Storm on the Horizon



  STORM ON THE HORIZON

  by Kathi Macias

  Chapter 1

  There it was again—that feeling that someone was watching her every move, dogging her every step. For months now it had plagued her, intensifying with each passing day. And yet there was nothing—nothing at all to explain her growing paranoia. Nothing that she could call by name, anyway. Only a vague, creeping sense of foreboding, hovering just overhead.

  Kate shivered in spite of the hot, dry wind that blew through the small town of Cedar City, Utah, tossing her short blond curls as she walked out of the bank where she worked and turned toward her lawyer’s office five blocks away. Kate didn’t mind the summer heat that had simmered over southwestern Utah for the last few weeks. What she hated were the long, cold, confining winters when the snow lay white and glistening over the entire town. Everything was frozen during the winter, and cold weather depressed her, reminding her of all she had lost.

  Hurrying down the street, she almost stumbled as she remembered the day eighteen months earlier when she had stood, tearless, in the bleak, gray cemetery, clutching her young son’s hand and watching the leafless trees stretching their bare branches beseechingly toward the heavens as her father’s coffin was lowered into the cold, hard ground. She had vowed then to let no one—except the vulnerable, confused little boy at her side—get close to her again. There was just no more pain that she could bear.

  Now it was Friday, and she’d taken off work early so she could keep her afternoon appointment with Lyle Montgomery, the lawyer who was handling Richard Waters’ estate. Thank goodness it was almost over. If only she could take more pleasure in knowing that the money would now be hers and that her life was about to change drastically. Of course, that wasn’t the only reason she wanted this estate settlement behind her, for once it was, she would no longer have to endure these horribly uncomfortable visits with Lyle and his green-eyed secretary.

  She stopped to wait for a light, resisting the temptation to look back over her shoulder as, once again, she felt the cold breath of the nameless, faceless entity that stalked her. Shaking her head as if to rid herself of her fear, she stepped down off the curb. Moving quickly toward Lyle’s office only half a block away now, she scolded herself for letting her imagination run away with her again.

  You’re being ridiculous, Kate Ames. What in the world makes you think someone would be following you? Have you ever seen anyone? Heard anything? Of course not. You’re just letting everything get to you. For heaven’s sake, you’re twenty-seven years old. It’s time to grow up and stop being afraid of your own shadow. After all, if you haven’t learned to take care of yourself by now, you never will. You’re all you’ve got—besides Jason, of course—so you’d better start trusting yourself a little more. Besides, it’s a beautiful afternoon, and tomorrow you and Jason are leaving for the lake. A few days alone with your son, away from all the hassle and tension, and you’ll be as good as new.

  She smiled as she thought of her son, six years old now and just finished with first grade. It didn’t seem possible. He was growing up so fast—too fast! She sighed. If only he’d had a chance to know his father. Jason didn’t remember Tony Ames, but he certainly remembered his grandfather. And he grieved for him. Kate knew how often her dark-haired, round-eyed, sensitive young son had gone into his grandfather’s den to sit in Richard Waters’ chair and cry. Jason didn’t understand about heart attacks or death. Does anyone? she wondered. All her son knew was that his grandfather was gone.

  Kate and Jason had moved back into Richard’s home when Tony died, and it was the only home Jason remembered. He had been happy there, and Kate was glad of that. She was also glad that Jason’s trips to the den had become less frequent, that his sunny smile lit up his face more often these days. Every time Kate looked into her son’s dark, innocent eyes, she saw Tony—and held on to Jason even tighter.

  She let herself into Lyle’s office, dreading the cool reception she knew she would receive from Sharon Williams, Lyle’s secretary. Against her better judgment, Kate had gone to dinner with Lyle a couple of times, but that was months ago. Though the handsome attorney continued to pursue her, she now rebuffed his every advance and regretted having dated him at all. Though she couldn’t deny Lyle’s good looks or his invaluable assistance to her since her father’s death, she wasn’t in the least attracted to or interested in him, and she saw no reason to think that would change in the future. Apparently Lyle’s secretary didn’t share that certainty, and her own obvious attraction to her boss brought out the jealousy and envy in her and directed it straight at Kate.

  As soon as Sharon looked up, her neck stiffened. She nodded politely. “Good afternoon, Mrs. Ames.”

  “Hello, Sharon,” Kate said. “I believe Lyle—Mr. Montgomery—is expecting me.”

  “I’m sure he is.” Sharon stood and looked Kate up and down, her top lip almost curled into a sneer. “I’ll tell him you’re here.”

  Kate wondered why Sharon hadn’t just buzzed Lyle on the intercom rather than getting up and going to his office. She decided it was because Sharon enjoyed reminding Kate of their physical differences. Sharon, tall and regal with golden red hair that cascaded, rich and full, down her shoulders and back, made Kate painfully aware of her own small stature. At 5-feet 2-inches tall and 105 pounds, she felt like a child around Sharon. Self-conscious, she patted her short blonde, wind-blown curls into place as best she could.

