Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Vaughn
“Boy, slow down before you put us in a ditch,” Gus warns as we fly back to the farm. “You’re driving like the devil himself is after us.”
Not the devil. Just the image of another man with his hands on Kate. Body draped over her. It wasn’t sexual in any way, but I can’t get the image of her under another man out of my head.
I force my body to relax and ease up on the accelerator. Gus is right; I’m being reckless. I get us back to the farm in one piece but slam the truck door extra hard. There’s only one thing that will calm this inferno inside of me right now.
“Gonna go check on Yankee,” I announce, stalking away from Gus. To my dismay, he follows.
Whatever. He hasn’t been out here since I’ve been back. If he wants to see the work I’ve put in, fine.
I fill Yankee’s bucket with feed and receive a low rumble of approval from inside the stall. “Here you go, bud. Let’s get that leg taken care of.” I slip inside the stall and go about prepping his leg to soak. Gus takes up place at Yankee’s head, crooning in a low voice as the horse eats.
I shift to brushing Yank’s coat once I’ve let the leg soak. Gus slips out of the stall as headlights flash over the far wall. She’s home.
I don’t let my mind wander about why it took her so long to get here. What did she do? They have beds at the station; did she slip into one of them with that guy?
Batting away those images, I step closer to brush his neck and then pause, holding on to the horse like I did as a teen.
Hugging him the way he seems to like. “I’m losing it, Yank.
Going damn crazy,” I admit. He nuzzles my shoulder, a movement I’ve always taken as him accepting whatever confession I’ve left here in the safe space of the barn.
The low hum of conversation greets me when I make it back to the house.
Various to-go containers line the kitchen counter.
True to her word, Kate stopped and got dinner on her way home.
Chinese takeout. I grab a container and fork and brace a hip against the counter instead of joining them at the table.
“You did real good today, Katie. But what about that Podunk fella. How’s he feel about you letting them boys roll all over his woman?”
His woman? Wait. Kate has a boyfriend? I don’t fucking like that. Not one bit. Where is he? And why haven’t I heard about him before now?
I glance over at Gus, who’s watching me with a gleam in his eye. One white eyebrow raises, and he cuts his eyes over to Kate.
She’s devouring her meal like she hasn’t eaten in days. “You ornery jerk, he’s not my boyfriend. I told you that already. And they weren’t rolling around all over me. It’s a training exercise.”
“Don’t seem like it was much of a relationship, if you ask me.
What kind of man leaves his woman all the time like he did?
You were smart to cut him loose,” he replies, still watching me, and I can’t help but wonder what he’s up to.
“Anyway, how’s that nonsense you were doing at the station supposed to be training? ”
Kate’s fork clatters against the plate, and she sits back, taking in a huge breath as a flash of pain crosses her pretty face.
“You’re right about him. I think I was in love with the idea of love, more than with him specifically.
” She grows pensive for a moment, then physically shakes it off.
Like she’s shaking off bad memories. It makes me want to find the fucker and make him apologize for hurting her.
The thought is stupid. Reckless. Kate is not my business, and yet Gus sits there with a gleam in his eye like he’s up to no good.
“Anyway,” Kate continues, “what you guys saw was the guys helping me train for moving a downed firefighter.”
The mention of the scenario has my gut churning. I push my box of food away and try to force normal breath in and out. The sudden image of her trapped in a building is branded on my brain, morphing between her and my father until I think I might puke.
Kate picks her fork back up and pushes around the few crumbs she left behind on the plate.
“Well, if you ask me, I don’t understand why you even want to tackle this program thing,” Gus says. “What’s wrong with being a medic? Ain’t that good enough for you without putting yourself in danger every time you go to work?”
“Being a medic is okay, Gus, but I feel the pull of being a firefighter, both to honor my father who loved it so much and to prove to myself I can do it.” She glances back at my grandpa, then briefly flits her gaze over to me before staring at her empty plate again.
“I lost a lot when Pollock left. I need this win for myself.”
Silence falls over the kitchen, though it does nothing to ease the turmoil within me. It’s none of my business that she’s taking on a dangerous career, or that her ex was a dick. But I can’t deny the way I’m drawn to this woman either.
“Well, if you ask me, you did the right thing getting rid of that asshole,” Gus says. “Remember who you are, Katie. Next time, choose a man who’s worthy of you. It weren’t that dipshit.”
Kate looks long and hard at him. “Thanks, Gus. You’re right.”
“Damn straight, I am.”
“I just wish I weren’t so easily forgotten. So easily left behind. I just want to matter. You know?” Her voice is earnest. Heartbreaking. She’s so… open about how she feels. About what she’s going through.
“If you were mine, there’s no way I’d ever leave. Not for months on end, not for a day.” The words come out before I can stop them. Heat rises in my cheeks, but I hold her gaze. “You aren’t easy to forget, Kate. You just haven’t found the right person to matter to yet.”
The room is suddenly too quiet, too warm, and way too small for truth bombs. I push off the counter and busy myself with collecting the empty containers.
“Vaughn’s right, Kate.” Gus’s voice stops me in my tracks. Wizened eyes cut between the two of us, seeing way more than I want him to. “Just remember,” he continues to Kate, “if he wanted to, he would.”