The Almost Wives Club: Kate (3 page)

She was so startled by Nick’s words that she stopped walking and he turned her to face him. She got a momentary impression that he was as startled by his words as she was. Was that more of his precious stream of consciousness?

A street light lit him from above so he seemed momentarily haloed, though nothing else about him was remotely angelic. He dragged a hand through his hair. “I know this sounds crazy, but I want to see you again.”

“Well, you can’t.” And she ignored the tug, the insane, barely acknowledged tug from somewhere inside her urging her to go forward, to wrap her arms around him, to say, the hell with it. She wasn’t married yet.

He must have picked up something for he stepped even closer. He was no longer haloed, now he was backlit so his face was in shadow. She thought he might try to kiss her. Wondered what she’d do if he did. She felt her lips begin to part, felt the pull toward him in some elemental way.

She thought she heard him curse, softly, under his breath, but how was that possible? The man had been hitting on her all night. Then the crazy moment passed. He reached into his jacket, pulled out a business card and handed it to her. “I don’t like the man you’re marrying. I’m telling you right now that if you were mine I would never walk away from you in the middle of dinner.”

“What if it was an emergency?”

“Then, I’d take you with me.”

She stared at the card even though she couldn’t see it clearly in the dark. “I can’t take this.”

“You can reach me day or night on my cell phone. If you ever need anything. Please. Just take it.”

She stared at the business card, then risked a quick glance at him. “Thank you.”

Then he smiled down at her, a twisted smile. “I hope it works out for you.” He leaned in suddenly and kissed her cheek, a soft brush of his lips.

And he walked right on past her and out of her life leaving her with the scent of him in her nose and the memory of his kiss burning her cheek.

 ***

“Don’t marry him.” The words haunted Kate as she settled into the back of a cab and stared out the window as the car motored toward her apartment. The cab smelled of something unpleasantly sweet, perhaps disinfectant or a previous occupant’s cologne.

A news program in a language she couldn’t identify played softly. It didn’t matter. She couldn’t concentrate on anything but her own thoughts. Or, the words of a man she’d only known for a couple of hours. Before he’d begged her not to marry Ted, he’d also said, “You should talk to him.”

And, of course, the man who’d eaten her fiancé’s roast beef and drunk his wine was perfectly right. He could see what she couldn’t. Or didn’t want to see.

She loved Ted. They had all the makings of a wonderful future, but right now she felt unappreciated, not listened to, pushed aside in favor of his work. Confused about everything from the dress to the prenup to the honeymoon. Had anyone really consulted her about any of this? How had she ended up with a dress she didn’t like, a honeymoon she didn’t especially want, and a marriage where you had to sign a prenup before you could sign a marriage license?

Perhaps she didn’t need to challenge Ted. All she really needed was to talk to him. About anything. How had his meeting gone? Was the problem resolved? She twisted her ring around on her finger. He’d seemed distant tonight, testy. What if he was so busy at work that he wanted to postpone the wedding?

Maybe what they both needed was a little more time?

Or maybe all she needed was to spend the night with him. They’d fallen away from each other with the pressure of family expectation and wedding plans. When had it stopped being about the two of them planning a future together?

She leaned forward impulsively, “I’ve changed my mind.” And instead of her apartment, she gave the address of Ted’s family complex in Malibu. He was staying in the pool house until after the wedding when they’d go on honeymoon. When they returned, they’d live in her apartment and start house hunting.

The cab dropped her off outside the compound and she used her key to open the smaller man-sized gate set into the imposing wrought iron gates. A path led around the edge of the property and wound around to the pool house. It was a convenient way to avoid exposure to the main house and she’d come this way to visit Ted a few times, though more often he stayed at her apartment so they felt less like teenagers sneaking around.

As she approached the familiar dwelling, with the pool lit up like a blue topaz against the darker greenery, she began to relax. Ted would wrap his strong arms around her, they’d talk quietly for a while, maybe laugh about how he’d dumped her in the restaurant. She’d make him promise never to do anything like that again.

Perhaps she’d tell him about the stranger who ate his prime rib. But even as the thought appeared she knew she wouldn’t tell Ted about Nick. What was the point? She wasn’t trying to make him feel guilty for leaving her, or to make him jealous. Even less did she want to hear that the future Mrs. Carnarvon should have given the guy a pointed heave ho.

No. Nothing had happened. She’d keep her mouth shut.

As she crept closer, she heard voices and paused. The TV? But Ted only watched the news and business reports. This was more like a conversation. Several voices.

