Mac tapped in a return message to Kate. He would call her that evening, he promised. Then he started to text, I’ll be home this weekend. However, he knew that probably wouldn’t be the case. The treatments that Dr. Wong had prescribed were going well, but the process was taking longer than he’d anticipated. It would be several more weeks, at least, until they could get a sense of how they were working. At some point, Carolyn would be able to continue them back in New York, but for now she needed to finish this course and then recover from the process, which would take another several weeks, or a month, before she could be moved. The treatments were effective but also hard on her body. Often when Mac would visit she’d be asleep or unable to stay awake for long periods of time. The doctor, however, assured him that sleep was the best thing she could do. The more she slept, the faster she’d heal.
Mac erased his message. He really didn’t know when he’d be home, and that part really bothered him. He wanted to be there for his family, and he wanted to be there for Kate, but his need to not let down his sons overtook everything else. He also knew that this was crunch time for Kate. She had a lot going on, to say the least, and he wanted to be there for her in a way he’d never been there for his own family. Then Mac got an idea. He picked up the phone and made a quick call. If he couldn’t be there helping Kate, he would do whatever he could to make sure she had all the help she needed. When he was done, he picked up the phone and called her.
“Babe, I’ve hired someone for you.”
“Hired? For what?” He could hear Kate’s hesitation.
“A personal assistant: Someone who will run errands, you know get dry cleaning, grocery shop.”
Kate was silent for a moment and then said, “Mac, why? I mean, I appreciate it, but—”
“No buts. You need the help. You’re carrying too much. I can’t be there to help you and it’s killing me. Let me do this for you.”
“I love you.” Her voice was breathy and full of emotion. “This really is very sweet.”
“It’s not sweet at all, Katie. It’s terrible that you even need this, and I love you more than I can say for being so damned understanding.”
“Of course,” her voice trailed off. He could hear the tension. Yep, the assistant had been the right call. This was all just too much for her.
“When I get home we’re going to plan our wedding, because I can’t wait to marry you.”
“I can’t wait to marry you, either,” she whispered.
“I love you. I’ll call you tonight.”
“Okay, and thank you. I love you, too.”
Mac hung up the phone and felt only slightly better about getting Kate some help. She hadn’t sounded good on the phone. He could tell immediately that she was in way over her head.
CHAPTER 42
From: Katharine Mitchell
To: Nick Lavigne
Subject: Opening of the Allan Lavigne Creativity and Reading Center Summer Program
Nick, hi –
I hope everything is going great for you. How are the stores progressing? I read a piece about them in the Post. Seems everyone is pretty excited to have them.
Vivienne’s book is going well. We have finalized the content, and we should have advanced copies shortly. I’ll earmark one for you in case you want to keep it as a memento of your sister’s first book.
Crap. She wasn’t sending an email just to check in. Hey, how’s it going? Fine here, except Mac’s still in California with his family. Well, former family, but who can keep track? I’m in therapy with some crackpot doctor who wears polyester and can’t seem to figure out that the 1950s ended fifty years ago. She also says I stole Mac away from his wife.
No, that wouldn’t work. Kate tried again.
From: Katharine Mitchell
To: Nick Lavigne
Subject: Opening of the Allan Lavigne Creativity and Reading Center Summer Program
Nick, hi –
I wanted to invite you to the grand opening of the Allan Lavigne Creativity and Reading Center summer program in Brooklyn where your uncle grew up. Since you haven’t wanted to take any funding from Lavigne House, I rolled what would have been your share and some of our profits into this project. I’m attaching the information on the grand opening to this email.
I hope you can make it. If you can, I’d love it if you would say a few words at the opening. I’m sure the center would love it, as would the kids. As you probably know, your uncle frequented this library often and would work with the children, reading to them and teaching them about writing. Many of these kids he worked with are now in high school and are embarking on their own creative writing projects. Along with this program, we’re also offering an Allan Lavigne Scholarship to the kids he worked with, and we’ll be awarding it to the student who shows the most promise in his writing. We won’t be making the decision at this event, per se, but the students will all be there.
The event is on Thursday. The address is on the attached invitation. If you can make it, email me back so I can notify the media that will cover the event. The event starts at three, so you should plan to get there by two thirty at the latest.
Thanks, Kate
Much better. Professional with a slight friendly tone. Perfect for their newfound “friendship,” or whatever it was Nick called it. Kate reread it and hit Send. She hoped Nick could make it; the media would love having a Lavigne there, and selfishly, Kate hoped to see him again, too.
Twenty minutes later, Nick responded.
From: Nicholas Lavigne
To: Katharine Mitchell
Subject: Re: Opening of the Allan Lavigne Creativity and Reading Center
Kate,
Nice to get your note. I had no idea you were doing this! Of course I’ll be there. Uncle Allan would be thrilled to see what you’re doing. I’m excited to be a part of it. Thanks for letting me know.
