by Judy Corry
Kate laughed too. "Yeah, not so much. But I'm sure she'll grow on me."
"It does tend to happen." Drew grinned. Why couldn't things be this easy and effortless with Gwen? What was it about Kate that put him immediately at ease? Was it just because they'd known each other for so many years? Seventeen years? He wanted things to be easy now.
9
Kate
"What about you? How was your weekend?" Drew asked as they turned a corner and drove onto Alameda Ave.
Kate bit her lip. "It was okay, I guess."
"Did you and Nolan do anything fun besides your movie night?"
Ugh, this lying thing was getting messy. Why hadn't she just told him the truth from the beginning? What would happen if she fessed up to her lie now? Would she lose her job?
"Umm…" she tried to think of how to word it correctly. I actually lied to you. No. I've been divorced…technically annulled for three months. Not that either. Nolan wasn't who I thought he was… "I finished my last articles for the paper. So that was good." Yeah, she was a total chicken. "Then I worked a little on my latest screenplay."
Drew seemed to perk up. "That's cool. What's it about?"
Kate hated it when people asked her to talk about her screenplay off the fly. She was never able to come up with a decent explanation that actually made sense and didn't sound completely stupid. "Well," she said, her mind scrambling for a quick pitch. "It's about this guy and this girl."
"So a romance?"
"Um, kind of. Anyway, this girl gets kidnapped by this guy. She thinks he's really bad at first, but then as he's holding her hostage, she starts to notice that he's actually treating her ok. Eventually, she realizes he's just working for someone else who’s holding something bad over him. In the end they fall in love and find a way to escape." She shrugged. "Something like that." Wow, that totally sounded like crap.
But Drew smiled and said, "What? No all-powerful sultan in this one? I feel so cheated. I was hoping to audition for that role when it sold."
A smiled formed on Kate's lips. "Sorry. No sultan. Though if you're serious about that acting thing, I'll totally throw a sultan in."
They arrived at the studio a few minutes later and Kate drove up next to Drew's Lamborghini to drop him off.
"Thanks for the ride," Drew said as he unbuckled his seat belt. "It still feels weird having you drive me around instead of my driver, Marco, but I'm sure I'll get used to it."
It was weird driving her older brother's best friend around. He'd always been the one to take them to all the high school events her freshman year.
"It is what it is."
He moved his hand to the door lever. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow night again, so you can chauffeur me to all those lovely viewing parties."
Kate smiled. "See you then."
Drew got in his car. Kate waited for him to drive out of the parking lot before heading out herself. She drove north on Buena Vista Street toward her parents’ home. Ever since her split with Nolan, the family dinners had been a lot harder. Yes, her family still supported and loved her, and was even glad she got out of that relationship as fast as she had, but she hated that they threw her single status in her face whenever they were all together. Her parents were still together, albeit not without their own set of problems. Her older sister, Lana, was married to a successful lawyer and raising their two adorable boys. And even her younger brother, Cason, had been dating a girl for six months. How many times had she just wanted to go sit at the kid table with her nephews Decklan and Tayden?
So many times she'd wished Aiden was still around, so they could be the odd ducks together.
The front porch light lit the walk up to the Tuscan-style, two-story home. She had always loved their house growing up. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to move back home when her lease was up. She could certainly use the savings it would afford her…even if moving back home wasn't the most appealing idea.
Inside teemed with activity. Tayden and Decklan were on the floor playing with their dad. Lana's husband, Jonas, was sitting in the recliner, talking to Cason and his girlfriend Kerrie about the new boat he was planning to buy in the spring.
"Kate!" Tayden came running up to her, wrapping his chubby three-year-old arms around her leg. "You make it!"
Kate bent over to lift him into her arms. "And how have you been?" She hugged him tight before taking him to the loveseat to sit down.
"Guess what? I'm get to be a big brodder."
"What?" Kate said, looking to Jonas for confirmation.
