Caterina: A Sweet Western Historical Romance Pendleton Petyticoats Book 2 Page 21

  “Please, Kade. Please stop!” she shouted as he started to grab her other shoe.

  The front door banged open and Ike charged into the room, growling as he looked from Kade to Caterina.

  Immediately ceasing his tomfoolery, Kade set Caterina on the couch and turned to the dog.

  “It’s okay, Ike. We were just having fun. See, she’s fine. No one’s hurt. It’s okay boy,” Kade said in a soothing tone. Ike continued to growl although he didn’t move.

  “I’m fine, Ike.” Caterina assured the dog, taken aback by his need to protect her, especially from Kade. Hurriedly, she put on her shoe and adjusted her twisted skirts. “We were just playing. It’s okay, puppy.”

  The word puppy seemed to calm the dog and he dropped to the floor, whining. Ike appeared unsure if he was in trouble with his master for defending the lady.

  “You’re a good boy, Ike.” Kade reached over and patted the dog’s large head. “You should always protect her. You did good.”

  The dog lifted his head at the praise and wagged his tail. Caterina leaned over and kissed his head.

  “You’re my hero, aren’t you, Ike. And a good, good boy. I’ll send you a treat next time I see Kade, okay?”

  The dog thumped his tail and licked her hand in response.

  “On that note, I suppose I better take you back to town. It appears we’re going to be chaperoned the rest of the afternoon.” Disappointed to have his time with Caterina interrupted, Kade wasn’t ready for their playful interactions to end.

  He wondered where the tickling would have led had Ike not interrupted. It was a mystery to him how the dog opened the door.

  Caterina retrieved her hat and gloves from the kitchen then walked with Kade outside. He showed her his barn and a building where he kept his tools. By the corrals, she noticed a piece of board on the ground, held down by large rocks in the corners.

  “What’s that?”

  “Someone started to dig a well there then left the hole and dug one closer to the house. I’m not sure why they’d start it over here, unless the house hadn’t yet been built.” Many times, he’d planned to fill the hole, but never got around to it. To prevent an animal or human from falling in, he kept the top covered. He’d climbed in it once to see how far down it went. It was just wide enough for him to stand in without the sides touching his shoulders and about twice his height in depth.

  Ike barked and dropped a stick at Caterina’s feet, wagging his tail in anticipation.

  Laughing, she picked up the stick and threw it as far as she could. The dog raced after it, grabbed the stick in his mouth, and ran back.

  “Whoa, boy.” Kade stepped in front of Ike before he plowed into Caterina and knocked her off her feet.

  The dog hit him still running, forcing him to take a few staggering steps backward to keep his balance.

  “He gets a little excited about fetch,” Kade said over his shoulder as he threw the stick again and Ike bounded after it.

  “If he wasn’t so big, you’d think he was a puppy for the way he behaves.” Caterina smiled as she watched the dog and man play with each other.

  Kade threw the stick a few more times, rinsed his hands at the pump by the barn then escorted Caterina to the waiting buggy.

  “Thank you for coming out today, Cat. I enjoyed spending the afternoon with you.” Kade placed his hands to her waist and lifted her into the buggy.

  Her hands rested on his shoulders, even after he set her down. When he gave her a little squeeze, she smiled at him. “It was a nice afternoon and I’m glad to have finally met Ike.”

  At the sound of his name, the dog ran over beside the buggy, whining pitifully.

  “You don’t seriously want to go, do you boy?” Kade asked the dog. Ike generally preferred to stay home, but occasionally he liked to tag along.

  The look the dog gave him made Kade roll his eyes and point to the back of the buggy as he sat beside Caterina. “Load up, but no slobbering.”

  Ike barked excitedly and jumped into the back. Caterina felt his weight dip the conveyance as he settled himself with his head wedged between her and Kade over the front seat.

  “Told you we’d be carefully watched.” Kade tilted his head toward the dog and gave Caterina a teasing grin that made the butterflies in her stomach burst into flight.

