CHAPTER 4
A motorcycle. Of course he still rode a motorcycle.
When Ali saw it parked in her driveway, she’d been tempted to kick it over. Before losing Patrick, the worst night of her life had been the one she’d spent thinking that Kade was dead. She’d made him promise never to scare her like that again. But here he was, still riding a bike.
He sat beside Ali in the passenger seat of her SUV and took up way more space than anyone had a right to take up. Not only his sheer mass, since his athletic, chiseled frame took up plenty of that. But she was referring to his essence. His being. His mannerisms. The way he breathed. The way he rolled his head to stretch his neck. The way he flexed his hands and made the veins on his forearms pop out like sexy homing beacons.
All of that was conspiring to cause her hormones to override her common sense that dictated she was not happy that Kade was back.
Ali noticed her hand shaking as she flipped the turn signal. Flexing her fingers around the steering wheel, she was determined not to let anyone see her reaction. She glanced in the rearview mirror and saw that the twins could not be less interested in anything that was going on in the front seat. KJ was glued to his phone and Ricky had his book.
She turned her attention back to the road and focused on driving. The past couple of hours felt like she was in a dream she couldn’t wake up from, she just wasn’t sure if it was a nightmare or not…she was leaning toward nightmare.
Kade, who appeared oblivious to her internal turmoil, turned up the radio and started singing along to Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely”.
Yep, this was definitely a nightmare.
Not because he was a bad singer. Ali wished that was the case. But the cold hard truth was, Kade was musically gifted. And even during the years she’d managed to build up a tolerance to him, his voice had been her Achilles heel. He could also play the piano and the guitar, but there was a raspy quality in his singing voice that melted the panties off of any woman in earshot.
He came by it honestly. From what Ali had heard, his dad was a studio musician in Nashville for years and he’d played with the likes of Willie Nelson, Garth Brooks, Loretta Lynn, Kenny Rogers, and Reba McEntire. Kade never pursued music because the very last thing he wanted to be was anything even remotely like his father, and Ali didn’t blame him. Her life goal was to be nothing like her mother.
Tingles ran down her arm when Kade shifted toward her as he launched into the chorus. Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel as she desperately looked for parking and nabbed the first available spot. It was a few blocks away from the gym, but she didn’t care. She was suffering from arousal claustrophobia in the confined space. Plus, the entirety of downtown Whisper Lake consisted of four blocks of real estate that surrounded the lake. She could park anywhere and they’d still be in walking distance.
Before the SUV had even come to a full stop, she shut off the radio and announced in a way-too-cheery voice, “We’re here.”
KJ mumbled something about her chosen parking spot as the twins both exited the vehicle. She waited for Kade to do the same. Not the grumbling but the leaving. She just needed a minute to herself to attempt to pull it together. When she’d left Kade and Ricky to clean up dinner she’d gone upstairs intending to do just that. Instead she’d changed into jeans and a V-neck shirt. She’d also brushed out her hair and put on mascara and a lip stain that Jess had given her as a gift six months earlier that she hadn’t opened.
She’d told herself that she was doing it because KJ had finally, begrudgingly agreed to let her sit in on a class, but she called bullshit on herself. She was doing it because of one person and one person only.
The man that was still sitting beside her.
So much for a moment alone.
She sighed and reached for the door at the same time his fingers curled over her right forearm. She sucked in a small breath as the tingles that had started moments ago spread through every square inch of her body.
Seriously? Did it have to feel so good when he touched her? It was a maddening phenomenon. Why couldn’t she just be immune to him? Why?!
“Hey, are you okay?” The concern in his voice only irritated her more.
She couldn’t count the number of times that she’d been asked that exact question since Patrick died and each and every time she wanted to scream, No! No I’m not okay! I’m never going to be okay again!
But she never had. Not because she cared what anyone thought. Her mother’s antics in this small town had made her immune to gossip from an early age. She hadn’t done it because she didn’t want to give people the satisfaction of seeing her lose it.
“I’m great!” Her tone dripped with sarcasm as she opened the door since apparently the universe thought that a moment to herself was too much to ask for. “Just hunky fuckin’ dory.”
“Allison!” he called out her full name as she slammed her door.
He was hot on her heels as they rounded the corner and had fallen in step beside her when she heard, “Kade McKnight! Is that you?!”
