Chaos (Constellation Book 2)

by Jennifer Locklear

  Allison nodded and smiled, concentrating on my massage. I sidelined the conversation and kept stroking her hairline until her light breakfast was ready. I washed my hands and then prepared her toast and tea. I left her to eat so I could finish dressing for work.

  That afternoon, I made good on my plans to tour the hospital. Thanks to Kathleen’s connections, I was able to meet with healthcare professionals and methodically collected business cards along the way. After dinner, I took the stack of cards and placed them into Allison’s palm.

  “I want you to research these doctors and make the choice you’re most comfortable with,” I said. “I’m fine speaking with any of them.”

  “Should I make the appointment?” she asked me.

  “Yes. Let me know when it is, and I’ll set aside the time for it.”

  “Thank you, Jack.”

  Allison went ahead with her research and made a choice, but as new patients, we had to wait three weeks for our first appointment. This aggravated her, but she occupied herself by focusing her energy and attention on putting the rest of our new house in order. Within days, Heide began school and her first season of soccer. We settled into something of a normal routine.

  One afternoon, Robert called me to his office. When I entered the room, he beckoned me to sit down. He was never one to beat around the bush and this encounter was no exception. As soon as I settled in my chair, he got right to the point.

  “We’re hosting a formal welcome reception for you. I told Kathleen to make the arrangements. She’s set up an after-hours event here with the chamber of commerce. She’s also contacted the local media to cover it, so you can expect to be interviewed. Your wife should attend, too.”

  Bend wasn’t a small town, but the community was close-knit and seizing opportunities to be welcomed into the circle was vital to my success at Aurora. “That shouldn’t be a problem. What is the date?”

  Robert glanced at a piece of paper resting on the surface of his executive desk. “Next Wednesday.”

  I hesitated. Allison had set our first therapy appointment for that same evening. “What time?” I asked.

  “Five thirty. It should only take a couple of hours.”

  I gave my temple a quick scratch. “All right. Sure. We’ll both be there.”

  “Excellent. That’s all I needed, Jack. Thanks for popping in.”

  I went back to my office and closed the door for a few moments of privacy. I picked up my cell phone and called Allison right away. This was a conversation I preferred to have sooner rather than later. And one I favored to have over the phone.

  “Hi,” she greeted me happily. “What’s up?”

  “We need to talk about something. Do you have a minute or two?”

  “Yeah. Sure. Go ahead.”

  I told Allison about the welcome reception. As expected, my news was less than welcome.

  “Did you explain that you can’t do anything that evening?”

  “No, Allison.”

  “Jack…”

  “The whole thing has been arranged. People have been invited and the local news is going to cover it. It’s beyond my control. From the sound of things, we were the last ones to find out about it. I’m sorry.”

  “Damn it. Fine. I’ll call the doctor’s office and change the appointment.”

  “Take whatever you can get. I’ll make it work. I promise.”

  “All right. I’ll call now and get back to you.”

  “Thank you for understanding.”

  “I understand. I’m not happy about it, but I understand.”

  “Thanks again.”

  I ended the call before the moment disintegrated for either of us. After I finished my day’s work and drove home, Allison greeted me with two items of good news. Not only had she rescheduled our appointment for earlier in the day, she had also reached out to the mother of one of Heide’s new friends. The two girls were going to have a sleepover on the night of the reception.

  With this welcome surprise, I was hopeful that Allison was ready to resume our physical relationship. I looked forward to both the reception and the rest of the evening.

  Things were picking up for me at work. Not only had I inherited a strong client base, Robert had tasked me with acquiring some long-sought-after prospects. Several days later, things took another surprising turn.

  “Jack?” Kathleen called from her office just as I strolled by her open door.

  I smiled, happy to have the opportunity to thank her for her work on the reception. “Hello, Kathleen.”

  “I just got off the phone with Kevin at the helicopter flight school. He heard about the party tonight. I invited him to join us and offered to introduce you. But he’d rather talk business now. He’s opened some time this afternoon. I’d be happy to go with you.”

  “That’s fantastic. When should we leave?”

  “Is thirty minutes enough prep time? I hate to rush you. I can make a few calls and then we can leave.”

  “That’s perfect. I’ll drive. Just come back to my office when you’re ready.”

  The meeting at the flight school was my first opportunity to watch Kathleen in her true element. As I stood by her side and watched her charm Kevin, I was impressed with her ability to interact with him without acting phony. She had lived in Bend for most of her life, and she knew the place and its residents very well. Kathleen’s local knowledge complemented my industry acumen. Together, we secured the firm’s newest client over pleasant conversation, a bit of creative brainstorming, and a tour of the school’s fleet of helicopters.

  As we made our way back to the office, it became clear to me that Kathleen’s suggestion to attend the meeting was a smart move on her part. I was the stranger from the East Coast and Kathleen’s inclusion and endorsement of me in front of any would-be client made for an exceptional seal of approval. She’d taken hold of an organic social opportunity and made the meeting happen. I owed her for this successful acquisition.

