Kate's Forever (Thistle Do Flowers Book 1)

by Christina Butrum

  “I know what you’re up to,” she said, giving him the same look that he was growing to love. Her serious, not-serious-at-all look was enough to do him in right there and then. He knew he was falling for her, but damn, it was all her fault.

  Lifting the glass and struggling to find the straw with his lips, he couldn’t help but smirk. “Dunnowhatyou’retalkingabout,” he said through clenched teeth as he bit down on his straw to keep it in place.

  Saved by the pie that was slid in front of them, Jordan grinned. Had he thought this through, he wouldn’t have had to bribe her with pie to make their time together last a bit longer. He would’ve had something more planned, something to keep them distracted as the time flew by as they enjoyed themselves and got to know each other better.

  Iowa in the middle of March was not a lot of fun. The weather was still deciding whether to warm up or stay cold—to allow the sun to make its presence or snow to fly like it was the middle of December. He wasn’t complaining. He had moved here soon after his divorce, and was more than glad he had. He watched Kate take a careful bite of her pie and ice cream. He was more than happy he had made that move almost two years ago.

  * * *

  Had she known he didn’t want this lunch date to end, she wouldn’t have had to eat this overfilling, delicious slice of pie. She would’ve insisted they could sit and talk without having to stuff their faces with a bunch of high calorie foods. It was bad enough she hadn’t been working out. Her treadmill had become a catch-all for the clothes she was too lazy to hang in the closet.

  Glancing at her watch, she realized it was already half-past one and they had been here for over two hours. Time had definitely gotten away from her. Through these last two hours, their conversation had been delightful, but she still didn’t know much about him. One thing she did know; she wasn’t ready to go back home yet. She knew once she was by herself, she would think about the job that she had possibly lost, all because she had been a few minutes late, and in all honesty, she wasn’t sure that was the main cause.

  “You’re overthinking again,” he said, with the same smile that had caught her attention when they first met.

  Admitting to it with a nod, she said, “I just can’t help it. I’m going to miss those kids of mine.”

  “I’m sure they’ll miss you, too,” he said. His words weren’t much help in making her feel better about the whole situation. “They’re probably wishing the witch had left instead.”

  She nearly shot Pepsi out of her nose. Grabbing a handful of napkins from the holder next to her, she brought them to her face as she quickly swallowed the Pepsi that hadn’t escaped. She hadn’t laughed this hard in the last couple of weeks—especially with everything on her mind about her job and with her mother being sick, it was hard to be happy.

  “Sorry,” she said, offering him a couple of napkins for the pop that had shot in his direction. She couldn’t help but laugh harder at his reaction as he wiped what he could from his shirt. “You should never make me laugh when I’m taking a drink.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind next time,” he said, laughing as he tossed the pop filled napkin on the empty pie dish. “What do you say we get out of here?”

  Using one last napkin to wipe her hands, she said, “I say yes.”

  Standing behind her, he offered to help her with her coat. It wasn’t lost on her, the feeling she felt with him standing this close. There was a palpable tension between them as she weaved her arms into the sleeves and tugged at the zipper.

  He had moved around her, staying in contact with her body as he squeezed between her and the small entry way in order to get the door for her. Her heart rate increased and the heat followed close behind the chills as she felt his breath on her skin.

  The opening of the door was her saving grace, as she exhaled the breath she had been holding. Whoever had made that entryway to the café hadn’t thought about the close quarters.

  “You riding with me?” he asked, opening his passenger side door, obviously ready for her to say yes once more.

  “Depends on where we’re going.”

  Holding out his arms, he said, “Come on, give this man a chance. I won’t disappoint.”

  Whether or not he had intended to make her laugh, she couldn’t resist the fit of laughter that escaped as she made her way to his truck. She couldn’t resist his charm, and she sure as heck couldn’t tell him no.

  * * *

  He had no idea where the hell they were going, but he had to decide and quick. He had promised not to disappoint if she agreed to go with him and there she sat, right next to him in the passenger seat of his Chevy Silverado.

  He had a few places in mind, but those places were better in the late spring to early summer. In the middle of March it was still too early to be outside for a long period of time—unless you wanted frostbite.

  “So, where are we going, anyway?”

  With her wavy brown hair peeking out from under her smoke-gray stocking hat, she kept her attention on the road in front of them. Having no response to her question, he ignored it. Instead, he kept his eyes straight ahead, with only a few glances from the corner of his eye to make sure she was enjoying herself. So far, so good.

  The sound of gravel hitting the undercarriage of his truck brought his focus back on their destination. It had been his favorite spot when he had first moved to this town. Sitting along the pier of the levee, watching birds and hearing the rush of the water, he had spent the majority of his time there sorting through his thoughts.

  Pulling into an empty parking space, he shifted the truck into park. “This used to be my favorite place to spend my time.”

  The main view was frozen, but still an amazing one. Gauging her reaction, she thought so, too. Noticing her shiver, he cranked the heat up a couple of notches. His last minute plan had been just to sit here and talk. Talk until they were tired of talking and ready to leave.

