Blame it on the Stars (The Blame Game) (20 page)

“
Hi.” Catlin smiled up at him.

“
Feeling better?”

“
No,” Jetta answered for her. “She’s been sick all day. I think she needs some TLC, doc.”

Steve
glanced at Jetta. “Your professional opinion?”

She nodded and winked.

Steve sat down on the edge of the couch by Catlin. “Been thinking about you. How are you doing, really?”

She shrugged.
“I’ve felt better, but I’ll be okay.”

Jetta spoke up
. “That was a shocker she laid on us, wasn’t it?”

Steve
frowned. “Excuse me?”

“
About Christian.” Jetta chuckled nervously and added, “Oops! Sore subject?”

Steve looked at Catlin.
“You’re not ready to tell your future stepchildren, but you told the mouth from the south? Where is your head Catlin? I think you’ve got your priorities screwed up!”

Jetta
frowned. “Hey, I resent that.”

Catlin
shot her a look, and Jetta got quiet again.

Sitting up, Catlin realized she was going to be sick.
She mumbled, “Please don’t raise your voice at me. I’ll talk to your kids whenever you want.”

“
My
kids,” he repeated. “So now we’ve got
yours
and
mine
. That’s just great.”

Catlin shook her head and ran to the restroom. She couldn
’t believe there was anything left in her stomach to throw up.

“
Are you okay?” Jetta called through the door.

She didn
’t answer. She just wanted to be left alone.

“
Catlin!” Jetta hollered.

Catlin pushed the door open and
returned to the lounge. She was sweating and clammy.

“
What’s the matter with you?” Steve muttered, irritation oozing from every pore.

Jetta put her arms around Catlin
. “It’s just nerves, Steve. She’s got a lot going on.”

He looked
back and forth between them but finally focused on Catlin. “Well, I hope you snap out of it. It’s pretty hard to talk to you when you’re running out to throw up all the time.”

She
glared at him. “Fuck you.” She brushed past, grabbing her purse on the way out.

“
Language?” he called after her.

She paused to retort, but was too furious to come up with anything snappy. She inhaled and blew out the breath, attempting to regain some semblance of composure.

From the other room, she heard Steve tell Jetta, “Gee. That went well.”

Chapter Fourteen

Catlin
made it home and dragged herself to bed. Her gut churned, she was nothing but a bundle of nerves. Try as she might to shake it off, it just wasn’t happening. She tossed and turned and when she rolled over at ten p.m., she spotted someone sitting on the edge of her bed.

“
Jesus!” She scrambled out of bed.

“
Nope, just me.” Steve smiled.

She held her chest as her breathing returned to normal.
“I’m going to take your key away if you ever do that again. You scared the hell out of me.”

He chuckled.
“I’m sorry, Catlin. I feel like we’ve done nothing but argue for two weeks. I feel like hell, and you’re a mess.”

“
I know I am.” She sniffled. “And I’m sorry, too. I hate the sniveling idiot I’ve become. I’m just desperate to make this work. I can’t lose him, Steve.”

H
e reached for her and held her gently. “You’re not going to lose him. And if you’re worried about your job, don’t be. You know I have connections at St. Joseph’s. But if worse comes to worse and you have to quit, so what? You’ll move in with me and we’ll live happily ever after. So you see, things aren’t as gloomy as you’re imagining them to be.”

She buried her face in his neck.
“Thank you. I’m sorry for what I said today.”

“
Sorry?” He pulled back and grinned. “I thought it was an offer. That’s why I’m here.”

She
swatted his shoulder. “If I was sure I wouldn’t barf, I’d take you up on that.”

He seemed to think
about it. “Appealing as that sounds, I guess I’ll take a rain check.”

She snuggled up to him again.
“Kids make it home?”

“
Yep.”

“
Can we talk to them tomorrow night?”

“
Are you sure? I can wait until you’re ready.”

She nodded.
“Yes. It’s time.”

Tuesday night they told Dana and David selected parts of Catlin’s story. Both kids were very surprised about it, but Dana took it better than David.

“
This really bites, Dad.” He ranted around the family room. “Not only is she moving in, but now she’s bringing a kid?”

