Star Maker (25 page)

Sully
nodded, feeling slightly awkward, knowing his request to meet her family had
made Kit exceedingly uncomfortable. She leaned over him and yelled toward the
box. “It’s Kathryn, open up.”

Seconds
later the gates slowly opened to reveal a gently curved driveway leading up to
beautiful, English Tudor style estate with an enormous, rolling, green lawn.
Sully raised his eyebrows and whistled. “Damn, Kit. What did you say your dad
did again?”

She
stared straight ahead and spoke flatly. “He’s a very litigation-happy
attorney. If there’s a large class action lawsuit to be had, he’ll find it and
he’ll win. He’s the majority partner and founder of one of the largest and
most successful law firms in the country. Ambition is his middle name.” She
looked over at Sully. “And for the record, he loves to debate anything and
everything, so get ready to argue and hold your position firmly. He always
thinks he’s right. Articulate your position well. He will push your buttons.”

Sully
swallowed hard as he parked the car. He couldn’t stop the nervous churning in
his stomach. The pressure was mounting as they got out of his mother’s car
that he borrowed for the day. Unfortunately the small, modest Ford decent
under any other circumstances, looked like a heap of junk lost in a sea of high
profile European autos and one vintage, black, Rolls Royce limousine that was
probably more expensive than his parents’ house and a few others on their block
combined. He was desperate to make a good impression, but had no idea of the
angle to take with a guy like Kit’s dad.

Sully
was pleased he had made it through dinner. Kit had introduced him before they
sat down and while the reception was generally chilly, her father did not go for
the jugular during dinner. He kept his attention focused on Kit’s grandmother,
Tilly, who was telling colorful stories, making everyone laugh, and doing her
best to connect directly with Sully. Her late husband, Kit’s grandfather
Jerry, had passed earlier in the year, so the family wanted to make this as
easy a Christmas dinner as possible for her although all of them felt the void
of Jerry’s presence.

Kit
stood talking to her stepbrother Cole after dinner only half listening to what
he had to say. Her attention was focused on Sully who was across the room from
her struggling to hold his own with her two brothers. She knew it was time for
her to jump in and assist. She abandoned Cole in mid-sentence and made a
beeline. As she approached, she heard her older brother James Jr., bragging.

“Harvard
was great for my undergrad and all, but I thought it would be more fun to go to
law school at Yale instead of continuing on at the same old boring school. Dad
was pretty happy about that, so it worked out well.” He gave Sully a
condescending look and took a sip of his cocktail. “Did you go to college?”

Sully
shook his head and forced a grin, feeling increasingly uncomfortable. “No.
School wasn’t really my kind of scene.”

James
Jr. took another sip and nodded. “That’s what I thought.”

Kit
sidled up to Sully and linked her arm in his. She smiled as she looked at him.
“That’s because he’s a musical genius. He’s a very creative, brilliant
songwriter.” She then turned her attention back to James Jr. and glared as she
retorted flatly, “School bores the shit out of him.”

James
Jr. rolled his eyes. “Nice of you to join us, Kathryn. We were having a great
conversation until
you
arrived.” He
motioned toward Sully. “Looks like you got yourself a real winner here,” his
tone was thick with sarcasm.

Her
anger quickly arose and it took every inch of restraint not to punch James Jr.
in the face. Her green eyes narrowed as she started to raise her hand. He at
least deserved a slap across the face for being such an asshole.

Spencer
McKenna, Kit’s younger brother and her favorite, interjected quickly in hopes
of steering the conversation in a more positive direction. He smiled. “I’m
really enjoying myself at Penn, Kit. I can see why you liked it so much for
your undergrad.” He then looked at Sully. “Hey man, I’m Spence, Kit’s kid
brother.” He extended his hand and smiled. “I’ve heard great things about
you. You make my sister really happy.”

Sully
shook his hand and grinned, immediately liking him. “I’m Sully. Heard a lot
about you too. You’re the favorite brother she always talks about. Kit adores
you.” Sully shot James Jr. a glare that he immediately shrugged off.

Spencer
threw his arm around Sully. “Y’know dude, college is seriously overrated. I’m
sure you had much more fun skipping it. And I can pretty much bet money that
you see parties much crazier than ours at the frat house.”

Kit
grinned, pleased with Spencer for saving the day. Sully smiled and laughed.
“You have no idea, Spence. I could tell you stories for days.”

