by James, Ranay
Hopeful, but unlikely.
He was still hung up on Candice. She heard him say so.
“Next time you see your brother, tell him to run the other way.”
Chapter 34
Robert sat in the cockpit accompanied by the pilot he always had on retainer. As next in line, the two men were waiting for the control tower to clear their departure, and he was completely and totally focused on getting safely off the ground. The next time he would speak to Kate would be when they got to Carson City. He would deal with her and the situation he now faced once he was back on terra firma. Until then the cockpit door would remain firmly closed.
Back in the main cabin, securely buckled in one of the six captain chairs in the fuselage of the private jet, she wondered why she had bothered to argue Robert’s logic as to why she was even on this plane.
Lord, she imagined it must be a real rush to be right all the damn time, or an awfully heavy burden, one of the two. She could safely say she would never know the truth of it. Her life was not totally cluttered with wrong decisions. She had made many good choices although those wise choices no one seemed to take note. The bad decisions simply overroad them she supposed. Those decisions she had to take ownership of were sometime daunting in their far reaching consequences.
Kate looked out the window not really seeing anything. She did not mind flying even if it was not her preferred method of travel. It was not that she was uncomfortable in the air. She just felt there was so much to see on the road that you missed at thirty-thousand feet. However, given the current state of affairs, this was the quickest means to an end, an end which she was not expecting and an end she was not sure she was totally on board with regardless of how logical it sounded on the surface.
Chapter 35
Three hours after being shoved into that van, they touched down at a private airport just outside of Carson City, Nevada, where a nondescript SUV awaited them complete with baggage and two kayaks. Robert guided her to the passenger side, helped her in, and then closed her door before walking around to the driver’s side.
She took a moment to study him as he crossed in front of the hood. Lines of worry furrowed his usually calm brow. She could see his point.
He put the key in the ignition and turned on the motor. Satellite radio filled the interior briefly before he turned it down.
Turning to her, Robert was feeling her need for reassurances. “Kate, I hope you see this is the wisest move for now. It will help to safeguard you and your interests.”
She looked squarely at him trying to divine anything that would show her his motive was something other than sincere.
“And yours. Let’s not forget that piece,” she calmly reminded herself he was not totally being selfless here regardless of how magnanimous it sounded.
“I am irrelevant. You and your safety are the most important things to me right at this moment. I will not do this if you don't want to.”
So much for his motives being jaded, she thought.
“I do, Robert, really. I understand. It has just been so crazy since you called and let me know Kyle was gone.”
He watched her stare off in the distance through the windshield of the SUV.
He squeezed her shoulder gaining her attention again.
“You have been through a lot in a very short time. I just don’t want you to be upset about this.”
All she could do was close her eyes and shake her head. Life was just so upside down. “I’m numb at this point. So whatever you think is best, I will comply with your judgment. However, I have to say, for the record, this is taking the contract to protect me to the edge of logical.”
He smiled. “Let me be the judge of where the edge is, Kate. I do not see this as anything other than standing in the center of logical.”
“I just wish George were here," Kate said absently. "He is the only family I have left.” That was a sad, but true statement.
“I know, babe.” He reached across the console to take her hand and gave it an understanding squeeze. “I promise, as soon as it is safe to move him I will see to it you are together again.”
“Thank you.” She reached across the seat. Pulling his face to her she kissed him on the cheek. "You're a good man, Robert."
That was the last conversation they had for the remainder of the drive to the tiny, three cabin resort located on the northern shore of Lake Tahoe.
She knew money talked and this venture was no exception.
It was way past midnight by the time they made the final turn into the drive of the third cabin located on the backside of the property. Its location ensured total privacy while it also gave them a view of the lake Robert assured her was to die for. She jokingly said she would pass on the view if it were all the same to him.
The necessary parties were all now in place.
“Stay put. I’ll help you out.” He offered as he saw Kate's leg was bothering her.
"I've got this, Robert." Kate tried to protest even as she grimaced.
The look he gave her was a cross between sympathy and i mute request for indulgence. She nodded just before he hopped out and came around to assist her out of the SUV.
Her leg was banged up from the fall onto the asphalt while escaping Brice. Robert had noted that she had rubbed it most of the way on the drive up to the cabin. The plane trip and subsequent ride from the airport had given it time to stiffen. He knew she would be bruised. When she hit the pavement with Brice just behind her, he had felt the impact, nearly coming unhinged watching through the windshield as Brice tried to attack her.
“Put your arms around my neck,” he softly commanded.
He scooped her up behind the knees, used his booted foot to close the door, and then carried her inside.
“Appropriate don’t you think,” she asked attempting a small smile. All he saw was a dimple.
Setting her down as they entered the main living area she noted the small woman seated at the dining table. The gentleman beside her was wearing a red and black lumberjack flannel shirt to thwart off the cool evening air.
“Thank you for coming on such short notice.” Robert extended his hand to shake the visitor’s. He made the introductions.
