Time Heals Everything

by Linda Swain

  Katherine’s green eyes flicked from Ashton and back to Anton. “What is it, my darling? What is it that I can give you?” I can’t give anything to anyone … It wasn’t me who got Anton walking – it was Ash! He doesn’t need me. I can’t make him happy…

  “What would make me happy would be if you would join Papa and me for dinner.” His large eyes pleaded with her. “S’il vous plaît, Maman? Please?”

  “It would be a great pleasure if you would join us. Our meals are not complete without you gracing the table,” Ash added softly. “You have recovered enough to make the short walk to the salon, surely.”

  She found it impossible to resist, and perhaps, she thought, it was time that she got out of this room. “Very well,” she agreed softly. “For you and your Papa, I will come down but someone will have to instruct the cook to hold dinner. I must look my best for my two handsome men.” Watching as the ever-present Megan escorted Anton from the room and back into the bulky shape of his wheelchair; Kat placed a gentle hand on Ash’s arm. “There is something that I have been thinking about; something that we should have done before now.”

  Waiting patiently, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, longing for more than just a kiss. “And what is that?”

  “I want to adopt Anton, not only to be his mother by virtue of our marriage, but to be his mother legally.”

  As her eyes pleaded with him, Ash began to see, for the first time, a glimmer of the woman she had once been. “And this would make you happy?” he asked cautiously.

  “Happy?” A bright smile, one he hadn’t seen in some time, lightened her green eyes. “It would make me very happy. I’m not certain of all the legalities, but . . . I want him to truly be my son.”

  Her words touched him in ways that not even he thought possible. She may have carried, at one time, that bastard’s child, but it is mine – mine – whom she wishes to claim as her own. Emotions worked their way through his throat as he reached out to caress her gleaming hair. “If that will make you smile, consider it already done. I will telephone our legal representatives first thing tomorrow morning and arrange for everything to be put into place as quickly as possible.”

  Looking up at him, she had no doubt that Ash would do exactly as he promised; she would at least have Anton as her son, and nothing would ever take him away. Slowly, a joy she had almost forgotten began to fill her heart, easing the emptiness, which had existed there since the death of her baby. I will have a family – the family I’ve always wanted! He will be my son! Moving carefully to her vanity, she sat down and shuddered at the reflection she saw there. While even the most rigorous of recoveries could never erase the fact that Kat was a beautiful woman, there was pallor in her cheeks and dark bruises beneath her eyes that told of her sleepless nights. The various cosmetics she had at her disposal could take care of that, but the woman who stared back at her had eyes that had lost the shine of innocence that no makeup could ever recover.

  “And,” Ash continued, blithely ignoring the look of despair she cast at her reflection, “as soon as you have fully regained your health, I have another gift for you. Time has added a depth to your voice that is most attractive. I believe it will sound wonderful on one of those records you persist on playing.”

  She could only stare at Ash. “What? Record? How? When? Ash, are you saying that you’ve arranged for me to record Time Heals Everything? That song? Really?”

  Ashton laughed. “Yes, ma belle, really. I have the contracts ready for you to sign and everything that you will need provided for you. And who knows what may happen once your song is heard on the radio? You could go into films or sing on stage somewhere – just as long as you come home to Anton and me.” Kissing her fingers, he laughed aloud as she moved willingly into his embrace, pressing her lips to his in a passionate kiss. Instantly, his lips opened under hers, accepting and plundering her mouth in return, and, despite how much he wanted more, it was he who broke the kiss.

  Clearing his throat, Ash gently moved away. “The doctors have informed me that it is possible for us to resume being man and wife in the … physical manner afforded to us. Perhaps tonight, you could return to my empty bed.”

  Leaning into his embrace, she forced herself to remember the family that she had gained and not the man she had never truly called her own. “Tonight,” she whispered, “we begin anew, but now I have a date waiting anxiously for me down in the salon.”

  Eyes glittering, Ash stared down at her. “If it were not our son waiting, I would take you to bed this instant.”

