Her Hometown Hero (2 page)

“Don’t rightly know. That, you’ll have to ask Kit.”

“Probably not. She never stays away from the dance world for long. Can’t, if she wants to stay on top.” For a moment Nate remembered how football had been for him in high school and college, at times taking over his life. “It’s like a football player training for the Super Bowl. It’s a nonstop process if you want to succeed, and if there’s anything I know about Kit, it’s that she likes to succeed and do her best.” Like him, except football hadn’t been his dream but his dad’s as a means to pay for college.

Bud’s craggy features split in a wide grin, the grooves on his tanned face deepening. “Yeah, that’s my gal.”

“Then why is she here? The spring season hasn’t ended for her ballet company. Why come all the way to the ranch for a short recovery?”

Bud’s bushy eyebrows hiked up. “You don’t know?”

Nate shook his head.

“The recovery isn’t as short as all that. She was injured four months ago.”

Four months and she still hadn’t recovered? Then the injury was more involved than Beth had led him to believe. For a few seconds he wondered if Kit might be back for good. Hope flared for an instant, only to be iced over with dashed dreams. She’d been injured before and went back to dancing—every time.

Nate released a long breath. “I’d better make sure Cinnamon is still all right.”

“Yeah, I totally agree. I’m sure Kit will want to ride Cinnamon as soon as possible. She always does when she comes home to visit.” Bud bent over and lifted a bale of hay, then sauntered toward the last stall.

Nate threw a glance over his shoulder toward the cabin. Would he see her again tonight?
And why do I care? She’s made it clear that all we could ever be is friends because her life is dance.

* * *

When Kathleen stepped out onto the porch, she took a deep breath, the scent of mowed grass and roses from the multitude of bushes comforted her. She’d forgotten how much she missed this place, especially the horses. She’d missed Cinnamon. Hopefully the mare wasn’t dangerously ill. Although her brother didn’t seem to think it was anything serious, she needed to hear the diagnosis from Dr. Harris.

Noticing the red truck still parked near the paddock, Kathleen made her way toward the barn. When she entered the large black structure, where she’d spent many hours as a child, it took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the dimmer light. Unless Howard moved Cinnamon, the mare usually stayed in the second-to-last stall on the right when she wasn’t in the pasture. Kathleen headed toward the stall, limping slightly, her leg throbbing. The day’s travel had been hard on her injury. She’d use that as a reason to cut the evening short.

A large man, dressed in jeans and a long-sleeve, light blue shirt backed out of the stall, grasping a brown bag. Beneath a tan cowboy hat, dark, almost black, hair curled at the top of his collar. With broad shoulders and slim waist and hips, the man wasn’t Dr. Harris. She halted. Something was familiar about the guy with his back to her.

Then he turned toward her.

Nate Sterling. Her high school sweetheart—until he went away to college and she left to pursue a career as a ballerina.

She swallowed her gasp as his soft, gray gaze settled on her. The corners of his eyes crinkled with a smile lighting his features. For a few seconds she was whisked back to eight years ago when she’d said goodbye to him. He was a year older than her and had been a sophomore at Auburn in Alabama, where he was attending on a football scholarship.

The long distance hurt their budding romance. The summer after she’d graduated from high school, she’d left Cimarron City for San Francisco to be part of a ballet company, and they’d drifted further apart over the months. When she was offered a position in a corps de ballet for a New York company, she’d told him it wasn’t working and they needed to cut their ties all together. Worrying about their relationship drew her focus away from her dancing. New York was her big chance. She needed to concentrate on her career while she was young, not on a man over halfway across the country.

“Hi, Kit. I heard you were coming home.”

Her throat closed, the sound of his deep husky voice shivering down her spine. In the years they had been apart, it had grown huskier and deeper. Nate was also taller than he’d been by at least a couple of inches. He must be almost six and a half feet. His features—an aquiline nose, high cheekbones, square jaw—were sharper. Clearing her throat, she forced herself to speak. “You’re a vet now? I thought you were thinking about medical school.”

“In high school, sure. But during my sophomore year in college, I realized I wanted to treat animals, come back here.”

