Out of the Storm (Buckhorn, Montana #1) - B.J. Daniels Page 0,22

pain and realized it was for her. For this stranger who was pouring her heart out to him while he had no idea who she was or who Daniel Jackson was.

“We have two beautiful daughters, Mia and Danielle.” She couldn’t seem to stop, although she had to look away for fear of breaking down crying. It was too painful to keep searching those eyes. Danny’s eyes. And finding no recognition at all.

“Mia has a successful graphic-design business. Danielle will be graduating from college in the spring. She wants to teach elementary school. They both grew up hearing stories about their father.” Kate took a few deep breaths, letting them out as she looked around the workshop before she settled her gaze on him again.

He hadn’t moved. Nor had his expression changed. But there was something more now in his eyes... Something that brought tears to her own and an ache of longing to her chest. He looked in pain—all of it for her.

She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I should let you get back to your work,” she said and saw his relief in the way his body seemed to relax.

Kate took a step backward. “You make beautiful things.” Another step toward the door. She could almost feel the cold coming in through the crack between the two doors. Another step and she collided with the rough wood behind her.

He was still standing there, unmoving, those brown eyes on her as she opened the door. She wanted to say something that would make him remember her, remember them, but there were no words, only the unbearable ache in her chest as she stepped through, closing the doors behind her to find herself alone again, surrounded by an alien, cold, white, unforgiving landscape.

CHAPTER EIGHT

“THE PART CAME IN!” Collin looked and sounded joyous as he finished the call the next morning. “It’s time to get this engagement trip going again. Tonight we sleep in the best hotel we can find. I’m talking four-star. And food! I want a big juicy Montana beef steak with a potato the size of my head. I can’t wait to hit the road.”

Kate had come back yesterday from Jon Harper’s workshop to find Collin propped up against the wall on the bed watching some poker tournament on the television. He seemed nervous and out of sorts. He hadn’t asked where she’d been, and she hadn’t told him.

Instead, she’d taken off her coat and boots and climbed in the other bed with one of her books. She’d apparently fallen asleep there, because that’s where she’d awakened this morning. She couldn’t remember anything she’d read. Last night, he’d gone over to the café for food and been gone much longer than it should have taken. When he’d come back smelling of beer, she hadn’t said anything.

They’d eaten propped up in the two beds. He’d found a movie to watch, and Kate had pretended to read until she’d turned out her light and gone to sleep. Collin hadn’t joined her in the bed. She’d been relieved this morning when she’d awakened to see that he’d already showered and dressed and was on his way out.

He was in such a good mood after the call that she couldn’t bring herself to broach the subject of Jon Harper with him. Collin often seemed so young, so free, so confident, something she felt she’d never been. She’d been forced to grow up fast after she lost Danny. All these years alone with her two girls, she’d felt afraid that she couldn’t do it right alone. She felt that same fear now. She’d barely slept at all last night for fear of what she was going to do.

She knew how desperate Collin was to leave. And it wasn’t just getting out of this awful motel room or having more choices of where to eat other than Bessie’s café. Nor was it meeting up with his associates across the Canadian border. He wanted to get her out of this town and away from Jon Harper. Because like her, he was afraid of what she might do.

“Get packed,” he said as he reached for his coat.

“I can’t leave yet.” The words felt like marbles in her mouth. During her sleepless night she’d tried to convince herself that leaving with Collin was the only thing to do. Collin loved her. He was offering her a second chance in life. Even if she was right and Jon Harper was Danny, he didn’t know her. He wasn’t her