Full Circle Love (A Four Part Anthology of Cat & Zach Stories)

by Lori Leger

  Kellie stretched her back and placed a hand over her baby bump. “I could use a break from all this, anyway. I need to get some baking done for Thursday.” She took a step toward the door then stopped. “Do you think mom played us?”

  Cat thought about how her mom had been going along so easily with all of their plans. She hadn’t given one solitary opinion since they’d begun making plans. “You girls do whatever you think is best,” was all she ever said. She found herself nodding as she began to recall bits and pieces of their conversations. “You know, I think my husband has hit the target at dead center on this one. I believe our mom played us like a set of kettle drums. Hm … ”

  Kellie’s gaze narrowed on her sister. “What are you thinking, Cat? I totally recognize the evil scheming glaze over your eyes. I haven’t seen that look since I hit you with a water balloon on Halloween night about thirteen years ago.”

  Cathryn’s chuckle resonated throughout the room. “Damn straight. I got you back good, didn’t I?”

  “Yes you did, but that was downright cruel and unusual punishment―planting a trail of toilet paper on the back of my jeans the way you did. It took me all of junior high to live that down.”

  “Ah, but you learned not to do it again, didn’t you, young grasshopper?”

  Kellie laughed and gave her sister a nod. “Yes I did, oh, venerable master.”

  Cat picked up her phone and began dialing her mother’s number. “Uh-huh, I think we need to teach our mother the same lesson.”

  Ellen and Gavin wove their way around The Regatta restaurant tables until they made it over to a long table looking over the water.

  Doc Barton smiled at the three women already seated at the table. “I thought I’d treat you girls to lunch today. I’ve seen Donna and Kellie recently, but how are you doing, Cathryn?”

  “Just fine,” Cat said, sounding somewhat unenthusiastic.

  Ellen hung her purse on the chair and stopped to contemplate the sour looks all three young women wore. “What’s wrong? Has something happened?”

  Kellie and Cathryn gazed up at her, both of their faces masked in frowns and troubled brows.

  Cat bit her lower lip and finally answered. “Zachary and I had a huge argument this morning.”

  Donna looked sheepishly at her father-in-law. “Drew and I did, too.”

  “Oh, no, over what?”

  Donna and Cat exchanged glances. “It doesn’t matter,” Donna insisted.

  Cat put on a brave face and continued. “What’s important is that you and Mr. Gavin have the absolute perfect wedding.”

  “I just came from my OB appointment, Mom. Dr. Brown put me on bed rest for the duration of my pregnancy. Cat and Donna are going to have to shoulder the wedding planning without my help.”

  “Which I absolutely don’t mind doing,” Donna interjected.

  Cat picked up her glass of iced tea. “I don’t either. Zach will just have to get over it. I’ll just have to push back my deadline.” She picked up her glass and sighed. “Surely, my readers won’t mind. I’ve only missed one,” she added, in a barely audible whisper.

  Ellen exchanged an antsy look with Gavin before addressing the three women. “Are you all crazy? Kellie, you need to go home right now.”

  “I wanted one last meal not eaten in a bed for the next five months, Mom. Guess we’ll stay home for Thanksgiving this year.” She sighed and looked down to finger the corner of her napkin. “Y’all have fun without me.”

  “Ohhh … ” Ellen could have burst into tears at the thought of not spending Thanksgiving with her daughter, but if it was good for the baby, she’d find some way to bring Thanksgiving to Kellie.

  She turned to Cathryn and Donna. “What’s going on with you two and your husbands?”

  “Zach’s majorly aggravated at the mess in the house. He’ll get over it. I mean, we’ll have plenty of other quiet Christmas Eve’s at home.”

  Donna shrugged. “Drew says I’m spending too much time away from him and the girls.”

  Ellen collapsed on the chair across from them. “You girls cannot handle this on your own. What can we do to simplify things?”

  Cathryn shook her head adamantly. “No, you wanted it simple. We know you and Doc didn’t want to mess with any of this. You just wanted to go to Vegas and get it over with by yourselves.”

  “True. But you have such a lovely ceremony planned, and you’ve gone to so much effort already. I’ll hire someone to take over all the preparations so you girls can sit back and relax.”

