One More Dance

  One More Dance

  Northern Pines series, Volume 1

  Roxanne Rustand

  Published by Roxanne Rustand, 2021.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  ONE MORE DANCE

  First edition. March 19, 2021.

  Copyright © 2021 Roxanne Rustand.

  ISBN: 978-1393263265

  Written by Roxanne Rustand.

  Also by Roxanne Rustand

  Coupled by Christmas

  The Mistletoe Puppy

  A Montana Christmas

  An Irish Christmas Blessing

  A London Christmas

  A Scottish Christmas

  Christmas in Paris: A clean and wholesome romance

  Northern Pines series

  One More Dance (Coming Soon)

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Also By Roxanne Rustand

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

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  Also By Roxanne Rustand

  CHAPTER ONE

  PRESENT DAY

  One thing about starting the day with a burglary—the rest of the day just had to be better.

  Dr. Kate Mathers wearily leaned over her desk to close down the computer for the night, turned to grab her purse from a file cabinet drawer and surveyed her office.

  This morning it had been in shambles—window glass shattered and scattered across the carpet, papers strewn, her late grandmother’s stained glass lamp lying in rainbow shards on her desk. A small figurine of a golden retriever, broken.

  Even now, the overhead lights picked out the tiny glittering fragments she’d missed. Precious fragments that brought back such memories...

  At least the intruders hadn’t bothered the animals in the back rooms, thank God. The veterinary hospital’s patients and the boarders were all in roomy cages or pens, and would have been defenseless. A random act?

  Maybe.

  The sheriff had certainly supported that theory, though perhaps he had a vested interest in trying to make her believe it.

  She fervently hoped he was right, because the alternative was far more frightening. If he was wrong, the threats were escalating. And one day, it wouldn’t be just intimidating phone calls and anonymous letters and property damage.

  It could become something far more personal.

  “You’re sure you’re okay?” Amy, her twenty-something vet tech, hovered at the door of the office and planted her hands firmly on her slender hips. “I mean, I can stay longer if you don’t want to be alone.”

  An image of the pretty, waiflike blonde as her protector made Kate smile. She waved a hand toward the back door, hoping she looked more confident than she felt. “I’m fine. And I’ll be right on your heels, anyway. Casey’s plane arrives in less than an hour.”

  “Cool. Tell her to call me, okay? Maybe we can hang out while she’s on break.” Hitching the shoulder strap of her purse higher, the girl glanced down the hall. “I locked the front door and checked the windows. Didn’t set the security system, though.”

  “I’ll take care of it when I leave, so you can get to your softball game. Thanks again for all your help with the cleanup, by the way.”

  "Any time." Amy hesitated, worrying at her lower lip with her teeth, then disappeared. A moment later, the back door creaked open and slammed shut.

  Kate took a final walk through the clinic and double-checked the doors and windows, knowing that Amy had taken care of them all, but needing that reassurance. The sheriff had surveyed the damage and taken notes, though his vague promises had done little to dispel her worries.

  The lab and pharmacy had been thoroughly ransacked. Dozens of pharmaceutical bottles had been stolen or broken, and the perpetrator had made off with boxes of syringes and needles. A careless thief at that—one who’d left a trail of supplies between the jimmied back door of the clinic and a vehicle waiting in the parking lot.

  And now, the idiot was probably shooting up some veterinary drugs that could do him an incredible amount of harm. And if he didn’t keel over, he might well be back.

  Maybe with friends.

  Possibly armed, and certainly dangerous even if he wasn’t.

  Then again, the perpetrator could have been someone entirely different...bent on reinforcing a warning that her husband, Jared, still refused to heed.

  The thought made Kate shudder. How often did Amy stay late, working on the books? Or come in early to feed the animals and clean pens? Casey’s former high school classmate still seemed more like a second daughter than an employee, and she wouldn’t stand a chance against an intruder. Jared had promised—

  With a snort, Kate strode to the back door, locked the shiny new dead bolt, and walked to her black SUV.

  He’d promised to take care of a lot of things this past six months. Estimates on a new security system and steel doors for the clinic, for one thing. Help with the plans to remodel their kitchen at home. Research on hotel and air reservations for the tropical vacation they’d talked about for the past year. Those sort of tasks she usually left up to him, because as a lawyer he’d always been much more thorough at gathering and analyzing such information.

  But he’d been as busy with his practice as she’d been with hers, and now that he’d also set up a Granite County free legal aid storefront, he had even less time. Late nights, working weekends. When had they last sat down together for a decent supper?

  But now her clinic couldn’t wait any longer. With trouble brewing over some of the pro bono cases he’d taken on against some powerful local business owners, was this break-in part of a vendetta against Jared, or just someone after drugs? She needed the security upgrade as soon as possible.

  On impulse, she tried his cell phone once more. Again, the call routed immediately into his voicemail. Answer your phone, Jared. Where are you?

