chance to live in Justin’s skin for a few days. He’d waved Justin’s gold credit card in his face and scooped up all seven hundred-dollar bills Justin had dumped onto the bunk. “Gonna have me some fun being you,” he’d said, grinning like a fool.
For his part, Justin had blown Brett’s spending cash on a bottle of house wine at the hotel and afterward Kat had taken him to her tiny fourth-story walk-up. He’d been looking for a good time. He thought she was, too. They’d clicked. And then things got complicated.
“I remember you, sugar.”
Her eyes softened. “No one else has ever called me that.”
Justin winced at the sweet tone in her voice. “My name isn’t Brett. I’m Justin Slade and I live about twenty miles north of here. Brett and I served together on a tour of duty in the marines.”
Her voice dropped off. “You’re Justin…Slade?”
He nodded.
“Sunset Ranch, Justin Slade?”
He nodded again.
“But, we… You told me your name was Brett Applegate. You were a marine heading back overseas. You told me all about this place…. You—”
He grimaced. He was the worst kind of heel. He’d taken advantage of a woman’s trust, something he’d never done before. He swallowed down regret and then softened his voice. “I lied.”
She condemned him with her eyes. He didn’t blame her. It was an idiotic bet and a fool thing to do.
Slowly, her hand went to her mouth. Slender fingers covered her lips. She began shaking her head. “Oh…no. No, it’s not true.”
“Maybe we should go inside the house and talk. I’ll try to explain. Is Matilda Applegate home?”
She closed her eyes and kept them closed as if she were silently praying.
He spoke firmly. “Kat.”
Her eyes popped open and she blinked a few times. She spoke quietly. “We can’t go inside.”
“Why not?”
The front door creaked open and an older woman with hair the color of a sunburst stepped onto the front porch, holding a baby boy dressed in brown corduroy in her arms. The woman moved slowly, but with precision as if she calculated each step she took. Her light blue eyes were the most vital thing about her, painted with black eyeliner and deep-sea blue eye shadow. Blotchy face powder accented rather than hid the wrinkles on her face. But the kindness in her eyes was authentic and aimed straight at him.
“I thought I heard voices. Who have we here?”
The baby took a peek at him and then whipped around to grab at her neck with a death grip, his little legs kicking at her hips. She squeezed him tight, and whispered reassurances in his ear. “Now, now, Connor baby. Don’t be afraid.”
Kat cleared her throat. “Aunt Mattie, this is Justin Slade.”
The woman’s brows drew together as she tried to place him. “Slade? The name sounds familiar.”
“I was a friend of Brett’s. I came here to talk to you.”
>
Katherine Grady knew how to handle a lot of tough situations. She’d grown up the only daughter in an abusive household. She’d moved from one women’s shelter to another with her mom, running from a belligerent father and trying her darnedest to keep her mother from falling apart. There was nothing pretty or heroic about living hand to mouth. About never knowing if they’d have to pick up and run or have enough food and shelter for the month.
Kat learned how to survive from early on.
What rattled her more than anything was fear of the unknown. How could she fight something she couldn’t see coming?
This was one of those times.
Usually she hid her emotions well—thanks to all that training from her youth—but right now fear tightened her throat and sped up her heart. Her body shook so hard her knees wobbled. Could it be possible? The man she thought was Brett for all this time was really Justin Slade. Gracious. She couldn’t wrap her head around the bald-faced lie she’d been told. It was a lot to absorb all at once. But Kat’s emotions didn’t matter at the moment. Her concern was for Mattie. The older woman couldn’t afford a setback in her recovery.
Mattie invited Justin inside and he didn’t hesitate to approach the front door. He held the screen open and allowed them to step inside first and then followed behind. The door slammed shut as it was prone to do and Kat jerked, her nerves worn thin by something much bigger than that familiar sound. Funny, how just a few minutes ago, her biggest problem was a tire that needed changing.
But the scene that was about to play out in the parlor of Aunt Mattie’s modest home could very well kill her with grief. Kat didn’t know how to stop it or protect her from the truth.
“Have yourself a seat, son,” Aunt Mattie said. “I’ll take a seat, too, if you don’t mind. Little Connor here is quite a handful, tiring me out. He’s weighing nearly twenty pounds now, isn’t that right, Kat?”
Kat’s stomach ached. She gave a hesitant nod. Justin waited for both of them to take a seat. Kat perched uneasily on a colorful floral chair and Aunt Mattie lowered herself onto her brushed suede recliner that must have once been a lemony yellow. Justin finally sat on the sofa and set his tan felt hat next to him. He kept darting glances at Connor.
“Pardon the mess,” Aunt Mattie said. “Kat here is doing wonders fixing the place up on a scant budget. She’s got quite a flair for it, wouldn’t you say?”
Justin scanned the room politely. Kat wondered if a man’s eye would notice things like handmade pillows in contrasting colors, small scatter rugs that tied the room together and flower vases and pictures placed strategically to enhance the modest three-bedroom home. When Kat had first arrived, with Mattie’s illness sapping her strength, the place had been a wreck. In the two months she’d lived here, she’d managed to stage the living spaces to bring new life to the house. Her arrival, or rather Connor’s arrival, had brought new life to Matilda Applegate, as well.
“Looks nice and homey,” Justin said.
She still couldn’t believe this man sitting here being polite to Mattie had lied to her about who he was. Why?
She understood lies to some extent. She’d had to lie her way out of a few tight spots in her life. She could abide them, if it meant keeping your nose clean or protecting someone you loved. But why would Justin Slade lie to her about who he was back then?
Her teeth clamped down so hard, pain shot to her head. Any second now…
“You say you knew my nephew Brett?”
“Yes, ma’am. We met in the marines. When we found out we were practically neighbors, coming from this part of Nevada and all, we got friendly.”
Connor was beginning to relax.
