by Box Set
“It’s okay. It was a long time ago and I have a new family now.”
“I’m so sorry about your parents. That must’ve been awful.”
“It was, but the harder part was living on the streets. I didn’t have any other family.”
“You had to live on the streets?” Ellie asked, still staring, mouth agape. “That would never happen where we live. It’s totally safe there.”
“That sounds nice.”
“So how did you end up with Vinny?” Kate asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
“Vincenzo caught me stealing one day and he told me I had to come work for him to pay off the debt.”
“That’s like child slavery.” Ellie gasped.
“Naw. He had me do easy stuff like delivering things, you know errands for the business and all. I’d collect stuff for him too. Lots of people don’t like doing the errands, but I thought it was fun. I owe him everything.”
Kate shook her head back and forth trying to understand the story.
“As I got older, Vincenzo told me I needed to find a way to start earning. That wasn’t for me, so he put me to work at the bagel shop and had me go to school. Said I was too smart to stay out of school. I’m saving to get to college. Vinny’s gonna pay half my tuition as soon as I can pay the other half as long as I spend some of my time learning the market.”
“That’s pretty incredible,” Kate said. “Not every story like yours ends well.”
“And to think I was found by such a great guy. Vinny’s the best. Let’s ride the sky ride to the other end,” Duran suggested. “It’ll put us about where we started and you can see for a really long ways.”
They made there way there. Ellie jumped in the first seat that came around, elbowing Kate out of position and not allowing her to ride with. Kate knew Ellie was trying to get Kate to ride with Duran, but it felt too contrived, so she quickly stepped in front of the next seat with the intention of also going solo, but before the safety rail could be locked into place, Duran slid in with a smile. “Whew! I almost missed it,” he said. His light brown eyes laughed down at Kate, sending a tender tingle to her gut. Ellie had conquered again. A skyride with a hot guy couldn’t help but be romantic. A feeling of awkwardness settled over her, and he must’ve felt it because he looked away at the same instant she did. Then she felt silly. She should be enjoying herself, so she turned back to ask him something. She jerked back and her forehead hit into Duran’s with a smack.
They both cried out and rubbed their heads, laughing. “That hurt,” Kate said. “Sorry.” He said the words at the same time. “Too close.” She nodded and after a quick glance at each other, the awkwardness returned and she looked away. She forced herself not to look back at him, but instead look out over the city. Duran started peppering her with descriptions of places in the direction she was looking. She grabbed onto the safety bar and tried to relax. He seemed to be talking so loud. She was sure Ellie could hear every last word, but she didn’t turn around, no doubt to give Kate and Duran the opportunity to steal a kiss without prying eyes. Kate’s stomach was a bundle of squawking birds. Could things be any more uncomfortable? She didn’t want that. She had so many questions for Duran, but was unsure how to ask them. They were about three-fourths the way through when she put her hand on his arm, getting the courage she needed, but feeling totally dumb. “I’m nervous, too.”
He sighed. “Sorry, I was babbling, wasn’t I?” She thought he’d described the entire city already.
“Yeah, but that’s okay. Did Vinny adopt you?” She no longer looked out over the city, but directly into his curious eyes.
“No, but we don’t need a paper to tell us we’re family.”
“I’m adopted,” she blurted, shocking herself. “But, sometimes I wonder if I belong with my adoptive family. You’re lucky to know where you belong.”
“Do you know who your real parents are?”
She shook her head. She had this irrational desire to tell him everything. “I wish I did. Maybe then I’d know where I belonged.”
“Do you like your adoptive family?”
She nodded, knowing she couldn’t get into those problems with him. “Well that’s good at least.”
Despite her feelings, she said, “Ellie told me you have an uncle whose wife and daughter were killed.”
He nodded. “Really sad.”
“Which uncle again?”
“Andre. Almost fifteen years ago.”
“And he’s never remarried?”
“Says his heart couldn’t take it. He’s done amazing stuff with the bagel shop, though. He puts his whole world into it.”
