Lana grabbed her mouth unable to stop the ramble of words as they tumbled out. Kim’s eyes were the size of saucers and Maureen stood there with her mouth ajar searching for words that didn’t come. Heathcliff looked frantically at Maureen and Kayden, clearly out of his depth when Lana turned to Kayden.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disrespect your mother, but I won’t let anyone talk to you like that or treat you that way anymore.” She turned back to Maureen. “I don’t give a damn who they are.”
Lana stomped out of the living room and up the stairs leaving everyone in suspended animation. She didn’t dare turn around for fear she would pass out from the amount of adrenaline coursing through her body. When the door to her room slammed, Maureen’s blue grey eyes fell on her son.
“And to clarify mother, she isn’t my little friend. She’s my fiancé.” Kim’s face turned as white as a ghosts, which made him smile.
“Feel free to sleep in one of the guest rooms down stairs as me and my future wife would like to be undisturbed for the rest of the evening.” With that he turned to leave.
“Kayden!” Maureen shrieked, her body heaving so badly, she could barely breathe. He turned to her.
“If you choose to defy me, you’re cut off for good! And just so you know, that little project with the diner was stopped as of yesterday. So if you think you’re doing something special there, you’re not!”
“What?” he replied, barely believing his ears. Did she really go that far?
“Yes, you heard right. Capshaw is taking over the project and KDN Properties’ contract was cancelled.”
Kayden looked at his mother, tears welling in his eyes. Kim stood and walked over to him.
“Listen Kayden, it’s not worth it. If you do what your mom wants, you get to control the company and do the types of projects you want to do. Total freedom. Don't throw that away for someone you don’t know.”
She touched his forearm and he pulled away from her.
“Listen to her son. She’s the only person in here other than myself that’s thinking of you.”
Kayden snorted and wiped his face. He looked into his mother’s eyes and tried to search for any glimmer of love or affection and couldn’t find a salt grains worth. Maureen’s face softened, having not seen her son this vulnerable in years. She finally studied the fine lines that started to appear around his eyes, the weariness of a man, that had been through too much. She could see the toll it had taken on him.
“Mom, I love you,” he said sweetly, then continued, “and there’s very little that will change that. But I’m done jumping through hoops. If you want to cut me free, then cut me free,” he continued. “I’d rather struggle the rest of my life with a woman who loves me for who I am and not what I can give her,” he looked at Kim.
“I’d rather be penniless if it means I can finally have some peace in my own life! You have to let him go, Mom. Joel isn’t coming back; Dad isn’t coming back!”
Maureen flinched at the sound of Joel’s name coming from Kayden. “I’ve apologized all I will...all I can. You can accept that and love me anyway, or you can walk away and say goodbye.”
He turned and walked up the stairs, as they stood in silence. Kayden couldn’t believe the extent his mother had gone to and he no longer cared. He would find a way to hold on to this newfound happiness, no matter the cost.
11
It was six o’ clock in the morning and sleep escaped both Kayden and Lana. They spent most of the night talking about the absurdity that had occurred way earlier that morning and how they’d go about getting the diner contract back. The snow was falling heavily again and Lana was afraid of being trapped in a house with his mother and ex. The thought made her cringe inside. Neither wanted to get dressed and go downstairs to see if they were still there but Lana made the first move and put on her robe and walked downstairs. She smelled fresh coffee and instantly wanted to run back upstairs to her room, but she was too late.
When she had hit the last stair Maureen was in the dining room dressed to die in more Chanel. That was obviously her thing. She stood over at the drawing table looking at Kayden’s sketches, holding a cup of coffee in Lana’s favorite mug.
“Good morning,” Maureen called out, as Lana walked into the kitchen. She stopped and looked at her and the fake Cheshire smile on her face.
“Good morning, Mrs. Capshaw,” she replied and rummaged the cabinet for another mug.
“My son is quite the talent wouldn’t you agree?” she asked as she flipped through the plans for the house Lana hoped to live in with him someday.
