The Best Man

by Carol Hutchens

  “You son-of-a—”

  “Calling me names won’t help. This is your mess. Clean it up. Laurel will thank you for not dragging this out when she calms down.”

  “Easy for you to say, you don’t have a hysterical female on your hands. Her wedding ceremony was ruined, you know.” Joel huffed.

  “Commitment ceremony!”

  “What?” Joel snarled. “Yeah, right. How is Kate, anyway?”

  Luke crushed the phone against his ear. “What did you do with her clothes?”

  “I gave them to the Salvation Army, what do you think I did with them?” Joel shouted. “And for God’s sake, get her something decent to wear before the media catches sight of her. She looked awful wearing that rag.”

  Luke’s fingers dug into the hard plastic case of the phone. “You’re really something, Joel, you know that? You created this mess. Left your wife for dead, then complain when she reappears and isn’t dressed to suit you.”

  “Appearance is everything in this business and you know it. We’ve got a law firm to protect” Joel’s voice dropped. “Come on, buddy, help me out here. It won’t do for the media to catch sight of Kate dressed like a bag lady.”

  “Does this mean you’ve changed your mind about selling?”

  “Hell, no. If we spin this right, we can get free publicity, and attract more buyers. But that won’t happen if one of the partners looks like she’s been dumpster diving.”

  Luke gritted his teeth. When Joel returned home alone after the tsunami eighteen months ago, Luke excused his actions because of the shock of what he’d been through. In the days and weeks that followed, he learned better. But he’d given his partner the benefit of the doubt. Now, he wanted to punch Joel’s lights out. But he had to think of Kate.

  “I’ll look after this end. Make sure you get those papers filed Monday morning.”

  After long moments of silence, Joel said. “So where did you take Kate, anyway?”

  Luke held the phone away from his ear and stared incredulously at the object as if Joel could see his face. Then, heat burning in his face and gut, he snapped the phone shut. Joel’s curiosity about Kate had come too late.

  Once things were settled, he intended slicing Joel out of his life as efficiently as a surgeon removing a cancerous tumor, but in the mean time, he had to get Kate settled.

  He put on a pot of coffee and wandered back to the living room to stand in front of the long glass window as he had many times before when his deepest thoughts wouldn’t let go images of Kate. Staring at the beauty of Raleigh’s nightlights eased some of his pain. Twinkling lights on trees lining the downtown streets reminded him of Thailand.

  The ink black skies over the beaches had filled with stars. He’d never seen as many stars as he had during his time in that country. He’d never stayed awake that many nights in a row, either. Through the long exhausting days and sleepless nights of his search for Kate, he’d prayed she was alive, and looking at the same stars in the sky.

  “You were right.”

  The sound of her voice just feet away, jarred him out of memories that replayed in his mind like a nightmare. Hearing her voice, seeing her image reflected in the dark glass, sent blood racing through his body. Barely in control of his emotions, he turned toward her.

  Standing in the doorway, her skin dewy and pink for the shower, Kate looked healthier already. Her hair was damp from her bath, and feathered out to frame her face making her eyes look larger. But she was all skin and bones in the slim cut mid-calf pants and bright green tee.

  “Right about what?” Luke forced the words past the obstruction in his chest. How many times would the sight of Kate, alive and close enough to touch, cause him to choke-up?

  “I feel better after a bath. Thanks for picking up the clothes.” Kate flung herself down in the corner of the sofa and pulled her knees up to tuck her feet under her rear. “Now, I have to decide what to do.”

  Luke forced air in his lungs. He wouldn’t be any good to Kate or himself, if he didn’t get control of his emotions.

  “What did you have in mind? Do you want me to get you out of town until the media ruckus dies down?” He settled on the chair facing her. “I have a friend with a cabin out on Jordan Lake. You could rest there for a while.”

  Kate dropped her eyes as she ran her fingernail along the seam in her pants. “Thanks, but I think I’d better stay.” She lifted bruised eyes to meet his, chasing away all thoughts except taking care of her from his head. “I’ve been away from work too long, already.”

