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Since Joel’s Montana-based company had established a presence in Jackson Hole almost five years ago, he’d built homes in the mountains surrounding Jackson not only for Lexi and her husband, but for Mary Karen and Travis Fisher, as well. Kate knew he was in the process of building one for Cole and Meg Lassiter, the couple who owned the shop where they were seated.
“Daddy.” Chloe tugged on his arm. “You promised we’d stop and pick up my new ice skates before your meeting.”
“You ice skate?” The question popped out of Kate’s mouth before she could stop it. If she truly wanted them to leave—which she did—she was doing a poor job of hurrying them on their way.
“Since I was a little girl,” Chloe said with a nine-year-old’s maturity. “Do you like to skate?”
“I used to,” Kate said. “When I was your age.”
For her, skating had been a way to forget her troubles at home. She hoped it wasn’t that way for Chloe.
“That’s cool,” Chloe said, then ducked her head, staring down at her hot-pink sneakers.
Joel pulled his phone from his pocket and glanced at it. “We better get going.”
From the distant look in his eyes, his thoughts were already on his next appointment.
Kate kept the disappointment she had no right to feel from showing as she watched them walk out the door.
Or at least she thought she’d hidden her disappointment.
“His wife hasn’t been gone all that long. From what I understand they were childhood sweethearts.” Lexi took a sip of her latte, a look of sympathy in her eyes. “Give him time. He’ll come around.”
Kate blinked. “I’m not interested in dating Joel.”
“Really?” A tiny smile played at the corners of Lexi’s lips. “Could have fooled me.”
Even though Kate was absolutely, positively certain she didn’t want to date the handsome contractor, she could see where he could catch a woman’s eye. “I’ll admit he’s a good-looking man.”
“Oh, you noticed.” Lexi looked as if she was trying to keep from laughing. “Even though you’re not interested.”
After a second Kate chuckled and took a sip of her drink. It was probably best to let Lexi think what she wanted. If she protested too much, her friend’s curiosity radar might be activated and she’d ask even more questions.
Questions Kate had no intention of answering.
For now her secret was safe, held close and tight against her heart. And that was just where she intended to keep it.
Chapter Two
Sunday morning, Kate rose early and flung open her closet doors, searching for just the right dress to wear to church. She’d promised herself at the first of the year that she’d start attending services on a regular basis. January had gone well, but by February she’d already fallen off the churchgoing wagon.
She was ready to try again. After all, she couldn’t build relationships or meet new friends sitting home alone.
After donning a simple slip dress in a wild swirl of colors, she pulled out a pair of dangling earrings that had been an impulse buy. Even though at the time they seemed a little bold, today they fit her take-charge-of-life mood.
The decision on what shoes to wear took way too long. By the time Kate waltzed through the front doors of the church she usually attended in Jackson, the congregation was already on their feet for the opening hymn.
There was space for her in the back pews, which were normally reserved for parents with babies and small, noisy children. While Kate loved kids, this morning she didn’t feel like being surrounded by them.
Instead she strolled down the center aisle looking for a place to sit. As she reached the midway point, a sick feeling had taken up residence in the pit of her stomach. Perhaps this was a sign for her to casually pivot on her designer heels and head for the door.
The escape was already in progress when the sound of her name aborted the flight plan and had her turning back toward a pew she’d just passed.
Chloe gave her a shy smile. Joel motioned to her.
His brown hair, which normally looked like he’d just run his fingers through it, had been carefully combed and the stubble on his cheeks had been shaved away. He looked very business casual this morning in a navy blazer with a blue-sapphire plaid shirt and tan chinos. He also looked very handsome.
While Kate took a hesitant step toward him, he and Chloe moved over. Joel gestured to the tiny space he’d opened up next to him. A space so small that if she accepted his offer, she might as well be sitting on his lap.
Her heart skipped a beat. Her breathing quickened.
Kate rapidly considered her two options. Sit down. Or make some lame excuse and walk away.
Before she could second-guess the rightness of her decision, she squeezed in beside him. It was tight. Very tight. His muscular thigh pressing against her bare leg ignited feelings that had no place in a house of worship.
Joel’s gaze lingered on her earrings—or was it a bit lower, say on her breasts?—before turning his attention back to the hymnal.
While slip dresses were popular and no more revealing than a skirt and tiny tee, Kate suddenly felt exposed. As though she was caught in one of those horrible dreams where you leave the house in your underwear and only later realize you’d forgotten to put on the rest of your clothes.
