Never Stopped Loving You (26 page)

She blinked. “What are you doing?”

“Getting you ready?”

“For what?”

He lifted the earbuds. Music faintly sounded out from them. “For work. You think I want you working late in the kitchen instead of being in bed with me tonight?”

She smiled. “I wouldn’t want that either.”

He cupped her cheeks. “You okay?”

There was no stopping the smile tugging at her lips. She didn’t deserve this man, but she was taking him as long as she could. “Am now.”

He stepped back in the house. The screen door made that familiar wooden tap on the frame and she tipped her head back against the brick while a guitar stringing out a country song played in her ears. She hugged her middle, wanting to hold on to the warmth filling in her belly, but it seeped out with the engine of John’s trucking fading away. She should feel good having that all off her chest. She should be ready to tackle anything. Instead worry gnawed at her. All John had to do was mention that conversation over a scratched wooden table to a dozen of his closest friends.

What then? After all her time back in Bella Warren trying to be good, trying to be perfect, what would it have gotten her? She pushed her hands over the top of her head. Was anything she was doing worth it anyway? The same people in town who gave her sideways looks when she got here were still delivering those looks.

The fall wind cooled the heat from her cheeks, but did nothing for the hot tears of embarrassment still haunting her. She walked through the shaded backyard. Leaves crunched under her feet and she turned back to face the house. She felt no pang or longing staring at the house. Instead she looked at the two brick buildings and saw a home. Her home.

Regardless of the rumors and gossip, this was her home, she knew that. Now how did she take everything she wanted? How did she dare to dream she’d be able to take it all? That old wooden back door waited to be opened. She stared at it, remembering the many times she’d been at the kitchen counter inside with Jana Chester standing next to her.

Put the two of them together with a mixer and Kara could conquer the world. Or at least, paint every last surface in sugar. A tear started to fill in her eye, but she blinked it back. She wished Mrs. Jana was here. She always seemed to know exactly what to say.

Whether her mom slipped a little more into crazy town or if her grades had dropped. A few simple, softly spoken words and it was light a lightbulb over Kara’s head.

She walked around the side of the house. The big windows along this side were closed, but they peeked in the dining room. As she walked, the one toward the front gave a view of Whitney at her desk. Her head was down as she worked.

Kara moved on around to the front of the house. By the noise, Wade had gone back to work in the barn. She stared toward the barn, wanting that to be her home too. She wanted to tell him about her paint color ideas and answer his nonstop questions about appliances, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

She faced the house and pictured Mrs. Jana on the front situating pumpkins and vines of fall-colored leaves. The wind blew around the corner and lifted hair from Kara’s neck. She licked her lips. She knew where Mrs. Jana was. Why couldn’t she go see her? She bit at her lip. She knew the address. A bubble of excitement started replacing the cold knot John had left behind and she headed toward her car.

First she walked, then skipped until she ran the last few feet, jumped in her car and drove off. Butterflies were out-and-out dancing in her belly now. Her knee bounced and she tapped on the steering wheel as she headed to her mom’s house to grab a few clothes.

My God, she should have done this ages ago. She waved to Aiden outside next door and took the front steps two at a time. She ripped the door open and stepped inside the empty home. The hallways were clean and her reflection caught in the polished tile. She couldn’t decide if she’d rather burn it down or run it over with a bulldozer.

If she got to drive the machine, she’d enjoy mashing it to the ground. She turned past the living room, but light in the window caught her eye and she stopped. On the shelf was that damn ugly pot-bowl thing.

She walked over and without hesitation, grabbed it and pulled it down. It was heavy and slick, with all the paint polished and coating the outside. She turned the bowl thing over in her hands. On the bottom was an engraving.

Jim
&
Sally 4 EVR

A hollow laugh seeped out of her. “Forever. Not even close.”

The blue and green colors she’d once admired were nothing more than a mixing of ugly colors sloppily painted on the side of a misshapen bowl. This old thing was worse than her parents’ marriage had been. Or maybe not, since it wasn’t broken like the marriage.

