Dearest Kate.
Although I hate to give you back the means to hide any of your beauty away, I did feel honor bound to return this mask. Please forgive me for stealing it—and for the other thing I stole out on the patio. It was a theft I should probably regret more than I do. May you find it in your heart to forgive me. Nonetheless, you outshone every star that glittered in our sky. Sapphire suits you. You looked stunning. It was my honor to be able to share that moonlit moment with you. Most important, don’t forget to remember the dawn.
Fondly,
BB
Bri leaned over her arm. “BB? Who is BB?”
Kate could scarcely concentrate on Bri’s question. Her hands, always steady in any circumstance, were shaking. She handed Bri the note and walked numbly to the sofa, struggling to come to terms with why she felt so moved by his words. She was a beauty-pageant queen—it was no surprise when men thought she was attractive.
But maybe that was what had her so surprised.
Usually when people admired her it was when she was at her best—winning a pageant, saving a life in trauma, being a leader in whatever way people around her needed her to be. Her bandit, though, had seen her at her tear-stained worst...and he still seemed to think it had been an honor to be with her.
“Benevolent Bandit!” Kate said in a sudden burst of revelation. “That must be what BB stands for.”
“Or maybe Beloved Bandit?” Bri teased as she joined Kate on the couch and handed her back the note.
Kate’s cheeks flushed as she reread the letter, and something unexpected fluttered in her heart. Kate mentally ordered it to stand down. The last thing she needed was to get excited over a fly-by-night guy. “Benevolent,” she repeated firmly, “because he was there for me when I needed him. But nothing more is going to come of it. Certainly not love. This bandit—though charming—had ‘inability to commit’ etched all over him. That he ran off proves he’s a flight risk. That’s not what I’m looking for in a relationship. I want someone stable. Not someone who parades around crashing weddings and kissing strangers senseless under cover of moonlight.”
“His kiss made you senseless?” Bri smirked.
Kate groaned. “Only for one hundredth of a second. Look, if I wanted unstable, I’d re-up in the military. I’m grateful for what he did the other night and for returning the mask and leaving me this note, but that’s where it ends.” Kate’s fingertips brushed his admonition to remember the dawn. “Being around him gave me a peace I can’t explain. Like his words added ammo to my faith and left me certain everything’s going to end up okay.” Kate folded the paper and tucked it back into the envelope. “He feels like a new friend...except for the unfortunate fact I have no clue who he is or where he lives.” Kate laughed at the irony.
“I think you’re right not to look for anything serious with this guy, especially since he didn’t even bother to share his name. However...don’t write him off yet. Maybe he’ll show up again. That wouldn’t be a bad thing, would it?”
“What are you saying?”
“Things like sweet notes and mysterious gestures might make a nice distraction for you.”
“You mean, getting my mind off my parents’ divorce.”
Bri slid an arm around her. “I can’t get out of my mind the brilliant glow on your face as you described him wiping away your tears. Crazy kiss aside, I think a benevolent bandit might be what you need in life at the moment. Someone to occupy your thoughts and cheer you up.”
Kate patted Bri’s cheek. “You cheer me up.”
“But I’m swamped and it’s bound to worsen with wedding plans, Tia and bunkhouse renovations.”
“It’ll work out. I’ll help, too.” Kate flexed her arms.
“You may need to go help your mom with your grandpa. If he continues to go downhill after his hip fracture...”
“I know. If Grandpa gets worse, I’ll head to Chicago to be with my family. The last thing I want to contend with is regret. You taught me that. But Mom’s a nurse, too. She can handle it for now.”
“Then promise me something.”
Kate groaned. “That statement from you never ends well for me.” But she raised a resigned eyebrow. “But shoot, anyway.”
“Give me your word that if—if—this BB guy continues to send you notes and stuff, that you’ll stop resisting and enjoy it.”
“You’re impossible, Bri. But since I love you and your incurable optimism, I’ll agree.” Bri smiled kind-heartedly yet eyed the clock in a fidget that reminded Kate Tia was coming home from her aunt’s in St. Louis. “Let’s walk you back. I forgot Tia’s on her way home.”
The two women escaped out EPTC’s side door and walked the parking lot in companionable silence, to Kate’s relief. “What do you have planned today?” she asked as they approached Bri’s gorgeous caramel-and-golden-hued lodge.
“Ian’s bringing kitchen paraphernalia so he, Tia and I can make cupcakes. That child is a baking fanatic, like Caleb.”
Kate saw sadness cross Bri’s face. Heard the telltale break in her voice. “I know you miss your brother. When does his tour of duty end?”
“Not anytime soon. He applied for ranger school.” She pulled out her phone as they went in. “I’m kinda worried about him. He hasn’t called in a few days. I hope he’s not facing something dangerous.”
* * *
The time had come to bite the bullet. Caleb had to let Bri—and by extension, Kate—know he was in town. He rolled up his sleeping bag after the third night in the empty cabin and glanced at the diminished pile of leftover war rations that he’d been living on, along with stale canteen water, for the past three days. Stalling was no longer an option.
True, he still didn’t know how he was going to tell either Kate or Bri about his interlude as the masked patio bandit...but if days of mulling over that question hadn’t given him an answer yet, he wasn’t likely to find one. He’d have to wing it.
He dialed Bri’s cell phone. She answered on the first ring.
“Caleb! Finally. I was so worried! How are you?”
“I’m good.” Mostly. He steeled himself against homesickness rustling through him like the breeze as he walked familiar landmarks toward the lodge kitchen. He knew Bri and her fiancé, Ian, baked goodies on Saturdays with Ian’s daughter, whom Bri was adopting. There they were. His heart swelled seeing the warm family scene through the window. After the rough year they’d had losing Mom, he loved to see his sister smiling. Excitement welled over having a little niece to spoil. “I have a surprise for you.”
“What’s that?” Bri helped Tia stir some kind of dough.
“Look outside the yard window to your left.” Caleb smiled.
Bri blinked over, saw him and dropped her phone. Her shriek carried all the way outside. Ian looked up sharply as Bri rushed from the lodge and threw herself at Caleb.
“You’re home! When did you get here?” Her words muffled over each other as she wept and hugged the stuffing out of him.
“Not long ago.” Three days after a yearlong deployment wasn’t long, right?
Ian approached with a grin and Bri’s pink batter-laden phone, which she’d apparently dropped in the bowl. Ian wiped it then hauled Caleb into a man-hug. “Good to have you back.”
Caleb eyed him funnily. “I’ll put up with mushy stuff only because we’re gonna be family now. Seriously, dude. What up? I ask you to bodyguard my sis and get a brother-in-law