Celebration's Family (Celebrations, Inc Series Book 5)

by Nancy Robards Thompson

  Things were fine, thanks to Kate.

  Truth be told, Kate had been on his mind since Saturday when he’d gone over to pick up Amanda. Kate had stopped him from making a tactical error—a potentially devastating one as a parent that could’ve caused a cavernous divide between Amanda and him. All Kate had said was “You need to listen to her, Liam.”

  Amanda’s punishment—if you could call it that—was to spend time volunteering for the once-a-month Kids’ Day program and help in the office to plan events for it. Even though it was community service, he suspected it wasn’t unbearable. And that was okay.

  Thanks to Kate, instead of damaging his relationship with Amanda after the big blowup, he and his daughter were closer than ever; but still, it was nice to be able to give Amanda a little supervised distance.

  “I hope you don’t mind,” Judy said. “But I sent Rosie home early.”

  “Not at all,” Liam said. “She probably welcomed the break.”

  She nodded. “Would you like a glass of tea?”

  There was something in her expression that said she wanted to talk. “Thank you,” he said. “That sounds good.”

  The girls were at dance. Well, Amanda was dancing. She had to finish out the season, but she and Liam had agreed that she didn’t have to go back once she was done. Calee was there in her wheelchair—a compromise.

  Judy set the tea on the table and motioned for him to sit down. “So, tell me. Who is this Kate I’ve been hearing so much about?”

  Liam couldn’t understand it, but he felt as if he’d been caught. Judy’s voice wasn’t accusing, and she didn’t seem upset. Still, Liam was taken aback.

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “All Amanda could talk about was this Kate, and I’m curious to know a little more about someone who seems to have captivated her so.”

  Judy had a twinkle in her blue eyes. She was a pretty woman with her gray hair, a little on the heavyset side.

  After a moment of internal hemming and hawing, Liam finally said, “She heads up the foundation that’s been raising money for the hospital’s new pediatric surgical wing. She’s become a good family friend.” What he didn’t say was It’s because of Kate that I learned that my own daughter hates dance. It’s because of Kate that I realized I needed to listen more and judge less. It’s because of Kate that I’ve learned that I just might be able to feel again.... But he couldn’t say all that. Not to Joy’s mother.

  That would be the ultimate betrayal.

  “Are you interested in Kate as more than a friend? Amanda certainly seems to love her.”

  The question made Liam flinch. He hoped that Judy hadn’t noticed. God, sometimes he was so transparent.

  “Amanda likes her because she has horses,” Liam said. “Did she also tell you that she’s probably not going to continue with dance after this season is over?”

  “She did mention that,” Judy said. “She says she wants to volunteer for this Kids’ Day outfit. She says Kate runs that, too. Sounds like a worthy way to spend her time.”

  Liam nodded.

  “It also sounds like this Kate is a pretty nice person. When can I meet her?”

  Liam froze. “I don’t know about that.”

  What he really wanted to say was, if circumstances were different, he’d not only admit he was interested in Kate, he just might admit he’d developed feelings for her. But he had his hands full with work and caring for the girls. From what part of his life could he pull the time to nurture a relationship? It wouldn’t be fair to anyone. So what was the point?

  Besides, if circumstances were truly different, that would mean Joy would still be alive.

  His heart was at war with his head, but his head had to rule. “The girls come first, Judy. I owe it to them to be here for them, at least until they are in college.”

  “Well, in some respects, that’s a very short time because high school will go by in the blink of an eye. But the other side of the coin is that’s five years of your life, and you and I both know, better than most, that tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. You can’t take a single day for granted.”

  “I know that. That’s why I’m going to dedicate that time to Calee and Amanda.”

  Judy leaned in. “Honey, I don’t think you understand what I’m saying—but, wait. Let me ask you something. Did you and Joy have a happy marriage?”

  “Of course we did,” he said. “I loved your daughter deeply. Still do.”

  “I know you do. And it won’t mean you love her any less when you fall in love with someone else. In fact, it seems to me that the best tribute that you could pay her and your marriage will be if you want to get married again. A widower who is eager to get married again is paying his late wife the highest compliment, because that means he associates marriage with happiness. If he shies away from marriage, it’s as if he’s saying, ‘Whoa, Nelly! I narrowly escaped that dungeon. I ain’t going back there ever again.’

  “You need to know that Walt and I will always love you, and we will always be part of your and the girls’ lives. That will never end. Not even when you decide you’re ready to pick up the pieces and move on with your life.”

  The air between them was heavy. For a moment Liam couldn’t breathe for fear of falling apart. The emotion wasn’t triggered by the sadness or reopened wounds. It came from a place much deeper. For the first time since he’d lost Joy, he saw the possibility ahead of him. He just might be able to love again.

  It felt like he was being reborn, all at once learning how to walk and talk and feel once more. It was completely overwhelming. In the swirling maelstrom, he realized the only way to find his equilibrium was to listen...to his heart.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Kate arrived at Laurel Grove Park ten minutes early. Liam had called her that morning and asked if they could meet there for lunch. He wanted to talk to her. Out of self-preservation, she’d declined. But when he’d persisted, she’d relented.