“You both are agreeable to this?” the tiny woman asked getting right to the nitty-gritty of this midnight rendezvous.
“Yes,” both she and Robert answered at the same time.
“Then I see no reason to delay unless you would like to freshen up,” the small woman offered noting Kate’s bedraggled appearance.
She hoped she really did not look as bad as she felt.
“Kate?” Robert asked taking her hand.
“No, I’m fine, really. Let’s just get this done.”
“All right, then. Let us proceed.”
Before she knew it, she was agreeing to love, honor, and obey and was looking down at a ring on her left ring finger she remembered seeing on Betty McKinnon’s hand.
Chapter 36
It was done.
“You may kiss your bride,” the minister in the lumberjack shirt gave permission for Robert to seal their vows in the time-honored tradition of the bridal kiss. It was the only thing traditional about this whole affair.
“May I?” Robert asked sympathetically as he cupped her chin. She had hesitated in this marriage, and he could not emphatically say he blamed her. No woman of Katherine’s ilk would take to having all her options removed. He gave her the out clause, promising they would annul without question once this was over. He also agreed not to consummate the relationship nor push for anything remotely physical. That was going to be much easier said than done. At least it would be for him. She now belonged to him in the eyes of the world. He had staked his claim.
She nodded, not trusting her voice, again wondering what fate was up to lately in dealing her this very strange hand.
He kissed her softly and held her closely, briefly reassuring her before he let her go to shake the hand of the minister; he slipped the man a folded one hundred dollar bill as a w
ay to say thank you for the sudden ceremony. Robert had no illusions and knew this was not her ideal wedding, but it was for the best.
Within a few moments of saying "I Do," she was alone in the cozy cabin. Robert had walked the minister and his tiny wife out to their car and after they left he went to retrieve the bags from the SUV leaving Kate alone with her jumbled thoughts. The cabin was small by the jet-set standard, but very comfortable, furnished with rich woods and natural materials. She liked the feeling of being surrounded by so much nature. After living so many years in the concrete jungle of New York City, this was a welcome change. Standing in the middle of the cabin’s living room, feeling lost and disoriented, she did not know whether to laugh or cry, so she did a little of both. As a woman she felt it was her prerogative to be overemotional given all she had lost within such a short period of time.
Her marriage to Robert did gain her one very important thing in the process, the McKinnon name. With that name came a lot of privileges and security. It was not all bad. He was a good, kind man, and if she were to admit it, he was also a beautiful man. He was now her husband, at least in name, and that name carried a lot of clout.
Exactly eight minutes after walking through that cabin door, she was married again for the second time in her life. She knew this one would not last either. At least there were no delusions of happy-ever-after with Robert. He had married her to protect her. It was logical just as he had said.
She sat down in the middle of the floor and cried.
Robert walked in, immediately dropping the bags and locking the door. His heart ached to see her cry and was not sure why she did. There were just too many reasons for it, so he was not about to venture a guess. He pulled her to her feet.
“Hey, hey, hey. We’ll have none of this. It was a wedding not a hanging,” he teased cupping her face and brushing the tears away with the pads of his thumbs.
He felt her reach her arms around his waist and rest her head in his chest, realizing it was the first time she had reached for him first. He rocked her. She just needed a little time to adjust, and pulling her close he kissed the top of her head.
“We will eventually get this all sorted out, I swear. All right?”
She nodded. “What next?”
“To get some sleep," he answered. "Tomorrow will be brighter. The view from our balcony cannot help but make it better. I promise.” He sealed that promise with a peck on her red, runny nose.
She was a realist, and as she looked at the man she called husband, she knew she could not grow to be dependent on him. It would be costly for her, and it was a price she was not willing to pay.
“You know, one of these days, Robert, there will come a point you won’t want to bail me out or won’t be able to come riding in to save the day,” she said swatting at the tears.
“I doubt that very seriously, but either way, today is not that day, Kate. I have done this gladly, and to my way of thinking, for the right reasons.”
She looked up at the man she had, with much reservation, married. He was a good man. He had proven over and over again he was a man she could trust and rely on to do the right thing. And yes, he had married her for the right reasons. They were just not her “right” reasons.
Nodding, she did know where his intentions rested. He married her to protect both their interests in the land and to protect her. Now, she was legally his bride and no one else could get to the Golden Circle by way of that avenue.
She shivered to think how close Brice had come. She could have been held forever behind those iron walls, figuratively and quite possibly literally, with no one on this planet able to save her. There was enough money bankrolling Dallas Langston’s desires to possess the fabled land he could have bribed, forged, and certified any document and had her held in some tropical hellhole for the remainder of her natural life. She shivered at the thought.
Robert had seen to it no man would ever get to her or the ranch by those means. The announcement was already in the Ft. Worth Star Telegram and the Dallas Morning News.
