by Rachel Cross
She strode away.
“I can’t believe you, “Emma hissed. “What’s wrong? Why don’t you want to go on?”
Kate glanced at her, settling herself onto the padded seat. “I don’t want to be on television.”
Emma frowned. “Then why did you come?” Her eyes widened. “Oh. Free trip to New York. Brilliant.”
Heat rose in Kate’s cheeks. “No, I … I thought I could. But I can’t.”
Emma shrugged. “Whatever. After this we can spend the day together.”
Kate and Emma sat through endless news updates. Finally they showed clips of the town of Cielito and surfers riding waves.
Alec walked out, glanced at Kate in the audience and gave her a little wave. He shook hands with Bethany Lucas and Jim Robinson, the co-hosts, before taking a seat on the couch. Alec’s dark gray suit fit him perfectly, only his longish hair kept him from looking outrageously conservative.
Kate perched on the edge of her chair.
The hostess frowned. “We thought there would be two guests this morning … ” She glanced over her shoulder at the producer shaking his head.
“Yeah, well, you’ll have to make do with me this morning. She’s shy.”
Bethany Lucas laughed. “She is?”
Jim Robinson peered out into the bright lights. “Is she here?” He pressed a hand to his ear and announced, “They tell me she’s here. Redhead in the front row.”
Kate stiffened in the seat, afraid to draw a breath.
Alec lost his smile.
“Aww. Tell her to come on up. We’ll be gentle,” Bethany said.
A man in a faux western shirt with very short hair covered by headphones, and an electronic tablet in one hand tried to draw Kate out of her chair.
Kate struggled. The audience laughed.
Jim Robinson stood up, beckoning.
“There she is!” Bethany Lucas announced gaily.
Cameras swung in their direction. Kate stilled mid-struggle and tried to block Emma from the cameras. There were several directed at them and she didn’t know which was on. Rather than get into a wrestling match with the determined chic gentleman with the vise-like grip, Kate allowed herself to be pulled toward the stairs and onto the stage.
There was applause and laughter from the audience. Kate felt her cheeks warm. A staff member clipped a microphone on her dress and gave her a push in the direction of the set.
Bethany took her hand and winked at her. Alec stood, and led her shaking body to the couch next to him.
“So Alec, can you tell us what happened?” Bethany asked.
Alec recounted the events of that morning. Kate watched his lips as he spoke, mesmerized by that beautiful mobile mouth. He laughed at something the host said, revealing teeth slightly uneven on the bottom row. She could’ve watched him talk forever, his square jaw moving, his sensual lips opening as he said … Wait, what’s he saying?
She sat forward, eyes wide with alarm. Oh my God. Here she was on live national television mooning over Alec Sawyer and paying no attention whatsoever to what he was saying. How long had she been staring at him?
She tuned in to hear an absurdly modest re-telling of his role in the rescue. He credited Kate with noticing the missing surfer, recovering him, leading the charge to the beach and the rescue breathing.
“Did you think it could’ve been a shark attack?” The hostess was clearly enamored with Alec. If she moved any closer she’d be sitting on him.
Alec shook his head. “No. Shark attacks on surfers are rare. When it happens, it’s usually because the outline of the board below the water looks like a seal. We’re more of a threat to them than they are to us. Lots of surfers have seen sharks — ”
“Have you?” Bethany asked, leaning forward, titillated.
Alec shrugged. “Sure. I’ve been surfing in California for fifteen years. They don’t bother me and I don’t bother them.”
She gave a little shudder. “You’re very brave.” Bethany actually batted her eyes at him. Kate fought with a grin and lost.
Alec had a polite smile, what she had come to think of as his airport smile, firmly in place. How disturbing that she was able to differentiate between his smiles after two days. She was as smitten as this television hostess.
Jim, the male co-host, turned to Kate with his thousand mega-watt smile. He led her gently, as though he’d seen a lot of nervous people on this couch. He started with a few questions about her job and Cielito, before asking for details about the rescue. Eager to set the record straight, Kate forgot to be nervous and launched into her take on the events of that morning.
“I couldn’t have gotten the man, Doug, out of the water without Alec. And without Alec calling nine-one-one, Doug would’ve had no chance, so I have to take issue with Alec’s version of things.” She shook her head at him.
The reporter nodded, his silence encouraging Kate to continue.
“The Cielito paramedics, firefighters, and police who responded did a great job. And of course, I have to mention the wonderful team at Cielito Community Hospital who are still caring for him.”
“Yes, but it was a very brave thing you did. Your parents must be very proud of you,” Bethany said.
Kate swallowed, caught off-guard. To her horror, her throat thickened. Blinking rapidly to hold back tears, she turned instinctively to Alec. He leaned toward Kate, and captured her hand.
“Kate’s father wasn’t around. When her mother died, cancer, right Kate?”
She nodded.
“Kate raised her younger sister,” he said.
There was a collective gasp from the audience.
She looked out into the sea of faces, spotted Emma and the sisters exchanged tearful smiles.
“She’s an amazing woman. I know her sister is proud of her.” He squeezed her hand and she returned the squeeze, indebted to him. The last few moments of the interview, Jim turned a glittering smile on Alec.
