What the Heart Knows (11 page)

Kathleen watched Jared's happy expression melt into a frown, his brow deeply furrowed. She knew something was wrong. All her attention focused on Jared as he finished his conversation and put the phone back on its hook. He pivoted.

“There's been an emergency with one of my patients. He's at the hospital and Mrs. Davis is gone for the evening.”

“Mark and I will stay here until you return.”

“I can't—” Jared looked at Kathleen, his taut shoulders relaxing. “Thanks. I appreciate the help. I don't know how long I'll be.”

“That's okay. If Mark gets tired, he can sleep on the couch. When do Hannah and Terry need to be in bed?”

Jared headed across the room toward the door. “Terry by nine-thirty. Hannah ten-thirty.”

Kathleen noticed Hannah sticking her tongue out
at Terry and the young boy returning the gesture. “We'll finish the game without you. We'll disperse your cards among us.”

At the door Jared paused. “I don't need to tell you two to mind Kathleen, do I?” He pointedly looked from Terry to Hannah.

They both shook their heads.

“Can we have ice cream before we go to bed?” Terry asked, grabbing the dice to toss.

“That's fine.” Jared left the den.

“Now I know I'm gonna win,” Mark said, taking his turn and moving five spaces.

By the time the game ended twenty minutes later Hannah had managed to win and taunted her little brother with that fact.

“Losers get to clean up,” Hannah announced, sitting back in her chair and folding her arms over her chest.

“Oh, no, Hannah. You have it backward. The winner gets the privilege of cleaning up while the rest of us get our ice cream.” Kathleen rose, biting her bottom lip to keep a straight face.

“I don't get any ice cream?”

“You do as soon as this mess is cleaned up. We'll be in the kitchen.”

“But—” hung in the air as Kathleen hurried the boys from the room.

In the kitchen she filled four bowls with chocolate chip ice cream. As Terry and Mark sat down at the table, Hannah came bounding into the room, her face flushed from rushing. She spied her bowl and quickly
grabbed it, then flopped into a chair next to her brother.

Kathleen joined the group. “After you finish your ice cream, Terry, you'll need to get ready for bed.”

“It's still early. It's only—” the young boy spied the clock on the wall, his mouth curving downward.

“Boy, the time sure does fly when you're having fun. It's nine-fifteen already. Time for little boys to go to bed,” Hannah said with a huge grin. She scooped up a large spoonful of ice cream and popped it into her mouth.

Terry started to protest. Kathleen held up her hand. “Hannah.”

The young girl stared at her bowl and mumbled an apology. Terry beamed, finishing his last bite.

 

Jared let himself into his house, the quiet a balm after the hectic few hours at the hospital. “Home,” he sighed the word as he walked down the hall toward the light in the den.

When he entered the room, he found Kathleen asleep in the lounge chair, her head cocked to the side, her feet propped up, her face relaxed. Beautiful. His heart expanded at the sight of her in his house as though she belonged here forever. That thought sent a jolt through him.

Moving further into the den, Jared noticed Mark asleep on the couch, one arm dangling over the edge. If he checked, he knew his children would be in bed upstairs. Again the feeling that Kathleen belonged in his life inundated him.

Quietly he made his way to the chair and knelt
down beside it. He hated to wake her up, but it was after midnight. He watched her for a few minutes, the gentle rise and fall of her chest, the serene cast to her features, as though she had not a trouble in the world. He wanted that for her and would do everything in his power to make that true.

Slowly, almost hesitantly, he brought his hand up to touch her arm to wake her up. “Kathleen.”

Her eyes slid open and she stared at him, her lids half closed. A smile leisurely graced her mouth, then her eyes. She stirred, straightening. “What time is it?”

“Nearly one.”

“How's your patient? Everything okay?” She put the leg rest down and brought the chair up.

Jared rose, hovering over her. “He'll be fine in a few days. Nothing too serious.”

“Good.” Hannah combed her fingers through her hair and swallowed several times to coat her dry throat. “I must have been more tired than I thought. I didn't mean to fall asleep.” She searched the room until she saw Mark sleeping on the couch. The tension in her shoulders eased. “We'd better go home.”

“How would you like to go sailing next weekend?” He hadn't meant to blurt the invitation out like that, but one look at her beautiful face, her hair disheveled, and he couldn't help himself.

