Midsummer Sweetheart (2 page)

Ingrid spoke brightly. “It’s not forever, Kat. Just a little while to get you away from Wade. It’s a two- to three-month assignment to help Joe get the clinic up and running, and then you’re free to stay permanently or, if things have gotten better with Wade, come home.”

“Who’s Joe?” asked Katrin, feeling herself surrender to Ingrid’s plan as she swiped at her runny nose with her sleeve.

“Joe Martin. Dr. Joe. We were together in Germany for the first year of my tour. He’s an amazing doctor. I was really lucky to work with him. That’s something else. You’ll learn a lot too. I guarantee it.”

“Why do they need a clinic?” Her resistance was crumbling. It might be far, but as much as she’d miss home, when she remembered Wade’s behavior on Friday night, she knew
far
was a smart idea. And like it or lump it, she simply didn’t have many options.

Ingrid shrugged, taking a sip of coffee. “Town wants one. You know how it is once you go north; towns are farther apart. The nearest hospital’s in Kalispell, and that’s a hard drive if you’re bleeding out, or in labor. Remember those art galleries I mentioned? Well, it’s a wealthy little town. They can afford to build something closer, and Joe has a little company that specializes in starting up small, local clinics.”

Her brother squeezed her hand. “C’mon, Kat. It’s a good fit for you. And you don’t have to interview or anything. Job’s yours if you want it.”

“Okay,” she exhaled and then took a deep, bracing breath as she wiped away the last of her tears and sat up straighter. “I’ll do it. I’ll go. Lay it out for me. I’m listening.”

Kristian smiled at Ingrid, looking relieved.

“You’ll go today, before they let Wade out. Draw the shades at your apartment; leave your car in the garage. We’ll call the hospital and say you won’t be back to work, that you’ve moved without a forwarding address. You can stop by the police station to get the forms for the restraining order on your way out of town. The important thing is for you to go. Just go.”

“Why can’t I take my car?” She’d need transportation once she got there, wouldn’t she?

Ingrid shrugged. “It’s a small, walkable town, so you won’t need your car. Plus, it’ll throw off Wade if your car’s still in the garage.”

“He’s going to be riled when he catches on, but by then you’ll be far away. Hopefully once you’ve been gone for a few weeks, Wade will give up on you. Stop going by your place. Maybe he’ll get help, maybe he won’t. But, you won’t be here, so he’ll have to direct his anger elsewhere.”

“And then you stay up in Skidoo for a while. Dr. Joe’s an amazing man to work for. I know you’re going to learn a lot.”

“There’s a two-bedroom apartment over the clinic and Joe already had it tidied up for you and another nurse to share, so you even have a place to stay. It’s all done, Kat. It’s all arranged. All you have to do is go.”

“Oh, Ing, thank you,” she whispered, overcome with gratitude for her strong, capable sister-in-law who had somehow managed to plan an entire escape. She hated the idea of running away from her home, but she had to get away from Wade, and a part of her—the part that had been scared for weeks—gave a long, grateful sigh of relief. She rubbed her forehead with her palm, nodding. “I’ll go. I’ll do it. But, one thing…does it have to be today? I mean, Wade’s probably going to be held for another day, at least, so couldn’t we—”

Katrin was interrupted by her brother’s dog, Pilot, barking an alert at the front door.

She sat up straight and craned her neck to get a look at the German shepherd, then faced her brother. “Who’s here? You expecting someone?”

“We needed to get you out of here as fast as possible. With someone safe,” said Kristian, putting his hands on the table to stand up.

Katrin turned to Ingrid. “Who’s here, Ing?”

Ingrid took a deep breath and fixed a reassuring smile on her face.

“Erik Lindstrom. Sam’s brother-in-law. Also, um…your ride.”

CHAPTER 2

An hour earlier

Erik Lindstrom carefully taped up the last box and carried it out to his car, setting in on the backseat and slamming the door shut.

He looked up to see his younger sister, Jenny, walking down the flagstone steps from her front door with her husband, Sam, their fingers laced together. Erik appreciated that his sister and her husband seemed devoted to one another, but at the same time it made him uncomfortable.

Erik didn’t have much faith in love.

He liked a pretty girl just as much as the next guy and had no problem with short-lived flings and mutual pleasure. It was love he didn’t trust. He didn’t want any part of it.
No, sir. No how.

