“Can you believe this one’s getting married?”
“Katie, you’re so beautiful”
“You’re all grown up!”
“I don’t believe my eyes!”
Katie's head swam as all the voices and people came flooding at her all at once. The room was a sea of faces, but several stuck out from the crowd.
Katie saw Nick’s parents, Grace and Mike. She also spotted Alex, one of the other Sloan Boys, as well as their cousins, The Quad Squad. Jessie, Haley, Becca and Krista had all been born within a five-year span. Katie always thought Jason’s Aunt Sandy was a saint!
Grace immediately pulled Katie into a warm embrace. Katie tried to return it, but so much was going on. She barely heard Grace's warm voice say, “It’s so good to see you sweetie, we’ve missed you so much.”
Katie couldn’t catch her breath. She felt the room starting to spin and there was a growing sense of dread in her gut.
Wouldn't having a panic attack in front of all of these people she hadn't seen in ten years just be the PERFECT reintroduction?
It was starting to begin in earnest when she heard a gruff voice break through the melee.
“Now, now. Let’s give the girl some breathing room. She’s had a long flight, and besides – you all know she is only here to see me anyways.”
“Grandpa J,” Katie whispered as she finally exhaled, and relief flooded her body like a soothing balm. The crowds parted, and she saw him sitting in the same brown recliner she remembered always seeing him in.
Emotion flooded her and, before she knew what she was doing, she ran up to him threw her arms around him and tears started falling down her face. Talk about forward momentum! She didn't care how silly she looked. This was Grandpa J.
Colonel James Hunter, or “Grandpa J” as everybody called him, was really the only grandfather Katie had ever known. Her grandfather on her mother’s side was gone even before she was born, and her father’s parents had passed when Katie was a toddler. She wasn’t sure if she had ever met them or not...but if she had, she didn't remember it.
When Grandpa J came to live with the Hunters the first Christmas after they had moved to Harper's Crossing, Katie had naturally gravitated toward him. It wasn't just the idea of having a grandfather, any grandfather at all, that had drawn her to him – Grandpa J was special.
And for his part, Grandpa J had no problem adopting Katie as his own honorary grandchild. He always said that he was enough Grandpa to go around.
Katie loved listening to him talk for hours about his time in the military – the fun he and his friends would have going out on the town, all dressed in uniform and looking as dapper as could be, and the shenanigans that would ensue.
He talked about hitchhiking from Florida to New York and all the interesting people he met along his two-week journey. But Katie’s favorite story to listen to was the one about the very first time he saw his future wife, Marie Elise Gallo.
Katie never got to meet Grandma Marie, who had passed away before Grandpa J came to live in Harper's Crossing, but from what she heard, Grandma Marie knew how to keep Grandpa J on his toes. She had always felt a special connection to Grandma Marie, even though she had never met her.
Katie's middle name was Marie, and growing up she used to fantasize that she was named after Grandma Marie. She couldn't imagine a higher honor. It wasn't until much later that she realized that the coincidence was actually fate giving her a much more special nod – the assurance that her connection with this family had been pre-ordained.
There were so many times Katie could remember during her adolescence when she would spend hours on end looking through Grandpa J and Grandma Marie’s wedding album. She would imagine that it was her in the simple white satin and lace gown, smiling beatifically up at Nick in his dapper dress uniform. Well...she thought it was Nick. She realized now that the groom's face had always been a blur in those fantasies. But...of course it was Nick. Wasn't it?
As Grandpa J held her now, Katie was overwhelmed with the realization of just how much she had missed him.
As if reading her mind, he spoke softly to into her ear, saying “I missed you, Katie. I missed my girl.”
“I missed you too Grandpa J,” Katie said, holding on to him as if for dear life.
Their reunion was broken up by the brisk and businesslike voice of Aunt Wendy as she began the meeting. Katie could tell that she was relishing the role of Woman In Charge.
