The Standby Guy (Men of Lakeside) Read online

  Laughter broke out around the table. Katie felt a burst of pride. Her little boy had grown up. He was turning into an adult.

  Pop frowned. “You think you can learn more from a fancy school than you can from me?”

  “No offense, Pop, but there’s probably a lot of new info out there that you don’t know anything about.”

  “There’s nothing I don’t know about running my own business.”

  Sean shrugged. “But you’re never there anymore, so how could I learn?”

  Ooh, her son was also very crafty.

  Pop narrowed his eyes and studied Sean. “Okay, I’ll be there Monday morning. You be there at eight o’clock sharp and you’ll work hard, and I’ll teach you everything I know about the salvage business.”

  “And pay me a full-time wage.”

  “Full-time starting wage.”

  “Deal.”

  Pop held out his good hand, and he and Sean shook on it.

  “So no more college?” Katie asked. No more empty nest? No more My Time?

  “It’s early enough that most of the fees can be refunded, Mom. I’ve been checking out online courses I can take, too. And maybe I’ll want to go back after I learn all I can from Pop.” He looked more eager and excited than he had when he left for college. “And Brian, Jacob, and I were talking about renting an apartment together.”

  Pride nearly burst out of Katie’s chest. “I guess you have it all figured out.”

  “I tried to. I talked to Carter already, and he’s okay with it.”

  Carter. For a few minutes, she’d forgotten about the way she left things with Carter. She glanced around and still didn’t see him anywhere. Had he left without saying goodbye?

  Ginny came back with the wine. Her friend frowned as she handed Katie her glass. “Is everything okay? I heard you were fighting with Carter a little while ago.”

  “What did that boy do now?” Pop snapped.

  Word traveled fast. It was what she’d wanted, wasn’t it? “He didn’t do anything. We were having a disagreement, that’s all.”

  “Nothing serious, I hope,” his mother said.

  Katie shrugged. She didn’t want to be talking about it with his family. She was sorry things wouldn’t be the same between her and the Colburns after today. At least Sean would always have a place with them.

  She was glad when Carter stepped into the tent. A few more angry words and it would be over.

  “Colburn, I want a word with you!” Malcolm Worthington followed Carter into the tent. Evelyn was on his heels.

  Katie jumped to her feet. She had to straighten things out with Malcolm before he did something rash. It wasn’t fair that Carter should lose the older man’s business because of their differences.

  But Carter turned around and held up a hand to stop Worthington’s approach. “One moment, sir. I have to talk to Katie right away. If you want to fire me after that, fine. Katie and I have something to straighten out first.”

  Conversations around them died.

  Here we go.

  Katie ignored the Colburns’ curious glances and rounded the table. She stepped out into the vacant area in the center of the tent that was going to be used for dancing later on. She knew she wouldn’t feel like dancing tonight. Carter met her in the center but stopped several feet away. It felt as if they were having their own showdown at the O.K. Corral.

  “I have things to say to you,” Carter announced. “I want you to be quiet and listen.”

  “Oh yeah. Well, I have things to say to you. Maybe I don’t want to be quiet.” Shit, they still didn’t know how to fight. Unless it was about things that were important enough to tear them apart forever.

  “I don’t like taking second place to a purple notebook. That Katie list of yours is more important to you than I am.”

  Whoa. Katie was shocked silent. That had come out of nowhere. “That’s ridiculous.” When she thought about the people and things that took priority in her life, her want-to-do list didn’t even hit the top three. In fact, for years now, Carter had been second only to Sean in her life.

  He took a step closer. “Don’t call me ridiculous.”

  This wasn’t the time for filtering the words that came out of her mouth. “I will when you say stupid things.”

  She stepped closer, her fingers curled into fists. “How can you not know how much you mean to me? More than any dumb list.”

  “But it isn’t dumb, is it? Your Katie list? You’ve been waiting for years to live. You’ve been saving up that me time for when you finally had the chance to do everything you’ve ever wanted to.”

  “What about you? You’ve been waiting for a long time to have a family.”

  He raised his voice. “That was my choice, wasn’t it?”

  Her voice grew louder, too. “Well, putting things off was my choice, too.”

  Carter spread his arms wide. “Katie Kat, I don’t want to fight with you.”

  He’d stirred her up, and she wasn’t backing down now. She took another step closer to him. “I won’t prevent you from having the family you’ve always dreamed of.”

  “Well, I don’t want to tie you down when you have so many things you want to accomplish,” he shouted back.

  She propped her hands on her hips. “Just because I want ‘me time’ doesn’t mean I want to do everything alone.”

  “And I already have all the family I want—you and Sean.” He lowered his voice then. “I’ve had the two of you for years, but I was just too stupid to see it.”

  Talk about a breathtaking feeling. Katie pressed her hand to her chest to keep all those feelings in. His intense expression told her he was completely serious, but she still had to ask, “Really? We’re enough for you?”

  “You two are everything to me.”

  She saw a beaming Sean hovering at the edge of the crowd that had gathered around them. “I’m gobsmacked!” he shouted.

  Katie smiled through her tears at Carter. “See, I was right. You are stupid.”

