About the Boy (3 page)

“In the kitchen,” she called back, smiling at the sound of her son’s voice. It broke the tension between her and Lucas. “Obviously that’s my son.”

Lucas chuckled. “So I gathered.” He hesitated a brief moment. “I’d better go. You’ve got a busy day and I’ve got to get to the office. Thank your mom for the coffee.” He turned and headed toward the back door, pausing to turn back to her for a moment. “And by the way, Katie, if you need any help with heavy lifting or moving today, just give me a call.” His smile was slow and devastating. “I’ve got a pretty strong back and plenty of time.”

“Thank you,” she said, surprised and touched by his generous offer.

“See you,” Lucas said as he headed out the door.

Still shaken, Katie merely stood there, absently patting her heart to calm it down, as she silently stared after him. Oh yeah, she’d be calling him for help
real
soon, she thought dully. She was trying to stay away from the man, not become his new best friend!

Realizing she was probably overreacting, Katie sighed, then finished her coffee. Now that Lucas was out of sight, maybe—just maybe—she could finally get the blasted man out of her mind.

“Hey, Ma?” Rusty asked a few minutes later as he raced into the kitchen. At eleven, he was a tall, reedy ball of energy, with a mop of rust-colored curls, a face full of freckles and a pair of sea-green eyes that always seemed to be filled with mischief. “Can I ride my bike to Sean’s after school?” he blurted, all but dancing with each word.

“Did you guys ask Sean’s mother about this?” Katie asked with a lift of her brow.

“’Course,” he assured her with a grin.

Sean Hennighan and Rusty had been friends since they were toddlers. Now that Katie and Rusty had returned to Cooper’s Cove for good, the boys had simply picked up their friendship right where they’d left off.

“Okay, but did you forget the movers are coming today?” Katie asked.

“Nah, I didn’t forget,” Rusty said, scuffing the toe of his new gym shoes on the floor. “But I thought maybe I could go by Sean’s for just a little while first?” Huge green eyes pleaded with Katie. “Sean’s got a brand new Xbox and he said maybe I could try it. It’s just so totally cool. So can I go? Huh? Can I?”

“And what about the unpacking?” she asked, watching the excitement dim in his eyes.

“I forgot,” he muttered dejectedly. “Cow cakes,” he mumbled under his breath.

“How about if we make a deal? You can go to Sean’s for an hour and a half,” Katie compromised. “But you have to promise to come home from Sean’s right on time since Grandma will be waiting for you, and then help me unpack tonight
without
complaining. Is it a deal?”

“Deal.” Eyes shining, his grin widened. “Thanks, Ma.”

“You’re welcome.” She smiled, then draped an arm around his slender shoulders. “I’ve got something for you, Rusty.” Reaching for his time capsule with her free hand, Katie hesitated, not quite knowing how he’d respond. “Do you remember when you and Daddy planted this in Grandma’s backyard?”

He’d only been six when his father had died, and yet, they’d been so unbelievably close, she was certain most of Rusty’s memories of his father were intact. At least she hoped so, for her son’s sake.

Her worries dissolved as his eyes widened, looking at the time capsule box. She saw the quick glistening of tears before he quickly blinked them away.

“Yeah. It’s my time capsule treasure box,” he said, reaching out and taking the box from her. “Dad and I buried it right before he left.” Rusty stared at it for a moment, reverently running a hand gently across the top. “We were supposed to dig it up together when Daddy came home,” he added quietly.

“That’s right,” Katie said, reaching out to lay a hand on his cheek, needing to just touch him. “Well, honey, I promised you when we finally moved into our very own house you could plant it in our backyard, and since we’re moving into our own house today I thought you might like to…you know…” Shrugging, Katie let her voice trail off as she watched a myriad of expressions race across her son’s freckled face, her own heart aching for him.

Rusty merely stood there for a moment, still and quiet for a change before lifting his gaze to hers. “Ma?”

“Yes, honey?”

“Uh…uh…do you think it would be okay if I…uh…just kept this in my new room for a little while?” Shuffling his feet, he rushed on. “You know so I could maybe just…look at it and stuff?”

She smiled. “Of course, sweetheart.”

