“It's close to opening. Might be good to hold on to the property. Maybe rent it out during big events, and use it yourself in between.”
“That's what I'm thinking. I could make serious money on it. Or I could lease it year round. I'll see.”
Jeff had urged Zack to buy the house some years ago, wanted Kitt's coach nearby. He'd probably engineered the deal. A nice chalet on a few acres of wooded hillside land. Kitt had never spent much time there, but he knew the place. Times were changing again. It was good to see Zack getting on with his life. He was surprised to feel a bit nostalgic.
“Things are looking great, Zack. I'm happy for you.”
“Thanks. I have big plans.”
The thought of the house kept him occupied for a while. What would it rent for? Right now it would be out of reach, but if he got the job—it would be a great place for the three of them. Zack was going to be around for at least another six weeks, he'd said, so there was time. Take a look at it and talk it over with Shay—a place outside town, in the hills. Kari would like that, too.
Bits and pieces of Kari's life as a runaway began to surface during the weeks that followed, and Linda was pleased with her progress.
“Things going okay at home?”
He nodded.
“More peaceful than before. She seems relieved, safe maybe. She's been at different friends' homes—parents never asking questions. And hanging out in empty warehouses, bringing in food where they could get it. Off and on little jobs. You can't let yourself think about all the things that could have happened to her. It's a miracle she's alive.”
“You got that right.”
“I know you can't tell me what she tells you, but she's talked to me quite a bit. I'm reasonably sure she didn't get into drugs. Except for alcohol.”
Linda nodded, and gave him a searching look.
“While you're trying so hard to help Kari, don't deny your own feelings, Kitt. Jeff and some others made the mistake of focusing their anger all in one place. They became obsessed. They're your natural targets, but they're outsiders now. Be honest about your feelings about Kari.”
He had started going back to the parenting group, but he found that his situation had started to diverge further from theirs. Kari's problems now had more to do with depression than with rebellion, and for a while she seemed to regress to those first days after she had moved in with him, when she was clingy and scared. Linda saw her several times a week and right after her appointments Kari seemed to feel better. To Kitt's concern that Kari was becoming dependent on her, Linda's response was reassurance.
“It's normal, Kitt. Trust me, we'll get her past that.”
Shay encouraged him to see Linda for himself a few times, just to help him get over the hump.
“What hump?” he asked suspiciously. “Am I being a pain?”
“No, but you've got a lot of baggage from these two years. Let it go. You think I want to marry that mess?”
He stared at her for a long moment and finally nodded.
“Okay.”
Physically, he recuperated rapidly, and soon he went back to work with the kids on the warehouse lot, coaxing Kari to help. When his appointment as coach for the prestigious Montrado University tennis program came through, he was able to go a few sets with them. He was relieved at his vastly improved financial situation. Shay laughed at him when he showed her his paycheck.
“For an ex-multimillionaire you're really quite human,” she told him fondly.
“But now I cash the check and pay the bills.”
“With that and my job, we'll be set.”
“We're rich!”
When he tried to start paying Danny back, his friend e-mailed him a statement purporting to detail Kitt's contributions to Danny's training and rehab, which left a balance in his favor. “And don't be sending any checks, because I'll tear them up,” Danny told him almost angrily. Instead, Kitt started setting aside money for a tennis court.
The days were beginning to assume a certain cadence, a somewhat comfortable, almost normal routine of father-daughter stuff—conflicts over chores and long talks and misunderstandings and knowing smiles, a quiet glance now and then between them when both knew exactly what the other was thinking. Moments of total frustration when he knew he'd never understand teenagers, and least of all Kari.
But there were the moments when she brought home a summer school paper with an A on it, or gossiped on the phone with a new friend from school, carefree as if nothing more serious than a pimple had ever darkened her horizons. The trips to the neighborhood court, where they worked on improving the surface. The days when she happily counted balls and rackets they had collected for the Copy Kitts, as she called them, and the log she kept of Kitt's former opponents who had donated them. They had sent rackets, balls, shorts, T-shirts with tennis slogans, and gift certificates for twenty or thirty pairs of court shoes. Soon they'd need more coaches, and a place to keep the supplies. Zack had started coming out to help coach while he was waiting to leave for Davis Cup. The program was going to go somewhere.
When he saw the satisfaction in Kari's face as he drove her home after an afternoon of coaching, he was content. Some things in her life had nothing to do with the past. They weren't about Jeff, or Laura, or about loss. And Kari wasn't all about the past anymore, either. There was some now in her life, and some tomorrow.
The summer was speeding to an end, and the days were comfortably hectic. Now that his routine once again included strenuous workouts, he felt more relaxed than he had in a long time. Kari was doing okay in summer school. It wasn't easy to find time with Shay, but he managed a few hours here and there. One evening on the trail she heaved a sigh.
“I watched a rerun of that show they did about you after the exo. I recorded it.”
“And?”
“Wynne was in it.”
“So?”
“She's so stunning. It hits you in the face. Those violet eyes, lashes down to here. Flawless skin. Then that gorgeous long hair, like a shampoo commercial where it blows all across the screen and bounces back perfectly in place. A figure most women would kill for. Even if I dressed like that, I'd never be in her league.”
