A Place in Her Heart (4 page)

Chapter Six

Cal barely slept, his mind filled with thoughts of Katy. His feelings for her had changed so quickly. It didn’t seem possible to go from being her high school buddy to not talking to her for five years to having his pulse race every time she was near, but that’s exactly what had happened. When he thought of what Terry had done to her, how it still haunted her dreams, he wanted to do damage to someone or something. Instead, he went for a long, hard run.

After he took a shower and dressed, he headed to the bakery, wanting to check on Katy and make sure she was okay. But when he walked in, he was greeted by a young woman with the biggest smile he’d ever seen.

“Mornin’,” she said. “What can I get for you?”

“Um, just a coffee.”

“Coming right up. But you sure you don’t want something sweet to go with that? Katy bakes a mean cupcake.”

“Actually, I was hoping to see Katy. Is she upstairs?”

The woman froze and some of her smile disappeared. He realized maybe this woman knew Katy’s backstory and was looking out for her.

“I’m Cal. We went to high school together.”

The smile came back. “Oh, you’re the one who helped her out after Stephanie left.”

Katy had mentioned him? If the guys on his team knew how happy that made him feel, he’d never hear the end of it.

“Yeah.”

The woman brought him his coffee. “I’m Cherise. Katy’s over at the shelter, dropping off some of the cakes for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving meal.”

“The shelter?”

“Yeah, the Women’s Lunch Place. Katy donates a lot of her time there. Lot of us do after the shelter gets us off the streets and back on our feet. Great place, wonderful people.”

Cal’s heart squeezed in his chest. Katy had been homeless? He hadn’t even thought about where she’d gone after she’d left Terry. Guilt ate at him——he’d spent those years with everything he needed, totally unaware one of his best friends was being chewed up by life and spit back out. There had to be a way for him to make it up to her, a way other than him kissing her because he couldn’t stop himself.

Again, the desire to look up Terry and make him pay for what he’d done to Katy nearly swamped him. Instead, he refocused his thoughts on how he could help her. Maybe the best way was to help others in the position she had been in by doing something for the shelter. He drove back home and looked up the Women’s Lunch Place online. As he read through all the services they offered to women, he was amazed, and was so glad they’d been there for Katy when no one else had been. He made a monetary donation, but it still didn’t seem like enough.

As he sat back in his desk chair, his thoughts drifted to how Katy had said she’d felt so alone on base after the abuse had started, that she’d felt trapped without an easy way to get free. He knew there were programs available for abused women on military bases, but maybe there was room for even more aid for those women. Ideas started coming fast and furious. He was going to make this work. If he could help just one woman escape the kind of situation Katy had endured, he aimed to do it.

* * *

“I think we should add tiny pies to the offerings,” Cherise said the next morning as they did some prep work for the following day’s busy Black Friday sale. “Oh, we could call them Wee Pies!”

Katy stared at the cake box she was assembling and only realized she hadn’t responded to Cherise when the other woman grew quiet. She glanced over to see Cherise staring at her.

“You certainly are distracted this morning.”

“Sorry.” Ever since Cal had kissed her, she’d had difficulty thinking about anything else. She wanted to be with him so much she ached.

“This have anything to do with that hot guy who came looking for you yesterday? Did he find you?”

For a moment, panic punched Katy right in her middle. And then she realized who Cherise must have meant.

“Cal?”

“Mmm-hmm,” Cherise said. “No offense, but that boy looked more scrumptious than anything you can bake in your ovens.”

Katy had to agree with that. She wished with all her heart that she would be strong enough to tell Cal how she felt about him. If only she could be positive he felt the same way. But just because a guy kissed you in the middle of the night after you had a nightmare didn’t mean he loved you. How could he? They hadn’t spent more than a handful of days together in the past five years. He didn’t really know her anymore, and what she had shared would likely scare off any guy. Men weren’t exactly fans of emotional baggage, and she couldn’t blame them.

She did her best to shove Cal from her thoughts as she and Cherise headed to the shelter. That proved difficult, however, when she walked into the dining area and saw Cal standing there. It hit her that he must know about her connection to the place, and she couldn’t meet his gaze. She didn’t want him to pity her. That’s not what she wanted from him.