"It's true." He chuckled. "We planned to tell everyone over dinner, but little Tayden here can't keep a secret."
"But I kept the secret real good, huh Dad?" Five-year-old Decklan chirped in, puffing up his chest with pride.
Jonas smiled and nodded. "You did a real good job, buddy."
Tayden put his warm, soft hands on Kate's cheeks to turn her head back to his direction. "And it might be a sister or a brodder." He said it like it was the most amazing coincidence in the whole world.
"That is so exciting." Kate smiled at the cuteness of childhood. Everything was so magical to them. "What do you hope your mommy has?"
He shrugged. "Probably a girl. We already has two boys." Then he scooted off Kate's lap and ran back to Grandpa without another word.
"So how is the new job working out?" Kate's dad, Mr. Harold Dawson, asked once everyone was seated around the table, their plates full of French dip sandwiches, mashed potatoes, and steamed carrots.
"It's good. Definitely keeps me busy, but it's nice working full time."
"And how has it been working with a billionaire TV star?" Kate's mom asked, tongue in cheek. "Has he made any ridiculous demands? Like, does the car have to be at exactly seventy-two degrees before he climbs in? What about the flowers in his dressing room? Are daises allowed, or only fancy orchids or peonies?"
"Sorry to disappoint," Kate said, dipping her sandwich in the au jus sauce, "but he's still as down to earth and easy tempered as he always was."
"Wait? You guys actually know the bachelor Drew Burrows?" Kerrie sat up and put a hand on Cason's shoulder.
"His mom lives just down on Kenneth Drive." He pointed his thumb over his shoulder in the general direction of Drew's house.
"Drew is a dear family friend. He and Aiden were tied at the hip their teenage years," her mom explained, her expression going soft.
A hush fell over the room, and Kerrie looked at her lap, visibly uncomfortable. "I see. Sorry, I didn't know."
"It's okay." Mrs. Dawson forced a smile. "We all love Drew like he's part of the family."
Cason patted Kerrie's knee, but she continued to stare at her plate.
"Since we're on the subject, are we going to celebrate Aiden's birthday next Sunday?" Lana asked. "Me and the boys would be happy to make the dirt and worms."
Though not the typical birthday treat, chocolate pudding with gummy worms and crushed chocolate cookies had always been Aiden's requested dessert—from the time he was five and even into his adult years.
"Oh, yes," Mr. Dawson agreed. "We should do that. That would be nice."
Mrs. Dawson nodded, her mouth pursed together as she breathed deeply. "Yes. We should, shouldn't we? We'll all be together anyway."
Mr. Dawson pointed at Kate with his fork. "Why don't you invite Drew too? It would be nice to see him again."
Kate wiped the au jus sauce that had dripped on her chin and nodded while she chewed. If he came, he'd find out she'd been lying about still being married to Nolan. He'd never trust her again. But she could tell, from the looks on her family member's faces, that they really wanted him there. Like having him come would almost be like having a part of Aiden back. So she swallowed her food and said, "I'll invite him tomorrow."
10
Drew
Drew shifted his weight as he waited outside the studio for Kate to arrive. His feelings vacillated every couple of minutes between anxiety and excitement about the viewing parties. He and the ho
st of Finding Your Soulmate, Rodrigo Martinez, were supposed to pop in on a few viewing parties his fans had announced on the show's website. And tonight was the first night they'd be crashing the parties.
Drew loved his fans and how enthusiastic they were about him and his journey to find love. But he worried he'd end up being a disappointment in real life.
Kate drove up in her white Jetta and came out wearing a light pink blouse tucked into a gray pencil skirt. Her skirt had ridden up on her drive, but instead of taking in her long toned legs, Drew forced his gaze to meet her eyes. But that was almost as bad because her eyes had always been hypnotizing to him. Aqua blue—the same color as the ocean in Hawaii.
"I'm not late, am I?" she asked, tugging her skirt down. "I was with my mom and my nephews this morning, and then had to go home and shower before coming here."
