To Love a Shooting Star

by K'Anne Meinel

  All too soon Erin was loading up her wagon to head home. She didn’t want to. The boys definitely didn’t want to. Kate didn’t want them to leave. They put off the protests though with a promise that they could all come back anytime. Kate and Erin hugged, an extra squeeze slipped in. Kate got a hug from each of the boys who really liked their Mom’s new friend. The dog and the cat each got thoroughly petted before Kate locked them in the house. The last the three saw was Kate waving madly as they drove down the hill to the gate. The boys talked for almost an hour straight going over and over all the things they had seen and done in the last 24 hours. The animals were a main topic of their conversation. Erin grinned to herself knowing that first impression was a good one. All three of them could hardly wait until they could do it again.

  Kate actually felt lonely as she watched them drive away. She had lived alone for so long she had thought she had become used to it. Even visits from her sons didn’t leave her feeling this lonely. She picked up the few things that were in disarray from the visit and put away the chips in sealed containers until the boys would visit again. She had packed the boys sandwiches with the last of the cold cuts for their ride back but she still had way more food than she needed around the house. The ice cream at least would keep in the freezer and since Kate was lactose intolerant she wouldn’t be eating it despite how tempting it was.

  That night out of sheer boredom Kate Googled Erin Ingram. The amount of information on the reclusive star was unbelievable. She watched U-Tube for several hours with interviews and movie clips. It fascinated her and showed her sides of Erin that she didn’t yet know. It also confirmed things about Erin that she suspected. Her intelligence, her wit, her general demeanor came through in a myriad of ways. Kate was fascinated. There were several movies of hers that she now wanted to rent. The next day when she spoke to Erin she discussed what she had found and was pleased that Erin wasn’t offended by her research. Kate had worried as she plunged deeper into articles and interviews that perhaps Erin would find it an invasion of privacy. Erin had actually found it flattering that Kate was that interested and had freely volunteered what she had done. Kate was honest and above board and living in a town where that was not the norm, Erin found it refreshing. It also opened up a whole new line of conversation as Erin shared insights on some of the interviews and clips. She asked Kate to wait to watch some of her movies that Kate hadn’t seen yet, she wanted to watch them with Kate so she could watch her reactions and then they could discuss them afterwards. It also was a good excuse to be together again. They even watched some of the interviews on line together as they sat on the phone for hours. It was an interesting courtship between them Erin thought. Since they lived two hours away from each other the phone and the computer became a lifeline.

  Erin took a leaf out of Kate’s book and Googled her as well. Although not as well-known certainly as Erin, the information that came up was intriguing. Not many people realized that Kate McCall was also Macc Katell as well as Trina, just that, one name only for her erotica novels. Erin read up on all of the personas. The ‘Trina’ stories though were almost porn in their content, Erin was amused as she read them online where she could find them. It was amazing how aroused she became reading them though. It wasn’t normally something she read, this erotica. She was amused to find this side of the unassuming Kate. The article in Inc. Magazine showed Kate to be a good marketer of her own books. It heralded her clever marketing skills and praised how she had repeated the process not only with her first Kate McCall novel but with her first Macc Katell novel as well. It had garnered her a publisher who understood the three very unique and different personas of the same person. Now, several novels later under each of her pseudonyms she was very successful in her own right. She had numerous awards under her belt that showed people liked her style of writing regardless of what genre she chose to write in.

  Erin and the boys came again on Sunday for the day only. That was as long as she could stand to stay away from Kate. She would have come on Saturday so they could spend the night but Sandy had wanted time with the boys before they went back to school. She would have come alone but didn’t want the boys to know, she felt being honest and open with her own family about this relationship was the only way to go. As it was Sandy was fully sick of hearing about Kate by the end of her visit with the boys.

  “Who is this Kate that the boys keep talking about?” she asked her ex as she dropped the boys off.

