Longing for Home (8 page)

Kate skewered him with a look. “Abby’s brother, actually.”

“
And
her boss.”

“Temporary boss,” Kate muttered.

“Marsha and I worked together for years.” Arthur chuckled as he shuffled over to the sofa and set the case down on the coffee table. “Didn’t always agree, but that only made life more interesting. If you argue, then you get to make up.”

Now Alex felt warm as a sudden image of “making up” with Kate pushed its way in.

Arthur fumbled with the clasp on the case and Alex intervened, grateful for the distraction. “Let me help you with that, Mr. Lundy.”

He opened the lid. Nestled against a background of jet-black satin was a chessboard inlaid with mother-of-pearl and a set of hand-carved pieces. “This is beautiful craftsmanship. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“You play?”

“My father taught me when I was seven.”

“Ah!” The man’s eyes brightened. “A worthy opponent.”

“What do you mean? I’m a worthy opponent!” Kate protested.

“Of course you are.” Arthur turned back to him. “Everyone at Maplewood prefers checkers or pinochle, so I’ve been teaching Kate how to play. She tends to be very…bold…in her moves.”

“Bold is good,” Kate said under her breath.

Arthur began setting up a row of pawns. “Not very patient, though,” he mused. “Kate doesn’t
move
her pieces as much as she, what’s the word I’m looking for…”

“Hurtles them around the board?” Alex guessed.

“Yes, yes! It’s like she’s shooting marbles instead of playing chess.” Arthur chuckled. “You know our Kate well.”

She wasn’t his Kate and he didn’t know her at all.

But you want to.

The thought hit Alex like a sucker punch. He was still gasping for air when Kate flounced away.

“I’ll let you two continue to talk about me while I check on dinner,” she tossed over her shoulder.

“Marsha was a redhead like Kate,” Arthur whispered. “That made life interesting, too.”

Chapter Nine

K
ate resisted the urge to clamp her hands over her ears.

Arthur Lundy had been like an adopted grandfather to her over the years, which meant he was anxious to see her “settle down” with the man of her dreams.

If only he knew that Alex had the starring role in some of her most recent nightmares. In the most recent one, she’d set fire to a dessert tray and it wasn’t even crème brûlée!

“Sit down.” Arthur sat back and gestured toward a chair. “I’ve been looking forward to this all day.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Kate saw Alex hesitate. He would be anxious to leave now that he’d gotten the answer he had come for.

“I’m sorry—” Alex stopped.

Kate half turned, wondering why he hadn’t finished the sentence.

Arthur’s smile had faded, the white knight clutched in his hand as he stared at the board in confusion.

“Mr. Lundy?” Alex prompted softly.

“I can’t…” Arthur blinked several times, as if he had been in the darkness and was now trying to adjust to the light.

Kate’s heart wrenched. A few months after his wife’s death, Mr. Lundy had begun to manifest the early signs of Alzheimer’s. Kate understood the reason behind the occasional lapses, but Alex didn’t—and he wasn’t a man known for his patience.

She took a step forward, ready to intervene, but Alex was already pulling up a folding chair. He sat down, picked up the black knight and carefully and deliberately set it in place.

After a heartbeat of silence, Arthur mirrored the move and set his horse down on the opposite side of the board. “Very good. Very good,” he murmured.

Alex leaned back. “I believe it’s your move, Mr. Lundy.”

Kate wanted to throw her arms around Alex and hug him.

That was crazy, given the fact that he wasn’t exactly huggable…for an instant, Kate imagined herself trapped in the circle of his arms.

And groaned.

Both heads swung in her direction.

“Something wrong, Kate?” Arthur called.

“Nothing.”
Everything
.

What was this? Sleep deprivation? Post-wedding stress syndrome? She couldn’t be
attracted
to Alex.

He was the equivalent of a human ice sculpture. Every feature incredibly, startlingly perfect. But emotionless. Cold.

Except, a still, small voice inside reminded her, for the fact that Alex had gently restored an elderly man’s dignity. The reason she had been tempted to hug him in the first place. And when he smiled…

She closed a drawer with a little more force than was necessary.