Andre Marconi had to be her dad. Someone had targeted them and killed her mom. Whoever it was must’ve wanted to kill Kate too, so Andre made it impossible to find her. The blood on the baby bag at home was most likely hers. She took a deep breath in. She’d found her parents.
13
Kate and Ellie returned to the hotel, exhausted and ready to relax. It had been an emotionally draining day. Her mom was most likely dead and her dad had never moved on. She grabbed her journal and took note of everything she’d learned. The Marconis and Bellinis were family. The Bellinis saved Duran. Andre Marconi lost his wife and daughter around fifteen years ago. Kate was seventeen, and if she was adopted at two, then Andre Marconi could very well be her dad. Tomorrow she’d go see if there was a way to confirm it.
When they walked into the hotel suite, they were shocked to find it empty. On the table was a note that read, “We’re at the bistro on 37th. Some cast members may show up there tonight.”
“What?” Ellie shouted. “They went without me?” She immediately texted her family and then ran into the bathroom to freshen up. She came out ten minutes later in a bright blue dress with a slit that almost came to her waist. Her three inch sparkly heels played off her sleek shiny necklace and earrings. “What are you doing? Hurry, get ready. I don’t want to miss a thing.”
“I’m bushed. Go without me.” Kate plopped onto the sofa for emphasis.
Ellie narrowed her eyes but only for a split second. She obviously changed her mind about something in that moment in time. “Are you sure? Tomorrow we’ll see your dad, and he’s going to be ecstatic about finding you. You’ll see.”
“I need a little time to myself. I’ll be okay. And who wouldn’t want to meet their kid, right? Especially one that you thought was dead or lost forever?”
“That’s the spirit!” She smiled at Kate, but Kate could see in her eyes that she was already gone. Already at the bistro.
“Have a good time.”
Ellie raised a hand in the air and gave a loose wave. “You know I will,” she said, as she walked out the door.
Kate got up and flung herself on the bed, letting her thoughts run wild about the possibility that her mom was dead and that she would only be a sour memory in her dad’s life. She wrote the words hopeful and sour in the journal. She scribbled out the sour and circled the hopeful. Then she wrote, Birth mom still living? Maybe. Who saved me? My dad?? Andre Marconi? Her head spun and she got up to get some aspirin. She stood at the large window overlooking the boardwalk and beach and found herself longing to go for a walk along it in the dark. She hoped the fresh sea air would clear her head of all its conjecture. She changed into some sweats, a hoodie, and flip-flops.
Even though the hotel said they had security at night on the portion of the beach that lay directly in the path of the hotel, she grabbed her little purse that had pepper spray in it, tucking her keycard inside as well. As she made her way to the back of the hotel to go to the beach, she noticed a white grand piano in a room off to her left. The room was not well lit, but the piano lights for the music were on as well as some indirect lighting on the edges of the room.
She couldn’t help herself, she tugged on the door. The beach might have helped her to feel better, but the piano was sure to. She slipped through the partially open door and after checking for people and finding none, she shut the d
oor and made her way to the piano.
As her fingers hit the keys, she forgot all her troubles, and there was only music and peace and happiness. As she finished, she thought she could feel the presence of the woman in her dreams next to her. She tried to uncover the woman’s identity in her mind’s eye as she played, but her face was completely blank. She tried to see the freaked out audience, but it didn’t show itself. As she was about to start playing her next song, the presence next to her clapped. It was real. She turned abruptly, her eyes popping open in fright as she reached for her bag that held the pepper spray. When her panic cleared, she had the pepper spray in her hand ready to spray the guy who only seconds earlier was sitting next to her. At the moment, he was scrambling away from her. “Who are you?” she demanded.
He held up his hands and waved them in front of him. “Please don’t spray me. That stuff is no fun.”
“So you’ve been sprayed before?” She raised an eyebrow and stood up.
He nodded once and bit his cheek. He looked familiar somehow.
Kate repeated her question. “Who are you?”
“I’m Jace. I’m sorry I scared you. I promise I have no bad intentions.” He held his hands up in an innocent gesture, and there was laughter in his eyes.