Unable to deal with what she might see in his eyes, she hurried toward the kitchen and did her best to avoid him as she and the other volunteers and staff members went about serving a traditional Thanksgiving meal, complete with a miniature pumpkin cheesecake topped with maple sugar leaves for each of the women.

Laughter drew her attention to the other side of the dining room, where Cal was chatting with several women. In that moment, she loved him even more. These women didn’t have a lot to laugh about, and many were understandably anxious around men. But they looked as if they were on the verge of starting the Callum Walsh Fan Club.

“He’s good with them,” Linda said as she stepped up next to her. “He seems like a good guy.”

Katy couldn’t drag her eyes from him. “He is.” The best.

* * *

Over the next several days, Cal continued to help out any way he could at the shelter. When he wasn’t there, he would drop by the bakery, and he had even volunteered to fix the leaky faucet in her apartment bathroom. Then he showed up with the makings of new storage shelves for the bakery’s pantry. Part of Katy loved seeing him so much it actually scared her. They didn’t kiss anymore or even mention it, but she couldn’t help but think each day she saw him was one day closer to his leave being over and him heading off for parts unknown. What would she do with the hole in her heart then if she let him all the way in?

She walked into the pantry to get another bag of flour just as Cal finished installing the last of the new shelves. As she reached up to grab the flour from one of the higher shelves, Cal stepped up behind her and stretched out his longer arm.

“Let me get that for you,” he said, the rumble of his voice so close that her entire body vibrated.

“Thanks.” She accepted the flour and started to turn for the pantry door.

Cal caught her hand to stop her. “Come out with me tonight.”

“I’m too busy. Besides, I’d think you’d be tired of me by now, with all the time you’ve been spending here and at the shelter.” They still hadn’t talked about her having lived on the streets, but she could tell he’d put two and two together.

“Working side by side isn’t the same thing.”

“Same as what?” She made the mistake of meeting his gaze, and her breath caught in her throat.

“A date, Katy. I wasn’t the only one who enjoyed our kiss, was I?”

She wanted to tell him it had been the single best moment of her life. But she was just too afraid, too used to doing what was necessary to get by, and that meant protecting her heart, as well.

“I can’t do this, Cal.”

“Can’t do what?”

“We’re friends. Good friends. But that’s all I can offer you.” She gestured toward the kitchen. “I...I need to get back to work.”

“I think I’m falling in love with you.”

The bag of flour nearly slipped out of her arms as her heart started galloping. He loved her? Had she just imagined him saying that?

“I know it seems crazy, but maybe it’s not. We’ve known each other a long time.”

She had to stop this before she caved and gave him the power to truly devastate her. “Cal, don’t. We used to know each other. You’re a good, honorable man, and you feel guilty about what happened to me.” She paused. “It’s not your fault.”

“You’re right. I do feel guilty. But that has nothing to do with how I feel about you. And trust me, it was a big flipping surprise to me, as well.”

Katy sighed and stared down at the floor. Would she feel differently if he wasn’t about to leave again? Could she take a risk then? She wasn’t sure he really did love her. After all, he didn’t have all those years of loving stored up inside like she did.

“I think you should leave,” she said, her voice sounding small and shaky.

“Katy—”

“Please.”

For a few moments, he didn’t move. When he finally did walk past her without a word, she wanted to grab him and bring him back, afraid she would never see him again. She sank onto a crate of unassembled bakery boxes, unable to hold herself up any longer. She’d pushed him away to try to save herself from heartbreak. The pain ripping through her told her she’d failed miserably.

Chapter Seven

Cal sank into a booth at a new burger joint and stared out the window. It was a bright, sunny day——warmer than usual for Boston in early December——but he couldn’t fully appreciate it. He’d tried convincing himself over the past couple of days that he was okay with being just friends with Katy, but he wasn’t. As completely out of the blue as it seemed, he’d fallen for her. He’d examined his reasons, wondering if she was right that it was only guilt talking, but it was more than that. She was beautiful, strong, funny when she let herself be.

But she didn’t want to go down that road, and he couldn’t wait for his leave to be over so he could travel far, far away from Boston and Katy.

