Dreaming Of You (8 page)

Just as she placed the last item on the belt, she became aware of a customer standing too close behind her. She peeked over her shoulder. Shane’s stare caused her to groan aloud and this time she didn’t care if he heard. Quickly, she focused back on her groceries and the checker, and tried to ignore him.

He didn’t say a word, but his overwhelming presence irritated her. For the hundredth time since first meeting him, she wondered what she’d done to deserve this punishment.

“Your total is $50.42,” the cashier said.

Katelyn dug through her purse, looking for that fifty-dollar bill she knew she had. If she’d only bought what she needed, her total would have come to around twenty-dollars, which was in her wallet. Instead, she now had to find the larger bill.

“I know I have it here somewhere.” Katelyn’s heartbeat hammered out of control. Of course it didn’t help knowing Shane stood so close.

“Here, let me pay for it.” Shane put forth his credit card.

Katelyn slapped his hand away and glared at him. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

She finally found the money and paid the cashier, then quickly took her bags and marched toward the automatic double-doors. Although she knew she shouldn’t, she glanced back at him. Thankfully, he wasn’t glaring at her as she’d assumed he’d be. Instead, he stood visiting with another customer. A slender, very attractive redhead.

Irritated, Katelyn shook her head. It didn’t matter what
that man
did. As long as he left
her
alone! Yet, deep down inside her, she knew he wouldn’t.

Each step to her car, tears burned her eyes. Facing the truth was harder than she’d expected. Shane Hunter was going to take her to court and her reputation would be ruined. How could she live if she couldn’t write? With a sinking feeling, she suspected she’d discover the answer to that question sooner than she’d like.

* * * *

“What a surprise it is to see you again, Margaret.” Shane took his bags of groceries and smiled at his old secretary instead of watching Katelyn leave the store. He shouldn’t have acted the way he had with her, but after his upsetting afternoon with Tori, he couldn’t make himself be nice to Miss Palmer.

Putting the romance writer out of his mind for now, he focused on the woman at the checkouts. Margaret Hess had been his first right hand when he’d created his company and the devoted secretary had even followed him to Montana since she didn’t have a family of her own.

“Yes, it’s such a shock to see you back in your home town.” She took her groceries out of the cart and placed them on the conveyor belt. “Why aren’t you in Montana?”

“I’m staying here for a while.” He didn’t want to tell her the whole sordid story. It hurt to even think about it.

She looked at him and smiled. Strange, but looking at her now, Shane realized she was quite a pretty woman. While working for him all those years ago, Margaret always wore her hair in a ponytail, and she rarely ever applied makeup. But now… now she actually looked younger with curly hair—curlier
and
redder than he remembered—and wearing fashionable clothes. She was attractive, in fact.

“So, Mags? What have you been up to?”

She chuckled. “I can’t believe how much I’ve missed you calling me that nickname. But I’ve been working at a private office as a secretary since I left your employ, so I’ve kept myself busy.”

Inwardly, he cringed. They hadn’t parted ways on pleasant terms, and now he regretted it. Of course, he’d been going through a difficult time with his wayward wife at the time, and he took it out on his employees. After Margaret had left, he realized what a great asset she’d been.

“That’s great,” he said. “I’m happy to know you’re still doing that kind of work.”

She shrugged. “It’s not much different than what I was doing for you.” She narrowed her gaze on him. “Why do you ask? Do you want me back?”

He laughed. “And if I did, would you come back?”

Margaret turned to the cashier, paid for her groceries then took her two bags. “I don’t know, Shane,” she said with a touch of humor in her voice. “You’d have to really sweet-talk me.” She gave him a wink and bumped his elbow with hers.

As he walked beside her out to the parking lot, he didn’t feel that touch of friendship as he’d done before. Something had changed between them, and he didn’t know if he liked it. “Well, I don’t need any help at the moment, but I’ll keep you in mind.”

“You’d better.” She stopped beside her car. “I hope to see you later. We’ll have to catch up on old times over lunch or something.”

“That’s a good idea.” He nodded.

