by Tricia Saxby
Leo arched his brow in suspicion. “Why?” He dragged out the syllable.
“I need you to find Kim, who will find Richard, and bring them to me.”
“What’s going on?”
“You’ll see soon enough.”
“Karen—”
“It’s a surprise.”
“And if Nat interferes with this surprise?”
Karen’s steely stare returned. “I’m sure you’ll think of something to keep her occupied.”
Leo found his way backstage easily, but not without having to stop and chat with almost everyone he passed. He had never craved the quiet life more than he did in that moment.
The chaos continued when he turned the corner: racks of clothing everywhere, models in chairs getting their hair and makeup done, and Nat yelling orders. He had to find Kim before Nat reeled him into working.
He dashed behind a clothes rack and made his way to the far corner of the room, where he found Kim hiding behind a pillar.
“Hey, Kim.”
Relief flooded Kim’s face. “Mr. St. Clare, I’m so glad to see you. Ms. Allen is looking for you.”
“She’s sent me to fetch you and Richard.”
“I can’t get him away from Ms. Vale.”
“He does know about Karen’s little surprise, doesn’t he?”
“Of course. He’s trying, but she keeps calling him back.”
He guessed he wouldn’t be able to avoid Nat after all. “Looks like I’m cutting in. Meet Richard in the next room. Ms. Allen is on the deck.”
“Okay.”
Leo weaved his way through clothes and models and found Richard altering a sea-foam blue mermaid gown.
“Richard?” he whispered.
“Ah, Mr. St. Clare. Good to see you again so soon. How does Ms. Allen like the dress?”
Leo looked around to make sure Nat was occupied elsewhere. “You need to go. Now. Kim is waiting for you outside, and Karen is on the deck.”
“You’ve come to relieve me then. Ms. Vale will not be happy if I disappear.”
“I’ll make sure she doesn’t even notice.” Leo scooped up the dress and blocked the way as Richard left.
Natasha spotted him right away. “Leo! What a surprise having you back here.” She noticed the dress in his arms and frowned. “Isn’t that the dress Richard is supposed to be working on?”
“It is. He handed it to me. He said it’s ready to go, and he went to the little boys’ room.”
“Oh. Okay. Well, you’ve taken Richard’s job for the time being. I need you to pin the skirt back on this dress…and where the hell is Kim?” she shouted to the room at large.
The DJ’s announcement that the fashion show was about to begin boomed across the room. Nat went into instant wicked witch mode, and the room erupted into full-scale chaos. Leo got swept up in the excitement as model after model was ushered onto the stage. Before he knew it, the last model exited the stage and the DJ’s voice boomed out again.
“We have one final entry and she’s hot, hot, hot! Welcome back Kim, who is wearing an original design by independent designer Karen Allen.”
Leo dashed out of the room just in time to see Kim walking down the runway in a gorgeous floor-length gown that resembled a tuxedo. Feminine and airy, the skirt flowed in perfect folds against Kim’s legs. The sleeves, in a sheer black, ended at the wrist with a thick white cuff and black diamond cufflinks. The pièce de résistance was a white collar and lapel. All in all, it was a work of art.
The room erupted in applause. Pride swelled in his chest and love filled his heart. Karen had done it. She’d broken into the designer scene and was a hit. Eager to congratulate her, Leo started to make his way through the crowd. He was only a few feet away when he heard Nat’s voice rise above the chattering of the crowd.
“How dare you sneak in here with this?” Her tone oozed with disgust. “You are a lowly intern and know nothing about design. You copied it, just like you did that sketch!”
Chapter Eleven
Karen crashed from the high of applause and congratulations when Natasha hurled those lies for everyone to hear.
“This is my design. Always has been,” Karen defended.
Natasha looked around at her peers and laughed. “Can you believe her? An intern trying to come off as a designer. As one of those who work endless hours creating art.”
“I am no longer an intern.”