He sighed. Once again, he was lying to himself. He didn’t want to take off this way, but he had to respect her decision. After what she’d been through, he wasn’t about to force her to do anything. But it didn’t mean he had to stop doing things that would help her, guarantee her safety.

The front door opened to admit Tyler Strong, who was wearing the dark uniform of the Boston Police Department.

“Hey, Navy boy,” Tyler said as he approached.

Cal stood and they shook hands. After sitting and getting the small-talk pleasantries out of the way, Cal met his old friend’s gaze. “I need a favor.”

* * *

Katy served meals to a young woman and her two children. She noticed the bruise still ringing the woman’s eye and remembered all too well the physical pain of a man’s fist. She’d come to the shelter to occupy herself with helping others, hoping it would help her forget how much she missed Cal. But nothing worked. He’d carved out a permanent place in her heart despite her best efforts to prevent it.

“Is there anything else I can get you?” Katy asked.

The woman offered a small smile. “No, thank you. Everyone has been so kind ever since the Guardian Angels showed up this morning.”

“Guardian Angels?”

“The safety escort.”

When Katy walked down the hall a few minutes later, she met April, one of the newer staff members, in the hallway. “Hey, do you know anything about the Guardian Angels?”

“You don’t know?”

Katy shook her head. “Your friend Cal started it,” April said. “They’re putting two-person teams together, one woman and one man, to escort women out of abusive situations they might otherwise be too afraid to leave.”

Tears pooled in Katy’s eyes. Even after she’d rejected him, he was still doing this.

“They’ve only brought in two women so far, but they were both so grateful.”

“But he’s leaving soon to go back to the Navy.”

April nodded. “Yeah, but he’s vetted several people along with a cop friend of his to keep the program going while he’s gone.”

As April continued on down the hall, Katy leaned against the wall, stunned. She had to see Cal now. She’d been a fool to not accept what she’d wanted for so long, and she prayed she wasn’t too late.

She tried calling him but got no answer. When she drove by his house, she didn’t see his car. It wasn’t at his brother’s garage either. Had he gone back to Virginia early? Had she missed her chance at true love?

Running out of places to look for him, she drove back to the bakery. When she rounded the corner onto her street, she saw him getting out of his car. Joy filled her that, not only had he not left, but he’d also come back to see her. She raced to her parking space and jumped out of her car. She nearly face-planted on the sidewalk in her urgency to reach him.

“Cal,” she called out when he gripped the handle on the front door.

He turned toward her, looking like every woman’s dream come true. Hers, anyway.

“I know you told me to stay away,” he said as she walked toward him. “But I wanted to let you know that I had a friend, Tyler Strong, check on Terry’s whereabouts. You don’t have to worry about him because he’s living in Oregon.”

She stopped walking and just stared at him.

“I’m sorry if that was butting in where my nose didn’t belong, but I had to make sure you were safe before I left.” He shifted from one foot to the other and ran his fingers through his hair. “And damn it, Katy, I couldn’t leave without trying one more time. I don’t want to push you, but I love you.”

She closed the rest of the distance between them and pulled him down for a kiss, one that felt like it might scorch their lips. Cal wrapped his arms around her and drew her closer, deepening the kiss. Katy had no idea how long they stood there like that, but when Cal leaned back to look at her he wore a mischievous grin.

“That didn’t feel like a just-friends kiss.”

“It wasn’t.” She lifted her hand and let her fingertips travel along the curve of his strong jaw. “I love you, too, Cal. I have ever since we were teenagers.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

“Yes, really. I was just too scared to tell you. Same as I was the other day when you told me you loved me.”

He smoothed her hair with his strong hand. “I will never hurt you, and I’ll never let anyone else hurt you again.”

“I know.” And she did. She knew he was speaking the absolute truth, and that made her love him all the more.

“What do you say we celebrate with cupcakes and coffee? It’s cold out here.”

She smiled. “I say that’s an excellent idea.”

Cal wrapped his hand around hers and led her inside, toward a future that looked brighter than she’d ever imagined. For the first time in her life, her heart felt full.

* * * * *

Keep reading for a sneak peek
at Trish Milburn’s next novel
,

THE DOCTOR’S COWBOY
,

available March 2015 from
Harlequin American Romance
wherever books are sold.