The Comforts of Home (35 page)

He’d been doing funerals since he was old enough to go with his father and stay quiet. Tyler had a feeling about the four o’clock funeral and it wasn’t good.

His cel sounded about the time he’d decided to skip lunch and just sit in the car and worry.

“Hel o.”

“Ty?”

He didn’t have to ask who it was. He knew Kate’s voice.

“How are you?” He’d talked to her so very few times on the phone he didn’t know what to say. “Are you al right?” He never knew what she’d been through when she was gone.

“I’m fine. I just pul ed into Harmony. I’m parked in front of the B&B. Any chance you can break free and come over here for lunch? I know Mrs. Biggs, she’l have something in the fridge.”

Tyler fought down a groan. He’d love to see Kate, but he knew Martha Q had meddled in his business and he didn’t want to see her. “I’m real y busy, Kate. We’ve got a big funeral at four and we’re al scrambling to get ready.”

“Okay,” she said slowly, as if thinking as she spoke.

“Need some help?”

Tyler closed his eyes. She’d never offered to help, hadn’t even wanted to go by the cemetery to lock up when she visited. Now she made an honest offer. He felt like he was standing in a six-foot hole daring her to toss dirt.

“Sure,” he said. “Meet me in fifteen minutes back in the kitchen downstairs from my apartment. Come in the back.” He hung up, not even sure if he’d said good-bye. His Kate was going to help him with a funeral. He couldn’t believe it. In al the years they’d had dinner together, e-mailed back and forth, driven around the countryside, talked and talked, she’d never shown more than a passing interest in his work.

He stopped at the florist to make sure al the flowers for four had been delivered, and then he headed home.

The family was stil visiting in a smal conference room beside his office. He crossed down the back hal way so as not to interrupt them. When he reached the kitchen, Kate was already there . . . talking with Autumn, who was putting away serving dishes.

“Hel o, Kate,” he said, leaning to kiss her cheek. “I would have picked you up at the airport if I’d known what time you were coming in.”

Kate smiled, but wasn’t too friendly. The little major was back, he thought, al business and proper.

Autumn pointed a serving spoon at him. “Mr. Wright, you didn’t tel me you had a girlfriend.”

“What makes you think she’s my girlfriend?” The last word stuck to his tongue like peanut butter.

“She told me she was.” Autumn shrugged, her attention already moving like a flea on a sweaty dog. “Those people in there didn’t eat much of anything. I got chicken salad running out my ears.”

Tyler didn’t see that as very appetizing.

She added, “You two want some?”

Kate made a face only Tyler saw, then politely said, “I’d love some.”

Tyler grabbed a couple of cold waters, and Kate took the bowl and two smal plates from Autumn. They moved over to the kitchen table by the bay window and began to eat.

For once Autumn didn’t join them. She finished cleaning up and disappeared into her room, smiling at them with a kind of sil y smile people usual y reserve for babies.

When she was gone, Tyler laughed. “She thinks we’re a couple.” Kate had always gone to extremes to make sure people knew they weren’t. He had no idea why she let Autumn get the wrong impression now.

She took a bite, chewed, then took a long drink and said, “We are.”

Tyler had always figured that once he got in a real relationship, he’d be the first to know, or at least the second. He was surprised to find out in his forties that belief wasn’t true. “We are?”

Kate nodded. “Unless you don’t want to be?”

“That depends.” He frowned. “Where are you staying tonight?”

“I thought I’d stay in one of your extra bedrooms upstairs, unless your quarters are already ful .”

“They are not.”

She grinned. “That’s what I figured out three minutes after I met Autumn. She thinks you’re great, but she cal s you Mr. Wright.”

He shook his head. “You’ve been listening to gossip.”

“Guilty and not proud of it. According to Martha Q, some gold digger moved in and had you under her spel . I expected to meet a schemer, but al I found was a frightened young woman looking for a place to hide away from harm for a while. I guess you didn’t need rescuing after al .”

