Jodi Thomas (45 page)

He never asked about why she’d stopped e-mailing after the fire. He was afraid he’d hear that he wasn’t half the man she thought him to be. Over the two years since, she’d stood him up almost as often as she’d come to visit. Her answer was always simply that her work kept her away.

He set no restrictions on Kate. No rules. No promises. He knew she had an important job she couldn’t talk about and, as Harmony’s only funeral director, he had a job he didn’t want to talk about, so when they were together they talked of other things.

Tyler dreamed of what she might say if he asked her to stay with him in his apartment above the funeral home and not go to the inn tonight. She’d visited him several times. His housekeeper had even cooked them a meal one night when Kate stayed late watching a movie in his quarters. He’d felt like a teenager walking her back to the inn and saying good night on the porch.

Deep down, he knew he wouldn’t ask her to stay with him this time. They didn’t have that kind of relationship, not yet, maybe not ever.

The day had warmed by the time he reached the Amarillo airport. He pulled to the side of the road and cut the engine. He could go inside and wait by the luggage claim, but he’d be among strangers there. Here, he could watch the planes and wait alone with his thoughts. He glanced in the rearview mirror. Alex Matheson, the town’s sheriff, had mentioned yesterday that he looked like he’d lost a few pounds. Maybe Kate would notice as well.

An hour later hunger overtook him. He gave in and drove around to a little café next to the strip called English Field. He took his time ordering and eating. In his daydreams he was busy planning how to ask Kate to marry him someday. He thought, as a fourth-generation undertaker, it might be proper to say simply, “Kate, how would you like to be buried in the Wright family plot beside me?”

She might think it was funny. She might never come back to Harmony.

Maybe it would be best just to ask if she’d like to grow old with him by her side. They liked the same books, the same movies, even the same kinds of food. They never ran out of anything to say. Maybe they weren’t as romantic as two young lovers, but she’d kissed him good-bye on the lips a few times and she never seemed to mind when he took her hand.

As Tyler drove through airport security and parked in front of the luggage pickup area, he made up his mind that after two years of talking it was time for the next step.

He’d try to keep it light. “Kate, if you’re going to call my border collie your baby every time you see her, maybe we should marry and make the poor dog legit.”

No, he frowned. That was too light. She’d be here for a few days. Surely he’d think of something before she left.

He stepped from the car as people began to circle around the luggage carousel. Halfway to the door, he spotted her through the glass. His Kate. She stood all straight and still like the soldier she was, but he knew her laughter and the way she talked to Little Lady as if the dog were a baby. He knew the feel of her hand in his.

Before he could reach her, she pulled her luggage from the moving ribbon. Tyler rushed forward. “I’ll get that,” he said, covering her fingers for a moment before she let go.

He set the suitcase down and checked the name tag. When she didn’t move, he looked up into her face.

For the first time since he’d met her, Tyler saw tears in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he whispered, not wanting to draw attention.

She pressed her lips together and slowly shook her head, then said just loud enough for him to hear, “Take me home, Ty.”

Tyler knew grief. Bone-deep grief so overwhelming a person couldn’t express it. He’d worked with it all his life. He knew how to handle it.

Without a word, he put his arm around Kate and walked her slowly to the car. When they were away from the airport, he looked at her. She sat as still as stone. He said the only thing he needed to say. “I’m here, Kate. I’m right here.”

She reached across the seat and took his hand. They drove to Harmony in silence.

SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY
WELCOME TO HARMONY
REWRITING MONDAY
TWISTED CREEK

TEXAS BLUE
THE LONE TEXAN
TALL, DARK, AND TEXAN
TEXAS PRINCESS
TEXAS RAIN
THE TEXAN’S REWARD
A TEXAN’S LUCK
WHEN A TEXAN GAMBLES
THE TEXAN’S WAGER
TO WED IN TEXAS
TO KISS A TEXAN
THE TENDER TEXAN
PRAIRIE SONG
THE TEXAN AND THE LADY
TO TAME A TEXAN’S HEART
FOREVER IN TEXAS
TEXAS LOVE SONG
TWO TEXAS HEARTS
THE TEXAN’S TOUCH
TWILIGHT IN TEXAS
THE TEXAN’S DREAM