It finally clicked, and she realized who it was she was talking to. He was one of the reality stars on My Not so Normal Life on the Jersey Shore. Her breath hitched. She had almost pepper sprayed Jace McCollum, one of the hottest guys on the show. The most brooding and angry of the bunch, but still. He was a guy Ellie would die to meet in person. She looked around. “What, no cameras?”
“You do know who I am, then.” A corner of his mouth tugged up into a smile.
“I only now realized it.” She reached for her phone to take a picture with him so that Ellie would believe her when she told her—or even have her hurry back—but there was no phone. She’d left it in her jean pocket when she changed into sweats. The realization made her blush furiously. She was in sweats in the presence of Jace McCollum. A strange squeak sounded from her mouth, and she slapped her hand over it.
“Are you okay? Do you need help?”
She shook her head and reached out to him, making him shrink back even more as he tried to avoid the can of pepper spray. She rolled her eyes. “Sorry.” She put the spray back down and said, “No. I don’t need help.”
“Look, I don’t want things to be weird. Can you pretend that I’m just another guy and that I’m not on TV, and you don’t know who I am?”
She needed to pull it together. Could she treat him like a normal guy? If she wanted to spend time with him, she’d have to. “I’ll try my best. If I start giggling like a crazy girl in the presence of an unearthly hot guy, feel free to throw me down the laundry chute.”
“It’s a deal. It’s hard to be the real me, ya know? The show makes me out to be one way and that’s what people expect, but it’s not who I am. Not really.”
She stared at him a moment longer, thinking about his request. Maybe she’d underestimated this guy. Maybe the fame thing wasn’t working for him and he needed a break from the guy the TV portrayed. Maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t an egotistical jerk after all. “I can imagine how hard it must be to be two different people all the time.” She thought about who she was at home with her family and the person she was with Ellie. She could relate.
“Yeah. It get’s confusing and I hate it. I wish people could see that the show is just that, a show and despite the fact that they call it a reality show, it’s about as far from reality as it could be. And the worst is being used by so many people. I wish there wasn’t a reason for people using me.”
“If it were me, I’d probably get the two mixed up sometimes.”
“Yeah. That does happen and I hate that too.”
“Well, I can tell you this,” Kate pushed her hair over her shoulder. “I like the boy who’s in front of me right now.”
There was a moment of awkward silence until he grinned. “What you played, that was beautiful.”
“I didn’t know anyone was listening.” It was time to move on with the night.
“I heard the music as I passed to go out to the beach.”
“And I found the piano as I was going out to the beach.”
“It was fate, then. Lucky me.” He pushed his hand through his scruffy blond hair. He sat back down on the bench. “Do you mind?” She shook her head as he placed his hands on the keys and began to play. She tried to remember a time when he played on the show, but couldn’t. She was sure Ellie would be able to tell her. He played the morose song quite well, and Kate found herself enjoying his enthusiasm.
“That was really great,” she said as he started another sad piece. She put her hands on the keys and created a duet. What she added made the song light and airy instead of heavy and sorrowful.
“Be careful, you threaten to change my mood.”
“That wouldn’t be so bad, would it?”
He chuckled and continued to play, their hands grazing each other’s as they learned to move together. He had obviously had extensive training, and she was having fun. Real fun.
“Just try to change this one.” He had a glint in his eye and flashed a wicked smile. It was difficult, but she was able to lighten the mood of the piece if only a little.
He cocked his head to the side when they finished. “You surprised me. I thought you’d massacre it with joyful playing. You held back. Why?”
“The souls of some songs are meant to stay heart wrenching.” She gave him a sheepish smile.
“Good answer.” They stared at each other for several beats too long. He cleared his throat and said, “Why don’t you pick a song, and I’ll try to change its soul to one that better matches mine than yours.”
“Are you saying your soul is dark and brooding or what?”
“Life is a dark place, Miss Sunshine. You’ve yet to discover it.”
She thought of her parents’ betrayals and the most likely fate of her mother. “You’d be surprised at what I’ve overcome. Happiness is a choice. Despite all the crap life throws at me, I choose joy.”
