“It’s not Harry—”
But Misty cut her off. “My phone doesn’t work over here. I knew something would happen! I’ve been calling and calling every time I could get to a pay phone. But no one’s ever home! What’s going on? Where’s Gran? Why are you leaving me messages? Where’s Harry?” Each question became more shrill than the last.
“Harry’s right here. Eating Cheerios.”
“Oh.” The very prosaicness seemed to allow Misty to take a breath. And once more Cat was surprised—this time at the amount of relief she’d heard in that one word. “Well, good,” Misty added. “But then where’s Gran? Why are you there?” The suspicion was creeping back. “What’s going on, Cat? Why have you got Harry?”
“I’m trying to tell you,” Cat said with a bit less patience than was probably warranted. “Gran broke her hip. She’s in the hospital.”
“Oh, my God. What happened?”
As briefly as possible Cat outlined the sequence of events, ending with, “I tried to let you know as soon as I got here. I called and left messages. Lots of them.”
“Well, I would have left messages, too,” Misty said stoutly. “But Gran doesn’t have a machine, you know. It’s not like I just left and didn’t bother.”
And as much as that’s exactly what it had seemed like, Cat realized that Misty was probably telling the truth.
No one had been home all day and all evening. By the time that she’d got home, Misty, halfway across the world, would have been in bed. Gran, of course, was of a generation that didn’t believe in answering machines.
“I’m sure you did,” Cat placated her. “I understand,” she added soothingly.
“I don’t think you do,” Misty nearly snapped her head off. “He’s my son! You don’t have kids. How could you possibly understand?”
Cat felt as if she’d been slapped. Of course that’s the way it had always been between her and Misty. A complete disconnect. It was amazing that Harry was such a sweet little boy. And it was for Harry that she said with determined calm, “I don’t need to have kids of my own to value them, Misty.”
“I guess,” Misty mumbled.
“I’ve taken good care of him. Harry is fine.”
“Well, thanks,” Misty said grudgingly after a moment. Then, “Did he get his tooth?” She sounded eager and excited now. “He was teething when I left.” Her voice softened as she spoke, and Cat heard something like real motherly concern in Misty’s tone.
“He’s certainly been teething,” Cat agreed. She didn’t mention the screaming. Or the vanilla extract.
“He cries and cries,” Misty murmured. “Poor little thing. Sometimes I don’t know what to do. I wanted to bring him, but … I should never have left him.”
Cat was torn between saying, No, you shouldn’t have, and not saying anything at all. Finally she said, “He’s feeling all right now. And he loves the beach.” She’d taken him down there a couple of times and Harry had delighted in the water—and wanted to eat all the sand. She didn’t mention that, either.
“You put suntan lotion on him, I hope!” Misty yelped. “His skin is so fair, you have to—”
“I always put suntan lotion on him,” Cat said.
Now it was Misty’s turn to let the silence go on too long. Finally she said, “Of course you did. I’m just … worried. I’ll be on the next plane home.”
Cat felt as if all the air went out of her balloon. “You’re coming home?”
Misty? Just like that? Drop everything for someone else? She couldn’t believe it.
“You don’t have to,” she said. “I mean, Harry’s in good hands. Really. Gran said you had … important things to do there.”
She didn’t want to spell out what Gran had told her. Misty had always kept her own counsel, and she certainly wouldn’t have wanted Cat to know her business.
“You mean telling Devin he had a son,” Misty said, jolting Cat completely.
“Well, yes, but—”
“It’s what I came to do,” Misty said matter-of-factly. “He called and asked me to come on his R&R. I was surprised. We’d broken up before I found out I was pregnant. And then him calling—it was a shock. I could hardly tell him about Harry on the phone. And I couldn’t bring him. So I asked Gran to watch him and I came.”
“It … must have … gone well?”
“It did,” Misty agreed brightly. “We’re married.”
Just like that?
Cat couldn’t form the words to ask. But she didn’t have to.
