Never Stopped Loving You (5 page)

Whitney’s smile beamed brighter than any headlights on a dark night. “Thanks. You’ll have to come see it.”

She plucked some green peppers off the pizza. “How bad did Mom get? After I left?”

Whitney’s gaze lifted to hers for a second and dropped back to the list. “Mostly the same for a while. We knew something wasn’t quite there mentally. Her friends knew.”

Wasn’t quite there mentally was about as gentle as one could say it. “And then?”

“And then she progressed.” Whitney stared across the table. “Why do you want to know?”

“Because Aiden called her the yelling lady.”

Whitney winced. “Some people talked about her a lot. Wade and I never did.”

“I never thought you would.” She sighed. “I’m just wondering how bad it got. Dad never would say anything specific about what she did. Old friends would call with updates and Dad would just tell me what the town thought of her.” Not to mention used every chance possible to say how close Kara was toeing the line of becoming her mom. “I called Mom in the beginning to check on her. I did a lot of stuff for her and then I was gone. She didn’t know me and hung up. All Grandma ever said was that what
I
thought about my mom was all that mattered.”

Whitney shook her head. “She got a little mean at first. Her friends backed away. You couldn’t reason with her. She eventually became violent.”

Kara grabbed the edge of the table. “How bad?”

“Little at first. The final straw that brought the cops out was in the grocery store. She saw her old friend—Sue. I guess Sue and your dad were together before your mom. She threw things. I wasn’t there, but heard she yelled a lot of foul language. Scared some kids. Sue got hurt. Your mom went home and the cops were there a few minutes later. We weren’t there, but we just heard she got really violent and vocal when the cops were at the door.”

Kara lowered her head. She didn’t need to be there to know how this happened. She’d witnessed her mom’s manic transformations at the drop of a hat. Knowing that and how protective she was of the junk in the house when people were by the door, her mom likely lost it further than she ever had before. “She was always protective of her stuff and wouldn’t have liked people by the door.”

“Did you ask your dad what happened to her? I know you always wanted to know.”

She wiped at the dust along the edge of the table. “I did. He said she changed after she had me and slowly got worse. He left when I was five.”

“He said it like that? Like it was your fault.”

“Yeah.”

Whitney’s eyes narrowed. “What a dick.”

“Yeah.” Kara dropped her head on the table. And it appeared to be a Duncan family trait since Kara had taken her turn in the dick-role. “I didn’t know I’d be coming back to all this history with her too.”

“It’s been a couple years. I hardly ever hear anything about it. Nobody with any manners would ask you about it.”

Kara pushed hair from her face. When it came to manners or gossip in a small town, she was well aware which would win out. “After the way I left. And now there’s all this with Mom.” Tears wet her eyes and she looked away. “I didn’t think it would all be true because Dad made no secrets about his feelings toward her.”

“Give it a week and it’ll all be water under the bridge.” Whitney grabbed the phone and shook her head. She started tapping on the screen. “We have plenty of plates and blankets and things in storage collecting dust from when Tate went to college. No point in rebuying it.”

Kara smiled. “Thanks, Whitney.”

Chapter Four

Kara plucked at the white lace across the top of her sundress. She’d wanted jeans and T-shirt. Whitney sprung this dress on her and said to wear it unless she wanted to stand out. Bright orange dress with a little lace or jeans and a dark T-shirt? No-brainer and she’d grabbed jeans. Then switched to the dress after seeing Whitney come out wearing a pink skirt with sandals and a white shirt. Kara should have stuck with the jeans. She could run fast and hide easier in those.

The spring day wasted no time in warming up as she stood by Chester House while the next car drove in the farm, parked and unloaded another family of four. Part of the insanity of doing this was, she went to high school with these people. Some of them had married each other. Some had brought a spouse into town. All very normal. The crazy part was the fact that these people had
kids.

Just a few years ago she would have said half these people had no business being around kids, much less owning any. The man walking up now with a woman next to him and two toddler boys trailing behind him was Patrick Kelly. Like when most of the people arrived today, Kara averted her gaze to the kids as she handed them baskets. Whitney handled the money part and the talking to the people part. Except for now. When she ran for a bathroom break.

Unlike the others who’d politely followed along with sidelong glances, Patrick beamed a smile at her. “Kara!”

And she was lifted off her feet, arms trapped to her sides as he brought her in a giant bear hug. “Hey, Patrick,” she squeaked out on a last breath of air.

He sat her down. “When did you come back?”

“A few days ago.” She maintained her smile. Patrick had dated Whitney a bit. They had been dating when Kara’s life was on its zipping spin to rock bottom. Lord only knows what Whitney had told the guy and Kara was helpless but to hang her head a little and take another bitter dose of shame.

He pulled the woman with him under his arm. “This is my wife, Tasha.”

“Nice to meet you.” She glanced at the two young boys tugging at Patrick’s hand who were the very image of Patrick. “These must be yours.”

“Yep.” He did that whole rock from heel to toe, proud rooster cock thing that men did. “Those are our boys, Dustin and Gabe.”