“You two seem very comfortable. Rescue leads to romance?” His gaze lingered on their still joined hands, a knowing smile on his thin lips.
Kate’s body stiffened.
What the heck? They met the day before yesterday!
“No.” She blurted, tugging her hand from Alec’s. She felt more than saw Alec brace himself. She racked her brain. She couldn’t embarrass him after he covered for her mini-break down on national television.
“He’s a lawyer.” Tense with nerves, it came out a lot more horrified than she intended.
The audience laughed and Alec’s eyes lit with merriment. He put his hand to his chest as if she had wounded him deeply and there was more laughter from both the co-hosts and the audience.
“There you have it folks,” Bethany said. “The transformation from bad-boy to model citizen is complete. We want to thank Alec and Kate for acting so heroically and making this world a better place. I know there’s a surfer out in California who owes his life to the two of you.”
The hostess turned away to face the audience. “Thanks for being with us this morning.” They went to commercial. Kate closed her eyes and prayed her father wasn’t watching.
Chapter 7
Kate and Emma took the limo back to the hotel. Alec had several more talk shows and interviews. Exhausted, Kate wanted nothing more than to go upstairs and curl up in that big hotel bed until her flight out tomorrow. She looked longingly at the elevator bank.
“I need coffee, Em, if I’m going to keep up with you today.”
“I can’t believe we get to spend the day together in New York City,” Emma squealed. “If only I didn’t have an exam tomorrow. I miss you, Kate.”
“Me too, Em. More than you know. What should we do?”
“Shop,” Emma said.
Kate tensed and a groan escaped her.
&nb
sp; Emma narrowed her eyes.
“How about some tourist stuff instead, like the Empire State Building or Times Square?”
Emma’s lips stretched into a thin line. “No. And no museums. D.C. is full of museums. Please, Kate, the shopping in New York is to die for.”
Kate stifled a sigh. “We can’t spend all day shopping. Why don’t we go to Central Park or Times Square first?” And hopefully, run out of time for shopping.
Emma agreed with bad grace. “Fine.”
“It’s a compromise.” She smiled at Emma who wouldn’t meet her gaze.
Why did it have to be so difficult? Why couldn’t Emma understand that her college costs precluded things like a shopping spree in New York? Kate was stretched pretty thin these days but it was never any use pleading poverty with her sister. Emma would just bring up the insurance money. What was left of the insurance money would barely cover her tuition at the private college she attended, never mind room, board, and books.
“Just … please, Kate, I’ll go along to your tourist spots if you promise we can hit Bergdorf’s before my train.”
Kate gave a short nod. “But how much — ”
Emma sigh was long and loud. “I don’t know how much I’ll need Kate. I haven’t been there.”
Kate twisted her hands together. Emma had zero ability to budget and claimed her class schedule was too rigorous to get a part-time job. They would fight and end the day on a bad note, with Kate falling into her nay saying ways. Something of her conflict must have registered on her face, because Emma examined her closely.
“Don’t worry, I won’t break the bank,” she said, softly.
Emma gave her a one-armed hug and just like that, Kate’s frustration vanished. It was impossible to stay mad at her sister.
As they wandered the city, Emma chatted about friends and school and Kate studied her. She’d never known anyone like Emma — incredibly naive, good-natured, and volatile. So volatile. Emma felt things viscerally, but her ease bouncing back from major and minor setbacks in life was awe-inspiring. Parenting Emma through the traumatic high school years had been agonizing. Granted, Kate had always been more emotionally stable than Emma. But lately she wondered if it was easy to be stable when you didn’t take risks. Was she cautious to a fault, self-protective and responsible because she’d had to be or because that was her nature? Whichever. She promised herself and Ava that she would step out of her comfort zone.
Kate considered her sister. Though they shared the shape of their mother’s eyes and her mouth, Emma had fine straight, strawberry-blonde hair and hazel eyes. She was taller than Kate, but not by much.
A few hours later, they sat outside a bakery, eating pastries and people watching. Emma was talking and Kate realized she’d tuned her sister out.
“I’m sorry, Em. What were you saying?”
“I’m going to try to find him. Just thought you should know.”
Kate stared, breath frozen in her lungs.
“Why do you always react like this when I bring up Dad?” Emma frowned. “It’s natural to be curious. My friends at school wonder why I’ve never even met him.”
“Emma. We weren’t adopted. We’ve lived in the same town our whole lives. If he wanted to know us, he could have.” A tiny lie, as lies went.
“I want to meet him,” she insisted, stubbornly. “The holidays will be here in a couple of weeks. Maybe he’d want to spend them with us.”
Kate couldn’t keep the horror from her expression. “I don’t think he’s a good guy.”
“You always say that. What does that even mean?”
“It means I think he’s a creep.” Kate picked her pastry apart, schooling her features into neutrality.
“Do you remember him?”
“Well, no, not really.” Kate could feel her sister’s eyes boring holes in her and refused to meet them, keeping her expression carefully blank and her eyes on her plate.
“Did Mom tell you he was a creep?” Emma pressed.
Kate took a sip of her tea to wet her suddenly dry mouth. “No. The Morgans did. Mom didn’t mention him much.”
