One Daddy Too Many

by Debra Salonen

  “But it is,” she insisted. “If—”

  “Stop right there, Kate. No recriminations or mea culpa allowed. If you blame our being together for what happened, then Ian wins. He accomplished what he set out to do.”

  “That’s what Grace said, but do you honestly want this kind of craziness in your life? Run, now, while you can.”

  He chucked her chin with his knuckle. “That’s just it, love. I can’t. But I do think my presence here is a distraction. People remember me from Mary Ann’s hearing. They keep asking if I’m here as your lawyer. I don’t want to lie, but I don’t think this is the right time to broadcast our relationship, either. So, I’m going to run over to the restaurant and fill Mom in. She probably hasn’t heard about what’s happened and I know she’ll be upset.”

  Kate groaned. “I completely forgot about Jo. And ask how her doctor’s appointment went.” She paled suddenly. “Oh, my God. Romantique. It hasn’t crossed my mind all day. Who’ll cook tonight if Maya isn’t back? Your mom can’t pull a double. Not after the way she’s been feeling. We’ll have to close.”

  Rob shook her shoulders gently. “So what? You put up a sign that says closed for family emergency. Your business will survive, just like it did after a month of bad publicity. Let Mom figure it out. You just concentrate on Maya getting back home safely. Because she will be here. Soon.”

  She wanted to believe him, but it was becoming more difficult as each minute passed to remain optimistic. “Go to your office after you tell Jo. I want you to, Rob. I don’t want to be responsible for anything else going wrong, like you losing your job. Promise me you’ll go. I’ll call if…when…we hear something.”

  He started to argue, but Kate took him by the arm and led him to his car. “I need you to do that for me, Rob. Seriously. Go.”

  And he left.

  GRACE AMBUSHED KATE before she could find a secluded spot to hide. “Come to my trailer. We can keep each other company.”

  The tiny, 1950s-era trailer that had been Grace’s home before she moved to Detroit to be with Nick was located in the far back corner of their parents’ lot. Partially hidden by dense foliage and a sun canopy, it was the perfect hideout. Luckily, Grace seemed content to talk about her love life. Which kept Kate from falling to pieces.

  “Nikolai is amazing,” Grace said, her tone filled with wonder. “I wake up every morning wondering what I did to deserve such happiness.”

  Kate was pleased for her sister. She’d witnessed Grace’s heartbreak when her first serious boyfriend, Shawn Bascomb, cheated on her. Kate had been working at a resort in Colorado when Grace was finishing up college nearby. They’d roomed together for a few months before Grace moved in with Shawn. A gorgeous ski instructor in the winter. A gorgeous raft guide in the summer. He was also a liar. Just like Ian.

  “Grace, do you think Alex is right? Can love and hate coexist in the same heart?”

  “Maybe for a while,” Grace answered. “If Ian hadn’t abducted Maya, I think you might have found a way to get along—for Maya’s sake.”

  “What if he’s filling her head with nonsense about me and our divorce? Or, worse—pretending we’d be together if not for me. And Rob. She’s already not too crazy about Rob. This could ruin any chance he might have of winning her over.”

  “Would you consider getting back with Ian if Rob weren’t in the picture?”

  “No. Never.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Absolutely. Grace, you know what his scam cost me. My house. Car. Trust account. Maya’s college fund. But I finally got everyone paid back, even Mom. The last few years haven’t been easy, but at least I can hold my head up in public.”

  “I know, Kate. You covered his losses. I respect that, but that doesn’t mean you deserve any share of the guilt. You didn’t know he was embezzling his clients’ money.”

  “But I should have, Grace.”

  “How? You’re not an investment counselor.”

  “No, but I’m not stupid, either. I knew—deep down—that we were living beyond our means. Even though Ian insisted he was making money hand over fist, I should have been suspicious. I took business classes in culinary school. I can balance a checkbook. I should have taken a long hard look at our records, but I didn’t.”

  “You were busy. For heaven’s sake, you had a baby. And then Dad’s…stroke happened. And we opened Romantique. Nobody blames you for anything.”

