Forever Together (21 page)

He gave a rueful shake of his head, then paid
closer attention to the outside of Emily’s
boutique
. Up until a few months ago the building had been
derelict, left empty after a fire turned it into a safety hazard.
Emily had bought the building with her brother-in-law and Alex
Green, the man she’d be marrying in the next few months. They’d
worked hard to turn it into a trendy fashion boutique, something
that showcased Emily’s clothes as well as other designers from
Montana. He didn’t know about clothes, especially women’s clothes,
but he did know about buildings. And he’d been impressed with what
they’d done.

He opened his door and ducked under the
hanging baskets overflowing with purple and pink flowers. They
matched the baskets in front of the other three businesses sharing
the same blue porch. They brightened up the stores, made walking
along the sidewalk a pleasure.

Jordan McKenzie came out of the bakery two
doors down.

“You must be hungry,” Dan said.

Jordan looked down at the tray of food in his
hands. “It’s Mrs. Davies birthday. I didn’t think she’d appreciate
baking her own morning tea, so I ordered some food from Tess. You
coming into the café?”

Dan shook his head and nodded toward the
boutique. “Going to see Emily.”

“Anything I can help with? Alex is down in
San Antonio.”

“Nope. Just something I need to sort out with
her. How’s the ranch vacation business going?”

A year ago, Jordan and his brother converted
an old barn on their family ranch into bunkhouse accommodation.
They were working with other ranching families in the area to
provide visitors with an authentic holiday experience. From what
he’d heard from Tom, it was a huge success, with bookings already
going through to the following year.

Jordan balanced the food on the hood of his
truck while he looked for his keys. “It’s our turn for poker night
this Friday. We’re starting at seven if you can make it.”

“I’ll be there. Trent cleaned me out last
time, so it’s about time I taught him a lesson.”

“You’ll have to stand in line.” Jordan
laughed. “Sam’s got the same plan. I’ll see you later.”

Dan watched Jordan drive away. He was still
caught up in deciding how he was going to tell Emily the check had
been stolen when Tess appeared in the doorway of her café.

“Blast,” she muttered. She glanced
along
the sidewalk and saw Dan.
She held a box in front of her and frowned. “Jordan forgot Adele’s
birthday cake.”

Dan had been looking for any excuse not to
see Emily, so he took this one with open arms. Literally. “I’ll try
and catch up with him.”

The frown on Tess’
face lifted
and he wondered, not for the first time, why
she didn’t have a man in her life. Or why he’d never been
interested in being that man.

“Thanks. I’d go, but I’m on my own in the
café. I think he was going to Jake’s Hardware next.” She passed him
the box. “It’s a triple layer chocolate mud cake. Try not to jostle
the box too much otherwise the frosting will go everywhere.”

“No problem. If I can’t find
him,
I’ll take it out to their ranch.”

“Are you sure? It’s a long way to go for a
cake.”

“Adele’s worth it. She’s looked after the
McKenzies for longer than I’ve been alive.”

Tess smiled. “There’s a free coffee and
cupcake waiting for you when you get back.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” Dan opened his front
passenger door and gently sat the cake on the floor. If he needed
to stop in a
hurry,
it wouldn’t go
anywhere from there. “I’ll let you know when I find Jordan.”

Tess waved and went back into the café. He
pulled into the traffic and drove down Main Street, away from Emily
and the news he had to tell her. And he couldn’t have been
happier.

***

Kate smiled at the picture Kaylee was
drawing. “She looks lovely. Is she a fairy?”

“She’s an angel. Her name’s Shelby.”

“That’s a pretty name for an angel.”

Kaylee nodded. “Shelby likes red. That’s why
I made her
a red
dress. Toby said
angels aren’t real, but Shelby is. She visits me sometimes.”

“She does?”

“When I was sick she stayed with me. I
thought I was going to die, just like the girl in the other room.
Her name was Izzy.”

Kate looked through the glass wall, staring
at the beds in the Intensive Care Unit. She hadn’t noticed any
changes in the number of patients the hospital was caring for. And
after the first couple of days she hadn’t paid close attention to
each patient. Even the people visiting had all begun to look the
same. They looked exhausted, pushed beyond what they thought they
could endure.