  “God, I’m in love with you.”

  Laughter bubbled up. “I’m in love with you, too.”

  Katie threw herself into his arms. Applause rang out around them. Flashes lit up the interior of the tent.

  “Photos will be posted to the village page as we speak.” Carter’s breath was warm on her neck, his arms snug around her. “I love you, Katie Kat.”

  She laughed into the crook of his neck. “I love you, too.”

  Murmurs buzzed around them. Katie reluctantly lifted her head. “There’s at least a gazillion people all around, staring at us.”

  Carter brushed his lips over hers. “Mm-hmm.”

  “I suppose we have to talk to them now.”

  “That’s what you get when you want a showdown in front of a crowd.”

  They slowly released each other, and Katie looked around for Sean. Carter waved him over, and they had a quick group hug.

  Worthington strode over, as if he was the first person they’d want to see, but all he did was shake Carter’s hand, give Katie a quick hug, and walk away. The crowd parted for Gloria to approach, cane in hand. She stopped in front of them and shook her cane.

  “Upstaging my birthday?” Then Gloria smiled. “Thank goodness. It’s so boring to hear nothing but ‘happy birthday’ for hours. I’m so glad the two of you worked things out. Have I ever told you that you’re two of my favorite people?”

  “Once or twice,” Katie said. Carter’s family swarmed around them, and they celebrated more than Gloria’s birthday that night. And Katie danced up a storm.

  Sean went out with his friends after the party, and Katie went home with Carter. So much had happened in the past few hours that it was difficult to process it all. They lay in bed after celebratory sex, and Carter asked, “Do you think I’m ever going to get to see that list of yours?”

  “I don’t know. A woman’s list is a personal thing.”

  “How will I know if there’s anything in that notebook I could help you with?
”

  She nipped his shoulder where her head was resting. “You already helped me with my mojo problem.”

  “Helping you was no problem.”

  Katie chuckled and snuggled closer. “You took me out to a candlelit dinner, and you went with me when I got my tattoo. Actually, there’s a lot of the things on that list I could do with you. Although you may not be too thrilled with the mani-pedi.”

  Carter cleared his throat. “I’ll let you handle that on your own.”

  “There is one thing on the list I’m really looking forward to.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I want to swim in the ocean.”

  He pulled her over so she was lying on top of him and they were face-to-face. “Sounds like the perfect thing to do on our honeymoon.”

  Katie thought about pulling away, but his arms tightened around her, and besides, she liked being on top. “Is that your clumsy way of asking me to marry you? Because I distinctly remember telling you that getting married again was not on my list.”

  “Come on. The only thing that would be different from the way we’ve been living all along is that we get to sleep together every night without shocking our son.”

  Our son. Katie dropped a kiss on that wonderful man’s lips. Marriage to Carter didn’t feel so scary. He would never expect her to cater to him. He’d be beside her all the way. “True. I suppose your clients would rather have a steadily married attorney.”

  “If my clients care about whether I’m married or not, they can take their business someplace else. But this attorney would rather be steadily married to his sexy and stubborn, warm and creative best friend.”

  Katie kissed Carter again, looking forward to checking many more items off her list and living her life to the fullest with her best friend. “Well…as long as I get to swim in the ocean…with you.”

  Epilogue

  A warm breeze blew Katie’s damp hair away from her face as she walked the beach hand in hand with Carter. Swimming in the ocean had been on her list forever. Diving into the waves had been a blast, but if she thought it would have been this much fun alone, she’d been kidding herself. She tugged him over to the towels they’d spread in the sand beneath a huge umbrella.

  After they sat, Carter pulled her in for a kiss. “What do you say we come here every year for our anniversary?”

  “I’d say that’s a great idea.” She curled her toes in the sand and watched the gulls swoop and the sandpipers dash in and out of the waves. “Sometimes I feel like we wasted so much time.”

  He wrapped his arm around her waist. “No. We’ve been together for a long time. This is just a new chapter.”

  Katie nodded and watched some children bury their dad in the sand. Their laughter warmed her heart. “Still, I can’t believe it took me forty years to get to the ocean.”

  “Hey, there’s nothing to say we won’t have at least another forty years to walk the beach together.”

  “You’re right.” She loved the fun but relaxing atmosphere here, but she was already adding new items to the notebook now tucked in her beach bag, things that they could do together. For the next forty years. “I love you.”

  He leaned in for a deep kiss. “I love you, too, Mrs. Colburn.”

  Would she ever get used to hearing that? She’d feared taking Carter’s name might push her my time button too much, but it was her time, and she could spend it any way she wanted. She glanced over to the handsome man she chose to spend her time with. She wanted to kiss him more, stretch out and press her body to his. But they were still out in the open, and she wasn’t quite ready to go into the air-conditioning yet. Time to change the subject to one they hadn’t had much time to discuss amid the frenzied wedding plans. Once they’d decided to get married, there wasn’t any reason to wait.

  “I thought you were crazy to rent out your house to Sean and his friends, but it seems to be working out.” Carter had moved all his things into her house and decided to rent his out instead of selling it.