  Cathryn and Donna exchanged looks again and both reached out to grab one of Ellen’s hands.

  “Absolutely not, Ms. Ellen.” Donna squeezed her hand tightly. “We wanted you to have the wedding of your dreams, not ours, but we kind of took over.”

  Cathryn looked from her sister, to Donna, and then to Ellen. “Maybe it would have been better if you and Doc had the wedding you wanted, instead of the wedding we wanted for you. Maybe you two should go to Las Vegas on Christmas Eve, like you’d planned to do from the beginning.”

  Ellen sat back. All the lift from her previously floating-on-air-soul had completely depleted in the two or three minutes she’d been listening to her daughters.

  “You and Zach are really arguing over my wedding?”

  Cat bit down on her lower lip and lowered her head in her hands, unable or unwilling to face her.

  “And you and Drew are doing the same?” Ellen asked Donna.

  Donna nodded as she met Ellen’s gaze.

  “I’m so sorry. I do want this wedding. I just … I’m awful. I’m an awful, awful, deceitful person.”

  Kellie clasped her mother’s hands in both of her own. “No, you aren’t. You’re the best mother in the world. I’d bet my daughter’s college fund that you’ve never done a deceitful thing in your life.”

  “Don’t say that for God’s sake!” Ellen pulled her hands out from under Kellie’s and wiped her damp forehead as she faced her fiancé. “Boy it’s hot in here, suddenly.”

  “No, it isn’t. Are you running a temperature?” Kellie reached out to feel her forehead.

  “No.” Ellen shook her hands. “I’m, I’m not … oh, I’m sick all right, sick with myself.” She took a deep breath and released it slowly.

  “We owe you girls a big apology,” Gavin said.

  “No, I owe you girls a big apology.” Ellen sat up straight as Kellie’s eyes grew wide. Cat’s shoulders began to shake uncontrollably as she kept her face covered. “Cat, sweetie, don’t cry. I’ll explain everything to Zachary until you two are okay again. This is entirely my fault. It was my idea, and Gavin just went along with it.”

  Donna pinned her with a curious gaze. “What idea?”

  “I knew if I mentioned going to Las Vegas, that you girls would plan a wedding for Gavin and me.”

  “I don’t … understand.” Kellie’s eyes grew even wider.

  “We never wanted to get married in Vegas—and surely not if it meant being away from our families on Christmas Eve. I only said that so you two would plan something for us. Donna, I had no idea you’d be dragged into this so deeply.”

  “You tricked us, on purpose?”

  Cat finally stemmed her tears enough to uncover her face and gaze at her mother, her eyes red-rimmed from crying. “Are you saying you manipulated us?”

  Ellen hung her head, shamefully. “I’m not proud of it, but—yes—yes, I did.”

  “We did. I’m just as much to blame as Ellen.” Gavin put his arm around his fiancée’s shoulder. “I hope you kids can find it in your hearts to forgive us.”

  Gavin’s support didn’t make her feel any less guilty. Ellen closed her eyes and waited for the shameful accusations to start. What she heard was a quiet sniffling, then snorting, then full-blown guffaws of laughter bursting from the three women seated across from them.

  She gazed at her girls, Cat wiping tears of laughter from her eyes and Kellie holding her sides as she giggled uncontrollably. Donna slapped her thigh
as her own laughter bubbled forth.

  “What the hell?”

  Ellen barely heard Gavin’s mumbled question.

  “Wait until I tell Zach he was right. Oh God, he’s going to love it.” Cathryn used her drink napkin to wipe her eyes.

  “Brad, too, I can’t wait to tell Dr. Brown how I included him in this. He said if it was true he planned on giving you a piece of his mind, Doc Barton. Shame on you both.” Her attempts at being serious dissolved into another bout of uncontrollable laughter.

  Donna finally gained control of herself. “Oh, God, this has been the best day ever. I wish the two of you could see the looks on your faces.”

  Ellen’s gaze landed on one daughter, then the other, then to her future step-daughter-in-law. “You knew?”

