I’ll look forward to hearing from you.”

  Cole dropped her hand. “You aren’t...” He cleared his throat. “You would need to work on getting your teaching credentials.”

  “I understand.”

  But he didn’t think she did, because he certainly didn’t.

  THIS IS MY BROTHER, Nora thought, holding his hand a little longer than necessary and liking the way his flesh made her tingle as if her body recognized their similar DNA. If she made it to the second interview, she would probably get to meet her mother. Her real mother. A guilty sense of betrayal flashed through her which she tried to quell but couldn’t ignore.

  Dr. Rowling yammered about credentials, the school’s reputation, and class size, but all Nora could think about was meeting her mom. It had been all she could think about for the last two weeks—ever since Crystal had dropped her bombshell.

  “Tell me, does Apex know of your decision to leave?”

  “I actually left the company about a year ago,” she told him.

  He raised his eyebrow, waiting.

  “Apex was my husband’s—” She reddened and corrected herself, “my ex-husband’s baby. It still is. Well, actually, he also has another baby now.” A large, hairy one. “I still collect a salary, but I’m no longer involved. It was a mutual decision.”

  “So you don’t need this position.”

  “Oh, but I do. Maybe not financially, but not all needs are financial. Wouldn’t you agree?” He had the warmest eyes. Nothing like her own, but green with flecks of brown that matched his thick, wavy hair. She had never had a sibling before. She flashed him a smile and decided that even if she didn’t get the job—and she really hoped she would—just meeting her brother had made the long drive to Oak Hollow worthwhile.