Serenity Harbor

“Get your mind out of the gutter, young lady,” her mother, Linda, said, glaring at her only daughter.

“What? I didn’t even say anything,” Sam protested.

“Something at the police station,” Charlene said quickly. “I think one of the cases she investigated last summer when she still worked for the police department is going to trial, and he had some questions for her. She’ll be here soon. She said she was on her way.”

As if on cue, an old-fashioned doorbell chimed through the graceful entryway.

Kat was closest to it. She opened the door and was the first to hug her sister.

“Sorry I’m late,” Wynona said. “I didn’t mean to keep everyone waiting.”

“You didn’t,” Katrina assured her. “We just arrived ourselves.”

“Everyone’s in the back, if you’d like to follow me.”

Julia led the way through the house, filled with antiques and collectibles. It really was like a museum. How did Julia walk down for a midnight snack without worrying about breaking some sort of priceless family heirloom? she wondered.

This neighborhood was set on a hill some distance from downtown, but the huge screened sunroom Julia led them to offered spectacular views of the lake and the Redemption Mountains.

“Oh, look what you’ve done to this place,” Charlene exclaimed. “It’s absolutely stunning, Kenzie.”

McKenzie Kilpatrick, the Haven Point mayor and floral shop owner who loved nothing so much as throwing a big party—except maybe her husband, Ben—had pulled out the perfect bridal shower decor for Wynona. Though Wyn had been a police officer, she was a girlie-girl at heart, and the decorations reflected that, with large paper parasols in soft pastel shades hanging from the ceiling and heart-shaped balloons in the same shades in every corner.

“I had a lot of help. Katrina and Sam were here for several hours this afternoon.”

As maid of honor, Katrina probably should have handled many of the shower details. She had participated in the planning with Julia, Eliza and McKenzie via Skype and email, but it was a little hard to do much more from another country.

“I hope you didn’t go up on the ladder to hang those parasols, honey,” Charlene said to Katrina. “With your luck, you’d fall off and break something. Wouldn’t that be a sorry state of affairs, if you had a broken arm in a cast to go with your bridesmaid dress?”

She managed to refrain from rolling her eyes—which she wanted to think was a sign that she was indeed maturing at least a little bit. “Yes. Terrible.”

“Although, maybe if you had a broken arm,” her mother said tartly, “you would have to stick around home longer than a few weeks.”

As Katrina was well aware of her mother’s negative attitude about her return to Colombia, she opted to ignore that broad hint. “I’m going to go set this salad over on the table and say hello to Hazel and Eppie,” she said, then escaped before her mother could call her back.

She adored the two Brewer sisters, sisters ten months apart who had married twin brothers and spent their entire lives living next to each other. She and Samantha often said they wanted to grow up to be just like them, sassy and funny and full of spice.

She set the salad down and hugged each of them in turn. “How are my favorite troublemakers? What have you been up to while I’ve been gone?”

“Why, there’s our favorite world traveler,” Hazel said. “It’s about time you came back.”

“I’m so happy you made it in time for the wedding,” Eppie exclaimed.

Surely they knew she wouldn’t have missed Wyn and Cade’s wedding, no matter what. Even if she had been stuck in a tiny village on the Amazon River without a boat, she would have swum through barracudas to be here if necessary.

“Sit here by us,” Hazel insisted. “We want to hear every juicy detail. What sort of hunky guys have you been hanging out with down there?”

“I can picture you now, lounging around on the beaches of Rio or living it up in some penthouse apartment in Bogotá.”

For one moment, she could vividly picture Gabriela’s orphanage, where she had been spending virtually all of her free time when she wasn’t teaching English at the nearby secondary school. She saw the run-down facility as clearly as if she had just left—the peeling paint, the bare mattresses on the floor, the plain, dangling light bulbs overhead.

She had to get Gabi out of that environment, no matter what.

The dedicated staff at the orphanage tried to shower love on the children, but they had limited time and even more limited means to make a real difference.

Her heart ached all over again at the confusion and sadness in Gabi’s sweet face when Katrina had hugged her goodbye the week before. Though she wasn’t yet four, she had already been disappointed twice when previous adoptions fell through. Children with Down syndrome could be difficult to place in developing countries, especially when they already struggled with complicated medical conditions that could accompany that diagnosis.

