Page 22 of Promise Me, Katie

“Thank you!” she answered, slipping inside before he could say anything else.

Gasping for a steadier breath, she locked the deadbolt and rushed over to the front window, gave Matthew another graceless wave as he sat at the end of her driveway, then yanked the curtains shut.

Scurrying around in a state of classic overreaction, she yanked the power cords on two lamps, wishing he would drive away.

Why wasn’t he leaving? Why was he just sitting there?

“Dear God, don’t tell me he’s thinking of coming to the door.”

Peeking ever so slightly from the edge of the curtain, Katherine watched in disappointment as the glowing red of Matthew’s taillights faded into the distance.

“Oh my gosh!” she exhaled as if she’d been holding her breath. “What wasthatall about?”

But it didn’t matter how long she stood there panting and trying to make sense of the situation. She couldn’t seem to wrap her brain around what was real and what wasn’t.

What was she supposed to think now? That she’d been wrong about him? That he really was a nice guy? And that she was just an irrational fool who couldn’t shake her growing feelings for him?

“What is wrong with me?” she choked out, throwing her head back. Tears filled her eyes as a surprising jolt of emotionsqueezed her heart. Was it sadness? Or disappointment? She couldn’t be sure. Maybe both. But she knew she couldn’t keep thinking about Matthew Brandon the way she was.

“He’s married,” she scolded herself. “He loves his wife. They have a baby together. You know how it feels to lose all that. What the hell are you thinking?”

Chapter 6

Hearing “This is Julia Brandon reporting live from the Fraser Farms Annual Charity Event...” from the diner’s television made Katherine’s head snap to attention. Even though it had been weeks since Matthew returned to Windsong with his wife and daughter, this was the first time she’d been able to catch a glimpse of her other new neighbor.

Julia Brandon was just as attractive as the stories preceding her arrival had promised. But the forced expression of joy on her face minimized the natural beauty of her features. And her on-air persona oozed with an exaggerated air of self-importance.

Since she’d come to Windsong and joined the WDSG news team, Katherine had heard stories about her from countless people. Even Millie Fraser, who was usually a shrewd judge of character, had nothing but good things to say.

Words likeprettyandambitiousweren’t wrong. But to Katherine, they also weren’t the complete picture. And she wasn’t convinced that small-town human-interest stories squeezed in minutes before the broadcast ended were what Julia felt she deserved.

After all, she lived next door to the awful woman and had been subjected to her stomach-turning behavior leaching over the brick wall that separated their backyards.

Because of those uncomfortable moments, Katherine could see beyond the shiny veneer of beauty and poise on the television screen when she remembered the first time she’d heard Julia shouting at her husband.

“Maaatthew! The baby’s crying again! Can’t you make her stop?”

While Katherine had been working in her garden one Sunday afternoon, she’d been singing along to her favorite songs in an attempt to tune out the sounds coming from the house next door. But soon, it became torturous to hear Julia’s complaining and Libby’s crying.

She had never liked the sound of a baby crying, whether it was her nephew and nieces or a stranger’s little one in the grocery store. The sound of babies wanting to be held and comforted always overwhelmed her.

So, when Libby Brandon was crying that day, it felt like time was ticking at a glacial pace. And the urge to console the upset toddler was almost more than she could take. She wanted to leap over the brick wall and hold little Libby herself.

“I’m on the phone! Can’t you take her outside?”

When Matthew agreed, calling out that they would be in the backyard, Katherine had hurried over to turn off her music and the garden hose. Hoping to silence any and all sounds coming from her backyard, she kneeled down and pulled weeds from between her tomato plants in complete silence.

There was no way she wanted Matthew to know she was out there. And she definitely didn’t want him to know that she’d heard what had been said.

As she heard the screen door open and close, her heart beat faster.

“Come on, Libby Doll, let’s go play outside.”

Then Katherine’s heart melted at his words. His patience and the gentle, reassuring tone of his voice spoke volumes about the kind of father he was. And imagining those big arms holding the tiny toddler was a picture that would make any woman swoon. Not to mention the silly sounds he made that had Libby giggling and squealing with delight.

With a smile on her face, Katherine finished weeding around the tomato plants, then moved down the remaining rows of the garden.

“Maaatthew! The baby needs her bath!”

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