Kathy

by T. L. Haddix

  No one spoke immediately, then Dorian stood. “I should go. This sounds like a family matter.” He held his hand up when Nancy started to rise, and he went to her chair and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I can show myself out. Thank you for inviting me.”

  It wasn’t until the front door closed behind him that Sarah felt as though they started breathing again. She looked across the table at Owen, whose lips were pursed as he stared back at her.

  “It could have been worse,” he stated with a shrug.

  Sarah snorted, her temper lit. “It could have been better. Nancy, what were you thinking? You know good and well that if Mama wants to go back to Kentucky, she’ll go. As for Kathy, I highly doubt she’s ever going to set foot near the state again. Why is that so difficult for you to understand?”

  “Because I happen to know my sister a little better than you, missy. I want to see her and Kathy get better, not stay down here and pretend the past never happened. They’re not facing it. All they’re doing is wallowing in the misery. That’s no way to live.”

  Stunned and outraged, Sarah stared at her, mouth agape. “How… I… no. You can’t possibly be serious.”

  “Enough of this. Charles is right,” Roy said quietly. “You have to stop pushing.”

  Nancy’s cheeks were bright red as she glared at her husband, and her mouth was pinched so tight Sarah knew she was inches away from crying, losing her temper, or both.

  “What does Charles know about this family?” she asked in a voice barely above a whisper. “Why is he an expert on Kathy and Eliza all of a sudden?”

  Eliza slammed her napkin on the table. “I told you why, but you won’t listen. He and Kathy are involved.”

  Nancy laughed, but the sound held no humor. “And I told you that’s the most ridiculously inappropriate pairing I’ve ever heard of. I love Kathy dearly, you know I do, but she’s no match for Charles.”

  “I beg your pardon, but I believe that’s something Kathy and I should decide,” Charles said, stepping inside the dining room with a stricken Kathy behind him, her hand linked with his. “With respect, our relationship is none of your business.”

  Owen stood, his face grim, and sent Sarah a look. “I think I’ll get the kids ready to go.”

  She nodded, heartbroken for Kathy and for her mother. Eliza would find Nancy’s words hard to forgive. For that matter, so would Sarah. And Kathy…

  “After everything you’ve done for us, how can you believe what you just said?” Eliza asked. She shook her head. “We should go. I can’t talk to you right now. Not anymore, not tonight. Not for a while.”

  Kathy gave Sarah a hug as Nancy stormed from the room and ran down the hall. “We’re going to take a drive. I’ll see you back at the cottage later?”

  “Of course.” Sarah got up as Charles escorted Kathy out the door. “I’ll go help Owen.” She crossed her arms as she hurried from the room, hoping she’d make it upstairs without crying. That wouldn’t help anyone.

  “I’ll go with you,” Eliza said. When Sarah turned to look at her, Eliza shook her head. “Don’t try to think about it or talk about it. Not right now. Let’s just get home.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Heart heavy, Sarah kept her mind focused on the task at hand, trying to keep her thoughts away from how hurt Kathy had looked when they’d come back in. She drew hope from the fact that Kathy’d gone with Charles and that he’d not seemed cowed by Nancy’s opinion of their relationship.

  With any luck, this would be a simple bump in the road for them all. Nancy was one of the kindest women Sarah had ever known, and she couldn’t imagine that her aunt really believed what she’d said. More importantly, Sarah hoped that Kathy didn’t believe it, and if she did, Sarah prayed Charles was the kind of man she thought he was, someone who could break through the defenses Kathy was bound to raise.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Given how prickly Nancy had been from the time they’d walked in the door, Kathy had expected her to say something. She’d fully been prepared to walk out if her aunt tried to strong-arm her and Eliza into making a trip to Kentucky. She’d even been somewhat prepared for a less-than-positive reaction to the news that she and Charles were seeing each other.