“Okay now that I have everyone here,” Aunt Wendy said as she began handing out brochure-style schedules, “we can get right down to business. Here are your itinerary packets for the weekend. They are color coded, so make sure you take note of your assigned color on the front of the packet. The activities you are expected to be at are noted in the same color.”
“Wow, you really out did yourself young lady,” Grandpa J said. Katie smiled warmly. His tone was lightly teasing, but Katie could hear real admiration there, as well.
The rest of the crowd got lost in reading the packets and softly conversing with each other about them, so Katie gratefully took the opportunity to melt into the background and study the itinerary unobserved. She felt like it was, possibly, the first completely unobserved moment she had experienced since pulling up in front of her childhood home!
She immediately noted, to her relief, that she really wouldn’t have a minute to herself all weekend. Which...THANK GOD. That was really for the best. She didn’t need a whole lot of time to sit and marinate in her thoughts, emotions, and memories. That was a recipe (to continue to torture the gastronomic metaphor, she thought wryly to herself) for disaster.
Aunt Wendy continued, “So first up, we have the bride and bridesmaids' final fittings. Men, you have an hour before you are expected over at Richards Formal Wear. Don’t be late! Colonel, you are in charge of getting the young men there at 11 A.M. sharp.”
“Yes ma’am, they will be there. Don’t worry your pretty little head,” Grandpa J said with a wink.
Aunt Wendy actually blushed. Grandpa J had an amazing ability to compliment a lady and make her feel like the most special woman in the world, and he did it even with the simplest of words. It was an aura about him, an energy that he would send across the room. Katie smiled to herself and thought, he's got “game,” as the kids would say.
“Okay, everyone, you have your schedules. Now, everyone behave, and let's make this the best wedding anyone has ever seen!” Aunt Wendy said, her voice carrying equal parts enthusiasm and warning.
She turned to the group of women standing behind her, of which Katie was a part, and said, “Ladies, let’s get a move on.”
As everyone in the room began to move toward the door, Katie felt an arm around her waist and heard Jason’s voice in her ear. She stiffened. She had begun to like feeling like one of the anonymous crowd, it was relaxing. Now the sound of Jason's voice reminded her that she was the target of his laser focus. Still, she couldn't help but thrill at the feel of his hot breath on the back of her neck, and his strong hand on her back, firmly guiding her forward.
“You okay Kit Kat? You look a little flushed.”
“I’m fine,” Katie said, her voice betraying her by allowing just a bit of tremulousness to dance around the edges. COME ON! She just wanted to make it out the door without looking at him.
Her strategy for the weekend would be avoidance. Avoidance was a proven quantity. She could make it through if she just didn't SEE him. The past ten years had proved that!
Of course, the little voice in the back of her mind reminded her, those years had been spent thousands of miles away...but she told that little voice to SHUT THE EFF UP and continued to rationalize the wisdom of the avoidance strategy to herself.
I mean, she reasoned, it's not like avoiding him here in Harper's Crossing – and even when he was frantically mounting a “talk to Katie” campaign – could not be done. She had proven that in the weeks after Nick's accident. The little voice in the back of her mind overrode her SHUT UP comman
d and piped up to ask if that was something she was really proud of. She merely scowled and shoved the annoying little bugger back down again.
I mean, hey. All of these years, and she had managed to stay away from the popular social media sites. She had never even visited Facebook. She told all of her friends and colleagues it was because she didn't have time for all that, and of course that was true enough. But, moreover, she saw it as a strategic move. She didn't know if she could hold onto her resolve if connection with Jason was just one little tiny click of the mouse away. And, dammit, if there was one thing she knew how to do, it was hold onto her fricking resolve!
So now, if she just kept moving and did not allow herself to get cornered, she just might be able to get through the wedding unscathed.
Just as she felt Jason pull her closer Sophie came bounding up to her, much like the way that she did when she was four, joy and excitement radiating from her smiling face as she let loose with a stream of patter that Katie also recognized from when she was a child.
“Katie, you can ride with us! My mom is just going to make a phone call and then we can go! In, like, ten minutes, OK? Did you get your stuff all settled?”