  “Oh, this friend of mine who lives in Santa Barbara. She has a dog and some cats and the boys had a great time when we were there.” Erin tried to make it sound innocent but Sandy knew her too well.

  “I know practically everyone you know. I never heard you talk about a ‘friend Kate’ in Santa Barbara.” The look in her eye was sardonic.

  Erin wanted to avoid this she really did but she too knew Sandy very well. She would keep going like the trial lawyer she used to be. “I met her a while ago at a party, we have a lot in common. I thought the boys would like to meet her.” It sounded a little false to her ears as well. She didn’t want Sandy knowing she had met Kate only a week ago, she would pick it apart and make Erin feel stupid if she could.

  Sandy wasn’t stupid. She could read Erin like a book. It was how she had known that Erin had cheated on her years ago. Although her face wasn’t giving away anything her body language was. “So you finally met someone?”

  Erin looked up startled. She should of known Sandy would pick up on that immediately. It was an annoying habit of hers. “I don’t know yet.”

  “Have you slept with her?” Sandy couldn’t help herself, as much as it still hurt to think that they both had moved on, she still felt the need to know.

  “That is no longer any of your business” Erin replied cautiously. She didn’t want Sandy to know any more than she needed to.

  “Really? The boys tell me they spent the night there this last week. What am I to assume by that?” Sandy kept her bitterness out of the tone of her question.

  “You of all people should know better than to assume anything” Erin was being careful. It didn’t pay to piss Sandy off, she was a lawyer and had tried several things to annoy Erin after they broke it off but they had finally been able to settle things equitably despite the anger and bitterness. Erin knew she had been at fault by cheating on Sandy, she had paid for it in many ways. Sandy had been so hurt and angry and for that Erin still felt guilty despite the fact that at that point in their relationship it had been a dying relationship. Sandy would have liked to be the one to make the choice to end it. After Erin’s infidelity though she had made Erin pay in guilt and hurt.

  “So how far has it gone?” Sandy tried a lets be friends tone.

  Erin knew what she was doing and wasn’t going to fall for it. The boys had gone inside and she and Sandy were standing by her car. “’It’ hasn’t gone anywhere so relax. Just because I made a friend who happens to be a woman doesn’t mean I’m sleeping with her.”

  “Have you checked her out?” Sandy couldn’t seem to help herself. Secretly she had hoped that someday Erin would beg her to come back. She wasn’t sure which meaning of that question she was asking herself.

  “What the heck does that mean?” Erin was becoming angry. What right did Sandy have to question her like this? They were over. What they had been to each other was over years ago.

  Sighing Sandy let it go. “Never mind, I was out of line.” Getting back in her car she waved as she pulled away.

  Erin was annoyed. She knew that wasn’t the end of it. Sandy would eventually insist on meeting Kate and she didn’t know if she was ready for that. Sandy could be a real bitch. She would try to intimidate Kate and Erin didn’t want to scare Kate off. Already the fame thing had made her shy away and be cautious. The little they had been out in public she had been protective and unsure of how to handle things. It would take time and she wouldn’t let Sandy and her jealousies ruin things, it was too new and she was too hopeful of the outcome. She didn’t want to lose
whatever she and Kate had over Sandy and her jealousies, she wouldn’t let it. She deserved some happiness and from what she knew of Kate, what she had experienced thus far, what she had read, she wanted Kate in her life. It was her choice, not Sandy’s.

  Over the next few months they worked out a system. Weekends they would spend in Santa Barbara. Occasional weekdays Kate would bring D.O.G. down with her and spend the night. The cats she could leave alone with their automatic watering dish and automatic feeder and electric cat pan. D.O.G. loved visiting with the boys and they showed him off to their friends whenever they could. Erin was taking time off since her last movie so they had time together. Kate had edited her latest book in record time and sent it off to the publishers. They anticipated a spring release and she was fine with that.

