by Anthology
She could not believe she had put him in that no-win situation. Sure, he hadn’t been complaining then, but that was in the heat of the moment. Once they were interrupted and he had the opportunity to view events in the harsh light of day, he must have had horrible regrets.
Not that she’d had any. She had tried so hard to feel regrets for that night. But she simply couldn’t.
She knew that he must think awful things about her, though. And deservedly so—he had every right to. Not only for her actions that night, but also for the way she had behaved in the weeks before Nick’s funeral. Jason had constantly been trying to connect with her, trying to get her to talk to him, trying to get her in a place where they could lean on each other like they always had, and all she had been able to do was shut him out.
Shaking her head as if her brain were an Etch A Sketch and her painful memories were as easy to clear away as the thin grey lines on its screen, she ordered herself to put a stop to this line of thinking.
This was not the time to embark on a trip down memory lane. No need to dredge up the past this minute. Moving forward. Onward and upward. Here and now—that was all she had any control over.
Her main priority this weekend was to be there for her Sophiebell, focus on the wedding, and be the best maid of honor she could be. Secondarily, she would find the exact right words to let Jason know how deeply, truly sorry she was and then tell him—just as soon as she figured out how to control her ridiculously out-of-proportion hormonal response to him.
As they were crossing the yard to the Hunters' house, Katie felt Jason’s arm wrap around her waist. This caused a shiver (or rather, another shiver) to run from her head right down to her toes, one so powerful that it almost caused her to break her stride. Okay, come on. Who was she kidding? It almost knocked her flat on her ass.
Good night, nurse!
What was he? Electrically charged or something?
Her body grew tense at its response to his touch and Katie naïvely hoped that he would get the drift and release his arm. He didn’t.
Instead, he leaned in and whispered in her ear, somewhat condescendingly in her humble opinion, “Not a big blog reader, huh? You get ‘really sad’? Good save, Kit Kat.”
Immediately Katie’s body relaxed. Irritation seemed to have that effect on her. As soon as annoyance began to flow through her and a retort began to form in her mind, her body reacted like an athlete about to run out onto the court. She was ready, armed with facts.
He hadn’t seen her in ten years. He had no idea what was going through her mind. Maybe she really had meant what she had said to Aunt Wendy.
She opened her mouth to give Jason a piece of her mind when she realized that they were standing at the front door of the Hunters’ home, and that realization derailed her defense.
She looked around at the porch, the door, the yard from this perspective. She felt like she was having an out-of-body experience.
It was surreal how familiar and yet how completely foreign this place felt to Katie.
The last time she had stood at this door was after the funeral. Nick’s mom, Grace, had given Katie Nick’s football jersey. She had handed it to Katie, wordlessly, the weight of grief etched on her face. Katie had taken it in her hands, reverently, tears streaming from her eyes. She had turned and walked down the porch steps without a word, the entire ceremony conducted in silence. The two women could feel how sacred it was.
She hadn't known it at the time as she walked down those steps, but by the next day, she would be gone. It was the last time she would stand on that porch.
Until today.
This realization hit her all at once like a ton of bricks. She tried to move her feet but she couldn’t.
“It’s okay. I’m here. We'll go in when you're ready,” Katie heard Jason's voice say behind her, and she felt his arms wrap her tighter. Her knees were so wobbly that it felt like he might be the only thing holding her upright.
Katie took a deep breath. Her palms became clammy, and her feet felt like someone had dipped them in cement, but she knew she had to do this. She just needed to push forward. Yep. Forward momentum was the only thing she could count on to get her through this door. Through this weekend, for that matter.
“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” she said with a decisiveness she did not yet feel. Still, she pulled open the screen door and stepped inside.
“Katie, you’re here.”
“We’ve missed you so much.”
“Honey, you look so pretty.”
“Oh my gosh, it’s really you, Katie.”
“Can you believe this one’s getting married?”
“Katie, you’re so beautiful.”
“You’re all grown up.”
