Marking Time (33 page)

She leaned over to kiss him. “I’ll be very quick. I promise.”

“Good, because I’m already getting lonely.”

Reaching into her closet for a robe, she tied it around her on the way to the phone across the room. She felt Aidan’s eyes on her as she dialed Maggie’s cell phone.

“Hey, honey,” she said when Maggie answered.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Hey, guess what? Aidan and I are in Newport for a day or two, and we’re hoping you’re free tomorrow.”

“What’re you doing here?”

“Aidan’s father had a mild heart attack, and I went with him to Cape Cod to check on his dad. Since we were so close, we came to see you.”

“Oh, good,” Maggie said but without the enthusiasm Clare had expected.

“What’s wrong, honey?”

“Have you talked to Kate?”

“Not in a couple of days, why?”

“Well, um, something’s going on, but I don’t know what. Dad got a call last night from a friend of hers in Nashville, and he flew down there today. He’s on his way back now. I don’t know what’s going on, but he was really mad about something. Andi seems upset, too.”

Clare’s stomach dipped with anxiety. “Is she there? Can I talk to her?”

“Sure, I’ll get her.”

“Call me in the morning?”

“I will. Here’s Andi.”

“Hi, Clare.”

“Hi, Andi. Do you know what’s going on with Kate?”

Andi hesitated. “Jack is on his way home from the airport now. Why don’t I have him call you when he gets in?”

“Is she all right? Is she sick?”

“It’s nothing like that.”

“Andi, you’re making me very nervous. I’m in Newport. Can you ask him to come by the house before he goes home?”

“I’ll do that. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be evasive, but you really should talk to him.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Aidan sat up in bed. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. Something’s happened in Nashville.” Clare pulled on her jeans. “Jack’s coming over here.”

Aidan got up to find his shirt. “I’m sure if it was something bad, they would’ve called you by now, right?”

“Yeah, but Jack’s wife sounded really odd and so did Maggie.”

They got dressed, and Clare cleaned up the remnants of their pizza picnic. She tried twice to reach Kate but got her voice mail both times.

Aidan followed her barefooted into the kitchen, where he stretched and ran both hands through his hair in an attempt to bring some order to it. “Do you think he’ll take one look at us and know what we’ve been up to?”

“If something’s going on with one of the girls, he won’t be thinking about anything else.”

“You never have a bad word to say about him,” Aidan said, studying her. “You compliment him without even meaning to. It’s admirable.”

“He’s a good father.” She rested her head on Aidan’s chest. “I’m sorry this is happening tonight of all nights.”

“I understand. You have kids, and they come first.”

The doorbell rang.

Clare’s stomach twisted with nerves.

“I can make myself scarce if you want me to.”

“No, come with me.” She reached out to him, and they walked hand in hand to the foyer. Clare released his hand and reached for the door only to be startled by the ravaged look on Jack’s face. “Jack! What’s wrong?”

He stepped inside and stopped short when he saw Aidan.

“Jack, this is Aidan O’Malley. Aidan, Jack Harrington.”

Sizing each other up, they shook hands.

“Pleased to meet you,” Aidan said.

“Likewise.”

Clare watched Jack’s eyes travel down to take in Aidan’s bare feet.

“What’s wrong with Kate?” she asked.

Jack released an exhausted sigh and went into the family room to sit down.

Aidan and Clare followed him.

“I made a terrible mistake letting her go there.” He dropped his head into his hands with despair.

Clare put a hand on his shoulder. “What is it, Jack? You’re frightening me.”

He looked up at her with broken eyes. “She’s having an affair with Reid Matthews.”

Clare gasped and recoiled. “What?
What?
”

“Yes, my good
friend
from college, the one who was going to keep an eye on her for me. Ironic, huh?”

“Um, maybe I should leave you guys alone,” Aidan said.

“No, stay, please.” Clare held out a hand to him. Her legs rubbery with shock, she sat down hard. “How do you know?”

“I got a call last night from Reid’s son, Ashton. He’d just put the whole thing together himself. I gave him my card before I left there and asked him to call me if he saw her heading for any trouble. I guess this counts as trouble.”