  As she stood under the weeping willow tree waiting for him, she was as nervous as if this were a real date. But it wasn’t, she reminded herself, and she did her best to ignore the disappointment that lay leaden and betraying beneath her breastbone.

  She had an inkling this urgent meeting might have to do with Amanda. Kate had agreed to let the girl—who had proven to be quite good with the Kids’ Day children—serve as a regular volunteer at the ranch over the summer. In fact, if she still proved as passionate about helping out after next month’s event, Kate planned to surprise Amanda by bringing her on as a paid part-time employee. But Kate would cross that bridge when she came to it. Right now she had to get hold of the nerves turning her belly upside down.

  As she waited, she watched a pair of little girls playing on the jungle gym inside a fenced-in playground. Two moms with babies in strollers talked as the preschool-aged girls sped down the deep green slide and then ran around the area before they made their final approach to the swings. When they got there, one of them waved at Kate. The sweet gesture made Kate’s heart squeeze as she waved back.

  Instinctively her hand landed on her flat belly. For an almost imperceptible second, what was left of the once well-constructed fire wall that had formerly surrounded Kate’s heart tumbled.

  The little girls looked like they were about four years old. The same age Kate’s baby would’ve been if the child had lived. Kate’s gaze zipped back to the mothers, sitting on the wooden park bench in their capri pants, colorful blouses and casual sandals; it was a sharp contrast to the business suit and pumps that Kate wore. The women talked and laughed as if they didn’t have a care in the world.

  Kate realized that things weren’t always as they seemed on the surface; despite having healthy children, the women probably weren’t strife-free. Nobody was; people hid their cares and worries behind smiles and jokes and jobs that kept them so busy they didn’t have time to dwell on how life had shortchanged them...or how they’d shortchanged themselves. Kate knew this trick. She’d become an expert at the
masquerade.

  Standing here in her buttoned-up business suit with her guard down, she let herself wonder for the first time since the miscarriage how having a baby might have changed her life. What if she’d gone through with the wedding and had married Gibson Baker, even though she didn’t love him the way he deserved to be loved?

  Would she have learned to be happy with a man she didn’t love? Would they have tried again and again until they’d eventually had the children Kate had so desperately wanted? Would she have grown to love Gibson simply because he was the father of her children? Or, like her mother, would Kate have lived a restless life making miserable the man who loved her? Would she have driven him to the bottle the same way her mother had driven her father over the edge?

  Kate loved Liam. She just didn’t want to be on the opposite side of that futile love equation, either. Not when his heart would always belong to another woman. Loving this emotionally unavailable man had reduced her to settling for pathetic stolen kisses and contrived dates.

  Tears stung her eyes. She wasn’t going to do this.

  Not here. Not now. She needed to leave while she could.

  She turned to walk away and almost bumped head-on into Liam.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Sure, I have something in my shoe.” She bent down and removed her pump, shook out the imaginary pebble, blinking away the moisture in her eyes.

  She had to get a hold of herself before meeting this man. It had been a long time since she’d let her guard down so that anything like the sight of little girls playing on a playground could reduce her to tears. Meeting him here was a bad idea.

  But before she could stand up straight, Liam’s hand was on her elbow steadying her. His touch nearly seared her arm. He smiled at her, and she wasn’t sure if his smile was apologetic or seductive...but that’s what she got for playing with fire.

  She finally had the fortitude to jerk free from his grasp.

  “Kate?” he said.

  “I need to go, Liam,” she said. “I can’t do this again.”

  She started to walk away, but he grabbed her hand.

  “Please wait,” he said. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

  She shook her head. “Please don’t. I heard you the first time when you said you didn’t want to get involved until after the girls were grown. I’m not Kimela. I get it. I thought we covered this when you came to pick up Amanda last week.”

  “You and Kimela are polar opposites. So let’s not even go there, okay? And, yes, we did cover this last week...or at least part of it. But things are different now.”

  His voice was steady and kind. She didn’t know if he was baiting her the same way he had the night of their big date—reeling her in with smooth double-talk, only to throw her back after she bit.

  “Liam, I know what it’s like to be in an unbalanced relationship. Where someone loves you, but you can’t return the feelings. It stinks almost as much as it does to be the one who loves more. I care about you, but I can’t let myself fall in love with a man who will always be in love with someone else.”

  “Could you learn to love a man who is willing to love you enough for both of you? Because I love you, Kate. Before I met you, I thought I’d never be able to love again, but you’ve shown me that’s not true. You’ve saved me. I’m willing to wait as long as it takes for you to love and trust me.”

  Kate stood there, stunned, not sure she’d heard him right, but the look on his face assured her that she had.

  “Kate, I don’t want another day to go by without you in my life. We can take things slowly, but please say you’ll give us a chance.”

  “What about the girls?” Kate asked, still afraid to let down her newly constructed guard. Yet she felt it slipping away, like a person who was hanging on to the ledge of a skyscraper by their fingertips.

  “Amanda loves you,” he said. “In fact, I think if she had to choose between you and me, she’d choose you. Calee loves everyone. No offense to you. I guess I should say Calee loves dance. She’s just an all-around happy kid as long as she’s dancing. And I loved you from the moment you first tried to talk me into doing that crazy auction. I’m so glad you did. I hope you haven’t given up on me.”