  “Kathryn!” Lyle exclaimed, coming out of his office right behind Sharon. Ignoring his stunningly beautiful secretary, he moved past her toward Kate, his arms outstretched. Grasping her hands firmly in his own, he smiled down at her. “It’s so good to see you again.”

  Kate forced herself to return his smile, though she quickly withdrew her hands, even as she caught her breath at the sight of the man who so reminded her of her beloved Tony. But beyond Lyle’s dark, almost enchanting good looks, Kate saw no similarities between the two men. Tony had been so gentle and loving and attentive, and though Lyle tried to come across that way, it never seemed natural to her. And besides, why would such a handsome, successful, professional man as Lyle Montgomery be interested in someone like her? It made no sense to Kate, and she had no intention of pursuing the question.

  Putting an arm gently behind Kate’s back, Lyle steered her toward his office, right past the icy glare of Sharon’s hard, green eyes. Kate, reluctantly allowing him to guide her along, didn’t think Lyle had even noticed Sharon—but Kate certainly had.

  Behind his closed door, Lyle paused and looked down at Kate. “How are you, Kathryn?” he asked, his voice soft but husky. Lyle was the only one who had ever called her Kathryn. He said he thought the name had an elegant ring to it. Kate told him she had never thought of herself as elegant, but Lyle had assured her she was wrong. The way he was looking at her now, she almost believed him—but not quite. Like everything else Lyle said to her, it somehow seemed disingenuous.

  Suddenly Kate realized she hadn’t yet spoken to Lyle. “I’m fine,” she said, trying to sound surer of herself than she felt. Why was it that every time she was around Lyle Montgomery she felt the need to run as far and as fast as she could? He had never been anything but kind and helpful to her, and he had never done or said anything to make her so wary or suspicious. Maybe it was just his unwanted attentions that made her so uncomfortable. Was it simply because he reminded her so much of Tony, and yet was so unlike him? She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “I’m just fine,” she repeated.

  Neither of them spoke for a moment. Then Lyle cleared his throat. “Well, I’m sure you know why I asked you to come by today,” he said, then grinned. “But I hope you also know I have an ulterior motive.”

&n
bsp; Kate felt herself flush, an embarrassing habit she believed reinforced her little-girl image, and one she especially hated when she was with Lyle, as she was sure it only encouraged him to think that deep down she returned his interest, which she most certainly did not.

  Lyle indicated the chair in front of his desk. “Let’s take care of business first, shall we?” She sat down obediently, as Lyle remained standing and laid some papers down in front of her.

  “This is it, Kathryn,” he said, leaning over her, the scent of his after shave teasing her nostrils. “The last of them. When you sign these, we’re through—with your father’s estate, I mean. Everything is finally settled. As I told you before, the house here in town where you and Jason are living, the cabin up at Panquitch Lake, and all of your father’s assets are yours. I would say, if you handle things wisely, you won’t ever have to worry about money again.”

  Kate nodded, doing her best not to resent Lyle’s nearness as she stared at the papers in front of her. “Dad had even more money put away than I realized,” she said.

  “He made some wise investments,” Lyle agreed. “But then, with his being a banker all those years, I suppose that was to be expected.”

  Kate didn’t answer. She remembered her dad talking about his many investments, but she hadn’t paid much attention at the time. He had been a senior loan officer at the bank for as long as Kate could remember. After his wife died, he had wrapped himself in his faith and in his work—and in raising Kate, even steering her toward a career in banking. With her father being the primary focus of her life as she moved from her teen years into adulthood, she had easily followed his lead, despite the fact that banking held no real allure for her. Her only detour had been when she met and married Tony, and then gave birth to Jason. Though she’d taken a leave of absence when their son was born, she had soon returned to the bank, and had been there ever since.

  The smell of Lyle’s aftershave, which might have attracted someone else but served only to make her uncomfortable, brought her back to the present. She took the pen he offered her, trying not to overreact when his hand touched hers briefly, though she was sure he had done it purposely.

  “Right here,” he said, pointing. “And here.”

  She signed, then set the pen down. “That’s it?”

  “That’s it,” Lyle said, pulling up a chair and sitting down beside her. “Now, for my ulterior motive. What would I have to do to tempt you into a nice, intimate, candlelight dinner with me tonight? Just the two of us...to celebrate. What do you say?”

  His dark, intense eyes seemed to call to her from some faraway place, somewhere she had no desire to go—not now, not ever. It was as if, uninvited, he peered into her very soul. She knew, of course, that she was being overly dramatic, but she couldn’t help but wonder what he would think of her if he really could. She imagined he would be offended when he realized that, each time Kate looked at him, she was overwhelmed with vivid, poignant memories of her late husband, even as she was repulsed by Lyle’s inability to compare to the man of integrity that Tony had been.

  Kate had met Tony Ames right after graduation from high school and had fallen helplessly, hopelessly in love with the tall, good-looking man with the broad shoulders and an even broader smile. But she had never dreamed he could feel the same way about her. In fact, with his pick of any one of a number of attractive young ladies, Kate couldn’t imagine why someone like Tony Ames would even notice anyone as shy and unassuming as herself.