  “And,” she smiled, her eyes gleaming wickedly, “if he were not our son, I would let you.”

  * * * *

  In the following months, all of the popular magazines, even as they wrote about the escalating tensions in Europe, were focused on Katherine Montserrat’s exploits. Everywhere she went, there were photographers waiting to snap the next hot picture of the entertainment industry’s newest star. Her beaming smile served as an antidote to the rising poison of Europe’s troubles, the fresh gleam of her beauty and youth brightening up magazines and newspapers that were growing increasingly darker with stories of coming war.

  Magazines plastered these pictures over their covers, showcasing bright, glossy prints of the up-and-coming star cavorting in water fountains and laughing, or dancing at the hottest new clubs, glasses of champagne always ready in her hand. Her rise to fame didn’t stop with the advent of her honeyed voice over the airwaves; once word of her signature style on stage got around, Ashton’s contacts pulled every string they could to introduce her to the high-balling world of Hollywood. It was a whirlwind time for Kat – she was seen at every social function her contacts could arrange for her, always on Ashton’s arm, where she mingled with the latest stars. Her ready smile for the ever-present photographers made her a shoe-in for their attentions, and garnered the interest of some of the biggest stars in Hollywood.

  Articles, interviews, and pictures coalesced into a burning rush of fame as she danced one night at a dinner party in California with Ginger Rogers and cavorted a few days later over the red carpet at the Biltmore Hotel, hoping to get a close look at that year’s Oscar winners. Even the most minor roles she landed in that world were widely reported; for some time, it looked like Katherine Montserrat, nee Collins, and her rise into the Hollywood stratosphere, was going to be at least as great a phenomenon as the premier of the ‘talkies’.

  But even as the glitz and glamor of that world captivated her hungry attention, Kat felt an undeniable desire to return to the place where she’d gotten her start – to Nick and Simply Blues. The most widely read entertainment columns took turns lauding and then questioning her return to the swanky but little-known nightclub, and Ashton spent all of his time insisting to the curious reporters that she would soon be leaving behind the tiny world of a cabaret singer for larger things. But the papers and magazines pounced on the chance to spread the word of the club where Hollywood’s newest star had met her dashing and mysterious French Count. Some wondered why she would return to the site of her early beginnings as a singer when she could have been content simply to pose on her husband’s arm and flash her blinding smile for the cameras, especially in light of Ashton’s scowling insistence that she was heading out and beyond for better opportunities.

  Despite her husband and the flying rumors, however, she returned as Simply Blues’ main act, retaking her place on the starlit stage at the back of the club as though she’d never left. But there was something different about her when she did come back, though no one who immediately saw her could place their finger on what it was. It was Tim, finally, who broached the subject.

  “Nick, what in the hell is different about Kat?” He had been reluctant to do so; everyone in the club had been treading carefully around Nick since Kat and Ashton had returned to the club circuit. Nick spent more time in his office than out on the floor or behind the bar anymore, and when he was seen mingling with the crowd, he was often found staring at Kat with empty eyes
.

  Casually, Nick turned to glance over his shoulder at Tim, his features so blankly and carefully composed that Tim had to suppress a shudder. “So, you’ve noticed it, too?” Exhaling a mouthful of blue smoke, he turned back to watch as Kat laughed and danced with customers, pausing only to flirt outrageously with her husband. Guess she picked up more than just dancing lessons out there in Hollywood. Hell, she goes from one dance to another without stopping for more than a gulp of champagne – and that’s another thing; she never used to drink so much – while she lets everyone just paw all over her, only to pull away and flirt more outrageously with Ash than I’ve ever seen. Hell, some of the streetwalkers don’t do the kind of stuff she’s doing.