  She’d not expected the other man. And she’d certainly not expected to be told she wasn’t an appropriate match for Charles. Not by her own family. His, sure. But to have Nancy say such a thing had blindsided her.

  “Where do you want to go?” Charles asked once they were in his car.

  Kathy shook her head. “I don’t know. Someplace private. I need a few minutes to think.”

  He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “Okay. How about my office? No one should be there. If I take you back to my house, I’ll kidnap you and keep you there. Not that I’d see that as a bad thing, having you there all the time, but it might confirm that ‘decidedly odd’ impression.”

  Despite her breaking heart, she mustered up a tiny smile. “Silly man. The office is fine.”

  She didn’t say much as they drove or as he led her into his office. She kicked off her shoes and sank onto the couch with a grateful sigh. With the shades drawn, a lamp on the side table beside the couch turned on, and the quietness of the building around them, the atmosphere was decidedly intimate.

  “Can I get you something to drink?” Charles asked.

  Kathy shrugged. “Cold water?”

  “Sure. I’ll be right back.”

  While he was gone, she sat there, not moving, and stared at the ceiling. Nancy’s words weren’t anything Kathy hadn’t said in her own mind a hundred times. So why did hearing them spoken hurt so much more? She was still trying to puzzle that out when Charles came back.

  “Thanks.” She sipped the water then set it on a coaster on the table as he paced to the window. “I had so hoped things would turn out well tonight.”

  He chuckled humorlessly. “I don’t know what to say other than to beg you to please not believe her.” He turned to look at her imploringly. “Don’t let what she said get to you. Please.”

  Kathy played with the clasp on her bracelet. “I’m not sure how I feel about what she said, to be honest.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Just that. I wasn’t expecting that sort of statement from Nancy of all people, and I’m going to need some time to think about it.”

  He took his hands out of his pockets and stepped closer to her. “You don’t believe what she said, do you?”

  “I…” Tears pricked her eyes. “I don’t want to, no. But I guess part of me does.”

  “Why?” He hunkered down in front of her, clasping her hands. “Talk to me about this, about what you’re feeling. Let’s work through it.”

  Kathy huffed, frustrated and angry and plain torn up inside. “I know I’m not good enough for you. This would be so much easier if you were some roughneck or farmer or something else where it didn’t matter so much who you got involved with.”

  A flash of anger crossed his face. “Would you prefer someone like Dorian? Is that what you’re saying?”

  “No!” She yanked her hands back and stood then moved around him. Her movements were jerky as she pushed her hands through her hair then settled them on her hips. She stared at the wall beside the window. “Don’t tell me you haven’t considered how my past could impact you if we moved forward with… with us.”

  “Okay, I won’t tell you that. I have considered it. I just don’t care what other people think. Everyone who knows me, who loves me, the people I love back? They’re more concerned about my happiness than your pedigree or lack thereof.”

  “Even your mother?” she shot at him, eyebrow quirked. “Because I seem to remember a scene with a debutante standing stark naked in your hallway that might indicate the opposite.”

  He growled—actually growled—and shook his head as he went to the opposite end of the room. �
�My mother does not set my social calendar. Why does everyone and their damned brother think she does? And yeah, I think after she has a chance to get to know you, she’ll come around. I think you’d be good for her.”

  Kathy was devastated by the hope and desperation in his tone. “You are much more optimistic than me then.”

  “I’m sorry that tonight went the way it did,” he said quietly. “I said some things to Nancy I probably shouldn’t have, maybe overstepped some. And if that makes it harder for you, I apologize. That’s the last thing I wanted. But I’m not willing to sit back and let her hit out at you or at your mother, and I wholeheartedly disagree with her assessment about us. I have a hard time believing she said it even though I heard her with my own ears.”

  “I don’t.” Kathy sat down lightly on the sturdy bookshelf beneath the window. “I’m having a hard time finding the words to explain, but now that it’s sinking in, I’m not surprised.”