Looking to her left she saw Betsy Dobrinski’s bouffant hairdo sticking up above the opened trunk of her eighties-model Cadillac.
Oh great. This day just kept getting better.
Mrs. D’s stout arms flew in the air, abandoning her husband’s wheelchair that she’d been in the process of collapsing. “I didn’t know you were coming to town!”
“No one did.” Ali wished she’d known, she would’ve taken the boys on an impromptu getaway. Spring break was the following week, but since that was the rental shops busiest time she could’ve told them it was a pre-spring-break vacation.
“Hey, Mrs. D.” Kade waved.
“Ernie! Did you see who’s here?” She rounded to the passenger side of the car and yelled at the top of her lungs to her husband seated inside.
“Eh?!” His wrinkled face contorted as he leaned toward her.
“Kade!” Mrs. D grabbed Kade’s wrist and tugged him beside her, then pushed his shoulder down, causing him to bend at the waist.
Kade waved to Mr. Dobrinski.
“Oh.” Ernie nodded, looking unimpressed.
Mr. Dobrinski’s lack of enthusiasm did nothing to squelch Mrs. D’s.
The apples of her rosy cheeks grew rounder as she smiled from ear to ear. “The girls are going to be so tickled.”
“The girls” that Mrs. D was referring to were her partners in crime that were eighty-eight and ninety-one respectively. And if you Googled sweet, old ladies Betsy Dobrinski, Pearl Chen, and Doris Weathersby would be the first results. Mrs. D was the spitting image of Mrs. Clause. Mrs. Chen wore shawls, used a cane and probably weighed ninety pounds soaking wet. And Mrs. Weathersby was Whisper Lake’s answer to Betty Crocker, she never showed up anywhere without a basket of delicious baked goods in hand. Their image might be harmless senior citizens but that’s not what they were. They ran this town. They had eyes and ears everywhere as well as time and resources to bend situations and people to their will. They mostly used their powers for good and not evil but get on their bad side and they could make life very uncomfortable for you.
The boss lady trio hadn’t been huge fans of Patrick’s nor Ali’s when they were growing up, thanks to their mother’s antics. The phrase ‘no home training’ had been uttered often. But after Ali lost Patrick, the ladies’ changed their tune. They’d invited Ali to be a part of their knitting club aptly named The Needlepoint Mafia. Like in The Godfather, it was an offer she couldn’t refuse. No one turned down the mob bosses of Whisper Lake. No one.
Mrs. D fawned over Kade as he folded up the wheelchair and stowed it in the trunk. Ali figured now would be a good time to sneak away. She made it two steps before she heard Mrs. D say, “Now you wait just a minute, missy.”
Ali glanced over her shoulder hoping that somehow she wasn’t the “missy” that Mrs. D was referring to. But, unfortunately, lady luck really wasn’t on her side today. A pudgy finger was pointed in her direction as she turned back to face her. “Yes, ma’am?”
“Don’t forget that you’re bringing the snack on Tuesday and Leonora is lactose intolerant, and Beverly has a gluten allergy. Last time you were in charge of snacks the two of them spent three days with the runs.”
Ali tried to erase that visual from her consciousness. “No dairy. No gluten. Got it. See you Tuesday!”
She turned again and noticed that Kade was back at her side. A shiver of awareness rolled through her body like a crowd doing the wave at Wrigley Field. Every time Kade was within spitting distance of her, her body went into arousal overdrive. It had to be pheromones. That was the only explanation.
She needed to Google how to combat her physiological reaction…maybe there was a spray. Like a bug repellant. A Kade repellant.
They’d barely made it out of Mrs. D’s hearing range when Kade leaned down and whispered, “Are you, Allison Leanna Walsh, a card-carrying member of the Needlepoint Mafia?”
“Yep.” She kept her answer short and sweet in the hopes that he wouldn’t notice the shakiness in her voice from the tingles that his breath on her neck had caused.
“Holy shit.” He sounded genuinely shocked, which caused her to grin. “You’re a made woman.”
“Shut up.” She rolled her eyes as she double-timed it up the block.
“Whoa.” Kade breathed, as he slid his hand around Ali’s wrist.
