by Hadley Quinn
“I agree, beautiful,” he nodded, taking her other hand in his. “And as for this hip issue, I’ve just been trying to think of the best timing for all of it.”
“What exactly do you have to plan around?”
He was staring across the yard at her mother but Kellie didn’t know why. Ever since she’d had it out with her mom at work, they hadn’t spoken face-to-face. Her mom had remained in town for another few days that week but Kellie had refused to see her. It was a choice she’d made on her own and she stuck to it. Her mom had even returned for Jay’s wedding, texting her to meet up a day early, but Kellie turned her down. Just a simple text reply of “no thank you” was all she sent, and her mom hadn’t bothered her since.
“What has my mom done now?” she asked suspiciously.
Tate cast her a side-glance but chuckled. “Nothing, but she’s going to be very disappointed when she finds out you aren’t going to be in town for her to harass. Jay and Mel fly out for their honeymoon tomorrow, but you’re coming with me somewhere as well.”
Her jaw dropped just slightly, but her heart started to race when he turned toward her in his chair and leaned forward to kiss her.
“Because I heard from a very reliable source that you haven’t had a true vacation from work in a long time,” he whispered against her cheek. “We’re going to fix that. Starting tomorrow, you are mine for five days straight.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“I don’t kid about vacation, sweetheart,” he answered with a very straight face as he sat back in his chair, and then crossed his arms over his chest. “I told those broads at the salon that you’re not showing up for work until I say you can.”
Laughing, she repeated, “Broads? Oh my God…”
“Yeah, you should’ve seen their faces when I brought down the law in there.”
She laughed out loud again.
“You think it’s funny?” he asked, still with a straight face. “They seriously think I’m your Dom.”
Kellie laughed even harder. “What? Oh wow, what did you actually tell them!? Whoa, I can only imagine.”
“It’s all good,” he shrugged casually. “Nothing but a few tabloid starters, you know.”
“Ha, that doesn’t take much,” she chuckled. “But those girls are pretty cool about keeping things to themselves. All of them are linked to someone in either the movie or music industry; they’re used to it all.”
“Yeah, I couldn’t get any of ‘em to give me connections, either. Lame ass bunch of celebrity friends.” He winked at her and finally smiled.
“I do like the people I work with,” she agreed. “But tell me more about this trip,” she squealed, jumping up and down in her seat. She couldn’t help it. Going somewhere with Tate sounded amazing.
“It’s nothing fancy.” He shook his head, like he didn’t want to disappoint her.
“I don’t care what it is, I’m just excited it’s with you. Anything is going to be amazing, I can’t wait!”
Melanie came across the porch with Cade in her arms. She looked guilty when she asked if they would keep him for a few minutes while she and Jay said goodbye to some friends. Kellie had watched the little guy for most of the evening and didn’t mind one bit, but the kid had wanted his momma so bad, she finally had to give him to Melanie after they’d cut the cake.
“I see you had fun with the frosting,” Tate observed when Kellie pulled Cade onto her lap. He was dressed in a little suit and tie and it was so fricken adorable, but yes, there were smudgings of chocolate frosting on his bowtie and light blue button up shirt.
“There is no food like the kind that’s so good, you don’t care where it gets,” Kellie replied, kissing all over Cade’s face. He even smelled like chocolate. But he also did not like the fact that his mom left him, and he was arching backward, trying to throw a fit for her.
“Hey, pal, why don’t you chill out with me for a bit,” Tate said, taking him from Kellie’s hands. He loosened his own tie and unbuttoned a button on his shirt, and then unhooked Cade’s little bowtie before he could start crying. “Yeah, it’s all about distracting you, isn’t it,” Tate chuckled. He handed Cade the bowtie to play with and it did the trick. His chubby little hands gripped and tugged at it with interest.
“Well look at you, Uncle Tate,” Kellie joked, amused that her nephew really was distracted enough to forget about his mom for a while.
“Meh, it’s no secret I’m useful now and then.”
Amused, Kellie scooted her chair closer to Tate’s so she could lay her head on his shoulder. Cade looked at her with his big eyes, and then returned them to the bowtie. Tate slid an arm around her shoulder and the three of them sat in silence for a minute. Some things in life were worth celebrating without words. This was one of those moments. It had crossed her mind several times that she wanted this very thing; she wanted to be with Tate and she would give anything to have a baby with him. It surprised the shit out of her, but finding this guy had changed everything about her thoughts on love and relationships.
“What are you thinking about, beautiful?” he asked, softly running his fingers along her arm.
She smiled, but only because she was thinking about that classic situation of a guy freaking out by the mention of the M-word, or the thought of having kids. “Mmm, not sure you’d want to know,” she chuckled honestly as she squeezed Cade’s snazzy little dress shoes.
“Oh?” he replied. “Well damn, I was hoping it was the same thing I was thinking.”
“And what’s that?” she asked, fully expecting some sort of witty comment or something totally perverted.
He adjusted Cade on his lap and then tilted his head against Kellie’s. “Maybe this,” he basically motioned to the moment itself. “I was thinking how much I would love something like this with you. Maybe you were thinking the same?”