  A wisp of dark thoughts from the past taunted her. Of a time when rumors had flown about an affair, and whispers had followed in her wake when she walked down the street. Jared had furiously denied the accusations and had temporarily moved out, though he'd come back in less than a week.

  She brushed the painful memories aside. Everything was fine. It had been fine for years, and dredging up old hurts never did anyone a bit of good. In the end, she and Jared had reached a truce of sorts, each carefully avoiding past wounds. Each carefully, explicitly explaining daily schedules and destinations in a painfully casual way for months, just trying to move on.

  Trust was such a fragile gift—so easily shattered, so difficult to rebuild. Surely he wouldn’t risk destroying what they’d salvaged of their marriage.

  Would he?

  She turned on the car stereo and settled back for the hour drive to the Madison airport, lifting a hand to wave at familiar faces as she cruised through town.

  With just twenty thousand residents and a single vet clinic, many of the Lost River locals were clients, or members of her church, or had served on various PTA committees with her over the years. Small-town connections that warmed her still, even after years of living away from the anonymity of Minneapolis.

  The touristy shops and coffee houses on Main Street gave way
to the four blocks of grand old homes, then a newer subdivision followed by the grocery, several gas stations, and a discount store. Beyond that, the road curved through meadows and stands of timber on its way out to the four-lane highway leading to Madison.

  She smiled, humming along with the music, her heart lifting at the thought of Casey coming home at last after her first year of college. The house would feel alive again, with her daughter’s music shaking the rafters and her friends crowding into the family room on Friday nights, the scent of buttery popcorn and warm brownies filling the air.

  A small, insistent voice nagged at Kate over the odd catch in Casey’s voice during their last phone call and the long, uneasy silence before she’d insisted it was nothing. She just had a cold. She was...just tired. The reasons spoken with a hesitance that had never been there before.

  But maybe she was being truthful. Maybe she was tired, needing to come home to just relax before starting her summer job. If there was anything wrong, Casey would’ve shared it, like always. Wouldn’t she?

  Four miles down the interstate, Kate topped a low rise. Drew in a sharp breath and slammed on the brakes. Traffic had been light, but here it was at a standstill—with at least fifty vehicles backed up behind a melee of flashing lights and emergency vehicles. Figures moved rapidly between the patrol cars and two ambulances, then one ambulance took off, made a U-turn across the grass into the northbound lanes and sped away, its siren screaming.

  Five minutes later the other ambulance left. Silently. No lights, no sirens.

  And then the traffic started to edge forward, narrowing to single file on the left-hand shoulder of the road, urged on by a harried officer windmilling his arm.

  The crumpled roofline of a partially burned white SUV, a mangled ski rack hanging like tinsel over one edge, was barely visible in the opposite ditch as she passed.

  It was June. Most outdoors enthusiasts had switched to bike racks by now. But Jared hadn’t, and he drove a white Navigator.

  Kate’s heart did a slow-motion somersault in her chest, then settled into place. It couldn’t be him. He’d gone to a meeting north of town tonight. The opposite direction. And accidents always happened to someone else. Names in the paper that one didn’t recognize, poor souls caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  But ten minutes later her cell phone rang—a call forwarded by her answering service—and the earth jerked out of its orbit and tumbled crazily into space as she listened. Jared. A wreck out on the highway just south of town. Get to the hospital as soon as you can.

  But the caller from the hospital couldn’t—or wouldn’t—give any further details over the phone.

  One ambulance had sped back to town on a hot run with flashing lights and a screaming siren. The other one had no need for lights and sirens. Which one had held her husband?

  Numb, her heart racing, Kate pulled to the side of the highway and speed-dialed her friend Deanna, who lived outside of Madison, to ask her to pick up Casey at the airport, then she took a deep, steadying breath and tried Jared’s mother, but Sylvia didn’t answer.

  Kate pulled back onto the highway and took the next exit, then started back to Lost River twenty miles an hour over the speed limit. It can’t be... It can’t be.

  Whatever problems they’d had over the years, she’d been sure they would grow old together. Enjoy grandchildren together. Tears burned her eyes as regrets swamped her.

  They’d made so many mistakes with each other. Foolish mistakes, though everything had seemed so perfect once upon a time. Surely it couldn’t be too late to finally make things right.

  He’ll be okay. He has to be okay. She gripped the steering wheel tighter to still her shaking hands and forced herself to think back to the time when their future together had been so unexpected, such a bright and special gift...

  THE PAST

  “Frat parties are not my thing,” Kate shouted above the blaring, pulsing beat of an old Tina Turner hit. “So I’m going back to the library.”

  “Wait—we just got here, and it’s almost over, anyway.” Deanna, also a sophomore vet student, laughed and dug an elbow in Kate’s ribs. “Just look at those guys over there in the corner. I want...the blond one. Red sweatshirt, torn jeans. He is hot.”

  Kate rolled her eyes and started edging backward toward the door, but the crush of bodies gyrating to the music stopped her progress. “This isn’t exactly a supermarket, Dee, and I’ve got a pathology test tomorrow.”

