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“Okay, Mom. And thanks for playing catch with me.”
At ten years old, he was tall for his age, with long lanky limbs and feet that were growing just as quickly as his height. His thick hair was nearly as dark as hers and his eyes close to the same gray. People often remarked that Nick favored his mother, and Katherine had to admit that when she looked at her son, she saw nothing of Cliff O’Dell. And considering the way that things had worked out for her and her late husband, she supposed it was a blessing that Nick didn’t resemble his father.
Slinging her arm affectionately around Nick’s shoulders, she guided him toward the back door of the house. “You’re very welcome.”
“Mom, do you think I might go to baseball camp this summer? Jimmy Bainter’s dad is going to be the instructor. You know, he played in the minor leagues once. Back before he got so old.”
“Old? I’ve seen Jimmy’s dad before. He doesn’t look old.” Katherine opened the door and ushered her son inside a small mudroom.
“Oh, shoot, Mom, that guy is probably forty!”
Trying not to laugh, Katherine nudged her son on toward the kitchen. “Go on and wash up.”
“But what about the baseball camp? Can I go? Jimmy and Shawn have already signed up. And it’s going to be over at the park. Every day for two whole weeks!”
“May you go,” she said, correcting him. “And maybe. I’ll check into it.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Grinning as though he was already certain she’d conceded, he hugged her waist, then rushed from the room.
Katherine washed her hands at a deep double sink, before entering the kitchen to get the evening meal ready. As she walked toward the refrigerator to pull out a casserole dish filled with lasagna, she decided to detour to the cabinet counter to check her phone. Normally, she didn’t get many calls, but she did receive a few texts from coworkers.
Seeing a notification that she’d missed a call, she punched a button to see the caller identity and immediately let out a small gasp.
Blake! Blake Hollister had called her!
Yes, she’d given him her phone number the morning they’d had coffee, but she’d never expected him to use it. In fact, once she’d walked away from him in front of the bank, she’d pretty much decided she’d never hear from the man again.
What was she going to do now? She’d missed his call and he’d not left a voice mail.
The smart thing to do, Katherine, would be to put down the phone and forget the man. So what if he did call you? So what if he did take you out on a date? That’s as far as things would ever get with a man like him. You’d only be wasting your time.
Disgusted with the cynical voice going off in her head, she placed the phone on the far end of the cabinet and went about getting the lasagna heated for their supper.
By the time she and Nick had eaten the meal and finished it off with chocolate ice cream for dessert, she’d decided to forget about Blake’s call. If he’d wanted to talk to her that badly, he would have left a message. Besides, she had plenty of other things to think about. Like vacuuming the living floor and putting a load of towels in the washer.
“Mom, can I watch one of your Tarzan movies?” Nick asked as he helped her carry the dirty dishes to the sink. “I want to see the one with the elephant stampede. You know, the one where the bad guys are trying to get ivory from the sacred elephant graveyard.”
Katherine smiled to herself. She’d always loved the Tarzan movies made back in the 1930s and 1940s, yet the first time Nick had watched one with her, he’d promptly described the whole thing as dorky.
“I thought my Tarzan movies were too cheesy for you,” Katherine said as she began to scrape food scraps into the garbage disposal.
“I guess I got to liking them. The animals are neat and so is Boy.”
Smiling, she glanced at him. “You think it would be fun to live in a tree house?”
“Yeah. But only for a few days. There wouldn’t be any TV.”
Since she made sure to limit her son’s time in front of the TV, he appreciated the chance to enjoy his favorite programs. “Oh, well, that would be awful. You’d have to get a stick and draw pictures in the dirt for entertainment.”
A bewildered look came over her son’s face. “Mom, are you feeling sick or something?”
Katherine chuckled. “No. Just feeling my age. And you have my permission to watch the movie. Just make sure you put the DVD back into its case when you’re finished.”
“Thanks, Mom!”
Nick hurried out of the kitchen and Katherine finished washing and drying the last of the dishes. She was hanging the dishtowel on a rack when her phone rang. The sound caused her to jump as though a firecracker had exploded beneath the table.
Could Blake be calling again? The number illuminated on the face of the phone wasn’t familiar, but the prefix was local.
Bracing herself, Katherine snatched up the phone and accepted the call with a simple hello.
“Katherine, this is Blake. Do you have a moment to talk?”
His low, masculine voice caused goose bumps to erupt along the backs of her arms and suddenly her heart was pounding so hard and fast, she felt dizzy. “Uh, yes, I can talk. How are you, Blake?”