“But did he see them together? Did
you
?”

“Yes, on both counts. Ashton had a big confrontation with his father and Kate last night before he called me. He said it’s been going on for months, almost since the very beginning. I didn’t want to believe him because I thought he liked Kate himself. Turns out I wasn’t far off on that front, but it wasn’t
him
she was interested in.” Jack ran a hand through his hair, agony marring his handsome face. “This is all my fault. I never should’ve agreed to let her do this.”

Clare reached over to clutch his hands. “You can’t blame yourself. You did everything you could to make sure she’d be safe.”

“Apparently I did a little
too
much by hooking her up with Reid.” He released a deep, rattling sigh. “I’ve got to tell you, Clare, I didn’t believe it. Not really. That’s why I didn’t call you right away.” He shook his head when his eyes filled. “But then I saw them. They didn’t know I was watching. They were all over each other in his car.”

Clare shook her head with disbelief. “Did you talk to her? What did she say?”

“That she loves him. I think she honestly believes that.”

“Maybe she isn’t actually sleeping with him.”

Jack snorted. “Of course she is. You should’ve seen them in the car. I told her I was taking her home with me, but she refused. She said she’s eighteen, and I can’t make her do anything. The bitch of it is, she’s right. I took her there, but I can’t make her come home.”

“How did you leave it with her?”

“I cut her off financially and told her to stay away from the rest of the kids. I don’t want them finding out about this, especially Maggie.”

“You can’t cut her off!”

“I’m not bankrolling her affair with a man old enough to be her father, Clare. No way. Besides, if what she said is true, she won’t be needing my money for much longer.”

“What do you mean?”

“Buddy Longstreet and Taylor Jones have asked her to tour with them this summer. Do you know who they are?”

“Only the biggest names in country music,” Aidan offered.

“She really did it, didn’t she?” Clare asked with amazement.

“Apparently, they’re going to produce a single for her, too.”

“Wow, she must be thrilled. It’s what she’s always wanted.”

Jack sighed. “What the hell was she thinking, getting involved with Reid?”

“I can’t imagine,” Clare said, filled with dismay.

“What’re we going to do, Clare? I left there so convinced I’d done the right thing by cutting her off, but now I don’t know. All during the flight home, I just kept wondering if I’d ever see her again.”

He was so distressed that Clare’s heart went out to him. “You did everything you could today. Why don’t you go home and try to get some sleep? We can talk more tomorrow and figure out what we’re going to do.”

Jack agreed and stood up. “Sorry to be airing the dirty laundry, Aidan. Good to meet you.”

Aidan shook his hand. “You, too.”

Clare hugged Jack at the front door. “Thanks for going to Nashville. I know it couldn’t have been easy for you.”

“You look good, Clare,” he said softly.

“I feel good.”

He kissed her cheek. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

She closed the door behind him and rested her head against it.

Aidan came up behind her to massage her shoulders. “Are you okay?”

“I’m stunned. In the course of half an hour, I found out my daughter’s having sex, she’s involved with a man who’s my age, and she’s possibly going to be a big star. It’s a lot to take in all at once.”

“Heavy stuff.” Aidan put his arm around her to walk her back to the kitchen. “He seemed devastated.”

“He’s blaming himself because he introduced her to Reid.” She reached for the phone to dial Kate’s number again. “I just wish she’d answer her damned phone.”

“What’re you going to do?”

“I think I’ll ask Maggie to come to Vermont another weekend. I need some time alone with Kate next week. I’m sure she’s terribly upset after seeing Jack.”

“You guys can camp out at my place, since the floors will be a mess at your brother’s by next weekend.”

“Thanks.” She reached up to kiss him. Trying to recapture their lighthearted mood from earlier, she said, “You do know I won’t sleep with you while she’s there, right?”

He groaned and steered her into the bedroom. “Why did I know you were going to say that?”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t visit me.”

His face lit up. “Now, we’re talking.” He pulled off his shirt. “I’ve gotta tell you one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“You weren’t kidding when you said Jill looks just like him. It’s crazy.”

“I know. Wait until you meet my mini-me.”