“When did Izzy die?” Kate asked.

“Yesterday. Nurse Julie said her heart
stopped beating. Her mom and dad cried and the doctor turned the
machines off. I was scared.”

Kate touched Kaylee’s arm. “I’m sorry she
died, honey.”

“You don’t need to be. Shelby said
heaven
is a happy place. You’re
not sick anymore and it doesn’t hurt. And you can even fly. What do
you think flying feels like?”

“I think it must be the most amazing thing in
the world.”

Kaylee nodded and added more flowers to her
picture.

Kate watched Kaylee choose different colors,
draw different shapes, and create a rainbow of flowers under her
angel’s feet. “If you could fly, where would you go?”

Kaylee thought about her answer. “To the
beach. With Toby. He showed me pictures of the ocean. There were
dolphins and seals and all kinds of things in the water.” She put
the crayon down and leaned back on her pillows. “When am I going to
get better?”

“Doctor T said you’re doing great. Your body
just needs time to rest.”

“Toby went home today.” Tears filled Kaylee’s
eyes. “He left me his badge.”

Kate had seen the Police badge when she’d
walked in. It was on Kaylee’s bedside table leaning against a
framed photo of Toby and Kaylee. Dan had taken the photo the day
she’d brought the buckets of sand into the hospital. Their faces
shone with excitement and
a
friendship
so deep and enduring that it stole Kate’s breath
away.

“He’ll come and visit you, Kaylee.”

“It won’t be the same. He used to see me all
the time.”

There was nothing Kate could say to make her
sister feel better. Toby was her friend and there were some spaces
no one could fill.

Kaylee looked over Kate’s shoulder and
smiled. “Uncle Dan.”

“Is this an all girls’ party or can I join
in?”

His gaze connected with Kate and a tingle of
awareness shot along her skin. A tingle she was determined to
ignore. “I’ve got to go. Loretta’s expecting me at three o’clock
and then I’m meeting Tess for coffee.”

Dan frowned. “When will you be finished in
town?”

“About five o’clock.”

“Do you want me to stay? I could follow you
out to the ranch when you’re ready to leave.”

Kate shook her head. “I’ll be fine. Besides,
Pearl and Bonny will be waiting for their oats.”

Kaylee’s mouth dropped open. “You’re feeding
Pearl?”

“Trying to,” Dan muttered.

Kate felt his gaze on her as she slipped off
Kaylee’s bed and picked her tote bag off the floor. “I’ll see you
tomorrow, little sister. Say hi to Shelby for me.”

“She can hear you,” Kaylee said matter of
factly. “Angels have ears, too.”

Kate blew her a kiss and left the room,
sending her own prayer to Shelby and another to Lily. She wanted
Kaylee to be well, to join Toby and his family on the beach. And
she wanted to be there too, to share in the pure magic of a
long-awaited
moment.

As she walked out of the Intensive Care
Unit
she knew she’d take all the
divine intervention she could get. There was a whole lot of healing
that needed to happen and two angels listening had to be better
than one.

***

Dan turned his cell phone back on as he left
the hospital. He still hadn’t seen Emily, hadn’t told anyone except
Kate that the check was missing. After he’d found Jordan he’d been
called back into the office and all hell had broken loose in the
small town of Bozeman.

“Dan, wait up.”

Tom was jogging toward him, a grim look on
his face. “Charlie said someone broke into his bar and cleaned out
the safe.”

Dan nodded. “I’m heading back there now.”

“I can’t believe someone would stoop so low.
Charlie’s never said a bad word about anybody. He runs a tight ship
and keeps everyone on their toes. He’s honest to the core.”

Dan stuck his phone in his pocket. It wasn’t
the only theft that had left him reeling in the last twenty-four
hours. The first one had been a lot closer to home. The impact of
that theft would be felt for far longer than the burglary at
Charlie’s Bar and Grill.

“I’ve got a question to ask you, Tom.”

“Sure. But if it’s about Kate, I’ve already
spoken
to
her. She said she was
going to stay in a motel. Is everything all right between the two
of you?”

