Baby, Be Mine (4 page)

She wasn’t even to the highway when the threatening rain became a full-fledged downpour. She clicked the wipers to high for all the good it did, the heavy moisture streaming upward across the windshield creating a waterfall in reverse as she took the car up to barely highway speeds. The turn approached for the gravel road that would take her to Gage’s place, and she applied the brakes.

Nothing happened.

She tapped them again, increasing pressure as the turn not only approached but flew past her, the upcoming curve racing nearer far too quickly.

“Oh, shit.” Katy jammed into a lower gear to slow the vehicle’s momentum, but it didn’t help. Rain glistened on the road’s surface, long ribbons of water like miniature rivers and…

Her wheels hydroplaned. The car shimmied to the side and hit the ditch, bouncing violently as the tires crushed the tall, uncut grass.

Katy jerked forward slightly before her seat belt locked, choking tight across her chest. Fear screamed through her veins as she fought with the wheel, steering toward an open space in the trees. Everything rushed past as if she weren’t seeing the entire picture.

Trees.

Road.

Water.

Grey sky.

The screaming of the engine, the smell of wet brake pads.

Then pain as the car bounced, the single airbag in the steering wheel
whooshed
to full, and her head slammed into the doorframe.

Chapter Four

To: [email protected]

04:07:00 Sunday, September 13

Made it to Fort Mac. That was a hell of a drive at the start. The storm didn’t ease off until I was past Edmonton. Held me up enough I didn’t get in until after midnight, so I didn’t want to call and wake you up.

I’ve got good news and bad news.

The company that hired me had a screaming good offer waiting when I arrived. It’s a shorter contract, at nearly double the pay. The catch is we’re going remote. No time off, no Internet for the entire two months. They’re flying us into the bush, and I’ll be welding for up to twenty hours a day. Fun, right? Sucks in a way, but means I’ll be back sooner. And I want to be back sooner.

I’ll be gone by the time you get this message. Leaving early hours Sunday. Take care of yourself, and kick Clay for me. j/k

Don’t let that asshole Simon jerk you around anymore, beautiful.

I miss you already. I can’t wait to get back so I can date you properly. Getting to share Friday night with you was a dream come true, but as hot as the sex was? I want more for us. I mean it. This is something I’ve wanted—
you’re
something I’ve wanted
—for a long time.

[email protected]

p.s. I love that you used your nickname for an email address

Gage wondered about including that part about wanting so much more than sex, but at the same time it was what he’d been thinking the entire drive north. What he’d considered first thing after being offered the crazy increased tempo job.

Anything that got him back sooner was a good thing, even though no communication at all was going to make the time apart rougher.

Two months wasn’t long, though, not in the big scheme of things. And when he got back? They could start up where they’d left off, and head into better and better territory.

He prepared to deal with the second impossible message of his morning.

“Five minutes,” the coordinator warned, grabbing Gage’s duffle bag and loading it onto a trolley. “Chopper pilot wants to get out ahead of the storm.”

“No problem.” Gage rose to his feet and followed the man toward the airstrip where his transport waited. “Last message.”

Only it was a problem. Explaining that he and Katy were dating was like walking into a minefield. He didn’t know if Clay would be upset about Gage hooking up with his sister, but disappearing into the north right afterward was sure to rub the lot of the Thompson boys wrong. Desperation hit. Gage opened his email and checked the note he’d composed the night before.

Hey, Clay

Since Katy had the sense to break up with that ass Simon, I figured it was a good time to stop any other jerks from stepping in and making a play for her.

Katy and I had a good long talk Friday night…

Right.
Talk
. Talking with their hands. And heated kisses. And naked bodies…and if he let his mind continue on this path he’d be walking to the chopper with a hard-on.

…and we both thought it would be cool if we were an item.

Gage cringed. It sounded as lame now as it had the night before.

It sucks that I’m gone for a while, but it can’t be helped. I sent Katy a message about my change of plans. When I get home in November, I intend on doing everything possible to make her happy. Can you keep the wolves at bay while I’m gone? Your sister is a damn special woman, and I mean to make sure she knows that.

