by Lucy Score
“Hey, Sara,” Cat said, offering her hand.
Sara shook it, eyes wide. Her mouth opened and closed several times before the words found their way out. And when they did, it was a tidal wave.
“Oh my God. I can’t believe I’m meeting Catalina King. You are just the best! Your show is so great! I can’t believe you’re going to rebuild April’s house again. Dad and I were on vacation last time when you were in town, so I didn’t get to meet you. But April and I, we’re BFFs, and that’s just the coolest that you decided you’d drop what you’re doing with your clothing line and stuff so you could come help her again.”
Cat laughed, and Noah felt an uncomfortable warmth in his gut. He wasn’t prepared to like the woman. He could grow to learn to maybe tolerate her, but liking her was impossible… even if she was looking at Sara like his daughter was the most interesting person on the planet.
“Wow. Well, thank you,” Cat said, her hand still wrapped in Sara’s death grip. “Your Dad was pretty instrumental in all of us being here.”
Sara’s eyebrows winged up. “Seriously?” She looked back and forth between Cat and Noah, and Noah felt like a giant asshole.
“Sure. We wouldn’t be able to be here fixing anything if it weren’t for your dad.”
Sara stared up at him with a look he hadn’t seen in those brown eyes since she was seven or eight. Hero worship. At this point, he didn’t even care if Cat was doing it to goad him. He’d take every second of adulation he could get knowing full well that the next time he questioned Sara on homework or eating vegetables it would be gone in a wink.
“That is really cool, Dad,” Sara said. “So, Cat. Do you want to come over for dinner sometime?”
Noah blinked and cleared his throat.
Cat looked up at him and grinned diabolically knowing the last place Noah would want her is front and center in his dining room. “I would love to.”
“Oh, my God? Really? Because we have a lot of people staying with us who were displaced by the storm, and we do these really big meals every night, and it’s fun. Like having a really big family!”
“You opened your home to your neighbors?” Cat asked Noah, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
“Yeah,” Sara answered for him. “We have eight guests now—we call them guests so they don’t feel bad that they can’t stay in their own houses. We had twelve, but some of them went to stay with family. April and her mom and dad are staying with us, so you’ll get to hang out with them if you come see me. We tried to get Mrs. Pringle to stay with us after Dad rescued her. But she’s in a wheelchair, and she can’t get around the house ‘cause of all the stairs.”
Noah was watching Cat’s face and saw when the look of genuine surprise crossed it. “Mrs. Pringle?” Cat asked. “Wheelchair and cookies, right?”
“That’s her,” Sara grinned.
Cat looked up at Noah again, her expression unreadable.
“Unbelievable,” she murmured, shaking her head.
Noah was about to ask her what she found to be so unbelievable when Sara launched into a recitation of everything she knew about Cat.
“You’re two whole minutes younger than your brother, right?” Sara asked.
Cat, back to being amused, nodded.
“I wish I had a brother or a sister,” Sara sighed. “But Mom and Dad had to get divorced, so that sucked.”
Noah swiped a hand over his face, knocking his glasses askew. If he didn’t get Sara back to school in the next four seconds, she’d spill all the family secrets and embarrassments to his potential enemy.
“Well that’s the nice thing about friends. You can be just as close to them as you can a brother or sister,” Cat said wisely. “I bet you and April are practically sisters.”
Sara brightened. “We really are! So, when are you coming over? Tonight? Not today 'cause I have to go back to school. But tonight’s good.”
Cat laughed. “Well, what’s for dinner?”
Sara whirled around. “Dad? Can we have pizza or something? Oh, wait. Cat likes kale salads and black bean soup,” she recited. “Can we find that—”
Noah pressed a hand over his daughter’s motor mouth. “Honey, I think we’d better check with the rest of our guests to make sure they’re okay with more company because I have a feeling Cat would like to bring a camera crew with her.”
Cat was nodding. “I really, really would. Like a lot.”