She nodded and refused the small tear trying to leak out the corner of her eye. Of all the people who had kids, Patrick was the one she could see with them the easiest. He was just...Patrick. Lovable. Playful. Good heart. “It’s good to see you, Patrick. Y’all better hurry before everything’s gone.”

He grinned. “Nah. They’ll be plenty.”

He walked away and a breath seeped out of her. There. That wasn’t so bad. That was actually nice. Delightful even, but then Patrick had always been nothing but a big teddy bear. She wasn’t even sure why she’d been worried when he walked up.

Clearing the lump from her throat, she looked back to the newspaper in front of her. Every morning by dawn, it was still tossed out in the middle of their driveway, just a few hundred feet from the paved road. Only instead of it being sent for Mrs. Jana, it was sent for Wade. Kara turned the paper over to read the rest of the same article. She didn’t have anything to take notes with and she felt half-naked for that, but she at least read each column, each section.

The morning after walking in her dad’s house, he’d forced her to sit at the breakfast table to read the paper and take notes. Every evening he’d quiz her. It was his twisted way to make sure she wasn’t turning into her mom and mentally losing all touch with the present day.

She hated it...but she couldn’t stop reading the paper every day for that purpose. A chill slithered over her shoulders even though it was a hot morning.

Footsteps crunched over the gravel behind her and she turned to see who was coming. She’d hoped for Whitney. It wasn’t Whitney. Any lasting moisture in her throat sizzled and dried as the oldest Chester sibling walked her way. Tate Chester. She hadn’t known Tate as well. He was about eight years older than Wade, so she had only vague memories of the guy as a teenager. When she got older, Tate was off to college then moved into his own home. Like Wade, Tate was tall and broad but where Wade was dark, Tate was lighter.

Where Wade could be funny and charming when he wanted to be, Tate was not. He stopped in front of her and gave her a single direct nod that was full of judgment. “Kara.”

She tried a little smile. “Good to see you, Tate.”

He didn’t return the smile. She never really understood where this part of Tate came from. Their dad was fun and humorous. Their mom loving and caring. All her memories of Tate included a lot of seriousness. Oh, there were times he’d joke around with his family, but it wasn’t the same. At holidays and birthdays, he was most often on a back deck with a pencil and a drawing pad.

He stared down at her. “I was surprised to hear you’d come back.”

She nodded. “I’ve been wanting to for a long time.”

“So why didn’t you?”

That was Tate. “My grandma was ill as she got older. When I would have returned, she worsened. I took care of her.”

“Sorry for your loss. I heard she passed away a little over a year ago.”

Her throat tightened at the mention of her passing grandma. Kara wasn’t sure how she would have fared if she’d been under her dad’s roof for the entire time until she’d been able to afford her own place. Her grandma had been her saving grace. “Thank you. I still miss her a lot.”

“Whitney told me why you’re here.”

And she was nodding again. Also swiping her damp palms on her hips. “Making jam. Like my grandma taught me.”

“How is your mother?”

“Alive.” Last she checked. And that had been some time ago. Was hard to visit when last time her mother accused her of being a thief trying to steal her stash of butterscotch candy. Staff had to restrain her mother and Kara left without a look back. Somehow that lump in the back corner of her heart that was a lot like heartburn remained. “Yours?”

“Happy.”

“Good.” She glanced around, hoping for some sort of distraction or something, but it wasn’t to be. Everyone was off in the fields or digging into sandwiches at the tables in the shade. It was just Tate and her and the slight breeze. “How is your store?”

Tate owned a jewelry store where he handcrafted a lot of his own items. There was no missing the pride he took in his work by the smile that crossed his face. “Real good. I’ve had my own store about six years now.”

“Sounds good.”

The smile on his face dropped and he stared at her. The small chitchat was over. “I want to be clear, Kara, you’re not going to act like you did before you left. Not while you’re working with us.”

She swallowed back the knot itching up her throat. “I understand and I won’t be.”

“I’m not sure what Whitney was thinking by putting your name with our business after what you did before, but if it was up to me, you wouldn’t be within spitting distance of this property.”

“I understand.”

“I may not work here and invest my life into it like Wade and Whitney, but Chester Farms is more than this farm. It means a lot to a lot of people. Things that your reputation is going to put a dent in if you can’t behave.”

He stared at her for a long second and in that moment, Kara understood where Tate’s personality came from. Many times Kara leaned out the window and listed to Mr. Chester give a talking-to the drunks who’d come in during the middle of the night. His tone had been scornful. He hadn’t been mocking or hurtful, just blunt honest with the cold hard truth. Tate was that man.

He gave her a hard nod and straightened. “I hope in the time you’ve been gone, you learned a little modesty and self-respect. Mom and Dad worked hard for what this place has become and you’re not going to ruin all that.”

Tears burned hot behind her eyes. “I won’t. I promise. The last thing I want is to hurt anyone.”

His eyes narrowed and he walked away, leaving her alone with the hot ball of shame burning through her insides.

If she could survive Tate, she could survive anyone today. And then John Martin pulled in the lot, driving the same old mud truck she’d once rode around in, and any warmth from the sun drained out.

