by M. S. Parker
A not-so-small part of me wondered if he’d been expecting Nate, but I didn’t ask because I didn’t want to know. Rather, I wanted to know but didn’t want Finley to know that I wanted to know…my head was going to explode if I kept that going.
“I’m not here on business,” I said, taking his outstretched hand. We didn’t shake, but instead gave a brief squeeze and then released. Less formal than a handshake but not quite as intimate as a hug.
“Have a seat.” He gestured to the chairs across from where he stood. They didn’t look quite as comfortable as the ones in Nate’s office, but even my inexperienced eye could tell they were expensive.
“I’d rather stand,” I said with a smile. “I like to stretch my legs as often as I can.”
“I should follow your example.” He patted his stomach as if he carried extra weight there instead of what I suspected was probably a six-pack. He was forty-six but barely looked forty, and from what I could tell, it was mostly good genetics.
Personally, I was hoping that was the case, and I’d inherited that quality.
“What brought you by?” he asked, leaning against his desk instead of sitting back down again.
“I was wondering if you might like to have dinner with me…and my mom. I’d really like the two of you to meet. If that’s too weird for you, it’s okay.” The last thing I wanted him to feel from me was pressure.
“What does your mom think about this?”
My admiration of him went up, though it didn’t surprise me that he wanted to know my mom’s opinion. He was just that sort of person, thinking of others first.
“She’s all for it,” I said. “She volunteered to host the dinner, but I’m not sure if that was her showing support or because she wants to experiment with dishes she saw on some cooking show.” I paused, and then added, “I feel like I should apologize in advance.”
He chuckled. “I’m sure everything will be perfect, and I’d love to join the both of you.”
“Great!” I smiled hard enough to make my cheeks ache. “And Mom’s usually a good cook. Sometimes, she just bites off more than she can chew when it comes to trying to prepare something elaborate.”
“Do you cook much?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Not really. I can do it, the basics at least, but I’ve never really enjoyed it, not like Mom.” My smile softened. “When she was having chemo, even the smells of food made her nauseous, so I’d do everything I could to keep meals bland. She hated that I was eating like that and decided that when she got better, she’d learn how to make all sorts of things we could enjoy together.”
“She sounds like a remarkable woman,” Finley said. “I look forward to meeting her.”
I gave him the address and left his office happy enough that even the sight of Nate’s closed door couldn’t dampen my spirits. Even better, I had a note sitting on my desk when I returned. Because I’d put in extra hours the week before and today was slow, I had only one more task that needed to be done, and once that was finished, I could leave for the day.
The only thing that could’ve made it better would have been if things between Nate and me had been settled.
I pushed away that thought as soon as it formed, not wanting anything to ruin an otherwise perfect day. Re-focused, I turned my attention to the task in front of me. I made short work of it and sent it off to Mr. Hancock. While I waited for his approval or his request for changes, I tidied my desk. When his response came back with an enthusiastic thumbs up, I let him know I’d be leaving shortly. Another two thumbs up, and I figured that meant I was good to go.
When I stepped out of the elevator, I saw that Wayne wasn’t busy, so I headed over to say hello. He was doing much better than he had when he’d first started, but he still wasn’t quite as sure of himself as he needed to be. I hoped with some encouragement, he’d rise to the occasion and show everyone why I was supporting his being kept in this position permanently.
“Anyone giving you any trouble?” I asked.
Wayne shook his head. “Thanks for asking Chris to keep an eye on me. I haven’t had to ask him to escort anyone out, but knowing that he will if I need him to has helped a lot.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear it. How’s your sister?”
He opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, a tall, slender woman approached the desk. I stepped off to the side, deciding to wait to continue my conversation with Wayne.
“I’m here to see…”
The woman’s voice trailed off as she glanced my way. Her bright green eyes glinted with something I couldn’t quite place, and I almost took a step back when she came toward me. Only my immediate impression of her as a predator kept me standing my ground. I had to pretend she didn’t intimidate me.
“You’re Ashlee Webb,” she said, holding up a finger with a beautifully manicured nail. “Nate’s new…”
She waited for me to finish the sentence, and I didn’t disappoint. “Girlfriend.”
I intended to hold that title until I was told it no longer applied.
“I’m Calah Evenstar.” She held out her hand, and I shook it, working to maintain eye contact. “I’m sure you’ve heard of me.”
I shook my head. “Sorry, no.”
Her mouth twisted as if she’d just eaten something sour. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Nate never has liked taking responsibility for his actions. I mean, he did chase his brother to the other side of the country.”
“Joshua?”
One eyebrow went up. “I’m surprised you know his name, considering how the two of them left things between them.”
I was starting to suspect who she was, but I refused to let her have the satisfaction of knowing it. “I’ve met him, actually. Twice. He and his girlfriend moved back here a few weeks ago.”
As a child, Mom had used that clichéd parenting advice of ‘if you keep making that face, it’s going to get stuck that way.’ The way Calah kept scowling made me want to impart that same bit of sage wisdom.
