by Lauren Marie
She heard a door open on the Bronco and saw a platinum blonde woman step out onto the driveway. Kate backed up a step, but didn’t know where to run to that would be safe from the woman who grinned at her. All she needed to do was get into her apartment, get her things packed and go to the bus station.
“Hello Stacy, long time, no see,” the woman said. She reminded Kate of a snake. “Are you ready to come home?”
Kate pulled her arm out of Jay’s hand and looked at the woman who’d given birth to her and thought she might throw up. She heard a car pull up along the curb on the street and glanced back. She saw Frank get out of a BMW. He walked up and stood next to Kate. She saw him glance down at the guy with the bloody nose who still lay on the ground.
“Mrs. Hardy, your daughter doesn’t want to speak to you right now,” Frank said. He took a small wallet out of his jacket pocket and pulled out a business card. He handed the card to the woman. “You can call my office to set up an appointment. She won’t talk to you without me present.” He turned back to Kate and Jay and motioned them to the house. “Let’s go inside. It’s cold out here.”
“Stacy, please, there is so much you need to know. There’ve been so many changes. Just talk to me,” her mother said and tried to move toward her.
“Mrs. Hardy, there’s nothing she wants to hear from you right now. Get back in your vehicle and get out of here. There will be a time and place to conduct a conversation.” Frank looked at Kate and pointed to her doorway.
Kate walked to the side of the house with Jay and Frank following. She took her key out of her pocket and opened the door. As she walked in, she moved away from Jay and went to the other side of the living room. Her heart raced and pounded in her ears. All she wanted to do was pack her bag and get out of here. She didn’t want a conversation with her mother and she didn’t want to talk to Jay or Frank.
She couldn’t look at either man. She didn’t know if what Jay said was true or not. She didn’t know who she could trust. Her body felt numb and she just wanted to catch the next bus out of town.
“I was going to talk to you two after the game. How about we all sit down for a minute?” Frank said.
“I’m too wound up and just fine standing.” Kate leaned against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest. There wasn’t much time. The sooner she left Canon City and changed her name again, the better.
“Okay, your mother at one time controlled your management as a skater, as I’m sure you’re aware.” Kate nodded. “That all ended seven years ago when you turned eighteen. The contract expired. So as far as the skating is concerned, she has no cards to play one way or another.”
She saw Frank look at the kitchen. He went in, grabbed a straight back chair, carried it into the living-room and sat down.
“I found out something interesting. Your mom has some writer on hold to do a biography of you. She seems to think she can make millions on your story, which makes no sense. You’re a wonderful person, Kate, but rarely do bio’s sell that well.” He rested his elbows on his knees and tented his fingers. “Kate, I want you to hear what I’m going to say. Are you with me?”
Kate saw Frank look at her with a very angry stare. “Yes.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes, Frank, I can hear what you’re saying,” she said and felt her own anger begin to build.
“Your mother no longer controls your life. She has no control unless you let her. The idle threats she made about committing you to a mental hospital are nothing. If she continues to badger you, I’ve prepared a harassment law suit and she’ll be slapped with a restraining order. Do you understand what I’m telling you, Kate?”
“I think you’re saying that I let her push me around all of these years when I could have just told her to fuck off and leave me alone.”
Frank chuckled. “You got it, but I think she trained you pretty well to fall in line. Now, I want you to think about one thing only, if you run again she wins. I’m pretty sure you don’t want that.”
Kate opened her mouth to say something, but didn’t know what she wanted to say. “I understand,” she said and looked down at her hands. “Why did you call her Mrs. Hardy?”
“She’s remarried. I don’t know the details yet, and we still have some things to check out. It looks as though your parents divorced at some point. I’ve tried to reach your father, but haven’t found him yet. Look sweetie, I don’t want her to bug you anymore. I know you’ve been staying at Jay’s, but she’ll probably be able to figure that out and find his house. This might be an ideal time to borrow your good friend’s cabin.”
She frowned at him. “Who’s my good friend?”
“Frank thinks he’s being funny. It’s his cabin,” Jay said.
“The words thank you are not in Jay’s vocabulary, Kate. You’re going to have your hands full with him; you should know that up front. Your mom can easily find out where Jay lives. I think you two should go to the cabin and enjoy a nice relaxed week or two off. I’ll let Harry know you’re away on an emergency, but should be back soon.”
“No, I have to work and I’m not at Jay’s anymore. We’re finished.” She crossed her arms and looked at the floor.
“I’m not sure what’s happened here...” Frank said.
She looked up and saw Frank look back and forth between her and Jay. “I don’t think...” she started but Jay interrupted her.
“Frank, could you come back to lawyer mode for a minute?” Jay asked. “I need for you to defend me.”
Kate saw Frank arch his brow and look, again, from Jay to her and back. “Okay, what have you done?”
“Tell him what Monica Everett said to you at the rink.” Jay crossed his arms and looked at her.
“Oh, God, not the forked tongued bitch?” Frank groaned. “What did she do?”
