Forever Together (18 page)

Her dad shook his head. “You’d better not
tell me about the muffins.” He took a deep breath and gazed down at
the photos. “Why didn’t your mom tell me about Lily? I would have
helped.”

“You’ll need to ask her, dad.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.” Tears
filled his eyes and Kate knew he would have come back to San Diego.
He would have been there every step of the way and he wouldn’t have
regretted a day of his time. But she also knew it wouldn’t have
changed the outcome for Lily, for her parents’ marriage, or for
Kate.

Tom looked down at the photos. “You must have
gotten a shock when I called you.”

It had been more than a shock. Kate had
always thought her dad didn’t care about her. When he’d
called,
she hadn’t known what to do. “I
thought I’d never hear from you again. How did you find me?”

“I spent the best part of five years trying
to find you. I’d given up, but when I met
Anna,
she convinced me that it was worth trying again.
Then when Kaylee got sick, we hired a private investigator. We
couldn’t believe it when he found you in San Diego.”

“I’m glad he did.”

“Me too, baby girl.” He stared at Lily’s
photo, then looked across at Kate. “If anything happens to
Kaylee…if things don’t go how we think they will, I need you to
know it’s not your fault. You’ve given her so much more than a
chance at a full recovery. You’ve given us hope and you’ve given us
each other.”

“I want it to be enough, dad. Kaylee can’t
die.”

“I don’t want her to die either,” Tom said.
“But sometimes it’s not up to
us.
”

***

Dan opened the door to The Beauty Box and
peered around the room. It was nearly four o’clock and according to
Anna, Kate was about to finish work.

Loretta flashed her super white teeth in his
direction. “What can we do for you today, Dan?”

“I’m looking for Kate.” He stood straighter
and decided to ignore the smile on Loretta’s face.

“She’s in the waxing room at the moment. She
won’t be long. How’s Kaylee?”

“She’s doing okay. Better than she was at the
weekend.” He twirled his hat in his hands and looked at the other
women in the salon. Tess Williams was getting a haircut and
laughing at something Gracie McKenzie was saying from the next
chair.

A stroller was parked beside Gracie and every
now and then she peered inside, keeping watch over her baby.

No one paid him much attention, except
Loretta. She was frowning at him something fierce.

“Kate looked washed out when she came in this
afternoon. I think she might be overdoing things.”

“Did you tell her to go home?”

Loretta drew in a breath and gave him one of
her
no-nonsense
stares
. “Of course I told her to go home, but
she wouldn’t listen. Sometimes a woman’s better off keeping busy
when she’s got things on her mind. You wouldn’t be one of the
things
weighing her down, would
you?”

Dan wasn’t about to have a heart-to-heart
discussion with Loretta in the middle of the salon. Gossip traveled
faster than a winter storm through these four walls and he didn’t
plan on being the main topic of conversation.

“No, ma’am. How much longer do you think Kate
will be?”

“She shouldn’t be more than a couple of
minutes. I’ll go and see where she’s up to.”

Loretta disappeared through a doorway at the
back of the salon. Dan decided to sit down. It had to be better
than feeling like a square peg in a round hole. He picked up a
magazine then put it back down. A
bridal
magazine wasn’t the most riveting of reads and if
anyone saw him with it, they might get the wrong idea.

Kate walked through the salon toward him.
She’d pulled her hair into some kind of fancy top knot. It suited
her, made her eyes appear larger, bluer, and
more wary
than ever.

He stood and waited for her. “Hi.”

Kate nodded and walked behind the reception
desk.

Dan frowned at the woman following Kate. She
had short jet black hair and a wide smile on her face. He’d seen
her at the fashion show, wandering around with a camera slung
around her neck.

“Nan can’t believe I rode a horse.”

As soon as she spoke, Dan put a name to her
face. Molly O’Donaghue. Her Irish accent gave her away, made more
than one pair of ears prick to attention.

Kate smiled and handed Molly a receipt.
“What’s left on your list?”

“A barn dance, a campfire with cowboys, and a
visit to Yellowstone National Park. Tess asked if I wanted to go to
a barn dance in Livingston this weekend. You should come with us.
It will be fun.”

