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She laughed along with the rest of the Helping Hands. The rivalry between the two towns was ever-present.
“I know what you’re talking about,” Hazel said after the laughter subsided. “When Donald and I were first married, we spent a year in the Philippines while he was stationed there in the air force. Best year of our marriage, even though we lived in base housing surrounded by mostly Americans. I adored going to the street markets, trying the cuisine, seeing how other people lived. I missed my hometown and my family but loved seeing a different culture. It opens the mind.”
“Yes. Exactly.”
“I hope, like I did, you’ve learned a little more about the world and a whole lot more about yourself.”
She smiled warmly at Hazel, the first person who seemed to truly understand her experience these last nine months.
“I have,” she said.
“Tell them about your latest wild hair,” Charlene said, her tone sharp but her eyes filled with concern.
Her mother was strongly against her plans to adopt Gabriela. She thought Katrina was acting on a whim, jumping into something for which she wasn’t prepared. Instead of being excited, as Katrina had hoped, her mother was full of dire predictions about how she was limiting her future options by taking on this lifelong responsibility to a stranger at a time when she should be looking to settle down and have children of her own.
She could only hope Charlene’s opposition would fade when she had the chance to meet Gabi, to look into those dark eyes and see the life and joy and possibility in them.
“Is this about what happened in the grocery store with Bowie Callahan?” Sam interjected. “That was the craziest thing.”
The entire collection of shower guests seemed to perk up, merely at the man’s name. She would have found it amusing if she hadn’t felt a subtle little shiver rippling through her insides.
“Now, there’s someone I wouldn’t mind packing along in my truck on a world tour,” Hazel said with her sly, lascivious grin.
“He is one fine-looking man,” Lindy Grace Keegan purred.
Yes. Katrina wholly agreed. Which was all the more reason for her to stay away from him. Her decision-making track record around fine-looking men was dismal at best.
“What happened with Bowie Callahan?” Charlene asked, eyes wide. “I had no idea you even knew the man.”
Thanks for that, Sam. She aimed a sharp look at her friend, who gave her an apologetic shrug.
“I don’t know him. Not really. I met him today after I had a bit of a situation with his younger brother.”
“Bowie Callahan has a younger brother?” Barbara Serrano looked shocked. “Now, there’s something I didn’t know—and here I was under the impression I knew everything that went on around this town.”
“He does. His name is Milo and he’s very cute. Around five or six years old, I would guess.”
“Six,” Eliza chimed in.
“He’s very cute,” Samantha said. “Though he seems like a handful. He was having a fit in the store and Kat headed him off, so now Bowie wants to hire Katrina to be Milo’s nanny for a couple of weeks while she’s in town. He apparently offered her a boatload of money. Can you believe she said no?”
“Tell him I’ll do it for free,” Hazel said, with that grin again.
“Why on earth would you turn him down?” Wyn asked.
“I came home for your wedding, not to solve a family crisis for some rich, self-absorbed executive I don’t even know.”
She instantly regretted her words, spoken more harshly than she really intended. They seemed to fall on the shower guests like a sudden cloudburst.
“You don’t have to be rude,” Charlene said, clear reprimand in her voice as if Katrina were eight years old again and had eaten something that wasn’t on her approved ketogenic, antiseizure diet.
“Bowie is actually a very nice man, which you would know if you’d spent more than a few minutes with him,” her mother said. “Why, the very first week he was in town, he stopped to help me load my groceries.”
“And he gave a sizable donation to the fund-raiser for a new library,” Julia offered in her quiet voice.
“For what it’s worth, I’ve always found him very nice—and Ben and Aidan have nothing but good to say about him,” Eliza put in.
“They all went to school together,” McKenzie added. “You should hear some of their stories about their time together.”
When the entire formidable force that was the Haven Point Helping Hands ganged up on a person, it was like being steamrolled by an avalanche.
“Okay, okay. I get it. The man is a saint. That still doesn’t mean I want to spend my limited time home babysitting his kid brother.”
Just like with Milo and his behavior issues, sometimes the best strategy was simple diversion, and she quickly changed the subject. “Now, isn’t it about time for some delightfully off-color wedding shower games?”
Wynona groaned, but Hazel and Eppie giggled. “Yes,” they chimed in unison.
McKenzie jumped up. “You’re right. We have tons to do, people. Better get to it.”
Katrina managed to avoid the topic of Bowie Callahan and his brother again until the shower was over and she was helping her sister carry presents out to her SUV.
“That was great,” she said as they walked out into the sweet-smelling air from the honeysuckle and snowberry that grew in abundance on Julia’s property.
