Ties That Bind (15 page)

“I need to go sign this contract,” she stood.
“See you back at the office?”

“Why don’t you take the rest of the day off?
I think Tara has a full day planned for you tomorrow.”

“I assumed she would be going into
planning-withdrawal by now.”

“It’s horrible, but you didn’t hear that from
me.”

“My lips are sealed.”

Kate was glad when he was gone. Since she’d
brought memories of Danielle to the surface, she worried that he
would notice just how similar Kate was to the woman from his past.
With the rest of her afternoon free, Kate made a beeline to her
computer to email Gavin. Once she’d asked about his mother and
caught him up on the conversation with Jack, she took Ty to the
park.

Spending the day with Ty made Gavin seem
closer. She called him after dinner, only to feel really bad for
waking him since it was about 4 a.m. in London. He assured her it
was fine and returned the favor when he was on his way to the
hospital the next morning – which translated to about 1 a.m. her
time.

She checked her blackberry every couple of
hours, looking for email updates from Gavin. Luckily Tara was
feeling pretty romantic and only laughed. She surprised Kate by
insisting they go shopping together to pick Kate’s dress for the
wedding. She hadn’t really thought much about it, but Tara was
insistent. They wound up picking a moss green dress that matched
Kate’s eyes exactly. It was sleek, with a halter-style top and a
single strap in the back. Kate had to admit she looked pretty
danged good in the dress. Hanging out with health-nuts had been
really good for her figure. She just wished Gavin could see her in
it.

That night she called him just before bed
when she figured he would be getting up anyway. He let her sleep
through the night, opting for email instead of a late-night phone
call. Kate was happy to be back into her routine at work. Missing
Gavin became as much a part of her as the mole on her left foot. It
was just there and there was nothing to do about it except live
with it. Email certainly made it easier to focus on his words and
not wonder what it would be like to kiss that spot at the base of
his throat.

The music was coming more easily now. It was
less angst-filled and more passionate. She could feel it flowing
through her each night as she sat to purge all of the feelings
swirling around inside. Kate realized it was like a dear friend and
she’d missed playing more than she could begin to say. Just as
easily as she fell back into joking around with Gaston, her fingers
seemed to remember exactly what they were supposed to do, even
after years of absence.

Each night, after she had tucked her violin
away, she spent her time learning as much as she could about the
Williams family and the Blue Valley Vineyard. There was a part of
Kate that wanted very much to have a place to call her home.
Visions of a Gone with the Wind-worthy dedication to her ancestral
home flickered through her mind. When she saw the visiting hours on
the website, she immediately called Jessica and Liz to see if they
were game for a trip to the winery.

Once the plans had been made, Kate felt a
twinge of guilt. It felt a little like she would be swooping down
out of nowhere to claim something that wasn’t really even hers. Did
Kate Yager really have any stake in the Williams family home?
Hadn’t her mother gone to great lengths to keep the existence of
Blue Valley from her? What if her mother had been running from the
Williams and not Jack? What if it was Joan who had not wanted Kate?
Questions chased each other round and round in her mind, keeping
Kate awake long hours into the night. Kate finally found some
measure of peace in the decision to relinquish her share of the
vineyard. Maybe if Joan knew Kate wasn’t a threat, she’d be more
likely to talk to her—to trust her.

Sunday rolled around and they went to the
marathon together. Jessica needed to finish her article on Tom, and
the others just wanted to cheer him on. In typical San Francisco
summertime fashion, the morning fog clung to the city, not yet
ready to relinquish its grip to the sunshine.

Kate met Jessica, Ryan, Liz and Derrick on
the pre-determined corner, coffee in hand. The plan was to cheer
Tom as the marathon began and then reassemble at various points
along the way. Having never been to a marathon, Kate had no idea if
her plan was feasible or not, but it seemed the thing to do. They
chatted easily while they waited for the marathoners to assemble.
Kate spotted Justin and waved. Had it really only been weeks since
she’d taken him to lunch? It felt like a lifetime had passed since
she’d paid much attention to her publicity campaign. His face
brightened and he wound his way through the crowd over to her
little group.

