Forever Together (8 page)

“It’s a fine room, isn’t it?”

Kate turned and looked at the woman standing
beside her. She had short jet black hair and the most amazing green
eyes Kate had ever seen.

“I’m Molly. Emily asked me to photograph the
fashion show.” She lifted the camera she was holding and smiled. “I
came to see where the best angles might be, but so far it’s a
mighty scramble for position.”

Molly’s Irish accent sounded soft and musical
against the high-speed chatter going on around them. “My name’s
Kate. I’m helping with hair and makeup.”

Molly nodded to a group of girls standing
beside the runway. “They’d be wanting your skills long after the
fashion show closes. I’ve never seen a more excited group of
teenagers.”

The girls would arrive at the makeup area
faster than Kate if she didn’t get a move on. “It’s nice meeting
you, but I’ve got to find where I’m working from.”

“You do that,” Molly said. “And when things
are calmer I’ll come and say hello.”

Kate started walking toward the main stage. A
short man with a big mustache was throwing his arms around, waving
at someone perched on a metal frame at the back of the room. The
spotlight shining on the center of the stage moved to the left,
then to the right, then ended in a
starburst
of color.

“Bravo!” Yelled the man with the mustache.
“We keep the sequence for the finale,
capisci
?”

Kate didn’t bother to listening to the
lighting director’s reply. She was too worried about what was
happening in front of her. A crowd of people were standing at the
back of the stage all talking over the top of each other. She
shouldered her way through the group and sat the makeup case on an
empty table.

Loretta was trying her best to get the
designers’ attention, but they weren’t listening. “If you would all
stand back and let me sort you into lines this would take a lot
less time.” No one moved.

Kate stuck her fingers in her mouth and blew
as hard as she could. A high pitched whistle filled the
backstage
area. Everyone stopped talking. She
might not remember much about life with her father, but she did
remember how to whistle up a storm.

Loretta smiled. “Thank you, Kate. Everyone,
listen
up. I’m not repeating
myself. Your models will be walking down the runway in categories.
I want all of the daytime fashion entries to stand here. Evening
wear can stand over there, maternity can stand next to Kate and the
fantasy line to their right. I don’t want to see you back here
until you’ve dressed your models and have them with you. One of my
stylists will listen to what you want and start on their hair and
makeup. Now scoot back to your dressing area and come back when
you’re done.”

With more eye-rolling and good natured
grumbling than Kate had seen in a long time, the designers moved
away.

Loretta shook her head at their retreating
backs. “If those designers don’t relax we’re all going to be
stressed by Friday night. Where did you learn to whistle like
that?”

“My father taught me.”

“Clever man.” Loretta opened her makeup case
and started rearranging the contents. “The rest of our team should
be here soon with the hair products. As soon as the models are
dressed they’ll come across here. You can guarantee they’ll all
arrive at once, wanting their makeup done as quickly as possible.
If any of the designers start getting
scratchy,
come and get me. Is there anything else you
need to know?”

Kate shook her head and smiled. “I think
we’re going to need lots of patience to get through tonight.”

Loretta looked at the designers rushing
around like chickens with their heads chopped off. “You aren’t
wrong there.”

“Do you want me to get the rest of the cases
out of the car?”

Loretta looked at the cosmetics spread out in
front of her. “We’ll both go. The designers will be racing to see
who can get to us first. The more ready we are, the faster we can
work through them.”

Kate turned to follow Loretta and stopped.
Dan was leaning against a wall with an amused gleam in his eyes.
She forgot that he was probably there to make sure she hadn’t left
town. Or stolen any clothes. All she saw was his wide shoulders,
lean
hips,
and
badass
attitude.

Loretta followed her gaze and smiled. “I’ll
meet you in the parking lot when you’ve finished with our
Deputy.”

Kate wouldn’t be finishing anything with Dan
Carter because nothing had started. Absolutely, totally, nothing.
Except a
hug
under extreme
circumstances, and that didn’t count.