Get a grip, Kate.

Putting all thoughts of Alex—and his arms—on lockdown, Kate removed the antipasto platter from the refrigerator.

“I smell pasta!” The door opened and Jeremy Sutton skidded toward her across the hardwood floor.

“Hi, Jeremy.” Kate leaned down to hug the boy, who, at twelve, was still young enough to tolerate that kind of affection from the adults in his life. “You have a very good nose.”

Jake and Emma stopped just inside the door and were staring at Alex, the expression on their faces similar to the one Kate had seen when she proudly showed off the feathered lampshade she had purchased at an estate sale. A sort of “what are you going to do with it” look.

When Emma glanced her way, Kate’s shoulders lifted in a “I have no idea” shrug.

Jake broke the ice. He took a few steps forward and extended his hand. “Good to see you again, Alex.”

Alex half rose to his feet and gripped the police chief’s hand. “Sutton.” His gaze shifted to the slender woman standing beside Jake. “Emma.”

“Hello,” Emma murmured.

Jeremy snitched a piece of cheese from a tray on the counter. “Me and Cody are going to build a tree house. We’re drawing up the plans today.”

As if on cue, the door opened again and Cody Lang slipped into the apartment like a shadow.

He dipped his head, finding the floor easier to talk to than an actual person. “Hey, Miss Nichols.”

“Hello, Cody.” Kate greeted him with a smile, knowing better than to hug the teenager the way she had hugged Jeremy Sutton. Abby and Quinn had worked hard over the past year to bring Cody out of his shell. He was sweet and hardworking, but a difficult home life had inflicted wounds that were slow to heal. “You and Jeremy know where the soda is. Help yourselves.”

Another tap on the door. Kate took a silent tally and pulled out a few more plates.

“I can’t believe you felt like cooking today, but we could smell the garlic two blocks away…” Zoey swept into the apartment, the rest of the sentence dying a natural death as she spotted the two men playing chess. “Alex.”

It came out sounding like a question rather than a statement.

“Kate’s beau,” Arthur said without looking up.

“Boss,” Kate corrected. Then, seeing the satisfied look on Alex’s face, added,
“Temporary.”

Zoey flashed a warm smile. “Matt and I were hoping Kate would invite you over for dinner. The inn must seem pretty quiet now that the wedding is over and Abby and Quinn are gone.”

She hadn’t invited Alex, and he
prefers
quiet, Kate wanted to howl. What he
didn’t
like were animals and children. And small towns. That happened to be three of her favorite things.

“It is,” Alex admitted, shocking Kate to the tips of her pink toenails. “Abby is supposed to call when they get into London tonight.”

Zoey enveloped Kate in a quick hug. “Matt is on his way. He and Harold Davis met after the service to go over a few details for the mentoring picnic next Saturday.”

“It’s going to be awesome.” Jeremy’s eyes sparkled. “Dad is going to ask Mr. McGuire to teach us about survival camping.”

“Devlin McGuire?” Kate looked to Jake for confirmation.

“I know he doesn’t normally talk to groups, but Harold thought he might make an exception for the mentoring ministry,” Jake said. “I’m still waiting for him to get back to me.”

Kate had her doubts that he would. The wildlife photographer had a reputation for being a bit of a recluse. On the rare occasions he came into the café, Dev was polite but didn’t mingle with the locals.

Like someone else she knew.

Alex’s head—and his eyebrow—lifted as the door opened again. At least now he knew she hadn’t been exaggerating about the number of guests.

“We’re here and we’re hungry!” Liz Decker, Zoey’s grandmother, and her friend Delia Peake trudged in, weighted down with the oversize canvas bags that held their knitting.

“That’s good, because I’ve got plenty of food.” Kate had tripled the recipe and had a backup salad in case of an emergency.

“Where are we going today, Kate?” Delia wanted to know.

Kate glanced at Alex. When she’d told him that she was having people over for dinner, she had left out the part about what kind of dinner it was. On purpose.

“Italy,” she murmured.

“What did you say?” Delia leaned forward. “New Delhi?”

