Homeward Bound (10 page)

Kate feigned indifference. "It's rather last minute. I'll have to check my date book to see if I'm free."

He arched his eyebrow, challenging her claim. "How many people do you know here, Kate?"

"Well, it is Sunday. Palm Sunday. I have to go to church. And then I have a date with a Dutch Boy," Kate said.

Chloe twisted her long braid in her fingers and stared off thoughtfully. "There're no people from Holland here."

"She's talking' about paint, Chloe," Jake clarified, not fooled by her little play on words. "We'll expect you at six for dinner. And you might want to find time in your busy day to do the neighborly thing and bake one of your mighty fine cakes, ma'am. After all, that is what one does when one wants to fit in."

Judging by his quick departure the evening before, she would guess Jake did find her cake 'better than sex'. "I'll have to see what time mass ends."

"Can I go with you, Kate?" Chloe asked.

"May I," she corrected automatically. "And that's up to your father."

She deliberately left the ball in Jake's court. Sometimes she sensed an animosity in him for the easy rapport she had with his daughter. When they were alone, they got along great, but around his family, she swore he felt jealous.

Chloe looked to her father for confirmation. "May I?"

"I don't think it's a good idea," Jake said, the smile now faded from his face.

"But you said the only reason I couldn't go before was because you needed the truck. Kate will drive me. Please, Dad?"

"Go if you want, Chloe." He shrugged, but Kate could tell he didn't like it. She would deal with Jake's temper. "But only if you finish your chores, young lady."

Chloe lifted her hand to her forehead and saluted him in a dictatorial fashion. "Yes, sir." She skipped across the wet grass, slipping and giggling the entire way.

Kate waited until she disappeared into the barn before turning back to Jake. "You're angry."

"You're wrong. I'm concerned, that's all."

"About her being with me?" Once again Jake showed his true feelings for her. She was fine for a fling, but she shouldn't aspire to be part of his family.

She kicked at the blanket, still tangled in her feet, frustration making the situation worse.

With all the skill of a gymnast, he hopped the rail to give her an unwanted hand. "If I was worried about her being with you, she wouldn't be going. When are you going to stop taking everything I say the wrong way?"

"When you start saying what you mean," she snapped, bending down to unhook the last corner from her ankle. The rest of the quilt fell from her shoulders and she shivered, half from the cold and half with anger.

* * * *

Jake’s second attempt to help Kate met the same chilly rebuff. He tried, but he couldn't stop from laughing at her. Although nothing could mask her beauty, the dark circles under her eyes made her look just like a soft, cuddly raccoon.

"Somebody didn't sleep well, and then she got up on the wrong side of the bed."

"Did you make a special appearance to patronize me?"

"Me?" He put the quilt around her and pulled her closer. "You've had an attitude since you saw me this morning. Come on, Lollipop. 'Fess up. What's the problem?"

"I'm not Lollipop."

"Oh, no?" he asked, running his finger inside the collar of his shirt. He pulled the cotton fabric back to reveal a red mark on his neck that wasn't left by the vacuum cleaner. "What do you suppose was the cause of this?"

She lifted her shoulders in an innocent gesture of confusion. "Liver spots?"

"Do you have any idea what Trevor had to say when he saw this? He's still rolling on the bathroom floor. I didn't know it was there until he so eloquently pointed it out."

"Would you believe I wanted to be able to tell you apart?"

"No."

"I'm a vampire?"

"They only come out at night. Try again, Lollipop."

"I don't know. I don't remember doing it. You must have tasted good at the time and I got carried away. Why do you need me to say what you already know?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"I made you an offer last night, which was obviously not too good to ..." She shook her head. "I'm sorry. That wasn't fair. You aren't required to accept."

So little Kate felt sexually frustrated. Damn, he might be spiteful, but that made him feel great. "Tonight will be different, Kate."

"Tonight I won't offer."

"Then I will." He dropped a kiss on her pouting lips and went off to do his daily work.

He hadn't known at the time if her invitation had been a serious offer or just polite. Despite a blatant mutual attraction Kate guarded her emotions too carefully to read. He played it safe rather than chance offending her. Maybe Trevor was right after all. Some things are worth the risk.

* * * *

The towering steeple rose majestically above the stores in the small town center. Two stained-glass windows framed the massive oak doors and meshed perfectly with the stone facade of the hundred-year-old church. Kate pulled alongside one of the many pickup trucks and cut the engine.

As she stepped out of the jeep, the church bells begin to chime, calling people to service. She gave Chloe an encouraging pat on the back and walked towards the entrance. The idea to come along had been Chloe's, but Kate noticed that the girl had become sullen and withdrawn during the last few minutes before their arrival.

The large crowd of people grew silent. A new person in town caused a bit of curiosity, and she was used to being stared at. Polite Sunday smiles greeted her, some genuine, some phony. Yet the curiosity seemed more directed at Chloe.

Whatever questions they wanted to ask, or answers they hoped to find, would have to wait until after the hour-long service. Chloe saw someone she apparently knew, and pulled Kate into the building so quickly that she didn't have time to introduce herself.

While the priest preached to the congregation, Kate stood and knelt in all the right places, but she couldn't keep her mind on the holy gospel. Jake apparently knew that Chloe would be a source of speculation, which explained his reluctance to send her with Kate. Chloe remained perfectly still, holding the long green palms in her trembling fingers, and kept her eyes on the white-robed priest.