The heat of his large palm warmed her instantly as the roughened pads of his fingers sent a chill through her. The hot-cold combo caused goosebumps to rise on her skin and she tugged her hand away.
“What?” Her tone sounded more irritated than she actually was.
Kade didn’t seem to notice her bitchiness as he lifted his chin toward the lake. “Look.”
Her eyes cut in the direction he was staring and she saw that the sun was setting behind Stone Castle that sat on a bluff overlooking the lake. Oranges, purples, and yellows silhouetted the landmark and danced across the serene water.
Ali couldn’t remember the last time she’d noticed a sunset, or a sunrise, or flowers blooming, or a clear blue sky. Growing up the only thing she’d liked at all about living in Whisper Lake was the natural beauty that the tiny, tourist trap of a town was surrounded by. No matter how much she hated the dull, small town where everyone knew everyone’s business, she could always find peace by just looking out over the lake or better yet going out to Foster Pond and sitting in the gazebo watching the ducks swim.
But since Patrick had been gone, even that had lost its appeal. Everything was gray.
She sensed Kade leaning toward her and she froze when she felt the heat of his breath fan the wispy hairs that fell over her neck.
“Do you still think it’s haunted?” His tone was taunting.
Patrick and Kade had always mocked Ali about her unwavering belief in the urban legend of Stone Castle’s ghost activity. Their teasing hadn’t swayed her when she was ten and it sure as heck wasn’t going to sway her at twenty-eight.
“Yes.” She turned her head slightly ready to launch into the same spiel she’d given every time her beliefs were called into question, but when she locked eyes with him her ability to speak flew right out the window.
Forget the sunset, Kade’s eyes were a natural wonder. Their outer rim was a forest green and the center was a translucent emerald shade with gold specks floating in them. His stare was hypnotizing. The rest of the world disappeared and Ali found herself being pulled under a mesmerizing spell.
“Uncle Kade!” KJ stuck his head out of the door to the gym and waved his arm. “Come on.”
Ali blinked and the rest of the world came back into focus.
“Are you okay?” Kade’s brow creased as he gave her wrist a squeeze. “I thought I lost you there for a second.”
You did. She’d gone full Debbie Gibson Lost in Your Eyes.
“I’m great.” She tugged her hand away and strode into the gym.
She needed to stick to her plan of avoiding Kade. No more sunsets and long stares. No more falling under spells.
As she stepped inside the gym a chill ran through her. She attributed it to the air conditioning and not the person whose breath she could still feel against her neck. But just to be safe she dipped her head and rubbed the back of her neck to try and erase the sensation he’d caused.
It didn’t work.
“Hi, Ali.”
She looked up and saw Keaton Mills, KJ’s coach, standing in front of her wearing a wide smile that revealed a perfect row of white teeth.
She lifted her hand in a wave. “Hi.”
He’d moved to town a couple of years earlier and was well-liked. Men liked him because he was a guy’s guy and women liked him because he had ice blue eyes, jet black hair, a body that could easily be featured in a men’s fitness magazine, and an air of mystery that was hard to come by when you grew up in a small town.
KJ proudly introduced him to Kade and the two men wasted no time before they started talking shop. Ali took her place with the other parents. She searched the room and found Ricky on the far side in a solo chair, reading.
Since losing her brother she’d read a ton of grief-management books. Some of them were total crap but most of them had at least one or two nuggets of information or inspiration that she’d clung to. And one thing she’d learned was that grief was as individual and personal as a fingerprint. No two people’s experience was the same. There was no timeframe, formula, or template to follow. Sure, there were stages and general similarities but each person had to go through and work out their own emotions for themselves. She hoped that was what Ricky was doing. That he was escaping into other worlds as a form of therapy. She just wished she knew whether or not that was the case.
Kade’s voice caught her attention and when she looked back on the mats she saw that he was running drills beside Coach Mills.
The two men were about the same height and build. Both had dark hair and five o’clock shadows covering strong jaws. Both were good looking and had the same Alpha vibe. But there was just something about Kade. Something extra. Something intangible that pulled Allison in like a magnet.
The murmurs in the crowd told her that her attention wasn’t the only one being pulled in Kade’s direction. She didn’t catch what everyone was saying but she heard the keywords “Kade” and “hot” a lot.
She was still trying to wrap her brain around the fact that he was actually here.