She looked up and headed out the front door. Will and power and a full breath pushed her to the edge of the porch and she hurled the bowl as hard as she could at the driveway.

A satisfying crack and shatter of the bowl splitting into hundreds of pieces ripped through the dark hole lodged in the heaviest corner of her heart. What was left of the ceramic lay in pieces on the concrete and a laugh trickled out. She covered her lips but, damn it, she didn’t care. Hand over her mouth, another across her belly, she tipped forward and laughed.

“You’re crazy!”

Kara startled and looked up to find Maddy Booth standing at the fence. Kara opened her mouth to say something, but Aiden was behind his mother’s leg. Kara leaned forward, hands on her hips. “Darn right I am! Crazy with happiness and there’s nothing you can do about it! Tell people whatever you want, Maddy, I know what’s real and what’s the truth.”

She turned on her heel, but Maddy’s yelling brought her back. “I can’t believe you tried to hit me with that! Crazy as your mom is! I’m calling the cops.”

Kara frowned at her. “You weren’t even outside.”

“You were trying to hit Aiden!”

She started to argue and threw her hands up. “Are you sure I’m the crazy one here?”

Kara stepped inside and hurried to her room. It took no time to throw the few clothes she had in her bag, grab her toiletries and go back outside. It took her just long enough for a sherriff’s car to park by her street. She shot Maddy a dirty look and locked up behind her.

The deputy met her by her car as she put her bag in the backseat. Kent Spears had been two grades younger than her in school and Kara couldn’t really remember much else about him. “Hi, Kent.”

His cheeks colored. “Hi, Kara. Someone reported a problem.”

She shook her head. “I’m just packing up—”

“She’s lying, Kent!” Maddy hollered from her yard. “She tried hitting me with that pot like her momma nailed Sue with a vase.”

Kent leaned around the front of the car toward the shattered bowl. “That?”

Kara nodded. “I wanted to get rid of it so I threw it off my front porch.”

He frowned and nodded. “And Maddy was in your yard at the time?”

“No. She wasn’t outside. Aiden was.”

Kent’s frown remained as he looked to Maddy. “If you weren’t outside, how was Kara trying to hit you?”

Maddy’s chin lifted. “Aiden, I mean. She tried to hit Aiden.”

He walked to the fence and leaned on the railing. His tan uniform pulled at his back as he sank to eye level with the boy. “Were you in Ms. Kara’s yard?”

The boy shook his head. “Momma said I’m not allowed to play with Kara. I was going to help her mow.”

He nodded. “Did you see Kara throw the pot?”

Aiden nodded with a big smile on his face that had Kara bringing her hand to her lips to hide her own grin. “I was in my sandbox. It was cool.”

Kent stood and pointed across the yard. “In that sandbox way over there?”

Aiden followed Kent’s pointing finger to the sandbox on the far side of Maddy’s yard.

“Yep!” Aiden said. “I was building a pyramid with treasures inside. Want to help me raid it for gold?”

Kent rubbed the kid’s head. “Maybe in a little bit. Why don’t you run over there and get started.”

The boy took off and Kent faced Maddy. “Report something like this again, and I’ll charge you for filing a false complaint.”

“But—”

He shook his head. “Don’t start, Maddy. You have nothing here. Your own kid proved it.”

In a turn with a huff, Maddy headed inside. Kent walked back toward Kara and stopped next to her. “Heard you were back in town. Momma made your frosting the other day and it was great.”

Heat filled her cheeks. “That’s Jana’s frosting. I just handed over the recipe.”

He lifted a shoulder. “I liked it. Good seeing you again.”

She smiled. “Thanks.”

He gestured at the bag in the backseat. “You’re not leaving already, are you?”

She shook her head. “Nah. Just taking a quick trip.”

He nodded and headed off. “See you around.”

“Thanks, Kent. When you get a chance, stop by Chester House. I’ll make you some coffee and give you a snack.”

He chuckled and nodded. “I’ll do that. Another sheriff who used to work this area said Jana used to do that all the time.”

“She did. She’s a great woman.”