“Yes he is. It’s just a shame it’s taken you so long to figure that out,” Lana replied pouring her coffee. Maureen placed her mug down and walked over to Lana, cool, slow and calculating. Lana was trapped in the kitchen with her and there was nothing to do but face the wicked witch head on.
“You have a lot of opinions about a man you know nothing about.”
“I know plenty about him,” Lana replied.
“Can you look me in the eye and tell me you really know him?”
“I know all I need to Mrs. Capshaw. Can you look me in mine and tell me you do?”
Maureen smirked at her and shook her head.
“Do you think this is new for him, or that you’re the first girl he’s brought up here and made promises to?”
“You see, that’s where you’re wrong again. He didn’t bring me here. Paula, your daughter, who happens to be my best friend for years now, asked me to house sit for her. As she’s done five times before since she built it.”
Lana put her mug down now and stood face to face with Maureen.
“You barely know your own children, do you?”
Maureen walked away from her and grabbed her coat draped over the bar stool. Heathcliff emerged from the end of the hallway with bags in his hand and nodded at Lana as he walked to the front door.
“Tell my son when he decides to come to his senses, I’ll be at the Spence Hotel until this storm blows over, and the airport re-opens. When I leave town, the offer leaves with me.”
She stalked down the hall and Heathcliff opened the front door and they stepped out into the frigid air. Kim emerged from the hallway next holding a duffle bag in hand.
“Have a safe trip home,” Lana called out, as she walked past her. Kim stopped, dropped her bag and stalked up to Lana.
“What’s his favorite color?” Kim asked, her arms crossed over her chest.
“What?” Lana replied, confused.
“It’s a simple question. What’s his favorite color? Or his favorite food? Hmm?”
Lana didn’t know any of this and it bothered her that Kim was getting the upper hand.
“You have no idea who he is,” Kim continued. “Do you know how he got the scar on his shoulder or what his biggest fear is?”
Lana could say nothing. She stood there and felt the weight of the questions Kim threw at her and a frown erupted on her face.
“You’re not from our world honey. No one will accept you and everyone will turn their backs on him because of it. And please don’t be fooled into thinking money isn’t important to him either.”
Lana was ready to deck her in the face, but instead she walked away slowly feeling the rage inside her build.
“When he’s broke and penniless, he will come back to mommy, he will marry me. And you? You’ll just be used up and tossed aside.”
Lana spun on her heels and stalked towards Kim. As her hand sailed through the air, it was caught abruptly by Kayden, who now wrapped his other arm around her waist from behind.
“Don’t babe, she’s not worth it,” he said as he held her back.
“Get out,” Lana said through clenched teeth.
“Your gonna regret this,” Kim said to him. She picked up her duffle bag, stomped down the foyer, opened the door and slammed it shut behind her. The engine of a snowmobile started outside, the transportation many in town used recently.
“Don’t let them ge
t to you,” he said, still holding her from behind.
“But it’s not totally wrong what they were saying.”
“My favorite color is black,” he kissed the back of her neck, “My favorite food is shrimp and anyway, it doesn’t matter.”
She smiled.
“My favorite TV show is full of vampires.” He chuckled and turned her around to face him.
“Those aren’t the important things to know about someone. Things like, what are a person’s dreams, their desires? What kind of person they are, and who do they want to be? Those questions are the important ones and neither she or my mother know any of them about me.”
“The little one’s matter, even if it’s just a little,” she kissed his nose.
“We’re engaged; it doesn’t mean we’re getting married tomorrow. We have all the time in the world.” He kissed her and she held him around his waist, the warmth of his body calming her down.
“Your mom wanted me to tell you she’s at the Spence Hotel, and she’d be there until the storm blew over.”
“Well, my mom is the last person on my mind right now. I need to make arrangements for Rachel at the hospital and have my lawyer file an injunction against my mother.”
This was getting serious fast, Lana thought.
