by Laina Turner
Zach regretted his choice of words, because if there was a thing that people in a small town liked best, it was gossip. Ignoring her question, he continued, “Just do me a favor, Vivian. Stay quiet about this, and if she needs your help finding something else, please help her. In fact, if you help her find something else, I will pay you more than your normal fee.”
“What did you do, Zach?” Vivian’s tone had calmed down and he could hear her concern.
“I messed up. Badly. Listen, I have another call coming in, so I have to go. Just do as I’ve asked, please. Help her out.”
Vivan agreed, and Zach disconnected the call.
He had lied to get off the phone. He didn’t have another call coming in. He just didn’t want to face any more questions. He felt pretty confident that Vivian wouldn’t say anything because he threw too much business her way, though he wouldn’t put it past her to gossip about the non-business aspects of what happened. The last thing he wanted was to put Kate in the spotlight or damage her reputation in the town where she was starting over. She’d been through enough.
He picked the phone back up and dialed Kate’s number. His nerves caused his hand to shake a little. He had no idea what to say besides sorry, but if she would listen to him, he’d say it as many times as she needed to hear it. He got her voicemail and hung up rather than leaving a message. Instead, he shot off a quick text.
Kate, please talk to me. Let me explain. I’m so sorry.
He set his phone down and drained the last of his lukewarm coffee. He felt awful. He hadn’t realized, until Kate drove off angry, just how deeply he cared for her.
Zach’s stomach was churning because he knew his dad was coming in to talk to him, at Zach’s request. He’d called him immediately after Kate had driven off, but his dad told him that he was too busy to talk and agreed to stop by the next morning. Zach found it kind of odd that his dad would be willing to make a visit to the office two days in a row when he hadn’t been by in weeks, but regardless of the reason, Zach was ready for a long overdue conversation, even if he wasn’t looking forward to it.
He turned his attention back to his computer, answering some emails and trying to focus on work. He tried not to think about Kate, but wasn’t successful, and he was about to give up on working when he heard the front door open.
Zach could hear Rhoda talking and his dad responding to her. Surprisingly, he felt less nervous than he had a few minutes earlier. He really had nothing to be nervous about, but he knew his dad and how stubborn the old man was. If he couldn’t at least try to see where Zach was coming from, he didn’t know if they had a future, either. When he heard his dad walk toward his office, he stood up. He grabbed his cup, not really needing more coffee, but rather needing something to do with his hands.
He met his dad in the hallway. “Getting some coffee. You want some?” Zach asked, trying to keep his tone neutral, like this was just a normal day. He’d been raised with manners, and sometimes he felt that they hindered him in his dealings with his dad. He hated arguing because he felt it was his responsibility to be the dutiful son and never argue, but this time, he’d had enough.
“I could use another cup.”
“Go ahead and have a seat in my office. I’ll be right back.”
Zach headed to the breakroom and poured the coffees, doctoring his dad’s with cream and a little sugar, just as he knew his dad liked it, and leaving his own black. He took a deep breath to fortify himself before picking up the cups and heading back to his office. He wasn’t looking forward to the conversation that was about to take place, but knew it had been a long time coming.
His dad was sitting on one side of the small table that sat in a corner of the office, a few feet from Zach’s desk. Zach walked over and set the coffee down, then took a seat.
“Thank you,” his dad said, and took a sip. “I heard you’re doing a great job on the Stillman case.” Joseph Stillman Sr. was a real estate developer and went way back with Zach’s dad. His son, Joseph Jr., had gotten himself in a bit of hot water with a commercial deal in which he hadn’t disclosed the existence of a previous underground toxic storage site. Zach was handling the case for them, trying to get the fine down from the million-plus that it had started at.
Normally, he enjoyed his dad’s praise because it was so rare, but getting accolades from his dad was the furthest thing from his mind at the moment. There was no easy way to start the conversation they needed to have, so Zach jumped right in. “Why did you come here yesterday?”