“You’re going to drive carefully,
Minste
?” Jenny’s feet crunched over the gravel driveway as she approached her brother, dropping Sam’s hand to wrap her arms around Erik.

He was grateful for the warmth of her embrace. He might not believe in
romantic
love, but he had plenty of space in his heart for his family. In fact, he’d do anything for them.

“Of course, Jen.” Erik glanced down at her still-flat belly with brotherly concern. “I don’t want you worrying about me.”

“Kalispell feels like a long way away after having you around all year. We’ll miss you, Erik,” said Sam.

Erik nodded at his brother-in-law with an easy smile. “I’ll miss you, too, but you know I’ll be back, Sam. Lots. At
Midsommardagen
, for sure.”

“And thanks, again, for giving my cousin Kat a ride north, Erik,” said Sam, his forehead momentarily creased with worry. “She’s had a rough time.”

“I can’t believe that guy’s been threatening her. I’m glad to help get her somewhere safe.”

Erik didn’t know Katrin Svenson that well, though he’d seen her a couple of times: once at his childhood friend Ingrid’s wedding and again at Jenny’s wedding. Beyond a vague impression of her being a small blonde woman, his memories of her weren’t very sharp. He probably hadn’t paid her much attention since she was with her boyfriend and therefore unavailable for the no-strings-attached wedding fling he always sought at such occasions.

“It’s just luck that you’re headed to Kalispell the same day she needs to be dropped off in Skidoo Bay.” Jenny smiled at her brother gently then her eyes opened wide. “Say hi to Ing and Kris for us, but
don’t
tell them our news, Erik. I mean it. We’re saving the big reveal for June, when we spend our first
Midsommardagen
with both families.”

“Geez, Jenny-girl, you think I’d steal your thunder?” He smiled at his little sister, flicking his glance to her hands placed protectively over her tummy. “Sure will make Christmas fun to have a little one around.”

“Erik! I mean it! Not a word!”

“Not a word. I promise.” He chuckled lightly and kissed Jenny on the cheek before shaking Sam’s hand good-bye. “Take care of her, Sam.”

“You know I will,
Minste
,” said Sam, winking at his brother-in-law.

“
Jeg elsker deg
, Erik.”
I love you.
Jenny stepped back from her brother into Sam’s arms, swiping at one teary eye. “Drive safe.”

Jenny had always been terrible at good-byes. “
Elsker deg også,
Jen,” he said softly in their mother’s Norwegian, smiling at her tenderly.
I love you, too
. “I will.”

As he pulled out of their driveway, he looked back in time to catch them kissing before they turned to head back into the house, Sam’s strong arm around his wife’s shoulders. Erik rolled his eyes, but a quiet voice in the back of his mind wondered:

What would it be like to love someone as much as Sam loves Jenny?

He grimaced, annoyed with the direction of his thoughts. There was no doubt as to the answer. He knew it as surely as he knew he was a man, the sky was blue and his last name was Lindstrom:

Like hell. That’s how.

Turning up the music, he steered his car north and smiled at the long stretch of open road ahead.

Half an hour later Erik passed a sign on the way out of Augusta: twenty-five more miles to Choteau. After dropping off Kat Svenson in Skidoo Bay, he’d continue further north to the Kalispell County Sheriff’s department to pick up his new ID badge and attend a brief introductory meeting with his new supervisor. He was reporting bright and early tomorrow morning to begin three months of special training in Applied Technology and Drug Recognition training. Working in law enforcement had been a lifelong dream for Erik, and it was finally coming true.

Fresh May air rushed into his car as he rolled down the window and pushed up the sleeves of his long-sleeved, light blue, button-down shirt, savoring the warmth of the midday sun on his pale skin. The Rocky Mountain Front up ahead offered a contrast in landscapes: the jagged Rockies rose up dramatically out of the placid, grassy prairie, proving that even mountains had to start somewhere. Cattle grazed out on the green prairie in the foothills, their young spring calves interspersed between them liberally. New growth. New life. Just like Sam and Jenny.