“I’m so glad we were able to work it around your schedule so you could make it. It wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun without you.”
“You’re only saying that because Sam and I made the best wedding dress out of toilet paper.”
“It was a work of art. I hope my real one looks half that good,” Wyn said. “I especially loved the row of toilet paper roses across the shoulders and adorning your veil.”
“What can I say? I’ve always looked good in Charmin.”
They both laughed, but Wyn’s smile slid away too quickly. “Hey, I hope you’re not turning down that nanny gig because of me.”
“You mean because I flew six thousand miles to come home and spend a little time with you before your wedding?”
“Yeah. That.” Wynona smiled. “I just mean, if you can work around the schedule thing with the wedding, do it. Bowie seems like a nice guy in a tough spot, at least from what everyone said in there. And the money would definitely come in handy with all your legal expenses, wouldn’t it?”
Wynona, at least, supported her efforts to adopt Gabi, and so did Cade. Her brother Marshall hadn’t said much about it—but then, he didn’t say much about anything.
“The money wouldn’t hurt,” she admitted. “But I can’t just duck out of helping you with wedding prep. I’m the maid of honor!”
“Don’t worry about that. McKenzie has whipped all the Helping Hands into a frenzy, getting things ready for the big day. You know how she is. Between her and Mom—and Andie, who did all the wedding invitations—I’ve hardly lifted a finger for my own wedding. I feel more than a little guilty about it, if you want the truth.”
She nudged Wyn with her shoulder, so happy her sister and Cade were ready to start their life together. “You’ve been a little busy, finishing up your master’s program and starting a new job at children’s services in Shelter Springs.”
“You’re right. That’s a lot of change in a short time.” She paused, clutching her arms as if she were suddenly chilled, though the evening was warm. “What am I doing?”
The sudden panic in her voice shocked Katrina. Her older sister always seemed so together. During those long months after their father was shot on duty and incapacitated, Wyn had been a rock. When Katrina had wanted to quit her last year of college and come home to take care of Charlene, Wyn refused to let her. Instead, Wyn had been the one to move back to Haven Point, taking a job in the Haven Point Police Department.
She might not sew as well as Samantha or be as good as McKenzie at throwing together a beautiful celebration, but she knew her sister and what she needed.
Katrina gripped Wyn’s hands tightly, there in the shadow of the beautiful Victorian house, with its gables and turrets.
“Stop it. Right now. You’re marrying an absolutely wonderful man—one who adores you and cherishes you. A man you have loved most of your life. You’re going to marry him, make a life with him, build a future, and it’s going to be beautiful. That’s what you’re doing.”
Wyn drew in a shaky breath, then another until the look of panic receded from her gaze.
“You’re right. You’re right. I don’t know what happened there for a moment. I think with the shower and all the gifts and everything tonight, the whole thing suddenly seems more real.”
“You haven’t had much time to soak in all the changes in your life. Last summer you were a police officer and Cade was your boss. Until a few weeks ago, you were in Boise finishing your degree. Now here you are, about to start the most exciting chapter of your life with your sexy police chief.”
“You’re right. You’re right.” Wyn gave a breathy laugh. “Oh, I can’t wait. Thank you for the pep talk. Promise me you won’t tell Mom or Cade I needed one.”
“Pinkie promise,” she said.
“Back to what I was saying about Bowie. I trust you to do what you think is best, but I don’t want you to worry a moment that you have to spend every moment that you’re home with me. Everything is under control for the wedding, and we’ll have plenty of time together after you adopt your sweet Gabi and bring her back to Haven Point. I’ll be the best aunt ever. You wait. That girl is going to be so spoiled.”
She had no doubt about it. Eventually even Charlene would have to come around and accept Gabi.
How could she not?
CHAPTER FOUR (#u8447eef0-0e4a-5b31-be04-0115090733b8)
“ARE YOU SURE you’re good for a little while?”
Lizzie Lawson, the teenage neighbor girl who had helped Bowie out a few times in a pinch, nodded and placed a hand on Milo’s head.
“We should be fine. Right, Milo?”
His brother didn’t pay her any attention. He was too entranced by the big golden retriever that had accompanied Lizzie. The dog—she had called him Jerry Lewis—had a blunt, friendly face and seemed extraordinarily patient as Milo petted him.
“You said you needed about thirty minutes for your conference call, is that right?” she said.
“Give or take a few minutes.”
“No problem. We’ll go for a little walk on the lakeside trail. Milo, you can hold the leash if you want.”