She placed her bags in her car and shut the door. “Give Amber my best,” she said over her shoulder as she opened the driver’s side door.

Shane should have known this would happen. In fact, it surprised him she didn’t know already. “Well, I would, but Amber died a few months ago.”

Gasping, she spun around, her hair flying to rest over her shoulder. “Oh, please say you’re kidding.”

“No, Mags. I wouldn’t joke about something like that.”

She frowned and touched his arm. “I’m so sorry, Shane. Is that why you’re here in San Diego?”

“Mostly, yes.”

She shook her head. “Those poor children.”

“Yes, they are having a hard time with it, too.”

“Well, if you need anything—a shoulder to cry on or just a listening ear—I’m here for you.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a business card. “Call me night or day. I mean it.”

As he studied the card, he realized he’d missed having a woman friend to share his thoughts with. Perhaps it was time to rekindle his friendship with Margaret. “Thanks Mags. We’ll definitely have lunch some time.”

She hugged him then climbed in her car. Slowly, he walked toward his. Right away, he scanned the parking lot, wondering if his stalker was still here watching him and taking notes for her next story. He rolled his eyes, wondering for the umpteenth time why he couldn’t stop thinking about Katelyn Palmer.

* * * *

Nostalgic memories enveloped Shane as he walked into the church alongside his parents. Casey held one hand while Cori held onto her grandmother’s fingers. The organ played a soothing hymn, and for a moment, he thought he could hear the words ringing in his ears. The moment disappeared too quickly. Too many years had passed since he’d gone to church, but his mother insisted he go with them today. His children’s happy smiles told him they too enjoyed coming to church with Grandma.

As he sat beside his children, he remembered the last time he’d attended a meeting like this. It was before he met Amber, and back then his very existence revolved around religion. He’d always prayed and read the Good Book…until he’d entered college. But the kids in college were different. He wasn’t surrounded by his religious friends any longer and had to rely on his own faith.

The first girl he’d dated seriously, hadn’t been religious. Neither were her friends. Slowly, he spent more time with them and followed their examples. At first he didn’t think it mattered, but with time, his habits changed and he didn’t feel guilty about drinking alcohol or staying out late with his friends as they attended keg parties.

The congregation started singing, and Shane focused on the song. When the words came to him from the dark recesses of his mind, peace filled him. And when children in the congregation belted out the words as if they sang directly to God, tears stung his eyes. Blinking, he tried not to let the emotion take over him.

His mother brought crayons and workbooks for the twins during the meeting, so there wasn’t much for Shane to do but listen. The preacher’s sermon centered around one main theme: Families. As Shane listened intently to the words, emotion choked his throat and misted his eyes. He’d learned about this as a boy. Strange how his plans had changed so much from when he was younger.

What a mess he’d made of his life!

He glanced at his beautiful twins and his heart clenched. He should have concentrated more on his family instead of how much money he could make for them.

By the time church was over and Shane left to return home, many thoughts weighed his mind. One thing is for sure—he wanted to be happy again. He wanted to become the best father for his children.

Blowing out a frustrated sigh, he realized his twins were the reason he needed to start living a better life—one where God was welcomed. And he knew there was only one way to reach this goal.

Chapter Six

For the next two weeks, Katelyn concentrated on becoming more active to help keep her mind off Shane. The undecided weather turned the fierce winds too chilly for golfing—a pastime she’d taken up in the past few months—but she still enjoyed horseback riding with some of her friends from church. Late at night, Katelyn visited her brother’s family, or her sister’s family. Katelyn didn’t want to be alone because that’s the time Shane invaded her mind.

She thought about trying to write a new book, but the stress of her life lately had created a new stress—writer’s block. What other excuse could she have for not thinking of one single word to write? She hadn’t been this unorganized since she first started writing, and it scared her. For writers, this was the kiss of death!

There had to be something she could do to take her mind off that man. Just the other day, her sister, Stacey, had suggested Katelyn come help her at the preschool she owned, and lately, Katelyn had been tempted to take her sister up on that offer. Katelyn would probably never have kids of her own, so this would be a good chance to enjoy being around children.