  “I didn’t suspect a thing until Zach said something about it. Then the puzzle pieces started falling into place.”

  “Yeah, like you saying, ‘You girls just do whatever you want to do,’” Kellie snorted.

  “And ‘I’m sure Gavin and I will just love it, you’re both so incredibly creative and talented’,” Cathryn added in an exaggeratedly sappy voice.

  “Dad kept telling me how much he appreciated me pitching in to help,” Donna said.

  “Well, I did!” Gavin admitted.

  Ellen tried to suppress the grin but couldn’t. Soon, she too, burst into an uncontrollable fit of giggles. Gavin eventually joined in with a masculine chuckle as all four women wiped tears of laughter from their eyes.

  Ellen gasped for breath. “Oh, girls … I so had that coming to me. I admit it. It was a nice touch to invite Donna to this.”

  “We figured it was only fair that she be included since she’s been designing all the floral arrangements and purchasing the poinsettias and pines at cost.” Cat shook her head. “You know, Mom, all y’all had to do was ask. We’re more than happy to plan your wedding. We, all of us, we just want the two of you to be happy again.”

  “Seriously, we both would have been satisfied with something much simpler. You girls have all gone out of your way, but let’s cut back on the plans and keep it simple for everyone.”

  Donna shook her head. “Nope. The plans are already simple enough―forty of you and dad’s closest family members and friends at his home along Lake Erin. It’ll be a quick ceremony by our priest so anyone with plans can go home and the rest of us can party all night long.”

  “That’s right, plans are made and we’re sticking to them.” Cathryn nodded at Donna and Kellie. “But, the three of us have decided to push it all aside until after Thanksgiving so we can enjoy ourselves.”

  Ellen beamed as Gavin pulled her closer into his arms. “Do you girls know how much we both love you?”

  Kellie smiled. “I think we do.”

  Ellen wiped her eyes and grabbed the menu. “I’m starving. Let’s order and then discuss Thanksgiving.”

  Cathryn grinned. “Ditto. The three of us are ready to talk turkey if you are.”

  Chapter 13

  Zach pulled into his regular spot behind the feed store and climbed out of his truck. Zeus, his massive eighty-pound Golden Retriever, followed him out and ran to the backdoor. His immediate series of deep barks and growls got his master’s attention.

  “Oh man, don’t tell me,” Zach whispered under his breath. All the local business owners were worried about the breakins around town, and he prayed his place hadn’t been added to the list. He approached the door, saw it had been jimmied open, and immediately pulled out his cell phone and called the local cops. Rather than wait for them, he pushed the door open with his elbow and stepped inside. “Son of a―” The rest of the curse died on his lips as he surveyed the damage to his store. By the time the cops arrived a few minutes later, he’d already approximated the damage to be well over ten grand.

  “They were thorough as hell, that’s for sure.” The chief shook her head at the mess. “This makes the third businesses in less than month. Every time it’s the same thing—hardly anything missing, but a lot of damage. Whoever it is, they are really startin’ to piss me off.”

  “Anyone being questioned as a person of interest?”

  “Not a one.” Sherry Jeansonne cursed under her breath. “I’ve been chief of police for nearly ten years. We’ve had the occasional problems with mild vandalism in the past, but nothing this serious. Every business they’ve hit is a mom and pop that’s been around for twenty years or more―Doucet Electronics, Lakeside Flowers, and now this place. It’s almost like they’re trying to drive people out of business.”

  “Or maybe we’ve been chosen because our places don’t have fancy alarm systems.”

  Sherry nodded. “You could be right. The other businesses have all added them since the breakins. They’ve all used Stanley Home Security out of Jennings. Everyone says SHS has been beating the prices of the bigger companies by enough to make it worth looking into. Personally, I can’t stand dealing with them since the son took over the family business. That guy’s a real prick, but that’s just my opinion.”

  “Which son?”

  “I think his name’s Jack.”

  Zach grunted and coughed, nearly choking when he heard the name. “It’ll be a cold day in hell before I buy a security system or anything else from that son of a bitch.”