Gabi would eventually need heart surgery for a congenital defect, which was highly unlikely in her current circumstances.

“Come back?” Gabi had whispered the plea in Spanish, her brow furrowed and her mouth twisted into a frown.

Katrina had kissed her cheek while running a hand over her dark hair. “I swear it,” she had answered, not at all sure how much the girl understood or believed.

She hated to leave her. Under other circumstances, she might have opted to skip the wedding and put the necessary travel expenses toward the ever-rising adoption fees.

But she loved Wyn dearly. Katrina was her maid of honor and couldn’t even contemplate missing her wedding to Police Chief Cade Emmett, who had been friends with their older brother Marshall and had been part of their lives as long as Katrina could remember.

She was here, right now, in Haven Point, at Julia Winston’s beautiful home celebrating Wynona’s upcoming wedding. She needed to be present, she reminded herself. As much as her heart might yearn to be with the child whose generosity and courage had stolen her heart, she wouldn’t ruin her sister’s wedding celebrations and this gathering with her dear friends of the Haven Point Helping Hands by pining to be somewhere else.

She pushed the ache away. “All right, girls,” she said to Eppie and Hazel, who hadn’t been girls for about seven decades. “Tell me everything that’s been going on around town while I’ve been gone. You two always know the good dirt.”

Eppie giggled. “Oh my. How much time do you have?”

“As long as it takes.”

They had only about ten minutes to visit before McKenzie Kilpatrick took charge and told everyone they should eat now so they could save their strength for the games to come.

Katrina suggested the Brewer sisters let her grab plates for them, an offer they accepted with alacrity. After she prepared their plates, she returned to the buffet line for one of her own. While she was chatting with Devin Barrett—McKenzie’s sister, whose stepdaughter had been in Katrina’s class—Lindy Grace Keegan took her spot next to Hazel and Eppie.

“There’s a spot over here,” Charlene called.

With a little inward sigh, Katrina manufactured a smile—she was becoming an expert at it—and made her way to the long table where her mother sat with several of their other friends.

“Everything is so delicious, don’t you think?” Charlene asked the table at large and received a positive response in return. “I’m especially loving this cheesecake. Who made it?”

Barbara Serrano, whose family owned a restaurant, raised her hand. “It’s a new recipe we’re trying out.”

“I’d say it’s a hit,” McKenzie said.

“I have got to get this recipe,” Andie Montgomery said. “Marshall would love it. You know how much he loves sweets.”

Andie, a widow with two adorable kids, was marrying Katrina’s brother Marshall in the fall. Kat had met her a few times the previous summer and thought her very nice but a little too quiet for the rambunctious Bailey family. She hadn’t known about Andie’s painful past until pieces of it slithered into town and threatened Andie, those cute kids and Wynona.

She still wasn’t sure how she felt about Andie becoming her sister-in-law as she didn’t know her well yet, but it was obvious Marshall adored her—and vice versa.

“You have to try this,” Charlene said, holding her fork just inches away from Katrina’s mouth. Her mother never seemed to remember she didn’t like cheesecake.

“No, thanks. You have it. I’m good with fruit. Thanks, though.”

“Are you sure? It’s delicious.”

“Positive.”

“I don’t know why you won’t at least have a taste. It’s not like you can’t afford the calories, unlike some of us. You’re so thin,” Charlene said with a sigh.

Her mother could win Olympic gold in fussing.

“I’m fine. Really. Look at all this food I’ve taken.”

“But how much of it will you eat?” Charlene countered.

Again, she wondered what her mother would say if she knew some of the interesting meals Katrina had eaten in South America.

“I think you look beautiful,” Barbara said with her kind smile. “What have you been up to? You went to South America with that sexy mountain climber who used to come into the restaurant with you, right? What was his name again? How’s he doing?”

Her mother’s mouth straightened into a thin line, probably from the effort it was taking Charlene not to spill out her own opinions about Carter Ross. Her mother had strongly opposed Katrina’s decision to go with him on his quest to climb the highest point in every country in South America.