“I don’t believe my eyes.”
Katie's head swam as all the voices and people came flooding at her, all at once. The room was a sea of faces, but several stuck out from the crowd.
Katie saw Nick’s parents, Grace and Mike. She also spotted Alex, one of the other Sloan boys, as well as their cousins, The Quad Squad: Jessie, Haley, Becca, and Krista. The Quad Squad had all been born within a five-year span. Katie had always thought Jason’s aunt Sandy was a saint.
Grace immediately pulled Katie into a warm embrace. Katie tried to return it, but so much was going on. She barely heard Grace's warm voice say, “It’s so good to see you, sweetie. We’ve missed you so much.”
Katie couldn’t catch her breath. She felt the room starting to spin, and there was a growing sense of dread in her gut.
Wouldn't having a panic attack in front of all of these people she hadn't seen in ten years be just the perfect reintroduction?
It was starting to begin in earnest when she heard a gruff voice break through the melee. “Now, now. Let’s give the girl some breathing room. She’s had a long flight, and besides, you all know she is only here to see me anyway.”
“Grandpa J,” Katie whispered as she finally exhaled, and relief flooded her body like a soothing balm. The crowds parted, and she saw him sitting in the same brown recliner she remembered always seeing him in.
Emotion washed over her, and before she knew what she was doing, she ran up to him and threw her arms around him, tears falling down her face. Talk about forward momentum. She didn't care how silly she looked. This was Grandpa J.
Colonel James Hunter, or “Grandpa J,” was really the only grandfather Katie had ever known. Her grandfather on her mother’s side had been gone even before she was born, and her father’s parents had passed when Katie was a toddler. She wasn’t sure if she had ever met them or not, but if she had, she didn't remember it.
When Grandpa J came to live with the Hunters the first Christmas after they had moved to Harper's Crossing, Katie had naturally gravitated towards him. It wasn't just the idea of having a grandfather, any grandfather at all, that had drawn her to him—Grandpa J was special.
And for his part, Grandpa J had no problem adopting Katie as his own honorary grandchild. He always said that he was enough Grandpa to go around.
Katie loved listening to him talk for hours about his time in the military—the fun he and his friends would have going out on the town, all dressed in uniform and looking as dapper as could be, and the shenanigans that would ensue.
He talked about hitchhiking from Florida to New York and all the interesting people he met along his two-week journey. But Katie’s favorite story to listen to was the one about the very first time he saw his future wife, Marie Elise Gallo.
Katie never got to meet Grandma Marie, who passed away before Grandpa J came to live in Harper's Crossing, but from what she’d heard, Grandma Marie knew how to keep Grandpa J on his toes. Despite having never met her, Katie had always felt a special connection to Grandma Marie.
Katie's middle name was Marie, and growing up, she used to fantasize that she was named after Grandma Marie. She couldn't imagine a higher honor. As an adult she wanted to believe that it had actually been fate giving her a much more special nod
—the assurance that her connection with this family had been pre-ordained.
Katie could remember spending hours on end looking through Grandpa J and Grandma Marie’s wedding album. She would imagine that it was her in the simple white satin and lace gown, smiling adoringly up at Nick in his dapper dress uniform. Well, she’d thought it was Nick. She realized now that the groom's face had always been a blur in those fantasies. But…of course it was Nick. Right?
As Grandpa J held her in his comforting embrace, Katie was overwhelmed with the realization of just how much she had missed him.
As if reading her mind, he spoke softly to into her ear, saying “I missed you, Katie. I missed my girl.”
“I missed you too, Grandpa J,” Katie said, holding on to him as if for dear life.
Their reunion was broken up by the brisk and businesslike voice of Aunt Wendy as she began the meeting. Katie could tell that she was relishing the role of Woman in Charge.
“Okay, now that I have everyone here,” Aunt Wendy said as she began handing out brochure-style schedules, “we can get right down to business. Here are your itinerary packets for the weekend. They are color coded, so make sure you take note of your assigned color on the front of the packet. The activities you are expected to be at are noted in the same color.”
