Now and Forever 4, The Renovated Heart (28 page)

“There!” Sarah rested on several pillows
before turning her gaze to his face, cupping his rough cheek with
her hand.

Jim opened his hand to reveal a small
box.

“What’s this?” A tinge of hope in her
voice.

“I love you, Sarah, will you marry me?” he
asked, taking a beautiful round diamond ring with a ruby on either
side out of the box. He offered the ring to her.

She caught her breath, tears started to
flow.

“It’s beautiful…yes, I will.”

He eased the ring on her finger then handed
her his handkerchief.

“I’m the luckiest man in the world,” he
said, gazing at her.

They kissed tenderly.

“This is the best Christmas ever.” Sarah
held out her hand and stared at the ring. The diamond glowed with
an inner light.

“I must text Callie…Kit…”

“Go ahead with Kit, but Callie already
knows.”

“How?”

He turned sheepish eyes to her.

“I took her with me to pick out the
ring.”

Sarah laughed.

“Once Callie knows, the world will know
within the hour!”

* * * *

In the old Victorian on Bay Street

Kit arrived home exhausted. The plane trip,
car trip then getting her daughter into her new room on the first
floor of school were overwhelming. Zoe’s broken leg meant the girl
couldn’t do stairs. So they had to move all her things down to the
new room on the first floor.

Kit had been upset by the emergency phone
call and the long flight. She didn’t calm down until laying eyes on
Zoe. Her daughter broke her leg on the ski slope then compounded
the trouble by coming down with pneumonia. What she had hoped would
be a week’s trip turned into three. She nursed Zoe back to health
while Johnny went back on the road.

The pneumonia scared Kit, who moved into
Zoe’s room, sleeping on a cot next to her daughter’s bed, listening
for every breath. Her cell phone never recovered. She couldn’t
place any outgoing transatlantic calls from the room. Kit had no
way to communicate with Tunney, or he with her.

After a short rest, she called Tunney at the
office.

“Nichols Building.”

“Hi, Anne Marie. Is Tunney in?”

“Kit? Is that you?”

“Who else? Is he in?”

“Tunney? He’s in Seattle. In fact he’s moved
to Seattle.”

“What?”

“He put his house on the market. He’s trying
to sell this business.”

“You’re kidding, right?” She slumped down
into a wing chair.

“Nope. Tunney’s done with this town.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“He’s gone. I think he’s going to take me
with him.”

“If he calls, please tell him I’m back. I
need to talk to him.”

“Like I told you. Tunney has moved on.”

“Like I told you, I don’t believe you.”
There was an edge to her voice.

“Your funeral. I’ll give him the
message.”

“When I asked him about his
love ‘em and
leave ‘em
reputation, he denied it.”

“What do you think he’s going to say? He’s a
womanizer…they never own up.”

“Please tell him I called,” She hung up the
phone figuring Ann Marie wouldn’t relay her message.

Unwilling to believe Anne Marie, Kit needed
convincing, which included a drive to Tunney’s house. Sure enough,
a
for sale
sign was perched prominently in the front yard.
The house looked deserted. Shock settled over her. At home, a
package sat on her doorstep. Inside were the first copies of her
book,
Dangerous Love Letters
.

The book cover was gorgeous. She ran her
hand over the cover, a sob catching in her throat. The hero
resembled Tunney. Her book had been a lifelong dream come true. But
the experience turned to ashes because he wasn’t there to share it.
The man she adored was gone. Tears spilled over, splashed on the
new cover and beaded up.

“I deserve to celebrate this moment. If not
with Tunney, then with a friend.”

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand
and sank down on the stoop for a moment. A small smile snuck across
her face as she pushed to her feet. She drove to Bon Appetit for
dinner.

“Hey, Kit! Long time. I thought you went to
Europe?” Don greeted her as he wiped down the bar.

“I did. Now I’m back. Seen Tunney?”

“Nope. I heard he’s moving back to Seattle.
What happened?” Don placed a Cosmo in front of her.

“I don’t know.” Her gaze dropped to the
floor to hide her hurt from Don.