It’s too dangerous. You aren’t serious with the man, anyway. Why do you have to go halfway across the world with him?

All valid points, Kat could admit now. At one point, her mother had even sworn she would never speak with her again if she left with him. Obviously, that had been a hollow threat. More’s the pity.

To her mother’s credit, she hadn’t uttered so much as an I-told-you-so after Katrina’s tenuous relationship with Carter barely survived two of the countries on the list. That didn’t make it any easier for Kat to admit her mother had been right all along.

“No doubt he’s fine, but I couldn’t say for certain. We went our separate ways several months ago.”

That was a polite way of sugarcoating the truth, she supposed. He had been an ass and she had been stupid. Her mistakes still stung, though not with the pain of a broken heart. She hadn’t wanted forever, she reminded herself. That didn’t prevent her from feeling betrayed when he had basically abandoned her in a foreign country without money, credit cards or her passport.

“I still don’t understand why you didn’t just pack your bags and come back home after you and he-who-shall-remain-nameless broke up,” Sam said.

Funny, how a lack of money, credit cards and passport could impact travel plans. Even after all that had been remedied with help from the embassy in Bogotá, something had kept her there.

“I didn’t really go down to South America for him. He was the excuse, not the reason,” she said, which had been one of the points of contention between her and Carter. He’d wanted her undivided attention.

“Once I was already there, immersed in other cultures and getting to know the people, I found I really enjoyed the adventure of it. Except for the years I was in college in Boise, I’ve never lived anywhere else but Haven Point. I decided this was a good chance for me to travel the world a bit, see what might be out there beyond the border of our little town.”

“That’s easy,” Barbara Serrano said with a laugh. “Shelter Springs starts about three miles north of us. But take my advice, don’t bother going there unless you absolutely have to. The natives aren’t very friendly.”

She laughed along with the rest of the Helping Hands. The rivalry between the two towns was ever-present.

“I know what you’re talking about,” Hazel said after the laughter subsided. “When Donald and I were first married, we spent a year in the Philippines while he was stationed there in the air force. Best year of our marriage, even though we lived in base housing surrounded by mostly Americans. I adored going to the street markets, trying the cuisine, seeing how other people lived. I missed my hometown and my family but loved seeing a different culture. It opens the mind.”

“Yes. Exactly.”

“I hope, like I did, you’ve learned a little more about the world and a whole lot more about yourself.”

She smiled warmly at Hazel, the first person who seemed to truly understand her experience these last nine months.

“I have,” she said.

“Tell them about your latest wild hair,” Charlene said, her tone sharp but her eyes filled with concern.

Her mother was strongly against her plans to adopt Gabriela. She thought Katrina was acting on a whim, jumping into something for which she wasn’t prepared. Instead of being excited, as Katrina had hoped, her mother was full of dire predictions about how she was limiting her future options by taking on this lifelong responsibility to a stranger at a time when she should be looking to settle down and have children of her own.

She could only hope Charlene’s opposition would fade when she had the chance to meet Gabi, to look into those dark eyes and see the life and joy and possibility in them.

“Is this about what happened in the grocery store with Bowie Callahan?” Sam interjected. “That was the craziest thing.”

The entire collection of shower guests seemed to perk up, merely at the man’s name. She would have found it amusing if she hadn’t felt a subtle little shiver rippling through her insides.

“Now, there’s someone I wouldn’t mind packing along in my truck on a world tour,” Hazel said with her sly, lascivious grin.

“He is one fine-looking man,” Lindy Grace Keegan purred.

Yes. Katrina wholly agreed. Which was all the more reason for her to stay away from him. Her decision-making track record around fine-looking men was dismal at best.

“What happened with Bowie Callahan?” Charlene asked, eyes wide. “I had no idea you even knew the man.”

Thanks for that, Sam. She aimed a sharp look at her friend, who gave her an apologetic shrug.

“I don’t know him. Not really. I met him today after I had a bit of a situation with his younger brother.”

“Bowie Callahan has a younger brother?” Barbara Serrano looked shocked. “Now, there’s something I didn’t know—and here I was under the impression I knew everything that went on around this town.”

“He does. His name is Milo and he’s very cute. Around five or six years old, I would guess.”