She paused. It was nearly eleven. Had the meeting gone badly? Was a strategy session still going on?

She didn’t want to interrupt Ted if he had business colleagues over, but she also didn’t want to face another expensive and long cab ride if she could avoid it. She crept around to the front of the pool house, where a large picture window offered great views of the pool from the inside of the pool house, and a great view inside the lit living quarters from outside.

She knew she couldn’t be seen out here. Not if she stayed to the side where the privet hedge had been recently barbered for the wedding.

To her surprise, she saw Ted’s parents were sitting in the living area of the pool house, both dressed as though they’d been out for the evening and had recently returned. They were holding crystal tumblers of what looked like scotch. Ted stood behind the bar and poured more scotch into another glass.

She only had a view of half of the room, but Ted kept the louvered windows overhead open most of the time to let in fresh air. She discovered it also let out the conversation very clearly.

“Thank you. With a little water, please,” a female voice said.

With a lurch in her stomach she recognized her mother’s voice. What on earth was her mother doing at Ted’s place at this time of night? And with his parents? Without ever breathing a word to Kate?

The privet hedge scratched at her legs as she pushed closer to the window.

To receive even a bigger shock.

She blinked to make sure she was seeing straight.

A third man walked from behind the bar and into the main room like an actor walking on stage. It was Nick. Nick, the man she’d eaten dinner with tonight. The man who’d claimed to be a stranger and encouraged her to spill her secrets.

He’d removed his jacket and she saw his shirt sleeves rolled up to reveal powerful forearms. He hadn’t stopped to shave or comb his hair so he still had that slightly disreputable look to him. Also a somewhat grim expression on his face.

Ted delivered her mother’s drink and then picked up his own and went to stand by Nick. He held onto his glass with a rigid clasp. “Okay, let’s have your report,” he said curtly.

Report?

She felt the energy in the room shift as every eye turned to Nick standing center stage.

For a tiny moment everything was still. Nick turned to look at the pool, though for a moment it felt as though he were staring at her. Tension filled the room and she felt its echo in her stomach.

She began to tremble as a sense of betrayal infused her. She gripped her hands together and the big diamond pressed into her fingers, hurting her. She’d believed when she’d arrived here that the day which had gone from bad to worse was about to end. But she had a very bad feeling that she hadn’t even plumbed the depths of ‘worse’ yet.

Finally, Nick spoke. “It’s a short report. She’s untouchable.”

Her mother tripped into the frame, still wearing the green Chanel suit and beaming. “I told you so, didn’t I?”

Ted’s father rose, ignored her mother and said, “How hard did you try? I’m not paying for shoddy work.”

“How hard did I try to seduce Ted’s fiancée?” Nick seemed to think about it. “I joined her for dinner, was as charming as I know how to—”

“So, she didn’t prevent you from joining her?” Mr. Carnarvon senior interrupted.

“Duncan, please. Let him finish,” Ted’s mother pleaded.

It was insane, like finding herself in the middle of a nightmare and trying to wake up, but the dream kept going on. One of those bad dreams where some awful thing was behind her and even as she tried to scream, no sound came out of her mouth. That’s how she felt now. She couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, she could only watch this nightmare play out before her.

Nick continued, “She tried to leave, but I can be very persuasive.” He turned to Ted. “Your prime rib arrived as she started to get out of her chair. I think she was too polite to leave me alone to eat your dinner.”

“Hmm.”

“That seems reasonable, dear. She’s a very polite girl,” Ted’s mother said.
And thanks for that, Millicent.

“Then what happened?”

“I gave her plenty of opportunity to trash talk her groom. I thought she might be irked enough at being left alone in a busy restaurant that she’d vent.”

“And did she?”

“No. She didn’t have anything but good to say about Ted. I, then, did my best to seduce her. She stormed out of the restaurant. I followed and attempted one last time to get her at least to see me again. She wasn’t interested.”

Not exactly how it had gone down. She wondered why he was lying to make her look a hell of a lot more saintly than she’d acted?

“Maybe she simply wasn’t interested in you,” Ted’s dad said.

Ted laughed. “Nick? He’s legendary with women. That’s why he was the perfect choice. If Nick can’t seduce my future wife, I’d say no one can.”

Everyone in the room nodded, after a moment, even Ted’s father made a brisk up and down motion with his head. He reached into his pocket and handed Nick a check. She saw the man she’d eaten dinner with glance at the amount and then stuff the check into his pocket.

“You’ve got a faithful woman there, buddy. Congratulations,” Nick said, and held out his hand.