This morning had started out like any other. She hit her snooze button two too many times, making her just late enough to panic her and throw off any semblance of a routine. She fought with KJ, dropped the boys off at school and got to the office ten minutes late. She got home from work expecting it to be another predictable evening of dinner, dropping KJ off at class, coming home and watching Ellen (which she DVR’d every day), cleaning, picking KJ up, coming home, and going to bed.
Then he showed up.
Feeling a sudden bout of overwhelming anxiety from the surreal-ness of the day, she decided it was time to send out the bat signal. Jess would be just finishing up at her salon, The Mane Attraction, and the gym was on her way home. She needed her bestie to come and save her.
She sent the text and then sat back and waited for backup.
After a few minutes of observing the class, she was starting to feel a little bit calmer until the unthinkable happened. Ricky set his book down and joined his brother on the mat. Ali’s jaw dropped as she watched the twins start running drills with Kade. KJ was smiling from ear to ear as he rolled on the mat with Ricky. He’d wanted Ricky to take classes with him but he’d never been interested.
A sick feeling sank in Ali’s stomach like a bag of rocks in a lake. This was bad. Really bad. KJ was smiling and Ricky had put his book down. Both boys were mesmerized by Kade, totally and completely under his spell and she couldn’t blame them. He was charisma personified. But what was she going to do when Hurricane Charisma got bored and bounced, leaving two devastated boys in his wake?
The twins had always loved Kade, but they’d never needed him before. They’d had their dad. But Patrick was gone now and as hard as she’d tried Kade had accomplished more in a few hours than she had in the past eighteen months. This was one day. What if he stayed a week? Or two? How much more attached would they be?
She was so lost in thought she didn’t even see Jess come in and she jumped when she heard her oldest friend’s whisper.
“What did that little fucker do now?”
“Ehem.” Chrissy Caldwell cleared her throat as her eyes widened down to ten-year-old Connor, and eight-year-old Cassidy. “Little ears.”
There was a reason she’d been nicknamed Prissy Chrissy.
“Sorry Prissy…I mean Chrissy.” Jess apologized…sort of, before returning her attention to Ali and speaking even quieter, “I got your text. What did KJ do…whoa?” Jess’s electric blue eyes widened as she stared at her friend. “What’s wrong? You look like you just saw a ghost.”
Ali tilted her head toward the mat.
Without saying a word, Jess turned her head to where Kade was holding court.
“Holy shi—”
Chrissy’s face turned back in horror.
“—take mushroom,” Jess finished. “Holy shitake mushroom!”
“What is he doing here?” Jess said the word as if she were referring to Satan himself. Ali was relieved her bestie hadn’t also fallen under the Kade McKnight spell.
“KJ wanted him to come to his class. I think he was excited for him to meet Keaton.”
Jess’s brow furrowed. “No. I mean what is he doing in Whisper Lake?”
“He came to see the boys.”
“Did you know he was coming?”
“Nope. I was doing laundry, making dinner, and got a knock on the door.”
“After all this time?! He just shows up?!”
“Yep.”
Kade’s ears must’ve been burning because he chose that moment to look over in their direction. When he saw them he smiled and lifted his hand in a wave. Jess returned his greeting by flipping him the bird, which caused Chrissy to gasp in horror.
“Where is tall man?” Jess began to sing as she flipped him the bird with her other hand as well. “Where is tall man?”
Chrissy turned back around unamused but Ali couldn’t help but chuckle. “Nice save.”
Jess grinned before shaking her head. “So he just shows up and now he’s what…running the class?”
“Apparently.”
“Where the hell has he been?”
“I don’t know.”
Jess’s face registered disbelief. “You didn’t ask him?”
“I asked him.”
“What did he say?”
“When he started to answer I told him I didn’t want to hear it,” Ali admitted. Sitting here now, she wished she’d handled that interaction differently.
“How long is he staying?”
“No idea. Not long, I’m sure.”
“Where’s he going to stay while he’s seeing the boys?”
“With us.”
“Do you want to stay at my house while he’s here?” she offered like the amazing best friend she was.
“No. I don’t want to disrupt the boys’ schedule.”
Jess hooked her arm through Ali’s and laid her head on her shoulder. “I’m not worried about the boys.”
For the first time in eighteen months, neither was Ali.