FOR CHET, THE NEXT TWO WEEKS WERE FILLED with insurance forms and bank loan documents and talking to contractors and suppliers. He hardly noted the end of the school year for the boys, although he was thankful for two extra pairs of hands on weekdays. He was also thankful that Anna didn’t let him forget Sam’s birthday, which he would have without her reminder. They marked the date with a cake and a few gifts, but nobody felt much like celebrating. The fire was too fresh in everyone’s minds.
Tara came out to the ranch more frequently with the arrival of summer break, but Chet rarely saw Kimberly, other than at a comfortable distance at church. Tara told him her mother had a new job, thanks to the recommendation of Christopher Russell, the insurance broker. Kimberly was now working for the mayor of Kings Meadow as his personal assistant and, according to Tara, found her new position interesting.
Chet didn’t doubt that. Mayor Oliver Abbott was as colorful a character as he’d ever known. In his sixties, Ollie—as everybody called him—knew a thousand stories about the valley and its residents, and he loved to share them with anyone who would listen. He had a long, bushy beard and matching bushy eyebrows and crooked front teeth that showed when he smiled, which he did often. Ollie could have been the picture in the dictionary under the term mountain man. When he was in the office, he dressed up his boots and jeans with a plaid jacket he’d owned since the dawn of time—or at least since the ’70s.
On the second Monday in June, Chet drove into town to sign a few more documents for his loan. When he was finished at the bank, he walked a block and a half east to Heather Books. He’d ordered a handbook on horsemanship to give to Tara for her birthday, which was a couple weeks after Sam’s. Chet knew they didn’t have to give the girl a gift, but he wanted to anyway. She’d been more help than bother over the past couple of months. A pleasant surprise.
Upon entering the narrow but deep bookshop located on the main drag through town, he greeted the owner, Heather Kilmer.
“I’ve got your order under the counter here,” she said, reaching for it.
“I’m going to browse a bit first.”
“Okay. Just let me know when you’re ready.”
He nodded before moving down the aisle on the right side of the store. Midway, he came to the history section—his favorite—and began to peruse the titles on the shelves. Not that he had much time to indulge in pleasure reading.
He pulled a large paperback volume on the Irish off the shelf and started to read the back cover.
He glanced left to find Kimberly standing nearby. He felt a strange catch in his chest. Did she always look this pretty? Her hair fell in dark curls over her shoulders. Her eyes looked a deeper green than usual. Probably the lighting in the store. No denying it. He’d missed seeing her, talking to her.
“Book shopping?” she asked.
“Just browsing.” He shelved the book in his hand. “I hear you’re working for the mayor now. How’s it going?”
“Quite well, actually. It’s never the same from one day to the next. Mayor Abbott is nice . . . and amusing.” She smiled, her expression saying more about her new job than her words had. “Tara says it won’t be long before the new barn starts going up.”
“Not long. By the end of the week, maybe.”
Kimberly glanced toward the shelves nearest her, then back to Chet. “And the guesthouse? Has Anna found any more antiques of interest?”
“Afraid I’ve been too preoccupied to ask her. I’m not even sure Anna’s been going over there since the fire. If so, she hasn’t mentioned it to me.”
“But Tara’s supposed to be helping her. She—”
“Don’t worry, Kimberly. Tara’s working hard around the ranch. She’s more than paying for her lessons and Wind Dancer’s keep.”
Relief filled her eyes.
“You know,” Chet said, “the Leonards owe you and Tara a dinner.” He hadn’t planned to say that. The words spilled from his mouth of their own accord.
“What?”
“The day of the fire. You were supposed to stay and eat with us that night. Something more than those sandwiches you helped make for the volunteers.”
“Oh.” A breathy sound, one that could mean anything. Then an expression he couldn’t quite read flitted across her face and was gone. “You don’t owe us, Chet.”
“And the next day you brought chicken and potato salad and coleslaw to feed everybody who was helping with the mop up. We owe you two dinners.”
She shook her head, which only made him all the more determined to make her accept his invitation.
“Come out to the ranch on Saturday with Tara. Anna’s missed talking to you. I know that without asking. You can stay for supper. We’ll have a cake for Tara’s birthday. Bring Janet with you and it’ll be a party.”
“You know it’s Tara’s birthday?”
“Sure.” He shrugged. “But if you have other plans . . .” He let the words trail into silence, wishing he hadn’t given her an out.
Kimberly glanced at her wristwatch, as if it would provide an answer for her. “All right. We’ll come. Now, I must get back to the office. My lunch hour is almost over.” A fleeting smile. “It was good to run into you, Chet.”
WHY DID YOU AGREE TO GO? WHY?
Kimberly quickened her pace as she headed toward the mayor’s office.
Of course, she didn’t have to look hard for an answer. She wanted to spend some time with Chet. She’d missed him. Which was silly. It wasn’t as if they’d spent a lot of time together in the past. And yet, it had been enough that not seeing him left a vacuum in her life.
Okay, she would admit it. She found Chet Leonard charming in the extreme. Not to mention gorgeous to look at. But admitting it reminded her why it would be a mistake to give in to those feelings. He was completely unsuitable for her. Oh, there were attractive things about him and about his ranch, about the life he led there with his sons and Anna McKenna. Attractive . . . but not right for someone like her. She could admire the night sky without wanting to become an astronaut.
And besides, his invitation could be nothing more than neighborliness. It didn’t have to mean he was attracted to her too. Folks were big on being neighborly in this town.
She opened the door to the city office building and walked to her desk where she opened a drawer and dropped her purse into the empty space.
“That you, Kimberly?” Ollie called from inside his office.
“Yes, it’s me. Did you need something?”
“Nope.” The mayor appeared in the doorway. “Don’t need a thing.” He pointed at her desktop. “You didn’t find the novel you wanted?”
The novel! She’d forgotten the reason she’d gone into Heather Books on her lunch hour. Janet had talked her into joining the book club that met in the library each month, and she needed to buy and read this month’s selection.
She settled onto her chair as she shook her head. “I’ll have to check back later.”
“That surprises me. Long as the club gives her enough notice, Heather always has plenty of copies on hand for the women.” The mayor knew just about everything that went on in his town—including, it seemed, what happened in the women’s-only book club.
“It’s my own fault. I ran into a friend and got to talking and forgot to ask for the book. It’s almost time to start reading the next selection. Maybe I’ll get that one instead.”
Ollie closed his office door behind him. “I’m headed to a meeting with a couple councilmen. Then I’ve got a repairman due at the house. My wife wants me to be there. We may need a new furnace, and she doesn’t want to make that decision on her own. Don’t expect I’ll be back to the office today. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Okay. See you then.”
“Don’t forget. We lock up at three today.”
As if his reminder was necessary. “I won’t forget.”
The place was quiet after the mayor left. The phone didn’t ring even once. Tuesdays through Thursdays, there was a part-time employee in the office with Kimberly. Bonnie Clark was young, only two years out of Kings Meadow High. Her job was to answer the phone and to research any questions that came her way. On Mondays and Fridays, the two days they closed early, Kimberly was the only employee in the office. Last week, she hadn’t minded. Today she did. Perhaps because her thoughts kept returning to Chet. She sighed. If only she could trust her heart to not get itself broken again.