LITMIR.BIZ

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her and the sexy contractor. If only Lexi would move….

      “We’re all going to The Coffeepot for breakfast while the kids are in Sunday school,” Lexi announced, her feet firmly planted in front of Kate. “I hope you two will join us.”

      “I don’t thi—”

      “Sure,” Joel said at the same time. “I’d like that.”

      A moment of silence followed. Kate wished sinking through the floor were an option.

      “Dr. Kate doesn’t want to go with you, Daddy.” Chloe’s voice came from behind her father. “I don’t think she likes you.”

      “Apologies, Kate,” she heard him say and the hitch in his voice made her heart twist. “It wasn’t my intent to answer for you.”

      Lexi’s amber eyes remained riveted on Kate, her expression watchful.

      Kate swallowed hard. While she’d vowed to keep her distance, she could not, and would not, embarrass this fine man. Besides, it wasn’t as if this was a date. Lexi had said a whole group was going. It wasn’t as if she had to even sit by him.

      She turned and met Joel’s gaze over her shoulder. “Breakfast sounds wonderful.”

      Her heart tripped over itself as a smile spread across his face. Kate then focused on Chloe. “Everyone likes your father. He’s a great guy.”

      “Including you?” the girl asked, surprising Kate with her boldness.

      Kate didn’t even hesitate. “Including me.”

      “Well, then.” Lexi’s smile broadened. Relief filled her eyes. “Sounds like we have a plan. July and David are already on their way to nab our usual table at the back. We’ll see you two at the café.”

      As Kate walked down the aisle smiling and saying hello to patients and their families, she felt Joel’s hand on the small of her back. Of course, that was only because it was crowded and he was behind her. The gesture was oddly intimate and yet, she found she didn’t mind it at all.

      When they reached the foyer, Chloe headed downstairs to her Sunday school classroom, leaving Kate alone with Joel. They walked in silence to the parking lot.

      “May I give you a ride downtown?” he asked, obviously not wanting to take anything for granted. “Because of the limited parking, it makes sense to take one car. Unless you have somewhere you need to go right after breakfast.”

      He’d graciously left her an out. All Kate had to do was say the word and she could drive separately. If things were different, she’d be thrilled at the thought of spending some one-on-one time with the handsome contractor. But before making the decision to move to Jackson Hole, Kate had promised herself that she’d keep her distance. From Joel. And from Chloe.

      Yet in her deliberations, she’d never considered the possibility they might end up running in the same social circle or have mutual friends.

      This is only breakfast, she reminded herself, nothing more.

      “We might as well go together,” Kate said, stumbling a bit over the last word. “I hope your truck isn’t far because I’m starving.”

      Joel noticed café patrons casting glances their way as he and Kate wove through the crowded dining room of The Coffeepot.

      They weren’t looking at him. It was Kate. She turned heads wherever she went. She was so pretty. Today, her multicolored silky dress showed off her long slender legs to full advantage. She was wearing her trademark heels. Instead of the black ones she’d worn the other day, these were red with a little strap around her ankle.

      Even though it wasn’t fair, Joel couldn’t help comparing her to his deceased wife. Fashionwise, Kate and Amy were as different as night and day. His wife had always preferred simple attire, dresses that showed very little skin and serviceable shoes with only a slight heel. Her taste in jewelry had been equally conservative. All she’d ever worn was her wedding band and tiny gold hoop earrings.

      Amy would never have worn bright dangly ones that couldn’t help but draw a man’s attention to a woman’s slender neck and creamy skin.

      Joel shoved the image of Kate aside and replaced it with a vision of Amy with her short curly blond hair and broad smile. His wife hadn’t needed jewelry; she’d had a natural glow that made everyone sit up and take notice.

      His lips curved upward. Amy had loved people. Loved finding out what made them tick. It didn’t matter who: sales clerks, meter readers, the person standing in front of her in the grocery line. She’d start talking and by the end of the conversation, she had a new friend. Her innate gregariousness had sometimes made it hard for her to understand their daughter’s shyness and need for solitude. But she’d been a wonderful mother and had done a lot to make Chloe more at ease in social situations.

      Unfortunately when Amy had passed away, Chloe had taken a giant leap backward….

      Joel realized with a start that Kate had come to a dead stop. Puzzled, he cast a sideways glance in her direction. Didn’t she realize their destination was just a few feet ahead?

      If he hadn’t been so in-tuned to his daughter’s reaction to similar situations, he might have missed the signs.

      The hesitation on her face.

      The slight furrow to her brow.

      The uneven breaths.

      Even though Kate projected a bold confidence, he realized that she wasn’t cool or aloof. She was … shy.

      A protective urge rose inside him.

      “Walking into a group that’s already gathered can be stressful.” Joel kept his tone conversational and low, for her ears only.

      “I know everyone,” she said, but her sexy red heels remained firmly planted on the shiny hardwood.

      “Yes, you do. And it’s not as if you’ll be talking to all of them at once,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone. “It’ll be just the ones sitting by us.”

      Us. The word flowed easily from his lips. After all those years of being married, he still thought of himself as part of a couple. Joel hoped Kate didn’t take offense.

      She hadn’t seemed to notice. Her focus was on the battle-scarred table up ahead with its old-fashioned tin coffeepot centerpieces sprouting plastic sunflowers. Even though the table was large—holding twelve or even thirteen if someone took the end—there were only three seats left at the far end and a single open chair next to Lexi. Joel assumed that one was saved for Lexi’s husband, Nick.

      A middle-aged waitress with a nose ring and orange lipstick had already begun taking orders.

      “We better sit down.” Joel wrapped his hand around her elbow and gently urged her forward. He took a step away from her before they reached the table.

      “Hello, everyone.” A smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes lifted Kate’s lips.

      As the greetings flew back and forth, Joel positioned himself at the end with the three open chairs. He waited to see where Kate decided to sit so he could pull out her chair.

      For a second her gaze appeared to linger on the chair next to Lexi. But if Kate was hoping to sit next to her friend, that option disappeared when Nick showed up, brushing a kiss against his wife’s cheek and slipping into the chair beside her.

      Joel and Kate had barely gotten settled and picked up the menus when the waitress asked for their orders. The woman obviously knew they had only an hour before they needed to pick up the children and wanted to keep things moving.

      Drinks were already on the table by the time Ryan Harcourt showed up. Unlike the other men at the table who’d come from church, the attorney wore a pair of jeans with holes and a faded navy T-shirt. His thick dark hair was still damp, as if he’d just hopped out of a shower.

      Even

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