He should have been mad, but his Kate was moving in, at least for a few days. “I’l get your bag. Got anything black to wear to the funeral? We need to get going.”

“Black’s my favorite color. If you’l get my suitcase, I can be ready in ten minutes.”

Tyler almost ran to the rental car. They walked up the stairs together. He waited while she dressed. He tried to figure out what was going on. He thought maybe he should send Martha Q flowers. He had no idea what would happen tonight, but it didn’t matter; anything would be better than saying good night to Kate on the porch of Winter’s Inn.

When she walked in the living area of his quarters, she looked very proper in her black suit, white shirt, and sensible shoes. He explained a few of the things that had to happen at the church before anyone arrived. Memorial programs, a memory book to sign in, tissues in every pew, flowers arranged to frame the casket, and a dozen other little details.

“If we have the service here at the chapel, we have everything in order, but when we go into the churches we’ve learned to expect the unexpected. One funeral at a church that had a mother’s-day-out program taught me a few lessons. Just before people started filing in, the four- and five-year-olds came into the hal for a Bible story. The teachers hadn’t had time to read the memo. It wouldn’t have been so bad, but each child carried a pair of paper animals to put in Noah’s ark. The kids were shuffled out, but I was picking up camels and sheep scattered everywhere.” Kate smiled. “This is going to be interesting.”

“I hope al goes wel . The dearly departed was a longtime rancher. Most of his friends are coming in on the Shady Days nursing home bus and ranchers are driving in for miles. I’ve been asked to set up two extra mics for the cowboy poets who’l be reading.”

Thunder rattled the sky as they climbed into a long black family car. “And,” he said, looking up, “just to make it more interesting, it’s going to rain.”

To his surprise Kate’s offer to help wasn’t an idle promise; she was a quick learner and turned out to be a great help. She stood back to watch how he greeted people, and then set to work. When he pul ed out the huge black umbrel as and waited as people pul ed up near the door, she did the same thing.

When the service started, she stood beside him, silent as a soldier waiting for the next order.

When the funeral ended, rain pounded hard against the two-story stained glass. Most of the people elected not to go to the graveside, but a few family members and the minister climbed into the family car. Tyler drove while Kate sat next to him. They fol owed a saddled horse with a mounted escort on either side al the way to the cemetery.

By the time they climbed back into the car, everyone was soaked.

While Calvin worked beneath the tent to cover the coffin, Tyler drove the family back and hugged each one good-bye. When he climbed back into the car, he couldn’t tel if Kate had rain on her face or if she was crying.

“You do this every day?” she whispered.

“No. Every day in this business seems different. Some funerals are smal ; some, like this one, are big. Sometimes we go a week or even two without a funeral. What we did today is just what people see, there’s more to it. I’l spend tomorrow doing paperwork.”

She was silent on the drive home, and Tyler wondered if his profession was too much for her. There was nothing glamorous about it. He wasn’t solving mysteries or saving the world. She was probably sitting beside him now trying to figure out how to say good-bye to him forever. He wished he could tel her not al men were born to be a soldier or a cop or CEO of some big company.

They didn’t bother with the umbrel as when they got back to the funeral home; they just ran through the rain to the kitchen entrance.

Autumn took one look at the two drowned rats and ordered them upstairs.

“How old is that girl?” Kate asked as they dripped on the elevator carpet.

“Twenty-three, but she’s been bossing me around since I met her.”

Kate giggled. “And to think I was worried about you. The truth is, she’s too old for you.”

They separated at the living room. He went to the shower off his room and she went to the shower next to what was now her room. The two rooms on the north side of his apartment had been empty for so long he couldn’t remember the last person to stay there, but out of habit he kept them ready.

Tyler couldn’t stop smiling as he peeled off wet clothes.

It was odd to have someone else in his apartment. He took a quick shower, not wanting to use al the hot water, then dressed in his favorite jogging suit that he always wore on Sunday mornings.