“I’m still in Bozeman if that’s what you’re
worried about.”

“Life isn’t all about you, Kathleen Jennings.
Nicky thought you might need help with crowd control, but it
doesn’t look as though I’m needed. You’ve got a powerful
whistle.”

Kate didn’t know what Dan was up to, but it
wouldn’t be good. “I used to practice on the beach. Half the stray
dogs in San Diego used to come running when they heard me.”

“You’d be a natural on a ranch.”

“Are you being pleasant or heading toward an
insult?”

He pushed away from the wall, standing so
close that Kate felt his body heat through her T-shirt.

“I’m not your enemy.”

Kate frowned. “I never thought you were.” It
was difficult to think straight with Dan’s blue eyes focused on
her. She took a step backward, needing more than a few feet between
them to stop the confusing thoughts racing through her brain. She
couldn’t be attracted to Dan. He didn’t trust her, didn’t want
anything to do with her except to know she hadn’t left Bozeman.

“Why do you always think the worst of me?”
she asked.

Dan’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t trust
easily.”

“No kidding,” she muttered.

“And you, on the other hand, are an open
book.”

Kate crossed her arms in front of her chest.
“There are plenty of people who know the real me.”

“Why do I find that hard to believe?”

Kate shrugged her shoulders. “Could be that
old trust issue rearing its head again.”

“I don’t think so, Kathleen Jennings. I think
you’re all bluff and bravado. Deep down there are things going on
in your life that you don’t want to share with anyone.”

She didn’t like the way Dan was staring at
her. The way he got under her skin and made her conscience itch.
“I’ve got my reasons and I’ve also got Loretta waiting for me.
Enjoy crowd control.”

“Wait a minute.” Dan’s hand shot out. “How
are you feeling?”

For a split second, Kate panicked. “About
what?”

“When we were at the hospital last night you
were upset. I wanted to make sure you’re okay now.”

“I’m fine.” Kate offered him a half-hearted
smile. She wasn’t fine. She was just as scared as Anna, but for
double the same reason. All night she’d thought about Lily, the
endless visits to the hospital and the day her sister had died.

Dan’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t believe you,
but I guess that’s become standard practice between the two of us.
I’m here if you need me.”

“Are you sure there are no strings
attached?”

“Only the ones keeping you in town.”

The grin on Dan’s face made Kate smile. “I’ll
see you later.” She felt his gaze between her shoulder blades as
she left the
backstage
area.

There was no doubt about it. Dan Carter was a
mystery, a man better left to someone else’s devices. He might be
able to charm the pants of a porcupine, but he wouldn’t be getting
anywhere near her. Kate was an independent, sworn-to-singleness
kind of woman. And Dan Carter was trouble.

***

Kate yawned as she put the helmet her dad had
given her on her head. She hadn’t made it back to the ranch until
after eleven o’clock last night. She was tired but excited. The
dress rehearsal for the fashion show had been exhausting,
nerve-wracking and fascinating. After more than one false
start,
everyone knew what they
were supposed to be doing. They’d followed Flavio's instructions
perfectly and tonight’s show was going to be amazing.

She gave the strap under her chin one last
tug before starting the engine on her four-wheeler. She followed
Tom across the yard, zooming across the gravel, kicking up a dust
storm behind her. For the last few
mornings,
she’d worked with her dad, looking for fences
that needed mending or moving cattle into
fresh
pasture.

At first she hadn’t been too sure she’d be of
much use. She could have written what she knew about living on a
ranch on the back of a postage stamp. But between her father’s
patience and her determination, they’d figured out a way of working
together.

Kate watched Tom’s back as he pulled his bike
to the left to check on the fence they’d
mended
yesterday.

“Looks good,” Tom yelled over the growl of
his engine. “We’ll head across to the far pasture. I want to check
the moisture levels in the soil. If it’s too
dry,
we’ll need to set up the irrigation
system.”