Sam looked at Jenny like the sun rose and set in her eyes, like life just wouldn’t be worth living without her, like God put Jenny on the Earth solely to know and choose Sam. While he was glad his sister was happy, it was almost impossible for Erik to understand. In spite of the many trysts and one-night stands he’d enjoyed throughout his adulthood, he’d never looked at anyone like that. He wondered, vaguely and with a discomfort made up of equal parts longing and fear, if he was missing out on something.

He shook his head, wondering at his thoughts. He wasn’t missing out on a damn thing. He wasn’t looking to settle down. The notion had zero appeal. He’d seen his friends fall victim to it, get all tangled up in some girl they thought they couldn’t live without. Well, not Erik Lindstrom. No girl was putting a leash on
his
johnson. No way.

A soft voice whispered in his head,
You can only get your heart broken if you give it to someone in the first place
. Erik winced, pushing back on old memories. He’d rather be alone than ever risk
that
kind of heartbreak.

***

Katrin looked down with a horrified grimace, swiping her sweaty hands on the front of her tattered gray yoga pants and smoothing out the creases in her grimy UGF sweatshirt. She didn’t even have enough time to swap out her beat-up glasses for contacts. It wasn’t fair! They hadn’t given her a moment to tidy herself up and her cousin’s gorgeous brother-in-law was about to walk in the door! She’d seen Erik Lindstrom and his brothers at Sam and Jenny’s wedding the summer before last—it was utterly impossible to miss that much masculine beauty in one room—but she hadn’t visited with them very much. She’d been with Wade at the time, preoccupied with the idea of her boyfriend in the same room as an open bar.

Still pushing greasy, stray hairs back into her bun, she headed into the living room. There, taking up the entire front doorway, stood Erik Lindstrom. Kat suppressed a sigh. Over six feet tall, muscular and broad chested, with a shock of almost-white blond hair cut in a neat, military-style crew cut, he was the very definition of a modern Viking. He was wearing jeans and a button-down light blue shirt with the cuffs rolled up, a smattering of springy blond hair covering his freckled forearm. She noted that his left arm was pinker than his right.
He must have had his arm out the window as he drove up. I do that too.

He looked up at her, a polite grin softening the censorious flick of his eyes over her grubby appearance. “Katrin, right?”

He stuck out his hand and Katrin lifted her gaze from his lips to his eyes, slamming into them and instantly mesmerized by their color: light blue like a husky pup’s. They’d be icy when he was angry, but right now they were warm, his skin crinkled with smile lines at the corners.

“Erik.” She took his hand, and as they touched a current passed between them; maybe some static electricity from the carpet, or from Katrin rubbing her hands together; whatever caused it was irrelevant but they both felt the zap as they clasped hands.

“Oh!”

“Whoa.”

He looked surprised, then grinned, staring at her. Neither recoiled nor let go. If anything, they gripped a little tighter, palms flush, almost fused to each other. She stared at his face, at his Arctic blue eyes that were, in fact, locked purposefully and thoughtfully with hers.

She smiled back at him and after all the recent ugliness with Wade, realized it was the first real smile she had given to anyone in a long time.

And just like that, the strangest sensation started in her chest, like the valves of her heart were zapped with the electricity of their touch, jolted awake with the recovery of her smile, flexing slowly at first, but gaining momentum with each passing second until her heart was pumping at full speed.

Her eyes widened and she wondered if he could feel it too, this sudden, rapid force of life prompted by their touch. She swallowed and looked down at their hands, unable to feel where her skin ended and his began. When she looked back up, he wasn’t smiling anymore, just staring at her intently, focused.

She swallowed again, clearing her throat. “Can I have my hand back?” she croaked.

Erik jerked his head like he was waking up from a dream and dropped her hand like it was on fire. “Sorry!”

She wanted to look cool and unaffected, but she
was
affected, so she looked away from him and reached up to adjust her glasses nervously. “It’s okay.”

“When’s the last time we—?”

She met his eyes, her hand still warm, protesting the absence of his. “Sam and Jenny’s wedding.”

“Yeah, of course. But I barely…” He stared at her, running his index finger back and forth across his chin as his voice trailed off.

“You don’t remember me?”

His eyes searched hers and she thought,
You don’t know me, but you feel like you
should
. Why?
And why do I feel the same?
She felt—unaccountably, ridiculously—like it was impossible that she had somehow arrived at twenty-two years old without intimately knowing Erik Lindstrom. It made no sense at all.