CHAPTER TEN

“Where is it?”

Kate lifted her gaze from the newspaper in front of her. Dan stood in the doorway of the living room, anger steaming out of his ears. He’d had a shower, changed his clothes. His face looked red, sore, and mighty painful.

“What are you talking about?”

“The check from the fashion show. Anna left it on the kitchen counter on Friday night.”

Kate shrugged her shoulders. “I’ve got no idea. Have you asked Anna?”

“Don’t play dumb with me.”

Kate pushed the newspaper away and stared at Dan. She might be slightly ditsy sometimes, but she was rarely dumb.

So much had happened today that her brain felt foggy around the edges. It took longer to connect the dots and find a straight line, but when she did she could have strangled him. “Are you implying that I stole the check Emily gave Anna?”

“It was a cash check. Anyone could have deposited it, including you.” He marched forward and stood over the top of her. “You packed your bags and left. I’ve got no idea why you came back, unless the money’s gone and you don’t want it to look like you stole it.”

“I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt, which is more than you’re giving me. We’ve all had a hard day. I suggest you go and speak with Anna before accusing me of stealing money.”

“Anna and Tom have enough to deal with. They don’t need you to complicate their lives.”

Kate took a deep breath and counted to ten. “I thought you were a decent kind of guy. A bit mixed up and confused, but basically okay. But you’re being rude and obnoxious. I suggest you go back to work and find real criminals and not harass make believe ones.”

“There’s nothing make believe about your record. You’ve stolen money before so what’s stopping you now?”

“You know nothing about me, Daniel Carter. You have no proof that I’ve stolen anything so go away before I call the Police.”

“I am the Police.” Dan ran his hand through his hair. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me the truth. I want to know where the check has gone.”

“I don’t have the check.” Kate stood up.

Dan’s eyes narrowed. He looked as though he was fit to burst with anger. “You won’t get away with it. I’ll make sure Emily calls the bank and cancels the check.”

“You do that, Dan. But before you get all high and mighty on that pedestal you call a brain, I’d suggest you speak with your sister.”

“I have talked with Anna. She said it should be in the kitchen.”

“Well, I’d suggest we go and have another look.”

“I’ve looked three times. It’s not there.”

Kate didn’t bother listening. She pushed past him and headed into the kitchen. Two cartons of milk sat on the counter. She picked them up to put them in the fridge, but they were empty. She looked over her shoulder at Dan.

“My throat was burning. Milk’s the only thing that helps.”

She went to throw them in the trash, then stopped. The check could have ended up in the trash, thrown away with other pieces of paper. She grabbed the bin and started rummaging through it.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“What you should have done,” Kate muttered. Dan must have emptied the trash yesterday. There wasn’t much in it, just some old toast, a few torn envelopes, and an old newspaper.

She closed the lid and turned slowly around the kitchen. “Where did Anna say she left it?”

“You’re wasting time. Just give me the check and then you can disappear.”

If she wanted to hide a check, she’d put it in a drawer. Right at the back where no one would find it. She started with the cutlery, lifting the drawer until it came off its runners. She put the whole thing on the kitchen counter, looked inside, then moved to the next one.

“It won’t do any good. There’s no check in this room.”

“If you can’t say something positive, then I’d appreciate you not saying anything at all.”

Dan muttered something under his breath. He opened the fridge, poured himself another glass of milk, and sat at the kitchen table.

Kate knelt on the ground and had a good look inside the cabinetry. Nothing.

She could practically feel Dan’s temper fizzing. She ignored him, kept hunting, kept emptying drawers and cupboards then refilling them. Forty-five minutes later she was ready to admit defeat. If anyone had hidden a check in the kitchen, she hadn’t been able to find it.

“Are you ready to tell me where it is?”

“Would you quit blaming me? I didn’t take it.”

“You probably said the same thing to the judge ten years ago.”

Kate closed the pantry doors. “I told him what I’d done. Until I started hanging out with the wrong kids, I mostly stole food and clothes. I didn’t have any money.”

Kate remembered sleeping on the streets, the bone-gnawing hunger that kept her awake, made her do things she knew were wrong. She’d learned it was harder to stand up for someone who couldn’t stand up for themselves, than to leave them alone. She’d been beaten, stepped over, and ignored.