Great. Now his already overcrowded home was going to be under the scrutiny of a camera crew for a national audience.
Sara pulled his hand away and jumped up and down. “Will you ask them if it’s okay? Will you, Dad?”
He sighed, gritting his teeth. “I guess.”
“You’ll let me know,” Cat said. It wasn’t a question.
Noah nodded briskly. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, I should get this young lady back to school.”
He was just about to pick Sara up and stuff her into his SUV before she could invite Cat to move in with them when a shiny black pick-up truck rolled into the lot, windows down, music blaring.
Cat, arms in a V over her head, whooped out a welcome.
The truck eeked to a stop, and two men bounded out, one short and dapper in trousers and a yellow checked shirt. The other was tall and broad and looked vaguely familiar. The tall one reached Cat first and swept her feet off the ground in a dramatic hug. He placed a loud kiss on her mouth before settling her back on the ground. “Hey, gorgeous.”
He was tall and self-assured as if he’d had years of people telling him how great he was.
Noah felt instantly uncomfortable, and he wasn’t sure why.
“Hey, yourself! I’ve missed your face,” Cat laughed, cupping the man’s face. He let her slide to the ground, and she leaned in and offered a one-armed hug to the second man. “Henry, I’ve been going crazy without you.”
“Of course, you have,” he announced in a clipped British accent. “I hope you haven’t cocked it all up already.”
“Impressionable ears, Henry,” Cat said, nodding in Sara’s direction.
“Sorry, darling,” Henry said, flashing a dazzling smile at Sara.
Sara giggled, and Noah noticed his daughter had a slightly dazed look like she was a concussion victim. The last thing he needed was men amping up Sara’s recently acquired obsession with boys. He was about to drag her away when Cat twined her arm through the taller man’s and led him over. “Sara, I’d like you to meet my friend Drake. He has his own show, too.”
Sara turned a shade of scarlet Noah hoped to never see on her face again.
“Hey, Sara. Nice to meet you.” Drake—of course his name was Drake—squeezed Sara’s arm in a friendly greeting. Noah didn’t like it. He didn’t like the guppy fish look on his daughter’s face, and quite frankly, he didn’t care for the way Cat was glowing up at him either. Get a freaking room.
“Noah,” he said, by way of a greeting, and gripped Drake’s hand in a steely hold.
“Drake. Great to meet you. I’m excited to be working with this lovely lady again,” Drake said, bringing Cat’s knuckles to his lips.
Cat’s phone chimed. She frowned at the screen and shook her head. “I know I’m late, Henry. Get out of my calendar, and stop texting me!”
Henry shrugged. “Why don’t I come with you to meet the parks manager so you can fill me in on the way.”
“Don’t you want to settle in first?” Cat asked.
Henry snorted.
“Good because I need you desperately,” Cat said cocking her head to the side. “Sara, Henry is my very British, very snooty assistant.”
“Hi, Sara,” Henry said sparing her a wink.
Sara giggled and then couldn’t seem to stop.
Noah felt like he should be covering Sara’s ears. He was witnessing the flirty side of America’s home renovation sweetheart, and he didn’t care for it. Was she dating one of them? Both of them? Did it even matter?
One thing
was clear, Cat wasn’t the kind of role model he wanted Sara clinging to.
“Sara, it was great meeting you. Noah, let me know about tonight so I can have a small crew ready if it’s a yes. You have my number?”
Noah nodded.
“Come on, Sar. Let’s get you back to school,” Noah insisted. Sara looked like she was going to argue, but when Drake and Henry winked at her and said their good-byes, she lost the power of speech again. Noah half dragged, half carried her to the SUV and unceremoniously stuffed her inside.
“Oh, my God, Dad. That was the most amazing moment of my life,” she squealed. “Cat King! She’s so gorgeous, and did you see those guys with her? She is literally the coolest, most beautiful person I’ve ever met in my life. Do you think both those guys are her boyfriends?”
Noah hit the brakes a little too hard as they rolled up to a stop sign. “Why would you think that would be cool?”