“You want to be in it?”
“Any woman would feel out-glamorized by Wynne Lloyd-Rutgers. Even when we don't particularly care for glamor, we still feel awkward beside it.”
“Your reasoning defies logic.”
“Logic has nothing to do with it.”
“So it seems.”
“Kitt, do you ever miss her? I mean the way things were before?”
“Wynne left me cold before and she leaves me cold now.”
They were silent for a while, staring up into the sky as they lay back in the grass.
“I guess what got to me for a minute is all the pictures with you. Wynne blowing kisses at you at a Grand Slam final, cheering you on from the stands. I missed all that. I didn't even know you. She shared all of it with you.”
“She was there. Sharing is different.”
“I'm not sorry about my choices. If I ever tried that look I'd probably roll over laughing at myself. Not that I don't like to dress up now and then, but I will never have that sort of dazzle.”
“Good.”
The shadows lay long and sleepy across the valley, and stillness was everywhere.
“Kitt?”
“Yes?”
“You're okay, you know that?”
They sauntered back hand in hand, stopping now and then to listen to the sounds of the approaching night.
At home he found Kari crying in her room. She dried her face when he knocked on her door, and came out a few moments later, but she didn't fool him.
“What is it, babe? Were you scared alone?”
An abortive sob made her shiver a little. Annoyed, she shook her head, and tried to smile, but it came out kind of pathetic.
“It's just Dad. If I'd just told him I wouldn't say anything, he'd be alive today.”
Had Je
ff had the slightest idea what he was loading on this kid? Had he thought for one single moment about the torment he was adding to her life? Would it have made a difference if he had?
Kitt heaved a deep sigh.
“Give us a chance to take the blame,” he said wearily, “we're all over it. The bottom line is we didn't make him do anything. We didn't make him rape, or steal, or lie. And we didn't make him commit suicide. But just the same we feel we should have done something.”
“He was so—it was like the life was sucked out of him, that last time.”
“He'd lost hope. But it wasn't because of you or me. He didn't see any way back, and that's the only place he wanted to go.”
“You think he just took it out on us?”
“I don't know. But your Dad loved you and he loved me. He lost his perspective of right and wrong when he lost control over things that meant a lot to him. He snapped.”
“But if he really loved us—”
“He didn't mean to hurt anyone, but if he did, that didn't stop him. I felt betrayed when I found out he'd cheated me, and that was nothing compared to what he did to you. I'm sure he didn't do any of it to hurt us. The point is, if he gave any thought to who might get hurt, it didn't make any difference. Do you understand what I'm saying?”
She nodded.
“I think so.”
“When he wanted more and more money, he just took it from me. When his power was slipping—in business, in society, his power over me and over my money—he turned to a little girl for a last grab at power. That you got hurt wasn't an issue. It made him feel good for a moment here and there.”
“But if I had promised to say nothing—”
“What do you think would have happened?”
“He might not have killed himself.”
The silence flowed on by, and she sat and waited.
“I've thought about that. If I'd just been an ordinary teenager going to school and college and getting a job, none of this would've happened. Money corrupted him, even way back when he got his hands on the insurance money. Without the millions he might have been just another struggling businessman. He wouldn't have got into the circles where he needed more and more money and power to keep up. He wouldn't have raped you. So is it my fault for making him rich?”
“Of course not.”
“So why should it be your fault for being a child? What do you think would have happened if you hadn't told me?”
“I'd have promised to say nothing if he'd just not do it anymore.”
“You didn't bring him down, Kari. He'd still have gone to jail for fraud. Let's say he didn't kill himself. After a while he'd have got out of jail. Think about Lita. He was in denial, your mom was in denial, and I wouldn't have known. So who would have protected her?”
“I hadn't thought of that.”
“Even without Lita, would it have been okay to have your life wrecked so we could cover up his crime? He'd have destroyed himself one way or another. And you, too. He had to be stopped.”
“Uncle Kitt, was it inevitable then?”
He thought that over for a minute.
“Not inevitable, maybe just kind of in character. Whether you went to the police or not, he couldn't face life as an ex-convict, in disgrace, no money, no career, his family gone. And especially without respect. He'd had it all.”
“I messed up, too.”
“You had the guts to start over. He wasn't the kind to do that. He wanted to go back, not forward.”
Kitt and Shay were married right after the U.S. Open in early September, in a small, private ceremony, with family and a few close friends, reporters outside ready with cameras and microphones. For their honeymoon, while Danny and Tess stayed with Kari, they spent a week at MacPhie's remote cabin in Vermont, walking through the mountains and playing on the beach.
They looked tanned and relaxed as they came out of the airplane, and Danny grinned at his friend.
“You two look downright good together.”
“Thank you. I know it took a lot for you to say that. Where's Kari?”
“She's picking up your wedding present,” said Tess. “Remember she said she couldn't get it till after you got back. Promise you'll be understanding.”
“Sounds scary.”