  She answered him with a kiss that conveyed every word her heart wanted to say, but her brain couldn’t form. And he held her like he was afraid to let her go.

  Then she remembered there were children nearby, and she pulled away. “I love you, Liam. Always have. Always will.”

  * * *

  Ten days later, Liam and Kate were dancing at the Doctor’s Ball in the Chantilly Ballroom at the Dallas Hilton Anatole.

  “I’m the luckiest man in Texas,” Liam whispered in her ear as they swayed together under a sea of blue-and-white ambient lighting to the strains of a full orchestra playing “Unforgettable.”

  The ball was an annual event hosted by Celebration Memorial Hospital’s Department of Charitable Giving. All proceeds from this dinner dance would benefit the new pediatric surgical wing.

  Traditionally the Doctor’s Ball raised in excess of one hundred thousand dollars each year. This year everyone was particularly excited because it was sure to bring in the last of the funds needed for this project, which had united the entire community of Celebration, Texas.

  It helped, too, that the current honorary chairman was none other than Hugh Newman, who happened to be Hollywood’s hottest leading man and People magazine’s reigning Sexiest Man Alive.

  Even with Hugh in attendance, the fact that Kate seemed to only have eyes for Liam just made him love her more.

  “Well, if it isn’t the Ten-Thousand-Dollar Man,” said Cullen Dunlevy. He was dancing with Maya LeBlanc and steered her over next to Liam. “I see we didn’t have to force you to come to this fund-raiser. Looks like the bachelor auction turned out better than you thought it would.”

  Cullen winked at Kate.

  “I’ll concede,” said Liam. “You’re right. What I thought was going to be a miserable experience turned out to be one of the best things that’s happened to me in a very long time. But isn’t it interesting that you and our colleagues—Vogler, Roberts, Chamberlin, Benton and Lennox—were the ones who were so gung ho on the bachelor auction and yet all came stag to the ball tonight.”

  Cullen laughed. “We may not have gotten as lucky as you and Kate, but at least we’re out there trying.”

  “Lucky me, I am off the market.” He leaned in and planted a kiss on Kate’s delicious lips.

  “And I am the one who called this relationship before I even met you, Liam. Did I not, ma cheri?” Maya arched her right eyebrow and waited expectantly for Kate to give her her due.

  “Yes, you did, Maya,” said Kate. “You are a sage woman. I will happily endorse your matchmaking skills.”

  “You two silly lovers,” she said. “You wasted all this time fighting fate. Had you just listened to me, you could’ve saved yourselves a world of heartache. But non. And you are not the only ones who do not listen. Those two over there—” she nodded discreetly toward Hugh Newman and Bia Anderson, the editor of the Dallas Journal of Business and Development “—they have been canoodling all evening. Even though they seem cozy, they are not destined to end up together.”

  She pursed her lips and gave a single shoulder shrug.

  “Did you tell them that?” Kate asked, sounding a little stunned.

  “Mais, oui.” Maya sighed. “But they do not listen.”

  “Maya, I don’t mean to be rude,” Kate said. “But do you know Bia well enough to give her unsolicited relationship advice? I don’t mean to hurt your feelings, but that was part of the problem when you told me Liam was my soul mate.”

  “She told you we were soul mates?” Liam asked.

  Kate nodded. “Yes, about five minutes into our first face-to-face conversation.”

  Maya laughed, but there was a sad note to the sound. “I know Bia better than anyone realizes, and I will be here for her whe
n her heart is broken.”

  “That’s so sad,” Kate said. “Especially when I want everyone to be as deliriously happy as we are.”

  “Oh, no worries, ma cheri,” she said. “She has already met her perfect match. She just doesn’t know it yet.”

  Cullen hummed the Twilight Zone music and they all laughed.

  “Even you, Dr. Dunlevy. You, too, will meet your soul mate one of these days.”

  “But I’m dancing with her now.” He twirled Maya away from him and then spun her back into his chest.

  “You are a handsome, charming man,” she said. “Alas, I am not the one for you.”

  “And how do you know these things, Maya?” Liam asked.

  Maya smiled and shook her head. “It is just an intuition. I know that they are wrong for each other—” she nodded again to Bia and Hugh “—the same way I knew that the two of you will have a long, happy life together. That’s why I am the matchmaker. And that is why I was willing to bet ten thousand dollars that you were right for each other.”

  “What?” Liam asked.

  Kate’s eyes widened. “Were you the one who sent the anonymous ten-thousand-dollar check to the Macintyre Foundation?”

  Maya simply smiled as she gave her adorable one-shoulder shrug, then spun away from Cullen, who followed her into the middle of the crowded dance floor.

  “So Maya was our benefactor,” said Kate.

  “I’d say she bet right on the money.” Liam pulled Kate close. “But we are definitely the winners. I love you, Kate.”

  “I love you, too,” Kate said. “Like I’ve never loved anyone before.”

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from THE DOCTOR’S FORMER FIANCÉE by Caro Carson.

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