“Six,” Eliza chimed in.

“He’s very cute,” Samantha said. “Though he seems like a handful. He was having a fit in the store and Kat headed him off, so now Bowie wants to hire Katrina to be Milo’s nanny for a couple of weeks while she’s in town. He apparently offered her a boatload of money. Can you believe she said no?”

“Tell him I’ll do it for free,” Hazel said, with that grin again.

“Why on earth would you turn him down?” Wyn asked.

“I came home for your wedding, not to solve a family crisis for some rich, self-absorbed executive I don’t even know.”

She instantly regretted her words, spoken more harshly than she really intended. They seemed to fall on the shower guests like a sudden cloudburst.

“You don’t have to be rude,” Charlene said, clear reprimand in her voice as if Katrina were eight years old again and had eaten something that wasn’t on her approved ketogenic, antiseizure diet.

“Bowie is actually a very nice man, which you would know if you’d spent more than a few minutes with him,” her mother said. “Why, the very first week he was in town, he stopped to help me load my groceries.”

“And he gave a sizable donation to the fund-raiser for a new library,” Julia offered in her quiet voice.

“For what it’s worth, I’ve always found him very nice—and Ben and Aidan have nothing but good to say about him,” Eliza put in.

“They all went to school together,” McKenzie added. “You should hear some of their stories about their time together.”

When the entire formidable force that was the Haven Point Helping Hands ganged up on a person, it was like being steamrolled by an avalanche.

“Okay, okay. I get it. The man is a saint. That still doesn’t mean I want to spend my limited time home babysitting his kid brother.”

Just like with Milo and his behavior issues, sometimes the best strategy was simple diversion, and she quickly changed the subject. “Now, isn’t it about time for some delightfully off-color wedding shower games?”

Wynona groaned, but Hazel and Eppie giggled. “Yes,” they chimed in unison.

McKenzie jumped up. “You’re right. We have tons to do, people. Better get to it.”

Katrina managed to avoid the topic of Bowie Callahan and his brother again until the shower was over and she was helping her sister carry presents out to her SUV.

“That was great,” she said as they walked out into the sweet-smelling air from the honeysuckle and snowberry that grew in abundance on Julia’s property.

“I’m so glad we were able to work it around your schedule so you could make it. It wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun without you.”

“You’re only saying that because Sam and I made the best wedding dress out of toilet paper.”

“It was a work of art. I hope my real one looks half that good,” Wyn said. “I especially loved the row of toilet paper roses across the shoulders and adorning your veil.”

“What can I say? I’ve always looked good in Charmin.”

They both laughed, but Wyn’s smile slid away too quickly. “Hey, I hope you’re not turning down that nanny gig because of me.”

“You mean because I flew six thousand miles to come home and spend a little time with you before your wedding?”

“Yeah. That.” Wynona smiled. “I just mean, if you can work around the schedule thing with the wedding, do it. Bowie seems like a nice guy in a tough spot, at least from what everyone said in there. And the money would definitely come in handy with all your legal expenses, wouldn’t it?”

Wynona, at least, supported her efforts to adopt Gabi, and so did Cade. Her brother Marshall hadn’t said much about it—but then, he didn’t say much about anything.

“The money wouldn’t hurt,” she admitted. “But I can’t just duck out of helping you with wedding prep. I’m the maid of honor!”

“Don’t worry about that. McKenzie has whipped all the Helping Hands into a frenzy, getting things ready for the big day. You know how she is. Between her and Mom—and Andie, who did all the wedding invitations—I’ve hardly lifted a finger for my own wedding. I feel more than a little guilty about it, if you want the truth.”

She nudged Wyn with her shoulder, so happy her sister and Cade were ready to start their life together. “You’ve been a little busy, finishing up your master’s program and starting a new job at children’s services in Shelter Springs.”

“You’re right. That’s a lot of change in a short time.” She paused, clutching her arms as if she were suddenly chilled, though the evening was warm. “What am I doing?”

The sudden panic in her voice shocked Katrina. Her older sister always seemed so together. During those long months after their father was shot on duty and incapacitated, Wyn had been a rock. When Katrina had wanted to quit her last year of college and come home to take care of Charlene, Wyn refused to let her. Instead, Wyn had been the one to move back to Haven Point, taking a job in the Haven Point Police Department.

