"I hope you don't mind," my mom says as we sit down for lunch, "but I invited Carol."
"That's fine, but why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't think she'd be able to come. She had an event this morning but she just texted me and said the event finished up early and she'd be able to make it for lunch. You sure you don't mind?"
"Why would I mind?"
"Carol's worried you're angry she didn't come to the opening."
"I'm not angry. I didn't even remember her not being there until you mentioned it just now. I've been so preoccupied thinking about—" I pause, my mind suddenly focusing on Gavin. I miss him so much.
"Honey, I wish you'd talk to him." My mom lightly rubs my arm. "I hate seeing you so sad."
"I'm not sad," I insist.
"Kate, look at me." She waits until I do. "This is your mom you're talking to. I know when you're not being honest with me, and I know when you're hurting. This fight you're having with Gavin has gone on long enough. It's time to end it."
"It's not a fight. We're just taking some time to think."
"If you take too much time, he won't be there waiting for you anymore."
Is she right? It's only been a few days but he hasn't even attempted to contact me. He wouldn't give up on us that quickly, would he?
"Over here," my mom says as she waves her hand in the air.
I look over and see Carol walking in. She's wearing her work clothes; a black pencil skirt, beige blouse, and black high heels. I don't know how she can wear those heels. Catering events means being on your feet all day but Carol wouldn't dare wear low-heeled, comfortable shoes. Her wealthy clients expect her to dress like they do, so Carol has to wear expensive designer clothes and uncomfortable shoes. But since she doesn't have the kind of money her clients have, she has to wear the same clothes over and over again.
"Kate, I'm so sorry I missed the opening," Carol says, bending down to give me a hug.
"It's okay. I was so busy I didn't have much time to talk to people."
"Still, it was your big night and I missed it." She sits across from me. "How did it go?"
"Great. A lot of people were there, mostly Mr. Walcott's friends."
She nods really fast. "I suppose that makes sense. He knows a lot of people." She fumbles with her napkin before placing it on her lap. She seems fidgety today. Maybe she drank too much coffee this morning.
"It looked like a meeting of investors," my mom jokes. "So many suits. Craig felt out of place in his jeans and sport coat."
"At least he wore his sport coat," Carol says.
My mom laughs. "He almost didn't wear it. I had to convince him to put it on. He was going to wear this old plaid shirt I gave him years ago."
"He still has it?" Carol asks.
"You know Craig. He never gets rid of anything."
Actually, that's not true. Over the years, he's gotten rid of a lot of things, and then when his house caught on fire, he lost most everything else. I'm surprised that shirt survived, unless he had it in his storage unit.
"So how was last night?" Carol asks.
"What was last night?" I ask my mom.
My mom glances at Carol. "I went out for dinner. That's all."
"Sorry," Carol mutters, her eyes on my mom. "I thought she knew."
"Knew what?"
My mom turns to me. "Your dad and I went out for dinner last night. He took me to a new French restaurant I've been wanting to try."
I raise my brows. "Dad took you to a French restaurant? MY dad? The dad who lives off frozen dinners and fast food?"
"Yes," she says, trying to hold back a smile but not succeeding.
"How was it?" Carol asks. "Was the food as good as everyone says?"
"Wait." I look at my mom. "You said you were going to a movie last night."
"I did. After dinner."
"You and Dad went to dinner and a movie? Was this a date?"
She shrugs. "I wouldn't really call it that. We just both wanted to get out and do something so we went out together."
"To a fancy French restaurant? Dad would only go to a place like that if he were on a date."
"I suggested it. It wasn't your father's idea."
"But he still took you there."
"Honey, you're reading too much into this. It wasn't a date." But her expression says otherwise. She's practically glowing talking about my dad.
"Can I take your order?" the waiter asks as he comes up to our table.
We place our order, then I check my phone to see if Tom texted with any restaurant emergencies. There aren't any new texts, from Tom or from Gavin. I keep thinking Gavin will try to contact me but he hasn't.
"Carol, I love that blouse," I hear my mom say as I scan through my emails. "Is it new?"
"No, I've had it for years. I should really get rid of it. It's missing a button."
I glance up from my phone and look at Carol's blouse. It's one of those silky blouses older women wear. I'm sure it was expensive but I think it makes her look old.
My mom and Carol continue talking and I tune them out as I look at my phone. Then suddenly, I remember that button. The one Gavin found at his dad's apartment. It was cream-colored with a silver edge around it.
My head jerks up and my eyes go straight to Carol's blouse and the buttons that run down the front. Cream-colored buttons outlined with a silver edge. And Carol just said one was missing. There's no way that's a coincidence.
It's her. Carol is the other woman. Gavin's dad was having an affair with Carol.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Kate
"Where's the missing button?" I blurt out, interrupting my mom talking to Carol.
They both give me a confused look.
I point to Carol's blouse. "You said there's a missing button. It looks like they're all there."
"The ones along the front are. The missing one is here." She holds her arm out and shows me the sleeve. Around her wrist, there should be two buttons but one is missing. "Why do you ask?"
"I just wondered because I didn't see any missing. So, um, do you know where you lost it?"