  The boys soon understood that Kate was more than a friend to their Mom. As long as neither of the adults was overtly obvious the boys were okay with an occasional kiss, hug, or caress. The adults had taken it slow but the amount of time they spent on the phone to each other, the eagerness to see each other as often as possible, had given them away but the boys were okay with it. Erin even slept now openly in Kate’s bedroom in Santa Barbara. The boys loved Kate and how solicitous she was to their Mom. She was fun and thoughtful to the boys. She even picked them up occasionally from school. Once even in her Mercedes with its gull wing doors which made them so cool at school. Since it only had two seats though she only did that once since they had to share the front seat and belt and she didn’t like that idea. She even bought everyone a bike made for four. It had two seats in the front and two in the back with a basket in front on the handlebars. She, along with Peter’s help installed an electric motor on it to be used in case of emergencies or up hills only and when she said ‘only’ she wasn’t kidding, making them all peddle madly downhill or on straight aways. They had a fantastic time over and again. It was just one more thing that made them all look forward to their weekends in Santa Barbara together.

  It was an idyllic time for the four of them as they got to know each other. Time seemed to pass by quickly. Erin read a lot of scripts but didn’t find one that suited her but then she wasn’t in a hurry to find one, she wasn’t sure what she was looking for but none did anything for her yet. She enjoyed the time alone she had with Kate. Kate had lent her first copies of her various books to read and she found the McCall novels as well as the Katell ones equally interesting they were so far apart in subject matter and yet she could recognize Kate and her unique style in both of them.

  They shopped, they ate out, frequently one meeting the other somewhere so they weren’t seen coming or going together. Occasionally the four of them went somewhere together but Kate always melted away when she saw cameras. Erin was coming to hate how it made her feel to see Kate do that, which surprised her. It seemed so unfeeling, almost as though she were ashamed to be seen with Kate and that was not at all how she felt about her or with her. She hadn’t told Kate yet but she was hopelessly in love with her. She made her life so much happier. Her sense of humor kept them all in stitches. She genuinely cared for the boys and they loved her and had made it known in so many ways. Even Peter who understood better what was going on between Kate and his Mom and was getting into that awkward teen time respected Kate who gave him plenty of room and yet was allowed to give him a hug and be teased. She seemed to understand him and knew how to talk to him. Erin couldn’t have been more pleased.

  Erin had read all of Kate’s published works as well as a few un-published stories that Kate didn’t feel were quite ready. Kate McCall was her main writing name but she also wrote under Trina, that was all, just ‘Trina’ and she used that name to write the racier more erotic stuff than under Kate. She also wrote under the name Macc Katell where she wrote adventure series novels for teens. Peter had been so impressed to find this out and she had signed several books for his friends, he had even proudly introduced her to a few of them. Kate had achieved a lot of success in a short amount of time and Erin had enjoyed almost all of her works. The ‘Trina’ novels bothered her a bit making her uncomfortable but Kate explained that Trina was just her alter ego and allowed her to get some of her dirtier stories out. It wasn’t that they were dirty though, just racier, sexier, and more erotic. They were classified under erotica in the bookstore. Erin had gotten a kick out of seeing any of the books in Barnes & Noble and secretly knowing the author. Yes, Katrina McCall was a complex woman and Erin enjoyed getting know the many layers, peeling them away as it were, one at a time.