  Carter took her hand and stroked his thumb over her knuckles. “We raised a responsible kid, and we’ve known the other guys forever. I trust them to take care of the place more than I would a random stranger looking to rent a house.”

  Shivers ran along her skin from his touch. She was burning up with desire but tried to keep her mind on the conversation. He swept her hair back and kissed her neck, then whispered in her ear. “I think I’m ready for some air-conditioning. How about you?”

  They were on the same wavelength. “Oh yeah.”

  Katie grinned, then popped to her feet and shook out the towels. The week in a honeymoon suite on the beach had been Donna and Pop’s wedding gift to them. They rinsed their feet off at the outdoor shower and headed into the hotel. When they reached their room, they were on the bed almost before the door closed behind them.

  Katie sat alone on their cozy balcony that evening, watching the waves roll in by the light of the moon. Carter had crashed, sprawled and snoring softly on the king-size bed, but she couldn’t fall asleep. Too many thoughts whirled through her mind. Thoughts she hadn’t expected.

  She could tell herself it was seeing the children playing on the beach that started it all, but that wouldn’t have been the truth. After Carter had moved in, they’d been curled up on the couch together watching something on TV one night, and she found herself wondering what a child of hers and Carter’s would look like. Would he or she have brown hair like his or Katie’s blond curls? If they had a son, would he grow to have broad shoulders like Carter’s? They’d surely be good looking like he was. And funny. And smart. She’d almost felt the precious weight of a baby in her arms that night, swore she could smell that soft, unmistakable baby scent. That night she’d pushed the thought away, but it kept pushing back.

  Carter would make such a great dad. He’d proved it with Sean. When she saw the children in the sand earlier, she could picture Carter lying there, letting their kids cover him with sand, even knowing those little grains would get in everywhere. He’d love them to the moon and back. She smiled as her eyes teared. He’d given that up for her.

  The door opened behind her, and Carter stepped out onto the balcony. He’d pulled on his shorts. He came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Can’t sleep?”

  She shook her head but kept her gaze out over the ocean. “It’s so beautiful here.” She glanced over her shoulder at him. “And every time I look at you, I want to jump your bones.”

  “Jump my bones?” He chuckled as he tugged her up and into his arms. “Haven’t heard that phrase in a while.”

  She rose up on her toes to brush her lips across his. “What can I say? It’s true.”

  Carter lifted her up into his arms, then carried her back into the bedroom and placed her on the bed. Moonlight glowed through the window, giving her just enough light. She watched him step out of his shorts and still wanted to pinch herself because this was Carter and he was hers. He joined her on the mattress and slipped off her tank and panties while her skin buzzed with her need for him.

  Her heart swelled with her love for him.

  He kissed his way down her body, nibbled on her collarbone, suckled her nipples. Desire swam through her. When his hand swept down and splayed across her abdomen, Katie grasped his shoulders and dragged him up. She didn’t want to just lie there, no matter how good it felt. She needed to touch him, too. She needed to connect with him more than ever.

  Carter kissed her again, then reached for a condom package from the pile he’d put on the nightstand. She didn’t think twice before she gently placed her hand on his arm.

  “Let’s not use a condom.” Once Katie said the words out loud, she knew it was right.

  He froze, stared at her as if she hadn’t spoken English. “What?”

  She sat up and cupped his face. “Let’s just see what happens.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah. The idea doesn’t even freak me out. It makes me happy.”

&nbs
p; He sat back on his heels, frowning. “But you didn’t want another child.”

  “I didn’t want to get married either, but look at me. Mrs. Colburn.”

  “I don’t want you to ever think you and Sean weren’t enough for me. Because you are. You make me very happy.”

  “But if we were to have a child?”

  “Another reason to be happy.” Carter took her wrist and turned her arm so her tattoo showed. “But I don’t want you to give up your My Time.”

  “I’m not giving up anything.”

  “But you waited all this time to really live. To do all the things you want to do.”

  She spread her arms wide. “I am living.” She brushed her fingertips over her tattoo. “I finally realized what this means is that I get to decide what I want to do with my time. That’s what’s important. I want to spend it with you. There’s a good chance it will never happen at this point anyway, but if we’re lucky enough, I want to have your child.” She threaded her fingers with his. “You’ll be a great dad.”

  “And you’ll be a great mom.”

  “I will.” She was older, more experienced, more appreciative now. “And I know I won’t be doing it alone.”

  “Damn right. I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

  She kissed him again.

  “What about all the items on your list?” he asked.

  “I can do almost everything in my notebook with a family. Hey, maybe in a few years when we come back here, you’ll find yourself being buried in the sand by a couple of crazy little kids.”

  With a half laugh, half cry, Carter stretched over Katie and filled her with one long, bare thrust. His moan echoed with hers off the walls. Overwhelming emotions pushed her over the edge almost immediately. Carter wasn’t far behind her, groaning as he came, filling her with love.

  She’d been a fool to put her life on hold for so long, but thanks to Carter, she wasn’t making any more excuses. Whatever adventures the future held for them, Katie knew she could embrace them all with the love of the guy at her side.

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