Kate swallowed and froze. She felt embarrassed and realized she’d let Monica play her. The look on Jay’s face killed her and she knew she’d hurt him by believing the woman. It didn’t matter, though. She’d only hurt Jay in the long-run and it was best for him not to be involved.
“She told Kate that I contacted her mother. Monica also said I fucked her in my office at the rink,” Jay said.
Frank stood up and walked over to Kate. He took her hand in his and looked her in the eyes. “Sweetheart, I’m only going to tell you this once and if you ever fall for her lies again, I will spank you myself. Monica Everett is a pathological liar. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard her tell the truth and I’ve known her since kindergarten. Ignore the words that come out of her mouth, Kate. It wouldn’t surprise me if she was the one who called Mommy Dearest, but how did she know about it?”
“I have no idea, but I intend to find out,” Jay said.
Kate looked at Jay, again and saw him shrug his shoulders. He looked pissed and she didn’t think he would ever forgive her for the way she’d treated him. It would have to be. She’d just have to understand if he wanted nothing more to do with her.
“As for the other thing she said, she’s been after a couple of men in town since high school and we all hold her at an arms distance. There’s no way Jay would screw her anytime, anywhere. To save your sanity, Kate, just disregard her and don’t let her push your buttons again.” Frank looked at them both. “It would seem you two need to talk. I’ll be in touch. I’m going to make sure the Bronco is gone. If I come back inside it’s because she’s still out there and we’ll need to call the sheriff.”
Kate didn’t even realize Frank left the apartment. She stared at Jay. The look on his face killed her and the realization that she’d blundered by believing Monica made her very angry at herself. She said terrible things to him and didn’t know what to do.
“I’m really sorry. I never meant... Maybe someday I’ll be able to not freak out...I mean I don’t know how...” She looked up at him a
nd wanted to hold him, but thought she might have gone over the line and hurt him so badly he wouldn’t want to be with her anymore. “I’m so confused and have a lot to learn,” she said quietly and looked down at her hands.
She saw his sneakers down by her feet and felt his fingers under her chin. He moved her head up. His brown eyes were pinched and looked very intense. He pulled her into a hug. She put her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist.
“When I saw Monica talking to you, I freaked out. I could tell by the look on your face it wasn’t good.” He put his hands on her shoulders and moved her back. He looked directly at her and Kate started to worry this was the end. “Babe, this is lesson number one and it’s something you need to take very seriously. The way it is with me, and those around me, family and close friends, is that we take care of things that are important to us. My mom is already over the moon about you and plans to take you shopping even though she’s only known you for an hour. I’m giving you early warning. My parents instinctively can tell when something or someone is important to their sons. Honey, I adore you and us and everything that means. This may sound crazy, but we fit together in a really weird way. So, part of being involved with me is putting up with my over-protectiveness. I...well...” he smiled. “I won’t say that L word because I don’t want to scare you, but since I do, you’ve now got a family and friends that care for you.” He stood up straight and put his hand on her cheek. “I know you have trust issues and it will take some time for you to rely and have complete faith in me. I can live with that. I need for you to understand that when I’m involved with someone who makes me catch my breath when they walk in a room and how you can move so gracefully on the ice and waiting tables, I’m involved for good. You’re the only one I want by my side, Kate, my beautiful woman. That’s enough of lesson number one.”
Kate started to open her mouth, but her voice caught and a tear rolled down her cheek. She put her hand over his and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to sob. “Jay,” she whispered and her lips trembled. “Thank you. I was so afraid I’d screwed up completely and...and...” She shook her head and tried to get a complete thought together in her brain. “My mother can be very mean and I really have no right to ask you to put up with...” She stopped when he put his fingers over her lips.
Jay pulled her back into his arms and held her tight. He wrapped his arm around her head and kissed her hair. “I can deal with her. You don’t need to worry about that. Okay? There’s no need to think that you screwed up. Just know that we’re together and I’d never in a million years do anything to wreck what we’ve got, okay?” He moved her back and wiped the tears off her cheeks.
“Okay,” she said and tried to smile. “Oh Lord, the game. You should go back to the rink. The game’s probably still going on and the kids need you.”
He put his hand on her neck and looked down into her eyes. “It’s only a game, Kate. It’s not as important as you are.”
She looked up at him. “I’m not that selfish and I want to go back. If Monica is still there, I want to see her face when we walk in hand in hand and you give me a hard kiss with lots of tongue.”
“Oh baby, I like where your head is at. Maybe you want to go check your face. Your make-up got a little smeared.”
Kate went into her bathroom and looked in the mirror. “A little smeared is being kind, Jay,” she said and grabbed a Kleenex to wipe the mascara off her cheeks.
On their way back to the rink they discussed going to Frank’s cabin, but decided it would just be another win for her mother. Kate would stay at his house for now and they would try to continue to live.
Jay went back to coach the kids and Kate found that Lark saved her seat on the bleachers. She sat down and wished she’d gotten a cup of coffee. She saw Monica sat a few rows from her. They glared at each other.
