Heart-Shaped Hack (23 page)

“That depends. Will there be a number seven kiss included with this offer?”

“Absolutely. And if you give me half an hour to recover between them, you can have two.”

“Half an hour? Boy, you’re not fourteen anymore, are you?”

“I can probably cut it down to twenty minutes if you do that thing I really like.”

She smiled. “Don’t I always?”

“I’m a lucky man in more ways than one. Don’t think for a minute that I don’t know it.” He stroked her cheek and looked at her longingly. “Please think about coming with me.”

“Of course I will.”

She
would
think it over—carefully—because it was a big decision that deserved contemplation. But deep down she already knew she’d go with him. She’d go despite the things she’d be leaving behind. She’d go regardless of what she’d have to give up, because she couldn’t imagine telling him good-bye and watching him leave without her.

He’d stayed because he loved her.

She’d go because she loved him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Kate was sitting at her desk going over her to-do list.

“Can you do a client interview?” Helena asked. “There’s a gentleman asking for you by name. He said he was referred by a friend.”

“Of course.”

She picked up her clipboard and an intake form and walked to the room where they interviewed new clients. It was hardly bigger than closet-sized, but at least it was private.

A young man was waiting there for her. He was wearing a flannel shirt, jeans, work boots, and a worn-looking coat.

She smiled brightly. New clients were often a bit hesitant when visiting the food pantry for the first time, and she wanted to put him at ease. “Hi, I’m Kate Watts.”

“Zach Nielsen,” he said and shook Kate’s proffered hand.

“Please have a seat.”

Kate went through the intake questionnaire. Zach was twenty-seven, lived with his disabled mother, and also cared for a younger brother. The family currently received food stamps but still came up short at the end of the month.

“My little brother is fifteen,” Zach said. “My mom can’t keep him filled up. He’s growing so fast. I’ve got a part-time warehouse job, and I’m trying to get on full-time. Maybe in the next month or so, they say.”

“It’ll be okay,” Kate said. “We can help you.”

Kate noticed the relieved look on his face and the way he seemed to relax in the chair. “Do you have ID?”

His smile faltered. “Yes, but I don’t have it with me.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kate said reassuringly. “Just bring it next time, okay?”

“Okay.”

When the interview was complete, Kate helped Zach fill a box with a three-day supply of food for each member of his household.

“Come back next month and we’ll fill the box again.”

“Thank you,” he said.

When she finished with Zach, she started another list, jotting down the things she’d need to take care of if she left with Ian. Breaking her apartment lease and turning in her resignation to her board of directors were the two biggest things she’d need to address. Though he’d mentioned that Kate didn’t need to worry about finding a job unless she wanted one, she knew she wouldn’t be happy without something to fill her days and give her a sense of purpose.

Helena’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “Earth to Kate. I’ve said your name three times.”

“Sorry,” Kate said. “I was thinking about Ian.”

“If that man were my boyfriend, I’d never get anything done. I’d just sit and stare off into space thinking about him.”

“Helena Sadowski, listen to you.”

“Well, it’s true.”

Kate walked over and sat down on the edge of Helena’s desk. “Ian may need to relocate for one of his clients. He’s asked me to come with him.”

“It would take me approximately four seconds to make up my mind if I were in your shoes.”

“Did Bert ever ask you to make a choice? Follow him somewhere, do something you hadn’t planned?”

“When we were first married, he wanted to move to California. I thought it was the dumbest idea I’d ever heard. We were so young, both of us barely out of high school. Our families were here. What could California possibly give us that we didn’t already have other than maybe a little more sunshine? Then the babies started coming, and Bert stopped talking about leaving. It wasn’t until much later, after the fog of parenting started to lift, that I realized staying had taken some of the spark out of him. I asked him once if he was unhappy we didn’t go, and he said he wasn’t. But I know California would have been an adventure for him, and who doesn’t want that? If I could rewind time, you and I wouldn’t be having this conversation because living in Minnesota would be nothing but a distant memory for me.”

