Stealing Time (18 page)

On Monday, Nicolas was adamant that Drew sit
in on business meetings and accompany him to lunch. Kate hoped to
see him at dinner, but a call came instead. She received a message
that he’d be late and don’t wait up.

Kate intended to stay awake until he got home
and passed the time packing and organizing for the trip. The only
solace she got from being in New York these extra days was that her
father returned to the canyon. Drew called him on Sunday and
informed him of the extended stay, telling Jackson to go on without
them.

As she glanced up at the clock, Kate saw it
was already past midnight. Drew was still not home. Pacing the
floor didn’t help, so she slipped on her robe and opened the
bedroom door. Peeking up and down the hall, she wanted to make sure
no one was in sight, then headed for the back stairs. Kate was
aware of the guards and knew she wouldn’t be allowed in the
backyard. A visit to the sunroom was the closest thing to going
outside. All she wanted was to see the night sky and find the Big
Dipper. She needed to talk to Anna and hoped to spot the star from
the huge back windows or skylight.

She was able to slip into the solarium
unnoticed. It was a clear night, enabling her to locate the Dipper
and travel along the handle until she found the Anna star. “Anna,
if you can hear me, I need your help. I’m trapped in this house and
need to figure a way out. Anna? I hope you’re there because I
really need you.”

Kate waited in silence as if a sign from
above would appear. A message across the dark sky spelling out an
answer would be nice, but nothing came. It felt like she waited
forever. The overwhelming stillness got to her. She crumbled to the
floor in a ball, trying to muffle her sobs in her robe. Grief
overwhelmed her. She longed to hear Anna’s voice again. What was
she thinking, coming here so soon after Anna’s death?
Drew was
right. We shouldn’t have come.

Then a realization hit her. She didn’t come
for Drew. She selfishly came for herself, wanting to escape the
hurt and pain in the present. Funny, it traveled right along with
her.

Kate trudged back up the stairs, not caring
who saw her, but made it back to the room without being spotted.
She crawled into bed, grabbed a magazine and flipped through the
pages, waiting for her wayward husband to come home. Finally after
two a.m., the door slowly opened.

“You’re still up?” Drew’s words seemed
slurred.

“Yes, we need to talk.”

Drew flopped on the bed. “Not talk,
kiss.”

“You’re drunk!” Drew drank a glass of
champagne or wine, but Kate had never seen him drunk.

“That’s what it’s called.” A big smile crept
over his face, and he grabbed her, pulling her closer. He reeked of
alcohol and cigarettes.

“Where were you?”

“A place, I think it’s called an easy
speak...no, that’s not right. A speakeasy.” He laughed as he said
it.

Shock, then anger overtook her. “You were at
a bar drinking all night?”

“It was business. Couldn’t get away.
Entertain the clients.” He tried to kiss her but missed.

Kate slapped him hard across the face.
Shocked by her actions and suddenly appalled by what she’d done,
she hung her head. “Drew, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean...”

The slap seemed to help sober him up a bit,
and Drew bolted upward. “No, I’m the one who’s sorry.” His words
were still slurred, and his bloodshot eyes grew wide. “What was I
thinking? I got caught up in the moment. It was a fantasy come true
to visit those places. My father gave me the choice of where I
wanted to go—The 21 Club, High Hat, 300 Club, Stork or the Cotton
Club in Harlem. We bar hopped. I felt so powerful for those few
hours. Forgive me?” He gave her a silly grin, then tipped his head
to one side, sticking out his lower lip in mock sadness.

“Just get some sleep so you’re ready to leave
tomorrow. Then I’ll forgive you.” Kate lightly kissed the cheek she
had slapped moments before, pulled the bed covering close to her
face and chastised herself again for coming there.

* * * *

Hardly sleeping, dozing for a few minutes
here and there, Kate finally saw daylight creeping through the
crack in the drapes. She bounced up from the bed, dragged the
suitcases to the door and hurried to dress. As she emerged from the
bathroom, Kate saw Drew was still asleep. She sat on the edge of
the bed and gave him a little push.

“Ooh, my head.” Drew covered his eyes with
his arm.