Sara gave him a sideways look. “I’ve seen Sex and the City reruns. Sometimes people don’t want to be in a relationship. Sometimes they just want to have fun.”
Noah wasn’t sure who he wanted to curse more. Catalina King or Samantha Jones.
Hell would freeze over before he allowed Cat to parade into his house with a camera crew and her smoldering boyfriends who rendered his daughter speechless.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
That sneaky son of a bitch tried to weasel his way out of letting her into his house, just like Cat knew he would. The temporary coffee truce had been short-lived. Sure, it had held up long enough for him to introduce his daughter. Sara was bright, charming, and fun. The exact opposite of her shithead father.
Cat guessed the girl took after her mother.
Once Drake and Henry had made their grand entrance, Noah’s pleasantries had turned off like the flipping of a switch.
He’d gone from grateful father to Judgy McJudgerson in the blink of an eye. The look he’d given her as he loaded Sara into his SUV? Oh, she knew that expression well enough. Judgment, swift and sure.
People often felt the urge to judge her. Her sex life (what a slut!), her wardrobe (designer dresses and flannels?), the way she interacted with people (too friendly or too uppity), all of it was fodder for public opinion. And Cat didn’t give a good damn. She lived her life the way she chose.
She worked and played equally hard because otherwise what was the point? She enjoyed casual sexual relationships with men she liked. And some days, she just felt like wearing fucking leggings and making a waiter blush.
She did things her way, which is why she was sitting at Noah’s dining room table while he glowered at her. Cat had to admit, he fascinated her. How did a man take pot shots at her one second and then nearly drown trying to save one of his neighbors? She’d been shocked when she realized they’d met before during the flood when she hauled his ass aboard. She’d keep that information to herself for now. And when it would give him the biggest punch in the gut, she’d drop that bomb on him.
Paige was explaining to the scowling Noah that she’d like to set up the one-on-ones in his front parlor. Meanwhile, a camera woman, sound guy, and PA were already covering the worn rug and cozy furniture with a million feet of cords. And another half dozen people thundered up and down the stairs, poking their heads in to greet their host.
A fat cat named Felipe wound his way around her ankles, purring louder than a motorboat.
Kathy, her stick straight black hair tied back in a stubby tail, settled in at the cozy dining table next to Cat. “I can’t believe we’re back here again,” she sighed.
Cat patted her friend’s hand. “This sucks balls.”
Kathy’s smile was tired but broad. “I miss you and your inappropriate mouth.”
“I missed you too, and now we’ve got the next eight weeks to enjoy each other’s company again.”
Jasper skirted the table and handed Kathy a cup of tea. Lines of tension were carved into his face. His jet-black hair was disheveled as if he’d been shoving both hands through it. Cat remembered the signs, remembered the strain he put himself under in times of crisis.
“You got a minute?” she asked Jasper, keeping her voice low.
It wasn’t necessary to whisper, not with a dozen people roaming the first floor of Noah’s house. She could understand the man’s agitation. Not only did he have a few extra families crowding him in his own space, but he also had the better part of a reality TV show getting ready to happen in his living room.
“Ah, sure,” Jasper said, scrubbing a hand through his hair.
He followed Cat down the hallway. The kitchen was full of people cooking and arguing good-naturedly. The sitting room or parlor had two teenagers in it battling it out on a video game. Finally, she found a room in the back of the house that’s purpose Cat couldn’t identify. Along the back wall between two windows was a bookcase stuffed with fiction hardbacks, the better part of the Sweet Valley High series, and magazines that ran the gamut from Men’s Health to Teen Vogue. There was a suede bean bag the size of Rhode Island nestled in the corner. Two air mattresses occupied the far wall, and there was still room for a wardrobe that looked as though it weighed more than a car and could transport someone to Narnia.
“Uh, step into my office,” Cat joked.
“Noah calls this his crap room,” Jasper said with no hint of amusement in his soft voice.