“Hey-a Kate!” He greeted her with a
half-hug.

“Hey Justin. What brings you out this
way?”

“Covering it for the paper,” he sighed and
looked around. “I have to say I’m looking more forward to your
party.”

“Thanks,” she smiled at him. “I hope we don’t
let you down.”

“I don’t think that would be possible,” he
gave her a look that Kate thought might be trying to say something.
It made her a little uncomfortable and she nearly jumped when her
phone chirped.

“It’s Gavin,” she tried to keep the relief
out of her voice. “I’d better take this. It was good seeing you,
Justin.”

“Hello love,” she answered even more brightly
than usual.

“Well top of the morning to you,” she could
hear the smile in his voice. “What has you so chipper this
morning?”

Kate filled him in on the plans for the day,
deciding to leave out her unease about Justin’s intentions. That
conversation could wait for later. She saw Tom in the distance and
waved excitedly. There was a feeling of anticipation building in
the air and Kate wished Gavin was there to capture this day with
his camera. Liz was standing in as the photographer for the day.
Her style was different but impressive nonetheless. While Kate
thought mixing up the styles might be interesting, she still missed
Gavin’s presence. She hung up in time to watch the start of the
race.

Following the marathon from point to point
was a great way to tour the city. They started near the Bay Bridge,
did some shopping with the street vendors near Fisherman’s Warf,
explored the Presidio, got some great shots of the Golden Gate
Bridge as Tom crossed back over, played with Ty in Golden Gate
park, meandered along the bayside and planted themselves back at
the Bay Bridge in time to cheer Tom onto victory. She sent Gavin a
text when Tom crossed the finish line a full 10-seconds before the
second place marathoner.

At each stop, they ran into Justin. By the
second or third, it was painfully clear to Kate that she had a
sticky situation on her hands. She hadn’t tried to lead Justin on,
certainly none of her other contacts had taken her attention the
wrong way. Liz and Jessica ascertained the situation and started
running interference. Kate felt like she gushed over Gavin even
more than usual, trying to get the point across that she was in a
relationship. By the fourth stop, they started actively avoiding
Justin. As much as Kate hated to lose a perfectly good contact at a
major paper, she was determined to rectify the situation somehow.
Maybe it could wait until after the launch party, though.

Monday they played hooky and loaded up in a
rented car to head for Napa, eager to help Kate in her quest to
uncover the past and even more eager to get a peek at the vineyard
she was a fifty percent partner in. Kate knew that she would have
to tell Jessica and Liz who Jack was after this or they’d
unwittingly give her secret away.

They stopped at the cemetery first and Kate
placed flowers on the graves of two strangers who shared the same
blood as she. Kate’s nerves started acting up the nearer they got
to Blue Valley. She wished she had waited for Gavin. His voice had
a way of soothing her. She told herself that the odds of running
into Joan were slim. She was almost convinced–until they walked
through the front door of the immense wine-tasting room and she
came face to face with her aunt.

Kate froze, belatedly realizing she should
have put more thought into what she was going to say. She could see
the shock on Joan’s face, and that she was trying to decide just
what Kate knew and why she was there.

“Aunt Joan,” Kate put on her happiest face.
“It’s good to see you.”

“You too.” Though Joan smiled, Kate was
pretty sure she was lying.

“I want you to meet my friends….” As Kate
introduced Liz and Jessica, they enthusiastically greeted Joan in
turn, adding to her wary confusion.

“Have you taken the tour yet?” Joan asked for
lack of anything else to say.

“Not yet, we plan to though. I was actually
hoping I could maybe speak to you first.”

The wary confusion turned to sheer panic but
was quickly masked by a fixed smile.

“Sure. Why don’t we take a walk?”

Jessica caught Kate’s hand to give it a quick
squeeze before she followed her aunt out the door. Kate caught
Liz’s smile of encouragement and felt bolstered by the love of her
friends.