  “Then try to explain it to me.” He crossed to her, grabbing one of the chairs in front of his desk to sit in. “Please.”

  “Nancy’s very concerned with appearances. I don’t mean to say she’s shallow, because she’s normally one of the sweetest people in the world, and she’d go out of her way to help anyone who needed it. But she does have a tendency to take an overblown perspective of things, make mountains out of molehills and the like. I think she’s afraid I’m going to get hurt, and I think she’s afraid it’ll be another scandal, one that reflects poorly on her and Roy somehow this time.” She let him take her hands again. This time, she threaded their fingers together to hold on to him.

  “I don’t know if I’m strong enough to fight this battle,” she admitted quietly. “I’m so tired from just what happened this evening, I feel like I could sleep for days. And all the anger, the raised voices, every word was like a blow. Having you aggravated with me, it’s like scraping fingernails all over my body, leaving me raw. I just want everyone to get along. I thought I was strong enough to handle the fighting if it came, but I’m not. Instead, I’m just a bother to everyone, a problem to solve.”

  Making that admission wiped her out, left her feeling hot and ashamed and utterly dejected. The prickling tears returned, and she brushed her cheeks when they were damp.

  “Oh, Kathy, no.” Charles pulled her into his lap carefully, bracing a foot on the shelf to make their awkward positions more comfortable. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. Let’s just sit here for a few minutes. We’ll figure this thing out together. You are not a problem. Don’t you ever think that.” He kissed her softly then folded her into his arms with a sigh.

  She didn’t weep exactly, but she most definitely shed tears as he held her. “Somehow, I guess I thought with all the therapy and the medication that this would be easier.”

  “I don’t think there’s ever anything easy about having falling-outs with your family. I know it isn’t for me.”

  She let out a rough sigh against his neck as she played with the knot of his tie. “Speaking of family, and hopefully happier things, how are Daphne and the baby?” She’d not had a chance to ask him privately yesterday at the beach.

  Charles smiled. “She’s good. Trying to figure out what in the world to do with two rambunctious boys and a baby. I saw her Friday afternoon.”

  They sat there for a little while longer, and Kathy was relieved to find her anxiety fading as time passed. But a marked sadness lingered, and that gave her pause.

  “We’d best head back to the cottage,” she said a bit later, sitting up with a sigh. “I so hate that they’re leaving in the morning.”

  Charles tugged her back to him and stole a kiss that left her clinging to him. “Is it selfish of me to want to take you home with me tonight? After you’ve finished visiting with them, I mean?”

  Kathy smiled and carefully pushed his glasses up his nose. “I thought you’d be eager to drop me off at the door and skedaddle back to the sanctuary of the beach.”

  “Never,” he told her somberly. “There’s no sanctuary there anymore without you.”

  “Charles…”

  He kissed her again then stood her on her feet. “Come on. Let’s get you back to them.”

  “I don’t have to be at work until noon,” she said as he locked up the office.

  “No?” He paused, keys in hand, his face cast in shadows from the security light behind him in the parking lot.

  She shrugged. “I was going to use the time to pull myself together after they left. I was afraid I might need it. Mama’s spending the night at the cottage to help them get on the road, but I couldn’t. I hate saying good-bye to them like that. She’s planning to head straight to work from there.”

  “So you’d be alone…”

  “I would.”

  He let out a harsh breath. “I don’t think you should be alone. You should definitely come home with me. I won’t take no for an answer,” he warned, though his tone was questioning rather than demanding.

  Kathy closed the space between them and kissed him. “I won’t say no. You can drop me off at the house on your way in tomorrow if it’s not too much trouble.”

  She knew she was giving in too easily and should have at least put up a token protest in case he wasn’t serious, but as she’d said earlier, she was wiped out from all the drama. If she hadn’t needed to see Sarah and Owen and the babies one last time, to eke out every last minute she could with them, she’d have begged him to take her straight home. As much as she believed she was setting herself up for heartache down the road, for tonight at least, home felt like being wherever Charles was.

