Forever Together (5 page)

Last
time
she’d gone for a walk they’d found her half a mile away, feeding
the chickens in front of Jake’s Hardware store. It would have been
fine if the chickens were real. The
ten-inch
wooden roosters hadn’t appreciated the seeds
Esme Kramer had thrown over them and neither had Jake. Until he’d
seen who’d been doing the throwing.

“Have you put a bulletin through to the radio
stations?” Dan asked.

“Already done. Someone thought they’d seen
Esme out by the McGill barn.” Colin paused, then started talking
again. “Dave just called in. He’s on his way over there now. I’ll
let you know what he finds.”

“Call her family. She might be heading back
to the ranch she grew up on. Patsy was going out there to keep an
eye on the old place in case she turned up. If you need
me,
you’ll have to call the Pediatric Ward at
the hospital. I’m switching my phone off.”

“Okay boss. I’ll be in contact if I hear
anything.”

Dan snapped the cover on his phone closed. It
was a little before three o’clock. At least this time Esme had gone
missing in summer and not on a cold winter’s day. She’d nearly died
of hypothermia last time she’d walked out of the dementia unit. It
had only been good luck and their tracker dogs that had found her
huddled under the bridge beside Lindley Park.

He pushed the button on the elevator and
waited. Colin was coordinating the search for Esme. He was here to
see Kaylee and if he didn’t block out what was happening back at
the office, he’d be on his phone for the next hour.

The elevator doors opened and he walked
inside.

Since her last round of chemo, Kaylee had
been getting stronger. The steroids Doctor T had prescribed seemed
to be working. She’d even managed to get out of bed yesterday and
move around the ward she’d been transferred to. Everything was
looking good for the bone marrow transplant, as long as Kate stayed
in town.

When he arrived on the Pediatric
Ward,
he waved to a nurse coming out of
another room. Over the last six
months
he’d gotten to know most of the staff. Some days
he didn’t know how they did their jobs. The highs and lows of
Kaylee’s disease left everyone exhausted and she was only one of
the many children they helped.

Anna and Tom had been beside themselves the
last time they’d had to make an emergency run
to
the hospital. He’d done what he could, but it
had been the nurses and doctors that had been there for them all.
They cared for Kaylee as if she was their own daughter and treated
Tom,
Anna,
and Dan as if they were
their own family.

“Kate’s still sitting with Kaylee.”

He turned and watched Linda Jones, the nurse
he’d seen earlier, stack a pile of towels on a table.

“You can go on
through,
if you like. Kaylee’s not so tired this
afternoon.”

“Did she manage to eat something today?” For
the last couple of
weeks,
Kaylee
hadn’t been eating much. They’d had to supplement her meals with
liquid food, giving her the nutrients she needed, but causing other
issues that were way down their list of priorities.

“She had all of her lunch and Kate managed to
get her to eat some fruit.” Linda reached out and touched his arm.
“It’s been a good day, Dan. Go and see Kaylee.”

He took a deep breath and moved toward his
niece’s room. He wasn’t sure she’d ever make it to the general ward
with all of the other kids, but he didn’t care. As long as she
stayed out of the Intensive Care Unit, he was happy.

Kate sat on the edge of Kaylee’s bed, a pile
of cards in her hand. “Are you sure you didn’t peek?” Kate handed
her sister a card and picked up another one.

Kaylee giggled when Kate raised her
eyebrows.

“You got the pairs to all of my cards.”
Kaylee laughed. “Do you have a pink pig?”

Dan watched Kate bite her bottom lip as she
sorted through her cards. He didn’t understand why his heart raced
whenever he was around her. Or why he was so damn mad
with
her half the time. He’d been out to the
ranch twice since she’d arrived, walking on eggshells around her in
case he scared her out of town.

Kate smiled when she didn’t find what her
sister wanted. “Go fish, kiddo.”

Kaylee leaned forward and picked up a card.
She grinned and waved the card in the air. “I’ve got a pink piggy.
That’s six pairs to your one.” She glanced
across
the room and saw Dan standing in the doorway. Her
smile grew even wider. “Uncle Dan, I’m beating Kate. If I win this
game,
she’s going to take me for a
walk in the garden to see the flowers and butterflies.”