He kicked off his jeans. “I can’t wait.” After a long pause, he looked over at her. “I wasn’t expecting him to be so, so…”

“What?”

“Perfect. I mean the guy could be a freaking movie star.”

Clare smiled, touched by the hint of insecurity. “I need to be very careful here because your fat head is always a concern to me, but have you looked in a mirror lately, O’Malley?”

He seemed far too pleased by the compliment. “You really do love me, don’t you?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“He’s a nice guy, Clare.”

“Yes.”

“Now that I’ve met him, I’m more curious than ever about how you ended up divorced.”

She shrugged as she stepped out of her jeans. “It just didn’t work out between us.”

Aidan’s disappointment showed on his face when she once again dodged an opportunity to open up to him. Clare knew she was hurting him by holding back, but everything between them was going so well and felt so good, the last thing she wanted was to dredge up the past. Still, she couldn’t help but feel like she was living on borrowed time. He knew she was keeping things from him, and he wouldn’t wait forever to hear the truth.

S
ince Aidan had been to Newport only one other time many years earlier, Clare and Maggie spent the next day showing him the highlights. They walked on the beach, window shopped on Thames Street, drove around Ocean Drive, and ended the day with New England clam chowder at the Black Pearl. By the time they dropped Maggie off at Jack’s house, Clare felt like she’d caught up with her youngest daughter.

Maggie didn’t know what was going on with Kate, just that all the adults were upset about it, so she understood when Clare said she needed some time alone with Kate. Clare and Jack agreed she should go forward with her plan to see Kate in Vermont. He hoped Clare could talk some sense into their daughter.

Clare tried several times to reach Kate during the day, but her voice mail picked up each time.

“I hope she calls me back soon,” Clare said as Aidan drove them home.

“After the showdown with Jack, I’d think she’d welcome a call from you today. Maybe you should try the boyfriend’s house.”

“Ugh, I can’t think of a man who’s my age as my daughter’s
boyfriend
.”

“Well, what would you call it?”

“Sicko and pervert come to mind.”

Aidan laughed. “He’s probably a nice guy. I mean, he was Jack’s friend at one time, right?”

“You can’t be condoning this.”

“I’m not condoning anything. I’m just thinking that things like this tend to flame out sooner rather than later. Plus, Jack said she’s going out on tour this summer. If it’s not over before she goes, it will be then.”

“That’s true.”

“And since she’s already sleeping with him, what’s the worst that can happen between now and when she leaves?”

Clare shot him a withering look. “She could get pregnant.”

“At least he’s old enough to know how to keep that from happening.”

“So you’re saying we should just wait it out and hope it goes away on its own?”

“That’s what I’d do. If you overreact, you make it more appealing.”

“You would’ve been good at this, Aidan.”

He shrugged. “I’ve wondered how I would’ve done if I’d been left to raise Colin on my own. I was such a mess after Sarah died, I probably would’ve screwed him up.”

“I have no doubt you would’ve been a wonderful father.”

“I hope so.”

“Do you have one of those sexy black dresses all women keep in the back of their closets for special occasions?” Aidan asked the next morning after they’d slept much later than planned.

“I might,” she said, intrigued.

“How about a pair of heels about, oh, say, this high?” He spread his fingers apart by three inches.

“Perhaps. Why?”

“Well, since you finally agreed to go out with me, I was thinking you’d want to be prepared when we get back to Vermont.”

“So we’re not talking about pizza and beer, then, huh?”

“You insult me.”

Clare laughed and rolled on top of him to kiss away his pout. “You know I don’t need all that, don’t you?”

He wrapped his arms around her. “Maybe I need to give it to you.”

She dipped her head to kiss him, and it was nearly noon before they came up for air.

“So much for getting an early start,” Aidan said when they were finally on the road to Vermont.

“If you’d let me get up the first time I tried, it wouldn’t be afternoon now.”

“I didn’t hear you complaining,” he said with a cocky grin.

“That’s not the point.”

He laughed. “What
is
the point? I can’t wait to hear this.”

“We said we were going to leave early because you wanted to work this afternoon, and then I couldn’t get you out of bed.”

He reached for her hand. “It was time well spent. Very well spent.”