Her heart must have skipped a beat because it stopped momentarily, and then pounded a little bit harder. “Something like this?” she questioned softly.
He hugged her to him tighter and she could feel him nod. “Mmhmm. I can very much see having a family with you someday.”
Yeah, her heart thumped even stronger with that comment, but she was trying to control her reaction. She wasn’t quite sure why, but this was something significant and she was afraid to mess it up somehow.
She lifted her head from his shoulder and gazed into his eyes. Those were eyes she wanted to see every day of her life, and to hear him admit that he could see himself having a future with her confirmed in her heart it would someday happen. She couldn’t help the moisture that trickled down her face as she carefully wiped it away.
“Da-da!” shouted the little person on Tate’s lap. Kellie looked down at Cade and couldn’t help matching the grin he had stretched across his face. His arms reached out just as Jay came up the porch.
“ ‘Sup, big guy?” Jay scooped him up from Tate’s lap. “I’m surprised you’re so chill right now. Your jealousy seeing your mom with anyone but you is getting a bit pathetic.” He lifted him up in the air for a quick airplane ride and then held him against his chest. “Thanks for helping out with him so much. He’s going through such an ornery phase right now and Mel can barely get a break.”
“It’s no big deal,” Kellie waved at him. “Here.” She handed him the bowtie that had fallen to the deck when he’d picked Cade up.
“Kid’s got the right idea,” Jay scowled, tugging at his own tie. “I can’t wait to get out of this thing.”
“Well you’re almost there so suck it up,” she retorted playfully. “And by the way,” she added as she stood. Wrapping her arms around both him and Cade, she said, “I’m so proud of you and so very happy for you, Jay. I love you.”
Jay held her tight with one arm and kissed her head. “I love you too. And thank you for everything you’ve done for Melanie.”
“Oh, pssh, I didn’t help with much,” she answered, referring to the wedding.
“I’m glad you helped with all of t
his, but I was talking about being such a good friend to her and just…being there in general…” He trailed off, seeming to study her face carefully. “Do you have a fucking black eye?” he asked. He literally took her chin in his hand and tilted her face so he could see better. It had been a dusk wedding with soft accent lights, but he was up close and personal right now. “What in the fuck happened?”
Shit. She’d covered it with makeup, but it must have started to rub off. She barely touched the corner of her eye.
“Kellie?” Jay prodded, waiting for an answer.
Tate stood, his body language revealing his regret all over again. “Look man, it—”
“You did this?” Jay pointed at him angrily.
“No, stop it,” Kellie groaned at him before things got out of hand. “You’re making a scene,” she hissed at him, turning her back on the crowd and making him do the same. “It wasn’t his fault, Jay, and before you go ape shit, realize that this is not a cut-and-dry situation.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It means there are other factors that you need to consider before you react.”
“It means I made a mistake and put her in a risky situation,” Tate sighed. He looked completely devastated all over again and it broke Kellie’s heart.
“No, we’re not doing this again,” she shook her head at him.
“You’re right, because it’s not going that far again,” Tate looked at her sternly.
“What the hell is going on?” Jay asked with clenched teeth. “I want to know why the fuck my sister has a black eye.”
“It’s not a black eye, just a small bruise on my cheek bone—”
“There are no excuses,” Jay growled at her.
“Yes, there are some that count,” she challenged him. “Like the fact that he didn’t do this, it was merely an accident, Jay. A jerk-reaction to a nightmare he had, all he did was jump in his sleep and my face was right there by his elbow.”
Jay stared at Tate with a stone expression. Kellie could tell he was pissed, but she hoped to God he understood. She’d explained Tate’s PTSD to her brother, even the fact that Tate would rarely fall asleep around her because he was afraid of stuff like what happened the other night. He hadn’t stayed the night with her since and it killed her inside. The fact that he announced they were going away for a few days together had given her hope that he was getting over what happened and would give it another try.
This was not going to help.
“I’m sorry it happened,” Tate spoke softly. “Trust me, I hate myself for it.”
“It’s not your fault,” Kellie whispered, stepping to him to wrap her arms around his waist. “Jay understands that,” she gave him a steely gaze.
Jay took a deep breath but didn’t seem settled. She knew why but really didn’t want to bring it up right now.
“You know I want to believe you, Kellie,” Jay told her. “It’s really hard to overlook the past, though.”
Shit, that left things wide open as he turned to leave with Cade, and Tate was onto it instantly.
“Kellie?” he asked, confusion riddling his face. “What is he talking about?”
She sighed, but she promised herself that she would never keep anything from Tate. “I went out with a guy a few years ago—Nate Butler. It was one of my ‘I’m going to do whatever I want’ moments, mainly because my family kept arranging all these publicity photo ops with celebrities they wanted me to be seen with, and then Max had a horrible ‘arranged’ situation that crumbled to pieces. It made me a bit indignant about my family’s pushiness. So I decided they could kiss my ass and I’d see whoever I wanted. But this guy turned out to be a total piece of shit. We went out one time, and then he started stalking me. I was driving out of my grandfather’s neighborhood when a car ran a stop sign at the bottom of the hill and hit me. I got out to check the damage, only to realize it was this same guy and he’d done it on purpose just to see me.