His brother didn’t smile, but his eyes did widen with excitement. This was Lizzie’s third time keeping an eye on Milo for Bowie when he had work obligations he couldn’t escape. She seemed very dependable, and Milo tolerated her as much as he did anyone, especially if she brought the dog along to help entertain him.
If only she could help him out for longer periods of time, but she already had a job working in McKenzie Kilpatrick’s store. Besides that, an hour or so with Milo was probably as much as a teenage girl should be expected to handle, no matter how well recommended she came from McKenzie.
He crouched down to Milo’s level. As usual, his brother avoided looking straight at him, his attention focused exclusively on the dog.
“Milo. Bud. Look at me.” His brother’s gaze danced to him for an instant, then quickly away. Bowie supposed he would have to be content with what he could get. “Listen to what Lizzie says. Got it? Nod if you understand me.”
Milo nodded, though he didn’t stop petting the dog.
“All right, kid,” Lizzie said. “Let’s do this. Here’s the leash. Hold on tight now. Got it?”
Milo clung to the leash handle as if his life depended on it and trotted after the retriever with Lizzie bringing up the rear.
Bowie watched them go, aware of the familiar tangle of his emotions. He was in so far over his head with Milo, all he could see above him was darkness and uncertainty. If this autism specialist didn’t work, he wasn’t sure what he would do. He hated the idea of putting Milo in some kind of facility somewhere—avoiding that had been the entire reason he had agreed to become his guardian—but he couldn’t completely rule out that might be the best option, down the road.
He didn’t have to worry about that right now, though, when he had people waiting for him. He tried to shift focus from Milo-worry to work-worry, aware the next few weeks were crucial for several of the projects he was spearheading at Caine Tech.
This conference call with one of their major vendors in Asia was vital. If they didn’t iron out some of the problems now, the ripple effect would completely screw their production schedule.
Thanks to the chaos with Milo, it felt like weeks since he had been able to fully focus on work—not a good situation when he was only just finding his way with his team at the new Haven Point facility.
He knew just whom to blame for this frustration. His mother.
An image of Stella the last time he had seen her flashed across his mind. He had been fifteen, almost the same age she had been when she gave birth to him. A child raising a child. The problem was, he eventually grew up. His mother had not.
Growing up with Stella had been tumultuous at best, a nightmare much of the time.
Guilt dug under his skin at the thought. He didn’t hate his mother. He never had, even after he had escaped the chaos. Yeah, she had been flighty and irresponsible, self-absorbed, emotional and totally without willpower.
Alcohol, drugs, men. She used all of them with regularity.
Milo’s early years apparently hadn’t been much different from his own. The social worker who had contacted him about Milo had pieced together enough information on his brother’s history to reveal that Stella had never really changed her ways. At the time of her death, she had been destitute, living on the streets of Portland with Milo, begging at street corners and high most of the time. Why his brother hadn’t been taken away from her years ago seemed to be a mystery to everybody in the system.
Bo slid into his office chair, catching a view out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the lake in the distance and the soaring mountains beyond.
He thought he had come so far in his own psyche. He hadn’t given much thought to his mother in several years, not since the private investigator he sent to find her came back empty-handed years ago.
He should have kept looking.
Again, guilt pinched at him—the familiar guilt of a son who loved his mother despite her failings and wanted more for her than the hardscrabble, free-living, moment-to-moment existence she insisted on.
He had no choice but to think about her now.
Milo—the troubled, silent, needy son she had given birth to more than twenty-five years after she had Bowie—was a constant reminder. The boy had his mother’s eyes. Their mother’s eyes. Mysterious, deep, dreamy.
With one last sigh, he shoved away the memories and forced himself to focus on the man he had become, someone far more comfortable in the safe, predictable world of technology than with the murky morass of his past.
* * *
“THAT WENT WELL, don’t you think?”
Bowie nodded at his personal assistant, the only person still linked into the video conference call. “Excellent. Sounds like with the information we gave them, they can iron out the supplier problems and be set to move into production by next quarter.”
Peggy Luchino shifted in her chair. She was plump and pretty, with long curly hair and eyes that always seemed to smile. In the two months since he had come to the Haven Point facility, she had taken him under wing—somewhat like the older sister he never had.
“Good work, Peggy. We never would have made so much progress if you hadn’t been there to keep us on track.”
“Thanks.” She gave a rueful smile. “Even so, it went longer than we anticipated. Sorry about that.”
He looked up at the clock above his desk and was shocked to realize he had been on the conference call for two solid hours. Amazing, how fast time went when he was solving a problem, making progress toward a goal. It had always been that way, since his first hacking attempts on a cobbled-together secondhand computer when he was eleven years old.