“Fine, thanks. You sound surprised to hear from me.”
Her legs shaking, she walked over to the kitchen table and eased into one of the wooden chairs. “To be honest, I wasn’t expecting you to call.”
After a pause, he said, “I was giving you time to think about our date.”
She gulped and glanced over her shoulder. Thank goodness Nick was occupied with the movie. Having her son within earshot of her conversation would have made it even more difficult.
“Our date?” She repeated the words in the form of a question. “We don’t have a date.”
“We will. As soon as you say yes.”
Katherine looked around her simple kitchen and wondered if she was dreaming. “I’m not sure that would be the right thing to do, Blake,” she said as politely as she could manage.
“Why?” he asked. “You don’t like me?”
She practically spluttered into the phone. Like him? What would he think if he knew she’d spent most of her teenage years mooning after him? Probably laugh himself silly, she thought. “Of course I like you. Very much. It’s just that I’m... Well, since Cliff died, I haven’t exactly put myself back in the dating scene. I’d probably be very boring company.”
Another long pause and then he said, “The dates I’ve had in the past couple of years can be counted on one hand. So you see, I’m just as rusty about this as you are. As for being boring, my family’s nickname for me is Judge.”
Katherine could hardly imagine a man of Blake’s status going without dates. Besides being handsome and wealthy, he was warm and personable and a far cry from boring. He could have any woman he set eyes on. Had he stayed away from the dating scene because his engagement hadn’t worked out? She wondered. If so, he must have been crazy in love with his ex-fiancée. The thought was more than off-putting.
“I have my son to consider,” she hedged. “He’d have to go to a sitter.”
“My mother or sister would be happy to take on that chore.”
She absently rubbed her fingertips across her forehead. “Thank you, but I have a neighbor who watches Nick whenever I have to be out at night.”
“Then I don’t see a problem. What about Friday evening? Say about six? We’ll have a nice dinner in Prescott.”
The mere idea of sitting at a candlelit dinner table with Blake was enough to make her tremble all over. “I’d rather keep it casual...if you don’t mind,” she added, then realized she’d just given in without really meaning to.
“I don’t mind at all. We can make it as casual as you want,” he assured her. “So where do you live? Your father’s place?”
When she’d returned to Wickenburg to care for her father, she’d not been surprised by the dilapidated condition of the home where she and her brother had grown up. The roof had leaked in several places and in most of the rooms the linoleum had worn down to the subflooring. The air-conditioning had gone kaput, and with no window screens, it was impossible to open the house for any kind of relief from the heat. Her father had refused to move anywhere, so she’d been forced to make enough repairs to make the house livable for her and Nick.
Blake had thought she was still living there and yet that hadn’t stopped him from asking her for a date. The whole notion amazed her.
“Uh, no. After Dad died, I sold the property. I’ve moved to the west side of town in a white brick house with green shutters.” She gave him the address. “My little car is red and you’ll see it parked beneath a carport on the right side of the house. It’s easy to find.”
“No problem. I’ll find it.”
A few awkward moments of silence passed and then she asked, “Are you really sure you want to do this, Blake? If you’re having second thoughts, don’t worry about it. I’ll understand.”
“Would you understand? Because I wouldn’t,” he said bluntly. “Listen, Katherine, I’ve asked you out on a date because I want to spend time with you. Why is that so hard for you to believe?”
Her spine stiffened to a straight line. There was no point in skirting around the issue, she thought. “Surely you can’t be that blind. You’re a Hollister. You have no business going out with someone like me.”
“Someone like you? Since when is it wrong for a Hollister man to want to spend time with a lovely, intelligent young woman?”
Did he honestly see her in that way? “We hardly travel in the same social circle, Blake.”
“I don’t travel in any social circle. And from what you tell me, you don’t, either.”
He was making sense. Or did she simply want to believe the two of them could meet on common ground.
“I apologize, Blake. I’m insulting both of us, aren’t I?”
“Yes. You are.”
She bit down on her lower lip. “I’m sorry. I really do want to see you again.”
“Good. That’s all I needed to hear. So I’ll see you Friday evening.”
She could hear a smile in his voice and the sound warmed her far more than it should have. “Friday. Yes. See you then.”
He ended the call with a quick goodbye, and with a shaky hand, Katherine placed her phone on the table.
Right or wrong, she was going on a date with Blake Hollister.
