A Hero for Tonight (22 page)

“So? What do you think?”

Shane tipped his head and studied them. “You’ve forgotten one important thing. Krista wants nothing to do with me.”

Chapter Twelve

Krista stepped out of her car and looked up at the old but charming farmhouse. The exterior was freshly painted, and she noted a new porch swing as she reached the steps. It was strange that a place she’d never lived in should feel so much like home, but from the first time she’d come here to meet her father’s then new girlfriend, she’d felt completely comfortable.

She hadn’t had a chance to get out here in several weeks so the phone call yesterday from her stepmother, Patricia, inviting her to Sunday dinner was perfect. The last thing she wanted to do was sit alone in the house all day and stew over Shane and the mess they’d made of everything.

Patricia had owned the house before she met Krista’s father. Since her three kids were still young, they’d agreed to simply stay there and not uproot them from their friends and the school they loved. The kids had had enough in their life with losing their father, an army soldier who’d been fighting overseas, and gaining a new one a couple years later. Krista thought her father was a bit crazy to take on someone else’s family, but after the wedding, she could see how much joy Patricia and the kids brought to him. She hadn’t seen him that happy in years.

“Krista’s here! Krista’s here!”

The dark-haired youngest of three boys, six-year-old Charley, hurled himself at her as she reached the top step.

She scooped him up and hugged him hard. “Hey you!”

Charley beamed up at her. “Wait until you see the new puppy!”

Krista set him down and smiled as she spotted his recently lost front tooth. “I can’t wait. I heard he’s awesome.”

“I got to name him.” His blue eyes twinkled with excitement. “I called him Bear because he looks like a brown bear.”

“I think that’s a great name.”

The door swung open behind him, and her father stepped outside, walking toward her. Being wrapped in his arms again made her feel so secure and safe, and she stayed for a second or two longer than usual.

He held her back and frowned. “Everything okay?”

She grinned. “Just glad to see you.”

“Come on, Krista. Come meet Bear.” Charley pulled on her.

With a wink to her dad, she followed the eager little boy inside and through the kitchen.

“Hi.” She grinned to her stepmother as she was pulled through the door to the back yard. “Sorry, I’ll hug you in a minute; we’re on a big mission.”

Out back, the other two boys, Matt and Joe, held a tennis ball while a brown ball of fur that seemed to be all legs and hair bounded around the fenced-in yard.

“Come here, Bear. Come on, boy,” Charley called to him, and the puppy fell all over himself getting to his side.

Krista squatted, not wanting to sit on the damp grass, but the puppy jumped into her lap and pushed her down. She laughed as he licked her face.

“See, I told you he’s awesome!” Charlie giggled.

She held the wiggling body out so she could see the puppy. “What kind is he? I see cocker spaniel, right?” Even though her father had already told her he was a mix, she let the boys tell her about their new family member.

At ten and eleven, Matt and Joe were already showing signs of becoming gangly teenagers.

The oldest brother, Matt, shoved his hands in his pockets. “He’s a mix of a bunch of different dogs.”

Krista hugged the fluffy Bear to her chest. There was nothing like a puppy to lighten your mood. “Well, those are the best kind, aren’t they? A mix means they put all the best parts into one dog.”

Joe flopped down next to her. “I guess. I really wanted a cool dog, like a St. Bernard or a Lab.”

“I think he’s a pretty cool dog.” Krista watched Bear run up and down the yard chasing a ball, sniffing the ground. “I wish I had one like him.”

“They had another at the pound.” Charley scooted over next to her. “Maybe you could get Bear’s sister or brother.”

She hadn’t considered it until now, but a dog might be nice. It might be fun to have someone to come home to, and even sleep with. Immediately, an image of Shane hogging the bed came to mind. She shoved the thought back out of her head. A puppy wouldn’t complicate her life near as much as that. “Maybe I’ll check it out tomorrow.”

At dinner, Charley brought it up again. “Krista’s going to go get one of Bear’s brothers or sisters and take them home.”

Her father studied her. “Really? I didn’t know you wanted a puppy.”

He almost looked broken hearted he hadn’t thought to get her one.

“I didn’t think I did, but I’m thinking maybe it would be fun. I work from home; it’s not like the puppy would be alone very often.”

Patricia passed the large bowl of mashed potatoes. “My friend works there. If you want, I can call her after dinner and ask if any of the puppies left. There were seven in the litter, and they had several when we picked up Bear last week.”

“What will you name the puppy?” Charley shifted in his chair, his big blue eyes glowing.

“Maybe you can help me with some names.” Krista slid a piece of meatloaf off the platter onto his plate and then onto her own. “Will you come over and do that?”

“Can I stay overnight?” Charley begged over a mouthful of potatoes.

She glanced at her stepmother not wanting to make promises. Charley had spent time at Krista’s in the summer, but with school in session now, she wasn’t sure what Patricia would think about that.

“Maybe once you’re out for Christmas vacation,” his mother said.

“But you could probably go with us and help Krista pick him out. How would that be?” her father offered.

“Awesome!”

“How is Mary feeling?” Patricia grinned. “I’m still in shock over her news, but so excited of course.”

“She’s feeling good. The doctor is making her be extra careful. She’s on bed rest, but so far so good.”

“How are things at the store then? I want to get in before the holidays and do some shopping, too.”

“The shop is good. I have a woman named Melissa who is helping me this season.” Krista scooped some corn onto her plate.

Her father set a glass of milk in front of Joe who made a face. “And Shane? Is he helping too?”

Krista felt her face flame at the question. “Yep, he’s there.” Too late, she realized her voice had snapped in annoyance.

