LITMIR.BIZ

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and Bri were doing.

      Folks were depending on the trauma center and their lodge to dig the town out of financial ruin.

      Too bad he wouldn’t be here to see it built back to the bustle it’d had when he and Bri were little. Nostalgia and homesickness hit, nearly making him wish he didn’t have to leave in four months. Caleb squelched the thought and squared his shoulders.

      He’d never make ranger school with that kind of waver.

      “I’m starving,” he said, fighting to overcome the shyness that made him hesitate to talk to her. “Where’s a good place to eat around here now?”

      Kate studied him carefully then gestured across the street. “One block down there’s a joint called Sully’s. They have to-die-for chili burgers.” She peered around. “Where’s your car?”

      Caleb chewed the inside of his cheek and feigned interest in the ant colony invading fresh-cut grass near the sidewalk.

      Kate turned a one-eighty. “Seriously, where’s your ride?”

      Gut churning, Caleb kicked the brick steps. Cleared his throat. “Uh, right there.”

      Kate stared at the bright purple bicycle and stepped over to brush a hand along the white wicker basket in front. Her finger trailed along big neon plastic flowers plastered to it.

      “It’s Bri’s. I sold my truck to help pay for lodge repairs.” Caleb’s ears flamed. Kate would forever razz him about riding a girlie bike. It couldn’t have saved his ego a little by being a mountain bike or a masculine color, either.

      Kate slowly turned. Respect rather than mischief twinkled from her eyes. “You mean you rode this? Straight through town where anyone could see it?”

      He shrugged. Looked away. “I said I’d help out with the committee, and I wasn’t going to go back on my word. Pride comes last. Plus, I didn’t wanna take Bri’s car. She has Tia.”

      Kate was next to him in a flash, lifting his face much the same way he’d lifted hers that night on the patio.

      “Caleb Landis, you are more of a man than any truck-toting male around. I don’t know of a single other guy who’d have the guts to ride that through town.” She released his face but the soft sensation that her fingers left remained. “Still, it’ll be dark when we get done eating. So let’s put your bike in my Jeep and I’ll drive you home. And, for future reference, call me for rides.”

      He wasn’t about to argue with that. Not only would it save him some face over the girlie bike, it would afford him a few more moments with her to find out how her parents and granddad were doing.

      They started down the sidewalk when Kate detoured down the alley toward her Jeep with Caleb following, leading his bike. His palms moistened. He hadn’t wanted her to find the BB note in his presence. Caleb lagged back.

      She turned. “Aren’t you coming?”

      She flashed a grin of such warmth it made him not only walk into a decorative, steel light pole, but grab it and say, “Excuse me.”

      Kate snickered enough it started him laughing, too. Felt good. Furthermore, she looked burdenless, all incapacitated with laughter. So he was glad she did, even at his expense. He just wished he could get past feeling as klutzy as an elephant on ice skates around her. The only time it had gone away was when he’d been BB.

      At her car, she initially passed the windshield and then arced backward. Her cheeks tinged red as she slipped the note from her wipers.

      Caleb angled away, trying his best to look simultaneously patient, oblivious and bored. In reality, his heart thumped like a war drum.

      Despite his best intentions, Caleb could not keep from watching Kate’s quiet yet profound reaction as she read. Her shoulders relaxed and the twin dimples that occasionally accompanied her megawatt smiles peeked through.

      Bri was right. The note lifted Kate’s burden. For now.

      He saw the moment she realized that the first note he’d left at EPTC with her mask wasn’t going to be a one-time thing—that her bandit would continue to reach out to her. And as long as he lived, he’d never forget the look of tangible relief. Her chin wobbled precariously. She covered it with her hand before he could see for more than an instant, but he didn’t have to see to know.

      The bandit’s kind gesture almost moved her to tears.

      He looked away, partly to provide her emotions a cove of privacy but mostly because if he didn’t, he’d rush over there and do something more stupid than walk into a light pole. Like hug her.

      The note was enough. It would have to be enough.

      If he was closer to God and sure he’d be heard, he’d beg God to let it be so.

      A few moments later, as if aware of his scrutiny, she snapped to attention, tucked the note into her snakeskin handbag and schooled her features. Nevertheless, she seemed stronger now, taller and more peaceful. As they would say in military speak—at ease.

      Caleb bit back a thankful smile and experienced profound relief that Kate didn’t seem to suspect he’d written the note or that his sister had delivered it secretly.

      “Your bike can go here,” Kate said as she popped open the back. “And once it’s stowed away, can you grab that bag?” Kate nodded to the military rucksack in her backseat as she hefted a camouflage duffel bag. She must have used both overseas because they were well-worn and military.

      What was she doing with the bags? He restrained his curiosity, figuring that soon enough he’d be able to see for himself.

      “Think you’ll ever go back?” Caleb asked as they marched with the bags back through the alley toward the main street.

      “To Sully’s? I go there all the time. I love it.”

      “I meant the military. Heard you were top-notch.”

      Her face hardened. “I have no interest in that anymore. I served my time.” She smiled stiffly up at him, which almost made him trip over himself as he paused to let her pass. “I do have an interest in downing a Sully’s Super Chili Burger, however.” She grabbed his shirt and steered him there.

      Bossy little thing. Of course, she’d been a drill sergeant.

      Once inside the diner, she advanced as though she owned the place and set the duffel inside the owner’s office door. She gestured for Caleb to do the same with the rucksack he carried. Reading the confusion on his face, she answered his silent question.

      “Sully’s owner reminds me of my grandpa. They were war vets and served at the same time. Sully lost all his military stuff in a house fire. All he has left is what’s in here.” She gestured at war memorabilia on the diner walls. “I figure this stuff means more to him than to me.”

      Alarm trickled through Caleb as well as a sense that she was making a rash decision. “You’re really sure about getting rid of these?”

      “I am.” She lifted her chin, face dared him to talk her out of it. “That’s my old life. I don’t want reminders of it.” She raked harsh eyes over his T-shirt’s army triathlon emblem.

      He could see that Kate’s walls were granite-hard and fortress-high now, unlike the vulnerability she’d displayed in the garden at Mitch’s wedding. If she’d only open up like that to BB, then that was yet another reason why the masquerade needed to continue.

      Caleb glanced through Sully’s office at Kate’s hard-earned and respectably decorated past, abandoned and crumpled in two heaping bags on the shoe-scuffed floor, and squelched the urge to tell her she might regret giving it all up and walking away. After all, did he really know her well enough to make that call?

      You know her better than she realizes, down to the satiny feel of her lips and how her chin quivers when she cries, something whispered inside him. Probably his unwieldy conscience.

      Would

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