He frowned at Kate. He didn’t want her making
empty promises to his niece. Kaylee hadn’t been outside for two
weeks and he didn’t see a game of Go Fish changing that.

“Doctor T said it was okay,” Kate said,
reading his mind like a carnival gypsy.

“As long as I wrap up warmly and Kate takes
me in a wheelchair,” Kaylee chimed in with her sing-song voice. “We
can have ice cream as well.”

Kate cleared her throat. “I didn’t hear
Doctor T say that.”

“I’m sure he did.” Kaylee’s grin touched Dan.
“He said I need to eat more. Ice cream is more.”

“I’ll tell you what.” Kate picked up her
cards. “If you beat me, I’ll check with Nurse Jones. If she says
it’s okay, we can have ice cream in the garden.”

Kaylee laid her cards out beside her. “No
looking.”

Kate pushed her hair away from her face and
grinned at her little sister. “Ice cream is serious business. Have
you got an orange kitten?”

Kaylee ran her hand over the cards beside her
and sighed. “Here you go.” She handed Kate a card.

And so it continued. Kaylee lined her cards
up in a row, counting each pair that came her way. Dan knew the
moment her pairs tipped the balance. The smile on Kaylee’s face
would have lit the sky on the
fourth
of July.

“I won,” she cried. “I’ve got fourteen
pairs.”

Kate looked at the cards Kaylee was pointing
at. “Well done. How about I go and see about the ice cream?”

Kaylee nodded her head so hard that Dan
worried about the IV lines attached to the side of her neck. “I’ll
go with Kate,” he told Kaylee. “We’ll be back in a few
minutes.”

He followed Kate out of the room, careful not
to get too close in case she ran in the opposite direction. She
stopped
before they reached the
nurse’s station.

“You think I’m going to leave.”

Her bold statement surprised him.

Kate stood a little taller. “You don’t know
me, but I wouldn’t do that.”

If she knew how much he did know she’d
understand how he felt. People didn’t change. Kate had a record
that would give anyone serious doubts about her ability to stick
around. “What did your employer say about taking another couple of
weeks off work?”

Kate looked away. “She wasn’t happy.”

“Did you get the extra leave?”

“One more week. If I’m not back by the end of
the
month,
I won’t have a job to
go back to.”

Dan didn’t know what to say. Kaylee’s
transplant might not be finished in a week. Kate knew that, but she
was still prepared to stay. “What will you do?”

“Look for another job.” A small smile tugged
at her mouth. “I went to see Loretta Gilbert at The Beauty Box. She
had a sign in her front window, looking for a part time
beautician.”

Dan hadn’t had much to do with The Beauty
Box, but he did know Loretta. She had a heart of gold and saw the
best in everyone. “Did you get the job?”

“I’m going back at four o’clock today. She
wants to see what I can do.”

“Sounds reasonable.”

“I’m helping with a fashion show next Friday,
too. It’s promoting local designers and raising money for Kaylee’s
treatment.”

“You’ve been busy.” Kate frowned and he tried
to remember why he’d followed her.

“I’m okay knowing you don’t like me,” she
said. “But could you at least cut me some slack? I’m doing my best
to fit in and do what I can for Kaylee.”

“I never said I don’t like you.”

Kate snorted. “You could have fooled me. I’m
surprised you haven’t counted the knives and forks on the hospital
trays to make sure I don’t walk off with them.”

Her comment hit close to the reason he’d
followed her into the corridor. “Do I need to?”

Kate’s mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding,
right?”

Dan didn’t say a word, but the look on his
face must have spoken volumes.

Kate’s face turned red. “I almost felt sorry
for you the other day. Anna told me you’d had a hard time in Iraq.
I can’t imagine what it must have been like, but that doesn’t
excuse your rudeness. I’ve done nothing to make you hate me.”

Dan couldn’t believe his sister had been
talking about him. He hadn’t told her the full story about what had
happened during his deployment and he didn’t intend to. It was over
and he wouldn’t rehash things that were better left alone.