“So, what happened? Where’d you head off to?” Lark asked and leaned on her shoulder.
Kate looked at the pretty brown haired woman and found Lark’s husband looking at her, too. Kate smiled. “It was a mis-understanding. It’s all right now.”
“I saw that witch talk to you. Was it her fault?” Lark asked and glared down at Monica.
Kate noticed that Lark’s voice had gotten louder and tried to keep her quiet. “She said some nasty things about Jay and I was stupid enough to buy it. I’ve definitely learned a lesson this evening.”
“Sweetie, don’t believe a word that comes out of that dragon woman’s mouth. She’s nothing but lies,” Lark said, loudly.
Kate saw Monica turn around and glare back at Lark.
Charlie reached over to his wife. “Lark, that’s enough. I think you’ve gotten the point across,” he said and planted his lips on hers.
Lark turned back to Kate. “I love my husband very much, but he is the pacifist in our family.”
She was introduced to some other new people that sat around them. One of the men, Eddie Sykes, was a nurse at the community walk-in health clinic. He and Lark talked about the new women’s center that would be opening in a week. They were both very excited about it. Eddie said they would have an outstanding doctor come in and start to help out in the next couple of weeks. They were also going to have three full-time clinical psychologists who would start to schedule right away. Kate wondered briefly if Jay might have had something to do with this introduction, but then realized her trust issues were starting to rear up and shut them off. Maybe I should make an appointment with one of the head doctors, she thought. For now, she needed to trust in Jay and that was the only thing that mattered.
During the break between periods, Jay moved away from the team and walked directly to Monica. He motioned for her to follow him and she did. He came back after about five minutes, found Kate and stepped up to the bleachers where she sat. He leaned over her and said into her ear, “Monica has been banned from the rink. I told her Shelby’s coach would meet them in the driveway or her grandmother could bring her, if the kid is going to continue with lessons, but if Monica steps through the doors, she’ll be asked to leave by security or the staff. She called your mother.”
“Did she say how she found out about my story?” Kate asked.
“Apparently, the night we came here for the Broom Ball game and met with Frank, she stood outside my office door. When Frank asked me to leave so he could talk to you, she heard the conversation and did a little research of her own. She figured out who you used to be and we know the rest.”
Kate looked up at him and almost started to cry. “Thank you, sweetheart.”
He gave her a kiss and then went back to the team. The Mighty Rocker’s won that night three to one.
Chapter Twelve
Later that evening, Jay rolled over in bed and realized Kate wasn’t there. He sat up and saw she stood by the window. The light that came in through the glass gave her a ghostly glow. She looked beautiful.
“Hey, babe. Are you okay?”
She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled. “It’s snowing.”
Jay got up and walked over to her. He put his arms around her waist. “Damn, look at that and it’s only October. It’s early this year,” he said and looked out the window. The trees and ground in the back of his house were dusted white. “I guess the picnic a week ago might have been the last for the season. This probably won’t hang around long even though it’s gotten colder.”
“It looks so peaceful.” She leaned against his chest. “Jay, babe.” She laughed. “I need to use endearments more.”
“Why are you shaking?” He kissed the top of her head.
Kate moved his arms from her waist to around her shoulders and kissed his arm. “I hate to admit this, but I’m scared silly.” She entwined her fingers with his and continued to kiss his arm.
“You have every right to be scared, but you’re safe here with me. Your mom looked like a blonde wicked w
itch.”
“As I said earlier, she can be really mean when she doesn’t get her way. Once when I was little, my dad told her no about some car that she wanted. I can’t even remember what type it was, but she got it within a week. My dad stayed angry with her for a long time and it changed the way he’d treated me.” She turned and wrapped her arms around him. “I wish I’d known him better.”
Jay kissed her forehead. “Come back to bed. It’s cold in there and I missed you.” He steered her to the bed and sat her down. “That reminds me, wait here one second.” He ran down the stairs and found his coat. In the pocket was a small flat box. He pulled it out and ran back up the stairs. When he got back to the room he found Kate hadn’t moved from where she sat.
He sat next to her and turned on the lamp that stood on the nightstand. “First of all, I want you to know this nightstand is yours. I emptied out the drawers so you can put whatever you want in there.” He saw a surprised look on her face. “Secondly, all the drawers in the right hand side of the bureau are yours, too. They’re all cleaned out and ready for your girly things. The top drawer in the bathroom is also ready for your make-up and stuff.”
“Oh my God, when did you have the time?” she said.
“When you were at work last night and, I also bought you this.” He put the box into her hands.
“What is it?” She looked at it and then back up at him.
“Open it.” He waited until the box was open. “It’s a cell phone. I’ve programmed my number and Frank’s into it. You can call me whenever you want to...oh, and if you want me to change the ringtone, I will.” He picked his phone up from the nightstand and hit a button. In a couple of seconds the lights came on her phone and a voice said, “You’re mine, babe.”