by J.M. Downey
“I know.”
“Why didn’t you call for a whole two weeks?”
He turned from her, and headed back to the house, with his hands dug deep in his blue jean pockets. She followed at his heels. “Keith, talk to me,” she shouted at his back.
He stopped and waited for her to catch up. “We’ll talk inside.”
Inside, Keith sat on the couch, and held out his arms for her.
“I’m wet.”
“I don’t care.”
She sat on his lap, laying her head against his shoulder. A shock ran through her as once again his arms wrapped around her – the familiar sensations flooded through her.
“I love you, Katie.”
She opened her eyes and saw the outline of the ring under his shirt. She placed her finger through the hole, pressing lightly against his chest.
“I love you, too.” Tears brimmed in his eyes. He was so broken. Where had the confidence gone? Something must have happened to him. Something that had weakened him. He didn’t seem like the same boy she had fallen in love with. The one who would pound another on the chin to keep him from hurting her. “But I can’t be with someone who doesn’t trust me.”
He leaned his cheek against hers. “I trust you. My father doesn’t.” He spoke just above a whisper.
“This isn’t your father’s relationship.”
Katie kissed him on the lips. When she moved back, his eyes were closed and he had pushed his lips into a thin line. He must be thinking; perhaps, wrestling with some deep problem. Whatever it was, she would help him, just as long as he let her know what he faced.
“Don’t tell anybody, or let my family know I told you. Promise.” He opened his eyes and stared straight into hers – piercing through her.
“Of course I do.”
His light blue eyes wavered. “Promise me you won’t hate me.”
“Keith.”
“I had to get off some things, for you.”
Her mouth dropped open. She had been right. He had been on something that night at Arther’s house. He must have been battling an addiction and was afraid she’d leave him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close. “You went to a rehab center?”
“Yeah. I’m clean, and I promise you, I will never touch the stuff again.” He paused for a second and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I was hooked on the stuff before I met you, but you made me want to get off of it all.”
“Oh Keith.” She kissed his forehead and then his lips. “I would have helped you. Done anything I could to help you get better.”
“Do you forgive me?” He looked up at her with wavering blue eyes as if he feared she’d reject him.
“There’s nothing to forgive.”
He wrapped his arms tighter around her and pulled her as close to his chest as he could. “Will you still marry me?”
Katie found the ends of the chain on his neck and took it off. She slid the ring off it, and handed the ring to Keith. His eyes brightened as he took her hand and placed the ring back on her finger. He kissed her hand. “You are so precious.”
She bent her forehead to his. “I will always be there to support you, Keith, just as long as you let me in.” She rubbed his hair, knocking off the hat. “Just as long as you let me help you. I promise.”
The glass door opened, followed by the heavy steps of her father. Keith tapped Katie’s leg, but she didn’t get up. Every inch of her screamed to cling tight, so he couldn’t slip from her again.
“Are you okay, son? You look sick.”
“I’m doing good, sir.”
“I’m glad you’re here.” He patted Keith on the shoulder. “I think we’ll have hamburgers tonight. What do you two say?”
“Sounds good,” Katie said, burying her head into Keith’s shoulder. Her father hadn’t said anything about her sitting on Keith’s lap. Must be glad to have him back in the family. She heard the heavy retreat of her father’s steps. He was a wise man. “Are you going to stay for the rest of the week?”
“Yeah.”
A full smile crossed her face. “Good. I wouldn’t be able to let you go again.”
He chuckled. “I feel the same way.”
The screen door opened again, but this time several steps could be heard. She looked at her mother, walking towards her. Her mother took her hand and led her off of Keith’s lap, but Katie clenched onto his hand.
Her eyes locked onto Jeff’s. They looked like steel, but they contrasted with his slumped shoulders. Why did he look so mad that Keith was here? Katie shook her head and turned back to the man she loved.
Evelyn walked into the kitchen and took Frank’s arm, leading him outside onto the patio. He grabbed the coal and dumped it into the bright green grill. Good. It was clean. He ran his fingers over the grates, feeling his wife’s gaze lock onto his back. The boy was going to be alright. His eyes had a spark of hope, a determination. More than he had at that point in his life. His daughter was following in her mother’s footsteps more than she realized.
“He looks sick,” she said.
“Yeah, but he’s going to be fine,” he said turning to her.
She planted a hand on her hip. “Frank, I don’t like this. He just shows up after not calling for a while and looking sick.”
Frank gripped a match, tossing it in his hands. “I think I know where he has been.”
“Where?”
He leaned on the wooden porch rail. “Think about it Evelyn, he disappears, comes back thin. Does it remind you of anyone?”
Evelyn placed a hand over her mouth and turned to look at the young man, sitting next to their daughter.
“We shouldn’t judge him,” he said. “Imagine what could have become of me, if you hadn’t entered my life.” Or if Evelyn’s father had barred him from his daughter and not allowed him to marry her. No, he would extend the same kindness to Keith. He needed it.
“But she’s our daughter.”
