Love's Someday (6 page)

“We understand,” Kaitlyn said. “Ashleigh’s doing fine, but to be honest, she doesn’t know we’re here. I imagine she’s going to be upset with us when she finds out.”

“Why?” Jaclyn asked the obvious question.

“We’ve known her for a long time, and she never told us that she was in the band,” Drew said.

Vicki appeared incredulous. “You had no idea?”

“Not a clue,” Kaitlyn said after draining her glass. “The woman we know is so far removed from all of this that it came as a huge shock when we found out.”

“All of that searching and she’s been under our noses all this time,” Jaclyn said with obvious disgust.

“Why have you been looking for her?” Drew said. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

Vicki glanced at Chantal before answering. “She was my best friend…and we all miss her.”

“You want to know why she walked out without ever speaking to you again,” Drew said, empathizing with the loss that Vicki obviously felt.

“Well, from what she’d told Erica, she doesn’t have fond memories of the time that she was in the business.” Kaitlyn quickly corrected when she noticed the stunned look on Jaclyn’s face. “It had nothing to do with y’all, she just…I guess she regretted that… Everything I’m saying is coming out wrong,” Kaitlyn said with an embarrassed grin.

“It’s okay,” Chantal said. “We all know why she left the group. We just couldn’t understand why she never got in touch with us.”

“Who is Erica?” Alex asked from across the room where she stood leaning in the corner. It was the first time she had participated in the conversation. Kaitlyn wasn’t sure she liked the look that flittered across Alex’s face when she explained that Erica was her closest friend and Ashleigh’s partner of five years.

Jaclyn took advantage of the lull in conversation. “So you’ve never heard her sing or play?”

“If she does, she keeps it well hidden,” Drew said. “We had no idea that she had any musical talent until we saw a video and recognized her.”

“What does she do for a living now?” Vicki asked.

“She’s an office manager.” Kaitlyn felt the need to steer the conversation in another direction. St.
Francisville
was a small town, and it would be easy to narrow down the doctor’s office that Ashleigh worked at. “Do y’all have any plans to record again?”

“No, it’s just a hobby now,” Vicki said. “Alex is an attorney, Jaclyn and Lindsay own this bar, and Chantal and I have a music store not far from here.”

“That reminds me…” Alex stood. “We have a few things to attend to,” she said with a look at Jaclyn.

“It was a pleasure meeting you both.” Alex moved to the door. “I hope we’ll see you again soon.”

“It was a real pleasure meeting you, Alex.” Kaitlyn felt like a liar. It had not been a pleasure at all. She knew the history between this woman and Ashleigh, she felt as though she’d betrayed Erica even more by coming here.

Lindsay stood with her partner. “I need to get to work, but I’ll be around when the show starts. Let me know if you need or want anything.”

The three left, leaving Drew and Kaitlyn alone with Chantal and Vicki.

“This is so cool,” Drew said with a shrug. “It’s so different from what we’re accustomed to. Normally, we spend Saturday evenings in front of the TV.”

Vicki laughed. “We do too. The band only performs a couple of times a month, otherwise we’re couch potatoes on the weekend.”

“I don’t know what I expected, but y’all are so down-to- earth,” Kaitlyn said. Actually, she had a mental image of scantily clad groupies fawning over the band members and wild parties. Perhaps that would come later.

“Is Ashleigh really okay?” Vicki asked.

Kaitlyn squeezed Drew’s hand hard, giving her a warning to tread lightly. “Up until her secret came out, she was fine.” Drew clamped down on Kaitlyn’s hand when she again squeezed hers. “I think she’s overwhelmed right now.”

“We knew…I knew that she wasn’t dealing well with things,” Vicki admitted. “Ash has a way of walling herself off when she’s hurting. She wouldn’t let me in. Before she left, we were fighting all the time. I guess I just pushed too hard.”

“That’s where I’m at with her right now. And poor Erica—” Drew pulled her hand away from Kaitlyn. “You’re cutting off the circulation in my hand!”

