Until Next Time (The Shooting Stars Series) (23 page)

Katherine smiled, there was no way she could answer him; to this day she didn’t regret her decision whereas Derrick clearly regretted his.

“Thank you for being honest with me. I love you, Katherine,” he kissed her cheek.

“I love you too, Derrick,” she returned sincerely.

They returned to pouring over the catalogues before them; Katherine felt relief at having that off her chest. That night after Derrick left, Katherine found herself thinking of Adam and carried a chair to her room to pull a box from the back of her closet. Inside were the letters, post cards, and various correspondences she had exchanged with Adam over the years. It also contained a few photos Adam had sent her after he left. He had taken them that final night they spent together and as she studied them, the memories were sharp in her mind.

“Katherine, what are you doing?” she asked herself as she shoved them back in the box and set the lid back on. She shoved the box back into her closet and promised herself that she would get rid of its contents before she married.

***

Katherine looked at the calendar and tried to stifle her disappointment. She had been engaged for one year today and her fiancé was on the other side of the globe. She turned back to her computer and the task at hand.

“Excuse me, Katherine Mayfield?” a voice asked from behind her. She turned to find a deliveryman watching her expectantly.

“Yes?”

“I have two deliveries for you.”

“Two?” she asked as she signed his clipboard.

“Yes, miss. It seems you’re popular today,” the deliveryman smiled at her. He sat two vases on her desk. The first bouquet he set on her desk was a dozen red roses; the other at least two dozen pink. She didn’t even have to ask who they were from. She pulled the card from Derrick's first.

Katherine,

I'm sorry I can't be there. I'll make it up to you. I'll call tonight.

     
Love,

         Derrick

It was written in an unfamiliar hand, wired from London. She tried to swallow her disappointment and resentment. She felt guilty for her resentment, but he had been out of town for too many important events (her last birthday included) and always promised to make it up. But you couldn’t make up something like that. She tucked the card back into its envelope and stuck it in the forked holder there for that purpose.

She turned to the other vase and pulled a large card, obviously not the card that had come with the flowers, from the holder. The front of the card had a kitten clinging to the end of a rope. The bold print on the inside read:
Don’t leave me hanging.
On the opposite page was a personal message.

Kaitlyn,

Sorry about the late notice, but I’m in town and I'd like to see you. Will you come to the show tonight?

Miss You,

                                  Adam Ellington

She picked up the concert ticket and an all access backstage pass that had been tucked into the envelope with the card and smiled. She knew she would be going. She had been expecting the invitation and had looked into a few recovery centers in the area. The news that had been reaching her hadn’t been good. She was hoping to talk some sense into him.

“Hey, Katherine, I was…wow, Derrick sent you two bouquets of roses?” Diane asked.

“No,” Katherine admitted.

“Do tell? Who else is sending you roses?” Diane’s eyes were lit with curiosity.

“The red ones are from Derrick and the pink ones are from an old friend.”

“An old flame, you mean? Apparently a wealthy one. How many roses are there?”

“I haven’t counted.”

Diane counted and shook her head. “Two dozen. Are you sure you’re engaged to the right man?”

“Yes.”

“What’s that?” Diane nodded to the concert ticket that lay on the desk.

“A concert ticket.”

“Your old flame asked you out?” Diane quirked one brow.

“No.”

“But he wants you to go to a concert with him? Two people out, dinner, and entertainment… that’s a date.”

“No, it would be me going alone, there would be no dinner, and he is the entertainment,” Katherine admitted. She handed her co-worker and friend the concert ticket and all access back stage pass and watched the woman’s mouth fall open as her eyes widened.

“How many women would like to be you right now?” Diane demanded.

“I don’t know,” Katherine admitted and she didn’t want to find out.

“You dated him?”

“Yes.”

“Wow! So are you going?”

“I am,” she nodded.

“If you change your mind, I’ll go for you,” Diane joked.

“I won’t change my mind,” Katherine insisted.

Her boss almost did it for her. He called a meeting right at the end of the day that went over. By the time she rushed home to change and made it back out the door, phone ringing, she was running very late.

Katherine slipped into her front row seat and smoothed the sun dress she wore, self-consciously. She had thought the dress was nice, now she felt out of place. Apparently she was stuffy, that or these girls felt no compulsion to cover their bodies.

Katherine glanced around, the stage was empty and people were shifting and getting resettled. She had made it just as intermission was starting.

“Did you miss me?” Adam came bounding on stage a short time later. The crowd responded with a roar. The next number started, the noise was deafening; the crowd around her seemed to know every word. As the song ended, the lights dimmed and Adam approached the edge of the stage. She knew the moment he spotted her by the huge smile and wink he sent her way.

“This next song is about a good friend of mine, it’s for anyone who ever wondered what might have been.”

The crowd was going wild, they knew what was coming; it was the song that had launched his career. He walked back to where Katherine sat and smiled down at her.

“This one is for you, Kaitlyn,” he told her. The girls on either side of her eyed her curiously and she thought the girl behind might have just fainted. Katherine, herself, felt as though someone had just turned her emotions into a tossed salad. She had seen many movies where the big star dedicated a song to the leading lady and thought it was terribly romantic. She wondered if it caused the same deep ache in those movie heroines?

Katherine found her mind skimming through the memories that the words inspired as he paced the stage, the now familiar words caressing the audience. When the song ended, she eased out of the crowd and pulled her pass out of her pocket. She showed her pass to two large guards at the side stage door and waited while they looked it over. The taller of the two nodded and opened the door for her.