Whereas Cimarron City could never offer her what she wanted. “Oh,” she murmured, pressing her lips together, trying to remember if he had ever told her about his changed plans. By then they were only talking a couple of times a week that soon turned into only once a week. By Christmas of his sophomore year, she’d known it was over. She’d figured he felt the same way. He’d been troubled and not his usual self and for the first time in their relationship, not communicative. They had been going in opposite directions ever since she’d graduated from high school and become focused totally on her career.

He seemed to be waiting for her to reply. She needed to say something or go. The urge to escape was strong, especially when his gaze brushed down her length. Did he know about her leg? She’d asked Howard not to tell others in town, and with long pants it was easy enough to hide her deformity. “How’s Cinnamon doing?” she finally inquired, needing to ask about her horse before departing.

“I can treat her colic with antibiotics. She should be better in a few days. I’ll come back and check on her, but you should be able to ride her by next week.”

“Oh, good.” She concentrated on walking without limping toward the stall. She wasn’t ready to answer a thousand questions concerning her injury and her leg. But the act of doing that caused her leg to ache even more.

Nate sidled away to allow her to look into the stall where Cinnamon stood. The quarter horse neighed at the sight of her and came to the door, nudging Kathleen with her head. She stroked Cinnamon, her coat reddish-brown—similar to Kathleen’s own hair color. That was what had drawn her to the filly when she was born on the ranch twelve years ago. When she wasn’t dancing, she had been riding. Those had been her two favorite activities as a teen. She couldn’t dance anymore, but she should be able to ride. The thought boosted her spirits.

“I’ll be back tomorrow to check on you, girl.” She rubbed her hand down the white blotch on the mare’s nose, then blew her a kiss, something she had done from the very beginning whenever she was leaving Cinnamon.

Kathleen rotated toward Nate, her mouth lifting slightly in a smile. “Are you working with Dr. Harris?”

“Yes, I’m his new partner. He’s great to work with, and his practice keeps expanding. I’m handling all the big animals and the house calls to the ranches.”

“Then you must be on the road a lot.”

“Usually half my day. We should go out to dinner and catch up while you’re still in town. I imagine you won’t be staying long. How’s your injury? When will you be returning to New York?”

Her chest constricted. Her breath burned her throat.
He knew about her leg?
“My plans aren’t settled yet. I’m just focusing on recuperating for now.” How much did he know? Surely her brother and Beth wouldn’t have betrayed her and told Nate.

“If you want to go to dinner, let me know. You’ve got to do something while you’re here healing.”

Something in the tone of his voice indicated he wasn’t totally convinced having dinner with her was a good idea, and she had to agree. He was the past, and at the moment she didn’t have much of a future.

“My plans are up in the air right now. I just arrived today. I’ll call you when I can.” Kathleen slowly backed away. She couldn’t see him. He knew her too well. Before they had dated in high school, he’d been her good friend, both of them hanging out with the same crowd. She couldn’t take pity, from him or anyone else. That was one of the reasons she’d fled New York. “See you around.” She turned and walked as fast as she dared, again putting all her concentration into walking without a slight limp.

She heard Nate call her name, but she kept going, escaping outside. Being around Nate would only bring back those times she’d had a dream to be a ballerina. That dream was shattered now, and she didn’t want to be reminded. But as she headed for the main house, she couldn’t get him out of her mind. He looked good. Too good for her peace of mind.

At least she had dodged the bullet, as the cliché went. Now that she knew he drove a red Silverado, she would avoid the barn area when he was at the ranch. She would also stress to her brother and his wife that they were not to say anything about her injury, which would only provoke questions about what happened. Questions about the car accident that she wanted so desperately to forget.

She halted at the bottom of the stairs to the two-story house she grew up in and sank down to the second step. She shut her eyes to the ranch about her. Immediately the streets of New York City filled her mind. With wall-to-wall people jamming the sidewalks, it was difficult to weave her way through the crowd. Noises bombarding her from all angles—horns honking, loud voices, a siren in the distance. But all her focus was on getting to her ballet rehearsal on time, the last one before the opening performance—her big break, something she’d been working years to accomplish. She was starring as the lead in
Wonderland,
a new ballet she’d even helped choreograph. She was ready. She could do it.