  “So you did.” Grateful for the distraction the dog provided, Caterina found it increasingly challenging to keep her thoughts and sense together in Kade’s presence. The more time she spent around him, the easier it was to love him.

  As they drove back to town, Kade couldn’t shake the feeling someone beside’s Ike kept an eye on them. The hair on the back of his neck prickled and Ike seemed bothered too, continuing to look behind the buggy.

  Although he hated to cut short his time with Caterina, he urged the horse to pick up his pace. He didn’t like providing an easy target out in the open with a woman and a dog in need of his protection.

  “In a hurry?” Caterina asked, pinning him with her dark gaze. He noticed the gold flecks in her eyes and stared at them long enough he felt Ike nudge his arm as they reached the edge of town.

  “I have to work tonight, so I better get you back to the restaurant. I need to return the buggy and take Ike home before my shift begins.” Kade wanted to tell Caterina how much he’d enjoyed the afternoon, how much he liked having her in his home, how much he cared for her.

  Instead, he parked in front of her restaurant and jogged around the buggy to offer her his hand. She rubbed Ike’s head and received a lick to her cheek, making her turn her head away although she laughed.

  “It was nice to meet you, too, Ike. Be a good boy,” Caterina said, accepting Kade’s hand as she stepped down to the boardwalk.

  Kade cautioned Ike to stay in the buggy then escorted Caterina around to the back door of the restaurant. She unlocked it and he followed her inside. Since the dog would not be patient if he took long to say goodbye, Kade squeezed her hand and kissed her cheek before tipping his hat and hurrying out the door.

  When he returned to the buggy, Ike sat in Caterina’s vacated place on the front seat.

  “You think so, do you?” Kade thumped the dog on his side as he drove the buggy back to the livery so they could reclaim Pete and go home.

  The dog wagged his tail.

  “You think she’s a keeper?” Kade asked Ike as they turned the corner and rolled down the street. “Did you like her?”

  Ike bumped into his shoulder and barked. Kade was certain his odd canine wore a grin.

  Chapter Seventeen

  During the next several weeks, Kade often had the feeling of being watched, especially if he was with Caterina, but he couldn’t pinpoint the reason why.

  He’d doubled around, retraced his steps, hidden his tracks, and done everything he could to discover someone following him, but no evidence presented itself.

  When he mentioned it to the sheriff, the man laughed and slapped him on the back.

  “It’s this job, Kade. Makes you paranoid from time to time. Don’t worry about it,” the sheriff said, drinking his coffee.

  “I know, but I just have this feeling…” Kade knew it sounded crazy, but he was convinced someone followed him. He was certain it wasn’t someone looking for Caterina. If Luigi showed up, he’d be more inclined to march in the front door, grab her, and run instead of skulking around corners and hiding in the shadows.

  The sheriff stared at him for a long moment then set his coffee down on the desk and leaned back in his chair. “Try not to worry about it overmuch, but listen to your gut instinct. If it’s telling you someone is out there, be careful. Keep your guard up. I’ll ask the rest of the guys to snoop around and see what they find.”

  “Thanks, boss.”

  After making his rounds, Kade stopped by Caterina’s place to check on her. He still didn’t like her living alone, but he appreciated the fact he could drop by and see her whenever he had the chance. He usually found some excuse to go by her place at le
ast once a day, unless he was out of town on business.

  He tapped at the back door and opened it to find the kitchen empty. Loaves of bread, still warm from the oven, cooled on racks. Cookies baked fresh that morning filled the two jars Caterina kept on the counter. Kade helped himself to a few then strolled into the dining area but didn’t see her there.

  Back in the kitchen, he took the stairs to her apartment two at a time and discovered the door open. Calling her name, he stuck his head into her living area, listened, and received no response. She wasn’t in the bedroom or her office and the door to her bathroom was open, so he decided she had to be running errands.

  An early riser, Caterina often took care of shopping, running to the bank, or placing orders for supplies in the mornings. Afternoons, she prepared food for the busy evening meal.