Spencer
nodded. “I wanna hear ‘em. C’mon, let’s go do some shots. You can tell me all
the details.” He patted Sully on the back as they walked away. He turned
around and looked at Kit making sure to get her approval.

She
grinned at him, winked, and mouthed “thank you.” She watched them from afar
and admired them both. Spencer was looking more handsome every year and she
briefly recalled moments when they would get into food fights at the table,
much to her parents’ and James Jr.’s chagrin, back when he was ten and she was
fifteen. He had come a long way from being that fresh-faced, freckled,
carrot-topped boy that used to follow her around the house like a puppy dog and
beg her to teach him chords on his guitar.

At
nineteen, Spencer now towered over her at six-foot-two with broad shoulders and
a nice physique. His intense blue-green eyes stood out and sparkled when he
was happy. He was a complete knockout and Kit had no doubts that he had a long
line of sorority girls vying for his attention back at Penn. Not to mention he
oozed charm, was extremely intelligent, and an all around good guy. Like her,
he didn’t seem to fit well in their family, probably one of the reasons why
they were so closely bonded. She and Spencer were clearly cut from the same
cloth.

She
focused her attention back to James Jr. “Do you really have to be such an
asshole to Sully? So, he didn’t take the traditional path. So what? He’s
brilliant. He’s probably going to be richer than you one day.”

James
Jr. knocked back the last of his cocktail and shrugged his shoulders. “Doubt
it. Doesn’t matter anyway. Dad hates him.”

She
shook her head. “No, he doesn’t.”

James
Jr. chuckled. “Yes, he does. He told me at dinner. Why the hell did you come
back here anyway? To stir the pot? You didn’t have to bring that bozo with
you to make your point. We get it. You’re a rebel. You’re the black sheep. You
haven’t been missed, Kathryn.”

Before
Kit could get into it with her older brother, she noticed her father having a
word with Sully and leading him away from Spencer, off to his study. She took
a deep breath. She wondered if she should go in there and help Sully before
her father reduced him to a sniveling church mouse.

She
mingled with her extended family uncomfortably for twenty very long minutes.
Her grandmother hugged her and gave her a kiss. “Oh, Kitty-Kat, you’re so
beautiful. Your fella is lovely.”

Kit
giggled. “Thank you, Nana. You like him?”

She
nodded. “Oh yes! He’s a nice boy, a very kind spirit. He’s good for you. He
reminds me a little bit of your grandfather. He’s got that wicked charm and
artsy sensitivity. Cute too and such a gentleman. I like the long hair. It’s
wild and fun!”

Kit
laughed hearing the irony of gentleman and long hair in the same sentence.
“You do?”

She
smiled. “Yes, I do! Now dear, tell me this, why does he look so familiar to
me? Is he famous too, like our brilliant Joey was when he passed on?”

Kit
grinned and felt a wave of sadness. Joe and her grandmother had always gotten
along fabulously well. They had been very close. “He’s not famous yet, Nan.
And I stress yet. He’s a musician, a singer, and a songwriter. His star is on
the rise. He was at Joe’s funeral. They were best friends. That’s why he
looks familiar to you. I didn’t get a chance to introduce you two that day.”

She
nodded. “That’s ok, dear. I’ve met him today and that’s all that matters.”
She smiled. “Keep that one around. He’s good for you. Now, Kit, I’ve talked
to the attorneys and they said it’s still going to be a few more months until…”

James,
Kit’s father, walked up and interrupted the conversation. “Mother, this is not
the time or place to discuss father’s estate. Kathryn was just leaving.”

Kit
shot her father a look and then glanced at Sully who appeared to be so livid
she thought he would burst with rage. She looked at her father again and
played along. She smiled at her grandmother sweetly, gave her a kiss, and long
hug. “I’ll talk to you soon, Nana. You keep up with that great gardening,
ok?” Her grandmother nodded and headed toward Spencer.

She
sternly focused her attention back to her father. Her tone was thick with fury
as her green eyes narrowed. “You’re kicking me out on Christmas, James? How
dare you!”

He
looked at her and then at Sully. “You can stay if you really want, but your
boyfriend here needs to go. He’s not one of us. I figured you would want to
accompany him. He seems convinced that you two have a future together, but I
told him that he was dead wrong. You’re loyal to your family.” He stared
directly into her eyes as if he were trying to hypnotize her. He spoke slowly
for emphasis. “Right, Katie?”