“I’ll bury it in our backyard later, but for now, I’d just like to keep it in my new room so I could…like, see it once in a while.” He glanced up at her. “Is that okay?”

“Of course, honey. We can make a special place for it on top of your bookcase. What do you think?”

“Cool,” he said with a grin. He glanced down at the box again, touching the top. “Ma, do you think…do you think Dad…uh…misses me?”

“Oh, sweetheart.” Katie reached for Rusty, dragging him close to hug. “Of course Daddy misses you, as much as you miss him I’m sure,” she said, resting her head gently atop his head. He was growing so fast, pretty soon he’d be taller than her. With a sigh, she drew back to look at him. “Do you remember what I’ve always told you?” She lifted his chin so she could look into his eyes. “That daddy was always with you, every day, no matter where you went, or what you did?” She laid a hand over his heart. “Daddy’s right here, always, in your heart.”

His lower lip was trembling, but Rusty nodded. “Do you remember when I was little?” he asked. “And I used to cry because I missed Dad? And you told me that anytime I wanted to talk to Dad I could just…like, talk to him, and that he’d always hear me?”

“I remember, honey.”

A sheepish grin flashed as he looked up at her. “Sometimes Ma, sometimes I still do…talk to Dad, I mean.”

Chuckling softly, she gave him a quick squeeze. “Well honey, let me tell you a secret. I’m much older than you—”

“No kidding,” he quipped with a lightning grin, giving her a gentle poke with his elbow.

“Hey,” she protested, giving him a quick affectionate bump back with her hip. “I’m not that old,” she said. “Anyway, my dad’s been gone since I was just ten years old, and as old as I am now sometimes I still talk to him.”

“Really?” Astonished at the idea, Rusty’s eyes widened. “You still talk to your dad?”

“Yeah, honey,” she said with a wistful sigh. “Sometimes I still do. I still miss my father every day of my life,” she admitted, blinking back sudden tears. “When you love someone you never stop missing them, especially a parent. And a parent never stops missing their child. Never. That’s why I know Daddy is always with you, watching over you.”

“’Cuz he loved me and stuff?” Rusty asked, and Katie nodded.

“More than anything in the world.”

She hesitated, wanting to assure him that however he needed to deal with his feelings about his dad, it was all right. There was no right way or wrong way. Only the way that gave him comfort.

“Rusty, honey, there’s a very special bond between kids and their moms and dads, a bond that nothing can ever break, no matter how old either of them gets. Not even death. That unbreakable bond is always there. So don’t ever forget that. Daddy’s always with you. In your heart, safe and protected and connected to you on every level. And you can talk to him anytime you want.”

Rusty grinned. “Yeah, but think how cool it would be if he could talk back,” he said, wiggling his brows and finally squirming away from her.

“Oh yeah,” she agreed with a roll of her eyes, mimicking him. “That would be way cool.” He sniffled, swiping his nose on his fist. “Come on, brat,” Katie said, draping an arm affectionately around his neck. “Let’s get you some allergy medicine before you leave for school and then I’ve got to write a note to your teacher so she can give you your medicine this afternoon.”

He came to a dead stop and looked at her in horror. “Ah, Ma, come on,” he whined. “You’re not going to make me bring a note to the teacher so I can take medicine at school like I’m some wussy girl or some sick weakling, are you?”

At eleven, the most important thing in the world was to avoid at all costs any embarrassment in front of the guys, and taking medicine at school or having your mother write notes to the teacher qualified as definite embarrassments.

“Hey,” she said with a laugh, giving him another bump with her hip. “Watch that negative girl talk. I’m a wussy girl, remember?”

He thought about it for a minute, then grinned. “Nah,” he said, hip-bumping her in return then dancing away from her. “You’re a ma, that’s different.”

“Yeah, come back and talk to me about wussy girls in about four years, kid.” Laughing, Katie swooped, wrapping her arms around him, pulling him close and pasting his face with loud, smacking kisses, her heart flooded with love.

“Stop!” he giggled, trying to squirm away from her. “Ma, stop! Stop kissing me. I’ll take my medicine at school,” he cried, laughing and breathing hard. “Promise. I promise,” he shrieked. Giving him one last, loud, smacking kiss, Katie reluctantly released him.