  “There isn’t one part of this town I dislike,” she admitted. “I’ve been here just over a year and I’m still finding places that amaze me.”

  “Have you ever witnessed the festival in August?”

  Bending her knee in order to turn sideways to face him, she said, “No, I always take summers away to go back to Arizona.”

  “What’s in Arizona?” It may have not been his business, but he couldn’t help wonder what would draw her back to the town she ran from. Not that that was any of his business, either, but the talk of the town was strong when a newcomer came about. “If you don’t mind me asking?”

  Relieved at her smile, knowing that he hadn’t overstepped, he was surprised when she said, “My family.”

  It only made sense that she’d have family somewhere, waiting for her to visit them. What didn’t make sense was why they weren’t here visiting her. Why was she the one who needed to go back to the place she escaped?

  “My mom,” she said, almost as if she had read his mind. “Her health is horrible and every year I think it’s her last, but she has proven me and the doctor’s wrong so far.”

  He knew to keep quiet. If she wanted him to know more, she would tell him. He wasn’t going to pry for information on a touchy subject. The thought of losing his mom had crossed his mind a time or two, but he had always quickly shaken the thought because it was too much to bear.

  “She was diagnosed with a slow-growing ovarian cancer a few years ago,” she said, her voice low and unsteady with emotion. “After her first round of chemo and radiation, it seemed to be working, but just recently, it has metastasized. She’s a fighter, but the doctor has already confirmed there’s no point fighting something that can’t be fought.”

  Damn, her words sucker-punched him. There was no way he could even begin to understand her pain. Dealing with that, on top of everything else going on here in Le Claire, seemed a bit too much for one person to handle. She was one helluva toughie—taking all of this on and not showing it. He never would’ve imagined she was facing hell every direction she turned.

>   “They’re giving her less than a year, but she promises she’s not dying.”

  He watched as she gently wiped the escaping tears from her cheeks. Without thinking, he reached across the bench seat and pulled her close to him. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he could feel her give in against the emotion as her body shook from the sobs. There were no words. There was nothing he could say to make her feel better. “It’s okay, I’m here.”

  The sobs quieted and she pushed away from his chest. She wiped her makeup streaked tears from her face. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry,” he assured her.

  The hurt in her voice gutted him. He would do anything to take the pain away for her. Anything.

  “Can you take me home, please?”

  With an understanding nod, he turned the key and the truck grumbled to life. The last thing he wanted was for her to apologize for unleashing her emotions around him.

  All that mattered in this moment was that he was here for her. He was here and he was never going to leave her.

  He hadn’t hesitated to comfort her when she lost all control of her emotions. Not for one second had she doubted him, but at the same time, she hadn’t expected him to wrap her in his arms and provide a sense of comfort and understanding that words couldn’t provide.

  Knowing he was a gentleman hadn’t stopped her from assuming he would drop her off and leave as quickly as he could. She wouldn’t have blamed him if he had. She would’ve left herself, if she could.

  Instead, here he was, sitting next to her on the couch, with his arm wrapped around her as she lay against him. He had made himself at home, offered to cook supper, and followed up with washing the dishes shortly after they finished eating. He had lit the fireplace and offered to leave if she wanted him to.

  There was no way she was letting him leave any time soon. She needed comfort, reassurance, and someone to be here for her. No one fit the criteria better than he did.

  “I moved here a few short months before you,” he said, his voice low and relaxed.

  “What? I thought you had lived here all your life,” she said, confusion etched in her voice as she lay against him, tracing his hand with her fingers.

  “Nope. I actually moved here shortly after my divorce,” he said matter-of-factly.

  She sat up just enough to twist around to look at him. “You’re divorced?”

  “Yes,” he said. “It’s something I’m not too proud of. I always thought my first marriage was going to my only marriage.”

  “Me, too,” she whispered quietly. No wonder it felt like he understood her so well. She could only wonder what had caused his divorce, but kept her questions minimal and without prying. “What made you decide to move to Le Claire?”

  Smiling, he asked, “What made you move here?”

  She had to think about that for a minute. She wasn’t too sure what had made her decide on Iowa. She had just packed up and headed this way, no destination in mind until she entered this town and saw what the town had to offer. She fell in love and never looked back... except when she had to for her mother.

  “I’m not really sure.”

  “Me, neither,” he admitted. “But I’m glad I did. I’ve done so much more with my life than I had ever imagined I would.”

  “Arizona had a lot to offer, but once I had the thought of leaving and never going back, my mind was set,” she said, barely above a whisper. “That was, until I realized I needed to visit my mom.”

  Pulling her close to him, he said, “What’s making you stay here?”

  The question was innocent, but it left a mark. “I haven’t thought about that,” she said, hesitating a minute before she said, “I guess it’s my job. The kids. Wanting to be a teacher. The school allowed me the opportunity to chase my dreams, but now...”

  But now she was lost once again. She had the fear of losing her job permanently, and it was no one’s fault but her own. She had chased her dreams and crashed, all within the same timeframe. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do now.