  “Staying in town means you’ll have to face the media.”

  Kate tilted her chin. “I want my life back, I can’t hide. I have to take charge.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with taking time to adjust. Let me handle the reporters for a while.” Luke stopped as she held up her hand. He reminded himself that he couldn’t take over her life and protect her, as much as he wanted to do just that.

  For one thing, Kate would never allow it. For another, he would be cheating her. Now that she was back, she wanted to find her own solutions, and do things her way. He held up both hands in surrender. “Sorry, just a suggestion.”

  Air whooshed out her lungs, revealing her tension. “I know.” She traced a fingernail along the line of the cushion at the back of the sofa. From the intent look on her face, she was working things out in her mind. “I just want to get back to normal. Does that make sense?”

  “Of course it does.” That’s what he wanted her to do, right? He wanted her to get her life back on track, to reclaim all she had lost. But…he wanted to keep her safe, too. “What are your plans?”

  “I don’t have a plan.” She gave him an intent look, then stared past his head and looked at the wall. “I can’t imagine what happened to make you lose interest in your art collection.”

  If he told her the truth, she would run scared. Worse, she would hold him at arm’s length, and might never let him in her life again. He couldn’t risk putting distance between them after losing her for dead for the past eighteen months.

  He settled back in the armchair. “Stuff happens.”

  “It was a woman, right?” Kate leaned toward him. Her eyes sparkled, reminding him how she’d looked when he first met her. “She broke your heart, didn’t she?”

  Luke sent her a level look, and gave a curt nod. “You always were quick to pick up hints.” His mouth lifted at one corner. “It was a woman. For a while, I thought I couldn’t go on…but that passed.”

  “Luke, I’m so sorry. I-I know what it’s like to feel as if your heart is going to break.” Oh, yes, she knew. She remembered those long sleepless nights after her memory returned. She’d stared at the stars until her eyes filled with tears as she mourned Joel’s loss. Then, the next night she’d do it all again, thinking he was dead. “I should have been here for you. That’s what friends are for. I could have offered you a shoulder to cry on, figuratively speaking, of course.”

  Luke chuckled and studied the bright look in her eyes, the eagerness of her expression. She looked so much better than she had just hours before. “Thanks, but everything worked out. I’m fine, now.”

  “Don’t hand me that. Any woman that affected you enough to make you give up interest in the art you loved must have landed you with a load of pain…I’m here now, if you need me. I’m a good listener.”

  Luke smiled as the tension in his chest dropped away like ice cycles. Kate was alive. He couldn’t tell her how happy it made him to have her here, alive and in his apartment. That was enough for now.

  “We can help each other. Tell me what you want to do. When you say get your life back…what do you have in mind?” He rushed through the last words when he saw her expression darken. How could Joel have done this to her? Hadn’t he done enough when he stole the partnership right from under her nose?

  Luke blamed her father for that more than Joel. That’s when he had lost respect for the man who first gave him a job. Seeing the eagerness die in Kate’s eyes as J
oel wormed his way into her father’s favor had sickened him.

  What little use he had for Joel had ended, along with his allegiance to the senior partner. Roger Meeker hadn’t been the man Luke had thought he was.

  Luke first noticed the flaws in the senior partner when he had turned a cold shoulder on Kate’s attempts to win his approval. In the end, Luke all but despised the man that fathered her then hurt her.

  He understood the pain she must have felt. His past was littered with attempts to please his status conscious parents. When they objected to his intentions to study law, he’d known his efforts to win their respect had failed. From that day on, he’d made his own way.

  Kate’s mouth stretched into the first natural looking grin he’d seen since she arrived. “I want to live each day with gusto! Savor the moment.”

  Luke chuckled. “Make each day count. That sounds like your father.”

  Kate gasped.

  “Sorry, Kate. I keep putting my foot in my mouth.”