“First hangover? Let me know what it’s like.”
Kate had no sympathy. “Come on, get dressed. We leave this
morning.”

Drew continued to moan as he stumbled out of
bed and headed for the bathroom.

Kate thought she heard a retching sound come
from behind the closed door.
Good! He’ll think twice about
drinking like that again.

Patiently, she sat on the bed waiting for
Drew to come out of the bathroom. When he finally emerged he didn’t
look much better.

“Clothes.” She pointed to the dressing
room.

“I’m sorry,” he called from the room. “We’ll
be at the train station in no time.”

A knock at the door interrupted them. Kate
hoped it was Sal coming for the luggage.

“Mr. Martin, there’s no train leaving today
for Chicago.” Sal’s words shot through the closed door causing
Kate’s heart to stop. Chicago was the first main stop on their trip
west.

“What? A train leaves for Chicago every day.”
Kate threw open the door. “Really? I’m surprised.”

“Is your husband available?”

“Andrew!” Kate called as sweetly as she
could. “Sal wants to talk to you.”

Drew walked into the bedroom. “Sally,
something wrong?”

“There’s no train, sir.”

“Of course, there is. I checked myself. Ten
a.m. departure.”

“You overslept.” Sal pointed to the clock. It
was now ten-thirty.

Drew slowly closed the door and looked at
Kate’s disappointed face. “I’m sorry.”

“You keep saying that. You’re sorry you
drank. You’re sorry you haven’t been here. You’re sorry we never
had a chance to talk and never told me the time we needed to
leave.”

“I’ll make new arrangements. We’ll leave
tomorrow.”

Kate found that hard to believe. “Drew,
remember when Sal picked us up at the station? You had a
conversation in Italian...something I didn’t remember. What did he
say?”

“He told me how much my father missed me and
said it would be great if I could stay and live here again. Just
small talk.”

That exchange was more than casual
conversation. Kate began to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
This was a well-thought out plan to keep Drew in New York City. He
was the innocent pawn. He gave his father a heads up at their
wedding, giving Nicolas time to plan for their visit.

Kate decided to keep Drew in the dark and
made up her mind to visit her grandmother instead. She needed her
help. “Drew, you rest. I’ll be back in a few.”

Quickly sliding on her coat, Kate slipped out
the door and down the stairs. Sal stood in front of the entrance
door. That was her chance to go quietly unnoticed to Lilly’s. “Sal,
would you mind taking me to Lillian Wood’s home? She invited me for
tea today. I could use a break from the house.” Sal didn’t budge.
“Sal, did you hear me?”

“Car’s in the repair shop, ma’am.”

“Then I think I’ll go for a walk.” Anything
to get out of the house for awhile.

“Not a good day for that, Mrs. Martin.”

“Please call me Kate. I won’t be gone for
long. You could go with me.”

“Not possible, Mrs. Martin.” He enunciated
her name to make his point.

Kate turned so Sal couldn’t see her face. She
felt her face flush red with anger and wanted to remain calm on the
surface. “Do you know where my mother-in-law is?”

“I believe she’s in the conservatory.”

“Thank you.”

Kate headed down the main hall to the back of
the house. She loved the sunroom last year, but now it felt like
another room in this prison. Ilene was doing needlepoint by the
window, listening to the radio. “Ilene, am I allowed out of this
house?”

Startled, Ilene looked up from her sewing.
“Of course, you are, dear. Is Sal being overprotective?”

“I was invited to Lillian Woods’ for tea. Sal
wouldn’t take me. Said something about the car being repaired.”

“I keep telling Nicolas it’s time for a new
automobile. This one has given us nothing but trouble. Perhaps you
can go tomorrow. How would you like to visit the guest suite on the
third floor? Nicolas and I discussed how we’d like you and Andrew
to feel it’s your home when you come to stay. You might like to
change the décor. Come on, let’s go up.”

Kate didn’t know if Ilene was telling the
truth about being able to leave the house or not. No way did she
want to visit the third floor and see the place where Nicolas
planned for her and Drew to live. Not wanting to raise any
suspicions, Kate pretended to go along gladly. As they climbed the
back stairs, she got an idea and decided to plant it in Ilene’s
mind. “I’d love to browse some furniture stores while I’m here and
maybe some department stores for accessories and linens.”