“No I didn’t, actually,” Katie said, pulling away from Jason gratefully, “I’ll go run next door and be back in a few!”
With that, she virtually flew out the front door. Alone.
She made it to her car and let out a sigh of relief as she popped her trunk and removed her suitcases once again. That relief, however, was short lived. As she closed her trunk, she heard his voice again, and just about jumped out of her skin.
“I am not saying that this is the right time, but don’t you think at some point this weekend we need to talk?” The tone in his voice surprised her. It held none of the cockiness or the teasing that he had been using to try to get a reaction out of her thus far. In fact, he sounded earnest – almost plaintive.
Ha!
Katie was FAR from being ready to handle that!
“’Bout what?” Katie asked in her best faux-innocent tone. Fauxnicent. It was her specialty. She should copyright it. She had the legal knowledge to be able to do that, and it WAS, after all, her “go to” move.
She was stopped in her tracks, though, as she turned to look up at him. Oh. Dear. God. He looked so amazing in the sun. She couldn’t quite come to terms with how handsome and sexy he had become. When she was just talking with him, she thought of him as the cocky little kid she had grown up bickering with. When she laid eyes on him...ZING!
Her brain couldn’t seem to process the information her eyes were sending it.
He leaned in close to her ear and she could once again feel his breath on her neck.
REALLY! Did he really have to keep doing that?
And more importantly...did it really have to feel so good?
“Okay, Kit Kat. Have it your way,” Jason said into her ear, his voice taking on a slow and languorous quality that was nothing short of mind-blowingly sensuous, “But just remember...I am more than ready to talk about this whenever you stop being a big chicken.”
That snapped her out of her sexy-thoughts-brain-fog quick enough.
“I am NOT being a chicken. I simply asked what you wanted to talk about. And STOP calling me Kit Kat!”
Katie dropped her suitcases and stood there as tall as she could with her hands on her hips, her body radiating all of the indignation her mind could muster up.
Jason took a step back and looked her up and down, his eyebrows raised in surprise. Katie was just beginning to wonder if she hadn't reacted just a BIT harshly, and starting to feel just a tiny bit bad about maybe hurting his feelings...when he burst out laughing.
She seriously considered punching him right in the mouth.
“What’s so funny Jas?” Sophie giggled as she came bounding across the lawn.
“Yes, I was just about to ask the same thing,” Katie said, through a large smile and clenched teeth.
“Well, I'll tell you. It’s just that Kit Kat is still just as easily riled up as always, and even after all these years, it never ceases to amuse me.”
Jason chuckled as he reached out and took the suitcases, as if his observation were the height of hilarity.
“Wow, I always wondered why God put me on this earth,” Katie said sarcastically, “and now I have my answer. Clearly it was to amuse you, Mr. Sloan.”
As she looked up at him, concentrating with all her might to broadcast her VERY BEST look of disdain, he leaned down and stared intently into her eyes. Then, in a low and oh-so-sexy-tone that only she could hear, he said, “Well I’ve always known that God put you here for me, Kit Kat. I'm just glad that, even though it took you more than 20 years, you finally realize it, too.”
Katie stood stock still, having lost the ability to move or speak. She barely heard all of the commotion and the voices surrounding her as everyone started getting into their assigned vehicles. It all just sounded like white noise.
All she could do was stare into Jason’s golden brown eyes and try to remember to breathe. Even though there were probably fifteen people buzzing around them, Katie felt as if she and Jason were the only two people on the planet.
Why was he having such an insane effect on her? They had never had this kind of chemistry before. Well...not until the night that she left Harper's Crossing. Maybe it was just left over tension from that night.
That must be it.
She just had to put it in perspective. She couldn't make the mistake of reading too much into the reaction she was having to him. At least, that's what her head kept telling her. And for ONCE where Jason was concerned, she was determined to listen to her brain, instead of being bossed around by what her heart (and other parts of her body located slightly SOUTH of her heart) were trying to tell her.