“And someday he’ll be our son, so treat him like it. He deserves our love and support. Besides, Katie is a strong girl. She’ll be able to help him, like you helped me.”
Evelyn nodded and went back into the house. Frank held the glass door open, and stared at Keith. He was right. It was too obvious. “Son,” he shouted.
Both Keith and Jeff turned to look at him. “Keith, come help me get the grill started.”
Keith nodded. He walked through the kitchen and his wife handed him the lighter fluid. Keith brought it to him. They talked about the trip for a couple minutes, until the fire had sprung to life. He turned to the glass door and watched the girls and Jeff cut up vegetables and his wife get the potatoes ready for French fries. He turned back to the young man in front of him. The confidence was gone and now an unsettledness filled his eyes. Keith was probably wondering if he was about to forbid him from seeing his daughter. He couldn’t deny him the same benefits Evelyn’s father had granted him. “Did I tell you about the time I proposed to Evelyn?”
“No, sir.”
“We had been dating for a year, and I wanted to marry her. I asked her one night and she told me she would give me an answer in the morning. That morning she showed up at my apartment, and said she wanted to take me on a trip.”
“A trip?” Keith raised his eyebrows.
Frank crossed his arms. It was so hard to admit the faults of one’s past, but Keith needed to hear it. It would help him. “I wasn’t always the man I try to be now. She took me to a house in the mountains called the Forgiven House, handed me a Bible and said, I’d better get my life straight if I wanted to marry her.”
Keith’s mouth dropped open as his eyes widened.
“She took me to a rehab center.”
“How did you know?”
Frank placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Because I called her every night except for two weeks when I was too messed up to talk. When I got out I was thinner than you are.”
“Mr. Morris, I….”
Frank raised his hand. “I’m not
going to judge you, and I’ll keep your secret. I just wanted to let you know we’re here for you. It takes a lot to kick an addictive habit.”
“Thank you, Mr. Morris for understanding.”
“You’re welcome. Go get the hamburgers? My stomach is starting to get impatient.”
Keith nodded and walked back through the glass door with a little bit more confidence in his gait. He would be just fine.
EIGHTEEN
The secretary said hello to Keith as he swept past her and made his way to his father’s office, but he just ignored her. He should have at least asked if his father was occupied, but if he lingered he probably wouldn’t go through with this. Let Matthew Wilkerson see that his son was scared of no one. He had proven her worth. She had not said one word about Ellie and he had showed that he could control her. All he had to do was play humble and she bent. His shoulders slumped and he stopped, hanging his head. He hadn’t done that. He had formed a lie in his head about working overtime in London, but once he saw her light blue eyes full of compassion, the story just spilt out. How he wanted her to shower him with love and nurture. And she had.
Keith gripped the doorknob of his father’s office, feeling the sweat on his palm. Who was he kidding? The man would have him thrown out of his office and worse. A heat spread through him. He couldn’t live without her. He just couldn’t. His father needed to realize in order for him to become the man he wanted, he had to have her.
He knocked on the door.
“Come in, Keith.”
He lowered his fist. How did his father know he was here?
Keith opened the door and walked in before shutting it. His father looked up from where he sat on his desk with his arms crossed – his young secretary sat across from him with a laptop on her lap – her blouse a little too low.
Keith stood with his hands clasped in front of his waist until his father dismissed the secretary and sat in a brown leather chair. Mr. Wilkerson folded his hands on the desk and gave him a glare that made every inch of him stand up straight.
Keith raised a hand. “I know I can trust her. I want to marry her in December.”
His father tilted his head as his lips snarled upwards. “Of course you do. You broke my command and told her.”
Keith took a deep breath, but he couldn’t calm the heat that coursed through him. “You were watching us.”
“You’re the one who told Sullivan to keep an eye on her.”
“Let me marry her.”
“No, I want you to drop this girl and get back with Ashley.”
Why? Was he mad? What did he have to do to win her? Kill her father as she sang his praises. Keith shook his head and planted his hands on the desk. “What are you afraid of? That we can’t shut down some girl. You know what we could do to her.”
His father chuckled as he leaned back into the chair, placing his hands behind his head. “You’d deny her in an instant?”
“If needed.”
His top lip curved into a smirk. “I thought it was true love.”
“Family first.” Keith stared at his father’s eyes - his chest rose and fell with each of his deep breaths.
“Family?” The man raised his eyebrows.
Keith stood and crossed his hands in front of his waist. “Your plans first.”
Mr. Wilkerson waved his hand as if he was dismissing him. “Marry your girl, but you’re responsible for her.”
The breath slipped from him. He had consented. Keith turned for the door and clutched the handle.
“I mean it, William.”
Keith stopped and looked back at his father, as he dropped a pen on the black desk. He leaned forward, his glare piercing through him as he pointed a finger at Keith. “Know this. I’ll tell Sullivan to slice that pretty throat if you don’t and she causes problems.”
“I won’t fail you.” Keith walked out the door, clenching his hand. She was his.
