Redwood Bend

flaws, but there’s just no substitute for knowing your man belongs to you completely. Oh, God, I missed that passion Charlie had for me.” She stood up and wrapped the towel around herself. “Be careful what you pray for.”
“Well,” Leslie said, standing up and reaching for the robe on the door hook. “You’ll forget Dylan in no time,” she said hopefully.
“Sure,” Katie said doubtfully. “Of course.”
Leslie held the terry robe for Katie and for a moment, in wordless communication, they shared the same thought—it didn’t matter if it was two weeks or two years. If the chemistry was powerful, if the heart shattered, healing was going to take time.
“Please take Conner home,” Katie said. “Thank you for letting me talk, but will you please get him out of here? And tell him I’m just not ready to go over this with him. Not right now.”
“Sure, I understand. You know, he only wants to help.”
“Yes, I know. And he’ll have a terrible time understanding that there’s nothing he can do for me.”
“Sure. Absolutely.” Then Leslie gave her a hug. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Please, call me if you need me sooner.”
“Of course I will.”
They talked softly for just a minute more, then Leslie left Katie alone.
Leslie found Conner pacing in the living room, a very agitated expression on his face. The second he saw her he pointed at the newspapers and said, “Are you going to explain this?”
“Yes, Conner. We’re going to leave now and I’ll tell you about it. Boys?” she yelled. Two little heads popped over the loft rail. “We’re going home now. Be nice to Mommy and stay out of her hair.”
“She crying some more?” Andy asked, his little eyebrows scrunched in concern.
“Not so much,” Leslie said. “But she might need quiet time. Be very sweet to her. Will you?”
They both nodded obediently and it made her smile. Those boys were going to grow up to take good care of their mother.
Once in Conner’s truck, the first order of business was to explain that Dylan Childress was no ordinary biker or pilot. He was an ex-star who’d built himself some kind of life in Montana, away from the cameras and press.
“Then what was he doing here?” Conner wanted to know.
“I’m not sure,” she told him. “Katie said he was looking at small airports around here to see if he could learn anything that would help his charter business, but she didn’t mention he was leaving here to return to movies until after he was gone. I think it was his sudden departure that came as a shock, even though he’d been warning her that he had to go soon. And she really liked him. And here’s the thing about women—we always say we’re up for that fling, that we don’t need commitment, and we’re always lying to ourselves.”
“Bull, I had flings…”
“I didn’t say you men were lying to yourselves…”
“I never heard from women that they were all upset!” Conner said defensively.
She looked at him sharply. “Don’t you have an ex-wife still pestering you from time to time?”
“Oh, her—well, that’s not the same thing. She never said she didn’t need commitment and she has problems.” He shook his head. “Katie is completely normal.” He glanced at Leslie. “Isn’t she?”
“She is,” Leslie confirmed. “And your completely normal sister kind of fell for the guy. It wasn’t part of the plan, but stuff like that happens. I guess he didn’t fall for her or maybe it wouldn’t have turned out the way it did.”
Conner growled.
“Really, Conner, I want to hate him, too. But as Katie said, it was an honest relationship—he never misled her. We didn’t get into it, but I don’t think she has any regrets. She’s just having the hurt right now. You have to let her get through it. You can’t fix it.”
“I could punch the bastard in the face,” Conner said.
“Hmm. Very sensitive. But somehow I don’t think that’s going to make Katie feel a lot better…”
He gave a deep sigh. “All I wanted for my sister was happiness. She’s had such rotten luck, you know? Not just bad guy luck—but losing our mom and dad, losing Charlie when she was pregnant with the boys, being stuck with a brother as her only security, losing the hardware store, our inheritance… I just wanted her to have a real life. A good, stable, happy life. You know?”
“I know, Conner. I know.”
“After Charlie, I couldn’t call her after eight at night,” Conner said softly, almost mournfully.