It didn’t help that someone had set the air conditioning on low and she was freezing. Or she would be if Joel wasn’t beside her. The guy was like a blast furnace and the warmth radiating from him made her yearn to throw caution to the wind and cuddle close.
It took every bit of control to ignore the spicy scent of his cologne and his heat, that wonderful heat that wrapped itself around her like a favorite blanket, tethering her to him.
Still, she remained in firm control of her emotions until it came time to share the hymnal with him and Chloe. Standing beside the tall, broad-shouldered man and the girl with a ribbon tied awkwardly around her ponytail felt a little too much like heaven. Or was it hell?
Regardless, it was a vivid reminder of what she’d given up all those years ago. Breathing became difficult and tears stung the back of her eyes.
The only way she held it together was by focusing on the letters and notes swimming on the pages before her. And by ignoring the man next to her and the child in the pink jersey dress with the crooked smile on his other side.
By the time they rose for the closing benediction, Kate’s emotions were raw and bleeding and too close to the surface for comfort.
She needed to put some space between her and Joel.
Between her and Chloe.
The second the minister quit talking she’d say a quick but polite goodbye, then sprint for the exit. Unfortunately her escape plan didn’t include Lexi Delacourt appearing out of nowhere to block her way out of the pew.
“You look absolutely gorgeous, Kate.” The social worker gave her a quick hug, then shifted her gaze to the man now trapped beside her. “Doesn’t she look nice, Joel?”
“Beautiful,” came the deep rumble behind her.
Something in the way he said the word sent a shiver of awareness up her spine. Or maybe it wasn’t the word so much as his warm breath against the back of her neck. Yes, it was definitely time to put some distance between her and the sexy contractor. If only Lexi would move….
“We’re all going to The Coffeepot for breakfast while the kids are in Sunday school,” Lexi announced, her feet firmly planted in front of Kate. “I hope you two will join us.”
“I don’t thi—”
“Sure,” Joel said at the same time. “I’d like that.”
A moment of silence followed. Kate wished sinking through the floor were an option.
“Dr. Kate doesn’t want to go with you, Daddy.” Chloe’s voice came from behind her father. “I don’t think she likes you.”
“Apologies, Kate,” she heard him say and the hitch in his voice made her heart twist. “It wasn’t my intent to answer for you.”
Lexi’s amber eyes remained riveted on Kate, her expression watchful.
Kate swallowed hard. While she’d vowed to keep her distance, she could not, and would not, embarrass this fine man. Besides, it wasn’t as if this was a date. Lexi had said a whole group was going. It wasn’t as if she had to even sit by him.
She turned and met Joel’s gaze over her shoulder. “Breakfast sounds wonderful.”
Her heart tripped over itself as a smile spread across his face. Kate then focused on Chloe. “Everyone likes your father. He’s a great guy.”
“Including you?” the girl asked, surprising Kate with her boldness.
Kate didn’t even hesitate. “Including me.”
“Well, then.” Lexi’s smile broadened. Relief filled her eyes. “Sounds like we have a plan. July and David are already on their way to nab our usual table at the back. We’ll see you two at the café.”
As Kate walked down the aisle smiling and saying hello to patients and their families, she felt Joel’s hand on the small of her back. Of course, that was only because it was crowded and he was behind her. The gesture was oddly intimate and yet, she found she didn’t mind it at all.
When they reached the foyer, Chloe headed downstairs to her Sunday school classroom, leaving Kate alone with Joel. They walked in silence to the parking lot.
“May I give you a ride downtown?” he asked, obviously not wanting to take anything for granted. “Because of the limited parking, it makes sense to take one car. Unless you have somewhere you need to go right after breakfast.”
He’d graciously left her an out. All Kate had to do was say the word and she could drive separately. If things were different, she’d be thrilled at the thought of spending some one-on-one time with the handsome contractor. But before making the decision to move to Jackson Hole, Kate had promised herself that she’d keep her distance. From Joel. And from Chloe.
Yet in her deliberations, she’d never considered the possibility they might end up running in the same social circle or have mutual friends.
This is only breakfast, she reminded herself, nothing more.
“We might as well go together,” Kate said, stumbling a bit over the last word. “I hope your truck isn’t far because I’m starving.”
Joel noticed café patrons casting glances their way as he and Kate wove through the crowded dining room of The Coffeepot.
They weren’t looking at him. It was Kate. She turned heads wherever she went. She was so pretty. Today, her multicolored silky dress showed off her long slender legs to full advantage. She was wearing her trademark heels. Instead of the black ones she’d worn the other day, these were red with a little strap around her ankle.