During the course of the service, Kate noticed an older couple across the aisle turning frequently. The same people that Chloe had conspicuously avoided before the start. Who were they to cause such distress in the girl without uttering a single word? As the older woman turned for the fifth time, Kate smiled broadly and waved an enthusiastic hand at her. Someone giggled, another snickered, but she and Chloe were no longer the focal point of the nosy woman's attention.

"Let's go, Kate," Chloe whispered, the moment the last "go in peace" was spoken.

"Who are they?"

“My grandparents.”

The infamous grandparents! Jake's nemeses. Now she knew why Jake didn't want her bringing Chloe to mass. Kate searched for a side exit to avoid a direct confrontation. With only one exit, she knew it would take divine intervention to evade the woman waiting just outside the door. Chloe's brisk steps had Kate running to keep up.

"Chloe Callahan. You stop right there." The shrill voice cut through the air.

The young girl tensed. Her hand clenched around the green palms, cracking them in two. She pivoted slowly to face her grandmother. "Hello, Nana."

"You can tell your daddy, from me that I don't care if he did send you to church today. I know he was at the bar on Friday with that no-good brother of his. We'll just see what the welfare board has to say about that."

"There ain't no law that says he can't go to the bar, Nana. He's over twenty-one."

The older woman shook an angry fist in the air. "There is a law that says he can't leave a child alone until all hours."

"She wasn't alone. She was with me," Kate said. Jake's seeming paranoia about leaving Chloe alone in the house was truly justified. The woman had his every move monitored. "And he picked up his daughter at the very respectable hour of nine-thirty."

Chloe sighed in relief.

Her grandmother gave Kate a scathing glare, but she didn't carry on with her tirade when so many engrossed onlookers heard the declaration. "Didn't your daddy teach you any manners, Chloe? Who is your friend?"

"Kate. This is my grandmother, Ruth Sweeney, and my pop, Joseph. Kate rents Uncle Trevor's house."

"A pleasure," Kate lied, offering her hand.

Joseph Sweeney shook her hand, but Ruth ignored the gesture. "Where is your uncle living?"

Chloe grabbed Kate's arm. "I think you should speak to my father. Come on, Kate."

"You can tell him I will," Ruth vowed. "Next thing you know, he'll have that father of his taking up roots when he gets paroled, if they don't hang him first."

"Ruth! That's enough!" Joseph finally said, but not before Chloe dropped Kate's arm and took off in the direction of the parking lot.

Kate bit off a caustic rebuttal so as not to make a bigger scene. For all his faults, Jake fought to keep his child when the easier road would have been to let her grandparents raise her. "If you'll excuse me."

Kate turned and walked to the jeep. She opened the passenger door and motioned for Chloe to get out. "I'm depending on you to introduce me to people."

"Why? They'll have you packing your bags for New York like my mother did."

"Is that what you think?"

Chloe nodded.

"You're wrong. I know about what happened with Trevor. He told me himself. And your father told me about your grandparents yesterday. Not everyone is as judgmental as they are."

Kate could see the skepticism in the girl's eyes. Jake had his reasons for keeping to himself, but he didn't notice that Chloe couldn't live like that, too.

"I think you wanted to come with me because you were hoping that people might finally accept you. But they aren't going to give you a chance until you give them one."

"How do I do that?" Chloe asked.

"You start by letting them know you. There's a bake sale in the church basement. Let's buy a cake."

Chloe jumped down and scuffed her feet against the asphalt parking lot. "You make better cakes then they do."

"It's for a good cause. It's called public relations. So when I pick out the ugliest-looking cake, you make sure you agree that it's irresistible."

Chloe smiled. "That's easy, Kate. Mrs. Johansson’s fruitcake. It's legendary in Tannersville. No one ever buys it."

"Then we best hurry. My Granny back in New York just loves fruitcake. I wouldn't want to miss it."

"Really?" Chloe's voice pitched as if she found the concept of anyone eating fruitcake inconceivable.

"Absolutely. We don't have to tell anyone that Granny is a cocker spaniel with a sweet tooth."

Chloe stopped and threw her arms around Kate's neck. "I love you."

Kate hadn't felt so touched in years. She swallowed the lump in her throat and sighed. "I love you, too."

* * * *

Jake jabbed the needle into his finger for the third time. He hated sewing buttons and had almost given in to Trevor's joking challenge that he asked Kate to do it. He tried to keep busy to stop himself from worrying. He was gaining a new perspective on the hell he had put his dear mother through.

Where were they? Mass had ended an hour ago. It only took twenty minutes to return from town. Something must have happened to upset Chloe. He should have followed his instincts and refused to allow her to go. He tossed the shirt, needle, and all onto a chair and went out to the porch. The noon sun cast a glare on the blacktop road that wound through plowed fields as far as the eye could see. An empty road, with no sign of life on the horizon.

"Afraid she kidnapped your daughter, Jake?"

Trevor sat high on a ladder across the yard, working on the gutters of his house. His sardonic grin was something that had brought them to fists on several occasions over the course of their bizarre relationship-that neurotic love-hate bond of identical twins that knew each other too well.