Misty went right on. “When I told him about Harry he couldn’t believe it. He was shocked. And then mad because I hadn’t told him. But how could I when he was worried about getting involved with me. He broke it off because he was going off to the other side of the world and doing something he couldn’t even talk about? Something dangerous, you know? He’s in Special Forces.”
Cat didn’t know that, either. In fact, pretty much everything Misty was saying was a revelation to her.
“But he’s back on base at the moment. He’s got leave right now. He said he realized that he could die anywhere—and he didn’t want his life to be without me. Isn’t that beautiful?” Misty sounded close to tears.
“It is,” Cat agreed, and couldn’t help but feel a little envious.
“He’s so eager to see Harry. And he has a week or so left at least. Wait’ll I tell him. We’ll be there quick as we can.”
“Misty, I—”
“I’ll call you. Give my boy kisses from his mama.”
And just like that, Misty was gone.
It was so like her. Mercurial, spontaneous, determined to get her own way. And yet not like her, either. This Misty was apparently committed, reasonably responsible, surprisingly maternal. And married.
Cat stood there, stunned, still holding the receiver, until Harry let out a shriek, making it clear that Cheerios weren’t going to be enough.
She intended to take Harry back to Claire’s just for an hour or so Saturday morning, but the phone woke her at shortly past seven.
“Bring Harry here when you go to the hospital this morning,” Yiannis said peremptorily.
“I can take him to Claire’s,” Cat said, struggling to wake up. Harry was just stirring now, awakened by the phone.
“Were you asleep?” Yiannis demanded suspiciously.
“No, er, well, yes. What difference does it make?”
He muttered something under his breath. “Sorry,” he said. “I thought Harry would have you up by now.”
“Harry kindly let me sleep in.” Cat smiled over at the little boy who was now sitting up and regarding her solemnly. He lifted his arms so she could pick him up. “We have an understanding.”
“Lucky you,” Yiannis said drily. But it sounded as if he meant it.
And it was true. She felt lucky for having had these days with Harry. She and Harry were a team, as far as she was concerned. And she didn’t like the thought of Misty coming back and taking him away. She sighed as Harry dragged himself to his feet. “Misty’s coming home.”
“What? When?” He sounded as surprised as she’d felt.
Harry let out a yell when she didn’t immediately lift him out.
“Tomorrow,” Cat said. “Gotta go.”
“Bring him down,” Yiannis commanded before she hung up.
“But—”
“Just do it. You can tell me about Misty.”
Cat wasn’t sure she shouldn’t just take Harry to Claire’s anyway. But if she didn’t show up at Yiannis’s, he would no doubt accuse her of “running away.” So when she had Harry fed and dressed and she’d showered and eaten breakfast, she carried him downstairs.
Yiannis opened the door to the back patio just as she did, so there was no chance to change her mind. His hair was tousled and his jaw still stubbled, but he was dressed, at least, though his feet were bare.
He took Harry out of her arms. “I thought Maggie said two weeks.”
Cat shrugged helplessly. “Yes, well, apparently she has a m
aternal bone in her body. Or she’s not quite sure she trusts me to take care of him.”
“She said that?” Yiannis was clearly offended.
Cat shrugged. “She implied it. But I’m not surprised. She’s often just snarky about me. But this time I think she was genuinely concerned about Harry.”
“Which is why she never called.”
“Apparently she did. But we were never there. And that’s true. Now that she knows, she intends to cut things short and come home at once. Of course,” she added drily, “her mission was accomplished.”
“Mission?”
“She got married.”
Yiannis looked as astonished as she’d been. “To the Marine?”
“He’s Army,” Cat said. “Special Forces. But if she told me anything else, she’d have to kill me. Or Devin would.” She laughed, remembering Misty’s rather flamboyant comments about Devin’s work. But at the same time she still felt a sense of envy—something she’d never felt toward Misty before—because Misty had married the man she loved.
I am, too, Cat reminded herself sharply. I’m marrying Adam.
“They’re both coming. Devin, too—to meet Harry.”
