Heat Wave

by Jill Marie Landis

  They still call it Tinseltown?

  She hands the magazine back to Nani. “It’s just a promo shot.”

  She prays the tremor in her voice doesn’t work its way down to her hand before her sister takes the magazine back.

  Nani taps the photo with the tip of a long acrylic nail coated in hot magenta. “Looks like the real thing to me.”

  By now Kat’s heart is lodged in her throat. Nani isn’t buying it and neither is she. When she looks at the photo, the edges of her heart turn brittle. Her chest feels so tight, she can’t breathe, but she fakes a smile and tries to hold on. Her sister starts to fill the awkward silence with inane chatter about the family; she hangs around, waiting for Kat to crack.

  All her wind chimes—Justin gives them to her from all over to keep her company while he is gone—dangle from the ceiling of the small lanai outside their kitchen. Their song becomes the sound of heartache.

  So does the laughter of children that floats in through the front slider. She watched them earlier, five black-haired, brown-skinned local kids scrambling over the rocky shoreline, playing tag with the tide.

  Finally finally, Nani leaves. Shaking harder than a Tahitian dancer’s hips, Kat dials Justin’s hotel room. His voice mail picks up, as it has for the last week.

  Now that she knows he’s playing her for a fool, she cringes when she thinks of all the cheery, encouraging messages she’s left him.

  “I saw you in the People magazine. Call me. Now.” It’s all she says this time.

  He calls back when he knows she’ll be at work. Leaves her a lame message about how things happen when we least expect them to; how he’s sorry, but his life has taken a new direction.

  His tone has changed. He is suddenly a stranger. She doesn’t know him at all.

  The man she’s dreamed of, the man who has all her love, her trust, her adoration, is suddenly a stranger.

  KAT FORCED HERSELF to wake up. She blinked, tried to focus and figure out where she was. Her mouth tasted like the inside of a dryer filter full of lint. She finally realized she was on the couch in Jake’s living room and it was the middle of the night.

  She went to the kitchen and pulled a diet Pepsi out of the fridge, popped the top, and drank half of it at the kitchen sink, hoping the caffeine would kick in quickly.

  Since this whole house-sitting, get-out-and-test-the-waters gig was Jake’s idea, she felt like calling and waking him up.

  Granted, he couldn’t have predicted her meeting a guy like Ty Chandler.

  She’d managed to fend Ty off for three days, turning down invitations to go out, to join him at home, to jog on the beach.

  Time alone had helped her face the truth—he was great in bed, fabulous with a bar of soap, one heck of a cook, and fun to be with, but she was scared to death of caring too soon—about Ty and about his kids.

  She even thought about taking the coward’s way out and finding someone else to house-sit. She could run home to Long Beach and go back to living her life without worrying about her heart.

  As she stood there staring out at the night through the kitchen window, the house around her echoed with emptiness.

  Chapter 16

  THE SUN WAS shining the morning Ty carried Alice out to her car seat with all its latest safety features. The diaper bag was full of snacks, juice, and Huggies. Alice and Sunny were both wearing new outfits.

  He thought Sunny’s tight knit top too revealing, but Kat had obviously okayed it, so he took the advice of one of his how-to books and decided to choose his battles. So far there hadn’t been any.

  “Does Kat live close by?” Sunny wanted to know as he hustled them to the car.

  “Fairly, but I want to stop by the flower stand first.” It wasn’t every guy who tried to impress a girl with flowers and two kids in tow. That ought to count for something, he thought.

  Kat had come up with one excuse after another not to see him for the past three days, but he wasn’t about to let her slip out of his life. Not without a fight.

  He glanced over his shoulder at Alice in the backseat. “Are you sure she’s buckled in tight?”

  “I checked three times already,” Sunny assured him.

  He put the Land Cruiser in gear and headed away from the point.

  He might have been missing Kat but he hadn’t been idle since Sunny arrived. He’d fielded emails from Kamp Kodiak and helped Sunny find a summer job. And with Alice around, life had already begun to center on meals and changes, naps and playtime.

  Within minutes, Sunny was holding the bouquet of orchids he’d picked out as they wound their way up Lover’s Lane. A calm settled over him as soon as he saw Kat’s bright-red CRV parked on the circular gravel drive and knew she was home. He pulled in and parked behind it.

  He left Sunny and Alice in the car and went to the door.

  Kat finally opened after he knocked twice, looking like she’d been dragged behind a runaway horse. She had bedhead, her hair flat on one side and sticking straight out on the other. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot.

  “What’s wrong?” He stepped inside and closed the door behind him, set the flowers on a side table, and pulled her into his arms.

  As he held her close, he glanced around the room. The television was on, the sound turned low. A tangled quilt hung off one end of the sofa, a rumpled bed pillow was shoved up against the other.

  “Did you sleep down here?”

  “Actually, I was trying to stay awake down here.”

  She slipped out of his arms and tugged on the hem of her wrinkled tank top with her good hand, rubbing one of her bare feet over the other.

  “Nightmares again?”

  She nodded. Her shoulders were rigid, her expression blank as she walked over to the sofa and sat down. He followed, tried to take her in his arms again.

