Forever Together (14 page)

Kate stared at the man that had made her
childhood stable and safe. He’d made her laugh. Made her cry so
hard when he’d left. She hadn’t understood why he needed to go, but
she did now. And now was the only thing that really mattered.

“I love you, dad.”

“Love you too, baby girl.”

Kate wrapped her arms around her dad, held on
tight, and didn’t want to let go.

***

“Are you ready to leave?” Dan picked up
Kate’s backpack and looked at the magazines and scraps of paper
scattered over her bed. It was Sunday morning and he’d come into
the hospital to take Kate back to the ranch.

“What do you think about this?” She picked up
a big sheet of paper and moved it on top of the magazines.

She’d created a poster filled with photos of
Dan’s family. Her family.

“It’s for Kaylee. I went through some old
magazines and found pretty pictures of things she likes. Anna
brought the photos in for me and Julie gave me the paper, glue, and
scissors.”

“You made it this morning?”

Kate nodded. “As soon as the sun rises, I
have to get out of bed.”

Dan took another look at the poster. It was
bright and colorful. Kaylee would love it.

Kate frowned at the paper. “There’s something
missing…” She looked around the room and smiled. “Anna bought
glitter. I think I put it in here.”

She opened the drawer on her bedside table
and pulled out a container. She dabbed glue between the images,
then unclipped the lid of the glitter.

“Julie’s going to love you if you spill that
on the bed.”

Kate grabbed a towel and grinned. “Is it the
glitter you’re worried about or Julie?”

Dan sighed. “She’s been talking
about
me, hasn’t she?”

“Only to anyone who’d listen. I didn’t have
anything else to do, so I was happy to indulge her need to
share.”

“I’m sure you were,” Dan muttered. “What did
she tell you?”

“It involved a tutu and a ton of
glitter.”

It was Julie’s favorite story and one Dan
would sooner forget.

Kate looked impressed. “Daniel Carter, I do
believe you’ve got hidden depths. I’ve spent the best part of two
weeks thinking you were a law abiding, straight as an arrow kind of
guy.”

“Go with that thought.” He hoped she’d move
on to safer topics that didn’t involve a reckless past and an even
bigger reckless heart.

“I still don’t understand how they got a tutu
on you. You’re not exactly built like a ballerina.”

“Is that a compliment or an insult?”

Kate shook the glitter over the paper.
“Compliment. I try my best not to insult anyone. I know what it
feels like to be on the receiving end. Can you pass me the sheet of
paper that’s under the bed?”

He passed the paper to Kate and she shook the
excess glitter onto it.

“Julie didn’t say much. Just that you look
pretty in pink.”

He didn’t add to the story. Julie had a
warped sense of humor and a long memory. He knew she wouldn’t have
told Kate the whole
story,
because
under her warped sense of humor was a good friend.

Kate waited for him to continue, to dip into
his past and come up with a story she thought had a happy
ending.

“The tutu had an elastic waist. Jordan
McKenzie, a friend of mine, brought it to a bachelor party. I had
one too many beers and ended up with the tutu strapped to my
waist.” And there she had it. The story to end all bachelor party
stories. Simple, straightforward, and over before you knew it. Just
like his plans to get married.

Kate frowned. “It’s usually the groom-to-be
that gets caught up in pre-wedding pranks. If you ended up in a
frilly tutu, what happened to him?”

Dan folded the extra sheet of paper in half
and reached for the glitter container. With some careful
maneuvering,
he used the paper as
a chute and slid most of the excess glitter back where it
belonged.

Kate stared at him in a funny kind of way.
Like she almost knew the
answer,
but didn’t know how to ask the next question.

“Dan?”

He looked around the room. “Have you packed
your bag?”

She crossed her arms in front of her chest.
“You picked it up when you first walked in. It’s over by the
window.”

Dan flicked his gaze toward the blue backpack
and frowned. He hadn’t put much in it last night. Just enough to
give her a change of clothes without going too deep into all of the
lacy underwear she seemed to favor. When he’d seen the other lacy
things in her
drawer,
he’d slammed
the handle closed so quickly that he almost lost his fingers.

It got a man to thinking about the kind of
woman that liked to wear pretty underwear. And what they might look
like in it. Images like that didn’t go down too well when that
woman also happened to be his brother-in-law’s daughter.

