Chapter Three

Kate was in the truck and sitting as far away from Jack as she could get—and they weren't speaking. The truth was that she was in a state of shock from what he'd said last night. A skull toddling across the floor had been a momentary distraction, but there were some things in life that could never be overridden.

Last night, Jack had talked of...well, a child. After he said it, he went to his room and they hadn't spoken of it since. This morning he'd been his usual self. Well, maybe a little quieter, but nothing odd. Certainly nothing to hint at what he'd said.

The lockdown had changed things for all of them. Early in 2020, Gil, Jack's friend and foreman, said he wanted time with his twelve-year-old son, Quinn, so he'd bought some land in the Rocky Mountains. He said he was taking months off so he and Quinn could build a cabin and do some hunting and fishing. Jack wanted to help them get started, so the three of them cleaned out storage units of building materials, loaded two pickups and two trailers, and headed to the mountains.

Right after they arrived, the lockdown began. Jack called Kate and Sara to say that he wanted to stay until the country opened back up. The women were glad for him to have a few weeks of male-only time. When the separation continued, they kept in touch as best they could, considering there was no cell service at the cabin. Sara sent long letters, trying to get laughter out of what was going on at home with Kate and her new circumstances of dueling mothers. Sara dubbed it "The Parent War," with Kate being the center of a lot of seriously unpleasant emotion.

Jack wasn't fooled by Sara's attempt to sugarcoat it all. He knew what Kate was being put through. But he didn't dwell on it as that would have made Kate feel worse. Instead, Jack replied with photos of Gil and Quinn and him fishing, hiking, laughing.

The women could see that he was happy. "You did this," Sara said to Kate. "You changed his life. It's good to see him smile."

They were nice words, but Kate frowned. She missed Jack tremendously.

It was months before he returned—and when he did, he was different. For one thing, he'd changed physically. "A Colorado winter takes off the fat," he said to Sara.

To Kate, he didn't say anything. He just looked at her.

She'd seen photos of him and had laughed with Aunt Sara that Jack and Gil weren't shaving. But Kate was unprepared for the impact this new Jack had on her. His beard was down to his collarbone and there were strands of gray in his hair. It wasn't a perfectly shaped, city-man beard, but scraggly. Like a Viking, she thought. The gray seemed to say that he was now older, wiser, more experienced. More importantly, it seemed to say that now he knew what he wanted in life.

Between the beard and his new leanness, she had that ancient female reaction of her legs turning to butter. If they'd been alone, she wasn't sure she could have stayed upright.

But they hadn't been alone—and it took effort to recover herself while the others talked. Usually, she and Jack tossed words back and forth like little daggers, but this time she could think of nothing. Finally, trying to sound sophisticated, she said, "Good heavens, Jack, you could braid that beard."

He didn't reply, just turned away. But minutes later, when he bent close in front of her to pick up his bag, he said, "You can braid it for me."

Kate drew in her breath so hard she fell against the couch. Jack headed down the hall to his room. He didn't look back.

She thought she'd seen every aspect of him. She'd seen his temper, she'd held him when he'd cried in grief, and she'd experienced the fierce, selfless way he protected the people he loved. But she hadn't seen this man who spoke of her braiding his beard. And oh how she wanted to do it!

It had taken the loud closing of Jack's bedroom door to bring her out of her trance. She shook her head to clear it.

To her embarrassment, her aunt Sara was watching her—and smiling in such a knowing way that Kate's whole body turned red.

"I think I'll see if BH has any ring lights," Sara said in a voice of fake innocence. "Jack could do that TikTok challenge. You know, where he's shirtless and holds the circle light above his head? He'd be half naked, with his muscles showing their deep, dark shadows. I bet he'd get a million followers on the first day." Sara narrowed her eyes as if in warning. "Lots of women will want him."

Kate tried to speak, to make a who-cares? retort, but it wouldn't come out.

Aunt Sara turned away, went to her room, and shut the door.

All that happened on the day Jack returned. The next day he was clean-shaven and he avoided looking directly at her.

Then there was last night. Sara went to bed early so she and Jack were alone in the family room. In the past, he would have pulled her feet onto his lap, like she was his sister. But he didn't.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "Is something bothering you?"

He took his time answering. "Sometimes you see something that you want. I mean, really want. With all your soul."

"Like a piece of jewelry?" she asked, teasing, trying to get it back to normal between them.

He didn't smile. "Like a life. Gil and his son. What they have, what they share. I realized that bond was everything." He took a breath. "I'm tired of living in one room. I want my own house. I want my own...child."

The hair on Kate's neck stood up, but she said, "Are you planning to adopt?"

"I thought maybe I'd try to make one."

Her heart seemed to put itself on hold. "Like building a house? With a hammer and nails?"

Once again, he gave her "that look."

"How about with a hydraulic nail gun on full power?"

His meaning was so clear that Kate couldn't think of anything to say.

