Hope In Every Raindrop (12 page)

What is he hiding?

It seemed to Katie that there were stories he’d locked away somewhere—stories he couldn’t bring himself to share. He shrugged as he ducked between the top and bottom rail of the wooden fence with King following.

Just across the street Katie saw a familiar wooden sign that read "Pearl’s Place."

Chapter 20

Kyle reached the door first, and held it open for Katie. “We’ll be back in a bit,” he said to King. “Stay.”

The door shut behind him and Katie asked, “Will he be okay?”

Before Kyle could respond, Katie heard a familiar voice. “You better not be trackin’ any dirt in here.”

“Good afternoon to you too, Miss Pearl,” Kyle said.

Pearl turned around from behind the far end of the counter, where she had been restocking the shelves with large brown bags of what looked like sugar. She wiped her hands on her apron and walked over to Kyle. “What can I do you for today?” Pearl said.

“Three dozen eggs, a pound of bacon, and a couple pounds of turkey.”

“Just give me a few minutes and I’ll get Earl to round it up. Would you like your usual, as well?”

“Better make it two,” Kyle said, motioning towards Katie.

Pearl looked over at Katie and winked. “Sure thing, dear.”

“Hi,” Katie said with a smile and a wave. Something about being around Pearl just made her feel at home.

“I almost forgot. Miss Price was looking for a place to use the internet,” Kyle said.

Pearl raised her eyebrows. “It’s not a request we get every day, but I think we can do something about that. Why don’t we let Mr. Kyle rummage around out here and you can follow me to the back.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Katie said. She followed Pearl down the aisles and through the back door. She was still skeptical about internet access out here, but any doubt she had faded just a few steps into the backroom.

“Earl!” Pearl yelled. “If you’d ever pull your eyes away from those gosh-darn gizmos you’d know we have customers.” Pearl turned back to Katie. “Sorry dear, believe it or not but he’s obsessed with all this technology stuff.”

Katie couldn’t believe her eyes. Sitting in an old brown recliner in front of two huge television screens was another familiar face: Earl.

“You know they got an entire station about whales?”

“Earl!” Pearl yelled again from the doorway. “Miss Price here would like to use the internet.”

At the mention of Katie’s name, Earl snapped to attention. “Oh, Miss Price is back. Well, why didn’t you tell me we had customers?”

Pearl just shook her head and Katie laughed. “You just tell Earl what you need and I’m sure we’ve got it. He’s got all these satellite contraptions hooked up now.” Pearl shut the door and walked back into the store, leaving Katie with Earl.

He walked over with a grin. “You seen them dogs, ain’tcha?”

“I have,” Katie said.

“And?” he asked.

“They are amazing.”

“I told you. Yep, I told you. I knew you’d like ‘em.”

“I do. And I’m very grateful. Pearl mentioned you might have a place I could get internet access?”

“Ah, yes, right this way.”

* * *

Kyle sat down at the countertop in the back of the store while Pearl whipped up one of her delicious milkshakes.

“So you’ve got that beautiful young lady stayin’ over at your place, I hear,” Pearl said as she worked.

“You hear?”

“Small town,” Pearl said with a grin.

“She’s staying in the cottage. You know, with Mrs. Davis being gone and all…”

Pearl winked at Kyle. “Oh, I know. I tried to convince her not to go snoopin’ around over there. How’s Doc doin’ these days?

“He’s been keeping busy. Between Mrs. Perry having her baby, Mr. Willis’ cows, and a few other house calls, I honestly haven’t seen him much lately.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear he’s doing well. And how about you and your new writer
friend
? How are you two doing?”

Kyle fought back a smile. He should have known Pearl would have something to say about this. “It’s nothing like that. She’s just looking to use the dogs in one of her stories.”

“Whatever you say, hon. Just remember that girls like that don’t come around here very often.”

Kyle swiveled around in his chair as the back door opened and Katie walked through. Earl followed, talking all the way.

“…four common whales in California? The gray whale, the humpback whale, the blue whale, and the fin whale. The blue whale can be over one hundred tons!”