  “I have no idea what I’m doing or what I’m supposed to be doing,” she admitted, resting her head against his chest.

  He was easy to talk to, a part of her felt like they had known each other their whole lives. It was a reassuring sense that regardless of how they ended up—either together or not—they’d be best friends.

  “I have an idea,” he said, leaning her forward in order for her to face him. “You should go back to Arizona and be with your mom.”

  Coming to the realization of how right he was, she could only nod as tears streamed down her face. She had been so caught up in the life here in Le Claire, she had forgotten about her troubles back home. Home, where her mother was dying, alone, while her only child was three states away chasing dreams that weren’t coming true.

  “And I want to come with you.”

  * * *

  The words weren’t retracted once he said them, yet there was an awkward silence between them. Was he waiting for her to say something?

  Gently pushing off his chest, she propped herself onto her elbow and looked at him. “You want to come with me?”

  It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, because he had proved himself worthy of his word long before now. It was the fact that it wasn’t planned. There was no way to know what would happen once they ventured to Arizona. Not only that, but would she want him to see her grieve the loss of her mother when it came time to say goodbye?

  “If you want me to, I will be more than willing to go with you,” he said, offering her hand a gentle squeeze. “No one should ever have to go through what you’re going through alone.”

  Tears stung her eyes as she refused to allow them to fall. She couldn’t find the words to express how she felt about his offer. So many times she had prayed for God to give her the strength she needed to continue on the path before her. There were so many nights she had cried herself to sleep, only to appear strong the next day because she had no other choice. She was convinced that in all this time, God wasn’t listening, that he hadn’t cared about her struggles, but she was wrong. He had been listening this whole time. She didn’t believe in fate, or any of that over-talked about stuff, but she did believe she was introduced to Jordan for a reason.

  The warmth of his touch against her cheek guided her attention back to the here and now. She had been lost in her own thoughts, her fallen tears had gone unnoticed, but not by him. He gently wiped them away, giving her a reassuring nod. Deep down inside, she felt connected to this man—like she had known him for many years, instead of less than a few short weeks.

  “There’s so much going on right now,” she tried to explain the thoughts as they raced through her mind. Between her job and her mother’s health, being more than a hundred miles away from home—it was all too much. “I don’t know what to do.”

  His silence was her assurance to open up to him—he was listening. He wasn’t going anywhere—if he had wanted to leave, he would have by now, long before her emotions had taken control of their time together.

  “I wish my job wasn’t in the air. If only I knew I had something to come back to after...”

  “Don’t worry about that right now,” he said, tucking a lose strand of her hair behind her ear. “There are plenty of teachers around here who would do anything to have you in their classroom. One of those being my brother.”

  “Your brother?” She hadn’t known his brother was a teacher. Sure there were more schools than just the elementary, but wouldn’t she have heard about his brother somewhere, somehow?

  A chuckle was muffled in his throat as he looked down at her. “Yes, my brother. Do you think I’d be making that up?”

  She couldn’t help but laugh at how silly she had been to question him. She was relieved to hear his laugh echo hers. “I’m sorry, I just... Gosh,” she said, bringing a hand up to cover her face.

  “His name is Howard,” he said as he gently tugged her hand away from her face. “He says you’re th
e friendliest person in that school.”

  She raised an eyebrow. There was no way that was true. There were plenty of people who were helpful and waiting for just the right moment to offer their help to someone.

  “That’s what he said,” Jordan said with a grin, as he held his hands up in defense. “I’m only repeating what he told me.”

  “Okay, well, I’m not exactly sure who your brother is, so I’m not sure how helpful I really was if I don’t even remember meeting him.”

  “Well, he’s about a foot shorter than I am, looks like me, but is a tad bit on the heavy side,” Jordan said, the smirk on his face evidence of how much he was enjoying this. “I like to think I’m better looking, but...”

  “That’s a biased opinion,” she offered cheerfully, swiping away the last of the stray tears that had fallen.

  “That’s not the answer I was expecting to hear,” he said, jabbing a playful finger into her side. “Even if it was a biased opinion, which it isn’t, I would like everyone to agree with me.”

  “That can’t be good for your ego. Having everyone agreeing that you’re a sexy beast.”

  Sitting up, prouder than ever, he said, “Well, sexy beast is something I haven’t heard yet.”

  Covering her face once again with her hand, she mumbled, “Oh brother.”

  Reaching over to pull her hand from her face, he asked, “What about my brother?”

  Rolling her eyes, she flopped her head back against the couch and laughed. Giving him the side-eye with half a smile, she said, “I don’t know who your brother is.”

  “Okay, then, that’s beside the point. Just know that I’m the better looking one of us and he has said nice things about you,” Jordan insisted. “Not too nice, because then he’d be asking for it.”

  She had no control over the laughter as it escaped. She had no doubt that he was an alpha male, but it was hilarious to hear him admit to it. Hilarious and cute.

  “So, as I was saying,” he said, clearing his throat in order to get things back on track. “You don’t need to worry about your job. I’ll talk to my brother and see what he can do. You never know, he might be able to get you into his classroom.”