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  IVY’S SEARCH

  Kate Cambridge

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  Be sure to check out all the books in the Burnt River Contemporary Western Romance Series. The links to all the books can be found at the end of this book.

  Kate Cambridge is a bestselling Amazon author, writing both Sweet Historical Romance and Sweet Contemporary Romance books

  Visit KateCambridge.com

  If you find any errors in this book, please email the author at [email protected] and we’ll take care of it asap!

  * * *

  IVY’S SEARCH, a Burnt River Contemporary Romance Series Book

  Copyright © 2017 by Kate Cambridge

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in critical articles or book reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious or have been used or embellished fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real in any way. Any resemblance, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Property of Kate Cambridge, September 2017

  * * *

  Please check out all the books in the Burnt River Contemporary Western Romance Series. It is a true joy working with all the authors in the collaboration, and we have several books planned in this series as the lives of the people of Burnt River unfold.

  Book 1: SHANE’S BURDEN by Peggy L Henderson

  Book 2: THORN’S JOURNEY by Shirleen Davies

  Book 3: AQUA’S ACHILLES

  Book 4: ASHLEY’S HOPE by Amelia C. Adams

  Book 5: HARPUR’S SECRET by Kay P Dawson

  Book 6: MASON’S RESCUE by Peggy L Henderson

  Book 7: DEL’S CHOICE by Shirleen Davies

  Book 8: IVY’S SEARCH

  Book 9-14, COMING SOON - Visit the Burnt River Contemporary Series Facebook group to connect with all the authors and readers!

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  She could smell her own fear as droplets of sweat trickled between her shoulder blades and single drop carved a path down the tip of her nose, dropping onto the worn, wide pine boards of the closet floor supporting her hands and knees. Could they hear the splash? The sound crashed in her ears, as another drop quickly followed. She prayed, pushing her body further into the back wall as though it could swallow her. Protect her. Everything seemed magnified as her heart hammered in her chest—surely they couldn’t hear it---or could they? She fought the black hole that threatened to envelop her.

  You can do this. Don’t give in to them. Then she drew the deepest, quietest Hen she could. The words of Sifu Quinlan echoed in her mind, “Use your diaphragm. You will have more strength. Let the energy balance, and release the tension.”

  She imagined an invisible cloak as a miraculous peace slowed the thumping in her chest, and everything around her began to slow. She felt a shield of protection between her and her enemies. Was it real or imagined? She didn’t care. It was there. Years of diligent—obsessive--Tai Chi practice seemed to flood her senses at the time she needed it most. And in her wildest imagination, she could not have foreshadowed this.

  She sensed him even before she heard his steps; terror threatening to break through the shield, rising in her throat like the vice his hands had been.

  * * *

  Kirsten Bell woke with a start; the whitewashed walls reflecting the rising sun just beginning to stream through the sheer coverings on her window. She pushed the covers off her hot, sweat-covered body and quickly swung her legs over the side of the bed, her head dropping into her hands. I am not a victim, she reminded herself and she pushed off the bed and grabbed her running shoes and socks.

  Sleeping in black running gear wasn’t the most comfortable way to sleep night after night, but it made her feel better to know that she was ready at a moments notice to flee if she needed to.

  How long had she been running? It seemed like a lifetime, and every time the dreams recurred it was because they were getting near.

  Maybe it was time to entertain Aqua Weaver’s invitation to visit her in her hometown of Burnt River. She had resisted Aqua’s offer to help her change her identity and effectively disappear as Kirsten Bell forever. It made her feel like they would win—but living like this wasn’t winning either.

  With a spring in her step that belied her nightmare, she began the familiar routine of her shortened Tai Chi workout, her mind cleared, and she grabbed the burner phone she had purchased the night before and entered the number embedded in her brain.

  “Hey Aqua, it’s me. Yes, I’m okay. I---I was just wondering if the invitation to visit you was still open. I know, I know, I just want to make sure you know what you’re potentially opening yourself up to… Yes, I’ll be careful. My best guess is it will take two days of driving to get to you. I’ll keep you posted. And Aqua? Thanks.”

  She struggled to keep her tone upbeat, but she knew in her heart that Aqua could sense her fear. Try though she might, and regardless of the precautions she’d taken, fear was always with her on some level.

  She had tried moving around constantly, living in other countries even, but somehow his goons had always come close to finding her. She’d be damned to know how. She had searched high and low to find a place where she could disappear and be safe, but lately that seemed less and less likely to ever be a reality.

  Reaching out to Aqua was a risk, but at this point, she wasn’t sure she had any other options. Aqua was incredibly smart, and although they had both worked for the same government agency, Aqua had proven that she could navigate the systems and politics much better than Kirsten, and she’d left the Agency unscathed. It was good that one of them had.

  Kirsten found herself second-guessing her decisions more and more, and trusting herself less. The panic attacks, which had disappeared for a while, seemed always beneath the surface now. The decision to visit Aqua was last minute and likely a move of desperation, yet it felt right. Her gut approved, which was a good thing.