“I feel like we’re doing such good work here. Like we’ve finally hit our stride.” The food pantry was currently in great shape, and not all of that was due to Ian’s assistance. Donations were up, and they were successfully meeting the needs of their clients. Things seemed to have fallen into place, and Kate wondered if the rough patch they’d experienced had been an unlucky fluke. “I guess I’m struggling with the idea of giving up something I already gave up my law career to do.”

“You have the rest of your life to work, and taking a break from something doesn’t mean you’re any less passionate about it. You’ve done a fantastic thing here, Kate. The progress you’ve made won’t disappear because you’re not here to oversee it. People will continue to receive assistance long after you’re gone. But love. Love is not guaranteed. Love will still be there for you when you’re too old to work and the company you worked for all your life shuffles you out the door with a nice gold pen. Always choose love. Always choose the adventure. You’ll never regret it.”

That night when Ian came home, she met him at the door. “I’m coming with you when you go.”

“Really?” There was no denying the relief she heard in his voice.

“I love you. I can’t imagine watching you leave and not going with you.”

“I love you too, Kate. So much.”

Okay then,” she said, smiling. “I guess we’re moving to North Carolina.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

March came howling in like a lion. Mother Nature dumped a foot of snow on Minneapolis, and the city came to a temporary standstill. Kate and Ian had decided to ride out the storm at her place and were snuggled up under the covers in bed, eating leftover pizza and listening to the wind rattle the windows. Kate slipped her bare feet between his calves.

“Gah! Your feet are freezing.”

“I know. I’m trying to warm them up. You’re lucky I didn’t wedge them up any higher. They’d be nice and warm there.”

“That would be very… jarring for me. Your toes are like ice cubes.”

“Maybe I should put some clothes on.”

He squeezed her feet between his calves. “That’s crazy talk.”

“What about Charlotte?” Kate had been researching North Carolina cities at work and had decided that Charlotte sounded like an ideal place for them to live. There were plenty of things to see and do, the weather was warm, and the people seemed friendly.

“Charlotte would be great.”

“I’d love to live on Roanoke Island, but it’s probably too small.”

“Bigger cities are ideal, but we can always plan a weekend getaway to Roanoke Island whenever the mood strikes.”

“
When do you want to leave? I need to give notice to my board of directors, and I’d like to be involved in the process of hiring my replacement.” Kate had worked too hard on opening the food pantry to leave without knowing it would be in good hands.

“Mid-April? Is that enough time? I really don’t want to stay any longer than that.” Ian had mentioned that the task force had almost all the evidence they needed to start making arrests.

“It should be.”

“I’ll handle the logistics and arrange for movers to pack and transport our things. I’ve done it so often I’ve got it down to a science.” Ian finished his pizza and set his empty plate on the nightstand. “Have you said anything to your parents?”

“Not yet. I thought I’d tell them you’d accepted a long-term assignment with a client and that neither of us wanted to do the long-distance thing.”

“You can tell them the truth.”

“I’m not sure how that would go over.”

He didn’t say anything, and Kate reached for his hand. “I’m a grown woman and perfectly capable of making my own decisions. This is my life. Soon to be
our
life. If I didn’t want to do this, I wouldn’t.”

He squeezed her hand. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you don’t regret it.”

By Saturday they were both going stir-crazy after being cooped up for almost two days. But the sidewalks had been cleared, the sun was shining, and the temperature had risen twenty degrees. Kate was leaving for Pilates soon and Ian was going to run back to his place to grab some clothes. She was in the kitchen loading the dishwasher and waiting for her laptop to boot up while he worked on the couch.

“Kate?” he called out.

She popped her head into the living room. “Yes, lover?”

He looked up from his computer and laughed. “Is there any more coffee?”

“For you? Sure.” Kate took his empty mug, went back into the kitchen, and returned with his coffee and her laptop. “Can you take a look at my computer when you have a minute? It’s running really slow.”

He set his laptop on the coffee table and reached for hers. “How long has it been running slow?”