  “No, it’s okay. You’re right. He crammed every minute full with work.” She blinked furiously. “It’s just…I wanted to please him.”

  “He was proud of you.”

  Kate rolled her eyes and focused on her hands twisting in her lap. “I thought if I could be the perfect daughter, he might learn to love me…”

  “He loved you.”

  “How can you say that?”

  Luke ran a hand through his hair. “I’m not good at touchy, feely stuff…but I know he was proud of you.”

  “Maybe, when I landed Joel as a husband, I know he was. He loved Joel.” Kate leaned against the back of the sofa and sighed. “I never understood.” She stared vacantly, looking into the past. “I wondered about it a lot while I was…gone.” She gave an impatient laugh as she clamped her hands between her thighs. “I didn’t speak the language of the islanders so I had lots of time to think even though things came back in pieces.” She paused, taking a deep breath. “I can’t understand why he took to Joel when he already had you.”

  Luke’s brows arched. “What are you saying?”

  “Joel is so fake…I didn’t see it from the beginning, you understand.” She rubbed her forehead and pinched her nose between her eyes. “It all became clear after I thought Joel had been lost in the tsunami. I kept trying to figure out why my father favored him, when you were there first.” She swiped at her eyes with her wrist. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get mushy.”

  “No problem.” Luke shrugged. “I wondered why he made Joel a partner so fast, when—”

  “When you worked all hours night and day before you earned a promotion?” Kate nodded. “I don’t get it.”

  “Maybe—”

  “I thought he looked at Joel as the son he never had, but that doesn’t make sense.”

  “How so?”

  Kate shrugged. “If I were choosing a son to put my faith in, I wouldn’t put Joel over you.”

  “Yet, you did.” His head throbbed. His breath caught. He hadn’t meant to say that. He waited. It took minutes that seemed more like hours for her surprised reaction to ease. Then he kept prodding on, probing the wound, revealing more than he wanted her to know. But he couldn’t seem to stop the words falling out his mouth. “You married him.”

  Kate shrugged. “That was different.”

  “How? Tell me? I was blown out of the water when I realized you had fallen for Joel.”

  She snorted. “You know, I had never understood what those words meant until a few months ago.”

  “Sorry, Kate. I keep sticking my foot in—”

  “No, it’s okay.” She waved a hand. “You didn’t know we were in a sailboat the morning the tsunami hit.”

  “Do you want to talk—”

  “No!” Her next words returned to his mention of her marriage. “It was Joel’s charm…I see that now. He played me like…like he does a jury in the courtroom.” Shaking her head, she sighed. “I was so gullible…so foolish. I wish I’d had sense enough to see through him from the start. But he was so charming, I couldn’t resist.”

  “Where have I heard that before?”

  “It’s lame, I know, but I realized I didn’t know Joel at all. He just…swept me off my feet.”

  “Do you want him back?”

  “You’re kidding, right? It’s like going on a drastic diet…it’s hard to break bad habits. But, no…no and no! I do not want Joel back. Laurel is welcome to him.”

  Luke tried to hide his elation with a shrug. “I had to ask.” He sent her a long look. “Things are going to be tense around the office.”

  “I thought about leaving the firm. Starting over.”

  “You can’t do that. Your father built that firm—”

  “Yes, and look what happened after I worked to make partner. He passed me over for Joel’s schmoozing charm.”

  “You were a crucial part of the team, Kate.”

  “I was essential, all right.” Her words sliced the air like sharp knives. “I was so necessary to the firm’s success my father passed me over and took a complete stranger as his partner.”

  “Not a stranger…his future son-in-law.”

  Kate shrugged. “Same difference. He ignored me…gave Joel the partnership.” She squinted at the light from the lamp. “I don’t think I ever knew either one of them.”

  “Some people are good keeping their feelings hidden.”

  “Joel was good. He fooled my dad, and tricked me into thinking he loved me.”

  “Did he hurt you bad, Kate? Did he break your heart?”