  The phrase “don’t borrow trouble” echoed through her mind as they drove to the cottage. Too tired to think about the mess with Nancy anymore, she decided to leave the worrying to someone else.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Kathy was finishing up a letter when a smartly dressed woman stepped into the office doorway on Tuesday at lunchtime. She looked around briefly then headed straight for Kathy.

  “May I help you?” Kathy thought she looked familiar, but she couldn’t quite place her.

  “What’s your name, girl?”

  Her tone was cultured Southern, a good match for the neat suit she wore, the soft-looking kid gloves in her hand, and the pillbox hat set just so on her head. Combined with the way she held herself and the confidence in her eyes, Kathy was certain she was from money. Old money and lots of it.

  “Kathy Browning, ma’am. Do you need to see Mr. Morris?”

  “No, I’ve come to see you.” She studied Kathy intently. “My name is Augustina Kelly. I believe you know my son.”

  A hot tide that she just knew would result in a blush washed over Kathy, and she sat up straighter. “Yes, ma’am, I do. How do you do?”

  Augustina gestured with her gloves, making them flop. “Ms. Browning, you and I have a lot to discuss. I’d like to buy your lunch.”

  Kathy stared at her uncertainly for a moment, then she looked at the letter she’d been typing. Her heart was beating so fast it was near to bursting, and her mind raced as she tried to figure out how to answer.

  “Don’t dither, girl. I don’t imagine you get a two-hour lunch, do you? Gather your things. We’ll take my car.” With that, she headed for the door. “Come along then.”

  “Oh, dear Lord, please help me,” Kathy whispered as she hurried after Charles’s mother. She was quite surprised to find she was a couple of inches taller than Augustina.

  “I hope you like tea. I’ve reserved a private table at a tea room that serves a very proper lunch not far from here.”

  “Of course.” Kathy couldn’t have possibly choked down a bite of food, but she wasn’t about to protest.

  Once they were in the car, Augustina pulled out a pair of glasses and put them on, then she slipped on her gloves. “You’d best hold on to something. I like to get where I’m going in the most expedi
ent way.”

  And with that warning, she zipped out of the parking spot in front of the department store, making the driver who’d been coming up behind her slam on his brakes and blow his horn. Hand on her chest, Kathy looked in the side mirror and saw the man shaking his fist, smoke coming from his car from the tires burning.

  “Men think they’re good drivers, you see,” Augustina told her in a confiding tone. “Really, they only think they are. Don’t you agree?”

  Kathy stared at her, aghast. “I don’t think it’s fair to make that sort of generalization. Ma’am.”

  “Pooh.” When Augustina took her hand off the wheel to wave it at Kathy, the car swerved, barely missing the fender of a parked sedan.

  By the time they’d made the three-block trip to the tea room, Kathy was ready to convert to any religion she was asked if she could only make it safely out of the car. She closed her eyes tightly while Augustina parked, afraid to look.

  The car had been still for several seconds when Augustina spoke. “You can open your eyes now.”

  Kathy had to force herself to look. When she saw they were safely parked, a sigh of pure relief shuddered out. “Thank God.”

  “Humph. Come on, girl.”

  On somewhat wobbly legs, Kathy followed her into the formal restaurant. She, Sarah, and Eliza had been there during Sarah’s visit, and they’d enjoyed it immensely. She didn’t expect that experience to be repeated today.

  As Augustina had promised, she’d secured them a private table—as it turned out, in an entirely private room, albeit a small one.

  “Order whatever you want. I intend to,” Charles’s mother assured her as she perused the menu.

  Kathy smiled tensely at the waiter attending them, thanking him when he filled her water glass. She grabbed the glass with no small amount of desperation and drank.

  “What looks good?” Augustina asked. She frowned when she saw that Kathy hadn’t opened her menu. “Go ahead. Order.”