“That’s right. I fired your incompetent ass.” Natasha addressed the crowd again. “Trust me when I say she’s the worst assistant I’ve ever had.”
“We don’t need to do this here,” Karen whispered so only Natasha could hear.
“Of course we do.” Natasha flicked her hair over her shoulder and let out a fake laugh.
“No, we don’t. You don’t like me, you’re jealous, and now you want to embarrass me in front of the industry. I am not going to play your little game.”
“This is no game.” Natasha retorted. “You have no proof this design is yours. I have the—”
Karen smiled. “The sketch I dropped, that Stacey picked up and you claimed was a copy?”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Natasha backed up a few inches.
“Have you even looked at that sketch since you tucked it away in your desk drawer?”
“Yes I have. I—”
“It doesn’t resemble anything close to the design you saw tonight. Kim, come here a minute, please.”
Kim descended the few steps off the stage, and the crowd let her through to Karen’s side. “In the sketch the dress is knee length and the sleeves are short. The beginnings of a rough draft I’d barely spent half an hour on. This creation,” Karen paused to sweep her hands down the dress in a grand fashion, “is my design. It’s what I’ve been working on in every spare moment I’ve had, and I have the pattern here with me if you or anyone wants to challenge me. I’m here tonight to show you, to show the fashion world, that I’m more than an intern who fetches coffee and picks up dry cleaning.”
The crowd’s mumbling grew louder. Karen couldn’t tell if they were for or against her, but she didn’t care. She’d come into her own, and her design had been very well received by the industry representatives gathered there.
Turning to face the crowd, Karen raised her voice so she could be heard. “Thank you so much for allowing me to participate in this show, this amazing week…” Tears formed in the corners of her eyes. “Thank you.” The whisper barely left her lips before Kim squealed with joy and then enveloped her in a bear hug. The crowd burst into applause. Out of the corner of her eye, Karen saw Natasha stomp off. Then she saw Leo standing by the stage with the biggest grin on his face. Just like Emily’s.
It occurred to her that she didn’t need Leo to protect her or to have her back. She’d found the courage and the confidence to succeed on her own…with the help of some good friends.
Before she knew it, she was bombarded with congratulations. Oh, what a night.
»»•««
Leo finally found Karen alone an hour later around one of the fire pits on the deck. The crowd had started to thin out, but the DJ had turned on the tunes for the last few stragglers who weren’t ready to leave yet.
“Hey,” Leo said as he walked closer.
Karen looked up and smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Hey.”
“You had an amazing night.” He stood across from her and stuck out his hands for the fire to keep warm.
“It went better than I’d hoped.”
“Congratulations.”
“Thanks.”
He didn’t say anything for a long while as he drank in the view of her in that dress. She had a black cape on now, but the contrast of her blonde hair against the dark cloth only enhanced her beauty. Her skin glowed from the cold, but her eyes were wary and tired.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here to meet you as planned.”
“I should’ve known better.” Her gaze never left the fire.
Leo’s breath caught in surprise a
t the emptiness of her tone. Had she given up on him for good? He needed to explain. She had to listen. He hoped she’d hear him.
“We went to the winery today,” Leo blurted out in his nervousness, his hands back in his pockets.
“Oh, so you’re a ‘we’ now?”
“Walter and Bea returned from a market run last night and I wanted to show— What?”
“Nothing.” She rubbed her hands together and continued to stare into the flames.
It dawned on him who she thought had gone to the winery with him.
“Karen, look at me.” He took hold of her hands over the fire. “Please.”
Karen looked up, her gaze wary.
“Luke and I went to the winery.”
Confusion filled her gaze. “Luke? Your brother?”
“Yes.”
A long pause followed. He watched the play of emotions on her face, from confusion to relief to anger.
“Why didn’t you call me?” she asked as she pulled her hands out of his grasp.