Be vague.
Emma cocked her head. “Don’t quote Diana and Roy Morgan to me. You’ve always put too much stock in what they say.”
“How can you say that, Emma? The Morgans were Mom’s best friends. They helped with everything after she died.”
Emma shrugged. “Don’t you think it’s weird he hasn’t tried to contact us? I mean, he’s our father. And if it was about child support, now that I’m eighteen he doesn’t have to worry about that.”
“Honestly, I don’t think contacting him is a good idea. Diana says — ”
“Well, I want to meet him and decide for myself.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “And I’m tired of hearing about what Diana says. It’s not her family.”
Kate closed her eyes behind the sunglasses. “I don’t want you to contact him. I’m serious, Emma.”
“I don’t care,” she said, equally firm, “I’m going to try to find him.”
Heart racing, desperate, Kate tried the truth. “Em, he’s a really bad person.”
“How do you know?” Emma narrowed her eyes. “Have you had contact with him?”
“No,” she said.
“Well. It’s my decision.” She gave Kate a nod, then smiled. “Let’s not fight about it, ’kay?”
Kate tossed enough money on the table to cover their drinks and desserts then stood, looking at her sister. Emma didn’t always follow through on things. Maybe school would keep her busy enough that she wouldn’t pursue it. Maybe their father would be hard for her to find.
“So, what kind of things are you going to need for the ski trip?” Kate asked.
Emma looked up, brows creased. “What ski trip?”
Kate’s eyes widened. “The ski trip you need five hundred dollars for?”
Emma turned away, “Oh. Oh, yeah.” She gave a strangled laugh “Everything’s included.”
Kate peered at her, frowning. “Everything? What about a ski jacket? All you have is your coat and — ”
“Don’t worry about it okay? I can borrow what I need. C’mon. Onward.” Emma pulled away and led them to the street to flag a cab. Kate watched her retreating back, puzzled.
A cab drove up. Emma opened the door, scooting into the rear seat.
“Bergdorf’s, please.” Kate said, climbing in. They settled into the pleather seat.
Emma’s cell phone rang and she squealed. “Kate, mind if I get this? That’s Angie’s ringtone.”
Kate waved her hand and stared out the window, lost in thought.
Before she died, their mother, Marilyn Gibson, insisted Kate wasn’t to contact their father, Matt. She refused to say why and each time Kate brought it up her mom became more and more agitated until finally Kate stopped mentioning him. After her mother’s death, in search of answers, Kate brought up the issue of their father with her mom’s best friend Diana Morgan. Diana had arranged a meeting with the lawyer, Aldrich, who handled the will. She clearly remembered sitting in the legal office with Aldrich and Diana.
“What about our dad?” Kate said. “Shouldn’t he get custody of Emma instead of me?”
“Over my dead body,” Diana said.
“I think, Ms. Gibson, if you review these documents, you’ll see why we want you to have custody,” the attorney said, quietly.
Both people in the room looked at her with varying degrees of pity.
Kate eyed the thick file in his hands. “Marilyn Gibson” was written in pen on the front and at the tab. Aldrich handed it to Kate and she opened the folder, flipping through the papers and pausing to skim each one.
Legal documents, police reports, court filings, Polaroid’s … Shock fled and horror took its place. She hunc
hed over, fingers trembling, stomach leaden. This was what her mother couldn’t tell her about her father? This was why he was never mentioned?
Shaking her head, Kate went through the papers again, calculating dates. She paused and held a hand to her increasingly sick stomach, then moved it to cover her mouth. Kate lurched out of the chair, dumped the papers from her lap and fell to her knees.
Diana grabbed the trashcan from behind the desk and put it in front of her.
When there was nothing left in her stomach, Kate sat weakly and stared at the floor.
“I’m so sorry, honey,” Diana whispered. “There is no easy way to tell you these things and your mom couldn’t.”
• • •
“Kate? Kate?” Emma gave her a strange look. “Sheesh. You were totally zoned out.” The cab had stopped. Kate fixed a smile firmly to her mouth before paying the cabbie. When Emma turned eighteen Kate had finally stopped looking over her shoulder. There was no way she would let Emma bring that man into their lives now. No way.
Chapter 8
The hotel room phone rang, jolting Kate out of her reverie. How long had she been in the bathtub anyway? She had needed to soak the city grime off after a day of running around Manhattan with Emma. Exhausted and hungry, she eyed the corner of the bathroom that housed the toilet and a phone. This place was outrageous. Why was there a phone next to the toilet anyway? Gross. She wrapped herself in the luxurious white bath sheet and picked up the receiver with a wet hand.
“Kate?” a familiar male voice asked.
Her heart leapt in her chest, then accelerated. She heard his voice, her body responded. Not good. “Hey, Alec.”
“Did I wake you?”
“No, I was taking a bath.”
There was a long silence. God. Did that sound like a come on?
She changed the subject hastily. “Do you have a phone next to your toilet too?”
He laughed. “Yes, but I’m not calling from that phone.”
“Oh. Good.”
“Yeah.” Alec responded with another short laugh. “Are you interested in dinner?”
