Which was a good thing, he decided grimly. Since the only woman who might have changed his mind about that now wanted nothing to do with him.
Eleven
Katie spent the next few days buried in work.
There was simply nothing better for taking your mind off your problems then diving into baking. She devoted herself to building cookie cakes, decorating birthday cookies and churning out dozens of her clients’ favorites.
The scents of cinnamon, vanilla and chocolate surrounded her, giving her a sense of peace that actually went nowhere toward calming her. Inside, her heart was torn and her mind was still buzzing with indignation and hurt. In her dreams, she saw Rafe’s face, over and over again, as he looked at her and said, “I can explain.” She saw Cordell laughing, Rafe furious and herself, shattered.
He’d said she was “important” to him. As what? A means to winning a bet? As a personal challenge to change her mind about the Kings? And if she was so important to him, why hadn’t he tried to talk to her since that night? Why had he been able to let her go so easily?
God, she wasn’t making sense. She didn’t want him back, did she? So why should she care that he wasn’t calling? Wasn’t coming over?
Again and again, she relived that night and each time the images danced through her brain, the pain she felt ratcheted up another notch. Her own fault, she knew. She had trusted. Big mistake. She had known going in that she should keep her distance from Rafe. Instead though, she’d followed her heart again, choosing to forget that that particular part of her anatomy was fairly unreliable.
“How many times are you going to go over this anyway, Katie?” she murmured. Shaking her head grimly, she boxed up a dozen chocolate-chip cookies and tied the pink and white striped container with a cotton-candy-colored ribbon.
No matter what else was happening in her life, at least her business was surviving. Thriving, even. The stacks of boxes waiting to be delivered gave her a sense of accomplishment and pride. And that was exactly what she needed at the moment.
This temporary kitchen was her solace. Here she could remember who and what she was. Remind herself that she was building a future for herself. And if that future didn’t involve Rafe Cole—she frowned and mentally corrected, Rafe King—she would find a way to deal with it.
While the latest batch of cream-cheese cookies baked, Katie wandered to the windows and looked out at the backyard. It was slowly returning to what it had once been. The piles of discarded flooring and plasterboard were gone. Blue tarps covering the grass had been folded and stored away in the crew’s trailer, with only squares of dried grass to mark where they had been. The crew was nearing the end of the job and Katie’s heart ached at the thought. Her last connection to Rafe was quickly dissolving.
Despite her determination to be strong and self-sufficient, a small, whiny part of her wanted to see Rafe again. Didn’t seem to care that he had lied to her. Repeatedly. There was still a dull pain wrapped around her heart and she knew instinctively that it wouldn’t stop hurting any time soon.
She hadn’t seen Rafe since that night at the restaurant. Apparently his “bet” with Joe had ended the moment she discovered the truth. Rafe had simply walked away without a backward glance, as far as she knew, and it didn’t look as though he’d be back. Really, it was as if he had never been here at all, she thought, watching Steve and Arturo carry in the last of the newly refinished cabinet doors.
Katie had walked through her kitchen only that morning in the pre-dawn silence. The pleasure she would have taken in the remodel was muted by the absence of the man who was taking up far too many of her thoughts.
The kitchen was exactly as she had pictured it. The tile floors and granite countertops were in place. All that was left was the finishing work. A few more doors, installing the new drawer pulls and light fixtures, and then her house would be hers again. The crew would leave and she would be alone, with no more contact with King Construction.
Or Rafe.
That twinge of pain twisted in her chest again and she wondered if it would always be a part of her. She sighed and so didn’t hear a thing when Joe entered the patio kitchen.
“Katie?”
She whirled around, startled, to face the man who had been a part of what she now thought of as the Great Lie. He looked uncomfortable, as he had since discovering that she now knew the truth.
Her voice was cool, but polite. “Hello, Joe.”
She actually saw him flinch. Though Rafe hadn’t been around, she knew that he had been in contact with Joe to tell him that the jig, so to speak, was up.
He shifted position as if he were nervous. “Just wanted to let you know your new stove will be delivered and installed tomorrow morning.”
“That’s good, thanks.”
“The inspector’s signed off on everything so we’ll move the refrigerator back into the kitchen this afternoon.”
“All right.” It was almost over, she thought. She wouldn’t spend another day cooking in her temporary kitchen. The batch of cookies in the oven now would be the last she baked in her old stove.
“And,” he continued, “the guys will be here to help the installers. Then they’ll do the last of the finishing jobs and we’ll be out of your hair by tomorrow afternoon.”
“Okay.”
Katie tucked her hands into the pockets of her jeans and as she stood there watching Joe in his misery, she almost felt sorry for him. None of this was his fault. The morning after that scene at the restaurant Joe had explained what had happened and all about the bet Rafe had lost to him.
He’d apologized for going along with Rafe’s lies, but Katie knew he also hadn’t had much choice in the matter, either. As an employee, he could hardly argue with the boss. With that thought in mind, she managed to give the man a small smile.
“I have to admit, I’m looking forward to getting my life back,” she said. She wouldn’t confess to missing Rafe. Not to Joe. Not to anyone.
“Yeah,” he muttered, voice still gloomy. “I’ll bet.”
She noticed he was crumpling an invoice in one tight fist and asked, “Is that the last one?”
He looked down at the paper as if surprised to see it. Then he smoothed it out before holding it out to her. “Your last payment includes the little extras you asked for along the way that were off contract.”
Katie nodded and walked over to take it. She didn’t even glance at the total. “I’ll have a check for you tomorrow.”