“Coffee?” he asked and walked into the kitchen.
***
Lana had never used the garage attached to the house. She stood in the snow as Kayden pulled out a snowmobile so they could travel the town to visit Aunt Mae. It was a blue and grey Yamaha, and looked very fancy by her standards. All bundled up in his warm thermal parker, Kayden climbed on and she climbed on behind him wearing a parker she found stuffed in the back of Paula’s closet. The snow was so white, he made her wear dark red tinted shades to protect against snow blindness, whatever that was. The scenery looked cool in the shade of red since everything was blanketed in white. As they rode down the drive way and into the road she couldn’t help but mourn her half buried Ford. The snow was so high you could only see where the bottom of the window started.
As they slowly made their way down, the streets were silent. A few kids and their parents were on some skis, but that was it. No one was out. Life crawled to a halt at this time of year. They passed Aunt Mae’s, which was of course still closed and the parking lot was buried under snow, so no barbecue grill was on either. They were open rain or shine but apparently snow was out of the slogan for a reason. They turned down Patterson Court and saw a snow mobile with a seat attachment. It was probably the one Captain Jackson used to oblige Maureen and Kim. Kayden applied the gas as they passed the building by and drove all the way up the hill to a suburb Lana had never visited before.
Pretty soon they were pulling up to a modest blue house in white trim with a glowing light on through the windows. It looked so warm and cozy inside. The smell of food wafting through the air affirmed to her that they had reached their destination. This was where Aunt Mae lived. The houses in this neighborhood were all cottage styled and small, but full of charm with smoke emitting from all the fireplace chimneys atop them. The streets were lined in tall maple sugar trees and although they were bare, they stood tall and proud, like generals in an army.
They both climbed off the snowmobile and soon stood on the porch of Aunt Mae’s as Kayden knocked on the door.
“Comin’,” was yelled through the door from a male on the other side. The front door swung open and the heat and aroma of food slammed into them like a sauna. The man at the door was an older gentleman who had to be in his mid-sixties. He was wearing a blue crocheted sweater with slacks and he bent forward slightly as he held onto a cane. What was left of his hair had greyed and receded and the wrinkles in his face served as a testament of a long life lived.
“You picking up?” He asked, turning back to the interior of the home. Aunt Mae emerged from her kitchen, wiping her hands on her floured apron, curious as to who was at the door. She smirked at Kayden when she saw him, but smiled at Lana.
“Well come on before you let the hawk in,” she said, prompting them to walk into the house.
The man closed it promptly and turned around to face them. He pointed to the couch and they took a seat.
“I didn’t know you were serving from home,” Lana exclaimed smiling at Aunt Mae as she walked into the living room.
“You know my kitchen never closes baby,” she replied and sat on a recliner, next to a brown upholstered couch.
“What can I do for you?” She asked Kayden. He smiled at her and removed his shades, then his gloves and ski cap. His messy hair fell into his eyes. Seeing him was like seeing him for the first time every time and it always made Lana’s heart skip a beat. She removed her shades as well and could see the home in regular light, which kind of bothered her eyes now.
“You know that momma of yours took over, so I don’t know what it is I can do,” Aunt Mae said, before Kayden could say a word.
The older gentleman, her husband Lana surmised, had gone into the kitchen and pots and pans could be heard banging around.
“You could deny her the project Aunt Mae. My mother claims she wants me to grow up and take responsibility for my life, and when I do, she finds a way to make me dependent on her.”
“Kayden, now I’ve known you since you were a baby, before your parents became what they are. I know your heart and I know you’re a good person. Your momma is heartbroken son. That’s all it boils down to.”
Her husband returned with a tray of steaming mugs and Kayden jumped up to help him.
“Sit on down boy, I got this,” he said.
And he was right. He may have appeared fragile and weak but he held the tray with four mugs in one hand and his cane in the other like it was nothing. Kayden sat back down and smiled at him sheepishly.