“How did you survive?”

Kate leaned against the counter. She almost hadn’t survived and that scared her more than anything else. “I ate in soup kitchens, volunteered for any work they needed help with. They let me wash my clothes in their machines, made sure I had at least two meals a day.”

She’d tried so hard to pay back the kindness they had shown her. That’s where she’d met Mrs. Martin, the office administrator that had taken Kate under her wing and helped restore her pride.

“One of the women who worked at the soup kitchen had a sister who owned a beauty salon. She gave me a part-time job. I swept the floors, folded towels and washed the dye containers and brushes.”

She pulled a chair out and sat down. “One day I was walking back to the shelter I was staying at. I’d just been paid. Rory, one of the boys I used to hang out with saw me. He was going to rob a lady from the soup kitchen. The same lady that had helped me. I told him he couldn’t do it. That she’d helped me. I gave him my pay. Told him to leave her alone or I’d go to the Police.”

“What the hell did you do that for? You must have known what he’d do.”

“I didn’t think he’d be so angry,” Kate whispered. “He broke my ribs, split my lip open and left me so bruised that I couldn’t move for days. But Mrs. Martin didn’t get hurt.”

“That’s when you got arrested?”

She nodded. It had almost been a relief, knowing she was being held accountable for the mess she’d created. Her mom, her sister Lily, the people she’d stolen from. She’d let them all down.

“Mrs. Martin agreed to look after me. I stayed with her until I had my life back on track. I won a scholarship to the local college. I worked hard to get my grades up. I eventually got accepted to beauty school, found a job, and made a better life for myself.”

“That still doesn’t solve the mystery of the missing check.”

Kate sighed. “I know it doesn’t, but I really can’t help you. I don’t know where it is.” Dan’s eyes searched her face, looking for any clue that she was lying. She stared straight back, annoyed that he still didn’t believe her, too proud to walk away. She wasn’t the same person she’d been ten years ago and if he didn’t know that by now, he never would.

“Why did you leave the ranch?”

Kate looked down at the table. She’d packed quickly after Dan had left for work. She hadn’t been thinking, hadn’t wanted to work out why she needed to get away. It wasn’t until later, when she’d spoken with her dad, that she knew it had been the right decision.

“I felt embarrassed. You said you were going to spend the night at the station. This is more your home than mine, so I decided to move out. Last night…it shouldn’t have happened.”

“You regret spending the night with me?” Dan’s voice sounded hurt, maybe even as embarrassed as Kate felt.

She shook her head. “No, but I regret that you think it was meaningless. And I regret what happened afterward when dad and Anna arrived.”

Dan’s silence filled the room. “Why did you come back tonight?”

Kate frowned. “I told you I would. I wanted to explain, to let you know that I…” She stopped, gathered her thoughts, and hid what was in her heart. He didn’t trust her. He wouldn’t believe what she had to say, not now. “It doesn’t matter. I was late because I spent time with grandma, at her retirement village.”

She glanced at Dan and wished she hadn’t. His mouth was pressed into a grim line and his eyes were flat and defensive, so different to the man he’d been last night. The man she saw when he thought no one was looking.

“I’m glad you saw Lily.” He picked up his empty glass. “I’m going to bed now. I’m on the early shift tomorrow so I’ll probably be gone by the time you wake up.” He walked toward the hallway, stopping when he saw her suitcase. “I’ll leave this upstairs by your bedroom door.”

And then he was gone and so was her suitcase. If Kate didn’t know better, she’d have sworn he was making sure she didn’t leave again tonight.

She was tired of disappointing everyone, of thinking their needs were more important than hers. It was time she took control of her life, living in the here and now and not in the shadow of Lily’s death or Kaylee’s disease.

She had some important decisions to make and she was darn sure they’d be what was best for her and not everyone else.

 

***

Dan parked outside Emily’s boutique on Main Street and turned the ignition off.

He’d spent most of last night trying to figure out how he was going to tell Anna that Kaylee’s fundraising check had gone missing. Then he’d spent more time this, standing under the shower, thinking about everything that had happened the night before. His eyes still hurt like hell, but the pain was nowhere near as bad as it had been. He was damn lucky Kate hadn’t sprayed him directly in the face, but it had still been enough to drop him to the ground.