  “Don’t. Please, Ty. I don’t want to fall apart. Not now.”

  He ached for her, wished he knew how to take the pain away.

  “I’ll make you a pot of coffee.” It sounded hollow, useless, but it was all he could think of.

  She smiled weakly. “That would be great.”

  He was across the room when he heard her say, “You brought flowers.”

  He turned around, saw that she hadn’t left the sofa. He went back and picked up the bouquet, handed it to her, and watched her turn back the cellophane paper so that she could touch the petals of the lavender and white blooms and stroke their velvety surface with her fingertip.

  When she turned to him again there were tears in her eyes.

  “Thank you,” she said softly.

  “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

  She nodded. “I know. It’s just that . . . no one’s given me flowers for a long time.”

  “Hey,” he smiled, tried to lighten the mood, “I’ll bet I’m the first grandfather you ever had trying to win your heart.”

  “Is that what you’re trying to do? Win my heart?”

  He reached for her, ran his hand down her cheek. “Win it, Kat. Not break it.”

  Her gaze traced his face, locked with his before she lowered her lashes and touched the orchids again.

  “How about that coffee?” she whispered.

  He left her then, walked to the kitchen, and started opening cupboards and drawers until he found the coffee and the basket liners. When he looked up, he found her watching from the doorway.

  He was across the room in a heartbeat, drawing her into his arms, holding her close, rubbing her back, comforting her the way he’d learned to comfort Alice when she was fussy.

  “I wish you wouldn’t do that.” Kat’s voice sounded thick and rusty, and though she protested, she slowly relaxed and made no attempt to pull away.

  He found himself wishing he’d driven up alone.

 
“I left the girls outside.”

  She drew back slightly, visibly tried to pull herself together as she ran her hand over her hair.

  “Oh, Ty. Have them come in.”

  “You must really be desperate for company.” He gave her arm a slight squeeze before he let her go. “Sit down. I’ll get your coffee when I get back.”

  “I’m all right, really.”

  He took her by the arm and led her to the dining room table, where he deposited her in a chair.

  Sunny and Alice were already out of the car. Alice was squatting in the driveway, inspecting rocks with Stinko lying on the ground beside her. Sunny was staring out at the ocean.

  She looked so much like a combination of his grandmother and Amy that he was continually caught off guard. Just now the breeze lifted her chestnut hair off her shoulders, exposing the pale skin at the nape of her neck.

  Framed against the expansive horizon, she seemed much younger, and far more vulnerable than she acted.

  She was only a kid, really. A kid with a child of her own.

  She turned to Alice, took hold of her hand to keep her from running down the steep hillside. Then Sunny picked Alice up and brushed the little girl’s hair back off her cheek and kissed her on the forehead.

  He waited a few seconds before calling, “Kat says to come on in.”

  Sunny waved to let him know she heard and he lingered until she caught up, and then he headed back to the house. Kat was still sitting at the dining table, with her chin resting on her hand.

  “I hate to say it, but you look like hell.”

  “Gee, thanks.” Kat futilely tried to fluff her hair with one hand.

  “Way to go, Chandler.” Sunny walked in right behind him, obviously having heard his comment.

  She turned to Kat. “You really do look like hell, though. What happened?”

  “Bad night.”

  “I’ve had a few of those myself.” Sunny put Alice on the floor beside a dining room chair. Alice started slapping it with both hands. Ty walked into the kitchen, leaving Kat and Sunny in awkward silence while he poured coffee.

  “Want a cup?” he asked after Sunny wandered into the kitchen.

  “No, thanks. Can I go out on the deck?”

  “Ask Kat.”

  Sunny turned toward the dining room. “Is it all right?”

  Kat nodded. “Sure, why not.” Ty watched her try to muster a smile. After Sunny left the room, Kat concentrated on her coffee as Alice threaded her way through table legs and chairs with Stinko in hand.

  “How’s the job search going?” Kat blew on the coffee before she took a sip.

  “We walked all over town, picked up some applications. I talked to Selma at the diner. She said summer was too hectic for her to train someone with no experience and suggested Sunny try again in October.”

  “That’s too bad. Selma seems like the motherly type.”

  He nodded. “She suggested Mermaids, the shell and trinket shop next door to the diner. It turns out the owner needed someone for the two-to-seven shift, five days a week. He hired Sunny on the spot.” Alice suddenly ran out from under the table, headed for the living room. Ty took off after her. She dropped Stinko, squealed, and grabbed the television remote.

  When he turned around, he found Kat watching them.

  “What about a babysitter while Sunny’s at work?”

  “Are you volunteering?”

  She looked into his eyes, her expression bleak. “Sorry.”

  “I plan on watching her for now.” He thought he could manage a few hours in the afternoons while Sunny worked, but he didn’t want to lose any of the precious time he had left with Kat. The fact that it was only a month before the Montgomerys came back was never far from his mind. “I was hoping you’d volunteer to come and keep the babysitter company.”

  He glanced over and saw that Alice was holding the remote to her ear like a cell phone and talking gibberish into it.

  “I think she’s gifted.” The child continually amazed him.