“I’m still a partner, even if I don’t have any current cases, and I own the building. Why wouldn’t I come here?”
Zach frowned. “That’s not what I’m getting at, and you know it.”
“Oh, you mean the girl? The one I told you to stay away from,” his dad said matter-of-factly, like they were discussing dinner plans.
“Because you’re too judgmental of anyone who doesn’t fit your ideal of a good person. Kate is not responsible for her ex-husband’s actions,” Zach asserted, his voice rising.
“What is it about this woman that has you jumping through hoops like this? I learn she’s working at the firm, and not from you or Rhoda, mind you, and then I find out you’ve rented her the beach house at a third of what it should go for. I don’t like it.”
“I don’t care if you don’t like it!” Zach said, pounding his fist on the table. “This is my life, and nothing she’s done has impacted you in a negative way.”
Zach’s dad reared his head back. He wore a shocked expression, one that Zach couldn’t remember ever seeing before, likely because he’d never really stood up to Phillip before. Zach was a peacekeeper to a fault. His mother had been that way. When she died, he wanted his dad’s approval so badly, and for his dad to just smile, that he never rocked the boat. He’d sacrificed much of his own happiness, he realized now, for this man. He loved his dad more than anything, but he would no longer let trying to please Phillip get in front of his own happiness.
“Don’t you talk to me like that,” Phillip’s voice thundered.
“Or what?” Zach demanded, not bothering to keep the anger out of his voice.
Zach’s dad stood up. “I’m not staying here to listen to any more of this. When you come to your senses, you can give me a call.”
As his dad turned and stormed out, Zach thought to himself, Don’t hold your breath.
33
The next morning, Kate pulled into the yoga studio parking lot. Claire had left her a note by the coffee pot suggesting she go to a class to help her relax. Hoping her friend’s advice was effective, she shut the car off and looked in her rearview mirror to see what kind of damage she’d inflicted on her eyes by crying on the way over. Telling herself that she wasn’t going to break down hadn’t really stopped an actual breakdown. She considered it a small victory that she hadn’t crawled back into bed, and instead had made herself walk out of the house, get into her car, and head to yoga.
She’d call that in itself a win.
Now that she’d arrived, though, it was a different story. She debated turning around and going back to Claire’s because she looked like a wreck. She was reaching for the ignition when someone tapped on her passenger window, startling her. Lucy was looking at her with a kind smile, and Kate rolled down the window.
“Is everything okay?” Lucy asked. That was all it took for a fresh flood of tears to come. Lucy reached through the window and put her hand on Kate’s shoulder. “Come on in. Just sit in the back of the room, relax, and enjoy the dark and the peace. You don’t even need to do any yoga. I promise you’ll feel better. I won’t even charge you.” Lucy grinned, and Kate couldn’t help but smile back at her. There was something about Lucy that was soothing.
Kate nodded and rolled her window back up. She grabbed her yoga mat from the back of the car and took a deep breath. She knew she couldn’t change things, and she just needed to deal with them and move forward. Hiding from the world, as glorious as it sounded, wouldn’t help.
>
Kate followed Lucy into the studio and was appreciative that Lucy didn’t ask her any questions. There was someone else working the counter, who Lucy greeted as she continued on to the yoga room. She opened the door and flipped on the heater, then motioned to Kate to have a seat in the far corner. Lucy gave Kate one more smile before walking back out and shutting the door behind her.
Kate rolled out her mat and sat down, looking at her watch. There were thirty minutes left before the class actually would start. She breathed a sigh of relief that she would have the room to herself for at least ten minutes or so before people would start coming in. She lay back and took a huge breath in, then she slowly let it out as she’d been taught, and she tried to push the negative thoughts from her mind. She repeated this until people began to trickle into the studio.
When the class started, Kate decided to stay and participate. She found that it helped her gain a modicum of calm.
“Thank you everyone for coming to practice with me, and remember that there is a special this month, so if you need to add to your visit package, this is the time to do it,” Lucy called out as the women filed out of the room after class ended.