“Well, it’s not surprising that neither of them reached out,” she said. “Not after everything that happened.”
I refused to give her the satisfaction of indulging her passive aggressive hints. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Wayne looking back and forth between Calah and me, a look of confusion on his face, but I refused to give in. I didn’t know much about the woman standing across from me, but I didn’t like her. Most of the time, my immediate reactions to people were accurate, Nate being a notable exception. I still hadn’t figured him out.
“I was Joshua’s girlfriend ages ago.” She broke first. “Back when we were at Julliard.”
Another pause where I got the impression she was waiting for me to gush about how amazing that was, and another silent minute of disappointment for her.
“Anyway, Joshua and I were so serious about each other. I was expecting a ring for graduation, but we didn’t get that far.” She sighed a deep, dramatic sigh. “Nate seduced me. Joshua’s career was taking off, and I was so afraid that he’d leave me behind, I was vulnerable, and Nate took advantage of that. He knew it would destroy Joshua and me, but he didn’t care. He saw me as something he couldn’t have, and decided I was a challenge.”
I didn’t want to believe her, but I recognized at least some truth in what she said. Nate did have a thing about getting his own way.
“I’m so glad I ran into you,” she continued. “I saw your picture in the paper with him, and I just knew that I had to warn you that he can’t be trusted.”
I had a brief flash of déjà vu back to when Nate’s ex, Roma, said something similar. Roma had told me to be careful about what he promised to give me. Calah wasn’t saying the same thing, but it was close enough to make me wonder if I needed to be more wary. And I hated myself for thinking it.
Calah put her hand on my arm. “I wish I’d had someone give me that advice before I’d gone anywhere near Nate Lexington.”
My mouth opened, ready to ask why she was here if she hated Nat
e so much, but I didn’t get a single word out before someone else’s voice interrupted.
“Enough!”
Thirty-Nine
Nate
Catherine had talked to her mom and then handed the phone to me. I’d honestly thought I’d be on the end of a tongue lashing, but I’d been surprised when Julia had thanked me for having Catherine call. She’d offered to come get her daughter, but I’d said I could take her home. I’d just needed to finish up a couple things at the office.
Now, Catherine and I were taking the elevator down to the lobby. I’d considered driving her myself but decided that I preferred to be able to talk to her without the distraction of trying to make it through New York traffic, so Angus was on his way.
At the moment, however, Catherine was absolutely silent. She’d been that way since I’d given her the signed gifts I’d gotten her at the release party. Her parents probably wouldn’t be happy that it seemed like I was rewarding her behavior, but I figured it was their call to make, not mine. Besides, I’d had twelve years of spoiling my niece and nephew to make up for. I made another mental note to find out what Jacob liked.
I didn’t get any further than that though because, as Catherine and I walked out of the elevator, I saw a brunette and a redhead standing together at the reception desk. Only the presence of my niece kept me from completely exploding, but as soon as I was within earshot, I heard Calah say something about how she wished someone had warned her about me, and I knew exactly what she and Ashlee had been talking about.
And I’d be damned if I let Calah fuck up one more thing in my life.
“Enough!” Both women turned to look at me, surprise written on their faces. I fought to keep my voice low and civil. “Calah, I’ve had enough of your lying. We both know why I did what I did, and we both know why I’ve kept my mouth shut about it all these years, but I’m through with covering it up, but no way in he…” I cleared my throat, sliding a look at my niece. “No way am I going to let you keep screwing me over.”
Calah folded her arms, her eyes flicking down to Catherine and then back up to me. “Whose brat is that?”
To my surprise, before I could even say a word, Ashlee stepped between Calah and Catherine. “I think it’d be best if you left.”
The dismissive look Calah gave Ashlee had me bristling, but Ashlee didn’t even blink. “You have no authority to tell me to go.”
“But I do,” I said. “Consider this your only warning, so listen well. I’m done letting everyone believe the sh…crap you’ve been spreading. I hear a single word or see a single interview, even if it’s some ‘anonymous source’ talking about this in any way that isn’t what actually happened, I’m coming after you. Slander and libel both. I’ll take every penny you have and hire a team whose sole purpose will be to prevent you from ever having a career in music. Anywhere.”
“You can’t threaten me like that,” she hissed, jabbing at me with one of those awful fake nails she always wore. “I’ll go to the police. I’ll tell them all sorts of things–”
“Chris,” I called to the massive man standing only a couple feet away. “Please escort Ms. Evenstar from the premises and put her on the no admittance list. I don’t want her to step foot in my lobby ever again.”
“Your lobby?” She practically screeched. “What kind of fucking power trip are you on?!”
“It’s his building,” Chris said as he cut between her and me. Not many men could tower over Calah, but he was even taller than me. “Do I need to call the cops and charge you with trespassing?”
She sputtered out a few more curses but walked away, Chris trailing behind just in case she decided to double back.
“Sorry about that,” I said to Catherine, who’d been watching the whole thing, wide-eyed. “Maybe you don’t tell your mom and dad this part, okay? They don’t like that woman very much.”