She
glanced at Sully. She was breathing hard now, trying to keep her emotions in
check as she glared at her father. “No, you’re wrong. He’s right.” She
looked at Sully. “And I love him. We’re outta here.” She grabbed Sully’s arm
and headed for the door.

James
pulled her other arm back toward him. He stared her straight in the eye again.
“Do you really mean that, Katie? Answer carefully.”

She
wriggled free of his grasp and looked at him in disgust. “Yes, I do.”

He
nodded. “Ok, suit yourself. You can kiss your trust fund goodbye. I’m sure
your brothers would be more than happy to have your share added to theirs.”

Kit’s
eyes widened in disbelief. “You wouldn’t.”

He
smirked. “You walk out that door and consider it done.”

She
shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Ok, done. Have a nice life, James.”

Sully
reached to put his arm around her, his attempt to protect her, as he glared at
Kit’s father. She only took one brief glance back at her father whose stern
look hadn’t changed, but what broke her heart was the look of horror on the
faces of her grandmother and Spencer, who had both overheard the entire conversation.

Kit was
quiet when they got back into the car. Once Sully got on the road she spoke
quietly. “I’m not ready to go back to your parents’ house yet. Can we go get
a drink?”

He
nodded and reached over, giving her knee a reassuring squeeze. “Sure. We can
go wherever you want. Your neighborhood or mine? You pick.”

“Let’s
go to yours. I suddenly don’t feel welcome around here anymore.”

CHAPTER 19

Sully
nodded to Kit and held her hand as they headed south on the highway toward
Evergreen Park. They drove up to a dive bar that was surprisingly busy for
Christmas night. He found two seats at the end of the bar where it wrapped
around into the corner and led her there. She sat down and he flagged the
bartender. The bartender recognized him immediately and was happy to see him.

Sully
ordered them doubles. The bartender pushed the drinks toward Sully and smiled.
“On the house, Sull. Congrats. Looking forward to hearing your record soon.”

He
smiled. “Thanks, Stan.” He took his seat on the barstool next to Kit.

She
took a few big gulps of scotch and looked at Sully. Doubt was clouding her
mind. Walking out on her family had left her in the lurch and now she was
desperate to know she made the right decision. She turned her head and met his
eyes. “Why do you love me?”

He
turned her barstool toward him so that they were facing each other and put his
hands on top of her thighs. He smiled at her. “How much time you got? We
could be here all night. It’s a pretty long list.”

She
grinned, but it faded quickly. “You saw where and what I came from. It’s not
pretty. That’s why I’m such a hard ass. And now I feel like an orphan. I
want to know, Sull. Where are we at here? Where are we going? I’m feeling
really vulnerable now after that whole fiasco. I just walked out on my
family.” She hugged herself.

He
nodded and stroked her cheek. “You’ve got nothing to worry about. I love
everything about you and I mean everything—even when you’re a hard ass
and even some members of your family. Spence and your grandmother are pretty
cool.” He grinned. He took her hands in his and gazed into her eyes. “I
brought you out here for a reason. My family means a lot to me. I wanted them
to meet you because I see you as my future. When I think about where I’m
going, I think about you by my side. I can’t imagine my life without you. I’m
thinking the whole enchilada, Kit.”

She
chuckled. “What do you mean, Sull?”

“I want
to spend the rest of my life with you. Y’know… you, me. Marriage, a couple of
kids, a dog, a mortgage…an empire.” His eyes twinkled as he gave her a
conspiring grin.

She
stared at him as a small grin crept up on her face. She felt relief wash over
her. “Really? You wanna be my partner for life
and
help me build an empire in the music industry?”

He
chuckled. “Yep. If you’ll let me. You can’t sit there and tell me you didn’t
see this coming.”

She
shrugged her shoulders. “I didn’t want to jump to conclusions. I had
daydreamed about it, though. It’s kinda funny. I always thought I’d end up
with a suit to build this amazing empire. Joe had told me otherwise. He saw me
with someone like you. It just took me a while to figure it out. But I did,
and it feels right.” He smiled and she continued. “And I love your family.”

“They
love you too.”

“Good,
because clearly I don’t have any family of my own left here.”

Sully
looked at her and sighed. “I feel bad about that, Kit.”