After all the contemplating had rolled through his head, he’d started coming up with different scenarios about how the check might have gone missing. But he still didn’t have any answers. As far as he knew, apart from Kate, they were the only two people that had visited the ranch since Kaylee’s transplant. Except on Monday morning when Tom and Anna had caught him naked in the hallway. That visit had been so short that they wouldn’t have had time to hunt for a check, let alone remember where they’d put it three days ago.

Before he started looking for the thief he needed to make sure the check hadn’t been cashed. If it had, they probably wouldn’t find the money or the person that had taken it.

And that’s why he was sitting outside Emily’s boutique, staring into space.

He would have been distracted for longer except two older women walked past his patrol car. Doris and Jessie had their heads bent toward each other, chattering nine to the dozen about something that was going on. They were the center of town gossip, the kingpin of all social gatherings. The speed of their information network put the local police force to shame.

He gave a rueful shake of his head, then paid closer attention to the outside of Emily’s boutique. Up until a few months ago the building had been derelict, left empty after a fire turned it into a safety hazard. Emily had bought the building with her brother-in-law and Alex Green, the man she’d be marrying in the next few months. They’d worked hard to turn it into a trendy fashion boutique, something that showcased Emily’s clothes as well as other designers from Montana. He didn’t know about clothes, especially women’s clothes, but he did know about buildings. And he’d been impressed with what they’d done.

He opened his door and ducked under the hanging baskets overflowing with purple and pink flowers. They matched the baskets in front of the other three businesses sharing the same blue porch. They brightened up the stores, made walking along the sidewalk a pleasure.

Jordan McKenzie came out of the bakery two doors down.

“You must be hungry,” Dan said.

Jordan looked down at the tray of food in his hands. “It’s Mrs. Davies birthday. I didn’t think she’d appreciate baking her own morning tea, so I ordered some food from Tess. You coming into the café?”

Dan shook his head and nodded toward the boutique. “Going to see Emily.”

“Anything I can help with? Alex is down in San Antonio.”

“Nope. Just something I need to sort out with her. How’s the ranch vacation business going?”

A year ago, Jordan and his brother converted an old barn on their family ranch into bunkhouse accommodation. They were working with other ranching families in the area to provide visitors with an authentic holiday experience. From what he’d heard from Tom, it was a huge success, with bookings already going through to the following year.

Jordan balanced the food on the hood of his truck while he looked for his keys. “It’s our turn for poker night this Friday. We’re starting at seven if you can make it.”

“I’ll be there. Trent cleaned me out last time, so it’s about time I taught him a lesson.”

“You’ll have to stand in line.” Jordan laughed. “Sam’s got the same plan. I’ll see you later.”

Dan watched Jordan drive away. He was still caught up in deciding how he was going to tell Emily the check had been stolen when Tess appeared in the doorway of her café.

“Blast,” she muttered. She glanced along the sidewalk and saw Dan. She held a box in front of her and frowned. “Jordan forgot Adele’s birthday cake.”

Dan had been looking for any excuse not to see Emily, so he took this one with open arms. Literally. “I’ll try and catch up with him.”

The frown on Tess’ face lifted and he wondered, not for the first time, why she didn’t have a man in her life. Or why he’d never been interested in being that man.

“Thanks. I’d go, but I’m on my own in the café. I think he was going to Jake’s Hardware next.” She passed him the box. “It’s a triple layer chocolate mud cake. Try not to jostle the box too much otherwise the frosting will go everywhere.”

“No problem. If I can’t find him, I’ll take it out to their ranch.”

“Are you sure? It’s a long way to go for a cake.”

“Adele’s worth it. She’s looked after the McKenzies for longer than I’ve been alive.”

Tess smiled. “There’s a free coffee and cupcake waiting for you when you get back.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” Dan opened his front passenger door and gently sat the cake on the floor. If he needed to stop in a hurry, it wouldn’t go anywhere from there. “I’ll let you know when I find Jordan.”

Tess waved and went back into the café. He pulled into the traffic and drove down Main Street, away from Emily and the news he had to tell her. And he couldn’t have been happier.

 

***

Kate smiled at the picture Kaylee was drawing. “She looks lovely. Is she a fairy?”