“Earl! How many times do I gotta tell you the customers don’t want to hear that nonsense?”

Earl looked up at Pearl with a straight face. “Everyone likes whales.” Then he turned back around and walked right out the door still talking. “I mean, there is a whole television station on whales…”

“I’m sorry about that, dear,” Pearl said as Katie walked up to the counter. “Did you get everything you needed?”

“Oh, the internet. Yes, thank you,” Katie said.

Pearl picked up two full glasses and set them on the counter. “Peanut butter, chocolate ice cream, and a little bit of banana. You two enjoy. I’m going to try again to get Earl to cut those televisions off and pack up your order.”

Once Pearl was out of earshot, Katie sat down on the stool next to Kyle. “I didn’t peg you for a milkshake guy.”

“Every Friday,” Kyle said, pulling his glass towards him.

“Well, how do you know I’m a milkshake girl?” Katie asked, raising her eyebrows slightly.

Katie had this way about her when she asked questions. It was genuine curiosity—like she truly wanted to know the answer. Even now, he could tell she wasn’t being coy.
She would probably wait here all day for me to answer even the simplest of questions.
He liked how active her mind was, how everything seemed to demand her attention, but he wished sometimes that she would just…relax. Katie tilted her head slightly and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
And then there’s that look.

Kyle reached for the glass in front of Katie. “Well, if you don’t want it I can always go for two.”

Katie slapped the back of his hand and pulled the glass towards her with both hands, biting down on the straw as she took a sip and smiled. “It just so happens that I do like milkshakes. But why chocolate and peanut butter?”

Kyle took another sip through his straw. “Because nothing goes better with chocolate than peanut butter.”

“Like Colossus and Olympia?”

Kyle laughed. “What do you mean?”

“Well, Colossus is like chocolate and Olympia is like peanut butter.”

“I never really thought of it that way, but yes, like Colossus and Olympia.”

“How do you know which dogs to pair together, though?”

“Well…there’s actually several theories on sled dog pairing. Some mushers want dogs of equal disposition or temperament. Some are more concerned with size or speed. For example, a shorter dog running next to a taller dog may create an uneven gait.”

“What do
you
look for?”

Kyle hesitated for a moment. “I look for dogs who want to be together. You can analyze size, strength, speed, aggression, and so on until you’re blue in the face. But ultimately every dog has a best friend, and those are the dogs I try to pair together.”

“I like that.”

“Like what?”

“The idea that dogs can be best friends.”

He looked at the girl in front of him. Her jeans and boots were starting to get worn from all the work around the barn. Just under her right eye was a smudge of dirt, and a small piece of hay hung in her dark brown pony tail. Kyle had kept his distance from Katie since her arrival, giving her long lists of chore after chore to complete. It was just easier that way. She’d eventually finish her story and that’d be it. But did he really want that to be it?

“What?” Katie said. She ran her hand over the top of her head and brushed down the back of her neck. “Do I have something on me?”

She’ll be gone in another day or so
, he thought.

“We better get goin’,” he said, finishing off his milkshake. “I’ll grab the stuff from Pearl and meet you out front.”

“Kyle,” Katie said, as he started to walk away. “Thank you.”

With his back to her, Kyle looked over his shoulder. He started to say something, but instead just touched his hand to the bill of his cap. Before he made it to the backdoor, he heard a familiar voice from the next room yell, “Kyle Merriman Walker!”

He turned back to Katie long enough for her to mouth, “Merriman?” then darted through the back door with Katie following.

Pearl wasn’t in the backroom. In fact she wasn’t in the store at all. She was moving through a crowd of chickens with a broom in her hand, swatting at a quick-moving black figure.

Kyle stepped outside and put his fingers to his lips, letting out a quick and piercing whistle. King ran to his side, several chicken feathers caught in his coat.

Not far behind was Pearl, who—surprisingly enough—was still moving at a good pace.

“When I get my hands on that dog…!”

Kyle didn’t know whether to laugh or run. Earl made that decision for him. “You best be gettin’ that dog out of here now,” he said, handing Kyle several bags of goods and Katie another. “Go on now. I’ll see what I can do to fix this up.” Kyle looked at Katie, who was already on the move around the side of the house with King a few steps behind. “Thanks, Earl.”