“
David.” Steve tried to calm him down. “Christian is not moving in. He’ll visit sometimes, like you visit your mother.”

“
Yeah, and I’m sick of that, too. Why don’t you just admit you made a mistake and let Mom come home? She’d be here in a second.”

“
The only mistake I’ve made is letting you run off at the mouth. You’ve got to face up to things the way they really are, son.”

“
What if I don’t want them to be that way?” he yelled. “How come nobody cares what I want?”

Steve
sighed. “We care, Dave. But this time it’s not about you. Next year you’ll graduate and leave for college. But I’m still going to be here, living my life. So I have the decision making power in this matter. You just have to put up with it for a couple more years.”

“
It sucks.” David looked at him.

Catlin said
, “I’m sorry you think so. Frankly, the ‘put up with it for a couple more years’ argument didn’t work with me, either, when I was bitching about you.”

David looked at her in surprise.

Steve groaned. “Catlin, please.”

David said
, “No, that’s okay. Let’s get it all out in the open. I’ve got nothing against you, Catlin, and personally I think you’re pretty cool. But my mom and dad belong together.”

Catlin rolled her eyes.
“So she says.”

He faced her. “That, and plenty more. She understands you’re Dad’s flavor of the month. She’s biding her time ‘til he gets tired of you.”

“
You are out of line!” Steve yelled at his son. “You need to apologize to Catlin.”

David
snarled, “Fat chance.”

Catlin
could barely breathe, her chest hurt so bad. The things Barbara said to her children were shocking and astounding. She made a mental note to never be that evil with her own child. Nose to nose with David, she frowned. “I don’t want your apology. I’ve done nothing but bend over backwards to be nice to you, and this is what I get. I suppose we’ll learn to co-exist, for your father’s sake. But right now I think you’re a spoiled, rotten brat.”

Dana stepped up next to Catlin.
“No kidding! David, why are you acting this way? I know it’s a pain to have Mom and Dad living in different cities. But Dad’s so much happier now. It’s fun having Catlin around, and personally, I think a little brother might be kind of cool. Just relax. Everyone will be happy.”

“
Mom’s not happy, is she?” David challenged her.

Steve
’s voice was steely. “I’m sorry about that, Dave. I really am. But it’s not our job to make your mother happy. She has to try and do that herself.”

David glared at his father.
“It used to be your job.”

Steve
reached for the back of a chair to steady himself. He turned toward the wall for a moment, and when he finally turned back around, Catlin thought she saw a tear in his eye.

He
rubbed his hands over his face. “I think we’re done here tonight.”

David stomped off to his room. Dana hugged Catlin and then her father. Steve held Dana for an extra long
embrace before letting her go.

Catlin gathered up her purse and jacket.
“I’m going to take off.”

“
Stay.” Steve reached for her arm.

She shook her head.
“It’s been a long day. I think it’s best we close the chapter on this one.”

H
e nodded. Neither of them had anything more to say, so she slipped out the door.

Wednesday, Catlin entered Steve’s kitchen after work. He was heating a casserole Teresa had made for dinner. “Hey.” He smiled at her.

“
Hi.” She gave him a kiss. “That smells good.”

“
You’re just in time. It’s almost ready.”

Catlin shook her head.
“I’m not staying for dinner. After last night, I think David and I need a little distance.”

Steve pulled her close
. “But you’re putting distance between you and me, too.”

She kissed him gently on the lips.
“I don’t mean to. I’m just trying to work everything out.”

He nodded.
“I can run a staff meeting with fifty people better than I’ve been running this house lately.”

Catlin put her head on his shoulder.
“It’s all going to be okay. I tell myself, just get through one day at a time.”

“
That’s profound. Did you make it up?”

“
Yes, I did. Oh, hey, it looks like I’m going to Kansas City this weekend.”

“
You are?”

She nodded.
“Nick is busy Friday night, and Saturday he promised to take Chris to a Harlem Globetrotters game at the Expo Center. I guess Chris is really looking forward to it.”

“
They put on a good show,” Steve agreed. “So what are you going to do?”

“
Well, I guess I’ll go Friday night and stay with them until Sunday, then come home.”

Steve leaned back against the counter.
“If they’re busy, why go at all?”