Kate hadn’t moved. She still had her arms
folded and a stubborn look on her face.

“You aren’t going anywhere until I tell you
about the bachelor party, are you?”

“You’re right,” Kate said. “I’ve got a
feeling it might explain a lot about you.”

Great, he thought. Psychoanalyzed by a woman
who’d gone on a teenage crime spree and ended up waxing women’s
legs for a career. It was almost as good as joining the Army then
figuring out he didn’t belong.

“I was the one getting married. By the
time
I’d slept off my hangover the
wedding was over.” Kate surprised him. She didn’t gush about how
sorry she was. She didn’t add all of the other meaningless words of
sympathy he’d had to listen to.

She blinked a couple of times, then dropped
her arms to the bed and started sorting bits of paper. “So where
did the glitter come in?”

“Jordan brought it along for laughs. As well
as painting my face with it, I threw glitter over everyone when
they made a wish.”

Kate smiled. “A wish?”

“Don’t ask.”

Kate’s smile grew wider. “I can’t imagine you
in a tutu let alone covered in glitter. It must have been a
sight to
behold. How old were
you?”

Dan threw the backpack over his shoulder,
glaring at the mess on her bed. “Old enough to know better. What
needs to be thrown out?”

Kate put the poster on the chair and picked
up the magazines, glue, and scissors. “The glue and scissors go
back to Julie. I’ll keep the extra photos for Anna and everything
else can go in the trash.”

Dan started clearing off the bed.

“You’re not going to tell me how old you
were, are you?”

“No. I’ll clean up in here if you want to see
Kaylee before we leave.”

Kate picked up the poster and Julie’s
supplies. “I’ll find out one day, you know.”

“Not if I can help it,” Dan muttered as Kate
left the room.

***

Kate sterilized her hands and put a face mask
on. Kaylee was sitting in bed with a box of crayons scattered
across the sheets. Doctor T had told them not to expect miracles.
It would take at least three weeks to see any differences in
Kaylee. Even then, those differences would most likely be in her
white blood cell count and nothing else. But that was good. That
would mean Kaylee’s bone marrow stem cells were taking over,
producing healthy blood.

“How’s my little sister today?” Kate smiled
at the picture on Kaylee’s lap. A princess stood in a field of
daisies wearing a pink dress and holding a long silver wand. A big
ball of yellow sunshine filled the sky. It was a happy picture,
full of the things that made Kaylee smile.

Kaylee shrugged her shoulders. “I’m doing
okay. I saw Doctor T this morning. Toby’s allowed to visit after
lunch.”

“Where’s your mom?”

“She went to get some coffee.”

Kate put her poster on the bed. “I made you a
present.”

Kaylee dropped her crayons and stared at the
images on the poster. “It’s pretty. There’s mom, and dad, and Uncle
Dan.” She hunted through the images. “Where are you?”

Kate pointed to a photo in the corner.
“That’s me.” Molly had taken the photo last week at the rehearsal
for the fashion show. Kate had been applying Tess’ makeup,
concentrating on getting the right mix of fantasy and magic.

“Is that what it’s
like,
when you make someone beautiful?”

The wistful note in Kaylee’s voice made Kate
feel sad. Kaylee’s little body had been through so much and it
wasn’t over yet. “When I help someone with their makeup I’m adding
to their beauty. Everyone’s beautiful, Kaylee, including you.”

“But I don’t have any hair and I’m
yellow.”

Kaylee’s dolls sat on her bedside table. Each
one of them had long hair, glowing with synthetic pride under the
fluorescent hospital lights. She adored her dolls, adored their
pretty dresses, their golden
tiaras,
and long shiny hair.

“You don’t need hair to be beautiful. Even
the most amazing hair in the world doesn’t make up for the sparkle
that comes from your heart. And you’ve got so much sparkle that it
fills a room when you’re in it.”

Kaylee studied the picture, weighed up what
Kate had said. “That lady has sparkle too.” She pointed to
Tess.

Kate nodded. Tess did have sparkle. And
secrets. Something she hid from the world and didn’t want to share.
“Do you like the glitter?”

Kaylee nodded and pointed at another picture.
“Is that mom?”

