The Husband Hunt - Kat's Season (The Bachelor Series) (8 page)

 
           “You looked tired today. I thought I’d give you a Chinese foot rub.” Ben smiled from the doorway and Kat stepped aside to let him in.

 
           “Really? You came to rub my feet?”

 
           “I just thought you seemed kind of off balance or maybe you’re just not feeling well. A foot rub is always good.” He gestured for her to sit down and put a foot in his lap.

 
           ‘Thank you.” Of course a camera had followed him in the door, and was taping everything but Kat was so tired, she didn’t care. “I do feel kind of strange. Like I’m alone in a foreign country, you know.”

 
           “I take it you don’t travel much.”

She nodded, her eyes closed.

“Just remember, that you’re only fifteen hours from home, surrounded by friends, here.”

 
           His hands were strong and pushed on exactly the right places to make her feel relaxed and tingly. “I know. You’re right. I’m not much of a traveler, I guess.” She laughed at her own lack of bravery.

 
           “Maybe you need a buddy, someone to travel with and lean on when you’re unsure.” He didn’t look up, kept rubbing her feet but at that moment Kat wondered if that could be true. Could she actually picture herself with him after this, or only with Pierce?

 
           “Thank you.” She wasn’t sure what she was thanking him for. The foot rub or the pseudo proposal but at that moment she was thankful. She closed her eyes again and didn’t open them until the next morning when she realized she’d been carried to bed, and covered up after her foot rub.

Still not quite herself, Kat felt distanced from the men at the rose ceremony in Taiwan.
Her muscles ached and she felt like a cold might be creeping into her body. She was anxious to get closer to home and wanted to get this portion over with. She knew who was leaving and asked Crane to cancel the cocktail party. Jaxie hadn’t come to Taiwan. She’d gone home after Maui and Kat sensed that Crane was anxious to get stateside, too. Three men would leave the show from Taiwan. Kat’s mind was made up before she even put on her makeup for the rose ceremony.

 
           She’d done an interview with Crane earlier to talk about her feelings for the men but had been coached to refrain from mentioning who she might choose to leave tonight.

 
           “Tell me about you and Tony,” Crane asked.

 
           Kat laughed. “Tony is...Tony. He’s a little bit arrogant, overly confident but loveable in a ‘he doesn’t know what he’s doing,’ sort of way. “

 
           “And you have said that you’re really attracted to him.”

 
           Oh God, on national TV she had to admit this. “That’s true. Tony is very handsome and for some reason we have powerful chemistry between us.”

 
           “And he knows it?”

 
           “He does.” She smirked.

 
           “Ben came to your room last night to give you a foot massage.”

 
           Ben is a real sweetheart, very tender heart.”

 
           “But you don’t have the same attraction as with Tony.”

 
           “Not true. Every person is different. I’m extremely attracted to Ben, don’t get me wrong. He’s gorgeous but I’m still getting to know Ben, slowly.”

 
           Crane continued. “And you had a rough week with Pierce.”

 
           She nodded.

 
           “But you talked it out with him?”

 
           “Yes, and I think everything got misconstrued. I think the guys heard Pierce say he lived with a woman and it was taken the wrong way.

 
           “You and Pierce have really hit it off.”

 
           “We have. He offers something the other guys don’t have, which is an artist’s perception on everything. And that’s interesting to me. I’m still wondering where this is all going.” She laughed.

 
           “Good luck making a decision, Kat.”

 
           The cameras stopped rolling. Kat stood and entered the room with the framed photos of the men. After they took footage of her staring at the pictures, she said “I’m ready.”

 
           It was another half hour before the men would gather in the main room, once the cameras were set. When summoned, Kat walked in and stepped up to the tray of roses.

She stood at the front of the beautifully decorated
Chinese-style room, staring at the men. This would be tough. She nervously willed herself the strength to let the ones go she could never marry. There were seven men and only four roses. She reassured herself that the end was coming for all but one man anyhow. Grant would not be that man. Or Keith. Although she saw a life with Keith as happy, she just didn’t feel passionately for him. Would that come if they slept together? Maybe, but she didn’t want to take that chance. And letting Tony go, made her feel badly but she knew she’d never survive a marriage with that man. It would be a shame to let him go when she knew such passion with him but her path had to be higher than just going for the sexiest guy on the show. Tony would be bad news, and she had to get rid of him. Besides, he’d promoted his gym enough and would have loads of female business when he got back to Colorado.  Something told her he wouldn’t look back long enough to think of her again.

 
           When she called Pierce’s name for a rose, he looked genuinely shocked and not necessarily happy. Or was she just imagining that? Thinking she might take it back, she cautiously asked him if he’d accept the rose. “I will.” He smiled and the moment seemed to have passed. They hugged and Kat kept her eyes from the other men who’d warned her against him.

 
           Colton, the cowboy, Ben the sports lawyer, Pierce the artist and Blake the Florida water skier were left. And the next leg of the show was hometowns. Next, she’d have an opportunity to see the men with their families, and hopefully be able to pick the last two. As they stood in the gorgeous room in the Hyatt Taipei, toasting to hometown visits, Kat thought about how all four men were so different.

Blake had
recently indicated on their group date to the National Museum, he was smitten with her, and was looking forward to her meeting his family. He’d said they were a close knit group, lived on the water and had a ski boat just feet from the front door. He wanted to take her skiing and even though Kat had never tried, she was excited at the prospect. She was an avid snow skier. The appeal of his family was undeniable to Kat. She came from parents who’d been married for thirty-five years and wanted that for herself.