Cat knew that tone, that look. He was a man exhausted. A man who felt like he was failing at caring for his family. They’d been down this road once before when his injuries had robbed him of his paycheck. This time it had been Mother Nature, and that bitch Veronica had robbed them of their beautiful home.
But pity wouldn’t fix anything.
“Jasper, I know you’ve got a lot going on right now. But I was wondering if you’d be able to help me out.”
“Sure. What do you need?” Even exhausted and beaten down, Jasper Hai was ready to lend a hand. It was the Merry spirit.
“It’s a pretty big favor. We’re low on labor.” Technically that wasn’t a lie. Most construction firms in a two hundred-mile radius were camped out in New Haven which had gotten hit just as hard. The fact that Gannon had showed up with a King’s crew ready for action evened that out in Cat’s mind. But Jasper didn’t need to be privy to that.
“I know you’re working full-time—” she began.
But he was shaking his head. “They cut me back to part-time just before… this.”
Could the guy not catch a break? Cat silently cursed his employer and made a mental note to pay the company a little visit.
“Well, if you’ve got the time. I could use some labor. We can pay you, of course. It’ll be some cleanup, a lot of hauling.” Jasper’s questionable talent with power tools was still fresh in Cat’s mind. “And there’s something else.” She glanced over her shoulder.
“What?” Jasper reacted to her subterfuge.
“April’s treehouse.”
“You’re doing a treehouse for her?”
“Actually, you are,” Cat said.
Jasper straightened, his shoulders losing the slump. “Seriously? You want me to build it?”
Cat nodded, choosing her words carefully. “Gannon’s going to do some plans, and I was hoping you could sit down with him and walk him through what April wants. Then you can take lead on it with a couple of helpers.” A couple of helpers who kept him away from the sharp and the dangerous.
“That would be awesome,” he nodded. “Yeah. I’d love to do it.”
“Great,” Cat feigning relief. “That’s a lot off my mind. I’ll give your number to my foreman, and he’ll be in touch tomorrow. You just work what you can. I don’t want you missing out on family time or taking more time off of work. I know this is a stressful time for you guys.”
“It’s not so bad with good friends,” Jasper said, nudging her with his elbow.
“You guys are going to get through this and come out even better.”
“Th
at’s what you said last time,” he reminded her.
“And of course, I was right because I’m a celebrity genius.”
“Is the treehouse a surprise?” Jasper asked. “I mean, it would be cool if it was.”
“Absolutely,” Cat nodded. “We’ll refer to it as the utility room around April.”
“Diabolical,” Jasper grinned. He held up a hand, and Cat slapped it.
“Team Utility Room.”
Jasper returned to the dining room, and Cat took a moment to check her messages. With Henry here now, he was fielding a portion of them so she wasn’t completely overwhelmed… yet. She could hear the team setting up the lights in the parlor for the first official rounds of one-on-ones. And the thunder of footsteps overhead. It was a gorgeous house. She’d been surprised to see Noah had chosen something with so much character, history. She itched to get her hands on it, scrape the paint from the moldings, re-plaster the walls, bring the floors back to their glory days.
It would be a lucky contractor who got his or her hands on this place. One day it would be a beautiful family home. A showcase, but a livable one. Well, if the kitchen were redesigned. Put in an island, one big enough for one of those built-in banquets. And the back porch—
“You do realize that putting a power tool in Jasper’s hands is like begging him to slice off a limb, don’t you?” Noah asked dryly from the doorway yanking her from her renovation fantasies. “It might not be his own, but it’s bound to happen.”
“Oh, you’re speaking to me again? How nice.”
His green eyes hardened. “I’m only pointing out that he could get hurt. Though I’m sure that would play for the cameras.”
Cat tossed her hair over her shoulder and arched an eyebrow. She wasn’t going to let him get her into a screaming rage. Nope. It would probably piss him off even more if she kept her cool. No matter what it cost her.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, all peaches and cream with just a dash of arsenic. Her fingernails dug crescents into her palms.