  “Maybe they should. I wasn’t a good wife. I was so preoccupied I didn’t even realize my husband was having an affair.” Her voice broke.

  “Oh, Kate, you can’t blame yourself for that, too.”

  But I do.

  “Stop that. Right now. We need to exorcise this demon.”

  Grace walked to the stereo and put in a CD. Kate recognized the artist. Rob Thomas, a singer who’d left his successful group Matchbox 20 to go solo. Maya knew all the words to this song by heart. Kate’s eyes filled with tears.

  “Okay, now,” Grace said, pulling Kate to her feet. “Isn’t this how we did it when you broke the news that Shawn had been sleeping around the whole time he and I were together? You said, ‘Men like him don’t deserve women like us.’ Then we turned up the music and danced. Because we’re gypsy princesses and frogs abound. Even the best of us can be fooled from time to time.”

  Grace closed her eyes, lifted her arms overhead and started to dance. Kate watched unmoving, but the music was infectious. And the look on her sister’s face was one she knew well. When she and her sisters had danced for their father, they’d always felt cherished, safe and adored. And they’d known they were princesses who deserved to live happily ever after.

  Ernst had called them the Sisters of the Silver Dollar. He’d reach into his deep, deep pockets and make the coins he always carried jingle in rhythm to the music. When they’d take their bows, he’d toss them coins and applaud. “My beautiful princesses. May the men you marry be worthy of you.”

  Kate started to move. Not because she felt like dancing but because it was the only way to block the sudden, gut-wrenching fear that the man she’d married might never come back with their daughter.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Rob needed his mother’s help and he knew where to find her. Romantique. Jo met him at the back door since the restaurant didn’t open for another hour.

  “Maya is missing. Ian took her.”

  Her grin faded. “Oh, my. When? This morning?”

  He quickly filled her in then asked her advice. “I know we’re going to get her back. I don’t doubt it for a minute. And I know she’s going to be a little traumatized—especially if they arrest Ian and bring her home in a police car. So, I thought maybe I should have something for her. Do you have any ideas what to buy? I didn’t want to ask Kate. She has too much to think about. One more thing might push her over the edge.”

  He gave his mother credit for not asking personal questions about their Mesquite trip. She offered three or four ideas, and then gave him the best suggestion, “Why don’t you call someone from that dads group of yours?”

  “Brilliant.” He hugged her and started to dash away, but paused. “Wait. How did your doctor appointment go?”

  She made a wobbly sign with her hand. “More tests, of course. But the lady doc is pretty cool. She said she’d call me with the results.”

  Rob wasn’t sure that was all to the story, but he didn’t have time to probe. He had to make some calls.

  IT WAS NEARLY TWO O’CLOCK in the afternoon when they got word that Ian was in custody. Maya was safe. Kate burst into tears after handing the phone to Grace. A cheer echoed through the house and neighborhood.

  Kate looked around for Rob, but he still wasn’t back. He’d phoned half a dozen times to check on her and had apologized profusely for his absence, explaining that he’d wound up going to his office after all and had been swamped with some sort of legal triage.

  She wandered from room to room, mostly trying to avoid conversations with extended family mem
bers who’d dropped by to see if they could help. She’d pleaded with Zeke to take her with him when he went to pick up Maya, but he’d been in Boulder City when the call came. Kate had agreed that the quickest way to get her daughter home was the best.

  She walked into the living room and found Liz curled up on the sofa. Her eyelids looked purplish. She appeared exhausted. “Hey, sis, are you okay?”

  Liz yawned and sat up. “Too many sleepless nights catching up with me. I think I’ll take a shower. Do you have a T-shirt or something I can borrow?”

  “Of course. My closet is your closet.” Kate held out a hand to help her stand.

  Liz popped lightly to her feet. She put on a pair of functional but, in Kate’s opinion, highly unattractive, clogs and started to leave. “Um, Liz, someone asked if I thought Ian’s illness might have played a factor in why he did this. What do you think?”

  “I have no idea. The couple of times I saw Ian he looked pretty sick. And weak. Frankly, I was shocked when I heard about this. It sounds like an act of desperation to me.”