“Yuck,” Rusty complained with a grin, swiping his hand down his cheek.

“Score another for the mother!” Katie said with a triumphant fist pump as she sailed out of the kitchen with her beloved son right behind her to start the first day of their new life.

Chapter Three

T
he offices of the
Cooper’s Cove Carrier
were located right on Main Street, across from the public library and right next door to the only bank in town.

Since the Main Street business section only ran a scant two blocks—right through the heart of town—almost everything was in walking distance to the newspaper offices.

The paper’s storefront office boasted one full-time reporter, who was currently on maternity leave, one full-time copy editor, one ad salesman and a part-timer who’d been at the paper since Katie was a child.

Lindsey had started out as an intern while still in high school, and merely stayed, learning and managing the office with the efficiency of a drill sergeant. Katie had no idea what she—or the paper—would do without Lindsey.

While some women got positively giddy over the prospect of an end-of-the-season clothing or shoe sale, for Katie, there was nothing that made her happier than being in a newspaper office.

As a child, she’d spent many happy afternoons at the newspaper, absorbing everything from the reporters transcribing their stories, to the copy editors proofing them, to running the final blue lines—the proofed and copy-edited pages—around the block to the printer on her bicycle.

When her dad was alive, he used to tease that she had newspaper ink running through her veins, not blood. She’d been ten when a heart attack had claimed her dad’s life, so the newspaper had passed to his only brother, Cyrus—a lifelong bachelor—who’d given up hope of passing the newspaper on to
his
children.

So it was only natural for Katie’s Uncle Cyrus to turn the paper over to her now. They’d agreed to ease in to the transition; he’d work part-time for the first month of her tenure, making certain he was available to answer any and all questions, while she slowly took over all the responsibilities that running a newspaper entailed.

Not wanting to crowd her, her Uncle Cyrus had decided to do his work from his cabin at Cooper’s Cove Lake. It would not only give Katie time and space to find her own way, but would also give him an opportunity to take his first real vacation in years.

Katie knew her uncle was only a phone call or a twenty-minute ride away if she needed him, and after practically growing up in the newspaper office, she was pretty well-versed on how everything ran.

On this, her first morning as managing editor, with the warm autumn sun beating down on her, Katie stood just outside the plateglass windows of the newspaper office grinning like a loon.

She’d worked so hard and so long to get here, to belong here, to be qualified and capable of taking over the family newspaper, and now that the day had arrived, she wanted to take just a moment to savor what it had cost her to get here.

It had all been worth it, she thought with a smile. The work and the worry, the long hours and the strained budget, the sacrifices and the tears—because if she hadn’t gone through all of
that,
she wouldn’t have ended up
here.
And there was nowhere else in the world she’d rather be.

“You’re running late,” Lindsey blurted before Katie had even gotten through the front door. With her arms full, Katie stopped and stared at the woman.

“Late?” Katie blinked at her. “How can I be late? It’s my first day and I just got here.”

“I know.” With a pen stuck in her hair bun and a steno pad in her hand, Lindsey smiled, shoving her thick glasses up her nose. “But I already set up your appointments for this week and I need to brief you.”

Katie laughed. “Lindsey, sometimes your efficiency scares me. But just for this morning, do you think I could get in my office and put my stuff down before you brief me?”

Lindsey glanced at her watch again, then tapped it with a frown. “Well, okay, but you’ll have to hurry because you have a luncheon meeting with the mayor and the town council at eleven thirty.”

Katie came to an abrupt halt just outside her office door. Again. “I have a luncheon meeting?
Today?
” She already had a million things to do today and lunch hadn’t been one of them.

She glanced down at herself, hoping the crisp, pressed jeans and white blouse were suitable for a luncheon meeting. She’d have worn a suit if she’d known about the meeting, but since the movers were coming this afternoon, she decided on comfort over style.

“You look fine,” Lindsey assured her with a wave of her hand as if reading Katie’s mind, and then she pushed her thick glasses up again.

