Home for the Holidays: The Forgetful Bride / When Christmas Comes. Debbie Macomber
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she’d seriously considered more than once, there was little she could do but be patient. One of these days Cupid was going to let fly an arrow and hit her lovable boss directly between the eyes.
When it happened—and it would!—Cait planned to be ready.
“You want to go for lunch now?” Lindy asked.
Cait nodded. It was nearly two and she hadn’t eaten since breakfast, which had consisted of a banana and a cup of coffee. A West Coast stockbroker’s day started before dawn. Cait was generally in the office by six and didn’t stop work until the market closed at one-thirty, Seattle time. Only then did she break for something to eat.
Somewhere in the middle of her turkey on whole wheat, Cait convinced herself she was imagining things when it came to that construction worker. He’d probably been waiting around to ask her where Paul was and then changed his mind. He did say he was sorry for bothering her.
If only he hadn’t winked.
He was back the following day, a tool pouch riding on his hip like a six-shooter, hard hat in place. He was issuing orders like a drill sergeant, and Cait found herself gazing after him with reluctant fascination. She’d heard he owned the construction company, and she wasn’t surprised.
As she studied him, she realized once again how striking he was. Not because he was extraordinarily handsome, but because he was somehow commanding. He possessed an authority, a presence, that attracted attention wherever he went. Cait was as drawn to it as those around her. She observed how the crew instinctively turned to him for directions and approval.
The more she observed him, the more she recognized that he was a man who had an appetite for life. Which meant excitement, adventure and probably women, and that confused her even more because she couldn’t recall ever knowing anyone quite like him. Then why did she find him so…familiar?
Cait herself had a quiet nature. She rarely ventured out of the comfortable, compact world she’d built. She had her job, a nice apartment in Seattle’s university district, and a few close friends. Excitement to her was growing herbs and participating in nature walks.
The following day while she was studying the construction worker, he’d unexpectedly turned and smiled at something one of his men had said. His smile, she decided, intrigued her most. It was slightly off center and seemed to tease the corners of his mouth. He looked her way more than once and each time she thought she detected a touch of humor, an amused knowledge that lurked just beneath the surface.
“It’s driving me crazy,” Cait confessed to Lindy over lunch.
“What is?”
“That I can’t place him.”
Lindy set her elbows on the table, holding her sandwich poised in front of her mouth. She nodded slowly, her eyes distant. “When you figure it out, introduce me, will you? I could go for a guy this sexy.”
So Lindy had noticed that earthy sensuality about him, too. Well, of course she had—any woman would.
After lunch, Cait returned to the office to make a few calls. He was there again.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t place him. Work became a pretense as she continued to scrutinize him, racking her brain. Then, when she least expected it, he strolled past her and brazenly winked a second time.
As the color clawed up her neck, Cait flashed her attention back to her computer screen.
“His name is Joe,” Lindy rushed in to tell her ten minutes later. “I heard one of the men call him that.”
“Joe,” Cait repeated slowly. She couldn’t remember ever knowing anyone named Joe.
“Does that help?”
“No,” Cait said, shaking her head regretfully. If she’d ever met this man, she wasn’t likely to have overlooked the experience. He wasn’t someone a woman easily forgot.
“Ask him,” Lindy said. “It’s ridiculous not to. It’s driving you insane. Then,” she added with infuriating logic, “when you find out, you can nonchalantly introduce me.”
“I can’t just waltz up and start quizzing him,” Cait argued. The idea was preposterous. “He’ll think I’m trying to pick him up.”
“You’ll go crazy if you don’t.”
Cait sighed. “You’re right. I’m not going to sleep tonight if I don’t settle this.”
With Lindy waiting expectantly in her office, Cait approached him. He was talking to another member of the crew and once he’d finished, he turned to her with one of his devastating lazy smiles.
“Hello,” she said, and her voice shook slightly. “Do I know you?”
“You mean you’ve forgotten?” he asked, sounding shocked and insulted.
“Apparently. Though I’ll admit you look somewhat familiar.”
“I should certainly hope so. We shared something very special a few years back.”
“We did?” Cait was more confused than ever.
“Hey, Joe, there’s a problem over here,” a male voice shouted. “Could you come look at this?”
“I’ll be with you in a minute,” he answered brusquely over his shoulder. “Sorry, we’ll have to talk later.”
“But—”
“Say hello to Martin for me, would you?” he asked as he stalked past her and into the room that had once been Cait’s office.
Martin, her brother. Cait hadn’t a clue what her brother could possibly have to do with this. Mentally she ran through a list of his teenage friends and came up blank.
Then it hit her. Bull’s-eye. Her heart started to pound until it roared like a tropical storm in her ears. Mechanically Cait made her way back to Lindy’s office. She sank into a chair beside the desk and stared into space.
“Well?” Lindy pressed. “Don’t keep me in suspense.”
“Um, it’s not that easy to explain.”
“You remember him, then?”
She nodded. Oh, Lord, did she ever.
“Good grief, what’s wrong? You’ve gone so pale!”
Cait tried to come up with an explanation that wouldn’t sound…ridiculous.
“Tell me,” Lindy said. “Don’t just sit there wearing a foolish grin and looking like you’re about to faint.”
“Um, it goes back a few years.”
“All right. Start there.”
“Remember how kids sometimes do silly things? Like when you’re young and foolish and don’t know any better?”
“Me, yes, but not you,” Lindy said calmly. “You’re perfect. In all the time we’ve been friends, I haven’t seen you do one impulsive thing. Not one. You analyze everything before you act. I can’t imagine you ever doing anything silly.”
“I did once,” Cait told her, “but I was only eight.”
“What could you have possibly done at age eight?”
“I…I got married.”
“Married?” Lindy half rose from her chair. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“I wish I was.”
“I’ll bet a week’s commissions that your husband’s name is Joe.” Lindy was smiling now, smiling widely.
Cait nodded and tried to smile in return.
“What’s there to worry about? Good grief, kids do that sort of thing all the time! It doesn’t mean