Love in a Nutshell

“Back off!” Harley screamed at the dog. He aimed the gun at Chuck.

As a former sensible city girl, Kate had taken a self-defense course. “Use your strongest weapons against his weakest targets,” her instructor had said. Kate’s strongest weapon was surprise. Or anger. It didn’t matter which, because Harley was about to get hammered by both.

Kate scrambled to her feet and went in low.

Cut him off at the knees, then go for the throat.

Together, they hit the cold earth outside the crumbling shack with a hard jolt. She heard the swoosh! of the wind being knocked from Harley. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the gun go skittering. No way was he getting near it again. Still on top of him, she took the flats of her palms and slammed them hard onto his ears.

Harley howled.

“I was just warming up,” she said. “Because you’re going down.”

***

UNTIL MATT had to cover sixty acres of dense woods at a dead run, the privacy of a big property had always seemed like a good thing. If nothing else, it gave him a buffer from the semi-militia types living on the other side of the trees. He’d heard his share of strange sounds out here, but never anything quite like this. And he knew it wasn’t coming from his arms-bearing neighbors. The howls he heard were Chuck exercising his right to free speech… plus something more. Matt picked up his pace.

“The deer blind’s just ahead,” he yelled to Clete and Lizzie, who were a stretch behind him.

He cleared a cluster of trees and high brush and stopped just short of Kate and Harley. Harley was thrashing around on the ground, and Kate was whacking the bejeezus out of him.

t warm”0em” width=”1em” align=”justify”›Matt hauled Kate off Harley and hugged her to him. Harley started to rise and Chuck chomped into Harley’s pants leg. A beat later, Lizzie and Clete burst onto the scene.

Matt held Kate at arm’s length and looked at her. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. Except for my head.”

Matt took in the blood-caked blond hair and wondered if he could persuade Clete to let him take a shot at Harley.

Lizzie flipped Harley over and cuffed him. “Good dog,” she said to Chuck, scratching him behind his ear.

Matt cuddled Kate back against him and gave her a gentle kiss. “What happened here?”

“He was going to kill Chuck. And I love Chuck.”

“Chuck, huh?”

She nodded.

“Any chance you might love me, too?”

She nodded again.

“That’s good,” Matt said, “because I love you.”

Kate looked up at him. “You do?”

“I told you, sweetheart. When I’m in, I’m all in.”

And Matt was in. Forever.

***

KATE SAT on the edge of the emergency room’s triage cot. She could sum up her state as hurting and happy. She was going to have one heck of a headache, but she could handle it because she was in love. She’d tried to hold her heart safe from Matt, but it had opened anyway. Everything seemed brighter and better, though she supposed that could be from the pain meds, too.

“Are you ready to leave?” Matt asked her.

“Absolutely.”

He took her elbow while she stood. She smiled up at him. It wasn’t so bad, having a handsome guy’s occasional help.

Matt motioned to an envelope that had been left near her purse. “Don’t forget that.”

Kate opened the envelope. It contained a cashier’s check for twenty thousand dollars.

“You caught my stalker. You earned every penny,” he said. “I suppose I’m going to have to look for another place to build my restaurant.”

Kate felt herself starting to cry. “Maybe you’d rather be the part owner of a struggling B &B. I need a partner to help me, since I have a second job at this awesome brewery working with a guy I absolutely love.”

“I love you, too.”

“We should get me back to The Nutshell,” Kate said. “I know my mom and dad must be wondering where I am.”

Kate had called them from Matt’s cell phone on the way to the hospital and said she’d been a little delayed, but would be home soon. She figured this sort of story was better delivered in person. That way, everyone could see she was still in one piece.

Matt looked toward a set of double doors. “I should warn you that a whole lot of people are out there waiting for you.”

“Really? Why?”

He smiled. “It’s Keene’s Harbor. Word got out among the locals about what happened, and they want to be sure you’re okay.”

So this was what it felt like to belong. Kate never wanted to lose the feeling, even if she did have a couple of tears threatening to roll.

Everyone was there. Ella and Lizzie, the whole Culhane clan, Marcie Landon, Junior Greinwold, a horde from the Depot, Mayor and Missy Mortensen.

Kate waved Miss America style. “I’m fine,” she said.

Marcie made a clucking sound. “Not yet, you’re not.” She held out a brown paper bag. “No Keene’s Harbor local comes out of the hospital without getting some of my chicken noodle soup.”

Kate accepted the gift. “Thank you. That’s really sweet of you, Marcie, but you didn’t need to fuss.”

“You’re family, now. It’s no fuss.”

Kate sniffled. “Okay, now I’m going to cry. How uncool is that?” But, really, she thought this whole scene was cool, possibly the coolest thing ever.

Kate moved through her friends, accepting hugs and words of reassurance until she finally found herself face- to-face with Junior Greinwold.

Junior held out the blue cooler to Kate. “I feel really bad about the mess I made, what with all the bees and dooky. This is for you.”

Kate opened up the cooler. It was filled with Snickers bars and wadded-up hundred dollar bills. Enough to cover the cost of Kate’s repairs.

Junior leaned close to Kate so he could whisper in her ear. “Don’t tell anyone. I won the lottery a bunch of years ago, but I like being a handyman.”

Matt finally pulled her away from the crowd. “We’d better get you home.” Which was exactly how Keene’s Harbor now felt to her.

***

TWENTY MINUTES later, Kate and Matt sat in his truck, the last in line behind three luxury cars in The Nutshell’s driveway.

“So,” Matt said, “are you going to be okay in there?”

“About that…”

“Yes?”

Kate had thought this was going to be hard, but everything felt so right. “I was wondering if you’d like to come in and meet my family?”