She might not sew as well as Samantha or be as good as McKenzie at throwing together a beautiful celebration, but she knew her sister and what she needed.

Katrina gripped Wyn’s hands tightly, there in the shadow of the beautiful Victorian house, with its gables and turrets.

“Stop it. Right now. You’re marrying an absolutely wonderful man—one who adores you and cherishes you. A man you have loved most of your life. You’re going to marry him, make a life with him, build a future, and it’s going to be beautiful. That’s what you’re doing.”

Wyn drew in a shaky breath, then another until the look of panic receded from her gaze.

“You’re right. You’re right. I don’t know what happened there for a moment. I think with the shower and all the gifts and everything tonight, the whole thing suddenly seems more real.”

“You haven’t had much time to soak in all the changes in your life. Last summer you were a police officer and Cade was your boss. Until a few weeks ago, you were in Boise finishing your degree. Now here you are, about to start the most exciting chapter of your life with your sexy police chief.”

“You’re right. You’re right.” Wyn gave a breathy laugh. “Oh, I can’t wait. Thank you for the pep talk. Promise me you won’t tell Mom or Cade I needed one.”

“Pinkie promise,” she said.

“Back to what I was saying about Bowie. I trust you to do what you think is best, but I don’t want you to worry a moment that you have to spend every moment that you’re home with me. Everything is under control for the wedding, and we’ll have plenty of time together after you adopt your sweet Gabi and bring her back to Haven Point. I’ll be the best aunt ever. You wait. That girl is going to be so spoiled.”

She had no doubt about it. Eventually even Charlene would have to come around and accept Gabi.

How could she not?

CHAPTER FOUR

“ARE YOU SURE you’re good for a little while?”

Lizzie Lawson, the teenage neighbor girl who had helped Bowie out a few times in a pinch, nodded and placed a hand on Milo’s head.

“We should be fine. Right, Milo?”

His brother didn’t pay her any attention. He was too entranced by the big golden retriever that had accompanied Lizzie. The dog—she had called him Jerry Lewis—had a blunt, friendly face and seemed extraordinarily patient as Milo petted him.

“You said you needed about thirty minutes for your conference call, is that right?” she said.

“Give or take a few minutes.”

“No problem. We’ll go for a little walk on the lakeside trail. Milo, you can hold the leash if you want.”

His brother didn’t smile, but his eyes did widen with excitement. This was Lizzie’s third time keeping an eye on Milo for Bowie when he had work obligations he couldn’t escape. She seemed very dependable, and Milo tolerated her as much as he did anyone, especially if she brought the dog along to help entertain him.

If only she could help him out for longer periods of time, but she already had a job working in McKenzie Kilpatrick’s store. Besides that, an hour or so with Milo was probably as much as a teenage girl should be expected to handle, no matter how well recommended she came from McKenzie.

He crouched down to Milo’s level. As usual, his brother avoided looking straight at him, his attention focused exclusively on the dog.

“Milo. Bud. Look at me.” His brother’s gaze danced to him for an instant, then quickly away. Bowie supposed he would have to be content with what he could get. “Listen to what Lizzie says. Got it? Nod if you understand me.”

Milo nodded, though he didn’t stop petting the dog.

“All right, kid,” Lizzie said. “Let’s do this. Here’s the leash. Hold on tight now. Got it?”

Milo clung to the leash handle as if his life depended on it and trotted after the retriever with Lizzie bringing up the rear.

Bowie watched them go, aware of the familiar tangle of his emotions. He was in so far over his head with Milo, all he could see above him was darkness and uncertainty. If this autism specialist didn’t work, he wasn’t sure what he would do. He hated the idea of putting Milo in some kind of facility somewhere—avoiding that had been the entire reason he had agreed to become his guardian—but he couldn’t completely rule out that might be the best option, down the road.

He didn’t have to worry about that right now, though, when he had people waiting for him. He tried to shift focus from Milo-worry to work-worry, aware the next few weeks were crucial for several of the projects he was spearheading at Caine Tech.