  “I feel like celebrating,” I told her spontaneously. “Are you in a rush to get back?”

  She acted surprised but smiled. “I have some time.”

  Without putting too much thought into it, I drove us to the Riverhouse. When Kathleen realized where we were headed, she turned to me. “I haven’t been here in so long.”

  “The good weather will disappear soon. It’s such a nice day. I thought we could sit outside next to the river.”

  Kathleen looked away from me and gazed at the entrance to the lounge. She grew quiet but only for a few moments before nodding. “All right. Let’s do it.”

  IT WAS Monday morning. The weekly Aurora staff meeting was underway with Robert leading the usual charge. And Kathleen was nowhere in sight.

  I couldn’t pay attention to a word Robert was saying as he updated everyone on the latest company developments, and I couldn’t wait until the meeting was over before pulling my phone from my pocket.

  After keeping my distance from Kathleen over the weekend, I couldn’t take one more minute without saying something. I texted her, anticipating that her plane had landed in Portland the previous evening. Maybe she’d decided to sleep in this morning.

  “How was your flight home?”

  Kathleen texted me back in short order, but not in the way I expected her to.

  “Sorry. I can’t talk right now. I’ll text you when I’m free.”

  “Are you in your office?”

  “No.”

  “Is everything all right?”

  “I’m fine.”

  Confused, I was now intent on seeing her. I texted her again, this time more insistent.

  “I’m coming over to your place after the staff meeting.”

  Her reply was immediate and infuriating. “We can’t see each other today.”

  “Why not? Where are you?”

  Her next text took longer to arrive. After excruciating minutes, she answered back with just one word. “Safe.”

  “Fuck this,” I hissed at my phone and then remem
bered where I was. Robert was still addressing the crowd but shot a brief glare in my direction. I shoved my phone in my suit jacket and concentrated on Robert’s concluding remarks. I stayed stock-still as my coworkers avoided eye contact and filtered back to their work stations. Once the room cleared out, I wasn’t surprised when Robert approached me. He stood in front of me and waited for me to speak.

  “I apologize for my rudeness.”

  Robert’s intense scrutiny soon had me averting eye contact.

  He took a deep breath. “Let’s go talk in my office.” He walked away.

  Not knowing what else to do or say, I followed. I focused on the short walk and entered Robert’s office. He circled his desk and sat down as I closed the door behind us.

  “Jack.” His tone was somber, and authoritative. The impending conversation wasn’t going to be between an employee and his boss. I needed to speak with Kathleen’s father, and Robert knew it.

  “What’s happening with Kathleen?”

  Robert gestured to an empty chair in front of his desk. “Sit down.”

  He was cautious, and even though I was determined to get answers about his daughter’s whereabouts, I allowed Robert to set the standard for our discussion. He set his hands on the desk and drummed his thumbs on the surface as he contemplated his words. It was a rare display of subdued deliberation, and the gesture provided me with an unsettling insight.

  Robert held my unyielding gaze and said, “When I opened your position here, I had one goal in mind—to alleviate Kathleen’s stress. Things between her and me were spiraling out of control and I was helpless to stop it. Kathleen wasn’t listening to me, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to take advice from me. I was grasping at straws, hoping I could at least slow down her implosion. I expected your presence to ease things for my daughter, not complicate them.”

  My response to this revelation wasn’t immediate. I processed Robert’s words for several agonizing moments. “When I applied for this job, I was grasping at straws, too. I accepted your offer because I wanted to save my marriage. It wasn’t my intention to move to Oregon and lose Allison. It wasn’t my intention to move out here and fall in love with Kathleen either.”

  “Have you gone back to your wife?” Robert asked without mercy.

  I shook my head. “It was never my intention to hurt your daughter, and it sure as hell isn’t my intention to lose her. Not now. Not ever.”

  If Robert took any solace from my answer, he kept it hidden. The severity of his mood remained intact. “I haven’t always been the father she needed, but that has changed now. While I still have a chance to make things right between us, I will do just that.”

  “I understand.”

  “Do you?”

  I shifted in my chair and rubbed the back of my neck. I searched for a way to connect with Robert on a personal level and took a risk.

  “Kathleen told me about her mother’s death.” I tried my best to strike a gentle tone.

  Finally, there was a shift in Robert’s demeanor. He absorbed my statement with widening eyes, leaning back in his chair as if to place some level of emotional distance between us. “She told you what happened?”

  “Yes.”

  Robert appeared skeptical. “Did Kathleen tell you what she saw that night?”

  “She told me everything.”

  Robert froze. The lone sound in the office for the better part of a minute was his uneven breathing. I could only imagine what the weight of my revelation was doing to him. When he eventually responded, he couldn’t look me in the eye.

  “She’s never told anyone, Jack. In all these years, she’s refused to talk about what she went through. I still don’t know what happened between her and her mother… beforehand.”

  The significance of this moment was vital. I sat there, imagining how terrible it would be for Heide to withhold anything from me, let alone the most traumatic experience of her life.

  “I’m sorry about that,” I said. “It has to weigh on you, but please understand. I’m not going to betray Kathleen’s confidence.”