“There was a bad car accident and the highway was blocked on both sides. I tried to call but we were in a dead zone.” Karen didn’t look convinced. “I promise. Check your phone.”
“It died a few hours ago.”
“Oh.”
“And what about Natasha?” she asked, her arms wrapped protectively around her middle. “I heard she was at your condo the other night.”
Leo gulped back the lump that had formed in his throat. “She came by while I was trying to nurse my hangover.”
“And?”
“And…she hit on me.”
Karen’s fists were clenched at her sides and her lips quivered. “Leo, I need to know,” she whispered.
“There’s nothing going on between us. We are old high school friends.”
“I don’t think she feels the same way.”
He recalled Natasha’s provocative touch and how she’d made herself at home. “No. I don’t believe so either.”
“I don’t want to be an emotional mess, but my heart can’t take anymore. Natasha is always flirting and bragging about you guys. Insinuating more than what’s on the surface. And you are so cryptic, not really giving me a yes or no.”
“But I just told you.”
“A little too late.”
“Karen, please.” Leo felt nauseous. He’d dug a deeper hole than he’d realized. She didn’t trust him with her most important possession: her heart.
“And you were never there for me when I needed support or just to have my back when she was bullying me.”
“I wasn’t going to fight your battles for you.”
“I wasn’t asking you to. I needed you to care and be there for me to lean on. I didn’t have anyone to rely on in my teen years when the bullying was at its worst. My parents were very old-fashioned and unapproachable and I don’t have any siblings… I thought I’d at least have you now.”
“Why didn’t you tell me how bad the bullying was before?”
“Same reason you didn’t tell me about your sister.”
“I don’t think—”
“I didn’t want to rehash the past, or for you to think me weak.”
“I’ve never thought that about you. Ever.”
Karen shrugged off the comment and continued. “The bullying stopped after I graduated high school, but being at Vale Designs has brought all the memories back. Amazing how your confidence can take such a blow, and putting it back together again can be the hardest thing to do.”
He’d been a self-absorbed idiot. “I’m so sorry.” He looked up at her, but her focus was on the fire. “Can I tell you about Emily?”
“You don’t have to tell me.” Karen’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
Ouch. He deserved that. “I want to tell you.”
Karen nodded but kept her eyes averted.
“I’ve done a lot of soul searching since my drunken episode the other day. I’ve been haunted by my past for way too long and not letting anyone in…not letting you in.
“I confronted Luke yesterday. I’m afraid he took the brunt of my pent-up anger and guilt, but he didn’t throw it back in my face or blame me. I started to see things from a different perspective…from my family’s perspective, and a very heavy weight was lifted. It was a relief to begin letting go of the guilt I’ve carried for the past ten years.”
Karen stepped a bit closer, watching him intently now. “Why did you wait so long to talk to them about Emily?”
Leo’s pulse was racing so fast his heart felt like it would burst through his ribcage. He felt a light sweat form on his forehead and upper lip. Other than to Luke, he’d never said the words out loud.
“I, umm…I’m the reason…” Leo took a deep breath and looked Karen in the eyes. Patience and kindness had replaced the anger and hurt of only moments ago.
“I’m the reason Emily is dead.”
Karen gasped but didn’t move away. “I don’t believe that.”
“I couldn’t save her.” Leo closed his eyes, and his mind drifted back to that day when he’d pulled her out of the pool and tried resuscitating her. His girlfriend at the time had been there and called the ambulance. But they’d lived on an estate in the countryside, so the ambulance couldn’t reach them in time. Emily was gone.
“My parents had left me in charge of Emily yet again as they went gallivanting across Europe in their never-ending quest to expand the wine business.”
Leo looked up but didn’t really see anything but the past that replayed in his mind. “I was eighteen years old and tired of being stuck playing babysitter to a ten-year-old instead of having fun with my friends.” He took a deep breath. “I was in the house making out with my girlfriend instead of watching Emily. She told me she was going swimming, and all I said was ‘Yeah yeah, get out of here.’ Those were my last words to her.”