“Can I call you later in the week? I’m not
sure what’s happening.”

“I’ll be waiting for that call.” Molly smiled
and turned to go. She raised her eyebrows when she saw Dan. “Have
you come to call on our Kate?”

Dan looked over Molly’s shoulder. Kate’s
cheeks had turned red. “How did the photos from the fashion show
turn out?”

“As pretty as anything I’ve ever seen.” She
pulled a card out of her bag and handed it to him. “Have a look
at
my website. If you want to
place an
order,
you can do it
online. All money raised goes to your niece.”

Dan took the card and gazed at the photo
Molly had printed on the front. It was Kaylee, staring up at the
camera with excitement shining on her face. It must have been taken
before the
transplant,
before she
got so sick that even smiling was too much effort for her little
body. He put it in his back pocket to remind him that she’d be that
happy girl again.

Molly raised her arm and waved at everyone.
“I’ll be off now. Have a grand
day,
everyone.”

The doorbell tinkled as she left. He turned
back to Kate. Loretta fussed with some towels and stood like backup
behind the desk. He ignored the hush that fell over the salon,
ignored the pounding of his heart.

He cleared his throat. “Anna mentioned you’d
be finishing work soon. I thought you’d like to go for a coffee
before we head back to the ranch.”

Kate shook her head. “I promised Kaylee I’d
visit her.”

“I could wait?”

She shook her head again. This wasn’t going
how he’d thought it would. He hadn’t expected Kate to be her normal
sunny self, but he wanted her to at least listen. His half-baked
excuse for acting the way he had
was
sitting uncomfortably on his shoulders.

“I don’t know how long I’ll be. I’ll see you
later.” She turned to Loretta and a look he didn’t understand
passed between them. “Was there anything else you’d like me to
do?”

Loretta picked up a bottle of shampoo and
another of conditioner. “You can place an order for more hair
products. I’ll bring one of each into the office and you can do it
from there.” She took two more containers off the shelf. “If we
order them today, they’ll be here for the weekend. Was there
anything else you needed, Deputy Dan?”

Dan
stared
between
the two women. Loretta was
protecting Kate. From him.

He shouldn’t have come into The Beauty Box.
He should have waited until Kate came back to the ranch. But he
wasn’t sure she’d come back. “I’ll see you tonight…on the ranch,”
he said with uncertainty.

Kate didn’t look him in the eye, but at least
she nodded.

It was going to take more than a cup of
coffee to make her believe he wasn’t the bad tempered ass she
thought he was.
Trouble was,
he
had a feeling she might be right.

***

Kaylee was sitting in bed with a
gray-haired
lady beside her when Kate walked
into her room.

Kaylee’s face was all smiles. “Come and meet
grandma.”

Kate stopped and stared at the woman who’d
helped destroy her parents’ marriage. A million memories flew
through her head, things her mom had told her, the arguments she’d
seen.

After she’d left the salon she hadn’t thought
the day could get much worse, but she’d been wrong.

“Kathleen?” Above her white face mask, her
grandmother’s blue eyes filled with tears. She moved slowly around
the bed, leaning against a hospital walking frame. “Damn fool knees
are due for a replacement.”

Kate had seen a bright pink mobility scooter
parked outside the Intensive Care Unit. It was hard to believe it
belonged to the woman standing in front of her.

“I haven’t seen you in over fifteen years,”
her grandmother said. “You’re still as beautiful as ever.”

Kate tried to see past the warm smile in her
grandmother’s eyes. She looked genuinely pleased to see her. It was
so different to anything Kate would have expected that she didn’t
say anything. The feelings her grandmother stirred didn’t make
sense. And when her grandmother wrapped her bony arms around Kate’s
shoulders she remembered other times.

She remembered stretching on tippy-toes to
reach the underside of her grandma’s chin to show her how tall
she’d grown. She remembered baking cookies, learning her grandma’s
favorite recipes and the stories that went with them. And she
remembered a big glass jar full of buttons. So many shapes and
colors and sizes that Kate had sat for hours,
matching
them, making patterns, then dropping
them back into the jar for another day.

