I Hear...Love (A Different Road #2) (18 page)

From the back deck, I watch Kate and Sadie walk down to the beach, then stop and stand at the shoreline. The good girl Sadie is, she leans her weight against Kate, letting her know she’s there for her. I think about everything River said to Kate. He’s right. I don’t know everything she went through. I do know that it was in the past and I know how hard she’s been fighting to leave it there, accept it as a part of who she is, and move on with her life. I’m in the present with her, and I know what I see looking back at me every day. I see a strong, confident, determined woman who’s trying desperately to prove to her brother that she’s changed. I see a woman so full of life and love, it radiates from deep inside.

As I think about just how far she’s come, I start to get angry at River for not seeing it himself. I take one more look at them standing on the beach, tap my fists on the deck, then I go back into the house. I go out the front door and walk toward River’s house. Maybe if I talk to him before she does, I can get him to realize what a huge mistake he’s making by not allowing her to spread her wings, and her talk with him will go smoother. He needs to set her free before he breaks her. She’s only going to be able to take so much before she pulls away from him and it ruins their relationship. She’ll end up cutting him out of her life and I’d hate to see that.

I look at Kate one more time, as I pass between the houses, and I smile at her. I walk to River’s front door and knock three times with a firm, determined knock.

The man that held onto River’s arm when he barged into my house, Josh, I believe his name is, opens the door.

“Now isn’t a good time, man,” he says in a hushed voice.

“Who’s at the door, Josh?” River asks heated.

Before Josh can lie to him, I answer, “It’s Cooper. I need a few minutes of your time.”

“Where’s Kate?” he asks pissed off, walking toward me.

“She’s down at the beach with Sadie, thinking,” I answer. “Before she comes home, I need you to know a few things,” I finish.

“So, she’s coming home? I know it had to have been hard for you, but you’re making the right decision,” he says, condescendingly.

“I did make the right decision. I’m not letting her go. We’re going to keep seeing each other.”

“What!” he says loudly, then takes a step toward me.

“You’re making a very big mistake,” I start to say.

“The only mistake I’ve made is allowing you to be in her life in the first place,” he says.

“Do you even hear yourself right now?” I ask, dumbfounded. She’s a grown woman. “You just don’t get it, do you?” I ask.

“I get everything there is to get about Kate. I’ve been in her life since the day she was born. I was with her in the accident when our parents died. I was there for her every step of the way after the accident. I was there for her after she tried to kill herself. I was the one who put her in rehab and got her the help she needed. I’ve been there with her every step of the way her entire life. You’ve been in her life for what? A second. So, don’t stand there pretending to know what Kate needs and tell me I don’t get it,” he roars.

“You really are blind, aren’t you?” I say.

He comes an inch from my nose, before Josh grabs his arm and holds him back.

“How dare you?” he spits angrily.

“Kate’s so grateful to you and she’s been bending over backward for months to prove to you that she’s completely changed her life around. She’s working a job that doesn’t make her happy, and you can’t see it. She’s living under your strict dictatorship, when all she wants is an ounce of trust and a little freedom to breathe. If you took a step back and take half of a second, you’d see how strong she is. She’s confident, determined, and so full of life and she loves you more than she loves herself. God, she loves you so much, that deep down, I know she’s willing to do just about anything for your approval and happiness. If you would only open your eyes—sorry, it’s an expression, but if you could actually see her, and I don’t mean with your physical eyes. I mean, take a goddamned minute, and actually look at her and the progress she’s made. For God’s sake, you have to feel it all around her. She’s not the same person she was two years ago, or that little girl that was in that car accident with you. You need to get passed the fear, or whatever it is, that’s holding you back from actually seeing her, before it destroys her. Before it destroys both of you, and your relationship, beyond repair. You may have been there when your parents died and when she tried to commit suicide, but if you keep this up, you won’t be there for her future when, God willing, she gets married one day and has your niece or nephew. You won’t be there for any of that. By forbidding Kate not to see me and Sadie is a colossal, fatal mistake. She didn’t enter into this relationship with me without telling me flat out what’s going on in her life. She’s never lied or tried to hide anything from me. Sadie, as strange as it sounds, has been a saving grace for her. They have this connection that’s beyond my understanding. Whenever Kate is stressed, or her mind starts to bring her back, Sadie senses it and puts her nose in her hand and it instantly melts away. I can see it like a physical emotion as it disappears right in front of my eyes. Why would you want to take that away from her? Do you want to know who’s doing her the most harm right now? Well, I’ll tell you, my friend, it’s you,” I say.