  There was no point in delaying now that the decision was made, the only remaining choice was whether or not to eat breakfast in the kitchen of the little bed and breakfast she’d chosen to stop at late last night. The woman at the desk had seemed matronly, and she felt a stab of regret the memories of her mother’s final hours flooded her mind.

  Kirsten and her mother had spent little time together after her mother had chosen to marry Clive Boxer, a self-made millionaire, and playboy. She hadn’t known why he rubbed her the wrong way, but her instincts screamed every time she was with him. She’d tried to talk her mother out of the marriage, but after raising Kirsten alone for her entire life, it was evident her mother looked forward to a life of leisure and finer comforts. Despite the fact that she had worked hard her entire life, her mother was beautiful and looked much younger than her 55-years. She’d had Kirsten when she was still a teenager.

  Her mother’s parents tried to force her to give her baby up, but she had re
fused, and they had disowned her as a result; something Kirsten could not understand. Her mother was a good woman, a kind woman, and never once had Kirsten ever felt that her mother wished that she had given her up for adoption.

  Kirsten had no idea what her real grandparents were like; her mother never spoke of them, but she suspected that they had money, confirmed by the ease with which her mother entered the lifestyle of the rich and famous once she’d married Clive.

  Would she have married him if she’d understood the ultimate cost she would pay? Kirsten wasn’t sure, but one thing she did know, her mother was a strong and amazing woman, and Kirsten was not going to let her down by leaving this earth any earlier than she had to.

  She couldn’t help but wish that she’d made it to her bedside sooner, but she was lucky she’d made it at all in light of the fact that they’d barely spoken in over two years, and it was a family friend who had finally tracked Kirsten down to let her know that her mother was ill.

  She glanced around the room she’d barely spent eight hours in. The sun’s rays highlighting the pattern in the old wooden desk sitting next to a dresser and she wondered at the people who had sat there before her; were they passing through as she was, or had they stayed for awhile taking in the sights and exploring the mid-coast attractions this small town and the beautiful coast of Maine had to offer?

  Walking toward the window, she moved the top latch aside and lifted it as high as it could go. The salt from the sea assaulted her senses and she breathed deeply, her lips turning up as the cry of the gulls drifted into her room. She missed the nights that she would lie with her window open, listening to the peepers as they lulled her to sleep. Sleeping with the window open now was out of the question.

  She wasn’t even sure what had possessed her to come back to this sleepy seaside town where she’d grown up. Maybe she thought they would never look for her here, or maybe she was revisiting the places she loved that she might never be able to return to if she moved forward with changing her identity. It was likely the latter, but there was no point in living in the past, there was no safety there. She had to keep moving forward and trust that she would finally find a place she could call home. Her mother would want that, and somehow she felt like it would vindicate them both.

  But would she ever truly find a place where she would be safe? Aqua seemed to think so, and Kirsten was finally at the point where she was willing to accept help to prove—or disprove her friend’s theory.

  Chapter 1

  “Okay, okay, stop!” she moaned as she grabbed the top sheet before Blake could pull it off. “Blake Stone, I said stop or else,” Aqua giggled as she grabbed her pillow and threw it toward the end of the bed where he stood grinning, his right eyebrow arched in that oh so familiar way as his eyes raked downward. She pulled the sheet tighter toward her neck and then yelped as he pulled it away in one fell swoop.

  Grabbing his pillow, she threw it at him as she leapt from the bed and raced toward the master bath, slamming the door behind her and locking it.

  With a satisfied smirk, she waited for his next move.

  “Coffee is ready, Aqua Weaver Stone. I have to make a house call before heading into the office, so we’ll continue this… tonight.” His voice drew nearer until she could tell he was right outside the bathroom door.

  She felt her body react to his dark, suggestive tone. “Oh, you can count on that, Dr. Stone,” she replied with as much authority as she could muster. It sounded lame even to her, but it was all she could come up with as she whirled on her heels and turned the shower on at full blast, drowning out any reply he might come up with. As the steam rose from the shower she sighed as she turned the temperature gauge in the opposite direction toward cold. Yep, she definitely needed a cold shower this morning if she had any hope of accomplishing anything today.

  * * *

  Aqua heard a car pull into the driveway and then a car door slam. She looked up from her desk buried in paperwork to see a tired yet ever-beautiful Kirsten Bell standing at the screen door to her office. Her hair was shorter, but those stunning green eyes and beautiful features were unmistakable.

  “You made it. Perfect timing,” Aqua smiled as she jumped up and made her way around the desk to open the door for her friend. “I was hoping a knight in shining amour might rescue me from all that paperwork, but instead it is a long lost friend. You must be tired.” She stated, taking in the dark circles under her friend’s eyes and more slender than usual frame, Aqua reached for Kirsten’s suitcase, set it aside, and opened her arms for a long overdue hug.