  Kate’s father, however, had been more than pleased with the match, and pleasing her father had always been very important to Kate. Especially since, for several years prior to meeting Tony, Richard Waters had been the very center of Kate’s existence.

  An only child, Kate had spent the first twelve years of her life feeling loved and safe. Her parents, both devout Christians, had taken her to church and Sunday school faithfully, and Kate had accepted the teachings of her parents and the church without questions. But all of that changed when Kate’s mother, Mary Waters, died of pneumonia on a raw, blustery February morning, two days after Kate’s twelfth birthday. For the first time, Kate found herself with serious doubts about the loving and forgiving God she had been told about all her life. The profession of faith she had made only the year before suddenly seemed hollow and without meaning. But she and her father continued on in the church, while Kate became more and more dependent on Richard Waters with each passing year. By the time she met Tony, Kate and her father had become inseparable. For that reason, Richard’s ready acceptance of Tony made their storybook romance that much sweeter. Tony, who had never known his own father, was more than happy to become the son Richard Waters never had. Tony was also more than happy to adopt Richard and Kate’s church as his own. And so, four months after they met, Kate and Tony were married.

  Tony was five years older than Kate, with thick, wavy black hair. His dark eyes left Kate breathless every time she gazed into their depths, which was often. When Jason was born during their second year of marriage, Kate thought her life was complete. Tony’s job as reporter for the local newspaper seemed very exciting to Kate, and his dream of writing books that would live on after he was gone was the most romantic and noble thing she could imagine.

  But there had been no books. They were still only a dream when Tony Ames was stricken with cancer. Kate watched him suffer. She watched the handsome face grow gaunt and gray. She watched the broad shoulders droop in pain and resignation. She watched her husband die as snow fell softly outside the hospital window. And then she buried what little was left of her faith along with Tony in his grave.

  “Kathryn?”

  Kate blinked. She had forgotten about Lyle Montgomery entirely. What was it he had asked her? Oh yes, dinner. She shook her head slowly. “I...I can’t, Lyle. Not tonight. I promised Jason I’d take him out for pizza. And besides, I’ve already told you—”

  Lyle sighed and smiled resignedly, holding up his hand and interrupting her before she could remind him that she had repeatedly told him she no longer wanted to date him—or anyone else, for that matter. “I know, I know. An intimate candlelight dinner for two certainly can’t compare with pepperoni and cheese, can it?” He shrugged and raised an eyebrow. “Maybe next time?”

  She shook her head. “No. Lyle, I—”

  “How about tomorrow night?” he urged, once again cutting her off. “Or the next night? Or the night after that?”

  Her irritation grew, as she realized he had no intention of honoring her previous requests to stop inviting her to go out with him and to maintain their relationship on a strictly professional level. But if, as Lyle had said, signing these documents completed the legal transactions associated with settling her father’s estate, she wouldn’t have to deal with Lyle Montgomery again once she exited his office in the next few minutes. The thought filled her with a great sense of relief.

  “Even if I were interested, which I’m not,” she stressed, “I couldn’t go out with you tomorrow night, either, Lyle. Or the next night. Jason and I are leaving for the cabin first thing tomorrow morning, so if you need to reach me for any last minute details on the estate, you’ll have to call me there.”

  Purposely avoiding eye contact, she stood, gathering her purse as she readied herself to leave. “I’ve taken a leave of absence from my job, starting today, to try to decide what I want to do with my life,” she explained, keeping her voice as steady and as unemotional as possible, as he rose to stand beside her. “All of a sudden, I find I have some options,” she went on. “I mean, according to these papers, I really don’t have to work anymore. And I’ve never been all that crazy about my job at the bank. I really only went into banking because of Dad. Now I’m not so sure it’s what I want. Although I certainly wouldn’t want to just sit around all day with nothing to do. I don’t really know what I want to do with the rest of my life, Lyle, but I think it’s time I found out.”

  Lyle reached for her hand, then withdrew when she
refused to respond. “Let me help you, Kathryn,” he said, his voice soft and seductive. “Let me help you find yourself, find what you want to do with your future. Can’t you give me that chance? Can’t you trust me to help you?”

  Kate swallowed. There was nothing she’d like better than to have Tony here beside her right now, providing exactly what Lyle was offering...but Lyle was not Tony, no matter how much they might resemble one another in looks.

  “No,” she said quickly. “I can’t, Lyle. I’m sorry. I’ve told you that before, and nothing has changed—nor will it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some packing to do.”

  Lyle nodded, his lips pressed tightly together. “I understand, Kathryn. I’ll call you at the lake if anything comes up about the final paperwork.”

  He held the door open for her as she left his office. Kate didn’t look back, but she knew that both Lyle Montgomery and Sharon Williams were watching her as she walked out into the late afternoon sunshine. With all her heart she hoped they were the only ones watching.