Kaitlyn gritted her teeth in frustration. Drew was off again, and she was losing her grip on the reins. “I’m sorry.” Kaitlyn shot a sideways glance at Drew. “Erica and Ash are my best friends, and I don’t think it’s right to discuss their personal lives. Especially since we’re meeting you behind their backs.”

Chantal smiled and jerked a thumb in Vicki’s direction. “If we sit here long enough, Vicki will tell you every sordid detail of our relationship.” Chantal pointed to Vicki’s head first. “If it’s in here,” she pointed to Vicki’s mouth, “it comes out right here.”

“It’s true.” Vicki shrugged. “I don’t see any need in keeping secrets. Unfortunately, I can’t keep anyone else’s, either.”

“It’s not about keeping secrets,” Drew said with a glare in Kaitlyn’s direction. “Ash is going through something difficult right now. What’s wrong with talking it out with people who care and learning how to help her?”

“Has she asked for your help?” Kaitlyn and Chantal asked in unison.

“I think this is the beginning of a great friendship,” Vicki said with a huge grin.

Kaitlyn’s stomach tightened into knots. Drew had no doubt found an ally in Vicki, and she wondered how she and Chantal would be able to handle the havoc their partners were more than likely to wreak.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a recent picture of her, would you?” Vicki asked.

Drew looked over at Kaitlyn, who considered the question for a moment, then pulled out her wallet. “We took this on vacation a year ago. It’s the most recent one I have.”

Chantal took the picture and held it while she and Vicki looked at it. A tear slipped down Vicki’s cheek, and Chantal wrapped her arm around her waist. “Don’t get all snotty, you won’t be able to carry a note,” Chantal said with a smile.

Vicki cleared her throat and nodded at Chantal. A moment passed before she could speak. “She’s changed a lot. I always hoped that I’d see her again.”

“She’s spent twenty years running,” Kaitlyn said. “If we push her to meet with you, she may run again. I can’t risk the devastation that’ll cause Erica.”

Drew shook her head angrily at Kaitlyn. “We don’t know that she’ll do that.”

“Exactly right,” Kaitlyn said. “We don’t know.”

“I don’t want to do anything that will wreck her world any more than it already has been. I want to see her, get to know the woman she is now,” Vicki said as new tears formed in her eyes. “But if she doesn’t want the same, I’ll have to accept it.”

“It’s not you.” Drew reached over and grabbed Vicki’s hand. “It’s Alex.”

“Aw, shit, Drew.” Kaitlyn threw her hands in the air.

“She said that?” Vicki asked in shock.

“Not in so many words.” Drew’s face colored when she realized what she’d done. “She has some resentment issues.”

“We have to get ready to go on stage,” Chantal said to Kaitlyn’s relief. “This is probably a topic for later anyway.” Kaitlyn watched the exchange of glances between Vicki and Chantal. Vicki was obviously angered by the interruption.

Drew pulled Vicki into a tight hug. “We’ll talk, don’t be upset.”

“Thank you so much,” Vicki said with a smile. She gave Kaitlyn a hug when Drew let her go. “Lindsay will be up in a minute. She’ll take you down to your table.”

Kaitlyn waited for a second or two before speaking when the door closed behind the two as they exited. “I cannot believe you!” She held up a finger when Drew opened her mouth to speak. “You are toying with something that’s gonna blow up in our faces.”

“I just want to help Ash, and Vicki, too,” Drew said with a pleading look.

“But what about Erica? She’s been shell-shocked ever since we’ve been home.” Kaitlyn threw herself down on the sofa and scrubbed at her face.

“We can make this work out for everyone,” Drew said as she paced the room. “We’ve got to reason with Ashleigh first. Let her know that everything is—”

“I don’t know what you mean by ‘we.’ I’m not talking to Ash about this. I’ve put a knife in my best friend’s back tonight by coming here. Oh, my God, how am I going to face her? She’s gonna take one look at me and know what I’ve done.”

“Calm down and lower your voice.” Drew moved to sit next to Kaitlyn. “Let me handle this. You just take care of Erica.”

Kaitlyn put her hands up in surrender. “I know I can’t stop you, but if Erica gets hurt, it’s going to take me a long time to forgive you.”

Lindsay poked her head through the door. “Ladies, if you’re ready, I’ll take you downstairs.”