Nick
. . . .
Nick closed his laptop. He was just about to leave to check on the progress of the stores when Kate’s messaged pinged into his inbox. He sat back and considered it for a moment. How had Kate pulled this off without him knowing about it? That girl was just full of surprises, and despite his numerous misgivings about being around her, he needed to go because it was the right thing to do. Nick shook his head. He really had no idea about this project; she had never alluded to it. Although in hindsight, it made total sense. Until recently, he’d cut off all communication with her, and likely she felt too uncomfortable to reach out. Now, however, things were different, though only slightly. They were on friendly terms for Vivienne’s sake, but he could not deny how good he felt when he was around her. Too good, in fact. The minute the stores were done, he was on a plane and heading back to Los Angeles.
Distance was a blessing.
CHAPTER 43
As Nick approached Camden Plaza, he could smell the diesel fuel of the school buses that lined the plaza where the library was located. He walked past them and into the building. The Brooklyn Library was already packed by the time Nick arrived a little after two o’clock. When he walked in, Allan’s smiling face greeted him from the banner that hung in the lobby.
“Welcome to the Allan Lavigne Creativity and Reading Summer Program.” Nick’s throat felt tight.
Allan would have gotten such a kick out of this, he thought. The lobby area was bustling with people and students. He spotted Kate talking to someone.
He approached them just as the woman said to Kate, “Allan would love this, wouldn’t he?”
“He sure would,” Nick’s voice came up from behind her, startling Kate. He smiled as she turned around and bent down to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. An impulse. The moment of seeing this big event and Kate’s work had tumbled Nick back into an old habit. He quickly pulled back from her.
“Nick…hi. So glad you could make it. This is Mary Beth Langston. Mary Beth, this is Allan’s nephew, Nick Lavigne,” she said, and yes, her voice shook a little. The peck on the cheek had really thrown her for
a loop.
Rein it in, Kate, she thought.
Nick held out a hand, “Mary Beth, hi. I understand you were pretty instrumental for making this all happen.”
Mary Beth was a soft-spoken woman with delicate features. Nick guessed her to be around sixty or so. No doubt she’d dedicated her entire life to books.
“I had very little to do with it.” The librarian smiled, “It was all Kate. She pushed to make this happen, and believe me it wasn’t always easy. So many still don’t understand the power of creativity the way your uncle did.”
Kate shook her head, “Not true. Mary Beth gave hundreds of hours of her time putting this together. Without her, none of this would have happened.”
The head librarian blushed. “Allan deserves this, so his work can live on.”
Nick nodded. “He inspired a lot of writers. I’m glad to hear he still does. Uncle would love that. Of all the things about writing, he loved reaching out to new writers.”
“Well, I have to go and get ready. Kate, why don’t you give Nick a tour before everyone descends on the new room?”
Kate nodded. “Sure, I’ll do that. I’ll see you back here around 2:45?”
Mary Beth took her hands. “I’m so excited, Kate. See you then.”
The librarian left and Kate turned to Nick. “Let’s give you a tour,” she smiled.
Kate led him through the lobby to a large room that was corded off and empty.
“This used to be an auditorium. Years ago, some publishers planned events here—you know, author readings and such. But with publishing budgets shrinking, authors stopped doing tours and the room went vacant most of the time.”
The room was brightly lit and divided up into three sections. One wall was filled with workstations and computers; there were round tables in the center of the room. Each table had five touch screen computers built into it with wooden chairs.
“That area,” Kate pointed to the workstations, “is for older kids who want to work on their creative writing skills. The computer comes with programs to teach students how to be better writers. Allan always believed that after we pulled music out of our schools a whole segment of creativity needs weren’t being met. So, as you know, he spent a lot of time in schools teaching writing skills. He believed that even if students did not have a desire to become writers, creative writing skills would benefit them in other ways. Technology has changed how we communicate. Since email has become the standard form of communication, he worried that we’d start to lose our grasp of how to write—which was pretty insightful considering how much texting has hurt our language.” Kate paused for a moment and led Nick to the round tables.
“Kate, this is incredible.” Nick said, his eyes wider than usual.
She smiled, “We’re all really proud of this, and we had a ton of volunteers. Once the room was outlined and the equipment was ordered, there wasn’t a lot to do on my end. Most of the original desks and furniture has been reused for this.” Her heart soared just being in this room; Kate sat down in one of the chairs at the table and invited Nick to do the same. She touched one of the screens and it sprang to life.
“These are the creativity stations, and they are designed to help children dig deep into creativity. The touch screens have fun exercises geared to help boost the creative side of their brains. There are also exercises they can do in groups, which is why we clustered these in tables of five.”
Kate stood up and led him past the table to an area that looked a bit more like a library. Several bookcases divided it from the rest of the room. There were round tables with standard-sized chairs and another wall of computers, but Nick noticed they all had headphones.