“She didn’t stay in a motel last night, she
stayed at the ranch.” Dan took a deep breath and continued. “The
check that Emily gave you has gone missing. Anna asked me to bring
it into town with me. It wasn’t where she thought it was. I spent
hours searching for it. When Kate came back to the
ranch
last night I accused her of stealing
it.”

“You did what?”

“It made sense,” Dan muttered.

“Like hell it made sense,” Tom roared. “Apart
from anything else she’s my daughter. There’s no way she’d steal
anything. Not anymore.”

Dan glanced over Tom’s shoulder. “We need to
move. We’re attracting too much attention.”

A group of people had just left the hospital.
They were watching the commotion between the Chief of Police and
his brother-in-law like vultures looking for
leftover
scraps. In the middle of the group was
Logan Allen,
local
reporter, and
the man Dan did his best to avoid.

Tom looked over his shoulder and started
walking toward the parking lot. “I’ll see you back to your
vehicle.”

When they reached the patrol car, Dan took
his hat off and sighed. “When I got home, Kate had packed her bags
and left. I thought she’d taken the check. She came back to talk
and one thing led to another. Before I knew
it
she was hunting for the same check. I don’t think she
took the money, but I still can’t find it. I was going to see Emily
today. She’s the only person who can confirm if it’s been cashed or
deposited in someone else’s account.”

Tom crossed his arms in front of his chest.
“Emily’s not the only one that can help. After Anna and I
took
the horses for a ride on
Monday,
I went inside for a glass
of water. I saw the check sitting on the counter and put it in my
pocket. After I’d dropped Anna off at the
hospital,
I deposited the check at the bank. Does that
answer all of your questions?”

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Dan lowered his
voice, conscious of the sound of his voice ricocheting around the
parking lot.

“It didn’t seem important at the time.”

Dan ran his hand through his hair.
“
Well,
it’s damn important now. I
accused Kate of being a thief.”

“I’d say she’s got an apology coming her
way.”

Dan didn’t know if there was anything he
could say to take back the words he’d thrown in her face. He’d
jumped to the wrong conclusion, painted her into a corner she’d
never been. He felt like the biggest idiot in the world.

Tom glared at him and Dan looked away. “Did
Kate tell you about my daughter, Lily?”

Dan nodded. He didn’t know how much Kate had
told her father, so he kept quiet.

“It’s been hard enough for us with Kaylee,
but Kate went through the same thing with Lily. She’s been through
hell and back twice. It’s time you started to see the good in
her.”

Dan needed to do a lot more than that. From
the first time he’d seen Kate she’d gotten under his
skin,
pushed against old scars that hadn’t
healed. Made him think beyond each day and left him wondering if he
had a future that was better than his past.

It was
time
he sorted his life out. But first he had a big apology to make and
a burglary at Charlie’s Bar and Grill to solve.

***

“Would you look at that?” Loretta cooed from
the reception desk. “There’s nothing like a man in uniform holding
a bunch of flowers. It’s enough to make a woman’s heart
flutter.”

Kate looked up from applying the perming
solution to Mrs. Donaldson’s hair. She couldn’t see outside the
window, but everyone else seemed to be enjoying what was happening
on the sidewalk.

“He’s heading this way,” Jessie shrieked.
“Quick, back to your stations girls.”

Anyone would think Jessie was commanding a
battleship
the way her arms flew
around the salon. She moved with surprising agility for a
seventy-five-year-old, folding herself under a hairdryer with the
grace of a ballerina.

Kate smiled when Jessie waved another
hairstylist away. She didn’t want her dryer turned on. Each week
she came in for the same blow-wave and talkathon she always did.
Only today it seemed she was settling in for more news than she’d
ever heard. A noisy
hair dryer
would only stand in the way of gossip perfection.

The bell tinkled and every head turned toward
the front door.

Dan stood in the salon looking about as
comfortable as a coyote on an iceberg.

“Deputy Dan.” Loretta’s voice dripped with
sugary sweetness. “Were you planning on carrying that lovely
bouquet back to the station?”