“Thanks. It’s a relief, I can tell you,” Ted said, giving the hand a hearty shake. “You sure I can’t talk you into staying for the wedding?”

“Might be a little difficult to explain to your bride that the man you pretended you didn’t know in the restaurant tonight is your old buddy from college.”

“I’m sure we could—”

“No. Thanks. I’ve got to get back to Seattle. I’ve got a big case.”

“Well, thanks again. Look, at least have a drink for old times.”

But Nick was collecting his jacket. “Some other time. Good luck.” And he left.

She flattened herself against the wall of the pool house but Nick strode up the path without so much as a glance her way. He seemed like a man in a hurry.

She let a moment pass as shock turned into the most blinding anger she’d ever experienced in her life.

The man she’d planned to marry had set her up. Deliberately made her vulnerable and then sent in a practiced womanizer to try and seduce her.

What kind of a person would do such a thing?

Not any kind of man she wanted to marry. Where was the loyalty? The trust? How could you claim to love someone and—

It was as though a volcano burst somewhere inside her and she could not stop the explosion. In truth, she didn’t even try.

She stalked to the door leading into the pool house and wrenched it open. As she stormed into the middle of the room, pretty much where Nick had stood, she was treated to four varying expressions of surprise and shock.

“Kate,” Ted said, recovering first. “What a great surprise. We were just—”

“I know what you were doing. I heard you.” She wanted to throw the expensively golden bottle of scotch at the big picture window, wanted to hear the crash and see the explosion, but she stuck to yelling instead.

“You set me up. Who was that guy? An actor?”

“A private detective,” Duncan Carnarvon said, looking down his nose at her as though angry women were distasteful to him. “You have to understand that marrying into this family is a heavy responsibility. Ted’s wife must be discreet as well as loyal. You did very well.” He sounded like he was trying to give her a compliment. Like this was normal.

“How dare you?” she yelled, turning once more to Ted. “I am not a business venture to be tested and judged. I am the woman who loves you. The woman you were going to marry.”

As she shrieked, she tried to pull the ring off her finger but it was being stubborn.

“I am going to marry you,” Ted said, soothingly.

“The Hell you are,” she screamed. Finally, the ring came off. Maybe she’d never be a major league pitcher, but she had so much anger in her that she launched that ring like a sparkly rocket. It flew through the air, tossing out rays of VVS1 until it hit Ted in the face.

“Ow!” he howled, putting a hand to his cheek.

“This wedding is off. I never, ever want to see you again.”

As she turned away, she heard a commotion, four voices all talking at once.

“Ted, you’re hurt,” his mother cried.

“Kate, wait,” her mother cried.

“You get back here young lady,” his father cried,

“I love you,” Ted himself cried.

As for Kate, she just cried. But she kept on walking.

Kate assumed Ted would be right behind her, running to catch her and explain. He knew she had no car. She contemplated hiding in the bushes until he gave up looking for her, but that was cowardly and besides she was too angry to stay still.

But no one followed her. She stood in the dark wondering what to do. She heard the ocean in the background, muted traffic noises. She had a long road ahead of her and no intention of waiting by the front gates after calling herself a cab. She wanted to leave now.

Oh, the hell with it. She’d walk out on the road for a bit and then call a cab.

She headed toward the main gate and almost collided with someone on the dark path. Both jumped and made similar startled sounds. Then she recognized Ashley, one of Ted’s cousins. “Ashley, you scared the hell out of me.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

According to Ted, Ashley Carnarvon’s mother had hooked up with a real loser against the advice of her parents and her eldest brother, Duncan. She got pregnant and when the relationship ended badly, she moved back home with her daughter and the two of them had lived in a small cottage on the property ever since. Even though Kate and Ashley they were close in age, Ashley was twenty-four to her twenty-eight, they didn’t socialize much. Ted said Ashley was twenty-four going on fourteen. She attended college part time, worked at a variety of menial jobs, and seemed content to party her life away.

But right now, she seemed like the answer to Kate’s dilemma. “Ash, could you drive me home?”

“Don’t have a license.”

Who got to be an adult and didn’t even have a driver’s license? So much for that. “Never mind,” she said and made to walk on.

Ashley stared at her. Kate could smell booze on her breath and figured she’d been out partying. “Why can’t Ted drive you home? If you want to go.”

“Ted and I had a fight,” she said. She wasn’t going to tell this nosy girl that they’d broken up. She didn’t want Ashley to be the first person to hear the news.