Resigned, Katie dropped everything in her arms on her already cluttered desk and dug for her day planner, snatching it free from under a pile of edits she needed to go over this morning. If she didn’t do this now, she was afraid she’d get too swamped to do it later.

“Okay, Lindsey, before I even get started on this mess, why don’t you just bring me up to date?” Katie sank down in the big leather chair behind her desk and opened her day planner.

“First things first,” Lindsey said, coming into her office and absently straightening one of the framed newspapers that adorned the wall. “Clarence is out. He said he’s going to be gone most of the day, taking orders for ads for the special Halloween issue. I told him not to forget to check in later. Or else,” Lindsey said sternly, making Katie grin. Clarence and Lindsey had been going around and around deliberately irritating each other for years.

“We start running the Halloween advertising in two weeks, right?” Katie asked, glancing at her planner and jotting a note to herself about the special Halloween issue. “We’re going to need to run a full schedule of the carnival—”

“I’m already on it,” Lindsey assured her. “We need to touch base with the police chief to find out about what streets will be closed to traffic during the carnival and make sure we get those printed in next week’s issue. I made an appointment for you with the police chief for tomorrow morning so you can give him last year’s list of street closings to update and approve.” Lindsey didn’t allow Katie time to even comment about her meeting with Lucas. “You also need to start thinking about who to interview next for your weekly ‘Getting to Know You’ column. I think you decided to do this week’s column on yourself,” Lindsey said with a smile. “But we need to get a couple of columns in the file so that in an emergency, we’ll have some back-up. I thought you might want to ask the new chief about an interview since he’s new in town as well.”

“Good idea,” Katie said, making another note. “Do we have a list of who we’ve done already?”

“The list we’ve already done is in your bottom file drawer, so take a look at it when you get the chance.”

“Will do,” Katie said.

“You also need to set up a weekly meeting with the new police chief at a time that’s convenient for both of you.”

“What for?” Katie demanded, abruptly sitting forward in her chair. She was purposefully trying to avoid Lucas, not make weekly appointments to see him!

“For your ‘Police Beat’ column,” Lindsey said calmly. “The weekly rundown of all the police activity in town for the previous week, remember?”

“I remember,” Katie said glumly, wondering if she could pawn this job off on someone else—then she realized there
was no one else.
She was the boss and this was her responsibility.

Not a problem, she assured herself. If she couldn’t avoid Lucas, then she’d simply fall back on her tried-and-true system of treating him like a big brother. It worked with every other man the past six years, surely it would work with him.

She hoped.

“And then you also have to talk to the chief about the special safety article for the Halloween issue. That’s an annual feature. I’ve already pulled last year’s column for you. It’s in that blue file on your desk, so you can just take it to him and discuss all the updates.” Lindsey hesitated a moment. “Oh, and your mother called to tell you something,” she said, trying to keep a straight face. Lady Louella’s eccentricity was well known in town, but that didn’t make her any less adored by nearly everyone. Her mother was just accepted as another character—which the town was full of.

“What?” Katie asked, and Lindsey chuckled.

“Sorry, Katie, but your mom couldn’t remember why she called or what she wanted to tell you, but she said if she did remember, she’d call you back.”

“Okay,” Katie said, shaking her head and chuckling as well. Her mother’s short-term memory lapses were part of the damage left by a minor stroke last year. But the doctors were certain eventually her mother’s memory would come back. Until then it made life with her mother interesting—if nothing else.

“Oh, one final thing,” Lindsey said. “We need to reserve some space for the special election coverage. We may even have to do an additional four-page section.”

“So it
is
an election year,” Katie said, remembering making that comment to Lucas this morning.

“Oh, yeah,” Lindsey said. “And Mayor Hannity is not pleased that there’s rumors that this time around he’s not going to run unopposed.”

“Do you really think anyone will have the guts to run against him? I mean, he’s been mayor for almost twenty years.”

“There’s talk,” Lindsey admitted.

“Sounds to me like someone wants to
shed
blood. I don’t know that I’d take on Harry Hannity in an election or anything else,” Katie admitted with a shake of her head. “I mean the man’s practically an institution in town.” Katie adored the mayor who had been “keeping company” with her mother since a few years after her father’s death.