A few minutes later, they were crossing the road and stepping back through the fence to Doc’s property.

Kyle looked down at King. “I hope you had fun back there, because that’s probably the last time you’ll be going back for a while.” King tilted his head, almost as if he was confused.

“He was just making some new friends,” Katie joked. Holding the bag in one arm, she reached down towards King and scratched the top of his head. “Right, boy?”

Kyle stood and watched as King pressed his ears flat against his neck in anticipation of Katie’s hand. She ran her fingers over the dog’s head and down to the soft fur of his neck and back, with no idea of the significance of the moment – no idea that she was the first person to touch King besides Kyle or Doc.

Chapter 21

Once they reached the sled, Kyle strapped down the three bags of groceries with a piece of rope. The basket was a little crammed, but Katie didn’t mind. Kyle went through the same series of commands as before and the dogs moved as smoothly as a set of cogs in a machine.

The wind was cool against Katie’s face as they rushed over the land. The dogs had been restless when she and Kyle got back, and now they used that energy to move at an even greater speed on their way home.

Katie looked back up at Kyle. His eyes were squinted against the setting sun and the rushing wind. His calloused hands wrapped around a steel rod covered in black tape.
I’m glad I’m here
, she thought.

“Gee,” Kyle called out. The dogs made a slight left turn around a row of slender pines and the brick-red barn came into view. On the back hung a faded yellow star with lines of rust seeping down the red wood.
Star rust
, Katie thought, mentally making a note to write that down later.

When they pulled into the barn Kyle walked over to help Katie out of the sled, but she hopped out on her own. Instead he walked towards the front of the dogs and began to unclip them one at a time, checking their paws before putting them back in their pens.

“I can take the groceries in while you do that,” Katie said.

Kyle looked up at Katie. “I can do it, just gotta finish with the dogs first.”

“First you don’t want me to do anything but chores, now I can’t even help?” Katie picked up the two bags of groceries, one in each arm and turned towards the house. “You need to make up your mind.”

Kyle watched her as she walked until Story jumped up and licked his face. He pushed her off playfully and laughed. “Do I lick you when you’re in the middle of something?” When he looked back up all he saw was the front door swinging shut behind her.

* * *

Kyle took his boots off and set them by the front door. Through the screen he could hear the simmer of the stove.

“Dinner will be ready in a minute,” Doc said as Kyle walked in.

Doc looked back at him as Kyle looked around the dining room and towards the wash room. “She’s not here.”

“Who?” Kyle said.

Doc shook his head at the sauté pan in front of him full of chili. “Who? We get so many cute, young brunettes around here that you have trouble remembering them.”

“Okay, fine. Where is Miss Price?”

Doc lifted the pan with a gloved hand and used a spatula to push the steaming chili into two bowls.

“First off, stop calling the girl ‘Miss Price.’ I call her that because I’m old and it’s respectful. Second off, she asked if she could take her dinner back to the cottage. Said she had some stuff to do, and I obliged.”

Kyle didn’t respond. He just sat down at the table as Doc placed a bowl of chili in front of him.

“Do me a favor, would you?” Doc said seriously. “Take both hands and grab your ears firmly.”

Kyle hesitated, sensing something was coming, but he moved his hands over his ears.

“Now pull. You might just be able to remove your head from your ass. I hardly know the girl and I can tell you she’s once in a lifetime.” Doc picked up his bowl of chili and walked out to the porch, leaving Kyle to eat in silence.

Chapter 22

The next morning, it was still dark when Katie opened her eyes. She closed the notebook that laid underneath her arm and set it on the nightstand. The curtains were drawn, but a faint glow of moonlight lingered around them. From across the room Katie heard the sound of her phone ring again.

She pulled the blanket over her head and let it go to voice mail.

The bedroom window was pulled open a few inches and a cool breeze fluttered through the room. The soft down comforter felt so good against her chilled skin, and the night air carried a certain peacefulness with it.