“Not like Tunney.” Don soaked his towel then
squeezed out the water.

“What do you mean?” Kit slid onto a seat at
the bar.

“He’s been looking to meet the right girl
for a long time. I’d have made book on you being her…” Don wiped
the towel over the bar in front of Kit.

“I heard Tunney was a womanizer?”

“Tunney? Hah! That’s funny. You don’t think
so, do you?” He then wiped down the rest of the bar.

“Anne Marie told me.” Kit sipped her
drink.

“Oh, her. She’s been after Tunney for years.
Never gonna happen for her.”

“So he’s not…?”

“He’s too fussy. Like I said, he’s been
lookin’ for the right girl for five years. I thought you were it.”
Don threw the towel in the sink and took a drink of his beer.

“Me, too.”

“Is this seat taken?” a handsome, blonde man
asked, looking at Kit.

“I don’t think so,” she said, trying to
smile.

The man sat down.

“Here, Don, here’s a copy of my new book.
Please give it to him, if he ever comes in again, will you? I’ve
lost my appetite.” Kit drained her glass and pushed to her
feet.

The man turned to Don,

“Something I said?”

“Something
I
said,” Don replied.

* * * *

On Bay Street at the old Victorian

Spring’s coming early this year or I’ve
lost track of time.
Kit paid the cab driver. The daffodils Mary
had planted were still blooming along the front walk, nestled in
between shrubs under the front windows. The house was cold. Kit
turned up the thermostat, and made a note to lay a fire after
unpacking.

Ten cities in six weeks. The book signing
tour exhausted her. She loved meeting people, watching her book
sales climb, but everybody wanted to know who “Nick” was in real
life. They all asked about the dedication, too. Talking about the
book and Tunney, her inspiration for Nick, kept the pain in her
heart from healing. She missed him every day even though he had
turned his back on her.

Kit lugged her suitcase up the stairs before
calling her daughter, whose leg had mended. Zoe would be spending
spring break on the road with her dad. Kit accepted the arrangement
as long as skiing wasn’t part of the plan, seems as if peace had
been made with Johnny. She admitted he’d been right about them.
Their relationship died long before he left, though refusing to see
it didn’t change the facts. She no longer regretted her divorce or
living in Willow Falls. The community had embraced her now. Tonight
she’d be reading from her book at a special Kiwanis
fund-raiser.

Kit drove over to the Kiwanis building
loaded down with books to give away in a raffle. Dressed in black
wool pants, a thin black V-neck sweater and a tweed blazer, she
congratulated herself on preparing properly for the chilly Kiwanis
hall. A potluck dinner started at six-thirty with her reading at
seven-thirty.

The hall buzzed with people milling about.
Kit, surprised at the huge turnout, stopped to greet her new Willow
Falls friends. As people filed in to hear her book, she noticed
Josie and Al Gallant, Darlene McDaniel and Cleve Baker, her friends
from the children’s Christmas party, hogged the first row. Word had
spread about Kit and Tunney, he being a favorite in Willow Falls.
Not only had his business created jobs in town, but he’d been a big
contributor to local causes, generously donating money, his time
and muscle.

His dad had been hailed as a local hero,
something he shunned all his life. Kiwanis threw a big party when
Dan came back to Willow Falls. He and Mary were embarrassed by the
attention, but they understood how people in small towns feel about
their own.

Folks turned out more to get a look at the
woman who had won Tunney Nichols’ heart, as rumor had it, than to
learn about her book. She sat down to read and it wasn’t long
before everyone in the hall knew the book was about Kit and
Tunney.

Kit explained the premise of the book, then
opened to a favorite chapter.

As she sat down to write, Katherine opened
the small velvet box with the engagement ring from Nick. She liked
to look at the small diamond, glittering in the lamplight as she
wrote to him.

Dear Nick,

Today was a hard day. I had to tell my
mother we broke up and you moved away, like you told me to. She was
upset and said some very unkind things about you. I had to pretend
to be upset, too. I thought about the danger you might be in. It
made it easy for me to cry.