“Katie...Katie...” She heard Sophie’s voice as if it were traveling to her from a million miles away. But when she slowly came out of her Jason-induced fog, she looked over and was surprised to discover that Sophie was still standing right next to her.
“Huh?” Katie heard herself ask. Sophie smirked a little, good-naturedly, and that was enough to bring Katie all the way back to herself. As she quickly became more aware of her surroundings she said briskly, “Oh, right, OK. Are we ready to go? Let me just put my suitcases inside.”
She reached to take her suitcases back from Jason, but he didn't let them go.
“That’s okay, Kit Kat. You go ahead. I’ll take them inside. I don’t have to be at my fitting for an hour.”
Katie tugged at the luggage and gritted her teeth.
“No, that’s really okay. I can do it. Hand them over, Jas,” Katie demanded as she pulled the handle harder.
“Now, Kit Kat,” Jason said in a seemingly-sincere-yet-somehow-dangerously-close-to-being-condescending tone, “You don’t want to make the bride late for her final fitting do you?”
“Oh, just let Jason take them in, Katie,” Sophie chattered as she pulled Katie towards her Aunt’s white SUV, “Aunt Wendy’s in the car and Mom already left. We're about five minutes late as it is.”
“But...you can’t get in,” Katie said, her last ditch attempt at an argument, even though she had already been dragged almost all the way down the driveway and knew in her heart she was fighting a losing battle.
“I have a key,” Jason said with a wink as he was turning and walking up the porch, “Now you go on and have fun. I’ll put them inside and see you later.”
“You have a key?!” Katie yelled as she was being shoved in the door by Sophie, but Jason didn’t turn to answer.
Chapter Three
After having been forcibly placed in the SUV, Katie put on her seat belt and felt the cool blast of air conditioning hit her face. She could either spend the entire ride to the bridal shop regretting the fact that she hadn't punched him in the mouth while she had the chance, or she could get some answers. She went with answers.
Katie turned toward her Aunt Wendy and directed the same question to
her as she just had to Mr. Must-Take-Suitcases-At-All-Costs.
“Jason has a key?”
“Well, of course, Buttercup! What with all the work he’s been doin’ around the house, and with his hours being so different than mine and your mama’s? Well, we just thought it would be easier if he had a key, that way if he had time to work, he could let himself right on in,” Aunt Wendy explained as she was pulling out of the driveway.
Katie took a deep breath. She was out of Jason-brain-fog mode. Now, she was in litigator-mode. She only wished she had a yellow legal pad and a number two pencil in her hands to make her feel more at home.
“Okay, number one. What kind of work needs to be done around the house? Number two. Why didn’t you just tell me so I could hire someone to do it? Number three...”
Aunt Wendy though, apparently, didn't care what number three (or any of the numbers that came after it) were, because she interrupted Katie, saying, “Well sweetie, I don’t want to put a fly in your pie, but you haven’t really been around for the daily happenings in these here parts for quite some time. And there was no need for you or anybody else to hire somebody. Jason is more than willing and able to do the job.
“As far as what work is getting done? Oh, just fix-it things that will add value to the house. And, to anticipate your next question, Jason has odd hours because he’s a big shot now,” Aunt Wendy sounded proud as she said that last part, as if Jason were related to her, instead of Katie. She had to admit that stung a little.
“That wasn't my next question,” she said under her breath, and she had to admit, she sounded a little petulant, even to herself.
“What was that?” Aunt Wendy asked from the front seat. Katie met her aunt's eyes in the mirror and felt properly chastened. That wasn't how she had been raised to talk, and she didn't even like hearing it in herself. What WAS it about Jason Sloan that brought out her bratty side?
“Nothing, ma'am,” she answered contritely, “I just wanted to know what he's doing now.”
“Well!” Aunt Wendy continued animatedly, “I am glad you asked. Jas works construction for his dad. He is the Vice President of Sloan Construction.”
My First (Jason & Katie) Page 5