“Sailing?”

“I keep a sailboat at the lake.” He offered her his hand and helped her up. “I want to make it clear it would be just you and me. No kids.”

“A date?”

“Yes,” he murmured, realizing he still held her hand between them, only inches separating them. “I'm asking you out on our first official date. What do you say? We can have lunch and go sailing.”

“I didn't know you had a sailboat.”

“There are a lot of things you probably don't know about me and I'm sure there are a lot of things I don't know about you. But I want to know.” He shifted even closer. “I want to know everything.”

She gulped, her eyes widening. “You do?”

“Kathleen, I'm not going to fight this attraction between us anymore. I want to see where it will take us.”

“Yes.”

“Yes, you'll go?” His heartbeat accelerated.

She nodded, her eyes a soft brown. “How can I turn down an invitation like that? I've never been sailing and the idea sounds intriguing. But most of all, I want to spend time with you.”

He framed her face with his hands and brought his mouth down on hers. The touching of their lips sent his heart racing even more. His fingers delved into the short strands of her hair, the feel silky. Her scent of lilacs washed over him.

When they parted, he felt as though he'd lost something. He wanted to kiss her again and again, but with Kathleen he would have to take things slow and easy or he would frighten her. For his own sake, he needed to take things slow and easy. His bruised emotions were still too raw not to be cautious.

T
he sun bathed Kathleen with warmth while the wind caressed her skin with coolness. The sound of the sails flapping in the breeze mingled with the lapping of the water against the boat. Not a cloud in the sky and the lake was smooth, calm. A perfect day, she thought as she lifted her face to the sun.

“I was worried when the weatherman said we had a fifty-fifty chance of rain today.” Jared sat behind the wheel on the thirty-foot sailboat, dressed in jean shorts, a white T-shirt and deck shoes.

“Is this the same weatherman from church that you listen to every morning? The one who predicts rain when there isn't a cloud for a hundred miles?”

“You need to stop listening to Hannah,” Jared grumbled with an exaggerated frown.

“On the contrary. She has some wonderful stories to tell.”

“I'm afraid even to ask what she has been saying.”

“Nothing too damaging.” Closing her eyes, she pretended to settle back as though she was going to sunbathe and not elaborate.

She felt Jared's presence towering over her. Her eyes snapped open. “Who's driving the boat?”

He smiled. “No one. What did she say?”

“I'll tell you if you go back over there and put your hands on the wheel.”

He backed away, his hands up in the air. “Okay. If you insist on me steering this boat, I will, but I want to know what stories my daughter has been telling you.”

“Fine.” Kathleen swung her legs around to face him. “Your daughter is a fountain of information.”

“That's what I'm afraid of.” He slipped behind the wheel, his whole attention riveted to her. “Spill it. What did she tell you?”

She shrugged. “Nothing really.”

“Kathleen Somers, I can't believe you said that after telling me my daughter is a gossip.”

“I didn't say that.”

“Okay. A fountain of information. The same thing.”

“No, it isn't. Information and gossip are two different things.”

He rose, a menacing expression on his face. “Do you want me to come over there and—”

Laughing, Kathleen shook her head. “I'll tell. You stay put.” She crossed her legs and lounged back against the seat cushion. “Really it wasn't anything. I just wanted to know what else you might have—like a sailboat—that you'd neglected to tell me
about.” Picking up her white hat, she put it on to shield her face. “I was afraid you would want me to go flying in a plane or something like that.”

“What's wrong with flying in a plane?”

“I'm one of those people who feel if we were meant to fly we would have wings like birds.”

“Rest assured, I have no plane tucked away.”

“Yes, I know.”

“What else do you know?”

His penetrating gaze seized hers. The intensity of his look captured her words and held them. Finally she blinked, breaking the visual connection. “I know if I don't put more sunscreen on, I'll be a painful shade of red by the end of the day.”

“Kathleen.”

The warning in his voice quivered down her. “Hannah really didn't say much.”

“Don't forget I know my daughter well. She loves to talk.”

“I know you don't have a plane. She did tell me about the cabin you all have rented every July for two weeks. Why didn't you do that this year?”

Jared looked away.

“Was it because of Mark?”

“We were kind of busy. Before I knew it, July was over. Now it's August and school starts in a week. It's no big deal.”

