Twilight's Encore (11 page)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Katy poured another cup of green tea for the men seated at Ty’s scarred oak table. Grimness marked the men’s faces and told of the frustration they all felt in regards to the missing attacker. Even though Jack had staff scouring every street, the man had managed to somehow disappear. She hoped for a break in the case soon, before someone else was injured.

She refilled the fruit and cheese tray and tried not to blush when Ty picked out a strawberry and slowly carried it to his mouth, his blue eyes shining with wicked delight. Katy frowned her mock disapproval and turned away in time to catch Kyle’s speculative gaze.

Her brother seemed so much older, more mature, than the last time she’d seen him. His skin was tanned almost to teak by the hot Italian sun. There was a web of tiny creases near the outer edges of his eyes, and his mouth bore the look of someone who rarely found humor in life.

Katy nudged him with her shoulder as she sank onto the chair next to him, leaving Ty talking to Jack. “I can’t believe you’re here. It’s been what, eighteen months or more?”

Kyle reached over and tweaked her nose. “Yeah, something like that. You could always come to Italy for a visit, you know.”

She nodded and watched Ty mix a spoonful of sugar into his tea before sending an indecipherable glance toward her and Kyle. Then he turned and said something under his breath to his brother.

She didn’t know what he was thinking, but if it had anything to do with her leaving town without him, forget it. At least not until after they’d had a chance to sort out their issues and determine whether their love could flourish given a second chance.

“I’ve been meaning to, it’s just hard with the hospital. And you know how Mom can be.” Katy smiled at her brother to prove she didn’t really mind. When the split first happened, and Kyle left for the army, she admitted to feeling resentment at being the one left behind to pick up the pieces of her mother’s life. But time and circumstance had dulled the bitterness.

Katy had tried to talk to him about their dad over the years, but to no avail. Kyle’s agreement to attend the wedding was a giant step forward for all of them. It would be the first time he was in the same room with their father since the separation.

He grabbed a handful of plump red grapes and popped a couple in his mouth. “I’m surprised she’s not here commandeering the whole thing.”

“Kyle,” Katy reprimanded. “Give her a chance. She’s different now.” The two of them had always butted heads. He’d been daddy’s boy, while Katy was her mother’s little princess. She’d never had the time for his rambunctious little boy’s curiosity.

“I’ll believe that when I see it. I’m only in this for you, no one else.” He warned, chewing on another grape.

She blinked back sudden tears; fiercely glad he’d decided to come early, before he learned of the cancelled nuptials. Which reminded her, “Why
are
you here? The wedding wasn’t for another month.”

That got his undivided attention, along with Jack and Ty’s.

Oops
.

He frowned. “What the H E double L do you mean was?”

She turned to Ty, who nodded encouragement.

“You mind telling me what’s going on around here? And don’t think I didn’t notice those bruises on your neck either.” Kyle waved a hand at her bathrobe and Ty’s bare chest. “Or…
that
.” He glared at Ty, who grinned back.

Katy scowled across the table. “Not helping here.”

She turned to her brother. “I didn’t know until I came back home and saw Ty again…” He held out his hand and she latched on like a newborn babe. “I couldn’t marry Jeff. Not while I’m in love with another man.”

Oh boy, she’d said it out loud, in front of God, and everybody.

Ty’s fingers tightened, pulling her attention to his tender gaze. “Well, I could think of a better place for your declaration.” He urged her up and around the table until she stood looking down into his beloved face.

“I love you too, more than I ever thought possible.” He chuckled and dragged her onto his lap. “Trust you to do the unexpected.”

Then he kissed her.

Katy reached out and grabbed the only thing solid in her world, Ty’s broad shoulders. In the back of her mind she waited for the other shoe to drop. Everything was almost too perfect.