Jana Chester was more than great. She was amazing and maybe one day Kara could be half the woman she was. She hopped in her car and headed to Texas to find out how to be.

Chapter Thirty-One

Wade paced Whitney’s office. Each step, his stomach fell out a little lower. Three hours ago, he’d dropped headphones on Kara’s head. She’d smiled at him. She’d been fine. Now, he looked at Whitney, positive he’d heard wrong. “What do you mean she’s gone?”

Whitney just shrugged. Her palms were turned up, eyes were big. “I don’t know. I’ve looked everywhere. She’s not answering her phone. She’s not at her momma’s house. I saw Aiden Booth outside when I was at Kara’s house. He said she and his mother got in an argument and he saw Kara putting a bag in her car and leaving.”

Wade dropped in a chair and put his hands in his hair. “Did Aiden say anything else?”

“He asked if I wanted to help him raid a pyramid he built.” Wade looked at her. Whitney shrugged again. “He’s five, Wade.”

He shook his head, pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed her number. Straight to voice mail. “I don’t understand.”

“What’s up?” Tate’s voice echoed behind him.

“Tate.” Whitney stood. “What brings you by?”

He looked between them. “I can’t come see my brother and sister?”

Whitney was laughing, but Wade wasn’t. He knew exactly why Tate was here. Tate dropped in the chair next to him and tossed him the small box. “Bringing something by for Wade.”

The box landed against his shoulder and fell to the floor. He grabbed the blue velvet and sat back. “I think you’re too late.”

Whitney’s eyes widened. “Is that a...”

Wade stroked over the curved top. This was enough. He’d reached his breaking point with her. He’d been patient. He’d waited. That visit with her mom had been a disaster, but he’d sat back and waited. He’d agonized over what to do, when he realized he was tired of waiting. It was now or never and marriage was as solid and real as it could get. He’d done everything right and once again, she left him. He was done. “Was.”

Tate frowned. “What the hell is going on?”

Whitney looked to him, her eyes big and sad. “Kara took off.”

He couldn’t believe she’d gone and done it to him again. Just up and disappeared. He didn’t want to believe it. It couldn’t be true. He looked to Whitney. “Are you sure she’s gone?”

“I went through the house and I didn’t see her bag or anything in the bathroom.” Whitney opened a desk drawer and pulled out a key. She sat it on the edge of the desk. “There’s the key to the house. Go have a look if you want. I went through it. There was a broken bowl in the driveway. I picked that up and threw it in the trash.”

Wade stood, but he didn’t take the key. He turned and walked out of the room. He got out on the front porch and sat on the steps. That was it. He couldn’t keep being jerked around like this.

The door opened and closed, and Tate sat next to him, the key in his fingers. “You don’t want to go see for yourself.”

He leaned back and propped his elbows on the highest step. “I think I’m tired of chasing after her.”

Tate’s brow lifted. “You were about to ask her to marry you and you say you’re tired of chasing after her?”

He turned the box over in his hand. That was true. And if she was here, he would drop to a knee in an instant and ask her. “That was before.”

“I think since you put me through the trouble of custom-designing that engagement ring, you should at least get off your ass and go find out.”

His eyes narrowed. “I thought you didn’t like Kara.”

Tate lifted a shoulder. “Things change, people change their mind. General shit happens. She makes you happy. Whitney’s happier. I had fun with Patrick’s kids when she was here and all that was because of her. Move your ass and get in the truck. If I go through her drawers and find your girlfriend’s underwear, that’s going to be weird.”

“I told you I didn’t want to go.” He breathed. He knew Whitney would have checked all that. “I’m tired of chasing. I’m tired of waiting. I’m tired of being patient. I’m ready to be married and happy. I want kids. I want Patrick’s life and those cookouts like we had every weekend. I want more and I’ve waited on her long enough.”

Tate’s brows dipped. “How long has she been back?”

“May. She came when we opened to sell for the season.”

Tate laughed. “Oh Lord, you’ll never get married. Or if you do, you’ll never stay married long.”

That was about what Patrick had told him. “How would you know? You’re not married, you don’t even have a girlfriend.”