"Did you end up staying the night after your dinner there yesterday?"
She tossed some of her golden blonde hair over her shoulder. "Yeah, I didn't feel like going home alone."
Home alone? Why would she be going home alone? "Where was Nolan?"
Her face went blank for a moment before she said, "H-he's out of town. I don't like staying home by myself." She chuckled somewhat awkwardly, and Drew couldn't ignore the feeling that there was something she wasn't telling him. "I'm kind of a big baby now, I guess."
Something was off. If he asked, would she say what was going on between her and Nolan? Her husband never seemed to be around, and Kate only said something about him if Drew brought up the subject first. Most newly married women he knew couldn't stop bringing their husbands up in conversation.
"Actually, that reminds me," she hurried to say. "My family wanted me to invite you to lunch on Sunday. We'll be celebrating Aiden's birthday so they have a few things planned, but everyone would love to see you again and have you be a part of it."
His gut twisted.
Aiden's birthday.
He'd be turning twenty-eight if he hadn't died at twenty-one.
"So what should I tell them?" Kate said, interrupting his thoughts.
Drew looked at Kate's upturned, hopeful face as she stood in front of him. Was it possible her family didn't hold anything against him after everything that had happened the night Aiden died?
"Yeah, I'll come," he finally said, even though the thought of celebrating his best friend's birthday without him made Drew feel hollow inside. It had been seven years, but it felt like it was only yesterday when Aiden was speeding down the road, trying to get Drew as far away from Kate as he could after he caught them making out on his couch.
"Great! I'll text my mom." And she pulled out her phone, not seeming to notice the knife of guilt that twisted in Drew's stomach at the memory of that last night with Aiden. When she was done typing, she put away her phone and smiled. "Did Dion tell you which viewing parties we'll be crashing tonight?"
"Last I heard, they found two in Santa Monica that looked fun." Drew held the studio door open for Kate then followed her inside, hoping to escape the ghost that still haunted him.
He almost felt normal again when Dion greeted them in the main office. Dion shook their hands before giving them the particulars of the night.
"So, what will everyone be seeing on Finding Your Soulmate tonight?" Kate asked as they followed the SUV with the other people from the show. Kate had been nice enough to bend the rules and let Drew drive the company car.
Drew tried to remember back to the first week of filming. "Tonight, the audience will meet Ebony. We go on a date to the horse track. She ends up being way better than me on a horse, but she doesn't brag about it too much."
"Well, that’s good, since we all know what a sore loser you are," Kate said with a smirk.
He let his mouth hang open in mock offense. "I'm not a sore loser."
"You totally are."
"Am not!"
She laughed. "Remember that time when I was totally wiping the floor with you in Monopoly? And the board game somehow got tipped over along with everything on it when we came back from our snack break?"
Drew shook his head and chuckled. He did remember. She had practically danced on the table when she started winning, and all he had wanted to do was pull her on his lap and kiss her until winning that game was the last thing on her mind.
But Aiden had noticed the look in Drew's eyes, and since Kate was bent on playing the game until it was over, Aiden had taken matters into his own hands.
"You know Aiden was the one who tipped the game over, right?"
Surprise formed in her expression. "What? Why would he do that? He was already out of the game."
"He was ready to call it a night and take me home."
Her face scrunched up. "Why?"
"Because he knew I'd probably end up kissing you if we spent much more time together that night."
Drew pressed his lips together, surprised he'd just said that.
Kate gasped. "Why would he think that?"
Drew studied her face in the dim light. He might as well say it. It's not like anything would change. It was all in the past and they were friends now. He could be an adult about this.
He drew in a breath. "Because he'd been telling me for months that if I kissed you he'd kick my butt."
Kate was quiet, her mouth forming an "o" as she processed what he just said. "I guess that makes sense. I remember trying pretty hard to get you to kiss me that night."
Drew turned his gaze back at the road, suddenly feeling overheated. "It was only a matter time before it happened, though."