Her brother was here, her nearly disastrous wedding had been avoided, and Ty had forgiven her. She swore this time around, no one was going to stop them from being together.

~~~*~~~

Ty ignored the whooping and hollering behind him and concentrated on the woman in his arms. Her mouth held a hint of sweetness from the honey she’d used in her tea, and something that was uniquely Katy. If they ever went onto one of those dating game shows he’d seen on TV he had no fears about telling her from the other contestants, blindfolded or not. The soft, womanly weight on his lap induced illicit thoughts of untying that sash and laying her out like a banquet for their mutual satisfaction. Wonder what she’d say if he burned all her clothes and kept her in his robe for the next ten years or so. Now that sounded like his idea of nirvana.

“
Uh-hem
.” Her brother’s overly loud clearing of his throat penetrated Ty’s sensual haze. He lifted his head from its foray of her neck and smiled into glowing moss green eyes.

“To be continued,” he murmured, and rubbed his raspy chin against her smooth as silk cheek, smiling as she shivered in reaction. His hands straightened the front of her robe before he reluctantly let her regain her feet.

“It seems your brother is worried about my intentions, probably with good cause.”

Katy blushed a becoming shade of pink that contrasted wildly with his tartan robe. “Ty, don’t tease,” she said, avoiding eye contact by cleaning off the remnants of their snack from the table and carrying the dishes to the sink. “He just wants me to be happy, right, Kyle?”

“Well you have to admit this
is
kind of sudden.” His words were innocuous enough, but his gaze warned Ty not to fuck with his sister.

“Actually, my
friend
, this has been ten years in the making. Remember?” Ty understood, and was even grateful that Katy had such a strong support network. But enough was enough; he was on their side. They weren’t the ones left wondering what the hell happened when the woman he planned on spending the rest of his life with had suddenly up and disappeared. He’d thought Kyle was as much his friend as Katy was his lover and so felt twice the betrayal.

“Okay, let’s break up the reunion and stick to business for now.” Ever the levelheaded, Jack clapped his brother on the back before glancing at Katy as she froze in the middle of loading the dishwasher. “You guys ready to give your statements yet?”

“Now?” Ty scowled.

Katy hurried over, sank onto her knee in her seat, and reached out to grasp Ty’s taut forearm on the table. “It’s okay, really, I’d like to get it over with.”

“What’s going on? Is this about the crime scene tape, Jack?” Kyle demanded, his chair creaking as he leaned forward to see all their faces.

“Take it easy,” Jack said. “As I mentioned earlier, your sister was involved in an incident this afternoon, and as you can see, she’s a little shook up but otherwise fine.”

“And where the hell were you, loverboy?” Kyle snarled at Ty.

Ty’s muscles tensed, ready for the fight he could see about to happen. “You’re right, I should have been there, and if I’d known she was in possible danger, you can bet your ass I would never have left her alone.”

“Kyle, stop accusing him. And Ty, it’s my own damn fault. If I had kept out of the way, none of this would have happened and Doc Johnson wouldn’t be dead.” Katy’s emotional words left a heavy silence in their wake.

Ty turned his arm over beneath her fingers and grasped her hand. “You didn’t know he was dangerous. Don’t beat yourself up because some asshole was trigger happy.” He met her teary gaze and said what was in his heart. “I wanted to die when I saw you laying in that alley. You can’t imagine my relief when those gorgeous eyes of yours opened. I never want to go through that again.”

“I’m glad you were there,” she answered softly. “I kept hoping you were already gone so you couldn’t get hurt. I was so scared though.”

“Did he say what he was after?” Jack asked.

She slid a nervous glance at Ty and slipped free of his hold, burying her hand in her lap before quietly replying. “He said he was there for me.”

What?

Everything within Ty tightened. So the son-of-a-bitch thought he could go around molesting women, did he? Wait until he caught the fucker, there were tools in his truck that would have that asshole singing soprano for the rest of his miserable life.

“Do you have any idea why he was looking for you?” Jack, again.

“What the hell, man?” Ty glared at his brother.

“It’s okay, Ty. He’s just doing his job.” Katy glanced at her grim brother, then away. “I think he just wanted to scare me, sheriff. He was hiding from you. When I happened on the scene he used me for cover.” She hesitated for a brief moment, her fingers lifting to bruised flesh, before adding, “He said he was coming back for me.”