“Wow, you really out did yourself, young lady,” Grandpa J said. Katie smiled warmly. His tone was lightly teasing, but Katie could hear real admiration there as well.
The rest of the crowd got lost in reading the packets and softly conversing with each other about them, so Katie gratefully took the opportunity to melt into the background and study the itinerary unobserved.
She immediately noted, to her relief, that she really wouldn’t have a minute to herself all weekend—thank God. That was really for the best. She didn’t need a whole lot of time to sit and marinate in her thoughts, emotions, and memories. No good could come of that
Aunt Wendy continued. “So first up, we have the bride and bridesmaids' final fittings. Men, you have an hour before you are expected over at Richard's Formal Wear. Don’t be late. Colonel, you are in charge of getting the young men there at 11:00 a.m. sharp.”
“Yes, ma’am. They will be there. Don’t worry your pretty little head,” Grandpa J said with a wink.
Aunt Wendy actually blushed. Grandpa J had an amazing ability to compliment a lady and make her feel like the most special woman in the world, and he did it even with the simplest of words. It was an aura about him, an energy he would send across the room. Katie smiled to herself and thought, He's got “game,” as the kids would say.
“Okay, bridal party, you have your schedules. Now, everyone behave, and let's make this the best wedding anyone has ever seen,” Aunt Wendy said, her voice carrying equal parts enthusiasm and warning. She turned to the group of women standing behind her, of which Katie was a part, and said, “Ladies, let’s get a move on.”
As everyone in the room began to move towards the door, Katie felt an arm wrap around her waist and heard Jason’s voice in her ear. She stiffened. She had begun to like the feeling of blending in with the anonymous crowd. It was relaxing. Now the sound of Jason's voice reminded her that she was the target of his laser focus. Still, she couldn't help but be thrilled at the feel of his hot breath on the back of her neck and his strong hand on her back, firmly guiding her forward.
“You okay, Kit Kat? You look a little flushed.”
“I’m fine,” Katie said, her voice betraying her by allowing just a bit of tremulousness to dance around the edges. Come on! She just wanted to make it out the door without looking at him.
Just as she felt Jason pull her closer, Sophie came bounding up to her, much like the way she did when she was four, joy and excitement radiating from her smiling face as she let loose with a stream of chatter Katie also recognized from when she was a child.
“Katie, you’re riding with us. My mom is just going to make a phone call and then we can go. In like, ten minutes, okay? Did you get your stuff all settled?”
“No, I didn’t actually,” Katie said, pulling away from Jason’s oh-so-tempting hold. “I’ll go run next door and be back in a few.”
With that, she virtually flew out the front door. Alone.
She made it to her car and let out a sigh of relief as she popped her trunk and removed her suitcases once again. That relief, however, was short lived. As she closed her trunk, she heard his voice again and just about jumped out of her skin.
“I am not saying that this is the right time, but don’t you think at some point this weekend we need to talk?” His tone surprised her. It held none of the cockiness or the teasing that was always present when he was speaking to her. In fact, he sounded earnest—almost plaintive.
No, no, no!
Katie was far from being ready to handle that.
“’Bout what?” Katie asked in her best faux-innocent tone. Fauxnicent. It was her specialty. She should copyright it. She had the legal knowledge to be able to do that, and it was, after all, her “go to” move.
She turned to look up at him and froze. Oh. Dear. God. He looked so amazing in the sun. She couldn’t quite come to terms with how handsome and sexy he had become. Whenever she and Jason were exchanging their normal banter and she had her back to him, she could safely put him in the ‘cocky little kid she had grown up bickering with’ box. When she laid eyes on him, not so much.
Her brain couldn’t seem to process the information her eyes were sending it.
He leaned in close to her ear and she could once again feel his breath on her neck.
Really. Did he really have to keep doing that?
And more importantly, did it really have to feel so good?