River takes a step back, then runs his hand down his face. He stretches out his hands in front of him, then balls them into fists. He places them on his hips, then tips his head down to one side. He lifts his head and his pale, empty eyes look directly into mine. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was actually looking at me.

“First, we are not friends, and second, let me assure you that I do
see
Kate. I see not only her, but the whole picture, not some distorted, love struck, blinded view of what the hell you
think
is really going on in her life. I made myself perfectly clear. She will
not
see you anymore. I don’t care what fake relationship you think she has with your dog, you’ll keep your smelly mutt off my property, including the pool house. I know Kate better than anyone. I know what she needs, and I know what she
doesn’t
need. She needs more time in her new life where things aren’t confusing, complicated, and demanding. She doesn’t need you or your dog doing exactly those things. I know what makes her happy,” he fires back.

“What’s going on?” Joss questions, stopping behind Josh in the doorway.

Her eyes are red, puffy, and swollen from crying, and she has tissues gripped in each hand.

“This asshole is trying to tell me he knows more about my sister than I do,” he says to me.

“For God’s sake, I’m only trying to help you. I’m trying to make the conversation Kate is about to have with you easier for her, and for you to get that through your thick head. If you won’t listen to her, then listen to me when I tell you that if you fight her on this, I promise you, that you
will
lose her.”

“I have the law on my side. Do her a favor and be a man for once in your life. Ending it with her will be easier on her if you do it, rather than me, forcing her to end it,” he says.

“No, I’m pretty sure that sounds easier for you. I won’t be the one who breaks her heart, ever. But, I can promise you that I’ll be here for her to pick up the pieces when
you
break her heart because she’s forced to walk away from you, because you’re too much of a pig-headed bastard to see what’s right in front of your goddamned face.”

“He’s right,” Joss’s broken voice, whispers.

“I know I’m right,” River agrees with her.

“No, not you. Cooper is right, you’re wrong. I’m sorry River, but you’ve been pushing Kate way too hard and you don’t see her. You of all people should know you can’t stop two people from falling in love. It’s universally impossible. You can’t force her to make a decision like this. If you do, you’ll only lose her in the end. You’re going to push her so hard, that all you’ll end up doing is pushing her right out of your life. I love Kate like a sister, and I want her in my life. Please don’t do this,” she says.

“Stay away from Kate!” River yells at me, then slams the door in my face.

I hear River and Joss arguing behind the closed door. I hang my head, then walk back down the driveway. Kate’s talk with River is not going to go well. I don’t want Kate to have to make the decision between me and her brother. I know in my heart she’ll pick what’s best for herself, and it will destroy her to lose her brother.

I walk between the houses down to the beach to see if Kate and Sadie are still standing at the edge of the water. I really don’t want her to talk to River by herself. She needs my support. Even if she only wants me to stand outside the door, I’m not going to be more than a few feet from her. I scan the shoreline, but I don’t see them. She must be taking Sadie back to my house. I need to stress to her and make her believe that I’m here for her one hundred percent. No matter how the conversation with River goes, I’m going to be here with her every step of the way.

I start to walk toward my house, but something laying on the sand near the edge of the water catches my eye. I quickly decide to ignore it. I need to talk to Kate before she goes over there, but something deep in my gut tells me I shouldn’t ignore it. I look at my house, then back at the shoreline, and I shake my head. I stop, turn back around, and quickly jog toward it. As I get closer, I see that it’s Sadie’s pink leash with black skulls laying in the sand. Kate must have left it. I pick it up, then jog toward my back door.

