“And not take a quick peek at the chapel before we lose sunlight? I got permission.”
“From a secretary. Did you come here hoping I’d help you break in again?”
“News flash. I broke in by myself the other night. You didn’t help me. But since you mentioned it—”
“No.”
She looked at him as if she were studying his face for a test. “Well, if we want to be technical about this. I’m a taxpayer and as a taxpayer I—”
“No! Let’s just cut it out, Katie. I told you not to come back here the other night. This is private property. You know, as in someone else owns it and that someone is not you.”
“I told you—”
“You know I can arrest you.”
She huffed. “Yes, you can. But you won’t.”
“You seem awfully confident about that.”
“I am.”
“What makes you so sure I won’t arrest you for trespassing?”
She pointed a finger at him. “Because I saw the look on your face the other night when I was talking about what this chapel could be. You were curious.”
“I was cold.”
“You pretended that it was a crazy idea. But you were curious. Admit it.”
She had read him right. But maybe not for the reasons she thought. “I’m curious about a lot of things, Katie. My curiosity doesn’t make me forget my job.”
She took a few steps and met him at the end of her car. “Fair enough. But weren’t you at all curious about seeing what the chapel looks like during the day? I mean, that stained glass is still intact. Most of it anyway. Aren’t you wondering what it looks like with all this sunshine pouring in? I know you are because why else would you have even told me about the memory of the stained glass window? I mean, that was practically an invitation.”
He forced himself not to smile but it was still pulling at him. “You know very well that was not an invitation.”
“Okay, so it wasn’t. But now that we’re here and it’s a sunny day, don’t you want to see it again? You could give me an escort through the building.”
He couldn’t help himself. He chuckled and shook his head. “You know, there are laws against these things.”
“Yeah? Well, there should be a law against some rich person from LA coming out to Sweet, Montana and buying up property like this old chapel or old homestead homes just to have as a tax write-off. I looked it up, you know. Callahan has owned this property for ten years and he hasn’t done a thing with it.”
Caleb thought of the guy he had just given a ticket to. She was probably talking about someone very much like him.
“That’s not the point,” he said.
“It should be. I want this chapel. I want to see how I can save it. If it continues to deteriorate like this much longer nothing will be salvageable.”
“I can’t believe you looked up the records on this property.”
“It’s not like it was hard. Okay, I was confused, but then I called my brother and he helped me out a little bit. I don’t win points for that. Even though I was very appreciative, Kas will throw that in my face for the next ten years. And don’t you dare tell him how grateful I am the next time you see him.”
“He’s coming to town?”
“Yes, he and Tabby are coming back for a few weeks.”
“Fine. Mums the word.”
“Thank you.”
“But we still can’t go in there, Katie. Even as a police officer, I cannot go into the building without permission. We shouldn’t even be in the parking lot.”
“I told you—”
“The secretary doesn’t count.”
She huffed. “But when I was here the other night, you came in.”
“I thought you were breaking and entering, which you were. Don’t make me regret not arresting you that night.”
“What if I call him again? I’m not leaving until I get this guy on the phone.”
“You’re serious.”
She nodded. “Why would you doubt me? I just called his office. I’m calling back in an hour.”
“The sun will be gone by then.”
Her shoulders sagged and she pouted in a way that made his insides stir. Geesh, this was just Katie Dobbs. He could handle her.
“Can’t we take a quick peek just this once? Don’t you think it’s criminal to let this chapel die a slow and painful death?”
“Katie, it’s a building, not a bison.”
“It’s still painful.”
* * *
He thought she was crazy. A week after that confrontation with Caleb at the chapel, Katie was still revisiting the conversation. Luckily for her, she’d persisted in calling Henry Callahan while Caleb was still arguing with her and he gave them verbal permission to tour the property. In that same conversation, it was clear he had no idea which property she was talking about.
His secretary underestimated the statement that he had several properties. The man was a movie mogul, doing most of his work behind the scenes as a producer, and invested in real estate most likely to make it look like he was operating under a loss for some projects. That much she’d gotten from Kas when she’d called him…again.
But now that her busy week of working at the bank, research, and signing papers was over, she was excited to get to the real work.
It became quickly apparent she needed to get a truck. Or to become fast friends with someone who had a truck. She had lots of friends in Sweet, but she couldn’t count on them to drop everything they were doing just to come rescue her at the lumberyard.
For so long Katie balked at the idea of driving something monstrous big, a vehicle that most of the guys she knew in high school had insisted on having. A truck was necessary for many things when working on a ranch. It wasn’t just for show. Sweet was certainly ranch country. Trucks weren’t just cool, they were tools. She knew that now. It’d only taken her twenty-eight plus years to buy into the argument. And only now because she had