The door closed with a thud behind her and Katherine stopped to let her eyes adjust. The roar of the crowd and the music were muffled back here and the overhead lights seemed dim after the glare of the stage lights. There was a short flight of stairs in front of her and she started up them. The music grew louder again as she topped the steps and she looked right to where Adam was on the stage. To her left, people were milling around everywhere. An older heavyset gentleman with a balding head finally spotted her.

“You must be Kaitlyn,” he smiled and extended his hand to her. “I’m Sam, Ace’s manager. We’ve all heard a lot about you. Follow me, you can wait back here.” He led her down a corridor and into a comfortable room filled with couches and armchairs.

Other people sat around chatting. They were all wearing media passes and watched her closely as she entered with Sam. She shifted so that her back was to them. There was a commotion at the door and a young man, no more than nineteen, came spilling into the room.

“Your wait is over; I am here!” he announced and breezed into the middle of the waiting media. Katherine watched in fascination as he talked and joked with the reporters; he was obviously trying to make a good impression. He was tall with coffee and cream skin, black curly hair that looked incredibly soft and startling blue eyes. He turned his gaze on her and started toward her.

“Hello, beautiful, I’m Freddie, but you can call me whatever you like,” he kissed her hand. Her brow winged up and a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Right now I’m opening for Ace but I’ll be headlining in no time,” he winked at her.

“Watch your step, Freddie. This is Kaitlyn,” Sam said as he approached them.

“Pardon me, miss,” he bowed and backed away.

Katherine gave Sam a bemused grin. These people were crazy but she liked them.

“Everyone is under strict orders not to mess with you. Are you comfortable?”

“I’m fine,” she assured him.

“We didn’t think you were coming.”

“My boss called an emergency meeting and I didn’t think I was either,” she told him. Sam sat down on the couch and she sat down beside him.

“This business wears at you after a while,” Sam told her. “I have a home here in Nashville and got to stay there last night. It was a nice change. So are you from Nashville?”

“Jackson, actually,” she replied.

“I’ve been through there. Why did you settle in Nashville?”

“My work and my fiancé.”

“You’re engaged huh? Good luck. I've been married twice, but don’t let that discourage you,” he offered her a wink. She couldn’t help but smile at him. “What does your fiancé say about your being here?”

“He’s in London.”

“So he doesn’t know?”

“He doesn’t believe that I know Adam,” she confided.

Sam laughed.

“I’ll admit that we wondered about your existence as well, we’d seen pictures but no one had ever seen you in person,” he told her. Someone called for him and Sam excused himself.

Katherine picked up a nearby magazine and was flipping through it when a reporter approached her.

“Excuse me, I’m Jennifer Frost, a reporter with one of the local papers, and I was wondering who you are.”

“I’m no one,” Katherine assured her. She had no intention of getting caught up in any speculation where she and Adam were concerned.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to sound contrary,” the sleek blonde’s smile was sharp, “but clearly you are someone. The last time I checked they didn’t let just anyone back stage to see Ace.”

“I assure you, I’m no one who matters. Someone he knew a long time ago and he wanted to say hi. I’m sorry but that is all I intend to give you,” Katherine met her gaze head on and watched irritation fill the other woman’s eyes.

“I’ll get to the bottom of it,” Jennifer warned.

“You do that, Ms. Frost,” Katherine’s smile was brittle.

She watched the woman walk and sighed; she hoped she didn’t get to the bottom of who she was. The last thing she needed was something else to fight over with Derrick. She knew the moment Adam walked in by the flash of bulbs and the sudden hum of questions. He answered a few questions and smiled politely. Katherine told herself that there was absolutely no reason to be irritated when Jennifer Frost flirted mercilessly with Adam. She watched Adam turn and move her direction; she stood and smiled. He scooped her into a hug and she heard several cameras flash. She just hoped the reporters didn’t get a hold of her name.

“Hey, Kaitlyn, let’s get out of here,” he led her through the hallways and into a dressing room. “How are you? You look good, though a little thin.”

“I’m good but I don’t like what I’m hearing about you,” she responded honestly.

“You mean about the drugs?” he sighed.

“Yes,” she noted for the first time that his hair was still wet. She inhaled deeply; he still used the same soap and cologne he had worn when they were dating. The smell of him alone brought back memories.

“It’s the only way I can get through a show and then sleep at night. Since the whole mess with Mia I’ve been a wreck,” he admitted.

“You must have really loved her,” she offered empathetically.

“No, I didn’t love her, Kaitlyn, and to be honest I wasn’t fair to her. Neither of us was in that relationship for the right reasons. Her friend even told me it was her manager’s idea.”

“Adam, I’m sorry. I guess her miscarrying didn’t help.”

“She aborted the baby, Kaitlyn; didn’t even need my consent to do so,” he said bitterly. “No one cares whether I wanted the baby with or without its mother. I guess I would have made a lousy father, though huh? What does a man without a father know about being a father?”

“I think you would have learned to be a father or died trying,” Katherine told him. “I’m sorry, Adam; I’m sorry that she did that to you.”

“Thanks, talking about it helps,” Adam smiled at her. He propped his elbows on his knees and hung his head, his hands wrapped around the back of his neck. “I’m a train wreck, Kaitlyn, and I can’t seem to straighten myself up.”

“Get some help, Adam; you can’t do it alone,” she informed him.

“I’ve been through two unsuccessful rounds of outpatient rehab,” he shared.

“Check yourself in,” she recommended. “Look, I don’t want to make you angry but I looked into a couple of places around here. I thought if you needed a friend to be there for you I’d volunteer to be that friend.” She pulled a couple of flyers from her purse and laid them on the table.