After the Rain (The Callahans) (3 page)

It was apparent that the Callahan men shared the same black hair and dark eyes. This one was nearly as tall as his brother was. He had a smaller build but the muscles in his chest were more evident through his white T-shirt. His bare legs, clad in a pair of swimming trunks, were well toned and long. He was another dreamboat, as Faye so helpfully put it.

“Why the hell didn’t you call me? I’ve got the bags.” Joe glared at Faye for a moment and then turned to Kylie and his frown melted. “Hey, you must be the girl from Montana. The one everyone’s looking for.”

Kylie felt her skin grow hot again. “Kylie,” she supplied, forcing a smile. “And you must be Joe.”

“I am,” he confirmed, offering her his hand. His dark eyes perused her, curiously. “Tiny little thing. Better take her and feed her some of Mamaw’s cooking.”

Rolling her eyes, Faye grabbed Kylie’s arm, nearly dragging her through the large entryway. “I want to show her around before dinner.”

“Pool’s a good temperature. Take a dip,” Joe suggested, grabbing Kylie’s things. “I’ll put her stuff in Elle’s old room.”

“I really should just stay in a motel,” Kylie said, quietly, her eyes locking with Faye’s. She knew her friend knew her reasons for wanting to be alone at night.

“Please,” Joe scoffed, obliviously, already heading through the front door. “She’s been talking about you visiting for years. She’s not going to let you out of her sight, let alone let you stay in a motel.”

When he was gone, Faye’s expression turned sad. “I’d hoped things had gotten better after all this time. Are you having nightmares again?”

Kylie sat down next to her friend and sighed. “Only sometimes. Most nights I’m fine. I’m adjusting to life without Paul. I’m enjoying it, Faye. Don’t overanalyze things.”

“You’re alone.”

“Because I
want
to be. That’s my choice.”

Faye gave her a knowing look.

“I have a lot of baggage, Faye. I haven’t found a man yet that could handle it.”

“You can’t base your opinion of all men on that loser. I never liked him. He was a selfish bastard.”

“I realize that.” Kylie stared out at the sparkling blue water of the large, kidney shaped swimming pool. She had to admit, it did look enticing.

“I can’t wait for you to meet everyone.” Faye hopped up, apparently deciding to let the subject drop for now. “And I have a surprise for you!”

Kylie couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. “How could you have a surprise for me, you didn’t even know I was coming?”

“I tried reaching you by phone but you were missing,” Faye said, ignoring the roll of Kylie’s eyes at the mention of her missing status. “I’m pregnant, Kyle. Dusty and I are getting married. I want you to be my maid of honor.”

Kylie’s eyes grew wide. Shocked, she looked her friend up and down. So that was where the extra few pounds had come from. She always had remembered Faye being rail thin. Standing up, she hugged her friend tightly. “Congratulations!”

“Thanks!” Faye said, happily, then pulled back and studied Kylie closely. “So will you do it? Will you stay until August and be my maid of honor? We wanted to get the wedding handled sooner than that but I can’t get it planned any faster.”

“Of course I’ll be there,” Kylie said, without preamble. “I can’t believe it! A baby!”

Faye blushed nervously, setting a proprietary hand over her only slightly rounded tummy. “I know. This is a big step for me.”

“I’m so happy for you!” Kylie hugged her again. “So when’s the big day? And when is the baby due?”

“Baby’s not due until February. We’re getting married on the twenty-third of August.”

“I wondered why Joe was giving you the evil eye for handling my bags.”

Faye rolled her eyes. “They’re over-protective mother hens—all of them. Ever since they found out about the baby, they’ve all been breathing down my neck when Dusty can’t.”

“They obviously care about you.”

Faye smiled at that. “I care about them too. Now we should hurry. Dusty hates when we’re late for dinner.”

Kylie grabbed her friend’s arm to slow her down. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” Faye said, squeezing Kylie’s hand.

“Did you tell them all? I mean about…” Her voice broke off and she sighed. “You know.”

“Dusty knows. He couldn’t figure out why your mother and I were in such a panic when we couldn’t find you. He didn’t realize we’d both been through this before.”

Kylie wanted to be angry with her friend but she couldn’t. “Just don’t tell anyone else, okay?”

“I won’t. Now come on! I’m starved!”

3

Trey Callahan whipped his police issued Blazer into the parking lot in front of Callahan’s Bar and Grill. He wasn’t parked legally, but he didn’t really give a rip. He was the sheriff and he always parked any damn place he wanted. It wasn’t like his own deputies were going to tow him or give him a ticket.