“Time, buddy. Let’s roll.”

Shit
. “Okay, okay.” Gage hit send and hoped it would be enough for now.

It had to be enough. He shoved his phone into his pocket and shouldered his carry-on bag. Walked into the cold north wind and the unknown. Left behind his heart and his future.

Just a little while, Katy, just a little while.

Chapter Five

November, Rocky Mountain House

Katy slapped her palm against the door to her small house, slamming it shut behind her.

The door reopened not two seconds later. “Will you stop running away from me?” Janey demanded. “I asked a question.”

“I don’t know the answer, okay? And it’s pissing me off,” Katy snapped.

“Oh.” Janey sighed, kicking off her boots before easing herself onto the back of the couch. She planted her feet on the seat cushion and nodded sadly. “Another of your memory gaps?”

Katy glared over her shoulder as she draped her jacket on a wall coat hook. “Memory gaps. Such small words for such a huge, bloody nuisance.”

“Hey, stop being so rough on yourself. The doctors said things should come back. Sometime.”

S
ometime
was another not very reassuring word. Katy stomped across the room to stand with folded arms, glaring at her friend. “Janey, I still haven’t figured out the passwords to my computer. You had to help me pay my bills so my power didn’t get cut off. I’m relearning how to do the data entry at the garage, which means I’m basically a freeloader with my own family.”

“They don’t mind. None of us mind.” Janey shook her head. “Please, stop beating yourself up. Stop acting as if, since your car wasn’t totaled, you don’t have the right to be injured. A few obstacles are worth dealing with until you’re back up to speed.”

Obstacles.
Fah
. Another word that was as bad as
memory gaps
.

Katy clomped into the kitchen and whipped open the fridge, but just like the past couple of weeks, nothing looked even remotely appetizing. Her stomach churned. “To answer the next question I know you’re going to ask, no, I’m not going tonight.”

“Another answer I don’t understand.” Janey bounded off the couch and came over to hang on the fridge door. “It’s Gage. You remember this part. He’s the guy you’ve been mooning over for years. You really don’t want to be there when he gets home from Fort Mac?”

“No,” Katy lied. She sniffed the milk in the carton before pushing it at Janey. “Does this smell okay to you?”

Janey rolled her eyes. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing, because I
know
. I’m your best friend, dude, and the chances of you pulling bullshit on me—zilch. Zero. Zippo.”

She examined the milk carefully, wrinkling her nose before she nodded approval.

Katy caved a little. “Okay, you’re right. I’m lying. I want to see Gage, but I’m fighting off that stupid flu bug that’s going around. Add in I think the whole idea of a surprise party is stupid, and I don’t want anything to do with it. If I’d been out of town for a couple months and had driven nearly seven hours to get home, the last thing I’d want to find at the other end is a house full of people and noise.”

Her friend shrugged. “Your brother set it up.”

“Doesn’t make it any less stupid of an idea,” Katy pointed out, taking the milk back and replacing it on the shelf. “In fact, it makes it even more important I not go. Clay was listed as Gage’s emergency contact—that’s the only reason he found out Gage was coming home early. Who’s to say whatever is bringing Gage home four months early is good news? If something bad happened, it’s not like Gage will want a party. And the last thing I need is for Gage to be pissed off at me before I try to make some changes. He’ll never see me as anything more than Clay’s little sister if I’m always tagging along like I did when we were younger.”

She gave up on the idea of food and wandered back into the living room, Janey hard on her heels.

“You plan on making a move on him, then?” Janey asked.

“Eventually.” Katy threw herself on the couch and stared at the ceiling. “I’ll let him settle in first. Maybe I’ll ask him to dance, or something, next Friday at Traders. You know, start small.”

Janey towered over her, a frown creasing her forehead as she tapped her foot on the hardwood floor. “Maybe I should do the same with Len. Your brother is the most frustrating man I’ve ever met. I mean, I all but offered myself up on a silver platter to him once…”

Katy raised both brows in disbelief.

