LITMIR.BIZ

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into a thin line, probably from the effort it was taking Charlene not to spill out her own opinions about Carter Ross. Her mother had strongly opposed Katrina’s decision to go with him on his quest to climb the highest point in every country in South America.

      It’s too dangerous. You aren’t serious with the man, anyway. Why do you have to go halfway across the world with him?

      All valid points, Kat could admit now. At one point, her mother had even sworn she would never speak with her again if she left with him. Obviously, that had been a hollow threat. More’s the pity.

      To her mother’s credit, she hadn’t uttered so much as an I-told-you-so after Katrina’s tenuous relationship with Carter barely survived two of the countries on the list. That didn’t make it any easier for Kat to admit her mother had been right all along.

      “No doubt he’s fine, but I couldn’t say for certain. We went our separate ways several months ago.”

      That was a polite way of sugarcoating the truth, she supposed. He had been an ass and she had been stupid. Her mistakes still stung, though not with the pain of a broken heart. She hadn’t wanted forever, she reminded herself. That didn’t prevent her from feeling betrayed when he had basically abandoned her in a foreign country without money, credit cards or her passport.

      “I still don’t understand why you didn’t just pack your bags and come back home after you and he-who-shall-remain-nameless broke up,” Sam said.

      Funny, how a lack of money, credit cards and passport could impact travel plans. Even after all that had been remedied with help from the embassy in Bogotá, something had kept her there.

      “I didn’t really go down to South America for him. He was the excuse, not the reason,” she said, which had been one of the points of contention between her and Carter. He’d wanted her undivided attention.

      “Once I was already there, immersed in other cultures and getting to know the people, I found I really enjoyed the adventure of it. Except for the years I was in college in Boise, I’ve never lived anywhere else but Haven Point. I decided this was a good chance for me to travel the world a bit, see what might be out there beyond the border of our little town.”

      “That’s easy,” Barbara Serrano said with a laugh. “Shelter Springs starts about three miles north of us. But take my advice, don’t bother going there unless you absolutely have to. The natives aren’t very friendly.”

      She laughed along with the rest of the Helping Hands. The rivalry between the two towns was ever-present.

      “I know what you’re talking about,” Hazel said after the laughter subsided. “When Donald and I were first married, we spent a year in the Philippines while he was stationed there in the air force. Best year of our marriage, even though we lived in base housing surrounded by mostly Americans. I adored going to the street markets, trying the cuisine, seeing how other people lived. I missed my hometown and my family but loved seeing a different culture. It opens the mind.”

      “Yes. Exactly.”

      “I hope, like I did, you’ve learned a little more about the world and a whole lot more about yourself.”

      She smiled warmly at Hazel, the first person who seemed to truly understand her experience these last nine months.

      “I have,” she said.

      “Tell them about your latest wild hair,” Charlene said, her tone sharp but her eyes filled with concern.

      Her mother was strongly against her plans to adopt Gabriela. She thought Katrina was acting on a whim, jumping into something for which she wasn’t prepared. Instead of being excited, as Katrina had hoped, her mother was full of dire predictions about how she was limiting her future options by taking on this lifelong responsibility to a stranger at a time when she should be looking to settle down and have children of her own.

      She could only hope Charlene’s opposition would fade when she had the chance to meet Gabi, to look into those dark eyes and see the life and joy and possibility in them.

      “Is this about what happened in the grocery store with Bowie Callahan?” Sam interjected. “That was the craziest thing.”

      The entire collection of shower guests seemed to perk up, merely at the man’s name. She would have found it amusing if she hadn’t felt a subtle little shiver rippling through her insides.

      “Now, there’s someone I wouldn’t mind packing along in my truck on a world tour,” Hazel said with her sly, lascivious grin.

      “He is one fine-looking man,” Lindy Grace Keegan purred.

      Yes. Katrina wholly agreed. Which was all the more reason for her to stay away from him. Her decision-making track record around fine-looking men was dismal at best.

      “What happened with Bowie Callahan?” Charlene asked, eyes wide. “I had no idea you even knew the man.”

      Thanks for that, Sam. She aimed a sharp look at her friend, who gave her an apologetic shrug.

      “I don’t know him. Not really. I met him today after I had a bit of a situation with his younger brother.”

      “Bowie Callahan has a younger brother?” Barbara Serrano looked shocked. “Now, there’s something I didn’t know—and here I was under the impression I knew everything that went on around this town.”

      “He does. His name is Milo and he’s very cute. Around five or six years old, I would guess.”

      “Six,” Eliza chimed in.

      “He’s very cute,” Samantha said. “Though he seems like a handful. He was having a fit in the store and Kat headed him off, so now Bowie wants to hire Katrina to be Milo’s nanny for a couple of weeks while she’s in town. He apparently offered her a boatload of money. Can you believe she said no?”

      “Tell him I’ll do it for free,” Hazel said, with that grin again.

      “Why on earth would you turn him down?” Wyn asked.

      “I came home for your wedding, not to solve a family crisis for some rich, self-absorbed executive I don’t even know.”

      She instantly regretted her words, spoken more harshly than she really intended. They seemed to fall on the shower guests like a sudden cloudburst.

      “You don’t have to be rude,” Charlene said, clear reprimand in her voice as if Katrina were eight years old again and had eaten something that wasn’t on her approved ketogenic, antiseizure diet.

      “Bowie is actually a very nice man, which you would know if you’d spent more than a few minutes with him,” her mother said. “Why, the very first week he was in town, he stopped to help me load my groceries.”

      “And he gave a sizable donation to the fund-raiser for a new library,” Julia offered in her quiet voice.

      “For what it’s worth, I’ve always found him very nice—and Ben and Aidan have nothing but good to say about him,” Eliza put in.

      “They all went to school together,” McKenzie added. “You should hear some of their stories about their time together.”

      When the entire formidable force that was the Haven Point Helping Hands ganged up on a person, it was like being steamrolled by an avalanche.

      “Okay, okay. I get it. The man is a saint. That still doesn’t mean I want to spend my limited time home babysitting his kid brother.”

      Just like with Milo and his behavior issues, sometimes the best strategy was simple diversion, and she quickly changed the subject. “Now, isn’t it about time for some delightfully off-color wedding shower games?”

      Wynona groaned, but Hazel and Eppie giggled. “Yes,” they chimed in unison.

      McKenzie jumped up. “You’re right. We have tons to do, people. Better get to it.”

      Katrina managed

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