  Kade returned to the kitchen and glanced down when Rufus bounded out from behind the stove, batting at his leg. Quickly finishing the last of his snitched cookies, he picked up the kitten then scratched it behind the ears and beneath the chin, making it purr.

  “Where’s Cat, Rufus? Did she run to the store?” Kade gently held the tiny animal in his big hands and smiled as it purred loudly. “You better be careful. You’ll wear out that little motor of yours making so much racket.”

  After pouring some milk in a saucer, Kade added a crust of dry bread and set it on the floor. The kitten buried his nose in it and ignored the man as he went out the door.

  Kade decided to make another loop through town to see if he spied Caterina anywhere. He traveled the length and depth of it without catching sight of her. Tied up at the office with a case, it was mid-afternoon before he ran over to the restaurant to see if she’d returned.

  Worry niggled at the back of his mind when he found her absent and the stove cold. He built up the fire, fed the cat, and wondered where Caterina had disappeared. It wasn’t like her to be gadding about on a day the restaurant was open. Dinner service started in a few hours and she had nothing prepared. He was just getting ready to leave when her assistant cook, Jeb, came in the door.

  “Where’s the boss lady?” Jeb asked, looking around and taking in the quiet kitchen.

  “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. She’s been gone all day as far as I can tell,” Kade said. Anxiety creased lines across his forehead and thinned his lips into a tight line. “If she doesn’t get back in time to make dinner, can you handle everything?”

  “Sure. I can’t make it taste exactly like she does, but I know enough to get a meal out there.”

  “Good. Go ahead and get started. Have Nik help you when he gets here and do the best you can. I’ll see if I can find her.”

  Kade hustled out the door and began asking around town at all of Caterina’s favorite shops, the bank, and the telegraph office. No one had seen her for several hours.

  Occasionally, she rented a horse and rode it to Nash’s Folly, saying she missed seeing everyone there. Usually, she did that on Sunday afternoons or Mondays when she didn’t have to worry about opening the restaurant for dinner. Kade walked to the livery to see if she’d gone to visit Aundy for some reason.

  “I saw her earlier this afternoon,” the livery owner said as he brushed down a horse. “Waved to her and she said something about it being a beautiful day for a walk. She headed in the direction of your place.”

  “My place?” Kade had no idea why Caterina would walk out there. He didn’t live far from town and she’d been out to visit a few times, but usually she asked him first to make sure he would be home. Ike always enjoyed her visits because she never failed to bring him a special treat.

  “Maybe she thought you’d be home today. She was carrying a basket. I assumed she was taking either you or that overgrown dog of yours a treat. Seems to me you’re awful cozy with that purty gal these days. Any chance of you settling down?”

  “Not likely. Can you saddle Pete for me?” Kade spun around, making a beeline to the sheriff’s office while the livery got Pete ready to ride.

  He had a bad feeling about Caterina going to his place. He didn’t know why, but he knew something was wrong.

  The sheriff glanced up when he hurried inside.

  “I need to find Caterina. She was seen walking out of town early this afternoon but hasn’t returned.” Kade grabbed an extra gun and a box of cartridges from his desk drawer. He shoved the revolver in the back waistband of his pants and dropped the cartridges in his coat pocket. After checking the gun on his belt, he rammed it back in the holster then unlocked the case on the wall and picked up a rifle, loading it.

  “What, exactly, are you hunting?” the sheriff asked, getting to his feet. He’d never seen Kade so worked up. The man was usually calm, almost to the point of being detached from his feelings, when the situation warranted.

  One mention of the Italian restaurant owner, however, and his deputy turned into a different man.

  Right now, he was a man on a mission with a look on his face the sheriff hadn’t witnessed before. Heaven help whoever trifled with Caterina Campanelli, if any had, because Kade would show him no mercy.

  “You need me to ride along, son?”

  “No, sir. I just wanted to let you know I’m going to ride out and see if I can find her. I’ve got a bad feeling, a really bad feeling, about this.”

  Kade tightened his gun belt and yanked on his gloves.