“Uh oh. I really thought someday you two would grow out of that bickering stuff. I know you rub each other the wrong way, always have, but you’re grown adults now. Can’t you put all that behind you?”

Images of Shane rubbing soap into her skin on their last morning together raced through her mind. Yep, he had definitely been behind her, and in front of her, and he’d definitely rubbed her, but not in the wrong way at all. She stalled, swallowing what was in her mouth before speaking. “We’ve tried to get along,” she answered truthfully. “But we each have our own mind about how things should be.”

Patricia shook her head. “Sometimes there are just folks in this world that you can never please.”

Once again, images of them pleasing each other came unbidden to mind, and an unexpected warmth spread over her. How could she be thinking about sex with Shane while at Sunday dinner with her family? Why did she have to think of Shane at all? It was a brief fling. It was over. The end.

So why didn’t her body get that and stop aching for him?

After dinner, Patricia suggested Krista and her father take the puppy for a walk. She raised her eyebrow at her stepmother, but let herself be shoved out the door with the leash.

“I guess Pat thinks we should have some time one on one.” Her father clipped the puppy’s leash on as the wiggling furball tried to get away.

“I hope she doesn’t think I feel slighted or anything with the boys.” Krista brushed at her hair as it flew in her face. Buttoning her coat she shivered.

“I think she wonders from time to time if you feel she’s come in and taken me away from you.” Her father tugged at the leash as Bear sat down and tried to chew on the leather strap. “Stop that.” He scolded, brushing the puppy’s face away.

“I don’t feel that way at all.” Tucking her hand through the crook of his arm, she added, “I love that you are happy here, and that I can come visit, and go home, too. It’s the best of both worlds.”

“Yes, I think it would have been a lot if we had all moved in together.” Her father glanced at her once more. “So, you sounded really annoyed when Shane’s name came up at dinner. More so than usual. Is something going on I should know about?”

“Not really.” She was going to leave it at that, but the next thing she knew, she blurted out, “Shane and I tried to work things out. We were even sort of dating. But it fizzled fast.”

Her father glanced toward her. “By ‘sort of dating,’ you mean sleeping together?”

She sent him a sharp look. “I’m not talking about
that
with
you
. But yeah, we tried to make it work as a couple. And it was fun for a while. Until our issues quickly popped to the surface.” She lifted one shoulder and hoped she sounded nonchalant. “So, we both walked away.”

“How was it?”

“How was what?” He better not be asking her how the sex was. There were some things you just
did not
share with your father.

“How was it when you two were a couple?”

“We had fun. We both enjoyed being together...at least I did.”

“Do you want to talk about what happened?”

She sighed and watched as Bear twisted on the leash.

Her father brought him to his side and made him sit still for a second before continuing on.

“We disagreed about the business. Shane thinks if I don’t shut down the store, Mary will try to do too much, and it wouldn’t be good for her health.”

“Mary’s a smart woman. She won’t do anything to jeopardize that baby.”

“I know. But he thinks even after the baby is born she’ll try to help me instead of enjoying her time with the baby. He’s afraid she’ll run herself ragged.”

“Does he know what you want to do with the store? Keeping it open all year and turn it into a full time thing?”

“Yep. And he was okay with it until his mother started to get sick. Since we thought it was something horrible at first...well, Shane’s become even more protective of her.”

“You know, losing your mom was hard on all of us. Maybe Shane doesn’t even acknowledge it himself, but I think it scared him.”

“Nothing scares Shane..”

“I think you’re wrong. He was there and watched as your mother suffered, how
we
suffered losing her. Remember, as close as you are to Mary, your mom had been like a second mother to Shane, too.”

Krista paused her step. She’d never thought of it that way. She just assumed Shane was being hard on her because he wanted to call the shots. That he thought his mother was incapable of knowing her own limitations. She never thought he might actually be terrified of losing his mother the way she’d lost hers. It softened her heart to realize that. Yet, at the same time, there was still no solution—she would have to lose the shop if she wanted him back. Was she willing to give that up?

“If I didn’t have the shop, what would I do with myself?” she asked aloud. “The freelance work keeps the bills paid, but it doesn’t fulfill me. This last year, my whole focus was to convince Mary to keep the shop open all year and really turn it into something big.”

“Life is all about change. About give and take. Patricia and I never thought we’d lose our spouses right in the middle of our lives, but we did. We had to adjust; we had no choice. Both of us had children to raise, whether or not we thought it was fair.”

She sighed again. “You’re saying find a new dream?”

“I’m saying that maybe it won’t be the same dream, but it can still bring you happiness and fulfillment.” Her father stopped walking and turned to face her. Next to him, the puppy plopped down on the trail. “Before your mother got sick, I could never have imagined me at this age with three young boys to raise. But you know what? I wouldn’t trade this for anything. That’s not to say that I wish things hadn’t turned out different with your mom. But this life now is a pretty damn good life, honey.”

If she gave up on the shop idea, she could have Shane. They could have a life together, and she suspected they could even have a happy ever after. He was only trying to protect his mother, and that was an admirable trait, even if she had to lose because of it. Maybe she could find something down the road that was even more important than the Apple Basket.

A new dream...that included Shane.

Chapter Thirteen

Early the next morning, instead of feeling the usual sadness or anger, Krista’s heart was lighter than it had been in days.

Although part of her longed to go to Shane immediately, something held her back. She refused to even consider that he might be so mad he wouldn’t talk to her. Somehow, in her heart, she knew once she agreed to close the shop, he’d be fine. Maybe a tiny part of her hoped that he’d change his mind, but by the next morning, she’d made peace with her decision.

Too nervous to talk to him, she sent him a text asking if he could meet her at the shop before she opened. She became concerned when he didn’t respond.