He wanted to believe her. Except his common sense had kicked in and, fueled with the rage, he was trembling with temper. Careful, controlled, he gritted his teeth to hold back the overwhelming urge to shout, a natural reaction to a teenagers misbehavior. Take what you stole out of your bag and give it back.
But, Daddy, I
You heard me. Do it.
Hayden gave a put-upon sigh but bowed her head and started digging through her things. It took all his effort and a quick prayer for self-control to stand there and not explode like a lit keg of ten-year-old dynamite.
One look at that woman had him praying for an extra dose of control. Overwhelming irritation jabbed deep into his chest. Probably from lack of sleep, sure, but the bookstore lady agitated him. To make matters worse she held out her slender hand, palm up, to receive a very expensive-looking cut-crystal figurine.
Thank you, she said in that prim voice of hers. Now I want the other one.
Theres only one. Hayden attempted the wide-eyed look again.
Katherine shook her head, her gaze locking on the teenage girls. The lamb figurine has a security strip, too. What do you think is going to happen when you turn around and head back out the door?
Oh. Okay.
The big mans jaw dropped as his daughters innocent expression faded. She dug out a second figurine.
It was a sad thing to see a man lose belief in his childs innocence, Katherine thought. The big hulk of a state trooper puffed up like a weightlifter getting ready to set an Olympic record. His hands fisted and his hard, masculine mouth drew downward in a heartbreaking frown. The tarnished glint of shock in his handsome brown eyes ought to have made a sensible teenager feel shame and vow never to disappoint her dad like that again.
But not this girl. She tossed her hair as she handed back the figurine. Have it. I didnt want it anyway.
Well, you took it, Katherine said with care. And giving these things back doesnt change the fact that you stole them in the first place.
Miss McKaslin, one of the local officers shouldered in. We can handle it from here.
Youre pressing charges? Jack Munroe raised his fists to his forehead as if his skull was about to blow.
Poor man. She felt sorry for him, but it didnt change the facts. You know the consequences of shoplifting. Does your daughter?
Does it need to come to that? His hands dropped away, revealing stark sadness etched into the planes of his face. He radiated responsibility. Believe me, Ill set her straight. Theres no need to take this any further. Please.
She didnt know what to do with his obvious sincerity. He seemed invincible iron, and his gaze meeting hers shone with hard honesty. She could sense his hurt like cold in a winter wind. He was a good man, she could see it.
It was the girl she had to consider, who glared through her thick, spiky mascara-coated lashes with a ha-ha attitude.
Katherine quietly placed the crystal lamb in her blazer pocket along with the shepherd and considered her options. She didnt doubt that Jack Munroe had been up all night working, just as hed said. Dark exhaustion bruised the skin beneath his eyes, and she wagered that this mighty mountain of a man never did anything that was short of upright and honest his entire life. Pressing charges would hurt him more than the girl.
She returned the items. He managed to unclench his jaw enough to speak.
Only when she was caught. If you hadnt brought her back here, she never would have returned the figurines. Shes not truly sorry, and thats my concern. This could happen again in another store.
Lady, Im gonna ask you. He swiped a hand over his eyes, a gesture of holding back his temper or one of fatigue, or both. Please. Let me handle this.
Then what do you suggest?
I dont know. He swung around to glare hard at his daughter, who shrank at his look and finally hung her head in shame.
Maybe not such a tough girlyet. Katherine folded her arms over her chest, already caring about the girls welfare. She was a softy, as her brother was always accusing. And it was true. She wasnt worried about the figurines. What worried her was this girl with one foot on a path that could only lead to more trouble. Ill require restitution.
How much? Jack reached for his wallet but stopped as Katherine shook her head.
No, Im not talking about money. I want volunteer work.
Jacks head pounded worse as Hayden let out a bellow.
No way. Daddy, Im not working for free in thisthis store. Dad, you can use my allowance money
Its volunteer work, Miss McKaslin interrupted evenly. The local churches have a united charity, and they always need reliable help. There are a lot of teenagers from the youth groups involved at the free supper kitchen and the shelters. Maybe she could put in, what, sixteen hours of work? Thats roughly the value of the figurines. And shell make some good friends there, Im sure.
