Sighing, Caitlin put on a skirt and some black tights to keep her legs warm. She’d had the foresight to purchase a nice pair of dressier black boots in addition to the snow boots.
When she walked into the foyer of the Snow Valley Community Church, the organ was playing peaceful and soothing music. Perhaps she did need this. Thinking about life and eternity would give her some perspective. The Savior would also help heal her wounds and bitterness.
She saw some of the women from the sledding party, and Ivy Thomas, the newlywed, gave her a hug. “So happy to see you here!” she whispered. “Welcome!”
“Thanks,” Caitlin returned. Her neck ached as she purposely avoided glancing around at the families and couples surrounding her on the back row. She did not want to accidentally catch Quentin Hudson’s eye.
As soon as the final hymn was sung and the benediction given, she jumped up and headed for the double doors to the parking lot—despite the smell of cinnamon rolls and apple cider coming from the kitchen down the hall.
“Caitlin!” a familiar voice sounded. It was Quentin Hudson. She almost froze in place, but instead pretended not to hear him. She kept walking, letting the glass doors swing closed behind her as her boots crunched on the snow.
His voice tugged at her in more ways than she wanted to think about, but she wasn’t going to let a man hurt her again.
She picked up her pace and practically leaped into her car. When she drove out of the parking lot next to the church cemetery, Caitlin caught a glimpse of Quentin coming to a halt on the sidewalk staring after her as she peeled down the street.
On Monday, she did the grocery shopping for Mrs. Davies who was cleaning the Hidden Lily Guest Suite, the Romantic Skies Room, and the Sagebrush Room, preparing a new suite for a couple who were arriving to visit their daughter’s family for one of their grandchildren’s baptism.
She ate lunch out, checked in briefly with Doctor Taggart to give him her updated records on Rayna, and then took a tour of the hospital’s labor and delivery floor. Very tiny! But adequate when there were less than fifty babies born every year.
At three o’clock, Rayna called her cell. “Where are you? I haven’t seen you all day.”
“On my way home,” Caitlin said, forcing her voice to sound chirpy.
“You sound strange,” Rayna said suspiciously.
“Just ate a Snickers and I’m hyped up on sugar.” Caitlin’s chirp got louder.
“Hey, if I can’t have candy, then neither can you.”
“Sorry, I lied. I actually just ate the most healthy spinach smoothie. Wow, all those carrots and beets were incredible.”
“Don’t bring me one,” Rayna warned.
“Not to worry, I bought the last one. On my way home now. So,” she said, trying to sound innocent. “Is the house quiet, is that why you’re calling?”
“Mrs. Davies left hours ago and Quentin just took off the rest of the afternoon. He had to make a run for supplies. He’s installing the baseboard and crown molding the rest of the week.”
Caitlin’s smile grew. She’d managed to outlast him. “See you soon,” she told Rayna.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, she stayed upstairs to help finish the deep cleaning, only sneaking into the kitchen to snag food when Quentin and his guys left for lunch. The rest of the kitchen chores and breakfast prep she accomplished after dinner.
On Thursday, she was up and showered early, gathering her medical things for the weekly physical with Rayna.
The house was so quiet when she headed down the hall parallel to the kitchen that she gasped when she bumped smack into the man. As if Quentin had materialized out of thin air.
“Hey, you’re alive,” he said, his voice low and quiet.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” she answered with a gulp.
“I figured you were either a ghost, or had left town without telling anyone. Since Rayna hadn’t hired a new midwife, I decided it must be the first scenario.”
“Very funny,” Caitlin said. Inwardly, she was pleased he’d noticed. “Well, see you around.”
He reached a hand across the hallway to stop her. “See you around? We’re both working in the same house all day long every day. Strange that I haven’t seen you in almost a week.”
“Has it been a week? I hadn’t noticed.” There was her chirpy voice again. Why did she do that when she was trying to hide something? Or flat-out lying.
