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Kelly placed the grocery bags on the counter in her grandmother’s kitchen. Thankfully, Teagan had been the cashier so she hadn’t had to deal with the inevitable questions from Megan as to why she was purchasing so much for dinner. Sometimes she missed the anonymity of California.
Fresh corn had started to arrive, and while salad was the pre-packaged variety, it would do in a pinch. And for dessert? A sweet, locally baked blueberry pie and whipped cream.
She’d also picked up a bottle of cabernet from a winery she knew in Napa.
Where should they eat? Was she presentable? Should she throw the salad together first and then change? What was the best way to prep the corn?
This was a total mistake. She didn’t know how to entertain someone out of her comfort zone. She didn’t know how to entertain a man, period.
Her life with John had become rote pleasures. Prepping for this dinner showed her just how much.
She shucked the corn, prepped the salad, and went to her room to change.
The weather was warm, but the night would turn cold. They should probably eat outside—more like two friends getting together than anything else.
So, jeans then.
Silk tees were out. Too good a chance for a stain. But her striped blue-and-white button- down would work. She could roll up the sleeves to start with, then go full length as the night cooled. A few pieces of jewelry.
She stared at the image in the bathroom mirror. Too Californian? Then she spotted the time on the old-fashioned clock on the bedroom wall.
It would have to do.
She trotted down the stairs to the kitchen and outside just as she heard the hum of Ryan’s engine by the side of the house.
“Hello,” she said when he made it to the porch.
“Hi there.”
“Let me take that.” She reached for the bag in his hands.
“I’ve got it. I know my way around Henrietta’s kitchen.” He walked inside the house, then poked his head back outside. “Coming?” His gaze looked her up and down. “You look nice, by the way.” Then the screen door closed.
She followed him inside.
He pulled two plastic storage containers from the bag and laid them on the counter, each dark with meat and marinade. A second bottle of deep red cabernet stood next to the one she’d purchased. He followed her gaze.
“Like minds,” he said with a grin.
“Where’s the grill?” she asked as he grabbed a few grilling utensils along with salt and pepper shakers.
He piled all of it on a tray, then picked it up. “If you could get the door, I’ll show you.”
She followed him down an arbor-covered path she’d noticed at the back of the house. It led to the back of the barn, where a cement patio was set up for outdoor dining. Her grandmother had thought of everything, including wicker furniture, a fireplace, a pizza oven, and a grill.
“It looks like something out of a California lifestyle magazine,” Kelly said.
“I think that’s where she got the idea. Henrietta had well-known clients, and she wanted them to feel at home.”
Her grandmother had been a far more savvy businesswoman than either Kelly or her mother had given her credit for being.
“I’ll get this heating, then take a look at the car.” Ryan went about opening the grill and getting set up. He looked in his element, while she just stood there, feeling like she was on her first date at fourteen again.
He looked over at her, and their gazes connected. Desire flooded her, not only physical desire, but a longing for companionship, friendship ... for someone to love.
She turned away. “I’ll get the dishes.”
Slowly walking through the arbor, she savored the feeling of having a man around. Ryan was capable in a very masculine way. Not that she couldn’t do what he did, but it was nice to have him take over a grill. Call her old-fashioned, but it was the way she was wired.
In the kitchen, she collected dishes, the prepared salad, and napkins, as well as the bottle of wine and a corkscrew. As the corn heated in the microwave, she slipped out to the garden and gathered a few pink blossoms. With a small arrangement in a vase, the tray was complete, and she walked it back to the patio.
“Perfect timing,” Ryan said.
“Smells good,” she replied as he deftly pulled the steaks from the grill and put them on the platter he’d brought out.
In between the time she’d left and now, a bright yellow oil cloth had appeared on the table. “Henrietta stored them in the barn,” he said. He opened the wine and poured them each a glass. They clinked, their gazes once again catching over the rims.
“To renewed friendships,” he said.
“Friendships,” she replied.
“Let’s dig in before it’s cold,” he said.
As they settled in for dinner, they talked easily about their lives. She told amusing stories about her kids, and he had her laughing about the ineptness of some criminals. Soon the plates were empty and the last glass of wine had been poured.
“I’ve got dessert,” she said. “Coffee?”
He nodded. “Good idea.”
She started the coffee, then rinsed off the plates to put in the dishwasher, giving herself space before she returned. The dinner had been far more relaxing and fun than she’d had since she and John were first married.
When had their marriage slipped away from them?
Returning with the pie and coffee, she found Ryan in one of the Adirondack chairs, the glass at his hand. He leaned back and stared at sky as it slowly filled with the pastel colors of a summer evening in north country.
She set the slices of pie and coffee mugs on the table between his chair and hers. Taking a deep breath, she sat down.
“Lovely, isn’t it?” he said.
“Yes.”
“One of my favorite times of day.”
“You must have missed it in New York City.”
He nodded.
“How did you ever wind up there?”
“Ah, well, that’s a story.” He finished his wine and set the glass on the table. Then he tented his fingers and stared at the side of the barn in front of him.
“You know my dad was a cop, right?”
“I vaguely remember that.”
“In my family, there was an expectation that I’d ‘man up’ and become a cop like my dad and brother. I didn’t really have a passion one way or the other, but I knew I wanted some time for myself—some time to see this country before deciding Montana really was the last best place. I promised when I came back I’d join the academy. In return, my parents gave me a year to travel with their blessing.”