  In October Erin found a script that she normally would never have considered. Something about it though intrigued and challenged her so she read it again and again. She wasn’t sure if it wasn’t Kate’s ‘Trina’ influence which was arousing when read, but she decided to do it much to her manager’s amazement, he had been sure she would pass on that one when he was presented with it. She would not only star in it but she decided to direct and produce it as well. She didn’t know what inspired her to take it all on but she enjoyed directing, she certainly could afford to produce it, and she loved the idea of staring in something so different than what she had done so in the past. Kate read the script and was surprised at Erin’s decision as well. She fully supported anything Erin decided to do but even she felt compelled to point out the difference from Erin’s usual choice. Erin knew the movie was a departure from the norm for her which was part of the appeal of it for her. With a little more work the script would be perfect in her mind. When Kate read it she noticed a few discrepancies, spelling or grammatical errors, and a general dullness to some of it where it fell flat. She wasn’t sure as she wasn’t used to reading scripts but when she pointed these things out to Erin, she suggested that Kate edit it as she saw fit. Kate re-read it for her putting notes and suggestions in the margins and Erin was grateful for her perceptive comments. It was funny, it was sexy, and it was her new project. She was looking forward to start filming on it in January, in the meantime she had a lot of work to do before they started.

  That fall they were all busy. From a fairly easy summer they all went back to work and school. Erin to her script and getting ready to film, hiring and interviewing people for their various jobs, Kate to two novels that had rattled around in her head all summer long and she felt ready to write, the boys starting 3rd and 7th grades. They all still kept to the schedule of the week days in town and weekends in Santa Barbara whenever possible, despite soccer games and other related activities. C.A.T. was a common visitor into Los Angeles now as well as D.O.G. The car ride was an acceptable amount of time for both pets and it was amusing to Kate that they knew at the end of the ride that they could play with ‘their’ boys. She enjoyed the startled looks of other travelers as she drove by them or they drove by her with two faces plastered against her windows, especially the cat. The pointed fingers and the occasional speeding so they could look some more gave away their interest. She kept her smiles to a minimum and they couldn’t tell she was watching them from behind her dark sunglasses.

  In November they celebrated both Kate’s and Erin’s birthday’s. Born five years and one week apart they celebrated Kate’s 43rd and Erin’s 48th. It was a nice family celebration with the four of them and the two pets at the house. Kate gave Erin a beautiful 18 karat necklace and matching earrings and Erin hesitated before handing Kate her present. Kate opened it to find a promise ring. Startled she looked up at Erin but her alarm wasn’t seen by the boys who were too busy with their cake. The ring fit exactly.

  Later when they were in the bedroom Kate brought up the subject “Erin, why this, why now?” She had been genuinely shaken by the ring. Although beautiful she thought too much, too soon. It was a beautiful ring with the diamonds around the circumference of the gold ring. Erin knew she only liked yellow gold, no white gold for this gal. The ring was large too, Kate wore a size 11 and that was nearly impossible to find for a woman.

  Erin was brushing her hair in front of the dresser mirror. Looking at her girlfriend in the reflection
of the mirror she couldn’t help but sigh. She found Kate beautiful. Both inside and out she was genuinely caring. She loved this woman but other than returning affection Kate had never once told her that she loved her. Erin had been careful not to tell Kate either. She had wanted to have this conversation sooner but perhaps now was the time after all. Putting the brush down she turned and walked over to sit on Kate’s side of the bed. Both of them were dressed in pajamas. Kate’s were always in satin or silk. Erin wore shorts and a T-shirt that made her look utterly appealing.

  “Kate, I know what you’re thinking. It’s too much and way too soon. We’ve only known each other for six months. But I know me.” At this Erin gestured to her heart. “ I think I know you too. I am in love with you and I want you to stay forever. You make me so happy.” Erin had tears in her eyes as she got this out but she was gazing earnestly into Kate’s deep green eyes.

  Kate’s eyes teared up as well as she pulled Erin to her “I love you too, I was afraid to tell you though.”

  Sharing a tight hug they both held on as they both tried to stop the flow of tears, unsuccessfully. A long while later they pulled themselves out of the hug and continued their conversation.

  “Why were you afraid to tell me?”

  “Erin, you are so famous. I was afraid of scaring you off, I didn’t want you to think I was some star struck stalker. I fell in love with you after that first weekend together. It was awesome. And then when you brought the boys, I knew I didn’t want to lose you or them.” The tears were running unashamedly down Kate’s cheeks.