“I don’t know? A week, maybe? I kept forgetting to say something.”

“What have I told you about clicking on those how-to links?”

She snorted. “Like I’m still doing that. But don’t look at my browsing history, okay? No reason.”

Kate went back into the kitchen to finish loading the dishwasher. She was about to join Ian on the couch when he walked into the room holding her laptop.

“What was wrong with it?” Kate asked.

“You’re low on memory. I can take care of it for you at my place. I’ll bring your laptop with me and install it for you while I’m there.”

“Wow,” she said. “Having a hacker boyfriend is turning out to be quite handy.”

Ian appeared deep in thought and didn’t respond.

“Ian?” She waved her hand in front of his face. “Are you with me?”

He grabbed her hand and kissed it. “Yes, just making a mental list. What did you say?”

“I said you’re handy to have around.”

“Yeah.” He still seemed quite distracted. “When are you leaving?”

“In half an hour or so.”

“Let’s grab some lunch at Tug’s when I get back. I should be done by noon or one.”

“Sure.”

“Okay.” He kissed her good-bye and put on his coat. “Gotta run.”

When Ian returned, they went to lunch. Once they were seated, he stared down at his phone which had pinged repeatedly on the walk over.

“It’s crowded here today,” Kate said. “I guess we’re not the only ones who wanted to get out of the house.”

When he realized she was waiting for a response, he looked up. “What? Sorry,” he said slipping the phone into his front pocket.

“You can respond to the messages if you need to. I don’t mind.”

He shook his head. “It can wait.”

The waitress took their order, and Kate told Ian that Paige had called and asked if she wanted to see a movie later. “It’s a rom-com.”

He grinned. “Of course it is.”

“Strangely, Jason is not burning to see it, but she knew I would be. We’re going to the early show, so I should be back by nine thirty.”

“Okay.” He’d put his phone on vibrate, but she could still hear the sound of it buzzing in his pocket every couple of minutes.

“Are you sure you don’t need to answer whoever’s texting and calling you?”

He reached across the table for her hand. “Nope.”

“Is it work?”

He nodded. “A problem came up. I’m trying to figure out how to solve it.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Kate said with a wink. “You
are
the best.”

When they got home from lunch, Ian spent the afternoon switching back and forth between sending texts and typing on his laptop. When it was time for her to meet Paige for the movie, he was still hard at work, his brow furrowed in concentration.

“Hey, hacker. I’m leaving now,” she said.

He looked up sharply as if she’d startled him. But then his expression softened into a smile. After setting his laptop on the coffee table, he crossed the room to take her in his arms.

“Don’t work too hard while I’m gone,” she said, pressing her body against his.

He pulled her closer and kissed her. “Hurry back.”

***

When she returned, he was still in the same spot on the couch.

“How was the movie?” he asked.

“It was good. You might not have enjoyed it quite as much. There were no car chases or explosions.”

She went into the kitchen and returned with a glass of bourbon. “You look like you could use a drink.”

“You always know just what I need,” he said, taking a sip.

She sat down next to him. “Which client is having the problem?”

“FBI,” he said putting his glass down on the table. “We encountered a problem with the forum.”

“Will you have to go to headquarters again?”

“No. I can work on it from here.”

“Did you figure out how to solve it?”

“Yeah. I just wish I knew if it was the right solution.”

Half an hour later he silenced his phone, powered off his laptop, and set his glasses down on the coffee table. Kate walked out of the bedroom as he swallowed the last of the bourbon. She was wearing a thin camisole without a bra and a pair of boy shorts, her long legs on full display.

His eyes tracked her as she walked toward him. “Remind me to buy you some more of that underwear.”

She gave him a pointed look. “You like boy shorts?”

“I like them on you.”

When she reached the couch, she started to sit sideways on his lap the way she always did, but he said, “No. Straddle me.”

She obliged, and he held her face tightly and kissed her.

“I love the way you taste when you drink bourbon.” She placed her hands underneath his jaw, running her thumbs along his scruff and kissing him again.