Then without checking if the traffic had really stopped, she stepped out into the street when the light indicated she could cross. The sounds of screeching brakes reverberated in her ears as she felt the impact of the truck against her body. Then nothing...until she woke up in the hospital with her left leg amputated from the knee down.

In that instant, her dream died.

Chapter Two

K
athleen stared at the nearby pasture where some mares with their babies grazed. There was something about the scene that eased the sense of panic the flashback to her accident had caused. For the first couple of weeks afterward, she had relived it several times a day. Now it was only every once and a while. Progress.

She grasped on to that and rose. Climbing the stairs to the back deck, she knocked on the sliding glass door to the den, which flowed into the kitchen area and breakfast nook. Beth waved and hurried to let her in.

Before she could step inside, her sister-in-law engulfed her in a hug. “It’s great to see you.” She moved to the side so Kathleen could enter. “Is everything all right at the cabin?”

“Yes. Thanks for getting it ready and stocking my kitchen.” Beth and Nate were the same age and had been friends growing up. In fact, Nate had introduced Beth to Kathleen and later to Howard. As Beth started dating her brother, Kathleen and she had become good friends. “You haven’t said anything to anyone about what happened to me in New York, have you?”

“No. You asked us not to. I’ll respect your wishes, although I don’t agree with them.” Beth combed her long brown bangs back and hooked them behind her ear, the gesture drawing Kathleen’s attention to her sister-in-law’s attractive features with green eyes, full lips usually set in a grin and a creamy complexion with a few freckles across her pert nose.

“What do Carrie and Jacob know?”

“I haven’t told them anything other than that you’re going to be staying here for a while. You said you want to tell them when you’re ready.” She smiled. “Besides, if I had told them, the whole world would know by now.”

“I’ll tell them when the time is right.” She wasn’t sure it ever would be, but she also knew she wouldn’t be able to keep the truth from her niece and nephew for long. Maybe soon she would finally get a handle on what she was dealing with. Then she could explain it in a calm voice that would reassure Carrie and Jacob she would be all right.

But will I be all right?

She shoved that question away as her niece and nephew ran into the den, saw her and rushed across the room. Kathleen braced herself for their hugs. Before she could say anything, eight-year-old Carrie slowed down as she neared her, but her six-year-old nephew threw himself at her. Beth tried to intervene, but she didn’t move fast enough. Kathleen rocked back, the glass door stopping her fall.

“Jacob,” Beth shouted. “Is that any way to greet your aunt? Bowl her over?”

With a wide grin, revealing a missing front tooth and sandy-blond hair lying at odd angles, Jacob leaned back, his arms still clasping Kathleen. “Sorry, Aunt Kit. I can’t believe you’re gonna be here for a while.” He crooked his forefinger, signaling she should bend over.

Kathleen did, shifting her weight off her prosthetic leg. “You’re growing like a weed. You’re going to be taller than me in no time.”

Jacob’s smile grew. “I’m gonna be like Dad. Big.” Then he planted a kiss on her cheek.

Which made up for his overenthusiastic greeting. Kathleen mussed his hair, then held out her arm to draw Carrie to her. “I’ve missed you two.”

“We’ve missed you,” her niece announced. “My birthday will be in two weeks. Are you gonna be here for that?”

“Are you sure, Carrie? Didn’t you just have one?” Kathleen teased, knowing how important birthdays in the Somers family were.

“No, I’m positive,” Carrie replied in dead seriousness while shaking her head at the same time, her brown-haired pigtails swishing from side to side.

“Well, in that case, I’ll put it on my calendar.” Kathleen stared into Carrie’s cobalt-blue eyes, so similar to hers.

“Okay, kids. Give your aunt some breathing room. You two are supposed to be setting the table. But first wash your hands. So scoot. I’m starved.” Beth shooed them away.

As the two children ran out of the room as fast as they’d come in, Howard entered. “I see you’re here.”

“Don’t sound so surprised. I know how to follow directions, and if I’m not mistaken, I was instructed to be here for dinner or you all were going to invade my home.”

Howard harrumphed. “You may know how to follow directions, but that doesn’t mean you do. Don’t forget I know you well.”

“Yes, yes. For twenty-six years as you informed me earlier.” Kathleen ignored her brother and swung her attention to Beth. “Can I help you?”

The doorbell rang.

Carrie yelled from the front of the house. “I’ll get it.”