When she appeared in the living area, she was dressed almost exactly the same, only she had on fuzzy pink socks with her navy blue jogging suit.

“Pink,” was al he said.

The very proper Major Katherine Cummings stuck her tongue out at him.

They were laughing when Autumn brought up a tray of soup and sandwiches. She set them down on the coffee table. “I didn’t know what kind you liked, so I made three different ones. Hope you like hot cocoa, but if you want coffee I’l bring a pot up.”

“I love cocoa, especial y on a night like this.” Kate smiled at the girl. “But don’t you worry about us or go to any trouble because of me.”

“Oh, I didn’t. I had to cook something for the two firemen hanging out in the kitchen, plus Ronny brought her boyfriend in. He’s real good looking. Reminds me of that vampire on TV. You know, the good-looking one with long hair. I keep feeding him sweets, hoping he doesn’t get hungry for blood.”

“Maybe I should go down?” Tyler stood. “Ronel e, who apparently changed her name when she changed addresses, doesn’t have a boyfriend that I know about and .

. .”

Kate took his hand, stopping him. “Autumn, do you need us?”

Autumn shook her head. “We’re fine. I can’t remember a rainy night when I’ve felt so good . . . or so safe,” she said to Tyler. “When you’ve got two firemen and a vamp downstairs, there’s not much need to worry about someone knocking on the door.”

He saw a tear rol down her cheek and wondered for the hundredth time how bad she must have had it to think this place was heaven. “Wel , tel Ronny, and the firemen, and the vampire to have a good time.”

“Yes, Mr. Wright.” She smiled at him, making him feel very old.

When Autumn left, Kate laughed as if she’d just read his mind. “The kids wil be fine,” she whispered.

He lit a fire and they ate their supper on the couch watching an old western they’d both seen so many times they could say some of the lines with the actors. Halfway through, when the fire died to a glow, Kate pul ed a blanket over them both.

When the movie was over, they talked quietly. He had a feeling she had things she wanted to say, but it took her thirty minutes to get around to it.

“Ty,” she started, her head down where he couldn’t see her eyes. “I’ve never been good at getting close to people.

When I was young, I was too involved in school and then in my career. Moving around with the army, it just seemed like roots never grew in one place. I very rarely even dated.” He didn’t say a word. He had no idea what to say.

“But you’re a good man, and I think I’d like to someday get close to you. The only thing is, I don’t want you to hurry me. I may be in my forties, but a part of me stil feels like I’m in my teens. Maybe it’s too late for me to even start, but I’d like to try”—she took a deep breath—“with you.”

“We’ve known each other for four years, Kate. I don’t think either of us has been in any hurry.”

“I know. If you don’t want to wait any longer, I’d understand.” Before he could say anything, she added,

“Don’t answer. Just think about it. We can talk more tomorrow.”

She stood. “I’l say good night. It’s been a long and interesting day.”

She was gone before he could think of what to say.

Somewhere his brave, strong-minded Kate was trying to change, maybe even mend. She seemed to be trying to let someone near for the first time in her life. She hadn’t been an easy woman to get close to, but he had a feeling she’d be worth the effort.

Maybe al people were broken in some way by the time they reached forty. What he had to decide was, did he want to love her, broken and al ? It seemed awful y cruel to close a door even though she’d only opened it a crack.

He got up and headed for his room, noticing her lights were already out. She was probably exhausted, flying halfway across the country today and then helping him with a funeral. She was right; there would always be tomorrow to talk things over.

Tyler crawled into bed, knowing he wouldn’t sleep with the storm blowing outside. Most funeral directors hated the snow and the ice, but this time of year bothered him. Early spring storms, when the weather could turn deadly without warning. Though the earth stil seemed cold and dead, the sky sometimes went to war above him.

He thought of how he’d loved having Kate working with him today. Slowly, he drifted into sleep, dreaming of what it would be like to have a partner not just in business, but in life.