  “Nor would I ask you to,” he said, his voice brimming with emotion. “But this changes things. Give me a minute.”

  Robert rose from his chair, turned his back to me, and wandered over to the large window behind his desk. He didn’t take in the view. Instead, he looked down at the floor and placed his hands in his pockets.

  “We’d been unhappy for years,” he began. “Her mother and me. I sought out an affair and then used it as the excuse to leave her. It was chickenshit. But then, so was I.”

  Realizing how difficult it had been for Kathleen to share her family’s story with me, I expected the same was true of her father. I drifted into an uncertain silence as another one of the Brighton family secrets was exposed.

  “Kathleen doesn’t know about the affair,” Robert added as an afterthought.

  “Are you sure about that?”

  Robert turned and pierced me with a significant look. “Why do you ask? Did she tell you otherwise?”

  “No. She’s never mentioned one, but are you sure she doesn’t know?”

  “Besides me and the other woman, Kathleen’s mother was the only person who ever knew. It was never serious, and it wasn’t going to last. It ended right after the suicide.”

  “I see.” I paused, haunted by the family tragedy a father and daughter had endured in isolated despair.

  Robert and Kathleen had each extended a level of trust to me that was undeserving. Just as these two were finding common ground, my own inability to cope with disaster was driving them apart again. If I couldn’t save my relationship with Kathleen, I could at least help bring her home.

  “What would’ve happened if Kathleen found out?”

  “Found out about the affair?”

  I nodded. I wasn’t ready to hear the answer, but I needed to know it.

  Robert shook his head and turned his gaze toward the window. “I don’t like to entertain hypotheticals, Jack. It’s a waste of time.”

  “She was supposed to be at work today. Have you heard from her?”

  “She’s been in touch.”

  “I told her I wanted to stop by her place. She’s clearly not in Bend.”

  Her father didn’t deny or confirm my conclusion. “She’s asked for a few more days.”

  “You will welcome her back? If she decides not to go to Denver?”

  Robert looked over his shoulder, assessing me. “This was unexpected. But Kathleen will always have a place here. Never doubt that.”

  “What do you think she’s going to do?”

  Robert offered a sad smile. “Hypotheticals, Jack.”

  “Please,” I implored. “I need to be prepared.”

  Robert sat back down at his desk. He pointed a long finger at me. “Before she met you? I could’ve answered your question with total confidence. Now… I’m not so sure.”

  “What would you have told me then?”

  “Then?” Robert glanced briefly at the wall behind me. “That you’d have better luck breaking into Fort Knox than getting through her barriers. When her steel door closes, it’s impenetrable. And God help you if you’re on the wrong side.”

  “And now?” I asked. “What’s changed?”

  Robert considered this at length and I waited with mounting anxiety.

  “Now? I don’t know if anything has changed. Maybe the only thing that has changed is how she deals with those barricades. Maybe Kathleen doesn’t know how to keep the vault door from locking any more than we do. Maybe putting some distance between the two of you keeps the door open.”

  My heart was pounding. “That sounds dangerously close to hope.”

  “Be patient, Jack. If she can forgive me, she should have no trouble finding her way back to you.”

  THE BARTENDER at the Riverhouse greeted us with a hearty smile when I indicated our desire to sit outside. I opened the patio door and held it for Kathleen. I followed in good-natured silence as she chose a table clo
se to the river. We were enveloped in late-summer sunshine and she lifted her face to the clear, blue sky. She closed her eyes and grinned, delighted by the warmth on her skin.

  It was a quiet, weekday afternoon, so our attentive server approached just as soon as we took our seats. The college-aged waitress looked at Kathleen first for an order.

  “I’ll take an iced tea, please.”

  “And you, sir?”

  “Do you have Inversion?” I’d discovered the local IPA soon after moving to Bend, and I still savored the newness of the microbrew.

  “Yes, we do.”

  “That’d be perfect. Thanks.”

  I watched our waitress bound toward the bartender, wondering if she was old enough to serve alcohol. I glanced at Kathleen and noticed she was stifling a smile. I hadn’t thought my order through and was chagrined.

  “I’m sorry,” I mumbled. “I should have asked if it was all right to order a beer.”

  “I’m not your keeper,” she replied with a shrug as she leaned back in her chair. She was relaxed, and the thought warmed me more than the sunlight. I copied her posture and brought my hand up to rub my chin.

  “Well. You kind of are. We’ve been on the clock this afternoon.”

  “I’m not worried about it.”

  Our drinks arrived a few moments later, and she lifted her glass for a sip.

  “Do you drink alcohol at all?” I asked.

  She set her tea down on the table and tilted her head. “Why do you ask?”

  Her voice held no teasing note. No sense of playfulness. If anything, her question sounded apprehensive. I was still grasping the depths of her shyness, but I pressed forward. She hadn’t changed the subject outright.

  “No reason, I guess. I’ve never seen you do it.”

  Kathleen’s grin returned and she nodded. “That’s because you’ve never seen me outside of the office.”