  He could hear her giddy laughter floating through the room even as Ashton’s bar tab grew larger and larger. Every time Nick caught her eyes, they were peering over the rim of another glass, watching as the waiter refilled it again and again. No sooner was it refilled than she was rubbing hips with the clientele again, flashing sultry looks over her shoulder at Ash with those catlike green eyes of hers. He never responded to her silent beckoning, remaining quietly at their table, but his burning eyes followed Kat everywhere she went. Nick switched his attention to Ash for a while as Kat leapt back onstage swiftly and lightly, as if she hadn’t consumed the better part of two bottles of champagne by herself. And those were just the glasses I counted, Nick thought. But what’s going on behind closed doors in the Montserrat household, I wonder? With the way he’s glowering at her, I can’t imagine it’s anything good.

  He exhaled another long mouthful of cigarette smoke and turned away. Whatever it is isn’t any of my business. She’s married, and it isn’t to me. The only thing that should matter is the fact that she’s pulling in customers to the point that I had to add a doorman. Fans, new and old, were back as thick as ever, clamoring to hear Kat’s golden voice in person, delighted with her throaty siren’s song which brought a shiver down the back of any red-blooded male.

  But … and maybe I’m the only one who hears it … there’s anguish in that voice of hers, too. She’s not just singing her songs to make her moves anymore – her heart’s crying. Why am I the only one who hears it? He turned savagely away from the stage and poured himself a stiff drink, never realizing that Kat wasn’t the only one imbibing more than she ever had before. Why is it that I just want to grab her and whisk her away to somewhere private, where I can find out what’s eating at her soul? That’s why she’s drinking so much, he realized with the connection only another alcoholic looking at another can truly have. She’s drinking to get away. But from what? Kid, I’m in love with you … I know it’s too late; if I’d have had the guts I should have had years ago, maybe you wouldn’t be doing this now, but just tell me what’s wrong! The club and its bottom line no longer mattered, he found. He would give it all away if it meant he could chase away the shadows that lingered in her eyes.

  Finally, two or three nights later, tired of standing by while she danced with any man who asked, he managed to cut in, pushing aside her current dance partner. “How about one for old times’ sake?”

  “Sure, Nick,” she agreed, slurring her words only a little. “Why not?”

  For an instant, as he looked down at her, he could see a glimpse of the young woman he had first met. He could still see that innocent vulnerability that had both attracted and scared him to death.

  Then, with the finality of a dungeon door slamming shut, she looked up at him with a seductive, viperish smile, her red lips twisting mockingly as the expression destroyed all hint of the innocence that had once lain over her features. Wrapping an arm around his neck, Kat leaned into his arms as they slowly danced, bringing her lips up to brush the underside of his chin.

  Nick’s eyes narrowed as he looked down at those pouting lips, trying to ignore the roaring response of his body. “Are you certain that your husband isn’t going to mind? Considering …?”

  Looking up, she lifted a brow. “Ash? Does it look as if he would mind?”

  Following her gaze, Nick watched Ash as he danced closely with Ted’s singer, Madeline. The sight of it made him grind his teeth together as something clenched hotly inside of him. “Want me to say something?” he asked, but when he looked in her eyes, only a sad acceptance met his rising fury.

  “What would you say?” she asked, her voice suddenly losing its gaiety. “Go home to your wife?” She laughed bitterly as she moved in his arms, dancing to the same tune as her husband. “He does, you know. Right after he leaves her bed, still stinking of her perfume. It would seem that I’ve lost my appeal.” She drifted from his arms towards the balcony, a ghost of the woman she had once been.

  Following behind, he watched as she turned to face him, her back against a brick wall. “Do you ever wish that we could go back?” she asked lowly. “That you and I could, for one night, pretend that I never left that first night with Ash? That you had never walked out on me … on us?”

  Oh, kid, you’ll never know how many times I wished just that … Or how many times I cursed myself for being so damn stupid. But, as he always had, Nick remained silent in the face of her question, merely lighting another cigarette and blurring the beautiful lines of her face with its hazy smoke.

  Kat’s lips trembled, but the words she had denied for so long would no longer allow themselves to be held back. “Even if I never have the chance to say this again, I want to say it now,” she insisted, breaking the quiet he maintained. “Nick, you were always the one that I could count on, no matter what. I’m in love with you, Nick – that has never changed, and I doubt that it ever will.”