Karen took Leo in her embrace. Her arms were strong around him, and he welcomed the warmth. He couldn’t stop the overwhelming roller coaster of sadness that started in his belly and crept up to his heart and then his throat. A huge sob escaped, and he buried his face in Karen’s shoulder.
Her embrace tightened even more, if that was possible. She ran her hand up and down his back in a soothing motion. He’d never received such love, not even from his parents.
Leo stepped away but held onto her shoulders.
“I have a lot of things to work out. I’m going to see a counselor. Luke and my parents, as well. We have a lot of healing to do.”
“Counseling is a big step in the right direction. I’m proud of you.” Her smile wobbled under his gaze, but her strength shined through like a beacon of hope.
“Thank you.”
Karen ran her hands along his jacket lapels. “I—”
Kim called out Karen’s name. They turned to see her standing near the entrance. “You ready to go?”
Karen nodded then turned to Leo and gently touched his cheek. Her eyes shone with unshed tears. “Go and heal. You deserve to be happy.”
She stepped back then walked away. Leo reached out, but she was already halfway across the deck. “Karen…”
She joined Kim at the door and then turned to face him. “Take care of yourself.”
And she was gone.
»»•««
Karen picked up a purring Charlie and carried him out to the back deck of her childhood home. Anna sat on the porch swing with a cup of coffee in her hand watching Jace as he showed their new baby boy, Nikolas, all the blooming flowers in the garden.
“He’s only two weeks old and already getting the gardening lecture,” Anna said with a smile of pure contentment.
“Be glad it’s that and not architecture mumbo jumbo.”
Anna laughed and moved over so Karen could sit. “I think that’s next week’s lecture.” Karen sat beside Anna and pulled a blanket over her legs to shield herself from the morning chill. Charlie kneaded her lap for a few minutes before finally settling in for a nap, and Karen stroked his soft fur as she looke
d out at the yard enjoying the view of early buds on the trees and listening to the birds chirping. It was good to be home.
“Thank you for looking after my fur baby for me.”
“He was no trouble at all. If anything, he was a little too clingy, weren’t you buddy?” Anna rubbed under his chin, and he meowed his response.
Home for a month now, Karen had enjoyed the time spent catching up with her best friend and loved being an auntie to baby Nikolas. Otherwise, she’d been keeping her mind occupied working on a few new pieces to go along with her tuxedo dress.
Anna took a sip of her coffee. “You know, Ms. Tallon wants you back at Dogwood.”
No spark of excitement jostled in her tummy at the offer. “I don’t know if I can go back to the business side of things. I’ve got the design bug.”
“I know all about that.”
“You’ve taught me so much and been so patient with all my questions and freak-outs.”
“I’ll always be there for you.”
Karen turned to envelop Anna in a sideways hug. “Thank you.”
A few moments of comfortable silence passed. A horn honked in the distance, and a flock of geese flew overhead. Jace’s voice drifted toward them from the garden. He really did know a lot about flowers.
“Any word from Leo?” Anna asked, turning in her seat to face Karen.
Karen concentrated on rubbing Charlie’s belly now that he’d flipped over. “No. And why would I? I let him go.”
“Only so he and his family could heal. It was a very selfless thing you did.”
“It hurts so bad,” Karen whispered, afraid if she spoke louder she’d burst into tears. She loved him, true and fully. There was no denying it any longer. If she was truthful with herself, she’d loved him all along.
Charlie’s purr turned to a low hum, and Karen closed her eyes. She couldn’t stop thinking of Leo and all the pain he’d lived with for so long. Choosing to suffer alone… Her heart ached so bad for him—for them.
His distance with her five years ago made sense now, as she recalled asking him lots of questions about his family that he’d refused to answer. She’d kept bringing up the painful memories he’d been trying to run from, and instead of confronting them, he’d run one more time…out of her life.