“Jack, we…”

“That asshole can…”

Kyle answered at the same time as he did, both men ready to leap into action and see some justice served.

“Calm down, you two.” Jack waved them back into their seats. “Going off half-cocked isn’t going to do anybody any good. We need to be smart about this. He knows we’re looking for him so he’s going to lay low for a while. Our job…” he eyed each man in turn. “
Our
job is going to be to draw the sum-bitch out.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

Katy pulled up to the theatre with her brother and put her car in park. The past couple days had been filled with wedding cancellations and numerous explanations. Most of the vendors had accepted with good grace, merely holding onto their hefty deposits. But the family and friends were another thing altogether. They were all like greedy vultures wanting to know what went wrong. She’d tried to reach her mom a couple of times with no success so she finally just left a message for her to call. And when she reached her dad he had sounded both sympathetic and somewhat relieved.

“Why do you sound happy with my decision, Dad?”

“Maybe I don’t want you making the same mistakes I made.” It was the first time he’d ever intimated there might be more to the breakdown of their marriage than his unfaithfulness.

“Do you think we treated Dad unfairly?” Katy looked over to see her brother staring out the window at the half-finished theatre. His crew-cut hair, as blond as her own, caught the evening rays of the sun and formed a nimbus around his head.

When he turned his moody gaze upon her, Katy cringed. “No.” The single syllable carried a multitude of pain and anger. “How can you even say that? He destroyed our family.”

Maybe he had, but she knew better than most that there were almost always two sides to any story. Her dad was never given the opportunity to tell his version. She decided to withhold the fact that even though the ceremony was cancelled he’d told her to expect him in the next few days. Hopefully between now and then she could convince her brother to at least listen to what the elder Fowler had to say.

“I just think we should give him a chance, that’s all.” Letting him stew on that for a while, she opened her door and changed the subject. “You ready to see what a little luck and some hard work can produce?”

That wasn’t very far from the truth either. Jared had just returned from a harrowing experience where the child he never knew he’d had with Annie Campbell had been kidnapped along with another little girl. It had taken Jack and a team of Jared’s old SEAL friends to save the children from a dangerous psychopath.

While Jack and Kyle—he’d insisted—continued the search for the missing suspect in her case, Ty, Jared, Mitch, and the rest of the crew had achieved miracles in the last week. They’d finished the lobby, brought in the new stage, hung the heavy velvet drapes, and laid the carpeting. All that was left to do now was bolt down the many rows of refinished chairs done in a durable corduroy material to ensure years of heavy use. The old building had now recovered much of its original grace thanks to Ty’s commitment and dedication. Katy couldn’t be happier.

He had gifted her with the new set of keys this afternoon after confirming that she didn’t plan on going there on her own. He said he had to attend some mysterious meeting out of town and wouldn’t be back until late. When Katy tried to wrangle the details from him, he’d just grinned and told her she’d have to wait and see. So she decided it would be a good time to show Kyle the changes. This was their heritage, something that shared a special place in both their minds. She hoped he would be pleased with the results.

Katy led the way to the new reinforced steel doors that Ty insisted upon. He was determined the security on the building would be top-notch. Jared had installed a new high-tech video surveillance system with cell phone access so that they would always be able to catch the feed. And sensors were rigged in strategic locations so that if tripped a silent alarm went straight to the sheriff’s office. When Katy questioned Ty on the need for such an elaborate system he pointed out that it was better to be safe instead of sorry, especially after the craft store break-in and the assault from a few days ago.

She opened the door, searched for the lights, then hurried amid warning peeps to the security box and keyed in the code, relieved when silence ensued. It would’ve been somewhat embarrassing to have the police race over to investigate if she’d gotten it wrong. She turned to smile at Kyle and noticed his widened eyes as he took in the improvements. Warm pride and tenderness flooded her heart for the man who had remodeled the theatre the same way he’d rebuilt their love.