Even though it wasn’t fair, Joel couldn’t help comparing her to his deceased wife. Fashionwise, Kate and Amy were as different as night and day. His wife had always preferred simple attire, dresses that showed very little skin and serviceable shoes with only a slight heel. Her taste in jewelry had been equally conservative. All she’d ever worn was her wedding band and tiny gold hoop earrings.
Amy would never have worn bright dangly ones that couldn’t help but draw a man’s attention to a woman’s slender neck and creamy skin.
Joel shoved the image of Kate aside and replaced it with a vision of Amy with her short curly blond hair and broad smile. His wife hadn’t needed jewelry; she’d had a natural glow that made everyone sit up and take notice.
His lips curved upward. Amy had loved people. Loved finding out what made them tick. It didn’t matter who: sales clerks, meter readers, the person standing in front of her in the grocery line. She’d start talking and by the end of the conversation, she had a new friend. Her innate gregariousness had sometimes made it hard for her to understand their daughter’s shyness and need for solitude. But she’d been a wonderful mother and had done a lot to make Chloe more at ease in social situations.
Unfortunately when Amy had passed away, Chloe had taken a giant leap backward….
Joel realized with a start that Kate had come to a dead stop. Puzzled, he cast a sideways glance in her direction. Didn’t she realize their destination was just a few feet ahead?
If he hadn’t been so in-tuned to his daughter’s reaction to similar situations, he might have missed the signs.
The hesitation on her face.
The slight furrow to her brow.
The uneven breaths.
Even though Kate projected a bold confidence, he realized that she wasn’t cool or aloof. She was … shy.
A protective urge rose inside him.
“Walking into a group that’s already gathered can be stressful.” Joel kept his tone conversational and low, for her ears only.
“I know everyone,” she said, but her sexy red heels remained firmly planted on the shiny hardwood.
“Yes, you do. And it’s not as if you’ll be talking to all of them at once,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone. “It’ll be just the ones sitting by us.”
Us. The word flowed easily from his lips. After all those years of being married, he still thought of himself as part of a couple. Joel hoped Kate didn’t take offense.
She hadn’t seemed to notice. Her focus was on the battle-scarred table up ahead with its old-fashioned tin coffeepot centerpieces sprouting plastic sunflowers. Even though the table was large—holding twelve or even thirteen if someone took the end—there were only three seats left at the far end and a single open chair next to Lexi. Joel assumed that one was saved for Lexi’s husband, Nick.
A middle-aged waitress with a nose ring and orange lipstick had already begun taking orders.
“We better sit down.” Joel wrapped his hand around her elbow and gently urged her forward. He took a step away from her before they reached the table.
“Hello, everyone.” A smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes lifted Kate’s lips.
As the greetings flew back and forth, Joel positioned himself at the end with the three open chairs. He waited to see where Kate decided to sit so he could pull out her chair.
For a second her gaze appeared to linger on the chair next to Lexi. But if Kate was hoping to sit next to her friend, that option disappeared when Nick showed up, brushing a kiss against his wife’s cheek and slipping into the chair beside her.
Joel and Kate had barely gotten settled and picked up the menus when the waitress asked for their orders. The woman obviously knew they had only an hour before they needed to pick up the children and wanted to keep things moving.
Drinks were already on the table by the time Ryan Harcourt showed up. Unlike the other men at the table who’d come from church, the attorney wore a pair of jeans with holes and a faded navy T-shirt. His thick dark hair was still damp, as if he’d just hopped out of a shower.
Even though Joel tried to steer clear of the whole who-was-dating-who gossip, he’d heard Kate had recently ended a relationship with Ryan. Some speculated it wouldn’t be long before the two were back together. Even if they didn’t, Joel knew Kate wouldn’t be available for long.
The chorus of hellos and ribbing that greeted Ryan’s arrival told Joel that Kate’s former boyfriend was a regular at these gatherings. Not surprising because, like so many of those congregated around the table, Ryan was a Jackson Hole native.
The attorney glanced around, his gaze initially bypassing the empty seat next to Kate. Although Ryan’s cocky grin never wavered, Joel noticed his gaze made a second sweep as if seeking another option before commandeering the last open spot.
“Hello, Joel. Kate.” Ryan placed the paper napkin on his lap and gestured for the waitress to bring him some coffee.
“Decided to skip the sermon, eh, Ry?”
Kate’s light, almost-teasing greeting surprised Joel. Because the two had recently broken up, he’d expected to see some awkwardness. If Kate felt ill-at-ease, it didn’t show.
Ryan took a cup of steaming coffee from the waitress before turning his attention back to his ex-girlfriend, an answering gleam in his eyes.