Tate stretched. “I know women.”

“You know shit.”

“Ninety percent of the people who walk through my door every day are women and the other ten percent are lovesick fools like you wanting to buy something for a woman. I know a hell of a lot more than you do. Now get in the truck.” Tate took off to his truck, climbed in and honked while Wade was still on the porch.

He groaned and pushed to his feet. Why the hell not. It was something to do to pass the time. Nothing more. “After we get back and don’t find her, you’re going to help me finish staining the stair railing for the house.”

“Fine.” He put the truck in gear and headed for Kara’s house. It took not even two minutes to get there. Aiden was across the yard in a flash and at the front of the truck as Wade stepped out.

“Hey, Mr. Wade!” The boy waved. “Can I help you mow?”

Tate glanced around the yard. “Someone needs to mow.”

Wade groaned, but he couldn’t tell the kid no. “Sure thing. In a little bit. Let me go inside in a minute.”

“Kara’s not home.”

He nodded. “I heard.”

Aiden ran to the porch and stood at the end, arms over his head, mouth running off so fast, Wade couldn’t catch half of what the boy said. He held his hands over his head and pretended to throw something. The boy turned around, eyes wide and color on his face. “And it went BOOM! Coolest thing ever.” He moaned and slapped his hands over his face. “And Kara laughed. I was coming over to see what she was doing, but Momma stopped me.”

Wade stopped before going inside. “Did your mom see Kara leave?”

“Nope. She went back inside.”

“Did you see Kara leave?”

The boy shook his head. “I was in my sandbox. Want to help me dig treasure out of my pyramid?”

Tate ruffled the boy’s hair. “Tell you what, squirt, I’ll dig for treasure while Wade cuts the grass.”

“Okay! I’ll go get the sand ready.” Aiden ran off the porch and high-tailed it across the yard to the sandbox.

Wade groaned and opened the door. “This is a waste of time.”

“At least I get to dig for treasure with Aiden.”

He stepped inside and the air conditioner clicked on. He moved farther in the house, seeing it all looked exactly the same as the last time he was here. It was years ago, right after Kara’s mom had been taken away. He’d come here late at night and snuck in the back door. His mom was in the middle of having the place cleaned up, but there’d been a path cleared in the house as he walked through. Each step then had made him wish for her a little more.

Much like his steps were now. “It doesn’t make sense that she would leave.”

“Maybe she left a note somewhere.”

Like Wade had done so often at Chester Farms. Little notes and such he left behind while she cooked so she’d know he’d been through. He hadn’t seen any note anywhere in the kitchen or left behind in his house. He’d looked anyway, though why he was getting his hopes up, he didn’t know.

“Do you know where her room is?”

Wade shook his head. When he’d come here before, just after she’d taken off seven years ago, he’d only made it through the lower floor before he’d walked out. He wasn’t sure what he’d come for then. She’d practically lived at his house before taking off. Some part of him must have wanted to see what was hidden inside that she’d hated so much. By the time he’d made it through the hallway and kitchen, he wasn’t sure he knew anything more about Kara, but he knew if he’d been forced to live in that mess, he’d have left too.

He pointed down a hall. “Maybe this way.”

He peeked in one room and there was only a bed frame, so he tried the door at the end of the hall. Curtains were pulled back and a pink blanket was across an air mattress. The floor was clean, nothing left behind. Nothing on the dresser. He shook his head. Empty. As he expected.

Tate stepped in around him and opened the closet door. It was bare aside from a couple wire hangers. “About like Whitney said.”

“Yep.” He tugged open all six drawers, one after another, and found nothing. He pushed the last closed. “Can we go now?”

Tate came out of the bathroom. “Empty too.”

“I wasn’t expecting anything different.”

“I’m sure there’s a reason.” Tate scratched the back of his head. “It doesn’t seem to fit from what I saw.”

Wade lifted a shoulder and headed back toward the front. “Welcome to life with Kara. I rarely understand and am usually always left wanting to know more. All I know for sure is, we went to see her mom and ever since then she’d changed a little bit. Watched more and laughed less.”