Something else Kara learned a long time ago? Don’t date your ex’s best friend. Whether for real or not, just don’t. Find some other guinea pig. Her stupid actions had broken up the friendship between the two boys as well and this was another mistake needing to be fixed. She had to somehow explain the actions she couldn’t believe as her own to both of these men. She didn’t even begin to know where to start.

With either of them.

John walked closer. Same lazylike swagger. Same charming smile. He called her name, brought her in a hug with his hands going uncomfortably low across her back. She stepped out of his embrace and reached for a basket to keep this as business and nothing else.

“Hi, John.” She handed over the basket, putting it between them. “Better get out there and get started. The strawberries look amazing.”

He took the basket by the handle and managed to clasp his hand over the top of hers. She couldn’t help but notice he wore no wedding ring. That made things a bit harder. All those dreams and fantasies she’d had of her perfect life when she returned included John happily married and realizing he had never fallen in love with Kara Duncan. The lack of a ring and his thumb caressing her wrist signaled otherwise. “Mom sent me out here. Still loves her fresh spring vegetables.”

“Sweet that you pick for her.” She tugged her hand, but he didn’t release.

“When did you come back, sweetheart?”

She swallowed, embarrassment heating her cheeks. “Few days ago.”

“And you didn’t call me?”

She opened her mouth, but a deep voice behind her cut her off. “We’ve had her too busy here.”

Wade was at her back. She could feel him in the way her skin tingled as his heat seeped through her dress. Her pulse picked up with his nearness and her throat tightened. Since that kiss on the porch, she’d managed to avoid him.

Or he’d avoided her. It was hard to tell who was doing what and so far the tactic was working. Until now.

John smiled anyway, like nothing ever happened. “How long are you in town for?”

“A while, I think.” When her neck itched and crawled, she ignored it, not wanting to show how the mere sight of him made her want to vomit. Not because of him specifically, but because of how she’d behaved and acted.

She had been drowning in Bella Warren and had no idea what to do about it. Nothing she could do but run and start over. It hadn’t taken long for her immature and dreaming heart to grow up to the harsh reality of the real world.

John, whose biggest fault was not always saying the best thing at the right time, grinned. “This is just like old times.”

“Unfortunately,” she muttered. Her throat closed tighter. The moment was intense. The ground under her feet seemed unusually hard and wouldn’t be opening up anytime soon to suck her down. The sun blistered her cheeks all at once while a bead of sweat escaped her hairline and dripped down her spine.

Wade stood behind her, moving closer until his shadow draped over her shoulders. “Better get in the fields if you want the best. I know your mom is particular.”

John only nodded and glanced to Kara again. “When you get a chance, give me a call. Would be great to catch up.”

A raw ache clawing her throat caused her a delay in responding. One Wade didn’t have a problem filling. “She’ll be pretty busy for a while.”

John still smiled away. “Whenever you get time. Hated it when you left as fast as you did.”

“Like I said,” Wade answered. “She’ll be busy for a while.”

Before another word was spoken, Kara turned and walked away. She wasn’t doing that. Not today, not on her first day meeting everyone in town again and certainly not in front of any of those people. A few kids running through the yard crossed in front of her and she smiled at them as expected, but headed straight inside. Voices from visitors carried through the house. Women sat in the kitchen drinking coffee as they’d once done with Jana Chester while men picked. Kara leaned against the inside wall and breathed silently, needing a moment, but it was gone before it got started.

Wade had been on her heels and was now standing over her like that bear again. She didn’t need to see the fury in his eyes. She remembered it well enough the last time the three of them had been in conversation together. Without asking, he grabbed her by the arm, but a woman down the hall saying her name stopped them.

“Can you believe Kara is back?”

“I know,” another said. “I’m surprised she’s anywhere close to the farm after all that happened.”

Kara knew the voices. Could picture the faces of people she used to call friends as they continued.

“I think we should take bets to see how long she lasts before she’s shipped off like her mother was.” A round of disgusting chuckles echoed through the hall. Wade cupped her elbow, but she pulled away. She wanted to hear whatever else they had to say.

“Wade and Whitney Chester are too nice for their own good. Like their parents. Kara’s mom went crazy trying to take care of her and now her daddy doesn’t want anything to do with her. That’s why the Chesters are taking her in. That’s what Mary told me.”

Kara closed her eyes and rested against the cool wallpaper. Mary, another woman, one who she’d known but not really run with.

“If she wanted a home, she should have gone to John Martin. You know he would have taken her in.” They snickered and Kara couldn’t stand more. She ran up the stairs, Wade right next to her, his hand on her back.

After passing two doors, she knew where she was being taken. His bedroom. At the end of the bright-colored hall.

She dug her heels in, but it was a useless attempt. Without even trying he pushed her inside and shut the door behind him. Wade’s room was exactly as she remembered. A full-size bed along the side. Same dresser against one wall. The walls were white. The closet and bathroom doors closed and everything neatly tucked away and put in a place and scented of his spice cologne.

She turned away, needing out of there, but found the exit blocked by a mountain of fuming muscles. “I’m supposed to be helping at the front.”