I didn’t add that it was because of that woman I’d lost my family for a decade. No, she’d been only a part of it. It had been my decision not to come completely clean. I had to own that as much as I had to own what really happened.
It was time. Past time, if I was being completely honest.
“Did you mean what you said?” Ashlee asked. “About being through lying about what happened with her and your brother?”
I met her eyes, wanting her to read the truth in mine. “I do.”
She reached out and caught my hand, squeezing it in a way that told me if we’d been somewhere less public and without a twelve-year-old watching, she would’ve kissed me in an indecent way.
“Good. I think you should start with Joshua.”
That wasn’t what I’d expected her to say. I assumed she’d want me to tell her what happened now. My reaction to her question about it had been the thing that’d set things off the other night.
“What now?”
“Take Catherine home and find out where Joshua is living,” she said, her voice gentle. “Tell him the truth and apologize for keeping it from him. At least if he’s angry at you after that, it’s for the right reasons.”
She was right. I owed Joshua the truth. How much we shared with our family after that, I would leave up to him. The only other person I’d tell was the beautiful woman in front of me. I would follow Finley’s advice and take the risk that came with letting her see the bad and good. I still had secrets, but this would make it one less.
“Will you come with me?”
She frowned. “You want me to come with you?”
I nodded. “You deserve to know the truth too. And,” I squeezed her hand, “I don’t know if I can do it on my own.”
Her face shone as she smiled. “Of course.”
Forty
Ashlee
My surprise at seeing Catherine was minor compared to what I felt when Nate confronted Calah. Neither one, however, came close to the shock of him asking me to go with him to tell his brother what’d really happened all those years ago. Of course I agreed, but only a small part of the reason was getting an answer to my questions. Mostly, I just wanted to be with him.
“Angus is here,” Nate said with a jerk of his chin toward the doors. “We should probably get going before Julia and David decide that I’m kidnapping their daughter.” He winked at Catherine, who giggled. “Tempting as that sounds.”
My heart warmed to see him with his niece. He’d talked to her during the family dinner, but being one-on-one with a kid when your normal, everyday life never included children was different. Would it be like that with me, I wondered, when I met my cousins?
Not exactly the same, of course, because they were all adults except for Trenton, but talking with him would be a little like talking to Catherine. And Aunt Janette said that two of my cousins had kids already, so there’d be little kids during the holidays. Since I didn’t have siblings, cousins and second cousins would have to do.
“Did you come to see Uncle Nate too?” Catherine asked me as we headed for the car.
“No, I work here,” I said. It wasn’t until that moment that something hit me. “How did you get here?”
Her cheeks turned pink, and she looked away. “I snuck out.”
My eyebrows went up, and I looked at Nate, who gave me a half-grin that told me he was trying not to tell his niece that he appreciated her rule breaking.
“Ah. I hope you didn’t cut school today too.”
She shook her head. “We’re on spring break. And I wouldn’t skip school anyway. It’s too important.”
“Do you like school?” I asked as she slid into the back of the car, putting herself between Nate and me. I was grateful. Being too close to him tended to muddle my thinking. Better that we kept our distance when a child was present.
“Most of the time,” Catherine said. “I don’t like history or art.”
“Why not?”
“I’m no good at art,” she said matter-of-factly. “I can follow directions, but it never comes out looking as good as it is in my head.”
“I can sympathiz
e,” I said. “When I was your age, my art teacher had the class use this sculpting clay to make a basket. Should’ve been simple, right? Mine was so lopsided and uneven that anything I tried to put in it rolled or spilled right out.”
Catherine giggled again, but my attention was caught by the heated gaze Nate was sending my way. It held a lot of his usual desire, but there was something else to the warmth this time. Something…deeper. I didn’t have words for it, or maybe I did but didn’t want to say it. It felt like one of those things that, as soon as they were acknowledged, they fell apart.
“What’s your favorite subject?” The question was as much to remind Nate and me both that we weren’t alone as it was genuine curiosity.
“Music,” she answered promptly. She looked up at Nate, hero worship shining in her eyes. “I’ll bet that was your favorite subject too.”
“You’d be surprised,” Nate said wryly. “Let’s just say I didn’t apply myself to school as much as I should have, so my favorite subjects tended to be the ones where I didn’t have to work much to get good grades.”
“And what might those classes have been?” I teased. “Gym?”
He grinned at me. “Oh, I killed it in gym class…but I also killed it in math. I don’t know how many times my math grade pulled my GPA up enough to keep me from being benched during football.”
“I’ll bet history was easier back then too,” Catherine said.
I bit my lip to keep from laughing at the indignant look on Nate’s face.
“Why do you think that?” he asked.
“There was less stuff to learn,” she explained. “You didn’t have to learn all about 9/11 or the war or the first African-American president.”
She had him there. Even I’d learned about 9/11 in high school because I’d been too young to remember much of anything about it.
“Then there’s the Oklahoma City bombing and Watergate and the Cuban Missile Crisis—”