“She’s an angel. Her name’s Shelby.”

“That’s a pretty name for an angel.”

Kaylee nodded. “Shelby likes red. That’s why I made her a red dress. Toby said angels aren’t real, but Shelby is. She visits me sometimes.”

“She does?”

“When I was sick she stayed with me. I thought I was going to die, just like the girl in the other room. Her name was Izzy.”

Kate looked through the glass wall, staring at the beds in the Intensive Care Unit. She hadn’t noticed any changes in the number of patients the hospital was caring for. And after the first couple of days she hadn’t paid close attention to each patient. Even the people visiting had all begun to look the same. They looked exhausted, pushed beyond what they thought they could endure.

“When did Izzy die?” Kate asked.

“Yesterday. Nurse Julie said her heart stopped beating. Her mom and dad cried and the doctor turned the machines off. I was scared.”

Kate touched Kaylee’s arm. “I’m sorry she died, honey.”

“You don’t need to be. Shelby said heaven is a happy place. You’re not sick anymore and it doesn’t hurt. And you can even fly. What do you think flying feels like?”

“I think it must be the most amazing thing in the world.”

Kaylee nodded and added more flowers to her picture.

Kate watched Kaylee choose different colors, draw different shapes, and create a rainbow of flowers under her angel’s feet. “If you could fly, where would you go?”

Kaylee thought about her answer. “To the beach. With Toby. He showed me pictures of the ocean. There were dolphins and seals and all kinds of things in the water.” She put the crayon down and leaned back on her pillows. “When am I going to get better?”

“Doctor T said you’re doing great. Your body just needs time to rest.”

“Toby went home today.” Tears filled Kaylee’s eyes. “He left me his badge.”

Kate had seen the Police badge when she’d walked in. It was on Kaylee’s bedside table leaning against a framed photo of Toby and Kaylee. Dan had taken the photo the day she’d brought the buckets of sand into the hospital. Their faces shone with excitement and a friendship so deep and enduring that it stole Kate’s breath away.

“He’ll come and visit you, Kaylee.”

“It won’t be the same. He used to see me all the time.”

There was nothing Kate could say to make her sister feel better. Toby was her friend and there were some spaces no one could fill.

Kaylee looked over Kate’s shoulder and smiled. “Uncle Dan.”

“Is this an all girls’ party or can I join in?”

His gaze connected with Kate and a tingle of awareness shot along her skin. A tingle she was determined to ignore. “I’ve got to go. Loretta’s expecting me at three o’clock and then I’m meeting Tess for coffee.”

Dan frowned. “When will you be finished in town?”

“About five o’clock.”

“Do you want me to stay? I could follow you out to the ranch when you’re ready to leave.”

Kate shook her head. “I’ll be fine. Besides, Pearl and Bonny will be waiting for their oats.”

Kaylee’s mouth dropped open. “You’re feeding Pearl?”

“Trying to,” Dan muttered.

Kate felt his gaze on her as she slipped off Kaylee’s bed and picked her tote bag off the floor. “I’ll see you tomorrow, little sister. Say hi to Shelby for me.”

“She can hear you,” Kaylee said matter of factly. “Angels have ears, too.”

Kate blew her a kiss and left the room, sending her own prayer to Shelby and another to Lily. She wanted Kaylee to be well, to join Toby and his family on the beach. And she wanted to be there too, to share in the pure magic of a long-awaited moment.

As she walked out of the Intensive Care Unit she knew she’d take all the divine intervention she could get. There was a whole lot of healing that needed to happen and two angels listening had to be better than one.

 

***

Dan turned his cell phone back on as he left the hospital. He still hadn’t seen Emily, hadn’t told anyone except Kate that the check was missing. After he’d found Jordan he’d been called back into the office and all hell had broken loose in the small town of Bozeman.

“Dan, wait up.”

Tom was jogging toward him, a grim look on his face. “Charlie said someone broke into his bar and cleaned out the safe.”

Dan nodded. “I’m heading back there now.”

“I can’t believe someone would stoop so low. Charlie’s never said a bad word about anybody. He runs a tight ship and keeps everyone on their toes. He’s honest to the core.”