  “Can Maya get it?”

  “Hep C?” Liz shook her head. “Not through casual contact. It’s not like a cold.”

  “Alex thinks Ian took Maya because he somehow found out about Rob and me. Do you think I was wrong to go to Mesquite with Rob?”

  Liz took a deep breath and let it out. “I’d never judge you, Kate. I don’t have the right.”

  Kate heard a quiver in her sister’s voice. She almost asked what the problem was, but Liz wasn’t one to share personal information—not with Kate, anyway. Alex might know what was going on with Liz, but Alex was at the Hippo at the moment.

  “When you saw him on Saturday, did he talk about the two of you getting back together?” Liz asked.

  “He mentioned it. I told him no way.”

  “Well, maybe that contributed to a sense of hopelessness. Perhaps he felt like had nothing to lose, and when opportunity arose….”

  Kate agreed. Ian was impulsive—spontaneous, he’d called it when they were married. What would happen now? she wondered. Would he go back to jail? Or would he be given a second…no, wait, a third chance to screw up her life?

  ROB SAT DOWN at his desk. He hadn’t planned to come into the office, but his secretary had called in a panic shortly after he’d left his mother at Romantique. Three of the senior partners were on their way to Vegas for a surprise visit.

  Or inquisition, Rob thought.

  The normally quiet, almost comatose office suddenly seemed to vibrate with a low hum. Desperation mixed with fear, he decided.

  Ever since Rob had taken over the leadership position at Ames, Beeker and Constantine, Las Vegas, he’d been quietly evaluating the lawyers working under him. He’d drawn conclusions—some favorable, some not so positive. What surprised him was how quickly and much he’d come to care for the people in this office.

  He unlocked his desk drawer and took out the two file folders he’d been studying yesterday before his mother suggested his and Kate’s spur-of-the-moment trip to Mesquite. Was that really just twenty-four hours ago, he marveled?

  So much had changed. His feelings for Kate had jelled. He was in love. But new relationships were tricky. So many things could go wrong. And pivotal to his and Kate’s future was location. He needed to be here. Which meant he had to convince his bosses that he was in for the long haul and thoroughly committed to making this office a success. If that meant cutting someone who wasn’t pulling his or her own weight, then, damn it, that’s what he’d do.

  Would he fire Kwen? Or April? Those were his choices. Single father of three or sole provider and caregiver of a mother who was suffering from Alzheimer’s? Both were extremely capable lawyers, compassionate litigators and genuinely likable people, but neither seemed to have the time and energy required to do their best for their clients—or, from the partners’ point of view, the capacity to generate billable hours.

  “Damn,” he muttered.

  To put off the “kill” a moment longer, he turned on his computer to check his e-mail. The first message he clicked on had an attachment. The short note explained that Adam had sent photos of his honeymoon. “Five days in paradise is not enough, dammit,” Adam wrote. “Hope all is well there. Best to your mom.”

  Mom. Despite her insistence of the contrary, Rob knew his mother was worried about her health. So many tests. Nothing conclusive. A longtime smoker with a cough? It didn’t take a specialist to think lung cancer.

  He pushed the thought away.

  “Photos. Cool,” he murmured. There were seven individual shots. He double-clicked on the one named cheers. jpeg. A colorful image of Adam and Haley in swimsuits snuggled together in a blue-and-white striped cabana on a sugar sand beach. They were toasting each other with drinks served in coconut shells. Corny but kinda fun.

  “You look happy, Dad. Really truly happy,” he said, clicking on the second icon.

  Most of the photos were of Haley. She really was gorgeous, and her bright personality seemed to emote through the image on his screen. The only shot of Adam alone showed him standing beside a five-foot-long fish that he’d apparently caught. Rob guessed that Haley had taken the picture because Adam was grinning in a way that said, “You’re the reason I’m here.”

  He closed the file, which his father had titled: Dreams come true. Rob frowned. Was his father’s dream to go deep-sea fishing? Marry his soul mate? Or become a successful author?