 
               After filming shut down, Kat shared a few moments with each of the men, telling them she was really looking forward to meeting families. The mood was high but she walked away from the night more confused than ever. Ben was so easy-going, already assuming that they were ‘together’ and came off so confident, it was hard to ignore him. His family lived outside Atlanta in a little town where his father owned a hardware store and his mother was a school teacher. Ben’s sister would be at the dinner and she’d have a chance to meet them all, including his elderly grandmother, if they were lucky. Pierce’s parents were divorced and she’d only be meeting his mother and sisters, who all lived in New York City. Again, he seemed nervous to be taking her to his home and she had to wonder if he was telling her the whole truth. Colton was brimming with excitement, anxious for her to meet his daughter and parents. Kat worried about meeting the daughter. Colton was not a front runner but she kept an open mind about everything changing, if she could see him in a different light. His cowboy charm and good looks definitely kept him as a person of interest but Kat was waiting for their relationship to really take off. Maybe Colton was holding back until he saw her with the little girl.

Kat stepped out of the SUV, into the warm weather wearing capris and a frilly patterned blouse. This was Arkansas, late spring, and she’d worn a conservative outfit, not wanting to appear too sexy. The sight of Colton walking across the street, towards her made her heart speed up and wish that she’d at least worn something tight. “Hi Handsome!’

He
scooped her up in a hug, twirling her around. “Welcome to Arkansas!” His lips made contact with hers and Kat was surprised at his enthusiasm, but kissed him back.

“I’m excited to see you!”
she said.

“Me too! We’re going to have fun today,” his eyes twinkled.

“What are we doing?” They pulled back to smile at each other.

“We’re going to the ranch to ride my horses.”

Kat’s eyes widened. She loved to ride. “And Jessica Lynn?”

“We’ll meet her at the ranch later.” He looked excited, his grin spread
ing quickly across his face.

“I’ve been thinking
about her on the flight.” Kat had rehearsed a few things to say to a small child like ‘what’s your favorite thing to do’ and ‘do you like to dance or sing?’ On the plane she’d tried to clear her mind of the other men, and was determined to focus on only Colton in Arkansas.

They saddled up at his barn and took off on a trail that started right from his corral. “I do this all the time with my horses,” he said.
Colton was very attentive and flirty, had been all day. Kat teased him about being a macho man and he pretended to flex his muscles. This new side of him was fun as well as surprising, but she constantly wondered about living in Arkansas.

Riding back to the ranch house
, they trotted and Kat worried that her bra might not be good enough for national TV, but giggled none the less. Dismounting in the barn, Kat saw a little girl outside skip, hand in hand, with a young woman. Jessica Lynn looked about kindergarten age with brown curls bouncing as she skipped along. When the girl saw her dad come around the corner, she squealed and broke away to run to Colton. Kat couldn’t help but have tears in her eyes at the sight.

B
y the end of the afternoon, Kat pictured herself in their lives. When Colton asked if she could see herself fitting in here, she replied “yes,” honestly, but wondered about being in Arkansas. Later, she’d google what there was to do in the nearest town that she’d only seen quickly when driving from the airport to the ranch. Colton’s parents lived five miles down the road on a ranch of their own. When Colton, Bug and her pulled up alongside their picturesque log house, Kat was captivated by the homey beauty of the setting. Weeping willows flanked the house, a porch swing waited for someone to plunk down lazily on a Sunday afternoon and two smiling faces emerged from the doorway to greet them.

Colton’s parents were warm, lovely people and although Kat knew they were on best behavior for the cameras, she liked them instantly. After a dinner around a huge b
lock table with his parents, Bug and Colton’s two brothers, Kat was optimistic that his was a good life and any girl would be lucky to insert herself in to the mix. When Colton walked her to the car to say goodbye, Kat wanted to re-kindle the flirty spark they’d had earlier in the day and as he took her in his arms, she smiled coyly at him. “I like your life, Colton.”

“I’m glad. Everyone liked you.” He kissed her lightly and drew back too soon. “I think Bug was captivated by you. Your pretty hair, sweet smile.”

“If this works out, could you see me here, being Bug’s mom? Eventually, I mean.”

His arm
s loosened the hug and a line appeared between his brows. “Well, you know that no one will ever take over from my wife or as Bug’s mom, even though she was just a baby when Darcy died.” A cloud had moved in to cover his face in grief, and Kat almost gasped.

“Not replace her
, of course not, but I’d hope to be called Mom eventually, be the one she goes to when she falls down and scrapes her knee.”

Colton looked troubled. “I just don’t know if I could ask her to call you Mom, Kat. I want her to remember her real
mother, always.”

“Y
ou’d expect me to live here with you, do all the mom things, have children with you, but you’d have her call me Kat?”

He shrugged. “We’d have to figure out something but I don’t want to di
shonor Darcy’s memory. You know?”

Kat nodded but when she stepped into the waiting SUV, she was very worried about her relationship with this motherless family.
She wanted to be Mom. Already Jaxie was being called “Mommy” by Crane’s kids, and she’d only known them four months. Jaxie had said they’d wanted to have a mommy and couldn’t wait to call her that. Not to compare herself with that situation but Kat didn’t want to be called by her name by a child she was thinking of as hers. Did Colton realize how much she’d give to the relationship and how mother-like she’d become? Maybe not, and maybe in time he’d see the merits of Bug calling her mom. Driving to the airport she thought about Colton and her relationship with him, but it always came back to the little girl. Come to think of it, he’d flinched when she called Jessica Lynn, ‘Bug’ earlier in the day. Checking in at the airport, Kat did not have the wonderful feeling that she’d had earlier, and she boarded her flight to New York with a slightly heavy heart, wondering if she and Colton would be able to work this out.