“Okay, Kit Kat. Have it your way,” Jason said into her ear, his voice taking on a slow and languorous quality that was nothing short of mind-blowingly sensuous. “But just remember, I am more than ready to talk about this whenever you stop being a big chicken.” That snapped her out of her sexy-thoughts-brain-fog quickly enough.
“I am not being a chicken. I just asked what you wanted to talk about. And stop calling me Kit Kat.”
Katie dropped her suitcases and stood there as tall as she could with her hands on her hips, her body radiating with irritation. Jason Sloan was the only person in this world who could cause Katie to go from being perfectly happy to extremely irritated in under zero point five seconds. It was truly a gift.
Jason took a step back and looked her up and down, his eyebrows raised in surprise. Katie was just beginning to wonder if she hadn't reacted just a bit harshly, and she started to feel just a tiny bit bad about maybe hurting his feelings—when he burst out laughing.
Seriously?!
“What’s so funny, Jas?” Sophie giggled as she came bounding across the lawn.
“Yes, Jas, I was just about to ask the same thing,” Katie said through a large smile and clenched teeth.
“What can I say? It’s just that Kit Kat is still just as easily riled up as always, and even after all these years, it never ceases to amuse me.”
Jason chuckled as he reached out and took her suitcases, as if his observation were the height of hilarity.
“Wow, I always wondered why God put me on this earth,” Katie said sarcastically, “and now I have my answer. Clearly it was to amuse you, Jas.”
As she looked up at him, trying to maintain a cool composure, he leaned down and stared intently into her eyes. Then, in a low and oh-so-sexy tone only she could hear, he said, “Well I’ve always known that God put you here for me, Kit Kat. You might be a little slow on the uptake, but I’m just glad that, even though it took you more than twenty years, you finally realize it, too.”
Katie stood stock-still, having lost the ability to move or speak. The words that were coming out of his mouth did not make any sense. That could almost kinda-sorta be a compliment. But this was Jason. Jason didn’t say nice things to her.
But he also didn’t touch her all the time. And he was certainly doing
a lot of that. Had she inadvertently come home to some weird-bizarro-alternate-reality version of Harper’s Crossing where Jason Sloan complimented, flirted with, and constantly touched her. And she had the raging hormones of a sailor coming home after being at sea?!
She barely heard all of the commotion and the voices surrounding her as Aunt Wendy corralled everyone, getting them into their assigned vehicles. It all just sounded like white noise.
All Katie could manage to do was stare into Jason’s mesmerizing eyes and try to remember to breathe. Even though there were probably fifteen people buzzing around them, Katie felt as if she and Jason were the only two people on the planet.
“Katie...Katie...” She heard Sophie’s voice as if it were traveling to her from a million miles away. But when she slowly came out of her Jason-induced fog, she looked over and was surprised to discover that Sophie was still standing right next to her.
“Huh?” Katie heard herself ask. Sophie smirked a little, good-naturedly, and that was enough to bring Katie all the way back to herself. As she quickly became more aware of her surroundings, she said briskly, “Oh, right, okay. Are we ready to go? Let me just put my suitcases inside.”
She reached to take her suitcases back from Jason, but he didn't let them go.
“That’s okay, Kit Kat. You go ahead. I’ll take them inside. I don’t have to be at my fitting for an hour.”
Katie tugged at the luggage.
“No, that’s really okay. I can do it. I got it, Jas,” Katie insisted as she pulled the handle harder.
“Now, Kit Kat,” Jason said in a seemingly sincere yet somehow dangerously close to being condescending tone. “You don’t want to make the bride late for her final fitting, do you?”
“Oh, just let Jason take them in, Katie,” Sophie said, as she pulled Katie towards her aunt’s white SUV. “Aunt Wendy’s in the car and Mom already left. We gotta go.”
“But...you can’t get in,” Katie said, her last ditch attempt at an argument, even though she had already been dragged almost all the way down the driveway and knew in her heart she was fighting a losing battle.