“That sucks. Want to crash with us? Our place isn’t very big, but there’s a couch.”

That was nice of her, but Kate couldn’t think of anything worse than staying here on Carnarvon property for one more minute. “Thanks, but I need to get out of here.”

“Okay. Then do what I do when I need to get out of here.”

“What’s that?”

“Steal a bike.”

So, she did something she’d never done in her life.

Kate stole a bike. In truth, she was borrowing it, but without permission so she felt badass.

Ashley led her to a shed where old ten speeds lived along with fishing gear and boats, some old surf boards and a golf cart. The shed wasn’t locked. Ashley yanked open the door and flipped on a light switch.

While Kate watched, Ted’s cousin poked around squeezing tires. “This one’s good. Should fit you, too.”

“But it’s dark out there.”

“Right.” Ashley rooted around and took the light from another bike and handed it to her.

“Is there a helmet? Some kind of reflective vest?” She might be angry and heartbroken, but she wasn’t suicidal.

Ashley looked at her like she was really lame, but dug around until she found a helmet that fit well enough. Kate joined in the search and unearthed a biking jacket with reflective stripes on the back. “Perfect,” even though it wasn’t. It smelled like mold and was way too big.

While Ashley turned out the light and closed the door, Kate wheeled the ten speed up the path and through the gate. As she was mounting, Ashley came up to her. “You want me to come with?”

“No. But thanks.”

“Kay. Good luck.” She helped Kate position her purse across her body and watched as she mounted and set off. Then she waved as Kate headed off for a long ride home. As she pedaled into the night a breeze lifted her skirt and she didn’t give a damn who drove by and saw her panties.

When she finally arrived at her apartment, almost two hours later, she felt strangely exhilarated. There was a message on her home phone. “Look, Kate, I really think you overreacted. Fortunately, the cut in my cheek isn’t serious, but what if that ring had hit my eye? I suggest you calm down and we’ll talk in the morning. Don’t worry, I still love you.”

“Don’t do me any favors,” she muttered and deleted the message. Then she began to pace. The Carnarvon family had a sizable investment in this wedding, not only financial, but also social. More than two hundred influential people were invited. The upcoming wedding had been featured in the society pages of local papers, a couple of blogs, and of course her mother had sent the announcement to all the prestigious papers. Uninviting all those people was going to be a monstrous task. And an embarrassing one.

She continued to pace, anger dispelling her fatigue from the long bike ride.

What if she was even now in the post-coital embrace of Nick the virtue tester? Which she pictured as like a cake tester. Stick it in something sweet and see what dragged out. The Carnarvons would cancel the wedding, she was certain.

But she’d passed the Carnarvon Faithful Fiancée test. Nick had painted her as a lot more virtuous than she’d acted which she’d think about some other time, but he’d made them believe she was the perfect wife for Ted.

Sure, she’d thrown Ted’s engagement ring back in his face and declared she wasn’t marrying him, but she had an uneasy feeling no one believed she was serious. Based on their reactions, they seemed to think she was acting petulant, childish.

She was reasonably certain that a huge amount of pressure was going to land on her beginning tomorrow. The same act that had caused her to break off her engagement had cemented her in the Carnarvon world as the perfect wife for Ted.

Kate did not want to deal with pressure. In the past few months she’d discovered that she was a complete wimp. She’d accepted a dress design she didn’t like, because the amazing Evangeline had condescended to design the gown. She’d acquiesced to a honeymoon in a mansion complete with servants when she’d have preferred bungalow on a surfing beach somewhere.

She’d signed a cold-blooded prenup.

Her stomach had been trying to send her an urgent message for weeks now, but she’d ignored it. Instead, it was a sexy stranger who’d made her face up to her own unhappiness. A stranger paid to trick her.

She was so upset, she knew she couldn’t think straight.

She began to pack.

And while she packed she thought about how a family that would hire a private investigator to prove her faithfulness would not be above using coercion to get her to toe the line, or above hiring a detective to track her down.

She thought through a rudimentary plan, then made a few phone calls. She didn’t have a lot of money to waste, so she called the travel agent Ted had used to book their tickets to Hawaii and left a message asking about plane tickets to London or Sidney, Australia, as though she were torn between the two, she bought one bus ticket to Las Vegas and booked herself on the Amtrak to New York. Then she called Lissa, one of the other women who worked for the girls’ group and also one of her best friends.

“Whaat?” a complaining, sleep-heavy voice answered on the fourth ring.

“Lissa, it’s Kate.”

“This better be important.”