  She leaned against the wall an elegant form in her gown of deep satin that hugged her slender form, a sweetheart bodice revealing as much as it hid of the deep valley of her breasts. When he looked at her, his blue eyes flashed at the bitter smile on her lips as she lifted her face to his. “But there is something else that you should know. Ash has hired an attorney – one that believes he can break my contract. This may be my last run at the club. But before it’s over, I want you to know the truth. I love Ash . . . but I was never in love with him. My mistake … Not his.”

  Her words shattered his heart, breaking down the last of the carefully built walls that had remained until there was only a man looking at the woman he loved. “Why don’t you and I make a clean break of it?” The words had left him in a rush before he could stop them, and he didn’t care. “I know that I’m a street rat, that I’ve clawed and fought my way to make it good, but once a child of the streets, always a child of the streets, and I wanted better than that for you.” He was close enough to touch her now, but he didn’t. He only stared down at her, his eyes dark with the hunger of long and lonely nights. “But Kat, if you leave with me tonight, we’ll go back to our place and start over. After a while, Ash will be forced to divorce you – his pride won’t allow people to see him being two-timed.”

  He could see the temptation in her eyes, could almost feel her once more in his arms. She stared at him – finally, at last he had bared his soul to her, and for that first, aching moment, she swayed towards him, towards a future she had long ago give up the hope of ever knowing with him.

  Then in the distance, beyond the cacophony that made up the sounds of the night, came the sound of a crying child, and the hope slowly faded from her eyes. “I can’t,” she whispered. “You see, there is someone who loves me even more than either you or Ash. A little boy that calls me his mother. Someone who needs me more than either of you. I can’t. As much as I want to, I can’t.” She paused and smiled wearily. It was a tired, frightened expression that drove spikes of fear into Nick’s heart. “Besides, do you really think Ash would let us – either of us – get away with something like that?” She shook her head. “No. I tangled with him once, and I don’t have the courage to do it again. Not if it means that you could get hurt, Nick. I couldn’t live with myself.”

  Nick’s voice rose in frustration as he saw his chance to hold her forever
in his arms slipping away. “What – Kid – Kat …What has he done to you?”

  “I believe I would like to hear the answer to that myself.”

  Leaning against the door, Ash folded his arms across his chest. “After all, the only sin that I’ve committed was to fall in love with you. I have given you everything that you have ever wanted: a fine name, a magnificent home, the career you’ve always desired. You have dined with royalty, worked with some of the finest names in your business and still it isn’t enough. You are legally my son’s mother now, so tell me, exactly what have I done to you?” His hand inched upwards to the pistol she knew Ashton carried in his coat, and she fought the urge to scream. Oh, God, he knows Nick doesn’t pack when he’s in a crowd – I was the one to tell him that! How many months, years . . . had that been? Ashton and I were still only seeing each other back then. A rough night at the club had resulted in a couple of people being thrown out by the seats of their pants, and when Kat had relayed the scene for Ashton the next evening during dinner, he had been shocked, though not because the scene had occurred.

  No, Kat thought, he was more appalled that Nick hadn’t thought to pull a gun so as to force those two to leave before the police had been called in. I remember how Ashton raved that Nick cared more about the safety of his bottom line than the people who worked for him. It took me a long time to calm him down. That was when I told him then that Nick never packs when he’s in a crowd. I think he’s got a pistol behind the bar, but he was as close to the bar that night as he is now – he couldn’t get to it in time. Ash knows that – he remembers. Oh, God, she thought as horror filled her eyes. Oh, God, Nick doesn’t stand a chance… What am I going to do?

  “And you,” Ashton continued calmly, changing his focus to Nicholas. “I believe I told you long ago that I would see you in hell if you interfered with my wife – my wife,” he repeated savagely, “any further. You sang your songs of regret and there was no one to listen. As there is no one to listen now.” Triumph was rising in his voice, smothering the violence that had transfered from his burning eyes into his words.