Katy set her purse down on the admission counter and wandered over to her brother. “So, what do you think?”

Kyle looked at her with suspiciously bright eyes, which caused her own to well up. “I think if the rest of the joint looks this good you’ve found a keeper.”

She let out a startled laugh. “That sounds a little chauvinistic. Just because a man can hunt or build doesn’t automatically make him the breadwinner, you know.”

He shook his head as though in sympathy for mankind. “Poor Ty. I hope he realizes what a pain in the butt he’s saddling himself with.” Then he chuckled and ducked Katy’s punch.

“Hey, you’re supposed to be on my side,” she joked.

He quit laughing and stared at her with eyes as clover green as her own. “I am, Katy-bug. Always.”

Katy choked up and leaned forward to give her brother a swift hug before turning away to give them both time to regain their composure. She cleared her throat and pointed to the entry. “Let’s go see how much is done inside. Ty was telling me about the stage he designed. I can’t wait to see it in use.”

As she strode toward the theatre doors, her brother at her side, Katy thanked God for bringing her back to Ty and this second chance at a closer relationship with her brother. Funny to think if not for her marriage plans, none of this might ever have happened.

A lingering sadness at the loss of Doc Johnson, whose funeral they’d attended yesterday, lingered. The townspeople had filled the church, anxious to say their farewells to the much-loved man. He would be dearly missed in the community. And if her heart panged for a lost opportunity to bring their son to this loving environment, she tried to set it aside.

“Okay, wow, color me impressed.” Kyle murmured, as he followed her into the main auditorium.

Even though the lighting was muted due to the missing chandelier, it was obvious Ty had pushed his crew hard to accomplish what he had.

“I know, right?” Katy swung her arms out wide to encompass the room. “Can’t you just see it? Every row filled with laughing, carefree faces all brought together by a children’s play or maybe a long awaited movie.” She danced a few steps down the aisle, her feet silent on the plush carpeting. “It’s almost like we’re kids again, isn’t it?” She turned in time to catch a reminiscent smile tilting Kyle’s lips as he watched her silly antics.

“Looking at you right now, yes. I remember how much you loved trailing Dad up and down the rows. I think you liked catching teenagers in trouble,” he teased.

“I did not,” she protested, then grinned. “Okay, maybe I did. Just a little. It was fun watching them scramble to get their feet down. Or couples racing to straighten clothes before Dad’s flashlight caught them in the act.” Which is how she met Ty for the first time.

Katy turned and wandered down the rows of loosely placed seats while Kyle took a shortcut and went to check out the stage area. Halfway down she stopped and backed up a couple of rows. This was it, she was almost sure. The place where the warm amber glow from her father’s flashlight had first landed on the lanky blond with his arms wrapped around a scantily dressed girl. At first the younger Katy was scandalized, then amused as they scrambled to cover up what they had been doing. But then the teen had turned his laser blue eyes on her and she was captivated.

Trailing her fingers over the bumpy texture of the cranberry colored corduroy covering the back of the seats, Katy admitted that was the moment she began the road to womanhood. Oh, she’d had crushes and was into puberty with all the drama that entailed, but Ty made her want… more.

Suddenly her cut-off jeans and cute tops weren’t good enough, she’d needed clothes that would better highlight her budding form. The long, fly-away hair that she barely brushed half the time, had to have a new, more flattering style, even if it took twice as long to maintain. The worn sneakers gave way to toe-pinching heels that made her coltish legs seem longer.

And then came the stalking.

Katy dropped the folding seat and flopped into the chair, her gaze turned inward as she remembered the embarrassing few months spent chasing Ty wherever he went. Now that she thought about it, she was lucky he hadn’t reported her. Then, just when she was about to give up hope of ever being noticed, it happened.

He’d gone to the Soda Shoppe with a bunch of his friends after school and she’d coerced Rebecca into going with her. They’d sat at opposite ends of the restaurant but it didn’t matter, she could still gaze at him like a lovesick puppy all she wanted.

Katy had turned sixteen the month before and desperation was making her brave. She was the only one out of their group who hadn’t had a boyfriend yet. She didn’t want just any guy though, she wanted Ty.