“Me, too,” Jacob chimed in, even louder than his sister.

“I fear for whoever is at the door.” Kathleen started toward the kitchen with Beth. “Are you expecting anyone?”

Beth stopped in her path. “Since you mentioned it—”

“Dad, Mom, Dr. Nate’s here,” Carrie announced for the whole ranch’s benefit a second before Nate made his way into the den.

Kathleen’s gaze locked with his, her heartbeat reacting with a faster tempo. Seeing him at the barn was all she could handle for her first day back home. He’d always been so perceptive. He’d figure out how serious her injury really was if he was around her for too long.

“Nate is coming to dinner, too,” Beth finished.

* * *

A room separated Nate and Kit, but he could tell even from a distance something wasn’t right with her. He wanted to press her for answers, but it wasn’t really his place anymore. They had ended their relationship, not on a bad note exactly, but not a good one, either. He’d loved Kit, but things hadn’t worked when they were young.

He’d finally accepted that and moved on. He’d even dated and become engaged, but in the end he and Rebecca hadn’t been right for each other. After a second breakup, he’d decided to pour his energy into establishing himself as a veterinarian and building up his practice with Dr. Harris at Harris Animal Hospital.

Maybe Kit had it right to put her job before all else. He still wished her the best and prayed the Lord filled her life, but after that brief time in the barn, perhaps he should keep his distance. Seeing her again made him think of what could have been. Now it was too late.

Nate plastered a smile on his face and crossed the den. “Cinnamon should be fine, but I’ll come again and check on her,” he assured Howard.

“That’s a relief. With Kit back, I want Cinnamon well.” Howard settled his arm over his wife’s shoulder. “Are we having dinner soon?”

Beth laughed. “Some things don’t change, Kit. Howard still wants his dinner by six. Give me ten minutes to finish up and for the kids to get the table set. It’s a nice evening. Why don’t you all go out on the deck, and I’ll call you when it’s ready?”

“Are you sure I can’t help you?” Kathleen asked, a reserve in her expression, her chin lifted slightly, her gaze on Howard and Beth as if she was trying to avoid eye contact with Nate.

She was used to performing before thousands of people, and he was beginning to feel that was what she was doing now. Why? What was going on here?

“I’ve got everything covered. Go enjoy the gorgeous spring day.” Beth scurried toward the kitchen.

Howard slid the door open and swept his arm across his body. “After you two.” Once Nate and Kit exited the house, Howard poked his head outside. “I just remembered I have to make a call to the feed store. See you two in a few minutes.”

As the door closed, a frown descended over Kit’s face.

“We can go back inside,” Nate said, watching her usual expressive dark blue eyes dull, her mouth tightening even more. Again he sensed something happened that he was missing. What could be upsetting her? She was injured, but by the way she, her brother and Beth acted it hadn’t been that serious. She would spend some time here and return to New York. Why would she be so tense and uneasy over the prospect of a brief visit? Had something else happened—something outside of her injury?

“No, that’s fine.” She turned around and leaned against the railing, her hands gripping it so hard her knuckles whitened.

“No, it’s not. What’s going on? You seem upset to be here.”

She stiffened, nothing relaxed about her now, although she still tried to appear calm. “Why would I be upset? I’m visiting my family. I have done that periodically. You’re the one that hasn’t been in Cimarron City.”

Her defensive tone put him on alert. He bridged the space between them and sat against the railing, folding his arms over his chest. “I’ve been here almost a year.”

“So you were here last Christmas?”

“I was living here but wasn’t in Cimarron City for the holidays. I went to Gulf Shores to be with my mom and dad. It seems you and I keep missing each other.” Only confirming in his mind that they were never meant to be together as a couple.

“Two ships passing in the night,” she said with a forced chuckle. “I’m surprised Howard and Beth didn’t tell me you were back.”

“And they didn’t tell me you were coming to visit until I showed up today. How long are you going to be here?”

She shrugged her slender shoulder, staring at the pasture beyond the backyard, her profile more angular than he remembered, but her brown hair, with red highlights, pulled back into a ponytail was exactly the same as it had always been.