“We spent a long time looking for you.” Her
grandmother wiped her eyes and held onto Kate’s arm. “Kaylee said
you’re a beautician. Come and tell me what you do each day.”

Kate helped her grandmother back to the chair
she’d been sitting on, then wheeled the walking frame beside
her.

“Kate makes people look pretty, grandma. She
brought me some lipsticks and eye shadows.” Kaylee sat back
against
the bed and sighed. “When
I go back to the ward, mom said I can wear the lipstick. Toby
thinks it looks girly, but I’m a girl so it’s okay.”

Their
grandma
patted Kaylee’s arm. “You’ll be back on the ward
sooner than you think, honey.” She turned back to Kate. “Do you
enjoy working with Loretta?”

Her grandmother must have been speaking with
Anna and Tom. “I started at The Beauty Box a couple of weeks ago.
Loretta’s a great manager and I enjoy working with the other staff.
It’s part-time, so I’m still able to come to the hospital and see
Kaylee.”

“And eat ice cream with me.” Kaylee’s eyes
were growing heavy. She got tired so easily. On days like
today,
the best Kate could do was
sit beside her and keep her company. Sometimes she forgot just how
fragile her sister’s hold on life was.

“Thank you for coming back to help
Kaylee.”

Kate looked at her grandmother, then down at
her sister. “I had to come.”

Her grandmother frowned. “You had a choice.
You could have stayed in San Diego, but you didn’t. It took courage
to come back, especially after all this time.”

Kaylee’s chest rose and fell in a steady
rhythm. Kate lowered her voice, worried she’d wake Kaylee and take
away the precious sleep she needed. “I never knew what happened to
dad. Mom wouldn’t talk about him. I never expected to see him
again.”

Her grandma frowned. “Why ever not?”

Kate looked down at her hands, then up into
the crystal blue eyes of her grandmother. “We moved so much. Mom
changed her name, tried to make another life for us that didn’t
include our past. I didn’t think dad loved me enough to want to
find me.”

Lily Jennings shook her eighty-five-year-old
head. “Your daddy never stopped loving you. Your mom and I had such
big disagreements about life. She always wanted to be somewhere
else and your daddy wanted to stay in one place. Your mom never
understood that need in Tom, and he was too proud to tell her. But
even after they divorced, he still wanted to be part of your
life.”

“Why didn’t he bring me back to Montana?”

“You’ll have to ask your daddy that, but I’ll
tell you something. He tried, honey. He really did.” Her
grandmother
stared
at Kaylee with
a deep sadness shadowing her eyes. “I thought we were going to lose
her. I’m an old woman, Kate. I’ve lived my life. It’s so unfair
that she got sick.” She leaned forward and held Kaylee’s hand. “I
would have given my life to save her from what she’s been
through.”

Kate didn’t doubt the honesty in her
grandmother’s words. Kaylee and Lily Jennings shared a bond that
went beyond the years separating them. They were family, tightly
woven in a pattern that was as old as time itself. She picked up a
chair and moved it toward her grandmother, sitting as close as the
metal arms would allow.

Her grandmother’s hand reached out to clasp
hers and together they watched Kaylee.

***

Dan parked around the back of Anna and Tom’s
home and got out of his truck. The sun was starting to drift toward
the mountains. Light filtered along the pine and rock ridge,
creating dips and curves in the landscape he’d never get tired of
seeing.

Bonny and Pearl were grazing in the pasture
closest to the barn. He’d worked out a creative way to feed Pearl,
one that didn’t involve putting his body parts on the line. But one
slip and he knew she’d gladly take a bite out of him instead of her
oats.

Pearl lifted her head and whinnied. The damn
horse could smell him from a mile away. She’d have her jaws primed
and ready for the big bite as soon as he got within striking
distance.

He could hear the
yap
of Zeus, Tom’s Australian Cattle Dog, in his kennel.
Dan got more of a welcome on the ranch than he did back at his
apartment. The only thing greeting him in town was the sound of
silence and the occasional Frank Sinatra soundtrack coming from his
neighbor’s home.