“I know about Jack,” Kate began once they
were out of earshot. She took only a moment to let her aunt absorb
the shock before diving headfirst into the story of the past two
months. She left nothing out – not Gavin, the trip to London, or
her conversation with Jack just a few days prior. When she was done
she stopped and held her hands up as if to say “and that’s all I
got – help me from here”.

“Wow.” Joan bit her bottom lip in a gesture
that reminded Kate of herself. “I don’t even know what to say.”

“I don’t want to take half of your vineyard
away from you,” Kate blurted. “It’s beautiful and I hope you’ll
allow me to be some part of it someday, but it’s rightfully
yours.”

“Okay,” Joan replied slowly. “What do you
want to know?”

“Tell me the story of my parents,” Kate
pleaded.

“It wasn’t an unusual story,” Joan smiled a
little ruefully. “Jack was so good looking, and so carefree. We
lived in a world of cotillions and starched dresses. It was easy to
see why Danielle fell head over heels in love with him. Of course
our parents didn’t know.”

Kate tried to picture this version of her
mother and Jack. She could almost see them in her mind’s eye.

“When she found out about the baby, about you
I mean, she went straight to Jack. He was so worried Daddy would
fire him. He begged your mother to have an abortion. He said they’d
get married after he finished college. He knew he’d never finish
with a baby to support and no job.”

“Oh,” Kate tried to process that fact. Jack
had wanted her aborted. Kate wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
It stung a little. Actually, it stung a lot.

“Danielle wouldn’t hear of it, though. She
already loved you so much. So she left. Didn’t tell any of us where
she went, she just left.”

“Oh your poor parents, they must have been
beside themselves.”

“They were, but she was right to have left.
They wouldn’t have taken her situation well at all.”

“Oh,” Kate repeated.

“She started writing to me from time to time,
so I knew she’d ended up in Albuquerque. When I graduated from
college, I followed her there. I just missed her. She got mad
because I led Mother and Father to her. It was terrifying when they
first saw you. Brutal.”

“How old was I?” Kate tried to remember any
scary old people from her past.

“Seven. We were at the state fair. You were
playing with friends and ran up to ask for more money. You ran off
again before anyone said a word. You probably missed the whole blow
up that ensued after that.”

“I remember that fair. I thought I’d hit the
jackpot when Mom handed me a ten.”

“I always felt stuck between two worlds. I
wasn’t able to cut Mother and Father out like Danielle could, but I
couldn’t just ignore her like our parents could. So I just kind of
existed somewhere in the middle of the two.”

“I’m so sorry,” Kate hugged her impulsively.
“I always just assumed you didn’t like us very much. I never
knew.”

“You lived in a safe little bubble created by
your mom, who had the best of intentions. I don’t really blame
either of you.”

“Is there any way I could come again
sometime?” Kate hesitated.

“Anytime.” This time it was Joan who hugged
Kate. “I’ll give you the real tour of the grounds. I’ll even show
you where your mom’s room was.”

“I’d like that.”

“You look very much like her you know.”

“I’ve been told that before.”

“Except you have your father’s eyes.”

“I know.”

“How do you think he’s going to react to you
not telling him?”

“It seemed like a good enough idea at the
time. Then it just sort of got out of control,” Kate stared
intently at her hands.

“Why don’t you hang on to your fifty percent
of the vineyard just in case that doesn’t end so well?” Joan
grinned a little.

“Maybe that’s a good idea,” Kate agreed
quickly. She really had intended to give back her share, but this
place was just so peaceful, so idyllic, she couldn’t seem to part
with her claim to it.

“Come on; let’s go find your group. There
will be plenty of time for us to catch up. Maybe you can come back
next weekend.”

“I’d like that,” Kate agreed. She hugged Joan
before they parted ways. Everywhere she looked, she was amazed that
her story had led her here. It was like something from a
fairytale.

Hours later, Kate sat across the table from
her friends. They’d toured the grounds and she’d shared the story
of two young lovers kept apart by circumstance. She’d told them
everything, except her father’s name. And now it was time to do
just that.