  “Hurt? Yes, it hurt.” She whispered so that He had to lean forward to hear her next words. “I thought I loved him. I-I thought he loved me.”

  Luke watched emotions flash across her face, and knew exactly how she felt. Losing the person he loved had almost destroyed him. He hadn’t wanted to go on. “I know how that feels.”

  “After a while, I realized I was more in love with the idea of being in love than with Joel.” Her gaze searched his face. “How sick is that? I promised to love and cherish—”

  “Till death do you part?” Luke finished.

  “The thing is,” Kate swallowed the lump in her throat, “Joel rushed to judgment. He listed me as dead.” Her eyes glittered. “That’s why it took authorities so long to identify me before my memory returned. They had marked me off the list.”

  Muscles rippled under the skin along Luke’s jaw. “Joel has a lot to answer for.”

  Kate drew a shuddering breath. “That’s what I keep coming back to…the law firm is my last contact with my father. Joel stole my position from me once. I can’t let him do it again, even if it will be hard working with him.” She struggled against emotions blocking her voice. “I’ve been thinking. If I stay, I’d like to get back to my main interest. My father wanted the firm to concentrate on corporate law for the big bucks, but I’d like to get back to my training with family law.”

  Dealing with abusive spouses in dangerous situations? No way! Luke cleared his throat. “That would take the firm in a different direction.”

  “Or, make it more versatile and attract more clients.” Kate shrugged. “I know you’re right. That’s what my father said when I joined the firm. But think about it this way, I wouldn’t be competing with you or…Joel…for cases.”

  “In other words, you’d have less reason to work with Joel.” Luke ran his hand around the back of his neck. His need to keep her safe almost out weighed his wish for her to pursue her best interests.

  Kate was a good attorney, or she had been, before Joel joined the firm. Looking at her now, he saw the desperation in her eyes. Air whistle past his lips. “You present a good argument, Counselor.”

  “So, you agree to my plan? You’re willing for me to start with a different clientele?”

  Her eagerness tore at his heart. Just twelve hours ago, he had thought he would never see her again. How could he deny her now? He nodded, and grinned wide when she waved both fists in victory.

  “Now, we
just have to convince Joel.”

  He frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “He’s still a partner,” she waited for his nod, “still a part of the firm.”

  More so than she would ever know, Luke thought, raking his hand through his hair. With her father’s shares and Kate’s assumed demise, Joel controlled two thirds of firm’s assets. Which meant, if he chose, he could throw a spanner in Kate’s plans…or could he?

  With her return, she could claim her share. With Luke on her side, she would have the deciding majority.

  Turning to her with a genuine smile, Luke offered his best words of comfort. “I’ll make sure Joel isn’t a problem.”

  Chapter 4

  By Monday morning, Kate was a mass of jitters. She was on the verge of hyperventilating when she arrived at the law offices with Luke. As if returning to work after being presumed dead, wasn’t enough to fret about, she found this new awareness of Luke unsettling.

  In the confines of his BMW, his clean male scent mingled with the lush leather of the seats, making her aware of all she had missed the months she’d been away. No, it more than months and more like the duration of her marriage.

  Joel hadn’t been the right man for her, she knew that now. Over the long hours of the weekend, spent in Luke’s apartment going over work files, the extent of her bad choice had hit home. Or had the absence of emotional contact over the months clouded her judgment?

  She refused to believe she was repeating her past mistakes, was so starved for approval, that she’d imagined the connection she felt with Luke. Going over client files, they zeroed in on the same points. Watching movies to wind down at night, they laughed at the same jokes. They shared similar tastes in music and she’d loved his art collection form the start.

  Nothing about her reaction to Luke was based on pretense. They matched up perfectly, even to their favorite food choices and movie preferences. Both at work and in fun, they make a great team. But any physical contact with Luke was out of the question.

  She had ruined one relationship, though Joel was as much to blame for their failed marriage as she was, in her opinion. But she couldn’t risk making a second mistake. Couldn’t take the chance that she was misreading signals from Luke.