NINETEEN
Hopefully her tears weren’t staining her veil. Katie clutched her father’s arm listening to his sweet advice as his voice cracked. The Wilkerson diamonds weighed heavily on her chest making her feel the burdens of previous hopes for the family line. Mrs. Wilkerson had told her every Wilkerson bride wore these on her wedding day and now they adorned her neck - a sign that she was now a part of their powerful family. Please God, give me a son. She closed her eyes. The bell skirt of the dress flowed out from her. When she had first tried it on, she had swirled side to side as if she could make it ring. The white gown had few decorations; just a small gathering of lace at the sleeves. She had wanted a simple dress, so the family jewels Keith had presented her with would be the focal point of her attire.
The doors opened and Katie gasped at the sea of people. Her father took one step, but she stayed still. What was she doing?
“Just focus on Keith,” her father said, nudging her forward. She looked up and found Keith at the front of the altar, hands crossed, face stoic, waiting for her. A slight smile crossed her face. Yes, she must focus on Keith, the most important person to her. The one she was completely giving herself to. She took her first step.
Just before she reached the steps that led to the altar, Keith let a full smile fill his face. Katie’s heart flipped. He longed for her.
The smile never left as he looked into her eyes and promised to always love her. She could barely speak, and only whispered her vows. When the preacher announced them man and wife, she closed her eyes as Keith kissed her cheek. She opened them and took a deep breath before looking at the sea of people before her, slightly laughing. She had captured one of America’s most sought-after bachelors. She looked at his strong face. A brightness filled his eyes. He led her down the long aisle, as if he was making it known to the whole world that she was his.
He bent to her ear, as they walked out of the chapel. “You’re mine forever,” he whispered, making her smile. Yes, she was.
BOOK II
ONE
“Why Do Fairy Tales Always End After the Wedding…?”
Keith and his father walked in the door of an abandoned school with no hassles, pistols in their long black coats. Two agents walked behind them. There was no moon; the only light came from a small flashlight that an agent held. They turned the corner, and the other agent opened the door to a science room. Abandon posters of the planets, animals and minerals filled the walls. Sitting at one of the long green desks were three men, with brownish skin, and black hair. The first man spoke with a Syrian accent.
“You have come.”
Mr. Wilkerson pulled out a brown envelope, and held it up.
“This is how you’ll get them. My contact wants it now.”
The man laughed and turned to his comrades. He said something in his native tongue before turning back to Mr. Wilkerson and kicking towards him a large black suitcase that banged against the floor and fell right at Keith’s feet. An agent walked to it, opened it and ran a scanner along the bills.
“It’s clean,” he said. “And it’s all here.”
The man closed the suitcase and stood up. Mr. Wilkerson dropped the packet on the floor, and they walked out.
Once outside the building, his father chuckled. Something was up. This was about more than what they had just done.
“Someday this money is going to make you a king,” his father said, looking out into the distance with a sneer in his eyes.
“What are you talking about?”
“A sort of campaign money.”
Keith stopped walking and turned to his father. “It costs that much to be Senator of New York?”
Mr. Wilkerson shook his head, and looked up at the sky as if he owned it. He probably did. He did own the man who held the nation’s power in his hands. “You think I’ll be satisfied with that? No, my son. I have bigger plans for you.”
Keith knit his brows. “Are you talking about the presidency?” A tenseness spread through him. He was. The man wanted to rule through him like he did with Arther.
“In fewer than 10 years you will be vice-president. And then president.”
“Quite soon to be planning?”
Mr. Wilkerson turned to him and looked him straight in the eyes. “No, you strike when you have power. Think we could have made this deal without Arther. Why do you think I put up with so much of his foolishness? Claiming you as his own. Letting him dream you are the son he could never produce.”
Keith nodded. His father was mad. But he was right. This was how men came to power. Arther didn’t get himself into office and he surely didn’t run the government.
“And you’ll be a good son? Won’t you?”
“I’m always a good son.”
His father patted him on the shoulder as they turned for the car. “Just always listen to me and you’ll be fine.”
His father sat in the car with Keith in the passenger side. The agents got in the back. Keith leaned his head into his left hand, which was propped up against the window. They had sold arms to another country. Out-of-date weapons, but enough to cause Syria’s enemies trouble. Children might die, countries demolished. And he didn’t care. He should. Katie would, but she would never know.
Later, Keith walked into his apartment. Katie lay on the couch with nothing but a white nightgown covering her skin. She had her face buried in one of those clean romance novels. At the sound of his approaching feet, she set her book down and rolled over, allowing him to gaze at the generous curves nature had given her. She looked so innocent, so naive. He walked over to her and ran one finger down her leg.
“How was work?” she asked.
“We got a lot of business done.”
She smiled as he moved the nightgown up, so he could look at her legs. They were shaped so perfectly and creamy. He would be offered so much power. What would Katie think of being a First Lady? Keith scooted next to her, and kissed her. It would be interesting to find out.