Waiting Forever Read online

  ~~~

  Kathy scanned the lobby and spotted an attractive, middle-aged man lurking behind a group of potted plants, staring at her. The sour taste of dread burned her throat. Please don’t let that screwball be Jenny’s father-in-law. Insanity runs in families.

  As she wandered toward the lunatic in the navy sports jacket, his salt and pepper head rose above the foliage. Strangely enough, he looked exactly like her high school sweetheart’s father.

  Kathy stalled mid-stride and blinked twice, trying to make the spooky apparition disappear. Was it possible Steve Johnson hadn’t really died in Vietnam, and no one had bothered to tell her?

  After receiving the news he’d been killed in action thirty-six years ago, his grief-stricken parents had moved across the country to live closer to his older brother. Kathy had ultimately lost touch with them. She hadn’t watched the news coverage of Operation Homecoming. It had hurt too much, seeing all of the POWs come home, knowing Steve wouldn’t be among them.

  Peering at her stalker’s chiseled face, she noticed a birthmark on his neck that looked a great deal like the hickey everyone had accused her of giving her boyfriend when she was seventeen.

  She inched closer and whispered, “Steven?”

  The ghost of her lost love stepped from behind the plants and flashed the crooked smile that had never failed to make Kathy weak in the knees. “It’s been a long time, Kat. How’ve you been?”

  “A long time?” Her mouth hung open like a guppy’s as she teetered between shock and relief before toppling into fury. She smacked his muscular shoulder. “A more relevant question, you idiot, is how have you been? You seem awfully healthy for a corpse.”

  He looked downright incredible. The years had filled out his physique and carved his soft, boyish features into a man’s rugged face. Tears blurred her vision. “Do you have any idea how many nights I soaked my pillow?”

  “Not as many as I spent hearing you laugh in my dreams.” He took her hand and pressed it to his cheek. “The thought of coming home to you was the only thing that kept me sane in Charlie’s hell hole.”

  “I don’t understand. How—”

  “Some bungling military clerk typed KIA instead of MIA next to my name on a casualty list.” Was he saying one stinking letter had shattered all their dreams?

  The scent of his spicy aftershave enveloped her as she fell against him, sobbing. “Why didn’t you call me?”

  He rubbed his face in her hair. “By the time I was released in ‘73, you were already married and, judging from the size of your belly, very pregnant.”

  “You came to see me?”

  “What can I say?” He shrugged. “I’m a masochist. I had to make sure you were happy. Once I did, I saw no reason to upset your whole life by telling you I hadn’t been killed.”

  “I’m so sorry.” She sniffled, wiping her eyes. “How can I—”

  “Don’t. You were right to get on with your life.” He glanced around the lobby. “Is your husband here with you?”

  “No.” She swallowed hard. “Kevin was killed in a car accident about ten months ago.” She’d thought life had ended that day and had been furious with her husband for sentencing her to a life of loneliness.

  Suddenly, it seemed possible to be truly happy again.

  “Now I’m sorry.” Steve stepped back to study Kathy, making her heart do a little tap dance.

  Thank goodness she’d had her hair done and splurged on the baby blue silk sheath to meet her new son-in-law.

  “I can’t believe how beautiful you still are, Kat. One glance at your blonde hair and long legs reminded me of all those recitals I sat through. I knew it had to be you. Do you still dance?”

  Kathy nodded. “I teach. I opened a ballet studio when the girls were little.”

  “So what’re you doing here today?”

  She pressed her lips together, suppressing a chuckle. “I think meeting you and your son. Are you Zach’s father?”

  Steve gawked at her for several pounding heartbeats, looking dumbstruck. “You’re Jenny’s mom? That’s too weird.”

  “Tell me about it. The kids called to say they’re running a little late. We’re supposed to get a table while we’re waiting.”

  “That’s typical. Zach’s a great lawyer, but he’s always trying to cram two days into one.”

  Apparently his son and Jen were a matched set.

  Steve led Kathy into the restaurant and held four fingers up to the hostess. After she seated them in an intimate high-backed booth and took their drink order, Steve reached across the table and took Kathy’s hand. “So, what’s been happening in your life since I was—uhh….”

  “Reported dead? Hmm, well, let’s see. I cried myself to sleep every night for the first year or so. Then my friends dragged me on a blind date with Kevin a week after his girlfriend dumped him. We got a little drunk drowning our sorrows together, and I got—as you put it—very pregnant with my daughter Ashley. Needless to say, I did a bit more crying when I found out.”

  “You seemed pretty happy by the time I saw you.”

  “I probably was. I grew to love Kevin more than I ever dreamed possible. He was a good husband and wonderful father. But to be totally honest, he never made me laugh quite the way you did.”

  Knowing the fierce passion Steve and she had shared as kids, Kathy didn’t want to contemplate what she would’ve done if he’d risen from the dead when he’d come home from Vietnam. She couldn’t begin to imagine how hard it must have been for him to stay quiet and simply walk away.

  She squeezed his big, warm hand in gratitude. “How about you?”

  “I was as happy as I could be. I’ve got two great sons who are both partners in my firm.” Which meant he was probably married.