Kate hung back while Lucy talked with another yogi in order to thank her. As much as she’d wanted to hightail it back to Claire’s, and as much as she would have if Lucy hadn’t tapped on her window, Kate was glad she hadn’t. The class had really made a difference in how she felt inside and out. She was doing significantly better than she was an hour earlier.
The woman Lucy was talking to left the room, and Lucy walked up to Kate. “How do you feel? Better?” she asked.
Kate nodded. She was still upset, but she no longer felt like crying. “Thank you for giving me the nudge to come in.”
“That’s what life is about. Helping others. I don’t have another class for two hours. Would you like to grab some coffee? Maybe go over and harass Claire at the diner?” Lucy asked, smiling.
“I would love that.”
The women packed up, then walked the short distance to May’s Cafe. They walked in and waved to Claire, who was behind the counter, pouring coffee for the customers sitting there. Lucy and Kate headed to an empty booth in back.
“Hi, ladies. What can I get you to drink?” asked a pretty, young waitress.
“Jody, have you met Kate?” Lucy inquired.
“Not formally, but I know she’s a friend of Claire’s. Nice to meet you, Kate.”
“Nice to meet you, too.”
“I’ll have coffee,” Lucy said.
“Me too.”
“Coming right up,” Jody said, and turned to go get their drinks.
“She’s adorable. Probably the age of my youngest,” Kate said.
“How many kids do you have?”
“Three. You? Have kids, I mean?”
Lucy shook her head ruefully. “No. Just never seemed to be in the cards for me. I thought maybe I’d adopt at some point, but here I am in my fifties, and it’s me and my dog.”
“Did you ladies decide what you want to eat?” Jody asked after she returned with their drinks.
They had just finished giving their orders when Claire came over and slid onto the seat next to Kate.
“What brings you two in today?”
“Kate came to my ten-thirty class, and we thought we’d pop over here and harass you,” Lucy replied.
“I’m glad you did,” she said to Lucy, then turned to Kate. “Do you feel any better?”
Kate nodded. “Yeah, it was exactly what I needed.”
Baby steps, she thought to herself once again. Back to baby steps.
34
Zach rubbed his face in frustration.
It had been over a week since Kate had stormed away from him. He’d called, he’d texted, and he’d even driven by Claire’s house and dropped off flowers, feeling like a complete stalker. He hadn’t worked up the nerve to actually knock on the door and try to talk to her, but it gave him a little comfort to know she was there and that she hadn’t left town. He’d assumed that she’d stuck around, and that was confirmed when he saw her car in Claire’s driveway. What he didn’t know was how long she was going to stay, or if she might have decided against staying in Moonshire Bay because of him.
Trying to work was quite difficult in his current state because he couldn’t stop thinking of her. He looked at his watch and saw that it was only eleven o’clock, but since he’d skipped breakfast, he thought he might as well go get an early lunch so that maybe he could come back to work afterward with a renewed focus. He didn’t really expect the diversion to work since he hadn’t gotten much of anything done in the last week, but he was trying to be optimistic.
He also hadn’t been to the diner since their fight because he hadn’t wanted to face Claire or any other nosy townspeople. But now it was Tuesday and he was craving comfort food. The Tuesday special was Claire’s amazing meatloaf. He figured that since he’d eventually have to face everyone anyway, he might as well rip off the Band-Aid while enjoying a meal he loved.
He pushed open the door to May’s Cafe and walked in, doing a quick scan of the room, hoping that maybe Kate would be there. His heart fell a little when he saw that she wasn’t, and he went over to an empty booth and sat down. His new seating choice drew curious glances from a few regulars who knew he always sat at the bar. That was how rocked his world was over Kate. Claire acknowledged him from behind the counter so that he’d know she would be over as soon as she had the chance.
A few minutes later, she brought over a Coke and set it in front of him. “You come in for the special?” she asked, without the animosity he’d expected.