“Then perhaps you might want to mention that to your mother,” Lindsey said carefully. “Since it’s your mother who’s been threatening to run against him.”

Katie stared at her in shock. “You’re kidding? You must mean someone else’s mother, not
my
mother.”

Good grief, her mother couldn’t remember something from one hour to the next, how on earth did she think she could run the entire town? And why on earth would she be threatening to run against a man she’d been seeing for almost twenty years? This didn’t make sense, Katie realized, but then not a lot her mother did—did.

“Oh, yeah, Katie, it’s
your
mother.” Lindsey chuckled. “And everyone in town is talking about it. Apparently she’s still steamed about Mayor Hannity canceling the seniors’ monthly potluck dinner and she’s been threatening to run against him ever since.”

Katie groaned. “I’ll talk to her, Lindsey. I’m sure this is just some kind of misunderstanding. Or she’s merely trying to get the mayor’s goat.” Katie leaned forward. “And I don’t want one word printed about my mother possibly running for mayor until I have a chance to talk to her.” Talk her out of it was more like it, Katie thought. “No matter what my mother says,” she added just to be on the safe side.

Lindsey shrugged. “Hey, it’s your paper,” she said, and Katie felt a thrill of pride. Yes, she realized, it really finally was.

She glanced at the clock on the wall. “If there’s nothing else, I’ve got to get some work done before I leave for that luncheon.” Katie’s brows drew together as she reviewed her notes, wondering if there was any part of her job that didn’t involve meeting with or seeing the new police chief?

Lucas had no intention of going to the mayor’s luncheon today since he was still far too busy trying to get the department organized, but when Mayor Hannity came upstairs from his own office to Lucas’s, and offered to walk over to the diner with him, Lucas didn’t have much choice but to go.

Now, as Lucas sat at a back table, surrounded by the town council and the mayor, his thoughts drifted back to Katie again. And as if his mind simply conjured her up, she pushed through the front door, looking a little frazzled and more than a little tired, surprising him.

She looked just as beautiful now as she had this morning in her terry cloth robe and bunny slippers. The crisp, white long-sleeved blouse, and the snug-fitting jeans that she had on hugged her curves in a way that almost had him drooling.

Her hair had been pulled up to some kind of knot atop her head, but several strands had sprung free and were now framing that gorgeous face, begging to be touched, stroked and caressed.

Her gaze met his and for an instant it seemed as if time and the world had frozen, until he forced himself to look away, to scold himself and remind himself that he wasn’t interested in this woman, in
any
woman. He couldn’t afford to be, not anymore.

“I’m sorry I’m late, Mayor,” Katie said with a smile, hurrying over to the table and bending to kiss his cheek. “It couldn’t be helped.” She’d known him since she was a child, and in spite of his political reputation, beneath his blustery exterior he was a sweet, gentle man with a kind heart.

“Hey, Katherine, are we all going to get a kiss hello?” Patrick Flannigan, the fire chief who had seven grown sons and was old enough to be her grandfather, teased with a wink. She pulled out the only empty chair, between the mayor and Lucas, and sat down as everyone chuckled at his joke.

“Hi,” Lucas said quietly.

“Hi yourself,” she returned, glancing at him. Her stomach immediately tied into knots, as did her tongue, so she tried to simply ignore him.

“Hey, Lucas, heard you had some female trouble at your place last night?” one of the council members called across the table, causing Katie’s head to snap up. She almost groaned. Good grief! Obviously the rumor mill was up and running at full speed.

“Yeah, Lucas, Patience said there was some commotion at your place in the middle of the night,” another member added, wiggling his brows suggestively. “Heard it involved a mysterious woman.”

Patience Pettibone owned the diner and spread gossip faster than other towns spread epidemics.

“Well, you know how it is,” Lucas said with a smile and a shrug. “Some women just can’t leave a man alone.”

Almost choking on the water she’d just sipped, Katie’s eyes narrowed on Lucas as her temper began to simmer.

What on earth did he think he was doing?

Surely he wasn’t about to tell everyone what had happened last night? He wouldn’t dare embarrass her like that, would he? Her water glass slammed down on the table, almost sloshing over the rim.