Youth-group kids? That caught his attention. A very reasonable solution. But what cinched it was the belligerent cock of his daughters jaw.
I wont do it, Daddy. Im not gonna waste my time with a bunch of losers and homeless people.
By the Grace of God, he thought. Hed sheltered her too much, he could see that painfully andmaybe, just maybespoiled her a little. But how could he have not?
She had no idea about the world he worked in every day. The one where bad things happened to good people, where sometimes the worlds harshness could break a spirit, and compassion and doing the right thing held immeasurable value.
It was time for his girl to grow up a little. Well take your suggestion, Miss McKaslin.
Call me Katherine, please. Ill have one of the coordinators call you. She smiled, and tension drained out of her slender shoulders, squared so stubbornly under her tailored blazer.
Even though he didnt like her, he had to admit she had class. And the smile she extended to Hayden wasnt triumphant, but compassionate, and that impressed him, too. So he couldnt like the woman for accusing his girl, even if she had been right, but he appreciated what shed done. And handing him the opportunity of forcing his daughter to get involved with a youth group was just what hed needed.
Being new to town and settling into a house and a job had taken a lot of his energy. Other priorities had been shoved aside. But no more. Resigned, he accepted the pen and notepad Katherine had taken from her pocket and handed to him.
As he jotted down his home number, he couldnt help noticing the subtle hint of her perfume, something light and tasteful. He couldnt say why his hand shook a little as he returned the pen and notepad.
Probably because he was working on twenty hours without sleep. That was it. Thank you.
Katherine wasnt sure what to say to a father who had a big challenge on his hands. But despite her attitude, she was certain that his daughter was a good kid down deep. Good luck.
You say that like you think Im going to need it, he said.
Im sure things will be smooth sailing for you from here. Hayden, youre going to like Marin. Shes a cool youth pastor.
I dont think so. The girl rolled her eyes and gave her shank of blue hair a toss behind her shoulder and headed back through the detectors. Cmon, Daddy, lets get out of here.
For an instant, Jack Munroe looked like he feared his daughter would set off the alarm again. His wide, linebackers shoulders looked as rigid as granite, as if he carried a heavy burden on them. Once they were through the sensors without an alarm, a visible wave of relief passed over his handsome features.
Yep, he was going to need more than good luck. She would put him on her prayer list tonight.
She turned to thank the town officers, who were already on their way out.
Kelly looked up from the book she was reading at the register. Are you okay? You dont look okay.
Im fine. Now that its quieted back down, I dont think were going to see a lot of business with this storm. Did you want to go home? The roads are only going to get worse.
But then youll be here alone.
Im going to close down early. Dont you worry about me. Just drive safely, okay?
Thanks, Katherine. Kelly gathered up her college textbooks and headed toward the back.
Alone. Katherine wrapped her arms around her middle. She was getting real used to being alone. Lights flashed on and glared in the front windowthe headlights of the state troopers cruiser. He was talking to the daughter. She could barely make them out through the thickly falling snow.
Maybe it was the ghosts of old memories rising up, or seeing those girls, teenage girls, and remembering what was best not thought about, but she hurt.
All it took was one wrong move, even well-intentioned, and look how far-reaching the consequences. This was her life, she thought. She turned her back on father and daughter and went back to restocking.
Turned her back on memories that, felt anew, would keep her up most of the night.
Chapter Three
Thanks, Pastor. You have a good afternoon, now. Jack hung up the phone in the quiet of his home office. The empty house echoed around him as he turned in his chair and stared out the window.
A cold winters landscape met his gaze through the picture window that faced the rugged range of the Montana Rockies, spanning the entire length of the horizon. The ice-capped peaks jutting against a white-gray sky were breathtaking and a change from Phoenixs low camelbacks, which hed seen all of his life. This Montana landscape wasnt too hard on the eyes, but snow covered everything from the distant mountaintops to the shrubs outside the window. Miles and miles of snow.
