Below lay a small, shallow valley. There weren’t any cattle around. This time of year, they didn’t use this pasture. A line shack-a single-room structure with the most basic of supplies-stood sheltered by several trees. A single horse waited patiently out front.
Katie stared at the building. She hadn’t seen it in eleven years, yet nothing had changed. The building was just as plain and weatherworn. The trees didn’t seem any taller. She stared at the horse-even that was familiar. How many times had she ridden up and seen an animal hobbled by the front door?
All those years ago, only one person would have been waiting for her inside that small building. Today she had no reason to expect him to be there, and yet she was sure he was. Whatever powers had drawn her here this day must have also drawn him. The past had a wisdom all its own.
Memories flooded her brain, and she didn’t have power against their current. She leaned over and stroked Socks’s neck. The gelding snorted softly. She remembered the first time she’d crested this particular rise and seen the shack. It had been summer, and she’d been all of thirteen.
July fifth, she thought, losing herself in what had been all those years ago. She remembered the date because the Fourth of July had been awful. The family picnic had dissolved into fights and hurt feelings. Katie had been missing her mother. Gloria Fitzgerald had been gone less than two years, and while Katie really liked her new stepmother, Suzanne wasn’t Mom. Then there were the other problems in Katie’s life. Thirteen was not a great age. She wasn’t old enough to do anything fun, but she was too old to play with the little kids. She’d felt restless and confused by hormones and emotions. Worse, at breakfast that morning, her father had announced that Suzanne was pregnant.
Katie knew enough about sex to know how her stepmother got pregnant. And the thought of her father doing
Then Katie had stumbled across the line shack. She’d gone to investigate, reasonably confident that she was trespassing on Darby land, but thrilled by the adventure, however small. She’d gone inside and had found someone had fixed up the place. There were fresh blankets on the cot and a comfortable chair by the window that was perfect for reading. Then there were the books. Dozens and dozens of wonderful books. Mysteries and biographies and travel stories. She’d found a couple of tins of cookies and a few magazines showing nearly naked women. Katie had helped herself to the former and been shocked by the latter.
For nearly two weeks she’d found her way to the shack in the afternoon, when her chores were done and no one cared where she went. She’d read and dreamed and started a journal. Then one afternoon the door had jerked opened and a tall, gangly shadow had demanded to know what the hell she was doing in his line shack.
Katie smiled as she remembered her surprise. It had taken her several seconds to recognize the fourteen- year-old boy in front of her.
“Jack?” Her heart had pounded so fast, she was afraid it was going to fly right out of her check.
Katie had worshiped Jack from afar ever since he’d taught her to ride a bike three years before. She daydreamed about them meeting and had planned dozens of clever things to say to him. At that moment she couldn’t think of a single one.
She’d scrambled to her feet. “Jack, it’s Katie.”
“I know who you are.”
His gruff words had not been the welcome she’d wanted. “I thought-” She motioned to the shack. “I found this a few weeks back. I’ve been spending my afternoons here.”
“Why?”
She’d stared at him, but hadn’t been able to tell what he was thinking. “Why are you mad at me? I didn’t hurt anything.”
His gaze flew to the tattered manila envelope that held the magazines of the almost-naked women. Katie blushed. When he remained silent and staring, she’d felt defeated.
“I just needed a place to go,” she said, carefully closing the book she’d been reading. “I didn’t think anyone would care that I’d been here. I’m sorry for trespassing.”
She’d walked toward the door, intent on leaving. But he hadn’t stepped out of her way. She raised her chin and glared. “I can’t get out with you standing there.”
“Did you know this was my place?” he asked.
She bit her lower lip. “I guessed it was. I didn’t know who else would be using it. But after you taught me to ride a bike and stuff, I didn’t think you’d mind me being here, too.”
He took a half step toward her and moved out of the shadows. She’d seen Jack at school, but she hadn’t been this close to him in three years. He was tall-much taller than her. While she was still more girl than woman, he’d made progress toward becoming a man. He had broad shoulders and long legs. He was still bony, but she could see the promise of his future in the skinny adolescent in front of her.
An odd kind of tension filled her chest. “I, ah, guess I never thanked you for that,” she mumbled. “Helping me learn to ride a bike, I mean. And I’m sorry about what happened after. I always wanted to tell you that but I knew my dad would kill me if he caught me talking to you again.”
“What about now? Isn’t he gonna be mad to find out you’re here?”
She shrugged. “I’m leaving and I don’t guess he’s gonna figure out I was here before.”
Jack studied her face. She knew she wasn’t very pretty-not like her sister Josie. She had freckles and she burned more than she tanned and she was short.
He held up a bag. “I have sandwiches,” he said gruffly. “You want one?”
It hadn’t been much of an invitation, but she’d clung to it all the same, accepting the food and sitting cross- legged on the cot while he’d taken the chair. She’d stayed with him that day. For the rest of the summer they’d spent their afternoons together. They’d talked and read books and talked some more. The following summer Jack had given her her first kiss in the line shack. By the time she turned fifteen, they were in love.
Katie shook her head and brought herself back to the present. Loving Jack had been one of the best parts of growing up, she thought. He’d been gentle and kind and supportive. Not to mention gorgeous. There’d been a time when she’d known everything about him. She’d thought they would be together always. Now, eleven years later, he was a stranger. A ghost from her past.
What had happened to change things, she wondered. Time? Distance? Different lives? Did it matter? She should let the past go. Or maybe just lay those ghosts to rest, she thought as she urged her horse forward and headed for the line shack.
Jack stood in the center of the single room. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been here, nor did he know why he’d come today. He had plenty of work waiting for him on the ranch, and stopping at the line shack was just a waste of time.
Still, he’d been drawn by forces he couldn’t explain. Was it knowing that Katie was going to be living at the house? Or was it that being around her had reminded him of the past?
He walked to the unfinished boards he’d nailed up for bookcases. As he touched the dusty spines of the books, he remembered each story. He heard echoes of conversation and laughter. As a teenager, this had been his sanctuary…and hers. Together they’d talked about hopes and dreams for the future. They’d fallen in love while having earnest conversations and gazing into each other’s eyes. On the battered old cot in the corner, he’d lain next to her and learned the feel of her body next to his. He’d discovered curves and scents, touching her through her clothing and once, only once, reaching under her shirt and stroking her bare breasts. They’d kissed and wanted and ached, but they’d never made love. Back then he would have assumed they would be each other’s first time-he would have been wrong.
A creak caught his attention. He turned and saw Katie standing in the doorway of the line shack. She was only a silhouette, but he recognized her shape. He waited, not saying anything. He wasn’t sure if he was pleased to see her or not. When she’d first returned to town he’d been confident that she would never be a part of his life. Now she was living at the ranch and invading his thoughts. He knew the danger of caring about her. How many times was he going to have learn that lesson before he got it right?
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
She laughed. “At least this time you didn’t swear at me.”
He frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“The first time you found me here you wanted to know what the