Kitt had thought better of his idea to rent Zack's upscale chalet. Better to keep the relationship free of business ties. So the three of them had shopped around and just before the wedding found a roomy half-finished house on a few acres in an undeveloped area some ten miles outside the city limits. The roads were unpaved, and the nearest neighbor was a mile away. Kari met them with a hug.
“I have a surprise for you guys.”
In the living room, his head cocked sideways, sat a cream-colored pup with the beginnings of a dark blaze up his muzzle. He had huge feet out of all proportion to the rest of him. The smile faded from Kitt's face, and he stopped dead in his tracks.
“Oh no, no—”
Stunned, he turned to Kari, and then back to the dog. Kari's face darkened. The dog whimpered a little, lumbered over to Kitt and began to chew on his shoe laces. Instinctively, he held out his hand. The pup jumped around, inviting him to play.
No one dared speak as Kitt knelt down and scratched the pup behind the ears. He didn't turn around, and his voice sounded choked up.
“Where'd you get him?”
She almost cried.
“He's Thor's brother. I'd gone by the kid's house before, the one you got Thor from. I knew they had a small litter.”
Kitt slowly got to his feet, and turned to Kari. Her lips trembled.
“Uncle Kitt, I'm sorry. I thought—”
He seized her in his arms and hugged her tight.
“You couldn't have made me happier.”
“Are you sure?”
“It was a bit of a shock. He's the spitting image of Thor.”
“That's why I picked him. He's only six weeks and he weighs twenty-five pounds. Dr. Howard checked him out. He says he may get even bigger than Thor. I went to the house a few times, to look at the pups, and this one's the smartest. I thought you could train him, like Thor.”
Kitt turned to Shay.
“What do you think?”
“He's a keeper. Has he got a name?”
Kari began to relax. Slowly the smile came back when she watched Kitt roughhouse with the young dog. Before they left for dinner, Danny and Kitt managed a few moments alone.
“Any problems this past week?” Kitt wanted to know.
“None. She was a little worried about me—our meeting earlier this summer was a bit strained.”
“Looks like she got over it. We were worried how she'd react to Shay, but she likes her.”
“What's not to like?”
“Got that right. She's still a little shell-shocked. But she's moving on.”
“And so are you. Tell me, Kitt, did you have to quit tennis to learn whatever it is you have learned?”
He thought that over, then smiled.
“Starting over as a qualifier was a good thing. Struggle a bit more.”
“It got too easy?”
“Not just that. Getting the focus off Kitt Buchanan. On the tour, it was too much about me. Now it isn't.”
“You never looked back?”
“Oh, sure. Second-guessed myself a lot of times.”
“You knew you could've rebuilt a fortune pretty fast. But you chose not to.”
“Don't think I didn't consider it. Maybe I was too dense to learn what I had to learn jetting around the world. Anyway, there was Kari.”
“I like what I see, Kitt.”
Tess and Danny took the whole group to dinner, and when they came back from taking their friends to the airport that night, Kitt picked up the pup, who made eager attempts to lick his face.
“He looks like an Ace to me. What do you think?”
“Another Buchanan ace. I like it.”
“Ace,” repeated Kari. “Ace. Sounds good, Uncle Kitt. Here, Ace,
come here boy!”
The pup came running, and soon the two were rolling through the grass, Kari trying to protect her face from his busy tongue and giggling as he jumped all over her.
“Ace just may be a one-dog treatment plan.”
“And here we've been paying good money for therapy.”
Linda sounded encouraging.
“Kari seems to feel pretty good about your little family.”
Shay sighed with relief.
“I was worried about that. For a while there she was sparring with me.”
“How?”
“Oh, just seeing where she fit in with Kitt, I guess. Figuring out if I was going to be a rival. She'd make it a point to need him when we were about to go somewhere, or to show me she could handle things at home very well without me. Making remarks to show she knew him better than I did.”
Linda nodded.
“It's been rather mild at that. That's a credit to you both. You've reassured her that Shay takes nothing away from her.”
“I talked with her mom,” Kitt said. “We want to adopt Kari legally. Laura's willing to go along.”
“They don't have much of a relationship, do they.”
“Next to none. She goes to visit mostly to see her little brother and sister. They hardly remember a home that included Kari.”
“Have you talked with Kari about adoption?”
“Not yet. We wanted to run it by you first.”
“Well, you know what you're getting into and you still want to adopt her. I'd say tell her.”
“Good. We'll do it tonight.”
Linda sat back and smiled at them.
“When you first came in here last year, Kitt, I thought I was nuts for not telling you to back out. I told myself this kid should be in good foster care with experienced parents. And no sooner did I get some confidence in the project than the other sandbag hit you. Your brother's suicide. I thought that was the end of it, and possibly the end of Kari. But you've proved me wrong.”
“Not me. That was a three-way effort.”
“You're both way too young to do this. But you're doing it and it's working. Let me know how Kari reacts to your plan.”
That evening, they made their case. Kari had been with Kitt for nearly two years. It had started as an emergency visit and they'd moved from there to semipermanent, and then to a custodial relationship. The time seemed right to make it official. They were a family. What did Kari think?
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