Forbes and GQ magazines would also run a spread. Robert McKinnon, one of the top ten most eligible bachelors in the world for the fifth year running, was now officially off the list. This was a very sad day for many hopeful, young women, who had aspired to get her claws into a hunk like him. For the first time in years, she actually had something fifty percent of the world’s population would have loved to have, his name which came along with a nice bonus, him. That was a nice consolation to losing her freedom. He was eye candy, a beautiful man with a beautiful mind, kind heart, and a killer ass. Reaching out she gave that ass a playful pat as he walked by to get their bags settled in the bedroom.
“I’ll bet there are mothers gnashing teeth all over the world tonight,” Kate smiled.
“Why is that?” he asked while placing their bags on the only bed in the cabin.
“There is one less hunk of burning love available, now that you are officially off the market, at least until all this is settled. Then there will be giant ripples running through the ranks of the gossip columns once you are fair game again. Can I sell the story? Please, Robert? Pretty please,” she teased. “I promise to be kind and not say one single derogatory thing. I’ll not say your yacht is really a dingy.”
She smiled and he melted. It had been a very long time since he had seen those beautiful dimples.
He laughed fully understanding her reference to his manhood.
“We’ll see.” That was all he would commit to at that moment in time.
He was very quickly becoming accustomed to being a husband and actually loving the fact Kate was his. He could protect her, and in return she would make a great partner and mother for his children. He knew he cared deeply for her. Truthfully, he did not love her, but it was still a solid start on which to build a life together. He was no young romantic fool thinking he needed deep passionate love to make a marriage successful. If she would accept those terms, then they stood more than a passing chance to make it work.
She tried to explain she was not holding him to anything, and the prenuptial agreement she had him sign was for his own good. Mr. Lyles had faxed them over to the airport. Those documents had been there upon their arrival. Both had signed at her insistence.
He hesitated to sign, and for the life of her she did not understand that perspective. He had a net worth of millions, and she did not have a right to any of it. She did not want him to feel he had to share anything or that she expected anything from this union once the annulment was finalized.
“I’m in this for the long haul, Kate. I thought you understood that,” he said shaking out his shirts and hanging them up in the small cedar lined closet. She was the one to ask for the out clause not him.
“There is nothing permanent here, Robert. Let’s not fool ourselves and set up house.” Being a realist, she felt expressing the painful truth was for the best. She wanted him to know that she did not expect anything from him, and he should not expect anything of her. She had nothing to offer him financially or emotionally. Her heart was the least of the things used and abused to the point of death.
“Who knows where this might go,” he said leaning in for a kiss she did not offer up. She stepped away.
He did not push it.
“Look, Robert, we had to do this. Logically, I understand, but I’ve seen the kind of ladies you are drawn to and well you should be. You may hide behind those crisp, pressed jeans, and boots, but you are just as comfortable in a two thousand dollar tux at a thousand-dollar-a-plate charity function. I may be intelligent and I know I’m not too hard on the eyes, but refined I’m not. Let’s not lie to ourselves here. I feel safe in venturing a guess you would not have chosen me if the circumstances had been different.”
“You do not know that for sure, Kate. Sometimes fate chooses for us. I can think of several very good reasons I feel I would have chosen you.”
“However, my refinement is not one of them.”
“No, your refinement is
definitely not one of them.” He had to agree. “But you are good company, Katherine, and you are made of solid stuff. You’re smart, intelligent, and funny, and I would venture to say you clean up very nicely.” He winked pulling her into him.
Kate sighed, feeling tired to her marrow. “I will not deny there is a strong physical attraction going on between us and you are a wonderful man, but those are not the basis on which to build a life together.”
It was his turn to counter her argument.
“There have been lots of marriages built on less.” He took a long breath letting her go. “Kate, I agree with you. We have been pinned into a corner, but it doesn’t mean we cannot make this work. You are a fantastic woman.” His argument was only serving to give her hope. Hope was something she could not afford.
“Robert, I’m not in love with you and neither are you in love with me.”
It would be grossly unfair for either of them to expect anything more from each other. They were in the middle of a real mess, and they had entered into this marriage for a very specific reason. Eventually, it would cease to be to Robert’s advantage to stay in a pretentious relationship with a woman he did not love.
“This marriage is a necessary evil in order to protect the Golden Circle. I am grateful you were willing to do it, but I cannot expect you to take it any further than a business partnership.”
“And if I want to take it further?” he asked stepping closer and invading her personal space again.
She closed her eyes, slumped her shoulders, and let out a deep sigh.
He could see she was exhausted and was ashamed he was pushing her at a time she really needed space.
“You’re exhausted. I’m sorry. We can drop this conversation for now,” he offered massaging her tired shoulders.
“Thank you. I just do not have the energy to hash out our hypothetical future together. Not tonight.”
She took the bathroom first while he secured the cabin’s doors and windows. He was in the process of building a fire in the double-sided fireplace that separated the living room from the bedroom to ward off the April chill when he heard the bathroom door open. Through the glass screen covering both sides of the opening, he saw her exit the bath wearing one of his flannel shirts as a nightgown.