“When I told him to fuck off and leave me alone, he hit me in the face and pinned me up against my car. I kneed him in the nuts, just as a car was driving by. The guy got out to help, but Nate took off. I had to convince the other driver not to call the cops and I promised I would take care of it. I didn’t want him to know who I was, if he didn’t already, so I left. However, my brother saw my face that night and he about shit a brick. I was too scared to tell him the truth because I didn’t want him to do something stupid and get in trouble, so I tried to lie about it. Unsuccessfully, though. I eventually told him, only because I was really worried that this guy would do something to hurt my family in the press, and I just needed someone else to tell me what to do about it. Jay tracked this guy down and… Well, according to Jay, he only threatened him to stay away from me. I’m pretty sure he beat the shit out of him, though. Jay has no tolerance for that kind of stuff because of our dad and his tendency to get physical whenever he was drunk. But I also know my grandfather had to get involved, just to keep the situation from turning into a media nightmare in case Nate decided to go public with something.” She exhaled a heavy breath of air. “See? Never a dull moment when you have my last name.”
Tate was quiet for quite a long time. It worried Kellie, but she gave him the time to sift through his thoughts.
“I’m sorry you went through that,” he finally said. “And with your father, too. I don’t know how I’ll feel if I’m ever face-to-face with him.”
“I didn’t get too much of it from my dad,” she admitted honestly. “It was Jay that had to deal with it more, mainly because he always made sure I wasn’t around our father when he got like that. But my mom moved us out before the divorce was final, and my grandpa forced my dad into rehab. The public knew all of that, we couldn’t escape it, but the thing with Nate Butler was covered up. It’s like there’s always something that has to be ‘handled’,” she sighed. “It gets so tiring.”
Again Tate remained silent for a moment. The rental company had began stacking up tables and chairs and hauling them out of the backyard. She couldn’t see Jay and Melanie anywhere, but Teague and Camryn were both packing up the food to take inside.
“I should probably go help—”
“Kellie,” Tate sighed, gently grabbing her arm. He paused for several seconds and then shook his head slightly. “I can’t explain how this stuff makes me feel. I get this…anger that starts to build inside of me, just from thinking about some of the things you’ve gone through. It makes me feel helpless that I wasn’t there to protect you from any of it. I know there’s nothing I can do about the timing in our lives but… You do know how much I love you, right? I don’t want you to ever be treated less than you deserve and I promise that I’ll always make sure of that.”
Her core filled with warmth and it spread through her body. She tucked herself into his chest and let him hold her. There were many times in her life where she felt like she knew what was best for herself, and then they ended up backfiring on her. There were also times where she listened to her family and got burned anyway. All of the things with her family—listen to them, don’t listen to them, conform or not conform—had been constant struggles in her life. She knew her grandfather was aware that he’d already lost the battle against Tate. She’d made herself very clear that they were staying together and there was nothing he could do about it. He seemed to accept it and hadn’t brought up a single matchmaking idea since.
But she knew without a doubt that Tate was staying for good. If only she’d known before how it was to feel the answers with her heart, life could have been a lot simpler. There were always going to be particular circumstances that made things a bit hectic, but perhaps experiencing all those confusing, unhappy moments is what made her appreciate and hold dearly to the ones that felt amazing.
“I love you, Tate,” she spoke softly. “With all the things that have tried to jump between us, I almost laugh arrogantly that nothing is going to have an impact on what we have. But I know relationships aren’t perfect, and I’m so
rry for the times I make you frustrated or make you feel like I doubt you. I doubt myself most of the time and I’m so very blessed that you took a chance on me.”
She felt his chest move with laughter. “You took a chance on me, remember?” he reminded her.
She smiled and hid her face against him. “I never meant for it to sound like that,” she mumbled, slightly embarrassed.
“Yes you did,” he said as he pulled away to look at her. “I only needed to understand it. And I do, Kellie. I truly do. I think that we both took the necessary steps of caution, and that was perfectly fine. But there’s no need to be guarded with me anymore.”
“I know that without a doubt. And I thank you for trusting me enough to open up and share your counseling journals with me. It was hard, and you warned me, but it’s things like that that make us stronger than the average couple. I don’t want to be average with you, Tate. We’re amazing together and I truly feel there is something unique about who we each are and what we have to offer the world, and the fact that we ended up together only proves that God knows wayyyy more than I do,” she chuckled.
“Finally you’ll listen to somebody.”
“Shush your face,” she nudged him. “It’s all about learning who you can count on. Not all of us reach those conclusions at the same time.”
“That’s the truth,” Teague’s voice cut in. He approached them with a smile and said, “I’m told you’re taking care of gifts. I tried to move them and got reprimanded by my wife.”
“I figured we could just put them in the spare bedroom for now,” Kellie answered. The second she turned around, she could tell Teague had noticed the bruise on her face. She silently pleaded for him to not say anything and quickly added, “And I’ll take whatever help offered to move them there.”
He slowly nodded. “Sure thing.”