She slipped on her coat and hurried outside to her jeep. The piece of junk still gave her problems, and she impatiently waited for the publishing company to pay her so she could get another vehicle.

It took a couple of minutes for the old clunker to rattle to life. She pushed on the gas pedal, gunning the engine for more power. When she felt sure it wouldn’t stop on her, she put it in gear and backed out of the driveway.

Halfway to her sister’s house, the jeep chugged fitfully. Katelyn quickly pulled over on the side of the road, but mere seconds later the engine coughed with its last ounce of strength and died.

“You useless piece of tin.” She pumped the gas pedal several times, trying to start the jeep.

With a defeated sigh, she slumped against the steering wheel and looked out the window. Rain threatened in the forecast and the thick gray clouds testified that soon there’d be a downpour. She couldn’t be stranded in a raging storm. It was just her luck that she’d forgotten to charge her cell phone this morning, too. The wind had chilled the air already, and icy drops were soon to follow. No matter how she tried to analyze this, she was stuck in this weather.

The thought occurred to her to get out and look under the hood, but what if someone pulled over and tried to help? People around this area were not exactly model citizens. Then again, what if nobody offered? There was no other choice. She would have to walk to the nearest store and use their phone to call for help.

Growling in protest, she opened the door and jumped out. She sighed heavily and turned to look up the street as a car passed. She glanced in the opposite direction, trying to decide which way would be the shortest route to a store. She’d call Mike. Her dear brother would come to her rescue. Again.

Overhead, thick gray clouds grew darker by the second. After taking two steps away from the vehicle, the first drops of rain touched her face. Suddenly, the blasting winds swept underneath her coat, chilling her. Clutching her coat like a shield, she buried her chin into her knitted scarf, and proceeded to find a store.

As the rain increased, so did her steps, and within minutes, the storm had completely drenched her. Inwardly, she boiled with anger, but it didn’t make her any warmer. She wanted to cry in frustration. Nobody would be able to tell the difference between her tears and the rain.

A truck passed by before the driver hit the brakes and pulled to a stop on the shoulder of the road. Bright twin red taillights flashed on the new Toyota crew-cab. Her heart hammered in panic. She didn’t know anyone who drove a truck like this. With her luck, it was probably someone out to hurt her. She said a quick prayer that the person would be nice…and someone who could help her.

The door opened and a tall, broad-shouldered man stepped out. The street lamp highlighted his glorious physique.
Shane!
He’d come to her rescue! Her heart sank, yet at the same time, happiness poured through her.

She remained still as he walked up to her and stopped.

“Katelyn? What are you doing? Don’t you know this isn’t the right place, or the right type of weather to go jogging?”

In spite of her foul mood, she chuckled. “I disagree. I think it’s perfect weather. If I jog in the rain, I won’t sweat.”

“No, but you could catch pneumonia.” He tilted his head and his caring gaze nearly weakened her control. Certainly different from the way he looked at her the last time they talked. “Are you stranded?”

“Yes.” She choked on a sob, trying to keep her tears from rushing out. She cleared her throat and began again. “My jeep broke down, so I’m walking to the next store to call for help because I didn’t charge my cell.”

He looked past her up the street to her stranded vehicle. “Let me take a look at it. Would you like to get in my truck and I’ll drive you back?”

She hesitated. “It depends.”

“On what?”

“If you’re going to be rude to me like you were the last time we talked.”

He frowned. “I’ll apologize for that, but let’s get in the truck before you drown.”

She nodded and hurried to his truck for drier shelter. As soon as she shut the door, the manly scent of his aftershave surrounded her. Closing her eyes, she rested against the seat and breathed in the smell. Memories threatened to surface and make her remember how she used to dream of being in his arms.

He climbed in and put the truck into gear. The fan from the heater warmed her, but so did his nearness.

“Have you had problems with your jeep before?” he asked, disturbing her thoughts.

She turned and rested her head against the seat as she studied his handsome profile. It really had shocked her that he cared enough to come rescue her. According to Tori, Shane only thought about himself.