Chapter Three (#u98f7a02c-7b53-578a-b2ec-c377a423cdb8)
Friday afternoon Blake called Katherine to confirm their date, and before their brief conversation ended, she asked if he’d mind dropping off Nick at the sitter’s on their way out of town. Blake had readily agreed and had even felt a bit flattered that she wanted him to meet her son.
But now as Blake walked to the front door of Katherine’s brick house, he wondered how Nick was going to react to his mother going on an outing with a strange man. Blake loved children, but that didn’t mean Katherine’s son would like him. It would make for an awkward start with Katherine if the boy took an instant dislike to him.
Trying not to dwell on that possibility, Blake punched the doorbell and after a moment he could hear footsteps racing through the house. When the door partially opened, he found himself staring at a tall, thin boy with dark hair and clear gray eyes. There was no doubt he was Katherine’s child. Her features were stamped all over his face.
“Hello,” he said as he warily eyed Blake. “Are you Mr. Hollister?”
“Hello,” Blake said, returning the greeting. “And I am Mr. Hollister.”
Continuing to study Blake with open curiosity, he opened the door wide and thrust out his hand.
“I’m Nick,” he said, introducing himself. “Nice to meet you, sir.”
Blake gave the boy’s hand a firm shake. “It’s nice to meet you, Nick. And it’s fine with me if you call me Blake.”
“Mom says I have to be respectful of my elders. But you don’t look all that old to me,” he said. “You want to come in, Blake?”
Blake smiled to himself. At least the boy wasn’t sulking. “That would be nice.”
Nick stepped to one side and Blake entered a short foyer.
“Mom is still getting dressed,” Nick announced as he closed the front door behind them. “She’s always slow.”
“That’s okay. I don’t mind waiting.”
The boy motioned for Blake to follow him out of the foyer. “Come into the living room. I’ll go tell Mom you’re here.”
With Nick leading the way, Blake entered a cozy room furnished with a dark red couch and matching stuffed armchair. A glass coffee table was covered with books and DVDs, while a television spanned a far corner of the room. Beyond a picture window framed with cream-colored drapes, a view of the desert almost made him forget the house was situated on the edge of a residential area.
“You can sit anywhere you want,” Nick instructed before he disappeared through an open doorway.
After taking a seat in the armchair, Blake settled back and allowed his gaze to wander around the room. Almost immediately his attention was caught by several framed photos resting on a wall table off to his left. With only a span of a few feet between him and the photos, Blake could see the majority of the images were of Nick captured at different stages of his young life. There was also an enlarged snapshot of Paulette Anderson with another woman, most likely her sister. He also recognized one small photo of Katherine’s brother, Aaron. The fact that there were no images of her late father or husband stood out like a weed in a rose garden.
Considering what Joseph had told him about Avery Anderson, Blake could understand why she might not want to be reminded of her father. But what about her husband? Was losing him still so painful she didn’t want to look at his image?
The sound of footsteps had him glancing around to see Nick entering the room.
“Mom says she’ll be ready in five minutes,” he announced. “But if I was you, I’d be ready to wait another ten. She’s just now doing something to her hair.”
The boy walked over to the couch and plopped onto the end cushion. Blake noticed he was wearing a black T-shirt with his school’s name printed across the front, along with blue jeans and high-top basketball shoes made of black canvas. In a few short years, he was going to be a very good-looking teenager, Blake decided. No doubt Katherine would have her hands full trying to keep him on the right path. Unless she married in the near future and then Nick would have a stepfather to help guide him into manhood.
Shoving away that uncomfortable thought, he asked, “What grade are you in, Nick? The fifth?”
He nodded. “I’m ten. I’ll be eleven in three months, though.”
“Hmm. I liked being eleven,” Blake commented. “It’s a fun age.”
“I wouldn’t know about that. I’m not eleven yet.”
Before he could stop it, Blake was laughing and the sound must have eased something in Nick, because he suddenly laughed along with him.
“Are you really a cowboy? Mom says you run a big ranch that has lots of cows and horses.”
“That’s right. It’s called Three Rivers Ranch.”
His interest piqued, Nick squared around on the cushion so that he was directly facing Blake. “I guess you know how to ride a horse and all that kind of stuff. Can you rope a bull?”
“I can. But it’s not something I do very often. It’s pretty dangerous. Especially when they have long horns.”
Nick thought about that for a moment. “Yeah, guess it would be. Those long horns are pretty scary. When Gold Rush Days was going on, Mom took me to the rodeo. It was exciting. I liked the bucking horses best.”