“I don’t know you well enough to hate you,”
he said. “But trust is a whole different thing.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You had a run-in with the Police a few years
ago. Normally that kind of petty crime escalates into other things,
but you’ve managed to fly under everyone’s radar. I don’t know if
you’re trying to scam Tom and Anna out of money or if you’ve turned
your life around.”

“I beg your pardon?”

Dan wasn’t fooled by the shocked expression
on her face. “They don’t have a lot of money. Kaylee’s treatment
has cost a fortune. If you’re looking for money you won’t find
any.”

“I don’t want their money. I don’t want
anything from them.” She looked over her shoulder then straight
back at him. “You had no right looking at my police record. It’s
none of your business what happened ten years ago.”

“It is my business when you turn up out of
nowhere offering to help a sister you’ve never met. There’s more
going on than you’re telling us and I plan on finding out what it
is.”

“You could have asked.”

“If I thought you’d tell me the truth I might
have tried.”

“
Well,
you’re out of luck now, Dan Carter. There’s no way I’m going to
tell you why I’m here, so you might as well stop looking. Before
you know it I’ll be gone and out of your life. Now if you don’t
mind, I’ve got more important things to do than talk to you. I need
to find out if Kaylee can have ice cream.” She turned on her heel
and stomped toward the nurse’s station.

He had to admire her courage. She hadn’t
backed down, hadn’t given in to the panic he saw in her eyes. He
could be a real bastard without trying and he’d just managed to
alienate the one person he wanted to keep on their side.

It was up to Kate what happened next, but at
least she knew he was watching her.

***

Kate opened the door to The Beauty Box. A
small bell jingled above her and the smell of
hairspray
and nail polish tickled her nose. She
stood in the reception area, feeling homesick and nervous all at
once.

She remembered the first time she’d stepped
into a beauty salon. The first time she’d seen the difference
carefully applied makeup could make to someone’s confidence, or the
way a new hairstyle could lift a woman’s spirit and make them
smile.

“You made it back.” Loretta Gilbert was the
exact opposite of Kate’s boss in San Diego. With her bouncy blond
curls and
wide
grin, Loretta had
made her feel at home the moment she’d stepped inside the
salon.

“Thanks for giving me the opportunity to work
with you.”

Loretta waved her hand in the air. “No need
for that. You’re doing me a favor. We’ve got three weddings
scheduled for next weekend alone. Come over here and meet
Sally.”

Kate followed Loretta across the room to the
hair styling area. A woman about the same age as Kate waited in a
chair, sipping a hot drink.

“Kate Jennings, this is Sally Grey. Sally is
a school teacher at Bozeman Elementary School.”

“Nice to meet you,” Sally said. “I’m one of
the
bridesmaids
coming in next
weekend.”

“Congratulations.”

Sally wrinkled her nose. “I’ve given up
getting excited. This is the eighth time I’ve walked down the aisle
at someone else’s wedding. You’d think I would
have found
a man of my own by now.”

“He’d have to compete with all of the rescue
animals you take
in,
” Loretta said
with a smile in her voice.

“They need someone to love them.”

“So do you. Now put that drink down and tell
Kate what you want to do with all of your glorious hair.” Loretta
ruffled Sally’s hair, sending waves of thick mahogany curls
everywhere.

“Amy doesn’t mind what hairstyle I choose.”
Sally looked up at Kate. “That’s the bride, my soon to be
sister-in-law. What do you suggest?”

Kate looked at the shape of Kate’s face and
felt the weight of her hair in her hands. “What does your dress
look like?”

“I can do better than tell you. Here’s a
photo.” Sally picked up a cell phone and showed Kate a picture of a
simple off-the-shoulder gown. The wide shawl collar and tight
bodice looked stunning with the floor length ruby red skirt.

“Wow, that’s a beautiful dress.”

“Thanks. So what do you think?”

Kate twisted Sally’s hair into a loose knot
on top of her head, leaving a few wispy strands curling around her
neck. “Do you want a modern, structured hairstyle or something soft
and romantic?”

“Let’s go for soft and romantic,” Sally
sighed. “God knows I need it.”

“Do you want flowers in your hair?”

Sally shook her head. “Last time I had a few
baby rosebuds in my hair and a bee kept buzzing around my head.
Everyone thought it was hilarious except the bee and me. So
definitely no flowers.”