“This is crazy, he doesn’t even see you,” Rebecca whined. She was an introvert and hated going into crowded spaces.

She was right. He hadn’t made eye contact with Katy since that moment in the theatre. Maybe it was time to let him go. Find someone who actually appreciated her efforts to change into something more than the tomboy she’d always been happy with before.

“Okay, let me go to the washroom and then we’ll leave.” Katy promised, her heart leaden. She rose from the bistro chair and weaved through the crowd, head kept low past Ty’s table, and down the short corridor to the bathrooms.

But when she stepped out a few moments later, it was to find Ty leaning against the wall across from the door. Her heart immediately began to pound like a racehorse entering the backstretch.

Not sure how to react, Katy stuck her chin in the air and looked down her nose at him. “You waiting to use the girls? ’Cus I gotta tell you, it’ll be a while.”

In response he crossed his leather clad arms over his chest and smiled.

Ty Garrett just smiled at me.
If she wasn’t so busy trying to look cool, Katy would’ve fainted right then and there.

“I see you haven’t lost your attitude,” he said.

And that’s when she knew. He hadn’t forgotten her either. The pseudo image faltered and she backed into the closed door behind her. It was one thing to chase after a fantasy, but another to face reality. She was nothing more than a kid with a crush. He was way out of her league and he knew it, she could see it in those Paul Walker eyes of his.

Katy didn’t know what to do with the feelings he evoked. Her skin seemed more sensitive, alive with the forbidden urge to touch and be touched. He’d gone a bit heavy on a popular aftershave her brother favored, but Kyle had never smelled this good. Maybe she was hallucinating.

“Cat got your tongue?” he teased, and tipped his head to one side as though trying to figure her out.

Ha, good luck with that.
She had filled journals trying to do the same thing. Embarrassment turned her ears and cheeks a fiery pink. It made her defensive.

“What do you want?”

He slowly straightened and the hallway shrunk. “Maybe I thought it was time we quit playing this game.”

Oh, great. He knew she’d been following him and was warning her off. Okay, it was no more than she deserved. Time to find Rachel and go home to lick her wounds.

“Look, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. I gotta go.” Except when she pushed away from the door he didn’t move, and suddenly there they were, practically chest to cheek. Katy froze. She couldn’t have moved right then if someone yelled fire.

His lean fingers slid along her jaw and her body broke out in prickles everywhere.
Oh, boy.
He tipped her head up until she had no choice but to show him her humiliation.

“I think you misunderstood. Let’s start again. We’ve never been formally introduced. Hi, I’m Ty Garrett, and you are?”

Wishing I was invisible.

Katy took a step back and thrust out her hand. “Katy. Katy Fowler.” He took her hand and solemnly shook, a motion belied by the twinkle in his eye. Whatever, she was so over him. Pulling free, she wiped her now sweaty hand on the seat of her pants and started to edge along the wall, ready to make good on her escape.

“I think we should go out,” he said abruptly, stopping her in her tracks.

If this was a joke, it was in very poor taste. “I thought you said we should quit playing.” Katy tried, but she couldn’t interpret the almost pained look that flashed across his face.

“Trust me, this doesn’t feel like a game,” he said. “Maybe I was just waiting for you to grow up.”

~~~*~~~

A small explosion jerked Katy up in her seat. What the…? She stared in stunned horror as one of the Grecian vases, which had always stood like sentries on the second floor railing, disintegrated before her eyes. The chunks of cement flew in all directions like deadly projectiles.

Kyle.

Where was her brother?

She was on her feet and dashing down the aisle before the dust cleared. Her heart in her throat she desperately scanned the stage area where she’d last seen him. Something was wrong, he would be checking on her if he wasn’t hurt.

“Kyle,” she cried, panic setting in.

A faint moan led her to the far wall. “Kyle, say something. Please.”

Tripping over fallen debris, she hurried to her brother’s side. Pieces of concrete and part of the railing covered the top half of his body. Katy grabbed the wood and hefted it aside before gently brushing the mortar away. Blood oozed sluggishly from a wound on his temple. She ripped off her sweater and bunched it up before pressing against the cut. He flinched. That was hopefully a good sign, at least he felt the pain. Head wounds were notorious for heavy bleeding. Katy was more worried about where he’d actually been hit. An injury to the temple could cause death.