He was late for dinner—again. This made three weeks in a row that he’d managed to get to the restaurant over an hour late. This would get him wrath from Dusty, who was as punctual as Christmas Day. Time wasn’t something Trey managed to pay a lot of attention to. He worked pretty much every day—all day and all night—being on call. He took one day off a week, which was Sunday, at the insistence of his grandmother, who still believed in the day of rest. Sunday was the Sabbath.

Friday nights were the worst for him. People headed in and out of town. That meant he watched things more closely.

Climbing out of his truck, he swiped a hand through his unruly locks. He needed a haircut, he reminded himself, for the second time that day. The first time—which had actually come as a surprise to him—had been out on the highway earlier in the day, when he’d helped a rather attractive damsel in distress. For some reason, she’d made him conscious of the fact that he looked like a slob, something he hadn’t noticed about himself for quite some time.

Thinking back to the out-of-state blond, he frowned. She’d been a strange one. Most disabled’s met a cop with open arms. Not this one. She’d nearly refused to open her window.

He had to admit, that besides the badge he wore clipped to his belt and the gun he kept in the shoulder holster under his right arm, it wasn’t obvious to the eye that he was the sheriff of Callahan County. Things around here were laid back. It was too hot to wear a stuffy uniform. No one around here had questioned his choice of attire—not in the three and a half years he’d been part of the police department. Of course, that department only consisted of five people, including himself. He was the only one who didn’t dress for the occupation. He supposed no one cared enough about what he wore to say anything about it. Even the mayor wore jeans and a T-shirt every day.

Shrugging his doubt aside, he grabbed his wallet from the glove box and shoved it into his back pocket, before letting the truck door slam shut.

“Always late, aren’t you?”

Trey looked up and grinned when he saw his little sister on the sidewalk, walking back and forth with her two-year-old daughter in her arms. The little girl squealed with delight when she caught sight of her favorite uncle.

“Jeeze, a minute ago she was screaming so loud that no one could stand it.”

“No way, not my favorite niece.” He walked over and took little Amy from her mother’s arms. “You just don’t have the magic touch. Kids understand me.” He cradled Amy to his chest, tickling her lightly as he walked into the bar, Elle at his heels.

“It’s about damned time!” Dusty said when he saw his brother.

“Hung up arresting someone, Sheriff?” This came from Joe, who was seated at one of the tables that were pushed together every Friday night for the family meal.

Trey gave them a sheepish look. “I have an excuse. Things were busy today. Timmy Pickett got caught trying to steal one of the Lancaster’s pigs.” He walked toward the section of the bar where his family was seated amidst the normal hustle and bustle of the busy grill. Friday night was usually one of the biggest nights for the restaurant and tonight was nothing different. The place was crawling with patrons, all of whom waved at Trey. He greeted a few people before finally turning back to his family. That’s when he noticed the extra guest at the table. He thought he was seeing things at first. He did a double take and lifted his sunglasses from his nose. Then he narrowed his gaze. It was definitely her—the out-of-stater from the highway earlier that day. She looked a whole lot better now. Her blond hair was neatly pulled back in some kind of barrette and her face, which had earlier been flushed from the heat, now looked fresh and clean. He could see she’d added something to her skin, though he couldn’t put his finger on what. Lip stick, maybe. It looked…nice, he decided.

Their gazes locked and they both stared, neither apparently knowing what to say. She flushed again, and this time he forced a smile.

“Hey, Montana,” he said the first thing that popped into his head.

“Huh?” Faye retorted, looking at him as though he was crazy.

“We’ve met,” he replied, bouncing Amy, who was beginning to get fussy.

“I told you she’s crabby,” Elle said, reaching for her daughter.

“She’s fine. Eat,” Trey ordered, knowing Leo and Elle rarely got a peaceful meal, what with having a needy toddler around.

Elle shrugged her shoulders and walked over to take a seat next to her husband.

“What do you mean, you’ve met?” Faye asked, confused.

“He means my jeep broke down and he helped me out earlier today. I didn’t know who he was.”
Montana
spoke this time, her voice that quiet little drawl he remembered.

“And you didn’t call me?” Faye demanded, glaring at Trey.

“Why would I call you? I help ten or fifteen disabled’s a day.” Trey walked over and sat down in an empty chair, bouncing Amy up and down, once he was seated.