A guilty snort escaped Janey. “Okay,
more
than once, but you know, every single time he’s turned me down.” Her eyes widened to huge circles for a second, then her lashes fluttered like some regency heroine. “What if it’s hopeless? Maybe Len isn’t attracted to me. Oh dear, what if he’s sick of me being around, and he’s been humouring me all this time? What if I never get to experience those hunkalicious arms wrapped around me, or feel his beefy body pressed firmly against mine?”

Katy laughed at the obvious melodrama. “First, no one talks like that. And second, you’re nauseating me. I get that you like my brother, but ick on the sexy talk about him. I don’t need to know that stuff.”

“You mean I can’t share detailed accounts of our wild nights of debauchery with you?”

Even as Katy laughed, her stomach rolled again. “No. Once you get debauched, you’re on your own.”

Janey settled on the coffee table, and her laughing smile faded slightly. “Okay, I’ll stop teasing. If you’re not up for the party, we’ll make sure we track Gage down some other time.”

“Now we sound like big-game hunters or something. ‘Don’t shoot until you can spot the blue in their eyes.’ I don’t know that two against one is sporting.”

“Screw sporting. We want what we want, and we both deserve great guys.” Janey leaned forward and squeezed Katy’s knee. “Seriously for a minute, you’re still my best friend. No matter what changes you’re going through since the accident. I have to keep telling myself that while you look exactly the same, you’re different.”

“That’s encouraging.” Katy pulled a face. “I think.”

Janey blew a raspberry. “Oh come on, you know what I mean. You’re still my friend, Katy, but you are changing, and I wanted to make sure you knew I like the new you as much as the old one. Remember
that
, okay?”

The sweet, caring smile on her friend’s face meant as much as the words did. “Thanks, Janey. I’m glad I’ve got you. Makes the changes a little less scary.” Gravel crunched outside, and she and Janey twisted to face the windows. The familiar pickup truck idling in her driveway did little to settle Katy’s stomach. “Damn.”

“Freak boy,” Janey muttered. “What the hell does he want?”

Katy intercepted the door before Janey could reach it. “I don’t care what he wants, he’s not getting it, not until I figure out what
I
want. But you have to promise me not to go off the deep end, or you can get your butt out the backdoor now.”

“Simon’s an ass.”

Katy snorted. “Yes, so you’ve told me, but you still can’t hit him.”

Janey sighed lustily. “Fine. I’ll stand way over here and will only kick his balls to Saskatchewan if he does something stupid. Deal?”

Overprotective, but Katy loved her friend for it. She wiggled her fingers and waited until Janey had taken a few steps away like she’d promised. “Be good.”

“Good as gold.”

Katy faced the door and waited for the knock that had to be coming. Seeing the doorknob twist first only increased her exasperation with her boyfriend—ex-boyfriend. Only confirmed what Janey had told her regarding Simon’s inappropriate behaviour.

She undid the deadbolt and jerked the door into the room in time to catch Simon with his hand raised, knuckles toward the wood.

He blinked in surprise then smiled. “Hey, girl. Looking good.”

“What do you want?” Small talk was out. Long discussions were out. Any involvement with the man was out. Not until she actually remembered what their situation was.

Sheer sadness crossed his face. “Now, sugar, don’t be like that. I take it you still don’t remember us. You’ve got to let me take care of you, hon. You’re so on your own here, and you don’t have to be.”

Out of the corner of her eye Katy spotted Janey stepping into view. “I’m not on my own, but thanks. You’re right, I still don’t remember.”

“Asshole. She broke up with you—”

Katy lifted a hand to stop Janey’s outburst. “Don’t you start.”

“But he—”

“Don’t,” Katy snapped.

Janey crossed her arms and glared daggers at Simon.

He shuffled slightly. “I wanted to make sure you were doing okay. See if there’s anything I can do.”

“I’m fine,” Katy insisted, the tug of unease at the back of her brain only increasing.

She knew she’d been going out with him. Janey and other people, including her brothers, had insisted they’d broken up. Simon insisted just as strongly that they had gotten back together the night before her accident.