“What a fun idea.” Ilene put her arm around
Kate as they walked down the hall of the second floor to finish the
climb. The front set of stairs was the only access to the top
floors. Kate imagined herself trapped on that level of the house
with no escape. She couldn’t sneak down a back set of stairs from
up there. “I’ll tell Nicolas you want to go shopping, and we’ll
pick a day.” Kate knew there was no way Nicolas would let her go
out alone so she nodded in agreement.

Drew might have made reservations for the
train tomorrow, but she knew they’d miss that train, too, and every
one after that until they caved and decided to stay. She needed to
devise an escape strategy, but it required getting out of the house
to do so. The sooner she could schedule the shopping trip the
better. If she could slip away from Ilene, Kate could call her
grandmother. Lillian could come to the store and pretend to be
surprised by their chance meeting. She’d insist that Kate come home
with her for a visit. No way could Ilene stop her.

The first part of her plan was in place, but
the second was a little trickier. Kate needed to get Drew over to
Lillian’s. His father had him on a leash, scheduling his whole day.
Drew was oblivious. Somehow, she’d have to make him see what was
happening. They’d have to leave their things behind, luggage and
all, but it would be worth it...anything to be safely away from
this house and on their way to the canyon.

Chapter
Thirteen

Kate paced the bedroom floor in shock, as she
waited for Drew to come home. It was almost one in the morning, and
there was no sign of him. He seemed to understand the gravity of
the situation that morning and promised they’d leave as soon as
possible. They needed to make getaway plans and discuss
strategy.

She decided to go to the sunroom to have
another chat with Anna while she waited. Kate threw on some clothes
in case she came across any guards. Slowly opening the door, she
peered out into the hallway. No one in sight. The men must only
guard the second floor during the day—business hours—or was it when
Nicolas was in the office? After all, she did get into those
offices unnoticed before dinner.
Hard to figure out a time
table. Set times would help with our escape.
Kate was positive
Ilene insisted on privacy at night, so maybe the men were warned
away when everyone went to bed for the night. It was so
confusing.

Kate tried to keep a calm head as she tiptoed
down the hall, looking for any sign of men lurking in the shadows.
She even went down the hall next to the stairs and pressed her ear
against the office door. No sound came from inside. Feeling better,
Kate headed to the stairs and lightly ran down them to the
sunroom.

Thankful it was another clear night, she
looked up through the skylight. There would be no tears, only
talking. “Anna, I need your help. I need your strength and
guidance. It’s lonely here, and it’s my fault. I was too arrogant
for my own good, thinking I knew best.”

Kate sat down in a chair by the window. “This
can’t turn out to be my life. Drew and I would grow apart. I’d just
be someone on his arm at parties or a companion for dinner while
the rest of the time was spent with his father and the other men. I
know he’s unaware, and it scares me. Help me. If I need to escape
on my own, without him, I’ll do it. I can’t live like this.”

Kate buried her head in her hands, willing
herself not to cry. She sat up, gazed out the window and saw the
Big Dipper shining brightly in the sky. Crazy as it seemed, she
swore the Anna star was twinkling.

The door was ajar when she returned to her
bedroom. “Drew?”

He smiled sheepishly as he came out of the
bathroom. “I’m a little drunk.”

“After the hangover you had this
morning?”

“Sorry.” He hung his head and walked over to
the bed, taking Kate with him.

This time she decided not to fight him, not
to be mad anymore. “Do you realize what’s happening?”

“I’m drinking too much?”

Kate knew there was no reasoning with him
tonight. She hoped tomorrow morning things would be different, and
they could talk then. She kissed him and lay down in the bed next
to him, kissing him passionately, but also with a broken heart.
This might be the last time they’d ever be together. If she slipped
out in the middle of the night, no one would miss her. She was in
the way of Drew’s transformation.

Holding him close, Drew fell asleep in her
arms. Kate wasn’t tired. Her mind raced during the night, filled
with ideas for her getaway. She never thought she’d do this on her
own. She always thought Drew would be by her side. Her heart ached
so badly she wished for sleep to escape from the sadness and
confusion swirling in her mind.