I haven’t lied to my mother since I was
seventeen. Mom did say she hoped I hadn’t been sleeping with you,
since you dumped me. I couldn’t help but blush. Mom got flustered.
She never talks about those things and I can’t hide the truth from
her very well, but I’m trying. I’m going to avoid her or Mom’ll
figure out I’m lying.

The children in my class are a challenge
this year. I have some students with learning problems and
uncooperative parents. I miss being able to talk to you about them.
You always give me good advice. Besides I love your way of reducing
my stress level!

Are you in danger? I worry about you, though
I know how smart you are. Still, one slip, you could be gone. I try
not to dwell on the danger, but sometimes in the middle of the
night I wake up from a bad dream and think about you, wondering if
you are alive. If you’ll make it back to me. When I reach for you,
the bed is empty, cold and lonely.

I am volunteering at the local ASPCA to keep
from obsessing about you 24/7. You are always in my heart. I love
you, be safe.

Love,

Katherine

Dear Nick,

My friend, Anna, asked what I saw in you
when I told her we had broken up. Besides, good looks, she asked,
what’s so great about Nick? I had to bite my tongue to keep from
bragging about you. But I couldn’t resist just one thing. I told
her you had a good heart. Anna scoffed, “If he had such a good
heart, how come he broke yours?” I had no answer.

It’s so hard for me to keep quiet sometimes.
I want to tell them how much I love you. How funny you are, how
sweet. How you seem to know so much about so many things. You can
build anything, fix anything, make my heart sing. But I can’t tell
her.

I realize this is going to be a lonely year
for me, not only missing you, but keeping my distance from my
friends, who disparage you now they think you hurt me.

The other problem for me is their good
intentions. They have already started talking about fixing me up.
Seems everyone knows some lonely, terrific guy who just can’t find
the right girl who’d flip over me, etc., etc. I hope you forgive me
if I go on a few blind dates to keep them quiet. I’m just
protecting our secret. Don’t worry. There aren’t any more out there
like you. I’m sure of that.

Hoping you are safe, all my love,

Katherine

Before long she had drawn a large crowd.
They sat quietly; listening to every word of the love story…so
quiet she didn’t realize how big the crowd had grown until she
stopped reading and looked up. People applauded. Kit flushed with
pleasure before getting up to sign the books given to raffle
winners. Josie Gallant came up to her.

“So, when are you and Tunney getting
married?”

Kit dropped her pen, which landed with a
clatter on the metal-topped table.

“What?”

“When? Are you going to have your wedding
reception here at the Kiwanis Hall?”

“Josie, what are you talking about?” Kit
rested one hand on her hip.

“Obviously this story is about you and
Tunney. So, when does it become permanent?”

“This story is about made-up people, not
me…certainly not Tunney,” she said, knowing that wasn’t entirely
true as her dedication to him read “to the love of her life.”

“Okay. If that’s the way you want it. But
you’re not fooling anyone here.”

Josie opened the book she won for Kit to
sign, and gave the author a hug. All the warm smiles on the faces
of the listeners brought the idea home to Kit. Everyone knew about
her and Tunney. She was embarrassed.
Maybe in a small town, love
is a hard secret to keep
.

At Bon Appetit

Tunney returned to Willow Falls to sell his
business. His house had been sold; selling the business had been
the last item on his list before he became a full-time Seattle
resident. While still in Willow Falls, he had to have one last
dinner at Bon Appetit.

“Tunney! How you been?” Don said, giving
Tunney a hearty handshake.

“Fine, Don. Fine.” Tunney slipped onto an
empty seat at the bar.

“Heard you moved to Seattle.” Don fill up a
stein with beer. He placed the frosty glass on the bar.

“I’m only here to settle up some business
things. I’ve got a buyer for my business.”

“We’ve missed you, buddy. Wait! I have
something for you.”

Don dug out the book Kit brought.

“You got this from Kit? I thought she went
to Europe?”

“Only for a few weeks, to take care of her
daughter. The kid had a skiing accident, then got pneumonia. Pretty
rough for a while.”

He felt a lump in his throat. She didn’t go
with Johnny on tour. He had jumped to the wrong conclusion. He
opened the book.