Kate didn’t know how big her father’s
irrigation system was, but she’d seen the neighbor’s machine
working yesterday. The metal frame had stretched across the land
like the skeleton of a dinosaur. A line of nozzles under its belly
had sprayed water across the pasture, drenching the soil with
spring fed water.

“I promised Anna I’d bake some cookies for
dessert
tonight.”

Tom lifted his arm to let her know he’d heard
her. “I’ll get you back with time to spare.”

Kate wasn’t sure she had any spare time. The
Beauty Box was closing at four o’clock to give everyone time to get
ready for the fashion show. By half past five, Loretta,
Kate,
and three other stylists would be at
the Emerson Center doing the hair and makeup of the models.

Her dad didn’t seem to be in a hurry. They
drove slowly across the ranch, stopping at a place not far from
where they’d moved cattle the first morning she’d helped. Tom found
his moisture kit in the box on the back of his bike and started
taking readings.

“It doesn’t look as though this drought is
going to break anytime soon.” He pushed his hat back on his head.
“This pasture will be okay today. I’ve got worse that need
irrigating.”

“What do you do when you run out of
water?”

“Pay for trucks to haul it onto the ranch.
It’s damn expensive. I can’t complain, though. We’re better off
than a lot of ranches around here.”

Kate watched her dad study the land. He never
said much, but when he did people listened. He was so different to
the man Kate remembered from her childhood that she could have been
looking at a stranger.

“Why did you leave mom?” Kate bit her bottom
lip. She hadn’t meant to ask her dad about their past. Her mom
never wanted to talk about it, so for most of her life Kate had
blamed herself. As a
child,
she’d
thought it was something she’d done to turn her father away from
them. As an
adult,
she knew
better. But sometimes doubt crept in and she felt guilty for what
had happened after he’d left.

Her dad’s answer wasn’t quick in coming.
“Your mom and I were…” Tom hesitated. He pointed to the pasture in
front of them. “If you don’t nourish the soil, give back more than
you take, you end up with land that looks
okay,
but doesn’t sustain anything. Your mom and I were
like that. She always wanted to be somewhere different, someone
different. She had a need in her that I didn’t understand.”

“Is that why you moved to San Diego?”

“It’s why we moved to a lot of places. Before
you were
born
we lived in three
different towns. It wasn’t that I didn’t love her…I did. But I’d
lived my entire life in Montana. I turned my back on land that
three generations of ranchers had lost blood and tears over. Your
mom used to say I had roots in my boots and she wasn’t wrong.”

Tom hesitated and Kate waited. Her dad was
thinking, weighing up what needed to be said
against
what was best left alone.

He braced his hands on his hips, stared long
and hard at the mountains in the distance. “Somewhere along the way
we lost each other. When my father
died,
I had to come home. Your mom…she wanted to keep
traveling.”

Kate knew her mom had a hard time staying in
one place. It was only Lily’s illness that had kept them in San
Diego. After Lily had
died
her mom
had packed everything they owned into the back of her car. She’d
driven through more States than Kate could remember and still
couldn’t find what she’d been looking for.

“Why didn’t you write to me?” It wasn’t the
question she most wanted an answer to, but it would do for now.
Kate had spent half her life wondering why her dad hadn’t loved her
enough to stay. The half that led her down so many wrong paths that
she almost didn’t find her way out.

“I tried, baby girl, I really did.”

Kate held her breath. Her dad had called her
his baby girl even when she was twelve years old and almost as tall
as her mom.

“I wrote most weeks, let you know what I was
doing, how much I missed you. Your mom would
occasionally call
, but never talked for long. A
couple of years after I left, my letters started coming back
unopened. I tried to find you, but you’d left San Diego.”

Kate stared at her dad and realized
something. Something that changed everything she’d thought and felt
about him, about herself and about the short life of her
sister.

He didn’t know about Lily.

***

“Hi, mom. It’s me.”

“Kate? Why are you calling this early in the
morning?”