“This area is for reading enhancement. This isn’t age-specific, but the area in general is designed to help students improve their reading. And when they are ready, this area helps them dig into the classics.”
Nick smiled, “He loved the classics, didn’t he? The masters, as he called them.”
Nick remembered that well. When he was a kid, Allan always sent him books by Hemingway and Mark Twain, and when Nick came to New York during his summer break, he would stay with his uncle and they’d spend hours in this very library.
He had a lot of good memories here. They’d spend afternoons knee-deep in books, and Allan would explain passages and prose. Although Nick hadn’t ended up in the writing world, the time had benefited him.
“Uncle and I came here often,” he said, his voice tinged with the emotion the memory brought back. “He taught me so much about the classics. You’re right about creativity and reading. It’s the foundation for everything we do.”
Kate smiled and nodded. “Allan was concerned that we are headed into a culture where creativity isn’t supported the way it once was. Schools are strapped for funding so much so that creative outlets are being eliminated. Creativity is being squashed. For the time being, this will be a summer camp. We’ll need funding to keep it going throughout the school year with programs and such, but we’ve had a couple of contributors step up so it’s likely we’ll be able to keep this running all year.”
Nick wandered the room, making a mental note to donate some money to this. He was overwhelmed. Kate had worked on this from start to finish, and it was simply amazing. The room, the tools, were stunning. Hours and hours of research had gone into this. He was certain of it.
God, how Allan would have adored this center.
Nick finally turned to Kate, “You know Allan would have moved in here, right? I think if he had lived to see this, you would have never gotten him to leave.”
A broad smile creased Kate’s face. “That’s what I wanted, a place that he not only would have been proud of, but one he never wanted to leave. I hope the kids feel the same way.”
Nick walked over to her and stood in front of her. He was overcome by a confusing wave of emotions.
Gratitude, happiness, and what else?
Love?
He pushed that thought out of his mind. Standing close enough to her, he could see a vein pulsate in her neck. He reached out a hand and gently took hers. Every time he inhaled, he picked up a sweet scent—gardenia or something. Her perfume—the one she always wore when they were together. The scent brought back a flood of a thousand emotions. The intoxication of it swirled around him, drawing him in. He leaned into her, her hand firmly in his.
“Kate,” he said. His eyes never let hers go.
Kate could feel her legs and then she couldn’t.
What was happening? His hand felt good, solid, safe. She felt safe with Nick, as she always did. Her heart slammed in her chest.
“We should go,” she said softly, breaking the spell.
She could kick herself. What was she thinking? Oh, right, engaged. She was engaged. She and Nick were over, thanks in large part to her spin-cycle life. Crap. Now that damned therapist’s voice was in her head.
Nick didn’t move. “Right. We should.” When his hand let go, she felt a needle of disappointment pierce her heart.
“I’m really so blown away by all of this, Kate.” He stepped back.
Damn it.
“I’m glad you could be here—that I could share it with you.”
“Kate, Nick. It’s time!” Mary Beth called to them from the other side of the corded off area.
“Coming!” Kate chirped and turned to Nick, “Got your speech prepared?”
“I’m not big on speeches. You sure you don’t want to do this without me?”
“This is a Lavigne legacy. It’s only right that you should say something.” Kate walked past him towards the entrance. “Just a few minutes. It will be painless. I promise.”
Nick smiled as he followed her. “I don’t think in all the years of knowing you that I’ve ever seen you in ‘publicist’ mode.”
Kate laughed, “It’s not that special, really, being a publicist. Mostly, you tell people it’ll be fine and feign interest when they lament their lack of celebrity.”
Nick recalled a few of h
er stories. “I promise not to ask you to make me famous.”
“Oh, really?” Kate cocked her head to one side. “I had such big plans for you.” She smiled.
Oh, God. Was she flirting?
As they approached her, Mary Beth said to them, “Let’s get you both on the stage, and then we’ll have Nick officially open the center.”
“Mary Beth, Nick will be doing a speech, not me. I think it’s better that way.”
The librarian smiled, “That’s perfect. The crowd will love hearing from Allan’s nephew. Quite a few of the high school kids your uncle worked with are here, too. I sat them in the front row. I’m sure they’ll want to come up and talk with you both after.”
Mary Beth ushered Nick onto the stage. She took the mic first.
“I’d like to welcome you all to the Grand Opening of The Allan Lavigne Creativity and Reading Center!”
Applause erupted from the audience. Kate felt the sting of tears burning her eyes. She’d worked so hard to make this happen. It had taken more time, more energy, and more money than she could have ever imagined, but now that the day had arrived she was so glad that she had seen it through. After a few more words, Mary Beth introduced Nick, who stood behind the podium.
Climax: The Publicist, Book Three Page 16