“Italy,” Kate repeated, a little louder this time.

“Sounds wonderful.” Liz turned to smile at Alex. “Last week we went to Greece.”

“Greece?”

Liz saw his expression and laughed. “Kate didn’t tell you that she’s taking us on a culinary adventure around the world this summer?”

“No, she didn’t.”

Alex looked at Kate, who suddenly wouldn’t look at
him
.

He moved his bishop before Arthur Lundy put his king in check. For the past five minutes, his opponent had quietly but systematically taken out a knight, three pawns and a rook.

Alex blamed Kate, who was proving to be as distracting as a meteor shower.

“She even plays tour guide and gives us some history of the area.” Delia shooed the cat named Lucy off the rocking chair by the window and pulled a skein of bright red yarn out of her bag.

Three teenagers, two girls and a lanky boy Alex remembered seeing at the wedding reception, barged into the apartment. “Did you start yet?”

“Not yet.” Kate didn’t look at all perturbed by the number of people camped out in her living room.

Come to think of it, the only person she’d looked perturbed to see had been
him
.

She reached for a pitcher on the shelf and the hem of her T-shirt rose a quarter inch, exposing a ribbon of sun-kissed skin.

Alex promptly lost his remaining knight.

“Check.” Mr. Lundy grinned.

Alex shook his head in disgust.

“Hi, Mr. Lundy.” The girls paused by the coffee table and the one with dark hair stooped down to kiss Arthur’s bristly cheek. “Mr. Porter.”

Alex was surprised they remembered his name and realized he couldn’t return the favor. “Hello…”

“Morgan.” The dark-haired girl smiled and pointed to her friend. “This is Haylie.”

Instead of politely moving on, they lighted on the arm of the sofa to watch the match, seemingly right at home.

Everyone in Kate’s miniscule apartment seemed at home, even though the decibel level and the temperature of the room continued to rise in direct proportion to the number of people streaming in.

Matthew Wilde arrived with two teenage boys in tow, followed by Faye McAllister, who had a purse looped over one arm and a ball of white fluff draped across the other.

The ball of fluff wriggled, jumped down and made a beeline for Ethel and Lucy, who tripled in size as they stared down the intruder. The little dog barked and the cats hissed but Kate didn’t appear to be fazed by the commotion. Not only that, the sparkle in her eyes made it look as if she were…enjoying it.

On her way to welcome the newest guests, Kate paused to glance at the chessboard. “You’re going to lose your queen,” she whispered.

“No, I’m—” Alex stopped.

Yes, he was.

Arthur frowned when Alex blocked his next move. “Would’ve had you there,” he muttered. “But we can finish the game after dinner.”

“I can’t stay, Mr. Lundy.” Alex didn’t anticipate his statement would cause such a stir.

Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at him. Even Faye McAllister’s yappy little dog quit barking.

“Not staying?” Delia repeated. “You want to go to Italy, don’t you?”

“He’s probably been there, Delia,” Kate murmured.

Twice, but Alex kept that information to himself.

The woman’s pink walking cane struck the floor. “Then he can be our tour guide!”

Tour guide?

“I don’t think Kate planned on having an extra guest,” Alex said carefully.

Emma laughed. “I certainly hope that’s not true because we’re
all
extra guests.”

“And there’s lotsa room on the roof,” her son, Jeremy, who’d sidled up to watch the match, offered a shy smile.

“The roof?”

“Sure. That’s where we eat.”

Alex looked at Kate, who met his gaze with a tilt of her chin.

“Kate fixed it up. You’d be surprised at how cozy it is up there.” Liz Decker smiled at their hostess.

Surprised by something Kate did? Alex realized that was swiftly becoming a thing of the past.

“And there’s plenty of food,” Zoey Decker added.

It sounded as if they wanted him to stay. But these were Abby’s friends. Kate’s friends. He had no connection with the laughing group of people crowded together in the tiny apartment.

You’ll find yourself longing for something you never knew you wanted.

“It’s your move,” Arthur said.

Alex forced a smile and rose to his feet. “I’ll take a rain check. I really do have to leave.”

While he still remembered why.