  “You think this has anything to do with your other gut feeling? About someone following you?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m about to find out. If I’m not back in a few hours, start to worry.”

  “Be careful, Kade. You don’t know who or what you’re facing and you don’t always think clearly where that woman is concerned.”

  Instead of responding, Kade nodded his head and ran out the door toward the livery. Whistling, Pete charged toward him and Kade quickly shoved the rifle in the scabbard on his saddle before mounting.

  Kade rode fast and hard out of town before he pulled Pete to a stop at the edge of his property. Quietly moving through the trees behind his place, he didn’t see any movement, nothing out of the ordinary. He stood perfectly still, listening, but heard nothing.

  Nothing.

  No birds singing, no noise of any kind - a sure sign something was amiss.

  He pulled the gun from his holster and left Pete tied to a tree. Slowly, he worked his way around to where he could see past the barn to the house.

  Icy fingers of dread scraped down his neck, making him clench his jaw. Whatever or whoever was out there waited for him to make a move.

  Kade could sit and wait for days, if that’s what it took to draw someone out, but he didn’t have the luxury of patience. He needed to find Caterina before darkness descended and the temperatures fell. Although the day was warm, the nights were cold enough to frost the ground and he worried she wasn’t adequately dressed to face a night outside.

  The looming shadows worked in his favor as he slipped through the tree line and into the back of his house. A basket, no doubt the one Caterina carried, sat on the table along with the spare key to the door. Nothing in the house seemed out of place. However, a quick look around confirmed she was not inside.

  Where could she be?

  Wherever she was, Kade prayed she was safe and unharmed.

  Pleased with the beautiful autumn day, Caterina took advantage of the sunny weather while it lasted. Kade and Garrett had both assured her that in a few more weeks, the weather would turn miserable and cold. The men cautioned it most likely would snow.

  She knew she’d be stuck in town at her restaurant when that happened, so she made a batch of Kade’s favorite cookies and packed them into a tin. She wrapped a ham-bone in paper then placed it in a basket along with a loaf of fresh bread and a jar of berry jam.

  After winding a scarf around her neck and pulling on gloves, she donned a warm coat and cautioned Rufus to behave while she was gone.

  Quickly running a few errands, she accepted a last-minute invitation to join t
he pastor’s wife for lunch and visited much longer than she planned. As she stepped out into the afternoon sunshine, she decided if she hurried, she’d still have time to go to Kade’s before she needed to begin dinner preparations. Briskly walking through town, she waved at the livery owner and continued on her way.

  She usually checked to make sure Kade would be home before she ventured out to his place, but she wanted to enjoy the sunshine. If he wasn’t home, she could leave the goodies for him to discover later. He’d know they were from her without her leaving a note.

  When she arrived at his house, she thought it odd Ike didn’t run out to greet her. Swiftly learning he got in trouble if he pushed her down accidently, Ike was careful about not bumping against her too hard. He loved to have his head rubbed and back scratched and told what a good boy he’d been. It didn’t take him long to expect Caterina to offer him a treat, which she did every time she came to visit.

  She tapped on the door but wasn’t surprised when Kade didn’t answer. He was probably working. She should have thought to run by the sheriff’s office before walking all the way out to his place. The air was crisp and ripe with the scents of fall and she enjoyed every step of her journey from town.

  After knocking again, she turned around and called for Ike. When all remained quiet, Caterina walked to the back of the house and stood on a chair to retrieve the spare key Kade kept hidden in a hollow space at the top of a porch post. Caterina stuffed her gloves into her coat pocket and stretched upward on her tiptoes. Her fingers brushed the key and she finally had it in her hand.

  “Ha! Got you!” she said in victory as she opened the door and stepped inside. She set the basket and key on the table then wandered around, looking at his clean but sparse home as she thought about what she knew of Kade.

  From the talk around town, he was tough. If you walked on the wrong side of the law, you wanted one of the other deputies to find you because Kade wasn’t one to show mercy or restraint when it came to criminals. Some people talked about his icy eyes that looked like cold green glass.