Frustrated, he released a long breath. “I know we haven’t seen each other in years, but...” But what? They had parted because they weren’t in love enough to put aside their dreams for each other. He’d been trying to play college football, which paid his way through Auburn, and trying to fulfill what his father wanted him to do—go pro when he graduated or become a medical doctor. But in the end neither path had worked for him. By his junior year he could no longer pretend those choices were what he wanted. As for being with Kit...that choice had been taken out of his hands.

Kit slanted a glance toward him. “I’m not who I was.”

“Neither am I.”

“Yeah, you never went pro. In fact, you stopped playing football your senior year.”

“By then I couldn’t juggle the demands of premed and football. I chose my studies over the game.” A game his father had played and in which he had achieved some success as a pro athlete. Dad had been hurt that Nate had not followed in his footsteps. And then when Nate decided to go into veterinary medicine instead of becoming a medical doctor, his dad had been disappointed again in his decision.

“A lot has changed since then for both of us.”

The sadness in her eyes touched his heart. He reached out and grazed his forefinger down her arm, the physical contact between them electrifying. “That doesn’t mean we can’t still be friends. We were once.” The words came out of his mouth before he could censor them. Okay, it wasn’t that bad. They could be casual friends. Surely he could do that. He’d had over eight years to get over Kit.

Her eyes glistened. “I don’t have anything to offer a friend right now. I...” She shook her head. “Tell Howard and Beth I’ll talk to them tomorrow morning. I’m going to have to skip dinner. I’m too tired from traveling all day.” She pivoted and strode toward the steps leading to the yard.

He wanted to go after her, but she’d erected a high wall between them. He knew she was hurting. He just didn’t know why. “Don’t go. They’ll think I drove you away. Did I?”

At the bottom of the stairs, she paused and looked up at him. “No, not really. I just can’t do this right now.” Then she walked toward the road that led to the cabin.

He started to follow when the sliding glass door opened.

“Where’s Kit?” Howard asked.

“Going back to the cabin.”

“Why?”

“I’m not sure what happened, but she wanted me to tell you that she was tired and would see you all tomorrow.”

“Did she tell you anything else?”

Nate studied his friend’s face. “No, not really. Should she have?”

Howard’s mouth twisted into a frown. “I had hoped she would.”

“What?”

“I can’t say. She has to.”

“There’s something wrong. I knew it. Is it her injury?”

Howard swung around. “Dinner is ready.”

Nate gritted his teeth. What were they hiding? He intended to find out. Maybe the injury was worse than she had made it out to be. Had she been asked to leave the New York ballet company since she became hurt in the middle of their spring season? That would bother her since she’d dreamed of working with them above any other dance company. But if that was the case, he was certain she could triumph over the obstacle. When Kit performed, she pulled a person into the ballet story with grace and poise. She had so much to give the world with her abilities. Surely there was another company she could work with, if that was why she was upset.

He told himself it wasn’t really his concern. Whatever was troubling Kit, he was sure she’d find a solution—one that would take her far away from Cimarron City, and back to the world she’d chosen over him.

* * *

Having removed her prosthetic leg, Kathleen used her crutches to move around the cabin. She was thankful that Beth had stocked the kitchen, because she was hungry. She’d been looking forward to a good dinner, but had been driven earlier by her wheeling emotions to flee her brother’s house. When would she be ready to deal with others? Maybe she would have been better off staying in her apartment in New York, where she could be one of anonymous millions, in a town where she wouldn’t have to deal with others’ questions.

A moment of madness had prompted her to sublease her apartment for a couple of months and escape to Oklahoma. That, and her brother and Beth hammering at her resolve to stay in New York City. But the main motivator for her to leave had been when her dance buddies began ignoring her wishes to be alone and started dropping by to cheer her up. Nothing they did had worked. She knew she needed a change of scenery. As soon as she’d received the necessary help with her new prosthetic limb and the physical therapy she needed to be able to get around on her own, she’d hopped on a plane. She’d put everything into that, and since she was in good physical shape, she had succeeded quickly.

Now what do I do?

Kathleen rummaged in the refrigerator and withdrew some sliced turkey, lettuce and a tomato. As she searched for the bread, a knock sounded at her door. She thought of ignoring it, but when whoever was outside rapped again, she knew she had to answer it and tell the person face-to-face that she was going to bed soon and would talk later.