  Before he could click on the final shot, the phone rang. Kate? Had they found Maya? Please God…

  “Rob, this is Bart Gravenstein from The Bay And More Realty. I’ve got good news, buddy. I found a buyer for your condo. It’s a sweet deal, but the people want to move in ASAP. Is there anyway you can fly up here and sign the papers tomorrow or the next day?”

  His real-estate agent. The property was the last string tying Rob to the life he’d left behind. His safety net, of sorts. “Hi, Bart. Things are a little hectic at the moment. I’ll check my schedule and get back to you.”

  They talked a while longer. The throbbing in Rob’s head started to feel like a time bomb. He grabbed the phone to punch in the numbers to Kate’s cell phone but changed his mind at the last minute. She’d promised to call the moment she heard something about Maya. Instead, he tried Gregor’s number.

  “Hey, man, I was just thinking about you. I wanted to thank you for the job referral. My new job is great, and the company’s human resources department is so in touch with the way people’s lives really are, it’s amazing. I mean, it’s only like my fifth day and I called this morning and told them what was happening with Maya and how upset Gemilla was and they said, ‘Stay home with your little girl. We have job-share people who are set up to fill in at a moment’s notice.’ Can you believe it?”

  “Um…no. That is amazing.”

  “I agree, but the big boss has this philosophy that employees can’t give a hundred percent if half of their heart is somewhere else. Makes sense, doesn’t it? So, anyway, what can I do for you, buddy?”

  Rob looked at the folders on his desk and started to smile. “I think you might have just done it, but the reason I called was to ask your advice. I’d like to get Maya something as a coming-home present. Something that might cheer her up and maybe distract her a bit. Any suggestions?”

  Gregor left the phone for a minute to consult an “expert.” Gemilla.

  “A video would be nice. Or anything Nemo-ish, like a new fish for her aquarium. Personally, I’ve been thinking about getting the kids a puppy. Our dog died last year and life was so screwy we didn’t even try to replace her. But, I decided to wait until Mary Ann gets home. Taking care of a new pup might be more than she can handle on top of everything else, you know. So, I wouldn’t go that route unless I cleared it with Kate, if I were you.”

  Rob thanked him for the advice then turned off his computer and made two more calls. Job-sharing? Why not? Instead of firing one of them, he gave them both the opportunity to work part-time. T
his would save the company one salary and keep two excellent lawyers on staff. And when they were ready, they could expand their hours.

  If the big bosses didn’t like his plan? Well, he could always turn down the offer on his condo and go home. Right?

  He wished.

  “THEY’LL BE HERE in ten minutes,” Alex said, rushing into the kitchen, portable phone in hand. “Maya’s fine. She’s asking for her mother, but she’s not hurt or anything.”

  Kate managed to control her tears this time, but Grace pushed a tissue into her hand anyway. “She’s safe. I knew she would be.”

  “M…me, too. Deep down. But what if she’s been traumatized by this? She barely knows Ian, and Alex and Mom and I have stressed over and over about not getting into cars with strangers. She might think she did something wr…wrong.”

  Grace patted her back. “You’ll make her understand that this wasn’t her fault.”

  Kate wasn’t sure she was up to the task. “A part of me wants to pack a bag and leave, Grace. Start a new life somewhere where he can’t find us. If we disappeared, I’d never have to worry about this happening again.”

  “I know, Kate. I know. But running away isn’t the answer. I hate to say this. I know how you feel about Mom’s prophecy, but you really can’t avoid the past, sis. Ian is here. He’ll probably have to go back to jail after this, but he’ll be out eventually and you’ll have to face him again. If Maya doesn’t want to see him, it has to be her choice.”

  Kate couldn’t bring herself to agree, even though she recognized the truth in her sister’s words.

  “Let’s go freshen up. You look a little distraught.”

  I am distraught. My daughter has been missing for seven hours. And the man I think I’m in love with isn’t here.

  “Wait. I promised Rob I’d call.” She used her cell phone because Alex was phoning other family members to give them the good news.

  When he didn’t answer his cell phone, she tried the office number. The receptionist answered. She put Kate through to Rob’s secretary. “I’m sorry. Mr. Brighten is in a meeting at the moment. Would you care to leave your number?”