Kate leaned
across
the bed and looked at the photo. “Sure is. Your
mom was going to her Senior Prom.”

Kaylee’s mouth dropped open. “She’s
beautiful. What did your dress look like at your Senior Prom?”

Kate sat on the chair beside Kaylee’s bed. “I
didn’t go to a Senior Prom.”

“Why not?”

“I’d left school by then.”

Kaylee was satisfied with her answer and
moved on to the next photo. Kate thought back to the years that had
almost destroyed her.
There’d
never been time for pretty dresses, parties, or boyfriends. Staying
safe and surviving had been more important.

“Hi, Kaylee.” Dan stood in the doorway. He
glanced at Kate.

The moment their eyes locked she knew he’d
heard her conversation with Kaylee. He knew about her criminal
record, knew how old she’d been. Both of them had things they’d
sooner forget.

“Uncle Dan, come and see what Kate made for
me.”

He walked into the room. Even with a face
mask on he looked handsome. Too handsome for a woman who was
heading back to San Diego soon.

“Wow. It looks amazing.” He said all the
right words and Kaylee glowed with happiness.

Kaylee pointed to a photo. “That’s us.”

Dan smiled. “We ate so many berries that day
it’s a wonder we didn’t turn red.”

Kate looked at the photo and smiled. Dan had
Kaylee in his arms and they were eating the biggest strawberries
she’d ever seen.

“Farmers’ Market in Great Falls,” Dan
explained. “They had a Berry Festival last year and we stayed all
day.”

A soft tap on the glass wall pulled Kate’s
attention away from Dan. Anna waved at them, her eyes tired and red
above her mask.

“It must be time to leave,” Dan said.

Kaylee looked disappointed.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be back later,” he said.
“I’ve got to take Kate home and feed your horses.”

“And Betsy the goat,” Kaylee said. “Otherwise
she’ll get into mom’s vegetable patch and we won’t have any
tomatoes left.”

“I won’t forget Betsy,” Dan assured her.
“
She you
later, pumpkin.” He blew
her a kiss and looked at Kate. “Are you ready to go?”

She nodded and waved to Kaylee. “I’ll see you
tomorrow.”

“Bye, Kate. Watch out for Pearl. She’s got a
thing for Uncle Dan.”

Kate smiled. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t bite
him.”

“She’s got to catch me first,” Dan said as
they left the room.

***

Dan mixed some molasses with Pearl and
Bonny’s oats. He didn’t know why he was giving Pearl something
sweet to eat. Ever since he’d arrived on the
ranch,
she’d watched him go about his business,
whinnying when she couldn’t see him. The damn horse was waiting to
bite him.

As soon as he went into the barn she started
getting excited. Feed time was on its way and Pearl always enjoyed
her oats. And the hand that held the bucket. Or an arm, leg or even
his butt if he was stupid enough to be within striking
distance.

“Do you need some help?” Kate limped toward
him, grinning at the buckets in his hands. “Pearl’s a pussycat with
me.”

“Are you bragging by any chance?”

“Just saying.”

“How’s the hip?”

Kate frowned, then reached for one of the
buckets. “It’s a bit stiff and bruised, but otherwise okay. I’ve
fed Betsy, the chickens, and Mildred.”

Mildred was Kaylee’s marmalade cat.
She
hardly ever moved from her
basket on the back porch, except when breakfast or dinner was
served up.

“You’ve done well.”

Kate shrugged. “I usually feed them every
day. I’ll give the vegetable patch a quick water tonight once the
heat of the sun disappears.”

“Did Betsy escape?”

“Not today. She was still where Anna and I
left her two days ago.”

As well as eating everything in sight, Betsy
was the Houdini of Anna and Tom’s ranch. He didn’t know how she did
it, but Betsy regularly managed to escape from whatever field they
put her in. Which was why Anna’s vegetable patch had a strong fence
strung around it.

“Pearl’s whispering sweet nothings
to
you.” Kate grinned. “I can hear
her from here.”

Dan moved out of the barn and into the
sunshine. Sure enough, Pearl was standing in the corral with her
ears pricked forward, waiting for him. Bonny wasn’t the least bit
interested in what was going on. She chewed a mouthful of grass and
looked so bored with Pearl’s ardent adoration that he nearly
laughed.