I climb the steps two at a time, then open the door and call out, “Kate, I need to talk to you before you go to River’s. I really don’t think you should go alone. I’d like to come with you. I know you want to do this on your own, but let me at least wait outside the door or in the driveway.” I set the leash on the counter and it’s odd that she hasn’t answered. Maybe she’s in the bathroom. “Sadie,” I call into the house, but she doesn’t answer either.

I start to get a bad feeling. I run down the hall and find the bathroom door open. She’s not in there. I smack my hands on the doorframe, then run to my bedroom. The bathroom door is open and she’s not there either. I couldn’t have missed her when I walked between the houses. Where is she?

I run through the house shouting her name. Please God, where is she? The empty feeling in the pit of my stomach is building to the point of pain.

“Kate! Sadie! Where are you?” I shout.

My heart starts pounding in my chest and I run out the back door. I stand on the deck, then scan the beach for them again. Maybe they were playing farther down the beach and I just didn’t see them. That bad feeling in the pit of my stomach grows more and I can’t ignore it. My instincts are telling me something is wrong.

I run down the beach to River’s back steps, then knock loudly on the pool house door. Maybe she came here first. Please God, let her have come here first. I try the knob and it opens. I rush through the door, shouting their names.

“Kate! Sadie!”

No answer. I race to River’s back wall of doors. I don’t even knock. I throw one of the doors open and hear a very heated argument still going on between River and Joss. I feel bad that this has leeched into their relationship.

“Is Kate here?” I interrupt.

“What the hell kind of question is that? You just left, you know she’s not here. Who the hell do you think you are just barging into my house? Get out before I call the police!” River yells.

“No, wait!” Joss says, putting her hand on River’s chest. “Everyone just calm down for a minute. What do you mean is Kate here? Why do you think she’s here?” Joss asks with a shaky voice.

“She’s not down at the beach, neither is Sadie. I went back to my house and checked there, they aren’t there either,” I say.

“Did you try the pool house?” she questions.

“I did. They’re not there,” I say.

“Get the fuck out of my house! Now!” River roars.

“River, for the love of God! Just stop it!” Joss yells at him, giving his chest a little shove. “What exactly did she say to you the last time you saw her?” Joss asks.

“She said she was going to take a walk on the beach to cool down a little bit and do some thinking, before she came over here to talk to River. She wanted to go by herself, but I insisted she take Sadie with her. She was going to bring her back to my house, then she was going to come here and talk to River. I assumed when she said she needed to cool down she was talking about her feelings. Do you think she went swimming? There’s a nasty storm quickly moving in,” I say.

I look at Joss, but she’s looking at River. When I look at River, his entire face has turned white.

“Kate can’t swim. She wouldn’t go in the water, especially the ocean, past her ankles,” River says in an eerily calm voice.

“What do you mean Kate can’t swim? I’ve seen her swim in your pool,” Joss says.

“She’ll go in my pool, but only if I’m there and only in the shallow end. She really can’t swim,” River answers.

“River,” Joss says in a panic, then wraps her arms around him.

“Josh!” River shouts. “Call the police. Kate’s missing,” he says, then runs toward the back door.

“Nina! Help!” Joss yells up the stairs, then runs after River and takes his arm.

I quickly turn and run passed River out of the house, shouting Kate and Sadie’s names at the top of my lungs.

“Kate! Sadie!” I yell.

I fly down the stairs and over the sand to the last spot where I saw Kate, where I picked up Sadie’s leash. Sadie would never leave Kate’s side. The waves are starting to get really high and the weather is starting to churn. The storm is coming in fast. I scan the choppy water, and I don’t see any sign of either of them.

Because of River’s connections, officers arrive within thirty minutes and they launch a full-scale search. A few private boats have been launched and with flashlights, they scan the surface of the choppy water. The Coast Guard is called, but there’s not much they can do. They’ve been grounded because of the storm, and won’t be able to deploy search and rescue until the storm passes in a few hours.