She rose, making her way to where he was and sat beside him. “It is a big deal to me.”

“Was Hannah upset?”

“No. She's too busy earning money, but I think Terry is disappointed you all didn't go this summer.”

“I'll talk with him. I thought I explained. I told him we would go later—maybe spring break.”

“Oh, you did. But that doesn't mean he was happy with the change in plans.”

“He should have said something. Hannah should have said something.”

“I think your children are trying to protect you.”

His hands on the wheel tightened, his knuckles white. “Protect me? Why do they think I need protecting?”

Kathleen laced her fingers together and stared at her hands. “Remember they were living in the same household as you were when Alice was drinking. Hannah knows you weren't happy.”

“But I tried to keep that from them.”

“Hannah is a smart young girl. She worries about you.”

“She told you all this when you two were shopping?”

“Some. I'm glad she feels she can confide in me.”

“Why didn't she say anything to me?”

The tone in his voice spoke of his hurt and Kathleen wanted to soothe it as he had hers so many times. “Because sometimes it is easier to talk to an outsider.”

He covered her clasped hands. “Kathleen, I don't think Hannah thinks of you as an outsider and I think that's the reason she has talked to you. Thank you for being there for her.”

The warmth of his palm against her skin sent her pulse hammering through her veins. “I love helping her.”

“I know. I'm finding that's the kind of person you are.”

“I miss volunteering. I used to do a lot in Shreveport.”

“Well, Mrs. Somers, then I've got a deal for you.”

She responded to his light tone with a laugh. “An offer I can't refuse?”

“Yep. Volunteering. Working with people. Seeing me from time to time.”

“You're right. How can I refuse that?”

“You can't.”

“Since we've established I can't refuse the opportunity, care to tell me what it is?”

“Remember when I told you about needing a volunteer coordinator at the hospital? We still need one. How about doing it when Mark starts school? It'll give you something to do that you love.”

“You're right. It's an offer I can't refuse. I'd like to if everything with Mark keeps going as it is. I'm starting to leave him by himself for short periods of time, but I'd like him to be in school before I devote myself to the volunteer coordinator's position.”

“Where is he today? At home?”

“No. He's at Laura's.” She slanted a look at Jared. “Who was more than eager to have him since I was going out on my first official date in years.”

Jared's chuckle was low. “That sounds like Laura.”

“I'm surprised your ears weren't burning this morning. She had to give me advice on what to do on a date. She thinks I'm date-challenged since I
haven't dated anyone in years and the only guy I ever dated seriously was my husband.”

His chuckle evolved into a robust laugh. “I'm afraid to ask what her advice was.”

“She gave me a list of topics to keep the conversation going.”

“We don't seem to have a problem there.”

Jared still held her hand, reminding her it was more than a first date. They had come a long way together over the past few months. “No, we have a lot in common.”

He rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand. “Two single parents trying to raise their children the best way they can.”

“That sums us up nicely.”

“Anything else Laura said?”

His thumb continued to massage her hand, going back and forth over her knuckles. The action brought a weakness to her limbs. “Under no circumstances was I to let you kiss me on our first date. A kiss isn't allow until the third date.”

“I think we've gone beyond that.”

Kathleen remembered the kiss he had given her in his den the week before. Yes, definitely beyond their first kiss. She had wanted so much more in those few minutes he'd held her, his large hands cupping her face. Those feelings had surprised her and frightened her. The only man she'd ever wanted to be with was her husband and now she was thinking about— She shook those thoughts from her mind. Too much. Too fast. She was still trying to piece her life together.

“Laura takes her role of big sis very seriously,”
Kathleen murmured, gently tugging her hand from his grasp. She needed space before she forgot her sister's sage advice. She needed to slow things down. She scooted back on the cushion and twisted her body so she could face him on the bench.

“You have a wonderful, supportive family. That's important.”

“Yes, especially now. They have been there for Mark from the beginning. Like you.” Kathleen brought her legs up and hugged them to her. “I thank God every day for the people around me.”

“It's good to hear you talk about the Lord like that.”