  “Which you’ll ace as always. Why worry?”

  “You know why. If my GPA drops, my grant is gone. You’ll get your DVM and I’ll stay a waitress until I’m too old to carry trays.”

  “Not hardly, sweetie. C’mon—there’s a guy you oughta meet, and I get dibs on the blond standing next to him.” Deanna grabbed Kate’s arm and pulled her forward, toward a group of guys in the corner. “Give me five minutes, and you can leave. Promise.”

  “Right,” Kate muttered. She reluctantly followed rather than make a scene in front of far too many sorority girls blessed with good looks, too much money, and the ability to deliver a perfect, withering glance at all of the lesser mortals on the planet. It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks, she reminded herself sharply.

  But it did, deep down. In class, wearing cast-off clothes and ratty sneakers, she blended in with most of the other students. But here, glittery dresses and sassy little skirts shimmered and teased, while she’d only been able to pull together black linen slacks and a black sweater from her closet, with a sparkly silver scarf at her throat.

  Deanna came to a halt and grinned up at her quarry, her expression at once flirtatious and innocent. Apparently the perfect blend for Blondie, because his smile widened as he looked down at her.

  They immediately fell into a deep conversation over the upcoming homecoming dance, which gave Kate the perfect chance to escape whatever introduction Deanna had planned. She turned away...and stopped dead.

  And stared at quite possibly the most handsome guy she’d ever seen.

  He was tall and broad-shouldered, his well-muscled chest straining at the black polo shirt he wore, though he obviously didn’t care much about the impression he made. He wore faded jeans and boots, and he’d slung an old leather jacket over his back, suspended by a hooked finger.

  Near-black hair brushed the back of his collar and swept away from his face in deep waves, though one rebellious lock hung over his forehead. From his strong, square jaw and high cheekbones to the thick, dark lashes shading his eyes, he had the arresting sort of face that probably stopped most women in their tracks.

  But it wasn’t his sheer appeal that drew Kate’s attention. It was the expression of pure pain in those startling silvery-gray eyes, and that muscle ticking at the side of his jaw.

  He was staring down at a surfer-blonde woman whose tall, slender body was wrapped in a slinky red cocktail dress. Kate was too far away to hear, but the blonde was clearly talking rapid-fire, with her hands slammed on her hips and her head held at an angry tilt.

  She threw a hand up in a gesture of impatience, spun away from him and stalked to the door with her chin up and sparks flashing in her eyes.

  With an aching expression, he watched her disappear through the front door, then he went out the French doors to the walled patio. Kate could see him through the window, standing in the moonlight with his hands jammed in his back pockets.

  Could he hear the cruel laughter of a trio of sorority girls who were smirking in his direction?

  She’d never been a flirt, and even at twenty-one, Kate usually just managed awkward blushes and inane remarks if a good-looking guy flirted with her, because she’d grown up determined that nothing—absolutely nothing—was going to stand in the way of her future.

  Not foolish young boys.

  Not reckless behavior in the backseat of some guy’s car.

  Not the early single parenthood and lack of education that had ground her mother’s own hopes and dreams to dust.

  So Kate h
ad avoided the parties, the silly high school crushes. She’d rarely dated. And in college, she’d maintained a heavy load of classes—even through the summers. She practically lived in the library, working hard to ensure that her grants and scholarships would continue.

  But all of that resolve faded as she stared at the broad back and bowed head of the man standing out on the patio. She’d always felt soul-deep empathy for animals in pain and people in trouble, and she had no doubt that this was a person who needed a friend.

  “Hey, dudes,” a deep voice growled into a microphone. “One more song and you’re all outta here. Frat rules.”

  So there wasn’t much time. Her heart in her throat, her palms clammy and her pulse racing, Kate hesitated, then gathered her courage. She crossed the room and stepped out onto the patio.

  “Hey, there,” she said softly.

  “Hey.” His voice was low and rich, and sent shivers of awareness dancing across her skin.

  He didn’t turn around, so she moved to his side and stared up at the stars, too. “I hope I’m not intruding.”

  “Nope.” His mouth lifted in a faint, wry smile. “I suppose you saw the scene inside.”

  “Um...no.” She swallowed hard. “I just thought maybe you’d like to...um, dance. This is the last song of the night.”

  She’d always been a terrible liar, and he laughed aloud. “You don’t need to be kind. Hilary picked quite a place to deliver her little message, but I’ll recover.”

  “I’m sorry if it wasn’t a good one.”

  “It wasn’t.” He lifted a shoulder. “Then again, sometimes it’s better to cut your losses and run—especially if you’ve made a big mistake. And apparently, she figured she had. With me.”

  Kate floundered for something intelligent to say, realizing too late that her concern for him had simply made her an unwelcome intruder at a very awkward moment.

  “Sorry, I don’t think we’ve met.” He looked down at her, a hint of amusement in his faint smile. “I’m Jared Mathers. And you are...?”