Dan stuck his phone in his pocket. It wasn’t the only theft that had left him reeling in the last twenty-four hours. The first one had been a lot closer to home. The impact of that theft would be felt for far longer than the burglary at Charlie’s Bar and Grill.

“I’ve got a question to ask you, Tom.”

“Sure. But if it’s about Kate, I’ve already spoken to her. She said she was going to stay in a motel. Is everything all right between the two of you?”

“She didn’t stay in a motel last night, she stayed at the ranch.” Dan took a deep breath and continued. “The check that Emily gave you has gone missing. Anna asked me to bring it into town with me. It wasn’t where she thought it was. I spent hours searching for it. When Kate came back to the ranch last night I accused her of stealing it.”

“You did what?”

“It made sense,” Dan muttered.

“Like hell it made sense,” Tom roared. “Apart from anything else she’s my daughter. There’s no way she’d steal anything. Not anymore.”

Dan glanced over Tom’s shoulder. “We need to move. We’re attracting too much attention.”

A group of people had just left the hospital. They were watching the commotion between the Chief of Police and his brother-in-law like vultures looking for leftover scraps. In the middle of the group was Logan Allen, local reporter, and the man Dan did his best to avoid.

Tom looked over his shoulder and started walking toward the parking lot. “I’ll see you back to your vehicle.”

When they reached the patrol car, Dan took his hat off and sighed. “When I got home, Kate had packed her bags and left. I thought she’d taken the check. She came back to talk and one thing led to another. Before I knew it she was hunting for the same check. I don’t think she took the money, but I still can’t find it. I was going to see Emily today. She’s the only person who can confirm if it’s been cashed or deposited in someone else’s account.”

Tom crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Emily’s not the only one that can help. After Anna and I took the horses for a ride on Monday, I went inside for a glass of water. I saw the check sitting on the counter and put it in my pocket. After I’d dropped Anna off at the hospital, I deposited the check at the bank. Does that answer all of your questions?”

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Dan lowered his voice, conscious of the sound of his voice ricocheting around the parking lot.

“It didn’t seem important at the time.”

Dan ran his hand through his hair. “Well, it’s damn important now. I accused Kate of being a thief.”

“I’d say she’s got an apology coming her way.”

Dan didn’t know if there was anything he could say to take back the words he’d thrown in her face. He’d jumped to the wrong conclusion, painted her into a corner she’d never been. He felt like the biggest idiot in the world.

Tom glared at him and Dan looked away. “Did Kate tell you about my daughter, Lily?”

Dan nodded. He didn’t know how much Kate had told her father, so he kept quiet.

“It’s been hard enough for us with Kaylee, but Kate went through the same thing with Lily. She’s been through hell and back twice. It’s time you started to see the good in her.”

Dan needed to do a lot more than that. From the first time he’d seen Kate she’d gotten under his skin, pushed against old scars that hadn’t healed. Made him think beyond each day and left him wondering if he had a future that was better than his past.

It was time he sorted his life out. But first he had a big apology to make and a burglary at Charlie’s Bar and Grill to solve.

 

***

“Would you look at that?” Loretta cooed from the reception desk. “There’s nothing like a man in uniform holding a bunch of flowers. It’s enough to make a woman’s heart flutter.”

Kate looked up from applying the perming solution to Mrs. Donaldson’s hair. She couldn’t see outside the window, but everyone else seemed to be enjoying what was happening on the sidewalk.

“He’s heading this way,” Jessie shrieked. “Quick, back to your stations girls.”

Anyone would think Jessie was commanding a battleship the way her arms flew around the salon. She moved with surprising agility for a seventy-five-year-old, folding herself under a hairdryer with the grace of a ballerina.

Kate smiled when Jessie waved another hairstylist away. She didn’t want her dryer turned on. Each week she came in for the same blow-wave and talkathon she always did. Only today it seemed she was settling in for more news than she’d ever heard. A noisy hair dryer would only stand in the way of gossip perfection.

The bell tinkled and every head turned toward the front door.

Dan stood in the salon looking about as comfortable as a coyote on an iceberg.

“Deputy Dan.” Loretta’s voice dripped with sugary sweetness. “Were you planning on carrying that lovely bouquet back to the station?”