Too much snow. Worse, a thick cloud layer was building across the entire dome of the sky. Just his luck that another six to eight inches were forecast to start falling by sundown. And if it did, then he could kiss his night goodbye.
He better put calling Mrs. Garcia on his to-do list. The sixty-something housekeeper stayed over in the guest room on the nights he worked in order to keep an eye on Hayden. He scribbled Mrs. Garcia on line ten, right below the reminder to call the lady from the Christian bookstore.
Miss Katherine McKaslin. He didnt know what to think of her. He owed her. He didnt like her, but hed behaved badly last night. Yep, thats the way it went. He always wound up coming across like a jerk whenever he was around a single woman. Which worked out just fine, he guessed, since hed never been more than undecided when it came to the idea of marrying again.
This little shoplifting incident might have a serious silver liningand that was the youth pastor hed just spoken to. A friend of Miss McKaslins.
Why couldnt he get her out of his mind? She was tall, slim, proper and lovely, definitely lovely. He didnt want to like her. Besides, remembering how angry hed been over her accusing Haydenand then her being right about Haydenwas something he was never going to get past.
Not that he wanted to get past it.
Still, it wasnt like he could forget the sympathetic look shed given Hayden. Sympathetic, when Katherine had the right to be angry, or worse.
You owe her, man. And you know it.
His little girl could have found herself in juvenile detention if Katherine McKaslin had been unforgiving. But instead, the uptight, high-and-mighty shop lady had been nothing of the sort. Her kindness had handed him the best break hed had in a while. The pastor hed spoken to on the phone sounded like just the sort of help his little girl needed.
And that brand of decency was hard come by in this world.
By the time the first airy flakes of snow began to fall, he knew what he had to do.
In the quiet of the bookstore, Katherine leaned against the doorjamb to her brothers office and tried to make sense of the male brain. The dangerous winter storm warning isnt just speculation. Its fact. Have you looked out the window?
Its a few flakes. Big deal.
Its a perfect time to close the store, before the blizzard hits. Right?
What do we do about the customers who stop by later, depending on us to be open for them? I cant be here. Ive got a meeting at the church. Decked out in his best suit, white shirt and tie, Spence gave his computer keyboard a few more taps. The printer in the corner started spitting and clattering. We cant disappoint our customers. Its not good for business.
Fine, Ill send everyone home and Ill stay.
Alone? Like you did last night? You know I dont approve of that. Its not a safe world.
True, but Im a capable adult who can take care of herself. Really, she knew her brother cared, but there was only one harder-headed man on this earth, and that was their father, of course. Both of them could test a girls patience without the slightest effort. Go to your meeting.
I cant go if youre going to be here alone.
Then we close now. Katherine watched her big brother wrestle with that. Im going to go out onto the floor. Do you need anything before I go?
No. This spreadsheet you did for me is great. Spence straightened his paisley tie as he rose from his leather chair. I think theyll be pleased.
Good. She figured that was as close to an okay on closing the store early as she would get. Drive carefully out there.
She left her brother stewing over his financial worries and the lost revenue of closing earlyas if anyone would be out shopping with the current weather warnings. Poor Spence. He took his responsibilities so seriously. Too seriously.
Hey, kiddo. She cornered the fiction aisle, where her younger sister was shelving books. You need help with that cart?
Sure. You know what the Bible says, two can accomplish more than twice as much as one. Ava straightened from her work with a wink. You dont look busy.
You know me, I never work.
I know. Its terrible. You know what everyone says? That lazy Katherine. Next theyll be commenting on that wild outfit. Ava laughed, a light, easy trill.
Arent you funny? Okay, so she wasnt a fashion plate. Katherine glanced at the black cable turtleneck sweater and her favorite pair of black wool trousers. Sensible, as always. Theres a minus-ten-degree wind chill outside.
Hey, I know. Ava chose a volume from the cart and turned to study the shelves. Her outfit of choice today was a smart safari jacket, a lace-edged purple Henley and a pair of jeans tucked into suede boots. She looked like shed walked off a fashion magazine. I heard you had a little incident last night.