Yiannis shook his head, still looking at bit stunned. But then a grin flickered across his face. “How ‘bout that, Harry?” He reached out and took the baby out of Cat’s arms. “You’re going to get to meet your dad.”
Harry grinned back and clapped his hands, then patted Yiannis’s cheeks. “Da,” he said. “Da!”
Cat was astonished to find that Yiannis could blush.
“Not me,” he said, as if Harry had the faintest idea what he was saying.
But Harry was on a roll. “Da,” he said again, slapping his hands against Yiannis’s cheeks. “Da da da!” For the first time since she’d known him, Yiannis looked seriously unnerved.
“I don’t think he’s insisting on your paternity,” Cat said kindly. “I think he’s just practicing elocution.”
Yiannis eyed her doubtfully, then shrugged. “Just don’t want him getting any ideas.”
“No.”
Or me, either, Cat thought. But seeing Yiannis with a baby in his arms made it difficult.
Think of Adam, Cat told herself. Think of Adam.
And heaven help her, she tried.
But it was a great relief when at last it was Saturday afternoon and Adam showed up.
“Catriona.” A smile lit Adam’s face when he spotted her at the baggage claim.
“At last,” Cat breathed and practically flung herself at him, accepting his kiss and kissing him back, fiercely, determinedly.
It was Adam who broke the kiss and stepped back, his brows lifting in surprise. “Wow. Maybe you should go away more often.” He grinned.
“No.” Cat shook her head fiercely. She shouldn’t go away from him at all. Ever. “Did you check any luggage?”
He hadn’t. “I’m only here one night.”
That was true, of course. But a part of her had hoped he’d decide that he could spare a day or two and would stay longer.
“I head back early tomorrow afternoon.”
Cat masked her disappointment as she looped her arm through his. “No matter. We’ll have a wonderful time while you’re here.”
Adam slanted a grin at her as they walked to where she’d parked the car. “Where’s this baby you’ve been telling me about?” He looked around now, as if he might have missed Harry lurking about somewhere.
“Gran’s neighbor is taking care of him,” Cat said.
It hadn’t been her idea. She’d have taken Harry to meet Adam, but after she came back from the hospital and would have picked him up, Milos had met her at the door. “Yiannis took him to the beach.”
“Now? Harry needs a nap.”
“Which he can get while you’re at the airport. They won’t be gone long. He thought you’d be pleased,” Milos had added. “Give you time with your man and all.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
“Yiannis said that?” Somehow she doubted it.
“Well, actually he said he’d teach him how to pick up girls.”
That Cat had believed. “He already knows,” she said. Harry could have had his pick of a dozen or more who’d stopped to coo and goo over him the last time Cat had taken him to the sand.
“We’ll be back and pick him up as soon as we can.” She waved her fingers as she headed for the garage.
Actually, for whatever reason he’d done it, Yiannis had given her a real opportunity to concentrate on her fiancé without distractions. And until Adam was settled into his visit, that seemed like a very smart idea.
So she did exactly that. As he slid into the passenger seat next to her, she turned and simply feasted her eyes on him, tried to memorize him, to remind herself of all the things she loved about Adam, all the ways he compared favorably to Yiannis.
It wasn’t hard.
Adam was taller than Yiannis, a good six feet two to Yiannis’s barely six feet. He was more classically handsome. Adam’s hair was that wonderful dark honey tipped in gold that came from playing tennis and golf in the sunshine. It was meticulously cut and, even wind-blown, it always looked perfect. Yiannis’s was that thick dark brown that was almost, but not quite black. It also had a lamentable tendency to curl just enough to never look quite combed. Adam’s nose was blade straight. Yiannis’s, she knew, had been broken at least once. Adam’s jaw was smooth, freshly shaved this morning—or maybe right before he’d got on the plane. Bankers didn’t do stubble, Adam had once told her.
His eyes were azure blue and his teeth were pearly white. He had perfect teeth with no tiny chip where he’d collided with his surfboard. He had no scars, either, not like Yiannis whose chin bore evidence of where his brother Demetrios’s skateboard had clipped him.