“This is my husband Joseph, by the way,” Aunt Mae said to Lana.
“Nice to meet you Joseph.”
He took a seat on another recliner next to Aunt Mae, and nodded to Lana.
“Nice to meet you too young lady. Kayden, good to see you.”
“Same here Mr. Smith. So what should I do then?” Kayden returned his attention to Aunt Mae who started handing out the mugs of steaming hot chocolate. Lana took a sip and it was rich, smooth and creamy.
“I’ll do my part and help you all I can. Of course, not much can happen yet until this snow goes away so you have until it melts to get your affairs in order I’d suppose.” She winked at him and Mr. Smith looked at Aunt Mae.
“Hey now, no flirting in my house,” he said laughing to himself. Aunt Mae whacked him lightly on his shoulder.
Lana observed them as they continued to laugh and talk about the old times, then about how KDN Properties would file the injunction and begin work on the diner. There really was a lot of love between them all and Hamby started feeling a lot more like home and the idea of leaving Florida behind felt a lot easier.
***
After being fed by Aunt Mae and her charming husband, Kayden and Lana made the long snowmobile ride back up to the house on the hill. She couldn’t wait to get there to take a nap as she was exhausted from the trek. The last few days had also felt more like work than a vacation and it was beginning to wear on her. As they passed the diner and turned into the roundabout, Lana made another mental reminder to call Paula and fill her in on what was happening. It would be after her nap though, as she could barely keep her eyes open as she held onto Kayden.
***
Perhaps she should’ve warned Lana that her house was full of cameras and audio equipment. Paula was in a private cabana at a resort in Hawaii looking over footage on her laptop. It wasn’t to spy on Lana, but rather to make sure her friend was safe up there all alone. She didn’t think Kayden would still go up to her house, after their last conversation had went downhill, so naturally she didn’t think to brief Lana. But yet there he was, chopping wood in her back yard.
When he called to ask what type of wine Lana liked, she warned him to leave her friend alone. Lana
didn’t need the type of attention Kayden usually gave women, which was just enough for one night never to be seen or heard from again—she deserved better than that. After Lana disappeared off camera in the video Paula sighed and closed her laptop down.
Paula was always considered a knock-out with her long dark hair, tanned slim body and hazel colored eyes. They were currently hidden behind a pair of Gucci shades and Garret her husband, a film producer sat down on the side of her lounge chair. He and grabbed the tanning oil and began to pour some in his hand.
“Everything ok?” He asked smiling, dripping wet from the pool. He looked more like he should be in front of the camera with his equally tanned muscular frame, blonde hair and chocolate eyes.
“Yeah I guess. Neither one has called me so everything must be OK,” she replied rolling over on her stomach.
The sun was bright and the wind was cool as Garret lathered her back in the coconut scented oil. Paula was grateful to be there rather than in six feet of snow. It was seventy-eight degrees there and she was enjoying every bit of sun she got.
“You may want to call them yourself. You know how Kayden can be,” Garret continued, as he rubbed. Paula turned her head towards the sea. She knew he was right and she didn’t want to lose someone else on the count of her brother.
“I’ll call tomorrow,” she stated and closed her eyes, as the smell of the sea, and the massage relaxed her.
***
Kim sat at her hotel room desk with her laptop opened, while she sipped on a glass of wine. The last couple days were pretty uneventful as far as her reunion with Kayden, but she wasn’t a quitter. Not when it came to getting what she wanted. She looked down at the clock in the corner of her computer screen, the time being five o’ clock in the evening. She moved her mouse over her web browser’s bookmark tabs and clicked on the tab for Bergdorf’s.
It opened to a Bridal Services webpage where it listed all the services offered for brides and grooms. There was also a bridal salon service she intended to call the next day in order to book as early as possible. As she scribbled down all the numbers listed for the various options available, she received a Twitter notification in the lower right corner of her screen.
Crashing Into Me (Crashing Into Me #1) Page 11