“Didn’t you check her ID?” Faye continued, obviously miffed at him.

He gave her a strange look. “Why don’t you introduce us and maybe I’ll connect the dots here?”

It was Faye’s turn to look embarrassed. “Trey Callahan, Kylie Rhodes.”

Trey looked at Kylie Rhodes, still confused. Obviously, he was missing something here.

“Hello?” Faye’s voice jarred him into looking at her again. “The APB?”

Now the dots were connecting. “Ah, I get it.” He looked over at Kylie, amused. “You’re the friend who was missing. The one-”

“Everyone’s looking for,” Kylie finished for him, her face flushed again. “That’s me. My mother tends to panic first and think later.”

“Why did you call her
Montana
if you didn’t know who she was?” Faye wanted to know.

“Because I noticed her license plates.” Trey took a sip of soda. “They caught my eye. I don’t see too many Montana plates around these parts. I didn’t make the connection between her and your missing friend. To be honest, I forgot where you told me she was from.”

“You told him to run an APB on me?” Kylie said, as though she just now heard the abbreviated letters for All Points Bulletin. “God, Faye, you didn’t.”

“Felice said you were missing,” Faye said, sheepishly. “What was I supposed to do? He’s practically my brother-in-law and he’s a cop. You’re my best friend and I thought something happened to you.”

Kylie groaned, covering her face with her hands.

“If it makes you feel better, I haven’t gotten around to running the APB yet.” He ignored the dirty look Faye sent his way and relinquished control of his niece to her mother, who had finished eating by this point.

Elle jabbed him in the shoulder as she looked over at Kylie, a playful smile on her face. “You have to watch out for this one. He can charm the socks off of any female, even a two-year-old who is teething.”

He rolled his eyes, avoiding Kylie’s gaze. Fortunately, the normal banter of a Callahan dinner took over and all talk of Trey and Kylie’s impromptu meeting was forgotten.

“Why don’t you tell Kylie about the carnival coming up, Trey?”

He looked over at Faye, his gaze narrowed. The request was random and had him curious as to her motives. He finished chewing a bite of his hamburger and wiped his mouth. He noticed right away that Kylie looked uncomfortable at being singled out again. She was definitely shy, this one. “It’s a charity thing. We do all kinds of games and stuff like that. There are rides and different booths with face painting and crafts, that kind of stuff. It’s in a few weeks on a Saturday.”

“That sounds like fun,” Kylie said, taking a drink of soda. He noticed right away that she was avoiding his gaze.

“It is,” Faye said, enthusiastically. Too enthusiastically. “What do you think, Kyle? We could do a little charity work. It’d be fun. We could have our own booth.”

Trey chewed as he watched Kylie’s reaction. Definitely negative, he figured out. But Faye wasn’t swayed.

“There’s always stuff to do, or cook. You’re great with face painting. How about that?”

Kylie looked uncomfortable again. “I’m not that good at it.”

“She did face painting for the entire cheerleading squad in high school. We were the tigers.” Faye grinned from ear to ear. “I have pictures.”

“No,” Kylie said firmly. “You don’t.”

“I do.” Faye looked over at Trey. “Maybe you could find something fun for her to do.”

Her
? What had happened to the
us
, he wondered? Apparently, so did Kylie because she shot her friend a deadly stare.

Faye’s pointy-toed sandal connected with Trey’s shin and he grunted, before glaring at her. She just gave him a forceful look. “There’s always stuff to do, isn’t there? And we’re short-handed, right?”

“I thought you were too busy with the wedding to help,” Joey interjected, and from the look on his face and the grunt he let out only moments later, he received his own kick to the shin from Faye.

“I always have time for charity. Needy kids.” Faye smiled brightly. “So what do you say, Kyle?”

Kylie, obviously aware that she’d been put on the spot, just shrugged. “I’ll think about it. I’m not exactly sure how long I’m staying.”

Trey could see a set-up from a mile away. He didn’t know why Faye had zeroed in on him, but she had—and he wanted no part of it. As attractive as her friend was, he wasn’t touching her with a ten-foot pole. Not only was she Faye’s best friend, but she was also the shy, innocent looking type—the type that appeared sweet as peaches on the surface, but actually had skeletons in her closet a mile high. He’d been married to a woman like her for three years. Three
hellish
years. No way was he ever going there again. He preferred no commitments and fun—although he hadn’t even had time for that in a while.