  “I hate to break it to you,”—Kat was finally smiling—“but she’s probably just imitating Sunny.”

  Alice had moved to the arm of the sofa, still occupied with the remote. He sat down on the chair beside Kat’s and leaned closer.

  The instant their lips met, all rational thought drifted away. Kat’s fingers, warm and tender, curled around his wrist.

  Suddenly they heard Sunny walk in behind them. “Damn it!”

  She bolted into the living room. Ty glanced over at Alice, who had taken the batteries out of the remote and was about to shove one into her mouth. He shot to his feet and so did Kat.

  As Sunny grabbed the thin triple-A battery, Alice started wailing. Sunny snatched her up onto her hip and tossed the remote on the coffee table, where it landed with a clatter.

  “You’re okay, baby. It’s okay,” Sunny murmured to Alice before she turned on Ty.

  “Will you really watch her while I’m at work? Or are you going to be too busy screwing your girlfriend?”

  He was as upset as she over what could have happened. “I’m sorry, Sunny. I just looked away for a minute. I had no idea—”

  “Yeah? Well, maybe you’d better go through those books you’re so into again.” She flashed a furious look at Kat, as if it were all her fault. “We’ll wait outside.”

  Sunny turned her back and stalked out with Alice screaming in her arms. When Ty turned around, Kat’s cheeks were on fire.

  He tried to calm down but it was hard to shake the image of Alice with the battery up to her lips.

  Finally, he took a deep breath and let it out.

  “At least our little Chandler family house call has put some color in your cheeks.” Levity didn’t help much, though Kat did smile. He walked back to the dining table and took her hand. “It’s hard to think straight around you.”

  “Is that a compliment?”

  “Go out with me tonight, Kat.”

  “It looks like you’ve got enough going on—”

  “Don’t turn me down. I’m going nuts. I want to be with you.”

  “You do look pretty desperate.” Finally, she smiled. “How about tomorrow?”

  “No more excuses. Besides, it has to be tonight. Sunny starts work tomorrow and then, hopefully, we’ll be spending time together at my place. Tonight I want to take you out on a real date. Dinner, candlelight. The whole nine yards.”

  She debated with herself for so long he was sure she was going to turn him down.

  “I’m not taking no for an answer,” he warned. “I’ll go get the girls and we’ll all camp out in the living room until you accept.”

  She laughed and raised both hands in surrender. “Okay, I’ll go.”

  He didn’t like leaving her alone with the haunted look that never left her eyes, not even when she smiled.

  “Are you sure you’re going to be all right by yourself?” He picked Stinko up off the floor, hesitant to go.

  “I’ll be fine.”

  He didn’t believe a word of it.

  Chapter 17

  THE RESTAURANT was off the main drag in San Luis Obispo, a small mom-and-pop place run by Hawaiian transplants from Kona who had been living on the mainland for thirty years.

  The minute Kat walked through the door, she felt at home. The walls were covered with bamboo and woven lauhala mats. Palm-leaf fans beat an uneven rhythm as they circulated the air. Dim light filtered through blue glass float balls that once buoyed Japanese fishing nets.

  There were Hawaii travel posters on the wall, waiters decked out in gaudy aloha shirts. Best of all, the soft, lilting sound of Hawaiian slack-key guitar floated on the air.

  Ty ushered her in, obviously pleased with himself.

  “Surprise,” he sa
id softly, resting his hand at her waist as they walked to the hostess stand.

  “How did you find this place?”

  “Actually, R.J. recommended it.” He took her hand, led her to a private table in back.

  “I think my first impression of R.J. is mellowing. Tell him mahalo.” Standing in the midst of what might have been an intimate local eatery in the islands, the Hawaiian word for thank you slipped naturally from her lips.

  Dinner was intimate and fun. Their host and hostess, Albert and Lou Kaku were eager to please when they found out she was Hawaiian. Kat savored shredded kalua pork, potato macaroni salad, sticky white rice, and fresh poi flown in from the Hanalei Poi factory on Kauai. She ate until she was sure she was going to burst.

  The low hum of conversation from other tables ebbed and flowed around them. In a situation like this, Justin would have been distracted, seated where he could watch the door, waiting for someone important to stroll in, smiling at the other diners, and hoping someone would recognize him.

  But Ty focused on her and her alone. He had a way of looking at her that made her go hot all over. Not only that, but he made her feel special, that he truly cared for her.

  She wished she wasn’t so afraid to believe it. She looked over and found him watching her toy with the paper umbrella that decorated her mai tai.

  “Is Sunny ready for her first day on the job?” she asked.

  “I think so. She calmed down and apologized after we got home this morning.”

  “She was just scared for Alice. We all were.” She had been ready to fly over the couch herself to grab the battery out of the toddler’s hand. “She’s a good mother, Ty.”

  “Considering all she must have been through, she’s a great mother. She still hasn’t opened up about her past, though.”

  “Does Sunny ever talk about Alice’s dad?”

  He shook his head. “Just the name Dodge.”

  “Last or first?”

  “First. She’s made it pretty clear she doesn’t want to talk about him.”

  “Dodge,” she said, thinking out loud.