She
shook her head. “Don’t. It’s ok. I had to make a choice. He pushed me.” She
huffed.

He
waited in anticipation. “And? Do you think you made the right choice?”

She
kissed him and stared deeply into his eyes. “I know I did.”

He
chuckled. “I sure hope so.”

She
gave him a playful shove. “I know so.”

“Out of
curiosity, how much was that trust fund you chucked out the window for me
tonight?”

Her
voice was cold and devoid of emotion when she spoke. “Five million. Payable
in full when I turned twenty-five.”

Sully
almost spit out his drink and refrained from choking. “Five million dollars?”

She
sighed, grimaced, and took a long sip of her scotch. “Yeah.”

He took
her hands in his again. “I promise you, I will support you, Kit. We’ll make
that five million back on our own. We’ll double it. I know we will.”

She
chuckled and then stroked his cheek. “I know, babe. We’ll make triple that.”

He
grinned and felt confident knowing she believed in him. “You’re damned right
we will. By the way, Kit, what about your mom?”

She
chuckled and shifted her gaze back to her drink. “What about her?”

He
raised his eyebrows, watching her carefully. “You don’t get along with her
either?”

She
snorted and returned her gaze to him. “Bev, her name is Beverly, is worse than
my father. She traded my brothers and me for a new, much wealthier, second
husband and booze, her only real true love. She’s a raging drunk. She dumped
us on my dad. He struggled as a single guy who worked sixteen hours a day to
make it. He hired a nanny for us. Our nanny was fantastic. I loved her. And
then he married Deanna and figured that the nanny wasn’t needed anymore. My mom
moved back to Greenwich for husband number three when I was seventeen.

“The
last time I talked to her was when I graduated from college. She called me to
offer congratulations, then yelled at me for turning down a contract from Ford
modeling agency in New York, and hung up on me. That was our last conversation
and I don’t plan on having another one anytime soon. I think she wanted me to
live her life for her. She married my dad young. She was very beautiful, a
beauty queen actually. Miss Connecticut.”

He
grinned. “So, that’s where your looks came from, huh? You don’t really look
like your dad.”

She
shook her head. “Not really, but I did get his green eyes. My older brother,
James junior, looks like him with that unmistakeable light blonde hair, but
Spence and I got my mom’s looks. Spence has our mom’s eyes.”

“She
must be really beautiful.”

She let
out a long sigh. “Maybe from afar, but I don’t really think there’s any such
thing as a beautiful, drunk socialite. She’s your typical attractive, rich,
spoiled, mean drunk, but a perfect lady in social circles, always. She met my
dad in the Hamptons one summer shortly after she won her title at nineteen.
She came from a well off Connecticut family. Men love her and she can flirt
like the dickens. Used to drive my dad nuts. She loves attention.
Loves it
. Actually, come to think if
it, she would probably love you if she met you.”

He
raised his eyebrows, surprised. “Really? I don’t have her kind of money yet.”

Kit
nodded and took a sip of her scotch. “In your case, it wouldn’t matter. She
would probably hit on you and try to seduce you. Y’know, make you her boy toy.
You’re just the kind of hot piece of ass she likes on the side.”

Sully
burst out laughing. “What? You can’t be serious.”

She
shrugged her shoulders. “I wish I was joking. Any boyfriend I brought around
her from the time I was fifteen on was subject to her advances if she found
them remotely attractive. I know for a fact that she hit on Joe more than once
and he wasn’t even romantically linked with me. None of them were the caliber
of you though, babe. If she caught even a glimpse of you, she’d go bonkers.
She’d be brushing up against you, grabbing your knee under the table, and
whispering inappropriate things into your ear.”

He
rolled his eyes and took a swig of his scotch. “Kind of like your stepsister
tonight?”

Kit
laughed. “What? Serena was hitting on you at dinner?”

He
laughed along with her. “Yep. It was surreal. I thought I was imagining it until
she told me that she wanted me to meet her in one of the upstairs bathrooms so
she could blow me and give me the opportunity to screw her.”

Kit
laughed loudly. “All while her unsuspecting, attorney husband hung out
downstairs with my dad enjoying the civilities of stuffy conversation about the
workings of Illinois corporate law, while a backdrop of barely audible
classical music gently drifted through the parlor.”

He
laughed. “Exactly. I politely refused. I grinned at her and said ‘no thank
you’ as kindly as I could without making a scene.”

