your bunkhouses, right?”
As Kate knew she would, Bri balked. “That’s not necessary.”
“Quit being tough on yourself when people reach out to help. Everyone knows you and Caleb almost lost the lodge, and everyone wants to see you make a success of it, instead. It benefits the community. Plus, you’re remodeling two bunkhouses for family members of trauma victims, which will be a terrific boon for our trauma center.” Kate swigged from her monkey-themed water bottle.
Bri nibbled her lip and sighed. “I guess it will be helpful for the town overall. Housing and hotel options are virtually nonexistent in Eagle Point.”
“Precisely why I’m glad you’re letting me move into the first of your cabins that passes inspection.” Kate paced her breathing. “Mitch has been merciful about the distance I live from EPTC, but the fact is, when I’m on call and we get a bad case, I need to be less than fifteen minutes away. My apartment is twenty.”
“The cabins should all pass inspection next month.”
“Great. Because crashing in EPTC’s nurse call room is not conducive to rest.” Kate sighed as her phone buzzed on one hip, her beeper on the other. “Ian.” She grimaced at Bri. “Since your fiancé is blowing up my phone instead of yours, I’m assuming we have an incoming trauma.” Kate hit the answer key.
Ian came on the line. “Kate? All is well here, but you have a rather interesting delivery at the nurses’ station.”
“My favorite Chicago-style pizza with anchovies?”
“Hardly. You should probably just come get it.”
Kate didn’t miss the probing curiosity in Dr. Ian Shupe’s voice. Head anesthesiologist on their trauma team, he was like a protective older brother to Kate.
“Fine. I’ll be right there.” Kate disconnected and nodded to the trauma center. “Apparently I have some sort of special delivery. Ian wouldn’t say what it is. Mind coming with to see?”
“I’d be glad to.” Bri grinned and toweled sweat off. “Especially since it means I get a glimpse of my man in scrubs.”
Kate shook her head and sauntered toward the glass-and-brick structure across the parking lot and next door to Bri’s main lodge. Inside EPTC, Kate’s coworkers parted like the Red Sea when she reached the desk.
Kate’s sneakers screeched on the polished floor. On the desktop ledge, her elaborate sapphire-feather mask sat neatly atop a parchment envelope.
Oh, my! He didn’t. Kate gulped. Ignoring the stares and curious grins, she forced her hands to move slowly as she reached for the items. “Who brought this?”
Ian leaned in. “That’s what we were all wondering.”
Kate straightened. “You mean no one saw him?”
Ian’s grin exploded. “Aha! So it is a him?”
“That’s not your business.” Giving up all pretense of nonchalance, Kate snatched the items, scowled at her coworkers and marched to her nurse’s call room.
“Kate, wait. Ian was kidding.” Bri caught up, giggling.
Kate whirled once they were safely behind closed doors. “How did he manage to get this stuff in here without anyone seeing him? We need security cameras installed at that desk.”
Bri bit her lip but a grin burst through. “Open it!”
Kate sighed and fingered the gold scrolling font on the envelope’s front.
For Sweet Kate.
“He knows my name,” Kate breathed. Then removing her hand from her chest, she added, “Not that I care.” She cleared her throat and scowled, especially when Bri responded with a curious look.
Kate peeled the envelope’s seal, wondering if she was imagining hints of his cologne on the parchment or the rush of happiness she felt as she began to read.
Dearest Kate.
Although I hate to give you back the means to hide any of your beauty away, I did feel honor bound to return this mask. Please forgive me for stealing it—and for the other thing I stole out on the patio. It was a theft I should probably regret more than I do. May you find it in your heart to forgive me. Nonetheless, you outshone every star that glittered in our sky. Sapphire suits you. You looked stunning. It was my honor to be able to share that moonlit moment with you. Most important, don’t forget to remember the dawn.
Fondly,
BB
Bri leaned over her arm. “BB? Who is BB?”
Kate could scarcely concentrate on Bri’s question. Her hands, always steady in any circumstance, were shaking. She handed Bri the note and walked numbly to the sofa, struggling to come to terms with why she felt so moved by his words. She was a beauty-pageant queen—it was no surprise when men thought she was attractive.
But maybe that was what had her so surprised.
Usually when people admired her it was when she was at her best—winning a pageant, saving a life in trauma, being a leader in whatever way people around her needed her to be. Her bandit, though, had seen her at her tear-stained worst...and he still seemed to think it had been an honor to be with her.
“Benevolent Bandit!” Kate said in a sudden burst of revelation. “That must be what BB stands for.”
“Or maybe Beloved Bandit?” Bri teased as she joined Kate on the couch and handed her back the note.
Kate’s cheeks flushed as she reread the letter, and something unexpected fluttered in her heart. Kate mentally ordered it to stand down. The last thing she needed was to get excited over a fly-by-night guy. “Benevolent,” she repeated firmly, “because he was there for me when I needed him. But nothing more is going to come of it. Certainly not love. This bandit—though charming—had ‘inability to commit’ etched all over him. That he ran off proves he’s a flight risk. That’s not what I’m looking for in a relationship. I want someone stable. Not someone who parades around crashing weddings and kissing strangers senseless under cover of moonlight.”
“His kiss made you senseless?” Bri smirked.
Kate groaned. “Only for one hundredth of a second. Look, if I wanted unstable, I’d re-up in the military. I’m grateful for what he did the other night and for returning the mask and leaving me this note, but that’s where it ends.” Kate’s fingertips brushed his admonition to remember the dawn. “Being around him gave me a peace I can’t explain. Like his words added ammo to my faith and left me certain everything’s going to end up okay.” Kate folded the paper and tucked it back into the envelope. “He feels like a new friend...except for the unfortunate fact I have no clue who he is or where he lives.” Kate laughed at the irony.
“I think you’re right not to look for anything serious with this guy, especially since he didn’t even bother to share his name. However...don’t write him off yet. Maybe he’ll show up again. That wouldn’t be a bad thing, would it?”
“What are you saying?”
