At Nick’s house, she punched in the four-digit code he had given her and the gate opened, allowing her to drive up the driveway. She parked next to Nick’s car in the large garage - he had left a space for her. She walked in through the front door, heading to the kitchen to put the food down.
“Nick,” she called.
“Be right there, love,” he answered from upstairs.
Kate started unpacking the food. She had the restaurant put everything in larger boxes, so you could add the rice and the other entrée and still eat out of the container. Searching the drawers, she found both the silverware and the serving spoons. Using one of the large spoons, she split both entrées into the rice boxes and pulled out a fork in case Nick wanted one - she had no issue eating the whole meal with the chopsticks, it was part of the fun. Looking in the refrigerator, she saw Consuelo had made ice tea and she pulled the pitcher out, putting it on the counter. Another search and she found where the glasses were kept, next to the sink, and she pulled two out. The ice dispenser was in the refrigerator door, and she made it a quick task, putting ice in both glasses then filling them with tea. Six months of eating dinner at the same table had told Kate he liked his ice tea without sugar, same as she did.
Nick came around the corner and smiled at the meal she had put together. He draped his arm over her shoulder to distract her as he tried to snatch one of the wontons. Kate laughed at the innocent expression he tried to adopt when he got caught red handed. “This is awesome,” he confirmed, finishing it in two bites. “And I’m starving.”
“Fork or chopsticks?” Kate asked.
“Chopsticks, of course,” he answered, and she handed him a box and a pair of chopsticks.
Kate also handed him a glass of tea, picked up her own food and drink, and followed Nick outside to the covered porch he had coming off the kitchen. Nick had a large swimming pool and there was a rock path leading down to the ocean. The porch was covered to help keep out the hot California sun.
“This is beautiful, Nick.”
“I bought it for the serenity,” he told her. “I needed somewhere I could go which was both pleasing to look at and secluded.”
“You definitely got it. Sounded like you needed it earlier.”
“Love, you have no idea,” he answered, rolling his eyes. “It didn’t help I flat out didn’t want to be there. How was the visit to your parents? “
“It was good,” she said, smiling. “They invited us to dinner on Sunday.”
“You told them about us?”
“I told them the truth. We are starting into a relationship – I can’t hide personal stuff from them. And I don’t know I would want to.”
“I’m not sure I’m ready for the parent thing yet, Kate,” he told her, his tone a little hesitant.
“It’s fine. I told them I would ask you – I didn’t commit you to anything.”
Nick was silent for a few minutes, eating the food expertly with the chopsticks. “It’s something you would like to do, though, isn’t it?”
Kate looked at him intently. “Nick, if you are uncomfortable about this because the whole family thing is new to you, I can be good with it. But if you are out of sorts because I told them about us, then we dealing with a totally different issue. And one I’m not sure won’t be detrimental to us.”
Kate got up and went inside, throwing her almost empty carton into the trash can. Her first thought was to just keep walking out the door and leave. Kate was very close to her parents and something as important as their relationship was something she wanted them to know. She had kept it very low key – she shouldn’t have had to tell him as much – and his comment about being a difficult bastard came back to her. Right now she could see the truth in it as clearly as a bright blue sky. Kate knew they would probably have a lot of these kinds of conversations until they reached some kind of a comfortable relationship - which is why she didn’t walk.
Kate cleaned up the mess she had made and was hanging the dish towel over the handle on the oven door, where Consuelo normally kept it, when Nick walked back in. He threw his empty container in the trash and leaned in the doorway, looking at Kate. She stood with her back to the sink, finishing the iced tea and waiting for him to start conversation. She appreciated he didn’t come in and immediately try to hug her to make it go away.
“Would it help if I told you the thought of meeting your parents makes me nervous?” he started.
“I can understand those feelings. And the truth is they invited me and said you were welcome to come if you wanted. Make you feel better?”
“Some. Doesn’t make me feel like they want to size me up, make sure I fit their expectations.”
Kate wasn’t about to tell him about what Michael Grayson had told her dad. “I don’t think you’ll have any issues, Nick. My step-dad works in a corporate environment – he deals with important people all the time.”
“The last time I sat down at the dinner table with family was when I was sixteen,” he told her. “And it turned into a yelling match with my dad. I packed up and left the same night.”
“Sixteen was pretty young to be out on your own,” she observed.
“Worked a lot of odd jobs until I got one as a busboy in a nightclub in London. As soon as I convinced my boss to let me audition to play in the club, my busboy days were gone. That’s how I started, love. And it has been my own hard work to be where I am now.”
Kate set her glass in the sink and walked over to Nick, putting her arms around him. “It’s fine if you don’t want to go. Someday you won’t feel that way.”
“No,” he said in a definite tone. “We’ll go. Not all the compromises in this relationship are yours. I’ll have plenty of my own.”
“You’re sure?”
Nick nodded, pulling her tight against him. “I’m sure, love,” he answered, his mouth finding hers. His kiss was insistent, telling her he needed this confirmation –his meeting her on this had pleased her in the only way she could tell him. Words were not always enough – sometimes actions were needed for confirmation.