He nodded.
“You know you really hurt her, don’t you?” Claire said, and Zach looked down, unable to meet her eyes.
“I know,” he said softly. “You have to believe that wasn’t my intent. I didn’t want to hurt her. I thought I was being helpful.”
At that comment, Claire raised her eyebrows and gave him an odd look, as if to say, Really?
He shook his head. “I know, I know. I screwed up. I clearly wasn’t using my best judgment. I blame Kate for that, though—she’s turned my world upside down.” He looked at Claire, hoping she would know that he was joking about the blame falling on Kate.
Claire gave him a slight smile, acknowledging his meaning. “You did screw up, Zach. Royally. In fact, I’m really mad at you, because I told her what a great guy you were, and you proved me wrong. I’d been rooting for you, and then you went ahead and did this.”
Zach had a hard time looking Claire in the eye because, of course, he knew that she was right.
“What can I do, Claire? Tell me how I can fix this.”
“Well, she’s not just going to forgive you for deceiving her so you’ll have to prove to her you won’t hurt her again.”
“How can I do that if she won’t talk to me?”
“Maybe we should talk. Give me a minute.”
35
Kate was lounging on Claire’s couch trying to read a book and was finding it impossible to keep her attention on the words in front of her.
It was getting more difficult to dislike Zach after he’d spent the last week working so hard to show her how bad he felt. He’d brought by flowers and cards, and had even left a picnic lunch on Claire’s doorstep. To his credit, he hadn’t asked for her to respond to his phone calls and texts. Instead, he had apologized through these small gestures. If his goal was to make her negative feelings toward him thaw, it was working.
However, she really didn’t want his efforts to work. She felt she couldn’t trust her own judgment when it came to men, and what had happened with Zach further cemented for Kate that she shouldn’t let herself get involved with anyone. What she needed was to focus on her fledgling business and leave it at that. She heard the front door open and saw Claire walk in.
“You’re home early,” she called out from her spot on the couch.
“I got Lily to cover for me. I thought it would
be a good day for us to play hooky and take a walk on the beach. You interested?”
“You bet I am. Let me run up and put some shorts on,” Kate said jumping up to head to her room to change.
“No rush. I’ve got to change too.”
A few minutes later and both ladies were walking out the door. They walked in silence for a few minutes until they reached the beach and Kate took in a deep breath.
“It smells so, I don’t know, like-,”
“Fish?” her friend interrupted with a chuckle.
Kate frowned. “No, I was going to say happiness.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. I’ve been so busy I don’t get a lot of time to come out here and just enjoy the beach.”
“Well you should make time. Wasn’t that the whole point of moving out here?”
“Speaking of moving,” Claire said ignoring her question. “Are you still thinking of staying here in Moonshire?”
“I don’t know,” Kate said and she didn’t. She wasn’t sure her heart could take running into Zach but she also didn’t want to run away again. She had come to love Moonshire.
“You know Zach’s sorry.”
Kate stopped walking and looked at Claire. “Has he talked to you?”
“Well, he is a good customer.”
Kate shook her head. “I want to forgive him. I do. But I’m not sure I can.” As she said the words she saw off in the distance a man sitting on a blanket with what looked like fixings for a picnic, making her remember when Zach brought her out here. Wait a minute, she thought, and looked closer. It was Zach.
“Did you know he would be out here?” Kate demanded.
“I did but I told him I wouldn’t push you. If you really don’t want to talk to him then we will turn around and walk home. But for what it’s worth, I think you’d regret it.”
Kate looked across the beach at Zach, who finally noticed them and stood up but he didn’t come any closer. She realized that to be happy sometimes you had to take chances and forgive. She took a deep breath and started walking toward him, feeling more nervous as she got closer until Zach was standing in front of her in shorts and a short-sleeve shirt in one of his trademark turquoise colors. He had spread out a blanket and a picnic lunch, that was exactly as their first picnic.