“Now I can tell you the same thing. Very funny.”
Then Quentin touched his hand to hers, sliding his palm along the inside of her wrist. A sizzling sensation ran up and down her skin, despite the fact that he quickly dropped his hand again, as if he was afraid to startle her. Even so, Caitlin melted at the feel of his skin.
“You okay, Just Caitlin?” he said in a husky voice. The light in the hallway was shadowy. The afternoon was growing later and she hadn’t turned on any lights yet.
“I’m perfectly well, thank you very much. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”
She’d only taken two steps toward the foyer when he grabbed her hand and spun her around. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“You’re avoiding me, and I want to know why. I must have done something, but I can’t figure out what.”
Caitlin lifted her shoulders, avoiding his eyes. “We hardly know each other. How could you have possibly done something?”
“That’s not true,” he said, a frown between his eyes. “You’ve been here almost a month, we see each other every day. What happened last Friday night? I know something did, because that’s the last time we actually spoke. At the sledding party. And I swear you purposely left church early, ignoring me when I called out to you.”
“Nothing.” Her eyes darted from his neck, down his shoulders and then his torso. He smelled like musk and wood shavings. She teetered on her feet.
Quentin made a noise in his throat that sounded close to a laugh. “You are such a liar. It’s written all over your face.” He came closer and Caitlin could feel his breath against her cheek.
She teetered, trying not to lose her balance, and scrunching up her eyes so they didn’t make eye contact.
“We had fun sledding. And then you and I had a really nice sleigh ride. It was cozy, I had a great time. Then I kissed you and you ran away. I tried to find you to walk you to your car, but there was no Caitlin anywhere.”
“I had to get home. Rayna needed me.”
“Nuh-uh.” He shook his head, staring at her until his sheer will made Caitlin finally lift her head to look at him straight on. “Wade was home last weekend. Try again.”
“Maybe this just isn’t right. We’re too different.”
“I disagree completely. Tell me what’s going on inside your head. That kiss, Caitlin—it was something else. At least I felt it, and I thought you did, too.”
“Okay. I’ll tell you. I’m not in the habit of hanging around a man who kisses me and then runs off with another woman. Are you satisfied now?”
His frown deepened. “What are you talking about? There’s no other woman.”
“That girl—the one who—” Caitlin stopped, suddenly angry. “Why am I having to explain it to you? This is insane. I did this with my fiancé only a month ago. I can’t go there again. Especially with someone I barely know.”
Quentin wouldn’t let her run off. Instead, he took her by the shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. “I knew it. I knew you’d been hurt. That explains part of why you’re even here in Snow Valley. It all makes sense now.” He let out a breath, pulling her closer. “I don’t know where this might go, but I’m going to tell you something that is the God’s honest truth. Caitlin Webster, I’m falling for you. Hard. And you’d better get used to the idea because I’m not going anywhere.”
She took a ragged breath. “In a month I return to San Francisco and my life there. This—this—whatever this is or isn’t—can’t go anywhere, so I suggest you just go back to your little teenage girlfriend.”
“What the
he—” he cursed and slammed a hand against the wall. “You’re mixing me up with someone else.”
“I saw you with my own eyes.”
“This is why you avoided me last Sunday at church?”
“Smart man.”
Caitlin spun around and ran up the stairs, trying to shake off the mix of attraction, hurt, and frustration colliding within her.
13
No sooner had Caitlin made it upstairs to Rayna’s bedroom than Quentin was knocking on the door right behind her.
“Is he following me all the way up here?” she said, whirling on her feet. Her voice rose into a squeak. “Don’t let him in.”
“What is going on?” Rayna said, sitting up in bed, a variety of newspapers and clippings scattered about the bedspread. The morning news was blaring on the TV. Who’s following you?”
“Quentin Hudson,” Caitlin fumed. She was embarrassed now and didn’t want to face him. He’d told her he was falling for her.