* * *
Nick and Kate arrived at her parent’s house on Sunday around three o’clock. Kate had him pull his car into the driveway and the garage door was open. In the garage was a baby-blue, 1957 Thunderbird which was in a state of remodel. This was her step-dad’s pet project – he had been restoring it for the past two years. There was music playing and, since she couldn’t see him, Kate was certain he was under the car working on something. Nick walked over, lightly running his hand on the body of the car, almost in a state of awe.
“Dad?”
“Under here, Kate,” Allen answered.
After a minute, her step-dad came rolling out from under the car. He stood up, wiping his hands on a shop towel to make sure there was no oil on them before putting one out to Nick. “Allen Thomas,” he said.
“Nick Marshall,” Nick answered, and the two men shook hands. “This is a beautiful machine you have here.”
“You like cars?” he asked.
“Love old ones; just don’t have the time to do anything like this. The car would be on blocks for years.”
“Grab the other creeper against the wall and I’ll show you what I was doing.”
Nick brought the other creeper over and slid under the car with Allen. Kate shook her head, laughing as she walked into the house.
* * *
Allen spent the better part of an hour with Nick, first underneath the car showing him the restorations he had done and the rest from the top. Nick loved old cars but he knew his schedule would never allow him a project such as this. And he got so involved in the time with Allen, he forgot he had ever been nervous about coming over in the first place.
“Okay, “Allen started, smiling. “I am going to put my ‘Dad’ hat on now and ask the main ‘Dad’ question. What are your intentions with my daughter?”
“I love your daughter,” Nick said, without hesitating, smiling at the question. “No ifs, ands, buts, or ma
ybes about it.”
“There are a lot of hurdles you both are going to have to cross. The biggest one, I think, is she works for you.”
“It is the big one,” Nick agreed. “We didn’t start out this way. Matter of fact, I made sure we didn’t have a lot of face time, so there would be no blurring of the lines. That theory shattered to pieces, however.”
“You know what happened to her with her ex-husband?” Allen asked.
“I know,” Nick said. “She ran into him in New York and there was an altercation in the hotel lobby. I made a call to London and got him pulled out of New York, but the damage was already done.”
“I’m just giving you a hard time about the ‘dad’ thing – Kate is an adult and can make her own decisions. And I’m only her step-dad, so it doesn’t have much weight.”
“I think you carry more than you think,” Nick told him. “And I can understand your concerns, but Kate is the first woman I have even thought about seriously in over twenty years. I’m sure the tabloids have said differently.”
“I don’t read tabloids,” he answered. “My clients run into a lot of trouble with them at times and then I have to defend against them, which I despise. I didn’t get into corporate law to argue the first amendment at every turn.”
“That’s okay, mate. I didn’t get into music to spend my life on their front page either.”
Allen started to laugh. “Let go inside. I’m sure my wife is anxious to meet you and dinner should about be ready.”
* * *
Kate had left the two men talking underneath the thunderbird, going into the house. “Hi, Mom,” she said, as she saw her setting the table for dinner.
“Hey, baby,” she answered. Nancy paused, looking around. “Thought you were bringing Nick.”
“I did,” Kate laughed. “He’s under the T-bird with Dad.”
Nancy laughed with her. “Well, there’s a good sign.”
“Didn’t know he was into old cars,” Kate said. “But then there’s a lot I don’t know about him.”
“It’s all part of the process, getting to know them,” she said. “It took Allen three tries before I would even go to dinner with him.”
“You didn’t like him?
“I liked him fine. I thought lawyers were stuffy and I didn’t want a boring dinner date.”
“Well, personally I’m glad you went on that date,” Kate confirmed. “He’s fantastic.”
“So give me some background – any subjects I need stay away from?”
“I wouldn’t ask him family related questions unless he opens the conversation,” Kate said. “He’s been on his own since he was a teenager because he was estranged from them. His dad recently died and it was a nightmare for him to go home and bury him.”
“On the subject of family, have you told him?” Nancy asked.
“Not yet,” Kate said. “Relationship is still too new. And I’m not sure he even wants any kids, as busy as he is.”
“You need to be straight with him, Kate,” her mom said, in a definite tone. “Before this gets too much further along. I don’t want to see you invest a lot into this and have it go sour because you didn’t tell him. And it will cause issues with any professional relationship with him as well.”
“I’ll tell him,” she confirmed. “Right now getting married is his answer to working through the boss/employee block he has. Not sure it’s what either of us wants to do yet.”
“Would you have time to do that before you leave again?” Nancy asked.
“With two weeks left, possibly. I personally would rather wait until we got back, but it will put a strain on things because he won’t share a suite with me on the road. That’s the nature of the hang up with him. And he won’t budge.”
“You’ve slept together then?” Nancy asked.
Kate blushed. “Didn’t plan it, but yes. And we’ve been together every night since.”