“How would you like to swap cars with me for a few weeks?”

A sleepy yawn answered her. “You drunk or something?”

“No. I’m serious.”

“Swap your sweet little ride for my old heap?”

“Yep.”

“Honey, I’m down.”

“Great. I’ll be right over.”

 ***

Before dawn had even considered breaking, Kate was on the road. Destination? Wherever the hell she felt like stopping where no one would think to look for her.

She hit I-5 and soon decided it was too straight and determined a freeway for her mood. She hit the turn signal to head right and began to move, forgetting that she wasn’t in her own car. The old VW Rabbit had a turn signal that ticked like a time bomb and when she pressed on the gas the car didn’t exactly spring into action, more hovered as though undecided about whether going faster was a good idea or not.

The seat had no lumbar support, one of the side mirrors was missing and there was a half eaten donut and spilled nail polish on the seat beside her. A pair of tiny purple flip-flops hung from the rear view mirror and danced whenever she hit a bump.

She got off I-5 and headed for the Pacific Coast Highway. Much better. Quieter. As she rounded bays she felt as though she were tracing a series of question marks.

Which was exactly how she felt.

How had she ended up in this mess?

What was she going to do?

And the biggest questions of all. Who was she really? And what did she want?

She pulled into San Clemente for breakfast and headed down the winding roads to the beach. She parked and walked down to push her feet into the sand. Three dolphins were playing out there, tumbling and rolling, making her smile. The surfers were also out. She sat in the sand and wondered what her life was going to be like from now on. She and Ted had been planning their future for so long it was strange to think of life without him. They’d talked about the kind of house they’d buy, the kids they’d have, dumb things like when they’d let their daughter start dating and whether they’d really buy each other paper products for their paper anniversary. Now she imagined they’d be returning the wedding gifts that had already begun accumulating.

She made patterns in the sand with her toes. She had a manicure and pedicure booked for today, she realized, as she caught sight of her toes. She should cancel.

She pulled out her phone and turned it on. There were seventeen missed calls and her mailbox was full. She called up the number of the nail salon. As she waited to get through, she noted a group of surfers starting to pack up. They had the unhappy look of people at the end of their vacation.

“Esther Salon and Spa, how can I help you?”

“This is Kate Winton-Jones. I need to cancel my booking for today. It’s with Katrina.” She’d been coming to Katrina for years for her treatments, she was glad she’d remembered to cancel. Hopefully Katrina could fit somebody else in.

“Could you hold one moment?”

“Um, sure, I guess.”

She heard a click and then a second later Katrina was on the line. “Kate?”

“Yes. Hi. I’m so sorry, but something came up. I won’t make my two o’clock appointment today.”

“Oh, my God, are you all right?” Before she could answer Katrina said, “Your mother was here when we opened, half hysterical, said to call her the second I heard from you. She thinks something’s happened to you. She was going to file a missing person report but the cops said you haven’t been missing long enough yet.”

“What?” She took a breath. “A missing person report?” Trust her mother to go for the drama instead of inspecting her own behavior and conscience.

“Yes. So, are you? Okay?”

“I’m fine. I cancelled my wedding is all and I’m taking a vacation. If you hear from my mother again, please tell her I’m fine.”

“You cancelled the wedding?” Katrina sounded as though she could not believe it.

“Yes. Didn’t Mother tell you?”

“No. She made it sound like you’d been kidnapped or something. She’s determined to find you.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake. Ted and I had a fight and the wedding’s off. No one kidnapped me.”

“You need to call her.”

“No. I really don’t.” Even the thought of her mother’s betrayal filled her with rage. Her own mother had gone along with the crazy plan to hire someone to try and seduce her before her wedding. Her own mother!

“At least tell me where you are. She’s going to kill me if I don’t have something for her.”

A string of dolphin fins emerged at once, looking like bunting. “I’m really sorry you got dragged into this. But at least it will be over when the wedding’s officially cancelled.”

“Um, I think the wedding’s still on.”

“What?” She must have shrieked for one of the surfer kids turned to stare at her. “But I returned his ring. I was pretty damn clear that I was breaking the engagement.”

“Your mother was kind of doing this hysterical rambling thing. She said something about telling people you have strep throat. Kate, she confirmed your booking for the day before your wedding.”

“Okay.” She blew out a breath. A family with small children arrived. The kids all carried brightly colored plastic buckets. “Tell her I’m heading to Phoenix.”

“Phoenix? Nobody goes to Phoenix.”

She smiled. “Exactly.”