He cleared his throat and looked around the salon. “No, ma’am. It’s a special delivery.”

He started walking toward Kate. She dropped the perming solution on the floor, causing more than one female in the room to smile encouragingly at her. She didn’t need encouragement, she needed a back door. A quick exit would solve all of their problems, only Dan looked like a man on a mission. And the mission was her.

But he didn’t trust her. He didn’t even like her except for one night of mind-blowing sex. And one night was enough. If she came back for seconds, she’d be mad, or desperate, or somewhere in between that didn’t bear thinking about.

She bent down and picked up the perming solution, whacked her head on the underside of a table and sent combs and brushes hurtling across the floor.

Mrs. Donaldson wiggled her eighty-three-year-old body out of her chair and stared at the chaos around her.

Jessie, considerate to the bone, took Mrs. Donaldson’s arm. “Come with me, Evelyn. You’ll be able to see more from my chair.”

Kate’s face turned beet red.

Dan picked up a couple of brushes and put them on a table. “I’m sorry about…” He looked over his shoulder and frowned at his audience. “Don’t you ladies have something better to do?”

“Not right at this moment, young man.” Mrs. Donaldson might be hard of hearing, but she was managing fine today. “Now get on with whatever’s brought you into The Beauty Box. My perm needs attention. If Kate doesn’t get back to it soon, I’m going to look like I’ve been plugged into a power socket and left to roast.”

He sighed and turned to Kate. “I’m sorry for not believing you. These are for you.”

He thrust the bouquet toward her. She didn’t know what to say or what to do. She’d never been given flowers before, not real ones. She took them out of his hand, ignored the spark when their skin touched and tried to look as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

“Thanks. They’re lovely.”

Dan didn’t look as though he knew what to do with his hands now that he wasn’t holding the flowers. He tried crossing his arms, then dropped them to his sides. He frowned at the flowers, then raised his eyes to Kate’s.

“Are we good?”

She had no idea what Dan meant, although the rest of the ladies in the salon didn’t have the same problem. She could feel their enthusiasm for the moment pushing her along. Willing her to say the words that would make the most sense to them.

So she nodded. A quick now or never kind of nod that wouldn’t earn her points in the relationship game. But she wasn’t in a relationship with Dan. They were in a nothingness level of limbo that wouldn’t be going anywhere.

Dan’s cell phone beeped and he looked down at the number. “I’ve got to go. I’ll meet you here at five o’clock and take you out to dinner.”

“But I…”

“Ssh…” Jessie hissed across the salon.

Kate started to speak, then looked at Jessie. She’d kept her finger planted against her lips in case Kate didn’t get the general idea.

“Okay. I’ll see you then.”

Dan leaned forward, kissed her on the cheek and left before Jessie could say another word. The doorbell tinkled and a collective sigh worked its way around the salon.

“Oh, my.” Loretta fanned her hot face. “I’m having a hormonal flush.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” Jessie said. “If I were forty years younger I’d be chasing after our Deputy Chief of Police faster than he could run. The man’s got ‘hottie’ written all over him.”

Kate’s lips twitched. She bit her lip, tried not to give in to the giggle wiggling through her body. Dan would be thrilled to know that Jessie thought he was a hottie. It would either give him a nightmare or earn Jessie a bouquet of her own. In Dan’s case, she had a feeling the flowers would win out.

“So what are you going to do with him?” Mrs. Donaldson asked. “A man like our Deputy doesn’t give everyone flowers. In fact, I can’t remember when he last dated.”

“Two years ago.” Jessie’s voice bounced around the salon. “That pretty little thing from Great Falls came visiting her family. Didn’t last more than a couple of dates though.”

Kate stared at Jessie.

Jessie smiled back. “I always thought I’d make a good detective. But in my day a woman didn’t have a career after she got married. I loved Percy, but the man wasn’t one to go against tradition. Although my daddy did teach me how to shoot a gun.”

“That kind of skill might have come in handy over at Charlie’s Bar and Grill.” Loretta said as everyone returned to their chairs and settled in for the rest of their appointments. “I heard they blocked off half the neighborhood after Charlie called in the robbery.”

And just like that the conversation inside The Beauty Box turned from Dan to Charlie. And Kate couldn’t have been more grateful.