“This is 2014, Kate, not the 1960’s. Sex before marriage is no longer frowned upon.”
“I can’t believe we’re having this conversation,” Kate said, laughing, half to herself.
“What conversation?” Allen asked, as he and Nick came into the kitchen.
“Never mind, Dad,” Kate answered. “Mom, this is Nick. Nick, this is my mom, Nancy.”
Her mom went over and put her hand out for a handshake. “I’m glad to meet you,” she said warmly.
Nick towered over her – Nancy was only five-foot-three. He took her hand in his and kissed it. “I’m glad to meet you, too.”
“I am surprised you two came out from under the car without prodding,” Kate said.
“Even mechanics get hungry,” her dad answered. “Nick’s going to come help me pull the engine next weekend.”
Kate rolled her eyes. “Well, that’s it then. I guess I’ve lost you to my dad.”
Nick smiled. “Only temporarily, love.”
Nancy began putting the food on the table and Kate went in to help. Allen and Nick sat down at the table, waiting for everything to be brought out. Kate placed a glass of tea in front of Nick and, looking at him, he seemed calm – she hadn’t expected him to be so. Once everything was in place, the women sat down, each across from their man.
Conversation started lightly, but it didn’t take long for Nick to get engaged. Kate had been right – Nick did have a lot in common with her step-father and their discussions about corporate topics more than confirmed it. Kate was glad he was getting comfortable enough to respond – Nick could be frustratingly quiet when he wasn’t. And he had been tense about coming, just based on the fact the idea of family was foreign to him. Kate could see her parents genuinely liked him for him and his being a famous musician never played into the conversation. They treated him no differently than they would have any other date Kate may have brought to dinner. In Kate’s opinion, Nick needed that kind of open acceptance.
Chapter Eight
Nick brought up getting married again just before the next weekend. There was no wait time to get married in California – the state only required a marriage license which could take up to two hours to get. Nick wasn’t interested in sitting at city hall for two hours – he wanted to take a quick hop to Las Vegas, where they could do so much more efficiently.
Kate was quiet as she lay against his chest. She remembered what her mom said and knew she had come to a crossroad. “I need to tell you something, Nick.”
“That sounds ominous,” Nick said, sliding out from under her. He sat on the side of the bed and lit a cigarette. “What’s wrong?”
“How important is it for you to have children?” Kate asked.
“It’s never been on the top of the list of things I want in my life,” Nick told her. “I know it sounds fairly callous, but I don’t know if I’d want to start a family at this age in my life. I’d be almost seventy before they graduated high school.”
“It needs to be something you are certain on, one direction or the other,” she said, her voice dropping almost to a whisper. “Because if we continue with this relationship, you won’t have any.”
“Then we don’t have any,” Nick answered, his tone certain. “I love you, Kate, and if we can’t have any, then so be it.”
“You’re sure?”
“As sure as I can be, love,” Nick replied. He took a large drag off of the cigarette, blowing it out slowly. “It doesn’t matter, but why?”
“Remember the fall I told you about, when my ex pushed me down the stairs?” Kate asked, watching his eyes change, seeing the anger starting to well up. She hadn’t known he was still emotional about this. “The part I withheld was I was pregnant when it happened. I lost the baby and the fallout caused the doctors to do a full hysterectomy to stop the internal bleeding.”
“Did he know you were pregnant when he pushed you?” Nick asked, his voice almost staccato as he asked the question.
Kate shook her head. “I hadn’t worked up the courage to tell him. We argued all the time by then and I was afraid of hi
s reaction.”
“Makes me wish I’d had the conversation in New York. The one where he ended up on the floor in a few pieces,” Nick answered.
Kate got up and moved behind Nick, hugging him. “Don’t let it get you all worked up, Nick. It was a long time ago.”
“Kate, it’s just brutal what he did. It wasn’t bad enough he destroyed everything you had dreamed of since you were a kid. He caused your child to die – killed the life growing in you and got away with murder.”
“My parents wanted to press charges for the baby,” Kate said softly. “I told them to let it go. I wanted out of the marriage and him out of my life. If I took him to court, it would’ve been months of added anguish I didn’t want.”
Nick’s cell phone started ringing. Nick looked at it and swore as he picked it up off the nightstand. “Marshall,” he said answering it. He stood up and walked out of the room.
Kate was feeling better now he knew she couldn’t have children. It had been weighing heavily on her mind since he had shared the story of Arianna with her. For her, she had made peace with it – it was part of the reason most of her previous dates had remained as first or second dates. The guys she dated were her age, looking to start married life and have a family. She had been fairly certain Nick would respond this way, but there was always a chance he wouldn’t have been happy. Relief flooded through her. Now she was worried about who was on the phone. Nick obviously knew who it was when he saw the number, but it didn’t sound promising.
* * *
Nick came back in and tossed the phone on the bed. Reaching for his clothes on the chair, he began to get dressed. “I have to go, love,” Nick started, pulling on the pants he wore earlier.
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