His eyebrows pulled together, and she expected him to ask what terrible things had happened to her, but he didn’t.
“Maybe you can teach me a thing or two about joy.” He took in a deep breath and took her hands out of her lap. “You’re really talented. I haven’t had so much fun playing in a long time. Your hands are a thing of beauty.” He lifted them to his lips and kissed them. Heat spread through Kate’s chest. To her surprise, he then set her hands on the keyboard and said, “Now play something sickly sweet, and I’ll destroy it.”
She laughed, her heart slamming against her ribs. She played, and he destroyed.
After several songs, they began to mimic their piano teachers, especially the ones that drove them crazy.
“Yeah, my parents quickly discovered that if they didn’t get me a new instructor, I’d never play again,” Jace said.
“I love my instructor at the university. He totally gets me.” That’s when she realized she’d played with this guy without the memory of her dreams making it a painful experience. That’s when the big doors leading into the room opened and a security guard walked in, her gun belt hanging loose on her thin hips. Her hair was pulled back so severely that her eyes were pulled to sharp corners. She walked right up to the piano. “I’ve actually enjoyed hearing you play, but it’s past the time I’m supposed to lock up, and I really like my job.” She grinned, a toothpick sticking out from between her lips.
Kate grabbed her keycard and shoved it back into her bag and did the same with her pepper spray. “Thanks for playing with me. That was a lot of fun.” She never thought Jace McCollum would be so fun. As she moved toward the door, the security guard rushed ahead and held it open. Jace’s hand landed on Kate’s arm. “Weren’t you planning on a walk on the beach?”
She nodded and bit her lip. She actually bit her lip. No. This was not happening, and yet it was. She d
idn’t want to act this way, but couldn’t seem to help it. She felt all jelly like and silly.
“We could go together.”
“All right.” She parted her lips slightly and took a deep drag to get as much oxygen into her lungs as possible without taking an obvious deep breath. Ellie would not believe this. How she wished she had her phone.
The security guard locked the door behind them, and it felt as if a little piece of her was left behind.
“I’m Kate, by the way.”
They turned down the hall leading to the beach. “Where are you from, Kate?”
“Texas, if you can believe that.”
“I thought I detected a slight accent.”
“My parents couldn’t beat it out of me.” She chuckled.
His eyebrows spiked up.
“Kidding,” Kate said.
“Good, cause I was gonna have to go and learn them a thing or two.”
She laughed.
The sounds of the ocean greeted them as they opened the exit door. The moon shone brightly on the water, the sand, and the boardwalk. It almost seemed like it was dawn. The smell of the sea drifted on the wind as they rushed over the boardwalk. Kate took her flip flops off and went running through the cool sand. She was vaguely aware of Jace setting his bag down on the sand. A gentle breeze blew strands of her dark hair across her face, tickling her chin. He came up behind her and took her hand in his. For the briefest of moments, they looked at each other, then continued to run and laugh.
She thought of Ellie, and a little ache played in her gut. She should go up to her room and get her phone and tell Ellie what was happening. She glanced over to Jace and he must’ve felt her gaze because he looked at her again. She didn’t want the spell to be broken by returning to the resort. No. It was Ellie after all who’d said she should let everything go while here. Wasn’t she doing that? Jace turned them toward the ocean and before she knew it, waves lapped up over her feet. She let go of his hand and rolled her sweats up past her knees. He’d taken his pants off and stood further in the water with only his boxers on. He beckoned her to join him. The water lapped at his waist. She looked down at her bulky sweats and bemoaned the fact that all she had on under them was her undies. Live with abandon, she thought, and ran out to him, her sweats getting heavy as they soaked up the water. Goosebumps rose on her skin. They walked until they couldn’t walk any longer and then they swam. The waves were slow, languid, as if they were taking a much needed rest. They lay back and floated, his hand reaching out to hers. The warmth of his hand seemed to counteract the coolness of the water to soothe her and relax her instead of causing her to shiver.