  “You are a sight for sore eyes, there’s no doubt about that. I love your home and office, Aqua! Who would have believed you would ever leave our former employer and settle down in a town like Burnt River—although I must admit, it is endearing.”

  “Humph. There’s a barb hidden in that statement somewhere, I can just tell,” Aqua replied with a raised eyebrow and grin. “But that’s okay, I think you’ll come to love Burnt River as much as I do.”

  Confusion rippled across Kirsten’s face, but before she could respond, Aqua moved to the front door and closed it securely. “Come, my friend, let me show you to your room. Sleep for a few hours and we can catch up after you’ve gotten some rest,“ Aqua left no room for argument as she led the way down the hall.

  “That bad, huh?”

  Aqua glanced back at her friend. “Well, considering you thought it would take two days to get here and you made it in one and a half, I can honestly say I’ve seen you looking better.”

  “We’ve been through worse, both you and I, but I would be a fool to not admit I am completely exhausted and welcome the chance to sleep for a bit before we catch up.”

  “There’s a lock on your door, and the windows are secured, as well. You’ll be safe here, Kirsten.”

  Kirsten grasped her friend’s hands and smiled, but the worry shining in her eyes told a different story.

  “You have an ensuite bath, and it’s stocked. Make yourself at home and I’ll see you when I see you. I’m not expecting Jake home until tonight, so we’ll have some time to talk before I introduce you.”

  Kirsten gave her friend a spontaneous hug. “Thank you---“

  “Stop already. You would do the same for me. Now get some shuteye. I’ll see you in a bit,” she said as she closed the door softly between them.

  * * *

  Kirsten woke with a start to the sound of muffled voices. It took a second to get her bearings, but she quickly recognized the mid-century modern furnishings of Aqua’s guest room. In any other sitting the white walls might have felt sterile, but Aqua had soft neutral colors in the room accented by pale pink pillows and a sea grass basket stuffed with throw blankets sat next to an aqua-blue chair. Prints of the coast of Maine adorned one wall, bringing a smile to Kirsten’s face as she let the memories of that spontaneous weekend trip with her friend fill her mind; those were happy and carefree days, she thought wistfully as she stretched. The room was warm and inviting, cozy even. The décor’ of a home always revealed a lot about a person, and it was fitting that Aqua’s home would be a place that emanated peace.

  Glancing at the clock, she flew out of bed, heading for the shower, peeling her clothing off as she moved. Her brow furrowed. How could she have slept for six hours? When was the last time she’d had six hours of consecutive sleep? As she turned the shower dial toward hot, she realized that for the first time in a long time, she felt safe.

  The door to the bathroom was solid with an old, glass door handle, and a flash took Kirsten back to the first home she remembered with her mother—all the doors had antique glass handles that rattled when you turned them, but these were solid and it was impossible to tell if they were old, or added in a more recent update. Pushing memories to the back of her mind, Kirsten glanced around the bathroom with appreciation. It was small, but contained everything she would need. The walls matched the white of the bedroom; the counter and sink were a beautiful white and grey marble with grey cabin
ets beneath, and a large, rectangular mirror hung from above, framed in distressed wood. She glanced at her reflection and grimaced at the dark circles under her eyes. A quick inventory of the basket in the corner of the counter revealed travel-sized and sealed makeup, toiletries, and other personal items she would likely need while here.

  It didn’t surprise her that Aqua had thought of everything. The mirror revealed a frameless glass shower door behind her, walls covered in white subway tile, and a dual shower head. Kirsten let a groan escape, the rainforest shower head looked incredible.

  She hastily turned and reached inside the shower to turn the water on, moving the handle toward hot, removed her clothes, and stepped inside. The water cascaded from above and in front of her from the shower head attached at head of the unit. It felt amazing on her tired body, and she moved the dial on the shower head toward massage, letting the jets beat at the tension in her shoulders and back. If it weren’t for the fact that she had slept longer than intended, she felt like she could stay for hours, but the fact remained that she and Aqua had a lot to discuss. She breathed through a stab of disappointment that she had slept as long as she had, and wondered if the voices she heard meant Blake was home, or could it be that Aqua had a client in her office?

  A pang of hunger reminded Kirsten that she hadn’t eaten anything but a protein bar all day, and although she liked to be thin and fit, she knew the weight she had lost over the last few weeks was bordering on unhealthy.

  Leaning into the spray, she grabbed the shower gel and rubbed it over her body; it was luxurious and smelled heavenly. Glancing at the label, it dawned on her that it was probably one of the “concoctions”—as Aqua fondly called the products her mother created in her home office and sold in their Burnt River health food store—made by Miri Weaver, Aqua’s mom. Aqua always swore there was something magical in her products that just made people feel better, and although Kirsten had secretly doubted that, she couldn’t deny the sudden burst of energy she felt and, what was that—joy? She giggled as she remembered a commercial she’d seen on a TV at a bar just weeks ago where a woman taking a shower broke into song and dance as she lathered her body with a shower gel. At the time she’d thought it was ridiculous, but right now she could identify with it.