She pressed her fingers against her temples, trying to absorb what was happening.
“What’s going on between you two?” Rayna asked, sitting up higher against the headboard. “I’ve been getting funny vibes for awhile now. Especially since last week.”
“Nothing’s going on!” Absurdly, Caitlin burst out into a laugh. Her protest was much too vehement.
“I see that,” Rayna said drily, arching her eyebrows. “Or should I say, nothing to see here?”
“The latter. I don’t care.”
“Hmm, I think you care very much, actually. You just don’t want to admit it. Otherwise you’d be ignoring the man.”
“I have been ignoring the man.”
Quentin knocked again, the sound echoing throughout the room. “Well, will you please open the door anyway? You can go back to ignoring him later.”
Caitlin rolled her eyes and strode across the floor, flinging open the door.
“Sorry to bother you, Rayna,” Quentin said, barely looking at Caitlin. “But I’m leaving for the day and I almost forgot to bring you these books. They’ve been in my truck all day.”
“You brought me books?” Rayna swung her legs around and rose. “You are such a dear! I ran out of things to read a week ago.”
Quentin handed her a package and she slid three volumes of historical fiction from the bag. “How did you know I had a craving for Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte?”
Quentin got a sheepish look on his face. “I happened to see a list you wrote on the kitchen counter a few weeks ago. Since I like bookstores, I went into Billings last weekend and picked them up for you.”
“You sweet man,” Rayna said. “Thank you. The library had these checked out and I’ve always told Wade I wanted these books for my personal collection. You got hardcover editions, too! These were a special order, weren’t they? Wow. Let me get my checkbook.”
Quentin held up his hands in protest. “It’s a gift. A gift, okay? Enjoy the books. I like bookstore shopping.”
“You always did.” Rayna turned to Caitlin. “I was friends with Quentin’s older brother. We graduated high school together, but I remember how Quentin always had a book in his backpack. He’d hide them from the other guys. His artistic talent and temperament were obvious even then. You were about thirteen, right?”
“Something like that,” Quentin admitted. “But ssh. I gotta keep up my macho appearance.”
“Your secrets are safe with me,” Rayna said conspiratorially.
Caitlin blinked her eyes, looking between the two of them. Since when did cabinetry and crown molding qualify as art? And now the aggravating man loved to read, too! Of course. It seemed like a joke God was playing on her. To have a man show up that was too perfect. All the things she’d missed in Stefan but had been too afraid to admit to herself.
“See you ladies later.” Quentin tipped an imaginary hat and departed before either of them could say goodbye.
“Well,” Rayna said, sticking a hand on one hip. “That was a little icy and uncomfortable between the two of you. You should see your face, honey. Spill it, Caitlin.”
“Let me see your books,” she said instead, picking up the leather bound volumes from the dresser and turning them over in her hands. “They’re gold stamped. Collector’s editions.”
“The Hudson brothers and I go way back. Quentin is so thoughtful. All during this bed rest before you even got here he’d bring me movies or ice cream when Wade was gone. Or a whole bag of pistachio nuts when I had a craving.”
Caitlin set down the books, her face heating up. “He sounds very thoughtful,” she admitted in a low voice.
Rayna stared at her. “He’s a really good guy. I couldn’t help overhearing some of your conversation downstairs.”
“When were you downstairs?”
“I was on the stairs, coming down for one of my indulgent Cokes from the fridge. I hadn’t been up for hours and I needed to stretch my legs. When I could tell your conversation was getting intense and personal I returned to my room.”
Caitlin flexed her fists, spinning around to flop onto the edge of the bed. “I can’t do this with another guy. It’s too soon. I can’t go there again.”
“Okay. So humor me. Describe the girl you saw him with.”
“She was about nineteen. College age. Long blond hair. Perky personality. Cute matching jacket and gloves and scarf. All fuzzy pink. She tackled him and then they proceeded to get physical and play in the snow. Before I knew it, they’d run off to take his sled down one more time in the dark. When I stormed off, I was hoping they crashed and burned.”