He saw her nod out of the corner of his eye. She was probably remembering the same thing he was. The late-night movie. Aiden sleeping on the floor in her family's basement. He and Kate tangled up on the couch, kissing as if they were starving and the only way to feed their hunger was to kiss each other like there was no tomorrow.
The car was silent for a while as they both got lost in their thoughts. Why hadn't Drew just been able to wait a few more months? Wait until Kate had graduated from high school and joined him and Aiden in college? If Drew had been more patient, if he had only ignored his feelings for a little while longer, maybe things would have been different. Aiden might still be here with them, making fun of Drew for being on a reality TV show. And Kate…well, maybe Kate wouldn't be married to someone else and he wouldn't have needed to go on a dating show in the first place.
After the silence had stretched on for a few minutes, Kate cleared her throat. "So what happens next on your date with Ebony? I totally cut you off before."
Drew blinked, trying to remember what he'd been talking about before he'd brought up old memories and the feelings that went with them.
"Let me guess," Kate spoke before he could. "You guys go to dinner, don't eat any of the food on your plates, and then she gets the first kiss of the season. It's magical, and you feel a connection you didn't think you could have so quickly?"
Wow, Kate really knew the show's formula by heart.
"You make it sound so cheap when you put it like that," Drew said. As if his whole journey to find love had been written by some screenwriter.
Kate laughed, not seeming to realize she'd hit a nerve. "I'm sure it was all very special. I've just been watching the show for, oh, about ten years."
"Well, I never watched it until I was on it. And I'll have you know that yes, maybe we did eat in our rooms before dinner…chewing isn't so great sounding in the microphones…but they at least never told me when exactly I had to kiss a girl. In fact, I'll probably go down as the bachelor who kissed the least number of girls."
Why did he say that? He was practically handing out reasons for Kate to think he was a loser and thank the heavens that she'd dodged that bullet.
"The least? Really?" Kate's eyebrow lifted. "How many did you kiss?"
Oh well, he might as well keep digging his grave. He counted them off in his head, still not believing that had been his life for a few months. He'd never imagined dating, let alone kissing multiple wom
en on the same day. But that was what had happened. The show and all the candles and romantic dates just seemed to make it happen without him even trying.
"Seven. I kissed seven."
Kate leaned back in her seat. "Hmm, seven's not so bad. And that's a lucky number, so it probably means you're gonna end up really happy at the end of all this."
Drew sure hoped so. But he really wasn't sure. Gwen was great and all, most of the time, but could they really work it out when they came from two completely different backgrounds and lived across the country from each other?
"Did you initiate all of those first kisses, or did some of the girls sneak them in on you?"
Kate certainly was nosy about this. But he guessed when you put your love story out there for the world to see it kind of becomes an open book. But Drew wasn't about to reveal all the show's secrets.
"You'll just have to keep watching the show to find that out." Drew took his eyes off the road for a second to smirk at her.
"Oh poop. You're no fun." She crossed her arms.
"Did you really just say, ‘oh poop’? Are we, like, five now?"
"No. I just—"
"Wait—" Drew couldn't believe it. All these years later… "Do you still have that no-swearing bet going?"
Kate looked down and tugged on a loose thread in her skirt. "Well, it was still going when Aiden died, so I decided to just continue it. It helps me remember him, I guess."
Back when Drew and Aiden were in high school, they had started hanging out with a couple of guys who used profanity all the time, and it only took a few weeks before they started using it themselves. But perfect little Katie, who was probably eleven at the time, thought they were on the road to hell. So to help save her brother's soul, she had talked Drew and Aiden into joining her in a No Swearing Contest. The loser had to do the winner's chores for a month.
And so the replacement curse words were born. It had been pretty funny to watch Aiden, the captain of the basketball team, say things like dang, oh my heck, poop, and bum when he got frustrated. But he was bound and determined to win. Drew eventually forgot about the contest, and yeah, swore here and there…but Aiden and Kate were still going strong clear until the accident.