“
Because Chris is not that busy, and he wants to see that game. I can’t lose any more time with him, Steve. It’s almost Christmas, and I’m still getting to know him.”

“
I don’t like the idea of your staying with them.”

“
It’s my brother’s house. I have my own room. It’s not that big of a deal.”

Steve sighed, and tossed a
hot pad down on the table. “I still don’t like it. This is not how I envisioned us spending our weekends.”

“
Well, I’m sorry. But I don’t see any other way.” She moved close to him and whispered in his ear, “Besides, we have the rest of our lives, don’t we? Can’t you give me this time now, please?”

He rolled his eyes.
“Don’t you know I’ll give you anything you want? Especially when you whisper in my ear like that.”

She kissed his neck. Steve took her in his arms, and they kissed passionately.
“Please stay.”

“
No, I’m going home. But I’ll be there if you think you can slip away later for a little while.”

“
I feel myself slipping right now.” He kissed her again.

She hugged his waist tightly, then p
ulled away. “I’ll see you later.”

Thursday night Catlin was packing when Steve showed up at her house. “Well hi. I thought you were working late.”

He slipped off his jacket and hung it over a kitchen chair.
“I was. But I cut it short to see you. I want to talk to you about the weekend.”

“
Oh.” She flopped down on the sofa and watched him mix himself a drink.

“
Get you anything?”

“
No thank you.”

He came out and sat across from her.
“I think I should go with you.”

“
Go with me?” she repeated. “Why? Don’t you trust me?”

“
I trust you.” He looked at her evenly. “It’s the two men in that house I don’t trust.”

“
Just what do you think is going to happen?”

“
I don’t really like to think about it,” he snapped. “I thought if we stayed at a hotel, it would be easier.”

“
Easier for whom? You?”

“
Well, yeah,” he admitted, sipping his drink.

“
Christ, Steve.” She rolled her eyes. “This is ridiculous. I’m only going to spend some time with my son. Like I told you, it’s two weeks to Christmas and he and I are still getting to know each other.”

“
You don’t think I need to be involved in the ‘getting to know’ process? And what about Christmas, anyway? What plans do we have?”

“
I don’t know. You’re the planner. What plans
do
we have?”

“
I haven’t been able to make
any
plans with our lives up in the air like this. Who knows when you’re going to be running off to Kansas City? But it’s just not fair, Catlin. Christmas has always been a big deal in my family. This year things are so screwed up, we don’t even have the damn tree yet.”

“
And that’s my fault?” She stood and paced around the room.

“
Well, yeah, I think it is.” He faced her. “Ever since Thanksgiving weekend we’ve been on the Christian express, hopping back and forth to Kansas City.”

“
How rude! May I remind you, what happened over Thanksgiving was not arranged by me. But now it is what it is. And you’re saying it’s okay for me to rearrange my life to accommodate step-children, but it’s a pain in the ass when you have to do it? Is that what I’m hearing?”

“
I’m doing it, aren’t I?” he said sharply. “And may
I
remind
you
, my children weren’t a surprise to you. I think I’m being quite accommodating, given the circumstances.”

Catlin muttered under her breath
, “Oh, your children were a surprise, all right.”

“
Excuse me?” he challenged her.

She changed the subject quickly.
“So what do
you
want to do for Christmas? Make your plans, and I’ll accommodate.”

“
Right now, skipping it sounds like the best idea I can think of.” He tossed back the last of his drink.

“
Oh, that’s constructive.” She shook her head.

“
You don’t know how many ways I’m being pulled, here. I’m trying to make everyone happy, and give everyone this wonderful Christmas. You think this is easy?”

Catlin didn
’t answer; just walked over to the window and looked out at the darkness.

Steve went on
, “Barbara needs to know—”

Catlin whirled around, her eyes flashing
. “Screw Barbara! She is the least of my concerns right now, and should be the least of yours, too.”

“
Oh, really? You don’t think I should consider her when making plans for the kids’ holiday? Would you like Nick to do that to you?”

“
Don’t compare Nick and that bitch. They are light-years apart.”

He laughed sarcastically.
“You’re right, we’d better not go there. The last thing we need is to fight about who’s got the most screwed up ex-.”