He didn't say any more but got up and went to the single room where he lived in Sara's house.

When Kate was alone, she found that she couldn't move. She was frozen in place, her eyes wide, her mind feeling like a centrifuge. What had just happened? Was Jack saying what she thought he was?

She didn't go to sleep until the wee hours, then was awakened by her phone screeching loudly. It was Melissa from the office calling. What now? she thought. They were out of coffee? There was a palmetto bug on the floor? Alligator in the bathroom and Melissa wanted Kate to get it out?

But what Melissa said was that some man was putting the Lachlan House up for sale, and he was demanding that Kate get the listing. Melissa's tone suggested that she considered that unfair. "It's probably because you're so famous." That was meant as a jab.

Kate was used to Melissa so she wasn't bothered. "Lachlan House? That name sounds familiar but I'm not sure why."

"It's the name of this town. Remember?"

As always, Kate ignored her coworker's nastiness. "Maybe I should go see the lister."

"No. He wants you to go to the house today." She rattled off some stats of the house, including words like "magnificent" and "million dollars."

"Why—?" Kate began, but stopped. She knew it was no use asking Melissa what was going on. "Okay. Send me photos. I'll get dressed and go see the place. Is there a lockbox on the door?"

"I don't know. It's not my listing. But then, I'm never considered in any of this. For years I've had to worry if some killer was going to mistake me for you and kill me, but that doesn't mean anyone tells me anything. I just have to endure all of it and—"

Kate hung up. There wasn't a word she hadn't heard Melissa say. One time she'd glared at Kate and said, "Why haven't I been considered as a suspect in your murders?" She sounded like a murderer was a celebrity. Later, when Kate told Sara, her aunt said, "Melissa is a victim-type, not a murderer." Jack and Kate had agreed.

Since that call, Kate thought about how everything had turned upside down. It looked like they were yet again setting out to solve an old murder. They'd done it before, working together, depending on each other—but now things were different. True, her father was with them, but that added, not subtracted.

But the estrangement she felt with Jack was so uncomfortable she didn't know how she was going to function. Not even a skeleton in a closet was taking her mind off the problem.

There was a Publix every mile or so. To Floridians, the stores were a way of life, not just for groceries.

Jack pulled into a parking lot. He turned off the engine but didn't look at her. "Seafood? Salads? What should we get?"

Kate was silent for a moment. "I can't do this. What you said last night was too much."

"Right." His voice was hard and cold. He opened the door and started to get out.

"No!" she half shouted. She knew he was taking what she'd said the wrong way. Stubborn pride, Sara called it. It runs in the Wyatt blood. Kate glared at Jack. "Do not leave this truck."

He closed the door and looked straight ahead.

She took a breath. "I've had days of your innuendos, your hints, and the new way you look at me. I want you to tell me what's going on."

"I..."

She knew he was struggling with pride. "It's me," she said. "You can tell me anything." She was quiet and listened.

He started again. "I'm trying to get up the courage to ask you what Sara would call the question. I greatly fear rejection." Turning, he gave her a look that had no armor on it. He was putting all his feelings out for her to accept—or to destroy.

Kate felt happiness flow through her like lava down a mountain. Until that moment she'd had no idea how much she wanted this. Months without Jack had left an emptiness in her that she hadn't been able to fill. "Are you talking about sharing a house?"

He nodded, not sure if she was agreeing.

"Children?"

His eyes began to sparkle. "Yes."

"You and me? Home? Family? Everything?"

She saw that the sparkle in his eyes was tears. She knew Jack had had a hard life and he'd never thought normal things would come to him.

Kate smiled until her skin seemed to crack. "Well..." she said slowly "...if you did ask me that question, I'd have to say yes." She saw him swallow and he blinked several times. She sat still, thinking he'd kiss her, but he didn't.

"Scallops," he said. "Sara loves them. I think I'll get some steaks too. What do you want?"

Kate quit smiling. "What do you think I want?"

Jack didn't say anything, just got out of the truck, shut the door, then went around to her side, opened her door, held out his hand, and waited for her to take it. He looked at her hand for a moment, then into her eyes. "I love you." He let out his breath. "I've never said that to anyone who isn't a relative. I love you, Kate Medlar. With all my heart and soul, I love you. And I will forever."

"And I love you," she said. "I didn't know how much until you weren't near me every day."

He nodded, as though the deal had been sealed. But he still didn't kiss her, just held on to her hand tightly, and they walked into the grocery store together.

When they were choosing avocados, Kate suggested that they tell no one about the changes between them. "Not yet."

Jack agreed. He said he didn't look forward to all the "speculation about the future."

Kate knew what he was really saying. How did they tell Sara that the inevitable was going to happen? Kate and Jack were going to move into their own home. Sara would be left alone in her huge house where they'd all lived together in such harmony.

In spite of the problems facing them, it was two very happy people who bought way too much food.