Kelly made the same murmuring noise she’d perfected when listening to her children tell a story that was more long-winded than it needed to be.
“It really is an amazing country,” he said. “I started with the West Coast, worked my way through canyon country, even worked the cornfields of the Midwest. I made some friends along the way, and we’d travel for a while. But there wasn’t anyone permanent.”
There was another pause. “Until Lorelei. Her name alone should have made me hesitate.” He picked up his mug of coffee and sipped, staring at the aged wood siding once again.
As much as Kelly wanted to rush the story along, stories in the mountains weren’t rushed. They unfolded over time, like a glacier lily slowly unbending from the earth in the spring.
“She was a bit of a vagabond like me,” Ryan said, “but she knew she eventually wanted to return to New York City, to the art scene. She was a watercolor artist. She was good. Still is.”
“So you had art in common.”
Ryan shook his head. “Art of any kind wasn’t on my radar. I’d do a little writing in a journal or take some pictures while she painted. Mainly, I was taking it all in. Have you ever read Edward Abbey?”
Kelly shook her head. She hadn’t even heard of the man.
“In one of his essays, he writes about a juniper tree, says that someone could write a book just on one tree if he took the time and had the language. I guess I spent a lot of time staring at juniper trees, trying to figure out what he was talking about.” Ryan’s rich laughter burst out, echoing off the rocks in the small canyon. “Probably how I wound up in that disaster of a marriage. Too much time looking at a tree and not enough minutes learning about the woman I was falling in love with.”
How could someone laugh about a tragedy like that? Because that’s what a failed marriage was, a tragedy. One did everything one could to keep it together, to fight against the trend of “starter marriages” and the normalcy of broken homes. It’s what she would have done if she’d known John had someone on the side.
Or did he? Was that only her imagination?
She had to get that phone unlocked.
“So you went to the city with her,” she said to push aside her inner demons.
“I did.”
“But why a cop? Seems to me that away from your parents, you could have done what you wanted.”
He shrugged. “I didn’t have to think too much about it. I knew the drill. And I wanted to do something that mattered to other people. I got my training, got assigned to Brooklyn, and there I stayed. It was convenient. Lorelei wanted to live there. Back then, it was pleasant. A little run-down, but people could still afford a place to be.”
“And so you stayed.”
“For a while.”
She wanted to ask what had happened, but his open look was gone, shut down behind a stony face.
He picked up his plate and dug into the pie. “This is good. Must be Charlene’s.” He pointed to an area closer to the crook of the cove. “She lives down there. Bakes out of her kitchen.”
Kelly took a bite. It was indeed amazing.
“She supplies preserves and pies all summer long, a one-woman berry machine, although her husband and son help a lot with the picking. Wait until you taste her huckleberry pies.”
“As long as they’re here by the end of the summer.”
He didn’t reply.
“Ryan, I have a favor to ask.”
“Oh,” he said, waving his fork in the air. “Car’s fine. Could use a tune-up, but the local mechanic can do that fast enough.”
“Let me guess, he works out of his garage.”
“Yep. No need to go erecting extra buildings out here. I’ll take you to Kalispell next week. I need a few supplies at those big box stores on 93.”
“Thank you, but that’s not the favor.”
“Another one?” The grin was back. “I’m going to have to think of some good repayment.” Then he must have caught a glimpse of her expression. He leaned forward. “What do you need?”
“Do you know someone who can hack into a phone?”
“Why?”
She told him about finding the second phone and why she wanted to see what was on it.
“Are you sure you want to know?” he asked. “Sometimes secrets are better left that way.”
“Or it could be nothing,” she said. “I need to know that, too.”
He nodded. “I might know someone.”
“Good. Thank you.”
“No promises. He might not be able to get into it.”
“I’ll deal with that when it happens.” She had to learn the truth. If she didn’t, she’d never be able to move forward with her life.
HE WAS GETTING IN TOO deep.
Ryan navigated his Explorer up the curvy dirt road to his cabin. Kelly had been too easy to be with. And when they exchanged glances too reminiscent of the ones they’d shared long ago, it took all his willpower not to lean in and kiss her.
But he couldn’t do that. Not yet. Probably never.
She is leaving. She is leaving. If he told himself that enough times, it had to sink into his head.
He pulled to a stop and got out. Trudging up the steps to the patio, he leaned against the railing and hungrily drank in the sight of the stars above, a glittering mass gliding over trees to hover over the lake before disappearing into the light pollution of Whitefish and Kalispell. Why was it human beings needed to light up everything in sight?
He walked through the sliding door and poured himself a glass of brandy before returning to sit and stare at the universe. Perhaps it would have more answers than he did. Why was he setting himself up for a fall?
What kind of man had Kelly married? Based on what little she’d told him, it sounded as if John had been made from the same mold as Kelly’s mother. There were rigid rules, and a free spirit needed to be contained. He barely remembered Cynthia. She’d only appear momentarily and then would be gone, much to Henrietta’s relief. And, he suspected, Kelly’s as well.
Life had well and effectively caged Kelly. Would she ever be able to free herself from the past? Could he help her? Oh, he wanted to, very badly. He wanted her to regain the spirit that had fluttered around him those summers she’d been here. But would it be a good thing? Or a disservice that would make her life more painful that it was right now?
Kelly had asked him to get the phone unlocked. He would do that for her. She may not like the answers she found, but he would be there to support her through it.
He could be there for the girl he’d once loved.