“That's another thing I have you to thank for. You made me realize I should be turning to God in my troubled times, not away. Your own experience with Alice and how you dealt with that has only reinforced what I needed to do. Because there are no instant solutions, I blamed the Lord for my problems. I'd forgotten how important patience was, and just listening. Now every day I begin by praying and I end by praying. It helps me to put my day in perspective.”

“Here, keep your hands on the wheel while I change course.”

Kathleen scrambled forward as Jared stood, releasing the wheel. Making his way to the front, Jared busied himself with bringing one sail down. After securing it, he came back to where she sat.

“You're doing great, Kathleen. I'll make a sailor out of you yet.”

“That's okay. You can have the wheel back.
We're heading for that island and I don't want us to run aground.”

He slipped in beside her and she moved away, putting several feet between them.

“I thought we would have lunch on the island and do some exploring.”

“I haven't been to Sunset Cove since I was a child. Is there still a dock there?”

“Yes. In need of repair but usable.”

“Good. I really didn't want to wade in to the island.”

“Kathleen, where's your sense of adventure?”

“When I'm on an adventure, I still like creature comforts. If I remember correctly, there's a lot of sand on the beaches. As a child I didn't mind wearing half the beach on me. As an adult I do.”

“This from a woman who would go into the bayous.”

“Yes, but I was in a boat, not walking or wading.”

Jared maneuvered the sailboat alongside the dock and Kathleen jumped off the boat to tie the ropes to the wooden poles. As she finished, she stepped back and her foot went through a hole in the pier where the wood had rotted. She pulled on her foot to free it and nearly toppled to the planks. She caught herself and managed to pry her tennis shoe from the hole.

Jared leaped off the boat and was at her side instantly. “Are you hurt?”

Heat scorched her cheeks. “No, just embarrassed that after only a minute on the island, I get into trouble.”

“Some of us have been talking about fixing this
pier. This clinches it for me. It's getting too dangerous to use. We can eat our lunch on the boat, then leave.”

“No. I want to see Sunset Cove. We're here. We'll just be careful as we make our way to shore. Besides, I have my very own doctor if anything else goes wrong.”

After Jared retrieved the food hamper and a blanket, Kathleen followed him from the pier, walking where he did. On the small beach she scanned the area, the scent of water and vegetation permeating the warm air. A crow cawed in the distance while a white tern flew overhead, shrieking. No one else was on the island. The isolation, as though they were cut off from civilization, whisked her worries away. There was only this moment in time, Kathleen thought as she slowly turned, remembering outings as a child when she and Laura had played make-believe games about damsels in distress and pirates. So much had happened since then. She had loved and lost. Was it possible for love to come a second time around? The kind of love that connected two people on all levels? For having had it once had spoiled her for any kind of love except that.

“Where would you like to eat lunch?” Jared asked, coming up behind her.

“Is there still a stream on the other side that empties into the lake?”

“Yes.”

“Then how about there?”

“Fine. Do you want to go around by the beach or through the woods?”

“Through the woods. There should be a path to the other side.”

When Kathleen entered the grove of oaks, pines and maple trees that graced the middle of the small island, the coolness of the woods chased away the heat of the day. Streams of sunlight flowed from the upper reaches of the trees to illuminate the path. As they walked toward the other side of the island, the crunch of pine needles and leaves cut into the silence of the forest.

Kathleen heard the stream before she saw it. Emerging from thick underbrush, she took in the water bubbling over the rocks toward the lake.

“Nothing's changed. We can spread our blanket out near the water's edge,” Kathleen said, walking ahead of Jared to the spot.

He helped her to smooth the blanket over the ground, then he opened the basket. “Mrs. Davis prepared everything except the cookies. Hannah insisted on baking us some.”

“She said something about it when we went shopping.”

“You two must talk the whole time you're gone.”

“Something like that,” Kathleen began opening containers to reveal fried chicken, coleslaw and potato salad.

“I miss her talking to me. But at her age there are things she doesn't want to say to a man, even her father.”

“The same thing happened to me when Mark got to a certain age. Mark and John were very close.”

“Terry has mentioned several times about the shopping trip coming up with Mark.”

“I was worried he wouldn't want to go because of Mark's behavior that night at Laura's. I'm glad he changed his mind.”

“We talked about that. He thought Mark had been drinking and that was why he kicked in the TV screen.”

Kathleen stopped scooping out coleslaw onto the paper plates. “Drinking? Why?”