Drew and Kaitlyn followed Lindsay back down the flight of stairs and were seated on an elevated section level with the stage. They had an unobstructed view, and Kaitlyn wished the situation would have been different because Erica would have enjoyed what they were about to experience.

“Would you like another drink?” Lindsay asked.

“Yes, please,” Kaitlyn said, feeling miserable. “The designated driver would like water.”

Lindsay smiled and walked away.

“You’re driving,” Kaitlyn said. “I need to pickle my brain for a while.”

“Where have you been?” Erica asked when Kaitlyn answered the phone.

“Drew and I went to Baton Rouge for dinner.” Kaitlyn frowned at how easily the half-truth rolled off her tongue.

“Can you meet me at the office?”

“It’s Sunday. I’m not up to working today.”

“It’s not about work, Katie.”

Kaitlyn’s eyes opened fully. Erica didn’t sound like herself. “I’ll shower and be right over.”

“What is it?” Drew asked as Kaitlyn laid the phone down.

“Erica wants to talk, I think,” Kaitlyn said as she staggered from the bed.

“Oh, shit.” Drew threw the covers back and sprang to her feet. “Do you think she knows where we went?”

Kaitlyn dropped the pair of sweatpants that she had taken from the drawer. “There’s no way. Please tell me there’s no way.”

“Calm down.” Drew walked over to Kaitlyn and grabbed her by the shoulders. “There’s no way she could know. She probably just needs to talk. Go over there and act normal.”

“Act normal,” Kaitlyn said with a nod.

“Go downstairs and eat some toast. Take a couple of Tylenol. I should be out of the shower by the time you come back up.”

“Are you going to see Ashleigh?” Kaitlyn asked as she began moving slowly toward the door.

“As soon as I get dressed.”

“Don’t spring all of this on her today,” Kaitlyn pleaded. “It’s too soon.”

“Trust me,” Drew said before disappearing into the bathroom.

“Aw, shit,” Kaitlyn said miserably as she made her way to the kitchen.

Kaitlyn took the long way to the office, needing a few extra minutes to compose herself before she came face-to-face with Erica. With one look, Erica could usually tell what was going on in her head. She took a quick glance at herself in the rearview mirror after pulling into the parking lot and grimaced at the guilty expression she saw there.

As she walked down the dark hallway, she could see the light coming from Erica’s office. Kaitlyn paused for a moment and took a deep breath before entering. “If you lied and you have tons of spreadsheets to go over, I’m going—” Kaitlyn was truly stunned when she looked at Erica. Bloodshot and puffy eyes stared back at her beneath messy hair that hung down over her face.

“Hey,” Kaitlyn said softly. “What’s going on?”

Erica ran her fingers through her hair then put a hand to her quivering chin. “I don’t know.”

“What happened?” Kaitlyn moved closer and took a seat.

Erica took a deep shuddering breath. “Nothing, that’s the problem. She seems to be off in another world. I don’t know how to act around her.”

Kaitlyn pulled her chair close to Erica’s but made no move to touch her. In all the years they’d known each other, Kaitlyn had only seen Erica cry twice. Once when they were kids and Erica miscalculated on a homemade bike ramp and hit the cement face first; the second was when her grandmother passed away. Kaitlyn wondered if this would be the third time. She could feel her own tears welling in her eyes.

“I’ve tried to talk to her, but she just shuts down. I feel like a stranger in my own house. I slept downstairs on the couch in my office last night. I just couldn’t make myself climb into bed next to her. I feel like I’m invading.” Erica’s hands shook as she pushed her hair away from her face. “I tried calling you.”

Kaitlyn averted her eyes guiltily, but Erica didn’t appear to notice.

“Katie, I feel like she’s left me, but she hasn’t walked out the door.”

“I think you two need some outside help. Maybe some sort of couples counseling to get you through this rough spot.”

Erica frowned at the idea.

“You can’t just give up. You two were happy as could be before. Don’t you want to find that again?”

“Maybe…” Erica looked down at her shaking hands. “Maybe she doesn’t want to. To be honest, I’m scared to ask. I’m not sure I can handle the answer.”