  The chief nodded. “He’s a real sleaze-ball, isn’t he? It’s a real shame too, because his dad ran a top notch operation for years. His systems were reliable. Really, all you’d have to do is keep that dog of yours here during the night. That son of a gun would make anybody think twice about breaking and entering. What do you feed that thing?”

  Zach sent the chief a smile as he reached out to scratch Zeus on the head. “Only the best, huh, Zeus? And plenty of it, but I don’t think he could take being separated from me and Cat for that long. For as big as he is, he’s as loveable as a puppy and spoiled rotten.”

  Zach straightened and shook his head. “Man, I hate to rely on an alarm system. My dad and gramps always said if you can’t trust the people around you, you can’t trust anybody.”

  “Yeah, that’s a noble thought, but the problem is that we have an influx of people who are new to the area and don’t have your history. I’m not saying it’s any of them, of course, just that we don’t know them well enough to be sure they’re trustworthy.” She glanced around the building, surveying the mess. “How soon can you get me a list and total amount of the damages?”

  Zach ran his hand through his hair. “I have to wait for my insurance agent to get here. I can’t start cleaning up until Bev sees this mess. I’m sure as I clean, I’ll uncover even more, but I’ll get it to you as soon as possible, maybe by tomorrow.”

  Cathryn stepped inside and covered her mouth as she gazed at the damages to her husband’s family business. “Oh, Zach, this is awful.”

  He met her and pulled her into his arms for a hug. “I know, right? But damn, Babe, thanks for coming to meet me. How’d you know I needed a hug from my girl?”

  She drew her arms around his waist and squeezed, trying to give as much comfort as she got from having his arms wrapped around her. “I came to see if you need help cleaning up this mess.”

  “Nah, me and the guys will handle it.” He pointed at the men who’d worked with his dad and now for him.

  He pulled away and gave her the most heart-achingly sweet smile a man could give. Funny, but all she could think of was how badly she wanted a child with her handsome husband. “I’m so sorry, Zach.”

  He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “We’ve got insurance, and for all the damage they did to the building, they didn’t destroy or steal any of the merchandise. My business won’t be interrupted at all. I’ll board up the windows and use padlocks until I can make repairs. I’ll have to replace both computers, the cash register, and my printer combo—sons a bitches poured paint all over everything.”

  “If you write down some model numbers I can help you with that.”

  “When? In the middle of baking pies and s
tuffing the turkey for tomorrow? No, you’ve got enough to do.” Zach waved his hand around to encompass the mess. “All this can wait until after Thanksgiving.”

  “After Thanksgiving? You want to go shopping on Black Friday? It’s only the busiest, most crowded shopping day of the entire year.”

  “I was thinking more like Saturday. I plan on spending the first half of Friday eating leftovers until my belly hurts, and then sleeping it off the rest of the day. That is, if I can get my wife to get lazy along with me.”

  Cat chuckled low in her throat at her husband’s low-keyed plans, knowing, without a doubt, he wouldn’t keep still for that long. “We’ll see.”

  By the end of the day, Zach and company had the store cleaned of all broken glass, and the windows boarded up. He’d finished placing the padlock on the back door when a black Cadillac SUV pulled up next to his truck. A man, possibly in his mid-forties, emerged from the vehicle and approached him, wearing a smile to go along with his casual business attire.

  Zach, who was in no mood to do anything other than go home to his wife, mustered his manners and tipped his New Orleans Saints cap at the man. “What can I do for you?”

  The man extended his hand and smiled too widely for comfort in Zach’s current state of mind.

  “I’m Jack Stanley from Stanley Home Security, just up the highway in Jennings.”

  Zach pulled back the hand he’d started to offer, and paused to study the man. The Jack Stanley that he remembered would be about thirty, and this guy looked a good fifteen years older. But yeah, it was him, all right. He had a much fuller face, a huge paunch, and about a quarter of the hair he had ten years ago. This jerk was the same sleaze ball he’d gladly give his left nut to have a go at in a back alley, again. “Zach Ferguson.”

  “I hear your place was broken into last night.”

  “Oh, yeah? News travels fast. Who told you?”

  “I spoke to Chief Jeansonne this morning. It’s the third time in less than a month that something like this has happened in Lake Erin.”