Kit
giggled. “So, that’s why she wasn’t talking to you and was glaring at you the
rest of the night.”

He
nodded and chuckled. “She was holding me in contempt.”

She
continued to laugh and then finally composed herself. “Oh, Sull, you should be
so grateful for your family. They’re wonderful. I can’t even imagine growing
up in such a normal, loving environment. You guys probably even ate dinner at
the same table regularly and ate home cooked meals. I love that. You
genuinely hug and kiss each other rather than fake air kisses that mean
nothing.”

He
laughed. “I guess I have kind of taken that for granted. They are pretty
great. You’re one of us now. That means when we come to visit you’ll be part
of all that normalcy and family love.”

She
laughed. “A part of your family now? Sully, are you indirectly proposing to
me?”

He
slammed down the remainder of his drink. “Nope.”

She
giggled. “You aren’t?”

He gave
her a mischievous grin. “No. I’ve still got work to do to get to the top.
Plus, I have to dump my image building, lesbian lover back home too since
that’s still hanging on. Can’t be too hasty. I told you I wanted to be able
to take care of you and I meant it.”

Kit’s
eyes widened as she smiled. She was surprised he had answered her previous
question in such length and depth. Obviously he had been thinking about it and
she was pleased he had a plan. She wanted to know more and decided to press
him for a little more information. “What?”

He
laughed, stood up to lean over the bar, and grabbed Stan’s attention, totally
avoiding her question for the moment. “Stan, another round please.” He pushed
two new drinks over to Sully. He took a sip of his new drink and then stared
deeply into her eyes. “There are things I need to do to get on track with my
career. I think we both understand that. Trust that when they do, it’ll
happen. Be patient with me. Ok, Kitty-Kat?”

She
giggled and squeezed his hand. She decided to play with him. “I gotcha,
Pit-Pat.”

He laughed
loudly. “What did you just call me?”

“You
heard me. I called you Pit-Pat.”

He
shook his head, grinning from ear to ear. “Where did you get that one?”

She
grinned. “Your entire family calls you Pat, so I improvised.”

He
nodded, still grinning. “Kitty-Kat and Pit-Pat. I like it.”

She gazed
into his eyes. “Thanks, baby.”

He
looked at her. “For what?”

“For
being exactly who you are.”

He smiled and kissed her. He took her into his arms and held her.
This trip had turned out better than he could have imagined. He had never felt
closer to her.

* * *

Tears
streamed down Kit’s cheeks uncontrollably as she ran out of the studio toward
the parking lot, headed for her car. Sully and Jimmy ran after her. She
leaned up against her car, attempting to wipe her tears hastily as she smoked a
cigarette. She saw them approaching.

Instinctively,
Jimmy hung back and let Sully take the lead. He walked up to her and hugged
her. “You ok, baby?”

She
started crying again in the comfort of his arms. Jimmy watched them, his arms
folded in front of him. He took out a cigarette and lit up. She pulled back
and looked at both of them. “Sorry to get all girly on you, guys. That really
hurt.”

Jimmy
nodded and exhaled the smoke from his cigarette while gently stroking her
shoulder. “Sorry, sweetie. It was totally uncalled for. The guy’s an
asshole.”

Sully
nodded and wiped a tear from Kit’s cheek. “C’mon babe, it’s ok. You’re fine.”
He hugged her again.

She
stayed in Sully’s embrace for a moment, making sure not to get too comfortable
in front of Jimmy. She pulled away and lit another cigarette, unleashing her
anger. “Ed is a chauvinistic prick! He won’t listen to one suggestion of
mine, but he’ll listen to you Sull, or he’ll listen to Jimmy. He shrugs off
what I say and dismisses me like I’m nothing. He still calls me one of your
groupies. I’m part of the creative force of this band, aren’t I? It’s in the
recording contract!”

Jimmy
nodded and reached to give her a hug. “Of course you are. You’re part of the
reason why we’re here in the first place.”

She
looked at Jimmy and then at Sully again. “If that’s the case, you guys gotta
tell him. He listens to you. Unless, you don’t want me to get any kind of
production credit on this album.”

Sully
frowned and folded his arms in front of his chest. “Don’t get crazy, Kit-Kat.
You’re getting credit. We’ll make sure. I’ll talk to Lew personally if I have
to.”