Rachel’s eyes grew wide when she looked at the cover. “You’re with Katherine Adams?”
“You’re the second person who’s reacted that way.” He smiled. “Surprised?”
“Yeah.” Rachel opened the book to the title page and read the inscription. “This is amazing.”
“She’s older than me and it bothers her.” David sat on the bed next to his sister.
“I figured. How much older?”
“She’s forty.”
Rachel looked at the book jacket photo. “Looks great for forty.”
David leaned forward, rested his elbows on his knees and twisted his fingers. “I don’t know how this is going to turn out. She doesn’t trust me. And now that the baby isn’t there to hold us together, I’m worried I’ll lose her.”
“Why doesn’t she trust you?” The question was asked, but he could see she already knew the answer, so he didn’t say anything. Rachel snapped her fingers in mock realization. “Let me guess. You didn’t call, you were seeing other women, and unlike the desperate girls you tend to date, Kate wouldn’t put up with your shit.”
“That pretty much sums it up.”
“I love you so, but you are such an ass.”
“I know, and she’s hung up about her age.”
Rachel shook her head. “It isn’t about her age. It’s about yours.”
Thinking about it only made it worse. Kate had been right to hold back, because he’d made a pretty big mess of it so far. David rose and walked over to his bag again and pulled a small red box from a zipped compartment. Rachel sat up very straight as he handed her the box. “I bought this for her when I was in New York.”
Rachel ran her hand over the top of the box, which he could see she recognized as coming from Cartier’s. “Dropped a bundle, eh?”
“I had to fight the urge to spend more. She doesn’t like it when I go overboard.”
His sister grinned approvingly and opened the box. A little gasp escaped her lips when her eyes saw the necklace for the first time. “Oh my…”
It was magnificent and simple: a pendant of three intertwined bands, each a different shade of gold, hung on a triple gold chain.
“It’s called a Trinity necklace. Each color means something—the yellow gold is for friendship, the white for faithfulness, and the pink for love.”
The look in his sister’s eyes was hard to explain. But it almost seemed like she was proud of him, like he’d gotten it right.
“It’s beautiful, David. Simply beautiful.” She closed the box and handed it to him.
“I was going to give it to her the night before I went away, but we spent it at the hospital.”
“Have you thought this through? You haven’t known her long.” Rachel tried to play devil’s advocate.
But David knew. For once, he was sure.
“I know. I’ve danced around this since I met her, and it took me a while to realize she’s what I need. When I’m with her, I feel like the person I want to be.”
It was the first time David had put into words why Kate was important to him. Now he understood himself how much he needed her. How much he loved her.
Rachel hugged him. “She’d have to be crazy not to love you, little bro.”
Wrapping his arms around her he smiled. “Yeah, well, you’re prejudiced.” He kept hold and squeezed tighter. “I think Mom would have liked her.”
Rachel sat back and laid her hand on his cheek, smiling gently. “Maybe you should trade in the necklace for a ring.”
“She’d run for the hills.” He grinned, thinking about Kate and her nervousness where he was concerned. “I’ll give it some time.”
Rachel wasn’t one for over sentimental displays of emotion, so before it got messy she changed the subject. “Okay, enough gushy stuff. Let’s wake up Dad, and set the table.”
David rose, happy his sister approved. “I have to make a call first and then I’ll be down.”
His sister grinned and left him as he pushed the button on his cell and it started dialing.
*
Laura, Julie, and Kate sat in the den, feasting on Chinese food. There were a dozen cartons and tins open on the table, and they were full beyond belief. Julie was staying over; all three of them were in yoga pants, T-shirts, and soft, white socks, watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Laura leaned back and belched like a three-hundred-pound man, and Kate, after feigning shock, burst out laughing.
“Where did you learn how to do that?”
Laura shrugged. “Once, I did it in front of Marie. She wasn’t amused.
“Sounds to me like she needs a sense of humor.” Julie took a pull on her beer and burped herself. “Yeah, we’re quite the classy bunch.”
Kate laughed again, thankful for the distraction Julie and Laura provided. The scene with Chelsea kept playing over and over in her mind. While she’d managed to avoid being fired or having to resign before Christmas, she was going to have to deal with it soon after. No doubt the bombshells Chelsea dropped were being fed through the school gossip mill. Pretty soon everyone would know what happened.
Kate had opted for wine instead of beer, and the Italian white was going down like fruit juice. She wasn’t drunk, was she? It seemed to her she had to cut David loose simply for the sake of her liver. And her pride.
Since he came into her life, it had been one disaster after another. Kate had been out of high school for twenty-two years, and she was still dealing with mean girl crap. Chelsea managed to get off some killer shots, too. From the first line about fucking the same guy to the last one about the bet, Kate had never felt quite so humiliated. Meanwhile, David sat oblivious at his sister’s house in Canada.
But there was a bright spot. Through it all, her daughter had stayed with her.
That was worth a thousand humiliations. Kate patted Laura’s knee. The phone rang, startling them, and the caller ID flashed on the TV screen. Kate groaned when she saw the number was David’s. “Someone else has to answer. After what happened today, I don’t know if I’ve had enough wine yet to talk to him. I’ve got to get my head around this bet thing.”
Kate looked around and Laura held up the hand holding a glass of fizzy beverage. “Don’t look at me. Ginger Ale.”
Julie grabbed the handset. “Psshht. Losers. I’m plenty drunk enough. Hello?”
*
David was caught by surprise for a second. The person on the other end didn’t sound like Kate, but he couldn’t be sure. “Kate?”
“It’s Julie. Kate’s, ahhh, Kate’s lying down.”
“Oh. Is she okay?” He knew she’d gone to work that day, and he was worried she was doing too much too soon.
“She’s peachy. A little tired after being humiliated by your ex-girlfriend, though.”
David’s stomach turned as he heard Julie’s words. “Excuse me?”
“The lovely Chelsea visited her alma mater today. She stopped in to see Kate, and in front of her colleagues, the administration, and some alumni, told them all about you.”
“Shit.” He could hear Julie’s voice tensing.
He thought the crap Chelsea had pulled in the past had been bad, but this was worse than anything she’d ever done to him, a new low. It would hurt Kate and hurt him at the same time.
“Imagine, being called disgusting in front of your colleagues and superiors. Then there was the indignity of finding out she was part of a bet between you and your teammates!”
“Oh, Jesus.” His words came out on a breath.
David didn’t hate people. It was pointless and a waste of energy, but right then he hated Chelsea Connor. Her anger and jealousy had caused her to lash out, and now Kate knew about the bet. The challenge he accepted and technically won. If Kate didn’t doubt his sincerity before, she did now, and he was fucked.
“Let me talk to her, Julie.”
“No.”
“I need to talk to her. Please.”
“Look, this day has moved to the top of the shit scale. Give her some space.”
“Julie, wait… shit… let me…” He heard the click and nothing but dead air. He stared at the phone and finally the fury broke through. “Fuck me!” he yelled.