She laughs. "No. If I did, I'd get it and sew it back on."
"Kate, why are you so concerned about a button?" my mom asks.
"Because it's a nice blouse. It'd be a shame if Carol had to get rid of it because of a lost button."
"I'll probably keep it," Carol says. "So far, nobody's noticed the missing button and I paid a fortune for the blouse. It's one of the few acceptable clothing items I have for work." She looks at my mom. "You wouldn't believe how strict my clients have become regarding the dress code. Now even my employees have to wear designer clothes, which of course, I have to pay for."
"That's ridiculous," my mom says. "If they're going to make rules like that, then they should have to—"
"Will you excuse me?" I say, getting up. "I have to use the restroom."
"Go ahead," my mom says.
I hurry off to the restroom but remain just outside it and call Gavin. I have to tell him about Carol. Why he wants to know this, I'm not sure, but he's been desperate to find out who the mystery woman is so I feel I have to tell him. And now that I know, I'm kind of freaking out. Carol was having an affair with Niles Bishop? How long did this go on? Did she know what he was involved in? When did the affair end? Maybe it didn't end. Maybe it was going on until he died.
Gavin answers on the first ring. "Kate?"
"Yeah. It's me."
He sighs. "God, I've missed hearing your voice. How have you been?"
"I'm fine." I smile. "You see me every night in the parking lot."
"But you don't talk to me." He sounds so sad.
Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I say, "You don't have to do that, you know."
"Do what?"
"Watch me walk to my car at night."
"I don't have a choice. I have to protect you."
I squeeze my eyes shut, holding back the tears. I didn't call to talk about us. This is about C
arol.
"I have to tell you something," I say.
"Go ahead."
"The woman, the one your dad was seeing? We were right. It was Carol."
"What?" he asks, an urgency in his voice. "How do you know this?"
"The button. I recognized the button. It came from one of her blouses. She's wearing it today and she showed me where she lost a button."
"You saw Carol today?"
"She's here having lunch with my mom and me. We're at a cafe by my mom's apartment."
"Are you sure it's the same button?"
"Positive. It's an unusual button so it has to be it."
"Maybe, but what if it's not? I have to know for sure. Is there any way you could get a handwriting sample so we can confirm that it's really her?"
"I don't know. Maybe. But Gavin, I'm sure it's her. So what are you going to do?"
"I haven't decided. I thought I'd confront her about it but now I'm wondering if I should. What good would it do? Like you said, my dad is gone so do I really want to find stuff out about him that I probably don't want to know?"
"That's up to you, but if I were you, I'd leave it alone. Your dad obviously had secrets and he kept them a secret for a reason. He didn't want you to know."
"Yeah," he says with a sigh.
"I'm sorry, Gavin. Maybe I shouldn't have told you about Carol."
"No. I'm glad you did. Even if I don't confront her, it's good to know who it was he was seeing. I'm not happy about it but at least it wasn't some hooker or one of my mom's friends. He always liked Carol. I'm not that surprised it's her. And honestly, looking back, I'm not that surprised he had an affair. My parents have been growing apart for years. I just didn't want to admit it."
"Do you want to maybe get together and talk about it?"
"I thought you weren't ready to talk."
"I'm not ready to talk about us, but if you want to talk about other stuff, like your dad, I'm here for you."
"There's not much more to say. I'd rather talk about us, so I guess I'll just keep waiting until you're ready."
But when will I be ready? I feel like I keep putting it off but don't know why. Am I just afraid? Afraid talking about it will lead to us breaking up? I don't want that to happen but I can't be in a relationship with a man I don't trust, and given all the lies he's told me, I don't know if I can trust Gavin.
"Kate? You still there?"
"Yeah. So um, how have you been?"
"Not great." He pauses. "How about you?"
"I've been busy. Tired. This is the first time I've been away from the restaurant all week."
"I've been working a lot too. Not because I have to, but because..." His voice trails off but I know he was going to say he's working to keep his mind off me, just like I'm working to keep my mind off him.
"I have to stop by the apartment later and get some stuff. Is that okay?"
"Kate, of course it's okay. It's your apartment, too. And I'm not," he pauses, "I'm not even living there."
"You're not? Then where are you living?"
"In the city. I'm staying at my dad's apartment. I figured I have a key and nobody's living there so I might as well use it."
"But you said it's empty."
"I got a sleeping bag. I'm really only there to sleep so I don't need furniture. And I eat out for all my meals so I don't need kitchen stuff."
"You're sleeping on the floor in an empty apartment? Gavin, why are you doing this? You should be staying at our apartment."
"I can't. It's too hard when you're not there. I haven't stayed there since you left. You should move back in. I promise I won't stop over without telling you. Actually, forget that. Apparently, I suck at making promises, but I'll do my best to tell you before I come over."
"Gavin, this is crazy. Move back into the apartment. I'm not having you sleep on the floor in a cold, empty apartment."
"It's not cold. It's actually kind of hot. The air conditioning doesn't work that well."
"That's not what I meant. It's cold because there's nothing there except the constant reminder that your dad had an affair. You need to get out of that place. Are you there now?"
"No. I'm at the office."