Adam had no blemishes at all that Cat could see. He was pretty much perfect.
It wasn’t only his looks that recommended him, either. He was bright, well-read. A complete gentleman with no rough edges.
Adam didn’t tease. He didn’t bait. He didn’t argue. Well, not much. Only about her needing a new dress for the ball.
“The high end department stores,” he said now as she got out of the airport and headed west. “Does Southern California have any?”
That was his one flaw—he had the Northern Californian’s disdain for the southern part of the state.
“Surprisingly, we do,” Cat said shortly.
He looked doubtful.
So she took him to Neiman Marcus. You couldn’t get much more high end than that. Not even in San Francisco.
Adam sighed with relief when they went through the doors. “Yes,” he said. “We can find something here.”
Cat found something in about two minutes. Adam wanted her to try on several, make comparisons, evaluate the pros and cons. But Cat didn’t need to parade around in dresses that enveloped her in ruffles or that made her look like a cupcake.
The dress she found could have been described as a knockoff of the sensational bridesmaid’s dress at a recent British royal wedding—only in a deep dark blue. Cat tried it on. It fit, outlining her curves enough to allow her to prove she had some, dipping at the neck to hint at cleavage, and above all, not clashing with her dark red hair.
Why look further?
“You might see something you like better,” Adam suggested.
Never.
“I won’t,” Cat assured him. And she was firm enough in her refusal that Adam gave up, glanced at his watch and said with surprise, “That took less than an hour. You must be the only woman in the world who could do that.”
Cat doubted it. But she wasn’t going to argue. She started to leave, but the saleslady, knowing a good mark when she saw one, said to Adam, “Does the lady perhaps need a shawl? The nights can be cool.”
“And even cooler by the bay,” Adam said.
So Cat chose a shawl.
“It’s grey,” Adam said, disgruntled. “Like a battleship.”
It was a
light silver airy shawl with a metallic thread interwoven so that it glittered subtly in the light. Against the deep dark blue of her dress, it looked, to Cat, like starlight, a gossamer milky way.
But Adam fingered a white one. “What about this?”
As a garment it was lovely. But not with the blue dress and her red hair.
“I’d look like a flag.” She took off the silver one and handed it to the saleslady.
Adam wanted her to get shoes, too. But Cat said no. “I have shoes. I want shoes I’m comfortable in.”
“Not those old sandals,” Adam protested.
“No, not them,” Cat assured him. She knew which ones he meant. She wore them to work. They were the most comfortable shoes she owned. “I have another pair that are more elegant.” She used the word she knew would settle his fears. “We’d better hurry. I want to take you by the hospital before we have to go pick up Harry.”
Taking Adam to the hospital was a bit of a risk. She wasn’t sure what Gran would do or say. But she’d have a better idea of whether or not to broach the subject of her moving to San Francisco, specifically her moving into Adam’s place for a couple of weeks, once she saw them together.
She held her breath when they walked in. But Adam was always polite and charming. And apparently Gran was on her best behavior. She was much more cheerful than she had been when Cat had talked to her yesterday. She must have realized that coming to San Francisco was a good idea and so was getting along with Adam.
She said all the right things about how nice it was for him to take the time and come down when she knew he was busy. And he said all the right things about wanting to be sure everything was okay.
He looped his arm around Cat’s shoulder and said, “And how could I resist her telling me she needed me?”
Gran’s brows lifted as she looked from Adam to Cat. “She said that?”
Adam nodded, smiling, and gave Cat’s shoulders a squeeze.
Gran’s gaze narrowed on her, making Cat edgy.
“I missed him,” she said defensively.
“Of course,” Gran said, but she didn’t sound entirely convinced—not to Cat anyway. Adam seemed to think she was agreeing completely. “I’d have thought you were far too busy,” Gran added.
Cat didn’t answer that. She changed the subject, opening the dress bag and showing it to her grandmother, telling her all about the ball.
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