Rayna suppressed a smile at Caitlin’s intense words.
“Okay, now I sound like I’m eighteen again.”
Her cousin shook her head, perching on the edge of the bed. “You described someone in perfect detail.”
“So you do know her then?”
“Sure do. I used to babysit her.”
“What!”
“I’ll bet a hundred bucks that was Quentin’s baby sister.”
“Are you serious?”
“Deadly serious.”
“He called her Serena.”
“Yep, Serena Hudson. She attends the community college in the next town over. She was probably home for the weekend.”
“So he’s not robbing the cradle?”
“No, I’m the only one who does that.” Rayna snorted.
“Five years is hardly robbing the cradle. Quentin must be at least a dozen years older than Serena.”
“Probably more like thirteen or fourteen. She’s the baby. There are eight kids in Quentin’s family and Quentin is the second. His mother was suddenly widowed three years ago and he and his brother, John, take care of her. They’re good guys, Caitlin. Good guys.”
“I don’t know what to do.” Caitlin twisted her fingers. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“Hey, you didn’t know that was Serena. An easy mistake to make.” Rayna laid a hand over hers. “I can tell he’s got the Caitlin itch bad though. I could hear it in his voice downstairs. And yours, too, but you were doing everything you could to hide it.”
“We’ve only known each other about five weeks.”
“Sometimes it doesn’t take long to know. Our mutual grandparents met during WWII and got married three weeks later. He was eighteen and she was sixteen. They were married sixty-five years.”
“I didn’t know that!”
“Maybe it runs in the family.” Rayna poked her elbow into Caitlin’s ribs and nearly knocked her off the bed.
“You are so bad!”
“Hey, Caitlin” Rayna said softly. “I’m so glad we’ve had this chance to get to know each other. You are a lifesaver, and now you’re my current best friend.”
“Do you think Quentin will forgive me?”
“Without a doubt. From his perspective, he’ll say there’s nothing to forgive.”
14
Before she went to bed that night, Caitlin pulled out her Fortune Teller list from the drawer in her nightstand
. She didn’t dare tack it back up on the wall for Quentin to see. After all, there had been a day last week when the electrician was here fixing the lines in her bedroom and Quentin had been in and out while she made sure she stayed in town.
The last prediction jumped out at her.
#5. The man of your dreams will be strong and tough, but not what you expect.
“Not at all what I expect,” she said aloud. “But can Quentin Hudson really be the man of my dreams? I never would have dreamed him up! But then he’s certainly not what I would have ever expected. So is this prediction actually coming true?”
After falling in love with a Jazz & Blues musician, Catlin figured she’d go for a doctor next. They could work graveyard together. But she never would have guessed she’d feel this crazy flush around a construction guy. Despite the beautiful painting that hung in her room. Maybe it was a fluke. A paint-by-number class he’d taken back in college.
Of course, she didn’t want to insult his intelligence, either, because the man was obviously bright. And witty.
And seemed to have an uncanny connection with her thoughts and feelings.
“Maybe #3 is coming true, too.”
#3. “From the cusp of death a new day will dawn and all your dreams will come true.”
“I did have a near-death experience with his truck.”
Caitlin flopped back against her pillow. After their evasive conversation in the hall, it felt weird to talk to him. It was easier to avoid the whole thing and wait to meet someone when she returned to San Francisco. Snow Valley was much too complicated.
And then two things happened which Madame Tallulah had not predicted. Was the woman hovering somewhere in the clouds around Snow Valley!
First, Caitlin got a call from Doctor Cole Taggart wondering if she’d ever consider relocating here. In a few months he was going to be in need of another charge nurse. He was losing a woman whose husband was being transferred with his job to Arizona in the spring.
UnBreak My Heart_A Snow Valley Romance Page 9