  “I’m glad to hear you at least realized your dream of becoming a lawyer.”

  “I’m divorced now, but Barb and I have stayed friends.”

  Kathy’s pulse skipped a beat.

  “And I’m hoping life is about to get a whole lot better.” He stared into her eyes and gently stroked her cheek. “One of the reasons my marriage fell apart was because my ex-wife knew I never got over you.” The flare of desire in his half-lidded gaze sent a troupe of shivers pirouetting down her back.

  Kevin had always felt like second best with her, too. “Don’t you think it’s eerie our kids even met,” she asked, “let alone eloped?”

  “Definitely. Who knows, maybe destiny decided we deserve a second chance.” Out of the blue, he stood, scooted out of the booth, and slid back in on her side of the table.

  Evidently he needed to be as close to her as she ached to be near him.

  “It’s a small world, Kat. You and I were crazy about each other. Doesn’t it make sense our kids would click, too?”

  “I guess. I’m just worried they’ve jumped into this marriage thing way too fast.”

  He slid his arm around her and squeezed her shoulder. “You’re not the only one.”

  “Jen isn’t usually so impetuous. To be truthful, as much as I think their marriage is premature, in some ways it’s also a bit of a relief. I wasn’t sure she would ever settle down.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Your son may not have told you, but my daughter was blessed with a face and figure that leaves men’s tongues dragging on the floor.”

  “I know. Zach showed me a clipping from one of the catalogs Jenny models for.” The color creeping up Steve’s neck suggested he’d seen the ad in which her daughter was dressed in a lace bustier and garter belt, wearing a fresh-from-her-lover’s-bed expression. “If you ask me, I think she takes after her mom.”

  “Well, if you’ve seen her picture, then you understand she learned at puberty she could have her pick of men. She’s been leading guys on a merry chase ever since.”

  “Not surprising.”

  “She’s twenty-eight and has never dated anyone seriously before. I hate to even think this, let alone say it, but do you think she might be preg—”
>
  “No. Zach swore she isn’t. He said he simply knew the moment he met her she was the only one for him.”

  Kathy released a breath of relief. Of course, there was no guarantee Zach hadn’t impregnated her daughter in the meantime.

  “Honestly, Kat, I think he was just afraid of losing her to one of the other guys Jenny had chasing her. When Zach called last night, I wanted to have him declared mentally incompetent. But seeing you again and remembering what happened to us is suddenly making me empathize with my son. That our kids found each other has me wondering if they’re the whole reason I had to lose you for so long. Their marriage helps it all make sense to me.”

  She gazed into Steve’s brilliant blue eyes and smiled. She still couldn’t believe he was alive. “Thank you. That gives me hope for the kids. After all, we knew we were made for each other right away, too, didn’t we?”

  “What about now?” He leaned in so close his minty breath tickled her cheek. “Could you fall in love with me again?”

  “I don’t think I need to,” she whispered. Her heart pounded like a production of Riverdance as his head tilted and his lips hovered a millimeter from hers for what seemed like an eternity.

  “I never stopped loving you, either, Kitten.” His mouth grazed hers several times. “I’m thinking we should say the hell with dinner,” he murmured, gently nibbling her lower lip, “and really get reacquainted.”

  “Mmmm. I like the sound of that. But I’d better warn you. Nothing on me is as firm as you might remember.”

  He chuckled. “And you think I still have washboard abs?”

  She wound her arms around his neck, and their mouths merged in a deep, hungry kiss promising the happy future together that had been stolen from them.

  “Mother!” Jenny’s horrified outburst made Steve recoil from Kathy faster than a tin can springing off a prankster’s phony snake.

  “Oh, jeez.” Zach rolled his eyes. “Quick, Jen, order a bucket of ice water.”

  “Ah-ha….” Jenny nodded, smirking at her new husband. “So that’s how you slick lawyers mediate disputes. Ice water.”

  “Very funny.” Zach shot a counterfeit smile at her. “Judging from the game of tonsil-hockey we just witnessed, I’d say our parents have already settled any differences they might’ve had.” Zach swung his outraged gaze to his father. “You have the nerve to claim we’ve rushed things?”

  Steve hugged Kathy to his side and grinned at her. “Do you think they’ll believe we’ve been waiting over three and half decades?”

  “Probably not.” She snuggled closer, chuckling to herself. Just when she thought fate had kicked her in the teeth again, destiny had given her the last laugh. “Besides, it seemed more like forever.”

   

  If you enjoyed this short story, check out Laurie Kellogg’s Golden Heart® award-winning novel, The Memory of You—a touching yellow-ribbon love story starring one of Steve’s POW buddies, Matt.

  “A heart-warming tale of love and second chances. I thoroughly enjoyed this book!”

  Joy Nash, USA Today best-selling author of The Unforgiven and A Little Light Magic

  “A poignant and sensual read filled with great characters you’ll fall in love with.”

  Hope Ramsay, best-selling author of Welcome to Last Chance

  She can’t forget him—He can’t remember her

  Together, they must discover the healing power of unforgettable love