Free Love in the Shadows by Caryn Moya Block Page B

put on the clothes Cara
provided, a pair of khaki pants and a T-shirt. She pulled her hair
back into a bun and pinned it up. She knew the casserole would take
about thirty minutes to cook. There was a fruit basket, and she
figured she would find juice and coffee as well.
    She came out of the bathroom and saw
the pleasure and love that came into Derek’s gaze as he watched
her. She would never get tired of seeing that look on his face.
Katherine knew in her heart that Derek would always treasure
her.
    She took his hand and led him into the
kitchen and to one of the chairs at the little table for two. Then,
she set to work preparing breakfast. She cut up an apple, banana,
and peach she found in the fruit basket and served that to Derek as
they waited for the coffee and casserole.
    They talked and teased as Katherine
finished getting everything served. Now, she could feel the passion
that simmered under the surface. She also knew she could never
leave him now that they were back together. His near brush with
death left her feeling determined to stay as close as
possible.
    “Ready for a little adventure?” Derek
said. “I’d like to show you something. Let’s pack a picnic, and
then we’ll go.”
    Katherine helped make sandwiches and
picked out some fresh fruit to put in a small basket, which could
travel through Shadow. As long as you wanted your food chilled,
everything was good.
    “Ready, beautiful? Put on the
mink-lined coat in the closet. You know Shadow is cold.”
    After fetching the coat and a leather
jacket for Derek, Katherine walked over to Derek. He held out his
hand, and they went into Shadow, and then, just that quick, out
again.
    A beautiful log house rose up out of
the woods. It was huge and fit perfectly into the landscape. A lake
glistened in the sunlight nearby.
    “What’s this?” she asked confused.
“Whose house is that?”
    “Yours, Kate. I built it for you. We
own the lake and several acres of woods. Would you like to see the
inside?”
    “I would love to. When did
you do this?” He built her a
house?
    “I bought the property after I first
met you. I knew you were going to need some time to recover from
losing Kevin. It helped me to have something to do, for our future,
for you. Nobody knows about it. We could hide out here, but it
wouldn’t take Raven long to figure it out, I’m afraid.” Derek led
Katherine up the path to the house. He pulled a key from a
hidey-hole and unlocked the door.
    “I’d carry you over the threshold, but
I’m afraid I’m still not up to that. Come on, I want to know if you
like it.”
    Katherine walked into a central hallway
with a stairway and doors leading off to the sides. The first room
was a large living room with windows facing the lake and a huge
stone fireplace. The room down the hall was the dining room with
windows facing the lake on one side and woods on the
other.
    She insisted Derek sit down in a chair
in front of the fireplace to rest, while she explored the rooms.
When she was finished, he followed her upstairs to show her the
bedrooms. The master suite was on the front of the house and faced
the lake. There were beautiful French doors that led to a balcony.
Katherine could picture waking up as the sun rose over the lake.
The only furniture was a large king-size bed facing the balcony.
There were three other bedrooms down the hall and two more
bathrooms.
    “I thought you would like to finish the
decorating yourself. Or we can hire it done if you’d rather,” he
said.
    “Don’t you dare hire someone. I would
love to finish the decorating. Derek, the house is beautiful. Thank
you so much. I can’t tell you how wonderful this makes me
feel.”
    “You are wonderful, Katherine. I have
one more thing I need to show you,” he said, walking to her as he
reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. “Will you marry me?”
he asked as he held the ring out to her.
    “Of course, silly. You’re my destined
mate. Shadow marked me to prove