"It's Saturday. Why are you at the office?"
"Because work keeps my mind off..." He sighs. "I just have a lot to do. So how's the restaurant?"
"Good. Better than good. The place has been busy since it opened. I'm sure it's because Walcott got his friends to promote it."
"It's because of you, Kate. Because you have a great concept and great food. That's why people are showing up there. It's not because of Walcott."
When he says stuff like that, it makes me want to forget what happened and take him back. He's so supportive of me, and I want to support him too, but I don't know if I can if he wants to spend his life in politics. Given what I know and what I've seen, I can't be part of that life.
"I should probably let you go," he says.
"Yeah. I'm sure my mom's wondering what's taking so long."
"I love you, Kate. I love you so much."
"I love you too."
"Goodbye."
"Bye." As I end the call I see a text coming in from Tom that reads, Line out the door. Can't keep up. Can you help?
Yes! I'll be there soon, I text back.
There's a line out the door? We've been busy all week but haven't had people waiting outside for a table. Maybe Tom was exaggerating. It's probably just a few people.
When I return to the table, our food is there.
"I have to go," I say. "Tom said there's a line out the door at the restaurant. He needs help."
"A line out the door?" Even my mom is surprised. "That's great, honey."
"Yeah, but it means I can't have lunch." I point to my sandwich. "Could you take this home for me?"
"Why don't I come with you? It sounds like you could use the help."
"I don't want you missing lunch. I'll just see if one of my workers can come in."
"If you need more employees," Carol says, "I could give you the names of a few people."
"That'd be great." I dig through my purse for a piece of paper. I don't really need more employees but I need her handwriting. I find a scrap of paper and a pen and hand it to her. "Just jot down their names and numbers and I'll give them a call."
As she writes the first name, I immediately know it was her handwriting on that menu. She's definitely Niles' mistress.
"There you go." She smiles as she hands it to me.
"Thanks! I'll see you guys later."
Back at the restaurant, I find that Tom wasn't exaggerating. There's a line down the street and around the corner of people waiting to get a table. How did this happen?
"Thank God you're here," Tom says as I race into the kitchen. He's frantically putting pie slices onto dessert plates. "We're almost out of pie. Think you can make more?"
"Yeah, what kind do we need?"
"All of them. I think people are here for the pie more than anything else. Everyone's ordering it and people were asking if they could take home whole pies so I let them but then we started running out."
"Okay, well, no more whole pies. Tell people just slices for now. I'll get to work."
"Before you start, you might want to check this out." He reaches across the counter and picks up a newspaper and hands it to me. "I think this is why we have a line out the door."
On the front of the lifestyle section is a picture of the restaurant along with the headline, Young Entrepreneur Opens Trendy New Diner.
"They wrote an article about me?" I smile. "Why didn't someone from the paper call and tell me?"
"Beats me," Tom says, continuing to dish up pies. "But whoever wrote it loves this place, especially your pies. I have a feeling we're going to be even busier. We're going to need more help."
As he's talking, I'm quickly reading the article, pausing on phrases like 'best meatballs I ever had' and 'pies like Mom made, only better!'
"I can't believe this
!" I squeal, jumping up and down. It's totally unprofessional behavior but I can't help it. I'm so excited! A food writer for the paper actually came in here and loved the place and wrote about it. And it's on the front page!
I put on my apron and get to work. Luckily, I had pie dough chilling in the cooler so all I have to do is roll it out and make the fillings.
We sell out of pie again during the dinner rush and I end up making more dough and more pies. By the time we close, I'm exhausted and so is my staff. I'll have to give them all a bonus for their hard work. If we keep having lines out the door, I'm definitely going to need to hire more help.
I limp out to my car, head down, shoulders sagging, feet aching. I'm so out of it, I don't even notice Gavin until I go to unlock my car door. He's standing in front of it and I accidentally jab him in the stomach.
"Oh!" I look up. "Sorry."
He chuckles. "No one's ever tried to unlock me before." He takes the key from me and hands me a bouquet of roses. "These are for you."
"Why?"
"One, because I love you. Two, to congratulate you on being such a huge success. I saw the article."
"You did?"
"I saw it online." He slips my car key in his pocket. "I told you people would love it. I'm so proud of you, Kate. It's only your first week open and you've got people lining up to get in."
I smile, weakly. "Yeah, it's great, but I can barely keep up. I have to hire more people. Today was exhausting. I'm so tired."
He puts his arm around my shoulder. "C'mon." He starts walking, taking me with him as he goes to his car.
"What are you doing?"
"Taking you home. I don't want you driving when you're this tired."
"Gavin, I'm fine. I'm not making you drive an hour to my mom's place."
"I'm not taking you to your mom's place. I'm taking you home. OUR home."
I stop walking. "But Gavin, I'm not—"
"Not what? Not ready to talk? I don't care. I'm done waiting. This is stupid, Kate. We both love each other and being apart to think about whatever it is we need to work on isn't helping. We need to figure that out together, not apart." He takes my hand and leads me to the passenger side of his car. "I'm taking you home and putting you in bed. OUR bed. And I'm going to be right beside you."
Secrets Told Page 24